I was pretty down for like an hour over that, but I'm going to have another shot at it before this year's main so I'll just ship that one instead. I played really well, so I have nothing to be down on myself about.

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</3

Shake it off, like you said you played rilly well and that's what matters.

"I play my game and live with the results." -- Lebron James

Thanks!

Sequel and I were throwing this quote from LeBron the other day back and forth at each other. Once I was on the drive home last night I was back in a pretty good mood, fired up, and really believing that quote. Big things are coming for both of us man!

June 10 – "You can hate me now, but I won't stop now, 'cause I can't stop now. You can hate now, but I won't stop now, 'cause I can't stop now."

I sat down aiming for a 10-hour session and feeling ready to go, but faced an uphill battle all session long…

Hand No. 1

I ake it $10 from UTG with AQ. UTG+1, an old guy who looks like an OMC and has been playing tight calls. The SB, a middle aged guy playing on the tight side calls.

Flop ($28): T95

It checks through. I’m a little worried that OMC could have AT, KT, 99+ here.

Turn ($28): 7

Well, I’ve got the nut flush draw, the OMC checked behind and the other guy has checked twice – time to fire. I bet $20 and the old guy raises to $75 with about $130 behind. I’m thinking he’s a little deeper and make the call here. You could make a better case for folding or raising.

River ($177): Q

I check and he shoves all but his whites in, betting $120 with like $10 behind. I tank a bit, basically just trying to pick up a read because I know I’m folding, and then I muck. “I’ll show it just once,” he says. He flips up J9.

Well, I’m adjusting my ranges for him.

Hand No. 2

I have 77 and raise to $12 from the CO with one limper. The SB calls. He’s a foreign guy with glasses who’s been playing pretty loose.

Flop ($23): 743

He checks, I think for a bit because this isn’t the best set flop for me – I’d rather have like a big card he could hit out there. I decided to bet anyway and fired $15. He thought a bit and called.

Turn ($51): Q

He checks and has like $190 left. He checks, I bet $35 and he calls.

River ($121): 8

He checks and I think about how much value I can get. I bet $100 and he snap calls me and MHIG. He claims A7, which is impossible.

Hustlin’ A Location

A couple of friends sat down on my right who were clearly in town for the Summer Poker Open. I decided to try to find out if they were good tournament players or just a couple guys playing some poker tournaments for fun. I Googled them and found three Hendon Mob databases with the same name for one player (I saw their names on their player cards), but nothing for the other guy. Of the three results for the one guy's name, there were three different locations, so I had to find out where he was from to figure it out.

His buddy had a Kentucky Derby hat on, so I asked him if he went… He said no, he was just in Louisville last week and liked the hat. We talked about the derby a bit and then I asked him where they were from. “Oh, we’re from Scranton.”

Boom, got ‘em!

$2,500 in live tournament cashes. Another player by his name from a different location had over $90,000. Always good to know that stuff when it’s available.

Hand No. 3

I pick up TT in MP and raise to $10. Two call. One is a bluffy, aggressive guy in his 20's drinking a Corona. The other is a guy in the blinds, an older middle eastern man who has been playing loose-passive.

Flop ($28): KT5

The blind checks, I bet $20 and the aggro kid calls. The blind folds.

Turn ($67): 4

I decide to bet a bit weak since he’s so aggressive to try to incite. I bet $35. He thinks a bit and calls, splashing his chips out.

River ($137): 6

I think about how much to bet here. Trying to induce the bluff didn’t work, so at this point my best hope is that he has a K or something and thinks I’m bombing it on a bluff. I bet $135. He asks how much I have left and then folds AQo face up and says, “A jack comes off and you are in trouble!”

I kicked myself for this afterward. He was so aggro he would have raised any K on the flop and any draw, as well. So his range by the river had to be weak – QQ, JJ, 99-77, QJ, and just total air. Thus I should have bet really weak, like $45 or $50 to try to induce spaz. I didn’t give him room to make a move on me. I went for max value against a mid-strength hand when he’d never have a mid-strength hand.

Hand No. 4

Our table broke, over my objection. We had a decent table and four open seats on my right, so I was hoping to get some fish seated that I’d have position on. I moved into a new game, and early on the following hand came up.

With eight to the flop, I checked the BB with 97.

Flop ($15): J97

I bet $10 and a kid in LP calls. He’s young and he’s acting like a recreational player with his buddy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re grinders in there for the tournament and trying to put on a front. Something doesn’t quite feel right about the recreational appearance.

Turn ($32): 8

Here’s where I make a big mistake. I bet $20 and he calls. This is a huge mistake because I can get raised off my equity so easily. If I check, I can often call a bet and try to boat up. I was hoping to just clear out his one pair hands and take it down, but I don’t think b/f is really the right play here.

