What's happening? About Ace Ace & Media Ace in Videos Rolf Blog & Columns Some Personal Stories Recent results Player of the Year 2008 Dutch Poker Champ 2005 Ace Speaks: Articles Cover Stories Vegas Voyage 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   July 1, 2009 Everything is just about ready for my upcoming trip to Vegas. A trip that has suffered somewhat because of some personal issues, and even now that these issues seem to have been solved it is still not entirely clear what I'm going to do exactly. The two options include: The most 'logical' one: playing the WSOP Main Event, and doing some Internet flics + updates on the side. The less likely one: Going there for holiday & merely having a good time, while simply keeping the cash for the Main Event and not play anything. A lot depends on my exact time of arrival, the amount of generosity that my sponsor displays, and whether or not I feel well. As I said, I had planned this trip more than anything as just a holiday, so the Main Event doesn't have all that much priority to be honest. Also, I will be there to promote my new book "Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha", and by the time that I'm there, there should be a whole bunch of signed copies available at the famous Gambler's Book Store, courtesy of Howard Schwartz. Anyway, not a lot of information for you guys to rely on - that's for sure. And as my laptop has just crashed and I may not have the time to buy a new one before the start of the Main Event, updates here at www.rolfslotboom.com could take a bit longer than usual. Regardless of all these tiny problems, I hope you will all wish me a good time - and if I'll indeed play the Main Event, also a bit of luck. :) ------------------ June 26, 2009 After a period of merely-having-a-good-time-and-working-on-some-personal-issues, I am back to producing new material. This new material includes: Poker Inside, the monthly online talkshow that I host. Guest: RubenRTV Playing Poker Abroad (article for Pokerinfo) My regular weekly column for Pokercity (Dutch) Also, in addition to my regular pages at friends sites Hyves & Facebook, I have now created a professional profile at LinkedIn. Those of you who have worked with me and like to recommend me in some kind of way - please don't hesitate to do so. LinkedIn profile Facebook profile Hyves profile As I am writing this, I am making preparations for my first Eurosport commentary job in months. For those interested: the broadcast is a collection of highlights of the first season of the Partouche Poker Tour; Eurosport I, Friday June 26, starting time 20:00. Please note that my commentary is available only in the Dutch-speaking nations Netherlands & Belgium. ----------------- June 24, 2009 Initial sales of "Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha" look quite promising, and I am happy to have already received quite a few nice & kind e-mails from those readers who have read it. In fact, I have gotten lots of comments & kind words through mail recently, and also lots of strategic questions have been posed to me recently through the "Contact Ace" feature here at this site. I would appreciate it if people could put their (hopefully kind) comments / reviews in the Guestbook section, and pose any strategic questions that they have in the Ask Ace section here. I hope you understand that I cannot answer any strategy questions through mail, so please use the Ask Ace & (for mere compliments or views) Guestbook for this. Thanks! ------------------ June 8, 2009 Good news has come from my publisher D&B. They have confirmed that "Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha" is out! This highly anticipated book is co-written by the first-ever Dutch bracelet winner and high-stakes PLO cash player Rob Hollink. As always, books are available in the US first; Europe will follow a little later. And also as always, I will provide direct order links here at this site. Just click on book cover number three, and all the information regarding reviews & order links will be provided there. It may not yet be available as you are reading this, but new information + updates will be added here on a constant basis. As with my previous books & DVD's, I will provide you guys with an Errata List, a compilation of all errors & little mistakes that have not been spotted before going to print. So, anytime you recognize something in the text that you think may not be correct, whether it's calculation, analysis, sheer strategy or (a bit less important) spelling, just send over the information through the Contact Ace feature on this site. If we think this is indeed a genuine mistake, a slight error or plain sloppiness on the part of Rob & I, we will mention & correct it in the list. Thanks in advance! ----------------------- June 1, 2009 I am experiencing a good tournament run. Right after my final at the North Sea Poker Classic Main Event, I was able to book some more results. On one of my rare online poker nights, I qualified for the ECOOP Main Event at Holland Poker. And perhaps more importantly, I also shipped a $12k package for the WSOP Main Event. Playing a supersatellite at PokerStars with a bit more than 1000 entrants and 51 tickets, I managed to qualify. It was a bit tense given that the chipleader at my table kept on moving and grooving when there was no need to (thus taking away the opportunity for first in vigorish for short stacks like me), but in the end I made it - albeit with a little bit of fortune. This means that unlike my previous plans, I will travel to Vegas now. The goal: going after my third consecutive Main Event cash. May 31, 2009 With a 10th place at the (ten-handed €700+50) final of the North Sea Poker Classic, I have scored at least my minimum goal of one final table at every tournament week. I also secured a slight profit for the week and I had lots of fun enjoying the sunny boulevard and some of the nice beach places / restaurants. So, it was a nice & worthwhile week without any doubt. Of course, I was disappointed that my final table lasted exactly one hand! Being shortstacked with 6 big blinds and high antes in a rather crapshoot-like final, I would much rather have drawn a seat near the button so I could pick my spot to stick it in, rather than be forced into the action being the big blind on the first hand. With a total stack of 18,400 and blinds 1,500-3,000 / ante 100, I had announced that I was 100% committed and would go all-in regardless of the action in front of me. Of course, what I meant was "I only go all-in against loose or late-position raisers, and only with a hand of at least *some* strength". When I found A2 against a small open raise from a rather active / aggressive player, I decided to commit fully, even though I knew there was a high probability of him having a pocket pair or a big ace in this spot, plus even if he had a worse hand than me he would still never fold because of the very good