What's happening? About Ace Ace & Media Ace in Videos Rolf Blog & Columns Some Personal Stories Recent results Dutch Poker Champion 2005 Ace Speaks: Articles Cover Stories Vegas Voyage Masterclasses Tournament Reports Book & DVD Reviews Pocket Aces Ace & Poetry Travel ACE The Dutch Poker Police Potnopine Hold'em                       Guestbook Ask Ace Poll Links Contact Ace   November 17, 2008 My Belgian Championships in Namen turned out to be a rather short affair. Despite a very good and slow structure, I busted out on day 1. In all honesty, I only had myself to blame. Seated at a table with a few strong players and also quite a few soft spots, I failed to take maximum advantage. With the money deep, I did not want to build too large pots before the flop with anything less than the nuts. So, with QQ and blinds 80-160, I just flatcalled an UTG open raise to 350 rather than make an obvious reraise. On a flop 993, I check-called, and after a K on the turn I again check-called, with the intention of check-calling again on the river unless my read would suggest otherwise and / or unless the river was an ace. After a blank and the bet I expected, I went into the tank for a long time, performing my specialty act of getting a good read on the river with the intention of possibly snapping off a bluff. But my opponent didn't crumble under my pressure, gave away no read, yet after I ultimately folded he quickly proved that he had been bluffing after all - showing me a mere unimproved AJ. Not much later, I open raised with JJ. Only the big blind called, giving away a clear tell that he held a weak hand that he was initially planning to fold. On a flop 832 he made a donk bet, and I just flatcalled. After a 9 on the turn, he bet once more, and even though I thought about raising him all-in, I chose to do things differently. Judging it very likely he either had an 8 (for a max. of 5 outs) or else a pure bluff or semi-bluff (max. 8 outs, more likely just 4 or even 3) that might fold to a raise but that could be forced to bluff bet on the river, I chose to just flatcall again. The river was an ugly 8. My opponent bet again and I chose to pay off, fearing this river could have been a bad one for me - and it was, my opponent taking down the pot with Q8o. Ugh! Supposedly the better player, I had a) folded to a bluff, b) not maximized when I was ahead, and c) paid off when I had been outdrawn, all in less than an hour time. Not exactly good poker! Being down to just 8 big blinds, I managed to double up in a lucky manner (through again a bad decision on my part, but getting lucky with 99 vs. TT). But that was that. Not much later, I raised almost all-in heads up with K9 on a JT7K board. My opponent reraised all-in with JT meaning I was drawing very live (any K, Q, 9, or 8 would win me the pot), but I couldn't escape a second time and was out. As I am writing this, I don't know yet whether I will stay here in Namur to play some more tournaments + cash games and to have a good time with the Dutchies, or if I will simply return back home to Amsterdam. I will decide on that tomorrow morning - after I have shaken off the disappointment of my possibly slightly unlucky, but also rather poor performance here at this Belgian Championships. ------------------------- November 6-15, 2008 The annual Master Classics of Poker are about to start. At this exact same event, I had my international tournament breakthrough at the Master Classics Main Event of 2006, where I had a miracle run of good cards / good fortune that got me to day 4 as the chipleader of the final table, to then finally face a little adversity / bad luck when it mattered most. It was "Kamikaze-Poker" at its best (or worst, judging from one's perspective), and my fifth place at that event is still my biggest tournament payday to date. In last year's event, I again did well, getting deep in three events - including two final tables. But unfortunately, no wins for me, meaning my best-ever Master Classics finish is still my second place in the 1998 (!) stud / hold'em mix event. In the next couple of days, I will provide you with daily reports of all my tournaments - here in the "What's Happening" section. As a short introduction / appetizer, I will start off with a short interview I have just done about this upcoming event & my expectations, and all other updates will also be provided below. So, if you want to know how I'm doing, just check out this site every now and then. Also, lots of videos, reports, live updates and spoken interviews are available on www.pokercity.nl, www.pokernews.nl and www.nederpoker.nl. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 9 The Master Classics of Poker 2008 are over for me. In the final event, the €300+30 Speed NLH (also known as the "crapshoot deluxe" I was out fairly quickly, and ended the day in fairly uncharacteristic manner: at the bar weith some friends / poker colleagues, drinking champagne, talking rubbish and just having a good time. Looking back at this year's MCOP, I have again performed quite well. With one €6k cash and one €16k cash I have no reason to complain, even though it's a pity that I have not been able to win an event. I don't have much time to keep thinking about this event though, as there is already a new one waiting: the Belgian Championships. Well over 1,000 players will be playing in the Casino Namur, and from what I hear the action should be quite juicy. I will keep you guys up to date here if things go well - and heck, I may even provide info also when things go bad. ;) Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 8 My fourth event at the 2008 Master Classics, the €500+50 NLH, turned out to be a rather short affair. This being a faster tournament than the others, with on average slightly weaker players and more shallow money, I knew I could not afford to lose too many hands. Yet, without any big pots I was quickly down to just 1,300 out of my initial 2,500 stack. From then on, I played three key pots. First, I made a bad decision that I got away with. With JJ, I chose to open limp under the gun, planning to limp-reraise the too-aggressive-when-I-was-in neighbor to my left. He indeed raised, and when a third player reraised I chose to stick to my original plan, and re-reraised all-in with my jacks. A logical decision, given that I had just a 13BB stack, yet given my read on the three-bettor I should probably have folded. He had KK, was a 4-to-1 favorite, but I got lucky by flopping a jack - and thus I doubled up. I then lost a pot in a slightly unfortunate manner. With 100-200 blinds, I open raised to 450 from the cutoff with a 98 suited. The big blind called, and then the flop came an excellent A99 rainbow. When checked to, I made my trademark tiny bet to lure my opponent into making a move. She indeed check-raised, and I flatcalled, intending to let her keep the initiative