Well, we have good news ITT and bad news ITT.

Let's start with the bad:

My club on King's Club is leaving the site and moving to Poker Bros. This is a huge bummer for me - I don't like Poker Bros at all. It's an app, so my options are:

1. Play on my phone
2. Buy a new iPad and play on that
3. Use my wife's PC and play through an emulator

I dislike all of these options. #2 is the most likely option; playing on a phone sucks my ass and commandeering my wife's computer to play poker seems like it's rife for issues haha.

So now I guess I'm gonna spend $500-$1k on a new iPad to play on a weird looking cartoonish app site. This sucks.

And I really, really liked Kings Club. The lobby was clean, the software was intuitive, it's web-based so I could play easily on my computer, you could run it twice, the card/table options were solid, it had a good hand replayer, I had notes on players, etc.

Really, it felt just like going to a local cardroom, only online. Now on PB we're moving to get more players and have tournament options, which I don't care much about.

I just bummed, man. For the first month of shelter-in-place, I didn't play a single hand of poker and I missed it so bad. Then I found this club on Kings, and it brought so much joy to my life. I've been so happy playing there with this group, and now it's over. Life will go on and I don't mean to sound melodramatic. But moving forward, it just won't be the same.

So ok, the good news:

I didn't realize it was happening until I added things up this morning, but I just had my best month since getting back into poker 2 years ago: A $11,760 profit - better than any month I had playing live.

I knew I was doing well but I didn't know it was like that, gotta say it's def a nice chunk for a side-hustle.

The updated year-to-date giraffe:


That's it for now, will update again soon once I get rolling on Poker Bros

Got my first session in on Bros last night. It takes some getting used to, it's like playing a game on your phone rather than the clients I'm used to.

Also the rake is egregious, even with my RB deal it's like 2x what it was on my previous site. Not great, Bob.

But, better than not playing, I guess.

Played a $600nl game with 2/4 blinds, I vastly prefer playing tables deeper than 100bbs so I'm glad that's still an option.

The one fun hand I got into:

PREFLOP:
Button ($270) limps for $4, SB ($750) raises to $22, HERO calls $22 in the BB with 44, BUTTON calls $22

FLOP ($66): 962
SB checks, HERO bets $31, BUTTON folds, SB check-calls $31

This is a board that misses the SB's raising range a lot when he's got AK/AQ/AJ/KQ type of hands. I lead out for about half pot bc if I check, an overcard always hits the turn and I basically have to give up in a 3-way pot.

So even though the BUTTON has plenty of 9x hands, I lead to deny equity and give myself a chance in the pot. BUTTON does fold but the SB check-calls. It's a weird line, certainly he'd lead out with top pair or better, and the majority of villains aren't check-calling a diamond draw in this spot.

TURN ($128): Q
SB checks, HERO checks

SB checks again, and I check back; at this point I think his most likely holding is two high unpaired overcards, but really I don't expect him to x/c KQ or QJ unless they're suited in clubs. Even so, no reason to start inflating the pot with 4th pair; my goal is to get to a cheap-ish showdown.

RIVER ($128): 5
SB bets $95.33, HERO calls $95.33

The flush comes in, and Villain makes a substantial bet. But, it doesn't really make sense. On the flop texture, just check-calling down with hands like AK/AQ/AJ of diamonds makes little sense.

And even Qx shouldn't be wanting to put in big bets with the frontdoor flush coming in, since I could easily have bet flop with a flush draw and taken a free one on the turn.

Like I said I think his most likely hand is two unpaired overs, so getting better than 2:1 I make the call.



EZ game

Update:

My first week on Bros was not good. Dropped $1k playing mostly 1/2 (400nl). 2.5 buy-ins isn't anything but still sucks to start off in the hole.

After playing on it every day for a week, my thoughts are:

The app is ok. It's intuitive and user-friendly. Still dislike that it's an app; I've been playing on my phone which I don't like. It'll work on an iPad as long as it's newer; mine is several years old so I'm gonna have to buy a new one if I wanna get off the phone. Also, to get certain features - one that I like is the bold multi-colored cards - you have to buy "diamonds" through the app to get to a certain "VIP" level that has those features. Basically like any app on your phone that has a free version, and you have to spend $ to get upgrades. To me, paying for features on a poker site is bush league af.

Speaking of paying, the rake is bad in this club. I got $78 in rakeback, meaning that I spent nearly $400 in rake. A buddy of mine paid $1600 in rake in the first week, which is crazy. You basically have to be an ace player to be able to out-run the rake at that rate (and he's not lol).

The player pool is whatever; I wouldn't call the games super soft, although certainly they are def softer than this level on PS or ACR. But compared to my group on King's Club, it's tougher.

In sum, it's a combo of playing on a phone app instead of a site via my laptop, with a less-fishy player pool and much higher rake.

Overall, this is really disappointing for me. I was crushing Kings (+$12k last month) and having a great time. Then it all went away in an instant, and here we are. Such is life in the current poker climate, I suppose.

