Poker Guru Online Poker Forums - Blogs - ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/blog.php?173-ashutoshnaik Join the largest online poker community in India and play in our exclusive free tournaments. en Thu, 23 May 2013 02:04:47 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg Poker Guru Online Poker Forums - Blogs - ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/blog.php?173-ashutoshnaik Hello 2013! http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?555-Hello-2013! Wed, 09 Jan 2013 05:17:51 GMT Wish you a happy new year 2013! Been too long since I blogged. Things have been topsy turvy over the last few months. In November, I was made... Wish you a happy new year 2013!

Been too long since I blogged. Things have been topsy turvy over the last few months. In November, I was made redundant from my last job, due to some issues with the management. This forced me to go pro for the 2nd time in 2 years, but just after 2 months, I realised that I was not ready to be a pro player. Ironically, the month I spent playing poker fulltime, was the only net losing month in 2012 for me, and I was making money when not playing professionally. I didnt lose much money during my pro period, however I realised that professional poker ( poker as only source of income ) was not for me - not here, not now! It wasnt about making or losing money anymore, but I had to ask myself deep questions like - what will give me happiness over the long run? Is it money, is it just money or are there other things that make me happy ? Do I want to completely let go of my education and work experience and completely put all my eggs into the poker basket ? Am I a good enough player ? Am I ready to take the swings ? Do I really want this ? etc etc.

The net decision I made, was not to make a living from poker. It was too stressful, and I discovered that I had a passion for the other things I do, which I used to do prior to making a living out of poker. I would defintiely pursue it as a seroius hobby though. One of my friends had predicted that I would run good if I was not depending just on poker for money. I was indeed hoping his prediction came true, which it did, because after taking a 23 day break from poker - which is f** long, by the standards of any serious poker player, I am doing good now. I ve been playing a lot since then and had a very few losing sessions, compared to the number of winning sessions.

During this break from poker, I went on a vacation to the UAE, did fun things, and I also got a chance to work on the weaknesses in my game. Without going into the details of my weaknesses, which I definitely wouldnt like to disclose to you guys as I will be playing you againt too often at the tables, lol, I would say that more than the technical or psychological things, which i thought I was decent at, the most important thing I am working on is emotional tilt control. Out of my redline, I would say, 40 percent came out of tilt poker, 40 percent from bad beats and 20 percent from bad play. Now the 20 percent bad play, needs a lot of refinement to fix and is an ongoing process, but I figured that the easier part to fix was the 40 percent loss from tilt. How many times after getting a bad beat, have I thrown away 1-2 Buyins just playing suboptimally. The key is to play your A game at all times. If you cant play your A game, then go home, come back some other time, some other day - there will always be a game running, and at the serious level, when you are playing with big money, there is really no excuse to continue playing, when you know you are playing suboptimally. Now, coming to the the 40 percent of bad beats - these are unavoidable, but you can definitely control the 40 percent tilt, and this is actually easy if you put some real work on it. I am trying things like meditation, stupid as it may sound, but meditation, yoga and exercise as well as taking periodic breaks are actually helping me.

I did go to goa around the new year, and spent 3 days playing poker there. In fact I didnt celebrate new year's eve at all, this time. After playing 2 nights continously, I took a days break on 31st night to rest - just did not feel like partying! I did do good poker wise in Goa. I figured that it was the best time to play poker in Goa. We had almost 6-7 tables running everyday, and had a lot of action.

My plans for this year are to focus on the local cash games, and try to move to the higher stakes, and try to improve my game and adapt to the changing poker dynamics. 2012 though profitable, was only half as profitable as 2011 for me, when I was on a tourney and cash game heater. I had such a good run in 2011, although I think I used to play worse then, compared to now. 2012 was not a year of fireworks but a year of consolidation, and learning about this beautiful game. I hope to make 2013 a much more profitable one, and given how its started, I might be on the right track. My game is definitely suited for higher stakes but I want to continue playing with my own money, and not get into any long term staking agreement, always played with my own money till now, so it will take me sometime to get to the high stakes, if at all I do. However, I think I would try to sell action, especially for the bigger games, and this is something I would look into.

I am happy with what I am doing now, and finally seem to have found a balance between poker, work, relationships and life!

Take it easy!
Ashutosh ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?555-Hello-2013! Up Down Down November http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?530-Up-Down-Down-November Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:46:18 GMT Hi guys,

I haven't blogged in a while, so thought of blogging. November hasn't been very good to me. I started this month well, but soon fell into the abyss of variance, as you can see from my graph. I am sure I played bad too, but got a little bit unlucky in large pots, where my advantages on the flop and turn didn't hold up but I am not too affected by it, as long as I am putting my money in good.

The scene of live poker has moved from Goa to the home games that are mushrooming across different cities, And whenever I have time, I do grind at Golden Aces and IPA these days in Bangalore. The low rake is very helpful. I ll definitely be in Goa though for PGT, and during Sun Burn ( 26 - 31st December ), so hope to put in some days then.

