online card rack

Been playing 30-60 minutes/day online the past couple weeks. Just for fun. Eases the casino-itch a bit. Here are some highlights from a session last night I played at the laundromat (thank you for free VERY fast WiFi!):

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"Thanks for the set-up FT!"

First hand at a new 0.02/0.05 table - I watched the guy who's now UTG go all-in preflop 3 times in a row at this point.

I get dealt AA, and watch him open push $0.96, then button smooth-calls. I make a small-raise to $2.25; button pushes, I insta-call.

Awesome!!

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"Why open-limping OTB with AA at a passive table is a bad move:"

Flop got checked around, I bet / called a raise on the turn, I check/called the push on the river:

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"How to crack a set of Kings"

I called a min-raise from the BB with J8 soooted. Loose call, of course, but I won't lay down 2 suited cards from the BB to a min-raise.

Flop goes check/check. Turn I under-bet the pot /call a min-raise. Flop I bet / call a push:

Forgot the cardinal rule

of tournament poker: Survival.

I took AQo up against the big stack (I'm #2). BB SNAP called my pot-size preflop raise.

*** FLOP *** [3c Jh Qc]

SB checks
gsw61515 bets 2,600
SB calls 2,600

*** TURN *** [3c Jh Qc] [Ah]
SB checks
gsw61515 bets 5,600
SB raises to 17,000
gsw61515: KT?
gsw61515: no way

editors note: when one correctly surmises one's opponent has the nuts, one should typically fold.

gsw61515: OK
gsw61515 raises to 20,335, and is all in
SB calls 3,335
gsw61515 shows [Ac Qs]
SB shows [Ks Tc]

*** RIVER *** [3c Jh Qc Ah] [Td]
gsw61515 shows two pair, Aces and Queens
SB shows a straight, Ace high
gsw61515: gg
gsw61515 stands up

I guess I was really hoping they called with AJ and hit the other two pair.

I always considered KT a sucker hand. Especially OOP, and esp. when you're the chip leader and 2nd in chips is in position with a preflop raise....

That being said, I still think that was a fold. Down to the final 10, almost at the FT, I'm dreaming of Vegas, and I think that was a clear fold in the hopes of surviving and getting my money in in a better spot.

I fold there, I still have an OK stack - smaller than average, but about mid-pack... Winner take all event like this, though, I kinda felt I'd have to take a chance that my fear was wrong and that they too turned 2 pair.

Guess I'm not playing in the WS0P this year....

freeroll fun

Killed a bunch of hours on FTP tonight, played a slew of Bracelet Race freerolls, and a smattering of PAD freerolls. Probably played in something like 16 or 20. Made 4 final tables, and final 2 in 3 others, and top 30 in a couple. If these were cash tournys I'd have made some bucks tonight.

I saw some of the sickest beats in those tournaments. I saw aces cracked by the oddest of hands not once, not twice, not three times, not even four times, but five whole times. Unreal. Twice were mine, and after witnessing my first beat and 3 others, I considered mucking preflop the next time I got them. Duh, I called. And got run down by J6. Check out the screen cap. Raised pre, BB & limper called. Flop was checked to me, I shove (was an overbet, hoping to block any flush draws), and get called in both spots:



I wish I could list the sick stuff I witnessed: people calling their stacks on the turn with gutshots, other craziness... I played solid, standard poker and got pretty deep.

Also played 2 SNGs. Busto in the first one just off the bubble, and 3rd in the other one, busted with AKo vs AKo and the guy catches running flush cards.

Tulalip tomorrow night!

FU FTP

I just got creamed by the FTP RNG.

First up: I got check/raised all-in on the flop:



Next up:
flop: Bet pot / call. Turn: bet pot / call. River: 1/2 pot, ALL IN....reluctant call:

I can almost understand the turn call: at least then he had a gutshot, but the flop?


LAST: preflop, UTG raises I RR, UTG calls. UTG check/raises all in on the flop.


I swear 1/2 the yahoos out there think a preflop raise must only mean AK, so no A and no K on the flop = golden.

I have run AMAZINGLY HORRIBLE online over the last month. My roll has been severely depleted. SEVERELY. Like the lowest it's been since my first deposit.

And don't read this post wrong: I love love LOVE all these plays by my opponents. Just the magnitude of the suckouts was kinda gross.

Oh, this was over 3 tables, over about an hour. And only the highlights. :)

I think maybe I'm not that good

I lost a bunch online this weekend. A couple years back I had made a pledge to never play on Sundays - for whatever reason, I took more horrible beats on Sundays than any other days. I played super-early Sunday morning (5am) and did great, but between 4 & 8pm over a couple sessions I dropped about 5 buy ins.

Unfortunately, only 2 of those were gross beats; the other 3 I pretty much paid off way too many winners. I shoulda stopped playing way before I did. Discipline is lacking; I see myself playing poorly and think I can change it and get better. I haven't been able to much lately. Tilt, I think this is referred to as. :)

Roll isn't near as healthy as I'd like, so I'm in rebuild mode. Not in danger of busting, but if I run like that too much I will be. For a little while I won't be ashamed of small hit and runs. I'm also focusing on fundamentals: will likely drop the 2nd table, and play more conservatively.

