Are clearly the NL games over at Party Poker / Empire Poker. I've been playing 8 tables nearly non-stop over the past few days and am up nearly $1500.
I highly recommend these games. But beware of the .50/1.00 games that I currently call home. :)
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A combination of skill and luck.
Friday Night. Marco's basement. 1:00 am.
$20 buy-in, 6 players. 2 rebuys.
Ive been playing a very good game, Tazza doubled me up when he tried to bluff me, too bad I had the K-high flush. Anyway, i've got alot chips and im leaning on the shorthanded table, if they are sooted or connectors, im raising and following up strong on the flop - hit or miss.
Im dealt K/Q in the small blind, 2 callers in front of me, I raise 3x the BB, UTG min reraises(weird) - Button calls, I call. Flop comes 7/4/2 rainbow, check, check, check - turn comes Q of clubs to give me top pair and put 2 clubs on the baord. Check,Check,Check. Oops, No Aces please. River, A of clubs. I raise the pot... UTG goes into the tank for 2 minutes and pushes all in for almost nothing on top. Button-insta calls. I fold to a tiny raise just because im too embarassed to show my donkey play. UTG turns over the A/6 and button turns over J/10 of clubs.
That hand set me back in chips and I could no longer play the same game, blinds started creeping up and the table was suddenly tight.
Im on the button, with 10/10 - one caller ahead of me, I raise 3x the BB. Blinds fold, callers follows up with a call. Flop comes 10d/Ad/4d - check, I raise all-in for just a little over the pot. He goes into the tank for 1 minute and calles with Kc/9d. Turn and River both come diamonds, i'm out.
Nothing wrong with that, played it well just got unlucky.
Speaking of unlucky, I played some online poker for the first time in a long time on sunday. Im playing one table, $1/$2 - I have about $200 in front of me when this hand comes along. Im UTG with Q/Q - I raise to $6 - Button reraises to $12 - I call. Flop comes Q/Q/4. Oh my god, wow. I bet 1/2 the pot, $14. I like bet my monsters hands week, alot of the time people will come over the top thinking that you would never bet a Queen in this position however if you check-raised they would put you on a queen and you would make very little. Villan comes overtop of me all in, for $100 more - I clearly insta call, he shows A/A - I have him completly destroyers, i'm a 99.8% favorite. Turn comes, A, river, A. Try sleeping after that.
Might play some more online tonight, if im not as hungover as I am right now. Ill let you know.
$20 buy-in, 6 players. 2 rebuys.
Ive been playing a very good game, Tazza doubled me up when he tried to bluff me, too bad I had the K-high flush. Anyway, i've got alot chips and im leaning on the shorthanded table, if they are sooted or connectors, im raising and following up strong on the flop - hit or miss.
Im dealt K/Q in the small blind, 2 callers in front of me, I raise 3x the BB, UTG min reraises(weird) - Button calls, I call. Flop comes 7/4/2 rainbow, check, check, check - turn comes Q of clubs to give me top pair and put 2 clubs on the baord. Check,Check,Check. Oops, No Aces please. River, A of clubs. I raise the pot... UTG goes into the tank for 2 minutes and pushes all in for almost nothing on top. Button-insta calls. I fold to a tiny raise just because im too embarassed to show my donkey play. UTG turns over the A/6 and button turns over J/10 of clubs.
That hand set me back in chips and I could no longer play the same game, blinds started creeping up and the table was suddenly tight.
Im on the button, with 10/10 - one caller ahead of me, I raise 3x the BB. Blinds fold, callers follows up with a call. Flop comes 10d/Ad/4d - check, I raise all-in for just a little over the pot. He goes into the tank for 1 minute and calles with Kc/9d. Turn and River both come diamonds, i'm out.
Nothing wrong with that, played it well just got unlucky.
Speaking of unlucky, I played some online poker for the first time in a long time on sunday. Im playing one table, $1/$2 - I have about $200 in front of me when this hand comes along. Im UTG with Q/Q - I raise to $6 - Button reraises to $12 - I call. Flop comes Q/Q/4. Oh my god, wow. I bet 1/2 the pot, $14. I like bet my monsters hands week, alot of the time people will come over the top thinking that you would never bet a Queen in this position however if you check-raised they would put you on a queen and you would make very little. Villan comes overtop of me all in, for $100 more - I clearly insta call, he shows A/A - I have him completly destroyers, i'm a 99.8% favorite. Turn comes, A, river, A. Try sleeping after that.
