Thanks PA.

Oh - one other interesting hand I forgot to mention - my first time folding KK preflop.

I'm sitting on about $1400. I cover villain but he's probably got close to 1k.

I raise UTG+1 to 12. Two callers, villain makes it $52.

He plays pretty tight and I've rarely seen him 3bet, so I'm thinking his range must be QQ, AK or AA, (possibly but unlikely JJ/1010 but it somehows feels more weighted towards the AA end. Given that, I feel like my options are to reraise here (which likely ends the hand with JJ and maybe QQ) or call and play postflop. The problem is I'm out of position, and if he does have AA how do I avoid losing tons of chips on a low board? I could treat it like a set-mining (the implied odds are there for it) and just give up if I miss, but I don't believe I could cheaply lay down Kings on a non-scary board. So because we're so deep, I reraise to $150. He thinks for a moment, and makes it $350.

I sigh, and muck the kings face-up. He's upset, but doesn't show. I run into him in the bathroom later in the session and he tells me how impressed he was that I lay down the KK against his AA. I don't think him to be bull****ting. Even if he was making some crazy move, how often do you see a five-bet bluff from non-tilting tight player in a live game?

I never have. But I've also never laid down KK preflop before. First time for everything.

Though I'm proud I could make the laydown, in retrospect my reraise was terrible. If he was a better player, he would have just called, and I'd be in trouble. And I'm folding out everything worse. Basically it the reraise did was protect the rest of my chipstack, which isn't how I want to be playing, but I'm so unused to playing deepstack at the Oaks (we had 3 $1200+ stacks in the game for a while, which is pretty unusual for a monday afternoon)

Like Clockwork

Nice to finally book back to back wins this month, even if today was a modest +201 in 4 hours.

Sat in a 100 max while waiting for a seat and got involved in this interesting spot right away (although maybe its not all that interesting, and just standard after all).

I'm in the CO with 89. It limps to me, I make it 10 (1/2 blinds). I have $200, villain covers.

SB calls, BB folds. 2 to the flop of

AJ7

A gutterball and flush draw, not bad.

SB checks. Now I know this hits a lot of his range, but I can't see not c-betting her when I hit the flop so hard. And if he does have a piece, I want to build a pot up in case I hit a hand which he can't easily put me on.

I bet $15, he check-raise to $45. Huh.

Obviously I'm not folding. I could shove, but I'm probably behind and when someone check-raising you in this game, you generally have no fold equity. With it $30 to me to win $80, my immediate odds aren't bad and my implied odds are great. I'm fairly certain I'm doubling through if I hit.

Turns a brick, he bets $100. Odds not so good now, implied or actual. I fold.

I'm happy with each phase of that hand, but do wonder if it would have been worth checking the flop to get a free card given that it likely hit his range so much since he called a raise from the SB. Thoughts?

The other 100 max table I want to move to doesn't have an open seat for a while, so when a seat opens up in the 6/12 O8 game (8/16 kill) I take it. I settle in an immdieatly remember 1) how I built my bankroll in this game 2)how boring it is. O8 at this level is very nearly a solved game, with so many players making fundamental mistakes on hand selection, drawing etc. Its delightful to see everyone playing so bad, but also like watching paint dry. With 7-8 guys in every flop, the game moves like molasses. 25 hands an hour max. Sometimes less than 20. I lose a few bucks, and find myself down about $150 for the day when I finally get called to the 200 max.

Is it just me, or has the 200 max game been getting better and better? More and more new, fishy players joining the game. And todays was the best I'd seen in a long time. Lots of action, lots of obvious bad play. Unfortunately I was mostly card dead and only played one hand of significance.

I'm UTG +3 with KQ I have about $350 in front of me. Villain covers.

Villain in this hand, a middle-aged African American gentleman, is my favorite person to play against. It's always crystal clear what he has, and he never lays down a big hand (tptk being "big" in his mind). I've probably stacked him more than any other single reg in the Oaks game.

So Villain raises UTG to $21. A large-ish raise, and against almost anyone else, I'm not to happy to call with KQs, but against this guy I'm happy to. I know he's got a strong hand, and I know I'll get paid off if I hit.

three more call behind, five to the flop

KQ4

Beautiful.

Villain bets out $125 into about $100.

At this point I've got his range down to AA or AK. Nothing else. I think even he may check a big set first to act. And his bet and body language definitley said "go away, this is my pot". So, call or raise?

