Free Stuff & Competition Info

Only a short period of time remains now before the 'Fishy Avatar' Competition is drawn.  We have had a flood of entries and quite a few have been supported really well.  Also the 'Quads or Better' competition has seen over 40 entries and screenshots posted up.

There are a few big things coming up on PokerStars in the next two weeks.  The 'Red Spade Open' and the 10th anniversary Sunday Million with a huge prize pool.  Also PCA giveaways  see here for more details http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/promotions/

Pictured above is my current avatar (pretty cute eh!).  This will be replaced by the winner of the 'Fishy Avatar' competition.  The winner will also receive an entry in the Sunday Million, entries close on the 25th of November.  The 'Piece of Me' 'Quads or Better Comp concludes on the 25th also, so get involved and you will have a share of 10% of the schedule outlined here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jesse-On-The-Mac-McKenzie/268385906533569.  All the best!

Flights, Flights & Awesome Nights!

I returned from Adelaide a few days ago, before that I was on a break on Hamilton Island. It was really beautiful there, I enjoyed so many good nights and great dinners. Cocktail Hour was a highlight, you could pool hop and enjoy the view and the drinks. The weather was a bit sketchy at times but we watched a movie each day and even though the weather wasn't perfect like earlier this year it was still fitting as we watched a few scary movies which matched the night time atmosphere on the island with howling winds and cracks of thunder.

Before Hamilton Island I was on the Gold Coast and finished 18th in the Gold Coast Champs out of 220. It was a 1k repercharge and 1st was 55k. The guy who won it, I played a lot of pots against and won most. There were at least five hands that were pretty awesome between us (which I have noted and may refer to later in a strategy post). However, I lost 3 flips late against other players any of these would have given me double average and i would have been in a strong position to crush the final table.

I have never seen a more bubble sensitive field, I basically opened every hand and when the bubble burst 4 of the 24 players had < 4 bbs. The only thing that was close to that sensitivity was Adelaide ANZPT in February. The funny thing is everyone knows what is going on but still the players are super fearful. 

After returning from Adelaide after my flight was cancelled due to Industrial Action between QANTAS and it's employees, I caught up with family in Sydney, slept in my own bed and got up at midnight for a Monday session (Sunday in the Northern Hemisphere).

 The big news on the day was WaGe N WarZ finishing 3rd in the 2nd Chance which upper cut him out of make up! He has been working hard, I really admire his grit and determination.

I had a win this week in the $55+r big ante for just over 5k. Plenty of people are getting involved on my Facebook and Twitter promotions. There are two running at the moment. The 'fishy avatar' promo has over 25 entries and plenty of people voting and as of today we have 4 quads or better entries in the 'wanna piece of me' competition. For more details click here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jesse-On-The-Mac-McKenzie/268385906533569

Win Money, Lawn Bowls, Poker & Food!

- I have an interview with Dale Philips coming up. We will probably talk about lawn bowls and poker! These are two of my favourite things and knowing Dale from pics, tweets and Queenstown ANZPT I think it is highly likely that we will talk about food.

- You may have noticed me tweeting significantly more and re-connecting with my social media outlets. I basically discontinued regular updates mid year when the political climate seemed murky and I have set clear new goals. I am on the short list for PokerStars Team Online, however, there may only be one spot and the competition is stiff. I therefore will be pumping out the volume so to speak in terms of social media. I realise that this may be a one off opportunity and I will do my best.

- I ran deep in the Sunday Million this week and two of my friends final tabled it Nobbi 'Nobbit' Tanaka and Peter 'Westy1983' West. I was on the rail cheering for them and had 10% of Nobbit! I tried to stake westy1983 a few weeks ago but in a failed negotiation nothing eventuated. Nobbit finished 5th for around 50k and Westy 9th after being on the wrong side of two flips.

- I will be more actively posting on Poker Network so feel free to ask advice regarding travel, tournament seletion, SNG strategy, strategy etc.

- I have an interview with 'On Tilt Radio' in 12 hours time before the start of Day 1 of the Adelaide Championships which will be reported on by P0ker Asia Pacific.

- I have a review of my year coming up through the Poker Asia Pacific website. I will go into more depth about some tournament situations I have faced at crucial stages of my 2011 Player of the Year campaign.

