Eastern Shore Fall Poker Classic

I'm playing in my first live tournament over 50 people. The tournament is Saturday, November 14th, at the Wicomico Youth Civic Center in Salisbury, MD. Buy-in is $250 ($200 to prize pool and $50 to charity). I believe it is $300 at the door. Looking at previous events helld at the center, there should be around 300-400 people playing. I've been doing very well online the last 2 months. Something clicked in my brain, and I've been hacking through simliar fields (300-400-500 people) with consistency. I've placed 1st once and have had numberous FTs and top 20 finishes. I'm up about $3500 since I quit playing cash games.

Is anyone else going to this tournament (I realize it is small to some standards)? For any of the live regs on the forum, what are somethings I should bring? Anything I should look out for that I won't find in a tournament FAQ?

I guess I'm just looking for some info from people who have played in similar tournaments.

Thanks!!

Very hard to play these type tournys in the usual way and still win. 6-8 players in every hand with any 2 cards. Usually a turbo type structure. something like 3000 chips with the 1st level 50/100 and doubling every 15 mins...which means if u havent doubled up by the 3rd level you'll be short stacking..
Its gambling at its finest so you might as well get in there with em.
Still i try to hold out for big hands on the Button or in the BB where your shoves will hopefully thin the field....
If you've ever read the book 'Kill Phil" that style works as good as any for these type tournys...

PPP: I probably should have mentioned this in the first post: Each player starts with 20,000 chips and there are 30 minute blinds. The blinds start at 25/50 (isn't that low for the amount of chips?). I'm used to a starting stack of 3000 with blinds starting at 10/20. Not exactley sure how fast the blinds go online.

PPP, do you bring anything with you like a notepad or something to keep information players? I'm planning on taking one of those small flip-open pocket size notebooks and my ipod.

I am going to concentrate more on limiting my micro expressions and going through the same motion each hand rather then trying to identify physical tells of other players. I think that i can play the same as I play online and do well. I'm much better at picking up on betting tells then throat clears and other micro expressions.

The only thing that I do not like about this tournament is that it is "self" dealt until the final 10 tables.

Thanks for sharing, If i would of known about it sooner, I probably would of made the trip.

I am not a pro by any means, but I love the tournament style. That is a lot of chips for a small blind. You could start off rather aggressively, and even with losses, not be down that much considering. But that means more people with probably be very aggreesive. 20k seems like way too much when I think about it. Could be a very long tourny.

GL let us know how it goes. IPOD is a must for me. Keeps me from getting irratated with annoyin people.

Defying said:

Thanks for sharing, If i would of known about it sooner, I probably would of made the trip.

I am not a pro by any means, but I love the tournament style. That is a lot of chips for a small blind. You could start off rather aggressively, and even with losses, not be down that much considering. But that means more people with probably be very aggreesive. 20k seems like way too much when I think about it. Could be a very long tourny.

GL let us know how it goes. IPOD is a must for me. Keeps me from getting irratated with annoyin people.

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Sorry I didn't post earlier. I only heard about the tournament on the radio yesterday. I'm really excited to see what I can do in a live field. I've played cash games in casinos before, but this will be my first tournament. My biggest concern is stacking my chips, LOL. I tend to juggle my chips a lot and I've never had more then $400 bucks (in $5 chips) in front of me. I see on the WSOP how these dudes have huge mountains of chips. I guaranteed I dump mine at least once. On top of that, it is more difficult to estimate how much an opponent has and how much is in a pot unless you make sure to pay 100% attention each hand. Obviously it is easy to see the amounts online.

Any tips?

bigdaveyt said:

Sorry I didn't post earlier. I only heard about the tournament on the radio yesterday. I'm really excited to see what I can do in a live field. I've played cash games in casinos before, but this will be my first tournament. My biggest concern is stacking my chips, LOL. I tend to juggle my chips a lot and I've never had more then $400 bucks (in $5 chips) in front of me. I see on the WSOP how these dudes have huge mountains of chips. I guaranteed I dump mine at least once. On top of that, it is more difficult to estimate how much an opponent has and how much is in a pot unless you make sure to pay 100% attention each hand. Obviously it is easy to see the amounts online.

Any tips?

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I am not qualified to give tips. I only been playing the "right" way for a couple months. I have done well but still long ways to go.

Its funny you say that bout the chips. That would be my biggest fear too. :lolBIG:

If you are not use to live, I think you will be surprised by the annoyance that people around you will cause. A lot of people bring the BS with them. I just discovered the joys of Ipod with me. I keep it in one ear, and low so I can hear others talk if I want too. But when I am out of the hand, I just focus listening to the music and watch what they do. It helps me, but music is a distraction to some.

