Hello, friends. Many moons ago I was a high-stakes online SNG player (previous PG&C thread: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...hirlingdervish) but once Black Friday happened I moved on from poker and started a career. I played poker here and there but really, poker was not a part of my life for many years. In the middle of last year I moved close to a local California Card room and began to play small-stakes live poker for fun.

Immediately I felt alive playing poker again. I genuinely love poker, and I always have. It's probably the activity I've been most passionate about in life (along with fantasy sports) and it was gone for many years. No matter how much I win or lose, it means a lot to me to be playing competitively again.

As it turns out, I can still play a little bit. I started with $400 and grew my bankroll to over $16k over ~350 hours of play at the 2/2/3 stake button blinds are somewhat common here in NorCal), which works out to about 15bb/hr.

However, live cash games and online SNGs are vastly different games, and it's definitely been an adjustment for me and I've had to do a lot of learning. At the beginning of this year, I moved up to the 2/3/5 game and immediately got rekt, starting with a $3500 downswing in the first two weeks. I certainly had some run-bad, but more importantly my game needed work -- since it's the biggest game in the immediate area (Bay 101, M8trik, and Stones are all 1hr+ away), the best players in the area play here and it's probably the difficulty level of most 5/10 games.

I've done a ton of work off the tables working on my game and am finally feeling comfortable at the higher stakes. Currently on a ~$4k upswing, so I'm currently just above even (+$150) overall on the year.

At the beginning of the year I made 2019 goals for myself, but since I haven't been on 2+2 in forever, it was only a couple days ago I thought about starting a PC&C thread for myself. So, here it is.

Why I'm making this thread:

1. Hand discussion. I'll be posting session results, and also interesting hands that come up. I'll generally focus less on "look at this monster hand I won" types, and more on hands I find interesting or think I could have played better. Constructive hand analysis makes us all better.

2. Keeping myself accountable to my goals. I have a full-time job and my poker bankroll is completely separate from my life roll; However, I plan to use the money I (hopefully) win to help put a down payment on a house -- they don't come cheap in the Bay Area.

3. Keeping a diary of my journey I can look back on (hopefully fondly)


2019 GOALS:

600 hours played
$35,000 in profit (works out to 11.7 bb/hr)


TL;DR: Ex-online SNG player wants to make $35k playing live 2/3/5 this year. LFG.

Had my best session of the year yesterday. The deck was kind and I felt I played really well. Here's one of the most interesting hands I've played in awhile.

Villain 1 is a very good pro, he's a strong TAG
Villain 2 is a loose fish

PREFLOP:
Villain 1 ($750) opens UTG for $20
Villain 2 ($500) calls in MP for $20
Hero ($900) calls in MP for $20 with A10
BB ($1200) calls

FLOP ($77) : Q93
BB checks
Villain 1 bets $60
Villain 2 folds
Hero calls $60
BB folds

TURN ($197): 9
Villain 1 tank-bets $110
Hero calls $110

RIVER ($417): 2
Villain tank-bets $260
Hero calls $260

On the turn, I considered folding. I'm getting about 3:1, and I'm exactly 3:1 to make the best hand if pairing my ace is good, which it is against a hand like KK, but is far from assured (vs a hand like AA or AQ). I don't think I have great implied odds if I hit my hand on the river, this guy is a very good pro and unlikely to pay off. Bc his hand range is very strong, I don't think raising the turn is a great idea since I don't think I have good fold equity.

On the river, I'm sick when he bets. He's so unlikely to have a bluff here; his range UTG is strong and there are really no natural bluffs here besides mayyybe J-10s, and that's a stretch. With the middle card pairing on the turn and the flush draw coming in on the river, it's an awful spot for him to bluff.

So there's almost no bluffs, and what value hands do I beat? Really only KQ and KJ. I suppose a lower flush but the chances of that are fairly low since he opened UTG and bet all three streets (ie, opening 87 UTG and betting it big on the turn on this board seems iffy). He's almost certainly not betting AA/KK/AQ for value on the river once the flush card comes in.

But ... there are also very few value hands that beat me! QQ, 99, and 33.

So assuming this isn't a bluff, there are 7 combos of value hands that beat me (Q-Q x3, 9-9 x1, 3-3 x3) and say 3 combos that I beat (KQ, KJ, and we'll generously give him one combo of lower hearts).

