Recent 2-5 session at the Isle, the loosest player at the table puts the button straddle on. He has been complaining that the 2-5 game here only has a 100bb buy-in, and is straddling both UTG and on the Button every chance he gets.
One limper from UTG+2, I look down at AdKd in the Hijack. I raise to $35, knowing full well that the straddler is never folding. He surprises me though by putting in a 3! to $135. The limper folds and action is back on me.
The Villain started the hand with $500 and I cover. I'm obviously never folding here to this particular player, and I also don't really fancy calling and having to play an SPR 2 pot out of position. That leaves one option.
I 4! to $350, effectively announcing that we will be playing for his stack. I made this raise instead of just ripping it as I think that's what I would have done with AA or KK in the same spot. Villain tanks for what seems like a full 2 minutes and moves all in, I obviously call.
The board runs out dry, I flip over my A-high and the Villain shows 77!!! to scoop the pot. To be clear, my range in this spot to 4! gii is JJ+AK.
We stacked him later on in the session, but plays like that make me realize that poker is definitively not dead.
July was a good month for me in terms of volume. I finally broke through 40 hours in a month which I had been failing to do. Results were obviously disappointing, highlighted by 3 big losing 2-5 sessions, including two to close out the month.
Looking at those losing sessions honestly, I can say that in two of them I played fine and just ran into the bad side of variance. One session however I definitely deserved my poor result. I made a poor preflop call from the Small Blind, and as so often happens in poker, mistakes compounded as the hand progressed. I ended up calling with a good draw on the flop, then running a poorly conceived bluff on the turn and river. It was as good a way to light $500 on fire as any.
August goals:
On the felt- Hit 40 hours of 2/5nl again. I'm still learning a lot at these limits and I know that as my comfort levels increase, so will my results.
Study- Take better session notes highlighting all 40bb+ winning and losing pots. Review interesting spots.
Health- Try and eat a salad once a day. On the days I don't succeed, I can't let it get me down, but recommit the following day. Sounds small but this is easily the biggest challenge of the three.
July was a good month for me in terms of volume. I finally broke through 40 hours in a month which I had been failing to do. Results were obviously disappointing, highlighted by 3 big losing 2-5 sessions, including two to close out the month.
Looking at those losing sessions honestly, I can say that in two of them I played fine and just ran into the bad side of variance. One session however I definitely deserved my poor result. I made a poor preflop call from the Small Blind, and as so often happens in poker, mistakes compounded as the hand progressed. I ended up calling with a good draw on the flop, then running a poorly conceived bluff on the turn and river. It was as good a way to light $500 on fire as any.
August goals:
On the felt- Hit 40 hours of 2/5nl again. I'm still learning a lot at these limits and I know that as my comfort levels increase, so will my results.
Study- Take better session notes highlighting all 40bb+ winning and losing pots. Review interesting spots.
Health- Try and eat a salad once a day. On the days I don't succeed, I can't let it get me down, but recommit the following day. Sounds small but this is easily the biggest challenge of the three.
Was this a hand where the board paired the bottom card on the turn and you check raised the turn? Like maybe the board was T955 or something like that?
Looking forward to playing longer time frames with you to get your opinion of my game and/or your opinion of what hand(s) I had in certain spots where I dont show.
Im sure you could also use some of my insight since I have extensive experience with most of the 2/5 player pool.
A couple of hands to go over from last night's session:
1) I open QQ from early position to $25, get called in 4 spots including the sb. Flop 226hh. SB is a decent reg who donk leads for $45. I think his range is mostly 77-99 and flush draws. I raise to $125, everyone folds.
I kind of hate this spot because my hand is so face up, but it feels like this is the only way to play it here.
2) 4 limps to me with JdJh on the button. I raise to $35, two callers, one loose passive player, one whale. Flop is 974ss. Loose passive villain leads for $80, I elect to just call. Turn is the 6s. He leads for $125 and I fold.
Too tight? Raise the flop? Against a more aggro player I think its a slam dunk flop raise but not sure against this player type.
3) Opened 55 to $20 UTG. Same passive fish from 2) raises to $60 I call. Flop 579r. I check V bets $90, I call. Turn 4 giving a bdfd. I check intending to cr, Villain checks behind. I think his range is mostly AK now. River K of the bdf. I check, once again going for a check raise, V checks behind and I puke.
Wish I had 3! the flop but the board is so dry I think it turns my hand face up. I had watched this player open fold middle set on a 3 straight board earlier, so I thought it was possible he folds an overpair. On the river I guess I wish I bet, but I can't imagine him calling with anything he wouldn't lead for value.