Might play some more online tonight, if im not as hungover as I am right now. Ill let you know.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Poker at the loft
I went down to the pokerloft for their weekly wednesday night 30 man $60 tournament. I was taking a little break from my break - I mean, i'm a man, what kind of respectable man can go weeks, even days, without playing a little poker. Not I.
Anyway, I'm really getting some cards, after about two orbits im up to 2400 chips(Started with 2000, blinds 10/20) from playing alot of small pots. Ive had A/Q twice, J/J and multiple smaller pairs - absolutly nothing to complain about. Then this hand comes up:
Im UTG+1, UTG has folded - I look down at my hole cards to see K/K - I do a little river dance in my head and then raise to 120, three times the big blind, my table has been kind of tight. The player next to me raises to 240 - generally, your happy when someone re-raises your kings preflop however this was not the player I wanted doing it - Ive played with him before and hes ridiculously tight. The button calls and I decide to find out if he has a the bullets (For all of you who are not aware, men on horses with lassos, as powerful as they are, fall hard to a couple of bullets) I raise to 500 - he thinks maybe a tenth of a second and pushes all in. Button folds. Im in trouble. The worst part is that he had just shown a pair of kings on the previous hand. Is it possible that he got kings followed by aces on the next hand... What else could he have?
A/K: Maybe he re-raises with that, but he sure is not pushing all in with it, hes too good for that.
QQ : Just not possible, there is no way he would re-raise with any of those hands.
KK : Possibly, I would probably just call the 500 and check if an ace comes.
AA : Most likely.
"You really tight" - Bruno
Nodding his head in agreement,
"Yeah, I am" - Jess
"I mean, really, really tight" - Bruno
He turns and gives me this look with a little smile, it was like he was saying "I know you have Kings and you know I have Aces but your calling anyway so stop stalling and give me your chips"
Damn him. I call. He turns over Aces, I dont improve, I'm out.
Stupid Cowboys. Thats the third time this has happend to me at the $60 pokerloft tournament. How many times have I played it? Three. Damnit. Ive read http://billsparkspoker.blogspot.com/2006/04/bullets-kill-cowboys.html but I havent learned my lesson yet. Should have listened to this one too, http://billsparkspoker.blogspot.com/2006_05_28_billsparkspoker_archive.html - maybe next time ill be smart about it, probably not tho.
Anyway, I'm really getting some cards, after about two orbits im up to 2400 chips(Started with 2000, blinds 10/20) from playing alot of small pots. Ive had A/Q twice, J/J and multiple smaller pairs - absolutly nothing to complain about. Then this hand comes up:
Im UTG+1, UTG has folded - I look down at my hole cards to see K/K - I do a little river dance in my head and then raise to 120, three times the big blind, my table has been kind of tight. The player next to me raises to 240 - generally, your happy when someone re-raises your kings preflop however this was not the player I wanted doing it - Ive played with him before and hes ridiculously tight. The button calls and I decide to find out if he has a the bullets (For all of you who are not aware, men on horses with lassos, as powerful as they are, fall hard to a couple of bullets) I raise to 500 - he thinks maybe a tenth of a second and pushes all in. Button folds. Im in trouble. The worst part is that he had just shown a pair of kings on the previous hand. Is it possible that he got kings followed by aces on the next hand... What else could he have?
A/K: Maybe he re-raises with that, but he sure is not pushing all in with it, hes too good for that.
QQ : Just not possible, there is no way he would re-raise with any of those hands.
KK : Possibly, I would probably just call the 500 and check if an ace comes.
AA : Most likely.
"You really tight" - Bruno
Nodding his head in agreement,
"Yeah, I am" - Jess
"I mean, really, really tight" - Bruno
He turns and gives me this look with a little smile, it was like he was saying "I know you have Kings and you know I have Aces but your calling anyway so stop stalling and give me your chips"
Damn him. I call. He turns over Aces, I dont improve, I'm out.
Stupid Cowboys. Thats the third time this has happend to me at the $60 pokerloft tournament. How many times have I played it? Three. Damnit. Ive read http://billsparkspoker.blogspot.com/2006/04/bullets-kill-cowboys.html but I havent learned my lesson yet. Should have listened to this one too, http://billsparkspoker.blogspot.com/2006_05_28_billsparkspoker_archive.html - maybe next time ill be smart about it, probably not tho.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Its a celebration bitches.
Worry not, rejoice in the glory which is the nation of Italy. (Ill let you know when i go off break)
Monday, July 10, 2006
Playing pretty well.
So I started getting back into my feel for the game the past couple days. I sat down at 8 $1/$.50 NL tables today and made $300 in about 2 hours. Pretty decent. This is the third positive session I've had in a row. Folding a lot. I've also learned that I'm terrible at SitNGos now, which is quite funny because this was how I first started winning almost a year ago - when I first started playing. I also seem to find myself getting knocked out on the bubble due to lack of hands and increased blind levels.
