Deconstructing ..... Flipper

Ste05

Right, since Flipper was the first to post in this thread he's up first.

Some Rules:

There can be NO flaming, this isn't a chance for people to have a shot at who ever goes in. Entrants to the Deconstructing series will have their thick skins on but forum rule breaches will be dealt swiftly and harshly with by a 1 week ban, so you have all been warned.

Just to spell it out: NO PERSONAL ATTACKS, criticise and critique his game and NOTHING else!

Keep it constructive and good luck Flipper.

Goodluck2me

just a very simple thing, i havent played with you before but i have dealt to you a few times, and one thing i would say is that you give an awful lot of speech at the table, not necessarily about your hand but for example, kind of things like "i dont like the way you bet the turn i would have done X or Y", you kind of give away a lot of what you do/how you play, although i must say at least 40% of the players i have dealt to do this without fail every time. An alert player paying attention could pick up on this so easily, and have had players tell me tdurign breaks and thign that they called hand 1 and hand 2 purely on things like this, not against you but others. its just somethign to be vigilant about.

Flipper

goodluck2me wrote:

just a very simple thing, i havent played with you before but i have dealt to you a few times, and one thing i would say is that you give an awful lot of speech at the table, not necessarily about your hand but for example, kind of things like "i dont like the way you bet the turn i would have done X or Y", you kind of give away a lot of what you do/how you play, although i must say at least 40% of the players i have dealt to do this without fail every time. An alert player paying attention could pick up on this so easily, and have had players tell me tdurign breaks and thign that they called hand 1 and hand 2 purely on things like this, not against you but others. its just somethign to be vigilant about.

thanks for the contribution Joe. Ya, I'm mildly aware of this and for a while now I've been intentially giving bad advice just to screw with people. I am making an effort to sort this and hope it'll show it the future.

Thinking about it, there are plenty of people I've shared tables with over the years on here and I hope they all come on here to rip my every little flaw to pieces. We're all on the learning curve after all. I'd also LOVE to hear from anyone who may have dealt the €100 omaha game in the Fitz any night I've been there.

nicnicnic

I've played with him a fair bit and bless him he has a lovely game

bops

Hi Flipper!

I think we've only played at the same table 3 or 4 times and tbf i haven't got anything negative to say about your game!!

I was particularly impressed how you put carlo citronie on immediate tilt with some tasty speachplay in the ipc side event (what a tosser!).

I like playin with people who have a bit 'o craic at the table, you do this as well as playing very competently.

The only flaw I can think of is sometimes you say too much, ie give away too much info, but if you yap alot this is bound to happen!

Oh yes, i do recall one time you nearly pi**ed your pants so you wouldn't miss your BB - i suppose that could be seen as a flaw!

strangely enough, i would see you as being in the top 5 of players i would want & wouldn't want at my table! (having the craic vs being outplayed?!)

gl buddy

Flipper

Thanks Bops and Nicky for the kind words but you're supposed to be shreading me! I really hope all the people I've shared tables with over the years post something when they get a chance. From Cork, the guys that have played with me the most are Sideshow, DopeyLocks, Captain Tom and The Prof so I'd like to hear from them - especially on anything that I do now that I didn't before.

I've played with tonnes of players from Dublin over the years and I'd appreciate their input too. I played with JectorJelly one night so maybe he could offer something. Me and Dave Masters have had plenty of battles, I've played with Smurf etc.

dougee19

Flipper wrote:

Thanks Bops and Nicky for the kind words but you're supposed to be shreading me! I really hope all the people I've shared tables with over the years post something when they get a chance. From Cork, the guys that have played with me the most are Sideshow, DopeyLocks, Captain Tom and The Prof so I'd like to hear from them - especially on anything that I do now that I didn't before.

I've played with tonnes of players from Dublin over the years and I'd appreciate their input too. I played with JectorJelly one night so maybe he could offer something. Me and Dave Masters have had plenty of battles, I've played with Smurf etc.

embarrased to mention me??? i think i'll go to town on you so.....

well for a start... there was that incident with mary, apparently you mentioned about her moustache or something along those lines, uncalled for.. hehe

one day in omaha i was on your table, we were betting on what cards came out on the flop, and whenever you lost you would just throw it across, very dangerous for the dealer, bishop could have lost a fingernail!!!!

and as for your play, havent played you too much, noticed a few things you do when you're bluffing that you dont when you have a made hand, just your posture while you speak, nothing major really, just me own opinion, i see things other dont and miss things everyone sees kinda thing

i actually like playing with you because your banter is actually a fun one, not many others take the game in a jovial mood as a lot of them are so serious, always fun to mess around sometimes.
havent seen you actually play in big tournies or anything like that,most of the tournaments ive seen you play you have gone far in which is very impressive, and there isny much i can fault in your game as an observer, hopefully i'll get a chance to observe some more....


oh yeah, there was one thing, i saw you sit down at 25/50 for 15 minutes on full tilt... not play a hand and leave, posting pictures on your blog for false proof or just had to leave??? lol :P:P:P jk

i'll try and think back to the few times i played you and let you know a few of(if i can remember any)your mistakes

The_Prof

I suppose a few hands stick out that I feel you made some error (either verbal comment, or betting frequency, betsizing, whatever) that I wouldn't have been able to make otherwise.

We've played a fair bit with each other, and no doubt that we'll face each other again at the table soon enough (Macau Summer Festival perhaps, where hopefully I can exact my revenge for what happened at the last one!)