4) New table, and I have an awesome dynamic going with the Villain to my right. He's a horrible reg, who tries to outplay everyone and win every pot. Has been caught bluffing twice by other players in bad spots. The hand before this he iso raised a limper, I 3! with A2ss, and a good pro cold 4! from the sb. Bad reg folded, I folded. He then starts berating me for 3! him light, asking why I didn't just want to see a flop.
The very next hand he opens to $20 from the hijack, I 3! JJ to $60. He calls, then checks dark saying "If I check dark you have to act first". Flop 359hh. I bet $75 and he very quickly shoves. Like super super quick. And I beat him into the pot with my call.
He turns over A3cc and unfortunately makes the runner runner wheel, but man oh man was that spot sweet. Guess I'm owed a few Sklansky bucks.
Looking forward to playing longer time frames with you to get your opinion of my game and/or your opinion of what hand(s) I had in certain spots where I dont show.
Im sure you could also use some of my insight since I have extensive experience with most of the 2/5 player pool.
I am only two months into playing 2/5, but there are plenty of games. The Isle has between 2 and 5 tables of 2/5 on any given night, and Hard Rock has even more. Action so far has been reasonable.
The games are plentiful all over the place, but the action depends on where and when you play. I promise you the 2/5 games are not as soft as advertised.
Ha, i don't actually know much of FL but have heard whispers of it being good. I know plentiful about LA just a lot of regs in London are going in that direction.
All i've done is a quick twoplustwo browse and Tampa HR has just come up.
It's been a while since my last check in, my apologies. This month has been great for me on a personal level, I've been tracking my food intake religiously for two weeks now and its helped keep me on track with my diet. I'm down a few pounds already, and am trying to make this a permanent lifestyle change.
I was extremely light on poker volume for the first 2 weeks of August, but I've been making up for it a bit lately. I even got to play the great game of PLO for a few hours. It was a 1/2 game with a $5 bring in, $100-$500 buy-ins. Only one other player at the table had any clue what they were doing so the game was super good. Unfortunately I was pretty card dead and was only able to book a small win. I wish we could get more 1-2 plo going at the Isle and Creek. It's a blast to play, and while my competency in PLO isn't what it is in NL, the skill gap between me and the average rec player may still be wider.
I had my first significant winning session in a while last night at 2/5 nl (+$900), and am hoping that its the first step in coming out of this break even stretch. I was playing in a pretty tough lineup for part of the night but wasn't shy about changing my seat to make it easier. I try not to do this too often as I worry it could stunt my growth, but my original seat at the table had an excellent aggressive pro on my direct left.
I did get into one interesting spot before I moved seats though. There are two limpers to me and I raise A3dd to $30 from the CO. I'm raising for several reasons: both limpers are weak passive players who I've seen limp fold pre, and play fit or fold post, and if I limp behind I think the aggro pro on the button will put in a big raise a large percentage of the time.
So I make it $30 over the limpers and the button 3! to $110. I had noticed that in a previous session both him and another pro were 3! me pretty mercilessly, specifically when I appeared to be iso raising limpers. Against most 2/5 players I don't have a 4! bluffing range, but against thinking players who I perceive as having a wide 3! range I think it's important that I do. Putting some of my worst Aces in that range seems like a decent selection, as I have a relevant blocker and could flop decent semi-bluff targets to ship on.
I 4! to $250 and he thinks for a while and folds. That's the first 4! bluff I've made in a long while, and is definitely not something I'm trying to do often, but the spot seemed right. Nice to get it through.
Hoping to finish August strong both personally and in the poker world!
Been a long time since my last post but figured I'd give a quick update before we close out the year.
Poker:
I've now been regularly playing 2/5 nl since June, and I'm thrilled about it. My biggest poker goal for 2017 was to be playing 2/5 by the end of the year and I crushed that one. From a results perspective, things seem to be turning my way. I've adjusted my play and am running better, my break even stretch seems to be behind me.
From an hours perspective I've definitely been slacking, but it's mainly because my priorities have really shifted since August. I've actively been trying to lose weight for the first time in a long time and its a serious grind. Grocery shopping, meal prepping, exercising, and making sure I get enough sleep have seriously cut into my poker time.
Health:
I'm down 35lbs since August. Definitely going slow and steady, as I want this to be a long term change, not a diet that I just boomerang back from. I prepare almost all of my breakfasts and lunches at home now, and am eating dinner at home about 60% of the time. Might not seem like a ton but these are huge changes for me.
I walk everyday after lunch and have just started adding some HIIT to my routine twice a week.
Goals for 2018:
Poker-
1. Put in 400 hours. Continue to build my roll at 2/5, and up my bb/hr.
2. Play some 200bb games.
3. Actively study poker. Pick a different topic each week, gather materials to study, watch/read them while actually paying attention (not while driving, working etc.).
