Introduction
I used to play a lot of poker from ca 2004/2005 - 2008 or so. I was never a winner, quite the contrary - I was quite a big loser. The main reason for this was alcohol and tilt issues, as during this period I was more or less drunk a large portion of time. Sometimes it is beyond me how I could hold down a normal job and social life considering the copious amounts of alcohol consumed. On the other hand, I was young, irresponsible and addicted. To say I could handle the booze would be an overstatement, since I obviously could not, but at least physically I was able to keep up appearances.

The good thing is that when I was sober and playing my A-game, I was actually pretty good. Bad thing is that I was sober quite seldom and even when I had stretches of being sober for a longer period of time (a week or a month), any winning went to paying of debts I had incurred when borrowing money to play. I mostly played live since I quickly got bored online and started playing too many hands. I have read and heard a lot of people complaining how live is boring, but for me it is quite the opposite - I almost never get bored at a live table, while online HU/Shorthanded are basically the only cash games I can play, and even then I need to take a break or quit playing after an hour or so in order not to start to play bad and tilt. I do however play MTT:s online, somehow I do not get bored folding a ton of hands if it is a tournament - probably something to do with competitive instincts. At least nowadays.

Anyway, around 2008 I quit poker and slowly started turning my life around, cutting down drinking and so on. Since then I have played poker maybe 10 times in total, with at least a couple of these sessions being on the tail end of a drunk night out. Disgustingly expensive. My personal issues, especially the drinking, got progressively better over time, but I did anyway come to a conclusion that I need to quit alcohol after this summer. I was getting drunk twice a year or so, the rest of the time I had something like 2-3 beers (I set a limit at three units) or glasses of wine 2-3 times a week. However, the two times a year getting drunk made me a loose cannon since I never could tell what would happen and when it would happen, so it was just easier to give it up altogether. Completely sober since August and feeling great about it, no regrets and temptation whatsoever.

I have always liked poker and the few drunk-relapse-tilt-a-lot-of-cash sessions I had after 2008 were often connected with me reading about poker. Although I quit, I never mentally left the game completely - I quit mostly out of self-perservation reasons. I did not fiend or lust for the poker tables (except maybe when drunk - alcohol always awakens my inner degen) during all these years (at least not consciously), but now that I am sober and sure to never drink again I want to take up poker as a hobby.

Right now I am at a great point in life, I have a lovely wife and two small kids (so very limited time to play), I own a small business in the service industry, my job is fulfilling and interesting (so even more limited time to play) and although it does not make me rich, I am in a point in life where I can easily gamble away a few hundred euros each month without it affecting my life at all.

I have set myself some ground rules - not depositing more than 100E online each month and not losing more than that (roughly) live as well. I am however allowed to transfer any winnings back and forth between online and live. And poker cannot negatively affect my family or work life - if it is my turn waking up with the kids, being at the casino until 6AM is not a valid reason to not fulfill my duties.

GOALS:
My poker goals for this year are more or less to manage to build something resembling a bankroll. I would like to play some live cash as well (this has always been my preferred game, although lately I have appreciated MTT:s much more as well), but the local casino spreads 2/2 NLT and 2/2 Dealer´s Choice, often getting quite deep as the evening goes on. Sitting down without at least 250E and (preferably) at least another 250 for a rebuy is not something I would consider, but spending up to 500E for "a night out" is also not something I would consider. Also, if this was "life" money I probably would play a bit scared and that would hamper my play a lot.

Since poker is just a hobby and something to do for fun, I will not follow BRM too closely, since if I bust then I can just wait a few weeks and play again. I will try to play more MTT:s, since they offer a high reward for a low stake, but the problem is again time - if I start playing when the kids go to bed and go deep, it means staying up late and sleep is something that I value more and more the older I get. And I cannot afford to stay awake until 3AM if I need to wake up at 6:30 and be sharp at work.

I hope you will enjoy this blog.

TL;DR:
- used to be a drunk degen
- lost a lot playing drunk
- quit poker for 10 years
- quit alcohol
- playing again just for fun since I can afford it

Tournament Report Part 1, 25E Rebuy
So, last Saturday I played in my first live tournament since... 2009 or 2010 maybe? I know that I played one sometime around that time. Anyway, I arrived at the casino quite early, registered and soaked up the atmosphere. I kept my inner degen at bay and forbade him to pop a banknote or two into a slot machine, or start betting at the Black Jack tables. Instead I ordered a coke and sat down in the bar area and watched a football (soccer) game while waiting.

According to the casino homepage, these tournaments had a pretty good payout considering the buy-in, with each player averaging 50-60 EUR worth of buy-ins. So I figured, why not try my luck?

Also the structure was good and gambly, two positives in my book. Starting stack 2000 chips, starting blinds 25/25, first two levels (25/25 and 25/50) ran for 45 minutes each. I sit down at my table, quite nervous, and fold rags in early position the first hand. Eight players see a flop. Niii-ice!

A while later, I play my first big pot. On a 7 6 5, facing a bet and a call or two, I jam A7. One caller with T8 without a flushdraw, I dodge the first bullet but the straight hits on the river. REBUY! An orbit or two passes, I can´t hit a flop, but then I pick up red queens and make it 525 to go preflop. Get called in two spots and lose against 84 on a J44 board. REBUY! A few hands later I limp blind from UTG, pick up AA and push preflop, but no action.

These plays were more or less conscious, since I judged that by giving a lot of action I would get paid on my big hands. Some time passes, I win a smaller pot by betting 100 into 300-ish om an 8-high board with two spades on the turn (everyone checked the flop) with K 9, get called in two spots, blank river is checked around and my King high is good. Then I win a big one against the guy that beat my QQ with 84, as I raise JT preflop and get min-three-bet.

Flop is JJx, I check, he pushes (which makes it something like a 200 bet into 800 or so), he has Qx and is drawing almost dead. At the break my stack is slightly above 14k and I am one of the leaders of the tournament. I debate the viability of taking a double add-on (4000 chips for 20EUR) and in the end decide to take it, since otherwise my chip lead on the table will be very slight.

As the next level starts, I take a look at the monitors - 82 entrants, 80 still in, 640 000 chips in play, 4500 EUR price pool with top 10 getting paid (something like 130 for 10th, 1350 for 1st).

Do not remember any big hands during the next level, I play mostly solid poker (and play is significantly calmer with slightly higher blinds and no more rebuys, although limp-calling is still the name of the game for many of the players). At the next break, my stack is up to 28k with an average of 10k.

During the next levels, I remember two big hands, both happening near the end of the level:
1) Table Image Pays Off
As I mentioned, limp-calling was the name of the game. By now, however, the blinds had gotten a bit larger and there were slightly more raises preflop, and they were slightly more respected. Since I had a big stack and I was not afraid to use it, and up until now my reads had been spot on, I had a bit of a LAG image. Which leads me to the next hand. Blinds, I think, where something like 150/300. After an early position raise got called in three spots, I found myself with two beautiful Aces in one of the blinds.