Ok, I'll mention like three hands that I can recall at the moment where I felt I could/should have come to a good decision which you allowed by making some sort of error:

1. In a tourney (one of the Macau tourneys, perhaps the €200 Montly, or maybe just a €100 Monday f.o) I had AJ. I raised, UTG+2 I think, and you called immediately to my left. I think there may have been one other caller. Flop came down J6x. I led out and you called. The other guy folded. Turn came an Ace. I think I led out again, and you raised all-in. At this point I had half of my stack in and top two pair, but man I badly wanted to fold the hand when you started with a little "so, what you got?? *chuckle chuckle* , did ya hit that ace ya?" with a big smile on your face. You oozed confidence, and you made my decision very close. Your speech play would have gotten me to fold far weaker hands, but alas I thought perhaps you had A6s or something, although to be honest I should have folded because a set was extremely likely. You're not giving this speechplay with a marginal hand, so it's really either air or a set. Since you seemed supremely confident, well this would have enabled a much better tourney player than myself to fold. I called, you showed 66 and the rest, as they say, is history.

2. In the Macau tourney, in the last festival, I was at your table for a while. You went into shortstack mode and started to push all-in nonstop. You pushed u.t.g with T9d with about 6-7 BB in your stack. Fair enough. You then pushed again in e.p with a hand you were fortunate not to show down (coz you only had like 3 bb and caoimh was in the BB and had such trash he couldn't even call that).

Anyway, the problem is that your all-in frequency was too high in this spot. Your range became so wide that you enabled a good player with a basic mathematical knowledge to make good decisions against you. For this reason, when you were on the button and pushed into my BB after everyone else folded for about 9BB or something (which was about 2/3 of my stack) I was able to quickly call with KJ. However, if your range was a bit tighter, KJ would go from a definite call to a marginal situation. It's usually a good thing when you put your opponent to a borderline decision. It confuses them, and they're more likely to choose the weaker of the options.

side note: flop came down KT8. turn 7. river Jack, and flipper's close to chipleader. That's how he does it folks! (and yes, I'm still very bitter about this... :-))

3. I had only been playing Omaha about a month when I played with you and Jim shorthanded. At this point my bankroll was about 4k-5k, so the 150-200 that I sat down with was a decent % of my roll.

One of the hands that came up was one where you could have gotten my whole stack, but you ended up losing a decent chunk of yours, due to your table talk.

I had QQxx. I think I raised from the button, Jim may have folded, you raised. I called. Flop came down KQx. You bet out. I called. Turn came a 9 I think. Maybe a T. Either way, it completed a possible straight draw/wrap on the flop. Now, I think you led again and I called once more. At this point, I'm not 100% sure where I am in the hand; I think I'm ahead but if you fire the river you will be putting me to a tough decision, and there are lots of rivers that are particularly scary. Unless the board pairs, I may not fire the river myself if you check and you will get a cheap showdown with marginal hands you may want to check-check river with.

However, when I called your turn bet, you started saying something like "oh man, I'm gonna have to improve here! Pair the board! Pair the board!". You knew I was pretty tight and I slowplayed a fair few hands, especially at the beginning of learning Omaha. The river came a blank, and you quickly checked, eager to take a showdown. This cost you the pot because I thought:

Well, he definitely doesn't have the nuts. I have the third nuts with QQ. There's only one hand that I am losing to, and that is KK. However, he seems certain that I have the nuts. Therefore, if I push I can fold out the only hand that worries me (KK). It's true there's a slim chance he will call me if he thinks I'm making some sort of elaborate bluff, but then again, if he adopts that thought process I will compensate this by sometimes getting my set of queens paid off my twopair, seeing as his set of kings (if he has them) is effectively a bluff-catcher given what he has told me he thinks of my hand/image.

Ok, that's enough helpful advice for now! I look forward to you tearing into my game some time in the near future!

Alex.

Flipper

Dougee19, thanks for taking the time to reply. First off, I think that "insult" towards Mary was taken out of context and became subject to a dose of chinese whispers. I would never insult someone about something like that.

Nothing else in you post requires a comment except that I can't recall ever sitting in a 25/50 game and not playing. If you could provide me with a link to this "picture posted on my blog for false proof", I'd be most grateful. I never boast about games that I play (not intentionally anyway) and have no need to.

Flipper

Hey Prof, again thanks for your lenghty reply. It's great to get someone elses opinion - and one that I respect too. I must say that I can only remember one of the three hands that you mention - the 2nd one. I had been pushing in a lot from various positions and not getting called. i doubled up with the 9dTd on a 7d8dXx board and I was probably just running hot. Combine this with the fact that my raises were getting true and I didn't see any need to stop until I got to a stack size that I could play with.

Like you said about the speech-play, maybe it used to work against me from time to time but I'm making an active effort lately to control it. The third hand is kinda strange. That sounds like something I would say if I filled my straight on the turn. I don't really know what to say about this hand but if it played out the way you say it did, I played terrible.

PiperT

Hi Flipper

I've only ever played with you once and it was the FT of the PP500 game back in December. We were 7/8 handed and I was BB to your button.

I had observed a few orbits of the table and everytime it was folded into you on the button you did the honourable thing and insta-raised to take the blinds.

Blinds 2000/4000 with running ante. Stacks, me c.120k, you c.110k.