River ($71): 6

I check and he bets $45. I pick up a read, he’s grinding his jaw repeatedly, which is often a sign of tension. I’m just trying to come up with a hand he could be bluffing with. Maybe he floated with KQ and now he’s going to bluff? I don’t know. I feel like there’s a chance I’m good here, and if not I’ll at least have the info on the tell I have. I have to be good 28% of the time for the call to be profitable, but if in actuality I’m good like 20-25% I’m fine with the call with the added value of the info.

I call, and he has KT.

About five minutes later, we’re in between hands and I notice him grinding his jaw muscles. Apparently, this dude’s just got a lot of tension and he’s ALWAYS grinding his jaw muscles.

DOH!

Hand No. 5

Shortly thereafter I realize my whole table is pretty good and get a table change. It’s not uncommon to land on a table full of grinders during the poker opens at the Borgata.

At the new table, an Asian woman in her early 40s raises to $8 in the HJ. I have AJ and will 3bet small opens for value pretty wide. I see $7 instead of $8 and go to $20. My 3bet in position is typically 3x, rounded off… So $7 to $20 and $8 to $25. So not seeing the extra white, I make it $20 and make a mistake.

Flop ($38): KJ8

She checks, I bet $30 and she calls. She has $120 behind.

Turn ($98): 6

She checks, I check.

River ($98): 4

She bets $100 by tossing out one black. It’s such a big bet and you’ll rarely see that with a hand for value. Like she could have AK/KQ/KJ/KT here by her betting pattern up to the river, or even QQ… But It’s rare to see those hands bomb the river from a recreational player. Thus I feel like 9T, QT, TT, 99, AQ are more likely.

I tank and call and she has AK, well played.

Break Time

I take a walk, as I’ve been off on a few reads in this session and that’s really rare for me. I decide to evaluate whether I’m playing poorly, running poorly, just getting into bad spots, or a combination. I decide it’s a little of everything, and that I’ll go back and keep playing for about 30 minutes. If I feel like I’m playing better and things are improving, I’ll keep playing. If not, I’ll cut it short.

Hand No. 6

I return and post in the cutoff. A kid in MP raises to $5. I have Q7 and call the extra $3. A blind calls.

Flop ($16): QT4

It checks to me and I bet $10. The blind folds and the raiser calls.

Turn ($33): 6

He checks, I bet $20 and he raises to $50. I call.

River ($132): 2

He bets $100 by throwing out one black chip, just like the Asian lady did. I tank a bit. “QT?” I ask, as I fold.

He flips up the 4.

I guess that’s a set of 4s, though A4 is possible. The dealer accidentally flips the other card – the 4, and then apologizes profusely to him, as I grin.


Hand No. 7

There’s a straddle and two players limp. I have A9 in the BB and make it $24. I debated flatting or folding, but my normal play would be to raise and I don’t want to be taken off my game. A limper calls with $43 behind.

Flop ($52): J54

I move all-in and he snap calls with TT and holds.

Hand No. 8

It folds to my button and I make it $10 with A4. The BB calls.

Flop ($18): T93

He checks, I bet $12 and he calls.

Turn ($40): 4

He checks, I check.

River ($40): 9

He bets $25, I call, he shows 77. Great value bet there.

Getting Stuck in the Middle

A hand comes up where I get bluffed off TPWK because a fish donk led the river really weak and it was transparent that it was a bluff and a young, creative aggro raised him. It was an easy bluff-raise for him because it’s hard for me to call with less than two pair, and I folded my A to see the fish’s K beat the aggro’s 5.

Basically these guys were at opposite ends of the table so my seat was stuck in the middle and any seat change would be as well. I decided to rack up and leave because of the table dynamic and my play and results thus far. I played around to my blinds… I was down under $100, and decided not to top off.

Hand No. 9

My last hand, I’m UTG and limp 88. A fish raised to $10, two called and I did as well.

Flop ($36): 567

There’s a check and the BB bets $25. He’s a solid player. I have $77 left and ship it in. It folds to him and he thinks a bit.

“OK, I guess I’ll pay you off,” he says. He takes his time calling, cutting out 25…50…75… 80… pushes it out… Then he pulls back 5 reds and tosses a green… Then he pulls back a red and tosses two whites.

I flip my hand over. He sighs. “Awww man… Well, I guess that’s not TOO bad…” He flips over 55.

Nice slow roll, bud. The turn is a 5.

Total Results: 5.5 hours, -$400

Trip Results: 37.5 hours of live cash, -$42

You got bluffed at the beginning of the session and proceed to station off multiple times? That's what I gather from reading your hand sequences.