I more or less instantly announce all-in. Fold. Fold. Fold. Fold. Call! Fold. As soon as the last player folds, another guy instantly commends the caller - "well played, you got him". Caller flips over QTo or some crap like that, my Aces hold up and I am now up to something like 35-40k.

2) I Would Rather Have Soiled Myself
One of the final hands before the next break I made the single biggest mistake of the tournament. I used by big stack and picked up a lot of pots uncontested. I had raised two or three in a row before this hand. Blinds were 200/400, not sure if there was an ante or not. Here is how it played out:

Folded to me in MP, I make it 1100 to go with AJo.
SB re-raises to 3100.

SB had a big stack and had been playing tight, something like the epitome of TAG. But was he just pushing back, having finally gotten sick of my raises? Or has he got a real hand? I sized up his stack - looked to me to be about 30k or so. I was sitting on 35-40. So what do I do?

Call? I would probably hate myself unless the flop came AAJ. Let´s say I call and flop a Jack. He bets 4k, I do what? Call? And fold turn if he fires again? Sucks, doesn´t it? Raise? And then what? What do I do if the flop is Axx and he fires? Nah, calling sucks.

Fold? Yeah, man, just fold it. You´d rather be defending against a threebet with some kind of pocket pair or suited connector or whatever, at least against this Villain. But, ****, I have AJo, I have been raising the last couple of hands, folding would be so weak-tight.

So I make it something like 8,5k to go, intending to fold to a shove. Villain thinks for a while and announces "all-in". As he moves in his chips (he was sitting right across) I notice that he has fewer blues than it looked. Why didn´t I just ask for a count after his three-bet? ****, I might have to call this! I ask the dealer for a count and he has 17k.

****. I would have felt better if I had soiled myself instead of being in this situation. Can I even fold this? Damn. 8,5k to win what, 35k? Damn it to hell, this is so ****ing bad.

I call, hoping he has a hand that I have some live outs against. I figured that I should have the approximate odds to call and that I still have an above-average stack if I lose, so I sigh, say "Damn, I have to call this" and table my hand. "You have the Aces?" I ask, and then breathe a sigh of relief as he tables Kings. The flop is low cards... serves me right for being such a donk. And then, BOOM! ONE TIME!, an Ace on the turn. I sit more or less emotionless (I am not the type to rub a bad beat in someones face) as the dealer ships me the pot. Shrug my shoulders. Feel bad for the lousy play, feel good for the result.

So, I go the next break with over 50k in my stack...

Tournament Report Part 2, 25E Rebuy

So, after an epic suckout...


I have a monster of a stack. It is now around midnight and the tournament has been running for four hours but the end is still far away - I had not taken into account that this tournament will run for so long. A while later our table breaks and I am moved to a table with two active, large stacks to my immediate left. First pot involved I manage to bluff the player two to my left, otherwise nothing really happened until after an hour or so, and this is another hand I feel that I mis-played, although maybe I am just results-oriented?

FPS? Just Bet It, For ****´s Sake!
400/800 blinds w/ 50? ante, UTG, MP and BU limp, I complete from the SB with K 9. Flop comes a beautiful A 8 4. Pot is almost 4000. And I... check.

This I feel is a mistake, since I need to get value from my hand starting right now. As I was active and with a big stack, I should get value from a range of hands. And if they all have whiffed the flop, then so be it.

It gets checked around and we see a 4 turn. Now I lead for something like 2,5-3k, UTG and BU both call. Turn is 7, I lead for another 3k, UTG pushes for 8-9k total, BU folds and I call. UTG shows up with AA to win the pot.

No matter how we play it, the stacks end up in the middle and I lose, but I feel that I need to lead flop.

Nothing Major Happens, But I Still Lose Chips
Anyway, at the next break, five and a half hours in, I am still sitting on a 50k stack, which is double the average with 32 players remaining and 10 places paid.

As play continues, things start going against me. Not in a big way, but I lose some smallish pots here, some smallish pots there, and after losing a coinflip with JJ vs AQ for a 25k-pot, I found myself down to average for the first time. A little while later, a blind steal goes wrong and I am down to 24k.

I head into the next break with only 22k remaining of my once so proud stack. After the break, blinds are 1000/2000 w/ 100 ante (if I recall correctly). For the last couple of hours, I have been mostly card dead. The only larger pot I played was the coinflip I lost.

Calm down, man. You still have a chance. One double and you are above average again. Just play good poker and it will be fine... nah, it won´t be, you are a loser, you can´t win this, all this fighting will be for nothing. You will probably donk of your stack on a silly bluff like you did in the past. Oh, come on, you can do it. Stop being negative, FOCUS!

The Endgame
21 players remaining and blinds at 1k/2k. 10 places paid. First hand I push from UTG with AQo and pick up the blinds and antes. Good start. A while later, if I recall correctly at 1200/2400, an active player makes it 6,5k to go from MP and I figure that I should have enough fold equity to fold out most hands, so I ship it for 27k with A9 from the button and get the fold. Nice, 44k. Now my stack is suddenly quite big again, I hit 70k after picking up a few pots, but then drop down to 55-60k again. I stay at this mark for most a few levels, being quite card-dead and passive most of the time, no need to rush things.

Blinds and antes chip away at my stack, at the lowest I drop down to 29k. With a 44k stack and 18 players remaining, I lose a coinflip (AT vs 66 allin preflop), but manage to keep afloat and win a few pots here and there. Players keep dropping out, and at the next break at 4AM (8 hours after the start), I have a 60k stack with huge blinds (2,5k/5k) and 13 players remaining. No real hands of note except for a two-barrel bluff right before the break (I put the other player allin, but if he calls and I lose I am down to something like 15k) where my read was correct.

After the break, I am totally card-dead and on the bubble I find myself down to 35k. Hand for hand play only lasts for a few hands, as a player busts out of the other table and I am ITM, guaranteed 130 or so EUR! It is 4:30 AM as we draw for seats on the final table. I draw seat 3, very convenient since I was in seat 4. I use the short break to step outside and grab some fresh air.

****, man, you made it! Well done! Just hope for a hand or two and you will be fine, your play is good and your reads have been spot on for the whole tournament. Focus, focus, and you will have a chance. And even if you bust now, you are still in the green. ITM in your first live tournament you play in ages, way to go man! Like a baus!

The Final Table
Nervous excitement, that was my mindset before the cards were dealt. However, as soon as the cards were dealt, all the nervousness disappeared and was replaced with focus instead. At the start of the final table, blinds had caught up to the stack sizes for real - the average stack was 64k with blinds at 3k/6k, and I was sitting on 38k. We had one major chipleader with something like 200k, he had earlier won with AA vs QQ and TT on the other table.