with what looked like a two-outer at best (either an A or a pocket pair, possibly even a total bluff). On the turn, an awful-looking A came. My opponent quickly bet 2/3 pot, a suspiciously large bet given that if she had an ace, I would almost never be able to pay her off with a worse hand. (And if by chance she had a 9, she now had to fear I had an A.) I chose to again call, expecting her to give up any bluffs on the river - as I had just little money left, and a call on the turn would seem to indicate a hand that was willing to go all the way. So, when she indeed bet on the river, I decided to fold after long consideration, expecting her to just have an A after all - it was almost impossible for her to be bluffing in this spot, and betting with a 9 would also be quite farfetched. What this meant was that I suddenly had less than 10BB left. This stack went in the last hand before the dinner break with KQo after a cutoff raise and a button call. The cutoff gave protection with nines, and I was racing to return after the break with an average stack. But alas, I could not improve. This means that tomorrow's €300+30 speed tournament is my last chance at a title. But of course, even if I don't book any kind of score there, I am still happy about my overall performance here at this year's MCOP. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 7 I have my second cash at this year's Master Classics under my belt. In the Main Event, I made it to the last 3 tables, and eventually finished 21st for €16,080. All in all, not bad - especially when taking into account my 9th place at the PLO. (Meaning I now have 2 cashes in just 3 events.) Of course, I had hoped to make it to the final table of day 4, to have a chance at a huge payday. But given the structure, I decided to first stick to my tight game plan, and only change gears later - once the blinds & antes had become more significant and / or the table had become shorthanded. So, the first three hours of play I did not have a single showdown. I won the blinds a few pots, had two uncontested reraises, and for the rest just played tight. Right after the first significant payjump (at the 21st place, from €12k to €16k), at three 7-handed tables, I decided it was time to capitalize on my tight image. My initial 85.5k stack was now down to 79k with an average stack of 155k and blinds 2,000-4,000 and a 500 ante. Pretty good for restealing, and this is what I tried against Steve Jelinek's cutoff open raise. With KTo, I did not have a very good hand to do this (as I would have to fear domination), and even more because Steve gave away a tell of strength, I probably should not have stubbornly held onto my plan. As it happened, I reraised small-but-committed, and then also called all-in against Steve's four-bet. I was basically just playing a ten against Steve's AK, and the best hand held up. So, that was that for my Main Event. I was fairly pleased with my overall play throughout the event, even though at day 3 I could possibly have been a bit more active in the beginning, and less stubborn in the end. But all in all I think I can be quite pleased with my performance, and I am already secured of a decent profit this MCOP. Let's see if I can cash some more in the final events from tomorrow and the day after, the €500+50 NLH and the €300+30 speed event. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 6 Again, good news about me from this year's Master Classics. I have survived day 2 of the €6,000 Main Event. Having reached the final 37 players, I am secured of at least my money back - and now it's up to me to go for the gold tomorrow, when day 3 of this 4-day event will take place. Today, I played my usual tight waiting game where I was surprised to get excessive action on the few hands that I played. For instance, there was one tight player who open raised under the gun, who got reraised by me from middle position (not having played a hand in ages), yet still found his AQo good enough to shove. Or another player at that same table who open-limped, then got raised plus cold-called in his back, to then face a three-bet by me from the small blind, and yet after all this action he still found his TT to be worthy of an all-in shove. So, playing just premium hands, I was involved in quite a few big pots: the TT vs AQ from above, that I would lose; the QQ vs TT from above that I would win; a big call with JJ from a shove by a tight player who had TT; a hand where I three-bet with QQ and lost against KK; another hand with QQ where I lost the minimum against David Kitai's KK who had played his hand very passively; a hand with AQ where I called an all-in shove from Padraig Parkinson's A9 and won; a hand with AA where I three-bet only to get shoved by JJ, my aces holding up; and last but not least a hand with KK where my opponent paid off generously on a board AKJJT. This being almost pure showdown poker, I was actually a bit unfortunate as I never won with the worse hand but lost twice with the better hand. Still, I was obviously quite pleased that I managed to cruise my way into the money without all that many problems. Tomorrow, play will resume at 1,000-2,000 with a 300 ante. I have 85,500, only slightly below the average stack of 105,000, and am feeling well about my prospects to get deep in this event. Of course, the luck factor is an issue here, also with regards to the redraw for seats - as it would obviously not be all that nice to find an aggressive chipleader with almost 400,000 in your back. Anyway, I am off to yet another good performance. But it's still a long way to any serious cash (1st prize well over €600,000, while I am secured of only €6,000 just yet), so I look forward to another long & interesting day. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 5 A short report about my first day at the MCOP's €6,000+200 Main Event. Short, because just not much had happened. We started with 12,000 in chips and the blinds at 25-50, so the money was deep. I got off to a good start when I eliminated Henri Boutboul. In a reraised pot, I flopped top set with my QQ on a QJ9 flop. I check-raised, got significant action against Boutboul's KK, and had my set hold up. As usual on day one of major events, I did not get involved much. I only played two more pots of significance. One pot, I lost a chunk of chips when I raised UTG to 525, got reraised to 2,400 by the overactive 200 big blind, and chose to make it 6,000 with 88, acting weak and basically using my tight image to represent AA. Both my play and my act may not have been all that smart though, as my opponent quickly shoved all-in, and started saying that I had no "cohones". He may have been right, as I opted to fold what may have been the best hand, thereby losing 6k in a situation where I could just have flatcalled in position with my pocket pair - and possibly stack my opponent in case an 8 would flop. The other important pot was at the 150-300 level where I raised to 750 with A♠ T♠, and the active big blind made a 2,000 donkbet into me on a flop J52 with two clubs. I decided to just float him, and took the pot on the turn when he check-folded to my 3k bet. For the rest, I just talked and talked, and hardly ever got involved. I ended the day at a new table, where I did not enter any pots in the last hour, and ending the day with 15,775. The average is 24,000, but with the blinds tomorrow at 200-400 and a 50 ante, my slightly below average stack is more than sufficient. My table is not all that bad either, and as there will be no redraw I hope I can use today's reads on my opponent to turn tomorrow into a succesful day. 185 players out of the initial 335 are left, and if I'm not mistaken 36 players will make the money. This being a 4-day tournament, I expect we will play down to the money stage tomorrow. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 4 Close, but no cigar. In my second consecutive final table at the PLO event of the annual MCOP, I have again been unable to get close to winning the title. Last year, I had to settle for sixth. This time, I could get no further than a ninth place – for a payday of a mere €5,890. Because yesterday’s play at the two remaining tables had taken so long (at my table because of the tight play that led to no exits, at the other table because all-in players just kept on winning), we started day 3 with fairly shallow money, and at two shorthanded tables. So, it was a lot of gambling involved with an average stack of just 13 big blinds and just sixhanded play. Coupled with the slow money increases early on (€4,950 for 12th place, just over €10,000 for seventh) and the huge payjumps later on (€57,000 for the runner up and just over €100,000 for the winner), I knew what I needed to do: play ultra-aggressively to give myself maximum chance of winning the title, and taking for granted the increased risk of an early bust. I increased my 112,000 stack with 12 players left to 140,000 at the start of the final table, when I decided to go with my KKxx from the big blind against a shortstack who had raised pot with J986ds, and who couldn’t improve. With 9 players at the final and an average stack of 129,000, I had more than average, yet with blinds 4k-8k still considerably less than 20 big blinds. In the second hand of the final, I picked up KK43ds in the big blind. Facing a pot-sized open raise from the tight Pouja Pouja Majd who had a 92k total stack, I knew he would have lots of AA holdings in his range – and even double-suited kings perform quite awful against aces. Yet, given that had such a nice holding, given that I had Pouja outchipped, given that I was playing to win, and given that because of the shallow money Pouja could possibly be open raising on slightly lighter values than usual, I repopped it – only to face AA after all. No help, meaning I was down to just 6 big blinds, and the shortstack at the table. I would lose these last chips in a blinds only confrontation, where I got a free play, but my flush draw + one live overcard on a board 722 with two hearts could not improve against my opponent’s AQQ4. So, that was that. Not the victory I had been aiming at, but an early bust at the final, way before the serious money. Still, looking at things from the positive side, I have already lived up to my minimum expectations that I have for every year at the Master Classics: making a final table. As I have accomplished that in just two attempts, I now have four more tournaments to go to accomplish some more – and hopefully make a second final. The first opportunity: Tomorrow’s €6,2000 Main Event, played over four days. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 3 I’m still alive! After one of the most exciting days of my poker career, I have reached the final 12 players of the €1,000 PLO, the event that had claimed I was going to win. I made it to day three after a true – and for a tight player like me, rather unusual – rollercoaster ride. What happened? Seated at the same tough table from yesterday (no redraw), I quickly doubled in a slightly fortunate manner. With blinds 200-400, Noah Boeken open raised to 1,100 from the cutoff, and with my 21,700 stack I reraised to 3,000 from the button with T975ds. As I had not reraised or even called the very active Noah during yesterday’s play (not once!), I figured he would give me credit for a big hand, and would only four-bet me with aces. So, when he indeed four-bet pot to 9,600, I called the 6,600 extra as I had an excellent counter hand to his aces (having more than 40% pot equity against random aces, plus some postflop playing advantages to go with it), even though I would have preferred slightly deeper money obviously. The flop came 983 giving me a pair + open-ender plus two backdoor flushes – a fairly decent flop to my hand. I insta-called his all-in bet, and when a six came on the river to beat Noah’s AAQT no suits, I was suddenly twice average, and had severely crippled my dangerous foe. In fact, I would also eliminate him. Noah had regained some chips at the expense of others, but I won a second nice pot against him when I snapped off a nice 5,400 river bluff. An hour later, with the blinds 300-600, it was third time lucky for me. Noah openraised to 1700 from the button, and I reraised pot to 5,700 with single-suited aces. With a total stack of only 14,600, and after big blind Jean Bernard Bot had called all-in, Noah elected to make the call with just an AJ87, the 87 suited – not the best of hands to play against my obvious aces. I bet blind before the flop came, and when it came JTx, Noah called with his pair + gutshot but couldn’t improve. Running queens gave me a nice pot, and I eliminated two players, including Noah who had jabbed me all throughout the previous day that I would be ‘merely trying to survive’ and ‘trying to fold my way into the money’. In a friendly manner by the way, because even though we are not the best of friends, the table atmosphere was not bad at all. Anyway, with my big stack I was in good shape, but I had big gunner Rob Hollink and the very active Arno Weber in my back with lots of chips too. So, a period of three or four levels followed where I didn’t get involved much, and where I played small pot poker only. Having built my stack up to around 72,000 after one pot where an opponent gave way too much action against my obvious full, I then lost a massive and also horrible pot. With just two tables left, I had been transferred to the televised table that had lots of people who respect me, including Julian Thew, Norbert Holting and Surinder Sunar. With blinds 2,000-4,000 and after two limps, I called 2k extra with A993. I checked blind, only to see the big blind bet pot on the flop 983 with two clubs. I check-raised pot to 64,000 with