The pot is laying me 2.6 to 1, so I need to win about 28% on this call to break even (I'm not even considering raising for obvious reasons).

What do you do?




Anyhow, the rest of the session went great, but that was the most interesting hand by far.

Session results:
5 hrs, 10 minutes
+$1651

Yearly results:
104 hours, 55 minutes
+1,796

Pretty boo boo session today. Started off well but then spent a couple hours missing flops, stack got ground down to under $600 (I decided not to top off; we were playing a lot of bomb pots and I prefer be a bit shorter for those). That's when this bomb pot happened:

PREFLOP:
All 10 players put in $25 blind
Hero ($590) is dealt KJ in MP

FLOP ($250): J93
3 checks, Hero bets $125
Loose rec ($900) in LP calls
All others fold

TURN ($500): J
Hero tank-jams $440
Loose rec tank-calls $440

RIVER ($1380): 5

Loose rec flips over AQ and wins $1380 with a flush

Sucks to lose a $1.4k pot as an 86% favorite, but that's no limit, baby.

Session Results:

3 hours, 35 minutes
-$800

Year-to-date results:

108 hours, 30 minutes
+996

Oh wow, a blast from the past. I just skimmed through your past thread and it brought back some memories heh.

GLGL out there

I’d make a note that Villain 1 opens 33 UTG and 3bet him all day.

I’ve heard Cali games are some of the softest games in the world so you should do well. GL

Dude! I just saw your new thread pop up in the lobby. Haven't been on 2+2 in forever and doubted I'd see anyone I knew from 8 years ago. Gonna go drop a comment there but it's real badass to see you still crushing souls

I agree, there's generally a lot of loose action in CA cash games. Was down at Commerce for the LAPC a few weeks ago and couldn't believe how soft the 5/5 game was there.

Unfortunately for me, the 2/3/5 at my home cardroom is fairly tough - at least when the game is reg-filled on the weekdays. On the weekends there's def more rec action.

As for Villain, even though he opened a weaker hand UTG, I'm not sure how exploitable with 3bets he is from there. IE, if his EP opening range is:

22+
A2s+, K10s+, Q10s+, JTs-76s
AKo, AQo

He's only raising 14% of hands. And if he's tossing out some weaker suited aces and/or suited connectors, he's close to just 10%. So 33 may just be the bottom of a range that is overall pretty strong. Thoughts?

Crazy session last night.

Sat at the 2/2/3 game while I waited for 2/3/5 and quickly got stacked for $300 when I raised 5 limpers to $25 out of the BB with AK. Got one caller from the button.

Flop comes A104

I cbet $25, button calls

Turn is the K

I bet $75, he jams for $225, I call, he shows QJ and takes it. Woof.

After an hour I get called for the 2/3/5, and the very first hand I pick up JJ. I 3bet and get cold-called by the button, a sharp player who I've seen make daring bluffs before. Flop comes 10-high with 2 spades, I bet, he raises, then I check-call the turn and river (all-in) hoping that he had a big flush draw that bricked out, leveling myself into thinking it's a good spot for him to bluff bc he thinks I would be afraid of getting stacked on my very first hand at the table. Anyway, he shows 10-10 for top set and I get stacked on my very first hand at the table.

I played this hand like an epic fish and deserved to get stacked for it. So about an hour into the session, I'm down $1100.

I then I lose a few hundred more getting 4bet after I 3bet the button with 99, and missing a couple other flops. I'm playing bad, stuck $1400, and the table is tough. Times are not good for your boy.

I take a break to go outside and take a walk, do some deep breathing to center myself.

Come back in and the comeback begins. A few hands:

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

LP is a loose rec player who overvalues hands
Straddle is an unknown rec player

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
UTG ($1000) limps for $10
MP ($800) limps for $10
LP ($900) limps for $10
Hero ($505) is in BB with AJ and calls $5
Straddle raised to $45
All call except MP, who folds

FLOP ($187): AAQ
All players check

TURN ($187): 8
Hero checks
Straddle checks
UTG bets $85
LP raises to $225
Hero cold-calls
Straddle and UTG fold

RIVER ($722): J
Hero jams for $235
LP groans and eventually calls $235

Hero wins $1192 with a full house, LP shows the A and mucks


I liked my decision to flat the turn; a 3bet AI there looks insanely strong, and I get to see what UTG does before committing the rest (which I probably would anyway, but if he jams and LP jams I may decide to get away from it. They can't both have an ace so someone could have made 8s full, etc).