At least last night, I started the new week off well. Won $350 early in the day, but was stuck during my night session and close to logging off when this hand happened:

PREFLOP (1/2 NL)
HERO (the effective stack at $260) opens to $6 from MP with J9, HJ and CU call

FLOP ($20): J63
HERO c-bets $11, HJ folds, CU calls $11

TURN ($42): J
HERO checks, CU bets $21, HERO calls $21

I think it's reasonable for me to continue betting here on the turn, we can get value from hands like pairs with a spade. But on balance a check feels better; any Jx almost certainly has me out-kicked and flush draws just got there. And if I bet and get raised, I'm in a really bad spot since I'm drawing close to dead a lot, which makes me vulnerable to any bluffs he has as well. So, I go with the check-call.

RIVER ($84): 9
HERO checks, CU bets $84, HERO check-raises all-in to $222, CU tank-calls all-in

This is a clear check on the river, although a lot of players get it wrong bc they're scared the villain will check back and they'll lose out on value.

In this case, villain usually has one of 3 types of hands:

1) A flush
2) Jx, usually JT+
3) A middle pair with a spade
4) A full house from a flopped set

If he has #4, it doesn't matter what I do, we're getting it in regardless.

If he has #3, he will usually check back the river. If I bet, I get called sometimes and he sometimes folds.

If he has #2, he'll usually bet this hand for me. He shouldn't be too afraid of me having a flush; I certainly haven't played my hand like I have one. Moreso, my hand looks like it's likely to be a pair of some sort. And when he bets, I can check-raise him and he'll sometimes call and sometimes fold.

If he has #1, he's in big trouble. If I check he'll bet for me and I can check-raise, usually getting him pot-stuck. This is way better than betting myself, since he'll usually just call with the paired board. So instead of getting a near-pot sized value, I get stacks.



Obviously a huge gin card on the river for me. And when you're lucky and those things happen, it's important to get maximum value for it.

Alright, a good 2nd week on Bros. Getting a little more used to the gameplay and the player pool, plus spending some good time off the felt on sharpening up my ranges and lines.

Also, and I'll be honest, I ran hotter than the sun's ass this week.

On Saturday specifically, I flopped 4 flushes and 2 full houses (I know bc I took screenshots lol). Didn't get paid on all of them or anything, but still. I also won a big hand where MP opened, BUTTON called, and I 3! from the SB with AQos. MP folded but the BUTTON called again.

Flop came T53 rainbow, I bet and he called.
Turn came an offsuit K, I bet again and he called.
River came up gin, a J. I jammed and he snapped with TT.

And yesterday I made a straight flush and got paid pretty well on it.

So certainly the deck was with me this week, whereas it felt like it was pretty against me last week. Obviously long-term, it should be somewhere in the middle.

Anyway, +$2,375 for the week and it's nice to book my first W on the site.

A couple fun hands from last night's session:

HAND 1: HERO suckx

PREFLOP: 1/2
BUTTON ($83.72) opens to $6, HERO (covers) defends in the BB with 88

FLOP ($13): Q33
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $8.66, HERO calls $8.66

Certainly ahead the majority of the time here.

TURN ($30.32): 6
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $20.21, HERO calls $20.21

Don't love the double-barrel here but I'm planning on letting him bluff it off; if he has a Queen, so be it.

RIVER ($70.74): 9
HERO checks, BUTTON goes all-in for $54.85, HERO calls $54.85

I considered a river bluff with the hearts coming in on the river and me having a blocker. I think it's super credible and he'd have to fold most of his Qx. However I think he's weighted toward air, and when I check I think he'll bluff it off, while not value-betting a Queen unless it's a really good one or he has a good blocker to go with it.

So while I do think bluffing is a good play, I chose the other route.



Wow. He just went ultra-thin with a hand I didn't think he would at all, either he's really good or really bad haha. One thing for sure is I didn't play this hand well at all.

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

HAND 2: Too thin?

PREFLOP: 1/2
UTG ($400) opens for $6, MP ($500) calls $6, MP2 calls $6, HERO ($450) in the BB with AJ

Certainly could squeeze this hand instead of playing it OOP multi-way, but the UTG raiser is playing solid ranges and my hand can dominate several of the hands the callers could have like QJ, KJ, and clubs

FLOP ($25): J53
HERO checks, UTG cbets $12.50, MP raises to $38, MP2 folds, HERO cold-calls $38, UTG calls $38

Weird action. I flop top-top, but I hate MP's raise; I block Jx, and he shouldn't have 2-pair hands, so sets are a big part of what he's raising here. Certainly I can't just fold tho. Also when UTG calls, he could easily have a weary overpair that he doesn't want to fold either. So there are scenarios where I have the 3rd-best hand here, although it could also be the best hand sometimes too. Weird spot and one of the reasons why cold-calling pre sucks.