the current nuts, top set, and when my opponent quickly called all-in I figured he probably had a big draw, meaning I would be not much more than just even money. But it wasn’t like that at all. In this 107,000 pot (at a time when the average stack was just 84k) my opponent had 8855 for middle set no backdoor flushes – meaning he was drawing to just one out twice, plus the remote 7/6 and 5/5 runner runner combos. The turn was a Q, meaning my opponent had just one out left, the case eight. Bang! An 8 on the river, giving my opponent quads, and crippling me to just a stack of 19,000 – less than five big blinds. However, I chose not to think about the chips that I didn’t have – I chose to look at things in a positive manner. After all, I was still in – and I am not the worst PLO shortstacker in the world, obviously. So, I battled my way back into this event through uncontested raises and reraises (my opponents obviously respected me, and they were right – as I almost always had the goods), and as a result I even ended the day with more than 100k without a single all-in or showdown at this televised table. My closing stack: 112,000, more than I ever had throughout the entire event, and even slightly better than the average stack of 103,000. Still, with the blinds tomorrow at 4,000-8,000 and play at two six-handed tables, there will definitely be some luck involved in determining tomorrow’s eventual nine finalists. Of course, I will give my all to not just to reach this final, but more importantly to have a serious shot at winning. I now have €4,950 locked up, and obviously my aim is at the €100k + first prize. And if I could pull this off after this cruel pot that I lost today for 80% of my stack – well, then I have no doubts it can be considered a well-deserved one. Still, it’s a long way to go with big gunners like Fabrice Soullier, Raul Paez Corral and Surinder Sunar as the three chipleaders. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 2 Day 2 of this year’s Master Classics was the event that I said I was going to win: the €1,000 pot-limit Omaha with one optional rebuy or add-on. A three-day event with 186 entrants – and I am pleased to say that I have made it to day 2. I went off to a good start. At a great table, I started off with a - what I view to be - grandstand play. With AA53 singlesuited in diamonds, I flatcalled a raise from the big blind, to then check-raise on the turn K724 with two diamonds and two spades. (Giving me aces + bottom wrap + nut flush draw.) The preflop raiser called, and after a jack of clubs on the turn I checked, to then check-call his potbet with my unimproved aces – and indeed catching my opponent with a busted draw. Having lost back some of these chips in a few small pots, I then won the last hand before the rebuy. An opponent who didn’t know my reputation of a super rock gave me way too much action with middle set against my obvious top set, meaning that after the rebuy / add-on I had built my 4,000 + 4,000 stack up to 12,500 – clearly above average. But from then on, with the blinds still low, I suffered a few unlucky breaks. My great table was broken up when I was on the button; I started as the big blind at a new table; this table also turned out to be great, but just when I had established by tight image this table was also broken; and then the exact same scenario occurred one more time when again my great table was broken before I had the chance to take advantage of it. What’s more, the last table move I made turned out to be a rather awful one: I was moved to a table with only big gunners / good players: Noah Boeken, Lex Veldhuis, Sorel Mizzi, Remco Schrijvers, Karl Weiss, Sasa Biorac, a good Danish player, and later also Rob Hollink. Welcome to the thunderdome it was! But of course my opponents were not very pleased with me, either - given that I’m not exactly the worst PLO player in the world. The sometimes tense relationship that I have with both Noah & Lex made this table even more interesting – it looked more like a televised final than a day 1 of just a medium-sized event. As it turned out, we actually had a rather enjoyable time. As usual, I hardly played a hand while my rightside neighbor Noah busted one player after another. He went from 11,000 to 41,000 in less than 30 minutes of play, while I was still waiting with my same stack as 5 levels ago. (All throughout the day, i.e., after the rebuy / add-on, I never had more than 12,500 or less than 9,500.) One of the last hands of the day, I received a bit of a gift to more than double in a huge pot. Having limped for 300 with Q876ss after four limpers, the small blind made his first raise of the day to just 1,000 – yet as small as the raise was, it was 100% pure aces. All the limpers called this small raise, as did I. The flop came 882 with two hearts (that I didn’t have) and everyone checked to me. I chose to make a small 2,400 bet in the hopes of maybe getting action from the aces. In fact, he gave me more action than I expected, check-raising the pot! Everyone folded, and even though I now had to fear AA8x or to a lesser degree aces + nut flush draw, I had a clear call for all my chips. As it turned out, my opponent just had AAJ9 no flush draw and was drawing to just outs twice. No surprises on turn or river, meaning I ended the day with 21,700 – slightly above the average stack of 20,325. Tomorrow will be very tough, as there will be no redraw and thus the same extremely tough line-up from today will remain. However, I look forward to it, and still have the same goal as before: simply win this event. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: DAY 1 Lots of events at this year's MCOP are 3-day events. The €1,000 NLH plus one optional rebuy or add-on was no exception. Because tomorrow is the event that is my absolute favorite (the €1,000 PLO with one rebuy), I decided I would play this 1k NLH much more aggressively than I normally would, with the goal of either having a way-above-average stack at the end of day 1, or else not having any chips at all - so I would have my hands free for the PLO. As it happened, it actually looked like my opening event would be a successful one. Having position on some what I viewed to be slightly weaker players, I quickly did the rebuy / add-on to cover them. I then won a big pot when I raised a limper with JJ, who called from out of position with what turned out to be A♥ 6♦. On a flop J♥ 5♥ 4♥, he made a quick, massive all-in checkraise, and I called faster than lightning with my top set. A heart on the turn gave my opponent a flush, but on the river the board paired, so I instantly had a 12,800 stack. (Starting stack was 4k, as was the optional rebuy or add-on.) But then things turned sour - as I would lose three pots all with the same hand, AK. First, with blinds 50-100, I open raised to 325, only to get reraised to 1,000 by a