bleah

Took a few days off to get some work done - got into a 9 man tonight, results didn't make me want to jump back in with both feet. Was in first place for a bit, then got up against AQ with AJ and got crippled. (no suckout on the horizon). Pushed all in with an M of 2 and A7, tight player calls with A6, for once I'm the dominator, but of course a 6 comes on the turn to knock me out.

when I'm way behind, I lose, when I'm way ahead, I lose too. That's fun.

40 bucks gone in 5 minutes

...really like 30, but within a span of 5 minutes. Played 2 $20 tournies - got to hand #36, get dealt Aces, guy with AJs calls, catches a strong enough draw(flush and gutshot) to continue until he hits his straight on the river (I didn't bet enough to make his draw call incorrect, but then I didn't know his draw was this strong).

Start a new tourney, get AA again in hand 6, lose all my money when a donk calls with QT, hits a Q on the flop (with a K over), calls a large bet, then hits a T on the turn for 2 pair. No way that's a good play - that's a donk getting lucky.

Oh well, I like to shut it down when it's obvious the poker gods are going to bounce me around in a given night.

As for the Friday night live tourney, I felt like I played very well, ended up in 16th place out of 48. The player to my right was a very aggressive, seemingly good, online player. The hand I'm most proud of - I raise under the gun with AJs - he calls from the big blind. Flop comes 9TQ, giving me an overcard and an open ended straight draw. He checks, I think about the continuation bet but remember my recent online experience and decide to let my position work for me and check behind. Turn comes a blank and he fires out a 300 chip bet. I know he's aggressive and this could just be a shot at the pot. I consider all three plays- folding (seems too weak), calling (hoping an A, K, or 8 comes, 11 outs), or raising as a semibluff. I look down at my stack, if I minraise his 300 to 600, I have only 800 left. Screw it, I think - I shove. No guts, no glory!

Someone at the table goes "woah". The aggressive player takes his time and considers my actions. He stares at me to get a read - I smile. I realize at this time that my leg is shaking under the table, but I've read that this is a tell of a great hand, so I don't stop it. I also realize that I'm pretty hard to read right now - because I truly don't mind if he calls. I'm thinking he might call with a pair or two pair and then have to yield a huge pot to a nasty river card, which will both cripple and send him tilting off for hours. I would be interested in seeing this, actually. If he calls and I don't hit my hand, I'll be pretty proud of the attempt nonetheless. I was well below average in chips and needed to do something to make some headway. An all-in semibluff certainly fits the bill of "doing something".

He says out loud, "I think I have the best hand right now, I think you're betting on the come", which happens to be completely true. It also might look like I've got AA or KK and I'm shoving against a scary board (though I probably wouldn't have checked the flop). I could have checked the flop with 99/TT/QQ, though and his pair is dogmeat. In the end, he folds and he doesn't look happy about it for several hands afterwards.

I'm able to double up right before the first break with an all-in 99 vs. AJs, but after this I make a few poor plays and tighten up too much and get short stacked again. I almost climb out of it with the help of some more pocket pairs - I double up with 55 against overs, I raise 2 limpers all in with 88 and they fold, and then on the very next hand I get TT under the gun. My M is about 6.5, so I just shove it in again. The table folds around to a good player who says "I gotta call you", which I hope means AK/AQ/AJ, but he flips over JJ. Damn! The pairs over pairs aren't good to me lately, seems like I've been on short end more often that the other. My luck ends with that hand and I'm knocked out.

I realize afterward what a thin line getting into the money of a slower tournament can be. If I end up with a different result on that hand, I double up to about 4000 chips and an M of about 13, and I can probably fold/steal my way to the final table, or perhaps catch a hand or two and get a crack at the winner's circle. One unlucky result away. Of course, it took 3 "lucky" results in a row (coin flips) just to get that far...

be careful what you wish for...

Played in a standard 9 man last night. When I brought up the tourney on Sharkscope, it showed me 5 little fishy icons next to 5 of the 9 players. Woohoo, mamma's getting steak tonight*

I made my customary little paper diagram of my table, and put their Sharkscope ROI next to each. I even have red and green pens to write down this ROI (red= bad player, green = good player, I keep thinking maybe the colors should be reversed, like red=good player, STOP, don't play against him, but I can't decide). I like keeping the paper notes in addition to the HUD stats so I can note things like their raise and bet sizes. This helps me identify patterns in their play, and then maybe when they do something differently, it might indicate something about their cards. For example, if a tight player raises 3.5x the big blind time after time, the suddenly raises only twice the big blind, what does this mean? It could mean that he has Aces and is hoping someone plays back at him. It could mean he's got 99 and likes his hand, but not all that much. Of course, I need to see his cards after the raise size to help piece the puzzle together, and I don't always get to do that.