Cheers until next time!
Ashutosh
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]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?530-Up-Down-Down-November The year so far http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?415-The-year-so-far Mon, 15 Oct 2012 08:00:28 GMT Hi guys, Has been really a sick couple of weeks, and I recently won 6 out my last 8 cash game sessions, although no major cashes, and my graph... Hi guys,

Has been really a sick couple of weeks, and I recently won 6 out my last 8 cash game sessions, although no major cashes, and my graph looks like this ( attached ) .. This is for the period jan 2012 till date.. if you look at the last part of the worm, it is looking up and thats great news for me. I dont want to speak too soon though, as I had a few crazy up and down months, and also this is not any significant upswing, but I am really looking forward to the rest of the year, having fixed some important leaks in both my tournament and cash game, I am really looking forward to the future. I have also found a lot of my strengths and weaknesses over the past couple of months. Despite some sick downswings, I have averaged 4.98 BB/hour for 373 hours in live cash games this year and a RoI of 35% in live tournies over a period of 38 tourneys this year, I cashed out in 9 ( tournament events, deals, satellites and local tournies). My weakness is that i suck online, and that is an area I have to improve in the future, but I am doing good live. I have to work on getting my concentration level up for online play, and I definitely suck at multi-tabling. I really want to make the most of the next few months and finish the year on a high note.


Many people think that poker is a way to easy riches, but the best definition of poker that I have found is that, "its a hard way to make an easy living". Never give up, sooner or later, your edge comes through. For this edge to come through, you have to put in volumes, thats the only way to win at this game. Also, have a detachment with the cash that you bring to the table. U may be carrying a lot of money in your pocket at all times, but remember that out of this, only a little percentage is your winning, try to avoid the temptation of using your poker bankroll for anything else.

Until next week, Cheers!!

Ashutosh
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]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?415-The-year-so-far PGMP part 2 and crazy Saturday night cash game http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?408-PGMP-part-2-and-crazy-Saturday-night-cash-game Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:06:10 GMT Hiya guys.

The second edition of PG membership program is out. I can't tell you how much this has helped me. Its a golden opportunity simply becuase I seriously don't know why Adi is giving it for free.. he could seriously charge a lot for this kind of top notch coaching. So I suggest you better apply, before he changes his mind :)

Regarding my run this week, I played 3 cash game sessions this Saturday in the span of 14 hours, and after ups and downs, made around a couple of buyins profit from it.

Some crazy hands -

1. I 3bet a guy who I considered a weak player, with QQ from SB he calls.. flop is 5 8 9 with 2 hearts... I have 9K remaining, I check, anticipating a good raise from him regardless of any two cards, since he saw i was short, he bet 6K, with 7K in the pot, i knew he had nothing ..so i shoved.. he calls and shows, A 6.. for a gutshot, but the turn is Ace and river is 6. Crazy suckout. And to make things worse, the fish immediately leaves the table with my money. Urgghhh!!

2. I reload for 15K, After a few hands i again get QQ on UTG+1. I had 9K remaining that point. I limp, one fish raises 1.5K, 2 flatters, so there is 4.8K in the pot, i limp shove expecting to pick up the dead money rake free. To my suprise, both fishes flat. Luckily the board is J 8 4 4 4.. and I hold, getting a triple up.One of them showed 7 7 saying "I never fold 77 preflop, you can ask anyone", and the other guy mucked.

3. One crazy hand happened when i was on a 50K stack.. I raised with KQ UTG+4, 4 guys flatted including button, flop was k 8ss 3ss.. UTG riased 3K, one guy flats, I raise 8K, button flats my 8K, UTG+1 who was a passive player this hand and was targetin ime all day long, open shoved 50K in the pot man, leaving me 35K to call. He was a hyper aggressive player, I painfully folded, just cuz i had one pair, and this fish was playing any 2 cards preflop, and also becuase i didn't know what button would do, behind me to act. The button folded, and Eventually this player showed a king and asked me if i was good. I think I was in a way ahead, way-behind kind of situation, he probably hit his 2 pair or AK in the worst case. He was targeting me all day long, so i changed my table. Went to another table and did good. This fish owned me this night, but at least I made some money off him before I left the table.

I m looking forward to Golden Aces main event. Mostly going to attend it, before the 5 day pokerguru tour grind!

Until next time. Cheers!!

Ashutosh ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?408-PGMP-part-2-and-crazy-Saturday-night-cash-game A good weekend http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?402-A-good-weekend Wed, 03 Oct 2012 06:03:59 GMT Hiya everyone I played 2 days of poker this week, including the IPL 6K bounty tournament this weekend and a big round of congratulations to the... Hiya everyone

I played 2 days of poker this week, including the IPL 6K bounty tournament this weekend and a big round of congratulations to the "Vinay Suchede family" for their great performance during IPL. Seems like on that day, Vinay's mom could do nothing wrong and shipped the 6K bounty, which was her first ever live tournament.

I couldn't cash in the IPL this time. Just played the 6K bounty. My stack was varying between 4K ( starting stack) and 6K in the first 3 levels, until I raised from CO with 55, button and BB ( YJ Kim) flats. The flop was Ass 5ss rag. BB checks, i check, button raises, Kim 3-bets, I 4-bet, and eventually all our stacks are in on the flop. Great bounty equity. But YJ Kim who had a flush draw, hit his flush, and the board didn't pair up for me, and that was it. The other player had AK.