Gonna have to talk strategy with Bruno, seeing as he seems to be doing pretty well here...
Gonna have to talk strategy with Bruno, seeing as he seems to be doing pretty well here...
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Break Time.
Cant seem to win a hand this week and I've convinced myself that its not only because I'm running badly but because running badly has taken me off my game. Im not playing aggresive anymore, i'm playing almost scared - not because of the money (Im actually up $300 because of that tournament I won) but because of my pride.
I just cant take loosing over long periods of time, it frustrates me until I am simply not the same player. It was the same thing in Warcraft 3, after long loosing streaks to players who I considered to be infirior to me, I would need to take a break. Lesson learned, im on a break.
You can call this steaming, or on tilt or whatever you want. Im not sure if I would consider it that. Anyone who has played with me knows that I fairly emontionless at the table and taking a bad beat does not freak me out(less that giving one, anyway). Im just not happy with the way things are going.
Im gonna try and get a small 10 player tournament going tonight, ill update you if I get enough people. Aces up is also having there standard $20 tournament this weekend, hopefully we get a good crowd for it, if you want info leave a comment and ill send you an email.
P.s. Phil Hellmuth making a run for his 11th bracelet. Hope he takes it down, hes having a killer WSOP - broke the record for most all time cashs at the WSOP.
I just cant take loosing over long periods of time, it frustrates me until I am simply not the same player. It was the same thing in Warcraft 3, after long loosing streaks to players who I considered to be infirior to me, I would need to take a break. Lesson learned, im on a break.
You can call this steaming, or on tilt or whatever you want. Im not sure if I would consider it that. Anyone who has played with me knows that I fairly emontionless at the table and taking a bad beat does not freak me out(less that giving one, anyway). Im just not happy with the way things are going.
Im gonna try and get a small 10 player tournament going tonight, ill update you if I get enough people. Aces up is also having there standard $20 tournament this weekend, hopefully we get a good crowd for it, if you want info leave a comment and ill send you an email.
P.s. Phil Hellmuth making a run for his 11th bracelet. Hope he takes it down, hes having a killer WSOP - broke the record for most all time cashs at the WSOP.
A somewhat interesting hand...
Hero picks up QcQh in middle position.
Villian1 in early position raises to 3.5x BB.
Hero calls.
Villian2 on the button calls. Three players see the flop. Pot = 11.5 BB.
Flop comes: Kd2c9d.
Villian1 checks.
Hero bets about 2/3s the pot (8 BB). Pot = 19.5 BB.
Villian2 folds.
Villian1 calls. Pot = 27.5 BB.
Turn 4s. Board: Kd2c9d4d.
Villian checks.
Hero checks.
River Js. Board: Kd2c9d4dJs
BB bets 24 BB. Pot = 51.5 BB.
Now this may seem pretty straight forward, but the hand ended up being a difficult one for me to figure out.
On the flop my opponent called - I immediately put my opponent on a flush draw, something like Axs, or something like KJ or KQ. I felt like the turn card bascially shut me out of the hand and made me pretty sure that I was beat. What I found weird this hand was that my opponent bet so much on the end. If I was playing the hand with a flush I would NEVER bet a pot sized bet with the flush. You are not ever going to get called right? So I started to figure out what was more likely - a hand like JQ did hit a pair there on the end or a A9 with a diamond. These hands might try to bluff this pot based on the scare flush out there. It just didnt' make sense to me why a decent player would make this sort of bet without the nuts unless they were very relatively sure I would fold. A decent player would have noticed that I shut down on the turn - maybe he was just trying to steal?
So I convinced myself that my queens might be good and called.
Villian shows 2s2h for three 2s.
So my opponent made a very smart bet there on the river - intentional or not, it is a very interesting thing to think about.
If he could be pretty sure that I didn't have the flush, but I could have a pretty strong hand, it would be a far better play to throw out a bet that looks like a bluff. Forcing me to consider calling. If he had bet a 1/2-pot or 1/3-pot sized bet I would have folded instantly.
Now, that all being said... my play was terrible. If I thought my opponent was bluffing - I should have raised. But even if I was 50% sure he was bluffing, folding here would not have been terrible. He might have had KJ with a diamond and had top pair and a good draw on the flop... The river would have made him two pair - and this might have encouraged him to bet so much - putting me on a hand like AK.
Its hard to get inside another player's head, but that higher level poker thinking can be really tough - and in this case - I thought too much, and didn't trust my first feeling that I should just fold and move on to another hand...
