what the f$#? - Site malfunction?

playing on my alternate site, UB, on my kid's computer, since mine is dead. Not ideal - I don't have my HUD or any of my other tools. I'm playing at low stakes, since my bankroll on this site is low.

I get JJ in early position.

With blinds at 150, the bet box says 300 by default. I slide the little slider up to 450, then click bet. It somehow bets 300 instead of 450 - a minraise. I get two callers - one a donkey in the big blind, with 56o. He flops two pair and knocks me out.

There ain't no f-in way I'm minraising with JJ. What the hell?

An update: I signed on to a play money tourney afterward, just to see if I could recreate the problem. No dice in that area, but I did get 3 outed on the river to have my full house over-boated while heads up. So it appears that the doomswitch can find me even when I'm not playing for real money.

fizz-wap!

My home PC died Friday afternoon, (perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not) during a thunderstorm. I spent much of Saturday trying to revive it, with no luck. The PC guru at work says fried motherboard. And out of warranty, too. NICE. The good news is that the hard drive is fine - I have lost none of my data.

I was planning on buying a new PC in October, anyway, when Windows 7 was released - I just have to move up the timetable now. Just clicked "Submit Order" on a new Dell XPS 630, which should arrive no later than - gulp! - September 13.

How the hell am I supposed to play poker online with no computer??!?

(Eh, I could probably use the break).

more hands from last night

Lots of focus on my last hand flameout last night (see post below if you want to go in order) - I didn't talk about some of the hands that got me to the final table.

A pair of bullets helped me in the early going. The player to my left was experienced and aggressive, and he called my preflop raise. Most of the hands at this point in the tourney were still limp/limp/limp, so I figured he was pretty strong. I bet the flop and turn with a king on the board, and got a call both times. A queen on the river scared me a bit, thinking two pair was in his range, so I bet the same amount on the river as I did on the turn, and got paid off by what I must assume was KJ. He didn't show.

My favorite hand of the night came in the second level, with only 15/30 blinds. Following my pre-tourney plan (see 2 posts below), I limped behind one other limper with 2h4h. This holding was pretty weak even for the looser standards I was trying to set for myself, but I encouraged myself to stick with the plan and use try to position to win a pot or two instead of cards. 4 players saw a board of As 5h 7h. A flush draw for me, not much else. One of the limpers lead into the fray with a bet of 50, and it folded to me. We were heads up. I have tangled with this player before, and know him to be a solid internet guy (probably with more experience than I have). He was betting like he had an ace, but I knew for a fact that if he had a big ace - he would have almost assuredly raised preflop. nope, he either had some kind of pocket pair, or he had the ace but hated his kicker. I raised to 150. I felt like even if he called, I would accomplish the old "see the river card for free play", and get two shots to hit my flush. He stared at me for several seconds and folded. I presumed that he couldn't discount the ace from my hand, as I had from his.

The final table would have been nothing but a wish, except for one more lucky holding. Back down to 1500 chips, my starting stack, but now with 100/300 blinds, I was in dire straights. I was under the gun, and figured the blinds would pass me and I would have to start desparation shove mode right away (I would have started earlier, actually, but the opportunity had not presented itself yet). Then I checked my cards, first to act. Pocket aces! At least I would go down with a fight.

I wanted at least one caller with pockets aces, so I raised to 700. I got calls from not 1 but 3 other players! One was a cadgey codger type who I was sure wasn't calling with garbage. My aggressive friend that I bet off the ace board earlier was also in, and one other player. I stuck the rest of my stack in with a 345 rainbow board, and they both called again! They both checked the turn and river, which came a 6, giving anyone with a 2 or 7 a straight, and probably sending me home. My aces ended up beating the pocket queens of the cadgey codger type, and Mr. Aggressive mucked his cards - giving me a welcome triple up+.

I got to use this chips to my advantage. I raised several times in the next couple orbits, taking care to avoid the small stacks that needed a double up. The super-aggressive guy to my left once quipped "I'm going to start looking you up one of these times", to which I smiled. I actually was stealing his blind with a reasonable hand this particular time - A8 - but I refrained from showing.

One more hand won me a couple thousand chips right before the final table. I got a free look at a flop with a powerhouse 73o. The small blind and I were the only 2 in the hand. I hit my seven on the board, along with an ace and a 5. We both checked. The turn came under the seven again - a four I think. My opponent bet into me, and this time I raised, with only second pair, a gutshot draw, and a crappy kicker to boot! When my opponent called, I figured him for either a better seven than I had, or also trying to hit the low straight that was brewing. The river made my decision harder with another seven, giving me trips. However, it really didn't change anything - if I was ahead before, I probably still was ahead, and if I was outkicked, then I could go broke overplaying my garbage kicker. If he lead into me with a sizable bet, I would have to strongly consider folding. When he checked the river, though, I was pretty sure my trips were good. I chose a bet amount slightly higher than the turn raise, and my opponent folded. Must have been the straight draw.

The fortuitous aces right when I needed them, along with my big pot with AK at the final table, had given me all the signs that luck was looking down on me this night, and I was going to get into the money at this tourney for the first time this year. Then the queens came, and in a blinding flash I was in the parking lot, heading for my car. Did I botch this last hand horribly, or was I simply destined to go broke against the flushmaster and his perfect flop? I can't decide.

unchangeable destiny?

I have found in my short poker career that there are certain hands that will stick with you for a long time. The hand that knocked me out of last night's live tourney is sure to be one of those hands.

I was at the final table. We had started with 40 players - eight of us were left. Five got paid. In the past orbit, I had raised the blinds and stole them with A8, then won a very nice pot with AK. I raised to 1800 with 300/600 blinds. The big blind called the raise. He was a decent player - one that would have reraised with a big hand. I put him on a medium pair that he couldn't fold, or a medium ace. The flop hit my ace, along with a 2 and a 4. No two pair for this guy. He leads into me for 1500 - less than the amount of my initial raise. Too small, buddy - you don't have it. I do. I put him all in and got a fold.

This put me at 11,000 chips - and third at the table. There were several players with 2000-3000 that were already shoving their way into staying alive. I was content to lock down and fold my way to the money, or at least to the bubble. Then the hand came.

Anthony, the guy who runs the tourney, minraised in early position, to 1200. Anthony is a hard player to read sometimes - I have seen him call preflop raises with pocket queens instead of reraising. He plays somewhat weak-tight preflop, but can also bluff occasionally.

I didn't know what to make of this minraise, but my initial inclination was that it was weak rather than strong. I didn't think he was trying to lure people in with aces - especially from early position. He would want fewer callers, not more.

Everyone folded to the minraise, which left me in the big blind. I had enough chips to call the minraise with a wide range and take a flop, or simply fold most of my hands and keep trying to punish the smaller stacks. Then I looked at my cards.

Pocket queens.

Ugh. A strong hand, and I was riding a nice little wave of aggression from the AK win 3 hands before. The first thing I did was check Anthony's stack - I was third in the tourney, and Anthony was second. He had me covered.

I had about 17 blinds left, and went through my options.

Fold. Seems pretty weak with the third best hand in the game. But I'm going against one of the only people left at the table who can knock me out.

Call. Also weak, but safe. Setmine, see a flop, make an easy fold if an ace or king comes. Also gives the ace-x and king-x a free shot to beat me.

Shove. Sure, I could do that. It might even look weak and get a call from 88-JJ. On the other hand, it would definitely get a call from AK and I would be racing for my life in a situation where I didn't need to race.

Reraise. I had enough chips where I could reraise for information. If he came over the top, I could fold to this player pretty easily, trusting in aces, kings, or AK minimum.