I had a good run in cash games this time. Was 1.2L up after 2 sessions so was good running.

Some hands from cash games that I can remember:

- I raise UTG 2000 with KK, LAG on SB with 15K stack flats, Flop is ace rag rag. SB checks, I bet 4K, SB goes all in, I muck.

- I raise 1K from MP with KQss, same LAG flats from button, Flop is J 6ss 8ss, He checks, I bet 1.5K, he calls. Turn is jack, I check, he bets 2.5K, I raise to 5K, he calls. River is a rag ( flush doesnt complete ), he bets 2K, i call with king high.. he shows a jack.

- On a 20K stack, i raise UTG+3 with 88, MP flats, SB flats. Flop is 7ss 8 8ss. Check through, Turn is 9ss. SB bets 3.5K, I tank call, MP suddenly raises to 8K, Sb flats, I figure that they have to pay me on the turn if they have to, I go all in, both call, and sweet triple up. Wish somebody had a straight flush, I could have won the bad beat jackpot. lol

- Won a huge hand when I had AJ and the flop was AJ rag.. 2 guys paid me off on all 3 streets - one guy had a flush draw with a pair, and the other had AQ.. For once, I held!

I have made a few changes in my cash game, but only time will tell if it will work - sample size too less now to draw any major inferences.

Before PGT, I m thinking of golden aces main event - I like their structure, 30 minute levels and 15K stack. Let's see if I can make it for that one.

Cheers until next time!

Regards
Ashutosh ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?402-A-good-weekend Last 2 weeks http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?396-Last-2-weeks Tue, 25 Sep 2012 06:13:41 GMT Hello guys, Hope you all have been doing good. Firstly a big shout of congratulations to Sameer Rattonsey, Abhishek Goindi, Samohh, and Sumit... Hello guys,

Hope you all have been doing good.

Firstly a big shout of congratulations to Sameer Rattonsey, Abhishek Goindi, Samohh, and Sumit Sapra on their International successes!

Regarding me, I have had a torrid last couple of weeks. Been on a terible cash game downswing both in the local games and in Goa, although have been doing decently in tournaments. I bubbled the final table in 2 of the last 4 live tourneys i played, and finished 8th and 13th in the other 2. Satellites have been better and I have managed to chop a multi event satellite. Also since I have been selling action and have got some free tournament tickets, I m breakeven in tournaments, but cash has been bad.

I m going to take a little break from cash games to re-analyse my game. I lost a couple of 60K pots, where I was 85 to 90% favorite on the turn. In one of the pots, On a flop of 10 7 2 2, I called an all in of a player who had K 10, when I had JJ, only for the king to appear on the river.

Have been playing a bit aggressive in tournaments, and I feel that I have a good early and mid tournament strategy now, which is helping me to chip up quite a bit until the final stages. I need to work a bit on my final table and late tournament strategy.

Some hands from the tournaments that I can remember

1. 20K main event
- blinds 100-200 UTG I raise to 525, UTG+1 flats, with KK, with 12K stack, - Player 5 from middle position flats, Uday Patil from button goes all in for 4000, folds to me.. From his body language it smelt like an Ace King, I go all in on top, UTG +1, calls with AA. Uday Patil shows AK, Aces hold, I am down to 4000 chips.
- I chip up to 8K, lose a flip when I had AQ vs K3.. and out of the tourney in 13th place.

2. 10K double chance
- Was pretty deep in this one, Lost a couple of BvBs, to finish 10th - called bvd 78ss vs 79 and then shoved 15 BB with A4ss BvB, ran into JJ, nothing held.

3. 5K thursday event
- Finished 8th. I dont remember the action but I had a very strong hand and was trying to murder the table when I got out.

The good thing about the goa tournaments was that there were a lot of amateurs playing the tournaments as well, thus I feel that we have a little bit of an edge if we can exploit it.

I am looking forward to India Poker Legend this weekend - will play the 10K super satellite to the 100K event, and the 6K bounty.

Among other things, I have backed one of my good friends, who is going to Vegas - he has blogged about it here ( http://suggyman.com/preparing-for-my-2012-vegas-trip/ ) - bought 33% of the action, so hoping he does well. He is a very good $1-$2 cash games player, and is going to have a few shots at $2-$5 as well. He is going to play from the 30th of september to the 7th of october - 12 hours per day on the fishy cash game tables in Vegas, so Josh, if you are reading this - Good luck to ya!