On this occasion, I find ATo in the BB and flat call your raise (3x/4x). Considered a re-raise but decided to see a flop. Flop is A8Qr - I check call your bet. The most I have you on here is Ace rag based on what I have seen previously and I'm sure my kicker is good. Turn is another 8, I check call your turn bet. River is a blank. I have you covered and push all-in to put you to a decision. This pot was putting one of us into the top 3 stacks at the table. (I can't fully recall the action on the flop & 4th street but this is how I think it panned out)

What really surprised me about this hand was your comments when I pushed.

Firstly you said, "well done, that was the right bet, sigh". Obviously at this stage I'm thinking well now he can't call.

You think further and say - "well the only hand thats beating me here is AK". This actually surprised me a lot because obviously there were a lot of hands that were ahead of you here including AK, AQ, A8, Q8, 88, QQ, AA. You also said you had seen me limp/call with premium hands earlier which would give credence to the fact I could have been holding any one of the above hands.

Anyway, long and short of it, you had a decision and after quite a while you made the call for your stack with A3o for the chop. A8Q8x board.

Do you ever see yourself making the fold in this spot ?

Is this a no-brainer call for you everytime (for your stack) ?

I know this thread is to critique your game, but would you have played this hand differently in my shoes ?

Flipper

Hey PiperT, good to see you again. I suppose this is marginal but that's what I'm all about. I'm obviously calling for the split and I figured at the time that you played it just like a rag ace and I always consider the paired 8 to be good news for my hand. I wouldn't call this a no brainer but at the time, I read you for AX and I was right.

Against a player like me, I would consider my call pre-flop with AT to be a trap. I would often push there and defo push to my bet on the flop.

Hectorjelly

If we had played for several hours shorthanded no limit holdem I would probably have much more to say, but I almost never play omaha and dont have much of a feel for the game any more. At one stage I thought maybe it was bad decision for me to stay and play (I was playing 3 handed with Flipper and a lovely lady who liked to see most flops, another 4th player (not great) dropped in and out), but I thought it was worth it to try out some shorthanded omaha against a good player.

The only thing constructive thing I would have to say is that you semibluffed the lady too much, but you seemed to be missing the river quite a lot and had you hit the river you might of gotten paid off. Your game definitely detoriated after a while, after you got unlucky several times against her and called my all in.

What I was really impressed with was your managing to turn a 1-2 holdem game (playing smallish) into a 2-5 omaha game (playing bigish) without anyone complaining. I should of kept it holdem really, as I dont think either of the other 2 players had any chance whatsover against me after a few hours in holdem.

Gholimoli

have not really played with you that much to know insights in the way you think but have palyed with you on the same table couple of times.
the IPC 700 event when we are on the same table and there was one big stack who didnt have a clue .
he had a huge stack by getting lucky and he was a total nut job.
now you had played with him for a good while and knew better than me how he played but your strategy to counter him was the wrong one.

if you remember you re raised his raise all in with your A6 and you said that it was ahead of his range.
it was a huge huge pot as you had a very comfortable stack.
later on when we talked about the hand you said "im here to win the thing and not just crawl in to the money"
based on this i felt that you didnt know how to maximize your edge and didnt know that playing for stacks with that holding against him was a bad thing to do.
im not saying you over vaue A6 ,but what im saying is that your logic on how to counter that opponent was wrong.

Flipper

Hectorjelly wrote:

If we had played for several hours shorthanded no limit holdem I would probably have much more to say, but I almost never play omaha and dont have much of a feel for the game any more. At one stage I thought maybe it was bad decision for me to stay and play (I was playing 3 handed with Flipper and a lovely lady who liked to see most flops, another 4th player (not great) dropped in and out), but I thought it was worth it to try out some shorthanded omaha against a good player.

The only thing constructive thing I would have to say is that you semibluffed the lady too much, but you seemed to be missing the river quite a lot and had you hit the river you might of gotten paid off. Your game definitely detoriated after a while, after you got unlucky several times against her and called my all in.

What I was really impressed with was your managing to turn a 1-2 holdem game (playing smallish) into a 2-5 omaha game (playing bigish) without anyone complaining. I should of kept it holdem really, as I dont think either of the other 2 players had any chance whatsover against me after a few hours in holdem.

Hey Darragh, ya I remember that session well. Tbh, I had played with Maggie before that night but only in NLH where she gives up a lot easier. That night she did a lot of weird **** like checking downing the nuts etc so it was hard to get much money in the pot. I remember missing a couple of HUGE draws and this probably tilted me a little. I recall going to bed that night thinking about the way the game played out and I was really disappointed in my play.

Ya, I usually try to introduce so omaha or any other game (pinapple in Killarney last weekend) during the night to try and give myself an extra edge. Generally, if you're nice and friendly about the switchover, most people are welcoming enough. Giving advice every now and again (where it's wanted) is also good for keeping the game going - without being a know-all. Also, a lot of people are scared to play "foreign" games as they don't want to look silly or make an obvious mistake. Personally, I like these variations for two reasons: the first is that I have a bigger edge and the second is that I enjoy poker more when I have to think more (split hi/lo's, stud games, lowball draws, timing of your big bets etc). I'd love if there was a dealer's choice game in Cork.

dougee19

Flipper wrote:

Hey Darragh, ya I remember that session well. Tbh, I had played with Maggie before that night but only in NLH where she gives up a lot easier. That night she did a lot of weird **** like checking downing the nuts etc so it was hard to get much money in the pot. I remember missing a couple of HUGE draws and this probably tilted me a little. I recall going to bed that night thinking about the way the game played out and I was really disappointed in my play.