Was going to jam river no matter what, LP clearly doesn't have a better ace than me; he almost certainly would have raised AK/AQ pre. Sure he could have A8 or mayyyyybe 88, but his play was very consistent with a middling ace. And a player like this can talk himself into a call there with the backdoor flush draw bricking out.

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

A couple hours later, this hand comes up between me and Villain - the same sharp pro from the very first hand I posted ITT who made 3s full vs my nut flush:

PREFLOP:
Hero ($965) raises to $20 from UTG +3 with QQ
Villain ($3100) calls in MP
BB calls

FLOP ($57): 1065
BB checks
Hero bets $35
Villain raises to $135
BB folds
Hero calls

TURN ($327): Q
Hero checks
Villian bets $160
Hero calls

RIVER ($647): 7
Hero checks
Villain tank-bets $400
Hero jams for $650
Villain jumps out of his seat like he was electrocuted. Stands up. Starts berating himself for his river bet. Ends up making a good fold for just $250 more.

Hero wins $1447

Liked my decision to check/call the turn and check the river. If he has a set, he's going to bet anyway. A hand like A-10 won't bet the river, but it's unlikely he'll pay off with it either. And if he has some sort of air, I don't want to fold that out. He ended up telling me he had 65s for flopped bottom 2pr. Thank goodness for the Q on the turn. I think I get a crying river call if the river isn't a diamond.

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


Last hand is a smaller one but one that I liked.

Villain is a not very good rec player.

PREFLOP: $10 straddle is on
UTG limps
MP limps
Villain ($600) limps in LP
I call on the button with 74
Straddle checks his option

FLOP ($52): KJ7
Straddle checks
UTG checks
MP checks
Villain bets $30
Hero raises to $110
Everyone folds, including Villain who tank-folds

Something I've incorporated into my game better of late is being mindful of attacking players who are unlikely to have big hands. Villain didn't raise pre, so he's very unlikely to have AK/KQ/KK/JJ, and I have a 7 so very unlikely to have 77.

Most often he has K10, K9, QJ, J10, or some sort of draw I can barrel him off of if he calls and the turn bricks. With my raise to $110, I'm immediately putting his $600 stack at risk when he has a marginal hand, and he's pretty much forced to fold. It's not a big pot but picking up $80 once or twice a session can do wonders for a winrate.

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

Session results:
4 hours, 30 minutes
-$92

Really proud that I stayed mentally strong and emotionally even after getting stuck heaps early. One of those sessions where a small loss feels like a big win.

Year-to-date results:
113 hours
+904

Heading up to Graton Casino this afternoon to play in the 3/5 meet-up game that Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen are hosting. Hoping that most of the vlog watchers are fish, will report back later

good luck

Had a great time at the meet-up game today. It was my first time to Graton Casino, it's a pretty nice property. Got to play with Andrew, Brad, and Check Raise Charles. All super cool, genuine dudes. Went and had drinks afterwards for Brad's bday, it was a hoot and a holler.

Did well at the session, booked a $649 (we were playing 3/5) win over 5 1/2 hours. I did well to play my normal game, I was careful about making sure I didn't loosen up just to try to get in hands with the vloggers that didn't come naturally.

I did pull off a nice bluff early in the session:

Villain is an older reg. Solid but unimaginative.

PREFLOP:
Villain ($800) opens to $15 from UTG+3
Hero ($1000) calls in cutoff with A2

FLOP ($33): 976
Villain bets $20
Hero calls $20

TURN ($73): 10
Villain checks
Hero bets $50
Villain snap-calls $50

RIVER ($173): 5
Villain checks
Hero bets $140
Villain snap-folds

I floated the flop with a lot of cards that could help me - either by adding equity to my hand or by making the board scary and giving me fold equity. On the turn, I felt pretty strongly his range was overpairs and overcards with a spade. Neither could take a ton of pressure on this runout. When he folded the river, he said he had 2 overs with a non-nut spade.

