KKPoker ambassador Jon Kyte recently embarked on exciting poker trips to Malta and Las Vegas, both locations known for their rich live poker history and attracting high entry numbers in their live poker tournaments.
Jon has been a professional poker player for over 7 years and has gained advanced knowledge of No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) and Mixed Games. With over $2.5M in live tournament earnings, his accomplishments include winning the Nordic Poker Championship, a WSOPC Ring, Pokerstars EPT Main Event runner-up, and WSOP Bracelet Event runner-up.
Jon has exclusively provided KKPoker with his post-trip diary blog, giving you more insight into the mind of a poker professional!
Table of Contents
FLYING INTO MALTA & LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS HIGH ROLLER
FLYING INTO MALTA & LAS VEGAS
Hi, KKPoker community. It's Jon Kyte, and I'm happy to bring you new diary blogs!
My first official trip as a KKPoker ambassador was to Malta to play the Malta Poker Festival, an event for which KKPoker offered online satellites.
I really enjoyed Malta. My favorite thing is going from the cold in the north to sunny Malta every Autumn. Being together with all the amazing people always makes me return every year. Malta is all smiles!
And, of course, I played a little bit of poker as well. Even though the tournaments are typically smaller buy-ins, playing some poker is always fun, especially in large player fields. The Main Events in Malta are huge, and even though the buy-in is small, it's still very prestigious to beat big fields. I used to satellite into these big tournaments. It's really the best way to go, and together with KKPoker, you can also satellite into the live tournaments and play vs the pros, like me.
In Malta, I was also lucky enough to host my own H.O.R.S.E. tournament. I made the final table but lost a crucial hand in Omaha Hi/Lo with 7 left. I had ATT8 on Q-T-4-7-2 vs AQQ6. Such a fun tournament playing with all the mixed game enthusiasts.
I also made Day 2 of The Hendon Mob Championship, but unfortunately, I busted QQ vs KTo.
In the Main Event, I got 136th out of 2,045 entries after busting on a flip. Here is one key hand from the event:
LJ opens, I 3-bet ThTd in HJ, BB cold-calls & LJ calls. Flop comes Ks6s3d and we all check. Turn comes Ts, BB leads for almost pot, LJ goes all in for a little more. I go all in with my set and the BB player calls as well.
I'm very delighted to be against KdJd from BB & KcQc from LJ, with both my opponents drawing dead, so I took down a big pot before making Day 2.
The rest of the trip was just good food and great company. I didn't have the time for some PLO in Malta, but I looked forward to enjoying Las Vegas with more PLO cash action.
In 2023, I won a WSOPC PLO Ring during the event in Tallinn, and I want to share my PLO tips with you:
1. In cash games, you must be very patient and play very strong hands, especially with rake.
2. In tournaments, when stacks get shallower, you have to put your stack at risk and push those high pairs. It's important to play High pairs or rundown hands like AAxx, KKxx, AQQT, JT98, AKJT etc. Having a double-suited hand is also crucial, but the more shallow your stack gets, you can just get in any AAxx, for example.
3. A big difference from NLH is that you have to be careful with overpairs in PLO. You do a lot more checking if you don't have the nuts. You have to play very snug, and it's very easy to get punished in PLO.
Also, here are some big differences from 4 to 5 card PLO, to remember:
It's easier to beat AAxx in 5-card PLO.
Equity runs closer.
Having rundown hands goes up in value, like QJT98.
You bluff less with blockers in 5 cards as it's easier for your opponent to have the nut straight etc.
Stay tuned to the KKPoker blog, as I will be proving even more PLO tips very soon!
LAS VEGAS HIGH ROLLER
I started my NAPT in Las Vegas adventure well by coming 13th out of 214 entries in the $2,200 Deepstack event before playing the $5,300 Main Event. I bagged at the end of Day 1 with a 2.5x starting stack, but it could have been 5.5x if I hadn't lost a flip.
Day 2 was disappointing, as I was eliminated holding Pocket Fives in a Blind v Blind hand against AK.
But I still had the $10,300 High Roller to play and bagged Day 1 with the second-largest chip stack. Day 2 was then also great as I bagged 4/13.
However, Day 3 was maybe one of my worst days in poker so far. I started with 50 big blinds but managed to bust first.
On my table, the only player whose chip stack was larger than mine raised the Button to 30K. I raised to 125K with Ad4d from the Small Blind and he called.
Flop came AcTd6h. I bet 60K & he called. Turn came 2d. I normally check here, but with the flush draw, I continued for 125K and my opponent once again called.
The River was the 4h, giving me Two Pair. I bet 295K with 205K behind.
When my opponent moved all in, I knew I wasn't good, so I folded, which was a good fold, as he had AhTh for a flopped Two Pair.
Ultimately, I then busted to him later A9o<AJo for $33,450.
Tournaments are all about being patient. I was very patient for several days, but in the end, I lost a very big pot that almost cost me my tournament life. Luckily, I had very good cash game sessions after the tournaments, making me more money than in the tournaments.
I have more exciting live poker travel plans soon, so stay tuned for more blogs. You can also follow me at the events on my social media, KKPoker Global and KKPoker Europe.
We will also be announcing some upcoming KKPoker events, including my streaming schedule, special freerolls and giveaways!