Villian1 in early position raises to 3.5x BB.
Hero calls.
Villian2 on the button calls. Three players see the flop. Pot = 11.5 BB.
Flop comes: Kd2c9d.
Villian1 checks.
Hero bets about 2/3s the pot (8 BB). Pot = 19.5 BB.
Villian2 folds.
Villian1 calls. Pot = 27.5 BB.
Turn 4s. Board: Kd2c9d4d.
Villian checks.
Hero checks.
River Js. Board: Kd2c9d4dJs
BB bets 24 BB. Pot = 51.5 BB.
Now this may seem pretty straight forward, but the hand ended up being a difficult one for me to figure out.
On the flop my opponent called - I immediately put my opponent on a flush draw, something like Axs, or something like KJ or KQ. I felt like the turn card bascially shut me out of the hand and made me pretty sure that I was beat. What I found weird this hand was that my opponent bet so much on the end. If I was playing the hand with a flush I would NEVER bet a pot sized bet with the flush. You are not ever going to get called right? So I started to figure out what was more likely - a hand like JQ did hit a pair there on the end or a A9 with a diamond. These hands might try to bluff this pot based on the scare flush out there. It just didnt' make sense to me why a decent player would make this sort of bet without the nuts unless they were very relatively sure I would fold. A decent player would have noticed that I shut down on the turn - maybe he was just trying to steal?
So I convinced myself that my queens might be good and called.
Villian shows 2s2h for three 2s.
So my opponent made a very smart bet there on the river - intentional or not, it is a very interesting thing to think about.
If he could be pretty sure that I didn't have the flush, but I could have a pretty strong hand, it would be a far better play to throw out a bet that looks like a bluff. Forcing me to consider calling. If he had bet a 1/2-pot or 1/3-pot sized bet I would have folded instantly.
Now, that all being said... my play was terrible. If I thought my opponent was bluffing - I should have raised. But even if I was 50% sure he was bluffing, folding here would not have been terrible. He might have had KJ with a diamond and had top pair and a good draw on the flop... The river would have made him two pair - and this might have encouraged him to bet so much - putting me on a hand like AK.
Its hard to get inside another player's head, but that higher level poker thinking can be really tough - and in this case - I thought too much, and didn't trust my first feeling that I should just fold and move on to another hand...
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
And the luck continues...
So I am currently having the worst day of poker I have ever had.
I don't like whining about bad beats, but I cannot help myself today...
KK VS KK, all-in preflop - my opponent hits a flush
AA VS 68s, all-in preflop - 6xx8x, two pair
KK VS TT, all-in preflop - TxKTx, full house vs quad tens
AK VS KJs, all-in preflop - my opponent hits a flush
AA VS T9s, all-in preflop - 78xxJ, straight
KK VS AKs, all-in preflop - xxAxx, higher pair
KK VS AK, all-in preflop - QJxxT - straight
I have never had this happen to this extent in such a short period before. I keep getting my money in with the best of it and getting owned. Gonna go take a shower. Oh the agony!
I don't like whining about bad beats, but I cannot help myself today...
KK VS KK, all-in preflop - my opponent hits a flush
AA VS 68s, all-in preflop - 6xx8x, two pair
KK VS TT, all-in preflop - TxKTx, full house vs quad tens
AK VS KJs, all-in preflop - my opponent hits a flush
AA VS T9s, all-in preflop - 78xxJ, straight
KK VS AKs, all-in preflop - xxAxx, higher pair
KK VS AK, all-in preflop - QJxxT - straight
I have never had this happen to this extent in such a short period before. I keep getting my money in with the best of it and getting owned. Gonna go take a shower. Oh the agony!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Cant take much more.
My aces get cracked on the final table of a $12,000 guarantee - 4 players remaining.
1.$3,648
2.$2,371
3.$1,459
4.$972
Stacks:
Me: 400,000
Villan: 450, 000
Villan2: 100,000
Villan 3: 100,000
I limp with A/A, knowing that the big stack will raise, he always does, he raises for about 30,000, I reraise to 150,000, he pushes all-in, I call. He shows 9/10.
Flop comes 9/x/x and I know right away, turn comes 10, river comes 9.
This feeling - a $3,000 bad beat - its not a good one.
1.$3,648
2.$2,371
3.$1,459
4.$972
Stacks:
Me: 400,000
Villan: 450, 000
Villan2: 100,000
Villan 3: 100,000
I limp with A/A, knowing that the big stack will raise, he always does, he raises for about 30,000, I reraise to 150,000, he pushes all-in, I call. He shows 9/10.