tight player who respected me. After some deliberation, I open-folded, and I was right - my opponent showing AA. The second pot with AK, I was in the small blind facing a 250 open raise from this same player, and a flatcall from the button. This time sensing less strength, I reraised to 1,250 with A♦ K♦, the initial raiser folded and then the smoothcaller played second hand low with TT, going all-in for 4,100. I called, but lost the race and was back at 8k. And the third pot with AK, the blinds were 100-200. After a limp by the relatively shortstacked Joris Jaspers, a new player who literally played his first hand at the table, quickly raised to 700. Not sensing much strength, I made it 2,200 with A♣ K♠, and my opponent quickly called. Just as quickly, he bet out 5,000 on the flop JT7 with two spades. I had exactly 6,250. Getting almost 2-to-1 on my money, and figuring one-pair hands would form a large part of his range (in fact, even thinking he could well have AQ and especially KQ here that would be in awful shape against me), I decided to commit fully with my gutshot + two overs. My opponent had A♦ J♣, and this meant that my only winning outs were the four queens, three kings or two running spades. A little loose on my part probably, going all-in here rather than just folding, however I was pretty much committed and of course was still trying to get a big stack rather than merely survive. In hindsight, it might have been better to reraise bigger before the flop, but my opponent probably would have called anyway. (Besides, the preflop situation I had set up now, being in position with a dominated holding with just about one pot-sized bet left was not all that bad, obviously.) To cut a long story short, no results for me yet at this first day. But expect big things from me tomorrow. After all, last year I was a finalist at the PLO - and my goal is to improve considerably on that year's sixth place. Wish me luck! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MASTER CLASSICS 2008: PREVIEW (in Dutch) - Wat maakt de MCOP zo bijzonder voor jou? Het is in mijn woonplaats, en in het precieze casino waar ik jarenlang dag in, dag uit heb gespeeld. Ik ken vele mensen daar nog steeds erg goed, en dat is gewoon erg leuk. De Master Classics voelt voor mij echt als een thuiswedstrijd. - De hoeveelste MCOP is dit voor jou? Qua aantal zou dit de 11e zijn. Echter, in het begin van mijn carriere speelde ik nauwelijks toernooien, en dus ook slechts zeer zelden op de MCOP. Dat werd helemaal zo toen ik de vaste reporter werd, waardoor ik enkele jaren lang helemaal geen toernooien zelf meedeed. Pas vorig jaar ben ik voor het eerst meer dan 3 toernooien gaan spelen, wat tot dan toe mijn record was geweest. - Wat is je beste resultaat tijdens de MCOP? Wat positie betreft mijn eerste MCOP. Daar werd ik 2e in het stud / hold'em mix toernooi. Qua geld natuurlijk mijn vijfde plaats tijdens het Main Event van 2007; dat is nog altijd mijn grootste cash in een toernooi tot nu toe. Maar wat prestatie / spelpeil betreft, ben ik eigenlijk het meest te spreken over vorig jaar. Toen had ik 3 diepe finishes, waaronder 2 finaletafels, en speelde ik op de top van mijn kunnen. Het was jammer dat ik niet beloond werd met een uiteindelijke zege, want die ontbreekt nog steeds: ik heb nu vijf MCOP finaletafels gehaald, maar nog altijd zonder titel. - Wanneer ben je tevreden aan het einde van de week? Ik hoop op 1 finaletafel. De velden worden steeds sterker, dus als ik dat weet te bereiken vind ik het al heel knap. - Ben je van plan om te gaan cashgamen? Nee. Ondanks dat ik mezelf nog altijd zie als cashgamer, en er tijdens de MCOP altijd mooie, juicy PLO games zijn, wil ik mij puur en alleen op 1 ding richten. Ik vind dat het spelen van cash games de focus weghaalt van waar het mij om gaat, maximaal presteren in de toernooien. En als ik dus ergens kom voor een serie toernooien, dan zul je me eigenlijk nooit daarnaast ook in de cashgames aantreffen. (Dus ook niet bij de EPT's of WSOP's.) - Hoeveel events ga je spelen dit jaar? Allemaal. Afhankelijk natuurlijk of ik niet dag 2 van bepaalde toernooien haal, want in dat geval zal ik mijn toernooi van de dag erop moeten afzeggen. - Hoe zie jij poker in Nederland? Zie jij een stijgende lijn in het niveau van je landgenoten? Jazeker. Het spelniveau en het niveau van de analyses is flink gestegen de laatste jaren. Nadeel is wel dat ditzelfde ook wereldwijd is gebeurd, en dat dus de edge van de Nederlanders niet groter is geworden t.o.v. het veld (als we al een edge hebben, natuurlijk). - Wie is, in jou ogen, naast jezelf, de grote favoriet dit jaar? Ik denk dat eigenlijk alle bekende Nederlanders, en ook zeker de jonge Nederlandse Internetspelers, stuk voor stuk de capaciteiten hebben om een toernooi te winnen. Daarnaast verwacht ik veel van wat minder bekende toernooispelers, maar zeer sterke HC Amsterdam regular cashgamers als Dennis de Ruiter & Joe Shenkman. Als ze tenminste meespelen - want vaak leggen ze hun prioriteiten elders, bijv. bij de al genoemde cash games. October 29, 2008 The fourth annual Dutch Open didn't go as planned for me. Despite playing a good and patient game, I couldn't get deep into this event. I of course wanted to become the first-ever two-times Dutch Champion, but I didn't even come close. With an average stack of 5,950 and blinds of 150-300 / ante 50, I found Q♥ Q♣ in the big blind. Against a 750 open raise by the button and a 2100 total reraise by the good small blind, I pushed all-in for 3,450 from the big blind. The button folded, and the pot-committed small blind called with J♣ 4♣. In my first all-in the entire tournament, I was in very good shape to get a clearly above-average stack about one thirds into the tournament. But alas - the board AJ454 sent me packing way before the money stage. I could get rid of some of my disappointment when I had a good time at the recordings of a new Dutch TV show called "Late Night Stars of Poker". Playing a one-table tournament with Lex "RaSZI" Veldhuis plus a famous Dutch lawyer (Peter Plasman) and a well-known politician who is somewhat pro-poker (Fred Teeven), we had an enjoyable night. Of course, I cannot give away anything about the outcome - you will just have to watch for yourself at November 22 when this new series of shows get started (at RTL5, if I'm not mistaken). For those who enjoy watching me on TV: Right now, RTL7 is doing the broadcasts of the 2008 World Series Main Event (where I cashed). You can view back these broadcasts at rtl.nl; I am in broadcasts numbers 2, 8, 9 & 10. Also, I have been informed that in a video by a French rap artist, my "Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha" book plays a short role. Just check it out for yourself at dailymotion.com. In a week from now, I will be playing the annual Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam. This is the