Kakabuku steps up

How long have you been playing poker?
I think I started in 2006, just fooling around on various websites, but to be honest I had no clue what poker was about. In 2007/2008 I went travelling around the world with my girlfriend and when we returned I had a second try, but again just for fun.

In July 2009 a friend told me about PKR and it turned out I still had an account dating back from 2006 where I had played about five games (all Play Money). Since I had not a penny to spend after our trip, I challenged myself to try and make as much money from poker as I could in this third try, starting with the 10 cent giveaways and working my way up from there.

I took it step by step (within the self made rules of my own bankroll management schedule) and my highlight so far was a nice cash in the Aussie Open, for which I won a ticket in the lottery (my bankroll obviously did not allow me to buy in directly for this tournament).

What was your overall approach to these tournaments?
I approached each tourney differently because the tournaments themselves can't be compared. I imagined a turbo six-seater would be completely different from a full ring deep stack tourney.

In the ten-seaters with a deeper stack I wanted to be patient and pick my spots to make a move. I told myself to be more aggressive in the short handed MTT's with fast rising blinds and a smallish/modest starting stack.

What do you think is your greatest weakness?
Without any doubt I have to improve in the middle stages of a tournament. If nothing fancy happens in the early stages I very often enter the middle stages of a tourney with an around average stack. However, I will rarely enter the late stages of a tournament with a healthy stack - probably because I'm too scared to use (and lose) my chips in the middle stages. I'd rather sit back hoping they will multiply and my stack will get bigger by keeping it warm and dry. If the bubble faze is over, I can feel the relief and being aggressive is no problem anymore.

What advice can you give to players who are just starting out on their real money tournament journey?
Patience!!! Beginners playing the low stakes are very impatient and play a lot of (marginal) hands, fighting other players also playing marginal hands. Luck becomes an important factor to win a hand or not. My advice would be to play tight at those low stakes, but when you do have a hand or you do hit the flop immediately go for the kill. If people then suck out on you, so be it, you know you did nothing wrong.

Bankroll Management. Never play for more money than your bankroll allows you to. There are very simple guidelines what the maximum buy-in should be for a STT, MTT or Ring Game in relation to your bankroll and following these rules will prevent you from going broke.

Try to enjoy your tourney and maybe learn something each game instead of feeling sorry for yourself or getting angry because you got eliminated.

What did your experience teach you, and how (if at all) has your MTT strategy changed?
The one thing I learnt so far, again in these four MTT's, is that variance is a bitch.... It is so unbelievably frustrating when you play for hours and still get eliminated outside the money because your hand with a 55%+ chance of winning, AGAIN doesn't make it (for the nth time in a row). Having to deal with this frustration has taught me not to start another tourney before I am 'in control' again. First clear my head, walk the dog, visit the Social Lounge on the PKR forum or drive my bike at 300km/h...

Which tournament did you enjoy the most, and why?
I was really looking forward to all four tournaments but regretfully each one turned out to be a big disappointment.

In the $1,000 GTD six-seater, early in the game I rightfully folded my Q-Q and some 15-20 hands later I again had to fold a big hand (K-K) on a A-Q-3 flop with two people all in (A-J and A-3 it turned out). These two hands obviously got me short stacked and when I got all of my chips in after the break (playing my fifth/sixth hand) with A-9s vs J-T and a J came on the turn - my tournament was over, finishing 52nd of 162 players.

In the $2,500 GTD Turbo six-seater it went the same way. Early in the game I folded top pair, top kicker against what later turned out to be a flopped straight and it cost me quite a few chips. With a starting stack of only 1,500 chips and three minute blind levels you just don't have time to recover. Some 15 hands later all my chips went towards the middle of the table with J-5 vs 9-6 when a player that I had seen bluffing on two earlier occasions put me all in. Since I didn't believe he had an A (7-A-J flop) I was convinced my J was good despite the crappy kicker and I decided I was gonna call if he would put me all in. The turn and river however, were not exactly kind to me - 9 and 6.... Game over - finishing 178th of 315 players.

The PKR Open was my third disaster. In the first hour I completely missed every flop I saw while others were betting like crazy post flop, meaning no reason for me to stay in these hands. The only highlight was when I flopped the nut straight with my K-T on a A-Q-J flop, but damn, someone else did too... In the second hour I found 9-9 in the SB with 12 BB left, however after pushing all-in my opponent had A-K and of course the flop came K-K-J... right... 417th of 702 players.

Finally the $1,000 GTD Deep Stack (it's getting boring, I know). In the first hour I didn't see a decent ace or pocket pair and the hands I did play didn't connect with the board while people were betting left and right. In the second hour I found A-K and after my raise, a re-raise put me all in. My opponent showed Q-Q and without any help from the board I busted in 125th position (of 294 players).

The one positive feeling I have after having played these four MTT's is that I made a few good lay downs and I missed few opportunities to gain some chips. I only got a few premium hands and most hands I played I think I played OK. Regretfully I found a cold deck each and every time I was involved in a pot.

Overall I am truly disappointed with the outcome but not so much with my play.

How did you find the difference in class compared to the lower buy-in tourneys?
There definitely is a difference in class, especially after the first hour of play. Most 'bingo players' are eliminated by that time and the level of play will increase much more compared to the low stakes MTT's. However, grinding these low stakes day in day out teaches you how to deal with these 'more adventurous' players. If you can't beat them while playing low stakes you also won't beat them playing higher stakes.

Will you be playing any of the tourneys again?
Definitely! The Deep Stack MTT I think suits me best as there's time to wait for an opportunity to collect some chips and it's easier to recover from a bad beat if it comes along. I also want to play more six-seaters. These were relatively new for me and I learned a lot. Initially I was playing these six-seaters so carefully it reminded me straight away of how I struggle in the middle stages of a regular ten-seater with chips disappearing with every blind and no good opportunities to make a move.

These six-seaters showed me again how important it is for me to start working on (and deal with) well timed aggression. I really have some homework to do...

What was the most satisfying hand you played over the whole weekend?
Pheww, since there were almost no hands I won, (don't laugh!), I guess the most satisfying hands I played in these four MTT's must be folding two or three very good starting hands to lesser hands that had me beat...

I wish the next person some more luck and a lot of good fun! Like Mike Sexton always says in the WPT - 'May all your cards be live, and your pots be monsters'...!!!