Wiiiiiiild session last night. Hopefully my writeup captures it but it prolly won't. It started off as a slow Monday afternoon game and turned into ... something else entirely. There were some crazy hands throughout and some fireworks at the end.

We'll get right into it - in the early going, I started off up with some favorable run-outs.

HAND 1: Binking the turn, Vol 1

PREFLOP:
Bad reg UTG ($900) limps for $5
HERO raises to $25 from the HIJACK with 87 and the bad reg limp-calls

FLOP ($50): 1076
Bad reg checks, HERO bets $25, bad reg check-calls

TURN ($100): 9
Bad reg checks, HERO bets $75, bad reg check-calls

RIVER ($250): J
Bad reg checks, HERO bets $160, bad reg check-calls



Obviously the nut turn for me to not only take the lead, but give him a hand to call down with.

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

Binking the turn, Vol 2

PREFLOP:
LAG ($1.1k) limps UTG
HERO ($1.2k) raises to $25 from UTG2 with 98, and LAG limp-calls

FLOP ($50): 965
LAG checks, HERO bets $25, LAG check-calls

TURN ($100): 7
LAG leads for $50, HERO calls $50

I strongly considered raising here after binking the joint, but I decided to call to appear weaker and take advantage of his propensity to fire a board that shouldn't be very good for my range.

RIVER ($200): 2
LAG bets $160, HERO raises to $345, LAG folds

I make a very small raise to try to elicit calls from sets and 2-pairs. But, he folds pretty quickly so he probably had f*ck-all.

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

HAND 3: Getting owned, it feels bad

PREFLOP:
MP limps, Good Pro on the BUTTON ($1.7k) limps, SB limps, HERO checks in the BB with J7

FLOP ($15): J73
Checks around to BUTTON, who bets $10
SB folds, HERO check-raises to $40, MP folds, BUTTON calls $40

TURN ($95): 9
HERO bets $60, BUTTON raises to $225, HERO calls $225

Woooooof. I considered checking here, and in retrospect I should have. With this big raise, he's repping J-9 or 3-3. It's also possible he has 10-8 suited, and peeled my raise with a gutter and a backdoor flush draw on the flop since we're so deep.

I don't think he's got a semi-bluff hand like J10 because he would have raised that preflop. 10-8s maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, I don't know.

Either way, I think my bet is bad because this guy is good and he's probably just folding his middling Jx like QJ, while owning me with the hands that now beat me.

I should probably fold here since I can't really think of many bluffs he has here, but honestly this guy has merked me off some big hands lately and I'm in no mood to let him own me here when I've flopped top two pair.

RIVER ($545): 8
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $415, HERO ...

Well now what the f*ck. This makes no f*cking sense. I just don't see how he's betting anything but a straight for this huge 80% pot/80 BB sizing. 33 and J9 just don't bet this big, I think.

So, what? He had 10-8? 107? He just has so few 10s when he makes that big raise on the turn, how does he make this bet on the river? But on the flip side, what damn bluff does he have here?? I just can't think of any. Did he actually have bottom set the whole way and just know that I can't have a 10?

Damn man, what a mindf*ck. This hand still has me twisted. If anyone has any thoughts, let me know.



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

HAND 4: Right, but wrong

PREFLOP:
MP1 and MP2 limp for $5, HERO ($1.1k) raises to $30 in the HIJACK with JJ
Bad aggro reg ($1,020) 3bets from the BB to $120, HERO calls $120

This dude makes a big 3-bet, and I don't believe him a bit. I'd just beat him a couple orbits earlier with a rivered flush, and I know he wants revenge.

FLOP ($250): 742
BB bets $200
HERO calls $200

I'm calling, and letting him hang himself right down to the felt. If he's got QQ+, fine. But I'm not folding.

TURN ($650): A
BB shoves all-in for $700
HERO tank-calls $700

Ok, this is a bad card, for sure. But it's also a good bluffing card, and I really feel strongly that this dude is trying to go after me. So I stick with my read, and stick the money in.

RIVER: 9



Welp. I have no doubt this dude woulda fired off his stack if he'd missed, but instead he binked the turn and took me to the felt. I'll never regret going with my read, but I should have respected how bad the turn card was.

Now, I'm stuck piles.

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

It was at this point that two drunk good ole boys from North Carolina showed up, and the game got pretty wild. I decided to stay after being close to just racking up and calling it a day.

HAND 5: Just call thin and win

PREFLOP:
UTG opens to $15, UTG2 calls, CU calls, HERO calls on the BUTTON with Q10, SB and BB call

FLOP ($90): 875
Check, check, UTG bets $45, drunk fish in CU calls, HERO calls, SB and BB call

Woah. I make a loose call on the button getting 4:1 with overs and backdoors, and then both blinds call too which was unexpected.

TURN ($315): 9
SB, BB, and UTG check
CU bets $50, HERO calls $50, everyone else folds

I hit the best card in the deck, and while one of the blinds surely could be lying in wait with 6x for the straight, I can't well fold here, can I? So I call this little b*itchmade bet and hope no one puts in a big raise behind, and fortunately they all fold.

RIVER ($415): 10
CUTOFF bets $160, HERO calls

He bets the river, and I just think, man if this guy had a straight he'd probably have bet more on the turn. He's drunk and wild, and he really might have 2 pair, but I'm getting a great price. So I throw it in.



*Shrug emoji*

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

HAND 6: Pulling an aggro exploit

PREFLOP:
Loose fish ($400) opens UTG to $15, Loose fish UTG2 ($1.2k) calls, HERO ($1.2k) on BUTTON calls with 84, BB calls

FLOP ($60): Q92
UTG bets $25, UTG snap-raises to $90, HERO raises to $280, all fold

UTG2 is really loose and with his really quick raise, I think he's probably just snap-raising his Qx against a player who's range is full of BS. I hate folding, and I hate flat-calling since it makes my hand fairly face-up. And even if I end up making my flush on the turn, it's going to be hard to make more money since it's so obvious.

So instead, I decide to attack him and put in a nice big cold 3-bet to take control of the hand, a play I rarely make. But I felt this was an exploitative spot to do it, and it worked.

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

A while later, I take a break and when I come back, there's a huge commotion at the table. Apparently while I was away from the table, two bad players (a mid-40s Euro lady and a mid-40s bad reg - the Villain from Hands 4 and 6) got in all-in preflop for ~$750 each.

The lady had AK, which is face up. All the other cards are mucked - apparently he threw his hand away, and he had a worse Ax, and didn't realize he would have chopped. So he tried to pull his cards out of the muck and the floor was called.

So I sit back down at the table and after a few mins, the floor comes back and rules (correctly, from what I could tell) that his hand is dead and the lady gets the whole pot.

And then he goes BALLISTIC. Flips out. Tell the floorman to go f*ck himself, f*ck you, etc etc etc. Floor tells him to go take a walk, and he gives the floor guy a shoulder swipe as he passes. Then him and the floor get into it more, the guy goes outside, and comes back in and sits down a few minutes later.

But he's not cooled off at all. He looks at the lady and says "f*ck you". The dealer tells him to cool off and he tells the dealer to f*ck off. The dealer tells him that if he can't behave he's gonna call the floor back, so the guy shuts up but then starts mean-mugging the lady, who's sitting right next to him. Just staring daggers directly at her, in her personal space. A hand plays out that they're both in, and he just death-stares her the whole time.

Then the next hand goes down that he's in, and she's not even in it, and during the hand he stares at her. The dealer isn't saying anything, and neither is anyone else.

So I speak up, and I say, "Dude, you gotta to stop. Chill out"

And he looks me right in the eye and points at me and says, "F*CK YOU"

And so I did the only reasonable thing there was to do, which was to inform him that I would knock every one of his teeth down his throat if he wanted to f*uck around.

So the floor came back, lots of arguing, etc etc, anyway he got kicked out and I stayed for another half hour or so before racking up and leaving.

Looking back on my sh*t-talking like here, I like the iso-raise even though my re-raise sizing ("knock your teeth out") was probably too large. I probably should have gone smaller and not instantly escalated into threatening violence against him like that, I'm sure there was a better way to handle it. But I saw a dude trying to physically intimidate a woman and no one was stopping it, so I stand by my actions.

I've been playing live poker regularly for more about a year and a half and have never gotten into any sort of altercation, I'm not trying to act like I'm super hard or anything, and I'm normally a very chill person. But tonight, things got a little out of hand, sometimes these things happen.

I'll be back there tonight and while I doubt he'll show up (or if he'd be allowed back in if so), It'll be interesting to see.

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

Session results:
7 hours
-$155

Good on you, definitely the GTO play to go after the guys teeth!

But seriously, if he's saying F you to floor staff, dealer and players as well as acting in an intimidating way towards other players, why did they let him sit back in? Surely it shouldn't have got to that point?

Yeah for sure, the floor guy told me afterward he should have just 86'd him off the bat, and that he had made a mistake in not doing so

Forgot to include this but the board was something like 8-4-2-4-2 so AQ or AJ or whatever he had would have chopped with her AK

When you put $950 CR river out there to win a pot of $900 or whatever you made an interesting play because that bet does look super nutted live to everyone and only needs to work more than 50% to be profitable (or whatever the correct percentage is).

