Today I played 2 hours of 1/2 PLO and 2 hours of 5/10 Hold'em. I told myself I wasn't going to include the PLO into my figures no matter what. Limp re-raised aces, made a turn bluff on a monotone flop checked through. Other than that, I was a nut-peddler and got stacks in as a pretty big favorite on the flop 3 times but only won once. Lost ~$100 here.

5/10 was zero rake the entire time since it was 4-handed (same players). All good players; in fact it was the first time I haven't felt +EV at a live table. I dunno if it was my mood, but I played almost every hand really whack- barely played anything straightforward. I won a ~$2000 pot early in the session where I flatted KTo on the button vs UTG's open, he double barreled on KK98Ar then checkraised river with QTo. Shortly after I 3-bet SB's open with JJ from BB, checked down on a AK727 board or something. I think these two hands helped my image a lot, the other guys didn't play back at me nearly as much as I expected and I stole a bunch of pots.

Only 1 hand I thought I made a big mistake: I 3 bet from the blinds with A2 vs UTG's open, cbet a 678 board, barreled a 6 turn, then checked a Q river. He checked behind and obviously I was good. I think river must be a bet since his range is strongly weighted towards pairs that will check behind, almost no reasonable bluffs he can have here.

+$1630 in 2 hours.

Cleveland total: $3173, 21 hours (whoa that more than doubled the total!).

I just read ur entire thread which is rare for me to do these days
more power to ya.. I enjoyed it alot and now that I'm playing live more now maybe I could discuss some HH's with you if you would be cool with that. Also, what is the total amount you won at nl200 before moving up? and what is your overall total profit? and hours played?

GL bro ur killing it!

tyty

I'm always open to talk about stuff via PM or you could even post it in here if you like

As for my total, you can easily calculate it by seeing the following summary posts from Hot Springs, AR and St. Louis, MO, then adding it to the Cleveland total which is still running. I think it's roughly $13k in 220 hours at the moment.

definitley bet/ call the river with the A 2 of clubs.

Oops just realized I didn't answer this part. I never really intentionally "moved up", I simply played what was available. In Cleveland, everyone at 1/2 buys in for 50$ and the rake is 6+1$. Total trash, no point in playing it at all so I prefer 2/5. Except sometimes the list for 2/5 is really long so 5/10 opens up first and I play that instead, although I think I prefer 2/5 (much much higher density of fish).

Played an extremely soft 2/5 table today for 2 hours. I got some nice starting hands, and I decided to do something different for today's post and detail every single hand I VPIP'd (yes, I just verbed that word).

Hand 1: I've folded for an orbit or two so I thought (wrongly, again) that I might get some respect here. HJ opened to $20, CO calls, button calls, I make it $85 from BB with K2. Probably not big enough raise pre, oh well. Only loose-passive villain in HJ calls.

Flop QJ5, pot $215
I check, villain checks.

Turn 7, pot $215
I bet $125, villain calls.

River A, pot $465
I shove my last $290 in, villain folds. I think villain has a lot of non-ace 1 pair hands here and what possible bluffs can I have after I 3bet pre? Not really anything except Kx, lol. I show of course to give people the wrong idea since I plan on playing tight as usual.

Hand 2: I make it $50 preflop over some limpers with AJ, guy shoves for $125 total, Mr. Whale calls. I obviously call, it gets checked down and the shortstack's 44 holds up.

Hand 3: Shortly after I raise KJ preflop to $30 over a couple limps, 2 callers including Mr. Whale who has position on me. I 3 barreled a 2-tone J high flop getting my full stack in and split with Mr. Whale who held KJ. Sigh, thought I was good for sure.

Hand 4: Decent player opens to $20, 2 callers, I flat with 77 in the BB. I didn't flop a set so I check/folded.

Hand 5: 2 limps, I raise AK preflop to $50 from MP because apparently no one is folding pre on this table, Mr. Whale calls on the button and limper calls.

Flop QT8 $150 pot
Limper checks, I check, Mr. Whale bets $90. We both fold. I would cbet some amount of the time here.

Hand 6: Next hand I play, I raise AK to $25, get 3 bet by decent player from hand 4 to $90, and I 4 bet to $250, slightly less than half my stack. He folds TT. Recently I was thinking about my 4-bet bluff range, and I just realized this is what it is vs. 99% of live players. Ace King. That's the only hand in my 4-bet bluff range.