Back to last night's game. After taking note of each player, I had fishies both to my left and right. The guy two to my left gave me the most problems - how can I make a play for this guy's blind if he's going to call many of my raises? His HUD stats eventually settled at around 45% VPIP- he's playing nearly half of the hands - that's either an amazing run of cards (unlikely) or he's a walking ATM (much more likely considering his ROI, -32%!)

I had to hunker down and play some solid hands without stealing. To make matters worse, this player knocked out one of the good players (on some predictable suckout after getting it all in with the worst hand, of course), so he was chipleader and probably not going away soon.

I almost met disaster when I limped in with 33, hit my set, then value bet this guy both flop and turn. He called 3/4 pot size bets both times. The flop had two diamonds, then turn came a third, and the river came the fourth diamond, and he bet pot into me. I had no diamond (not that the 3d would have been very fun to call with). Damn! I hate when calling stations get there! I had to fold and was shortstack.

I was able to double up (KT vs Ax) and got back into the thick of things. The bubble was another marathon - me, 2 of the worst players at the table (-32 and -24 ROI), and a guy who wasn't too bad (-2%). His HUD stats were at 27/8/1.5 - medium loose, not enough raising, not enough aggression. He looked to play straightforwardly, I didn't see one checkraise from him, he seemed to bet when he had a hand and check/fold when he didn't.

We each knocked out one of the bad players (on mine, I simply got top pair/good kicker and took him to valuetown with second pair/weak draw), then went heads up. He got better cards than I did early, but a few raises into him with nothing and a checkraise or two put me into a 3-1 lead, and I was able to hold on for the win.

Tonight is the monthly live tourney, full update later this weekend.

*I have no idea what this means.

humbling, as usual

Well, I played a great tourney last night. A real battle - lots of great players, and I was playing well. Made a few really memorable plays:

Raised with JJ, got reraised by a medium/loose player. Called. Flop comes all unders - I bet, he goes all in. Ugh. Could he really have QQ/KK/AA? Seems like every time I get run over it's because of pair over pair. I call but can barely look. He's got AK and the hand holds up. Whew! Lucky donkey move, or savvy read? You make the call....

I won another small pot b/c the aggressive player to my left was telegraphing his bets - he would bet pot with what had to be marginal hands, but whenever he had a decent hand he was interested in, he would bet less than pot. He always always bet something, though. In one hand, I flop top pair, check, he bets pot, I checkraise, he folds. I don't win much here, but the powers of observation help me win a pot I probably would not have won had I lead out.

The third hand I was really proud of was actually a loss. We are 5 handed, I've got 8-6o in the small blind. One person calls, I take a shot with my marginal hand (I do this maybe 30% of the time lately, don't want to play too many pots out of the small blind, but in this case the big blind wasn't too aggressive and I was pretty confident he wouldn't raise me up.

Flop comes 6-T-Q rainbow. I check my bottom pair, it gets checked around.

Turn comes 8c, giving my two pair, and putting 2 clubs on the board. I like my hand a little, not a lot, but decide I need to bet and hope the big blind has crap and the other guy folds weak overs or Ace-x. I bet 135 into 180 - big blind minraises to 270, other guy folds. Ok, what's he got? Flopped 2 pair (better than mine). Did he check a pair of 8s and has a set? (I don't think so, I think he would have raised up a pair of 8s, but maybe not. Does he have J9 for a straight? Maybe he has 2 hearts and is semibluffing? Not sure, but I've got outs to a boat and it's not a big raise, so I call.

River comes 3h, putting the flush on the board. I have no idea if I'm ahead or not (leaning toward not), but I figure maybe I can scare him off and represent the flush. I don't want to bet big in case I'm behind, and I want something he'll call if I'm ahead. I bet 250 into 720. He calls with J9 for the straight and takes the pot. He types into the chat "I was afraid of the flush", which makes me realize that my1/3 pot bet acted as the perfect blocking bet.

The bubble was one of those crazy back and forth affairs that last forever. Everyone was shortstack and bigstack at one time or another at the table. I survive that and end up winning the tourney - a relative marathon for a SNG at 177 hands. After that, I played the capped cash game and my cards finally turned enough in that game to show a profit, so all-in-all a nice night.

