Ah, he sounds +ev for you as long as his toolish tendencies do not annoy you to the point of distraction from your game.

W/KTo

Fold the to the turn barrel, im over-folding up to KQ OTT in this spot. Unless i have a read villain opens a wide range and double barrels worse in his value range/goes for thin value OTT. Once villain bets on this turn he has a very small/none bluffing range we have to hope he raised with K8 or K9 etc...

I rarely ever call flop + turn with weak top pair anymore facing 2 barrels... it's never good unless vs. a LAG/maniac.

AP, bet/fold OTR.

Nice call and live tell btw i will def use that in game!

They didn't annoy me at all. He walked around, observed the table for like literally 10-15 minutes, had all these people coming up to talk to him,....they didn't annoy me one bit.

Speaking of tools, played with a massive one last night. So the scene is that the table was fairly friendly and talkative. Except for one player. Looked to be about 30 and had tool aura written all over him. We'll get more on him in a little bit. Anyways, one of the players who was having a good time next to him was getting low on reds, so he took $100 in reds to put on the table from his stash and put $100 in greens in his pocket. Perfectly allowed. The tool guy threw the BIGGEST HISSY FIT EVER. Literally called the floor over, got pissed, raised his voice and everything. Two other players at the table confirmed what he did with the chip exchange. The tool guy DEMANDED that they go look at the cameras. Cameras confirmed what the other two players had said. However, it was too late and the table broke because of that one tool.

Really? Huh. That might be a difference from online to live. I know online it's a pretty standard call-call-decide on a board like that from the BB against CO being 6-handed. So that's pretty much the line I took, but it definitely is a different dynamic live.

Thanks! That tell by the way is one I remember reading way back when from Phil Gordon's Little Green Book. First poker book I ever read.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I played two back to back sessions, both losers. 4 session losing streak! The one last night, the table was pretty good. I had position on one of the loosest, aggressive older ladies I had ever seen. She was probably 80% VPIP and blasting away postflop. Four hands I wanted to mention from here, chronologically.

First one, we're 8 handed. 3 limps to SB who raises to...$5. I look at 88 in BB and flat. Everyone else does too. SB is a middle aged white guy who has me covered. I have about $300

Flop ($25): 854
SB bets $10, I raise to $35 (think this should be bigger), folds to SB who calls.

Turn ($95): 3
SB donks $35. This spot right here is interesting. Why would he donk bet here? He doesn't have 76 and he doesn't have a set. If he has an overpair, I highly doubt that it's donk betting here. Is it a flush? But what flushes can he possibly have? AK, AQ, maybe AJ and KQ. If I raise, is it a raise/fold? This just confuses the crap out of me. I called. I'm still not sure whether calling or raising is the right play.

River ($165): 2
Well that wraps the hand up for me. SB bets $100, I fold quickly. SB shows AK

Next hand I'm excited about. we're 6 handed and old lady raises to $7. She has a very weak range. Older black guy calls, I call with 88 in CO. With a plan....Tool guy in SB 3bets to $45. This was his 3rd or 4th 3bet in an hour from the SB. He had 3bet my open before. I had JJ in CO, he 3bet to $35, I called and folded on an AQT flop. Old lady and older black guy folds. I jam for ~$200. It's the move I had been using pretty frequently online before I stopped playing. The call with a middling pair and 4bet the SB 3bettor. He calls. Flop runs 42QJ7, I flip over my 88 and mhig. He looks a little tilted.

Which leads to the biggest hand of the night. Tool guy limps UTG. Younger looking black guy calls. This black guy is the one who the fiasco was about, but this was before then. 2 other callers. I look at KK in BB and raise to $16. UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, fold fold.

Flop ($52): 963
Dry board. So I bet for $35, UTG calls, UTG+1 jams for $90 effective. This is an easy call. Then UTG jams for $250 more. What do we do here?



The last hand from the session I want to go over. Old lady raises to $7 UTG. UTG+1 calls, I call in UTG+2 with KQ, folds to BB who calls.

Flop ($29): Q94
Check, Old lady bets $12, fold, I raise to $35. I think this is good. It's a value bet. I've seen her make this play with like 97 before. She's probably calling if she has a heart and I can get value from her worse Qx hands. BB folds, Old lady raises to $114 and I'm just like wtf and fold.

4 hours 50 minutes
-$127

-----------------------

Then the session today was a short one. I think the poker gods are pissed at me. I actually wrote down every hand I played for a raise (not counting limps). So yes, this is going to be a luck based rant type of HH.

First, I raise AA to $11 UTG. UTG+1 calls, MP calls. SB moves AI for $140. History between me and SB. He cbet an AA7 flop 4 way, I flatted with 99, and he xf the 7 turn when I bet. I also flatted his BTN iso with JT in BB after SB called and check/raised a KQ9 flop after he cbet and SB called. So I do a little bit of hollywooding and smooth call. Runout:

95272

And with a slight smirk he flips over AK

Then a couple of hands later, there is one limp and I raise QT in HJ. BTN, BB, and limper call.

Flop: ($41) T62
Dry board. Checks to me, I bet $22, BB calls. He is unknown MABG drinking some sort of health homemade drink.

Turn ($85): 7
BB donk bets $22. WTF? I have to call being give 5 to 1. Could be a weaker T, some straight draw and pair, some flush draw.

River ($129): 2
A decently safe card. Takes away 76 and 2 combos of 22. He bets $40, I call and he shows AK

Seems very questionable by him, but give him credit for getting the max from me.

Another hand, I pfr 66 in UTG+1 to $10. That's literally the border pocket pair for me. MP player calls along with BB first AKs guy. MP looks to be an aggressive youngerish white guy.

Flop ($31): A59
Checks to me, I cbet to $18, MP calls and BB folds.

So I'm hoping that I have a tighterish image to him.

Turn ($67): 3
I bet $35. Seems like a valueish amount to me, probably could make it $40. Yes, I do plan on triple barreling here. I'm putting him on 55/99/A7-Q. I think a triple can get all of his A7/8/T/J to fold which constitutes a lot of his range. And if he has A9/55/99, the turn is probably a raise. So he just flats.

River ($137): 4
I bet $110, sticking with my plan. He calls relatively quickly with AK. I didn't think that was in his range and if it is it's not a hand I'm targeting for a fold. As a caution to the reader, I picked this spot because of the opponent (a player who seems to be thinking) and the turn action (just calling the double barrel instead of raising at any point). If this was the normal 1/2 player, I'm x/f the flop.

Then the last hand was just a kick in the nuts. Folds to me who raises to $10 with AQ. BTN calls. BTN seems like a bad semi aggressive player and a little on tilt.

Flop ($23): Q83
Very similar to a hand I played a couple of months ago. I cbet to $15, he raises to $30. I move all-in for about $160 total. He heems and haws and calls.

Turn: A
River: T
He flips over, of course, K9. I gtfo of there and take the rest of my initial $700 with me.

1 hour 40 minutes
-$560

Last night wasn't the best I had played. Today I felt like I was playing very close to my A game. But hey, the fish have to get lucky to keep playing. And boy have they gotten lucky the last week or so. But there is also a few mistakes on my end too. Can't blame everything on luck.