price and I would never be much of a favorite. Up against AQ, I was severely dominated, and despite no less than two aces on the board I was the first casualty of the final. Ah well, c'est la vie. Better luck next time! ---------------- May 30, 2009 Good news from Scheveningen. I have survived day 1 of the €700+50 Main Event. After a long day where I started out with some well-timed moves & plays and then lost my big stack after a slightly unlucky pot, I got back to my usual practice of shortstacking & surviving. In the end, I indeed was able to make it to tomorrow's final. That's the good news. The bad news is that I will start in the big blind tomorrow, with just 5 big blinds in my stack, and with chipleader Thijs Wessels in my back with almost 10 times the stack that I have. Still, I have been in worse shape than this, so I feel quite confident in this crapshoot-like Main Event. I have around €1,700 locked up; first prize is €31,500. Wish me luck! ---------------- May 28, 2009 Having announced as a bet that I would make 2 finals in a total of just 4 events at the North Sea Poker Classic, I have lots of work to do. Because after two events (the €200 and €250 NLH freeze-outs) I am still down to zero cashes. This means I will have to score quite well in the remaining two events: tomorrow's €300 NLH freeze-out and the €700 Main Event on Saturday. Live streaming is available at the Dutch "Pokercity" site, where one can also find the first episode of "Poker Inside", the poker talkshow that I host. Special guest: Constant Rijkenberg, the controversial winner of the EPT San Remo. ---------------- May 21, 2009 Back in Amsterdam, I am busy writing some new columns, recording a new "Poker Inside" (the poker talkshow that I host for Pokercity), and watching some online flics that have just been released, or that I have missed. For instance, while I was abroad in Monaco, some broadcasts of the Dutch TV show "Lords of Poker" were released. In both episodes, I am playing at the feature table, and you may enjoy some interesting table talk or some (hopefully well-played) hands. Lords of Poker (episode 17) Lords of Poker (episode 22) Congratulations to Daan Ruiter who is the first-ever "Lord". My own performance was not all that bad, given that I made the points in 5 out of 8 shows, but unfortunately I never did any better than 9th or 8th place - and thus I couldn't score enough points to be any kind of threat in the rankings. Quite the contrary: Despite the large amount of TV-time and discussion about hands or between players that I was involved in, I scored a mere 11 points total - a mile away from the 71 points that the champ captured. For those who have missed it: There was also another Dutch TV show called "Late Night Stars of Poker". Having qualified for the final by winning the first episode, I then came rather close to winning the event. In the end, I finished third, and one of my former PLO cash game colleagues Remco Visser took it down. Links: Late Nights Stars of Poker (qualifying round) Late Night Stars of Poker (semi-final) Late Night Stars of Poker (final) And finally, here is the direct link to the highly requested flics of the "Holland Poker School", where I teach Dutch model Ancilla Tilia to become a tournament pro. The latest episodes can be found here: Holland Poker School 4: Tournament strategy Holland Poker School 5: Tells Enjoy! ------------------ May 12-17, 2009 The Twente Classics of Poker in Enschede have just been completed. A tournament series with rather high buy-ins, so one that tends to attract the very best Dutch & also German players. It was six intense days of poker for me, with a few decent and also some poor performances on my part, in addition to a whole lot of fun outsides of the games. And last but not least a slight media hype caused by my partner at the Team Event - who not only looked good in the eyes of the public, but who also happened to play a rather cool game of poker. Daily updates have been added below, including direct links to interviews, videos and articles. More flics + info can be found at Pokercity in the Live Report section, plus a live stream of the feature table was available there throughout the week. DAY 4, 5 & 6: €500+50 & €300+30 NLH The last few days at the Twente Series of Poker were fairly uneventful when it came to the actual action / results at the tables. In the €500 event I was a rather early casualty. After just three hours of play, I lured an opponent into the pot quite well, reraising with AA just enough to keep him in the pot. Knowing this player and analyzing his body language, I expected two broadway cards. For this reason, the flop QT9 looked quite scary. But being committed, I bet small to insta-call my opponent's push with what turned out to be an overplayed KQ - overplayed at all stages throughout the hand. The turn J gave my opponent a straight - and instead of a way above average stack, I was out. Ugh! The last tournament of the week was the €300 NLH. Playing three crucial flips, JJ vs. AQ, JJ vs. KQ and QQ vs. AK, I won two. In a rather crapshoot-like tournament, I stayed in decent shape. Just before the bubble, at six-handed play, I chose to get into overaggressive gear to steal my way into a massive stack. But unfortunately, moving in with 97 where despite my above-average stack I had less than 10BB, I ran into the KK of the chipleader at my table - and was out in 19th place, on the bubble. So all in all, I had played four events, resulting in one final. Not great, but not all that bad either - and given the highly enjoyable times outside of the poker tables, the week can definitely be labeled 'nice' or 'worthwhile'. Next stop: Scheveningen. DAY 3: €2,000+100 NLH Main Event After the nice performance by Dutch motel Ancilla Tilia & me at the Team Event, my second tournament at the Twente Series of Poker was not much of a success. At the €2,000+100 Main Event, I finished in 28th place in a field of 81 runners. I started out rather decently, winning two decent-sized pots against the strong Marc Naalden, both hands that I played quite well from out of position, and one pot against Govert Metaal when I made the nuts on the river and got paid off. When strong players like Jorryt van Hoof, Steve Wong & Joris Jaspers came to the table to join the likes of Jos Ariaans & me, the table became more and more aggressive. I was slightly unfortunate when I lost a big pot with JJ against Steve Wong's AQ who despite my tightness still decided to call my reraise. Being committed, I paid off his all-in bet on a flop KQx, and lost a bit more than half my stack in that hand. I slowly started runnung into trouble, and lost another chunk when I raised committed from the cutoff with A7o, only to run into the big blind's AK. Coupled with the fact that I got reraised off the best hand on two occasions, one can claim that my timing wasn't spot on today - or maybe a bit more accurate, that things just