I wouldn't worry about the self dealt part. I am sure they will have som kind of system where one shuffles, one cuts, on deals. Just keep communication open, by asking if pots right before you flip. You do kind to have to lead the action when dealing, I keep the game moving along by saying "300 to you", ect. You will find your comfort level fast.

As far as whats in the pot, its something you have to work on. I wasn't able to do it after my first tournament without losing focus on what I was doing. It is much easier than knowing amounts other people have. If i had to give you advice I would say, concentrate on your game first, try to keep up with pot size, and just keep in mind who is small stack, chip lead ect.. don't stress yourself over keeping count.

The biggest surpise to me was when chipping up. If you make it to high limits, your large stack feels kind of small, I still struggle making the transition, but I am still learning. Wish you luck.

Just find a comfort level, and play your game.

PPP and Defying,

Just got back from the tournament. I knew it was going to be different then playing online poker, but I didn't realize how MUCH different it would be. When I first got there, I jumped in a $60 satellite to the main event (even though I already paid my $250 buyin) to see if I could win a seat and get some of my cash back; plus I wanted to get a feel for the room, cards, chips, etc. Ended up finishing 3 of 10 with the top 2 players winning satellites. I didn't have to waste the $60 bucks, but I'm happy I played the satellite. I was able to shake out some of the nervousness and survey the competition.

The Main Event started at 10:00am. There was a 15 minute "Chip Up" break after the first hour and I'm pretty sure I lost a 500 dollar chip and I don't know why? Anywho, ended up playing 7 hands in 3 hours. With the average live game running 30-35 hands an hour, I estimate I played roughly 6% of hands (I usually playing 10-15% online). The hands I had were, 99, 22, 22, A2 clubs (in bb), 89 diamonds (only loose hand I played, and I would have spiked a 4 outter to hit the nut straight had I made it past the turn), and JJ. The biggest problem I had wasn't chips, it was dealing. The tournament was a self deal tournament until the final 5 tables. I haven't played a live game in 3 years. Everything I do is with a mouse or a key pad. Needless to say, I couldn't shuffle and people were getting mad, which made me more nervous, and made me shuffle even slower. I would have been ok, but one of the guys in the satellite told me I was shuffling wrong and I had no clue what the fuck he was talking about.

Final Hand - Had JJ UTG and decided to just call 600. 2 folds, guy raises to 1800, SB shoves. I probably should have let this go, but the SB was playing a shitload of hands and I really didn't put him on anything devastating, especially since he just went ALL IN. No re-raise, just a monkey shove. Maybe I give people too much credit, but I put the man on 88, 99, or 1010, and I was sure I had him crushed. So I think for a second and make the call. Guy turns over KK and I don't catch a straight, flush, or jack. In retrospect, I should have raised proper in first position with JJ; original raiser probably would have re-popped me and then the SB KK holder would have shoved and I could have folded.

I didn't have to call for the my tournament life, but honestly, I was bored. I know that is a poor reason to blow $250 bucks, but I didn't see myself excelling in this type of environment. The people playing were your average gunclub, vfw, or fire house players. If this is how most tournaments are (or at least start out until these people are eliminated), then I'll stick to online poker. I honestly don't think I will ever play another large live game again. I like to play fast and I like to play as much as I can at one time. I play better when I'm in 5 tournaments at a time. On top of that, I was pretty tired. Delaware has been getting pounded with rain and I had been stranded for 2 days prior, only being able to make it in to town during low tide. The only road in and out of where I live was filled with about 2 feet of water the last 2 days and unfortunately, high tide was at 6:30am, so I had to leave at 4:45am to drive 45 minutes then wait until 8am to start playing. It was the only way I could get through the water, so needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night and it just made things a little bit harder/made me care less. However, I'm back on the horse and am fired up to play the $10K 10+1 R/A at CAKE!!

:toast::toast:

I wish I would of heard of this. I would of made the trip from PG County. Maybe next time.

LostBankroll said:

I wish I would of heard of this. I would of made the trip from PG County. Maybe next time.

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the website is eastern shore poker classic dot org. They had an event in the Summer too. I think it may be seasonal.

bigdaveyt said:

PPP and Defying,


:toast::toast:

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I missed the 7th hand, KK.

BigDave

That does suck about forgetting how to shuffle cards. I am sure it hurt the preception others had about you. I love tournaments, but I agree its a different animal. I think you didn't play enough hands.

In tournament style, you need to put the pressure on others. If you are early in position, you should acutally play a little more loose than you wouldthan in later position. You want to put the pressure on others.

I love tournaments, and the style that I can succeed in, but it's all I play.