I settled on the reraise. I made it 1500 more - just barely above a min-reraise. My hope was that looked like aces that was begging for a call, and he would chicken out and fold. However, my reraise was simply too small - he had great odds to see a flop, and so in went the chips.

I had just put 1/3 of my stack in, and needed a plan. My plan seemed easy on the surface - commit if my queens stayed an overpair, bail if an ace or king came, with still enough chips to keep afloat. However, I was still worried about one thing - Anthony's calling of this raise, instead of shoving, might actually be pocket kings. He was careful enough preflop to also wait for an ace not to come before commiting.

I discarded this possibility. I had ruled pocket aces out once he called. If I was going to go out with pocket kings over my pocket queens, then the poker gods have spoken. I was ready to commit on an overpair.

The flop - 2d 4h Td.

Looked pretty good. I knew I was all in. I made one more move, though - I donked into him one more time with a normal bet. I figured this flop missed all of his AJ/AQ/AK type hands, so he would fold, and he would shove over me with AT and Jacks. I was calling his shove if it came.

It came. He put me all in.

My hand, and my plan, didn't look too good suddenly. Anthony's not a stone-cold-bluffer, and I'm not sure he would have the fortitude to put me all in with eights or nines here. Pocket tens were now beating me. I had jacks beat, and Ace-Ten, and of course I was still dead to kings or aces. Then I remembered one more thing about Anthony that I had forgotten - he was a flushmaster.

By his own admission, even. Anthony has played in our cash game 3 or 4 times, and we've watched him call/call/call trying to hit that third flush card. I got into a big hand with him one time with Ace/King. I hit my ace on a two diamond board, and he called my 2/3 pot protection bet. Then I hit my king on the turn and bet my 2 pair, even closer to pot. He sighed, shook his head, and called again. The river came black and he folded to my third barrel, but showed King-Rag-suited. As I dragged a $25 pot from him, he admitted "I just can't fold those flush draws, dammit".

I started to consider Ace-x, both diamonds into his hands range. I held the Queen of diamonds, so he could have Ace/King, Ace/Jack, Ace/9. I wasn't sure how far down the chain to go with his kicker based on the action so far. His minraise, and then just call of my reraise, lead me to want to put more diamond kicker cards into his range than fewer, but I also didn't think Anthony would preflop raise with Ace-Rag (though he might call).

Well, all this didn't matter. I already knew I was calling, so call I did. My first guess was that I was going to see two kings and all of this didn't matter, but I was wrong - he turned over...

Ace-Five, both diamonds.

Wowee. All hail the new flushmaster! I was happy to not be drawing to two outs, but the picture was only a bit brighter. Anthony had his flush outs, 4 threes to make a straight, and 3 aces over my queens. Take away the queen of diamonds, which I held, and I get 15 outs. We were in a virtual race for my tourney life - the one thing I wanted to avoid.

The turn ended my misery quickly - the three of hearts filled his gutshot straight, leaving me drawing dead. With a final twist of the knife - the river brought a queen, filling my useless set. I would have sucked out against kings, aces, and a set of tens. I could now beat every possible hand, actually, except for precisely ace-five and five-six.

Out in eigth place, left to ponder the possibilities. I slept about 2 total hours last night. What could I have done differently? If I shove preflop, does the flushmaster even fold Ace-Five suited? I think so, but I'm not sure now - he called a (small) 3 bet with it, after all. And, anyway, if I know he has Ace-Five suited, don't I want him to call with it when I have queens? After all, I'm basically 70% to win the hand.

Tony, after hearing my recap, suggested he would have shoved the flop instead of making the one last "try to look strong" bet - which I agree with by the way, but there was no way this player was folding this hand. His suggestion was a better way to play the hand, but wouldn't have helped in this case.

I think after all the analysis and could-have-beens, this just translates into one more bad call by a dominated villain who hit a miracle flop, then outraced me to the river. The irony is not lost on me that last weekend I was in the exact opposite race (me with the AK flush draw + overcards to a pocket pair of nines), and I lost that one too, to get knocked out of a live tourney.

making a plan

As seen by my half-tilty J2o post last night, there was no Thursday night cash game. We took an intentional break to get ready for the Labor Day weekend double stakes extravaganza next Thursday. That is correct- for one week only, we'll be switching from .50/$1 blinds to $1/$2 - just like the big kids play (lol). I expect nothing less than utter chaos next Thursday.

Tonight is the neighborhood $50 tourney, which I did well in last year (4 cashes), but nothing in 2009. This is a very good tourney for someone of my level - each month brings several new/bad players to supply chips to those who can take advantage - the mood of the room is relaxed and non-threatening - even the best players are for the most part friendly.

I am going into the game tonight with a few specific adjustments.

1) brought over from my cash game play - I am going to try and play a few more "implied odds" type hands in late position, early in the tourney. This game features plenty of ABC players who will limp with A9 and check when they miss the flop. I plan on betting behind the checkers and trying to take a few small pots. I may also hit the big/hidden straight or two pair, of course.

2) Slow down with AK/AQ/AJ early. Brought over my my online play and conversations with my study partner - I plan on playing these slower early in the night. A lost a big hunk of chips in this tourney one month to a limper who called my preflop raise, then hit his top pair with JT and would not go away as I tried to push him off the hand.

Note that #1 and #2 seem to conflict with each other. They do not really - both are related to playing smaller pots early in the tourney instead of big pots with top pair type hands. #2 is definitely going against my TAG playing style - playing 89o or KTo in late position will be something I'm not used to - I just have to remember that I can win pots with position and not worry so much about my cards.

3) watch the action! I am now in the habit on keeping my cards under their protector - not looking at them until it's my turn to act. Without the distraction of knowing my hand and coming up with a plan for playing it, I now need to focus better on the action before me, and see if I can start reading some players. Do they look nervous? Do they check their cards when 3 clubs hit the flop? Do they fold their limp if someone raises behind them? Real poker players can win money by getting reads on their opponents. I can occasionally do this when I concentrate very hard - I need to work on it until watching people play poker at my table becomes "muscle memory".

A full tourney report will come tomorrow.

a winning night - but carnage otherwise

Let's get that out of the way - I made a profit on the night. Goodie for me.

A few weeks ago, I was losing my mind in a blog post because some dude called a preflop raise with J2s and knocked me out. That guy is fucking Phil Ivey compared to this one.

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 20/40 Blinds, 7 Players

LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BTN: 2,905
SB: 1,430
BB: 1,605
UTG: 3,080
UTG+1: 1,425
MP: 1,395
Hero (CO): 1,660

Pre-Flop: (60) Q A dealt to Hero (CO)
3 folds, Hero raises to 120, BTN folds, SB calls 100, BB calls 80

My read on the small blind is that he's the worst player I've ever seen. He's lost more money on Full Tilt than my motorcycle cost. I'm not even remotely kidding.

Flop: (360) 2 8 Q (3 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 240, SB calls 240, BB folds

Top pair, super dry board. This bet is for value. He calls.

Turn: (840) 2 (2 Players)
SB bets 1,070 and is All-In, Hero calls 1,070

Gee, the deuce pairs and he shoves. He called a preflop raise with a 2? Really? Ace-2, I suppose it's possible. Still, this guy is awful. He could be doing this with pocket tens, or a plenty of worse queens. I have to call a horrible player with TPTK on this board. I have to. (feel free to disagree).