The first hand of notice came a while later, I had managed to steal a pot before this, since my stack was at around 45k. UTG pushed preflop, it folds to me in the button... first card is a Jack... and second card is a Jack. I call and am off to the races against AKo. Pulse is high... flop is...

...low. Two more bullets. Turn pairs the board. And the river... is a random low card. My opponent is left with less than one big blind, while I am up to 110k and in a great spot.

Two more players get knocked out before I pick up a pot vs Chipleader, who made several calls preflop and folded flop, seemed to play way too loose and not at all as aggro as he should with his stack. I also managed to pick up a pot against him when I made it 16k to go and he called from the blinds, but folded to a cbet on the flop.

A while later, I opened again for 16k (now with something like 140k) with K T. Chipleader called on the button, blinds fold.

Flop:
Q J 4 (Pot - 45k)
I bet out something along the lines of 20k, Villain thinks for a short while and announces all-in. I snap-call, of course. Villain flips over... QTo for top pair.



The prices were something along the lines of 600-900-1300 EUR. Blinds are something like 5k/10k. I bully the shortstacks for a while until one of them doubles up to 200k, which evens out stack sizes a bit to something like 300k-200k-150k, we move some chips around for another 15 minutes before we make a deal that gives me 1000 EUR and the other players 900 each.

At this point I was extremely tired (it was 5:30 AM and I had to be up by 7 AM) so when we started discussing a deal and I rejected the opening offer of a three-way split, I more than happily agreed to take 1000 EUR and have them split the rest. If looking only at ICM, I should take something like 1050-1100, but whatever, I was overjoyed at winning and at making a big score in my first live tournament.

Really enjoyed playing although I did not imagine that it would last so long, figured if I go deep I will still be home at 2 AM or so... but with all those chips in play and a quite nice structure it took nearly 9 hours of play to reach the finish line.

All in all, very pleased with my play. Of course, there were a few mistakes (most noticeable was the AJ vs KK hand early on), but considering how little I have played, I feel super-happy about the result and my play.

TL;DR
- win coinflip JJ vs AK
- win huge pot with KThh vs QTo on QhJx4h board
- make deal with three players remaining, win 1000 EUR

Goal/Bankroll Update:
Set aside 200 of the 1000 EUR I won to buy something for the household or wife. I told her to get herself something nice if she wanted to, or otherwise think of some gadget or something for the household. Money from nowhere is great for buying stuff that you otherwise wouldn´t splash out money for due to "meh, don´t really need it".

Deposited 100 EUR online, donked it off at PLO50 HU. Or, first I lost a buyin or two at PL10, so I decided it would be a good idea to play PLO50 HU.

Deposited 50 EUR more, played HU PLO20, ran it up to 150, dropped down to 80, ran it up again, now at 135 EUR.

Decided to stick to my 100 EUR/month limit for online play even if I have a bankroll available, since I would prefer to play live and since I probably am a loser in most online cashgames. Maybe not HU PLO, but playing HU PLO with 5-10 buyins is... kind of stupid. But whatever, if I lose the money then so be it. Will not reload until January if I do though, since it is not worth it. Maybe not worth it at all. Button clicking can get expensive.

Will probably head to the casino on Friday, there is a 70 EUR freezeout on Friday evening, maybe I can luckbox another tournament?

And here are two PLO HU hands I posted in the SSPLO forum:
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/3...river-1696706/
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/3...-turn-1696703/

Online Update:
I am running quite good. Not been playing a lot, but I now have 198 EUR in my online account. Played a little HU NLT (0.5/0.1 blinds) and a few short PLO20 HU sessions. Most recent one today during a small break:

First hand at table:


A few hands later:


This one I am not so sure about, given game dynamics and Villain play I feel that I played correctly, though I might be wrong on this one. What do you think?


Anyway, HU PLO is fun. Too bad MPN don´t offer PLO10, since playing HU PLO with 10 buyins is asking for trouble, that money can disappear so quickly. 20 buyins is way too little as well, but less risk of ruin.

On the other hand, it is not like I need this money to make a living, so I would rather have fun and lose than grind 4NL and be miserable.

Hehe, what goes up must go down...

Just finished -5 BI session HU PLO20. Part bad luck, part tilty/bad play when being down. In the end I composed myself and started playing good again, but when I had recovered almost a whole buyin, my opponent left the table - and I cannot blame him, he was up almost 100E...

Just finished a quick and sick PLO20 button clicking session. I quickly lost almost two buy-ins and was slightly tilted, but then I hit some run-good and ended the session up something like 5 BI:s. I am a bit ashamed to say, but in one key pot I got it in as quite a large underdog (I check-raised all-in on the turn with nut flushdraw+gutshot and got called by two pair). And in the final pot, I got it in with two pair vs flopped straight. Of course, by then I was a big winner and I thought that he might make a play there with different draw/pair+draw hands etc., so not sure if it was a bad play as such - Villain seemed on tilt by now. And of course here were other large pots where I got it in as a favourite also - it was a wild session.

Here is a key hand, this is after momentum has swung slightly in my favour. I would love to get some feedback on my play here, looking at it retrospectively I think I did everything right, but would love to hear from you:

Hero sitting in seat 1 with €50.68
Villian sitting in seat 2 with €33.46[Dealer]
Villian posted the small blind - €0.10
Hero posted the big blind - €0.20

** Dealing cards to Villian: 3, Q, Q, J
Villian raised to €0.60
Hero called - €0.40

** Dealing the flop: 10, Q, 4 (Pot: 1,20)
Hero checked
Villian bet - €0.80
Hero raised to €3.60
Villian called - €2.80

Villian will cbet a large % of flops so I check with the intention of check-raising for value. He cold-calls my raise which is not really surprising. My plan is to bet most turns.

** Dealing the turn: 5 (Pot: 8,40)
Hero bet - €8.40
Villian called - €8.40

Pot, pot, pot!

** Dealing the river: 7 (Pot: 25,20)
Hero checked

This is a safe river, only backdoor straight got there. By not betting I probably lose value from some sets, on the other hand by checking I allow the missed draws to bluff.

Villian went all-in - €20.86
Hero called - €20.86

Of course, there is no chance that I am laying this down. If he has 86xx/63xx, that´s life (and in this case life sucks and then you die).

I also played a little HU PLO8 and won a little, but that game seemed even more awful rake-wise than HU PLO and if I probably can tell myself that I can beat HU PLO20 (to be honest, I am not sure of this), I have never played PLO8 online and only sporadically in live dealer´s choice cashgames, so I have nothing more than an understanding of the basics. I have played some other split pot games live and of course the general concepts carry over but I still have a hard time to imagine that I am a PLO8 God, having never really played or studied the game.

Anyway, even if I play only a little, I experience daily 100E swings. Right now the pendulum is upwards, online bankroll is 207 EUR at the moment. A new high. And I have around 20 EUR rakeback that I can convert anytime I like too.

Tomorrow I plan on playing a live tournament at the local casino with 70 EUR buy-in. Let's see if I can get some more run-good!