However imo i would need some serious reads that he’s capable of min-bluffing river around this way (very rare bluff overall) or actually discipliningly folding a small full house because Zeebo theorem is beyond true and people don’t fold full houses. Live is so slow and people can’t fold big hands even if they know they are beat because they are bored and come to play

Your mindset shows concern on enjoying and beating poker. Which is great. Until you stop impressing yourself with standard calls. Poker play is pretty solved and not impressive. So try to keep that in mind.

I’d honestly work on a mindset of being as profitable as possible by choosing your games and opponents than bluffing more than you do and keeping your image clean. I’d then quit as soon as possible because live poker rake is unbeatable long term ($30k a year)

Good luck it’s a fun read and story for sure and that’s what life is all about. Just don’t make this a decade long habit unless you can move to Vegas or somehow live a glamorous easy life off easy whalefests in Florida or some mid-city. If you can be away from the people you support you should consider that to separate the stress from your relationships and comfortably put in Long hours as well. Where do you play?

I assume you're talking about the 3-bet river bluff from several sessions ago; I pulled the trigger on that one bc I didn't think he could have a full house in that situation

Wut

I play in NorCal

Really interesting thread and great write-ups. Hate NL and hate live poker, but your layout makes it solid. Also, yeah didn't you know live poker is unbeatable duh!

Thanks brother, appreciate the good words. Live NL definitely an acquired taste haha

Last night's session: Lot of action. Lot ... of ... action.

There were multiple v good players at the table, but there was also one terrible fish who was stuck at least $5k. Like he would just call along to the river and someone would shove and he's groan and call and get shown the nuts and get stacked and buy back in.

So, some hands:

HAND 1: Hero gets in stacks with JJ preflop vs a nit

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
EP limps, Nitty pro ($785) raises to $45 in the CUTOFF, Average Reg on the BUTTON calls, HERO in the SB 3-bets to $160 with JJ, EP folds, CUTOFF 4-bets to $360, BUTTON folds, HERO 5-bets all-in for $785, CUTOFF snap-calls all-in

So I think my 3-bet pre is good and standard with JJ against an LP opener and a caller. But then when the nitty guy 4-bets me, I should usually fold.

But even tho I called him nitty, he's a solid pro player. And he's capable of making moves; the other day he opened UTG, fot 3! from a loose player, and he 4! with A2. Of course he showed it for advertisement since he's not gonna make that play often at all.

But also in this situation, my 3! looks so light-squeezy that I leveled myself into thinking that he's making a move on me. So I jam, he snaps, I'm a fish.



Shocking. I get it all in with Jacks vs a nit and lose my stack. Real smooth.


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

HAND 2: Letting the hand play me and ending up in an awful spot

PREFLOP:
Weak player ($1k) limps in EP, Fish ($1k) opens for $25 in MP, Another fish calls $25 on the BUTTON, HERO ($775) calls in the SB with A2, EP limp-calls

This hand is often a 3-bet bluff for me from the SB, but here I decide to flat since the fish are really loose and are likely not to fold to a 3!. And then I'm OOP in a bloated pot against players who call light. So I decide to just call.

FLOP ($100): KQJ
HERO and EP check, MP c-bets $80, BUTTON folds, HERO calls $80, EP check-raises to $300, MP folds, HERO ... ?

Hoooooo boy. Ok, so I check-call the $80 c-bet with a big draw. Certainly you could make a case for check-raising, but I think this board hits people so hard that I really have very little fold equity. So I go with the check-call, but then a weak player check-raises big.

And this guy, he's just always got it when he goes this. I don't think he has sets, since KK/QQ/JJ opens pre. So, I have him ranged on straights and some 2 pairs like KQ and mayyyyybe KJ. The only semi-bluff I think he could possibly have is J10

So - It's $220 for me to call into $560, and I have $670 in my stack.

My options are:
*I can fold like a b*tch. This seems crappy.
*I can call for $220, and miss the turn like 80% of the time. Then he would jam $450 into $780 and I think I'd need to fold there.
*I can jam all-in, he calls always, but I see both the turn and river cards. So at this point I would be putting in $670 more for a pot of $1680 total (when he calls), so I'd need about 29% equity. Against the range I've given him, I PokerStove says I have about 40%.

I'm not smart enough to do this all at the table, but intuitively I decide that seeing both the turn and the river is paramount, so I jam and he snap-calls.

TURN: 9
RIVER 9



AYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Well, that was a lucky, lucky suckout. I played this hand passively and the hand ended up playing me. Down to the last card, and it hit, and it bailed me out. If I'd lost I'd be stuck $1400 and was gonna dip out. But instead the Poker Gods smiled upon my ass and now I'm actually up a couple hundred and have a nice stack to play with.

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

HAND 3: Making a disciplined fold

PREFLOP:
Nitty pro opens in MP1 to $20, MP2 calls $20, HERO 3bets from the LOJACK to $80 with AK, Solid ABC ($800) cold 4-bets from the CUTOFF to $280, MP1 and MP2 fold, HERO folds

It pains me so much to fold AK preflop. But when this player cold 4!s behind me, I just think his range is way too strong to f*ck with. So I fold and while it hurts, I feel confident that it's the right move.

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

HAND 4: Stacking the fish with KK

PREFLOP:
FISH ($620) limps in EP
HERO (covers) raises to $25 with KK

FLOP ($50): 667
FISH checks, HERO bets $35, FISH calls $35

TURN ($120): 9
FISH checks, HERO bets $80, FISH calls $80

RIVER ($280): K
FISH bets $260, HERO goes all-in for $480 effective, FISH calls all-in



Standard hand, idk what he had but he was the guy who was punting it off all night so I'm glad I got a little piece.

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

HAND 5: The microbet!

PREFLOP:
HERO ($2k) opens to $20 UTG2 with QQ, action reg ($2k) 3-bets to $55 from MP, HERO calls $55

FLOP ($110): J53
HERO checks, MP bets $80, HERO calls $80

TURN ($270): 9
HERO checks, MP checks

RIVER ($270): 8
HERO bets $40, MP calls $40

On the river, I don't love checking because I get no value when I'm ahead, which is often. But a big bet doesn't feel great either, because now I'm usually just getting called (or raised) when I'm beat.

But, I decide I do like a microbet. I probably get value from AA and KK and 10s10x, and if he raises it's more likely that usual to be an induced bluff bc of my weak-looking sizing.








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

HAND 6: Trapping with AK and getting value

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
Average, action-y reg limps UTG, folds to HERO in the BB who limps with AK, STRADDLE checks his option

The Straddle has a penchant for attacking limps with squeeze raises, so I decide to play my AK as a trap if he decides to do that here, and if not my hand will be disguised.

FLOP ($30): AQ2
HERO checks, STRADDLE checks, UTG bets $10
HERO calls $10, STRADDLE folds

I continue my trap on the flop (obvs)

TURN ($50): 6
HERO bets $35, EP calls $35

I decide to lead here bc EP has a lot of hands he'll just check back, like Qx and possibly even heart draws or broadway draws.

RIVER ($120): A
HERO bets $80, EP tank-calls $80



So he definitely had Qx or something like 77 and was trying to hero me against my busted heart draws. So my hand deceptively worked pretty well here, and even better, the player in the straddle saw that I played this hand tricky pre, which should make him think twice about squeezing in the future.

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

HAND 7: I bruff

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
The fish in MP tries to raise to $25, but he ****s up and puts in one chip without saying raise, so it's just a call for $10. Hero completes from the SB with Q10, the reg in the straddle raises to $25 to be nice to the fish. So then the fish calls $25 and Hero calls $25.

FLOP ($75): J95
HERO checks, STRADDLE checks, FISH c-bets $40, HERO calls and STRADDLE calls

TURN ($195): 3
HERO checks, STRADDLE checks, FISH checks

RIVER ($195): 5
HERO bets $120, STRADDLE folds, FISH folds

The fish would have bet the turn if he had a Jack or better, and while the straddle can have a pair, he can also have a lot of draws and otherwise marginal hands. So I put in a strong bet, and earn myself an extra ~$200.

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

Crazy what getting lucky in one hand can do. If I'd have bricked out in Hand 2, I go home a $1.4k loser. Instead I win a big pot and end up parlaying that into a strong winning session.

Grateful for that huge river card and I think it's important to acknowledge when you run good, as opposed to glossing over it and just getting angry/frustrated when you run bad.

Session results:
4 hours, 15 mins
+$1333

Enjoyed your thread last year and actively reading this years. Keep up the good work. Love you formatting FYI.

Question
It seems like you are bluffing more this year/recently. Is this something new or are you just posting it more? Seems your less value oriented and more exploitative.

Appreciate that man, happy you're enjoying it.

Definitely as I've figured out this game better, I've started bluffing more. That probably started happening in the first couple months of last year as I realized that I couldn't just value-bet well and fold well at 2/5 like I did at 2/3 and expect to do really well in the game, and that part of my game def has evolved as time has gone on.