tournament that gave me my first-ever final table at a tournament (in 1998, finishing 2nd in the stud / hold'em mix tournament), my international tournament breakthrough (in 2006, when I finished fifth at the televised Main Event), and the first time I ever had two final tables in one international tournament series (in 2007). In other words: The Master Classics have always been a happy hunting ground for me. In fact, with no less than 5 final tables in just 23 or 24 tournaments total (all with around 180 to 270 entrants, even up to 500 or so for the Main Event) I have performed much better than could be expected. Yet I am still waiting for my first-ever Master Classics win - and it would be great if I could pull this off in the upcoming event. The Master Classics of Poker 2008 start November 7 - so I hope I can count on your support. ------------------- October 20, 2008 There's a new addition to this site. Just as with many other sites, an RSS feed has now been added to rolfslotboom.com. By simply subscribing to this link on the top right of the screen, you will automatically receive notice of new additions, like when there's a new book review, or a new "What's happening". By putting this RSS link into your favorites, you will find a separate section there named "Feeds" - rolfslotboom.com being included there. Every time the link is in bold, you know that something has been added to the site, and of course there is also a refresh button to check for updates. If you subscribe to RSS feeds for all your favorite sites (for instance www.pokercity.nl provides a similar RSS, and that's the site that carries my weekly columns), you don't need to surf to a whole bunch of sites to check if maybe, possibly something has been added or changed. It goes without saying that this service is free of charge. Not exactly free of charge, but still lots of fun, was my holiday to Sharm El Sheikh. With a group of 8 poker buddies, we went to this Egyptian tourist place basically to just have a good time. Staying at a beautiful resort with a large casino across the road, we had a great trip that included karting in the desert, my first-ever diving experience, nice night outs in beautiful clubs like Pacha & Dolce Vita, great food at Little Buddha, and of course our daily dose of of playing cards. It was un unusual trip for me in the sense that it was a) without my girlfriend who couldn't attend, and b) as it had no clear working / playing purpose - but is was a very nice trip nonetheless. In a few days from now, I will participate in the fourth annual (semi-official) Dutch Championships, and a few days later I will participate in a Dutch TV show "Late Night Poker". In the next "What's Happening", I will give you an update on these events. ------------------ October 7, 2008 As you are reading this, I am enjoying a short holiday in Egypt with a few friends / acquaintances of mine. Perhaps not the best of timing, as it has coincided with the release of my third English book, "Secrets of Professional Poker, Vol. 1". Right before heading to Egypt, I did an interview for Sky Poker about it (link to the broadcast will be provided soon), and I will of course continue to do similar type of promotion in the next six, seven weeks or so. It is quite clear that with this new book I will almost certainly be unable to equal the success of my previous book "Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha" - that caught us all by surprise by becoming the best-selling product at D&B Publishing. A welcome though unexpected success to all of us, not in the last place as the PLO market is of course significantly smaller than the hold'em market. In my latest release, I discuss three games: pot-limit Omaha of course, but also no-limit hold'em gets analyzed, and there's an extensive limit hold'em section. Lots of interesting and quite a bit of controversial stuff with some seemingly 'strange' strategies - as by now you are probably used of me. All in all, I hope you will enjoy "Secrets of Professional Poker, Vol. 1", and perhaps also benefit from it. As before, I have provided direct order links here at the site. And also as before, there will be an Errata List that includes all the errors / mistakes that have been spotted. (As with the PLO book, I hope there will be only few.) So, any time you spot a mistake, especially a strategic mistake rather than just a simple spelling error, just send it over to me through the Contact Ace section - so I can keep this list as complete as possible. Also, if there are any order links missing, or you find a review at some site or magazine, don't hesitate to send it over - so I can provide the visitors of this site with the best possible information. ---------------- October 1, 2008 This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to receive the first few copies of my brand new book "Secrets of Professional Poker I", again from D&B Publishing. Part I of a two-part series with all the 'short stories' I have written over the years. Lots of columns that have been entirely rewritten, including all the highly controversial ones. My full 14-part series on limit vs. no-limit hold'em is included, as are some of my previous quizzes - both with the views that I used to have, and also my revised (current) views. And last but not least, this part I also contains a fairly large PLO section, including some brand new articles. Everything is entirely rewritten to take into account the recent changes in the poker industry, not in the last place the Internet boom & the surge in populatity of no-limit hold'em tournaments and shorthanded play. So, I hope and expect that you will find these documents (part I is out now, and part II will follow shortly) to be very worthwhile. You can order it directly through Amazon. (At a significantly discounted rate: just $16.47 instead of the $24.95 cover price.) Other direct order links can be found by clicking on the book cover at the top of this screen, third pic out of six. Also, in the "Book Ratings & Reviews" section on this site: My review of the Rizen / Apestyles / Pearljammer book "Winning Poker Tournaments - One Hand at a Time Vol. 1". A good book, as I have given it no less than 8 points out of 10. I hope & expect you will find this review to be interesting. I've also added a review of my own book "Secrets of Professional Poker I". In addition, the section "Ace in Videos" has been entirely renewed. Most videos can be viewed directly from the source (like YouTube), but they can also be downloaded so you can store them on your computer. They will then be stored as a .flv file. In case your computer doesn't support .flv files, you can download the .flv player at www.downen.nl/download/flvplayer.php. Make sure you check out this section, as they include lots of interesting, hilarious, funny or outright embarrassing flicks. Enjoy! September 15, 2008 My EPT