River: (2,980) J (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 2,980 Pot

SB showed 2 J (a full house, Twos full of Jacks) and WON 2,980 (+1,550 NET)
Hero showed Q A (two pair, Queens and Twos) and LOST (-1,430 NET)

Jack-Deuce again, not even suited this time. That's what he called my preflop raise with. Then, he floats my c-bet with bottom pair - as a 4-1 dog. The fact that he hits his 5-outer is why I'm breaking even over the past 4 months.

over and over.

I think I played nearly perfectly tonight. I might have made one error, overplaying a top pair hand against someone who flopped an unlikely straight. Other than that, I played very well.

But I lost three tourneys anyway. In one, I had no shot - no cards, no opportunities to steal, nothing. I made my stand with 2 live cards and got beat. Fine. That's poker.

In the other two, though I got outdrawn as a big favorite, 2 times.

AQ vs. AJ. I even hit my queen on the flop! But they were all diamonds, and another one came, to go with his Jack of diamonds.

K3 vs. QQ. King-fucking-three! Desperate low stack makes his move, I'm sitting in the blinds with QQ. Nope, he hits his king. Then AK vs. QQ knocks me out on the bubble (hitting a queen on the flop to have me drawing just about dead).

Losing to three-outers every night - that's not poker. That's something else.

huge. HUGE

The big come-backer tonight - I played in a $20, 18 man tourney and got to heads up. We chopped for first place.

A BIG boost to my swirling confidence in my game. It also brought me back to even on the atrocious month.

It only takes one! *

*of course, then I got greedy and played a nine man, and my all-in AK got beat by A2 as he rivered the wheel. So I quickly remembered that any/all good play you bring to the table often means nothing. But, for one night, I'm not going to let it bother me.

critical error

I made a really bad mistake tonight because I was playing two tables at the same time. I was on the bubble on the top table, but there was action on the bottom table. When the beep came for the top table, I looked up quickly and saw that I had J7s on the button, and only a few big blinds, so I shoved.

What I failed to see what that the UTG player had already limped, and I was pretty sure my shove wasn't big enough to scare him away. He called with JKo and I was dominated and dead.

This one's all on me. I can't blame cold decks or losing 10 races in a row or bad cards or idiot opponents. I'm the idiot this time, and all because I can't play two tables at the same time. Some players grind 8, 12, 16, 24 tables at the same time - it looks like my max is one.

I took third in the other tourney, and bombed out of a third, for another negative day. I really felt like I was better than 2 of the 3 other players at the table upon which I made my error, so I originally felt like I lost a big opportunity to make up some ground tonight.

With errors like that one, I'm not sure I can claim to be better than many people at all.

that word - I don't think it means what you think it means.

"Dominated".

"A dominated hand is one in which you have a much stronger hand consisting of one card that is the same rank as one of your opponennt's cards as well as another card that is higher than his card. Usually in this situation, your opponent must hit one of the three remaining cards in the deck matching his second card to win".

My two knockouts tonight:

AhJs vs. Ac4h. Final board 3K4K4.
AsKc vs. Ad6h. Final board Q6T37.

Chance of losing both of these hands: 7.4%.

Sigh. Couple these two knockouts with a second place finish, another negative night for me. If I turn that second into a first, the night looks much better - but I'm having big big troubles with that right now, as we have seen.

Felt like I played very well tonight. I'm not sure about the AK hand above. I had 9.3 BB. Instead of shoving all in (into 5 players), I made a normal raise, intending to call anyone's reraise. I wanted hands like A6 to call me or shove over, right?

Then, on the flop, I made a pot size, all-in c-bet, and the villain called with bottom pair, and I was gone. I knew I was shoving any flop, but technically I got my money in with the worse hand here.

Do I tip my cap to the player who called a preflop raise with A6 and then an all in with bottom pair? Or was he just another superdonkey who got lucky I didn't have KK?

Live tourney report

I've met some fellow poker players online recently, and it turns out that they play games all over the west side of Cleveland. I had been promising to attend an event, and tonight turned out to be the night.

The event was a $60 tourney, with a $20 knockout bonus for every player you, uh, well, knock out. Blinds started at 25/50 and chips started at 10,000, with 20 minute blind levels. I am not anywhere used to playing deep stack poker like this, so I was going in with a plan. Play loose early, try and hit some flops hard, then tighten up in the middle levels (whether I was low or not). Steal some blinds and switch to my "SNG" mode at about 30 BB or so, where I'm more comfortable.

First hand of the tourney, I get A7s in the big blind. The pot limps to me, I'm happy to take a flop. My ace pairs and I lead out. The player to my right calls. I lead again on the turn, but I'm ready to slow down to resistance. Happily, I get a fold, and I've won the first hand of the night, which calms my nerves.

Still in the first orbit, I see pocket jacks. The player to my right has already raised - his third straight hand of doing so. He has also bet aggressively postflop. I 3bet and he calls. Our board is 9TK - not pretty, but I'm in position. He checks to me, I bet to keep the lead, and he checkraises to a giant sum. I make the easy fold - he shows QJ for the nut straight. Nice flop.

Next blind level - I take a limped pot with 67s. I hit two pair on a 367 board, and I whip out the checkraise. Aggro guy to my right calls. The turn is a 9 - I fire out big again, he calls again. The river is a T, giving an 8 a straight. He checks and so do I - he calls out "two pair", which I first figure is the same hand as me, but he shows 9T! Hmm, called a checkraise with a gutshot, then paired the turn and river to runner-runner me. Great luck for me.

Next blind level - a free play with K8 in the big blind. The board is 8 high and I lead out with my top pair. A check-caller type guy calls the bet. Turn is a 9, I bet again and get a call. River is a 7 - I bet small to block and he raises. I don't take this guy as the raising with air type, so I fold - he shows 56o! Wow - again I was runner-runnered - I was killing this guy on the flop, but he caught me. Lovely.

There's a bit of steam pouring out of my ears, but I try and keep it together and take stock. I've lost 1/3 of stack in the first two blind levels - not too great. On the other hand, I've still got 7000 chips, and the blinds are 50/100. I've got 70 blinds - more than I usually start with in my SNGs. So the deepstack stuff didn't work out for me - I'll just switch to more of a tight-aggressive SNG mode now.

Aggro guy is running over the table, except he has the cards to back up his play. Set of tens. Set of queens. Pocket kings. 2 or 3 ace-x's that hit the ace. He keeps showing when he doesn't have to, and I know that it's probably going to be a long day with him right there.

One thing that I do notice is that he raises almost every time he's the button, even after limpers. Sometimes he shows good cards, other times he does not. About the fourth time he tries this, I 3 bet nice and big with a pair of sevens, and I get a fold. I need him to know he's not going to be able and take my blind every time.

I have tightened up to regular SNG mode. I fold KJ in early position, and a couple offsuit connectors. I fold A9s early.

The last orbit before the break, I hit 2 big hands. I raise AQ and get a caller. There is still plenty of postflop play - many raises are defended, even from the blinds. These players are all very good and most are aggressive. I hit my queen as top pair / top kicker and check. The board has two spades but no straight draws. When my aggressive opponent bets, I checkraise him all in and win a nice pot.

3 hands later - two black kings. I raise and am called by our host, Julie T. Again the flop is queen high, giving me an overpair. I've got 20 BB left and will certainly play this hand to the wall. This time, I take a bit of extra time thinking about whether to lead out or checkraise again, and then I realize that my extra thinking time probably looks weak, so I take a few seconds more. Finally, I lead out for 1000, and Julie T raises right away to 3000. Getting what I wanted, I shove again and get a fold.

The break comes - I've got 12,000 chips - a very nice comeback from losing half my stack earlier. I'm probably close to an average stack, as only a couple people are out.