Well i mean i fold to double barrels more in general vs. str8 forward/tight villain's esp (old man looking TAG's) as long as they don't over-play some weak TP's in their range OTT vs. us.

Vs. these villains double barrels esp on brickish turns are going to be so value heavy/they are imbalanced way towards value in this spot, folding stuff like weak TP OTT is going to be the most exploitable play instead of re-evaluating the river.

W/88

OTF if villain bets his draws in this spot i'm going to be making it 40-50 on this board texture. I used to always 3x someone's bet on a drawy flop (like i would raise to 30 in this spot), but they are getting good pot odds to call so bigger sizing would be better esp IP.

Turn is tricky... reads would help in this spot, also knowing what villain is trying to accomplish with his weird bet sizing.

W/KK

I'm folding too man, sucks that he had over-played 98. Gross spot.

So from the "toolbag villains" point of view/eyes there is 260 in the pot OTF and he has 250 left and it's on him to act i don't see how this villain (being semi-competent) could just flat again when there is an SPR of 1 left. Also his line makes sense with a set or some 2pair combo after flatting ur flop bet, doubt this is a bluff esp MW with a fishy looking villain. Ugh those results tho... :l, seems like a close spot between UTG+1 villain too but we only gotta call 65...

If that villain thinks we are weak when we flat his 90 then i can see him over-playing 98o there because he just misjudges our range...

W/KQ

Sucks you ran into the top of her range, seems like a fine raise for value to me given ur reads, esp MW. Super standard nothing u can do lol.

W/QT

I'm folding OTT by default, i don't think he is ever leading Tx here esp with this sizing it can't be Tx + we block some Tx combos in his value range.

W/66

I'm one and done here... I like this sizing OTF for one and done you could argue to go pot size bet, but IMO there is no need in this spot if i have Ax i'm using this sizing. It also gives us a good price on our bluffs more importantly.

I might not even cbet with 66 in this spot depending on how i am perceived at the table/gameflow factors. If i've been to active and have shown down crappy hands and seem like im full of sht a lot i won't be cbetting OTF in this spot.

Not a lot of people like to 3-bet AK in live games, basically the tight rec fish don't because "it's not a made hand" lol and thus isn't a value hand like QQ+...

The donk on the turn when a backdoor flush draw appears is the backdoor flush draw ridiculously often.

I'll get to replying at some point tomorrow or monday when I have a chance.

So let's get to some of the bigger hands. I didn't really face many tough decisions today. Which is always a big plus. Quite a decent amount of decent sized pots though. This first one, looser looking OMC limps UTG. Folds to me in HJ who raises JJ in MP. HJ call, CO calls. Seems kind of unknown as of now. Loose playing SB also calls.

Flop ($43): KJ8
Bingo. SB checks, I bet $30. I think I can go this big, this board should smack everyone. HJ folds, CO and SB call.

Turn ($133): A
Well ****. SB checks. That's like the worst looking card for me. Both QT and spades get there. And knowing 1/2 players, there's a good chance at least one has them. I have like $250 behind at this point. Should we be betting here? I checked. I think I want to try and play a smaller sized pot now. CO checks as well, which is interesting.

River ($133): Q
Well double ****. SB bets like $50, I fold, CO calls. SB shows KT, CO shows AT

Also finally got a set to hold when all-in. It only took the person drawing absolutely dead to do it. AA > A7 AIOTT A76J

Here's a pretty interesting hand. UTG limps as well as UTG+1. UTG is the same OMC from above. He's loose, he's kind of passive, and he's not good at all. In fact the table was amazing the whole time I was there (except for the very end). I raise KJ to $11 in MP. CO calls. CO is down a ton. He's extremely loose, very bluff heavy, and maybe a bit tilted as well. UTG and UTG+1 calls.

Flop ($47): K4T
Checks to me. A decent flop. A lot of draws, but I do hold a good kicker and draw blockers. I bet $28. I should be able to just go $30 here. CO calls and OMC UTG calls.

Turn ($131): 6
UTG checks. I decide to check here as well. Pot control. UTG can be stronger than advertised, but I'm pretty positive CO is weak. CO bets $45. UTG calls, I call.

River ($266): 5
All draws missed! UTG checks, I check, CO bets $100. UTG calls $100 and now I'm in a pickle. I was SNAP calling CO's bet. When UTG calls, I'm befuddled. I tank fold. CO shows QT (I was right) and UTG shows lol 73 for the rivered straight. That would have been such a nice pot to scoop.

This next hand isn't big, I might have misplayed the flop, but I'm happy with it. One limp, I raise QQ in CO to $10. Tilted, down on his luck player flats in BB.

Flop ($23): KKJ
BB checks. I think I need to bet here, quite a few Jx and some spades I can get at least a street of value from. Instead, I check.

Turn ($23): 2
BB checks, I bet $11. BB raises to $25. Doesn't really make much sense, so I call.

River ($73): 2
BB bets $50, 2 greens. Now I'm really confused. I don't think he has a K ever. So I kind of tank a little bit and look at him. I cut out my calling chips and see him look at the TV above the table. EXACTLY what I was looking for. I super snap fold. Whatever he has, it was nutted because I'd seen him do that two times prior and both times have nuts. He flipped over 22 for the running quads. Live reads and tells for the....not losing so much!

My stack just dwindles and dwindles. It's been like every other session the last week where I'm either flopping nothing or have to fold my something good. In for $500, I'm down to about $250ish when I get my swing at the big mark. One limp, I raise to $10 in CO with JJ. BTN unknown (he would later turn out to literally play 100% of BTN and CO hands) calls and big mark in SB call.

Flop ($34): T84
Check, I bet $20 and they both call.

Turn ($94): 5
Check, I bet $50, BTN folds and mark goes AI for $70 total. I call, river is a 3. He flips over T6o and I think I lose for just a second before I realize it isn't two pair. Nice pot.

The only realize I put the above hand in is because that hand was the hand exactly before this hand happened. One limp, I raise to $10 with J9 in HJ. CO calls (BTN from above). SB 3bets to $25. SB is the down on his luck quads 2s guy from above. BB unknown flats. I'm priced in to call and so does CO.

Flop ($102): KTT
SB bets $50, BB calls $50. This is about as good of a flop as I can hope for. I have $334 behind. I don't think a T just shoves here, but I also don't think a T just flats either. I've only bet with strength and I think SB can fold. I'm unsure about BB but don't believe he has a T or KK. So whatever I do here feels awkward. I raise to $150. CO calls. SB asks how much I have behind. He tanks and tanks and then calls. BB folds.

So when he calls, he can have AA, AK, KK and almost nothing else. 18 combos I have a ton of outs against and can still fold. 3 combos I have 1 out against.

Turn: ($452): 8
SB checks. I jam for $184. SB tanks. I love it, because it means I have the best hand. He then calls. River is the 9. I flip over my hand, he flips over AK, and I scoop the huge $820 pot.

