There have been a lot of blog postings, forum postings or poker articles this year from very successful online ring game players along the basic lines of "My poker life story".
One theme that frequently comes up is the subject of putting in a high number of quality table hours while the games are still unsustainably good. One poster at 2+2, James282, put it very well in his post, "...you don’t want to be like those professional athletes that piss away their opportunities by not working their asses off while they had huge, but time-sensitive earning potential".
In my adult life, I have seen the peak of a dot-com bubble and a real estate bubble, and I appreciate the time-is-of-the-essence mentality that is espoused. Throughout my poker life, I have wasted much time and not made the most of the many chances that were afforded to me.
This post is to serve as a reminder to myself not to waste my time or opportunities.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Note to self
Never never sit with a short stack in a limit game where betting is uncapped headsup. In fact, just do yourself a favor and make sure you have everyone covered.
You never know when someone is going to go 20BB on the river w the nut flush on a double paired board.
You never know when someone is going to go 20BB on the river w the nut flush on a double paired board.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Grinding away
Online Ring games
Poker time has been primarily focused on online LHE ring games again.
Recently, I've started playing $20/$40 6max, and given the higher stakes, the amount of effort I put into game selection is even higher.
The nice thing about playing so high (by my standards), is that I'll seldom need to play more than 2 games at a time. This allows for better concentration, and hopefully more learning. It has been a swingy experience so far; partially because of the fewer hands played, but also due to the nature of those games. If I'm not busto by the end of the month, I just might pick up a thing or two.
One other benefit of 2 tabling: Since I don't need to reserve so many Fn keys, I have been able to tweak my autohot key scripts so that they can safely be used at any site (including the ones that do the stupid focus stealing), not just Party. It is quite a relief for my weary mouse hand.
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Live play
Some weekend day this month, I'm going to try for a 12-14 hour marathon live LHE session to get a feel for my endurance. In the past, I've been very sloppy towards the end of long sessions, but I'm hoping that my regular daily cardio workouts (which are now up to a 25 day streak!) might help. It will be nice to get a feel for how long I can focus. I have definitely found that I'm noticeably more alert during the mid-evening time frame (~9pm) than just a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully this translates over to marathon sessions...
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Online supers
I was happy to learn (from this post from SamENole) that Full Tilt accomodates players who have won WSOP ME seats from other venues in their WSOP ME supers. This is an example of classy behavior by a classy company.
The structure of their $200 supers is a little better than at Party and Stars (despite the $1 higher vig), and with this policy, I will be entering more of the FTP WSOP supers.
With the rescheduling of the HORSE event, I'm thinking of playing in one or more of events 21-23 after I quickly bust out of the HORSE. With the plan to play in events 41-45 if I make an early exit in the ME, there is a good chance that I could use the lammers. I'm budgeting another $2k of my bankroll for WSOP supers on FTP and the Cryptos; too bad there is never any overlay for the ME supers at these sites...
Poker time has been primarily focused on online LHE ring games again.
Recently, I've started playing $20/$40 6max, and given the higher stakes, the amount of effort I put into game selection is even higher.
The nice thing about playing so high (by my standards), is that I'll seldom need to play more than 2 games at a time. This allows for better concentration, and hopefully more learning. It has been a swingy experience so far; partially because of the fewer hands played, but also due to the nature of those games. If I'm not busto by the end of the month, I just might pick up a thing or two.
One other benefit of 2 tabling: Since I don't need to reserve so many Fn keys, I have been able to tweak my autohot key scripts so that they can safely be used at any site (including the ones that do the stupid focus stealing), not just Party. It is quite a relief for my weary mouse hand.
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Live play
Some weekend day this month, I'm going to try for a 12-14 hour marathon live LHE session to get a feel for my endurance. In the past, I've been very sloppy towards the end of long sessions, but I'm hoping that my regular daily cardio workouts (which are now up to a 25 day streak!) might help. It will be nice to get a feel for how long I can focus. I have definitely found that I'm noticeably more alert during the mid-evening time frame (~9pm) than just a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully this translates over to marathon sessions...
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Online supers
I was happy to learn (from this post from SamENole) that Full Tilt accomodates players who have won WSOP ME seats from other venues in their WSOP ME supers. This is an example of classy behavior by a classy company.