This hand was a dream, though - AA in the BB, 2 limpers called my raise. Then... ah, hell, see for yourself:


Flop gets checked around. Turn, "Lost with AK" shoves. Guess he wanted to chase out flush draws (too late!). I think of coming over the top, but I'm hoping button has a flush so I just call, as does the button. I shove the river, and get called. Awesome.

That was a $25 pot. I took the $17 profit (I bought in for $8), and left. I'm roll building, and until I can move back up to dime/quarter, I'm going by the Ferguson Challenge rule that if the money in front of me is 10% or more of my roll, I have to leave when the blinds come around. And, unfortunately, $25 is more than 10% of my roll, so I folded a few crap hands and left when the bb came back.

Heater

UTG+1 standard raise to $0.35. I re-raise to $1 with QQ. SB calls. Original raiser re-pops to $4.

I don't like my position here. I hate to lay down QQ, but I take my time, and fold. We've both got very deep stacks for this game, and if a flop without an A or a K comes, it's going to look safe and I'll get stacked if he's got AA or KK. If he doesn't, then so be it and I lost a buck: there will be better opportunities to get my money in.

I guess that can be an easy fold, but it didn't feel like one. I wonder what I would have done if we each started with $8: would I shove here, or fold?

Definitely glad I folded though:



Was on a bit of a heater tonight, as I left this table with $29, left my 2nd table with $8.55, and later on sat down at a table and had this happen on my 2nd hand:



I re-raised preflop, he called/called my flop bet and I got it all in on the turn.

Left that table at $24.

Tulalip in 12 hours!

Poker Gods, why hath you forsaken me?

Unsure whether I have changed to playing like crap, or I'm just on a horrible run. My gut tells me it's a bit of both, as being down roughly 20 buy-ins over 3 weeks is pretty crappy. Sure, I've taken my share of suck-outs, but still.... I need to analyze my game from Oct-Dec to find the strong points, and compare that to Dec-now. Basically, I'm right back where I started back in October, so from a cash standpoint, no harm/no foul.

Horrible run? Horrible play? Dunno...

Friends are playing a teeny poker game Friday night: dealer's choice, nickle-ante, $0.10/$0.25 limit / 3-raise-max. Should be fun if nothing else; I hope to play the strangest combination of starters I can think up. Also hoping I can talk these guys into a NL game the next time. We'll see.

Hoping to hit Tulalip on Saturday - planning on getting there a bit earlier than usual and sitting at $1/$2 (instead of $3/$5). I may play a sit n go or 2 online; I played one turbo HU the other night and dominated. I think I need to step away from the cash tables for a spell.

Movin' on down...

After horrendous results this weekend (horrendous as in being down $100), I have to step back down to $0.05/$0.10. The vast majority of my losses were a result of too much aggression (which, for me, is a good thing (in a way) as I had become a little too passive at .05/.10).

The biggest one I remember is raising my opponent all-in on a KQx flop when I held pocket tens. He led out OOP with a larger than pot-size bet; I raised to put him all-in. I've seen so many over-raises with draws from so many players that I was convinced he had J10. Turned out he had AA, but he took quite a while to call -- afterwards he said he thought maybe I had KQ. I know this was a dangerous raise; I also don't know whether I would have made the same raise if our stacks were deeper. As it stood I only lost ~$12 on that hand.

I also suffered a bunch of out-draws, especially yesterday. A while back I had sworn off playing on Sundays as I felt like I got outdrawn an unfair amount; however logically I can't believe this would be the case so I've plowed through it... I may heed that thought again, as even if it's untrue I think I'm more prone to tilt on Sundays due to this nagging thought in the back of my brain.

I again lost in a set-over-set deal, this time with 77 on an A-7-10 flop. The 3-way pot got all in on this flop, where my set of 7's was up against a set of ten's and AK. Set over set statistically happens ~2/100 times; I can recall, in the past 60 or so days, losing at least 5 set-over-set's, and winning 1. I have played well over 1,000 hands in that time, though (don't know the exact number off the top of my head, but it's multiple thousands), so while it seems unlikely, statistically it's right in line. Totally sucks when it happens.

Down 4 buy ins over 2 days play... if my roll had been healthier to start I'd be able to stay up there; as it stands I started playing $0.10/$0.25 on the lighter side anyway, so the most prudent move is to head back down.

I played down there last night, and while the play at .10/.25 is far from brilliant, the play at .05/.10 is amazingly horrible. Best example (and unfortunately I couldn't be a part) is when UTG shoves all-in for ~$5 (mind you, there is fifteen cents in the pot prior to this!!!). What two hands call him? 9-10 soooted, and KQo!!! And the best part: guess what UTG was holding? 8-6o!!!

Gotta love shoving a half-a-buy-in to try to collect fifteen cents in blinds! Key to these tables is to not get too fancy too often, and for me - play over 2-3 tables and wait for mostly premiums and position plays.

Back to the basics...