TURN ($139): A
HERO checks, UTG checks, MP checks

I smash top-two on the turn, and the other players check. That likely takes a set out of MPs range, and if UTG had an overpair, I'm now good.

RIVER ($139): 10
HERO bets $89 ...

If my read of the hand is right, UTG has QQ or KK, and MP has Jx or something stupid like 46s or 67s as bluffs.

However, I'm not sure I love this bet, because what can I get value from? Nobody has an ace here, and my hand looks like a set or top-2 by checking flop and then cold-calling a bet and a raise.

The other problem is that the backdoor hearts came in, and Jxs could easily be in hearts since the J is accounted for on the flop and the J is in my hand. Also, if MP was bluffing flop with something like 64, 67, or KQ, he's just got the stone nutties and I'm dust.

So in retrospect, I think the better play is to check. Not because I'm soooo worried about being beat, but because when I get played with I'm beat a lot. Meanwhile a check might promote some of those missed hands like 64 or 67 to bluff.



Didn't matter in the end in this specific hand, but I always want to make sure I get these spots right.

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

HAND 3: The mother of all draws

PREFLOP: 1/2
UTG limps for $2, UTG2 raises to $8, MP1, MP2 ($450), and SB ($260) call, HERO ($385.44) calls $8 in the BB with 86, UTG folds

FLOP ($43): 972
SB leads for $43, HERO raises to $125, UTG2 and MP1 fold, MP2 cold-calls $125, SB tank-folds

I flop a colossal draw, and the SB just donks for POT. With his stack size he's usually committed, so raising probably doesn't have a ton of fold equity. That said, I still think raising is the best play. If a lot of money is going to go in, I want it in on the flop so I can see both the turn and the river, plus I can possibly knock out better hands, or even a couple better flush draws like QJ or KJhh.

Then MP2 cold-calls, which of course I hate. That means he usually either has the nut flush draw or a set, both of which re-raise at some frequency but not always.

And of course, the SB folds lol (prob had like A9)

TURN ($336): 5
HERO stuffs for $252.44, MP2 snap-calls

Obvs the best turn card possible, quite a bit better than a heart. I decide to stuff since he'll of course call with sets, and if he happens to have the nut flush draw, I think he'll call now as opposed to if I check, he could just take a free card and get it in on the river only when he hits. So jamming is clearly the best play.



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

Started off the week a little rough but I'm back in the black after this session, hopefully can finish off the week strong with a good TH-SUN

Very meh finish to the week. Had a really rough Friday night; the deck was very unkind:

*Got it all-in with AA vs KK in a 4! pot on a QQ36 board ... villain rivered the K

*Got it all-in with AA vs JJ in a 4! pot on a 8642 board ... villain rivered the J

*Had a pot where I 4! with KK, flopped KJ3, checked to an aggro player, he bet and I called, turn 9, I check he stuffs I snap, he has QTs, we run it twice and chop. Not a giant loss of money obvs, but big equity hit when you flop top set in a 4! pot with an SPR <2 and don't make a dime of profit.

So, ended up getting rekt that night and it turned what could have been a big boost to a nice week into a burning of all the week's profits.

So it goes, but it looks like I'm going to wear a small loss this week of about $50.

Mid-week update:

Lost $850 on Monday night to start off the week. Not great. Played in a cutthroat 600nl game and got outplayed, that's all there is to it.

Been grinding every day since, and won a couple big hands today to get back above even for the week.

HAND 1: Flopping it

PREFLOP: 1/2
HERO ($500) opens to $6 from MP1 with K10, BB ($400) calls $6

FLOP ($13): AQ5
BB checks, HERO cbets $6.50, BB check-raises to $19.50, HERO calls $19.50

Never bad to flop the nuts and get check-raised. I'm not big on slowplaying in these spots bc I barrel a lot and need to have the nuts in my range when I do, and besides, it's tough to win giant pots without money going in on the flop.

When he check-raises, he p much always has a big hand since he can't be bluffing with the nut flush draw. I decide to call in position and get him pot stuck on the turn.

TURN ($52): 7
BB leads for $96, HERO stuffs for $374.50, BB calls all-in

Sometimes you might not wants to jam 4x someone's bet for fear of scaring them off, but I think it's def the right move here. Really, flatting a nearly 2x-pot bet and then raising the river all-in looks stronger than jamming here.

If he's got a flush or a set, he can def convince himself that he put me in the cage with a hand like AQ or AxK. But if I take the call-turn, raise-jam-river line, he can fold a lot of hands knowing I can really only do that with the nuts. He might not get away from a flush, but anything less, he can. Also, jamming now makes sure that a 4th diamond or a board pair doesn't come and ruin the action.

So I jam it, and he snaps.



Absolutely cold-decked this guy. And the reality is that those situations happen very infrequently, so when they do you HAVE to get the max.

