Last hand for tonight. I'll post some more tomorrow:


Villains:

MP: Former 2/5 reg who has recently returned to CTown. Has some card sense, but certainly it is not evident during this hand. Fairly easy to read.

HJ: Spewy player with no regard for kickers or outs. If he has a pair or draw, he will see it through to the end. Also easy to read.


In cutoff, I'm dealt A T

4 way limped to me I make it $20 to go. I like these types of raises IP for a few reasons:

1) I'm likely to have the best hand at this point, so let's build pot now that is worth winning later.

2) If the button wants to retake control, it'll cost him. (And in this case I know this particular button won't be 4 betting me light. If he raises I'm gone. EZ fold)

3) I make this raise with a fairly wide range. Putting me on a hand or range here is prob a bit of a fools errand. (More on that another time)

4) I haz blackjack!

Anyway I pop it and 7 people see a flop of

K 4 Q

MP bets $25, HJ calls $25

I call and 4 people see a turn of

J

DING! Now how do I go about getting money into this po--

"I'm all in" says MP, shoving in the remainder of his $300 stack.

Yay! Thinks I. This is great! Now all I gotta do is --

"I'm all in." says HJ, shoving in the rest of his $500 stack.

"I call!" says I. BB Folds

"No pair no diamond no pair no diamond no pair no di---"

River: 7

Mother****.

HJ scoops with J 8

(Pretty sure MP had KQ. Maybe KJ. Def 2 pair)

And hands like this, folks, is part of why I have a 15 BB/hr wr at the chuck.


As always, comments, critiques, criticisms, kvetching welcome.

That's a tough hand. Very humorous narration of the hand history, too. I didn't see any of your posts as being remotely "stalkerish" in the least so no worries. I believe moving up is exciting and forces you to be on top of your playing ability more so than ever. When/if you decide to take a seat at the $10/25 I think you'll know what I mean. I also wish I knew what you looked like, since I was reverse bumhunted without knowing it lol. I think I played like 10 hours total of $2/5 at ctown over a span of two years so I am extremely curious now.

I'll post some hand updates later, but this has really been a great week so far. Just in one of those zones right now where all my decisions seem to be correct. My reads have been spot on, and think my play is about as good as it's ever been.

"How do you do it?" Is a question I heard 6 or 7 times this week from various people (including casino staff) and not gonna lie, it def is stroking my already too large ego.

Anyway, running well, playing well and just feeling damn good right now.

But as probably everyone on this board knows, just one or two bad sessions can humble you immensely. With 2 days still left to go in the week (I plan on participating in a megastack Memorial Day tourney on Saturday... A rare weekend day of play) , hopefully I am not taunting the poker gods too much.

I'll be at MDL next week, so BadBanana u better bring some extra cash! (As if I can even make a dent in that bankroll.)

I know I'm an idiot for saying this and I'm sure it'll all come crashing down in a heaping dose of reality tomorrow, but I just feel like at the moment I can do no wrong. Sort of like when you are playing basketball and the net looks 20 feet wide.

Oh god I just ****ed myself, didn't I?

Report back to us in a few days and let us know if you did or not.

There are only 2 things I will Always do in poker, and both involve the button:

1) I will Never ever fold my button in a limped pot, no matter how god awful the hand.

2) If it's limped to my button and I have a small PP (or any pp really), raise 100% of the time.

Everything else can have an "it depends" attached to it, but those two rules I never break. (And I've had hours (and in some case weeks) long discussion with numerous people on rule 2. You may not agree with it, but I have my ever so long-winded reasons and justification for it.

---
I have >$2.5k in chips and have table covered. Villain (BB) has a little over $600.

Dealt Q 3 on button. 6 limpers I call.

BB (tight nit who can get married to hands) makes it 30.

Oh well, I'm out $5 that was fun...

5 callers What the deuce?

I call. (POT ODDS POT ODDS I HAVE POT ODDS!!!)


Flop Q 3 J

BB Leads 30 (lol) 3 callers. I make it 150 on top. This is a good flop for Q3. I like this flop. I want to marry this flop.

BB calls all fold.

Turn 3

BB checks (425 behind) I bet 180 he calls. (In case you aren't following closely that is a good card for me.)