Play less hands

First up: more RNG weirdness. First hand after opening the second table:


The human mind is known for imposing patterns where there are none in order to "understand" or even "create meaning." I guess I'm doing just that, or just happen to be in the midst of a string of coincidental occurrences. I mean, there are 1,326 starting hand combinations (OK, 169 if you get rid of suits), so I guess it's bound to happen once ever... uh - 169 times or so.

My % of flops seen was 22%, with only 4 hands won preflop. Less swingy, less chaotic; not as much action of course (preflop raises seemed to gain lotsa respect). I like the tighter approach, as well as the loose approach I've been using. I'll be trying to incorporate both of these into my sessions from here on out.

What I'm working on:
- hand selection
- hand reading
- adjusting to my opponents

Only two hands of note:
Raise from the cut-off with QJs after it folds to me; BB calls. BB check/calls the flop, check-calls the turn, and shoves the river. I momentarily hesitate, but even on a board like this (possible boat, bigger straight), this is a must-call, especially at this level:


He was playing the double-gutter, I just don't understand the river-shove. Check/calling while planning on shoving me off my hand no matter what hit the river? What did he put me on? I had him on a jack with a weaker kicker, and was (obviously) most worried about J8. That would probably have been a check/raise on the flop though. Again, this is, IMHO, an insta-call at this level (and probably also at the Tulalip $3 / 5 game, and only occasionally at the MSFT game)


Next hand was 8-way action, limped, so of course with all those limpers I'll jump aboard in late position with Q9s. The sb led out on the flop. He was aggressive on his draws. He bet about 2/3 pot on the flop ($0.50), I popped it to $1.50 (only one card beats me, and b/c he plays his draws aggressively I wanted to get more money in while I was fairly certain to have the best of it), and he just called. "Hmmm" I'm saying to myself. Turn check/ check. River check / check. Did I miss a bet?

His call of my raise made me think he had the Kd. Why didn't I bet the turn? I didn't want to get check/raised. Why didn't I bet the river? He'd probably call with a lesser flush, but would certainly raise with the Kd or a boat. I'll take a showdown and avoid the check/raise when I'm not super-confident.

What would you have done here if the 7d fell on the river and he shoved? The pot is just over 3 bucks, and your stack is around $12.

running good

I'm now working on more aggressive play at .05/.10, and if tonight is any indication, it's going well. I decided that instead of just limping into pots with medium cards (or junk), I'm going to raise with them. By "medium" I mean middle suited connectors and gappers, and even unsuited connectors and gappers.

In position, I was raising with suited gappers, suited connectors; I was calling raises in position with a fairly wide range, with plans of taking down pots by raising or betting out if checked to. This worked perfectly. Maybe I just lucked out and found two super-soft tables. Eh, who am I kdding - these tables are soft.

Here's the flop of the night:

Folds to me in the cut off minus 1 with 45o, so I pop it to $0.30; button raises to $0.60, folds to me - what the heck, he's playing position or has big cards, I'm live and connected - I call.


If he's got a big pair, I'm gold. No need to slow-play, as if he doesn't have anything OR if he does have a big pair, he'll probably raise here, or smooth call: I want money in the pot NOW, so I hope he can raise! I bet pot, he min-raises, I re-raise, he shoves... and, of course, I call :)

I don't fault the guy, except that if he put in a larger raise preflop he could have won it preflop. I'm not sure, if I were him, I don't get felted there either. Correction: at this level, I know I lose a lot of money here. Granted, I may have not shoved the flop, but tried to wait until the turn to get it all in, but maybe not.

Here's another hand I floated preflop: MP raises to $0.30, one caller before me. 64o on the button, I call, and the BB calls. He bet, I raised the flop; he bet, I raised the turn; he checked, I put him all-in on the river:



This next player was the ultimate calling station. After tangling in four hands, I knew there was no way a bluff would work if they had connected at all, so I needed to wait until I had a monster. They were in practically every hand anyway, so it was almost certain we'd tangle again. AKo UTG. I hate being OOP with AK, but I'm raising. Standard $0.30, calling station does what calling stations do: calls.

In previous hands, I had made smaller bets (1/2 pot, 1/3 pot, 3/4 pot), but now with TPTK, I'm building the pot for myself. SO, I bet the pot on the flop. And, of course, calling station calls. I am slightly worried about K9 or A9, but not too much (I couldn't put them on a range for anything) - I'm pretty sure I'm way ahead here. The turn is my money card, and I bet just under pot, insta-called. On the river, I bet enough to put them all-in, INSTA-call.

Not sure when 44 is good on this board; however they'd already won two hands against me when I bet throughout the hand with nothing and they'd hit bottom pair on the flop and called me down.. they'd also won a hand or two where I raised pre, I bet the flop, and checked the turn and river once they called me (I'd decided to not try to bluff them anymore), so there's a good chance that they remembered me showing down losing hands to them 4 times. That, or they just can't lay down a pair for anything.

Besides these hands where I connected, there were plenty that I just won by firing: raise preflop with something like a 79s, fire at a ragged flop (or a scary flop!), and take it down... played much more aggressively , and much more "poker" than "cards."