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

Here's a hand that sucked not just bc I lost, but was one card from hitting the bad-beat jackpot for $35k:

PREFLOP:
Hero ($1200) raises to $20 with 87 from UTG+2
Villain ($255) calls $20 in the BB

FLOP ($38): J105
Villain checks
Hero checks

TURN ($38): 9
Villain checks
Hero bets $25
Villain raises to $95
Hero calls

RIVER ($228): 4
Villain jams for $145
Hero calls $145

Villain shows KQ for the nut straight ... if the 9 was the 9, we'd have hit the bad-beat jackpot and I'd be happier than a dog with 2 dicks

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

Session results:
5 hours, 30 minutes
+649

Year-to-date results:
118 hours, 30 minutes
+1553

Yesterday I played on the Stones Live Poker Steam at Stones Gambling Hall in Sacramento. It was my first time playing on a live stream and it was a ton of fun. We took shots, played bomb pots, and ate good food. There was a lot of table talk all night - that doesn't get picked up on the steam, which tbqh is definitely for the best.

We played $1/$2/$3, usually with a $6+ straddle on top. It's a $500 max buy-in but as the night goes on you can add on to match the biggest stack at the table.

I won't go over any hands here but I'll drop the link for anyone that wants to watch it. If anyone is interested I'm more than happy to talk over any of the hands.

I'm Sammy - in the white Legend of Zelda shirt. I don't get involved in too many pots early but get involved in more action as the night goes on.

I bought in for $900 total ($500 to start and added another $400 a bit later) and cashed out for $1500 on the nose. Played for a bit after the stream ended and won a nice pot that wasn't shown.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/386824609

Session results:
5 hours, 15 mins
+600

Year-to-date results:
123 hours, 15 minutes
+2153

Pretty meh session tonight. Was v card dead; I played just 10.9% of hands (I keep track on my phone) and had a couple frustrating things happen that cost me a lot of equity.

1. About an hour into the session, I raised a $10 straddle to $35 from the cutoff with 86s. The SB, a good pro, 3bets to $110. I decide that bc of my position it could be a light 3bet and bc I've been playing so few hands, a 4bet should get a lot of credit. So I 4-ball to $300, he jams, and I fold.

The very next hand, a reg who periodically jams blind UTG for fun does so. I haven't even had time to top off, and I pick up QQ and snap his shove. It holds against 65os, but my 4bet the hand before cost me $530 in equity (it was $265 on top of my open) so even though I double up, I'm sad.

2. Later, in a bomb pot, the dealer misdeals one of my cards. I ended up flopping an open-ender and call $120 on the flop before getting bet off it on the turn. If he'd dealt my hand right, I would have had nothing and folded, so his misdeal cost me $120 in equity (although of course I would have been real happy if I'd binked the turn).


Session results:
3 hours, 15 mins
-$72

Year-to-date results:
127 hours
+2081

I finally carved out some time to watch the live stream, and tbh I found it a bit disappointing for a few reasons:

1. I was mostly card dead early, so wasn't involved in much action in the first half of the stream.

2. In a hand at 2:52, I pick off a bluff on the river with Q10 on a A-10-5-2-6 board, but the graphics show I folded the turn and the announcers don't catch it, even though you can see me scooping the pot at the end of the hand. For the most part the announcers talk about nonsense throughout hands and focus on the action only sporadically, and don't let the action breathe.

3. They don't turn on the sound of the table talk except for at one point for like a minute. The table was super fun and talkative but the stream itself doesn't really capture that. We were talking about some super NSFW things so prob for the best, but still. Also the graphics have my stack wrong for pretty much the whole 2nd half - it says I only have anywhere from $300-$450 in my stack when it's obvious by looking that I have well over $1k.

4. I won two fairly big pots right after the steam ended that didn't get shown. One I already knew was after the stream cutoff, but one was a bomb pot that I bet people out of with bottom pair. But by then the stream had gone to some giveway graphics game for viewers and they didn't show it either.

Despite the stream itself being somewhat disappointing from my POV, it was a super fun table and a really cool experience. Will definitely be doing it again in the near future.

I'll quickly go over a hand I played on the stream. It's just a nuts-and-bolts hand but I thought it was actually pretty interesting.

