Hey guys, I've been lurking for a couple months and finally decided to make an account. I'm a 21 year old player in the bay area, CA trying to make a living playing poker while also in college. I've been playing poker for a while recreationally, but I just started playing live cash games in July. Before that I played a little bit online, mostly in MTT's, and had one significant cash for around $900, but never had much consistent success.

I started out playing 1/2 and 2/3, but a couple weeks ago I moved up to 2/5 and haven't played 1/2 since. Unfortunately I lost all my notes on my hours played and profits since July, so I'm going to use this thread to keep track of my progress and post hands.

October 9: Had a pretty crazy session today. Started out down $600, short bought with the last $400 I had on me and managed to grind it up to around $700 when this hand happened:


Preflop: I wake up to KQs UTG+1 and make it $20 to go. Obviously I could've folded, but the table I was on was fairly passive pre flop and only 3betting with QQ+, so I felt like I would see a cheap multi-way flop. I end up getting called by UTG+2 and three others. UTG+2 (villian) seems somewhat nitty, but I've seen him stab at pots and fold to a raise. I noticed that he hesitated before making the call preflop, as if he was thinking about folding.

Flop ($100): K 10 6, rainbow. I elect to check, figuring I don't get called by worse too often here. In hindsight maybe I could lead out as I get value out of QJ, 10J, Q10, but I don't mind checking because I'm OOP with TP and would rather use my hand as a bluff-catcher than bloat the pot when so few hands can call me behind. Anyway, villian leads out 60 and it folds around to me. I call.

Turn ($220): K of spades, bringing a spade draw. I check, figuring if he has a 10 or a pp I will definitely scare him off with a bet, and I could possibly scare off a hand like KJ by leading. He leads out 60 again. At this point alarm bells are going off because most nitty fish will make the same bet on the turn as they did the flop for value, because they reason that if I called it the first time I have to call it again. I felt like he could definitely play K10, 1010, and 66 this way, and maybe even AK as I'd never seen him 3bet pre, so I didn't know his 3bet range. I called though, thinking that I've shown so much weakness this hand he could be double barrelling or even feel like his JJ is good.

River ($340): 4 blank. I check again, and he quickly bets 150. I tanked for a while before finally choosing to call, as I was getting better than 3:1 and I could still beat one hand he's value betting (KJ). He says, AK is good. I tell him I called you, you have to show down first. He turns over 35 offsuit, a stone cold triple barrel bluff. I really didn't expect that at all, as the villian hadn't gotten out of line or done anything donkeyish the whole time (3+ hours) I had been playing with him. Results aside, was this the correct way to play the hand? Can I ever find a fold, especially considering how weak my hand must have looked to the villian? I almost folded because the flop was so dry he's unlikely to have air, and I probably would have if the bet was $250 or more, but the odds I was getting were too good to lay it down. Am I a donk for even considering a fold here? Obviously as played I'm never folding, but if he took a slightly more aggressive line I think I would have found a fold.

My image really suffered from this hand. Because the table could tell I almost folded I felt like people were looking to bluff me now. Just a few hands later this put me in a really tough spot:

Preflop: I get AQo UTG+1 in a straddled pot. I open to $20 because I didn't see the straddle (I was in seat 9). We go to the flop 5 ways, including the button (villian). Villian is a thinking player, TAG, and seems pretty solid. He definitely knows how to bluff but he hasn't gotten crazy or hyper aggressive.

Flop ($100): A 10 2 rainbow. SB leads out for $45, BB folds, UTG calls. I didn't see any value in raising so I flatted. Button thinks for a few seconds, then gives me a strange look before announcing, $200. SB and UTG quickly fold, leaving me with a tough decision. There's now $430 out there and I only had to call $155. I think I got too caught up with the pot odds and the fact that I looked like an easy bluff to everyone and didn't really consider that I can't be ahead of anything expect air. I was tempted to shove over the top, but considering I had $800+ in front and I was covered made me rethink that (luckily, that would have been a terrible shove). I finally called, deciding to re evaluate on the turn, but the problem was that there wasn't really any good turn for me. An ace gives me trips but boats up any set, and a queen gives me a two pair but that only helps me if he had A10 or A2.

Turn ($585): K. The only possible air he could have had is QJ and QK, QJ now making a straight. I check, villian bets $300, I fold. He says, "you can see one" and pushes them both toward me. I flipped the top one and it was a 2, so I'm pretty much certain he had a set of 2's. I think my big mistake was calling the flop without a plan for the turn. I can't call and then just check fold every time, but I don't like calling and then leading the turn either. It would have been a really easy fold on the flop if it weren't for me thinking about my image and assuming people were going to try and bluff me off of premium hands.