Ya, I usually try to introduce so omaha or any other game (pinapple in Killarney last weekend) during the night to try and give myself an extra edge. Generally, if you're nice and friendly about the switchover, most people are welcoming enough. Giving advice every now and again (where it's wanted) is also good for keeping the game going - without being a know-all. Also, a lot of people are scared to play "foreign" games as they don't want to look silly or make an obvious mistake. Personally, I like these variations for two reasons: the first is that I have a bigger edge and the second is that I enjoy poker more when I have to think more (split hi/lo's, stud games, lowball draws, timing of your big bets etc). I'd love if there was a dealer's choice game in Cork.

i'm just saying one thing, that aint darragh!!!
dont know who it is but it aint darragh, guaranteed

Flipper

Gholimoli wrote:

have not really played with you that much to know insights in the way you think but have palyed with you on the same table couple of times.
the IPC 700 event when we are on the same table and there was one big stack who didnt have a clue .
he had a huge stack by getting lucky and he was a total nut job.
now you had played with him for a good while and knew better than me how he played but your strategy to counter him was the wrong one.

if you remember you re raised his raise all in with your A6 and you said that it was ahead of his range.
it was a huge huge pot as you had a very comfortable stack.
later on when we talked about the hand you said "im here to win the thing and not just crawl in to the money"
based on this i felt that you didnt know how to maximize your edge and didnt know that playing for stacks with that holding against him was a bad thing to do.
im not saying you over vaue A6 ,but what im saying is that your logic on how to counter that opponent was wrong.

Ya i got the feeling that night that you strongly disagreed with this play. i think you are exaggerating the stack sizes slightly but I think I raised with A6 and he moved all in WAY over the top. I put him on a KQ/KJ hand and that what he had. The guy was on a path to self distruction and I felt that his chips would only be up for grabs for one more rotation of the table and I took my chances there. Probably losing play but I went with my instincts. How would you have "countered that opponent"?

Hectorjelly

dougee19 wrote:

i'm just saying one thing, that aint darragh!!!
dont know who it is but it aint darragh, guaranteed

?

dougee19

Flipper wrote:

Hey Darragh.

Hectorjelly wrote:

?

i could be wrong but i thought that flipper thought that you were darragh(walsh), just saying it isnt his username on this is all....

Ste05

LOL I'm pretty sure Flipper knows who HJ is....

dougee19

yeah i thought he knew too, just saw darragh and thought it was weird
my bad.....
now lets get back on topic people!!!

FungiWalsh

Oh dougee, you excel yourself once again.

I could probably just go upstairs and tell you this, Kieran, but I might as well put it here. The one time I played with you in the Macau was in the Friday tourney, after I arrived late and got sat to your right. I covered you, and a few hands after I sat down, I raised in mid position with 99, and before my chips hit the felt, you announced "all-in". Folded back to me, and after some speechplay by you, I decided to call, sure it was a race. You tabled AJ, and naturally flopped a straight. Just not sure if an all-in with AJ after a tight player (my image in there is very tight, which is great) justifies an instant all-in. Although I guess the fact that a rebuy was still available, and that it was me that did the raising, influenced the move somewhat.

DeVore

We've played very little with each other Flipper, I think Kerry was the longest we've every been at the same table. I thought your Omaha was a good deal better then I expected and I was impressed by it. I think you have a decent strategy at that game and is probably the one you should play. Holdem you seemed more LAG than I would be but I didnt see any serious errors. A few loosey-goosey calls but it was a small game and the crack was pretty good so I wouldnt judge you on them.
You did seem fond of the "big move" and sitting down with about a grand into a 1/2 game was a little :eek: ... Other then that, it solidified my opinion that you arent as good as you think but a good bit better then most people seem to think you are

DeV.

Flipper

FungiWalsh wrote:

The one time I played with you in the Macau was in the Friday tourney, after I arrived late and got sat to your right. I covered you, and a few hands after I sat down, I raised in mid position with 99, and before my chips hit the felt, you announced "all-in". Folded back to me, and after some speechplay by you, I decided to call, sure it was a race. You tabled AJ, and naturally flopped a straight. Just not sure if an all-in with AJ after a tight player (my image in there is very tight, which is great) justifies an instant all-in. Although I guess the fact that a rebuy was still available, and that it was me that did the raising, influenced the move somewhat.

You've summed it up: I play like a spanner in rebuys (but have a good record in them) and I probably wanted to bully you. I know you know the value of hands and I need a lot less of a hand than you do in that situation.

Flipper

DeVore wrote:

We've played very little with each other Flipper, I think Kerry was the longest we've every been at the same table. I thought your Omaha was a good deal better then I expected and I was impressed by it. I think you have a decent strategy at that game and is probably the one you should play. Holdem you seemed more LAG than I would be but I didnt see any serious errors. A few loosey-goosey calls but it was a small game and the crack was pretty good so I wouldnt judge you on them.
You did seem fond of the "big move" and sitting down with about a grand into a 1/2 game was a little :eek: ... Other then that, it solidified my opinion that you arent as good as you think but a good bit better then most people seem to think you are

DeV.

I only sat in with €500! What in particular struck you as a decent strategy in that game?? I only ask because I play a totally different game in the €100 omaha in the Fitz (aka my "A" game) but I did make a special effort to make correct decisions that night and not be my usual LLLLLAG self. I'd be really interested to know this if you get a chance to reply.

5starpool criticised me before for buying in big and it's purely for intimidation purposes. That and being able to constantly put pressure on opponents for their stack. I'm not sure if it's a flaw though.