*Hand occurs at 2:38 of the stream

Villain 1: A weaker player
Villain 2: Mike Postle, a well-known crusher at Stones. The announcers spend the entire time on his stick and even have special graphics for him. Aside from all that, Postle is a really good player. I've watched him on a stream before, and played with him for 5+ hours in this session. He plays very loose preflop and plays very well postflop. He has tremendous poker instincts.

PREFLOP: Straddle to $6 is on
Villain 1 opens UTG for $20
Hero 3-bets from UTG+1 to $65 with AJ (the graphics incorrectly say $75)
Villain 2 cold-calls $65 in SB
Villain 1 calls $65

FLOP ($205): 852
Villain 2 checks
Villain 1 checks
Hero bets $100
Villain 2 calls $100
Villain 1 folds

TURN ($405): 8
Villain 2 bets $160
Hero calls $160

RIVER ($725): 4
Villain 2 checks
Hero checks


Preflop, my default is to just open fold AJos. However, I felt like this was a good situation to isolate a weaker player.

In addition, early in the session I'd 3-bet him to the same sizing with KK and took the pot down on the flop with a $100 bet. He folded AJ face up and I showed him the KK. He said he didn't even want to call my 3-bet with it but two others had called and he was priced in. This gave me information that he was uncomfortable defending vs 3-bets without premium hands and would play fit-or-fold when he did call. This also gave my 3-bets credibility bc I'd showed KK. Villain 2 calls OOP in the SB, and I know he's playing a very wide range.

On the flop, 8-5-2 is a good flop for my EP 3-betting range and I bet $100 to take it down in a 3-way pot. Postle calls in the BB, and again he can be wide here. I believe he'll call with any pair, any flush draw, and any straight draw. My plan is to barrel him off of it on the turn with a bet of about $250, on cards that don't help those hands.

The turn pairs the 8, which is the worst card in the deck for me, and Postle does something very smart, leading for $160. He's representing 8x (which is in his range), but I know he's likely to do this with any hand he called with on the flop to get me to fold out all my unpaired hands (that aren't flush draws).

I can't raise; he knows I have no 8s in my EP 3-betting range, and I can never raise here with a hand like QQ. I decide to call because I'm still good against all his straight and flush draws and I'm getting 3.5 to 1. Also, if I call, I know he will put me on an overpair or a big flush draw, and I may have some opportunities to take it away on the river depending on what falls and the action. I retrospect, holding the J isn't a good card for me, because it decreases the amount of flush draws he can hold, which is the kind of hand I'm still good against.

On the river, the 4 is a big brick and a far better card for his hand range than mine. When he checks, I decide there's not much opportunity to bluff him off of a smaller pair. The fact that there's a missed flush draw out there would give him a reason to call a smaller bet, and a larger bet would look pretty polarized; would I really bomb with an overpair? Maybe. But he's a very good player and I think he'd find a call often enough to make a bluff unprofitable. I also have plenty of showdown value against missed flush draws and missed straight draws like 6-7.



Not sure I played this right, open to any feedback. But that was my thought process.

Another meh session yesterday afternoon, had plans at night so couldn't play very long. Not much to report; had an ok number of playable hands in a loose game (small pps and mid suited connectors) but mostly just whiffed flops in multi-way pots where bluffing wasn't going to work.

Also lost $125 on a 3bet in a pot where EP opened to $20, there were 3 callers, and I pumped it up with KQs from the SB. Original raiser ended up 4-betting me and I dumped it.

KQs is a hand that plays well multi-way, esp vs some of the loose callers who often will have dominated hands. At the same time I lose a lot of value by being first to act on every street. So there's a good case for both flatting and 3betting, in this instance I paid 25bbs to not see a flop

Session results:
3 hours, 30 minutes
-$217

Year-to-date results:
130 hours, 30 minutes
+$1864

I don't have much of a SB flatting range, so I'm typically 3 betting KQs.. especially squeezing all that dead money. With some players that are absolute nits, their EP raises are AKs AA-JJ, I'm a little more cautious.

Same, I've been opting to 3-bet more out of the SB with hands like this rather than flat in general. Just didn't work out this time, but who really knows - EP is a solid player but not a nit, but def not the type to 4bet w/o premium. I easily could have lost a lot more money on the hand giving him RIO if I'd flatted and flopped top pair, etc

I'm in Southern California for a work conference all week (woof), so won't be able to get in a session until Friday night. Going to either play at the Bike in LA or Ocean's 11 in San Diego.