The structure of their $200 supers is a little better than at Party and Stars (despite the $1 higher vig), and with this policy, I will be entering more of the FTP WSOP supers.
With the rescheduling of the HORSE event, I'm thinking of playing in one or more of events 21-23 after I quickly bust out of the HORSE. With the plan to play in events 41-45 if I make an early exit in the ME, there is a good chance that I could use the lammers. I'm budgeting another $2k of my bankroll for WSOP supers on FTP and the Cryptos; too bad there is never any overlay for the ME supers at these sites...
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
WSOP Schedule change
Harrahs today announced they are making schedule changes for the $50k HORSE event to facilitate television coverage. The event was changed from July 25-27 to July 12-14. The press release says the final schedule is on the WSOP web site, but naturally it hasn't been updated yet.
While it is all fine and dandy that the event will be getting TV coverage, the unfortunate thing for me is the logistical snafus this causes. Travel arrangements already made need to be changed (my dad already booked his flight down from Canada), vacation time from the day job needs to be rescheduled, and now multiple trips to Vegas are needed. Boo!
Ask me 6 months ago if I would have minded accomodating schedule changes before I had won any of these satellites, and I'm sure I would have heartily agreed. Funny thing about human nature in how people react differently if something they already have gets taken away or changed vs. if they never had the thing in the first place. (or maybe it is just me....)
I just hope this is the final schedule. I feel a bit foolish telling people the firm dates I had already detailed have changed, and would feel like a complete idiot if they change again....
The Main Event and the HORSE event were not being run concurrently (more like back to back), so I don't really understand why the schedule change was needed. :(
While it is all fine and dandy that the event will be getting TV coverage, the unfortunate thing for me is the logistical snafus this causes. Travel arrangements already made need to be changed (my dad already booked his flight down from Canada), vacation time from the day job needs to be rescheduled, and now multiple trips to Vegas are needed. Boo!
Ask me 6 months ago if I would have minded accomodating schedule changes before I had won any of these satellites, and I'm sure I would have heartily agreed. Funny thing about human nature in how people react differently if something they already have gets taken away or changed vs. if they never had the thing in the first place. (or maybe it is just me....)
I just hope this is the final schedule. I feel a bit foolish telling people the firm dates I had already detailed have changed, and would feel like a complete idiot if they change again....
The Main Event and the HORSE event were not being run concurrently (more like back to back), so I don't really understand why the schedule change was needed. :(
Playing the dead zone: another view
In the "The Zone System" section of Harrington on Hold'em II, the lowest level Action Dad describes is entitled "The Dead Zone" where (by accident) a player ends up with an M of less than 1.
In tonight's Party $2k added, I stumbled into this neighbourhood for the first time in quite a while. (Trapped another almost identical medium stack all in..... runner runner str flush....waah waah...) I was left with exactly 9/16 big blinds on the button, and the antes total 9/16 big blinds (9 handed; ante costs you over 10% of your stack each hand).
The decision to be made is when to get those chips in. It definitely needs to be soon, but you still want to consider your starting hand choices and the tendencies of your opponents. You have no fold equity. Frequently when you have a short stack you want to ~open~ push your stack in (and fold if any player has entered the pot in front of you). Harrington states that it is essential to be the first player in the pot, but I would argue with a stack roughly the size of the small blind, then under the right circumstances you would like a nice size raise in front of you to both protect your hand and give you even better pot odds.
Let's consider 3 possible scenarios:
1) Folded to Hero on the button who has 87o (0.5625bb). Small blind is a loose passive, Big blind is a tight passive, both with medium size stacks. This scenario provides you 3:1 pot odds, and the most likely scenario is that a flop will be seen three ways and will only drop to headsup if one opponent flops or turns a hand. 87o has no high card strength, and plugging into PokerStove shows the hand has ~30% pot equity vs 2 random hands. Expected value: 0.675 big blinds, likelihood of surviving 30%.
2) tight MP+2 player opens for 2x big blind (his standard raise), folded to Hero who has A2o in CO (0.50bb), loose player on button, tightish players in blinds (however, big blind has medium stack and can easily afford 1xbb to see the flop). This scenario again looks like close to 2 opponents seeing the flop. Assuming a hand range for MP+2 of any pair, ATs+, KQs, and one other opponent with a random hand, Hero's pot equity is ~23.5%. Expected value: 0.47 big blinds, likelihood of surviving 23.5%.