Well that's all for me - hope i have some good news the next time I blog

Cheers! ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?396-Last-2-weeks Poker in the rainy weather http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?367-Poker-in-the-rainy-weather Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:45:35 GMT Hi guys The weather is very raining these days, the rains are coming down and Goa looks more beautiful during the rains. And it feels like a good... Hi guys

The weather is very raining these days, the rains are coming down and Goa looks more beautiful during the rains. And it feels like a good time to play some poker. I had a chance to meet Kid Poker - Nitish Gupta, who is doing good for himself playing deep stacked cash games in Goa these days :)

I was in goa this weekend for the main ips event. The winners of all IPS tourneys, even 5K were getting a free 30K CoC seat for their November main event, thus making it more than rake free and good value oriented tourney. In the main event, I got a double up early, when I hit a set of kings on the flop, and won a good pot. In the medium stage of the tournament, I got involved in a hand. UTG raised with A 10o, One player flats with 9Jss. The flop was A 10s 8ss,I 3bet the original raiser and eventually all our money went in on the flop. Unfortunately the flush didn't hit, and I was down to 40% of my starting stack. I got my stack back after an hour, when I raised with 44, got 4 flatters. The flop was King jack 6o.. Every one checks to the raiser, that is me.. And I checked back. Luckily for me, 4 came on the turn, and I got full payment. After that I was cruising with a good stack until my final hand, on the final table bubble, when Rajesh Goyal raised UTG with KK, Rakesh Sharma went all in with 15 BB with KJ, and I have AA in the big blind, so I decide to go all in. Rajesh Goyal calls and covers me. But unfortunately the only remaining King, came on the flop, and that was it for me.

Next day, I played the 5k event. I was running pretty good, but on the final table bubble again, dumped off my stack when my flopped full house was no good as an unknown player flopped quads on the turn. I was not at all affected by these beats, because these beats are nothing compared the kind of beats I have got online, and I am happy to go out with the best hand. Intervntion's training is really helping my game.

I had a good session in cash games though, made up all my buyins and also a profit. On the first day of cash games, I was not in the zone at all.. For eg. I lost a buyin when I paid out a guy who had top set with ace high ( yes an absolute misread ), but the second day I managed to do good and won some good pots. I actually wanted to play more since the table was fishy but made a -ev decision to get up since I was leaving goa in a few hours, and I didn't want to risk getting stuck again. But then, I had postponed my departure from goa by a day, just to recover my losses.

The cash game scene is looking good in goa now, with 3-4 cash tables running all night this weekend for the smaller stakes and also a big game running upstairs. Its a good time to play in goa. And I feel that, the action will be good in goa until the new year. The 100-200 and 200-500 game in Goa is beatable, but you need a decent bankroll for it. Even a 2-3 lakh bankroll is okay (you d need more if you play 200-500) as a start for the season, if you are willing back yourself to lose it all. For 2-3 lakhs, At 15K, you have around 15-20 buyins, which is a good start. But remember that a no limit player can only make money, if he is ready to lose every chip in front of him. Sometimes, you have to trust your reads, and a misread can result in some ups and downs. When I deposit something in Royale, I think that I have already lost the money, and then play. This helps me actually play my game and not get intimidated.

I have also got started off with 50K on pokerkingz. Going to give it a try. Will try to be back for the UPC too.

Until next time... Cheers!!! ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?367-Poker-in-the-rainy-weather Online Grinding! http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?354-Online-Grinding! Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:11:42 GMT Hi guys, With not much live poker going on these days I turned my focus towards online poker for a while and ran really bad with some sick beats... Hi guys,

With not much live poker going on these days I turned my focus towards online poker for a while and ran really bad with some sick beats in crucial situations. However, I realized that it is a volume game online, and unless you put in the volume, there is no way you can turn this around.

As an example, I tried to google for the statistics of some of the fellow PGT members - and you can see that each of them, have played thousands of tourneys, but I have played around 350ish ( which is terrible to say the least), so although the ability level is around the same as per sharkscope ( between 60 and 75%), I haven't been able to show a good profit on pokerstars, although I ve cashed out more on other poker sites.
Player Count Av. Profit Av Stake Av ROI Total Profit Ability
gunner9696 4566 $0.77 $21.57 3.7% $3495 73
ashnaik 368 $0.7 $3.81 55.2% $257 66
WirAnjuna 1566 -0.$25 $3.66 19.4% -$398 63
VinaySuchede 1978 $0.64 $1.61 26.1% $1273 70
Disclaimer - this is based on the free opt-in and publicly available information at sharkscope.com fetched on 21 Aug

I feel one of my strengths in live poker, has been that I can get out of tough situations, especially in deep stacked cash games. This has helped me save a lot of money in the past, but I ve realised that in online tournaments its much more -EV to give the benefit of doubt to the opponent for a very strong hand, in the long run. Sure, you can get out of those situations once in a while, but in the absence of live tells, Adi has been trying to tell us to loosen up, and go for it.

There was a time when TAG ( Tight Aggressive) was the way to play. But these days, the LAG ( Loose Aggressive) style is more in vogue, both for cash games and tourneys. Note that there is a difference between a bad LAG and a good LAG. A good LAG can keep stealing pots, but have the nuts in big hands, and unless you keep chipping up, there is no way you could win tourneys unless you win very large flips at the end. The way to win online, is not playing the live game, but playing the percentage game, playing more tables, upto 24, if you can, and playing more percentage poker. I don't know any poker pro that plays just 1 table at a time. Imagine playing 24 tables, you can do in 1 hour, what a man can do in 24 hours. lol.