hadn't gone my way. Tomorrow is the €500+50 NLH. Wish me luck! DAY 1 & 2: €700+50 TEAM EVENT NLH & PLO Good news at the start of this week. Playing the team event as captain of Team Holland Poker, I had no other than Dutch fetish model Ancilla Tilia as my partner. As some of you know, I coach her to become a tournament pro through some (hopely, slightly funny) Internet videos / lessons. And in her first-ever 'real' live tournament, she exceeded all expectations by playing a cool, calm and tough game. It was only because of a slightly optimistic move by yours truly in the PLO part, that we ultimately ended in 5th place. Still, with a €3,360 payday, we had performed very well, and she had proven everyone wrong who claimed that we were 'just' making promotion, rather than trying to play good poker. Anyway, it was a nice start of the tournament week, where I have (again, just like in Namen) set my goal at two final tables. One more to go! PokerCity report Team Event plus videos Rolf & Ancilla (in Dutch) Playmate wins thousands of Euros in poker game (in Dutch) Remarkable combi at the Twente Classics (in Dutch) ------------------ May 6, 2009 Things are going well! Without any specific reason, without any recent tournament wins, and without any kind of plugging / spamming on my part or discussions on international forums, people have found their way to this website. I am happy about that, as the last consecutive 28 days, this site has had more unique visitors every individual day than I had expected on average. Possibly, my more frequent updates than in the past may have something to do with this - and for this reason, I will try to keep it up. :) The first three Internet flics of "Holland Poker School" have just been released - little movies where I teach poker and help Dutch fetish model Ancilla Tilia to try and become a successful tournament player. The series will consist of about 12 to 15 flics, all with a special 'one minute of gossip' at the end. Enjoy! Holland Poker School 1: Introducing Rolf & Ancilla Holland Poker School 2: No Headache Play Holland Poker School 3: Playing Styles April 30, 2009 At a day that has been slightly overshadowed by the actions of a lunatic in my home country the Netherlands, I was unable to make it to day 3 of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. After another day of plodding, maneuvering and tight play, I was eliminated in about 250th place out of 935, quite far from the 88 ITM players. I will stay here in Monaco for a few more days, but probably I won't be playing any more events. More likely, I will simply enjoy the sun, and enjoy some of the nice clubs & restaurants during the remainder of my stay. And if I happen to change my mind... well, then you guys will be the first to know. :) Interview with Rolf at EPT Frand Final (Pokernews, in Dutch) -------------------- April 29, 2009 I have survived day 1 of the EPT Grand Final in Monaco. With 30,000 stacks and the blinds starting at just 50-100, the money was very deep at all stages throughout the event. As so often in big tourneys, I played a very calm day 1. I never had anything less than 28k, and never had more than the amount that I ended the day with: 47,300. I was happy to win the last pot of the day in a raise-threebet-fourbet-fold pot against the dangerous Ilari Sahamies to my immediate left. (My hand: QQ; his hand: Ax.) For the rest I just played small-pot poker with maybe not a lot of great decisions, but no real blunders either. Average stack tomorrow will be about 52k, and after a redraw for seats we will start with 500-1000 blinds and a 100 ante. About 550 out of the 960 players at the start (both no more than just estimates / wild guesses) remain. Wish me luck! ------------------ April 28, 2009 Some good and some bad news from Monaco. I had planned to go to the EPT Grand Final to play two pot-limit Omaha events and two supersatellites for the €10,000 Main Event. The bad news is that both PLO events have been cancelled because of regulations / legislation, in favor of no-limit hold'em events. The good news is that in the second supersatellite that I played, I succeeded in qualifying for the Main Event. I have a very good record at live supersatellites, and with a bit of fortune early on and some bad luck but good maneuvering at the final stages, I managed to get a seat. So, I will play day 1B of the Main Event, and hope that I can make a decent showing. Wish me luck! ------------------ April 24, 2009 Every Wednesday, Thursday & Friday night, it is still "Lords of Poker" time on Dutch TV. I am one of the Lords, and here at rolfslotboom.com I provide you with direct links to every show that features me more than in just one or two shots. The latest links: Lords of Poker (episode 14) Lords of Poker (episode 15) ------------------ April 21, 2009 Having returned from Belgium, I can look back at a more than decent Namur Poker Classics, with two final tables including one win (at a small PLO freeze-out). Those interested in some detailed updates of the events can take a look at www.pokerinfo.be (in Dutch) and www.walloniepoker.net (in French). While I was in Belgium, some TV shows that include me rather prominently have been released on Dutch TV. They include: Late Night Stars of Poker (semi-final) Late Night Stars of Poker (final) Lords of Poker (episode 11) Also, I have made my writing debut in the high-quality Dutch soccer magazine "Hard Gras". A (slightly funny) seven-page story about pokerplaying soccer stars & sharks like me who try to hustle them, can be found in its April 2009 issue. The official "Hard Gras" site provides the opportunity to order a copy. ------------------ April 19, 2009 After my win in yesterday's PLO, it was now time for the Main Event at the Namur Poker Classics. 142 entrants for €1,050+80 each, and I was eager to win, or at least try to take the lead for the all-round best player trophy. In this tournament with fairly deep stacks, ten-handed tables and no antes, I opted for a calm, fairly tight approach throughout the first day. In fact, not much happened, and with about 35 players left (16 ITM) I started getting a bit short. With blinds 800-1600, someone who had lost a huge pot on the previous pot now open raised big. Given her tendencies & the history, I read this as a marginal hand at best. So, with a decent-looking A♦ Q♦ I pushed all-in for 19k for what turned out to be a correct decision - she had AT off. But a player in the blinds woke up with QQ - and that was good enough to eliminate us both. So, after a rather uneventful eight levels of play, I was out just before the end of day 1. Tomorrow I will play a small side event, where I will try to book a third final table this week, to close off this (to me) fairly succesful Namur Poker Classics. ------------------ April 18, 2009 I have won another tournament! At the Namur Poker Classics, I have taken down a small PLO tournament, the €100+10 freeze-out. The field was