3) MP player with huge stack raises 3.5x bb. His open raising standards have included some speculative hands, which will be classified as any pair, any A better than A5s, A7o, any 2 broadways, and suited connectors down to 76s. Folded to hero in CO+1 who finds JTo (0.4375bb). One loose passive in CO, the remaining players are fairly tight. This scenario offers a better than average chance of a headsup pot with a hand that actually stands to be a coin flip or better to a substantial part of Villain's range. PokerStove computes a pot equity of 39% against Villain's range. Expected value: 0.85 big blinds, likelihood of surviving 39%.
As you can surely tell, I elected to get my chips in during scenario #3. I wish I could say I picked the best spot, quintupled up, and went on to take down the MTT. It would make a nice story, and it would really emphasize the importance of not giving up in an MTT and the importance of paying attention. Alas, Villain shows KQs, flops a K and no miracle happens.
Bah, hopefully there will be a better story to tell next time....
In tonight's Party $2k added, I stumbled into this neighbourhood for the first time in quite a while. (Trapped another almost identical medium stack all in..... runner runner str flush....waah waah...) I was left with exactly 9/16 big blinds on the button, and the antes total 9/16 big blinds (9 handed; ante costs you over 10% of your stack each hand).
The decision to be made is when to get those chips in. It definitely needs to be soon, but you still want to consider your starting hand choices and the tendencies of your opponents. You have no fold equity. Frequently when you have a short stack you want to ~open~ push your stack in (and fold if any player has entered the pot in front of you). Harrington states that it is essential to be the first player in the pot, but I would argue with a stack roughly the size of the small blind, then under the right circumstances you would like a nice size raise in front of you to both protect your hand and give you even better pot odds.
Let's consider 3 possible scenarios:
1) Folded to Hero on the button who has 87o (0.5625bb). Small blind is a loose passive, Big blind is a tight passive, both with medium size stacks. This scenario provides you 3:1 pot odds, and the most likely scenario is that a flop will be seen three ways and will only drop to headsup if one opponent flops or turns a hand. 87o has no high card strength, and plugging into PokerStove shows the hand has ~30% pot equity vs 2 random hands. Expected value: 0.675 big blinds, likelihood of surviving 30%.
2) tight MP+2 player opens for 2x big blind (his standard raise), folded to Hero who has A2o in CO (0.50bb), loose player on button, tightish players in blinds (however, big blind has medium stack and can easily afford 1xbb to see the flop). This scenario again looks like close to 2 opponents seeing the flop. Assuming a hand range for MP+2 of any pair, ATs+, KQs, and one other opponent with a random hand, Hero's pot equity is ~23.5%. Expected value: 0.47 big blinds, likelihood of surviving 23.5%.
3) MP player with huge stack raises 3.5x bb. His open raising standards have included some speculative hands, which will be classified as any pair, any A better than A5s, A7o, any 2 broadways, and suited connectors down to 76s. Folded to hero in CO+1 who finds JTo (0.4375bb). One loose passive in CO, the remaining players are fairly tight. This scenario offers a better than average chance of a headsup pot with a hand that actually stands to be a coin flip or better to a substantial part of Villain's range. PokerStove computes a pot equity of 39% against Villain's range. Expected value: 0.85 big blinds, likelihood of surviving 39%.
As you can surely tell, I elected to get my chips in during scenario #3. I wish I could say I picked the best spot, quintupled up, and went on to take down the MTT. It would make a nice story, and it would really emphasize the importance of not giving up in an MTT and the importance of paying attention. Alas, Villain shows KQs, flops a K and no miracle happens.
Bah, hopefully there will be a better story to tell next time....
Monday, May 01, 2006
Misc stuff
Buckeroo
I have a $1 chip from every B&M poker room I have ever played in except for Aladdin in LV and the Holiday Inn in Aruba. I'm not sure when the Aladdin -> Planet Hollywood transformation will be complete, possibly before my next trip to LV in July. If any of you readers out there have a spare $1 chip from either of these cardrooms, please let me know....
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Health
I've been doing the daily cardio thing now for a little over 2 weeks, and I'm no longer feeling nauseous at the end. I haven't yet noticed any appreciable difference in mental alertness, but maybe this will just take some more time.