Cant say how crucial bankroll management is, and one guy I admire in this department from PGT is Vinay Suchede. The guy has like $1500 in his account, but still plays around $1-$5 MTTs on an average, which I feel is the way to go. No wonder that his graph is going straight up. I ve been guity like most on this front, often playing games much beyond my bankroll.

I am going to cross the 1000 game mark on pokerstars soon, and put up some really good volume when I can. Trying to get some $$ arranged on stars at the moment, and once I have that, I am on the grind!

Another good news is the full tilt is going to open soon. I ve always made more money on fulltilt than stars, and will be happy for my friends who have tons of money, much more than me stuck on full tilt. Hope they start paying people out soon.

Adios and for this week, let me just say - Jai Poker Baba!!! ( Hail the Poker Gods!!! )

Cheers!!! ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?354-Online-Grinding! Poker in Goa http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?344-Poker-in-Goa Sat, 11 Aug 2012 06:40:33 GMT Hi Guys,

I haven't been blogging for a long time, becuase I am on a little break from poker. I have played hardly anything over the last 30 days, and my last tournament in Goa was as far back as IPS July, and unfortunately I couldn't make it for the PGT either. However I view this as a silence before the storm, as I am going to grind a lot in Goa during the September-January period, when tourists are going to be in Goa, and I am going to be there to take care of the tourists on the poker tables. Well, its a sin to let tourists keep their money on the poker tables right ? The last quarter of the year, is always an exciting time for live poker, and I am looking forward to it.

An interesting development these days is that the number of tournaments in Goa are getting consolidated now, with August having just one tournament - IPS and most other tournament operators taking a little bit of a break except for Pokerguru tour of course, which continues to draw in the numbers. The rake-free model of PGT along with the guarantees are taking it ahead. However, I must add that with consolidation on the cards, almost any tournament in Goa will be worth attending in the future, if they provide value. I think there is enough appetite for 2 tournaments/month, and with things like the entire final table getting paid for 50+ entries these days, I think there is good value now and we should see numbers returning to Goa again.

However, the goa government is intent to put a spanner into the development of poker by firstly banning locals in Goa, and then trying to dissuade the casino industry in Goa. The govt seems to be keen on killing the goose that lays golden eggs. The Goa casino industry is generating a lot of revenue for them which includes direct as well as indirect taxes. It's so easy for the tourists to just go to Nepal/Sri Lanka/Macau and give Goa a miss. Also, every city has its own share of underground clubs these days. I think it is high time Goa allows card games in land based casinos, if the government is so serious about saving the river Mandovi, then let them do it on land. I don't see any logical argument, for which they have to allow live card gambling on the river and not on land. I know people who come to the casinos, they do not even visit the beaches, all they do is to be in the casino and go back. if you want to take them away from contributing taxes to the economy, then you are shooting yourself in the foot. Neither does the govt understand that Poker is a skill game, and there are people making a living out of it in Goa.

However, its a fast changing scenario, and nobody knows now, how the situation will evolve, in the coming months. I just hope that better sense prevails. Thankfully, India is a democratic country and I hear that this is already getting challenged in courts. Remember that as a Goan, I am proud of Goa, and I feel as a mature state, which was the first to allow casinos in India, in the first place, better sense will prevail soon! I am doing a bit of campaigning about this with some of the local forums and political workers and getting them see the disasters of this.

Well, that's it from me for now, and until next time, Hope you all run good!


Regards,
Ashutosh ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?344-Poker-in-Goa A weekend in Goa for the IPS main event http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?310-A-weekend-in-Goa-for-the-IPS-main-event Mon, 09 Jul 2012 05:27:24 GMT Hi guys, Hope you are all doig good. Pretty lean season for poker everywhere around the world because of course all the action has shifted to... Hi guys,


Hope you are all doig good. Pretty lean season for poker everywhere around the world because of course all the action has shifted to the Rio All-suite Hotel and Casino in Vegas for the WSOP. Not much happens around the world when that happens. And I hear that Adi is killing it in Vegas, which is really good news for everyone associated with pokerguru. As of this writing, Adi is just started playing the Day 1C of the main event. I hope he has a deep run in the main event and figures in the November nine, man that would be pretty sick and well deserved for one of the the best tourney players in India. I am myself planning a trip to Vegas for cash games sometime in November-December.



I had taken a little break from poker, as I took a slight hit at the cash games around 2 weeks back, but I was in goa this Saturday for the ips main event, this is one event I do not miss, since I free roll this event as I get a free main event seat by virtue of being last years player of the year.


I came to the casino early and was still in two minds on whether to play cash or not, since no satellites were happening when I saw the bad beat jackpot in CR being claimed. Marga Jee, a cash game regular had QQ, an unknown player had rockets. The flop was A Q rag, turn was Q. I was pretty happy for them, and glad that a reg won it. Nimit Patel was also on the table among the regs. The jackpot is now reset to 20 lakhs so it's still not bad.



I played ips main event next, played really Aggro to reach the final table as the chip leader but eventually finished 4th. Was a bit disappointing but the levels were really jumping later n I lost a few crucial flips, such as 99 vs K 10, QQ vs A 6 etc. Whatever I learnt from intervention, regarding pre flop play definitely helped me in reaching the final table as the chip leader, now looking forward to the post flop lessons and final table lessons :)



I m looking forward to the Pokerguru Tour which is the best value tourney tournament in India. Last time, we had almost the entire final table in the money, so book your tickets for this one. It's also rake free, and the final table will be reset to 40BBs.