week in Barcelona has come to an end. Three tournaments, where I was all-in just a total of three times - yet managed to lose all three times. (Or, to be more accurate: Managed to lose all three coin flips). Of course, at the EPT itself (€8,000 buy-in) there was this remarkable pot with AK versus 22, all-in preflop for 85 big blinds each (!). A pot that I thought I 'deserved' to win given the way it was played - but that in fact would end my Main Event. At the €2,000 side tournament, I lost with that same AK, this time versus QQ (for 19 big blinds, this time with a stack of just 40% average). And at the last tournament of the week, a €500 event with a slightly faster structure, I lost with 88 versus AQ. (This time being exactly average at 28 big blinds against an aggressive restealer from the big blind. Being the initial raiser I chose to repush all-in with my eights 'knowing' they were good. And indeed, they were - until a queen flopped, that is.) All in all, when you also count in the recent Summer Classics (with the cruel AK vs. AJ in the Main Event, a jack on the river for a stack of over three times average) and actually also the WSOP, it seems that I am having a bit of a bad run when it comes to the crucial showdowns. Of course, at the WSOP I still managed to book good & highly consistent results. And especially as in the beginning of my tournament career I managed to win so often as an underdog, I guess I shouldn't complain - and for this reason, I won't. :) We will talk again soon! Rolf ------------------- September 11, 2008 My start of the EPT season 5 in Barcelona hasn't gone exactly as planned. In fact, I went out on day 1 without even winning a single hand! The story behind this all is available on t6poker (in English) and slightly more detailed at forum.casinocity.nl (in Dutch). After my elimination, I joined a group of fellow early-busters on a nice night out, going to some of the new & hip clubs near the Barcelona beach. Today, I may go to a somewhat private gig (900 people maximum) by DJ Tiesto. Clearly, I do my best to just enjoy and have a good time, hoping that near the end of the week I will be focused enough to perform in the €2,000 + 100 no-limit hold'em freeze-out, the closing of this EPT and almost sold out. So, in the absence of any good results in the Main Event I will simply try to make a good showing there. Wish me luck! ----------------- September 7, 2008 Not all that much news, as I have been mainly playing online (at T6, again with good results) and been writing new material (a double amount of columns at PokerCity / AD Sportwereld, plus the new Book Reviews by Negreanu, Hwang & Farha that I promised I would write). Right now, I am preparing for Barcelona, where the EPT season 5 will start. In season 4, I played only the 2008 events as part of my T6 sponsorship deal, and with two cashes plus one bubble I performed in line with my expectations. I hope that instead of just cashing, I will reach a final table this season. So, there you have it: My goal for the EPT season 5 is doing maybe less cashing, but bigger cashes & deeper finishes whenever possible. Here in this "What's Happening" section and of course also on my T6 blog (see the "Links" section), I try to keep you updated as much as possible. I will be in Barcelona on Tuesday, and I guess you will hear from me then. August 31, 2008 My tournament week at the Summer Classics has not been overly successful - and I guess that's me putting it a bit mildly. In fact, in six attempts, I did not cash a single time! (The sole consolation: I also did not do any rebuys, despite the fact that 4 of out 6 tournaments were rebuy events. So, the total costs were fairly limited, fortunately.) Of course, I was a bit unfortunate at some crucial stages, but I also did make a few bad calls and in all honesty just wasn't as focused as I usually am. The only tournament where I played at the absolute top of my abilities was the €1,000+50 NLH Main Event. In this event, I made two monster laydowns preflop (KK against just a very small four-bet by the somewhat overaggressive Kenny Hallaert, who I read in this case at 90%+ aces though, and later AK against what turned out to be KK). Having open-folded both these hands, my opponents probably figured they could run over me. I took advantage of this by inducing a 35BB shove against my small UTG raise (calling quickly with KK against my opponent's mere AQ) and a 20BB shove against another small UTG raise (this time quickly calling with AK against my opponent's AJ). Winning that last pot would have left me with a stack of 2.9 times average with just 30% of the field left, but a jack on the river crippled me - and I was busted not much later, again before the money. For those interested, at YouTube you can find a slightly funny movie about my table talk at the Main Event of this Summer Classics, called 8 Remarks by Rolf. (In both Dutch & German.) The next couple of days I will again log in lots of hours at the T6 ring games, will finish the book reviews that I mentioned in my last update, and then at September 10 I will be in Barcelona for the start of the fifth season of the EPT. Wish me luck! -------------------- August 24, 2008 Thanks for all the kind reactions to my renewed site - I highly appreciate it. Based on your feedback, we will try to optimize everything or continue to make some slight improvements wherever necessary. In the next month or so, one of the most important features at this site (the Books Ratings & reviews section) will have the addition of no less than four reviews: - The PLO books by Jeff Hwang & Sammy Farha - The Power Hold'em book by Daniel Negreanu - The tournament book by Pearljammer, Apestyles & Rizen Of course, that's a lot of work - even more so when taking into account all of my regular columns (CardPlayer / CardPlayer Europe / PokerCity), all the work that Rob Hollink & I are doing for the upcoming "Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha" book, and all the playing that I do at T6. (I have played literally every day at the site for the past 27 days, and have been fortunate to book some great results in the PLO & NLH ring games.) But as I like all of these projects, it's not a burden by any means - even though I sometimes feel that 24 hours in a day is just not enough. And apart from all of these projects, I still managed to find the time to join the Vegas Voyage crew on a nice night out, at what happened to be my birthday. :) As you are reading this, I will be on my way to Utrecht to play the Summer Classics, with the goal of getting my first official cash of the year at a tournament in my home country. (So far, all of my results this year have come from tournaments abroad.) Once anything spectacular will take place, I will try to update it here in the "What's Happening" section as timely as possible. ------------------- August 