It's a reasonably dry board given my holdings and the villains, so I'm not scared of much and could pretty safely call here. On the other hand, if I shove, villain is never folding, so why wait? There's always the (slim) possibility of a scare card coming on the turn that would let him find a fold.
Plus with my call there' be $350 in the pot and I'd only have $200 left. So I shove. To my chagrin, the player to my left tanks, and eventually folds with a moan (he later said he had AK, so if I'd just called, he would have come in to, and I would have tripled up.). Villain calls, as expected. He has AK too.

Turn and River blank, I double up. Not much of note happens for the rest of the session before I have to go to meet a friend for a drink, but I coulda stayed in that game forever.

Here's the stats:

April 2012
Sessions: 9
Total Won: $577
Total Hours: 30
Avg p/h $18.77

2012 YTD:
Sessions: 62
Total Won: $3,608
Total Hours: 197
Avg p/h $18.26

Off to Florida tomorrow morning - tomorrow night at this time, I'll be playing at the Hardrock Hollywood. Will try to update from there.

Florida, Pt1

Wow the Hard Rock Hollywood is nuts. A huge complex that I'm pretty sure didn't even exist the last time I was down here. It's almost a small, classy vegas right here. (Funny that something in Florida can be called "classy", but the bar is pretty low if your comparing it to Vegas). Big casino, a strip of restaurants and shops and a large poker room.

There were seven 2/5 games going when I got there around 8, and I immediately got a seat (incidentally they also had a bunch of 5/10s and a 25/50 going) The buy-in is 200-600, so I bought in for 400 while I got the lay of the land. And a great land it was. The game was quite soft, softer than either the Oaks or Lucky Chances ever is, if you can believe it. I ended up +675 in 3.5 hours, a fine start. If its always like this, I'd venture to say there may be more money to be made in South Florida in NL. I just played tight solid poker. Ended up playing tighter than I normally do pf just because of the way the cards got dealt, but in this kind of a game, there's no need to do anything fancy. They also played with a straddle from any position, and about 50% of people straddled the button, making the SB first to act, and the game 2/5/10, basically. I experimented with this a few times, but am not sure if its optimal or not, though it is a huge advantage to straddle the button, no doubt.

Here was the most interesting hand of the night. I have about $750, villain about twice that. Villain in this hand is the best player at the table, and the only one who seems to really know what he's doing.

I'm in the HJ with two black Queens. Button straddles to 10. Villain makes it $30 to go under the gun. It folds to me. Hmmm. My first thought was to 3-bet, but we're both so deep, and I think I'm likely only getting called by better or by AK, since this would be my first 3-bet of the night, and I suspect villain would notice that. Also, although villain has a huge range with a late position raise, he's not a maniac and I expect and UTG raise means something. So I decide just calling is the most profitable play here, especially since I've got position and I expect him to be aggressive with any decent flop for his hand.

So I call, button calls, BB calls.

Flop QJ9

Villain bets out $65 in $120.

Hmmm. Ok. I really really don't think Villain can show up with K10 or 108 after raising UTG, so I know I'm good, unless the two people with smaller stack behind me wake up with the nuts. BUT the board is super wet, so I don't see how I can just call here and let one of the two guys behind get great odds with just a 10, or a flush draw. Also, if I bump it here and villain does have a bigger pocket or a hand that hit the board hard, I may be able to get him to play back at me thinking I'm on a draw. Ditto the guys behind, whom I don't mind inducing a shove from with one of their draws.

So I make it $230.

The two other guys muck. Villain thinks a long time, and just calls.

The turn is 7, pretty much a blank.

Villain checks. Part of me says that checking here will allow me to double through on a whole bunch of non-heart rivers where I can look like I missed the flush. BUT I have barely more than a pot sized bet left, so I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to slow down. And if villain decides I am on draw, he may call my shove. So I shove. Villain thinks for a long time and mucks 99 face-up.

Damn! Set over set and I don't double through. Good fold villain. I guess from his perspective, having the straight is definitely a big part of my range given the way I played the hand. And the rest of my range from his point of view is probably 15 out draws. But still. I think he's the only player at the table who makes that laydown.

Would love to hear thoughts on how I played this.

After a while the game gets short, and that villain has accumulated a massive stack. I'm getting a little tired and don't want to play short-handed with a strong laggy player as table boss, nor do I feel like switching tables and essentially starting a new session. So I call it a day.

