I had a meh session Saturday. Down $134. Was at a very active table for the first 8 hours, with a maniac pushing the action the entire time. Unfortunately, I did not wake up with a premium nearly the entire time. Got KK once and 3! in position and called by a fish. Flop A-high, he donked 1/2 pot and I mucked. Later on I 3! AK three way from SB, low flop, check-folded flop (K on turn...).

Session also marked by a couple missed opportunities. First, CO raised to $16 and I folded J-10hh on the BTN. Would have had the nuts on the turn and river. I think V had top two. Second, complete SB with Q9cc and flop Kc-4c-2s. Fish in BB bet $20 into $9, MP V called, and I folded. Runout: 8c-Ac. :/ Fish had top pair no kicker. Other V had a set of Aces (limped in). So those two hands probably would have made this a break-even or winning session had I played them out. Sigh.

Only big win of the night: old Chinese man raises $14 in MP, I call BTN 77. Flop: 7-5-4hhh. He bets $30, I call. Turn: 6s. He bets $30, I jam $120, he calls with QhQc and we hold.

I made a decent amount just blind stealing as I had the nittiest image table and almost no one wanted to give me action. So I opened up a little and started raising suited connectors and suited broadways. Nice thing about having a nitty image is that the one time I was 3! I turbo-mucked.

Bankroll: $2,865.

Finished reading Ed Miller et al's Small Stakes No Limit Hold 'Em. It was an easy read with good concepts, especially as it relates to river bluffing. I skipped over the section on 3!, 4!, and 5! preflop bluffs as I don't think it is relevant to my local $1/3 game. Maybe I'll read it when I start playing 2/5 regularly.

Key take-aways:

- use info gained from playing in position to your advantage;

- pounce on weakness from weak players;

- isolate the fish in position (when they are to your right or in the blinds).

Hope to implement some of these concepts increasingly in the coming weeks.

I hate playing big pots out of the small blind too but limping KK is a leak that you are going to have to correct. Maybe you can open really tight but KK is just too good to limp. You can work in some checks and pot control post flop if you want.

I know it was not optimal. After the hand the BB commented “you limp Kings in the small blind?” I brushed it off, but he was right. I wonder if the hand would have played out differently had I raised, he 3! and I jammed?

Neat thread.

I’m in a similar BR boat and I play MD-Live! but completely different path got me there—circa 2010 I was playing live full time w a significant br, winning at 1/3, crushing at 2/5, and surviving/learning at 5/10.

Fast track to now: got my MBA, got married, had kids. And plowed all my poker roll into early marriage/wedding expenses. So I’ve been mostly sidelined since 2014 or so (when you’ve got kids, taking a G out of the bank account seems inappropriate).... for fun I murder 50 dollar home/bar games... until I murdered 3 in a row one week for about 400 and then on a lark took it to a sino and had a nice few hours at night....

And all of a sudden, I have a roll, can play 2X a week, and support from the wife to do so (I also have a full time job, so going over 2X a week probably isn’t happening—I’d bet the under on that). So now I am at the 1/3 game up to my old degenerate tricks.

If you really want to keep your rolls separate, my old rule was not to take money out of the poker roll for non poker expenses (gas/car were poker expenses) until it was over 6k. Always play full at the tables and top up when you lose to 320 or less. One of the biggest differences at 2/5 is the game plays deeper and people have more of a clue than 1/3 players about deep play. Before shot taking at 2/5 I’d recommend grinding a bit more first, and getting more used to the deep situations you wind up in. If you can’t afford to buy into 2:5 for 600 X3 (so 1800), skip the game.
Playing shorter stacked with only 2 buyins helps feed the emotional frame that has you sb limping KK and playing scared. My last two sessions at 1/3 we’re both winning and I started off both by tanking 700+ into the game (part bad cards, second time had an unhealthy dose of bad play)—but poker is super volatile, and playing deep is moreso. However, playing full and being able to use an expanded move set and poker vocabulary made my results massively more consistent and somewhat more positive when I was honing my game in the first few thousand tracked hours back in the day, despite wider in-session fluctuations.