After the break, I decide it's time to get aggressive again. I raise 55 and get two callers. The board comes with three garbage cards and I get two folds with a solid bet. I also semi-swipe the blinds with Ace-rag.

I'm up to 16,000 chips with 250/500 blinds. 32 BB, plenty to play with, and still an average stack.

There's a 4x raise (unusual size for this table) from early position. I peek over at AhKh. Hmmm, 3 bet or just call?

My first argument against 3 betting is that it pretty much commits me, and I'm not sure I have to commit with AK at this stage of the tourney, with 32 BB. The second is that I'm not sure if this 4x raise means "I love my hand and I'm trying to pump up the pot" or "I'm not thrilled with my hand and hope everyone folds".

I decide to take the safe route and call with AK, like I do in the earlier stages of regular SNGs. If I whiff completely, I've still got 28 BB left and no big deal. If I hit hard, then my hand is disguised and maybe I win a bunch from AQ or KQ.

What puts a big crimp in my plans is that 2 people behind me call as well. Now the pot is 8,000 chips, and I've got 14,000 left. Any other chip that goes into this pot will mean all-in for me.

The board is dealt - 4h, 4d, 7h. Fairly harmless cards to a giant raised pot, and I've got the flush draw. The original raiser leads out for exactly half pot - 4,000 chips. If I shove all in with my 14,000, he'll have to call 10,000 to win 16,000 - exactly 1.6-1 odds, and he's gotta think that all his overpairs are worth those odds. However, if he's c-betting with AQ/AJ, then there's no way he can call my overshove. 6 outs - 24% to win, not good enough to cover the odds.

So there's a chance he's c-betting. I think if he's got Aces, he checks this flop and goes for a checkraise, so I rule these out. I can't rule out kings - most players bet kings hard to make sure the ace never catches up with them. But if I add up all the c-bets, and count at least my ace as giving me good outs, as well as my flush draw, I think I can shove often enough to get a fold, or draw out with either my ace, maybe my king, and surely any of my hearts. It's the right play.

I shove. The two other players fold, and I count out my chips. He has me covered and has pretty good odds. He also has the added benefit of winning my $20 knockout fee if he blasts me out of here right now. He calls, with 99. Pretty gutsy call, I think. As the cards show, we're close to dead even to win the hand, but one of the callers who folded announces she also had AK, which swipes 2 of my 15 outs. 99 is a slight favorite and dodges all my power to knock me out in 11th place.

I have no problems with the way I played the hand. I felt like some of his range was uncallable, even with 1.6-1 odds. The dead money in the pot made my play very profitable between fold equity and the overlay of hitting one of my many outs. I played the entire tourney aggressively - lost badly early, won it all back (with interest) in the middle, and went out in a blaze of glory, giving a good player a tough decision, and then showing him one of the worst hands he could hope for when he called.

The people at the game couldn't have been more friendly, and were also almost all nasty, difficult players - every one of them. My game will definitely improve if I play with this group more often. I probably won't win much money from them, but I'll be paying for education.

Crazy hand from both sides.

A great start to the night - an Ace high flush gets paid off, a position play or two. I raise up 6d7d from late position and get a caller - Mr. Pietzak. I C-Bet an all broadway board (with two diamonds) and he min- checkraises me. I call with my flush draw. We check the turn. Now I'm worried that we're drawing to the same flush, and mine is not very big.

No flush on the end, but I pair my seven. I don't think there's any value in a bet, so I check behind. Pietzak mucks when I tell him I hit the 7- not sure what he had.

Then a large hand vs. the same player - two black 8s in late position. I raise and he three bets, announcing "this is the best hand I've had all night". A tough spot - gotta watch out for the overpair, but this medium pair is too strong to fold. I call to see a flop.

And what a flop - 5s 6s 7s. I have an overpair and an open ended straight flush draw. Pietzak comes right out and fires - he wants to see where he is. I still smell overpair, but I've hit the perfect board to crack it. Let's run some numbers based on possible holdings:

AA without the As: I'm a 3-2 favorite, even though I'm behind now.

AA with the As: I'm a 2-1 dog: basically, I need to hit a set or my straight, but without a flush card coming. I also think I have some fold equity, especially if he has a different overpair like JJ with the Js.

AsKs: I'm in big trouble, nearly a 9-1 dog. But I don't think Pietzak has the nut flush right now, or he would have checked. I discount a made flush.

AsKh: 3-2 favorite again, and I'm ahead right now.

4s4h: If he somehow hit the other end of the straight flush, he's in big trouble as I'm a 4-1 favorite. I can pretty much rule out the 4s, though, in this 3-bet pot.

I can only find one hand that I'm a big dog - a made flush, and I feel like I can rule that hand out. I also feel like I have fold equity. I put Pietzak all in. He's not thrilled, but he doesn't think long, and makes the call. He reveals pocket 7s that hit their set. Holy cow! As the cards lie, I'm currently behind, but we're practically a statistical coin flip to win: Him 50.9%, me 49.1%. Let's look at his call from some of my possible holdings when I put him all in.

AsKs: he's a 2-1 dog to a made flush (he'll need to boat up or hit his quads, 10 outs total by the river)
Pocket sixes or fives: he's over a 9-1 favorite, set over set is the best he could hope for.
AsQd: a made set against a flush draw is nearly a 3-1 favorite.
AsAd: still have my flush draw, and aces as a couple more outs, puts me 35% to win.

His call is pretty good, too - it looks like. He's only a big dog if I have a flush, and he can't really put me on a made flush with all the other possible holdings I could have.

We decide to run the turn and river 3 times - this is the perfect hand to do it, as we're both pretty much even to win. I hit my flush on the very first card - the 2s, but the 2 pairs on the river and I lose to a boat.

On hand #2 - I hit my flush again.

On hand #3 - I hit the 10s. Three flushes! I take 2/3 of the final pot.

This hand puts me up $60, and it's still early. Sadly, that's the best I'll get to this evening. I can't really put my finger on a single theme of where my money went late. I lost a fair size pot with pocket jacks that I didn't play aggressively, but should have, had I known my opponent's holding (lower connectors), so I let him catch up to me.

Another hand - I raised up A7s and got a caller - KC, from the blind.

The board missed me. KC, who is known to often soft-play his big pocket pairs, checked to me. For this reason, I didn't c-bet the hand, which was a mistake. The turn is a ten, and now I decide to take a stab at the pot, but I get a quick call. The river pairs my ace. KC checks, and I lead out for $6. He immediately checkraises to $12. It's a small bet, giving me enticing odds to call, but I really don't think I can beat much here. KC is not one of those "non-believer" - if he had softplayed, say Kings, he would not checkraise when an ace comes on the river that I bet (he would probably check/call, actually). I'm thinking KC probably has AK/AQ, but the bet is small enough that I pay to see it. It turns out to be AT, two pair. He had nothing on the flop and a c-bet might have (should have) taken it down, so chalk another one up to a misplay.

Towards the end of the night, I'm like $8 in the black. My normal mode of operation would be to shut it down and wait for a big hand, and happily take a meager positive result for the night. While I'm thinking about it further, though, I decide that's not a what a poker player would do - shut down to achieve a net gain for the night. He would continue to play aggressively. So I made a couple of late shots that didn't work out. I called a bet from the blinds with KJ offsuit and lead into the preflop raiser on a whiffed, all undercard board. He raised my leadout, though, and I had to bail (this opponent definitely had a pair there). I also put Tony to the test with a solid turn and river bet on an ace-high board. I had nothing - a K8s that I had played from the button.