Here's the stats:
April 2012
Sessions: 10
Total Won: $1251
Total Hours: 37
Average Per Hour: $36.69

2012 YTD
Total Sessions: 63
Total Won: $4,282
Total Hours: 199.5
Avg p/h $21.44

Other fun fact - my swings have been so crazy this month that poker journal tells me my standard deviation is $1,282 per hour. Whoah. That's a problem.

I think you played that hand fine, villain just made a good fold. Have fun the rest of your trip!

didnt know this thread existed, gl

wow, good fold by villain!

what line do you take if a K hearts or 10 spades comes on the turn and villain checks? (that would have been an interesting spot)

good to hear your running good

Wow, what a fold by Villain!!! Think your raise was a little big on the flop. I would have made it $150-180 range in that spot, so that you can extract more money on the turn and river. No one is calling with a flush or straight draw at that price; they may push over the top, at which point you have to call with a top set. In addition, if the other two people in the hand had something like T8 or KT, they aren't going anywhere.

Betting $150-240 would achieve the same purpose if the other two were on a draw. You realize that your raise was almost 4x the original bet on the flop. That's just too big for a top set!!!

Florida Part 2.

Put in a 4.5 hour session yesterday, with less stellar results, +60. I ran slightly bad, but the game was still amazing. All pretty standard, no interesting hands to report. Based on my limited experience, I'm ready to declare South Florida the new poker capital of America. There's got to be almost as many, or more 2/5+ games running here on any given night as in Vegas, The Bay Area or L.A., and I'd venture to say the games here are softer than those other places by a big margin (at least Vegas and Bay Area, haven't played enough in L.A. to know for sure)

I thought I might get in a session this afternoon, but after some pre-wedding debauchery that went just about till sunrise, I was in no shape for making difficult decisions. Hopefully get some in tomorrow or Monday.

Also this made me realize I recounted the hand incorrently. Villains flop bet was $85, not $65, because I recall making my raise amount based on the idea that it would be slightly less than 3x. But thanks so much for your response. And man, I can see why you crush the games down here so much.

Those would both put me in a tough spot. I'd have to slow down and possibly give up if the K hearts hits, because I think KK and nut flush draw are a large part of his range, and 1010 is also possible. The 10 is a little less worrisome, because the only thing in his range that this hits is KK. I don't see him showing up with AK after calling my flop raise, unless its AK of hearts, which I think might shove over the top of my reraise. I probably continue betting a black ten, though I might check behind (since we know in hindsight both those card would make him check, and I had position).


Stats have barely changed, so I'll wait to update them till after the next session.

If only it was always like this

After an excellent weekend of debauchery and old friends, I got a quick two hours session in today before heading to the airport, where I'm not camped out, waiting for my delayed flight.

I'd planned on getting in a longer session today, but ended up sleeping till noon and cutting down my potential play time.

It was fine though, +170 in 2 hrs without ever playing a hand past the flop. The people were so fit or fold that half the time they folded as I reached for my chips to cbet. Granted my sample size was small, but if this was representative of the player pool, I think if you played this game regularly it would be totally within reason to beat the 2/5 for $50 an hour without breaking much of a sweat.

Alas, I don't live here. On the upside, I don't live here. Since Florida is still Florida in all its trashy glory (I lived here for four years, so I speak from experience).

But this has led me to the following realization. I've been playing in a bad game. Sure, its rare that I'm see a 2/4 lineup where I don't feel that I'm one of the best two at the table. But being the best doesn't make the game good. Having very bad players makes the game good. And though we've got some big fish, a lot of the player pool is middling. Sure, they're mostly losing players, but most of them have somewhat of a clue to not lose at the rate or for the amount of money that would be the case in a better game. I can think of less than five who will consistently stack off on the flop with tptk. Or call off their chips for a draw on the turn.

The other problem with the 2/4 game is that in general, it plays too small. And its not even the 200 max bet that's a problem. It's that you can only buy-in 100bb, and and relatively few players even buy-in full. Occasionally the whole table can get pretty deep, but many of the guys who buy-in for $200 will get up if they double or triple up. So in a sense, the bad players minimize their mistakes by playing short, and I am forced to make a lot more very marginal decisions when somebody shoves with their 30bb stack, for instance.

But, its a seven minute bike ride from my house, and given that my wife takes the car to work most days, my options are generally limited. As the saying goes, its the only game in town for practical purposes. That being said, I'm going to make a concerted effort to play at other places any time I play at night and have the car.

