Subbed. Where are you playing OP? Haven't read the whole thread yet but will do soon.

Tampa Bay, Florida. On occasions, Biloxi, MS when there's a good tournament going. I've never paid for a hotel room at a casino bc I give casinos constant action so I don't mind traveling to any Total Rewards or MGM properties when they have good value tournaments, as I get all my room/food free.

I know you happened to lose this hand, but with an SPR of 4 I'm treating this hand as the nuts every time. Thoughts?

I rarely ever limp on the button. Whatever I decide to play with on the button, I almost always raise to go heads up. With that hand and that flop, you are correct, I am never folding in that spot, unless stacks were deep, deep.

Funny you ask though, if I limp there and it was a multi-player pot, I may have folded in that spot bc I can't speak for the rest of the free world, but I can't put people on a hand in a limp pot. I hate playing limp pots.

As the hand played out, I am never putting Villain on AA in a hundred years. A dry Ace was the most likelihood, but when the money went in on the turn, there was a possibility that he may have 86, in which case, I just have to pay him.

a) AKo is not a drawing hand any less that JJ is a drawing hand
b) You need to vary your raising size based on a ton of factors, one of which is your hand strength
c) show me a live poker game where most pots are headsup, and Im going to leave
d) youre an idiot for playing anything besides poker (including baccarat)

Furthermore, youre logic is so fail on the above hand that Im having a hard time not facepalming myself to death

Someone shows tons of strength pre so you FLAT KK? Because you dont want to scare them away?!

What do you do on a Ax board?

What do u do when villain just c/f the flop because his AK whiffs? Or your flat screams strength so he c/f TT/JJ?

Use your brain; usually when someone 3bs pre they are not folding to a 4b, sometimes not to a 4b shove. So just value 4b KK and try to get it all in pre.

You realize that most hands that stack off on 994hh are also stacking off pre right?

OMG, you flatted a 4b PREFLOP from an EP raise with KK?!?! Seriously? WHY
You realize that someone who is 6x EP and then 4bs you is pretty much never folding pre, ever. Why did u flat again??

You seem to show great interest in my thread. I thank you for that. However, I have a problem with your tone when you disagree with my line. You invest too much emotions in your posts. There is no need to be so condescending, eg, calling people "monkeys" who disagree with you and telling me to "use [my] brain." It's not necessary to use those terms to get your point across.

If you want to discuss an issue, do so. Make your points and move on to the next topic.

Now as for the points you brought up, I will be glad to discuss them here.

a) if you want to flip with AKo in cash games, I'll be more than happy to play with you all day and all night. I can't even tell you how much money I've won against people who continue to call my AIPF with AKo. Every time, they seem to be surprised to discover that I have either AA or KK. Needless to say, I do not agree that JJ is a drawing hand as AKo is in cash games, but nevertheless.

b) you're not saying much here; most would agree with this statement. However, I will never raise exponentially UTG just to win the blinds. At a 5/10 game, I raised $55 pre with AKo and someone suggested that I should raise a little higher. For what reasons? I mean, why should I raise exponentially, risking that no one will call my pre raise, just to take down the blinds UTG? I promise you that my raise sizing do vary at certain positions for various reasons (stack sizes, number of ppl in the pot, etc, etc), but I am never going to raise more than 5.5bb UTG with AA, KK, or any premium hands just take down the blinds. I am not scare to play post-flop, although you may think otherwise.

c) you have a point here, but the point I was trying to make was most everyone knows that we raise pre to isolate. I can't speak for the rest of the free world, but for me, it is much easier to put people's hands ranges in a raised pot, than in a limped pot.

d) we are all idiots when we gamble. Well, I once won close to 1 million USD playing baccarat so I know the game quite well. Split up with my ex-wife, and went crazy and lost it all back. That's a hard lesson learned. I am not saying I won the money bc of skills, but I am saying I won the money bc of great "self control." I know when to quit. I am a gambler by blood, so I don't think I am ever going to stop gambling til the day I die.

Now as for the specific KK hand in question. You seem to be fascinated on why I flat in that spot. Well, there were many factors. Villain has been playing with lots of weird hands in raised pots. You and others may not call these hands weird, but it's weird to me, KQo, QTo, JTo. So in this specific instance, I put him on what he had, QQ MAX, no more.

There is a price for slow playing, just as there is a price for everything we do in our life. I had position and I was going to take my chance with the flop. I knew I was 10 miles ahead pre. Yes, there is an argument for pushing AIPF in that spot, and there is a strong likelihood that Villain would call AIPF, but not a certainty. I don't always play a certain hand the same way every time.

You may not think so after the fact, but there is a possibility that he could fold if I push AIPF in that spot. As I said, hindsight is 20/20 and it is not difficult to be an armchair quarterback. It is much much more difficult to be in the arena, and to "be in battle in the heat of the moment."

What happens if an Ace flops? At that point, we have to adjust and make decisions. After all, IMO, poker is not even about winning or losing; IMO, poker is about making decisions; if you make more correct decisions, chances are you will be a winner in the long run. But to answer your specific question, if an ace flops, and he pushes AI, I think there is a strong likelihood that I would call in that spot bc I was pre-determined that he had JJ or QQ in that spot, or some crazy hands like KQss, QJss. Why? Just bc of the hands that he showed in previous pots.

In the final analysis, I appreciate your interest in my thread. I appreciate the points. I do not appreciate the tone in which you make your points.

OP playing at derby Sunday? Theres a good $330 tourney you could play for practice. Should be a good turnout

Ill work on my tone.

don't play baccarat. Im fairly certain there is no skill to that game, so you can never develop and edge, so you should never play.