He had limped into the pot and I couldn't necessarily put him on an ace. He didn't look too happy to call, but he did, with AT.

I don't mind my play here. I have set myself up with a goal of playing more hands from the button. I'm not going to play 94o, but a suited king for a limp is worth a play. If you decide to play more mediocre cards, though, even in position, you're probably going to have to find a way to win some hands when you miss. K8s isn't going to hit a big hand that often.

So I lost a decent sized pot there - but I put a tough opponent to the test, and he ended up making a squeamish call a with top pair and a mediocre kicker.

My aggressive play late didn't work out, and I ended up down $15, but the effort was ok.

a win, a win.

Took first place tonight, only the third time in 41 tourneys this month. After the win, I just called it a night after only 1 tourney - I wanted to go to bed with a good feeling for the first time in a long time.

Not sure I did much differently - just got some cards and they held up. Had someone shove into my raise with aces - he had AK. Took down a few pots postflop. I did play well heads-up - started the match down 10K-3K, ground my way up to take the lead, then put it away when I called AJ vs. his KT shove.

There is one thing I tried in this tourney that's not one of my regular plays. I made this move twice and it worked both times

Full Tilt Poker, $10 + $1 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 25/50 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BB: 2,600
UTG: 850
MP: 3,135
CO: 1,155
BTN: 4,060
Hero (SB): 1,700

Pre-Flop: (75) A Q dealt to Hero (SB)
3 folds, BTN raises to 150, Hero calls 125, BB folds

Button was in many pots - a 35/10 guy at the time (20 hands in). AQ is too weak to fold, but I don't want to 3 bet with it and build a big pot - too early in the tourney for that.

Flop: (350) K 7 4 (2 Players)

A miss. However, no draws to chase - no reason to call without a king. Any pair under King has gotta be scared. Lots of whiffed Ace-x's here. Let's lead out and see what happens.

Hero bets 225, BTN folds
Results: 350 Pot
Hero mucked A Q and WON 350 (+200 NET)

I very rarely donk into the raiser like that - my default play is to check, with or without hitting that king. My sudden aggression, out of position, won me this pot and one other like it. Not something I want to do for a living, but this was a good opportunity to try it out (dry flop, button raiser could have very wide range).

back in action, the fun starts early.

First game back from my 48 hour self-imposed break is a wild one. 4 players out of actions in the first 15 hands - I haven't played a hand yet.

At hand #23, I try a blind steal with 53o. The big blind calls - he's been in nearly every hand.

The miracle flop - 339, two clubs. I lead out, he raises. I shove. He's got Jc2c - flush draw, I'm a 2-1 favorite with a boat redraw. Turn comes club, river comes crap, and I'm gone - knocked out by J2 sooted.

Yep, he called a raise with J2s, from a player raising his first hand of the tourney.

Second tourney. Playing fine for awhile, then get 99 in the big blind. It's limped to me, I raise. Donkey calls. Flop comes jack high. He leads, I raise. He calls, then minbets a blank turn. I call. River is another jack and he bets the pot, now almost my entire stack.

Let's see. Lead out, call raise. Minbet turn. Big bet on river when top card pairs. Sounds like a busted draw to me. I call.

Nope. Jc2c.

Jack of Clubs, 2 of Clubs. AGAIN. I got beat by the same ridiculous, garbage hand twice in consecutive tourneys. In raised pots, people called me twice with that garbage, and hit the flop enough to snap me off.

Is that second call a tilt call? Maybe it is. I felt tilty after the first J2 beat, but I didn't overplay anything. I stayed tight in the second tourney. My adrenalin was racing by the river of the second hand, but I felt like I thought through the possibilities and made a call based on what I saw. My read was obviously wrong, but was it born out of frustration and tilt, or just a bad read?

That's why this game is hard.

Let's talk HUD

Still on my self-imposed 48-hour ban. I'm itching to play, but resisting the temptation...

Here's something I've been meaning to post for awhile, a description of my HUD configuration while playing online. A screenshot of my HUD is above. The first thing you might notice is that the table being displayed is not a table from one of the normal poker sites. Instead, this table is the Poker Tracker 3 Hand History replayer. In what might be the single greatest feature in the history of Poker software, PT3 now displays your HUD on the table of their own replayer! The numbers in the HUD are correct at the time of the hand being viewed, too. So, in this picture, you can see that I've got 64 hands of information for 5 players (including onelimittbs, and myself), only 9 hands of information for OliverIan and Sullydabully, and 11 hands for Aboulafia. If I were to play the next hand from this tourney in the replayer, these counts would go up by one, as would each player's stats based on his actions from this hand.

(Nevermind that I don't actually have the next hand from this tourney available, as this was the hand on which I was knocked out, lol).

Let's discuss the numbers in the HUD. The first row is the player's name and the number of hands I have in my database for him/her. If I were to ever play one of these players again, their stats would pick up right where they left off, giving me an all-important picture of that player's style before we play a hand of the new tourney.

Row 2 is the "holy trinity" of HUD stats - VPIP (Voluntarily put money in Pot), PR (preflop raise percentage), and AF (total aggression factor). These three stats tell me the most about each player.

Let's look at redshif, a real interesting player. He's in the lower left corner. I played 64 hands at the table with this player, and he has voluntarily put money into the pot in 52% of those hands. Over half! The next number, 14, means that he has raised preflop 14% of the total hands, meaning that he has limped 38% of the total hands (52-14=38). The last number on this row, his aggression factor, is 0.7. Because this number is less than 1, it tells me that this player is calling bets more often than he his betting or raising. In short, he's a calling station. He's limping into every pot, then calling, calling, calling if he hits any piece. And, of course, because he has a decent stack, we know that he's hitting his hands often enough in this tourney to be successful (at least to this point).

What I'm hinting at here is that the HUD stats help you go on tilt even faster as you watch the donkeys play every hand and build up big stacks of chips, because you have the exact numbers in front of you - proving how many hands they're playing, and how often they're just calling/calling/calling to the river. Ain't technology grand?

The next row of three numbers are also aggression factors, but separated out by street (flop, turn, and river). Redshif's value is near 1 (rounded) for the flop and river, and 0 for the turn. these are low numbers, and again they tell us that he's calling as often than he's betting or raising. I like separating the aggression out by street because it can help you see players who will c-bet on the flop, but then not bet the turn. Or you can see a player like dou3le_dou3le, who has an infinite aggression on all three streets, meaning that he has bet or raised every time he's been next to act. (this might be only 1 time, sample sizes are always in play here).

The next row shows Steal the Blinds percentage - basically the number of times the player has open raised from the button or cutoff. Note that redshif is doing this fairly often - about 1/3 of the times that he has been able to, he has raised from these late positions (the software assumes all raises from this position are "steals", not knowing if the player might actually have a good hand and is raising for value). The last two numbers on this row are the players "fold to a steal attempt" from the small and big blinds. These numbers are of course useful to know for the players on my left, as these are the players whose blinds I need to try to steal.

The last row is something I just added, and I think it's going to help me a great deal in my game. L.F stands for the percentage of times a player limped and then folded to a raise behind him. L.C stands for the percentage of times a player limped and then called a raise behind him. Look at redshif - he tends to fold after limping and being raised - he has done it 80% of the time (4 out of 5 times, in fact, you can mouse over any stat on the HUD to see the actual counts behind the percentages). Only 1 of the 5 times did he call the raise after a limp. This is a good guy to attempt stealing his limp with a raise from the blinds, even with no hand.