Played two longer sessions yesterday evening, both were equally frustrating. First one against a player I feel I really have a good edge against, but I ran quite bad. First really big pot (300 BB) I got in on turn with two pair + gutshot vs top pair + flush draw (opp has a tendency to play big pots with very marginal holdings) and I lost when one of his two pair outs (a ****ing three) hit. I do not mind losing this pot, what makes it frustrating is that I thought that the three was a blank... until I saw the pot pushed his way.

Then AAKx held on K743 board (he had T885 w/ fd), and then I flopped gin (TT3) in a pot I four-bet with AKQT. Flop went check-pot-call, on a 6s turn he pushes for approximately pot and my hand holds vs QQxx that picked up flushdraw on turn, this was a 350 BB pot. Next big one (200 BB) was also a pot where i four-bet, flop was Q95 with two spades, I got it in with AAQx ss vs AT87 and lost to a six on the river. Last big pot I played I was tired and feeling gambly, so when my AKJ8 got four-bet, I five-bet and proceeded to lose against QQJ5ds. In the end I was more or less break-even, too bad since I felt that I had the chance to book a big win. Last hand guess was unnecessary gamble, a few hands later I quit.

Next session was vs a bit tougher opponent, using more aggro in more correct places. Started out bad and it went from bad to worse when we got it in for a 300+ BB pot on a QQ69 board, I had Q6 and he had QTxx with two low cards. He spiked this three-outer. Thought about quitting since I was tired but since my wife wasn´t ready to go to bed yet, I continued playing. Won a few pots and then my set of fives held up on A85T board against ATxx. When he quit I was sitting on something like 50 EUR (2,5 buyins) and booked a 40 EUR loss - not too bad considering how this session started.

This morning I played a short session and won around 15 EUR, so right now:
Online Bankroll: 185 EUR
Live Bankroll: 650 EUR

Will head to the casino to play a 70 EUR freezeout this evening.

Defecating is +EV. Just won a buy-in while on a ****break.

So, good news is that I am not busto. Online bankroll is at 140 EUR. Bad news is that it was up to 340 a few days ago and took a turn down to 0 as well. I have done some calculations as well and the good news is that I am a quite big winner in HU PLO pre-rake. Bad news of course is that post-rake I am more or less break-even, even including rakeback. Okay, sample size is way too small and the variance in HU PLO is just insane - a few hands differently played, a few pots going my way instead, and I am a big winner instead of break-even. The rake is quite insane when playing HU PLO though.

Regarding tournaments, I played 3-4 MTT:s yesterday. Had a good stack in a 750E guarantee rebuy (I was in for buyin+A = 11 EUR), something like 17k, but then I accidentally typed 4520 instead of 450 when I wanted to raise from CO with A9o and Button pushed for 9k, so I had to call. A9 did not suck out on KK, a while later I lost a coinflip and was left with a very small stack. 5k Guarantee I also was in for only buyin+A = 11k, but I lost a coinflip against a steal (AJ vs 66, 66 was good) and was left with 2BB, busted around place 200 with 72 places paid. And in a 11EUR 1k Turbo Freezeout I got it in with KK vs A8 early on and lost.

Oh, live tournament on Friday ended up with me busting out early after the first break, somewhere around the two hour mark. I called Q9s from the CO, 632 flop with two of my suit, four players to the flop. Checked to me, I bet 1k, Button calls, other two players fold. Turn is a Q, I lead out for 1500, button raises to 4000, I push for my last 6000 total and unfortunately I am up against 54 and do not hit a spade on the river.

Not pleased with my play in any part of the tournament, I was un-focused and played too loose and did not hit my draws either. Starting stack 10k with first level 25/25, second 25/50, so good structure. But bad play.

Regarding poker I think I do not listen to my wife enough. Friday evening she asked me if I really should go play, since I had a really stressful week at work and since I hadn´t slept more than like six hours per night for the entire week, but I wanted to play more than I wanted to rest... in hindsight, staying home would have been the correct decision.

I have been playing a bit too much lately so I have decided to take an online poker break until Sunday. Will play a live tournament on Thursday though, so we´ll see how that goes.

Will do another update (not like anyone reads them, but whatever) on some HU PLO sessions later on!

The Sick Sessions

"Hey, if this goes continues, I might actually start thinking that I know how to play poker", I tell my wife as my hand holds up and my opponent loses another buyin. If I was to quit this session and go to bed, my account balance would be 340 EUR, my profit for the day 160 EUR.

Half an hour later I shut down the computer. Despite being almost 100 EUR in the green for the day, I still feel bad. That last half hour cost me three buy-ins. Of course, variance. And HU PLO I think is one of the most volatile games there are, since you are forced to push small edges and marginal holdings. Bluffing is essential.

The times when you are running good it seems so easy. You re-raise on the turn, since your opponent should fold most of his range. Your opponent folds. You re-raise overpair+gutshot+flushdraw, get called by a pair+wrap and the board blanks out. You pot the flop with a draw, get called, hit the draw on the turn, pot it again, get re-raised and win against two pair.

On the other hand, when you run bad it is horrible. You raise in what seems to be a good spot to bluff and run your bluff into quads. You value-bet a backdoor flush only to get called my a higher backdoor flush. You flop the top set, get it in vs an overplayed overpair+straight draw and lose on the river. You flop the nut straight and get no action. You get stuck a few buy-ins and start four-betting too loose just to try to get even. And so on.

So, on Sunday morning I sit at a table and a short-stack buys in for 30 BB. Usually this means easy money, even if the short-stack doubles, usually you just win it back next time. A short while later I am up 18 EUR, sitting on a nice 38 EUR stack against my opponent´s 6.

Then he hits a draw. Then my semibluff gets called and I fail to hit. Then I bluff into quads. Then I get it in preflop with KKxx against a broadway rundown and lose. And all of a sudden his six measly euro have been turned into 50, while I reload. Top set against low flushdraw + gutshot? No way. Two pair? No good vs bottom set. Tilt-five-bet rags, flop two pair, get it in against KK with no redraws, board pairs on the turn. And all of a sudden my shortstacking friend has north of 120 EUR (6 buy-in) while my account balance has dwindled down to 160.

An hour or so later, almost my entire bankroll is on the other side of the table, with my opponent sitting on something like 240 EUR. I am shell-shocked, in total disbelief. I am berating myself for not quitting on time, I am berating myself for being a degen that can´t play for ****, I am feeling like a total loser and I am also mad at the cards for not going my way in key pots.

Sunday evening I keep away from the cashgames, instead I play some MTT:s and hyper turbo HU SnG´s. The SnG´s I win more than I lose, MTT:s I bust out of. Down to my last 30 EUR, I notice my nemesis from the session above sitting at a HU table, so I sit down, looking to exact revenge. Note - I am playing on a different MPN site, so it is not the same nickname as the one I sat him with before.