---
I'm pretty sure he has an overpair here, or maybe AK. His range is ridiculously narrow. The 180 is of course a trap. A thinking player realizes it's really a $425 bet, but I get away with these set up bets all the time at 2/5. Sets it up so he pretty much has to call all rivers no matter what card falls.

I'm actually surprised how often this works. (And is part of my "let them make mistakes on later streets when the mistakes are more compounded strategy" (see OP)) I assume this sort of **** doesn't fly at 10/25. And likely most 2/5 games across the country.

I'm no poker genius, I'm just very good at finding holes in people's games and figuring a way to exploit those weaknesses in my opponents when the time is right.
---

River 6

He checks I shove he looks at his stack shrugs and resignedly tosses then into the pot. Q3>AA.

"I had to call because of the heart draw on the turn... " and "you also could have had KK."

And that is also a classic example of "wrong thinking" in a hand like this. His call really isn't awful, but his rationale should have been "that 3 on the turn just nullified QJ" or "you are such a spewy aggrotard donkeyfish that you could table 33 and I'd still spite call you with Aces"

Both, IMO are better reasons to call me. (Tho i highly doubt I am ever limping a button with QJ, he doesn't know that.)

And I'll never ****ing show up with KK there. Not unless we are playing some crazy 9th-level meta war with the entire table and thus the only correct way to play KK is to limp/call/overcall on button.

While the results here would likely be the same no matter your thought process, it's the flaws in the process itself (the "why") that let me get away with donktastic murder here.

Anyway I should probably take a page from busticator's script and not be quite so open, but eff it. None if this should be a huge surprise if you read these forums or have found this thread.

And if we play together and u are reading this and think "Aha! I've finally figured that luckbox fish out!"

Then my reply to thee will be "come at me, bro. Let's play some poker."

Some Fun at 1/2
From earlier today:
Villain in this hand is a Loudmouth telling everyone how to play. How bad players who hit rivers are etc. Weak players are transferring tables because of him. He had recently gotten AQ 4 hands in a row and showed each time.
---

Villain raises UTG 12.

I call in the cutoff with 6 7 We are heads up


Flop 6 9 Q

He checks I bet 25 and say "AQ is good." He calls.

Turn 8

He checks I bet 45 say "AQ is still good."

"Then why did u bet so much?" Inquires he.

"Because I picked up a draw," I reply honestly.

He then minraise me. I call.

He says "If u can't beat AQ then why are u calling?"

To which I respond, "There's always rivers!"

Then i beg for a river....
"Come on River!! Come on! Go baby go! Bring it around the home stretch!! RIVER! RIVER! Bring it home!!" (There is a horsetrack at the casino so this is very applicable. Don't judge me.)

River: 5

He asks "Did you hit?"

I say "Yup, that's me!"

He then says well then I guess I move all in he shoves 140 I call he has 88.

Fun fun fun.

He later says "I knew I was ahead."

I say "So did I! I even told you during the hand."

He the says "I knew I had you beat when that 8 hit on the turn!"

"You mean you thought A set was good there??? Well, you were right!"

Lightened up table (tho unfortunately I was called to 2/5 soon after)

Moral: Honesty is the best policy. I learned that from World Champion Jamie Gold!

It was a good week.

I'll post some more hands later, including one I found very interesting.


Couple of people who I know read this thread were at the table today, so if they wanna chime in....



Playing the 560 deep stack tomorrow. If I somehow manage to bink it, I'll drop some of the proceedes at 10/25 next week.

I... Ummm.. Errr... Yeah, so today this hand happened:

Straddled pot. I am first to act. I just stacked the guy on my left (tilty), and he rebought before this hand. He is into the game for about $4.5k in 2 days. He is on tilt. 500 effective.

Button is a player I know well and who knows me well. I have helped him with his game past year or so. Currently in a rough patch, he switched up venues today for a change of scenery. Despite a $1.7k stack, he has been very quiet the past 2 hours.

Straddler is a relative u known. 245 effective. Rec player. Seems ABC.

I have been fairly active at the table (as usual) and I have everyone covered.

---

$15 straddle. 1st to act I have QQ.