This last row actually helped decide which the way I played this hand. OliverIan open limped, and everyone else folded to me in the big blind. I had A3o. One possible play is to shove my ace here, but I chose not to do this for a few reasons:

1. Ace-rag is a statistical dog to the top 30% of hands (44-55%) - I'm crushed by higher aces, of course, am equally only about 30% to win against small pairs, and I'm only a small favorite against hands like KQ or JT. So if I'm shoving, I would rather hope the villain folds rather than calls.

2. my new HUD stats told me that the one time so far that this player limped and then was raised, he called that raise (100%). Sure, this is a sample size of one, but even one data point of information is useful in helping making a decision.

3. Villain has a big stack, probably making him more likely to call, rather than less likely.

So based on all of this information, I decided to take the free flop. The flop came AKK, and then I shoved. I figured the only way I would get a call was if the player had an ace or king, and any aces with higher kickers would chop with me if a higher card came on the turn or river. I've had other players suggest check-raising all in, if I felt the villain would have bet out, so at least I would have won some chips if villain had a hand like JT and took a stab at the high flop. This is admittedly the better overall play, but still assumes you're getting all your chips in the middle.

As you can see on the screenshot, the villain had Ks8s, so shoving into him didn't go so well. Whoopsie.

Anyway, that's my current PT3 HUD. Feedback is welcome. Have I missed any stats that you feel I shouldn't be living without in for SNGs?

And with this long post, I successfully kept my 48 hour self-imposed poker ban. Sweet.

if I didn't know it before, I know it now

Yup, definitely time for a break...

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 30/60 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BTN: 1,130
Hero (SB): 1,550
BB: 1,590
UTG: 4,535
MP: 1,710
CO: 2,985

Pre-Flop: (90) A 9 dealt to Hero (SB)
4 folds, Hero calls 30, BB raises to 120, Hero calls 60

Flop: (240) 8 9 A (2 Players)
Hero checks, BB bets 240, Hero raises to 540, BB raises to 1,470 and is All-In, Hero calls 890 and is All-In
Turn: (3,100) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,100) T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 3,100 Pot
Hero showed A 9 (two pair, Aces and Nines) and LOST (-1,550 NET)
BB showed 7 6 (a straight flush, Ten high) and WON 3,100 (+1,550 NET)

I know it's not a bad beat, not even close. We were a coin flip on the flop. More of a cold-deck, really. He's got an unfoldable hand - no way he's folding a straight flush draw. No way he played it wrong, no way I played it wrong (at least postflop), just the poker gods doing their thing.

(BTW: I didn't raise preflop for a specific reason - he was going to call anyway. I'm 100% sure of it. So I figured why put money in the pot with a weak ace and then have to play it out of position when you miss? Of course, when he raises me preflop, maybe I should fold for those same reasons. But he was pretty aggressive, as well as a bad player, so I knew my implied odds were pretty high. So were his, apparently).

Before this tourney, I played in another 45 man. Pretty much the same script as last night - no cards, donkeys calling my blind steals, then hitting AA right on cue and doubling up. My undoing this time was on a limped flop - me in the big blind with ace-rag against a single, loose player. The flop is AKK. In my opinion, there's only one play here, and that's to get all your chips in right there (10 BB left in my stack). He cannot call without an ace or king - and even if he has an ace, the chance of you chopping is extremely high with the two pair on the board. All you have to worry about is him having one of the two remaining kings.

He had a king, of course. King-Eight-Suited to be exact. I ended up in 14th place, pretty much folding my way there except for my lone AA.

So I think I've documented 4 cases in the past week where I've gotten all my money in the middle against unfoldable hands (a set, two pair, trips, and a straight flush draw). Am I officially a donkey now, getting it in so far behind, time after time?

Nope, I don't think so. My reasons for my play are solid - and they will work unless my opponent has a very narrow, specific range of cards. He just happens to keep having that range, over and over.

When players start hitting straight flushes against you, it's officially time for a break. I'll talk with you guys in a few days.

razor thin edges

Ok, studying my PokerTracker database some more. I have calculated that my recent 4 month break even streak can be turned around by either:

1. Turning 2 more tourneys per month into 1st place finishes (from not cashing at all), or
2. Turning 4 second place finishes per month into 1st place finishes.

That's it, really. I'm only playing 50 tourneys per month. If I can turn 2 bubbles into 1st place finishes in a month, that would be winnings of $180, and would turn a break even month into a 16% ROI month. Turning 4 second place finishes into 1st place finishes would be winnings of $144, for a 13% ROI month. I don't have to do both of these things, I only have to do one of them (or a combination, maybe 1 more win and convert 2 seconds to firsts).

Basically, I can eliminate all this whining and moaning with a couple of cashes per month. So that's the new goal.

The next thing I want to do is study how many chips I'm averaging the moment the bubble breaks and we're three handed. It is my current theory that recently, I am often limping over the finish line with too few chips to compete when the bubble breaks. If this theory is true, then I believe I will have to play much more aggressively on the bubble. This is actually a good thing - it is well-documented and accepted that aggressive bubble play is correct, so there will be lots of documentation and support to help me in this endeavor.

Running this query out of poker tracker will be difficult to run, though - it's going to take some time. I might squeeze it in with some of my "off the table" time coming up this week.

trying some new things...

Attempted an 18 man and a 45 man tonight. No luck though. Took 10th place in the 45 man, which sounds ok, but the entire tourney boiled down to a triple up with AA and a double up after flopping a straight with KQ against TT (he hit his set for part of my straight, so of course I had to sweat the board pairing). Other than that, nuttin, nada, zilch.

In that tourney, I took my stand with ATs against a big stack who was pushing people around, but he had QQ this time.

I did get a bit tilty in the 18 man, just hand after hand of garbage, but it didn't affect my play ( I don't think). I attempted another semibluff shove against a very tight player - had J9 in the big blind, flop was 79T. I checked, there was a weak leadout bet and a call, so I put my dwindling stack in, but the small blind had flopped two pair and had to call. So my new pattern seems to be semibluffing into hands that are too strong to fold.

In total, I think my mood has stayed pretty good while I try to grind this out. But I also think I might need a couple days off. I have some evening work I have to get done anyway, so the timing is right.

AKo, performance over time

Looking a bit further at specific hand performance over time. Here is a graph of Big Slick offsuit. Definite downward trendline, wouldn't you agree?

Not sure if it means anything, though, except for variance. I'll be asking the crowd over at 2+2 for their opinions...

into a pulp

really horrible, awful stuff happened to me tonight at the online poker table, but my mood stayed decent. Played in 5 tourneys, only managed one second place finish. I tried a 45 man but that was a disaster - I had QQ early but ran into AA - luckily folded with only one third of my stack gone.

So then, as a short stack, I decided I was going to loosen up and play "crazy" - I had almost nothing to lose with less than 1000 chips, about 15 hands into the tourney. I tried to steal a blind with Q2 off and got called. The flop was all diamonds and I had the Qd. The big blind that defended let out with a min bet, and my "crazy" mood said I needed to shove my flush draw, so in it went. He did think for a bit, but he made the correct call with a set of sixes and my flush didn't come. So much for crazy-town, that style didn't work out so well (of course, no style works well when people flop sets on you).

I ran into aces again in one of the SNGs (vs. my tens that needed a doubleup), and then I got into a tourney where everyone was calling preflop raises - a 3x bet would have 3 callers. I played a couple of mediocre hands in late position, but only limped because I thought my raises were going to get called anyway. This backfired as well. I limped on the button with A7s and hit my ace, but the free-playing big blind flopped an open-ended straight draw and hit his straight on the turn, and I was dead. Bad play equals bad result, of course - he probably folds 56o if I raise, but then again, maybe not.