Flop comes 9/x/x and I know right away, turn comes 10, river comes 9.
This feeling - a $3,000 bad beat - its not a good one.
How one hand destroyed one night of poker...
I am a relatively small stakes poker player. I usually stick to $.25/$.50 NL HE and $.10/$.25 NL HE. I am a consistent winner and rarely have losing sessions. So I decided recently to try to make a run at higher stakes. Of course the benefits are many - if I can get my 8-tabling up to the same success rate I have at the small limits at say $1/2 or $2/4 then my profits could be HUGE! Another plus is that the bonus clearance rates tend to be much higher at higher limits - allowing me to make more money through bonuses too.
So last night I sit down at 8x $.50/$1 tables. Things did not go very well - and I learned a valuable lesson. ALWAYS STICK TO PLAYING YOUR GAME.
When I play I always buy-in for the maximum amount - $100 per table in this case. Unfortunately I have money on 4 different sites at the moment and my neteller was empty. With only $650 on America's Card Room I decide to buy in for less than the max at my tables so that I could maximize my hands per hour (although this was not a smart decision because it minimized how much I could potentially make with a great hand against a good hand). So with about $80 at each table I start my session. First hand on my top left table I'm dealt AA in the BB. A player in early position raises to 4xBB I figure him for a hand like KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ, or AJ. Its folded to me and I figure its a better play to just call so to disguise my hand's strength (again this is a play that can be very dangerous, and one that I rarely make, but I digress). Flop comes KT2, rainbow. On the flop I am hoping my opponent has something like AK and he leads out for a 1/2 pot bet (leading me to believe this) - I call. Turn is a blank, I check, he bets - and now I raise 3x his raise (about half my stack). He calls. River comes another blank - no straights or flushes are out there. I check - figuring I can just call the river - and he might bluff a hand like a PP or think AK is good and try to value bet here. He goes all-in, I call - he shows KK. :(
Now this hand was the absolute hardest situation for my hand and my opponent really happened to play it in a way to trap me for my whole stack. Had he check the flop and reraised me when I bet the turn I could have folded - as it was he got me to go all-in when he had the nuts. Sneaky plays can really kill you if you get unlucky. So here I was doing my least favorite poker move - going broke with one pair.
Immediately after this hand, I took my autoposting off and left all the tables to go get a drink and think about the hand. I decided that it was somewhat my fault I could have raised preflop, or on the flop to gain more information when the bets were smaller. At the same time sometimes you just get unlucky. If my opponent had AK or KQ or QQ I had them crushed and I'm taking their whole stack. Once I get to the river, in this spot, folding does not seem like a good play.
So once I sat back down at my computer I decided to fire poker back up and play some short handed games at the $1/$2 tables - 3 tables only. I started loosening up a bit more than normal (short handed play sort of requires looser play) but got coolered multiple times! One hand AQ with a Q high flop got another player all-in on the flop and he sucked out a T with QT on the turn. A few hands later AA lost to set of 8s on the river. Pretty soon my initial $650 was down to $300! What a terrible night of poker!
I started to realize that my loose style was causing me to play hands that I would never normally play to raises or out of position. After losing another $100 I decided it was time for bed and logged off. This was a TERRIBLE night of poker - and although I took multiple "bad beats," I caused myself to have a losing session because I started playing in a losing way. I stopped stealing on the button with medium suited connectors because the higher limits made me unfortable to raise with mediocre hands preflop. I started bluffing less and playing more timidly. And when this is combined with players who are gambling more (players with greater skills often try to make trickier bets and raises - its makes playing against them more volatile - its tough to call down a reraise all-in with top pair with a flush or straight out there. This is why they do that, but it makes playing against them much more difficult) I was setup to lose a lot of money.
I went back to my usual stakes this morning and made about $100 in an hour. I played super tight and aggressively in position. I stole a few decent sized pots, and trapped a few players who overplayed their hands. Its nice to know that a bad night doesn't mean that I'm a bad player - but its important to recognize where things went wrong and how I can improve. I'm going to play some more later today - I'll post anything interesting that comes up in the next few days next time...
So last night I sit down at 8x $.50/$1 tables. Things did not go very well - and I learned a valuable lesson. ALWAYS STICK TO PLAYING YOUR GAME.