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Thanks for the feedback! It’s great you are able to balance poker and family. Come to MGM sometime. I used to play at Live when I was starting out and generally found it to be extremely nutpeddling/nitty. MGM plays much more aggro (and frankly bad). I won’t be playing 2/5 again soon. It was just a shot take while I waited for 1/3 to open up. I’ll need a roll of at least $20,000 before I seriously consider 2/5.

Good sessions last night going into tonight. Short stacked it during first hour session and tripled up with AA AI pre against AJdd and AKhh. Ended up $158. Left to meet friends for karaoke and late dinner, then came back for a shortish five-hour session. Started short stacked again, lost my first buy in with KQcc: raised pre, got two callers, shoved a Q-Jh-3h board, got called by nut flush draw and he turned the nut flush. But then I tripled up yet again with AA: 3! LAG pre from SB, BB and LAG called, flop K-9-3r, I shove for like 1/4 pot, both call, BB had AK, LAG had A9. I hold.

Did I ever mention aces is my favorite hand?

Lost a couple medium-sized pots with AK and 55 (76 outflopped me in AK hand and called my delayed c-bet; 55 hand, OMC called my raise in BB, called my c-bet, and bombed river on a J-7-9-K-A runout). Won a good one with AQo. I limped UTG, UTG+1 limped, MP raised to $7, four callers, I limp/rr to $60, UTG+1 called, everyone else folds. I c-bet a low board and V tank folded.

I asked to break the table at some point because the only fish present was playing around $20 and wouldn't top off despite my hints that he do so. Also, the only guy on tilt busted out again and left. So there was little reason to continue playing. We broke, and I fared better at the new table. Mostly MABG, including one V I have a history of stacking (to be fair, he stacked me once - he flopped a nine-high flush and I flopped the nut flush draw plus nut straight gutshot).

Only two hands of note before I left to evade morning rush hour: I raised V's straddle to $25 on BTN with AJo, straddler (aforementioned V) defends, flop A-5d-3d. We both check. Turn: A. V checks, I bet $35, V folds. Next hand I raised QQ in CO, BTN calls, aforementioned V in SB jams $85, V in BB jams $55, I re-shove, BTN folds. I hold against V's JJ and I assume second V's AK/AQ. I leave up $198.

One thing I am proud of during today's session is exploiting a fish's donk lead into me as the preflop raiser. I had only A-high with a backdoor straight and backdoor nut flush draw, but I sensed V was weak and looking for information with his 1/4-sized bet on the flop. I figured a good raise would tell him where he was at, and if he called I had good turn barreling cards in any case. He folded on the flop.

Bankroll: $3,160, 31% to $10k challenge.

Yep on the lots of nutpeddling/nitty. The patient bluffs are working quite well for me vs that, though. The downside of only “responsible” play is some serious bitchness in the face of big bets and defined spots where villains are unlikely to be able to call a raise—aka a ripe time to bruff.


Also, you convinced me. How bad is the Lae sat night wait and does the MGM game stay fun into Sunday?
How’s do their day games compare?


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Good idea bluffing those nits to oblivion.

We don't need anymore 2+2'ers at MGM...! Saturday night waits can be around 45 minutes if you come between 9-11. Better to come around 7 or midnight IMO. I make more money during the week, actually. Perhaps fewer weekend grinders? Mainly though it's all about picking a good table or switching to a non-terrible one, not the night of the week.

Did a little breakdown of halfway point through August and it's probably my best (half) month on record: 80 hours in two weeks (played 10 days out of 14), $2,031, or $25/hr. (8.5 bb/hr.). (No promotions won.) One loss, but it was relatively small ($134). Std. dv. is huge due to one big win at 2/5.