AKo is the 3rd best hand in poker and is roughly 30% vs KK...drawing or not, its a great equity hand, not mention how well it crushes AQ/AJ and will get hands like 88-JJ to often fold pre.

but best of luck, I like how much you're winning

Nope, not playing in that one. Saving the $300+ for JAX WPT Event #1 in two weeks, $300+ BI $150K Guaranteed.

I don't think I'll ever quit Blackjack or Baccarat.

As for AKo, I guess if you can pinpoint your opponent's hand pre, then it's okay to play it big. I just don't want to invest too much in that hand, regardless of its ranking, bc at the end of the day, if you don't hit your A or K, you're probably behind. That said, I often don't play to hit; I often play to represent.

Of course, AKo has a very different meaning in tournament.

how it been going op?

probably this...

but hopefully not! i started out playing blackjack years ago and only switched to poker when i discovered it was a skill game.
it's a constant struggle for me to stay away from the house games.

you seem to have what it takes to beat poker for a good win rate. don't let the house games suck you in. from my experience it doesn't matter if i win at blackjack today because it's only a matter of time before they get it all back and then some.

been following this thread. stay focused OP.

I am doing well. Nothing new to report from my end. I haven't played any cash game since my last post. I've been busy taking care of my mind and body, preparing for JAX WPT Event #1 next weekend. As I said in my last few posts, I need to shift my focus to have a balance in my life in regard to health/family/friends/work, etc, etc.

So I've been hitting the gym pretty hard since my last post. I've been jogging about 3 miles every day & lifting weights every other day. Since I've been back on the jogging grind, I now realize how much I enjoy running. I love listening to the birds sing as I jog in the morning. It's so peaceful and nice. Plus, the weather has been almost picture perfect in April. Since I work full-time, it's hard to do everything I want so something has to give, given that we only have so many hours in a day.

Something big might happen soon, possibly this summer. I don't want to jinx it so I'll just keep it quiet for now. If and when it does occur, I will let you guys know about it.

My uncle is flying in from California next week; he and I are heading to Jax next Friday morning for Event #1. In the meantime, I will be grinding this weekend at a location undisclosed. Will have an update on Monday, time permitting.

I have also booked my comp room at the New Orleans Harrah's for the WSOPC in May. Will be there for 4 nights, starting on May 9, for Event #1.

Thank you for your interest in my thread. Hope everyone is well.

I have gambling blood in my DNA, so I don't think I'll ever stop gambling. But you're being quite presumptuous. Read my post above.

Thanks for following.

I have been doing some thinking lately about revealing my identity. My original thought is I won't reveal my identity until I achieve the goal of this thread of reaching $50,000 by the end of the year. Remember in my last post I said I haven't played a hand in cash game? Well, during the Easter weekend, I played in a tournament, freeroll bc I satellite into the tourney (won a free ticket to the satellite by hitting a full house in a cash game). It was a 2 day tournament. Towards the end of the first day, I was one of the chip leaders near the top of the leader board.

Unfortunately, when we came back for day 2, I played my worst poker in a long, long time, as I didn't do anything right for the day. I didn't even make the money. Top prize paid close to $20,000. My failure of making the money in this tournament has been killing me inside, killing me not because I didn't make the money, killing me because I didn't make the money even though I was one of the chip leaders heading to day 2. So I've been doing alot of thinking, and re-thinking, of late about revealing my identity. Although I came close to doing it, I chose to remain anonymous, and won't do so until I accomplish the goal of this thread.

Although I didn't use any of my pocket money to buy into the tournament, I will use the hours I played as part of my data. Played for 9 hours on day 1, and 5 hours in day 2 for a grand total of 14 hours. Expenses were $30.

I can say with brutal honesty that being knocked out of a tournament where you think you are invincible is one of the worst feelings in the world. I mean it took me more than 10 minutes to get to my car, and this wasn't even any big tournament. hihihi I was drained. I was beaten. And worst of all, I played like an idiot the entire day.

Now back to the cash grind-fest this weekend.

Sessions #92, 93, 94. Over the weekend, I play a total of 24 hours in 3 separate sessions of 8 hours each, and won a total of $1,172. First 8 hours I won $845, 2nd 8 hours I lost $245, and last 8 hours I won $572, leaving me with 24 hours for a grand total profit of $1,172. As I said previously, location undisclosed.

Here's one interesting hand I played.

Villain and I have been battling all session long. He has position on me and have been 3-betting quite a bit pre to my raise. Sometimes I surrender, other times I didn't surrender.

We were quite deep pre in this hand. There was no cap buy-in for this game. I sat down with $1,500 and when this hand began, I had about $2,500 and Villain had me cover. 2/5 was the game of choice.

I picked up A8 in MP, and made it $30 to go after 1 limper. Villain, as usually is the case, 3-bet to $85. Back to me, and I re-popped it to $230. Back to Villain and he 5-bets to $500.

Back to me, and I jam. Villain thought for a good 2 minutes or so and folds.

Best hand I played in a long, long time.

Villain didn't show.

Villain's cards???? Anyone????

My guess??? Small pairs, other suited connectors, Ax, with AJo being his absolute best hand here.

anyone????

April 2012

Total Hours = 45
Total Gross Winnings = $1,532
Winrate = $34/hour.
Gas & Snacks = $294

Session #92, 93, 94 & tourney = 38
Session W/L = $1,172
Gas & Snacks = $249
Session Net W/L = $923

2012 YTD

YTD Hours Played = 360
Total Gross Winnings = $14,929
Winrate = $41/hour

Total Gas & Expenses = $3,169

Total Net Earnings = $11,760

Up To the Minute Data

UTMD Hours Played = 596
Total Gross Winnings = $30,120

Winrate = $50/hour

Total Gas and Expenses = $4,605

Total Net Earnings = $25,515 ==>> Easily the most important number in America.