When I play I always buy-in for the maximum amount - $100 per table in this case. Unfortunately I have money on 4 different sites at the moment and my neteller was empty. With only $650 on America's Card Room I decide to buy in for less than the max at my tables so that I could maximize my hands per hour (although this was not a smart decision because it minimized how much I could potentially make with a great hand against a good hand). So with about $80 at each table I start my session. First hand on my top left table I'm dealt AA in the BB. A player in early position raises to 4xBB I figure him for a hand like KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ, or AJ. Its folded to me and I figure its a better play to just call so to disguise my hand's strength (again this is a play that can be very dangerous, and one that I rarely make, but I digress). Flop comes KT2, rainbow. On the flop I am hoping my opponent has something like AK and he leads out for a 1/2 pot bet (leading me to believe this) - I call. Turn is a blank, I check, he bets - and now I raise 3x his raise (about half my stack). He calls. River comes another blank - no straights or flushes are out there. I check - figuring I can just call the river - and he might bluff a hand like a PP or think AK is good and try to value bet here. He goes all-in, I call - he shows KK. :(
Now this hand was the absolute hardest situation for my hand and my opponent really happened to play it in a way to trap me for my whole stack. Had he check the flop and reraised me when I bet the turn I could have folded - as it was he got me to go all-in when he had the nuts. Sneaky plays can really kill you if you get unlucky. So here I was doing my least favorite poker move - going broke with one pair.
Immediately after this hand, I took my autoposting off and left all the tables to go get a drink and think about the hand. I decided that it was somewhat my fault I could have raised preflop, or on the flop to gain more information when the bets were smaller. At the same time sometimes you just get unlucky. If my opponent had AK or KQ or QQ I had them crushed and I'm taking their whole stack. Once I get to the river, in this spot, folding does not seem like a good play.
So once I sat back down at my computer I decided to fire poker back up and play some short handed games at the $1/$2 tables - 3 tables only. I started loosening up a bit more than normal (short handed play sort of requires looser play) but got coolered multiple times! One hand AQ with a Q high flop got another player all-in on the flop and he sucked out a T with QT on the turn. A few hands later AA lost to set of 8s on the river. Pretty soon my initial $650 was down to $300! What a terrible night of poker!
I started to realize that my loose style was causing me to play hands that I would never normally play to raises or out of position. After losing another $100 I decided it was time for bed and logged off. This was a TERRIBLE night of poker - and although I took multiple "bad beats," I caused myself to have a losing session because I started playing in a losing way. I stopped stealing on the button with medium suited connectors because the higher limits made me unfortable to raise with mediocre hands preflop. I started bluffing less and playing more timidly. And when this is combined with players who are gambling more (players with greater skills often try to make trickier bets and raises - its makes playing against them more volatile - its tough to call down a reraise all-in with top pair with a flush or straight out there. This is why they do that, but it makes playing against them much more difficult) I was setup to lose a lot of money.
I went back to my usual stakes this morning and made about $100 in an hour. I played super tight and aggressively in position. I stole a few decent sized pots, and trapped a few players who overplayed their hands. Its nice to know that a bad night doesn't mean that I'm a bad player - but its important to recognize where things went wrong and how I can improve. I'm going to play some more later today - I'll post anything interesting that comes up in the next few days next time...
Running badly.
Busy weekend... expensive weekend.
Friday:
21:00 - Will's annual birthday bash
22:30 - Suite 34
23:30 - fairly incoherant
2:00 - sleep
Saturday:
6:00 - wake up, go to Toronto
15:00 - Football game won, Drive back for Canada day
19:00 - begin the festivaties
21:30 - Pier 21
22:00 - Incoherant
23:30 - ??????????
3:00 - Zak's Dinner
4:00 - Sleep
Sunday + Monday:
POKER
I though friday and Saturday were draining but nothing takes it out of me more than loosing at poker. Especially the way I was loosing - I usually dont complain about bad beats and cold cards but hell, this is my blog and I'll do what I want to.
I started my two days of poker by playing some multitable 0.10/0.20 - 4 hours into my session, im down about $40, which is alot for 0.10/0.20. The cards have not been coming my way in a big way - Runner, Runner - Kings run into aces, queens run into kings - very frustrating but meh, bad things happend. I decide to step away from the cash game and go back to my bread and butter, Sit and Goes.
I like to do a few 15-20 player, $5-$20 StGs at a time - Ive had alot of success playing these, I think its because I allow myself to play much more aggresively. Anyway, after 10 $5, 15 player SnGs - Ive won 2 ($75), finished 2nd twice ($45) and bubbled 3 times for a profit of $70. You think I would be happy, im not, I have been keeping a running tally at this point and I have now lost 11 races in a row. 11! For all of you who dont understand how unlikely that is, the chance of someone loosing a coinflip 11 times in a row is 1 in 250 000 - not very likely.