I guess I can attribute these results primarily to playing shorter sessions on average (8 hours) and leaving when I'm up. Can't read too much into the short-term results of course, but I think I will keep up the short sessions. It's healthier and I am less burned out each time I play. Probably less likely to make mistakes as a result.

Also, I realized I am less stressed out buying in short ($100) and just raising pre/jamming flop or jamming preflop. A lot less thinking involved. It also means I am properly rolled, at least for a short stacking strategy (30BI). I will try to keep up this strategy over the next few sessions. Stay tuned!

Learning to deal with the inner emotional game and ups/downs of variance is why I’d recommend spending hours playing full stacked if you can.

I used to have a home game w buddies who played for blood. It was perfect for learning .1/.2 $20-40 buying usually ran 3-5 ways. Had 1 decent other player and one fish.

Even after I got good, I’d leave a 2/5 game when it broke w 3k on a table and go and play 30 bucks for blood. I paid my buddies $50 per tell they found as well (they understood that it was my living and so would let me know after a couple sessions).

Seriously, understanding how to play multiway spots postflop w fish in the hand is a really key skill to maximizing live winnings. It’s not purely mathematical and there are a number of key plays you need to be able to run: interceptions, squeezes, etc.


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What’s an interception? Is it re-isolating when a reg is iso raising a fish?

Also, I’ve played deepstacked and topped up. I’ve also experienced big losses and still found the resolve to come back and try again. I’m glad I didn’t give up! I just think for the time being I want to start by shortstacking, double up once, then top off to $300 or so and play normal poker. I’m not playing an exclusive, dedicated ss strategy.

I go to home games (and host one) every month or so. .25/.50 $40 cap. I do well there. It’s a nice relaxing game with friends. Moreso social than anything else.

Interception is my personal favorite.

The idea is to intercept a good LAG’s abuse of the fish via raise pre + c-bet.

For example. You’re on the button. The mark limps. The stud lag raises 5X MP.. folds to you. You CALL (not 3, not raise).

Otf when mark checks, villain bets, you raise hard. Like you nailed it harder than a slut at a frat party. Your win without showdown is now very high.

To pull it off, it helps to be 120bb+ deep (at least effective vs the stud) and have a somewhat responsible/good image.

There are variations where you do it on the turn after calling a flop raise.




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One short one-hour session last night (short stacked, +$211), a karaoke bar/beer break, then a long 11-hour session into the wee morning hours into this afternoon (+$313). Highlights: during second session, my AA was cracked twice by same V, costing me around $400, first time by his 35o hitting two pair on the turn, second time by 72o flopping two pair. F*cking donkey....

Have I ever mentioned that aces is my least favorite hand?

Only big (winning) pot of the night: limp KJdd HJ, BTN raises $15, SB calls, I call. Flop: K-10d-8d. Checked to raiser who c-bets, SB calls, I c/r $75, both call. Turn: 5s. I bet $125, only SB calls. River: 5c. Check, check. I hold against her AQdd. Dodged a bullet on that one!

I'm exhausted now, and so I must rest. Zzz...zzz...zzz.

Bankroll: $3,650.

Hourly since started tracking in poker app: $20/hr. (6.7 bb/hr.).

Only nits hate aces. You’re not used to folding overpairs and have less villain understanding.

Aces are my favorite hand. Followed by KK, and you guessed it, QQ.


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Lol. Mine too. I was joking. I love aces. But V min-raised me on the river on a Kc-5c-2s-3d-6d runout so it was kinda tough to fold getting 5:1.

Here's my graph for the past few weeks. Looks like this fish is on a heater!

http://oi67.tinypic.com/2luqte1.jpg

I was thinking about what I might do to celebrate reaching my $10k goal (if I am so lucky) and thought I might get Lasik eye surgery.