We battle back and forth, with me having the edge all the way. 10 hands before the hand below we played our last big pot, I called J885 pre, x/c Q74r flop, x/r pot on 6s turn (bringing possible flushdraw), pot Ad river (21,60 EUR). Opponent tanks, tanks, uses his timebank, and at the last possible second calls me down with 7553 for the second nuts.

Villian rebuys for 10 EUR (my stack is 100), doubles the next hand and then wins small/medium pots for like eight hands in a row. Sitting at 60 EUR I decide to call it a quits, I will just play one final hand...

Hero sitting in seat 1 with €68.55
Villain sitting in seat 2 with €39.94[Dealer]
Villain posted the small blind - €0.10
Hero posted the big blind - €0.20

** Dealing cards to Hero: K, A, J, 9
Villain raised to €0.60
Hero raised to €1.80
Villain called - €1.80

** Dealing the flop: K, 7, 6 (Pot: 3,60)
Hero bet - €3.60
Villain called - €3.60

He will fold a large % of the time here. Pretty sure he does not have a monster or a big draw, most of the time he played big hands and draws fast.

** Dealing the turn: A (Pot: 10,80)
Hero bet - €10.80
Villain called - €10.80

So, I hit the single best card in the deck, giving me top two and a nut flush draw. Any K7/K6/76 two pair are now beat. His call here is a sign of weakness most of the time.

** Dealing the river: 5 (Pot: 32,40)

At least it´s not a club...

Hero checked
Absolutely no use in betting, since I will almost never get called by worse. Probably can fold out AKxx splits, but checking is best. I of course hope he checks whatever he has behind.

Villain went all-in - €23.74

Meh. So, most likely he is not betting the 43xx for value. Also the 74 combos are a bit unlikely, but I do see him value-betting the second nuts a portion of the time. Most likely, this is either 98 for the nuts of a missed draw taking a stab at the pot. Clubs did not get there, neither did the diamonds (although I do hold three in my own hand). I feel that this is a really close call, and a call in general. Table dynamics and history also play quite a part in my decision, since I had previously check-folded rivers after betting flop and/or turn.

Hero called - €23.74

So, make or break time...

Hero shows: K, A, J, 9

And here is another hand from a PLO10 session I had. Not a HU table but we played HU for the entire time. This hand perfectly shows how poorly KKxx stacks up against AAxx.

Villain sitting in seat 3 with €25.13[Dealer]
Hero sitting in seat 4 with €27.88
Villain posted the small blind - €0.05
Hero posted the big blind - €0.10

** Dealing cards to Hero: 8, 8, A, A
Villain raised to €0.25
Hero raised to €0.80
Villain raised to €2.40
Hero raised to €7.20
Villain called - €5.40

This was the first time anyone of us had five-bet, if I recall correctly, but not 100% sure. Anyway, with this hand and stacks I feel it is the only correct play.

** Dealing the flop: 2d, 2h, 3h (Pot: 16,20)
Hero bet - €16.20
Villain went all-in - €17.03
Hero called - €0.83

This actually is a very good flop for me, since it more or less totally misses his range. He four-bet me, something that he has not done very often, so his range is heavily weighted towards high cards/big pairs. Any 33 combos are extremely unlikely (except for something like KK33) and the risk of him having a dangling 2 is also not too big. Since the other AAxx combo is more or less out of the question (then it would have been a six-bet all-in pre), I am in a very good spot.

And even in the worst case scenario, I have something like 16-17% equity. How hard can hitting an ace or eight be, eh?

Villain shows: 7, Q, K, K
Hero shows: 8, 8, A, A

Not sure if Villian would have folded KK without a flushdraw, most probably yes. So, from the Villians perspective, this board is actually quite good, since he has a flushdraw to go with his pair - if his flushdraw is live. If not, I am a 90% favourite but even with a live flushdraw I am more or less exactly a 2:1 favourite.

Of course, folding KKxx preflop is hard (and I am not sure it is +EV to fold even to a five-bet 250BB deep HU, although I would be much more happy to have a nice rundown instead of a most-likely-crushed pair) and once the board comes low with an FD, folding I think is almost impossible.

**** online poker. And **** my own gambling degen tendencies. So, I cashed out in order to take a break until Sunday, but then some personal health-related **** happened (nothing major, but enough to derail most plans for a few days and it will make sure I lag behind my work which makes me stress) and yesterday evening I said **** it, I need to wind down a bit.

First I deposited 70E and played the Super Turbo HU SnG´s, won my first four (3,3E buyin) and was feeling great. Then I lost a few, and I decided that I need to go for a Martingale type strategy. So I play an 11 EUR, lose. Play a 22 EUR, lose. So, I have a bit under 40 EUR left. Decide to play a 33 EUR. If I win, I am even. If I lose. Well, if I lose, **** online poker.

The play goes back and forth for a while, after a pre-flop raise I shove 96s and get called by 33. I flop a flush draw, turn a gutshot, but miss all of my outs and am left with 3 big blinds. No miracle.

I reload the rest of my 70E and proceed to sign up for some tournaments. In the 1000 guarantee 11E rebuy (I was in for buyin+addon) I busted in place 20-something (12 paid) after limp-shoving 22 from EP over a squeeze from SB, got snap-called by AJs that flopped top pair with a flush draw to go - did not hit my one-outer and busted.

In the 750 guarantee 5,5E rebuy (also in for buyin+addon) I managed to screw up big time. Despite not getting any real good hands, I had built my stack to over 40k (almost 10% of chips in play) with something like 16 players left (7 places paid). I think that the biggest pot I won was when I called a raise on the button with JTs and called two half-pot bets on a J-high board and beat A9s on a c/c river. Lost it all in a few orbits though:

1) EP shove from 8 BB stack, I call KJo from SB, lost to AK. Why can´t I just fold in these spots?
2) LP shove from 10 BB stack, I iso-shove 33 from button, lost to 66. Again - why can´t I just fold?
3) Three-bet-shove 88 against a 14 BB stack, get called by AJ, AJ wins.

Now my stack is down to 13k from 42k, still not a disaster (average is slightly above 20 I think), with blinds at 600/1200 I shove from SB with A9 and run into QQ, and bust in place 13.

I think that hands 1) and 2) above are pretty bad since both of those hands are almost never dominating and often dominated. Just because I have a big stack I do not have to call all shortstack shoves with marginal holdings, right?

After this I have something like 50 EUR left (during the tournaments I also played some SnG´s and had made a slight profit), of course instead of calling it a quits I decide to chase my losses at HU PLO20. Was up at first, then lost a 300BB pot with flushdraw+wrap vs top set, and in the end I made a stupid hero call with two pair in a spot where he has a bluff very rarely. Still had 20E left but was now very tilted to I lost it very fast.

Positive is that I had no problem shutting down the computer and saying **** it, instead of depositing more money to try to chase my losses. I am getting my inner degen more and more under control each day that passes (and being sober also helps a lot).