capped at 50 runners. Having lost the chiplead after two slightly unlucky huge pots, I was down to just 1.2 big blinds with 8 players left. Yet, I somehow managed to win the event! After some crazy pots where I was dead in the water yet miraculously escaped, I then fought my way back into the chiplead and had my aggression pay off. In the end, I received a smallish-but-nice €1,858, and worked my way up on the overall ranking because of my second final table this week. Of course, this is all just preparation for tomorrow's Main Event. Wish me luck! -------------------- April 14, 2009 After three small tournaments with no result, I had my first cash in the biggest event so far at the Namur Poker Classics, the €200+10 freeze-out with 166 runners. Just before the money, I amassed a very large stack, and I even made it to the final table as the clear chipleader. Having said that, I had already lost *the* pot that would basically have decided the tournament, when my flush draw + overcard didn't materialize three-way against a pair of sevens and an unimproved KQ offsuit(!). Against this same player from the KQ, I then also lost another pot with top pair versus bottom pair, only to get faced with an unlucky river. And in yet another basically tournament-ending pot for over 40% of the total chips in play, my AQ of diamonds lost against yet another KQ offsuit, all-in preflop, but four spades on the board coming to my opponent's rescue. But because I was the most aggressive player by far in a high-ante game, I still had an average stack even after losing all of these huge pots. And when I reraised all-in with the Dead Man's Hand A♠ 8♠ against a committed open raiser who made the call with J♣ 4♣, winning this pot would again have made me the clear chipleader with a twice average stack. The flop came OK with an eight and one club, but two running clubs ended my tournament in fifth place, for a €1,959 payday - instead of the €7k+ first prize that I was aiming for. Of course, I had no reason to complain. I have my first final table under my belt here in Belgium, and these first (small) tournaments are all just a warm up for the Main Event later this week. And as I had my goal for this week at two final tables, one can say that I am already halfway there. :) ------------------ April 12, 2009 Having arrived in Namen, I am not so sure that I have done the right thing, actually. The tournaments so far have been low buy-ins with relatively small fields. Coupled with the fact that Internet connection is poor and I cannot play the PLO event or Main Event of the SCOOP, it would probably have been smarter to stay at home and try to write history - like by trying to win two PLO comps in one online tournament series. Having said that, my early eliminations in the first three tournaments have given me the time to do some writing in my hotel room. As some know, I have recently expanded my focus somewhat, and the first proof is my debut article in this month's "Hard Gras", a high-quality soccer magazine in my home country. Also, I have just signed the contract for my second Dutch book, "Pokerface II". I have switched publishers, and am delighted to be part of what I view to be one of the top publications when it comes to sport books, Tirion Sport. (That also published "Poker voor Beginners I & II", the two books that had my foreword.) In addition, a whole lot of Internet movies that include me have just been released. They include two specifically-created-for-Dutch-TV poker tournaments, and the pilot / test of a brand new poker talkshow that I host for Pokercity, the site that also carries my weekly columns. Enjoy! Late Night Stars of Poker (semi-final) Lords of Poker Tournament 3 (Episode 7) Poker Inside (pilot) ----------------- April 10, 2009 More good news from the Ace. During the Nijmegen Poker Days, I limited myself to playing only the Main Event... and made it to the final table. In the end, I busted out in 8th place when my AK ran into aces, but still it was another decent performance. The eventual winner was the strong Dominik Kulicki. Reports (inluding live video images, where after my elimination I did the live commentary + interviews) are provided by Pokercity, the site that also carries my weekly column and the poker talkshow that I host. The upcoming week, I will be in Belgium for the Namur Poker Classics, a tournament week with relatively small buy-ins. ------------------ April 4, 2009 Some great news from Saturday night's SCOOP $215 6-handed PLO... I won it! Despite a field of 848 including some top professionals, I came out on top. It was the biggest online win out of my career, and quite frankly also my first online tournament win of any kind of stature / importance. The story of the tournament was simple: I grinded my way to a decent stack early on (even without using the optional rebuy), made some excellent moves in the middle stage of the tournament (including three well-times and courageous bluffs), was a bit more loose-aggressive than I usually am, and at the final stages of the event I simply got lucky. Against top pro Eric "Rizen" Lynch, I was fortunate enough to turn around a 4-to-1 chip defincit heads up. Updates from the PokerStars blog & some replayed hands ----------------- April 1, 2009 It's spring time in Amsterdam! Because I am relaxing and chilling in my garden, writing articles & playing online while enjoying the sun, I haven't done any poker-related traveling. This won't last long though, as in upcoming months I will play tournament series in Namur (Belgium) and Nijmegen & Enschede (both Holland), in addition to possibly the EPT Grand Final in Monaco. I have just completed all of my book projects, and this means that within six weeks you can expect the release of "Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha", and within six months also "Secrets of Professional Poker II", both by D&B Publishing. The Internet flics I have recorded are about to be released, but some technical problems have delayed these projects a little. Still, within a week they should be online, and I will provide links here. As to the Dutch TV-shows I have participated in: the recordings of both "Lords of Poker" and "Late Night Stars of Poker" have just been completed; broadcasts are available at the site of RTL Poker. Shows that feature me prominently will also be included in the "Ace in Videos" section. Just added: The most recent episode with yours truly at the feature table. For those interested in the more 'social' side of me: In addition to my international Facebook account, I have also created a Hyves account specifically for the Dutch. Feel free to add me there, but don't expect me to respond to any poker-related questions. These remain limited to the Ask Ace section here at rolfslotboom.com. March 15, 2009 No good news from Dortmund. Having lost half my stack on just the second hand of the €2,000 side event with KK, I was shortstacked all day. But