- I have a promotion on at the moment. It is called On The Mac's fishy avatar competition. All you have to do to win a Sunday Million ticket is nominate a fishy avatar picture to info@mithpoker.com.au. This will be posted on my Facebook public page and voted upon.

- Click here for more details about the promotion http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jesse-On-The-Mac-McKenzie/268385906533569

Australia & New Zealand Poker Tour end of season wrap

I am currently on holidays on Hamilton Island. I have taken time out after a long year online grinding and playing all the ANZPT events. I also managed to fit in a trip to Europe which I had been planning to do for a few years. If you read through some of my old blog posts you can see that I fully intended on travelling through Europe more than one time. It happened to be on my trip in July that I had my biggest tournament win.

Most recently I was in Darwin for the ANZPT season finale where I needed to outlast Leo Boxell and Danny Chevalier in the tournament to jump above them in the Player of the Year (POY) points. POY top 3 was worth more than the top 3 prizes in the ANZPT Darwin tournament so there was a bit of math to be run in terms of how to play on the money bubble. This however was non applicable as i was 3 outered with 25 left for a 80 big blind pot in one of the softest live 2k events I have ever played. Leo just fell short of cashing and Danny final tabled to ensure he was the 2011 ANZPT Player of the Year. Leo finished 2nd and I finished 3rd and will use the bonus money for either a) Aussie Millions Main Event in January or b) 4 ANZPT events in 2012.

Prior to Darwin, maybe just a week or two, was ANZPT Melbourne where I was chip leader with 18 left but in a tournament where the prize pool was significantly bigger ($155 for 1st). I was playing well throughout and running well in the big pots. I was unafraid to play against anyone and felt I was probably in the best zone I have been in live poker since Adelaide in February. After the money bubble burst and where i made some good plays against top online guys as well as weaker passive players I decided I was going for the win.

Without going into much strategic detail I don't really know where to place Danny Chevalier in terms of his play. This is probably good for him as I managed to pay him off in a rather large pot in the ANZPT Melbourne and he managed to finish 3rd. Part of me wanted to knock out my nearest competitor in the Player of the Year race and part of me didn't understand the line he took in the hand. Needless to say it was strong and straight forward and probably I should play it as I see it. He isn't some online sicko taking some weird line without it. He highly values the POY and the title but he did play other hands which did lead me to the choices that I made.

There are always moments in time where you feel invincible and that your read is laser sharp. In tournament poker it can all be over very quickly and it was probably the most gutted and disappointed I have been as I had never prepared better for a tournament before that one. I liked my schedule and my life balance and the people and places I had been with. I had a couple of deep runs in the World Cup of Online Poker whilst in Queenstown where I stayed an extra couple of weeks (after ANZPT Queenstown) to get snow boarding lessons and catch up with friends. I really love that place. It is so beautiful and there are many great restaurants, Botswana Butchery being my favourite, bars and activities.

The year I have had has been unexplainably amazing. It is almost unrealistic and unattainable. I feel very fortunate and I realise that many like me put in the effort but don't always get the result they deserve. I think the key to my success has been balance and sustained effort and being relentlessly persistent. Having good people around you to offer support and advice is so important. In the end we make our own decisions based on all the information available to us at the time. I have to thank my family and friends for what has been an amazing 2011.

I Won!

Somehow I managed to win the Sunday Million. I got through a massive field on PokerStars and got to the the final table as the chip leader. I sensed that I may not get a chance like this again and played out the tournament without doing a deal. A few players were scared money with low average buy ins and folded really short stacks to hold out for relatively small pay jumps. Then there were two other guys who were more aggressive but lacked control and after watching the replay I also noted that they were a bit backwards in their play. They were overplaying weak hands and underplaying their bigger made hands.

I really only wanted to watch the replay once to see if the fold of broadway straight heads up with Ace-King was correct. It was by far my toughest decision of the tournament. I was relieved and happy to see that my opponent had a better hand with 4-5 of clubs for a rivered flush. I got a fair wrap from the commentator. He is commentating for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) final table and does coverage of NASCAR in the US and some other sports. The link is here http://www.pokerstars.tv/poker-video-9770-online-poker-show-sunday-million-july-10th-2011.html

Right now I am in Naples, Italy. I have been travelling with my cousin Michael through Europe over the last month. We started in London, then caught a EuroStar train to Paris and then another train to Amsterdam. After Amsterdam we flew to Portugal. We meet up with friends in Lagos who had hired a house. Hugh, Tom and Tim had been in Lagos for a month already and we just tacked on for the last week. The house was massive and had a pool, we partied, beached it and played online. Tom joined the jagermeister 'bomb squad' at a local bar, he downed 7 jager bombs in 14 seconds!