Here's the stats:
April 2012
Sessions: 12
Total Won: $1,454
Total Hours: 39
Avg p/h: $38.00

2012 YTD
Sessions: 65
Total Won: $4,498
Total Hours: 204
Avg p/h: $22.02

Good to Be Back

Like Joni said, you don't know what you go till its gone - and I sure did miss this place in its absence.

But I have been feeling great about my game. Through a combination of Bart Hanson's podcasts and Tommy Angelo's books, I feel like I jumped to a new notch of strategy and mental balance that has been really strong. I've been make some great laydowns and generally doing a lot more bet/folding and raise/folding and try to really get lots of value wherever I can. Also generally avoiding put myself in high variance marginal situations against good players. Its not neccessarily a leak to play those kind of hands on a hand by hand basis, but I think the extra stress and emotional roller coaster of playing lots of tough hands tends to be -ev for the session. Sometime those spots are unavoidable, but I don't go looking for them anymore.

In fact, since my last update, I've only played one session where I really felt like I was playing bad (which was at the California Grand, a terribly run room I will never go to again.)

Here's my quick brag hand that I'm most proud of from the past few sessions:

Effective stacks 400.
One limper, I make it 20 from MP with 88. Tight old man considers raising, thinks, makes it 40 from the bb. Folds to me. I'm clearly crushed but getting great set mining odds.

Flop 899.

He bets 100. I call

Turn A. He bets 200. I muck faceup. He shows AA. Table goes nuts. Though i think this hand is really obvious once he doesn't slow down on the turn since I know this nitty old man is never 3-betting me out of position with AK.

In other news, I'm going to vegas at the end of next week for the first week of the WSOP. Never been during WSOP before and very excited. For those who have been: I'll mostly be playing 2/5 and mid-limit (10/20 - 20/40) mixed games while there. I'll probably only play an event if I win a satellite, but its not my main focus. Given that, is there so much action at the Rio that its worth staying there, or should I stay on the strip so I can be closer to the Venetian and the Bellagio?

Thanks for your input.

Here's the stats:
May 2012
Total Sessions: 8
Total Won: $1,136
Total Hours: 26
Avg p/h $42.71

2012 YTD
Total Session: 76
Total Won: $5,471
Total Hours: 239
Avg p/h $23.32

[B]Ouch[/B

]This one hurts. But I guess I had it coming. Just when I felt better about my game than I ever had before, I then go and have my worst downswing since September – last four sessions were, -200 -930, -430, -330. Granted, this is just over four buy-ins in my game, but my confidence is shaken. I almost never have more than two losing sessions in a row, and it feels like everything has gone to pieces. I’m taking the weekend off to relax, regroup and figure out where I went wrong.

The big losing session I started off early with a stupid play, shoving against a fishy player when I turned 2-pair and there was a three-flush on the board. He min-raised me when the flush came, which I misinterpreted, but even if I had a draw, I’m still not in great shape against his full range. That was buy-in #1. A chunk of buy-in #2 was a legitimate bad beat, when a different fishy player filled up on the river against my straight after we got it in on the turn. The rest of money went in a haze of playing to many speculative hands out of position, and running into bigger hands. I should have left when I hit my 2 buy-in stop loss, but played a little longer because I had plans for a post-session drink with my friend to discuss our upcoming Vegas trip.
That plus overconfidence from the previous six weeks kept me there longer than it should.
Session #2 was weird, but a big part can also be chalked up to losing table image (a la Bart Hanson). Here’s an example.

I lime AKo UTG. A bunch of limpers. Fishy player makes it $30 with about $40 behind. I iso raise to $100. Unkown woman directly to my left with a $200 stack smooth calls. WTF? I miss the flop and give up, because this is too weird. She bets, I muck, she shows 77. A strange spot, but also won where I think if I had a winning image I would never get over called. Or it could just be an anomaly from a fish. Or maybe I’m just too easy to read who knows. And again I kept running into bigger hands. Another one:

One limpers I make it $16 in the CO with KQo. Station-y old asian man calls.

Flop 10 7 4

he checks, I bet $20. He calls

Turn is a J. I think this is a great barreling card from me, as I think I get him off most tens here.

He checks, I bet $45. He shoves.

I muck, he flashed me 89 for the nuts.

Its like this all day. They love to check-raise me. But then they like to show me they had it. Bet/fold, bet/fold, bet/fold.