I can't for sure say if I'm bluffing now more than I did last year, but it might be the case. It's always tough to know in live poker since you don't have a database to keep actual track, and the samples are so small that you might think you're bluffing a lot more when there have just been more obvious opportunities in the last 50 hours of play or whatever. But, I do think that the more I play, the more I start to recognize spots where bluffs can be really effective.

That said, I'm not sure how accurate of a barometer these write-ups are for keeping tabs on those trends; obv I try to post what I think are the most interesting hands from the sessions, but of course I can't post every hand I play and there will always be a lot of hands I don't get to here. That said, bluffs are always the most interesting so they'll get posted a lot haha

Anyway - that was a really good question. The answer, I'm not as sure about

Decided to switch things up a little and go play a session at The Oaks Club last night.

I talked a bit about how the games there are softer than they are at my home cardroom, and it's only about 15 mins farther away. But it's a dingier and sketchier spot so I'm not that hard up to go there when my home room is so close.

But last night I decided to go out there and let's just say ... I'm really glad I did. The hands:

HAND 1: KK, Vol. 1

PREFLOP:
One EP limp, HERO raises to $25 with KK, CUTOFF calls and limper calls

FLOP ($75): Q72
EP checks, HERO bets $45, both CU and EP call

TURN ($210): 4
EP checks, HERO bets $110, both players fold

Standard/uneventful hand, but Kings ended up being my hand of the night in some much bigger pots

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

HAND 2: KK, Vol. 2

PREFLOP:
UTG limps, HERO raises to $25 in MP with KK, UTG limp-calls

FLOP ($50): Q97
EP checks, HERO c-bets $25, EP check-raises to $125, HERO folds

Mega-exploitable fold, I know. I didn't know the player at all and the raise was quite big, and I just felt like even if this was a bluff, he probably had strong equity against me. The only hand I'd be real excited for him to have is AQ, and this seems like a weird way to play it.

Probably a bad fold but I just wasn't really in the mood to get stacks in, and it just felt like it was such a small pot, he'd just fold his weak ****. And I just had that feeling he'd made something really good and was looking to make a big raise to protect it on this very wet board. *shrug*

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

HAND 3: It wouldn't be a Dervish session without a good 3-barrel bluff

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
UTG limps and MP limps, HERO ($825) raises to $60 with KQ from the CUTOFF, both limpers call

FLOP ($190): 843
UTG and MP check, HERO c-bets $90, only UTG calls

TURN ($370): J
UTG checks, HERO bets $220, UTG calls $220

RIVER ($810): 2
UTG checks, HERO shoves all-in for $455, UTG quickly folds

On the flop, I thought this guy's range was most heavily weighted towards flush draws and medium pairs. When he calls the big bet on the turn, I think he's even more weighted towards flush draws and lets go of his 8x and 77 at a high frequency.

So when the river blanks and I can't even beat the nut flush draw at showdown, this is an obvious jam for me. If he has the courage to call me down with a medium pair, more power to him.

But my bluff is definitely a +EV play; it has the benefit of the pot laying me great odds of nearly 2:1 so it only needs to get through like 36% of the time or whatever, and also the benefit of being a big, serious bet for this game.

Fortunately for me, he quickly mucks and the 3-barrel bluff get through.

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

HAND 4: KK, Vol. 3

A really good aggressive player had sat down on my left, so I requested a table change and moved to a new table. This decision turned out wonderfully for me, as it turned out. This was one of the first hands I played at the table.

PREFLOP:
EP limps, and HERO raises to $25 in MP with KK. BUTTON calls, SB calls, BB calls, EP limp-calls.

FLOP ($125): 1074
EP leads for $55, folds to HERO who calls $55, all others fold

When this dude donks into 4 other players on this flop, his most likely holding is 10x, esp bc I block several flush draws he could have with my K

TURN ($235): 2
EP bets $80, HERO calls $80

I could raise here, but I think that just folds his crappy 10x out. Instead, my plan is to call, and when he checks the river, put out a big bet that looks like I could have missed clubs.

RIVER ($395): A
EP checks, HERO bets $65, EP calls

Gah! Not a very good river, in that it scares all his J-10 and Q-10s and limits the value I can get. Still, when he checks it seems like he doesn't have A-10, so I put out a small value bet that gets called. Hey, 13 BBs is 13 BBs.



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

HAND 5: Big fan of big pairs

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
UTG limps, MP limps, HERO raises to $60 with AA, BUTTON calls $60, folds to MP who calls $60

FLOP ($190): Q82
MP checks, HERO checks, BUTTON checks

Obviously, a fierce flop for my hand. I decide to check tho, because it is actually quite hard to get 3 streets of value from any hand that's worse than mine. In addition, certain hearts like the K, J, 10 may fold to a c-bet (esp if they're not closing the action) but will put more money in if the 4-flush comes in. Plus, I can encourage someone to try to steal the pot.

TURN ($190): 4
MP leads for $80, HERO calls $80, BUTTON calls $80

MP seems like a thinking, aggressive player, so I'm not surprised to see him take a shot here. I am a bit surprised to see the button overall, esp when he didn't bet the flop in position. I'm not sure what to think of his hand.

RIVER ($430): 6
MP checks, HERO bets $210, BUTTON calls, MP folds

Checked to me, and obviously I need to go for some value. The Button calls really quickly, so I'm afraid that he might have somehow made a better hand than me. But,



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

HAND 6: Playing JJ softly

PREFLOP: $10 BUTTON straddle is on
HERO is in the SB and limps for $10 with JJ, MP limps, HIJACK raises to $45, BUTTON calls, HERO calls, MP calls

FLOP ($180): 1088
Action checks around

TURN ($180): 4
HERO bets $80, MP calls $80, HIJACK calls $80, BUTTON folds

RIVER ($420): 4
HERO checks, MP and HJ check



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

HAND 7: KK, the final chapter

I'm up around $1500 thanks to winning a ton of medium-sized pots with big pairs. Things are going great, and then this hand happens.

Main villain is an aggressive reg and there is a short stack ($80-$100) who is jamming pre a lot.

PREFLOP: The short stack guy has the $10 button straddle on
UTG limps, UTG2 limps, HERO ($2.5k) limps UTG3 with KK, MP limps, Villain in MP2 ($1.6k) raises to $90

Folds back to HERO who re-raises to $300, Villain thinks and re-raises to $900, HERO jams all-in for $1600, Villain calls all-in

So I limp after 2 other limpers only bc I thought it was so likely that the short-stack guy was going to jam if it limped to him. Instead, this dude raises to $90 and I decide to back-raise to $300.

I'm shook when he re-raises me to $900. I've been rolling all night, and now I'm really going to run Kings into Aces and lose it all? F***.

And I just start thinking, ok - this guy is aggressive, and he did raise to $90 over several limpers. Not an outrageous sizing or anything, but I thought maybe he goes a little smaller with Aces to try to get some action. So even though I'm scared sh*tless, I decide to just go for it and get it in for 320 BBs.

He quickly calls, but says, "ugh, I call". Sometimes people will say that with Aces just because they're scared of getting sucked out on, but he asks, "do you have a pair?" I say I do, and he says, "damn".

That obviously great news for me, and I assume now he's got AK and I need to fade an Ace. The board runs out:

1094810



Whewwwwwww buddy. I can't believe my hand was good and held up in a pot that size. Villain later told me he had QQ and just thought I didn't have KK/AA bc I limped behind 2 other limpers in such early position. That's a dynamic I really wasn't thinking enough about during the hand, so I'm glad I ended up making the decision to jam anyway.

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

Really nice end to a huge session for your boy. I made one nice 3-barrel all-in bluff and then was blessed with a ton of big pairs that all held up in solid medium-sized pots, and then obviously the final hand happened. Haven't had a session like this in awhile, so I'm pumped it happened last night.




Session results:
2 hours, 45 mins
+$3266

Time for a quick January wrap-up.

Jan was a pretty big smash which was really nice since A) This is currently my main source of income and B) It's the first month of the year and it's always nice to start off strong.

Last night I could have gone to play, and I was really tempted to bc I was only a couple hundred dollars away from banking my best live month ever.

But I really wasn't in the mindset to play; I'd gotten very little sleep the night before and had to go to four (4) different doctors appointments during the day. No, really: 8:30am - checkup and booster shots for my cat, 9am - XRay review and checkup on my broken foot, 11am - checkup for my daughter, 2pm - optometrist appt.

So by the time I got home in the late afternoon, I was super dust. I was texting a good friend about my dilemma and he said, "if the shoe was on the other foot, you know what you'd tell me? The end of the month and profit numbers are arbitrary endpoints. If you’re not feeling optimal, you shouldn’t feel obligated to play.”

And honestly, he was right. So I decided not to go play, and I'm happy with that decision. So final Jan numbers:



I think I played really well overall this month and also obv ran hotter than the sun's ass. I was having a very solid month and then had that last smash session that vaulted it up another level. Also I exceeded my very modest goal of 40 hours played (remember bc of my daughter's birth, I didn't play my first session until the 10th and didn't play my second one until the 14th).

V happy with the results and hope to follow it up with a strong Feb.

Congrats on the big month man. Choosing your own schedule is one of the biggest advantages to being full time, so definitely ease up when you dont feel up to it. I think it would be a mistake not to.