From Lagos, Portugal we all caught a bus to Seville in Spain. It was our last day when I managed to bink on the 'vamoooos' IP. I tipped the rental guy $150 EU. Tim & Hugh left a day before Tom to go on a road trip to France for the Tour De France and beyond to Slovenia for the World Poker Tour Event there. Tom went home to Australia and Mike and I decided to travel on to Barcelona. We flew from Seville to Barca where I had booked 6 nights in a backpackers aptly named 'Equity Point'. After a few nights I upgraded to the Mandarin Oriental as I wanted a really good nights sleep and reliable internet.

Today we flew from Barca to Naples France after a skype discussion with James Tai, an investment banker and poker player from Sydney. We are going to hire a car for a few days and drive the Amalfi Coast. Thoughts of hiring a DB9 went through my mind but I decided to just go with the BMW Z3. After Italy we are heading back to London to spend a few days with my cousin Sean who recently married in Sydney even though he lives and works as an investment banker in London. Our family is spread across the world so Sydney was a central location for a great wedding. After winning the biggest tournament of my life I just want to spend time with family and friends. I can't wait to go home even though the weather is so fine here.

On the 27th I do head home to Australia, but very soon after on the 29th I head to Melbourne for the APPT event there. I am currently leading the Australia and New Zealand Poker Tout (ANZPT) Player of the Year rankings www.anzpt.com after coming 2nd in Adelaide in February and having 2 deep runs in Sydney and the Gold Coast. The Melbourne event is crucial with three events to go, Queenstown and Darwin being the other two events. Hopefully the run good can continue, 2011 has been a truely amazing year so far.

Also do not miss my heads up Pot Limit Omaha match against Team PokerStars Pro Juan Maceiras this Sunday, the prize for which is $3,000. This heads up match is a freeroll for me provided by PokerStars as I won the Weekly Tournament Leader Board mainly as a result of my Sunday Million win. I played a total of 2 days last week. The game is at 14:00 ET (US) this coming Sunday, July 24th! When I play, I play to win. All of these extra/bonus/promotions are just cream to me. As with Player of the Year points and possible sponsorship attached to the ANZPT, they are largely out of my control and I am just focussing on playing well and making good decisions.

Also a huuuuuuge shout out to Andy Hin who is the last Aussie left in the WSOP main event. The guy is a genius, I love the way he thinks about the game. It was another great tournament run by Tony Hachem. I can't wait to see how this ends. Go Austria!

Staking, Improving & Binking

I think the process of coaching others and explaining concepts that I accept as being the truth pushes me to open my mind to new ways of working through old problems. As I have begun coaching others in the basics of poker, it really has forced upon me a new level of thinking into my game.

Why I do what I do in certain hands against different types of opponents was revealed in my sleep and meandering. I was doing things without really knowing why. Luckily I was taught by people who were profitable and thinking. If I wasn't, my learning process would have been much longer. So many people were very patient and answered questions that seemed very basic to them in ways that I could understand.

At times I get frustrated thinking over how I played hands even just 12 months ago. It makes me realise now that things take time. Concepts sink in over time with consistent practice. After having a one week break in Hamilton Island I think that one key concept dropped into my mind that took me probably the longest to learn. Opening up opponents ranges and allowing them to bluff in certain spots was repeated to me several times and each time I thought I understood it. I worried so much about missing value in certain spots but in reality there was very little chance I would be paid off by worse hands and only make them fold worse hands and call with better.

On Monday I had my 2nd biggest win lifetime and biggest online win in a $109 re-buy tournament with 748 entrants. I think I was in for 3 lots of $109 US dollars. With about 60 runners left I raised with AK and won Vs 77, this was when I realised that I was a good chance in the tournament and should begin to really focus on this particular tournament. The next significant hand was with about 28 players left. I got maximum value with my set of 8's to almost double my stack again.