Got in a nice ~5hr session at The Bike yesterday. Didn't run all that well - I got stacked for $300 in the first 15 mins (sat at the 2/3 while I waited for 5/5) when I got it AIPF with KK vs AA.

Within 20 minutes of sitting at the 5/5, the spot at the table flopped bottom pair vs my top 2-pair, and runnered a straight to take a $500+ pot.

I had A9, he had 10-8, the board ran out A-9-8, then 7 on the turn, 6 on the river

So was down $800-$900 pretty quickly, and I was like, The Bike sucks. But I took a break and hunkered down, ground my way back up over the next few hours and got somewhat close to even without ever winning a big pot or making a big hand (never made better than 2-pair the entire session)

The game was actually super soft, which has been my experience at 2/5 pretty much all over CA. Stones, Graton, Commerce, The Bike, Ocean's 11 ... every one of those games I've played in has been junior varsity level.

Unfortunately - as I mentioned once before - that's not the case at my home cardroom (The California Grand Casino), where the 2/3/5 generally plays at a much higher level.

That's really good for the evolution of my game, since steel sharpens steel and all. But it's not as great for my bottom line; it would be much easier to make money if I lived closer to one of these other cardrooms. Like it would be insanely easy to play professionally (if one wanted to) in LA, just playing at The Bike and Commerce.

C'est la vie, I'll continue to try to travel to other cardrooms when I can. I'm down in San Diego now so gonna get a session in up at Ocean's 11 today.

Session results:
5 hours, 15 minutes
-$185

Year-to-date results:
135 hours, 15 minutes
+$1679

Decent little session at Ocean's 11 yesterday. Didn't play for too long but long enough to get involved in some pots. I'll post 2 of the interesting hands here:


HAND 1:

UTG seems like a solid reg but I don't know much besides that
BB is a looser, aggressive player

PREFLOP
UTG raises to $20
HERO calls $20 in MP with A5
BB calls $20

FLOP ($57): A94
BB checks
UTG checks
HERO checks

TURN ($57): 5
BB bets $35
UTG calls $35
HERO calls $35

RIVER ($162): 4
BB bets $120
UTG calls $120
HERO calls $120



Played this hand a little unconventionally but it worked out well. I think checking the flop back in a way ahead/way behind situation is fine.

I really liked my decision to just call on the turn; a raise there really just knocks out low% draws and Ax hands, which I want to get value from on the river. And it would just shovel more money in against better hands, even though those are extremely unlikely.

The river is a standard call obvs, only better hands will call me. I knew I had UTG beat easy (he obv had Ax or maybe even KK/QQ), so when the BB insta-mucked instead of showing a flush, I knew the pot was coming my way.

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

HAND 2:

BUTTON is a young pro


PREFLOP: Straddle to $10 is on
HERO raises to $35 in MP with JJ
BUTTON 3bets to $105
HERO calls $105

FLOP ($220): 1086
HERO checks
BUTTON bets $70
HERO raises to $185
BUTTON folds



This was an awkward spot and even though this worked, I'm not sure it's the best line. I often check/call this an re-evaluate, but here I just thought the board was so likely to run out in a way that would only make my hand worse and worse. And out of position, with my hand face-up, I thought a good player like him could just 3-barrel my ass (that's what I'd do if I were him) and put me in an awful spot.

So I decided just to c/r on the flop, without much of a plan if he called or raised (probably just give up but didn't have that set in stone in my mind). So I didn't like that part of it.

Would love to get other thoughts on the line.


Session results:
3 hours, 10 minutes
+$305

Year-to-date results:
138 hours, 55 minutes
+$1984

Finding opportunities for sessions this month will be challenging. Had a week-long work conference in LA last week, although I was able to get in a little time at The Bike and Ocean's 11 on my travels.

This weekend is my wife's birthday so that's out. Leaving for Vegas Thursday for the NFBC Main Event (high-stakes fantasy baseball) draft. I won't have a lot of free time while I'm there, but I'm staying at the Park MGM which connects to Aria, so I'll be able to get in probably one session then. Also have several other fantasy drafts later in the month that'll cut into time on the felt.