You're very right. Appreciate it man

Only had a little time to play today, but a friend cajoled me into heading back out to the Oaks Club for a quick session.

Only played for about 2 hours but did get in a few interesting hands ...


HAND 1: Hero is a POW vol. 1

PREFLOP:
HERO opens to $20 from MP with 99, Loose player on the BUTTON calls $20

FLOP ($40): AQ6
HERO checks, BUTTON checks

TURN ($40): 3
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $20, HERO calls $20

RIVER ($80): A
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $65, HERO calls $65

Highly doubt the button has an ace; he probably bets the flop with one. I don't think he'd be value-betting Qx here, he's kind of just a wet-noodle rec. Yeah, he could have flopped a flush I guess, but two of the high-hard spades are out there which reduces the number of high flush combos he could have, and most players would bet a low flush on the flop to get value and protect against another spade falling. So I don't see a lot of value hands he actually has here.



Ah well, that's what I get for assuming he'd bet a low flush on the flop.

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

HAND 2: Hero is a POW, Vol 2

PREFLOP:
MP limps, bad/bluffy player on the BUTTON limps, HERO checks his option in the BB with J10

FLOP ($15): J86
HERO bets $15, MP folds, BUTTON calls $15

TURN ($45): 4
HERO bets $35, BUTTON calls $35

RIVER ($115): 9
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $115, HERO calls $115

I bet for value the whole way, then check the river to induce his missed draws to bluff; I've already seen him bluff a couple hands so I figure he'll prob try to do that here too. Nothing really came in - I guess J9 made two pair but 7-5 made the straight on the turn and would likely have raised then. And it would be weird for 8-9 to call all the way to the river with a flush draw out there.



Ah, so he called all the way to the end with a gutter with a flush draw out there. Then drilled it in my eye on the river. Cool cool got iiiiiiiit

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

HAND 3: Wouldn't be a Dervish session without a 3-barrel bluff

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
HERO ($850) raises to $35 from MP with A3, HJ calls $35, decent player in the BUTTON STRADDLE calls $35

FLOP ($105): 952
HERO c-bets $55, MP calls $55, BUTTON calls $55

With my gutter+backdoor flush draw+range advantage, of course I'm c-betting this flop. Both players call so this pot is getting big and gonna get bigger.

TURN ($270): 10
HERO bets $160, MP folds, BUTTON calls $160

When an overcard to the board falls, it's time to put the screws in. I know that medium pairs and flush draws are the most likely holdings here, with a lot of flush draws interacting well with the 9 and 10, often giving a pair or some sort of combo straight draw as well. So I expect to get called sometimes here, and I'll be blasting off on many rivers that don't help that range.

RIVER ($590): 7
HERO bets $325, BUTTON tank-folds

A little background - the button had recently gotten stacked when his AA ran into a set of Jacks and he paid it off. So, he'd already lost a buy-in making a call when he was dead, and I thought he might be worried about repeating that mistake. So I think he was a good guy to bluff here.

My image was also good in that I hadn't really made any aggressive moves thus far and I hadn't been playing a lot of hands, so from his perspective he didn't have a lot of reason to think I was bluffing here.

As he was tanking he said that he missed his flush but caught a pair ... but he ended up letting go. Sweet.

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

HAND 4: Folding the best hand

PREFLOP:
HERO raises to $20 with AJ, CUTOFF (Villain from last hand; has $800 and I cover) calls $20, loose BUTTON calls $20

FLOP ($60): A96
HERO checks, CU checks, BUTTON bets $55, HERO calls $55, CU check-raises to $230, BUTTON folds, HERO folds

I make a weird play, checking the flop when I make the Ace. Then this guy makes a weird play, checking after I check and then check-raising two people. I think this feels like I may have the best hand here, but I decide to just fold instead of being in a weird spot OOP where I don't know if I want a blank to fall or not.



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

HAND 5: Barreling gets through again

PREFLOP:
HERO raises to $20 in MP with A10, HIJACK calls, BUTTON calls, BB calls

FLOP ($80): 322
BB checks, HERO c-bets $45, only the BUTTON calls

TURN ($170): J
HERO bets $95, BUTTON folds

Hey, I picked up some equity and it's an overcard that is better for my range than his. So bombs away, and he dumps the hand.

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

Turned out to be a good little session -

Session results:
2 hours, 5 mins
+$392

I took Sunday (Superbowl) and Monday off, got back on the felt yesterday but it was kind of a nondescript session. Even though the game was good, I was mostly card-dead and didn't get involved in too many interesting hands.

Just a couple:

HAND 1: Getting it in with AKos pre

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
2 limps, and HERO raises to $55 from the SB with AK
Weak/tight player in the BB goes all-in for $385, HERO calls all-in

So everything here is good and standard until we get to the all-in call by me. Obviously raising to 5.5x from the SB over 2 limps with AKos is standard. Then the BB goes all-in here, and he's not the type to do this light, so he's got a pretty strong range.

So looking at my odds, I need to call $330 to win a pot of about $475, so I need about 41% equity.

If I give him a range of 10s+ and AK I have 40.3%
If I give him a range of 10s+ and AK, and without AA, I have 43.8%
If I give him a range of 10s+ and AK and AQs, I have 43%

So I think it's pretty close any way you cut it. In the moment, I didn't think it was quite this close odds vs equity-wise - I thought my equity was a bit better. Anyway, I called and even in retrospect, I'm fine with it.

FLOP: 1074
TURN: 7
RIVER: 5



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

HAND 2: 4! ftw

PREFLOP:
HERO ($800) opens to $20 UTG with AK, good player (covers) 3-bets to $95 on the BUTTON, HERO 4-bets to $325, BUTTON folds AK face-up

I wasn't especially enamored with the idea of getting it all-in pre with AK again, but I think he would 3-bet hands like 10-10, JJ, QQ, and AK that will likely fold to an UTG 4-bet but that can own me pretty easily if I call and play the pot out of position. So I'm glad I pulled the trigger on the 4! and it worked out well here.

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

HAND 3: Calling an all-in with 3rd pair

PREFLOP:
Loose fish ($2k) opens for $20 UTG, HERO ($1k) 3-bets to $65 from the CUTOFF with 1010, unknown rec ($310) cold-calls from the SB, UTG calls

FLOP ($190): J92
BB checks, UTG checks, HERO bets $100, BB check-calls $100, UTG folds

Multi-way I'm c-betting here to deny equity to overs and really the only hand type I'm worried about being behind is suited Jxs. I'm not quite sure what to make of the SBs cold-calling range, he should be shoving with a lot of his best hands and he's way too shallow to be set-mining. So maybe hands like KQs and AQs?

AJs is probably in that range too, but when he check-calls my $100 (leaving himself $145) instead of jamming, Jx doesn't seem very likely. But then again, what actually does make sense?

TURN ($390): Q
SB jams all-in for $145, HERO calls $145

He leads for a jam, and I just have no idea what he has. Like I said, I think Jx goes it all-in on the flop. He shouldn't have a lot of Qx - what Qx would he call with on the flop. With the Queen being a spade and me having the 10 of hearts and clubs, there's only one possible combo of Q-10s. I guess he could have KQ but check-calling that instead of jamming on the flop seems terrible (I don't know the guy tho). And, he could have a set of 9s but that probably jams on the flop too. So basically, it's hard to find a lot of value that beats me.

The problem is tho, that bluffs are pretty hard for him to have too. Me holding the 10 takes away a ton of the flush draw combos he could have, and again, he should be jamming those on the flop. He could have hands like 109 or 98 I suppose, I guess those make sense.

But overall, nothing he's done here makes a lot of sense. So, I figure I'm getting better than 3.5/1 and I have some outs even if I'm wrong. So I call.

RIVER: Q



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

HAND 4: I bruff

PREFLOP:
HERO opens to $20 UTG, solid player in MP calls, loose fish in BB calls

FLOP ($60): K75
BB checks, HERO checks, MP bets $35, BB check-calls $35, HERO check-raises to $150, all players fold

MP and I had just played a hand where raised pre and he called in position, I didn't c-bet the flop, he bet and I folded.

Plus, he's a smart, good player, so I'm sure he's doing plenty of betting to take pots down when he's checked to. In addition, he can easily be betting for equity protection here with all sorts of pocket pairs. Basically, he will have a lot of hands besides Kx here. Plus, even if he has KJ or K-10, he's in a tough spot middled in between players. The BB is very loose and prone to check-raising with a wide range, so her check-calling range is pretty weak.

So with an over and a backdoor flush draw, I decide to pull a bluff. After I bet it, I felt like my large sizing might give away that it wasn't for value; I feel like AK and AA might do that but it seems too big for sets.

In either event, it gets through and I earn myself $130 by taking the spot.

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

Session results:
4 hours, 5 mins
-$53

A brutal flogging last night, my friends.

It wasn't run-bad either, I just didn't play very well and things didn't work out. A couple hands:

HAND 1: Getting set over setted ... and I still win money?

PREFLOP:
EP, MP, and HJ limp for $5, HERO limps in the CU with 33, BUTTON raises to $25, BB and all 4 limpers call

Usually I'm raising here, but I'd just sat down and I'm still getting settled and stacking up my chips, and I decide ok, I'll just limp here behind 3 limpers. Then the button raises and obviously I'm going to call closing the action and set-mine here.