Also, why are you limping from early position with a short stack? $79...really?

Hand 4 looks bad, but I trust my reads when I play. They aren't always right, but they're right way more often than they're wrong. Hand 5 and Hand 8 are standard in my opinion. Both times I cbet as the PFR/3better, then checked behind on the turn. That makes my hand look weak - like A high or an underpair, and it's going to induce bluffs from missed draws or air. Both times there are numerous straight draws in the villain's range. Standard stuff.

I had $77 after I called the PFR, so I started with $87. Open folding 88 for 44 BB is pretty terrible IMO. It's a standard limp-call.

I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man, let me handle my business, damn! - Part 1

I'm going to put any posts that relate to my business side of things in that same heading with that color. That way, if you aren't interested in that stuff and want to skip it, you can. I'll also try to keep them short, since they aren't poker-related (although some will be, and I'll go in a little more depth on those).

So I was surprised yesterday how excited I was to get back into the business stuff after a few days of being really fired up about poker. Don't get me wrong, I still am, but I'm diving back into the business stuff headfirst. Yesterday I did some market research. I'm selling a digital product to a niche group and I think I can drive enough traffic through basic Google advertising to make $2-4K per month, if I convert 1 to 2 percent of my visitors. From searching the web, average conversion rates are 1 to 3 percent. Some products do 10 percent. I know that will be a process of trial and error and improving my site design and copy to maximize conversions.

I think I can significantly increase my traffic after I'm up and running by using more targeted advertising. However, we'll get to that when we get there. I'm thinking this has the potential to be a six figure business, though.

I admittedly didn't do a ton of market research, so there's a lot of guesswork. Why not research more? The total cost to start this is going to be under $50 and about 100-150 hours of my time. Then some advertising. If it doesn't work, I move onto the next idea and have minimal losses.

Today, in between broadcasting shifts, I worked on planning the content to create the product and did some research into that. I realized that I need to find a way to serve the content to mobile users and make sure the site is optimized for them as well, so that's going to be added to my to do list. With trends in web viewing, that's an absolute must.

One thing I was reminded of is that anything that involves me spending my time trying to create a future of financial freedom gets me fired up. Whether it's poker or a business that I could run as more or less an absentee owner, I get excited and can really put in the hours and expend a lot of energy.

I guess my question is why do you have $87 in front of you in the first place?

I had like $200, lost a pot, decided to call it a day and play around to the blinds since I had like five or six hands before them and always play my free hands.

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So you're selling drugs now?

No, that would probably be a lot more profitable. No Heisenberg, Avon Barksdale or Marlo Stanfield in this thread. I do have a little Stringer Bell in me, but only the business acumen and ambition.

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I know you can't talk about it but if you need a guy I know a guy

I used to do the whole always have to play all free hands thing. Recently, I have been converted to quitting as soon as my mind creeps in with the "Maybe it's time to quit soon..." thoughts. I think it's a much better strategy.

I've debated this... But I don't think I misplayed the 88 hand, I think it's standard.

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STAAAANDARD lollll come on you know better than to use that word

What's the point of posting HHs when you think you've played every hand perfect?

You are supposed to limp-call middle pairs with 40 to 50bb because you aren't deep enough to call a 3bet. When you flop an overpair with an OESD and can make a 3/4 pot shove over a bet, it's an easy decision.


I don't think I played every hand perfect, but the 88 hand played itself. What would you do differently?

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Never have 40bbs in front of me. Open the pot.

Opening a middle pair up front with 40 to 50bb is a big mistake because you don't have implied odds to call a 3bet. In fact, even with a full stack it's not an automatic raise and you should limp call more than you raise.

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Lol @ limp calling with short stack trying to set mine. If you're playing in a 1/2 game fearful of opening 88 due to being 3b you need to find another table. Quit trying to justify putting in > 10% of your stack oop. If you can't see how bad that is you need to quit poker.

I'm usually all for constructive disagreements, but this is getting a little ridiculous. Cuse played the 88 correctly (obv there is no absolute definition of the correct play) or at least in the most +EV way possible given his stack size....ainec.

As far as always needing to top off to 100bb+, while this is beneficial in most cases, it does not mean that playing short is automatically -EV (it's just not as +EV as playing deep). With the exception of all but the most outrageous rakes, one should be able to beat any game they're playing in whether they are playing with 50bbs or 200bbs (obv not at the same hourly).

Either way, surely there must be better discussion points than a straightforward hand and the decision to play a few hands short before racking up....

You do realize he put in > 10% of his stack with the best hand; villian was the one who was setmining.

Post the 88 hand in the llnl thread and you'll be laughed out of the room.

Results oriented