Tonight I play one tourney, take third place. Still quite happy with the way I played, though, becuase I managed to knock myself down to 185 chips with 88 vs. KK (oops), when blinds were
30-60. Ok, my M is TWO, not good. But I'm able to double up a couple times and hold on while 2 other guys knock themselves out with donk plays, and I end up in the money. Nice.

So I'm feeling pretty good - 1 tourney win, one 3rd place, and a net positive result in the cash game. On top of that, my second $20 rakeback bonus gets released, so I'm up nicely for the 2 days.

I decide to try something new - Full Tilt has a 4 man tourney which is 2 vs. 2 heads up, then the two winners go at it for the whole prize pool. I consider myself pretty good heads up, but I still (fortunately) decide to play only for $10 since I've never played this one before. My opponent seems competent and never makes a mistake - he always folds when I've got a good hand, despite my efforts to disguise and vary my play. He's fairly far ahead of me when this hand comes up:

I have A5. Flop comes 33A. He checks, I bet $70 into $80, he waits until the end of the time and then calls. The classic "pretend I'm thinking but I've got a hand and I'm trying to fool you into thinking I'm considering folding" move. Ok, so I put him on either an ace or a 3. Either way he's probably ahead right now (better kicker than my 5). Turn comes another Ace, so now we're either tied with a boat or I'm winning if he's got a 3 (also gets rid of the possibility that he's slowplaying AA since I can see three of them now). I bet $100 into $220, I'm ahead or tied and want to get my money in. He calls. So now I figure he's got an Ace as well and we're chopping - he seems savvy enough to fold the 3 here.

River comes the King of spades, putting three spades on the board. He's not waiting for a flush in the face of a 33AA board, is he? Nah. He ends up betting half pot. Either he figures we're tied or he's got the 3 and is afraid I've got the Ace, right? I raise, not too big (I want a call, of course) He goes all in.

I look at the board one more time, am I missing something here? What can beat me? Oh wait, there's one hand out there that can beat me. One hand. Is there any way he's got it? Nah. I call. He turns over 33 for the flopped quads. WOW.

Nothing I can do there. No way I'm not going broke on that hand.

So all that good play ends with a nice cooler, showing you that no matter how good you're playing, the poker gods will give your opponent quads every now and then.

cruel game

The Poker Gods just like to kick you in the nuts every now and then.

Tonight in a tourney, I'm working hard, getting reads, making some small moves, I get 99 and raise it up, someone goes over the top, they're a tight player but I'm pretty short, so I push - they have TT and I'm dead. All that work for pair over pair.

Well, it happens. Move to a capped cash game. Get JJ, opponent raises, I reraise, he pushes to the cap, I call. He's got QQ. Of course. Another $7 gone.

Then, the real painful one. I limp with 77 and the flop comes 79A. I love that Ace on the flop, someone just got a pair of aces and they're going broke. Flop checks around. Turn is a blank, loose player bets, I raise, he pushes - I figure I've got his AJ-AK dead. Nope, he's got AA for set over set.

That's 3 times in 20 hands I go broke to pair over pair or set over set.

Had enough for one night? Nope. I keep playing. A superbad calling station is at the table - I get AQo and raise it up. She calls Flop is 5cAc9d. I bet hard, she calls. I figure with my luck at this point, she's got 2 pair and I'm dead. Turn comes Qd - I've got top 2 pair now. She leads out the minimum bet, I reraise the pot. She calls. Ok, is she trapping me. River comes and inncoucous 3 - she goes all in for the last 2.15. I have to call that, right, even if she's trapping. She turns over 2-4 for the straight. I'm dumbfounded. She called 2 pot sized bets with a gutshot straight draw, and then hit it. How can I fall into 3 pair over pairs (one that turns into set over set), and a luckbox making horrible calls and then hitting, all within 65 hands?

How is that possible?

A bit later, luckbox is betting into me, I've got one of those open-ended-straight-and-flush-15-outs-no-way-I'm-folding type of hands. Think I hit one of my 15 outs to get some revenge? No way.

Good weekend

Good overall poker weekend, esp. Sunday – 1^st place in a 9 man, then 2^nd place in another, and a spare $3 won in the capped cash game.