Better dietary and sleep habits have been rather hit or miss. Definite area for improvement.
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Online MTTs
I undershot my target of 60 $100+ buy in MTTs for April. Part of the reason, is that I frequently got home too late from the day job to play in the 9pm Party $2k added (the only $100+ MTT that I could play on a weekday). This is somewhat out of my control. However, I skipped a goodly number of Sunday tournaments that I was available to play in merely due to lack of discipline. BAD DAVE!
I feel very good about my MTT play of late, so optimistically it feels like I just need to get enough events in.
There is a moderate amount of time management balance required when playing MTTs. The reason is because, when I have enough available attention, I try and keep a modest number of ring games open simultaneously to maximize my hourly rate. Finding the optimal balance is an ongoing learning experience.
An important component in my MTT strategy is to increase my chance of having an above average stack when the field size has been cut by 75% but only taking a reasonable amount of risk and attention. I've been experimenting with starting to pay more attention to the action at roughly the 45 minute mark (and/or when the field has been cut by roughly 40%) when my and the average players' M still allows for a wider range of plays. Restealing, trapping and avoiding traps in deep stack situations require better reads (and hence require paying more attention).
Under a number of circumstances I would allocate more of my attention for ring games. These include: My M dropping early to a range of 10 or less, being moved from a broken table to a table which will break soon and I have little info on my opponents.
A case where I would focus an above average amount of attention to an MTT is if I am able to double up early at a loose table that has a lot of chips in play and that the table will break in roughly 15-45 minutes.
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Other MTT stuff
I've taken some notice of medium -> large field $300->$500 buy in online MTTs. The average quality of play seems not substantially different than $100->$200 buy in events, so I will no longer feel any trepidation into buying directly into these events. (this goes back to time management/hourly rate considerations)
I completely skipped the Grand Series of Poker on the Poker Room network mostly because I haven't spent the time to figure out why Poker Tracker is not working for me on those sites. This turned out to be quite foolish since many of those events ended up having very substantial overlays.
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Online ring games
Ring games for the later half of April were very swingy. Up 100BB one session, down 100BB the next session, repeat....
The main problem from the last few weeks was my tendency to play shorter sessions when I was winning and longer sessions when losing. Since it is very natural to play better when you are winning, my behavior should be the reverse. I've been better about this in the past and will make a more conscious effort to follow this mantra.
I'm currently undecided on if I should be spending time trying to become comfortable 4 tabling Party $10/$20 6max or 3 tabling $15/$30 6max or 2-3 tabling $400NL.
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Live ring games
In term of live ring games, almost all of my time was spent in the $20/$40 LHE game for the last couple of weeks. I've been running very good and playing well. I switched poker rooms to play in a place where $20/$40 is the largest stakes spread, and the game is even better than the great $20/$40 games at the old poker room.
To continue the learning process, I've incorporated more selective LAGgyness into my play. This serves 2 purposes: 1) to win more pots with the worst hand vs players that are capable of folding, 2) to get more action on my legit hands. The degree of LAGgyness requires some fine tuning, and I imagine I'm going to run so bad at some point that I'll be psychologically forced back into a TAGgy style of play. For now at least, it is a lot of fun.
I have a $1 chip from every B&M poker room I have ever played in except for Aladdin in LV and the Holiday Inn in Aruba. I'm not sure when the Aladdin -> Planet Hollywood transformation will be complete, possibly before my next trip to LV in July. If any of you readers out there have a spare $1 chip from either of these cardrooms, please let me know....
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Health
I've been doing the daily cardio thing now for a little over 2 weeks, and I'm no longer feeling nauseous at the end. I haven't yet noticed any appreciable difference in mental alertness, but maybe this will just take some more time.
Better dietary and sleep habits have been rather hit or miss. Definite area for improvement.
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Online MTTs
I undershot my target of 60 $100+ buy in MTTs for April. Part of the reason, is that I frequently got home too late from the day job to play in the 9pm Party $2k added (the only $100+ MTT that I could play on a weekday). This is somewhat out of my control. However, I skipped a goodly number of Sunday tournaments that I was available to play in merely due to lack of discipline. BAD DAVE!