Gholimoli

Flipper wrote:

Ya i got the feeling that night that you strongly disagreed with this play. i think you are exaggerating the stack sizes slightly but I think I raised with A6 and he moved all in WAY over the top. I put him on a KQ/KJ hand and that what he had. The guy was on a path to self distruction and I felt that his chips would only be up for grabs for one more rotation of the table and I took my chances there. Probably losing play but I went with my instincts. How would you have "countered that opponent"?

its very possible that i have the details of the hand wrong but i remember that you called a very sizeable bet which puts you all in with the hand.
i remember thinking the hand was deffo a fold and you should not have played it at all IMO.
the way to counter it would have been to wait for a hand and raise hard at he was calling everything.or take cheap flops with him in position and take him post flop if you hit.
i understand that he may not have cheaps untill you get a hand but thats no reason to put your tourney life at risk where you are hardley ever that much ahead but often miles behind.

DeVore

I'm absolutely the LAST person you should ever ask for advice about Omaha. My answer will almost inevitable be "raise". IMHO TPTK is worth a bet in Omaha and if the board pairs.... then you've got TWO pair with top kicker.

DeV.

Flipper

DeVore wrote:

I'm absolutely the LAST person you should ever ask for advice about Omaha. My answer will almost inevitable be "raise". IMHO TPTK is worth a bet in Omaha and if the board pairs.... then you've got TWO pair with top kicker.

DeV.

LOL, that interpretation of PLO is kinda cute

White Knight

I have played in some tournaments with you but not at the same table. I was watching one of our team in the team tourney in waterford. It was at the 3 tables left stage and you had accumulated a very good stack. I think you were chip leader or up in the top few. I remember thinking at the time that you were not able to go down a gear. You had obviously played well to get the chips and some bullying was working for you but imo I thought you gave them away too easily.

Im not sure of the precise action of the hands but you got it in with Jd9d both times. 1st time it was against a short stack and I think you were unlucky not to win the hand with a lot of outs after flop or turn. 2nd hand, again not precise of action, but there were 2 shorter stacks all in with you holding Jd9d. I just remember thinking at the time you seemed to over play your holding.

At the time of the first hand with Jd9d you had your monster stack, the type of tourney it was there was no need to risk any part of it with J9 and again in the 2nd hand I thought you still could of got away from it. Sometimes changing down gears is as important as moving up a gear :rolleyes:

The Clamper

i only played at your table twice so far to my knowledge and on both occasions you managed to tilt a few players with your constant speech play

with me, you keep telling me that i'm awsome, for some reason best known to yourself, but as usual, i completely ignore comments from other players except to say that i might read something into them if you are heads up with me, in which case i would generally guess that you were speech-bluffing and speech-panicking.

i cant say that i saw too much of your play as one of us is usually gone too early, usually me, lol

i am unable to write much else, due to the new restrictions on making personal comments, but you can guess some of them if you like

ditpoker

flipper, i've dealt to you once or twice but the only thing of note that i can think of contributing here is kinda an addition to what joe (goodluck2me) was saying about talking at the table:

at the EPT qualifier you and one other fella at the table were talking talking talking about the stakes you both play at, your various usernames, and basically discussing a high level of poker... which left 8 players at the table in silence listening to you basically advertising "i play hgih level poker, i know what i'm doing, i'm not a donkey, avoid me in pots"... kinda giving away free information is all. only other thing of note is to say that paying a 300euro taxi fare from the jackpot to cork is the nuts!!!

MrPillowTalk

Ive talked to you at length about this before.

You correctly sense weakness in players however when you have a hand with some showdown value say 2nd or 3rd pair on a non drawing board against a lag, instead of calling with your bluffcatcher and letting the guy spew at you a bit you nearly allways raise and open yourself up to being rebluffed or having to make a big call against what will inevitably be a draw with good equity against you.

Essentially you sometimes bloat pots with hands that are neither made nor bluffs giving yourself tough decisions or unnecessary coin flips. Your instincts in general are good though and you put people on hands well.

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

smurph

Hi Flipper,
Only played at your table twice. The Poker events super sattelite in January when you were very unlucky to get the bubble. You nursed your short stack for ages.

The team event in Waterford was the 2nd time. I was SB and you were BB and every time it was folded around to us, before I even acted you said, "are we going to play a big hand smurph". Threw me off a bit, overthinking, does he have a monster hand and wants me to raise etc., but it became quite clear that you were only warming up, and as touched on above you nearly analysis a hand while still in it.

Had a good chat, and I feel that you have a good manner at the table and can accumulate chips quite well. You did make a few posts a while back (before I had played at your table) about the standard of the Fitz €100 omaha game which made me wonder. You regularly played in the Fitz game yet didn't seem to hold regular players there in high regard (colette doherty etc.,) Now I have only dabbled in the €100 omaha now and then, and know that I have no where near the Bankroll to play in the game, but I found the standard quite high (maybe a blinkered opinion).

on a funny note, couple weeks back I was getting a taxi and started chatting with the Taxi driver, you know the usual where you off to etc., etc., I told him I was going to play a card game later, where he proceeded to tell me about a guy he gave a lift from Fitz to citywest hotel, where he was packing his gear and heading back to Cork. The Taxi driver drove this guy to just outside of Cork, because he had written off his car couple of weeks previously. I smiled and asked was the car a BMW to which he replied yeah and then said "Those BMW's are well built cause it didn't wreck his hairsyle". I just thought it was hilarious, that I nearly got your life history from this Taxi guy, Ireland is indeed a small country. Ps, he said you were a "good player" who travels all over the world to play cards, even Asia and was on telly:D

Flipper

White Knight wrote:

I have played in some tournaments with you but not at the same table. I was watching one of our team in the team tourney in waterford. It was at the 3 tables left stage and you had accumulated a very good stack. I think you were chip leader or up in the top few. I remember thinking at the time that you were not able to go down a gear. You had obviously played well to get the chips and some bullying was working for you but imo I thought you gave them away too easily.