From 18 out I was card dead and stealing enough to stay above average. A very active opponent was making it hard for me to accumulate chips at this key stage. He raised when I wanted to steal and and re-raised me when I had nothing. We got down to 15 players and there was a quick fire elimination of 4 players leaving me sitting at 10/11. I had 20 big blinds when I flatted behind an early position raise with aces and flopped top set. I was wondering how I would get paid when he proceeded to bet into me 3 times.

I then doubled through this same player which put me into the chip lead going into the final table. 3rd hand into the final table I cold 4 bet bluffed the guy who I had developed some dynamic with to which he responded with an all in move which I could not call. The same guy then eliminated another player with AA beating AK. I then continued to re-raise the chip leader and float in position as we battled on a hand where I re-raised him, got cold 4 bet by another player and I shipped it in with 10's and won a race against AK.

From this stage on I don't want to get into details but I really played well and anticipated opponents moves in advance pretty well. A couple of players were out and for the first time in the tournament I got it in bad with 88 vs the very active players JJ, I was fortunate enough to river a straight. I felt this player ' Vinkyy' played really well and he walked away in 4th when my AK > his AQ with $19,327.50 USD.

We played a few hands with 3 left before 'utreg' from the Netherlands was persistent is his request to look at numbers which is to do a deal. We all agreed to look at the numbers based on chips. I had a chip lead and 'nikov' from Sweden was almost even with utreg. When Pokerstars came back with the numbers they were offered approximately 31k each and 41k was set aside for myself if I agreed. I asked each player for 1k more but they instantly declined. Rather than negotiating further I felt comfortable playing out the tournament with first being worth $48,318.75, 2nd $34,789.50 and 3rd $25,770.00.

After almost 9 hours of play the stacks were as follows;

Nikov (Sweden) 1.5M
On The Mac (Australia) 2.4M
Utreg (Netherlands) 1.6M

Shortly after they declined the deal the stacks were;
Blinds 25k/50K (5K ante)

Nikov (Sweden) 1.15M
On The Mac (Australia) 3.04M
Utreg (Netherlands) 1.56M

Going into Heads Up;

Nikov 2.024M OTM 3.481M

Then this happened...

Matthew Moate covered it quite nicely;

What a sweat Final hand... Nikov min opens 160K, OTM re pops to 380,567. Nikov shoves, OTM Snaps to show down AKo vs As9s... Board runs out Qc 3s 6s binging a flush draw
then he hits his 9c
and the river brings the wine with Kc... WP GG!

Online Poker Landscape Changing

With the recent shut down of online poker in the USA the games on Pokerstars have become noticeably easier. The fields are smaller but games are soft. 18% of Pokerstars players are from the USA compared to 35% for Full Tilt Poker. The development of worldwide poker tours such as the European Poker Tour, Latin American Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour and the Australian & New Zealand Poker Tours by Pokerstars really places them well to survive and maybe even grow if they focus on and develop these new markets.

Online poker will return to the US market, the government is just going to legislate it and tax the market. The licenses will be sold to those who are interested and possibly Pokerstars and Full Tilt as we know them now maybe excluded from the re-opening of the market. They took the risk of continuing to operate during a time when others like Party Poker did not offer online gaming to the US market in reaction to legislative changes. Some land based gaming companies such as Harrah’s have indicated interest in obtaining such licenses.

The indictment largely focuses on financial transactions, claiming the online poker companies violated a 2006 law that Congress passed to cut off the flow of cash to online gambling companies, saying the firms “deceived or directed others to deceive United States banks and financial institutions into processing billions of dollars in payments.”

In the meantime ‘American online grinders’ either have to re-locate to Canada or become live pro poker players if they aren’t interested or motivated enough to get ‘real jobs.’ One of the great pleasures of playing online poker is being able to play when and where you like. All you need is a reliable internet connection and you are on. Obtaining and transferring funds online has been the real catch to American players in the past due to the ‘payment processing act’ but we are fortunate in Australia to have no such issues.

At present some players are worried that their funds may be frozen or unavailable. This seems to be just a temporary issue as this Forbes article outlines; http://blogs.forbes.com/nathanvardi/2011/04/20/u-s-online-poker-players-will-get-their-money-back/. This is actually an opportunity for Australian poker players to make hay whilst the top American grinders are blacked out.