Hand 7: Lady limps UTG, I make it $25 with AA from UTG+1. 2 callers, lady repops to $50 total. I obviously 4bet here, I made it $250. Both callers fold of course, lady calls. I'm thinking wow does she really have the same hand?? I'm really hoping that she has KK.

Flop 883, pot $550
She shoves for about $250, I obviously snap. She turns over... 66. She said she put me on AK because I played it the same way earlier, and at that point I realized hmm, I did indeed make the same open/4 bet size with AK. Anyway I worked soooooooooo hard not to burst out laughing for the next couple minutes.

Hand 8: I raised to $50 with JJ on the button over some limpers. 4-handed on the flop, I cbet $100 into a $200 pot on an 853 flop and folded to an all in checkraise from loose-passive villain from hand 1 for $300 more. He claims he had bottom set, I believe him (obviously, since I folded).

Hand 9: Couple limps, I open to $50 with AQ, tight guy behind me flats, Mr. Whale squeezes to $105. Lol. Since I've never seen him raise pre before, we both fold and he says he had aces. BIG SURPRISE.

+$486 in 2 hours.

Cleveland total: $3659, 23 hours.

Hands like #7 make me physically ****ing ill that I am not playing. Jesus.

Well done sir.

Congrats on the domination so far..All your posts are detailed and long... nice work...
I wanted to know how much expenses have been out on the road and how you have been managing them so far.

Quick thoughts here. How in the world did you get all those starting hands in a span of 2 hours? Must be sleeping with angels.

Looking at your stats for the session, considering that you had so many great starting hands, I would say that your session was not all that great. You basically broke even for all those hands and your winning session amounts to winning with your AA hand.

In a span of 2 hours with those starting hands, you should win more bc I will say that you will probably never see another 2 hours where you have those starting hands ever again.

I know I am being a little critical, but it's something to think about. When you're running hot, you need to maximize your winnings bc you never know when you will run bad.

Keep running good!!!!!!

I don't think your post makes any sense the_quiet_assassin - just because you have a good starting hand doesn't mean you're going to win the pot, and it doesn't mean other people don't have better hands pre/make better hands post. On the other side, he might have A3s, 74o and 92o in the next season and make a flush, a straight and trips for massive profits

@quiet assassin. I agree you need to maximize EV at every single moment, however I would appreciate some advice on which hands you think I should have won more on. I don't think I played any of them particularly badly (obviously I don't think I played perfectly)- I mean starting hands aren't that important- if you look at my posts from when I first got to Cleveland, I was making a massive hourly off literally like 1 decent hand a day.

So basically I pretty much agree with Pascal, UNLESS you were saying I played the last few hands badly because I was comfortable already being up. I don't think I did though.

Thanks for the comments guys!

Today I played 2/5 and oversetted some guy JJ vs 44 on KJ4hh for 100bb on my very first hand. I raised pre, 3 barreled big OOP.

Tried this stupid bluff and lost about 50bb on it. Pretty upset about this hand:

I raise to $15 with QT in LP, caller on button, caller in big blind.

Flop KJ7, pot $45
Check, I bet $25, button folds, big blind check/raises to $75. I shove for $180 more to him. He calls wth AK. I had just tank/folded to someone else's check/raise so I thought shove here would look strong, but maybe it could look tilty too. I obviously didn't expect him to have a hand that strong either. Oh well.

Hmm, what else happened. I opened button, a grinder (I think?) 3 bet me from BB, I 4-bet with AK and he folded. I took down a couple pots preflop with light squeezes (once with K6 and once with K4).

OH. Also I got told by someone at the table that he likes my blog. 1st step to stardom IMO.

$214 in 2 hours.

Cleveland total: $3873, 25 hours.

Hi, the reason I'm visiting these places that aren't exactly renowned for poker is because I'm staying with college friends. Haven't stayed in a hotel yet, so non-standard expenses are basically out of the picture.

****s striaght ma nigguh`````` hpüe u doing well
mfg jason hOmEbOy

I recorded all my VPIP'd hands again this session. 5/10 with 2 big fish to my immediate left and right but mostly solid players.