Im not sure of the precise action of the hands but you got it in with Jd9d both times. 1st time it was against a short stack and I think you were unlucky not to win the hand with a lot of outs after flop or turn. 2nd hand, again not precise of action, but there were 2 shorter stacks all in with you holding Jd9d. I just remember thinking at the time you seemed to over play your holding.

At the time of the first hand with Jd9d you had your monster stack, the type of tourney it was there was no need to risk any part of it with J9 and again in the 2nd hand I thought you still could of got away from it. Sometimes changing down gears is as important as moving up a gear :rolleyes:

Ya, I remember it well. I had built an 80k stack through aggression and then woke up with AA in the BB to double me to 160k. If I remember correctly (Captain Tom would know) I lost 2 x 40/60's, 3 x 50/50's an 1 x 30/70 all in a row. I've always said that I played the big stack terrible in that tourney and I see the mistakes you're highlighting.

Flipper

The Clamper wrote:

i only played at your table twice so far to my knowledge and on both occasions you managed to tilt a few players with your constant speech play

with me, you keep telling me that i'm awsome, for some reason best known to yourself, but as usual, i completely ignore comments from other players except to say that i might read something into them if you are heads up with me, in which case i would generally guess that you were speech-bluffing and speech-panicking.

i cant say that i saw too much of your play as one of us is usually gone too early, usually me, lol

i am unable to write much else, due to the new restrictions on making personal comments, but you can guess some of them if you like

Well, I'll keep working on trying to tilt you! Other than that, feel free to tear into me - no holds barred!

Flipper

ditpoker wrote:

flipper, i've dealt to you once or twice but the only thing of note that i can think of contributing here is kinda an addition to what joe (goodluck2me) was saying about talking at the table:

at the EPT qualifier you and one other fella at the table were talking talking talking about the stakes you both play at, your various usernames, and basically discussing a high level of poker... which left 8 players at the table in silence listening to you basically advertising "i play hgih level poker, i know what i'm doing, i'm not a donkey, avoid me in pots"... kinda giving away free information is all. only other thing of note is to say that paying a 300euro taxi fare from the jackpot to cork is the nuts!!!

You know, I've never looked at it that way before... Thanks for pointing that out. I'll be a little more careful in future.

corblimey

Flipper, Macau reg here, but I've only played at the same table as you a handful of times (on the Monday night 100 fo, a game I usually avoid). I agree with everything said so far, you're a loudmouthed luckbox j/k

Your speechplay is actually pretty good, and I've laid down TPTK to your bluffing more times than I care to remember. You've also outdrawn me on a couple of occasions which obviously affects my bravery in calling you with TPTK and no redraw. This to me is the sign of a hardy professional player where a e100 freezeout means nothing but a chance to catch up with some mates.

You're still a luckbox though.

Bandana boy

only played twice against you both times in the macau monthly

Did not know who you where both times but heard someone call you flipper on second occasion and did a little search as the Macau gang where treating you like Phil Ivey

Very Very impressed with your results
but on both occasions i played you and before i had figured out your history
I had you down as the mark at the table an out of control LAG pre flop and passive as hell post flop.
Now looking at your results this cannot be indicactive of your regular play and i must have caught you on a bad night or the satkes meant little too you (in fairness Sideshow went out early as well and you looked more interested in getting into the round of each game where he was being his sideshowness)

Couple of hand that stood out
re-raising pre flop with AK flopping TPTK checking flop and turn betting river when flush filled and calling reraise back
Calling rearise from blinds with A8 flopping 8 on Q high board and calling 3 bets from AQ
Maybe you knew these players really well and they where capable of betting behind you here but it looked insane to me


P.S
i like your blog can you do more updates

sitout

hey keiran,
Your a player i have admired for a very long time. I have not ever played with you in a tourney of great importance but thats mostly as i play online cash,however i have watched you in action on several occasions .I like your early agresive style at the start of tourneys,it really sets you up to play a bit when the antes come in in the latter stages .One thing that annoys me about you though is when your not playing you seem to have this what i call "a know it all attidude". I could be completly wrong here but it always kinda annoyed me as poker is a fickel whore who smiles on you one day and closes her legs the next and that kind of attidude might be why you get such a bad slagging in certain circles.Anyway all in all i think you are a pretty clever player who tends to know what he is doing most of the time.Your tourny results talk for themselves and for that you should be commended but maybe you should adopt MR TOBINS humbel approach in the aftermath. look forward to seeing you at the festival ,good luck(except if your in a hand against me
siobhan:)

Flipper

MrPillowTalk wrote:

Ive talked to you at length about this before.

You correctly sense weakness in players however when you have a hand with some showdown value say 2nd or 3rd pair on a non drawing board against a lag, instead of calling with your bluffcatcher and letting the guy spew at you a bit you nearly allways raise and open yourself up to being rebluffed or having to make a big call against what will inevitably be a draw with good equity against you.

Essentially you sometimes bloat pots with hands that are neither made nor bluffs giving yourself tough decisions or unnecessary coin flips. Your instincts in general are good though and you put people on hands well.