If I knew he couldn't fold AK no diamond, I don't think I make that play. I thought he could. But who knows, that play might be ok. Might actually be a hand I post in the LLSNL thread. Feels good to win again though! And sometime soon I'll post the chip stack I had, because I gotta post something to be in the challenge!

W/KJo MW Hand

I'm going to be betting turn for value/protection and playing as straight forwardly as possible in a MW pot vs. these fishies, there isn't really a reason to check. Checking for pot control seems to be outdated IMO, btw the 6 is a good card in general it's a brick. HU i'm more likely to check/have a checking range as opposed to MW in this spot.

AP, OTR it's a fold either way... CU likely has a pretty nutted hand given his line (suprised he showed up with that hand was it for value or a bluff then or did he over-play his hand?).

---

I love live poker because if you have TPTK+ in a spot you can't really go wrong/it can't be -EV to bet in most spots because you are often getting called by worse/are ahead of villain's range
...checking makes the hand harder to play esp MW + there often isn't a real reason to have checking ranges because villain's are so incompetent/str8 forward unlike compared to online.

Nice win btw

WARNING: TL;DR POST INCOMING

I guess with the KT hand, what value hands can they really have? 44, 3x, Kx but there seems to be so many of those cards accounted for that combinatorically he should have more bluffs than value. But I am using a word like combinatorically, and it's very rarely needed in live poker from what I've seen.

The hard part with the KK hand was what sets/hands can he really have? For as tool as he seemed, it seemed like he was one of the few competent players I'd played against. So a hand like 99/96/63/93 doesn't make much sense. AA maybe. 66 and 33 make sense. But again why isn't he just flatting? And on top of that, when everything I've seen with live poker meaning jams are the nuts in spots like this, how can I call that off? It's just a tricky tricky hand.

I might have gone a bit overboard with this hand. Probably because there was a hand the night before where I didn't triple barrel and the third barrel would have won the pot (instead of a chop). I have more Ax than villain does, but I also do think 66 makes a crappy triple barrel hand here. If, keyword being if, we do triple barrel here ever then we need something like KQ or KJ, hands that have the high Ax "blocker" effect. To be fair to the villain, if I'm in his shoes I'm probably not 3betting AK either against my UTG/UTG+1 open.

I think I tend to agree with this a bit. Why donk with a strong hand when he can check/raise with a strong hand? I raised preflop, I cbet into a few players, and the turn card really doesn't change much. So, unless I'm crazy enough to cbet a pure bluff (I might cbet Q9/J9/K9 as a bluff given my preflop raising range) then I'm betting the turn for value as well. He's not thinking that though.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Played a 4 hour session last night. When I arrived to the table, it was absolutely dead. I finally got to play with one of the players I see in there literally every time I'm there, he seemed relatively solid. Didn't get into any spots with him aside from him folding to my double barrel on like J83A. Anyways, a few hands.

This first one is more of a line check than anything. I raise KQ to $10 UTG. UTG+1 tilting white guy calls along with bad UTG+2 and BB.

Flop ($41): JT8
Check to me, I bet $25, both UTGs call and BB fold.

I think that's a standard cbet. Fold out some of those lower PP, maybe an A8/K8 and I've got some good barrel cards and outs, even multiway.

Turn ($116): 3
Literally the worst card in the deck. Even a jack is better. Do we continue betting or just check being first to act? And if we check, is it a check/fold?

Here's a super interesting one. So this is about 2 hours in. First time I had ever requested a seat change button. I wanted to be on the right of both one of the professional players that sat at the table and tilting white guy. All fold to HJ who limps. HJ is unknown, brought a $400 stack to the table and is an old white guy. Seems like he hates life or something. I raise to $10 with 99 in CO. SB calls. SB is a MAWG who has had a few drinks but is having friendly chatter at the table. BB folds, HJ calls.

Flop ($32): QT7
Checks to me, I check. Just seems like a bad board to cbet with my hand, essentially using it as a bluff to bluff out hands that aren't folding.

Turn ($32): 9
SB bets $7. HJ calls $7. I raise to $35, SB folds and HJ 3bets to $107. I have ~$220 behind. I seriously consider folding before thinking about the pot odds. I mean, it's a stereotypical OMC who ordered a black coffee from the waitress. This is literally KJ all the time. I'd bet $1,000 that it's KJ. But we go to pot odds. So I have to call $72 to win the now $188 pot. Straight up I need 28% to call. I don't have that against KJ. However I do think that since there are no flush draws, that IF the board pairs then I'm also getting another $150 from him. So then that makes it a call...right?



This next hand is also more of a line check. Meh seeming player opens to $10 UTG. He has me covered. Tilting white guy calls OTB. I look at QQ in BB. First question, this is an 8 handed table. Is this a squeeze or a flat? JJ seems like a clear flat, KK seems like a clear squeeze. QQ seems in the middle. I decide to just flat.

Flop ($31): JT3
Check, UTG bets $20, BTN calls and I call

Turn ($91): 9
I check. Here's the interesting part. UTG bets $25, BTN folds. Seems like a scared bet. My gut instinct here is to check/raise the scared looking bet. I have more straights/two pair/sets in my range than he does. If there is ever a time that I'm getting KK or AA to fold, I think this turn and this situation is it. Thoughts?



So I'm hovering around an $80 loss when the hand of the night happens. The professional player opens to $10 UTG. I know he has a wider range UTG than he should due to the few times I've played with him and observed him opening more than normal from UTG. He may also be on a little tilt, he said he had KK in a spot where he 3bet squeezed a young, aggro looking player, they 4bet him. XX J-lo-lo two heart flop and bet-fold to jam on lo heart turn. I flat KQo in MP (I think we're like 7 handed at this point). Brand new player flats in HJ or CO.

Flop ($33): K24
He bets $21. I call, HJ/CO calls.

Turn ($96): Q
Bink! UTG checks, I bet $65, HJ/CO calls and UTG thinks for a little and calls.

River ($291): 3
UTG bets $95. That's not what I expected. All draws missed. I think I've got ~$300 behind. I'd expect an A5s or 65s, if it were clubs or diamonds, to continue barreling the turn. It's such a confusing bet. Is he slowplaying 22/44? It doesn't make much sense. But if I raise, am I getting called by worse against a definitely competent player? That's the literal $200 question. I decided to just flat. There might be some missed value somewhere there but I'm not sure how much, if any. HJ/CO calls for his remaining $10. UTG announces 2 pair, I announce 2 pair and show my KQ. He mucks. So that makes it even more confusing. Is it 43 with a diamond draw? If he is raising that, then maybe raising is good. I'm not sure.

4 hours 5 minutes
+$213

I did think about betting the turn for value. It seems kind of....thin I guess? But given the hands some of these players call with, it probably isn't nearly as thin as I think. Against a normal CO, yeah the river is a fold. I had specific reads and hands on this guy seeing absurd bluffs and bets with just terrible hands and he was already in for like $1k.

I think im x-calling OTF and if it checks around stabbing almost all turns. We are MW, OOP, and bad board texture don't think it's a good spot to cbet even with this strong hand unless we are going to fire 3 barrels.

AP, im x-calling once OTT and giving up OTR. If it checks through prolly still not bluffing. We got 2 callers btw maybe if we were HU.