21, 2008 Welcome to my brand new site! At this very moment, I am logging in an awful lot of hours at the site of my sponsor, www.t6poker.com. Fortunately for me, things are going very well over there. Despite my relative inexperience at 6-max. play, I have been a solid winner at T6 right from the very start. (That was January 2008, when the site was launched.) The majority of my play is at still relatively low levels (€1-2, 2-4 and 3-6 PLO & NLH), but it pleases me to see that I seem to becoming more and more accomplished in the type of structure that I always used to avoid - shorthanded play. In addition to my play, I have been busy writing my weekly writing columns for www.pokercity.nl, reprinted at AD Sportwereld. Also, I have spent a lot of time and effort on my new books, Secrets of Professional Poker parts I & II. Part I can already be pre-ordered on Amazon, for instance by clicking the link on this page. So all in all, August has mostly been grinding the online cash games, with just one break of rhythm - the Summer Classics in Utrecht, Netherlands at the end of the month (starting August 26). This will be the only live tournament for me this month. Obviously, in this event I will try to accumulate as many points as possible for the Dutch "Poker Player of the Year" competition (hosted by PokerCity, where according to their rankings I am the current leader), and some money for the Hendon Mob's Dutch "All Time Money List" (where I am currently ranked 8th, and am nearing my goal for the end of the year: crossing the $500,000 mark for live tournament earnings). Finally! After an absence that was way too long, my site is back. Back with updated book reviews, a whole bunch of movies, and lots of other stuff that you will probably find interesting. Also added is a whole lot of info about my books & DVD’s, including order links for my new book “Secrets of Professional Poker I”, my Dutch book “Pokerface” and the German translation of the highly successful “Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha”. As before, you can leave some kind words in my Guestbook, and if you have any question don’t hesitate to contact me through the Ask Ace section. At the time of this writing, I am number one in the “Poker Player of the Year” competition in my home country The Netherlands. (The article can be found at pokercity.nl, and is written in Dutch.) The reason of course are my seven cashes at the 2008 WSOP, including the Main Event, and to a lesser degree also my two EPT cashes this year. All in all, this has led to a situation where I have lifted myself from spot 11 to spot 8 on the Netherlands All Time Money List, and I am quite proud of that. When it comes to my live tournament winnings, it is my goal to cross the half million mark before the end of the year. All in all, there’s just not much reason to complain. The WSOP was again a decent success for me, and I was quite pleased with my state of mind, my actual play and my overall results. Of course, I came to win a bracelet or at the very least make a final table, and I have not been able to pull this off. But with seven cashes for a total amount of slightly over $70,000, I guess I have performed in line with my abilities. My detailed daily reports (no less than 35 of them!) can be found at blog.t6poker.com/?author=8. This is the blog from my sponsor T6 Poker where I play exclusively – and where I have done very well ever since the launch of this site. This month, I will mostly focus on playing online, and on grinding out the PLO & NLH cash games at T6. At the end of August, I will then play the Summer Classics – my only live tournament series before the start of the next EPT season. (One that includes the first-ever six-handed live tournament in Europe.) Here on this site and also on my T6 blog, I will try to come up with regular updates – in fact, a lot more regular than the once-a-month updates that I used to do on my old site. So, I hope I can find you guys here on a regular basis, and provide you with enough interesting information to keep coming back. Wish me luck! After a time-out that lasted a bit too long for my taste, this site is back – I hope, to the enjoyment of many. Some features that never really caught on have been removed (the ACE Casino Point Count that I never got to finish), while some other things have been added / improved. For instance, the Book Ratings & Reviews section has been entirely renewed, meaning that I have re-rated books, made some changes to my original reviews, and of course I have added the reviews of some recently published books (The Poker Mindset and Kill Everyone, to name but two). Also, we have improved on the number of links on this site, because there are so many articles, interviews and movies splashed around the Internet involving me, that I thought it was appropriate to just add whatever links I could find. If there’s any more interesting stuff about me that I have not added to these sections, just send an e-mail by using the Contact Ace section. As before, you can also leave some kind words or ask some questions in the Ask Ace / Guestbook part of this site, and I will reply / respond ASAP. A lot has happened in the past six months. Most importantly, I have obtained the sponsor deal that I always wanted. The brand new site for just six-handed play or less, T6 Poker, had offered me an excellent deal in the beginning of January – and without much hesitation, I said yes. I am glad to see that the traffic on this site is slowly but surely starting to catch on, and I am equally glad that I seem to be performing very well at this site, both in the tournaments and the cash games. Glad, because my main strength had always been full-ring games where I often employed a minimum buy-in approach – so it pleases me to see that my new 6-max big stack approach also pays its dividends. Coupled with the fact that I have already cashed twice at the EPT (Copenhagen & San Remo), and have finished third in a €1,000 EPT Grand Final side event, I can only say that the year 2008 has started out very well for me. As you are reading this, I will be in Vegas for the 2008 WSOP. Last year, at my first ever World Series, I cashed four times including the Main Event. An achievement that is quite good, given that I just played 19 events. However, I never even came close to a final table – so quite obviously, that will be my goal for this year. On my T6 blog I will do the same type of daily updates that I also did last year, so I hope you will all enjoy this. For the rest, I hope you all love the new design of this site, and please check out all of my contributions at various sites & media, as listed here on rolfslotboom.com. I am glad that the site is back – and I hope / expect that you are too. Now, let’s just hope I can soon report about my first-ever bracelet! 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