good play at the end of this first day combined with winning one crucial flip got me through to day 2 in rather decent shape. Having gotten a good draw, up against either weak players or decent / good players that I knew very well, I chipped up slowly. But with 46 players left out of 250, 30 of whom would cash, I wouldn't even be able to make the money - as I busted out in a massive pot. After one very loose EP limper for 1400, I limped along with 88, only to face a quick and too-large raise from the cutoff - a raise that screamed AJ / AQ for a 'punish the limpers' play. When the open limper insta-called with just 19k behind, I actually feared he might have AA or some other big hand, but once I studied him I knew it was a speculative holding. With in the middle two times 8k, my own 1400, plus the 2900 of blinds & antes in a situation where bigger pairs than mine seemed unlikely, I decided to limp-reraise all-in to 30,600 total. After long deliberation, the initial raiser made the call with AQo, and the other guy folded his A7s. Good news for me: I was much better than a flip now, in a situation where winning would earn me a 70k+ pot for 1.6 times average. However, an ace flopped to bust me out - meaning that also my second event in Dortmund hadn't earned me a dime. As you are reading this, I am already back in Holland for the TV recordings of "Lords of Poker". All the big Dutch players are present, plus my girlfriend is active as a dealer. So I expect two enjoyable shooting days - hopefully with some good results. ------------------ March 13, 2009 Fuck! That was the word that came to mind after my elimination in 66th place at the EPT Dortmund. A tough day hadn't been rewarded with an in-the-money finish, as only 64 players were secured of €6,600. So, no cash for yours truly - let alone the win I was aiming for. This is what happened. After I ended day 1 having paid the SB, I started day 2 in the BB. Not the best of things for one's stack, being forced to post the blinds four times in a row - and having to give up all of them. I also lost the first 'real' hand on the button, when I was faced with an absolute minimum reraise (less than double my ope-raise!) and folded on the flop to his c-bet. I then raised with TT only to face a crazy shove from the small blind's KTo. I called & won, and then the next hand the exact same scenario occurred: Again I raised with TT, and again someone from the blind reshoved with garbage (Q8 of diamonds). Again I called, and this time a queen turned. Based on this small sample, I knew what was in store for me: a tough day. When my table broke up and was moved to a table with lots of aggressive young guns / big stacks, I knew it would become even tougher. I tightened up significantly with the intention of building a tight image to maybe use that later by reraising / shoving on marginal values. I was lucky to more than double up when I made a squeeze play with AK, only to see the caller in the middle make a second hand low play with QQ. I won the race by spiking a king, and suddenly had 61,000 for a way above average stack. But I lost a few chips with QQ against someone that I read pretty well, making a (what I hope to be) quality laydown on the river on a non-scary board. And I lost some more chips when I raised with TT, and got reraised small by the SB. This looked like a really big hand to me, so instead of moving in I just called. I folded to his 2/3 pot bet on the flop AK4, but in retrospect I think I let him bluff me out there, as there was no hand that had me beat other than JJ or QQ that he might play this way. Down to a below-average stack, I didn't want to pull the trigger too soon, playing against people who had a tendency to disrespect shoves and call them lightly. In the end, having made two successful shoves with marginal hands, the third time I had a real hand: AQ in the cutoff as the first one in, in a seven-handed game. Being very close to the bubble (that would probably break in just 3 or 4 hands) I decided to move in, expecting to get called by dominated hands often enough to warrant the risk. (And of course, just winning the pot uncontested would add more than 25% to my stack.) Unfortunately, the small blind woke up with KK, and his top full on the turn had me drawing dead. My good and a bit tighter-than-usual game had brought me close to a cash, but not close enough. Of course, that would have been just the starting point, as I had planned to start using my tight, nitty image at the last 2 or 3 levels of the day in order to get *really* deep in this event. Alas, no money for me. But who knows I can pull something off in today's €2,000 side event. Wish me luck! Live action Main Event + After-elimination interview Pokernews (in Dutch) ----------------- March 11, 2009 Not knowing for sure whether I would play the EPT Dortmund, as I would need to do a direct €5,300 buy-in, I decided in the end to just do it. And after an exciting day 1A, I have indeed made it to day 2. Playing my usual tight and snug game, I built my stack in characteristic fashion. For whatever reason, people tend to give me excessive action with garabage hands like AJ & AQ. (Garbage of course once I have shown strength.) So, after I folded something like 36 hands in a row, the open-limper for 200 judged my 1,025 total raise to be a good spot for a limp-reraise. With just AQo, he pushed all-in for 8,875 total against my obvious big hand (KK). I had him slightly covered, yet still wasn't very thrilled when an ace turned. My opponent's screams of joy were louder than King Kong, but I asked the lovely dealer to please concentrate and simply river a king for me. She obliged, and I was up to 22K (out of my 10K starting stack). I was clearly above average, but then lost 80% of my stack calling someone down with a very marginal hand. I flatcalled his raise preflop, and then called him down on the flop, the turn and the river with less than top pair on a board with three diamonds (that I didn't have). Judging my opponent's large river bet to be either the supernuts or a total bluff, and actually having represented a rather big hand my self through my flatcall on the turn with three diamonds on the board, I was very surprised to catch my opponent pushing all-in with just top pair / for this situation marginal kicker. (In a situation where this hand was probably not much more than just a bluff catcher, as it would usually get called only when beat.) Of course, the end result was that *I* had misjudged my opponent's level of knowledge and thus had made a gross error myself, having lost such a big chunk of my stack with a hand that could only beat a three-barrel bluff. Down to 4,000 with the blinds at 200-400/50 ante, I didn't give up though. I actually tightened up a bit more after losing the massive pot as people might expect me to start shoving with nothing, and thus would call my shoves lightly. I doubled with TT versus Ac8c (that actually flopped a flush draw), then doubled again with AK versus Q5 (a queen on the flop for my opponent who had even less chips than I, but again a lovely king for me on the river), reraised with AsQs to make an open raiser fold, and four-bet with AsKs to make a three-bettor give up. So, having come back well, I ended the day with 29,000 - even slightly above the average stack of about 27,500. Once day 1B is over, I expect about 230 or 240 out of the approx. 