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

HAND 2: Turning gin

PREFLOP: 1/2
HERO (covers) opens to $5 on the BUTTON with 99, meh reg in the BB ($280) 3-bets to $15, HERO calls $15

FLOP ($31): 1077
BB bets $13, HERO raises to $40, BB calls $40

I decide to raise on this flop because I often have the best hand, and I want to clean up my equity in a 3-bet pot, instead of just calling and having him barrel me off my hand on good runouts for him. I also have a lot of backdoor equity, so I can barrel a lot of cards if he calls my raise.

TURN ($111): 9
BB bets $57, HERO calls $57

Complete gin on the turn and villain leads. Easy call for me here in position; I want him to either hit or have the opportunity to bluff off with his diamond draws and we'll have well under a pot-sized bet on the river.

RIVER ($225): Q
BB jams for $168, HERO snaps



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

HAND 3: The kamikazee bluff

PREFLOP: 1/2
BUTTON ($200) opens to $5, HERO (covers) defends in the BB with A5

FLOP ($11): K64
HERO checks, BB bets $5.50, HERO check-raises to $19, BB re-raises to $48, HERO re-raises all in for $195, BB folds

When he c-bets this flop, I decide to check-raise bluff. I think his button raising range mostly misses this flop and I usually have the best hand, but I'm just going to way under-realize when continuing through a check-call.

But instead of calling my raise, he re-raises, which sets off huge alarm bells; if he had a monster like KK, 66, 44, or K6s, those hands are bigly incentivized to flat in position with their near-lock status.

And I block the few hands that might legitimately play like this, namely AA and AK. Really, the only hand I'm afraid of here is 64, and flopping 2-pair is really hard to do.

Meanwhile, I think he's really over-bluffing here, since from his perspective I don't have many natural check-raises on this board and I likely can't take a lot of pressure.

They key to this play is us being at 100 big blinds, so I can make a 4x-bet shove to make the last bet; it takes all his plays away. When you're playing chicken, not allowing your opponent to make you blink last is huge. And here, it works.

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

Up a couple hundred going into the weekend, so hopefully I can make this week worthwhile after starting off in a hole.

Alright, had a pretty good weekend to finish the week off well. Ended up with about a $1.5k profit, which I feel really good about considering I dropped $850 on Monday to start things off.

It's easy to get discouraged or play bad trying to chase your losses, but I was in a good mindset of just continuing to grind and play as well as I can and good results followed.

Here's one hand that I thought was interesting:

PREFLOP: 1/2 (Villain is unknown, it's my 2nd hand at the table)
UTG1 ($325) opens to $7, BUTTON calls $7, HERO (covers) 3-bets to $30 with QQ, EP calls $30 and BUTTON folds

FLOP ($71): Q102
HERO bets $28, UTG1 calls $28

I'm not sure about this sizing. With my range, I'll want to be sizing up more because I have a lot of hands like AK, AA, KK, AQ and AJ that either want protection or apply pressure to get folds.

With my specific hand, I think it's good because I'm trying to keep his range wide; there's really not much that can come on the turn that scares me. He'll have some gutters, but shouldn't have many open-enders (we can give him 3 combos of KJs, the clubs will def be x/r'ing and getting it in) or flush draws - because the Q, T, and 2 of clubs are all accounted for, the legitimate combos he can open in EP and then call a big 3! with are significantly decreased.

So in this case I went a little more exploitative with my sizing instead of range protecting.

TURN ($127): 6

Here's where the decision gets interesting, because there's a case for both checking and betting.

By betting, I can get value from a lot of one-club hands like AK, AQ, KQ, AJ, and JJ. Like I think it's perfectly reasonable for AKo to open, flat a 3! in position, and peel on the flop. JJ easily could as well. So we get value from those hands and set up stacks on the river.

The case for checking is that betting usually folds out most of his one-pair hands without a club, and also can potentially induce some hands to bluff. It also de-leverages the hand vs his likely fairly weak range, which can get us value on the river at times.

As played, HERO decided to bet $67, and UTG1 called.

RIVER ($261): 8
HERO jams for $206 effective, UTG1 quickly folds

This is a somewhat close spot too, and I thought more in-depth about it after the hand.

The issue with jamming is that I'm pretty polled out here, I'm almost always either bluffing with something like AKx or I have an overpair+ at worst for value.

Now that can still get him to call with his merge, especially since this is around a 3/4th-pot bet. But it'll fold out his AcKx and AcJx, which might choose to bluff-jam the river if I check.

But I ended up jamming, thinking that when he calls the turn, his range is pretty much pared down to:

*KK (can flat my 3! at some frequency)
*AQ and KQ (1 combo each left, so not that likely)
*JJ w 1 club
*AK and AJ w1 club
*Flushes

Vs flushes it doesn't matter what I do; we're getting it in.

Vs the rest of the range, it feels like there's somewhere like 8 combos (if we give him half credit for flatted KK) that may call my jam, but will check behind. And then say 9 combos of AK/AJ that have no value but may bluff the river if checked to.