I feel very good about my MTT play of late, so optimistically it feels like I just need to get enough events in.
There is a moderate amount of time management balance required when playing MTTs. The reason is because, when I have enough available attention, I try and keep a modest number of ring games open simultaneously to maximize my hourly rate. Finding the optimal balance is an ongoing learning experience.
An important component in my MTT strategy is to increase my chance of having an above average stack when the field size has been cut by 75% but only taking a reasonable amount of risk and attention. I've been experimenting with starting to pay more attention to the action at roughly the 45 minute mark (and/or when the field has been cut by roughly 40%) when my and the average players' M still allows for a wider range of plays. Restealing, trapping and avoiding traps in deep stack situations require better reads (and hence require paying more attention).
Under a number of circumstances I would allocate more of my attention for ring games. These include: My M dropping early to a range of 10 or less, being moved from a broken table to a table which will break soon and I have little info on my opponents.
A case where I would focus an above average amount of attention to an MTT is if I am able to double up early at a loose table that has a lot of chips in play and that the table will break in roughly 15-45 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other MTT stuff
I've taken some notice of medium -> large field $300->$500 buy in online MTTs. The average quality of play seems not substantially different than $100->$200 buy in events, so I will no longer feel any trepidation into buying directly into these events. (this goes back to time management/hourly rate considerations)
I completely skipped the Grand Series of Poker on the Poker Room network mostly because I haven't spent the time to figure out why Poker Tracker is not working for me on those sites. This turned out to be quite foolish since many of those events ended up having very substantial overlays.
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Online ring games
Ring games for the later half of April were very swingy. Up 100BB one session, down 100BB the next session, repeat....
The main problem from the last few weeks was my tendency to play shorter sessions when I was winning and longer sessions when losing. Since it is very natural to play better when you are winning, my behavior should be the reverse. I've been better about this in the past and will make a more conscious effort to follow this mantra.
I'm currently undecided on if I should be spending time trying to become comfortable 4 tabling Party $10/$20 6max or 3 tabling $15/$30 6max or 2-3 tabling $400NL.
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Live ring games
In term of live ring games, almost all of my time was spent in the $20/$40 LHE game for the last couple of weeks. I've been running very good and playing well. I switched poker rooms to play in a place where $20/$40 is the largest stakes spread, and the game is even better than the great $20/$40 games at the old poker room.
To continue the learning process, I've incorporated more selective LAGgyness into my play. This serves 2 purposes: 1) to win more pots with the worst hand vs players that are capable of folding, 2) to get more action on my legit hands. The degree of LAGgyness requires some fine tuning, and I imagine I'm going to run so bad at some point that I'll be psychologically forced back into a TAGgy style of play. For now at least, it is a lot of fun.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Cause for alarm...
Today I approached the fine line that divides the recreational online poker player and the degenerate online poker player....and crossed over. Yes, I did in fact relieve myself in a empty bottle.
No need for elaborate excuses (although they are available); I never imagined this day would come, but I suppose my priorities have shifted somewhat. Disturbing, but interesting....
No need for elaborate excuses (although they are available); I never imagined this day would come, but I suppose my priorities have shifted somewhat. Disturbing, but interesting....
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity"
What type of preparation can and should be done in those days?
A very obvious area that needs substantial hours of work is limit mixed games (for the HORSE event). The danger though is that this could become a big black hole of time since there is just so much to learn. The law of diminishing returns will take effect at some point, but it is hard to predict if this happens after 50 hours, 100 hours, 200 hours....
i) studying the poker literature, with a particular focus on "7 card stud for Advanced Players" (no more reading fiction novels!)
ii) practice remembering other player's hands for stud games (both online and live; online for the convenience, but plenty of live practice is needed because of the additional need to remember your own hole cards)
iii) become very adept at calculating pot equity based on my outs vs. the number of exposed cards (an additional habit completely unnecessary in games with community cards, like hold'em)
iv) plenty of ring game experience with postgame analysis done on interesting hands (a Vegas trip might need to be thrown in to get some actual live experience in these types of games at non-trivial stakes)
Two other major areas related to stamina that will receive substantial time investment are: v) physical fitness training/healthly lifestyle and vi) practice concentrating for longer periods of time.