See you during the PGT!

Regards
Ashutosh ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?310-A-weekend-in-Goa-for-the-IPS-main-event My experiences in Nepal http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?285-My-experiences-in-Nepal Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:14:34 GMT
So I was just lazing around and working on a boring Wednesday afternoon, and intervention suggested that I should attend the...]]> Hi guys,

So I was just lazing around and working on a boring Wednesday afternoon, and intervention suggested that I should attend the cash games festival in Nepal, and after a little bit of thinking, and getting some issues sorted - ( should really thank Aditya "Bitti" Agarwal and Aditya "Intervention" Agarwal for the all-expense paid trip, organized at the last minute ), I was on a flight to Kathmandu on Friday morning heading to Nepal for the very first time, and with the excitement of traveling and playing poker in a new country.

For those of my friends, who have no idea about poker, I have divided this blog into two parts, first - no talk about poker and the second just about poker, so you can skip to whichever section you want.

Firstly nothing poker:

Kathmandu was a beautiful place, and although their airport is crumbling, I liked the different indigenous architecture that it had compared to the other airports I visited. When you land in Kathmandu, your flight is encompassed by the clouds, when you are in the high ranges of the Himalayas, , and you don’t see anything around you for a little while, and then suddenly out of the clouds, you see the airport landing strip - it’s beautiful. The people in Kathmandu are very laid back and the girls in Nepal are very friendly and beautiful. The hospitality and the food at the hotel and the casino were top notch, and I want to congratulate Bitti again for organizing this event well.

Although the visit was short, and I couldn’t do much sightseeing, I did make a lot of friends this time in Nepal, learnt some Nepali( you’d be surprised how easily the Nepali girls are impressed if you can speak a word or two of Nepali ) , and hope to visit again sometime soon. All the nights were spent playing poker, but I really want to try to make it see to the Everest Base Camp someday, and also want to visit Pokhara in Nepal - I heard it is beautiful.

I had a great time socializing with my poker friends too - our outings across the city exploring areas, and parties at the hotels were fun. I have found some of the best friends of mine among the poker crowd - it’s funny if you come to think of it. Off the table you can be best friends, but when on the table, you just want to rip the person apart, and take all his money, you want to break him, tilt him. Well at the end of the day I have realized that one poker player can understand the other, after all. It’s healthy gaming rivalry only on the tables.

Now some tips for those who are thinking about traveling to Nepal - For those who think, the Indian currency is becoming more and more worthless due to the free fall against the dollar recently, there is some good news - the Nepali rupee is pegged at 1.6 to the Indian rupee, so everything in Nepal is very cheap and affordable, and the Indian currency is worthwhile at least in Nepal. Also, you can’t carry 500 and 1000 rupee notes either on the way to Nepal or back, so it was funny in a way that I was carrying a lot of Indian 100 rupee notes.. Even a 10,000 rupee bundle in 100 rupee notes feels so heavy in the pockets. I did carry a lot of US dollars too though, and that’s what I eventually converted anything to during cashout - there is no problem carrying USD.

Now a little bit about poker:

We were staying at Casino Venus, which was a part of the Malla Hotel. The casino itself was separate from the hotel, and we had some good action during the poker cash festival. I played over 28 hours of poker during this weekend, and had some ups and downs, mostly because i was rusty and hadn’t played live cash in a while, however despite some sick bad beats especially in big pots, (for e.g., lost a 80K pot when I had top 2 pairs to a tilting player who made a call with a one card gutshot and he hit on the river), overall I ended up being in positive, and it was a rewardable experience. I am glad I didn’t get stuck or lose money in Nepal. I was a little bit in negative until my final hand, when I won a biggish pot with Aces, just 30 minutes before my departure to the airport on Monday morning. Regarding the players, mostly the crowd comprised of the Goa and Calcutta regulars, there were a couple of good local Nepali players too, who were very knowledgeable, I saw them calling some of the big pots regularly with Ace High. I had a chat with the local players, and you can surely get at least one or two tables running every day in one or the other casino every day in Nepal (like he said the action is good at Hyatt generally), so even if you don’t go as a part of a cash games festival, you can get some action.

Among my future plans, it is back to Goa now, and I will be mostly playing 3 of the next 4 organized tourneys in Goa - CR cup, IPS, and then PGT. I am also looking forward to grinding in cash in Goa too. Really want to get into the cash game mode for some time and make some cash.

Overall a very remarkable trip, and definitely you should visit Nepal for a change, and, maybe I will try poker in Colombo, Sri Lanka next!

Until next time... Cheers! ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?285-My-experiences-in-Nepal The APT week http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?262-The-APT-week Mon, 28 May 2012 04:07:20 GMT Firstly congratulations to Intervention, Prabhat, Siddharth for their successes at the APT. It was real great going especially by Siddharth when he... Firstly congratulations to Intervention, Prabhat, Siddharth for their successes at the APT. It was real great going especially by Siddharth when he finished 2nd at the APT side event. It was nice to catch up with the others like Olli, and Vinay and share thoughts with them during the week.