Of course he's not bluff-jamming the river with 100% frequency on his missed hands if I check, so betting is prooooobably the best play. But, it's close.

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

2 days left in the month, so hopefully I can do a little more good work before it's all said and done.

First sessions of the new week, played 3 fun hands (all at 1/2):


HAND 1: Going for the hero call

PREFLOP:
HERO opens for $5 on the BUTTON with 1010, TAG in the BB calls $5

FLOP ($11): 864
BB checks, HERO cbets $5, BB check-calls $5

TURN ($21): A
BB checks, HERO checks

RIVER ($21): 2
BB checks, HERO bets $7, BB check-raises to $28, HERO calls $28

I decide to get really thin here to see if I can get a call from a non-believing 6x or 8x. But instead, he thinks about it and puts in a solid check-raise.

I decide to call for two reasons: First, bc I c-bet smallish and checked back the turn, he really shouldn't expect me to bet the river that often to set up a check-raise; I think he'd just lead river most of the time with his strong hands.

And secondly, I hold the 10 which blocks a lot of his flushes.

And third, my sizing looks exactly like what it is; thin value. So certainly it might be inducing him to bluff.

So those things considered, I make the call.



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

HAND 2: Another clash with the same villain

PREFLOP:
HERO ($425) opens to $5 on the BUTTON with A9, TAG ($232) in the BB calls $5

FLOP ($11): 943
BB checks, HERO cbets $5, BB check-raises to $17, HERO re-raises to $55, BB calls $55

I flop top-top and get check-raised, and I decide to make a play I rarely do and 3-bet the flop. I think his x/range is highly weighted toward flush draws, since I don't hold a spade, I block a set of 9s, and it's really hard for him to have 2-pair here since he's a tight player. So here, I want to set up an over-bet jam on safe turns.

TURN ($131): 8
BB lead-jams for $172, HERO calls $172

Whew. Homie jams and it's a tough spot. I could see him playing 44/33/43s this way, but kinda feel like with the sets he's more likely to x/r the turn since he knows I'm gonna bet) but also a lot of flush draws that picked up equity - T7s, JTs, QTs, 8xs, etc

It's prob thin vs his range (Stoving it now, it looks like I have ~45% giving him half the sets) but I make the call.



Really fun and interesting hand imo

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

HAND 3: I bruff

PREFLOP:
Folds to different TAG in the SB ($520) who raises to $6, HERO ($400) defends in the BB with A6

FLOP ($12): 964
SB cbets $8, HERO calls $8

TURN ($28): 9
SB checks, HERO bets $16, SB check-calls $16

I decide to bet here, since I want to deny equity from his overs and flush draws that he might not continue to barrel when the top card pairs. So when he check/calls, I put him on flush draws and pocket pairs.

RIVER ($60): 8
SB checks, HERO bets $60, SB tanks .... and folds

I think a big bet is in order; I beat his missed flush draws regardless, but it's time to get his pairs like 77/TT/JJ to feel the pressure. He tanked for quite awhile so I'm guessing he had something good, but he ended up letting it go.

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

Fun little first session of the week

June wrap-up:

Last session of the month was sh*te. Dropped $570 to close it out with a whimper, which was disappointing. For much of the session I was playing while my daughter fell in and out of sleep in my arms; I was distracted and made some suboptimal decisions in bigger pots. That's on me for trying to play through it when I wasn't fully present mentally and I gave away a big chunk of my month's profits in a short time.

As it is, we wrap up our first month on Poker Bros. It was up and down, and the end results weren't anything to write home about.

JUNE PROFIT: $2,227

YEAR-TO-DATE GIRAFFE:



Was sorting through my numbers and realized that I've had winning months in 16 of my last 17 months. Just arbitrary endpoints obviously, but I can't help but feel like it's pretty cool nonetheless.

Hoping that I can improve in my 2nd month on Bros and start off the second half of the year well.

Nice looking graph, congrats! Glad you're able to get some hands in, I enjoy following this thread.

Any idea on when you'll be able to play live again? And whether you actually will or not?

Thanks man, appreciated!

Not sure when I'll play live again but as of now I'm guessing it's an underdog to happen in 2020. Covid is still an issue and it's not getting better, and a cardroom just feels like one of the worst to be - inside an AC'd room with a bunch of people from divergent backgrounds and age groups, all sitting close and facing each other, passing each other chips and cards and stuff.

Like I know a lot of rooms have put up plastic barriers and require masks and are washing chips, etc etc, but it's just not a situation I feel good about being in. And based on the way we're handling it as a country, I think it's likely to remain an issue for awhile.

And that sucks, because I really do miss playing live.

For the third week in a row, I started off the week stuck as f*ck. Lemme tell you, it sure does make it hard to turn any sort of real profit when you're spending all of your time trying to dig yourself out of a hole.