Played a small 3 1/2 hour session tonight. Up $222, a couple of meh plays and probably not my A game. But it's ok, just wanted to get some volume in before my birthday tomorrow...err I guess it's technically today.

Also got my new irons in today, they look swell. It's about time, I've had my old set of irons for 10 or so years, a starter set from Dick's.

Played my longest session of poker ever yesterday, a 10 hour session. Honestly I felt like I could have probably gone even longer if it wasn't for me getting tired and hungry.

For as long of a session as it was, there really weren't that many huge hands or tough decisions. A couple of mistakes on my part. For instance, a loose insane player limped UTG 7 handed, I raised QQ from MP, CO 3bet me. We had a friendly thing going but I had just bested him in a couple of pots where he said in one he folded the nut flush (don't believe it at all) and the other he folded AJ on A96r to my BB check/raise. UTG limper flats. He's not too deep at all, like maybe under $100. Me and CO are ~$600 deep. I flat the 3bet. I was debating between 4betting to ~$110 (he had 3bet to $35) or flatting, but I think if I 4bet and he 5bets I must fold. I also hadn't seen him 3bet before. Turns out he had AJ and the other player had A2.

There was also a very, very bad player that for the life of me I just could not beat. He was so bad but always showed up with a rivered boat or a stubborn bottom pair and bet these awful amounts. At one point through a stretch of about an hour, he probably had a 90 VPIP with a 70 PFR. Oh, except for the time when I limped his BTN straddle with JJ, re-popped his inevitable straddle raise, and flopped quad JJ. Probably why I couldn't flop a set all day....

Here is the one major hand that occurred. This was about 9 hours into the session. The table, which was never super soft, was even tougher at this point. The reg from the KQ hand a couple of sessions ago had sat down and there was really only one or two "bad" players at the table now. I was only at the table to last until the 10 hour mark. He raises to $10 in UTG+1 (we were 7-handed). Two callers, I call with 98 OTB, SB folds and BB calls. BB is the 3bettor from the QQ hand. We're about $500 effective.

Flop ($51): 984
I couldn't ask for a better flop. Checks to me surprisingly. I bet $27. It's a relatively dry board with not many draws except straight. Hence the smaller amount. BB calls, saying he doesn't like how calculated my bet is. All else fold.

Turn ($105): A
BB checks. Not a super great card, but it definitely could be worse. I also pick up the flush draw to go with my two pair. I bet $56. Again, on the smaller side because my hand feels like a virtual lock and I want to give whatever draws are out there the illusion of good odds. I like the bet size. I think if I go too much more, then he folds. But he calls.

River ($217): J
And BB donks for $115 after close to a minute thought. This definitely was not a snap it off kind of spot. I went into the tank. A9/A8/A4 surely are check/raising turn, right? 44 is raising at some point as well. Now the board was dry enough that I could see a small potential in 44 waiting until the river to bet. But not really any of the other two pair hands. He also respected my game, so I don't believe he has any J9/J8 in his range after the turn. What AJ? There is surely some AJ imo. Could potentially float with the BDFD and overs, call the bet then donk out. I don't think there is enough though and I'm not sure he would have called the flop with it. But if he has AJ, he also has AT and AQ. What about the straights? Only T7 and QT get there. I don't believe he is calling turn with QT, but he can with JT, 76, and T7....if he even does. So adding it up overall (and thought of all of this) there are just too many potential bluffs compared to value hands, and with his straights I haven't given him a reason to believe I won't bet the river. So I call and MHIG. After I make the call he said he put me on KK or QQ and thought I would fold those (I'm 3betting those hands preflop).

Other than those couple of spots I point out I really had a bit of a struggle getting anything going. Not many pairs, my bluffs very rarely worked other than the flop check/raise...it was a grind. But I am happy with breaking the double digit hour mark and winning when running kind of average on a non-soft table.

10 hours
+$275 ($100 from promotion)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also want to take some time to say this. Sometimes it's good to have a day every once in a while where you just enjoy something different. Me and my gf went to the zoo on Thursday. Absolutely beautiful weather (65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and only a slight breeze) and it was just peaceful and tranquil. I think too often we don't enjoy nature enough and it's calming, relaxing powers. I'm definitely going to get in more zoo time and more golf time in this summer. Recharges the batteries much better than any sort of in home relaxation methods.

I played at a couple of the funnest tables the last two days. Unfortunately that hindered my ability to jot down big hands, tough decisions and the like. I think it's more EV to do it that way though because if the rest of the table is having fun and you're just sitting there, silent, then you become viewed as the serious nit.

As for Saturday, I played 5 hours and first orbit had this hand. Raised AA to $10 UTG, UTG+1 unknown MABG flats.

Flop ($23): 882
I bet $13, he raises to $26. I'm flatting here. I'm not scared of anything on this board so much rather keep his bluffs in.

Turn ($75): 2
I check, he checks. Interested. Here is where I make the mistake I think...

River ($75): K
I check. I think that might be a mistake. My hand is too underrepped to just check and hope for a shove from his remaining $35. I need to just bet the $35. He bets $15 (wtf?), I put the remaining $20 in and he calls with KK.

I think the line up the to the river is good. It's exactly what we want on that kind of board. If he ever has bluffs, he's just folding the flop. I could be wrong though.

The table becomes one of the most passive tight tables I've seen, so I just start raising almost ATC. This one, I raise 93 from CO. Unknown SB calls. Kind of newer to the table, looks like he might have some sort of clue.

Flop ($21): 727
He checks, I bet $13, he calls.

Turn ($47): 5
He checks. He can float the flop with a hell of a lot of hands, and now this turn he can float again with some big spades. So I bet $25. He calls. I do plan on bluffing rivers.

River ($97): 3
He donks for $35. WTF? The only value hand that makes any sense is 22 and 55. Not 7x, probably not flushes. So it's a very narrow range. So yes, I do think for a little and call. Sure enough, he shows the 22. This might be too loose and optimistic of a call and with him being unknown, I probably should take the simple answer route.

Soon after an aggro young looking kid sits down to my direct left. So I request a seat change to be on his left. I'm positive he knows what I'm doing, but the others don't and I just play it off as an unlucky seat. My suspicions are soon confirmed. He's raising a whole bunch of junk and relentlessly cbetting and barreling. I get into two pots with him, both of which I win and are about $200 pots. I didn't get any hands to light 3bet him with though, which I was looking for.

So after being down like $250, I eek out a $6 profit over 5 hours. A winning session is a winning session. What made the table so fun was the presence of a little old lady who, I kid you not, was her first time playing poker poker instead of like 3 card poker against the dealers. And she went on such the hot streak and was having a blast. She lightened up the table's mood even though she was beating almost all of us....until she busted.

-----------------

Then last night I played a 4 hour session after work. One real big hand. Never really flopped much of anything, I've gone seemingly a long time without flopping a set. Or a pair really. The one big hand of the night that I had....

1 folded 7 handed, I raise A9 UTG+1. A lady who has her chips in the rack but seems kind of gamboly calls along with BB. Neither seem great.

Flop ($31): 652
Checks, I bet $20, both call. Hmmm.