Hand 1: Shark opens to $30, solid reg flats, I squeeze with 98 to $110. Both fold. Reg says "nice squeeze", if you've been keeping up with this thread then you already know that...

Hand 2: I open KJ from HJ to $30, fishy player flats from CO. I lead for $40 on an AQ2 board and he folds.

Hand 3: I open minraise K9 on the button, both blinds fold.

Hand 4: Shark opens to $30, reg flats, LooseFish (this guy gets a name because he's in so many hands, unfortunately I'm not feeling particularly creative today) flats, grinder who just sat down at the table squeezes to $165 from small blind. Really similar action/players as hand 1, so I expect grinder to have a wide squeeze/fold range here (and everyone else is folding the vast majority of the time). I make it $450 from big blind repping a huge hand with A5, everyone folds.

Hand 5: Shortstack (50bb who can't wait to get called for PLO) opens from EP for $25, LooseFish flats, I make $150 with JJ. Both call. I'm pretty worried about a higher pair at this point, although maybe unreasonably so.

Flop T98, pot $465.
Checked around.

Turn T, pot $465.
Check, LooseFish bets $300, I call, shorty folds.

River 7, pot $1065.
LooseFish leads for $300, I snapcall. He shows AJ for the split, then actually spends the next couple minutes bemoaning his luck. I don't think he realized he was behind... that tilted me a bit. I started to explain to him but stopped myself.

Hand 6: I make it $25 with A3 on the button, shark in big blind calls.

Flop AQ4, pot $55.
Check, I bet $35, he calls.

Turn T, pot $125.
Check/check.

River Q, pot $125.
Villain leads for $50. Hero?



Hand 7: LooseFish straddles, I make it $70 with QQ, 2 sharks call in position, LooseFish calls. I check/folded an A44 flop.

Hand 8: New regfish at table limps UTG, LooseFish limps, I somewhat uncharacteristically check my option in the big blind with KQ.

Flop Q97, pot $35.
I check, UTG bets $30, LooseFish calls, I make it $150. Only UTG calls.

Turn T, pot $365
I bet $225, UTG calls.

River 6, pot $815
Check/check. My hand is good. I think villain showed busted nut flush draw but I'm not sure.

Hand 9: New shark at the table opens to $35, I 3 bet from button with 55 to $105. He calls.

Flop Q32, pot $225
Check, I bet $150, he folds.

+$785 in 2 hours.

Cleveland total: $4658, 27 hours.

Dont jam there with QT on the flush draw board. I would flat or fold, I think you're getting called by a variety of cr'ing hands and just not getting enough folds to make it a profitable jam

I was just making a general proposition that we should take advantage of our sessions when we have good starting hands. But given that you don't include the relevant starting stacks of all parties involved, it is hard for me or for any serious poker player to give you a accurate opinion on any particular hand you posted bc imo stack sizes are very very important to how the hand is played step by step. Also, aside from the hands you posted, how many other hands did you play during the session?

I know it's hard not to look at the raw numbers and the result when you're winning, but unless you're a perfect poker player, I think there's always room for improvement. I often re-read my journal and often find that I could win more. Anyway, hope you continue to kill 'em in Cleveland, land of "nothing to do." hihihi

Great point on stack sizes/villains. Preflop it's too much of a mixed bag to note everything, but any postflop play is roughly around the 100-150bb deep range unless otherwise noted.

I agree there is always room for improvement. It is one of the big draws of poker for me, and I study every day.

As I said, I recorded every single hand where my VPIP went up, although for the 5/25/12 post it may not look like that since it's like the top of the range. As you can tell I'm kind of a preflop nit some opportunities that 2+2 may hate me for passing up on include stuff like "shark opens from button (50%+ range), hero folds A9s in big blind", or "hero open folds 87s from MP". I don't think these spots are particularly profitable even in a vacuum, but observant players will see I have a very low VPIP and give me credit for big hands when I do light squeezes/3 bets, which IMO is underrated in profitability. Especially because observant players also tend to think that other good players will want to stay out of their way. Anyway, I have no idea if this paragraph is actually good advice or horrible advice; as with everything else on 2+2, it's up to the reader to decide.

Thanks for the comments!

Was on an extremely juicy table today but didn't get anything.