FLOP ($150): A73
Checks around to HERO who checks, BUTTON ($170) bets $75, EP ($900) check-raises to $200, HJ check-raises all-in for $500, HERO calls $500, BUTTON calls all-in for $170, EP folds

Uh, okeyyyyyy so this is a weird spot. The BUTTON c-bets and then two other players check-raise big ... not ideal for bottom set. Obviously there's only one hand I'm really worried about (77), but it seems like someone could definitely have that.

Of course, there could also be hands like A7, A3s (one combo), and 7x of clubs. And certainly the button (the original preflop raiser/c-bettor) could have AK or whatever. So, I decide I just can't fold and hopefully I win a massive pot.

TURN: 8
RIVER: 2



So even though I got set over setted, I netted about $200 profit since the BUTTON was fairly short-stacked. Pretty good results, all things considered.

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

HAND 2: This squeeze ain't it

PREFLOP:
EP and MP limp, and HERO limps in LJ with A6, CUTOFF raises to $40, EP calls $40, MP folds, HERO re-raises to $185, CUTOFF re-raises all-in for $900, EP and HERO fold

So I purposefully over-limp bc the Villain in the CU had been playing suuuper aggro in position, and I decided I was going to take my suited ace and use it as a limp-backraise bluff. Good idea, right? And it looks great when the CU takes the bait and then I get another caller too!

So I pull the trigger, but instead of folding, the guy just re-shoves for $900 and I have to fold. Tough scene.

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

HAND 3: The mayor of Donk City, WhirlingDervish

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
EP opens to $30, MP1, MP2, and HJ call $30, HERO calls $30 in the CUTOFF with 77, BUTTON calls $30

FLOP ($180): 10102
Checks around to HIJACK ($700), this old dumb fat dude who has been stacked at least 4 times who just overvalues hands like no other, getting it all in with all sorts of nonsense. Anyway, HERO click-raises to $110, and it folds back to Villain who calls.

I decide to make a small iso-raise because I think I'm often ahead of what he has, which can be 2x, 33-66, etc. I guess he couuuuld have 10x but usually he puts money in weak and often bad players will auto-check trips here on a dry ass board. And also raising will force anyone with a 10 to define their hand now and for pretty cheap from my perspective.

TURN ($400): 3
Villain bets $220
HERO raises all-in for $600
Villain calls all-in

When villain leads the turn, I just stick with my original thoughts on the hand that he rarely has a 10, and I just get it all in. I've been watching this guy donk off stacks all night with weak hands and while I'm far from a lock here, I think my hand is good enough to finally try to get in on that action.

RIVER: 4



Yeahhhhhh welllll I'm a fish. I tried to get in a big pot against this guy who over-values hands, and instead I got in a big pot against him where I was the one over-valuing my hand.

I don't mind my play until the turn, but when he leads out again for a big bet, I need to re-evaluate my thoughts of his range and here I didn't. The hands I was beating were significantly decreased based on this action, and I didn't adjust to that, and just stacked off with hella marginal. Bad job by me, and I deserved to lose my money.

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

Session results:
3 hours, 15 mins
-$966

The worst kind of session last night. Don't have a lot of time so here's the nitty-gritty.

Started off really well too with this:


HAND 1: Almost perfect

PREFLOP:
UTG ($2k) opens to $25, 3 callers (MP1, MP2, SB) and HERO ($900) calls in the BB with 88

FLOP ($125): J85
SB and HERO check, UTG c-bets $50, folds to SB who check-calls $50, HERO check-raises to $180, UTG calls and SB folds

TURN ($535): Q
HERO bets $280, UTG calls $280

The Queen isn't the best card here bc it scares AJ and occasionally makes a set of Queens. But a lot of the time here, UTG either has an overpair with AA or KK or a big flush draw like AK or AQ of hearts.

So I'm just going to continue on, setting up a river shove. Hoping for a blank on the river - especially no heart.

RIVER ($1095): 3
HERO goes all-in for $415, UTG tank-folds

The heart sucks because it's scary for his overpairs, and also if he's the one with a big flush draw I'm just screwed. But I think shoving is the right play because I'm still trying to get value from his overpairs; if I check he can just play perfectly by checking back his overpairs and jamming with his flush draws.

So I put him in a tough spot, and he tanks and tanks and tanks. Keeps lamenting how I got there on the river. And finally, he lets it go, showing:



A nice pot, but sucks to not get stacks when you hit a set vs a rec player with AA

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

So I'm up several hundred and it's all going well. Then this hand happens:

HAND 2: Could Hero play worse? Unlikely.

PREFLOP:
Meh reg ($600) limps UTG, HERO raises to $25 with AK, CU, BUTTON, SB, and BB call $25

FLOP ($125): K43
Checks to HERO, who checks. Action checks through.

Why on earth did I check this flop? Buddy, I don't know. I do think it's right ot sometimes check your strong flopped hands for balance/deception, and occasionally in multi-way pots this is good to do bc someone else will often bet for you and you can play it as a check-raise.

Which was my idea here, I thought all Kx and flush draws would bet themselves and if I bet, those are the only hands that would play with me anyways.

The problem with this in this specific situation is that I'm 3rd to act out of 5, so there's only 2 players behind me who might bet. Plus, being so multi-way with five players, giving a free card is really bad because the field has so much equity as a whole. Hands like 5-7 or 88 are getting free shots at their longshot hands and not betting here to clean up that equity is bad.

TURN ($125): 2
SB and BB check, UTG bets $75, HERO calls $75, all others fold

The reg bets and certainly I'm not folding here, but a raise would likely be an over-play.

RIVER ($275): K
UTG bets $140, HERO calls $140

The reg bets again and I just don't think he's bluffing here. Maybe he takes a shot on the turn with a strong draw, but I doubt he unloads a river barrel. So he can have straights, boats and weaker Kx.

I consider raising, but in the end I decide not to since there's only one King left in the deck (the hand I'd be getting value from), while there's a lot of ways he could have a straight (A5s or 56s) or a boat (22/33/44). So I just call.



Well, I sure did play that one horribly. Instead of just c-betting and winning $125 on the flop, I gave a free card and then lost $215 calling bets with the worst hand. I should be fired into the sun for this one.

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

And that signaled a change in the session. All of a sudden, I couldn't win a hand. My QQ lost to 10-7s. My top pair lost to 2nd pair that rivered 2-pair. I had several pocket pairs in multi-way pots and missed sets. Etc, etc.

And my stack just dwindled. No real big hands but just steady chip-leaking, and I wasn't winning any hands to slop the bleeding. This went on for hours.

Finally, I was getting ready to just go home. My stack was down to about $450 and I was getting tired. Then, the final hand happened:

HAND 3: Missing on a read

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
HERO is UTG with AA and opens to $35, MP1, MP2, CUTOFF, and BB call $35

FLOP ($175): 994
BB leads (covers) leads out for $70, HERO calls $70, all others fold

I don't love her lead, but of course I'm not folding. She's a losing reg who plays very loose preflop and too passively post. So certainly she could have a 9 here, but she's also the type to lead with 10-10 or 7-7 to "see where she's at".

TURN ($315): 2
BB checks, HERO bets $110, BB check-calls $110

When she checks, I think she's far more weighted to pocket pairs now. Leading flop and then checking turn with trips when I only have a pot-sized bet behind would be odd. So I make a small bet to get value from smaller pairs, and when she just check-calls I think for sure she's got a pocket pair and not a 9.

RIVER ($535): 4
BB checks, HERO goes all-in for $220, BB calls all-in for $220



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

Not much else to say except this session sucked my bung.

Session results:
5 hours, 50 mins
-$800

Last two sessions haven't gone great, so I took a couple days off and got back out there tonight, determined to play well bc I haven't lately.

So moooostly, the session went really well. A couple quick hands:


HAND 1: The squeeze

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
A weaker prop player UTG raises to $35, a loose player in the SB calls $35, HERO raises to $150 from the BB with Q10, both players fold

Nothing special here but I tend to play conservatively out of the blinds and I'm probably missing some good squeeze spots; it's not a play I make often. So here I took advantage of one.

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

HAND 2: The ole check-raise bruff

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
Loose player ($430) opens to $50 from the CUTOFF, HERO (covers) calls in the STRADDLE for $50 with K10

The opener is loose and he'd also just come back and posted, so people will often raise when they can in these spots to get back their posted money.

So I could 3-bet here, but after his raise he's only got about $380 behind, so I'm afraid that he's so short that he'd just go with any hand that he felt good about, and I really don't have great equity against halfway decent hands like AJ and 88. So anyway, I decide to defend, even though the sizing is large.

FLOP ($100): J87
HERO checks, CUTOFF bets $65, HERO check-raises to $265, CUTOFF folds

I flop a gutter and a backdoor flush draw, and when he bets, folding seems way too weak against an opening range that contains very few top pairs on this board. So I just decide to check-raise to get it all-in, and he folds.