Was able to get a session in today, but it didn't go great. I felt I played well overall but it was just one of those days where I got no action when I had a hand - I had AA three times and also flopped a boat with KQ on a KQQhh board and got zero action on any of them - and got played with a bunch when I missed, or got sucked out on when I hit.

I'll throw out 3 hands - One I played poorly, one I played well, and one that just sucked.

HAND 1: I played it bad

Villain is a good pro

PREFLOP:
Hero opens to $20 in the cutoff with AK
Villain calls $20 in the SB

FLOP ($41): J54
SB checks
Hero checks

TURN ($41): 4
SB bets $30
HERO calls $30

RIVER ($101): 2
SB bets $55
HERO folds

I don't mind checking back the flop sometimes with AK, but when it contains a heart I think I should choose to c-bet those on a flop like this. Because, when the river completes the front door FD, I can credibly bluff the river with the nut flush blocker.

But because I checked back the flop here, a good thinking player like this guy knows I'm unlikely to have the flush bc I would have c-bet the flop with a big flush draw. Bad job me.



HAND 2: I played it p good

Villain is a good v pro (different than in hand 1)

PREFLOP:
Hero opens to $20 on the button with 98
Villain calls $20 in the SB

FLOP ($39): 942
SB checks
HERO bets $20
SB calls $20

TURN ($79): 4
SB checks
HERO checks

RIVER ($79): 4
SB checks
HERO bets $75
SB tank-calls $75

Hero wins $229 with a full house, 4s full of 9s

I decided to check back the turn since I didn't think I could get 3 streets from any hand that I'm better than. However in retrospect, I should have bet it and got my two streets on the flop and turn. On this runout, I could have bet the river then too.

So I didn't play it perfectly. But I did like my big bet on the river to polarize myself. My hand was definitely disguised; from his perspective I'm definitely playing this like I have QJ or something and am trying to buy it on the river. Any boat here really should have bet the turn.

I don't know what he called me with, but it could easily be 5-5 or even a flush. Mayyyybe even ace or king-high.


HAND 3: This just sucked

Villain UTG is a rec player

PREFLOP:
Villain UTG limps for $5
HERO raises to $25 from UTG+2 with AK
LP calls $25
BB calls $25
UTG calls $25

FLOP ($97): A64
UTG checks
HERO bets $50
LP calls $50
BB folds
UTG calls $50

TURN ($247): 5
UTG bets $80
HERO calls $80
LP folds

RIVER ($407): 2
UTG bets $160
HERO calls $160



Welp. I don't like raising the turn; I just get so many worse hands to fold and bloat the pot against better hands. The guy behind me complicates things; if he's got a set or 2 pr I don't wanna bloat the pot there either. And I want to keep worse Ax in the pot against me, not chase them out. If anyone reading disagrees with that logic, plz explain - I'm always open to different ways of thinking about hands.

On the river, I could fold. But I'm getting better than 3.5 to 1 and he's a rec player, so I think sometimes he's value-betting with worse like A-10 and AJ, and sometimes he's bluffing with 5-7 or 6-7. Maybe it's a bad call, idk.

--------

Anyway, them's the breaks.

Session results:
4 hours, 20 minutes
-$707

Year-to-date results:
143 hours, 15 minutes
+$1,277

H1: I think it's fine...don't level yourself just because villain is a good pro. Flop is a cbet but I don't think it matters much.

H2: Turn is a bet for all the reasons you said. As played I like betting $100 on river villain should be inelastic here.

H3: Need to fold river your pot odds don't matter. There are so many 2pairs/sets he can have plus all the straights. I don't think donks show up with AT here when they do they small bet...your hand looks so much like AJ++. In game it's really tough to fold against described villain it's an annoying spot.

Agree fully w all of this. Well said.

***TILT POST INCOMING***

I'm normally a pretty even-keel dude, but I'm tilting like the artwork at Stevie Wonder's house rn.

Just got back from a session where I was locked in, clear-minded, and playing great. And then within 3 hands, I made a bad fold in a big pot, and then just a few hands later, the guy that I should have stacked, stacked me. My bad decision to fold cost me like $2k in equity. Just so mad and frustrated.

It feels like a microcosm of my whole year so far. I'm wayyyy behind pace of my $35k goal, and a couple long-shot suckouts in a couple of the biggest pots I've played, plus a couple bad decisions (like today's) have been the difference.