Kind of typical. So now I will have an online poker break until the end of the year instead, we´ll see if I play after that or just stick to live. Problem with live is that I can´t play cash and I actually prefer cashgames to tournaments. When I was at the casino Friday, there was a Dealer´s Choice game running, looked very deep - I just love those kinds of games, even though the table didn´t look very good from the few hands I watched. If I manage to get a good score in a tournament soon maybe I will set aside a couple of buyins to play cash for.

Maybe will play a 50 EUR live tournament tomorrow (with a 20 EUR knockout chip). All in all, I find poker fun, although I really need to work on playing a bit tighter once I manage to run up a big stack. I do not need to call of 20% of my stack with a hand like KJo. I do not need to call of 30% of my stack with a hand like 33. It is much more +EV to fold and use the big stack to steal/resteal blinds, especially with the bubble approaching.

I just hope I remember that next time I am in a tournament with a large stack.

So, unless something extraordinary happens, I´ll head to the casino to play the 50 EUR tournament. 20 eur goes to bounty chip, so I guess it is 25 EUR to prize pool. Re-entry for three levels, so I´ll bring two bullets to the casino in case I manage to donk out early on.

I have a goal for this tournament and it is to avoid stupid too-loose plays in the mid-late stages, something that seems to be a big leak for me. Let´s see how it will go...

Meh. Have to start spewing of chips in an attempt to build a big stack or rebuy - just because there is a re-entry option doesn´t mean that I have to use it, right? Anyway, when I stopped spewing (after re-entering of course) things went quite good. No really interesting hands of note, one where I am not sure of my play came up some time after the break, when I was moved to a new table with a 9k stack or so.

UTG makes it 600 or 700 to go (do not remember), I look down at 66 in UTG+1. Meh. Probably should fold? But as I consider my options, I get the feeling that this is not a monster. But still a fold I guess. Anyway. I am a spewtard, and I hated calling in this spot as it sets up nice squeeze opportunities for the players behind. So probably should fold? Instead I make it 2000 to go (roughly). Loose, splashy player (earlier on at another table he made a small 3-bet vs my raise, I called with K9, called a bet on a T9x flop, then we checked turn and river, he had A3o or something like that) cold-calls from SB, UTG tank-sigh-calls my raise, flop is 822r, checks to me and I jam, both quickly fold.

Fold for a while, then I attempt to steal the blinds at 200/400/50 ante, raise it up to 1025 from EP w/ 85o, get called by MP and one of the blinds, flop is QT8 with two spades. Check, I cbet 1500, MP calls, blind folds, turn is the Ace of spades so I check-fold. Next hand, I look down at AKo in EP and again make it 1025 to go. The loose, splashy player makes it something like 3000 from SB, I jam, he more or less snap-calls.

My AKo is up against AQo, door card is a queen and instead of having 2x average with 25 remaining (9 paid) I head to the door. No right to whine though, after all I won a tournament with 82 players just three weeks ago, that´s poker for you.

Probably will not play any poker until next Friday, when there is a 70 EUR tournament at the casino - all evenings are busy until then.

Another fun hand was early on, quite small pot something like six players in, checked all the way to a 7 river, I donked 50 into a 400 pot (or so), folds to one of the LP players who makes it 175, I call and his T7 is no good against my K7.

Come the weekend, I had some spare time and wanted to play. Thought of depositing some of my "live" roll, but then I saw that there was a loyalty program freeroll with 200 EUR price pool and not a lot of entrants, so I registered for it. In the end, there were only 18 players participating and I took third - had a real sick bubble spot, stacks were something like 45k/40k (me)/15k/10k, smallest stack min-raises, I re-raise with AKo and big stack pushes. Small stack folds, I of course fold as well...

In the end, I finished third for 40 EUR. Thought I´d play mostly MTT:s and keep away from cash... well, Saturday evening I played only SnG´s and MTT:s, MTT.s were a big fail, but did well in SnG´s. Before bed I decided to just play a little HU PLO, I won four buy-ins and ended the day with 140 EUR. Yesterday I played quite a lot of Fish Party SnG´s, HU SnG´s and had two long and winning HU PLO sessions as well. And a deep run in a 5k guarantee with 400+ players, finished 30-something for 30 EUR which barely covered all my rebuys...

But anyway, now I am all of a sudden at a new bankroll high of 400 EUR. And I have discovered several big MTT leaks to work on, and my HU PLO play has gotten more stable and my bet sizings much better.

Probably no play today and tomorrow (today ice hockey with colleagues, tomorrow evening out with the wife).

So, I busted the 400 EUR online quite fast - lost like 3-4 buyins, tilted hard and did not quit so in the end I lost 10-12 buyins, then played 55 EUR HU SnG and lost, then played HU PLO50 and in the end went busto in a 200 EUR pot with nut straight + fd vs top two, allin on turn. Standard.

Today I played a live 70 EUR tournament. I felt like splashing around and having fun so I did. Down to 2k from 10k, up to 7k, then trippled when I had the nut flush on river and got it in vs two players having two pair (I had a great table image), but then I made a few second best hands (worst was AQ vs QT on ATT8Q, his river raise is never a bluff but I still cannot manage to fold) and managed to bust before re-entry period ended. Poker manager said I can do re-entry in break, not right away for some reason, so I sat in the 2/2 Dealer´s Choice game while waiting.

Seemed to be only regs there, but game seemed to be good. Bought in for like 230 or something, split one pot we ran twice allin on flop with bottom two + fd + gutshot vs top set, down to 190 or so when I see a flop of 944 with 99xxx in my hand (do not recall the other three cards), action goes pot by a seemingly LAG player who called fron the blinds, call from preflop raiser, I pot it to 96, fold, call (??? wtf ??? only real hand he could have that plays like this is 44xxx but whatever, more likely he just can´t fold a 4 or overpair), turn is a Q and I push my last 60-70 or so, he calls - turns out he had me covered by 2 EUR. River is some low card and my hand is good, did not see his.

Break ends and I sit out some from the tournament to play cash, nothing happens except me folding some flops I miss, I cash out 367 EUR and head to the tournament tables where I proceed to bluff off 2/3 of my stack one of the first hands (call raise from blinds with ATo, flop is KJx with two clubs, I have one club, I call a cbet from preflop raiser, turn is 9c, I check, he bets like 800, I raise to 2300, he tank-calls, I lead a blank river for 3000, he pushes and I of course muck - bad time to rep a flush I guess).

A while later I get my last chips (around 25BB) in with KK vs QJ vs AK, QJ hits a flush on the turn and instead of trippling to an above-average stack I bust. Dealer´s Choice cashgame has a waiting list, I do not want to play fullring 2/2 NLT, so I donk off a tenner in some random slot before heading home.

I know my MTT leaks but fail to plug them, like a ****** I guess. Poker is fun though, should probably give Dealer´s Choice another shot some time. Most people seemed to run it twice in allins, so that would reduce variance some.