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

HAND 3: Another semibruff

PREFLOP: $10 STRADDLE and DEAD $20 IS ON

HERO is in the DEAD $20 with 87, 2 players in MP call $20, SB and BB both call $20

FLOP ($100): 963
SB leads for $75, BB folds, HERO raises to $230, everyone folds

The SB is a good tight player, but he capped his range preflop by not raising. So while he can certainly have 9x here, that's basically the top end of his range and he shouldn't have 2 pairs.

Meanwhile, my range is uncapped because I was in the dead $20, so I can have both big pairs and 2-pairs while he can't. So I decide to leverage this dynamic and raise with my open-ender, and I earn a nice little pot.

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

HAND 4: No gambol, no future

So about 5 hours in, I'm up around $600 and playing really well (a welcome change). It's late and people are drinking and gambling - as you can infer by all the straddles and dead $20s, etc.

Anyway, there's a fun gambly reg who is known for going all-in in the dark, and he decides to do it here for the 3rd time of the night.

He shoves in the dark for $1180, and it folds to HERO on the BUTTON, who looks down at AJ. HERO knows that AJ is nearly a 2:1 favorite against a 100% range, so HERO shoves and the blinds get out of the way.

The gambly reg flips over K10

FLOP: 732

TURN: 10

RIVER: K

UTG wins $2,360 with two pair, Kings and Tens

Curses. Would have been a really nice pot to win, and both preflop and esp after the flop we were looking great. If we take that down, we're having a big night and have wiped out all the losses from the past two sessions.

Instead, we play really well but book another loss, and the poor run continues. It's all good, and that's poker. I don't feel mad or discouraged or anything, but would have def liked to win that pot haha. Anyhow, we move onward.

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

Session results:
4 hours, 55 mins
-$598

Yet another tough session last night. It's been a tough stretch, full of me playing my C+ game while not running very good. And last night was more of the same. A few hands:

HAND 1: Making a big fold

This hand is from very early in the session

PREFLOP:
UTG2 limps, Loose player in MP limps, HERO ($720) raises from MP2 with AK, both players limp-call

FLOP ($90): K105
UTG2 checks, MP donks for $30, HERO raises to $120, UTG2 folds, MP re-raises to $400, HERO folds

This is a spot where I'll often just call, but here I decided to raise his small donk lead because the board is so draw-heavy and I don't want to give either him or the other player such a cheap price to call.

So I put in a solid raise, and then he makes a stack-committing re-raise. WOOF. And I want to just jam it soooooo bad. So bad. The guy is loose, the board is draw-heavy, and some of the biggest hands are very unlikely, namely KK and 10-10 that almost certainly would have raised pre.

But the more I thought about it, the more I decided I shouldn't get it in. This player is quite loose, but he's not the type to just 3-bet flops and get it all-in with BS. He's more the type to see a lot of flops with substandard hands and try to smash flops - he's definitely the type to have K5s and 10-5s in his range here.

And he doesn't have a worse King like KQ, so I think his range here is basically bottom set, 2-pairs and big combo draws like A5 and J9. And at the table, I just thought I didn't have great equity against that range, so I folded.

*Pokerstoving it now, against that range I have 30% equity. So if I am estimated his range fairly accurately, it's a good fold.

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

HAND 2: Paying off

PREFLOP:
HERO opens to $20 in the HIJACK with KQ, fish in CUTOFF ($260) calls $20, BUTTON calls $20

FLOP ($60): Q53
HERO bets $30, HJ raises to $75, BUTTON holds, HERO calls $75

I hate getting raised small here, and bc the guy is so short-stacked we're basically playing for the rest of it here. So I don't think this is a bluff, but he's definitely dumb enough to be overvaluing a worse Queen.

I block several flush draws with the K, but certainly he could have a combo draw like A4. But, he'd probably raise bigger with hands like that tying to get folds, so I don't think that type of hand is too likely.

TURN ($210): 10
HERO checks, HJ goes all-in for $165, HERO calls $165

RIVER ($550): Q



I think if I was playing better here, I would have found a fold on the turn. If it's unlikely he has flush draws, I'm basically hoping he has a worse Qx. And when the 10 falls on the turn, really that's just QJ and maybe Q9s - really not much. And that's the difference between playing your A-game and your C-game.

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

HAND 3: A remarkable self-own

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
A very loose fish ($800) opens UTG for $40, solid player UTG2 ($1k) calls $40, HERO ($900) calls $40 on the BUTTON with 86

FLOP ($130): 1033
UTG c-bets $50, UTG2 calls $50, HERO calls $50

I consider a raise here, since UTG misses this flop so often with his wide/weak range. But I'm a little weary of UTG2, he seems fairly solid for the most part, so I decide to just call behind.

TURN ($280): J
UTG checks, UTG2 checks, HERO bets $150, UTG folds, UTG2 calls $150

Both players check the turn when an over falls, and I think this is a pretty good time to take a shot. UTG is just giving up, and I can get UTG2 to fold a lot of his hands that he'd call the flop with, like 10x and 77/88/99.

Unfortunately he calls, but I'm having trouble figuring out what really strong hand he could have here. So I'm planning on firing a big shell on a lot of rivers.

RIVER ($580): 4
UTG2 checks, HERO bets $360, UTG2 tank-calls $360

Oh, my flush came in, a nice little surprise. He checks and it's time to go for value; I don't know what the guy has but it can't be that good for him to not make an aggressive action on any street and then check the river too.



Ayahhhhhhh. So, it would be pretty easy to chalk this up to, "flush over flush, cold-deck, what can you do?".

But I don't think I played this very well. Reviewing:

PREFLOP: I'm very ok playing 86s on the button for a single raise
FLOP: I think the decision to call over raise is good
TURN: I like taking the shot here to get the players off their aforementioned ranges
RIVER: Ok, what am I trying to get value from? Like, what did he call the turn with? Well, what makes sense besides a big flush draw or a trapping full house of Tens or Jacks full? Not much, right? So what am I actually trying to get value from?

I think I just lost myself in this hand and didn't think it through well. I just thought "oh I made my flush, I have to bet!" instead of logically ranging the villain, and that cost me a big-ass bet on the river. Again, that's the difference between playing really well and just playing like everyone else.

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

HAND 4: Oh, it's like that

PREFLOP:
HERO opens to $20 in MP with J9, loose action player behind me in the LOJACK calls $20, BUTTON calls $20

FLOP ($60): Q76
HERO c-bets $30, LJ calls $30, BUTTON folds

I have nothing, but I decide to c-bet since this flop should favor my range. It's pretty thin tho, but it feels like all night I've been raising pre and completely whiffing flops, and checking and giving up. It's frustrating and I decide I'll just take a shot here.

TURN ($120): J
HERO checks, LJ bets $50, HERO calls $50

I hit my pair, which gives me a bit of showdown value. Against most players it's not worth much, but against this guy it is; he's super loose and prone to be bluffy.

So when he bets, he doesn't necessarily have Qx or a flush; he can be bluffing with smaller pairs (esp those with a diamond) and straight draws. So I call, planning to evaluate on the river.

RIVER ($220): 2
HERO checks, LJ bets $100, HERO calls $100

The river is a blank, and I feel like while I'm beat sometimes here, he's also never giving up with his missed hands. So I call getting a bit better than 3:1.



So of course this guy thinks it's great. He shows his hand and laughs sheepishly as he pulls in the pot. It's like a home game where your buddy tries to bust you with 7-2os and then think it's hilarious when he does, only he's also slightly embarrassed that he's done you so dirty. That's basically what happened here, only we're playing 2/5 for lots of money.

Me on the outside:


Me on the inside:


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

So the session is going horribly. Again, I'm not playing my best and the deck is not real kind either. I'm stuck $1400 and just cannot get anything going.

A hot dumb Asian chicks shows up playing all sorts of terribly and she's up $1k in like 20 minutes. The loose fish next to me is up piles. I can't get a hand or hit a flop. This is my nightmare. Then, this hand happens:


HAND 5: Bluffing in a bomb pot

**9 players are in for $25, HERO ($900) is UTG+3 with J10**

FLOP ($225): AQ4
Action checks to a solid player ($2k) in the HIJACK, who bets $20. CUTOFF, BUTTON, UTG2, and HERO call $20

Weird micro-bet on the flop here, and of course several people call it trying to make a hand, including me.

TURN ($325): 8
Checks back to HIJACK who now bets $150, folds around to HERO who check-raises to $400, HIJACK tank-folds two pair

Because of his small flop bet, I figure he's got a marginal pair. The 8 shouldn't have helped him often, so when he bets the turn again I'm betting he's got a weak Ax.

I pick up a double-gutter, and decide to just put the screws in and make him fold a weak hand. Unfortunately, he tanks and tanks and tanks ... and fiiiinally folds, showing his neighbor his hand. His neighbor says "wow, I couldn't fold two pair". So I didn't see his cards but looks like he had something like 8-4 and just thought I was really nutted here. Lucky for me he folded, but finally I earn a nice pot.

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

So I pick up this nice big pot, and I'm feeling good about myself. The very next hand, I pick up 10-10 and a short stack moves in for $148 over a straddle and a call.

I call the $148, everyone folds, he shows 66 and hits a set on the flop and wins the ~$300 pot.