Tourney #2 was the most interesting- I had all the people around me in the right places – 2 tight guys to my left (I stole their blinds repeatedly), and the loosest player to my right so I could see what he was doing before me most of the time. Once I got heads up, I was a 3-1 dog. I played well heads up - even took a brief chip lead, but my opponent was getting great cards (an Ace four hands in a row), and he chopped me down until I eventually had to push all in with Q8 or some garbage and he took first place. He was a good, tight aggressive opponent, perhaps a bit too easy to read (he seemed to bet when he had a hand and checked when he didn't).

I also downloaded PAHUD and tried it out for the first time. Loving it so far – can't wait to see PT3 and how the HUD works. It looks like the developers released the first beta with a HUD this weekend, but it's missing enough features that I think I'll stick with v2 for now. I'm using the basic "trinity" stats in the HUD combined single line on the Full Tilt Racetrack table (racetrack table is much cleaner than the standard table, IMO). I'm also breaking down aggression by street in combined 2, but I'm not using that as much. It helps a ton at a full table.

I also think I’ll be moving up in the cash game to .10/.25. – my current poker bankroll can afford it, plus the cap helps minimize your “risk of ruin”. I think I have a good strategy for this game type – need many more hands to see if it works...

Update - a new holdem format, and multitabling

Rough week - played 12 tourneys and monied in only one of them. Different problems in every tourney - unplayable cards, not hitting flops, bluffs getting raised, dominated hands, etc. I reviewed to see if my play looked ok, and other than a couple weak river calls with marginal hands (2pair), I couldn't see any major problems.

Finally, two nights ago, after getting my pocket Kings cracked by AJ to knock me out, I took a look at what type of ring games were out there. Maybe a different game would change my luck. I came across "capped no limit" games - where you could only put a cap of x dollars into the pot on any one hand (usually 30 big blinds), and then were considered all in.

I played a few hands in this game to see what it was like. The cap gives people an excuse to play all kinds of crap – the thinking being that they can only lose so much on one hand. I think this logic is flawed and should be the exact opposite, though. Sure, you can’t lose much on any hand, but you can’t win much either.

To me, the only reason for playing garbage hands like Q7 or K2 is for implied odds – hoping to flop the monster flop (Q77, 228) that makes up for all the times you flop nothing or all the times you flop top pair but get outkicked. Because of the cap, there are no implied odds – I’m not getting your whole stack with a well-disguised monster, I’m only getting 3 dollars.

Therefore, I think you tighten up and play ABC poker against the limpers, then value bet them to death with TPTK, top two pair, and the occasional set. If you add in the occasional connector and “trouble hand” (KJ, QT, Ace-crap) in late position, I think you have a recipe for winning these games.

So last night, I got into my regular tourney and finally won a big hand (KK vs. JJ, both overpairs on the flop), and was able to tighten up in an aggressive allin fest until I ended up in second place. A much nicer result than recent tourneys. I then decided to try some more of this capped cash game, and I also wanted to try and MULTI-TABLE (say loud with echo) for the first time to see what that was like. I chose a .10/.20, 6 man, $3 capped format for my experiment. I started with one table and $20, got it up to $27, then opened a second table for $12. The action moves very fast once 2 tables are open, and it took a bit of getting used to, but I did get into the swing.

My best played hand - calling 2 all-ins before me with AKo – the first guy was pushing often and then showing (moron) things like AJ, KQ, 66, 55. When he pushed this time, I knew I would call him with my AKo, but then a guy inbetween us pushed as well. I didn’t know what he had, and had to quickly rethink my call.

We were all going to be all-in with $3 invested, so I was calling $3 to win $9 – 3-1 pot odds. I only had to win 1 out of 4 times for this to be a good play – The only way this would be a bad call is if someone held AA – even against KK I’m 30% to win (better than the 25% I need), and no worse than a coinflip against every other hand. This was an easy call. The most amazing thing was that I was able to process all of this in real time and make the right play!

So I call. Not only was it a good mathematical call, but it turned out ok as well. Opponents turn over 66 and 88 – I’m about 50% to beat both of them, needing only 25% for this move to be profitable (a huge overlay), and a King comes on the flop to triple me up. Woohoo!

Now, the not so good news - after my big win, I gave it all back. I ended up playing 355 hands on the two tables, for a grand total of .50 lost. I still consider that a "win" considering I was playing a new game and MUTLI-TABLING for the first time ever. Add in the $27 I won in the tourney and it was nice to go to bed with an overall victory after a week of losses.

One other note - cleared my first $20 Full Tilt bonus 2 nights ago as well. Rakeback rules!