Tilty calls. Button makes it 135.

I respect this raise. I don't think it is a button move. I am fairly certain he feels I am a better deep stack player than he is, and likely wants me out of the hand (maybe he can come into thread and confirm/deny... Could just be my ego making things up).

BB shoves all in for $245.

This is a fairly critical number. At $245 the button will not be able to re-open action (but tilty can). I am OOP, deep stacked against a very good button player, with a guy on tilt still to act.

Option 1: flat, hope tilty doesn't reopen action and allow button to raise me off my hand

Option 2: raise to 550ish. This tells button if he comes in, we are playing for stacks. Either isolates the short stack and possibly tilty, or costs me $550 if button shoves. If button flats I assume I am set mining.

Option 3: fold. Let it go. I'm flipping at best and better situations will arise.

1 choose option 1, and hope tilty doesn't realize his best play is shove or fold.

I call, tilty calls (yay!), and button does not look happy that he has to call.

Flop: K 2 7

FML. My only play is to check. Somewhat surprisingly, it is checked around. I now no longer know if I want to hit my Queen or not.

Turn 6

Again I check. I wave the white flag.
My opponents both check. Interesting. Maybe I'm actually good here. I consider value betting the river.


River A

Well, there goes that plan. Time to lick my wounds and write this hand off. I check.


Check.


Check.

No side pot. We all stare at each other as if someone just brought a monkey to a cock fight, then made an inane reference about it at the poker table.

After about 4 hours of confused staring, button shows JJ. I meekly flip my QQ. Tilty stares at his hand for about 3 days, then mucks.

I motion resignedly towards the all in. Looks like his AK is good. Or A6. Or whatever the **** he has.

He stares there with his jaw dropped a bit, and slowly tables TT. I've seen that look on a man's face before. It's the look you get when you stab someone's puppy. Or, at least I imagine that's the look you get. I assume. Look, I never stabbed a puppy. But you get the idea. And I like puppies. Let's move on.

I scoop.

This is by far the best hand I ever won with QQ (not the biggest pot, but the scoop basically felt like free money.) I had already given up on the hand sometime around the 5th PF raise. And now on the seemingly worst possible board for my hand.

With the all-in player and dry side pot none of us really had bluff equity to rep anything other than what we had. The total dynamics and oddity of the hand made it a fairly unique situation.

Not the biggest pot or most exciting hand, just one of the stranger/more unique ones I have come across.

Immediately after the hand the button racked up and left.

QQ is a hand that has taken much from me in my lifetime. A hand my wife says I should "never ever ever play again fold it don't look at it just muck it and move on."

But today, the bitches prevailed.

Today, for the first time ever in my poker career, I won a pot with Queens.

Today I became a man.

Lol. Well put.

560r tournament.

300/600 75. Blinds rising next hand, and rebuy period will expire. (Tho I have no intention of rebuying)

Hand prior a player "bluffed me" when I folded and he showed 3rd pair. (I had a missed draw)

I have a 60k stack.Villain about equal. Average stack 42k.

I am UTG+1. We are 9-handed.
--
UTG limps
I make it 1700 pf with J J

SB, BB and UTG all call.

Flop 5 5 9

Checked to me I bet 4000 SB calls.

Turn Q

SB checks. I bet 7k he insta repops to 30k.

Main concern is Qxcc. TJCC, AT, and QT also make sense. I have 30k behind.

I opt to flat after a minute and plan on calling off most situations. A 5 doesn't add up to me here.

River 3

He quickly shoves. I tank call just to run everything through my mind again. If I was good on turn and I called nothing changed. I call.

He tables 9T. I cover by a few hundred.

The way he bet, the sizing, speed and board texture just didn't make sense. Just glad he had a 9 and not a Q.

Guy in my right has an amazing tell. He is prob ChipLeader, and I am not far behind.

When he is bluffing, he tosses his chips with his left hand with a flourish.
When he is strong he bets with hit right hand quickly.
When he is on a draw, left hand underhand.
When he is medim strength right hand drops.

It's been 100% so far. 99.9% he doesn't read these forums.

FML if he does

32 players left. Top 5 chip stacks all at my table.

I'm either 2 or 3.

2nd In chips with 30 left. Out 26th.