Anyway, I probably should have taken a break but I instead decided to head over to the PokerLoft to play in their sunday $100 tournament. 21 players showed up. I cant say that I had bad cards, but I had cards that I had a really hard time playing. I was getting alot of middle pairs, 8s, 9s, 10s, Js.
First hand I played, I was the button, 2 callers in middle position, I call, small blind raises 100(5xBB) - folded around to me - I fold my pocket 8s. Im not sure what the move is here, im probably ahead, but its a race - if I call, the only flop im confortable with must have an 8. For 5xBB i think this is a good fold, the only flop im getting paid on is 8/A/x - even if the board comes all unders, if he comes out betting, I might be beat.
I took the blinds down by playing my 10s and my 9s agressively then this hand came up. Adam(http://fishbones11.blogspot.com/) raises 3xBB in middle position, cutoff calls, I call in the small blind with Qs/Js. Flop comes J/8/4 rainbow. I make a pot size raise, Adam thinks for about 20 seconds and comes back at me for double my bet. I think for about 2 minutes(I take a long time to make decisions) and let it go, putting him on a big pair. This hand really set the tone for the rest of my tournament - I dont know what it is, maybe I was giving out a tell but people were constantly coming over the top of me and I never had a hand I could make a stand with.
Shortly after that hand, our table got broken up to form two 10 player tables. I think one of my problems was that I did not know alot of the players I was playing with, I wasent sure who was likely to make a move on me so I had to play it safe and give people credit.
A few hands in im dealth J/J - its folded around to the cutoff, he bets out 3xBB, I reraise the pot on the button hoping to take it down right there, both blinds fold and obviously the cutoff comes over the top for about 1/2 my stack. At this point im not ready to race(best case) all my chips, so I fold after someone puts the clock on me.
At this point the average stack is 2900 and im sitting on about 1900 - so im shortstacked but not in desperate shape. I play another hand, im on the button with A/Q, 2 limpers ahead of me, I raise 3xBB, limper #1 short stacked pushes all in, limper #2 calls. I quickly throw away my hand. Limper #1 shows A/K and limper #2 shows A/K.
Im dealt 9s again - im in early position, I raise 3xBB, middle position calls, everyone else folds. At this point im in pretty desperate position and I know im pushing if no Ace of King. Flop comes 10d/8d/4c - Perfect. I push all in for about the pot, he insta-calls. Damnit, im thinking that im completly cooked, A/10 or and overpair. Alas, he shows Ad/Qd and I have a chance. Its a race, turn comes a brick and river comes the 4d. Sigh. Lets make that 12 in a row, not a classic race but its 52% - 48% so im counting it.
That was enough poker for me that night (I rarely say that) - so I headed home, watched some scrubs I downloaded and went to bed.
Sunday afternoon rolls around and im really feeling like playing some MTTs. I start by playing a $35 buy-in $65,00 guarantee. I finish about 4 places out of the money when my kings run into aces - that dosent even upset me. What upsets me is my poker program crashed when I was dealth Aces which means, yes, I folded Aces preflop to no-raise. I have never been that upset ever.
After breaking a few things, I decide to play a $20 buy in, $12,000 guarantee. 5 hours later, im 4 of 31 with 24,000 chips when this happens. Im dealth A/Q, I raise 3xBB, Big stack calls on the button. Realize, blinds are huge at this point, 1000/2000, very bingoish. Flop comes A/Q/9 rainbow - im so happy, I check, big stack raises 6,000 and I push all in. Insta-call. hmm, A/K?
A set of 9s... I go out in 29th place... Not even in the money, only payed top 20. Just not my weekend.
Theres always tonight, althought I believe I was getting fairly unlucky, my game needs a tune up, I think im gonna read a book before I play some more poker just not sure which one. Maybe Harrington on holdem volume 2, volume 1 was amazing. If you have some suggestions, feel free to post them.
Friday:
21:00 - Will's annual birthday bash
22:30 - Suite 34
23:30 - fairly incoherant
2:00 - sleep
Saturday:
6:00 - wake up, go to Toronto
15:00 - Football game won, Drive back for Canada day
19:00 - begin the festivaties
21:30 - Pier 21
22:00 - Incoherant
23:30 - ??????????
3:00 - Zak's Dinner
4:00 - Sleep
Sunday + Monday:
POKER
I though friday and Saturday were draining but nothing takes it out of me more than loosing at poker. Especially the way I was loosing - I usually dont complain about bad beats and cold cards but hell, this is my blog and I'll do what I want to.