Turn ($91): K
BB checks. This is a good card for me. I can rep AK because that's all live players know and I have tons of outs when called. I bet $50. It's a bluff size for sure. Lady quickly calls with 2 greens. I mean quickly. Doesn't seem strong at all. BB folds.

River ($191): 9
Now I have SDV. If I bet, I'm not getting called by worse. But if I check, she can bet a lot of the time. So I check. She very quickly bets 3 greens, and I very quickly call. She shows 44 and my A9 takes the $340 pot.

That hand is just me knowing more about poker than her. She probably doesn't know that she doesn't have any strong hands that play in this mannerism. 87, but that's one hand compared to like a 64, 44, 33, 54, missed diamonds, other pairs, etc.

No real other hands after that. 4 hours +$200.

-----------------------------------

I also just reached the 200 hour mark of the live poker journey! The first 100 hours I was trying to just understand the live game. This second 100 hours I started paying attention more to players' mannnerisms and any tells that I could get. I also started realizing that a lot of the players I may have....say, "feared", really aren't that good. I've started double barreling a bit more on cards I usually wouldn't. I'm opening more and in general feeling like I have more of a control on how live poker works. I also experienced a 6 BI downswing and can say it didn't really affect me. Especially that last session of the downswing, I got the money in good for heaps for both all-ins and just lost. I saw terrible river cards and it helps mentally.

I've also made ~$5k in total profit from live poker so far. So my hourly, with promos included, is $25/hr. (Technically, I have $4,980 in profit...). Without promos it's $21/hr. I think that $25/hr without promos is definitely feasible at 1/2 at this casino. The good players aren't terrifying and the bad players are just bad. But I still need to study and work on my game. Why be satisfied with a $25/hr WR at 1/2 when, maybe I can get a $30 at 1/2 and soon move up to 2/5? We can always get better. Always.

Played the most carddead session I've had in quite some time. I only received a pocket pair 3 times in 4 hours. Now normally I wouldn't bring that up. But....

-1 was 88. Meh.
-The other two were AA and KK. I won an AIPF with the AA and won a $250ish side pot with the KK AIPF (AJ did a lollimpraise AI for $70 and wound up with two pair).

So, I guess run good in the PP department?? Also made a couple of 3bet squeezes against weaker players in situations I normally wouldn't. First one was easy, 3bet AQo OTB against a weak opener and bad caller, flop comes A-rag-rag and TID with a cbet. Second one I stretched it to ATo and made a value sized cbet on Q-rag-rag and TID.

Did misplay at least one hand that I can remember. PFR K9o to $7 OTB, BB very meh player calls. Flop comes J97. Check, I check. Not a good spot for me to check. I have position and much worse hands can call, so I should cbet to like $10. He calls, I'm still in position as the aggressor and can control the pot. Anyways, turn is a 4 and again I fail to bet. TBH I might have been very tired at this point and just not thinking correctly. River is an A, I see a different mannerism in him, he checks. Now I bet $10 and get snapped by A2o. I deserved to lose that one as I made a mistake on each street. And what makes it worse is that the prior day, I went over a similar spot in a video where it's suggested to bet with 2nd pair good kicker in position. So that was definitely annoying even though it was a small pot.

Also very annoying to get two outed twice by the same player. Once was AJs, I cbet on J52r, he calls and has $28 left. Turn is a 4 i put him AI and he calls with...44. Then I get a BB special with Q4 on Q945, bet and get called. River is a 5 with all draws missing, I check/call as a bluff catcher and he shows 54.

But something I'm noticing is that if I lose a pot, it's almost always against a boat. I lost to a boat twice last night in 4 hours, 3 times in 4 hours the previous session and I'm sure 2 or 3 the session before that. I never knew boats were so easy to get! BUT! The point isn't to complain. The point is to show that if they're only calling down with decent sized pots with boats....I should be able to bet and steal more pots. Which I'm starting to do a bit more of now that I'm decently acclamaited to live poker. And I hear some absurd things as well. One of the things I heard last night from a player I've played a lot with. He checked the third nuts on the river after min checkraising the turn. He said that he was scared of the 76. The board was something like 8543Q rainbow. What? And then on another board they have Q2 on T2Q23. 4th nuts. There was no preflop raising or anything, pretty sure there was just a limp. And he was scared of a bigger boat. But the thing is, the only boat that would make any semblance of sense is 33 given the way the hand played. QT, Q9, 23, bluffs are all there. Ironically, the other player did have 33 but I was just mindblown.

I think my mind is getting used to the nature of live poker. Anyways, we are officially at the high profit mark despite not really running even average during this stretch. Not that far away from having a BR that can shot take 2/5...already!

4 hours
+$225

--------------------------------------------------------------

I was also looking at these breifly. Cross posted from my last thread:

Pokerwise? These are my 2016 goals:

-Start my live journey once I get my taxes. To do this...
-Put in lots of online volume in January/February
-Read the next book, Applications of No Limit, and take thorough notes on it.
-Play 20 hours/week once I do go live (much easier for me to put volume in live)
-Try to achieve a $20/hr WR at 1/2
-Shot-take 2/5 live by the end of the year
-Bink 1 MTT

So.....halfway through the year and I'm pretty much at the biggest goal. Not bad.

I think you can bet at a mixed frequency, K9-A9 are very good candidates as cbets as you get called by a lot worse, but cb is completely fine as well. Turn/River are the mistakes, easy delay cbet on the turn and river is easy c/b.


Looks like you've done well on the live side, the online background definitely puts you on a massive advantage technically.

Good luck with your 2/5 shots!

Thanks! Yeah I do agree with that. If nothing else at least for sure I've gotta bet the turn. The second pair/GK does make good flop xb candidates, but if I'm flop xb then I either have to delay cbet good turn cards or just put it in a bluff catching range. Which means don't bet the river on a terrible card where we can't get called by worse.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Played a short 4 hour session yesterday. Definitely wasn't on my A game. I'd be surprised if I was on my B game as well. The table dynamic when I got there was like 4 or 5 crazy maniacs, including one who would pop it up to $35 every hand preflop. I did win a $160 pot against him with A-hi at showdown, and then lost a $300 pot multiway with AK when he raised, I backraised, he called with 44 along another player. Board runs out 56TJ9. I should be cbetting the flop almost 100% of the time, even though it is MW. I didn't, I didn't raise the small bet on the turn, and I didn't shove on the river when it was obvious the bettor had nothing. Not sure what the crazy maniac had when it got to me. He won the hand with 44.

Then I went on to play another mistake hand where I limped AQo UTG because of the maniac....yeah, I had planned on raising him when he raised. But he didn't, and instead it was a decent player who raised. The whole hour or two of that table was just a weird dynamic and I played horrendously. Wound up actually losing to A2 on a AT825 board when another big rec player bet big on the river. Tanked and called.

Eventually the table got to 4 handed. This hand happened. A seemingly competent player, the same one who I tried the triple barrel bluff on with 66 a few weeks ago, opened to $10 UTG. I see A5 OTB and 3bet him to $30. I think it's a fine play 4 handed; it'd be much different 9 handed. He flats.