As I said, I managed to avoid tilt all evening, despite some idiot taunting some of the other players, and running into monster hands over and over. So we'll take the little victories amid defeats and run with them.

Looking at the big picture, I am still running even over the last 4 months - 185 tourneys now. Not so hot, although they say you're doing pretty good if you go on a bad run and end up even.

I did a quick check on some of my starting hands in this 4 month period to see if I could find anything - one thing that sticks out is AKs winning only 0.01 BB/hand, while AKo is winning .54 BB/hand. Small sample sizes are always in play here - but that's an awfully bad performance for AKs.

Then I checked out the other "trouble" hands, and lookee here, they're giving me trouble:

AJs/AJo: negative 0.02 BB/hand
KQs/KQo: plus 0.01 BB/hand
KJs/KJo: negative .21 BB/hand
QJs/QJo: negative 0.03 BB/hand.

Not sure I can read too much into this - AT (which is worse than AJ, of course), is a plus .18 BB/hand. I'm sure it's significant, though, that KJs is my single worst performing hand in this time period - losing a whopping -0.66 BB/hand (44 hand sample). When you look at my entire hand history DB, KJ is a decent 0.09 winner (both suited and offsuit), and no hand in my database is worse than 0.34BB/hand. So the short term performance of this hand is way, way below normal.

Either I'm getting unlucky, or I'm overplaying this hand (and AKs) very badly. (perhaps both). We'll need to study the details a bit more to see if the latter, and see if we can fix it.

a disaster - the worst news possible

Thursday night poker was.... cancelled! gasp! Not enough players this week, so no go.

It sucks hard to look forward to Thursday night all week and have the game canceled.

Instead, I played in 4 SNGs online - not much to report there. One third place cash, 2 bubbles. Felt like I played well, but not much help from the cards or situations.

One bad read at the end - Mr 40/20 raised five times the blind, which was unusual. I had 9 BB left and shoved in a pair of sevens. He had odds to call with anything, but I was low stack at the table and this possible race was probably as good as it was going to get for me. I thought maybe Ace-rag or a pair of fives from Mr. No-Fold-o, but nope, he had the rockets. It's hard to read those preflop overbets - they can be "I have Tens and would hate for someone to call me", or they can be "I raise according to the strength of my hand". I remember one guy in a live tourney who raised huge with them, got everyone to fold, and then showed them, saying "I hate Aces, I always get them cracked". Later, he did the same thing with Kings.

Well - the only saving grace - I won't be dead tired at work tomorrow.

plugging away

Soccer has started up again for Gabby, so we're at practice three nights this week. Last night I had to work my day job late into the evening (the nerve). Therefore, only had time for one tourney in past two nights.

Played fine, took second place once again. On the bubble, I raised AKo from the button and the small blind re-raised me small. Uh-oh. Big hand or just taking a stand against my button raise? One never knows for sure, but my notes said he wasn't all that good, so he might call with less. Plus, I was fourth in chips out of the four players left - AK is a pretty good hand to make your move with. I shoved and got a call from AJ, which held up (sweet). I played the rest of the bubble well, taking small shots to keep earning chips, with not one but two shorties, each trying to outlast the other.

Heads up lasted only 7 hands, I didn't win one of them. I was outchipped 10K to 3.5K. My opponent appeared to be a beginning player (at least sharkscope pegged him that way), so my plan was to play small ball, see pots cheaply, try to outplay him after the flop. Here's the hand history.

Hand one, Q3i. I limp, he raises 4x, I fold.

Hand two, A7o. He limps, I check. Flop JTK, two spades. I check, he bets pot, I fold. (maybe raise preflop, or lead out here, but this didn't match my strategy)

Hand three, 64o. I limp, he checks. Flop AhQd3d. I bet, he raises. I fold.

Hand four, 9c4c. He limps. I check. Flop TdAhJh, we both check. Turn 2d. Both check. River 6s. He bets, I have nothing, I fold. (maybe take a shot at the turn?).

Hand 5, JTo. I limp, he raises 4x. I think about shoving, but I fold, fearing domination from KJ/AJ/AT.

Hand 6. K3. He raises 4x, I fold.

Hand 7. J6o. This time I raise 2x preflop, he calls. Flop As Jd 4h. He checks, I bet, he checkraises all in. He's been an animal every hand (and he wasn't this crazy during the game, BTW). I decide he might just be riding the rush of beating me 6 hands in a row. I call with middle pair, no kicker. He's got A4 for two pair. Done.

Played passively, to be sure, but that was my plan against what I thought was a beginning player - to keep pots small and wait for a big hand. The action was so aggro, though, that I veered off my plan in short order, thinking maybe I was just being run over.

Or, maybe he just got a run of cards.

Whatever the reason, I really need some heads up work.

The Knaves are stalking me.

First off, let me start by saying I've played well the past 2 days, and have brought my month's ROI up to normal levels. I'm still having trouble placing first in tourneys (too many seconds and thirds), so I need to work on that.

Having said that, I just want to get this off my chest - pocket jacks are out to get me. I know that the rule is that it's impossible to win with them - apparently we need to amend that rule to say that nobody can win with pocket jacks unless they're playing me.

• I shoved 9 BB from the small into the big with K5 - he called with pocket jacks. Done.
• I shoved 77 from the button with 12 BB, the big blind called with pocket jacks. Done.
  
• I shoved 12BB from under the gun with TT, big blind called with pocket jacks. Done.
• I tried a blind steal with 89 offsuit. The big blind called. The board came TTJ. We checked flop and turn. When the river hit the queen and gave me a straight, he made a sizable bet that I felt I had to call. He had JJ for a flopped boat.
• I had JJ myself, for a change, in early position. I made a normal raise and got a cold-call from a bad player. Then, the big blind, who hadn't played a hand yet, shoved all in. I put him on TT-AA/AK, and had to fold.

They're everwhere! Note that this is all in the past three days - only 8 tourneys in all.

famous quote

"you will run worse than you could have even possible imagined"

And, I will add, in so many different ways. Right now it's having big hands behind me whenever I'm a short stack pusher. I get called every time. pockets jacks twice last night, pocket kings today, and then 33 got called by 66.

I'm also all back-asswards on the flop. I raise QQ and get a caller. The flop comes 255. I decide to check to maybe induce a bluff, but the turn comes an Ace and he comes out firing, both on the turn and river. I have to give it up. In another hand, I c-bet but get checkraised. It's an overused cliche, but it's like they can see my cards

My heater from last week is entirely, 100% gone. I am now running with a $1 profit on the month after 17 tourneys played. I'm sure the multi-tablers are laughing their ass off at me, whining about streaks in 17 tourney blocks, but whatever. What's really happening is running even in my last 172 tourneys - that's long enough to be officially getting old.

that's more like it.

Well, my nice little one week heater had me confident enough to move back up to my natural buy-in level, and I promptly went back to my losing ways. Flopped a set on the third hand of tourney #1 and got sucked out on by top pair/flush draw.

Tourney 2, I attacked a retard 44/0 limper from the button by shoving with 77, the big blind woke up with jacks and called.

Tourney #3, shoved TT with 12 BB left, small blind woke up with jacks.

Is there an echo in here?

This last play might have been a mistake - I had TT under the gun at a 5 handed table, and just over 12 BB. There was still time in the tourney, but I'm pretty sure folding TT is not correct, and raising 3x and folding to a shove is probably wrong, too. Limping with 12 BB sure as hell isn't correct, so the only valid play left looks to be a shove.