And then I end the session with another probably spew. You tell me. I’m in MP with KQo. I make it $20 over one limper. UTG calls, same fish from I tried to iso in the first hand shoves for $50. I make it $100 wanting UTG out. He smooth calls. It enters my mind that he could be slow-playing a monster, but I think the more likely answer is that he just thinks I’m running bad and therefore can’t win.

Flop comes A 7 2

He checks. Well, he either has an Ace or he doesn’t, and there’s $250 in the pot, so I bet $100.

He raises, I insta muck. He shows AQdd. Once again, I feel like his play here was way more spewy than mine, and that and a nickle will buy me a piece of gum.

(A note on the $100 bet-sizing. One of my more recent realizations is that in our game, $100 is ALWAYS viewed as a big bet, no matter how big the pot is. This has generally been a profitable discovery.)

Today’s session was even sadder. I lost $250 in the 100 max waiting for the 200 game to start. Twice I had a Jacks and got out flopped by the same calling station when I was over the board. One I got away from it, once I didn’t. The rest dribbled away in missing flops and getting bet into etc.

No serious mistakes at the $200 once it started, but nothing good happening there either.

This is all especially rough, because I was feeling so pleased that my confidence in my game was so high just before my upcoming trip to Vegas. It will be my longest trip, and only my second where the sole focus is poker.

On the other hand, I tell myself, perhaps its better to eat some humble-pie now before I go, so I can rebuild myself stronger by the time I get there.

I have also taken this opportunity to note what happens to me when I’m playing bad. Generally my tilt takes the form of playing too many speculative hands, and calling too many pre-flop raises, and raises preflop with marginal holdings from MP, when I should really be mucking them. This kind of tilt results in a slow but steady bleed of chips. It’s a good thing to watch for, as a measure of when its really time to get up.

The stats make me sad, but I’ll man up and post them anyway:

2012:
Total Sessions: 80
Total Won: $3,646
Total Hours: 250
Avg p/h: $15

May
Total Sessions: 12
Total Won -$689
Total Hours: 37.5
Avg p/f -$18.23

I guess it is some small consolation that if this keeps up, it would be my first losing session of the past nine months, and I'm down less than two buy-ins, so I can definitely turn it around, and downswings happen to everybody blah blah blah. But it still stucks while its happening.

Everybody Needs A Mantra

Here's mine: Being good at poker is not something you are, it's something you do.

I took last week's viciousness to remind me of that. I needed to remember that its not that I play better than them, therefore its ok for me (for example) to limp 89 suited UTG. Its that I play better than them because I DON'T limp 89 suited UTG (at least not as a standard play).

Here's a good quote from the man himself, Phil Galfond, speaking to this type of inflated ego syndrome:

"Near-expert (NE) opens in the cut-off to 600 with 9-7 off-suit. Tight predictable button makes it 2100; NE calls, thinking, “He’s so easy to play against. I always know what he has.” So NE, you’re going to outplay him enough that you can spot him position and the best hand? There’s not much you can do with 1/5 of your stack in the middle pre-flop, out of position against a player with K-K, no matter how much better you are than he is."

Anyway after a trembly first day back that left me +64 (they never opened a 200, so it I was just at 100), I booked a nice +603 win yesterday, that made me feel like I'm back in the saddle. I played few hands, but got good value from those I did, and my best hands held up.

Back for more today.

Here's the stats:
May 2012
Sessions: 14
Won: -$44
Hours 45
Avg p/h $-1

2012 YTD
Sessions: 82
Total Won: $4,291
Total hours: 257
Avg p/g: $17

Nice recovery session sir. What's up with quoting Mr. Galfond?

Thanks!

I came across that article right when I was trying to
figure out where I was spewy, and it hit the nail on the ego head. So I thought I'd share.

You ever feel like you're in one of those bugs bunny cartoons, where as soon as you plug one leak, another one pops up on the other end of the boat?

Well, TQA, you probably don't feel that way, cause you're a game crushing machine, but anyone else?

You kidding right? Leaks, I have too many to name. Alcohol, good food, endless young ladies sightseeing ventures. I tip too much, not at the poker tables, just for services in real life.

As for poker, I have no clue on how to play AK if someone raises before it gets to me; I don't defend my blinds enough; and I have no clue about value betting on the river; no clue on how to play AQ in the blinds; etc, etc. Otherwise, I guess I am just fine. I am a small minnow in a big lake brother; I like a slow upward progression as opposed to a one hit wonder!

Nice quote from Mr. Galfond btw!!!!