Value cut myself today with JJ on T53QQ vs. a shortstack who was all in on the flop and a fish who always chased draws, I double barreled in position and the fish shoved river. I folded and he showed 55. Lost about $400 on this hand.

Anyway that was my last session in Cleveland. I'll be traveling to Pittsburgh for my next stop. As usual a city report will come soon, but right now I'm going to go lie down because I'm sick

Funny story: I had a dealer tell me BCM11 (poker legend around here) was "not that good, average at best".

-$494, 2 hours.

FINAL Cleveland total: $4164, 29 hours.

gl in Pittsburgh! I wouldn't feel bad about folding stuff like 87s from MP, stack sizes live in my experience don't tend to be quite deep enough to play those sorta hands really profitably. even when they are deep, people don't tend to fold enough to give u enough fold equity to semi-bluff

Crushing!!

Hand 4 from 2 sessions ago where you 4bet squeezed Ac5x from the BB. If villain flats, whats the plan on various flops?

That's an interesting question, I've honestly never played a 4bet pot postflop ever in my life I think. If either the original raiser or squeezer flats, pot would be about $1000 and either villain would have had about $1000 behind. I think the only hands I personally would ever flat in villain's position is AA, and maybe would consider it with KK.

I guess I'd probably be checking/folding on anything without an ace, and probably stacking off if I do hit an ace.

Went back today and played for 3 hours. While waiting for a seat, I played literally 1 hand of 5/10 PLO. First hand I'm dealt, bunch of limpers, I raised with AAJ8, 4 callers, stacked off on a 962 flop as a favorite against a gutshot + flush draw and lost $500. They called me for 2/5 right after that so I left.

Most of my profits were from stacking some guy when I 3-bet on the button with AA, he flatted OOP with 99. Flop check/check, he checkraised me all in on the turn on a 6QQQ board and I obviously snap. I need to sleep or I'd write more. Cleveland report will come tomorrow.

$472 in 3 hours.

FINAL FINAL Cleveland total: $4636, 32 hours.

Sick hrly, nj!

I wanted to edit this but oh well **** it I'll go ahead and put up the Cleveland report since I'll be busy driving tomorrow.

-Grand Opening: I got here just in time for the opening of Ohio's first casino, Horseshoe Cleveland. Many 2+2ers including myself anticipated this would be very attractive to fish and massively +EV; however, it turned out to be the opposite. Inexperienced cashiers, floor, and especially dealers made things go slower = less hands = -EV. Meanwhile, there were basically zero whales who stumbled in and signed up for 2/5 or 5/10 NL to make up for it, which I guess we should have saw coming. BTW the staff were all really nice and were trying their best so I'm not trying to flame them or anything.

There's also a charity poker room in Cleveland with 20 tables here but I never got around to visiting it.

-Mohs scale: I had someone ask whether Cleveland or St. Louis was softer. Well, in Cleveland I've been playing 5/10 whenever possible and 2/5 when not, compared to 1/3 being my game of choice in STL so it's a bit of an unfair comparison- there's a higher density of sharks at higher stakes, but the fish are still fish and there are obviously plenty so it's all good. I'm not sure which place I'd be more profitable in, but I guess I'd pick Cleveland just because 5/10 runs almost every day and I think I can average a higher hourly at that than 1/3.

-Moneys: I played 32 hours and was up at total of $4636 for $144.88/hr in Cleveland. Since the start of this thread, I'm up $14487 in 231 hours for a winrate of $62.71/hr.

-Session length, and casino layout: Most of my sessions were 2-3 hours, partly due to often going with a group of buddies including two poker rookies to whom I taught a shortstack strategy, and two online hyper turbo pros who also shortstacked 1/2- none of these 4 guys have ever been to a casino before. The main reason though was due to the casino layout; I like to take a walk outside every once in awhile during my sessions, but the Horseshoe poker room is on the third floor and there's also usually a line to get back inside. Walking around inside the casino is not nearly as refreshing and I would feel like going home after a couple hours.

-Life: Stayed with another college friend who lives in a house with 4 other people. They were all cool, had a good time here. I wasted a lot of time here playing Diablo 3. Life is good. Oh yea, driving in Cleveland sucks. Put more of the budget into road repair kthxbye.