Here was a fun one: I raised pre, I got called on the flop, turn was check / check; and I pot-bet the river:

When the river was dealt, I was checked-to, and I almost gave up, but then saw that if they had a Q, they'd have bet the turn; if they had an ace, they'd probably bet the river (a small bet, since they probably don't have a flush). So I just fired, and they went away. :)

A few weeks of this as I tweak my selection and aggression, and if all goes well I'll move up to $0.10 / $0.25.

Got my kicks with 66

$0.05 / $0.10 NL
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gsw61515 [6c 6h]
UTG folds
gsw61515 calls $0.10 <- no raise from EP: want to encourage a multi-way pot to maximize set-mining value
player 1 folds
Player 2 folds
Player 3 calls $0.10
Player 4 folds
ToughLuck raises to $0.20 <- min-raise after 2 limpers? OK sure.
suitntie2000 calls $0.10
gsw61515 calls $0.10
Player 3 calls $0.10

*** FLOP *** [4d 6s 9d] <- MONEY!!
ToughLuck bets $0.20
Player 5 folds
gsw61515 calls $0.20 <- don't want to give away my strength
Player 3 folds

*** TURN *** [4d 6s 9d] [2c]
ToughLuck has 15 seconds left to act
ToughLuck bets $0.50
gsw61515 calls $0.50 <- keep betting for me, dude

*** RIVER *** [4d 6s 9d 2c] [Qh]
ToughLuck bets $1.50
gsw61515 raises to $3 <- bad raise on my part, but I didn't want to chase him away
ToughLuckhas 15 seconds left to act
ToughLuckraises to $4.50 <- hmmmm...
gsw61515 calls $1.50 <- paranoia: did he have QQ?
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ToughLuck shows [Ks Kh] a pair of Kings
gsw61515 shows [6c 6h] three of a kind, Sixes
gsw61515 wins the pot ($10.10) with three of a kind, Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $11.20 | Rake $1.10
Board: [4d 6s 9d 2c Qh]
Seat 1: gsw61515 showed [6c 6h] and won ($10.10) with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 7: ToughLuck(small blind) showed [Ks Kh] and lost with a pair of Kings


Yes, I missed out on some money on this hand. My call on the river is the only time in months and months and months where I suddenly worried about set over set. I thought he could possibly have QQ. I figured calling here would be the safest play: it was a decent sized pot as it was.

I need to work on extracting more value on my monster hands. I tried a little trapping tonight, which allowed me to get a little more value on a couple hands.

Here was a hard call:

I was pretty sure I was ahead, but he was betting all the way, and made a decent-size bet on the river. I worried that he had the case 5, or spiked a K. It was my own fault: after 2 limpers and the sb, I checked my option pre-flop. I had no way of putting anyone on any hand. I check / called on each street.

There were other interesting hands: my soooted AJ hits 2 pair on the flop and looses to flopped Broadway. My Q9 felted an opponent holding KK when I flopped top 2. Somehow my KK held up on a paired, ace-high board. With KK from the SB that I popped to $0.50 after 2 limpers, I felted my opponent holding KQo when they flopped top pair (Q)....

2 tables, ~ 200 hands; averaged seeing 34% of the flops; ended up 1 buy-in total. Yea, I know: if I'd seen less flops I'd have earned more. I've been purposely trying to see tons of flops to help my flop & turn play: I can play big hands (of course), but medium-strength hands, or hands like suited-gappers I'm not quite as confident playing. Well, I'm much more confident now than I was, say, a month ago.

Next to work on:
- extracting more value from my big hands (or my hands that connect in a big way, I should say)
- narrowing my hand selection, and playing the hands I choose more aggressively: less limping and more preflop raising. Though this may not work at .05/.10: often a raise will win the hand preflop - players there (including me!) like seeing cheap flops.

...and again...

$0.05 / 0.10, very first hand, I'm in the cut off and posted. Dealt 66; MP raises to 0.40, I (obviously) call. Again, I'm not folding a pocket pair here to any semi-standard raise: I flop a set and I'm probably stacking my opponent.

FLOP: 6s Qh 10c

Sweet.

MP bets pot, I call (not raising here: no reason to chase him away).

Turn: As

I don't like this, as KJ just hit a straight, so I'm not going to be raising. MP bets approx. 1/2 pot, I smooth call.

River: Ac.

Money card! MP checks. This surprised me; I wondered whether they just whiffed and gave up. I hoped they were going for a check-raise, so I made a bet that was a little less than what I'd put in as a value bet, and MP just called:


Kudos to chou13: tons of opponents go broke here; his check / call saved him money.


Next big hand: 4h 7h from SB. Suited, not quite connected - but with 4 limpers, I'm not folding for half a bet. BB checks, and 6 see the flop.

FLOP: 7d Ac 4c.

Flopped 2 pair, but 2 suited cards. I'd be happy to take this down here, so I bet the pot. Folds to JayDubious, who min-raises. OK, cool, they have an ace, hopefully with a good kicker. I call.

TURN: 4d.

No worries about the suits, my attention now turns to how to extract the maximum. I decide to check, JayDubious bets all but $0.30. If he's got A4, I'm just going broke, so I shove, he calls:


Top pair, medium kicker, and pushing. LOVE IT!


I should send JayDubious a thank you card. In the BB, K4o, it's limped so I check.