600-650 runners will be left for day 2. Wish me luck! Extensive updates can be found in the Live Reporting section online. In addition, PokerstarsTV has an interesting video (in English) that features me just before the start of this EPT Dortmund. Also, a one-page story about the Unibet Open, including some words by yours truly, has been published in Dutch newspaper "Metro". It is in the March 9 issue (Amsterdam) at page 9, and at their site it can be downloaded for free. ----------------- March 7, 2009 I haven't performed! After a day of battling and fighting, I have busted out of the Unibet Open. I started out well winning two nice pots with my trademark small suited connectors, but in the end got caught in a probably ill-timed move where I couldn't improve. A detailed description of my play: Rolf's weekly column (in Dutch) Interview Poker Akademia (in both English & Hungarian) Interview Poker News (in Dutch) ----------------- March 2, 2009 I am overrated - there is just no denying it. For the upcoming Unibet open in Budapest, I have been listed number 2 at the list of favorites to win this event - at odds of 35 to 1! (Odds taken from Unibet site.) This despite an expected field of perhaps even more than 500 players. Of course, I am not that good - but I will do my best to make all those who have had the courage to bet on me very happy. The full list: Norinder, Micke 30,00 Slotboom, R 35,00 Sjåvik, Jan Olav 35,00 Egemo Hansen, Christoffer 40,00 Van De Riet, Tim 40,00 Verkasalo, Sampo 40,00 Swartling, Peter 45,00 Juutilainen, Vesa-Petri 45,00 Cornmark, Magnus 50,00 Dervaux, Nicolas 50,00 Johansson, Mikael 50,00 Frankowski, Wojciech 50,00 Grabek, Jarosław 50,00 Dalhuijsen, P 50,00 Paasonen, Mika 50,00 Perälä, Jukka 50,00 Veenboer, Jordy 50,00 Vilkki, Juha 50,00 Wubbels, Boudewijn 50,00 Majewski, Paweł 55,00 Peltola, Lassi 55,00 Wahlbeck, Ville 55,00 Johansson, Simon 60,00 Mikkola, Jani 60,00 Tabaszewski, Andrzej 60,00 Lundsröm, Robert 60,00 Kettunen, Henri 60,00 Määttänen, Olli 60,00 Nousiainen, Teresa 65,00 Hjorthall, Stefan 65,00 Tabaszewski, Krzysztof 65,00 Rachlin, Dan 65,00 Verboven, Filip 65,00 Vuoksenmaa, Jorma 65,00 Karke, Jani 70,00 Siepel, Raymond 70,00 Walhberg, Lauri 70,00 Glimne, Dan 75,00 Siiskonen, Teemu 75,00 Gładysz, Rafał 75,00 Sokół, Marek 75,00 Lagergren, Johan 75,00 Bolleret, Thierry 75,00 Laivonen, Eero 75,00 Luyten, Bert 75,00 Valkenburg, Paul 75,00 Van Lent, Yves 75,00 Wiśniewski, Michał 75,00 Pająk, Lesław 80,00 Ruzik, Marcin 80,00 Adams, Marco 80,00 Lupi, Max 80,00 Mustonen, Miikka 80,00 Springael, Joris 80,00 Van De Sompel, Simon 80,00 Van Kalkeren, Daniel 85,00 Berg, Rasmus 100,0 Candela, Thomas 100,0 Damen, Kees 100,0 Meijer, Sven 100,0 Verest, Stijn 100,0 Edström, Ralf 115,0 Van Groningen, Willem 115,0 Ekwall, Patrick 125,0 Frick, Aljosha 125,0 Labreuil, Olivier 125,0 Lenssen, Gilles-Vullings 125,0 Valavuori, Aleksi 125,0 Pek, Norberth 135,0 Asikainen, Amin 150,0 Heikelä, Jussi 150,0 Lammers, Frank 150,0 Peeters, Roel 150,0 Van Der Geest, Dennis 150,0 Larsen, Thomas Bo 150,0 Olsen, Joachim B. 150,0 The good news for me is that I can focus fully on both my live and online play now, as I have just completed all of my writing jobs. This means I have all the time to go after my second tournament win this year, and of course to record lots of new Internet movies. The first ones have not been released yet, but once they have I will put direct links right here. For now, I hope you wish me the best of luck in Budapest - in what I expect to be one of my very few tournaments abroad this year. February 24, 2009 A short update on some recent developments: Tomorrow, I'll be playing the final of Late Night Stars of Poker. How I qualified for this final can be seen at the site of RTL Poker. Having performed quite well in this preliminary event, it is now up to me to 'close the deal' (to just paraphrase the brilliant "Glengarry Glen Ross" with Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin & Al Pacino). Anyway, tomorrow is the final with some strong pros, and rather surprisingly also a fair number of online qualifiers & famous Dutchmen who have won their respective heats. You will understand that even if I win this final I still cannot post it here - as we are talking about a TV show here, the broadcast date being the end of March probably. In addition, I have recorded some Internet movies for Holland Poker. Light strategy stuff, where I am 'educating' a well-known Dutch model to become a winning tournament professional. Once the first flic becomes available online, I will put direct links here in this section. The general idea of these 4- to 6-minute movies is to combine light strategic issues with some chatter & banter. And if the guys who have shot these movies are smart... well then they will keep a separate "Bloopers" compilation on the shelve to be used at a later date. We have had so much fun with lots of hilarious moments & incredibly stupid mistakes - the vast majority made by yours truly - that these Bloopers will definitely go for big bucks on E-Bay. ;) In the next "What's Happening": More on the latest developments regarding "Pokerface II" The official release date for "Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha" The links to the Internet flics with the Dutch model My preparation for the Unibet Open in Budapest Until then, I wish you the best of luck. ------------------- February 11, 2009 I love it when my products get good reviews! When checking the Internet, I ran into a piece that has been put on Pokernews just yesterday: "Secrets of Professional Poker I" review It's always nice to have others appreciate my books, DVD's and all - especially if the appreciation comes from someone who knows what he is talking about (as in this case). "Secrets of Professional Poker I" at Amazon (at discounted rate) The second and also last part of my "Secrets of Professional Poker" series will be released in the summer. It was our intention to release this book before Secrets of Short-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha. But as this PLO 6-max & heads up book is so relevant, and given that my first PLO book was such a big hit, Rob Hollink & I have given our all to deliver the full script as early as possible. (Something we have just done: the full script has been handed over to publisher D&B last week.) As a result, the book will be out way before the scheduled release date of July 1, 2009. Expect it to be available in the spring, say the first or second