A couple hands:

HAND 1: Hero, the POW

PREFLOP: 1/2
LAG ($550) on the BUTTON opens to $7, SB ($200) calls $7, HERO ($400) 3-bets from the BB with 108, both BUTTON and SB call $30

Certainly an aggressive 3!, but the hand doesn't play super well as a call and the button has a wide range while the SB has a capped range. Unfortunately, I don't get either of them to fold

FLOP ($90): A106
SB checks, HERO checks, BUTTON checks

Don't love a c-bet here since it's very easy for at least one of these guys to have an Ace.

TURN ($90): 9
SB checks, HERO bets $45, BUTTON calls $45, SB folds

I turn a gutter and decide to bet. I don't think it's a great decision, but in the moment I was thinking my hand could be best since the flop checked through and on a wet-ish board, I wouldn't expect anyone to slowplay often.

RIVER ($180): A
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $83, HERO calls $83

Now that I've made the brilliant decision to inflate the pot with 2nd pair/no kicker out of position, I'm faced with a tough spot on the river.

I unblock flush draws and the QJ straight draw, so I call. But really, hoping that he has a flush draw is ambitious bc of the board configuration. Almost every legitimate flush draw he can have flopped a powerful combo draw, which you wouldn't expect a LAG to play passively.

And sure he could have QJ, but he can also have weaker Ax hands like A5/A4/A3/A2s that he didn't bet on the flop and now feels much better about. Or he could have JJ or QQ that he chose not to 4! and now feels great about his hand.

Anyway, I call and



Just badly played all around by me.

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

HAND 2: An (overly) ambitious bluff

PREFLOP: 1/2
HERO ($450) opens on the BUTTON to $5 with 77, SB ($680) 3-bets to $16, HERO calls $16

FLOP ($32): 643
SB cbets $16, HERO raises to $42, SB calls $42

With an overpair and a gutter, I decide to raise. I'm usually ahead here and I want to deny equity while putting the pressure back on him. Otherwise I'm resigned to calling down multiple streets on a dynamic board where overcards often come. When he calls, I don't like my situation nearly as much, and think I usually need to drill the turn or river to win the hands.

TURN ($114): 6
SB checks, HERO checks

If he has an overpair, I don't expect him to fold it here, and I'd rather take a free card and evaluate river than try to barrel/barrel big to turn my 7s into a bluff.

RIVER ($114): 8
SB bets $68, HERO raises to $225, SB ...

Sure don't like calling here, and I don't care much for folding either. So I decide to get out-of the box with my straight blocker and make a big bluff.

I'm not sure how good of an idea this is; I'd prefer to block the backdoor flush, and repping the straight isn't really credible since I would have flopped it and I wouldn't have checked back the turn.

So I'm basically just hoping: He's scared of the flush, he's scared of the straight, he's scared of 6x or a boat, and people don't usually bluff here. None of these hands actually make a lot of sense for me to have the way I played it, but then again I don't know the villain and how good of a hand-reader he is.

So I go for it and



Still don't know how good of an idea this was, but thankfully it worked this time.

Finished last week +$500, another middling result.

I've been playing 1/2, which has a $400 buy in, tho of course many players don't buy in for the whole 200bbs.

I think I need to start moving up and playing more 2/4 ($600nl). I'm averaging about a $600 profit per week in the 6 weeks I've been playing on Bros. Small sample size alert for sure, but not the kind of results I'm happy with.

Certainly part of that is that my game needs to improve, and part of it is the high rake on Bros, and part of it is a player pool that overall is stronger than it was when I was playing on Kings.

So I'm gonna get that going this week and we'll see how it goes.

Played a fun little hand just now:


PREFLOP: 1/2, 6max
HERO ($400) opens UTG to $6 with 66, bigly fish ($90) in BB calls

FLOP ($13): 1043
BB checks, HERO cbets $6.50, BB check-calls $6.50

TURN ($26): A
BB checks, HERO checks

This is generally a good barreling card, and against most players I'll continue on it. But this fishy dude hates folding, so I can't really count on him to fold T9 or even 77, and generally when I'm against this player type I want to shift my 3-barreling frequency So I make a player-dependent check-back.

RIVER ($26): 7
BB bets $16, HERO raises all-in to $77.50 effective, BB quickly folds

If he made aces up, I lose. And maybe sometimes he makes a crying call with a hand like A5 or A2, but he probably also folds at some frequency as well.

But bc he's a BB flatter (who plays a really wide range) he rarely has big Ace, and I block tf out of the 56 straight.

So I go for it, and he quickly folds.

Just took one of the wilder beats I've had in awhile.

So this whole hand hinges on the presence of the fish to my left. He's bad regardless but his aces got cracked AIPF by QQ, and now he's tilting. Opening 16x, 3!'ing a bunch, etc.

He's directly on my left so my strategy is to limp and flat my playable hands, let him do his thing, and then I have premium relative position.

PREFLOP: 1/2
MP opens for $5, HERO ($415) flats $5 with AQ in the CU, Fish ($400) calls $5 on the BUTTON, SB ($450) raises to $30.