FLOP: Kh 6h 4s.

I'm not getting fancy here, I'll bet out and hope someone has hit top pair to0. JayDubious, quite short-stacked here, shoves for a bit less than $2. And again, of course I call with two pair:



This is around a $50 run over the past week and a half at $0.05 / $0.10. No fancy plays necessary; no crazy plays; no hero calls / hero lay-downs... here's been my strategy, distilled:
- find a table where everyone has less than 2x's buy-in, with mid-sized average pots
- see cheap flops with a wide range of hands (my stats have me seeing approx. 30% of the flops)
- with at least one deepish-stack at the table (and especially if they're in the pot), don't fold any pocket pair preflop to any semi-standard raise
- be patient and wait for big hands or wait to connect in a big way

How do they do it?

3 of the first 4 hands at a table, I had 44, 55, and 44 again. Limp / called a preflop raise with the first 44; all overs flopped, BB pot bets, I fold. 55 I raised from UTG+2, player to my left re-pops, I smooth call for set-mining odds. Overs with 2 clubs hit the flop, I bet 1/3 pot, guy shoves, I fold. I don't even remember the 3rd 44 hand. I had trouble at this table, though: my raises weren't getting respect, and I dropped from $10 to $7 quickly. I bailed, and found another table. Well, 2 actually, and figured I'd play until I decided which was more comfortable.

Not long after I sat down, sitting with approx. $9.50, I find 44 (again!) from late position. I join a couple limpers, then the button pops it to $0.50, and it folds back to me. Of course, I have to call: he's got $9.30 left, and I know if he's got a big pair, and I hit my set, it's all going in. $0.40 to flop a set and get the remaining $9.30? Of course I'm calling.

FLOP: Kc 2d 4c.

"I love it when a plan comes together."

I'm not gonna check-raise to give away the strength of my hand. I bet what I'd bet if I were on a flush draw: a little more than 1/2 pot. I bet $0.60. He raises to $1.60. Unless he has KK, I'm golden here. For these stakes, online, with very little information to go off of, I cannot start making psychic reads or hero laydowns because it may be a set over set deal. If he's got any sort of hand here, I know it's all going in.

I re-raise pot: $5 or something. I don't remember exactly, and am not clear on how to do the math for that (I just clicked the pot button), but I do know that it only left me a couple bucks left. The other guy shoves, and of course I'm calling:

How is top pair good here? How can you think, if someone has re-raised enough to only leave him a buck or 2 behind, that they're not completely dominating you? I hoped to god the guy had AK here and wanted it all in. He didn't even have that!

Over the summer I was getting pummeled at these micro-limits, and I know why now: I was playing like that dude was, figuring top pair would be great, and if not, oh well, it's only ten bucks. That's a great way to develop bad habits. Playing these limits like they mean something is a great way to play profitable poker (albeit small profits) against bad players.

I recently read an interview with Doyle Brunson, and he talks about playing poker at different levels. Here's a guy who's played $1,000 / $2,000 games, and he says that he knows players at that level who can't play well at $100 / $200 because they don't treat the game the same way. Your chips are betting units, not money. Treating the betting units as that, then you should be playing optimally at whatever level you choose.

Of course, you'll have to make adjustments to the skill of your opponents, and you may need to play a much more straightforward game at small levels, but you make that adjustment at any table you're at.

While I started out a tournament player, I am much, much more interested in cash game play. Much more interesting IMHO.

Sometimes you just need that one hand

Played 2 tables, was up $6 on one, and was down 6.50 on the other. In retrospect I should have closed the losing table way before I got to this point: I just didn't have the rhythm of that table.

The table I was up on was then joined by two players who, if it weren't .05/.10, I'd have thought were in collusion. They were also in the habit of making $3 preflop raises. I sat a few orbits but never picked up anything I could take advantage with, so I went to find another table. After about 30 minutes, I was hovering a buck or two up. Was going to go to bed, when I got this had: KQo in mid-late position. I joined a couple limpers, and 4 saw the flop: QJ8, 2 hearts. I was in position, and facing a check, a min-bet, and a call. I pop it to .60. One fold, original min-bettor min-raises (what's with the min's?) to $1.10. The original caller called.

What's going on here? AQ or AK would have been raising hands for either of them; obviously the caller is on a flush draw (nut probably), but what about the min-bettor? Unless he has 910, I'm thinking I'm in the lead. I decide to call.

Turn comes Kc. No heart, which is good (I'm not holding a heart). And I have top 2 - am I good here? If he does have AQ or AK I'm way ahead; 9 10 I'm so far behind. With the action the way it went, I think I should have put the guy on 9 10, but I didn't. When I hit my second pair, both players checked to me. I bet the pot. First called, 2nd guy (probable flush-draw), called all-in (for less than my bet).

River came 4c. While there are now 3 clubs on the board, I can't fathom either of these guys chasing runner-runner flushes; if they luckboxed and caught a backdoor straight then so be it. I was trying to decide on what a good value bet would be on the river, when first to act shoves all-in. While I'm again worried about the 9 10, that doesn't stop me from calling.