week of April - so in all likelihood, even before the release of Secrets of Professional Poker II. "Secrets of Short-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha" at Amazon (pre-order, at discounted rate) "Secrets of Professional Poker II" at Amazon (pre-order, at discounted rate) Also my other books seem to be doing well. For instance, my Dutch publisher Boekerij has just ran out of copies of the first printing of "Pokerface", my Dutch columns book. In fact, the last copies available were given away as part of a special "Lords of Poker" promotion in Amsterdam. More on my participation in this new Dutch TV show next Saturday: Rolf's weekly column (in Dutch) In the next couple of weeks, I will have talks with my publisher whether or not we will have a second printing of "Pokerface", and discuss any plans for a follow-up book with the original title "Pokerface II". All in all, lots of plans & projects that have just been completed, that are on its way, that are on the shelves or that are in the pipelines. Interesting times ahead, I would say - and I will keep you up to date about the developments here in this section. --------------------- February 1, 2009 Daily updates from the Dom Classics This week, it's Dom Classics time, the second-biggest annual tournament series in my home country. Lots of exciting stuff is on its way. I will play a whole bunch of tournaments, including the €2,500 Main Event - my first event for Holland Poker. On Tuesday I will officially be crowned Pokercity's "Player of the Year 2008". And finally, I will support my girlfriend in the opening event, the Ladies Only European Open. All updates from this week can be found below, the most recent one on top. Out of nowhere! This is how I view my win at the closing event of the Dom Classics, the €200+20 NLH freezeout. I had not won a live tournament in two years, and at this Dom Classics I had scored zero out of five - having cashed not even once, and having lost the vast majority of the crucial showdowns. But then, out of nowhere, I took first place at the closing event of this nice tournament week, beating 208 runners for a nice €13,728 payday. This being a crapshoot-de-luxe, I needed a lot of luck to get there, winning one crucial flip (77 vs AK), and winning two pots with my trademark small suited cards (this time 6♦ 4♦ in a horrible outdraw against 77 and a bit later 7♠ 5♠ versus AJ) - plus at the final table also AK versus KK, an ace on the river. Perhaps the most awful outdraw of all: being all-in preflop with AJo to beat my opponent's AA by making a straight! It was the first time since the Master Classics 2006 that I had Lady Luck on my side in almost all the crucial pots, and I was obviously very happy about her presence in this event. After all, despite being very pleased with my decent / solid / steady tournament results the past two years, winning & lifting trophies is the best feeling of all - and I would say that it was about time again that I would come out on top in a live event. Pics & reports: Live reporting Pokercity (in Dutch) Live reporting Pokernews (in Dutch) Rolf Slotboom wins €200 freezeout (in Dutch) January 31, 2009 My 0 Euro week at the Dom Classics remained intact, as also in the €1000+50 NLH I couldn't get any result. Despite playing good and calm, I again lost the first all-in that I played - a bit like the other events this week. Only fun thing was that right after busting I took over the Main Event final table live stream commentary & interviews - and that was a nice thing to do. Results can be found in the Pokercity live reporting, the eventual winner of the event being the strong Thijs Wessels. January 30, 2009 Ugh! That is the first thing that comes to mind about my second day of the Dom Classics Main Event. Starting with an exactly average stack of 27,500, (about 35BB in 9-handed play with no antes, for an M of well over 20), I felt good about my chances. And on just the third hand of play, I felt even better: I had gotten all the money in preflop with AA versus Ben Wolbers' QQ. Winning this pot would give me 51,000 for almost twice average with 44 players left. But... a queen flopped and I was suddenly down to 6,000 - just 7.5 big blinds. A clear case of "Ugh" in my book! However, given that there were no antes and that I am very good shortstacked, I decided not to give up. As my opponents respected me, I could even work my way up slowly. When I doubled with AQ versus Bart Spijkers' TT, I even started feeling good about my chances. But reraising all-in with Q♦ J♦ against the same player's open raise in a situation where I sensed weakness, Bart chose to make the call with 44 for about half his stack. I seemed to get the best of it in this flip when a jack flopped, to get be back into contention. But then a 4 came on the river, so that instead of having more than the stack that I started this day 2 with, I was out. Out in 32nd place, for my fifth consecutive Dom Classics event without a cash. And all of this despite being pretty much on top of my game. Ugh! Live reporting Pokercity. Updates + exit video 30 jan 2009 @ 16:42 & beyond Exit video Pokernews (in Dutch) ------------------ January 29, 2009 Finally, some good news from the Dom Classics. I have started performing just in time: at the €2,500+100 Main Event. After four awful performances in the side events, I have survived day 1 of the Main Event with an exactly average stack. Two key hands: Calling down a three-barrel bluff with TPTK on a very dangerous board, and raising with KK after limpers only to get faced with a massive 50BB all-in shove from the initial limper. I called, and my kings held up against AQ off (!). As for the rest, it was fun at my table with with the likes of Ben Wolbers, Govert Metaal, Bart Spijkers & Daan Slutter, to name but a few - making this day 1 a more than enjoyable one. Tomorrow, we will resume at the exact same (though enjoyable, also very tough) table. 