MP1 and HERO call $30, but the fish in the CU folds.

I would have 3bet the original raiser or as played, possibly back-raised the SB if I wasn't trying to keep the fish behind me in the hand.

FLOP ($98): Q103
SB bets $40, MP folds, HERO calls $40

I flop the world here, but there's no real reason to raise; I mostly just fold out hand that I beat while keeping in hands that beat me (AA/KK/TT). AK is also a good part of his range too, and I'm in prime stacking position against that hand, since an Ace makes me 2-pair and both the K and J are dirty bc I have the nut flush draw.

TURN ($178): 8
BB bets $100, HERO calls $100

Don't love that he put in a strong second barrel here; he's repping an overpair or a set of Tens. But certainly he could still be barreling AK or AJ too. Obvs I'm not folding and it would be hard to fold river even if I brick out.

RIVER ($378): 8
BB jams for $245, HERO snaps



Woof. A lot going on here. First off, sick cooler. But sicker bc I played my hand passively pre bc of the fish behind me; if I 3-bet pre, I'm the aggressor and the dude with 8's never even sees the turn.

Also, brutal play that the guy chooses to squeeze with 8's, and then c-bets into 2 other players on this flop with it. Then he hits a miracle set on the turn, and then a miracle runnered quads on the river that also makes me the nut flush.

Just a nasty hand all around lol. But that's poker; just sucks I still can't seem to start off a week well.

After that hand last night, I lost even more - the big hand was one where we were playing 5-handed. I have a note on the villain that he 3!s light.

I raised to $6 with AKo from the CU, the BUTTON flats, Villain in the SB 3!s to $37, I 4! to $112, he jams for $250, I snap, he shows AA and I lose.

Super standard spot, but it's pretty frustrating to drop $800 on the first day of the week when I didn't even do anything stupid. Such is poker, but every week I'm starting in the hole and I was hoping I could avoid that this week. Instead, I have my worst opening day since I've been on Bros lol.

Just a couple mins ago, I did book a nice win in a 3-handed game to help things out. The critical hand was this one:

PREFLOP: 1/2
BUTTON folds, HERO ($415) in the SB raises to $7 with KJ, unknown in the BB ($210) calls $7

FLOP ($14): JJ3
HERO c-bets $5, BB calls $5

I'm going to betting small and frequently with my whole range here, including when I bink the flop like this.

TURN ($24): 9
HERO checks, BB bets $10, HERO check-raises to $30, BB re-raises to $90, HERO calls $90

I decide to check the turn, since if I continue to barrel there isn't a lot he can call with. Hands like A3 or 44 are going to be hard-pressed to come along, and if he did make trip Jacks along with me he's going to bet for me anyway. Also, short-handed you'll tend to see a lot of floats and I want him to give him the chance to bet his floats, as well as his marginal hands like the aforementioned A3 and 44 for protection.

When he bets small, I check-raise because while I expect him to mostly fold, I want to give his Jx a chance to play a big pot and get broken.

But then, he 3-bets the turn! I don't know what to make of this, although certainly I'm not folding. There's a lot more Jx than 33, tho 33 is more likely to play like this. So of course I call.

RIVER ($204): K
HERO checks, BB shoves for $110, HERO snaps

I actually considering open-shoving the river, because I didn't want him to make a nitty check-back with a weaker Jx.

But I ended up making the right move and checked; I think he *should* be shoving anything that would call an all-in, plus it keeps any bluffs in play.

He really shouldn't have many bluffs here; I block a lot of his hearts that floated and picked up a flush draw on the turn, but he could have hands like QThh or T8hh or T7hh that floated and made a big combo draw (and QT obv made a straight on the river).

But I don't know the guy, he'd only been at the table for a couple orbits, so I don't know what kind of player he is. So I do make the right play and check, he jams, and I snap with the nuts.



Lol @ villain. Sure am glad I checked that river tho

To put some context into talking about starting my weeks off poorly, here are my 1st-day-of-the-week total from the pasts 5 weeks, starting with this week (final week total in parenthesis, pre-rakeback):

-$789
-$455 (+$431)
+$98 (+$195)
-$845 (+$1480)
-$72 (-$99)

Just played a fun hand where I took a line I can't remember taking before - villain is a very aggressive player.


PREFLOP: 1/2
Villain ($200) opens on the BUTTON to $5, HERO (covers) calls $5 in the SB with A8, BB folds

Certainly this hand can be used as a 3! from the SB, but I don't mind constructing a flatting range with hands like mine that can dominate other hands like 8x, low Ax, and smaller hearts. I prefer to use suited wheel aces for 3!s since they have better barrel-ability when called.

FLOP ($12): 1042
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $6, HERO check-raises to $19, BUTTON calls $19

I think this hand is a clear x/r since this flop is very unlikely to have connected with his range. Unfortunately, he calls, although he's the kind of guy that can do this wide; I think he's going to hang on with 55 and T9-type hands.