Anyway, tournament = -140 EUR, cash = +140 EUR so a break even evening that ended too fast. Probably would have been happier if I had stayed at the cash table and not rebought for tournament, not sure if I had gotten home with money in wallet though. If rungood then with a lot of money, if runbad then with zero I guess...

Long time, no update. Played two live sessions since last update. First session I sat in the 2/2 Dealer´s Choice while waiting for the tournament to start. Now, the problem with this game is that it plays very deep (well, that is a problem only for players without a proper bankroll), lots of straddling and regs. Witnessed a huge 3000 EUR pot as well, the only hand that was played NLT. After straddles blinds were 2/2/4/8/16, UTG raised to 40, one of the straddles made it 140, UTG re-popped it to 450, straddle calls, flop is 9xx, UTG leads for 550, straddle pushes for around 1100 total. UTG has AA, straddle 99 that holds for a gigantic pot.

Managed to win around 100 EUR. Tournament was a disaster, later played 2/2 NLT for a couple of hours, cashed out 580 EUR but was in for 550 total so more or less break-even.

Yesterday I played a tournament with an interesting structure, 25 EUR buy-in and two rebuys any time until first break (3 levels), starting stack 3000, rebuys give 5000 each. Most of the table re-bought immediately. Managed to run up a big stack early on, had a sick hand in the second level (25/50) that shot me up to the chip lead. I had been active, played a lot of pots, and then this hand occurred:
EP raises to 300 over a limp or two, two calls, I make it 1300 to go from one of the blinds with QQ, EP raiser pushes for 4200, one of the callers calls (!) the 4200, I push for 15k total and the caller (who covers) tank-calls with 99. Shortstack has AK, board runs out blank until the river, which is a Q just for good measure. Yeah, I got a 300BB allin called by 99...

From this moment I don´t look back, but slowly build my stack with aggression. Many players were much on the passive side and especially in the mid phases they did not have any replies to an aggressive big-stack. I picked up a ton of blinds and antes and uncontested pots, had AA once and that time a smaller stack pushed over my open raise and AA held vs 99. But most pots I won without showdown.

Many players continued limp-calling raises and folding flops they missed etc., so it was quite easy running. Also used my stack to my advantage - for example, if a player opens to 2000 with around 20k behind, a raise to something like 7000 is very effective - in essence I am forcing him to play for his entire stack by betting only a third of it.

To the final table (8 places paid with something like 140 for eighth) I went with something like 150k or so, out of 720k in play. With 8 players remaining I won a huge pot when I open-raised 55 to 6k UTG (1200 / 2400 / 300), second largest stack called from the BB. Flop was a beautiful 75x with two hearts. BB led into me with 20k, had only played with him on the final table but he had once led into the preflop raiser and took it down on the flop before. I just called. Turn was the third heart which was less beautiful, especially when the BB announced all-in (a slight overbet). But what can I do? There is no way I can fold a set here, even though I did take something like 30-60 seconds to think things through. BB shows Q7, no hearts, and is drawing dead. After this pot I had something like 300k out of the 700 in play, and I remained at this level until four players remained.

Then it all went to hell, a telling hand was when I made it 12k to go and got called by the BB, flop KKTdd (I have T9/T8/JT, do not remember the other card but it was connected), check-bet 15k-call, turn low blank, check-bet 25k-call, river 9, check-check, Villain shows QJ for the straight. Or when I had raised 5c3c, same villain called, flop was Q52, check-bet 15k-call, turn 3, check-bet 25k-call, river 6, check-check, villain shows 44.

I also make a lousy play when I re-raise over 10k bet-call to just 35k with AQo, preflop raiser folds and caller called after much deliberation, flop is 98x, I cbet 45k and he pushes on me. Pre I was pretty sure he had something like a weak ace or low-medium pocket pair, but can I really do anything but fold here? "You were bluffing pre, just let it go now", Villain says. I so want to call, but after taking a long time to think things through I fold (this is another Villain, not the one above) - two of his weaker aces now has me crushed, I am in poor shape against any pockets (and dead to sets) so I really have no choice but to fold.

Down to something like 100-120k, it all ends when I open KQo and the other shortstack pushes on me for something like 90k total (this is not the first time he pushes over my raise). Since I have been very aggressive and opening wide (although slowed down for past two-three orbits since becoming shortstacked myself) I figure that my hand should be in decent shape against his range, I call and am up against ATo, board runs out blank and I have exactly 3 BB left. Push them in UTG next hand with Q8s, called in two spots, board runs out blank and low and get checked through all the way, BB picks up the pot with K2 and I am out in fourth. Despite a nice payout I feel like ****, as always when running this deep in a MTT and having a good chance at first. It being 5:30 AM doesn´t really help either.

Today I am in a much happier mood. Overall I am very pleased with my play (something I can´t say for the previous two tournaments I played). At the end I did play one hand horribly (the AQo one above) and there were some smaller mistakes on the way, but in general I played a tough big-stack game, constantly putting pressure on my opponents and building my stack. The final table started at 3:30 AM and I busted at 5:15 AM so in the end fatigue was an issue as well - I am not really used to staying up all night any more.

Anyway, I counted the money in my live bankroll this morning and it is 1100 EUR, which is positive. Also I have cashed in 2/6 tournaments that I have played and that is also very positive. I would like to play some more cashgames but 2/2 Dealer´s is just too big, I would however feel quite comfortable playing 2/2 NLT now (at least until I drop 6-700 EUR or so), if the games are like last Friday then I should be able to turn a nice profit if I have a bit of rungood on my side.

So, just a quck update. Was something like +1500 EUR live in November/December, dropped a thousand in the first two weeks of January and took a break from live. Donked away a couple of hundred online, started playing live again a few weeks ago. Session 1 was bad, lost like 300 or so, but on my way out I played some slots, put in 50 EUR and hit my biggest ever slot win for +600, then played some roulette and hit 20 EUR straight up on No 5 for +700 and in the end I cashed out 1400 total for a +1100 session. Biggest slot and roulette bink of my life in one night, kind of great.

Last Saturday I played in a nice 2/2 Dealer´s Choice (85% 5C PLO, 10% PLO, 5% NL Pineapple) game. A few hands:

1) Top Set!
I was playing 300, V1 covers V2 has 200. See a flop with KKxxx, flop is K86cc. I pot, both Villains call. Turn is a broadway card bringing the broadway straight draw, I push for around 100 EUR, V1 calls, V2 calls all-in for less. We run it twice.

River 1 is a low straight-bringing card, a 4 I think. River 2 is a low blank. I have the nuts of River 2, and both villains muck so they did not have the low straight. Of to a good start.

2) Meh, But Whatever
Crazy Pineapple, I see a flop with KQJhh, flop is Kxx, shortstack Villain goes all-in, I call his 60 EUR and hold against KJ.