I know that's the nature of no-limit, but it's frustrating nonetheless.

I'll post the hands below.

HAND 1: A hand I played well
HAND 2: A hand I'm too tilted to know how I played it but it feels wrong
HAND 3: A hand I played poorly


HAND 1: Sammy does good

BB is a bad LAG
MP is a weak/tight reg

PREFLOP:
MP ($800) limps for $5
HERO ($800) in MP raises to $25 with AJ
BUTTON ($1000) calls $25
BB calls $25
MP calls $25

FLOP ($97): KJ8
BB checks
MP checks
HERO checks
BUTTON checks

TURN ($97): 5
BB bets $65
MP calls $65
HERO calls $65
BUTTON folds

RIVER ($292): 5
BB bets $170
MP tank-folds
HERO calls $170



When the BB tanked so long (he kept looking at my stack too), I knew he'd folded a King (and confirmed it after the hand). That's one less King the BB could be value-betting.

Also he's a LAG, so I might have called him regardless. But it helped me make the call, and win the pot.

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

HAND 2: Sammy folds like a jackass

MP is a meh reg. Plays straightforwardly
LP is a good aggressive player

Weak-tight guy in EP limps for $5
HERO ($800) raises to $25 with KK
MP ($400) calls $25
LP ($1100) calls $25
EP folds

FLOP ($79): 973
HERO bets $40
MP calls $40
LP raises to $150
HERO calls $150
MP raises to $375 and is all-in
LP calls $375
Hero tank-folds

TURN: Q
RIVER K



There were just so few draws out there, really just 10-8 and 6-8. I thought one of them likely had top-2 or a set. But I think I just got lost in the hand and didn't know what to do, so I folded. Thoughts are appreciated but I think it was a bad fold, possibly being results-oriented but probably not.

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

HAND 3: Sammy tilt-stacks off like an idiot (just a few hands after Hand 2)

SB is the villain who won Hand 2 with JJ

PREFLOP:
UTG+1 limps for $5
UTG+2 limps for $5
MP limps for $5
HERO ($590) raises to $40 in the cutoff with AK
Button calls $40
SB calls $40
UTG+1 calls $40
UTG+2 calls $40
MP calls $40

FLOP ($242): KQ4
Checks to HERO in the cuttoff, who bets $140
BUTTON calls $140
SB check-raises to $460
Folds to HERO, who raises to $550 and is all-in
BUTTON folds
SB calls

TURN: 9
RIVER 9



I knew with so many people (6) going to the flop, there would be a lot of set-mining going on. The flop was actually fairly safe - it was very unlikely QQ was in there, same for KK/AA. So the only hands I really needed to be afraid of were 44 and KQ.

When SB check-raised big into that field, I knew deep down he likely had top-top beat. But the fact that he had jammed the hand before with a marginal hand, plus the fact that I had an SPR of less than 2 on a flop where I hit top-top, made me commit. But none of that matters when you know you're beat. I just didn't want to make the same mistake I made the hand before when I folded the best hand.

But the reality is that I folded in a big pot where I was good, and I committed in a big pot where I was crushed. I'm really disappointed and angry with myself.

Just writing it out here helps though, getting it off my chest. I'll learn from it, get past it, and get back on the felt soon (Thursday in Vegas at the Aria).


Session results:
3 hours, 10 minutes
-$787

Year-to-date results:
150 hours, 10 minutes
+$607

I appreciate the honesty in your posts. I think everyone has sessions like these and it's tough to say "yeah I was tilting and played way worse than I usually do."

H1: wp.

H2 I would just fold to the raise...if he's a spewey LAG then I 3b the flop expecting 65s and such.

H3: Yeah this many ways it's a fold but after losing a bunch of pots and seeing ridiculous hands it's so hard.

In spirit of honesty (and not to hijack your thread sorry)...here's an example of me punting as I was planning to close tables:
https://gyazo.com/ae885d9d8da5e44d94baf98f5433d392 I wish I could say I had some read or whatever but I was just tilting face from this hand and super oi from bet/folding so many times throughout the session I just jammed

https://gyazo.com/45e27d2f5e6a7ab215ae9e22ddaeea81

Have plenty of other hands I misplayed throughout the week but the A8 one was really egregious as there was like no thought process besides "**** it".

Sorry the convertor not working for me for some reason =/