Hey Eoin, I think the last time we talked about this (Citywest in January), you hammered some sense into me and I'm aware of this now. I see now how big a flaw it is. I've also taken this across to my PLO by never betting "pot" anymore to control the pots a lot more.

Flipper

LuckyLloyd wrote:

Not much to add Kieran. I played with you from two tables out at the Christmas cracker where you were the chip leader on our table. You were catching a few hands and were showing up with stuff in certain spots that was probably towards the top end of your required range - so it was difficult to really comment too much.

The one thing I did pick up on was the fact that you didn't seem to have any fear of making the automatic play as Tim noted above. If folded to you in late position it was a raise every time. Which is correct in tourney poker at the later stages - particularly when on our second last table you had a couple of very weak spots on the blinds to your button.

You have a friendly and chatty air at the table and are a pleasure to play with. Hopefully I will run into you at one of the festivels this month.

Take care,

Lloyd.

Hey Lloyd, thanks for the input. All that seems positive so I'm happy! I was really impressed with your aggression that night. I think if you had pulled it back a little for the start of the final table to build an image again, things might have finished different (saying that, I can't even remember how you went out). I was TIRED that night Of course, I had to go play PLO for 5 hours after it!

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

Flipper

smurph wrote:

Hi Flipper,
Only played at your table twice. The Poker events super sattelite in January when you were very unlucky to get the bubble. You nursed your short stack for ages.

The team event in Waterford was the 2nd time. I was SB and you were BB and every time it was folded around to us, before I even acted you said, "are we going to play a big hand smurph". Threw me off a bit, overthinking, does he have a monster hand and wants me to raise etc., but it became quite clear that you were only warming up, and as touched on above you nearly analysis a hand while still in it.

Had a good chat, and I feel that you have a good manner at the table and can accumulate chips quite well. You did make a few posts a while back (before I had played at your table) about the standard of the Fitz €100 omaha game which made me wonder. You regularly played in the Fitz game yet didn't seem to hold regular players there in high regard (colette doherty etc.,) Now I have only dabbled in the €100 omaha now and then, and know that I have no where near the Bankroll to play in the game, but I found the standard quite high (maybe a blinkered opinion).

on a funny note, couple weeks back I was getting a taxi and started chatting with the Taxi driver, you know the usual where you off to etc., etc., I told him I was going to play a card game later, where he proceeded to tell me about a guy he gave a lift from Fitz to citywest hotel, where he was packing his gear and heading back to Cork. The Taxi driver drove this guy to just outside of Cork, because he had written off his car couple of weeks previously. I smiled and asked was the car a BMW to which he replied yeah and then said "Those BMW's are well built cause it didn't wreck his hairsyle". I just thought it was hilarious, that I nearly got your life history from this Taxi guy, Ireland is indeed a small country. Ps, he said you were a "good player" who travels all over the world to play cards, even Asia and was on telly:D

I do think the €100 PLO game in the Fitz is by no means tricky. I would consider Tony Cooney and Dinny Winters to be the best in it and I've done a fairly good job at avoiding them actually. I just think that some players are far too loose and other are far too tight. I think my biggest strength in the game (or any game) is appearing loose-passive but actually being more tight-aggressive. I like to dance around in a lot of smaller pots to create this image but it's all only a means to get paid in the bigger ones.

That's so funny about that taxi driver! He was a real nice guy but I just konked out around Naas and woke 20 minutes before Mallow! I must have been talking in my sleep to be telling all that crap! I tried everything to stay awake - I was having visions of waking up face down in a woods with my pants down and my money gone

Flipper

corblimey wrote:

Flipper, Macau reg here, but I've only played at the same table as you a handful of times (on the Monday night 100 fo, a game I usually avoid). I agree with everything said so far, you're a loudmouthed luckbox j/k

Your speechplay is actually pretty good, and I've laid down TPTK to your bluffing more times than I care to remember. You've also outdrawn me on a couple of occasions which obviously affects my bravery in calling you with TPTK and no redraw. This to me is the sign of a hardy professional player where a e100 freezeout means nothing but a chance to catch up with some mates.

You're still a luckbox though.

Hey, I can't say that I can place you but say hi the next time so I know you! Ya, I am an unbelievable luckbox no doubt! I also apologise in advance for the bad-beats you will receive from me in the future. I do take the €100 F/O most of the time but I do enjoy meeting up with mates in there too. Sometimes people take poker too seriously and IMO, they should treat it as a bit of fun too!

Flipper

Bandana boy wrote:

only played twice against you both times in the macau monthly

Did not know who you where both times but heard someone call you flipper on second occasion and did a little search as the Macau gang where treating you like Phil Ivey

Very Very impressed with your results
but on both occasions i played you and before i had figured out your history
I had you down as the mark at the table an out of control LAG pre flop and passive as hell post flop.
Now looking at your results this cannot be indicactive of your regular play and i must have caught you on a bad night or the satkes meant little too you (in fairness Sideshow went out early as well and you looked more interested in getting into the round of each game where he was being his sideshowness)

Couple of hand that stood out
re-raising pre flop with AK flopping TPTK checking flop and turn betting river when flush filled and calling reraise back
Calling rearise from blinds with A8 flopping 8 on Q high board and calling 3 bets from AQ
Maybe you knew these players really well and they where capable of betting behind you here but it looked insane to me


P.S
i like your blog can you do more updates

I don't ever remember being treated like Phil Ivey! I've always wondered who you are actually?? Can you PLEASE introduce yourself the next time so I know?!! Both those hands sound pretty weird... They might have been against bluff-happy players or maybe I was just playing bad. I hope I'm better than that anyway.