Regarding my own run this week, I finished 35th in the main event, and in the 20s range in the 2 hyper turbo side events that I played. However, I was in positive this week, due to a big cash game session on Saturday, and also because of the fact that I got into the main event through a satellite.

In the main event, I finished Day 1A with 17.6K chips, one of the shortest stacks. I was card dead and position dead most of the time, and didnt get much action when I had big hands. I survived the later end of the day, when I open folded AKss preflop to Ben Abrahams, who showed KK. Everyone was shocked when

I open folded that, but sometimes, you just have to trust your reading abilities. From my history with the player, I knew I was beat, I knew I was not even flipping, when he 4-bet me with exactly half his stack, and given the way he was playing against me.

However, I came to play aggressively on Day 2, and had soon chipped up to 36K, within an hour, mostly without showdown, as I used my previous day's tight image to my advantage, until I get to move to a new table and this hand happens, which was my last hand.

I am in cutoff, with like 35K behind, blinds are 600/1200, I flat Apoorva's 2.5x raise from UTG+3, with Qc Jc, intervention, flats from SB. The flop is 10c 4h 7c. Intervention leads out 1/3rd pot, Apoorva flats, and it comes to me. I weigh my options, I can either flat here.. but I know Intervention is bluffing/c-betting, I think Apoorva has maybe 88, 99 or 2 over cards.. or a 10, in the worst case.. I thought this was a good opportunity for me to either take down the pot there, or I still have a flush draw with 2 over cards, giving me good equity. I really wanted to go up in chips, and play for the 1st place, and not just wait for min cash. Hence yes, I shoved, intervention insta folded, but Apoorva tank called with JJ, saying "I just cant fold this hand".

I dont know why he flatted jacks on a 10 high board, because, any turn over card could basically destroy his hand. Unfortunately, I didn't hit my queen nor my flush draw and that was it. Well, I could have played it differently, but I just felt that I had to take my chances there, you need to win these races sometimes, if you want to win a tourney. However, in hindsight, maybe I should have taken into account, that Apoorva covered me by 2x, and that he was a high stakes player. Usually its not my style to jam it in, I prefer more postflop play. I talked to intervention and he said it was pretty standard play by me and I got unlucky, so well, that was the end of my main event adventure.

Nothing really great to mention about the hyper turbos, which was a shove fest towards the end, as expected.

After this I went and played cash. Sat down with about 15K, got it up to 37ish when I hit my set with 77, and in a few hand i get aces UTG +2, I raised to 1K, got 5 callers. The small blind, who is an aggro trournament player, makes it 8K. I immediately asked him, if he was happy with the money in the pot ( which was about 14K at that point), and he says No, I want more.. I knew I had to isolate him, so I try to convince him that I have Ace king/ 2 over cards, and i decided to shove the 36K I had in front of me, in a 14K pot, and he make a call saying "lets gamble". Nothing great on the flop,turn or river, he turns over 55 and my Aces hold. Usually I wouldnt play Aces that way in a cash game strongly preflop, as in a deep stacked game, any 2 cards are good preflop, due to huge implied odds and aces is just a pair, after all, but I knew I had this player, and and that he was calling. I enjoy deep stacked cash games. In a deep stacked game for instance, its so much harder for you to put people on cards. Garbage hands like 56off, or J 8 off.. you wouldn't even think of playing in the tourney, but I would play it in a deep stacked cash game, even if i know you have aces. In fact I d be happy, if you show me preflop, that you have a big hand like aces. Because I get so much implied odds if I hit, and becuase I know, you would never put me on those hands. Also I m working more on my table talk and reading abilities, as these are crucial weapons in live cash games.

I am enjoying the cash game action in Goa these days, and hope to come back for more cash games this month, especially since there are no tournaments apart from the Casino Royale Cup. I almost stopped playing cash games at live home games, because hey, I know the rake is low in home games, but how many beginners come to play in home games, how many tourists, how many drunk fishes ? I think its more +EV, to play cash games in Goa, rather than play with the pros and grinders in low rake home games. Not to mention that so many rules are flouted in home games - folding out of turn, talking despite not being heads up, problems of credit, well just too many to mention. However, the casinos would do well to reduce the high rake. There could be exceptions at times, of course.

Note that I have nothing against the home game organisers, there was a time when I was a home games organiser too. They are trying to do a good thing by offering Poker to local players, who do not have the inclination to travel all the way to Goa/Sikkim/abroad and just want to play. Remember, every night, every one needs a game!!! It's just your personal preference, as to where you want to play.

Regarding the future, I intend to take a short break from poker and start grinding online tournaments later this week, and hope to talk more to intervention and others, on tournament play. There is way too much to learn and In the words of AC/DC, "It's a long way to the top, if you want to rock n roll".

That's it from me for now, and do enjoy yourself in Goa before going home if you get a chance. Goa has much to offer apart from Poker, and remember that there is life beyond poker.

Until next time, hope y' all run good!