Flop ($63): 652
He checks. I bet $35 and he calls. I think I have to cbet here. He can call with much worse and if he doesn't, I have 6 outs + BDFD and position.

Turn ($133): J
It's an ok card. He checks, I bet $75. He thinks and calls.

So when he calls this turn bet, I know he has a pair. I'm pretty sure it's somewhere between 66 and JJ. So the plan here is to jam these cards:
-A, K, Q
-Hearts
-5
-T
That's 24 cards. The reason I'm not barrel jamming other cards is because I think he can find a call. If he does have 77, 88, 99, TT then he has second pair and we do have a history of me trying the triple barrel bluff. Whether he remembers that or not is anyone's guess. I don't think he has many Jx in his range. Maybe an AJs that flopped a BDFD, but there are just two combos of that

River ($283): 6
He checks. This is probably the worst card in the deck for me. On one hand, it does take away 2 combos of 66, leaving just 5 combos of flopped sets. On the other hand, his 77-TT comfortably has two pair. And I'm only jamming for value here with JJ-AA, maybe if I'm frisky enough to 3bet 55 or 22. It would be a credible story, but there are more AK/AQ barrels than value hands. So I check back and he shows 77 FTW.

Then this last hand I want to share. Some guy, I think I played with him Sunday night, had been fairly active preflop. One limp, he raises to $8 in CO. Folds to me in SB who looks at KQ. I 3bet to $26. Seems like a fine size. He calls.

Flop ($56): 359
I cbet to $30. It's a board he just is going to give up on unless he has a big diamond. He calls.

Turn ($116): A
At the time I thought this was a great card to represent. We are deep enough to give him implied odds if he has like a K or Q, but he probably knows I'm not paying him off. So quite a few hands should comfortably fold. I bet $60. He goes all-in. FML. I fold, he shows AT. So he pretty much had the one card I didn't want him to have.

Looking at it away from the table though, if he has any floats, a lot of them are going to be like TT, JJ. Already flopped flushes. AXx, KXx. He also has a few more AXx combos than KXx. The pair + FD could feasibly raise the flop as well with the overpair and FD. So if I break it down into his range:

TT/JJ - Raising flop maybe 60% of the time (if they have a diamond). Folding turn 100% of the time without a diamond.
Flopped Flushes - Raising turn 100% of the time, raising flop 40% of the time
AXx - Calling flop 90% of the time, raising ~10%. Calling turn ~30% (depending on his kicker), raising 70% (this one might be off a bit)
KXx - Calling flop 100% of the time (don't think he is raising ever unless he is capable of bluffing, which idk). Calling turn ~70% of the time, folding ~30%

He can have sets, but I do expect those to raise flop 100% of the time.

So as you can see, there shouldn't be much folding OTT from his flop calling range. I'm targeting 3 combos each of JJ/TT (I guess he can have 88 as well??) and a few KXx combos. I do like the flop cbet though as a lot of better hands are just folding. The turn cbet is just too optimistic, and on a better day I go through all of this and just check/fold turn.

Today however I am doing some studying before I go. Instead of videos, I'm going to look at different flops and turns with my range against different ranges and see where I can improve cbetting and double barreling. I get to play a long saturday night session today since I don't have to be up to work at all tomorrow! And it's a holiday weekend so there is a good chance the games will be just as good as Friday nights.

4 hours
-$326 (+$100 promotion) yikes

#frustrating

Best word that can sum up yesterday's long session. I was actually up almost $400 until the black chip.

The black chip curse. Some white guy who looked like he knew poker (brought a book with him and just got that vibe) asked if I could trade $100 in reds for his black. I said sure, forgetting about the black chip curse. A few hands later, it began. But first, going in chronological order. All the hands I won seemed pretty straightforward. There was one hand before the black chip curse that I had a question about.

One limper. Down on his luck kind of guy, never positive. A player who has been very active both pre and post raises to $10 UTG+1. 3 callers. The raiser has about a $150 stack. I see 66 in the SB. First, is this a good spot to squeeze, or is it better to flat knowing that neither the BB or limper will backraise? I debated both options. In the end, I flatted. If I squeeze here, it'd probably be something like (2+10+10+10+10=42) $55. I raise to $55, he jams for $140 more, making it $85 to me in a $237 pot and I have to call being an underdog for sure. We go 7 ways to the flop.

Flop ($70): 743
Checks to original PFR who bets $40. One player calls. This player is very sticky, has weird bet sizes and seems a bit too aggressive with all of her hands. So there's $150 in the pot. Is this a good spot for calling or jamming? If we call, we have maybe 6 outs. But if we raise, we're folding out a bunch of original PFR overcards and maybe some smaller overpairs/7x (if he has those). I also block the nuts hard and it's going to be difficult for the caller to call a raise to, say, $200. There are still two players left to act behind me. But I also think her range isn't strong necessarily. I played with her Friday and she wasn't slowplaying anything. Both of us at this juncture are like $700 deep.

So going into flopzilla, I gave her a calling range of:
99, 88, 76s and 76o, 54s and 54o, 66, 55. 87, 97s, K7s, A7s, A7o.

So basically her range is very weak. Let's say we even add some slowplayed sets which I don't think she has. She's still folding every 7, every pair + GS, maybe even some of the overpairs. She's folding ~85% of her flatting range here, and I'm risking $200 to win $150. I need her to fold just 57% of the time which I have. I'm not too worried about the original raiser as he can literally have ATC just about.

Analyzing it, it seems like I missed a good bluff spot. Tell me what you guys think about my thinking. I just ABC folded.

Then it starts with this hand. Thre limps to me, I raise AQ to $12 in BB. UTG calls and BTN calls. UTG is an old, passive, tight player who we'll talk about later. BTN is unknown.

Flop ($38) Q62
I bet $21. UTG calls, BTN folds.

The next street is a mistake.

Turn ($80): 3
I CHECK. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I need to bet here. I can get value from so much worse and I just liuishfliuuawhilnwalicnwalincwwrfergpgrp. He checks too.

River ($80): 3
I bet $35 for some thin value. He calls. I flip over my TPTK, he shows AT for a flopped flush. WTF?????

Insert black chip

We're 6 handed. I raise JTo to $10 in HJ. BB calls. He's the unknown but seems like he's probably played a lot of online poker in his past type of profile. He has ~$110 behind.

Flop ($21): J87
He checks. I bet $14. He raises to $40. I tank a little bit.

This board from my online days is the perfect board for one of the blinds to check/raise as a bluff or semi-bluff. It's hard for the EP player to continue without a monster and the blinds can get a ton of folds since their range hits this harder than EP. So....

Value Hands: T9 (12), 87 (9), J8 (6), 88 (3), 77 (3), AJ (8), KJ, QJ
Bluffs: 98 (12), JT (6), 97 (12), T8 (9), AT, A9, KT, KQ, K9, Q9, QT

These numbers might be off, but adding it up it seems like 43 value hands to 46 bluff combos. Now obviously I couldn't do all the math on the spot, but I knew there were more bluffs than value so I jammed for $108 total. I have decent equity even against his value range. He thinks and calls after about 20 seconds and shows KK.