I should have folded.

Yes you should have.

Cash game. 2/5. 2 limpers. I have KK. Make it 35.

Player on tilt repops to 150. With 400 effective. Original limpers snap calls. I shove all In for about 900 (limpers has me covered
Tilty calls. Limpers hems haws folds.

Ten high board tilty shows TT.

3rd time I got it in PF woth overpair today. 0-3

Guess I cursed the poker gods after all.

-2260 at one point last night (including tournament)

finished +550

I'll take it. May have been my best week ever at 2/5. Way I am playing right now considering taking an early 10/25 shot next week.

Will see how much pain tolerance I have come Wednesday.

2/5. I have ~600 effective.

K T UTG I raise 15

UTG+1 makes it 65. 5 callers. Everyone calls. (pot: $410)

Flop A89hh A 9 8

Checked around

Turn J

Checked to CO who bets 145 with 400 behind.

2 folds I flat because I want as many callers possible. If I hit I win. Draw to nut str8 and nut heart flush.

UTG+1 shoves for ~470 effective total.

Folded to me. I call getting more than a fair price (he has me slightly covered). (Pot~$1500)

River 6

And just like that, I climb mostly out of the rather deep hole I was in earlier.

If tomorrow goes well and I manage to book a solid win at 5/10 Wednesday, may take a shot with week's profits at 10/25 Wed PM, depending on lineup.

And by that, I mean only if it looks hella tough. I'm willing to pay for the lessons if I have to.

2/5 500bi

Deep table. I just joined. Have $625. Villain has me covered. Table has over $15k on it.

I'm in the SB. Villain, an older rec player I don't know well, but do know based on some prior experience that his bet sizing has a direct correlation to hand strength. UTG+1

Villain opens $75 (!) UTG+1. 1 caller. I have K K. I Flat, and not to trap.

I figure I'll re-evaluate on the flop.

Flop: K 7 5

*ding* Evaluation over.

I check. Other 2 players check.

Turn T

I lead out $150. Villain calls.

River 2

I shove for remainder of my stack. Villain folds.

PF I actually considered folding. (As well as raising.) Given the limited info I had at the time, does anyone fold/raise here? Not used to the old 15BB open. Gotta assume it is weighted heavily towards AA, but h2/5 500bi

Deep table. I just joined. Have $625. Villain has me covered. Table has over $15k on it.

I'm in the SB. Villain, an older rec player I don't know well, but do know based on some prior experience that his bet sizing has a direct correlation to hand strength. UTG+1

Villain opens $75 (!) UTG+1. 1 caller. I have KK. I Flat, and not to trap.

I figure I'll re-evaluate on the flop.

Flop: K 7 5

*ding*

I check. Other 2 players check.

Turn T

I lead out $150. Villain calls.

River 2

I shove for remainder of my stack. Villain folds.

PF I actually considered folding. (As well as raising.) Given the limited info I had at the time, does anyone fold/raise here? Not used to the old 15BB open. Gotta assume it is weighted heavily towards AA, but heavy enough to make KK OOP a fold? Is not raising Pf lighting money on fire?

Because of how good the games have been lately, I opted to wait a week before heading out to MDL.

Either something has really clicked in my game the past month or so or I am just on a ridic heater at the moment. Right now I just feel like no matter how deep into the game I get or how bad my luck may seem, that if I just gut it out everything will fall into place.

Just been an unreal couple of weeks at 2/5 for me. Have an outside shot at braking my monthly 2/5 record, despite not really playing that many hours the first 2 weeks.

I know this thread gets hits, but dunno if people enjoy the HH I'm posting or if the commentary is becoming tedious. At this level, most hands you come across are fairly "standard," so not sure if the half-assed "analysis" and color commentary is just becoming a giant wall if text, much like this post.

Anyway, here's to a strong May close out.

Love the thread and the HH's sir. Keep crushing!

Started reading from page 5 & this is pretty entertaining and informative.
The HH & insight to your thought process are great IMO.
Def gonna read the first few pages & continue to follow.

Three weeks later and he still hates you for this... He mentioned it again at the table yesterday when you walked past.

Add another one to the list...

should get over it in 100 million years or so