My Thursday-Friday session was 26 hours long (!) because I was trying to get unstuck the entire time. At my low I was down $700. No coolers or anything, just slowly bleeding away. A couple bluffs didn't get through either. I finally broke even about 22 hours in after my ONLY big hand of the entire freaking session....

I called a raise with 55, flopped a set, GII against AA and AQ on 4-5-Q flop and held. I absolutely should have left at that point, but guess what? It was rush hour and I didn't want to drive home in traffic. (Anyone that lives in the DC/MD/VA region knows how bad traffic is here.)

So I played longer. And I lost $270 over the next 4 hours, mainly due to not sticking with my strategy after I broke even which was to only play premiums. (A little run bad mixed in there too.)

Biggest mistake: called CO raise with K3hh on BTN. Flop: Kd-2d-5s. CO bets, I call. Turn: Jc. CO checks, I bet. River: 3c. I think, "yay, I have two pair!" CO then donk 3/4 pots it ($75) and I'm like, "sh*t!" I sigh call expecting A4dd, but no...he had 64o for JUST THE NUTS.

But honestly, this table was just terrible. The kind where the money isn't really moving and the only person profiting is the house.

Note to self: next time you break even after being stuck 250BB, GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! YOU WON! WHO CARES ABOUT TRAFFIC?

Good(ish) hand earlier in the session: I limp 52o on BTN behind a fish in CO who I've been trying to stack all night. I've iso-raised him a lot. I think he started to resent me for that. I've been caught bluffing a couple times too. Anyway, long story short he flops a pair of aces (six kicker) and I turn trip 5s and he CRAI on the river unimproved after I raise him OTT and I scoop $150.

Tonight is home game night which should be a nice respite from the grind. I have to be honest though, I am eager (itching? jonesing?) to grind again.

Oh, and I bought a six-month supply of contact lenses ($240). My vision is not that bad, but it definitely improves when corrected. This was way overdue. Interestingly, the optometrist told me my vision had actually improved since he last saw me two years ago. Probably because I'm a lot less stressed out now than I was back then. Now I can see Vs and the board better. Another confidence booster. Just sucks not to be able to rub my eyes as freely.

Bankroll: $3,076.

Short stacked last night for an hour. Limped QQ in MP, BTN raised $11, BB 3! $25, I jammed $90, BTN re-jammed and his AA holds. Then MP raises $18 in straddled pot, I call in SB with JJ, straddle (LAG - raised straddle with A-10dd last time) 3! to $350, I call and his 88 flops a set and I don't improve. There goes $200.

Left to meet a friend for dinner and came back. Short stacked again. Lost first three buy-ins. Buy in #1: limp/rr 10s in EP and got called by Q-9ss. He flushed me. Buy in #2: fish limps EP in straddle, I have A-10ss in SB and jam $65, straddle had AA and he holds. I change tables. Buy in #3: limped to me in BB and I have AQhh and make it $20. SB backraises me all in and I snap. His 44 holds.

Buy in #4 I got some traction and ran it up to $684. Second session was 5 hours. I left before rush hour. Ended up making $84 on the day.

Only couple hands of note from last buy in: raise AhKc, GII on Kh-3h-4h flop and improve to nut flush. V said flopped a flush. Next, raise AK, get three callers, flop A-Qs-9s. I jam, V calls with J-10 and doesn't hit his gutshot (another V folded Q9!? thinking V had better two pair). Perfect storm kept me alive: the whale and the uber-nit.

Table broke and my first hand I have K-10o on BTN with six limpers I make it $25. Four callers. Flop 8-high. I c-bet $45, two callers. Turn: 8 putting second club. Short stacked fish goes AI for $40. Other V folds, I call getting 8:1 or so and he misses his J-10cc flush draw and I scoop with K-high. One V who limped called said he had AK. Great table image to get . . .

ACES! Next hand. Same V with AK previously raises MP, and I 3! to $85. He goes AI for $90, and my AA hold against his QJo. Heehee. Then lost AQ v. 55 against short stack on Q-10-5-Q-8 runout. Oh well.