Shockingly, the more overpairs I add the better my equity gets. But that also means if he is flatting KK in this spot 6 handed, he is never 3betting anything so he could easily have more value than bluffs. But doing the analysis away from the hand makes me even more confident that the decision was correct.

Next this hand. 4 limpers, I raise TT to $15 OTB. SB calls after thinking for a little bit. Which means he probably has a decent hand, but not AA/KK. He is the same player who had the AThh from earlier. 3 total callers.

Flop ($64): 962
Checks to me, I bet $40. Only SB calls.

So when SB calls, I don't think he is necessarily strong. He definitely has all the QQ/JJ in his range, but also some heart draws, maybe some 9x, 88. By the way, we're about $500 effective

Turn ($144): K
He checks. This is a great turn card for me. I can get literally his entire range to fold here. His heart draws might be sticky, but there aren't that many and he is making a mistake calling with a naked heart draw. So I bet $85. He tanks for a bit and calls.

River ($314): 5
He donk bets for $85. WTF? This takes me for a loop and I start thinking. I only need to be good ~17% of the time to make this call. But what hands are making this bet and this small? What hands does he have left?

I'll give him two combos of 87s. Definitely hearts and one other combo, just in case. So

Value: 87s (2), AK, KQ, KJ, A9, AQ, AJ, QJ

9 value combos. So then....what, if anything, does he bluff? I only need to find 2 combos that he bluffs. Let's begin!

Bluffs: Ummmmm.....did he look at his hand? Is he playing blind? No, I mentioned he looked at his cards. Ummm....

It was at this moment when I was thinking about bluff combos that someone called clock. I'd been thinking about 45 seconds. But seriously, for a bystander to call clock in a $400 pot when it's clear I'm not hollywooding? First off, to whoever did this, you are an *******. I asked a couple of players who it was and they didn't know either but it came from the other end. I knew seat 2 wouldn't, so it was either 1 or 4. 1 looked like he had a stick shoved up his ass. I wasn't fond of 4 but wasn't sure she would do it. Doesn't matter. Before that moment, I just about had my mind made up to fold. When someone calls clock though on a hand that big it really does mess up the thought process. My thought process was that he has no bluffs here. He made it so small, but I can't come up with a single hand that's bluffing.

So I folded. I wanted to call so badly because of the price and I take away a good amount of the flushes. He showed, sure enough, KJ. That's probably at the bottom of his range too. That's a hand that, if a heart doesn't come, I can get to fold with a river jam.

Then about 2 hours of getting J4o and 83o. Or flopping TPTK against the BB's flopped two pair. Or their turned flush. I played what I thought was pretty good, definitely much better than Friday. If Friday was my D game, yesterday was an A-/B+ game. I just ran super terrible the last 6 hours of the session.

8 hours 10 minutes
-$80

The softest table line-up ever. The table shockingly stayed very intact during the entire 8 hours I was there. At one point, my original $400 buy-in stack was 6th or 7th deepest at the table. And it was soft. So the main characters:

Seat 1: Me. Young white kid, have played with seat 5 and 7 before. Generally tight, aggressive, try to play ABC.
Seat 4: MABG. His stack fluctuates between $500 and $1k all session. Definitely fairly LAG. May try to bluff a bit too much but in general I think he knows what he is doing.
Seat 5: Older white guy, but not an OMC. Has frequented the 2/5 tables a lot. Very talkative but a nice guy overall.
Seat 7: MAWG. I was shocked when one of the players told me he was a decent player. I played with him one before and yesterday and he didn't seem good at all. Berating players under his breath. His stack never really gets over $300
Seat 8: Glen from the Walking Dead. I don't watch it religiously but I did watch the first 3 or so seasons. Literally looks like him. His stack never goes under $1k. Seems to be a meh player. Not that good, but not horrendous. I don't think he has a bluffing bone in his body.

So the backdrop is set up. About an hour in, and there is really only one reason I include this hand (and it comes up way later), Seat 4 straddles OTB. Seat 7 limps in. I raise to $20 in HJ with AQo. I had done this two prior times with KK. Folds to seat 7 who goes AI for ~$100 total. At this point, he had lost a ton of pots against seat 4 and just seemed tilted. I have to call with AA/QQ blockers. I ask him what he has and he says kings.

Flop: KJT
And proudly rolls them over to the ooohs and ahhs of the table. Then I roll my hand over and there's this ewwww reaction.

Turn/River are Q and 4 and my flopped broadway holds up.

Next is this important hand. 4 limps to me in SB with T9. I limp and BB checks.

Flop ($12): KT9
I lead for $10, Seat 4 raises to $25. All folds to me. We're about $500 deep at this point. So what is he raising here?

Value: KT (6), K9 (6), QJ (16)
Semi-bluffs: J8, Q8, K8, AJ, JT (8), QT (8), 87 (16), AQ

Some of those hands I'm not sure goes into the semi-bluff category. AQ? He's probably raising a hand that strong. Maybe QJ as well.

So I think I need to 3bet here. There are a bunch of bad runouts but also a bunch of hands he's calling a 3bet to which we dominate. Now if he 4bet jams? That's sticky. Instead, I decide to call here.

Turn ($62): 7
I check, he bets $40, I call.

Another bad call. I need to pretty much raise here all the time and get the value while I can.

River ($142): Q
Ewww. I check, he bets $75. I tank fold.

And this is why. I beat nothing now except AQ. Every other hand he was bluff raising other than 87 and AQ gets there. But what is he triple barreling here? Is it a bluff? I ponder if I can bluff raise the river. He could easily fold everything except a J here.

But then this hand. I look at AK in UTG+1 and raise to $10. Seat 4 and 5 call.

Flop ($33): JT9
I bet $20, seat 4 calls. 5 folds.

The reason for cbetting this board multiway is because there are a lot of good turn cards to get him off of sticky Tx, 9x, etc. Spade, A, Q, maybe a K are all terrific. And an 8 can get him off of Jx.

Turn ($73): 8
So that's like the best card for getting all of his pairs to fold other than QT/Q9/QJ. And when called I have spade outs and Q outs. So I bet $45. He calls.

When he calls, I don't think he ever has two pair. That's raising flop. I don't think he has a set. I think he has a one card straight. And my image so far has been tight and decently solid. We'll see what the river card brings...

River ($163): J
I bet $120. And if he has a one card straight, what does he beat? He is chopping at best with other Q. I have all the flopped straights. I can have flopped sets. I can have all the flushes. I should have very few, if any, bluffs here. I block the nut flush. I block the nut straight. I don't think if I'm going to bluff that I have a better hand to do it with. He tanks and tanks and asks if I'll show if he folds. I say sure, not remembering that that's usually what players say when they're bluffing. He shows me his hand, but I'm not looking at him. Whenever I make a bet I'm always looking diagonally across the table shuffling chips, whether value or a bluff. He folds Q5 face up. I keep my word and show him.

So I build my stack to a bit more than $600 when this hand happens. Checks to me who checks J9 in BB.

Flop ($12): J93
Jackpot. I bet $10. Seat 4 raises to $25. I 3bet to $65. He calls.