Super tilting. Not that it's a huge pot, but just as I'm getting a little momentum in an otherwise sh*tty night, it gets taken away in a dominated spot. Frustrating for sure.

Soon after, I lose another medium-sized pot when I make a straight on the river when the front-door flush draw also comes in. Both players beck to me and I bet $95 into like $300, going for thin value. One of them check-raises all-in and I fold, he shows a straight flush. Another small-self own.

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

HAND 6: Needed this badly

PREFLOP:
MP, HIJACK, BUTTON, SB all limp for $5, and HERO checks in the BB with Q6

FLOP ($20): AQ10
Checks to BUTTON who bets $15, HERO calls $15 and rec in HJ ($700) calls $15

I'll peel one for a small bet with middle pair and a backdoor flush draw

TURN ($65): 9
HERO and HJ check, BUTTON bets $45, HERO and HJ check-call $45

I pick up the flush draw, so obvs not folding now.

RIVER ($200): J
HERO checks, HJ bets $130, BUTTON folds, HERO check-raises all-in for $635 effective, HJ tank-calls all-in

First off, hallelujah, what a card. Secondly, I think checking here is clearly the right play. I don't think anything less than a straight calls me if I bet out, and that hand should bet itself when checked to. That sets up a check-raise, which can easily be called by someone thinking they're chopping.

When the HJ leads out after calling along the whole way, he just always has a King for the straight. So after he bets $130, I'm trying to figure out sizing. He's got about $500 more left after his bet, so I think of going to like $420 or something like that.

But I decide in the end to go for the max, since he knows I can have a flush and will probably just not be able to fold his straight anyway.

And he goes deeeep into the tank, he tries to talk to me but I don't say anything. In the end, he ends up calling and says, "show me a flush".



Woah. I don't know what the f*ck he was doing in there with that hand, but I'm very lucky he did and I got the nut runout. This was a really crappy session, but after being down $1400, winning this pot at the end makes a merely moderate loss feel like a big win.

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

Session results:
8 hours, 40 mins
-$473


Crazy bonus hand that I wasn't involved in:



The other guy had 66 for the lower straight flush (they'd mucked it by the time I got my phone out) and both players got in ~$900 on the river.

Unfortunately, it wasn't eligible for the bad beat jackpot since both cards didn't play for the guy with the Sixes. So, just a sick sick cooler

Right back on the horse last night. Started off well - I won a small pot when the Cutoff opened for $30 in a straddled pot, I 3! from the Button with A5os and took it down.

Also one a hand when a player in EP opened to $25, I called in MP with Q10, and both blinds called.

The flop came J53, checked to EP who c-bet $75 into $100. I called and the blinds folded. The turn came the 9, he checked, and I bet $250 into the $250 pot (he only had $400 behind so it was effectively a jam). He folded and I took that one down too.

But after a couple hours, I made a mis-step when I opened for $35 UTG in a straddled pot, and a good solid player 3-bet me in MP to $85. I 4! to $255 and he called with about $700 behind.

The flop came K76 and I checked, he checked. Turn came the 9, I checked, he bet $200, and I folded. I like using my hand as a 4! here in general, but against this player in this configuration (he's not 3-betting me light when I'm UTG) it was a spew. Fortunately I decided to cut my losses after he called; there is zero chance he had any cards in his hand that weren't Aces or Kings.

So I was down a little bit when this hand happened:

HAND 1: Trapping with QQ

PREFLOP: $10 Straddle is on
HYPER LAG ($600) in the CUTOFF opens to $40, HERO ($800) flats $40 in the BB with QQ, STRADDLE ($1k) 3-bets to $175, CUTOFF folds, HERO re-raises all-in for $800, STRADDLE ...

QQ is usually a 3-bet here, but I know the hyper-LAG in the Cutoff well, and his main weakness is attacking weakness with big bets and all-ins. So I decide to trap with my Queens, which I think plays well with these stack sizes - he can easily bet something like $50 into $90 on the flop, $130 into $190 on the turn, and $390 all-in into $450 on the river.

Then the Straddle makes a big squeeze of 4.4x. I actually had a very good live read on him; he looked at his cards right away, and if he liked them he'd cover them with a chip, and if he was planning on folding he'd keep them in his fingers so he could muck.

Unfortunately, in this hand I was focusing so much on the Cutoff's stack size, that I didn't see that the Straddle's cards were covered with a chip until I'd already acted. So when he makes the squeeze, I knew it wasn't a bluff.

That said, he doesn't have to be nutted here. In my experience, when players make overly-large 3-bets, they are a bit scared of seeing the flop. Now, some players are scared of seeing flops with AA, but a lot will raise a little smaller to make sure they get action. But hands like KK, AK, and JJ will play like this often.

In this spot, I think he could have AA, KK, AK, AQs, and JJ, 10-10, and maybe even 9-9. It's a strong range, but my hand is doing just fine against it, plus I'm super under-repped; from his perspective, a loose player opened and I just called from the BB, so neither of us are likely to have a premium hand.

So I figure I'm in good shape if I jam unless he's just got AA or KK, and dominated hands like JJ and even 10-10 are likely to call since I don't look like I have a big pair here. AK surely calls, but I'm a slight favorite against that hand, with some overlay from the pot. Plus the OG raiser could have had an A or K in their hand too, bettering my odds.

So, I jam.



I've thought a lot about this hand since it happened, and I'm ok with almost all of it. Knowing what I know about the guy who opened in the Cutoff, I think trapping with QQ is the optimal play. And, thinking through my opinions of the Straddle's range, I feel fine about jamming over the top of his squeeze.

The one place I f*cked up is this: Missing checking for his live tell. If I'd have noticed he had his cards covered with a chip, I would have 3-bet because I wouldn't have wanted him to come in behind me. Then he could have cold 4-bet, and his range would have been pared down to AA/KK/AKs (knowing what I know about him) and I could have gotten away from the hand.

So mostly a cold-deck spot, but I also an opportunity for me to get myself out of it and I just didn't play quite good enough.

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

HAND 2: Big ol' welp

PREFLOP:
Bad reg opens to $25 on the BUTTON, HERO defends his BB with QJ

FLOP ($50): Q54
HERO checks, BUTTON c-bets $40, HERO check-calls $40

This has all the makings of a button steal attempt and a large c-bet on the flop with air to try to take it down. Obv, I'm not folding, and I'm planning on calling down all three streets if I need to.

TURN ($130): 5
HERO checks, BUTTON checks

RIVER ($130): 10
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $100, HERO calls $100

I don't think I get value from much on the river, so I check to induce him to take one more shot at it. And, he does.






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

HAND 3: Bomb, pot

PREFLOP: 8 players are all in for $25

FLOP ($200): K86
SB and BB check, HERO checks blind, solid player in MP bets $85, BUTTON calls, BB check-calls
HERO looks down at KJ and decides to call

I could raise here; the BUTTON and the BB certainly would have raised if they had a better hand than me (besides mayyyyybe KQ). But I decide to call, since the original bettor is a solid player who probably has a good hand and it's easier for me to play my hand if the turn is a blank (since the button and BB probably have draws).

TURN ($540): 6
BB checks, HERO checks, MP checks, BUTTON checks

After the action checks through, I almost certainly have the best hand here. I probably should have bet out on the turn to make sure it didn't check through tho.

RIVER ($540): 6
BB leads for $160, HERO calls $160, MP and BUTTON fold

The BB never has me beat here; he's a good player who would never overall with a naked 6x on the flop, and he would have bet or check-raised the flop with a set or 2-pair. So it's obvious to me that he's taking a shot here since it looks like no one might have a King.

So I decide to flat, because I'm far more likely to get someone else to call with worse than I am to get the BB to call a raise with worse. Unfortunately, the other two fold.



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

Yet another session where I played ok but not quite good enough, plus ran into some tough spots/runouts. I was down $1100 at a point but did some battling back and "only" lost half a buy-in. Could have been worse but it's another L for me, would really like to stop hanging those up on the ledger.

Session results:
5 hours, 20 mins
-$437

Did a bunch of family sh*t today, so didn't get out to play until 8pm. I decided to get out to Oaks, since the wait at the CGC was sure to be hella long.

My table was fairly tough, there were several solid regs, but then there was one drunk ATM guy directly to my left who was supplying the whole table with chips.

HAND 1: First hand of the session

PREFLOP:
UTG3 limps for $5, HERO raises to $25 in MP with 66, BUTTON calls, UTG3 limp-calls

FLOP ($75): JJ7
UTG3 checks, HERO bets $35, BUTTON calls $35, UTG3 folds

I take a c-bet here for equity denial and hopefully to take the pot down now. I don't expect flush draws or Jx or 7x to fold, but I do want to clean up my equity instead of just checking and probably giving up the pot.

TURN ($145): Q
HERO checks, BUTTON checks

I'd expect the Button to bet here with Jx and most of his flush draws, since a lot of them are helped by the Queen to create combo draws. So when he checks, I think he's weighted toward 7x and possibly middle pairs like 88 and 99.

RIVER ($145): A
HERO bets $60, BUTTON folds

It's possible I have the best hand and he's got some sort of missed flush draw, but I think the Ace is a very good card for my range and I don't need to bet big to also get 7x or 88/99 to fold; letting those hands win this pot would be borderline criminal.