45 players are left out of the initial 122. Blinds are 400-800, and I have 27,500. Wish me luck! ------------------ January 28, 2009 A disappointing result in the €200 PLO / NLH mix. Again, the only positive thing I can say about this event is that I did not require any rebuys. Other than that, I lost a crucial pot with kigh-high flush plus top set in a situation where my opponent made a play that looked suspiciously like the bare ace - but that turned out to be the nut flush after all. I payed off a pot-sized bet on the river, and was short after that. I doubled up once in a 52-48% match-up, the money going in on the flop, but then got eliminated in a preflop 59-41% battle that I lost. All in all, I could not live up to my own expectations - and hope that in tomorrow's Main Event I will be able to perform better. Actually, one other thing that was good about my early exit: I could attend my girlfriend's birthday, and join her & some friends to dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant. Just released in the daily newspaper AD Sportwereld: A little interview about my "Dutch Player of the Year" title (in Dutch) ------------------- January 27, 2009 Some good and some bad news today. To start with the bad news: In the €200+20 NLH with unlimited rebuys I played like a donk. The only positive thing was that I did not need to do any rebuys. For the rest, I played six hands after the rebuy phase, and in all six I did not do what I was supposed to. Coupled with the fact that my opponents had big hands a bit more often than could be expected, my tourney was over a bit sooner than expected. The good news: just before the tournament, I was crowned PokerCity's Player of the Year for my consistent live tournament results throughout 2008. The cheque & the champaign were offered by Hugo Borst, the Dutch soccer journalist. It was interesting to meet him, especially because his career has always been a bit of an example for me. Why? Well, just as he has done, I am hoping to step out of the 'just-my-own-sports' atmosphere, by writing columns & stories or doing TV things about other things than just poker - in my case things like politics, movies & newsitems. I have already done this a bit through my poetry (here at the site) and also the column section in my book "Pokerface" about soccer, politics and even sex. So who knows - more of the same could be on its way soon. Rolf gets crowned Pokercity Player of the Year 2008 Tomorrow the PLO / NLH mix event - and I have already announced that I'm going to win it. Wish me luck! ------------------- January 26, 2009 A rather uneventful tournament, today's €100+10 limit hold'em plus one rebuy & add-on. I had a great draw: the level of play was probably the lowest I have ever seen. At least 4 players had never played B&M limit hold'em before, but unfortunately I couldn't profit from it. As every pot went to a showdown, it was simply a matter of picking hands with showdown power, and trying to both maximize wins & minimize losses by gaining / saving a bet through good maneuvering. Alas, it was not enough as I simply did not get enough quality hands, and the ones that I got I could not hold up. I was out just before the dinner break - with the one upside, that I will be able to give myself an excellent preparation for tomorrow's event, the €200 NLH with unlimited rebuys. ------------------- January 25, 2009 The €400+40 'crapshoot' no-limit hold'em went quite OK. At a nice table, I won a big pot with KK against a player who overplayed JJ slightly, making the fourth raise all-in before the flop. Being at 9,500 after that hand (up from my 5,000 starting stack), I decided to keep up the pressure in the hopes of maybe accumulating a massive stack. But I got reraised off a few hands, overplayed 99 slightly against a good and tight player'a all-in reraise, and found myself back in the pack when the real crapshoot began. With average stacks of just 12BB we were playing push-or-fold, and while some dislike it a lot I actually don't mind it at all. Unfortunately, one of my moves with J8 from the cutoff got picked off by the small blind's 99. Being extremely short after that hand, I fought back but in the end got eliminated in 48th place - quite a long way before the money. -------------------- January 24, 2009 No real poker for me this day, other than a well-played supersatellite where I got quite unfortunate losing the only all-in I needed to play. Holding AKs against an AJo in a pot where I could accumulate a 1.6 times average stack if I won, I finished 11th when 5 players got a Main Event ticket. Other than that, I supported my girlfriend who made a decent attempt at the Ladies Only title, but ultimately finished in 18th place. --------------------- January 18, 2009 Not a lot of updates in recent weeks - for the simple reason that I have not played much. Just as the last three months of 2008, I have not played any online poker. This time, the main reason was keeping full focus on my second PLO book. The good news: I expect the entire script to be ready within three weeks. Some more good news: Rather than the extensive traveling for international tournaments that I did in 2008, the new year I will focus almost exclusively on the national events. I have reached an agreement with Holland Poker to play all of the Holland Casino Main Events. My first event already starts in a couple of days, at the Dom Classics in Utrecht. The Main Event has a €2500+100 buy-in, so by no means is this some kind of penny stakes event. Here at this "What's Happening" page, I will try to do daily updates, starting January 25th with the first side event. Because I was so busy at the end of 2008, I happened to miss a few video broadcasts that involved me. They include footage from the Master Classics PLO event and also from the Spanish Poker Tour Final Table introduction. Also, for those who are familiar with my famous 5♠ 4♠ hand at the 2006 Master Classics, a funny comic has just been created by a Dutch forum poster. Enjoy! Master Classics 2008 PLO: Poker is personal Master Classics 2008 PLO: Donkeys in Omaha? Spanish Poker Tour - Final Table introduction Comic about the Master Classics 2006 Main Event - my famous "Little spades" hand ------------------ January 1, 2009 First of all: Happy New Year to everyone. May all your wishes come true, at and especially outside of the tables. The beginning of the New Year is usually not just looking ahead to the future, it is also looking back at the previous year. For me, it was a busy and interesting year. Some highlights: - I crossed the $500k in live tournament winnings. - I had my first-ever year of more than $200k prize money in these live tournaments. (Not the same as profit though!) - I had a few new columns, and some new book projects. - I moved successfully into the world of 6-max and heads up games. - I had more fun! Of course, there were also some not-so-good things. The sponsordeal wasn't the biggest success obviously, and I am still waiting whether or not I can get back my funds. Also, even though I performed well in the live tourneys, I did not win a single event. Nonetheless, because of my good & consistent results I have been named PokerCity's "Dutch Player of the Year 2008", and I am obviously proud of that. The next year will probably be: - More online play. - Lots of new books. - Less major live tourneys, other than the really big ones like the WSOP & the EPT Grand Final. - More tourneys in my home country. - And hopefully, even more fun! Anyway, I hope you guys also wish *me* the best of luck - and I look forward to again seeing you all often here at rolfslotboom.com. If you have any questions, comments, praise or criticism, just "Contact Ace". Or better, put your comments in the Ask Ace or Guestbook sections, and I will respond ASAP. Happy 2009! More happenings current 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

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