When he calls, I know I'm ahead right now. His calling range is probably:

AJ-J5 (excluding J9 obviously)
ATdd, KTdd, Q8dd, 87dd
QT, T8

Turn ($142): K
I bet $85 and he calls. He then says "no diamond please."

I don't love the K turn. All the QT gets there, any KJ that he may have gets there. But I still think this is a value bet for sure.

River ($312): 7
I check. I don't think I can value bet and get calls from worse here. I do think he can bluff worse here, as I know he is capable of bluffing. He bets 2 black chips. Oh no, the black chip curse. Here is something I didn't realize when I made the call: All of his OESD got there. And his OESD has a TON more combos than his bluffed missed diamonds. And he can fold some of those to the turn bet as well. There are 32 combos of OESD to 13 combos of flush draws, and I even lose to one of those (but I think he's raising the turn with one of those). Him not raising the turn is good on his part because it kind of throws me off of the QT as a possibility. Which is actually what he had. So I'll take this hand as an expensive, but useful lesson. I think if I had realized how many more OESD than flush draws there were, I would have found a tough fold. I add another $100 to my stack.

And next is the "dammit where is my value" line. I raise A3 to $10 UTG. It plays well enough to open IMO, and the table was like 8 handed. I get 6 other calls.

Flop ($70): J72
SB seat 8 leads for $25. Folds to me who calls. Now I think I really need to raise here to represent an overpair or something. Charge the draws and how often do I actually have a flush here? All else folds.

Turn ($120): J
Sb again bets $25. Again, I need to raise here. Instead, I just call.

River ($170): 9s
SB bets $30, I raise to $85 hoping for some value and he calls with K6

By far the worst hand I played all day. I can forgive myself for missing the J9 hand because I just didn't realize the combos. I can't forgive myself for not getting max value from this hand. I tried to get a bit too cute here and I just don't need to get cute. I'm UTG, I have a bunch of overpairs and sets and few flushes that can raise the weak flop donk bet, so I need to do it. He can have like KJx, KsXx, already flopped flushes, some sets, just so much and I didn't take advantage of it.

And then the last hand I want to share (there was a big hand in between where I flopped top set, min raised a bloated pot on a dry board when a player bet and 2 other called, but they all 3 folded) is the reason I posted the AQo hand. A straddle OTB, one limp, a bad seeming tilted player (who I think is a reg but plays bad if he is) raises to $15. I finally see AA and 3bet him to $45. He calls with ~$110 behind.

Flop ($100): JT4
He checks, I bet $60, he goes AI, I call. He shows KJ

Turn/River: 25

At first I was annoyed that this guy had won. He had a smug aura about him the whole session and got massages (seriously?) and looked like a wanna be pro, but middle aged. Then I remember the AQo hand where I cracked the KK. With the AA, he had a 24% chance of winning. With my AQ, I had a 28% chance of winning. Granted I made my call then based on reads but I was still a dog. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we suck out too when we get sucked out on.

8 hours
+$19 (seriously wtf)

I think the cbet is a mistake multiway. Only the Q is a really good card, when you hit your king and ace you're often going to get in a bad reversed implied odds situation. If a spade comes than yes you can barrel the next two streets but I'm usually shocked when people playing 1/2 fold.

Additionally, when you bet turn and then river on that board you represent little to no FH.

I actually think you played this hand well. I think 3 betting on the flop with this hand is a disaster, it's marginal in a limped pot plus OOP. Additionally, I think when you 3 bet it's gonna be fairly polarized so 3betting this hand is almost like a merged value. Obviously not a fun run out but I think smartly played

Thanks. It's definitely towards the lower end of our 3bet value range...well, actually is the bottom of that range. But then if this is the bottom, then when we flat we literally have just hands we can be blown off of. It's also nice to be able to play his aggression against him. The river card is just a disaster though since his whole bluff range gets there aside from AQ.

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Normally a day that I'd be at the poker room. Taking off since I did play 20 hours over the weekend and would like some lazy time before vacation. I'm going to try to play one more session before vacation, but if not...I mean, we got almost 85 hours of volume in this month. That's pretty sick.

Vacation!

I wanted to get some play in this week after Monday, but it just wasn't happening. Which is fine, I kind of figured it'd be this way anyways. Kind of glad for it too, because during my free time I've been doing a lot of studying and trying to alter my thinking patterns. Doing a lot more breaking down of hands and how cards and board textures hit certain hands and ranges. Something I've taken away so far is that it's HARD to have a good hand willing to call two or three barrels.

Which means I could easily be doing a bit more double barreling on boards where my opponents just have more weak hands in their range than strong hands.

As for May, it was definitely a very rough month results wise. I think it's kind of funny, 6 months ago I would have been ecstatic with a $634 winning month. I played about 85 hours last month for a $7.53/hr WR. I also had a $1,200 downswing right in the middle and didn't really play my B game ever for a few sessions. I also didn't run that well either, but that's of less importance when I know that I could have played better. I did get 75% of the way finished through the video series I was watching, but unfortunately I did not get to shot take 2/5.

So here are my goals for June 13th until the end of July:

-100 hours of volume
-Play my A and B game more than I did in May
-Play 5 rounds of golf
-Keep studying and improving

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As for me, I will be on vacation, close to entirely poker free starting after work tomorrow. Going down south for a week and I think (hope, at least) that it'll be relaxing.

Another thing that I'll be reflecting on is this whole poker thing as a career. The more I do it and the more that I work, the more I realize that I think I could do it. Or maybe it's just the god awful hours and regulations that corporate sends down and seeing what they do to my fellow coworkers. Like seriously, how and why do people do this crap for 45 years? Be bossed around, meet all these deadlines, make profit for the executive boards, all for a few benefits during their lifetime and some money for if they eventually hit retirement age, hopefully with some of their health remaining. And $100k jobs aren't just out there willy nilly.

Anyways, hope your week is good readers and good luck on the felts!

That's what im debating tbh i think i need to find a stable income... not talking about a entry level job either...

I think you should do something you love and if you love poker that much to do it forever then damn, but im pretty sure most of us will feel burnt out esp from live poker.

A stable income is very nice. The trade off for that, though, is following rules and regulations and schedules and deadlines. I honestly believe that if you're wise with you money, you can make it as a poker pro relatively easily. Like of you get some income from investing, you get that to help regulate your money.

As far as being burnt out, everyone gets burnt out from doing something for years on end. Yeah, you might enjoy being an engineer now, but what about 10 years from now?

I must admit, I'm not sold on my idea at all. But if you think you can do it and you want to do it, you owe it to yourself to try.

Nice work! Subbed

I think its evidently clear you are significantly better than the average 1/2 live player. Keep up the grind. Looking forward to hearing you progress.

My only advice to you is to remember is make sure you got outlets to clear your mind. If you have a couple of poor sessions a night out with friends who are not involved with poker, getting out into the fresh air, taking time to enjoy yourself will make all the difference to your success as a live player. Too many players get so involved in poker that in time come to see it as a chore. If you see this as a long term thing - balance is key!

Keep up the good work!