Bankroll took a hit as I purchased a nice pair of wireless/noise-canceling headphones to help drown out the chatter at the tables. Last major purchase using bankroll in foreseeable future.

Bankroll: $2,607. Hourly: $16.07/hr. (5.04BB/hr.).

Two decent, short short-stacking sessions today. First one made $84 in an hour, the second, $125 in less than an hour. So up $209 on the day.

Notable hands: session one, fish raises to $6 UTG (as he always does pre), two calls, I 3! JJ on BTN $28, two callers including different fish and a tight guy. Flop 8-9-5cc, I go AI, get called by A9o and hold.

Session two, I call BTN raise with QQ in BB, flop top set, CRAI on turn, he calls with KK and I boat on river. This talkative guy at our table folded the flop and commented on my call, stating, "that guy hasn't played a hand all night. I'm out of here." I called him out on influencing play during the hand. He later apologized. Don't cost me money, man!

Headphones should arrive later today. Can't wait to drown out the annoying bickering between players and general nonsense that I overhear at the tables. Most people are stupid and say stupid things.

Bankroll: $2,749. Hourly: $17.00/hr.(5.7BB/hr.).

Always an awkward spot. A good dealer will do their job and squash this immediately so we don't have to. But bad dealers will just stare off into space obliviously and we'll awkwardly have to perhaps speak up. I would usually turn to the dealer, laugh, and in a pleasant tone ask "ha, is he allowed to say that?"

One of the biggest annoyances in my room is that dealer tips are all pooled, so you can't reward good ones and punish bad ones.

GcluelessOPTAHnoobG

Yeah it was awkward. But I didn't feel badly calling him out because he'd done this before to other players and gotten away with it and he acts like a stuck up, know-it-all prick in general. He was also pretending to be chummy with this young big stack on a heater to his left. It was obviously a case of amici falsi. He was just trying to butter him up so he would have an easier time taking hims money. Poker is a predatory game, but I despise people who do it so blatantly.

Their tips aren't pooled to my knowledge.

Writing this as my chicken pad thai cools off at the Luk Fu restaurant at Maryland Live Casino. The power was out at MGM. Got lost between the two casinos. I swear the iPhone GPS wants me to go crazy again. Two hours later....

I short stack again for $100 and get dealt black aces in the BB. Player makes it $15 in MP and i 3! $45. He calls. I jam K-high dry board and he calls with KJo. He rivers trips. By-by buy in #1.

He said something to me. Thankfully I had my new headphones to drown out what I can only imagine was his mea culpa for profiting from his fishy play.

Who calls a short stack 3! With KJo? Really.

Anyhoo I run good on second buy in up to $526. Noteworthy hand: I limp A6cc and GII for 100bb with nut flush draw against bottom two pair on the flop. I river the nuts. So cash out +$326 in just under three hours. Not bad.

Hourly is $18.43. 5.83bb/hr.

This is the very reason shortstacking can be so profitable. It's something that I've really come around to regarding the benefits of shortstacking: people just really wanna see a flop.

Galwayssittingona66bbstackG

Fine session today. Played 5 hours, ended up $127. Short stacked again. Picked my 3! spots carefully and ran it up to around $220. Then lost a big hand: EP LAG/maniac raises $20, three callers, I BTN 3! squeeze AI $215 with AQo and maniac calls with 98o and hits a pair. Pair beats ace high, so...re-bought $100 and ran that up a couple hundo.

One missed opportunity: I raise maniac's straddle to $16 with A-10cc on BTN, all four of us check flop Qs-8s-5d. Turn: Kd. BB bets $19 into $64, maniac calls, I fold my gutshot to the nuts because realistically I don't have four clean outs as someone could be chasing the flush. River: Jh. Bet and a raise to $75 and I am shaking my head.... Would you have called the turn bet?

Bankroll: $3,164. Hourly still $18 something.