Any input on how I can avoid getting in a spot like this? After I almost folded the KQs I started getting 3bet a lot all of the sudden, and people started re raising me on flops I clearly connected with, causing me to fold AJo on an A high dry board just before the AQ hand above. Obviously I want action, but I don't want to get raised every time I have TPGK when I'm 200+BB deep. Should I just play trappier when I notice this happening?

I played in a live tournament this morning with a $100+$25 buy in, 15 minute levels and 10,000 starting chips. Blinds start at 25/50 and don't skip any key levels, and the 150/300 round runs twice.Not a great structure, but the field is 100+ and incredibly soft. The "best" players in the tournament are just strict ABC and play their cards face up.

I doubled my stack by the time the blinds hit 300/600, then hit a cold run of cards, lost a couple of standard pots and found myself with 12,000 chips when the blinds hit 600/1200, with about 40 people left in the tournament. I had no opportunities to steal (best hand I had seen in 2 orbits was J2o) before I woke up to 22 in the sb, about 10,000 behind. I planned on shoving no matter what, but then UTG shoved for 9,000, UTG+2 called, UTG+3 min raised, button calls all in. Now I felt like my 22 was drawing to 2 outs, or at best I needed to dodge 5-6 over cards, so I decided to fold. I was thinking I had a whole orbit to find a better spot anyway.

The flop came 278 and everyone got it all in. UTG had KK, UTG+2 had KQ with a flush draw, UTG+3 had AA, and the button had 109 for an open ended straight draw. My set would have held up and put me in excellent position to win the tournament.

Very next hand I get 55 on the button and the hijack shoved for about 12,000. I called and was heads up against Q6. Flop was good, turn was good, 6 on the river to knock me out. Typical.

Should I have just shoved my 22 in the sb? The table was so tight I knew I was drawing to a 2 outer, so I don't think I was even getting correct odds to call.

I took yesterday off of any poker besides a few hands online, but I played a tournament this morning and chopped 7 ways. $100+25 entry, ~170 entries, I took home $2010 for being 3rd in chips when we chopped. I felt pretty good about chopping because no one had more than 15 big blinds (I had 10) and everyone at the table was pretty solid, so it was mostly luck at that point. Plus, 3rd place only paid $1400, second was $2400, and first was $5800, so I felt like a guaranteed $2k was a solid cash.

I had a crazy suckout to get there though. I woke up JJ with 10 BB left, UTG+1 and open shove. This was on the final table, 9 of us left. This guy two seats to my left tanks and finally shoves also. Folds around to me, I show, and he slow rolls me with aces. I had been playing with this guy most of the tournament and he had slow rolled someone earlier with aces, so it was his 2nd egregious slow roll of the tournament. I was pissed and told him he was just asking to be sucked out on for that bull****. Now, this guy says to the dealer, I'll give you $20 if you put an ace on the flop. Flop comes:

Ace King Five, 2 diamonds. The guy throws the $20 onto the table toward the dealer and looks all happy and smug. I have the J of diamonds, he has no diamond. Turn, Queen of diamonds. Now the whole table is calling for a diamond or 10, and wouldn't you know it, the poker gods had finally had enough of this *******'s slow rolls and they sent me the 10 to knock him out. He didn't even keep his word to the dealer for putting an ace on the flop: he grabbed the $20 from in front of the dealer and left

Finally got a live 2/5 session in this week, although it was barely over an hour. I got up about $325 and then both of the donkeys at the table left, leaving me with 4 old nits and 2 other grinders. I figured I would just take my profit and go at that point.

One hand I didn't really like:

I have ~$800 and have everyone in the hand covered.

Pre: I wake up to 8h8c on the button. There's two limpers in the pot, so I make it $40 to go. SB calls, both limpers call.

Flop ($160): 4 9 10, 2 hearts. Checks around to me and I lead for $75. SB fold, limper calls, other limper folds.

Turn ($310): A. Check, check.

River ($310): 2 of hearts. He leads $75, I fold, despite getting a sick price to call. This guy was limping every hand he played except AQs+, so it was tough to put him on a range. I had seen him show AJs after limping before, so he could have had an A, or a 10, or a 9. Or he could have just had a busted draw, but I've never seen this villian bluff the river. I asked him if he had a 10 beat and he said yes.

I think my mistake was betting the flop in a 4way pot when the flop was so wet (and unlikely to hit my range, if V even considered that) Checking was fine because it's unlikely my bet will ever take that pot down.