Edit: posted this hand on 2+2 and the consensus was not just shove, but snap-fistpump-shove, so it looks like I played it correctly. This makes me feel a bit better - always good to know I'm playing correctly and just hitting some bad luck.

Because of the move-up in buy in, these three tourneys chewed through half of my winnings on the month. Small sample size is a bitch. Worse yet, it took away any good feelings/confidence I had through the week of finally breaking out of the bad run of last month. Feels like it's all back.

In other news, I played a rare (for me) multi-table online tourney last night - ended up 15th out of 45. Not terrible, not great either. Tony bubbled in 7th - we argued over his last hand - a wild raiser popped it up for the 100th time, someone smooth called behind him, Tony shoved over them both with 99. The wild guy called with AQ and won the race.

Tony thought he should have hunkered down and waited for the money - I think that might have worked but 5th or 6th would have been the best he would have done that way. (he was the smallest stack at the table when he went out). I like the shove, especially against the aggro player, who will call with A6 and 55. This time he had AQ and won the race.

TMI

Thursday's cash game brought the return of a former regular player, named JP, who now lives out of state. He's in town for his job for a couple weeks, and is glad to have re-found the poker game. JP is part of the "Puritas" group of guys - I've never played with him, so my friend Wiley was giving me a scouting report before the game. "He's really aggressive now - he'll push at you with second pair".

So it's very early in the night - first dozen hands or so, and I've got AJ in late position. I follow some limpers (first mistake), and JP raises it up from the blind. I'm the only caller, in position.

I hit my ace on the flop. JP comes at me with a bet of $6.

"He'll push at you with second pair".

I call.

Turn doesn't look dangerous, and JP shoots it out again, this time $12. I call. The river stays low. JP shrugs and puts another nice bet in. Would he really fire three times with that ace on the board? I don't like my chances, but I've got to pay to see. I call a third time. JP shows the perfectly predictable AK and takes $30 off me.

The Wiley scouting report hosed me up good on this hand, but that's not the only problem. Limping along with other limpers, with AJ, is a problem. If I raise there, JP may reraise over me, and Ace-Jack starts to look pretty bad preflop.

My postflop action also stunk on ice. Call-Call-Call. Nice line. I flat-out deserved to lose $30 on the hand. If I raise his flop bet of $6 to $15, I'll find out right away if he's got an ace, and I'll lose half as much. And this stupidity comes one week after having great luck raising the flop aggressively with top pair. How did I not remember that?

So I start the night early in a hole, but then swing right back. I get AK myself and hit two pair on an AKJ board, then double up my smallish stack against AT. I flop a set of sevens in a multiway pot and get a little action before me that I hammer with a nice raise to take a decent pot. These hands put me back to within $5 of even.

Then the lull hits - 2.5 hours of garbage cards. Really bad. I try and keep my mood positive, and switch focus to watching the action, working on my hand reading. I pick off one hand exactly - KdQd, someone check-calling against heavy action on a king high board with two diamonds. Many players would have pushed all their chips into the middle - this player, Terry, played it slower and avoided disaster against pocket rockets. But I was very pleased that I nailed his hand- I had guessed either KdQd or KdJd.

My comeback starts with another limp. This time I'm in late position and get the marginal 6c9c. I have stayed tight despite the bad run of cards - I have thrown away small aces in early position, tossed out KJ to a raise and a caller, kept away from J9o. In this hand, I decide maybe I'll make a move in last position even if I don't hit.

4 players see a board with two clubs, and the first three players check. Free shot at a flush? Ok, then - I check too. A repeat performance on the turn, three checks. Odd. Fine with me, though - I check.

The river is red - no flush. But it's also low - there is no broadway on the board. I check it out one more time. We've got a 3457 on the board - I've got a straight.

This time, someone shoots out a $8 bet. Slowplayed set? There is no flush on the board, and 68 would be a better straight, but I'm definitely calling here. I call and the other two players fold - the opponent mucks his hand without showing when I announce that I have a 6.

Etiquette note: I should have made the villain show his hand there - I paid to see those cards.

Two late night big hands put a capper on the evening. Wiley has been bleeding all night and is down to his last $14. There is a raise under the gun, then Wiley pushes his tiny stack in, ready to go home. I don't know what my cards are yet, but I'm hoping to get in on this action. When it's my turn, I take a peek at cowboys - KK!.

Hmmm, a slightly sticky situation. An under the gun raiser (on a 6 handed table, so maybe not too strong), and a short stack shover. I suppose the right play is to go all-in myself and isolate against the all-in player, but I choose a more cautious route. I decide to wait for an ace-less flop and then come out firing.

I get my ace-less flop - it's something like 6-2-2. There are hints that we might check it down - tourney style - but that action isn't really necessary in a cash game. I bet big into the empty side pot and sucessfully get a fold from the UTG player, and crush whatever Wiley was holding (which he didn't show, I don't think).

I'm a couple bucks over even on the night - not bad considering my $30 donk-off early. It looks like the game is about to wrap up in a hand or two, and I'm pretty pleased with my play overall. I'm ready to fold these last few hands and hit the bag, when I peek at the corner of my cards and see two red "A"s staring back at me. Hoo-boy. Another last hand fireworks show?

I'm first to act - I make it $3.50. My usual bet is $3, but most of the table likes the $3.50 number. Another player, Waley (yes, we have a Wiley and a Waley at the table), 3 bets me to $10. Action with rockets! To add to the fun, the player in between us says "I'd love to see a flop", and cold-calls the three bet! The pot is already pretty big.

Should I just cold-call here? For deception, this might be useful, there's two things I don't like about it, though -

1. Letting 2 players see a flop.
2. Waley isn't the light 3-betting type. He has something big here, I'd say JJ-AA or AK. I'm guessing he'd be willing to put all his chips in with the kings and maybe the queens, but if he sees a flop and an ace comes then he won't put any more money in. He's more likely to get it in now.

I four bet - I add $25 more to his $10. Without a second's hesitation, Waley announces "all-in". Our middle player, whose stack is only around $11 now, puts his last chips in as well. Waley has me covered, so my last $40 goes into the middle. Another late night fireworks show, with 2 all-in players!

We flip our cards. Our cold caller has JQ, and Waley's got.... the other two aces. Hmmm, a bit anti-climatic. We fist-bump, probably both relieved that we'll most likely be chopping up cold-caller's loot and not going home broke.

The final detail remains of running out the board. I have brief visions of JQ hitting two pair or Waley flushing out on an all-black board, but neither of these come to pass. We indeed chop.

My final score on the night - +$25.

shhhh....

Bouncing back in my online play. 10 tourneys this month - have cashed in 8 of them. I'm playing well, sure, but I'm getting cards, AND they're holding up (always nice). Tonight in one tourney, my first six hands were AK, AK, JJ, (fold), (fold), QQ. I won with all four, and started out in the positive.

Also hitting lots of two pair in the big blind with garbage - K6, Q5 type two pairs, and getting value from KJ/QJ limpers. None of this has to do with my play, I know - it's just variance swinging back the other way for a bit. But I'll take it.

My only bugaboo right now is finishing the tourneys off - I've got 4 third place finishes, 3 seconds, and only 1 first place finish. I keep running into people with monster hands heads up (tonight it was a set), which makes my flush draw semibluffs pretty ineffective, lol. (I can still win by hitting my hand, but the fold equity is close to zero).

I do know of one real problem I have heads-up - I play too fast. I think small-ball is the right way to go here - chopping, chopping. Minraise on your button, c-bet, minraise both for bluff and for value. I need to put the all-in semibluffs to bed for a bit, especially if I think I'm better than my opponent.

Always something to work on, even when you're running hot.