Substantial 8.8 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes...
enough about my poker journey, I thought I'd share some stories from my time at the tables.
First, let me set the scene - I'm sitting at a 50-60bb game, squaring off against an Indian dude. I overbet a raise preflop with pocket deuces and voila! I hit a deuce on the flop. It was all downhill from there.
At some point, I started keeping tabs on interesting hands and gave them catchy titles. Here are a few of my highlights:
- Poker Stars $8.00+$0.80 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t500/t1000 Blinds + t125 - 9 players. View hand 2608022 I crushed someone with pocket aces and took the pot with a pair of eights.
- Poker Stars $8.00+$0.80 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t800/t1600 Blinds + t200 - 9 players. View hand 2608037 I went all-in with pocket jacks against someone with an ace-jack. The river served them well, and they took the pot.
- Poker Stars $8.00+$0.80 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t900/t1800 Blinds + t225 - 9 players. View hand 2608045 I hit a set of queens and took down a huge pot against someone with Jacks.
- Poker Stars $8.00+$0.80 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t1200/t2400 Blinds + t300 - 8 players. View hand 2608052 I ended up going head-to-head with two players, the first with two pair tens and eights, the second with two pair jacks and eights. A fortunate river card gave me the win.
Clearly, I got a bit lucky, but it was just the kickstart I needed to make it to the final table of Big 8.8.
When it comes to playing high-stakes poker, there's a lot to learn. From preflop expansions and postflop dominance to exploitative adjustments and stack-based pressure, it's a whole new ball game.
Here's an example hand history to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:
Scenario: 300 BB stack (Hero) vs. 65 BB stack (Villain) in late stages of a high-stakes tournament.
- Preflop: Villain opens UTG to 2.2 BB. Hero 3-bets to 7 BB with K♣ J♠. Villain calls.
- Flop: Q♦ 10♥ 4♠. Villain checks. Hero bets 9 BB (75% pot). Villain calls.
- Turn: 2♣. Villain checks. Hero bets 22 BB (150% pot). Villain folds.
- Key Takeaway: The overbet on a blank turn capitalizes on Villain's capped range (likely pairs or draws) and stack-preservation mindset.
By employing size-based intimidation and precise GTO adjustments, a big stack can systematically dismantle opponents while minimizing volatility. Just a bit of food for thought the next time you're at the tables!
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
- In the kilotournaments on Poker Stars, I often encounter tense situations like the one I experienced with my set of queens against Jacks.
- Beyond my own poker journey, I also delved into the world of casino-games, particularly poker, and found great help from renowned websites like deucescracked.
- Despite the casino-and-gambling industry being vast and competitive, trying out high-stakes poker tournaments was an exhilarating experience that I would recommend to any serious player.
- During a T$4000 Poker Stars tournament, I encountered an interesting hand where I employed stack-based pressure and size-based intimidation to gain the upper hand, much like in the strategic examples detailed by deucescracked.