Regards,
Ashutosh ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?262-The-APT-week Live games and a bit of online grind http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?255-Live-games-and-a-bit-of-online-grind Sun, 20 May 2012 17:01:38 GMT Hi guys, I am really enjoying blogging as a part of the pgt mentorship program and talking to intervention has opened up some new vistas of... Hi guys,

I am really enjoying blogging as a part of the pgt mentorship program and talking to intervention has opened up some new vistas of thinking which I could not even think of before, and I am looking forward to the next few weeks of the program.

On the online side, I was pretty break even last week. *I did have a deep run in the *big 5.5 but a few other subsequent non cashes put me back into black. I didn't do any volume *though, just*Played maybe like 5-6 tourneys, so its*Nothing great to talk about. I am thinking of focusing on the tournaments with 15 minute blind levels in the $20 to $50 buyin range once I recommence online grinding, the week after apt. I am also thinking of getting my hand history reviewed by intervention when he has the time.

On the live front, the week was slightly better for me. On the first day, *I played pretty awful in the UPC 10k satellite, which I bubbled before a deal was made, and didn't play too well*in the subsequent UPC 10k event either. I was looking good to cash out in the UPC 10k event,'since I had more than doubled *up early on.*The reason for double up was that I had managed*To get on the nerves of a player. On one of the hands, the table limped, I raised from small blind with rags, everyone except the villain folded who was utg plus 2. He was 4k behind and there was close to 1.5k in the pot. The flop was 8 4 4. I knew my image for small blind raise was strong so I put him a decision for half of his chips, and he insta *shoved on which I insta mucked. He showed an 8 n the unfortunate flop didn't help me. However I did a lot of table talk , and a couple of hands later I pick*Up aces, I 3 bet the same player
N he got it in bad*With king queen off, preflop.

However I played *the last hand bad. I was card dead for 3 rounds so decide to take a stab with jack 5 off. Raised from late position with antes, small blind flatted. On the flop of Ac 4c 5h, action was checked to me, I bet slightly more than *half the pot and got called. The Turn was Qc. Action went check check, and the river was 2c, giving*Me the second nut flush. The player who was playing really bad till this point, bet 1k in a pot of 7k I was 9k*Behind n so was she. I raised her to 3 and she shoved. I should have folded then which I did not and she had the nut flush. It was hard for her to bluff in this spot, but i had to call 6k in a pot of 19, which meant i had to be right once in 3 times, to make it a profitable call in the long run, but I should have folded following my instincts. Played cash*After that and *was break even on cash games on the first day.

The second day was good for me as along with a good cash session, I also managed to win a seat in the apt main event mega satellite. I am really looking forward to the apt main event this time, as I could not play it the last time. Also I am focusing on live cash games too this week. I do not want to ignore cash games as they are very important especially to generate buyins for tournaments. Given, the variance in tournaments, you can go long streaks without cashing *out, despite playing good. However the challenge is to get into the cash game frame of mind, which is really very different from the tournament frame of mind. Despite trying our best, we are sometimes subconsciously in the tourney frame of mind after a cash game n vice versa, so need to focus extra when playing them back to back.

Well, that's it from me for now and hope to run good at the apt main event. I suggest everyone reading this *to think about playing the main event as it easily has the biggest prize pool in*India so far for a 50k buyin event, with the first prize likely to be in the 25 lakh range.

Cheers for now and may the flop be with you! ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?255-Live-games-and-a-bit-of-online-grind Pokerguru Mentorship Program and last week http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?243-Pokerguru-Mentorship-Program-and-last-week Thu, 10 May 2012 09:39:51 GMT Hi, my name is Ashutosh, and most of the goa tournament and cash game regulars already know me, so wouldn't want to waste much time with the pleasantries :)

I am very excited to be a part of the Pokerguru mentorship program, a chance to learn tournament poker from guys who have won millions online and live cumulatively. I will be blogging pretty actively for the next few months, and looking forward to learn from everyone here.

Last week was pretty average and break even for me tournament wise. I was in Goa for India Poker Series and played 3 tournaments. On the first day, I split the 2nd prize in the mega satellite. In the 10K event, I was running okay until my last hand which was when I was 20 BBs deep and was as follows - Cutoff limps with Q5ss, I check my BB with J7. The flop is J 7 5, rainbow, with 9K behind, i check, Big blind bets 3K, I checkraise him to 6K,he calls. The turn is a K, I go all in for my last 4K, he calls, but the river is a brutal 5, he makes his trips, and that was the end of me.

In the 20K main event, I didnt get a double up in the initial stages, although my stack was pretty constant, I was constantly getting blinded out, as I was card dead and someone always got better cards, when I had hands. Ultimately, I shoved 22 from cutoff, which ran into Big blind's AQ and that was it. I finished 13th in both the events.

It was fun being part of the pokerguru mentorship sessions, and I am really enjoying being part of the discussions. I have always wanted to do better online on pokerstars, and I am going to try to build a good bankroll online in the next 1-2 months.

Well, that's it for me for now. Until next time, Take her easy!! ]]> ashutoshnaik http://www.pokerguru.in/forum/entry.php?243-Pokerguru-Mentorship-Program-and-last-week