So I end up taking down a pot worth $24, which pushed me to +$13.50 for the night. I don't think I played the hand well, though -- when I'm check-raised on the flop, I couldn't put the guy on a hand. When he check/called the turn, I was more surprised. The one dude I figured for a flush draw from his action on the flop, and the turn. The other guy had me perplexed. I had no idea just how behind I was on the flop. I really didn't like calling the all-in at the end. At that point I honestly was running on instinct: I thought for a second, I closed my eyes and just felt "call," so I did.

I'm wondering when I'm going to have a losing session; if you look at dollar amounts over the past 2 weeks it's not a lot, if you go by percentage or # big blinds, it's pretty good (20 - 50 big blinds per 30-90 minute session). I'm feeling quite comfortable with my play, yet am still just a touch nervous to move to the next micro-level (which, btw, is absolutely hysterical given that I'd have no problem walking into a casino tomorrow and playing $1/2, $1/3, $2/5, $3/5 NL. Yet online, $0.10 / $0.25 makes me nervous.

I'm in Arizona now, so it's doubtful I'll get to the RPT game on Thanksgiving. If everyone crashes early, maybe I will. But that's doubtful - that'd be 7pm out here.

Another Aussie run:

Played in 3 of the Aussie free rolls this morning; busted out of one somewhere around 40 of 600+; busted out of the second one in 14th of 315, then made a deep run in the 3rd one.

Up until the final table, I had seen something like 16 flops, and 12 rivers, winning 10 of the rivers that I saw. And almost all winning hands on the river were all-ins. Even by the end of the tournament, I had seen only 18% of the flops. I played premium hands, and just a few speculative hands (and released them to any action if they didn't hit big or hit a big draw).

It's amazing what people will call you with. This one I got raised all-in on the flop:


Top pair / weak kicker. I raised preflop, too.

This hand was great: I pushed all-in preflop from the BB after 4 limpers; all but one of the limpers called me, and I got a MASSIVE chip stack:

How, I wonder, do you think K3o is good here? JJ I kind of understand (kind of), but K3o? And K10s after a push all in and 2 callers? Wow.

Here's another flopped set that I got raised all-in on the flop:


Top pair / crap kicker - I dunno. I mean, I know it's a free roll, but I guess people don't understand that if you actually play well you stand a better chance of winning the damn thing. Relying on luck will only get you so far.

On that same note, though, you just have to get lucky at least once in a tournament to take it down. I had barely played any hands, and had seen TrackStar488 raise preflop with A6o, 22; I saw him push with 88, so I'm thinking there's a damn good chance I'm ahead here. Since I hadn't played many hands at this table, I thought a tight image would get an "OK" hand to fold for his tourney life. I pushed after his raise, and he insta-called:


I had already typed "nh / gl ev1" in the chat...THEN the turn came. WOOOOO! I then revised my comment to "I mean...gg :)" That sent him spewing obscenities. Oh, well. One suck out is pretty good at this point.

Final table, I'm 3rd in chips. I push preflop after a very aggressive raiser put in a raise & it folded to me in the BB. A9s is no monster, but against his probable range I thought I was ahead, and I had enough fold-equity that I thought without a monster he'd go away. Proverbial coin-flip that was all but over on the flop:

I don't know who makes this call with 22 here. Oh, well - doubled me up.

I'm realizing now that I was behind more than I thought: that hand, and the next one were pretty much coin flops preflop. The one above I pushed; the next one I limped on the button and called the sb's shove. I can't tell you why, I just didn't think he had a big hand, and thought I may be in the lead, or another coin flip (at worst). That's what it turned out to be:

This catapulted me to the chip lead with 4 left.

We got down to 3-way, I was short-stacked due to a lost coin-flip (had to happen sooner or later). My M was at around 4 or 5, which meant I had one of two moves: push, or fold. Finding K3s in the SB, when the button folds, I wanted to just take the blinds and move on, so - I shove. He can't call there without a real hand, I'm assuming. Who'd have known he woke up to a real hand:

Oh, well - gg me. Bad timing. Chances of him waking up to aces there? I dunno... guess I could have folded and waited 'till my button, but I was getting so low on chips I figured chances were he wouldn't have a calling hand there.

J10o

Short micro-limit session tonight. Made one bad call on the river on my 2nd hand, where I was 97% sure I was beat, yet still called the min-raise. That hand brought me from $10 down to $7. I hovered around there for a while. Thankfully, though, there are players who always believe top pair is the nuts.

On the button, J10o. Connectors are great to see a cheap flop with, so after a couple limpers I limped on the button, SB completed BB checked.

Cut-off pot-bet for $.50, I used the convenient "Bet Pot" button and bumped it to $2. I was worried that was too much, but no problem - all others folded, he called. When he bet the turn I shoved, and was called:


I wasn't worried about him holding an ace, as he'd have raised preflop with AnyAce. I thought there was a good chance we'd be splitting (after the flop action I put him on KJ, KQ or QJ), so I figured it was perfectly safe to get it all in, as if he's got the dumb end too then he may worry about the ace. No choppy-chop this time!