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

HAND 2: Winning with the nut no-pair

PREFLOP:
HERO opens to $20 UTG with AQ, BUTTON and BB call

FLOP ($60): 1064
BB checks, HERO bets $35, BUTTON calls $35, BB folds

TURN ($130): K
HERO bets $100, BUTTON calls $100

The King is a much better hand for me than him, and I make a big solid bet to get rid of middle pairs and possibly weaker 10x hands. He calls though, so when he does that he often has flush draws or stubborn 10x hands

RIVER ($330): 6
HERO checks, BUTTON checks

I don't think we get much out of betting the river; worse hands certainly aren't calling and I'm not sure that we get many better hands to fold; If he has Kx, he'll prolly call, and I think I've gotten rid of most 10x and lower pairs with my turn bet.

So I check, and he quickly checks back.



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

HAND 3: 4-bet jamming with AJs

PREFLOP: $10 Button Straddle is on
One MP player limps for $10, HERO ($1k) raises to $45 in the CUTOFF with AJ, BUTTON ($900, he's the drunk guy who's been stacking off all day) 3-bets to $200, folds back to HERO who jams all-in for $900 effective, BUTTON calls all-in

Why did I jam 180 BBs with AJs? So, this guy was one of those bad players who loved to trap with his big hands; he's had AA twice and didn't raise either time with it, and he also flopped a full house with 9-2os (lol) and slowplayed that too.

So I don't think he's nutted here; when he 3-bets with this large sizing, I think he's got a pretty decent hand and is defending his straddle. And earlier, I'd raised and he folded saying, "this guy doesn't play any hands, so he must have something really good". So, I thought I could get him to fold a lot of his hands with his jam.

Unfortunately, he calls pretty quickly, and as the flop is coming out, someone else at the table remarks about the big action and the drunk guy says, "well I have a big pair, what else can I do?" So I dig deep and start praying for an Ace.

FLOP: J32
TURN: 2
RIVER: K



Drunk button goes on huge tilt and spends the best 10 minutes cursing and telling me how bad I play for calling all-in with AJ (of course I wasn't the one who called all-in, but who cares). I just tell him "no gambol no future" which makes him angrier, and I am trying very hard to hold back my laughter.

Overall though, I'm very grateful to win a big coin flip; when you're in the middle of a downswing, being up $1100 in the session instead of down to the felt is huge.

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

HAND 4: Getting greedy af

PREFLOP:
Solid player ($1250) limps UTG, HERO ($2k) raises to $25 in MP with 88, LP calls, BB calls, UTG calls

FLOP ($100): A88
Checks to HERO who bets $45, folds to UTG who check-calls $45

Flopping quads, nbd. Of course I decide to bet, since I'm not a cuck who traps just because I can't lose the hand. I'm here to win money, and here I can get value from Ax and flush draws - and I especially want to build a pot against a flush draw so that if it hits, I can win a big ass pot.

TURN ($190): 9
UTG checks, HERO bets $90, UTG check-raises to $250, HERO calls $250

Man, there is no better feeling than getting check-raised when you have the quadzilla monster. Now to decide the best way to proceed, and I think it's clearly a call here in position.

I think his most likely hands here are A-9 and flush draws, and he has about $920 behind going into the river. So I'm hoping he puts in another nice bet on the end.

RIVER ($690): 10
UTG checks, HERO jams for $920 effective, UTG tank-folds

If he was making a move with a flush draw, my sizing doesn't matter - he took his shot on the turn and now he's folding.

But if he has value hands like A-9 or a flush draw that backed into a straight (67 or QJ, I think he might call since I recently showed that AJs 4! all-in so I have a rabble-y image.

Unfortunately, he folds after some thought, and he didn't tell me what he had but I showed my hand bc it qualified for the high-hand promotion (ended up winning for $100) but said he probably would have called a smaller bet. So, I think I got a little too greedy here. Oh well.

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

HAND 5: We like this runout

PREFLOP:
UTG (drunk guy) limps for $5, UTG3 limps for $5, BUTTON limps for $5, HERO raises to $35 in the BB with 1010, UTG and UTG3 both call $35

FLOP ($115): K76
HERO checks, UTG bets $25, UTG3 calls $25, HERO check-calls $25

TURN ($190): 9
Action checks around

RIVER ($190): 8
HERO bets $200, UTG folds, UTG3 calls $200



Sweet runout but lol @ this fish with 5-4os

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

Things went really well for me today, from winning that big coin flip to flopping quads to that last runout where I got the top end of the straight vs the bottom. But I will definitely take it; I haven't had a winning session since Feb 1st and it's been a frustrating run.

So to have a nice big session tonight felt like finding water when you're lost in the desert, and it was much-needed.

Session results:
3 hours, 20 mins
+$1,970

Found time for a little Sunday session this afternoon - after having a nice bounce-back session last night, I really wanted to follow it up with another W; having a losing session today definitely would take some of the shine off of last night.

The game wasn't great today - fairly tight and nitty. But, I still managed to play a couple of fun hands:


HAND 1: Getting my microbet on

PREFLOP:
Weak player limps in EP, HERO raises to $25 in MP with KJ, unknown in LP calls, BB calls, EP limp-calls

FLOP ($100): K72
Checks to HERO who c-bets $50, LP calls and the others fold

TURN ($200): 5
HERO bets $130, LP calls $130

I should usually be ahead here, so I go for value against weaker Kx and flush draws. I've never played with villain before, but I'd expect he'd be 3-betting with AK with some frequency preflop, so it's really only KQ I'm too concerned about. When he just calls, I think he usually doesn't have sets since they'd often raise at this point.

RIVER ($460): 7
HERO bets $45, LP calls $45

I consider checking, since it's not that many worse hands that are calling down 3 streets, and possibly it will open the door for a bricked flush draw to bluff. But instead, I decide to do something out-of-the-box here and bet 10% pot.

I figure this can be easily called by worse, and looks so weak that it still might induce a raise from missed flush draws. But, he calls and



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

HAND 2: Baby bluff

PREFLOP:
HERO opens to $20 from the CUTOFF with J10, solid player on the BUTTON calls

FLOP ($40): AQ8
HERO c-bets $25, BUTTON calls $25

TURN ($90): J
HERO checks, BUTTON checks

RIVER ($90): 9
HERO bets $60, BUTTON folds

BUTTON frustratedly flicked his cards into the muck, so I think he prolly had an Ace

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

HAND 3: Making the wrong read but it works out anyway

PREFLOP:
EP opens to $15, MP1 calls $15, MP2 ($500) calls $15, BUTTON ($2k) calls $15 HERO ($800) calls $15 in the BB with AQ

I decide just to peel here instead of 3-betting, which I think is fine although a 3bet would be too.

FLOP ($75): AJ3
Checks to MP2 who bets $35, BUTTON calls $35, HERO check-calls $35, others fold

TURN ($180): 7
HERO checks, MP2 bets $75, BUTTON calls $75, HERO check-raises to $300, MP2 folds, BUTTON tank-folds

My read of the situation is that MP2 is likely to have a weaker Ace than me, and the BUTTON has some sort of draw. Even though I block several flush big flush draws with the Q, he can have a lot of lower FDs because he flatted on the button.

I figure if the button actually had a strong made hand (like a set or 2pair), he'd the raising the draw-heavy turn in a multi-way pot. But instead it takes him forever to fold, and after the hand he said that he folded a big hand - he had turned 2-pair and just thought I had a stronger made hand. I had been playing pretty tight/solid the whole session, and he was a good player so that actually tracks.

So basically I misread the hand and blasted off when I wasn't best, but fortunately the pressure got my opponent to make a mistake in a spot where I could have lost my whole stack. So, I'm very happy this turned out fortunately for me.


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

HAND 4: Strong moves take the pot

PREFLOP:
A loose player opens to $25 from the CUTOFF, HERO 3-bets from the SB with 87, a solid player in the BB cold-calls $80, CUTOFF calls $80

FLOP ($240): A96
HERO c-bets $125, BB folds, CUTOFF mucks 1010 face-up

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

Booked a solid W and following up last night's session with another W is a really positive step toward getting this month turned around.

Session results:
3 hours, 25 mins
+$579

A bit of life news: I went through a 5-part interview process over the past two weeks and late last week I got hired for a new job.

So that's exciting because having money and benefits and security is good. It sucks because I'm not going to be able to play nearly as much poker. With a new baby, I'll be spending much more of my extra time at home with her instead of at the cardhouse.

My wife assures me that she's still ok with me playing cards a couple times a week, so the dream isn't over. But, there's almost no chance I sniff the 660 hours I put in last year. So, there's a little bit of sadness for me there knowing that my poker playing is going to take a decrease.

But, to finish up with a little good news, I'm going out to the WSOP this year for the first time! I've always wanted to do it and frankly, as a serious poker player, it's lame that I haven't done it before!

But a buddy of mine have rented a sweet Airbnb near the Rio for the first week of the Series, and our wives will be coming out for the first few days too before heading back early.

So, my early plan so far is to play the Big 50 and the $600 Deepstack, plus an assload of cash games. And I'm really, really looking forward to that