I started my two days of poker by playing some multitable 0.10/0.20 - 4 hours into my session, im down about $40, which is alot for 0.10/0.20. The cards have not been coming my way in a big way - Runner, Runner - Kings run into aces, queens run into kings - very frustrating but meh, bad things happend. I decide to step away from the cash game and go back to my bread and butter, Sit and Goes.
I like to do a few 15-20 player, $5-$20 StGs at a time - Ive had alot of success playing these, I think its because I allow myself to play much more aggresively. Anyway, after 10 $5, 15 player SnGs - Ive won 2 ($75), finished 2nd twice ($45) and bubbled 3 times for a profit of $70. You think I would be happy, im not, I have been keeping a running tally at this point and I have now lost 11 races in a row. 11! For all of you who dont understand how unlikely that is, the chance of someone loosing a coinflip 11 times in a row is 1 in 250 000 - not very likely.
Anyway, I probably should have taken a break but I instead decided to head over to the PokerLoft to play in their sunday $100 tournament. 21 players showed up. I cant say that I had bad cards, but I had cards that I had a really hard time playing. I was getting alot of middle pairs, 8s, 9s, 10s, Js.
First hand I played, I was the button, 2 callers in middle position, I call, small blind raises 100(5xBB) - folded around to me - I fold my pocket 8s. Im not sure what the move is here, im probably ahead, but its a race - if I call, the only flop im confortable with must have an 8. For 5xBB i think this is a good fold, the only flop im getting paid on is 8/A/x - even if the board comes all unders, if he comes out betting, I might be beat.
I took the blinds down by playing my 10s and my 9s agressively then this hand came up. Adam(http://fishbones11.blogspot.com/) raises 3xBB in middle position, cutoff calls, I call in the small blind with Qs/Js. Flop comes J/8/4 rainbow. I make a pot size raise, Adam thinks for about 20 seconds and comes back at me for double my bet. I think for about 2 minutes(I take a long time to make decisions) and let it go, putting him on a big pair. This hand really set the tone for the rest of my tournament - I dont know what it is, maybe I was giving out a tell but people were constantly coming over the top of me and I never had a hand I could make a stand with.
Shortly after that hand, our table got broken up to form two 10 player tables. I think one of my problems was that I did not know alot of the players I was playing with, I wasent sure who was likely to make a move on me so I had to play it safe and give people credit.
A few hands in im dealth J/J - its folded around to the cutoff, he bets out 3xBB, I reraise the pot on the button hoping to take it down right there, both blinds fold and obviously the cutoff comes over the top for about 1/2 my stack. At this point im not ready to race(best case) all my chips, so I fold after someone puts the clock on me.
At this point the average stack is 2900 and im sitting on about 1900 - so im shortstacked but not in desperate shape. I play another hand, im on the button with A/Q, 2 limpers ahead of me, I raise 3xBB, limper #1 short stacked pushes all in, limper #2 calls. I quickly throw away my hand. Limper #1 shows A/K and limper #2 shows A/K.
Im dealt 9s again - im in early position, I raise 3xBB, middle position calls, everyone else folds. At this point im in pretty desperate position and I know im pushing if no Ace of King. Flop comes 10d/8d/4c - Perfect. I push all in for about the pot, he insta-calls. Damnit, im thinking that im completly cooked, A/10 or and overpair. Alas, he shows Ad/Qd and I have a chance. Its a race, turn comes a brick and river comes the 4d. Sigh. Lets make that 12 in a row, not a classic race but its 52% - 48% so im counting it.
That was enough poker for me that night (I rarely say that) - so I headed home, watched some scrubs I downloaded and went to bed.
Sunday afternoon rolls around and im really feeling like playing some MTTs. I start by playing a $35 buy-in $65,00 guarantee. I finish about 4 places out of the money when my kings run into aces - that dosent even upset me. What upsets me is my poker program crashed when I was dealth Aces which means, yes, I folded Aces preflop to no-raise. I have never been that upset ever.
After breaking a few things, I decide to play a $20 buy in, $12,000 guarantee. 5 hours later, im 4 of 31 with 24,000 chips when this happens. Im dealth A/Q, I raise 3xBB, Big stack calls on the button. Realize, blinds are huge at this point, 1000/2000, very bingoish. Flop comes A/Q/9 rainbow - im so happy, I check, big stack raises 6,000 and I push all in. Insta-call. hmm, A/K?
A set of 9s... I go out in 29th place... Not even in the money, only payed top 20. Just not my weekend.
Theres always tonight, althought I believe I was getting fairly unlucky, my game needs a tune up, I think im gonna read a book before I play some more poker just not sure which one. Maybe Harrington on holdem volume 2, volume 1 was amazing. If you have some suggestions, feel free to post them.
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