Grinding away

Maybe I should play higher stakes online. Played .05/.10, and due to a couple early suckouts, I was down about half a buy in for a while. I didn't screen cap those, and I'm having issues with my hand histories not getting saved (it may be due to some security features on Vista I think), so I can't go back and retell those tales.

I did get caps of a number of interesting hands, though:


The dude check / called my pot-size bet on the flop (the button had min-raised preflop). I know I'm not the best at calculating pot odds, but I do know that calling a pot-size bet on the flop with what is probably only 4 outs is NOT going to be profitable in the long run. He only had like a buck and a half left after the flop bet, the pot was already more than that, so he check/called the turn when I put him all-in.

I hovered between $5 and $7 for what seemed like forever. I was quite happy with my play, though I was seeing a TON of flops: the table was VERY limp-friendly.

Funny, I just looked at my screen caps, looks like I saved mostly winners. :)


This guy check / called on the flop (when he was ahead); checked the turn, as did I (when he was ahead); and bet the river (after I caught my flush). I couldn't raise with the paired-board out there, but I took down a decent pot.

Here's the hand where I started my climb up the ladder: after it folds to me, I make my standard raise to $0.30, tiltsthename calls.


With $0.70 in the pot, I led out with .30. The dude raises to $1.50. With the two clubs, I'd be happy to take this pot down now, so I bet enough to put him all-in (raised another $3 or so), which he INSTA-calls. I don't get it; I just don't know how you make that call there! With no club in your hand, how do you think top pair is good here? Not that I minded of course...

Here's another great example of insane play: I saw the flop here, but when the BB bet and UTG raised, I'm not going chasing after a gut-shot:


The BB re-raise shoved this flop. Again, how do you think your Top pair / no kicker is good here?!

This was a sweet win: I got this guy to call a pot-size bet on the flop, and a 3/4 pot bet on the turn:

...and after the first two bullets, I gave up: I was no longer confident that my 4th pair was any good, and decided to wimp-out and check. Poor guy, he bets anything of significance here and I go away. But he missed his flush and wussed out even more than I did.

Here's where I think I made a good laydown: I'd been limping with hands like KJo all night: it's an OK hand, but I'm happier seeing a flop with it and seeing what develops.. With top pair and a flush-draw on the board, I bet about 1/2 the pot on the flop. The turn comes, SB checks, I bet about 2/3 pot, and SB check-raises:


Doubtful I was ahead here: I'm facing either a 68 or some random 2-pair combination (which, of course, is the danger of limping with KJ: if I had popped it preflop, I may have chased out any J4 or 74). I thought it through, and don't see how top pair would possibly be good here.

Here' the last big hand I won: MP dude pops it to $0.30; on the button I call (shut up - I know it's a weak hand, but I'm playing more poker and less cards here). Cdn Chris pot-bets the flop, stressure pushes all-in for about $1 more, I call, Cdn Chris calls:


Cdn Chris checks the turn; with something like $3 or so in the pain pot, I bet $2 on the turn, and get a call. When he checks the river, I'm happy to check behind: if he's slow-playing a set of jacks or KJ I'll get away losing the minimum here, and would probably only get called (or raised) by a monster hand. I just don't see how you call two large bets on the flop and turn with 6 clean outs (the 9h or Ah I wouldn't consider "clean" outs as there'd be a possible flush out there). That pot was worth approx $5.

All-in-all some "running good" hands, some well-played hands; I saw a lot of flops, made a lot of probing bets; I'm getting quite comfortable playing unconventional hands from position against weak players; I usually have a good idea where I'm at in the hands. I'm very, very happy with the way I'm playing. The small bankroll increases from these micro-limits are good. I'm going to play at this level for a little while longer before stepping up. Unless I just "feel it" one of these days.

I may try to satellite into FTOPS main event this week. While I'm not too thrilled about playing huge tournaments, there's no denying that with a $2million guarantee a deep-run could prove to be a significantly life-changing event.

The Law of 5

I fulfilled the law of 5's in the RPT weekly tonight: came in 23rd. Got home late from work, so didn't get started until about 6:15 or 6:20. I didn't play particularly well, I waited for cards and tried to play big pots when I had big hands. Moved me up nicely, but my luck ran out.

My first big hand came with QQ:

By the turn I'm all-in, as I wouldn't have enough ammo left for the river if I get called on the turn. iam23skidoo tanks, and apparently puts me on aces according to his chat. Not surprising, as it was the first pot I put any significant amount of chips into.


Here's where I doubled-through with AA double-suited:

I raised preflop, MiamiDon calls from the small blind. The two queens hit the flop and he shoves. I just cross my fingers and pray he doesn't have a Q. I didn't think he did, as I'd seen him check-raise a number of hands from OOP, and assumed if he hit that flop he'd let me take the lead. He seemed an observant player, probably observed I was not in many hands and made c-bets almost 100% of the time if I raised preflop. That was I believe during the first hour, so if I busted then so be it. I just didn't think he'd really have pushed if he held a queen, he'd probably let me lead out.