4. Review more hands with players I trust.
Health-
1. Continue to concentrate on long term weight loss. Get under 200 lbs by the end of 2018.
2. Add more exercise to my routine, specifically strength training as I continue to lose weight.
3. Try to HIIT 3 times a week.
I hope you all have a fun and profitable holiday season, and a great start to the new year!
Not a ton to report on the Poker front, I took a vacation to Hawaii and have been super busy with life/work/family stuff since January. Have managed to make time for the Old Man home game every week though and it's still great.
Really pleased that the Isle 2/5 nl game has moved to 1k cap, as it allows me to be deeper against the fish. Have only been able to play one session since the change but the table dynamic was way more gambly and fun than usual.
I did get to make it over to the Isle last night and play some PLO. That game is just so sweet, but my level of confidence with it is so much lower than NL. In NL I feel like I know the right line like 95% of the time, and in PLO it's probably closer to 70%. Even so, there were some people in the game that didn't know how to read their own hands so it was definitely a +EV spot. Game was 1/2 with a $5 bring in, so basically a 2/5 game. Buy-in was $200-$1k.
Ran average but won a few decent pots to finish +$800 on the night, so overall I felt pretty great about it. Really looking forward to continue studying the game, and the spots I was unsure of.
Goal updates
Poker:
1. Doing bad with hours but that is sort of out of my control right now. Will obviously try to put in more as time frees up.
2. 200bb games should be no problem now that my main room has switched to them.
3. Winning a bit
4. Going over a few PLO hands with a buddy today
Health
1. Down 47 lbs now and continuing to drop, albeit slower than before.
2. Just bought a gym membership, now I have to actually go...
3. Have not been doing HIIT very much, really need to schedule this in as planned.
You're alive!!! Ive been wondering where you've been. The games have been insanely good since they raised the buy in. I'm seeing lots of new players. Lots of bigger pots. Gotta love it.
Well the action at the Isle has certainly gotten better since the switch over to 1k cap for the 2/5nl. Played the biggest pot of my life last night and it was nuts.
Had worked my way up to a stack of 1.8k at a pretty soft table. I opened 45hh to $20 from the CO, V1 on the button 3! to $50. He has been very active, has me covered.
V2 in the BB calls $50. He has 1.3k and is the biggest spot at the table by far. He's on his third bullet and has shown down totally bizarre hands. VPIP is probably close to 60%. I call closing the action.
Flop ($150) Jh4s5s
V2 donk leads for $50, I call expecting V1 to reraise a huge portion of his 3! range here. Sure enough he makes it $200. BB now calls, and I back raise to $550. V1 goes deep into the tank. He's staring at the board, asks about how much I'm playing, and after quite a while announces all-in.
V2 calls after about 30 seconds, and the action is back on me. I have pretty sick blockers to sets and am really only scared of JJ because of the disconnected nature of the board. I call it off.
.
.
.
.
.
V2 proudly flips over JTo. V1 doesn't show, but when I ask if he has JJ says no so I feel great. Turn is a J to sink me, river is a blank.
V2 wins the 3.9k main pot, and V1 somehow mucks so I win a 1k side pot for a bit of a rebate. V1 says he had 67dd.
So yea, 5k pot with like 50% equity 3 ways. I feel pretty good about how I played it and look forward to more super profitable spots going forward.
Back on the 2+2 update grind! Sorry to all four of you that have been following along for my lack of regular updates.
The last month or so I've found a bit more time for poker, and I should have even more coming up shortly. It should be obvious but there is a direct correlation between how often I play and how well I play. When I'm getting 2+ sessions in per week my game stays sharp. Less than that and I definitely find myself making more mistakes.
I played a late night session at the Isle last night while I was waiting for my sister's flight to come in and some of the highlights of the session were:
4-bet bluff with A4ss in a perfect spot and got it through. I open CO over 1 limper, SB who is a very active regular 3!, and I decide to put in the 4!. We haven't really played together before and I imagine he doesn't have much of a calling range from the SB so his 3! is quite merged. Also, as I raised over a limper in late position it looks like a good open to attack. NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!
Raise AK over 2 limpers, get called in 3 spots. Flop is AA8hh, I lead and a regular who I thought was good called. Turn 8, I check, Reg bets 1/3 pot I call. River 4o, I check he jams for a pot sized bet and I call expecting a chop...
but he shows 22 and plays the board. So yeah, that was a nice gift.
Overall I've been enjoying the 2/5 games especially as they've gotten deeper, it just involves way more interesting multi-street decision making.
My health goals are also on fire; I'm now down 71 lbs and have started to hit the gym.
I'm looking forward to getting a bit stronger and improving my body composition as I keep dropping weight.
As we enter the heat of a long summer here in SoFlo I hope to keep up with my hot streaks in poker and life! May you do the same.