TURN ($50): 8
HERO checks, BUTTON bets $30.66, HERO check-raises to $130, BUTTON folds

The ole double-check raise ... can't believe it worked lol. I decided that he shouldn't be betting many turns and because of his player profile, that he was probably weighted towards bluffs and thin value (thinking I was giving up on a bluff) than nutted hands like sets and overpairs, and even hands like 10x would really have a tough time continuing, esp because I block AT. And because I paired my 8, not only do I block his ability to have hands like T8 (whereas I can easily have it), but even if I do get called I have a lot of outs on the river.

Played some 2/4 last night, it went pretty well; I won half a buy-in which I'll take.

Made a couple good bluffs throughout the evening

1. At 2/4 ($400 effective), I raised A2 on the BUTTON to $10, the TAG SB 3! to $42, I 4! to $110, and he folded.

2. At 1/2 ($400 effective), the CU opened for $6, the BUTTON 3! to $18, I cold-4! from the BB with A4, they both folded

3. At 1/2 -

PREFLOP:
TAG ($500) on the BUTTON opens to $5, HERO defends in the BB with Q8

FLOP ($11): J108
HERO checks, BB checks

TURN ($11): A
HERO checks, BB bets $22, HERO raises to $66, BB folds

Really interesting spot I thought; the BB checks back flop and then polls out on the turn, better 2x POT. It didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me, since it feels like he'd usually be c-betting his turned nutted hands like JJ/TT/AA/KQ/Q9 on the flop.

So when he checks back flop and then 2x's turn, I feel like he's probably improperly polling out with a merged range like Ax or KT.

Putting that together with the poor odds I'm being given to flat, plus the Q blocker I have to the nut straight, I decide to make a strong check-raise and put him in a tough leveraged spot. And fortunately, he makes the fold.

So tonight's session ...

Everything was going super, I was up a few hundred, the games were good, and I was playing well.

But then, in the span of 3 minutes, a dude lifted $500 off me in two hands. In the first one, I opened AQo to $5 on the BUTTON, he 3! me to $20, I 4! to $55, he jammed for $200, I called. He had KK of course and doubled through me.

A couple hands later I pick up KK and raise to $6, he 3! to $18 in position, I 4! to $65 and he called. I c-bet $45 into $130 on a 3-4-5 board and he called. The turn came a 4 and I jammed $190 into $220 and he snapped me off with AA.

2 hands, 3 minutes, 250 BBs dust.

I spent the rest of the night grinding back, although just as I was about to get my head above water, I ran AK into QQ pre, we ran it 3 times and he won all 3, including 2 where I flopped top pair (one he made a straight and the other he turned his set), which was tilting.

I felt I played really well overall (aside from that call-off with AQo which was pretty thin tbqh) but still lost, sucks on a Friday night where the games were good. C'est la vie, still have a couple days to try to salvage the week

Reading this series of events stressed me the Hell out.

Imagine how I felt lol

Had a really good session to finish off the week last night to finish the week barely in the positive. Overall it's nothing great but feels like a W when I started off the first day of the week stuck $800.

One fun hand from last night:

PREFLOP: 1/2
Folds to the SB ($400) who raises to $8, HERO calls $8 in the BB with J9

FLOP ($16): J85
BB c-bets $8, HERO calls $8

I think a raise here has a lot of merit, since my sidecard is below the top pair, making my hand more vulnerable to overcards than if I had KJ or QJ, and I have an easier time throwing it away if I'm met with resistance. But here I decide to just call.

TURN ($32): 3
BB bets $32, HERO calls $32

Don't love to see the second barrel, especially when it's pot-sized. Still, if I just fold top pair HU to two barrels as a general strategy, I'm going to be super easy to exploit. So, can't fold here.

RIVER ($96): A
BB bets $48, HERO raises to $122, BB folds

The BB now bets half pot on the river, and it just doesn't feel like his line is very congruent with a lot of holdings. Is he saying that he was bluffing all the way with AT/AQ/AK and then got there? Is he saying he has AJ? Or because he went polarized on the turn and now goes with a catch-all sizing on the river, is he getting thin with QQ or KJ?

Because I'm getting laid 3:1, a call here is perfectly reasonable to bluff-catch. But instead, I decide to get a little out-of-the-box and turn my flopped top pair into a bluff. For sure it takes on more risk than just calling, but in addition to getting out the bluffs I beat anyway, it also can fold out a lot of his thin value like Jx or QQ, and even if he did have a hand like AT that got there on the river, it should fold sometimes too since it can only beat a bluff. Yes, my sizing is giving a good price and maybe I should have gone a bit bigger, but I also wanted it to look like value, not like I was trying to push him out. And I do think my line is quite credible with a hand like a flopped set of 8s or 6s or even AJ that chose to defend rather than 3! pre.

Either way, I get the fold and earned the pot with what I thought was a pretty cool little play.