I didn't screen-cap my 10 10 v 99 double-through in a battle of the blinds. Folded to me in the SB, and I put in a raise with 1010. Smooth-called. I didn't particularly like the flop, as I think it was suited and had a jack (and maybe a Q or an A), but trusted my read that if he was that strong he'd probably have popped it pre. I shoved, and got an INSTA call. I'm almost positive if I'm him there, I don't call my shove with 99. Again, I played so few hands that the chances of me having a big hand are pretty good. Turns out it was just big enough.

I made a few little steal-raises here and there; however, not nearly enough. Not NEARLY enough. I did get to outplay the small blind in this hand, though:


I checked my option. With the double-gut-shot straight-flush draw, I bet about 2/3 the pot on the flop when checked to, and got a call. Turn went check/check. River was checked, and I took some time, figured out how much I'd have bet if that queen helped me, and fired off 1/2 pot bet. leftylu folded.

Mostly, I folded until I got big hands, which was not often enough to stay afloat. I hovered around the average chipstack most of the time (even when i was 10 out of 50+ left, I was still right near the average chip stack!), and just didn't try to pick up enough dead money. I've loosened my cash-game playing to a comfortable level, I just don't know why I couldn't do the same in this. Hell, it's my first tournament in over a month, so I guess I should be happy with making it to the top 25%.

The end came quickly; after raising with AK sooted, there was a shove after me; folds back to me and, esp. being that low in chips, that's an instacall for me. 99 v AK; flopped a 9 which crippled me down to just over 2x's the BB. Pick up J9o next hand, might as well give it a go:


Damn river. Knocked me out here; gave a split to leftylu when her shove with A5o from the sb met my AQo in the bb and the river gave us a chop. Oh, well, that's poker.

Workin' my way back

I've played a couple short sessions over the past few nights. I've had no desire to sit down to a sit n go or mtt (and haven't been able to get to any of the Blogger / RPT games to try to win my way to Australia); however I've had fun at the mini-micro-limits. In the past I think I was over-calling at these limits because it's....well.... it's cheap. I mean I can go all in on my first hand, lose, and only be down ten bucks.

Approached it from a different perspective, though, and it's just like the $3 / $5 game at the Tulalip, only less money. Well kind of. The players may be better at the $0.5 / $0.10 game, though. *grin*

I only had one hand this session (~ 30 minutes) that I won with cards; the rest I either picked-off bluffs, or just fired at the pot against weak players. I only had 2 showdowns; one where I lost a small pot to a flopped flush vs my 2 pair, and then this one:

Setup: this guy had been playin' fairly standard poker, when all the sudden I noticed that he had won the last 5 pots, and only saw 2 flops. It was a soooooper-tight table, which I was taking advantage of post-flop (and he was pre-flop). Finally, when he raised from UTG to $0.35, I decided to smooth call from UTG+2 with my MONSTER 56o. Why 56o? Simple: 1) I was probably live, b) with 2 EP players in the pot it may coax others in, building a nice pot which I may be able to take down with either skill or luck.

Didn't quite happen that way - only one caller, in MP, the rest folded.

Flop: 5Q6 rainbow. Gin! UTG fires $0.9, I pop it to $3 (hoping he's got AQ); MP folds, UTG shoves for a buck and a half more. Of course I call. :)


2nd pair? Nice move dude, nice move.

I do love this game. And I am also glad that I have slowed down my playing. When I play it feels much more exciting; I feel like I'm much more on top of my game, too. I know, I'm practically playing with play-chips, but still - if I can't be a winning player at this limit, then I have no business even thinking about playing the $3 / $5 game.

short session

Played a short session this afternoon; micro-limit stuff. Patience can pay dividends here. I bought in for $6, then watched two hands where two ppl played such insanely crazy hands all-in that topped off before my first hand: if I get a monster they're gonna pay me off.

Most standard stuff: super weak/tight players. I limped in position with a few junk hands, fired a 1/2 pot bet when checked to to take 'em down - standard. Tried to bluff a hand with 45o & got called down by the 2nd nut hand (only quad 8's would have beat him - can't believe he only check/called the river!). I wasn't too active, but active enough (especially in the first two orbits I sat down, limping into a lot of pots) that I'd have the immediate impression of a loose player.

Find 77o in the cut-off. 2 limpers; dude in MP min-raises to .20, I bump it to .60, one limper calls, MP raiser calls (leaving, btw, .55 back: I was already up about 2 bucks so I'd have called a push from him pre). 3 to the flop:

6c7s8s. EP checks, MP pushes .55 all in; I popped to 2, EP shoves for an additional $3 or $4. Sure, 9 10 has me crushed, but I doubt either of them would play that hand like this: I'm thinking I'm against a big pair, or top pair and a flush draw. I've got a set, and a big pot (for these stakes *grin*) out there, I ain't going anywhere, I call. Check out what they shoved with!!!


Thank you, both, for shoving your draws. :)

This gave me a profit of ~ 8 or 9 bucks; I tightened up, stole a few pots after limping in position with ATC (well, I guess that's not quite tight) and firing at the flop, got bored and quit. I got caught bluffing once, lost about $2.50. Oh, well. I'm trying to learn how to play looser in cash games - I do a good job in live games, but online I feel like it's often more profitable to wait for big hands and over bet for value. It's sometimes hard to get action, though, if ppl notice how tight I've been playing.