I would update my blog more if I had stuff to right! I don't play as much as i used to so people wouldn't have much interest in reading about my boring everyday like I'm sure! I'm sorry now that I don't have posts of a lot my trips away - one of my big regrets.

sitout

just a quick one kieran how long are your online sessions?
Also is mostly omaha you play or do you play any holdem?
how do you prepare for a 3 day tourney ?
thanks in advance!
siobhan

Bandana boy

Flipper wrote:

I don't ever remember being treated like Phil Ivey! I've always wondered who you are actually?? Can you PLEASE introduce yourself the next time so I know?!! Both those hands sound pretty weird... They might have been against bluff-happy players or maybe I was just playing bad. I hope I'm better than that anyway.

I would update my blog more if I had stuff to right! I don't play as much as i used to so people wouldn't have much interest in reading about my boring everyday like I'm sure! I'm sorry now that I don't have posts of a lot my trips away - one of my big regrets.

I suppose you have to ask how Phil ivey gets treated !!
I suppose lots of respect and the general air that here was a big/good player
One to be afraid of

I dont play that much in Live and as i am in Cork only 4 nights a week it is rare and usually a bad idea after some pints in town that i play the Macau
but defo next time as soon as either I or yourself is knocked out of the monthly I will identify myself

Flipper

sitout wrote:

hey keiran,
Your a player i have admired for a very long time. I have not ever played with you in a tourney of great importance but thats mostly as i play online cash,however i have watched you in action on several occasions .I like your early agresive style at the start of tourneys,it really sets you up to play a bit when the antes come in in the latter stages .One thing that annoys me about you though is when your not playing you seem to have this what i call "a know it all attidude". I could be completly wrong here but it always kinda annoyed me as poker is a fickel whore who smiles on you one day and closes her legs the next and that kind of attidude might be why you get such a bad slagging in certain circles.Anyway all in all i think you are a pretty clever player who tends to know what he is doing most of the time.Your tourny results talk for themselves and for that you should be commended but maybe you should adopt MR TOBINS humbel approach in the aftermath. look forward to seeing you at the festival ,good luck(except if your in a hand against me
siobhan:)

Thank you for the (mostly) kind words! I'm sorry if I've come across as a know-all at times. Often if I've a friend at the table, we'll discuss the hands obtectively. If we're sitting apart, we'll be talking across people. I should stop. I'll try to be a little more aware of this in the future. See you at the festival.

Flipper

sitout wrote:

just a quick one kieran how long are your online sessions?
Also is mostly omaha you play or do you play any holdem?
how do you prepare for a 3 day tourney ?
thanks in advance!
siobhan

It varies with me. Sometimes I'll play for the day (12-14 hours) but most of the time it's 3-4 hour sessions. At the moment, I'm playing a lot of HORSE and PLO/8 but also a fair bit of mid-stakes NLH (2/4-3/6). I posted my strategy for preparing for a big tourney here so have a read.

Captain Tom

Flipper wrote:

Ya, I remember it well. I had built an 80k stack through aggression and then woke up with AA in the BB to double me to 160k. If I remember correctly (Captain Tom would know) I lost 2 x 40/60's, 3 x 50/50's an 1 x 30/70 all in a row. I've always said that I played the big stack terrible in that tourney and I see the mistakes you're highlighting.

in fairness having played with you for what was probably 3-4 hours i didnt think you made any major mistake that day.the tournament had a fast structure so blinds and antes were big relative to the average stack.this meant that often when a shortstack would open push or snap off one of your raises it was mathematically correct to call.

ive tried to come up with something constructive to say but considering how long we've known each other and the fact that we play at the same club we've actually played an astonishingly small amount of hours togethor(think about it!).this is discounting small rebuy tournaments,crazy late night gambling sessions in cash games,etc.,where giving advice wouldnt be worthwhile.i remember thinking after this tournament that it was probably the first time i was able to get a good insight into your game.

i think you understand the concepts of tournament poker very well.you always maintained aggression which was neccessary due to the escalating blinds.you're clearly very familiar with the power of position and use it frequently.to flip this i think sometimes you dont use the aggressive image you build up to your advantage.i recall seeing you limp in the sb with big hands or checking in the bb after the sb completes several times.with the image you build i think not raising in these spots is a mistake as you are the kind of player that people are likely to put on a steal and play back at.im not advocating never mixing up your game,which is definitely one of your strengths,i just think these spots are when an aggressive image is most profitable.

i cant comment on your strengths/weaknesses in omaha because im nowhere near qualified enough to do so.as regards holdem cash,i do beleive you need a better grasp of some semi-advanced concepts to improve.id like to be more precise,but i cant really recall exact spots from memory where i felt your play was flawed.i do recall one tournament hand in a live sat in macau for the betfair asian poker tour.one player in ep limped and you made it 1600 on the button with aces.i made it 5k straight in the sb with 5k behind.when it came back around to you,you flat called.this didnt make much sense as if you pushed right there i was getting more than 3-1 and was always calling regardless,whereas as played if i had a hand like 99/TT and saw an extremely dangerous flop i may have check folded having a somewhat playable stack.

overall,your tournament game is very impressive and seems to come naturally to you moreso than cash(otherwise i wouldnt always swap % with you lol).also,im glad to see that flipper bashing has finally gone out fashion on boards as it was completely undeserved.

hope you find something helpful in here!

gl.