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. :)

Hand of the day

at the table for 15 hands, played 1. 2 limpers, I'm on the button with KK, raise to $0.50, UTG calls. FLOP: 7 9 3 rainbow.

UTG bets pot, I min-raise, UTG calls.
TURN: 6
UTG shoves.

Yea, I'm dreading a set, but there are 2 spades now, so this could be 2 spades shoving. I make a crying call. Look at this hand:


How do you call the preflop raise? And how the flop re-raise?

Again - please, call me every single time there, please!

icky session

18-person, $10+1. Somewhere in the first 20 minutes... I've been playing super-duper tight, and noticed the table was pretty squeaky-tight as well. Folds to me on the button, I have K9o. FAR from a powerhouse, but I'm thinking a raise could easily take down the blinds, and if we go to a flop a c-bet would probably take down the pot. Surprisingly, both the sb and the bb called (was a standard, 3x's raise, and they both had been fairly passive, so it worried me a bit).

FLOP: Kd 9d 10s

"I love it when a plan comes together," I say to myself. After a raise and a re-raise, all the money is in, and this is what we get:


I guess I should have been able to get away from this: the BB could easily have had QJ there too, a hand I could see calling a raise from (especially after the SB called and gave him a good price). Both players flopping 2 pair has got to be fairly rare, I'd think. SO - #1. I played a junk hand and got junk results; #2. I pushed a marginal hand into a board that could have me beat (if he's got a set or QJ I'm drawing super-slim; if he's got Ad10d he's also got a huge draw (9 diamonds, 3 aces, 1 10 (the 10d counted in the 9 diamonds) = 13 outs ~ 52% to win). I didn't need to put my tournament life on the line, but I saw 2 pair and saw a double-up coming my way!

Next, I went to a single-table game, where after floating around even for a while, I performed this masterful suckout:


This was the 2nd time today where I tried a steal-re-raise and rain head-on into aces (lost the other one)... super-lucked out on this hand.

One other suck-out, but I'm thinking this one was a good play actually; not sold on it yet. 4-handed, 3rd chip position. Dealt Ad 10d in the BB. Button min raises to 400, sb folds, I call.

FLOP: 6d Kc Qd

Here, I'm thinking any diamond (flush), any ace (top pair), or any J(straight) gives me the hand. To be safe, I leave out the ace in case he's on AK, so any diamond (9) plus any J (3) gives me 12 outs, and a roughly 50% shot. It' s bubble-time, and I need chips to win this, so I figure I'll take the coin flip.

I bet out 400, other dude bumps it to 1600, I shove - INSTAcall by... KdKs. Great, he's got a set and one of my diamonds. An ace won't do any good, so I need a diamond or a J = 11 outs, about a 45-55 dog. Spiked a 5d on the river.

He was the chip leader and playing bully-poker, so I just didn't put him on such a big hand. Got lucky. I'm happy with my reasoning, though -- in 3rd chip position, I want to get the chips -- I shove hoping to win the hand there, but if I get called then I'm (I think) about a coin flip. Turned out I was in worse shape, though, but I'm happy with my reasoning. I was playing for the win, and sometimes you gotta take a coin flip.

One of my leaks I think is that I play too safe. I imagine the worst way too often, and chicken-out of pushing marginal hands or draws. I'm trying to turn that around; honestly playing in those donkorama bingo-poker Aussie freerolls on tilt has made me a tad more ready to take risks when needed. I'll need to bring that same mentality to games like the $28k's and Midnight Madness (well, not the exact same mentality, but at least some of it!). That's what crackinaces talks about in a lot of his MTT strategy posts, how you've got to accumalate chips early to be able to coast through rough-waters. And that means pushing small edges. I've now been to the final table in 6 of these Aussie freeroll things, I've made the top 20 about 8 times, the top 40 another 5 or so times.... I'm able to get deep in them (well, except the ones that I bust on hand #5 when my AA calling a push all-in gets beat by 52o or a 94 or some other crap!) often enough, by playing a non-small-ball brand of poker. Big risk in that, I know... life's about risk anyway.

I want to play more fearlessly.

Oh, in case you're wondering: I ended up 3rd in that last sit n go: same dude I sucked out on with the set of kings raised, I re-raised with AQs, he shoved, I called - his pocket 10's held up.

One more funny hand:

Both QQ. Either of us shoved, the other is folding for sure on that board!

Tomorrow may be a day at the beach; the tail-end of summer weather is here and I need to soak in as much sun as I can before the gray sets in, so probably no poker 'till the evening.

I signed up with flexcar, so there's a very good chance next Saturday will find me at Tulalip for the first time! I love live games so much; my play in Vegas was really top-notch, and my play since then has been much better and more deliberate. I'm looking forward to getting into a live NL game again. I'll play low-stake limit online, but I can't stand 3/6 limit live. Until I have a roll big enough to sit to a 30/60 game, I'm probably staying away from limit.