3) Squeeze Gone Wrong
Had built up to 1300, table was deep by now and most pots were straddled, a few were also straddled all the way up to 16 (2/2/4/8/16 w/ three live straddles). Anyway, I had a hand like A7765 suited to the Ace, I opened in EP, got a few callers, and then a 300 stack re-pots it to like 120. I decide to re-pot, hoping to get the callers in between to fold and take my 40%´ish equity with 100 dead in the pot and gamble, but two shorter stacks choose to do the same. Board runs out 44964 and AA holds for a large pot.

4) Fish Gone Fishing
Open KKT87ds, a few calls, a 300-stack re-pots. I call the ca 80 EUR pot raise, as does button playing 400. Flop is J99, meh. I lead 150, button calls, original raiser pushes for 200 total. I call, Button calls. Turn is a blank, pot is now something like 800 with Button having 120 behind, so that money goes in on the turn. Button has JJ for the win, I muck and later claim that I had KKT98.

With my flop lead I was trying to deny Button any free cards for whatever hand he might have, since I do not really mind an all-in vs the original raiser - without doing the math it should be a coinflip vs random Aces. When Button calls, my plan goes to ****, since he normally has at least a 9x and worse-case scenario J9 or JJ/99, leaving me with none to two outs. However, I cannot fold since he a small percentage of the time will have something like AKQJT or some other big wrap/wrap+pair hand that he has continued with, so adding this into account and the fact that I have two outs for the nut boat, I cannot fold getting 1:9 odds. Especially since if he only has trips, at least some of my straight outs are likely to be clean.

Not actually sure if I can avoid this spot on the flop, maybe I should lead out for less, like 100, since I can then get out of the way if Button calls. If I check the result would be the same, assuming the original raiser would push it in - against likely AA I can´t really fold for like 75% pot, and after I call this all-in, we are in the same situation as above with calling 120 to win 1000+.

5) Tilt Is Good
I am a bit steamy after dropping down to 500 from 1300. Here´s one of the sickest hands I´ve lately played. I three-bet in a straddled pot and only get called by player on my left, who thinks I bluff way more than I do. I have KK97x ds.

Flop is T96 w/ two spades (I hold none). I pot for around 200, he calls. ****.
Turn is an offsuit 7, board is now T967. With 200 left I just stick it in there, he calls, we run it twice. Low diamonds on both boards, I flip my cards and say "Guess I am going home now". But... after a long look at his cards he mucks.

6) Profitable Mis-Read
Four-card PLO, I see a flop with AJT4ss. Flop is K64 with two spades and a club. Player from hand 5 pots (50ish), gets one call and I call with the flushdraw. Pot is now 200.
Turn is another 4, board is now K644. Villain pushes his last 150, the other player folds and I call with my trips and flushdraw. River is a blank, I flip my cards and... notice that I had clubs and not spades, lol. So I called 50 EUR on the flop with bottom pair and backdoor flush draw. Trips are good against Villain´s flopped top two.

No more memorable hands, half an hour later I cash out 1200 for a nice +900 session. Play some roulette, in for 200 EUR, cash out 100, and some slots, in for 100 EUR out for 85 EUR, and end the casino visit +775 EUR.

Good times.

And with the start of the baseball season, I have been doing some sportsbetting with surprisingly good results! Yesterday I bet on Rays, Blue Jays and Nationals and won all three, today I have bet a combination of doubles, tripples and a 4-team parlay on Nationals, Mets, Blue Jays and Yankees. Since noone reads this wall of text anyway I will not go into detail for my motivations, but anyway I have been running red-hot when it comes to gambling so let´s keep the good run going.

Last weekend I went to another casino I had never been to, that have been quite active advertising their poker tournaments on social media, so I figured I´d check it out. They had a 70E freezeout on Friday.

I arrive 20 minutes before the start and turns out I am the first to register. Check out the room, looks quite small but otherwise nice, seats look comfortable as well. Not a lot of people though. Change a 100 to play some roulette while waiting, run good so I cash out 200.

Tournament starts with 11 players. Late registration/re-entry period is 6 levels, so I assume it will fill up a bit. I ask the dealer how many they usually have and he says 20-40. Starting stack is 20k, blinds start at 25/50 and levels ar 25 min, so lots of play to be had.

With two tables, play is shorthanded which suits me perfectly. No major hands to speak of in the first levels, however I am very active and LAG-donking it up in smaller pots. After a while the first players bust out and tables are combined. My stack fluctuates somewhere between 15-25k, lowest point I think was around 12k after I got it in with two pair on turn vs pair+OESD, straight came on river.

Table was folding way too much (with the exception of a couple of players who were also folding too much, but when playing they would go all the way with any piece of the board).

Here are some key hands I remember:

1) Max Value with JJ on Low Board
IIRC, blinds were 150/300 with 25 ante. One of the players that is too aggro when in a hand opens from MP, I three-bet to something like 2k out of the BB. He calls. I start the hand with around 24k, he covers.

Flop: (Pot: 4500)
7 5 3

Hero: Bet 2000
Villain: Raise 6000

This is not the best spot, but far from the worst. His range is so wide that his raise could mean a lot of things, from total air to some sort of draw to pairs. If it of course fully possible that he has a hand hade 86 or 64 as well. Against me there is not a lot of hands that he would fold to a 3! pre.

I take some time to think through my options. Since the board is so wet, I am considering a raise (I have around 20k behind). But if I raise, do I just shove? Or do I click it back to something like 10-12k? Of course, the value-maximizing line is to just call. But it is a dangerous one - what do I do if the turn is a Q, K, A, 6, 4 or club? Overcards - especially Q/K - are most likely calls. Four-straights are tricky, since some of those cards give him two pair hands as well (if he has something like 76). Clubs? Call.

What I hate about raising is that JJ crushes his range, but if I raise then I fold out a lot of the weaker bluffs and he might also find a fold with something like A7, a hand that he would most definately continue to bomb turn with. So in the end I just call.

Turn: (Pot: 16500)
7 5 3 2

Hero Checks
Villain All-In (16k Effective)
Hero Snap-Calls

As blank as it gets, if he had me on the flop then that´s poker. I beat him into the pot, he flips over J6 and I fade the four to score a huge double-up.

2) Bad Call
I had been very active, raising and re-raising a lot, and picking up a lot of pots uncontested. By now we are six remaining with three prizes, I have around 60k.

I open 44 from EP to something like 3k, BB shoves on me for 15k total. I decide to call, since I have so much left even if I lose. He flips over KK, I suck out with four diamonds on the board.

At the table I felt that he has a lot of overcard combos, however this call I think is too loose anyway due to the fact that I only dominate two pairs (22/33) and am crushed by all other pairs (and not 100% sure he shoves 22 anyway). Against a range of 22+, AJ+, KQ it is close (I have around 40%), but if we tighten it up a bit to 55+, AJs+, AQo+, KQs I am crushed.