v) daily exercise (particularly cardio), better sleep habits (sufficient sleep at regular times), better diet (less fat and salt, more fruits and veggies), drinking more water, ginko biloba? (So long free radicals!)
vi) partake in lengthy (10-12 hour) live game sessions
I think (vi) is important because I've actually had very very little experience in playing live for prolonged periods of time, and the times that I have were plagued with plenty of terrible decisions in the later hours (e.g. both of my WPT events). Probably (v) will actually have a bigger effect, but somehow I think it will be good to practice (vi). (vi) could be started in a few weeks time to allow the benefits of (v) to kick in.
vii) more practice in deep stack NL tournaments, such as the Stars Deep stack tournaments. (this was an area that I talked about earlier in the year, but never followed through on) Additionally, I will continue to play supers for $10k events like FTP's Winners Choice or Interpoker's LOQ, with the intention of using the entry for WPT Mirage or WPT Mandalay Bay.
Another outlet for practice might be the $30 NLHE rebuys on Party. The number of chips in play becomes quite substantial due to the crazy first hour play, but also because of the rebuy bug abuse.
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On a slightly different note, I've been reflecting a bit on how crazy things have been lately.
The last month or so has been quite a thrill ride in MTT/supers. For example, at some point in each event I have had at least $5k in real tournament equity in 6 different MTTs/supers and double this number with at least $1k of equity. This implies I was involved in a fair number of hands that had close to a 5 figure outcome. That is just sick. I don't know if I want to be able to become desensitized to such things, but I do know that I am very affected by these swings. I suppose I will either get used to it, or else become prematurally grey or bald or both.
In limit ring games, my swings were in the +/- 200BB ranges at some of the higher stakes I have played at ($10/$20->$15/$30 online and $20/$40->$40/$80 live). The difference was that these swings came over a longer period of time; hours or days, not seconds.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
HEEHAW!!
I mean, YEEHAW. I took down the $1000+$50 WSOP super today at Interpoker for their $15k WSOP ME package. It is an awesome relief to "get this out of the way".
Here's hoping to paying mucho mucho taxes in 2006....
Here's hoping to paying mucho mucho taxes in 2006....
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Bad Limit Hold'em decisions
In my last live $20/$40 LHE session, I made the worst possible mistake that can be made in Limit Hold'em....twice in the same orbit. I'll list them both here because I need a reminder to stop being such a weak-tight-passive retard. My preflop decisions are debatable, but the substantially dominating factor in both hands is that the cost of seeing the showdown is well defined.
First I should try to define my mental state prior to these two hands. In the only 3 hands I had been involved in during the previous 30 minutes I missed a very good opportunity to bluff at a 4.5 big bet pot on the river in a 3 way hand (Hero was in 1st pos, pfr was on my left: protected pot) and was outdrawn twice in ~5BB pots by the Donk on my immediate right. My confidence level was somewhat deflated at the start of these hands, and significantly impacted after hand #1.
hand #1
8 seated $20/$40 LHE
Villain #1: very large preflop limping range, plays draws very aggressively on the flop, very often slow plays the flop with hands like a set even on coordinated boards
Villain #2: fairly aggressive postflop, but slows down in the face of extreme aggression even with hands as good as bottom set
- preflop: Hero limps UTG w AcJs, fold, fold, Villain #1 calls, Villain #2 calls in CO, button calls, SB completes, BB checks (6 players, 6 small bets)
- flop: 2c5cJd, blinds check, Hero bets, V#1 raises, V#2 3-bets, folded back to Hero, Hero calls, V#1 caps, both call. (3 players, 18 small bets)
- turn: 2c5cJd6s, Hero checks, V#1 bets, V#2 quickly calls, Hero calls (3 players, 12 big bets)
- river: 2c5cJd6s3d, Hero checks, V#1 bets, V#2 very reluctantly calls, Hero mucks (final pot 14 big bets) V#1 shows QJo, V#2 takes the pot with KJo
hand #2
9 seated $20/$40 LHE (4 hands after hand #1)
Villain #3: appears to be a LAG, but I have yet to seen him get too out of line
Villain #4: has a very large preflop calling range, but generally has a good sense of where he stands in the hand postflop. Capable of tricky plays, but may be on a mild case of tilt from a couple of bad beats
- preflop: fold, fold, V#3 raises, fold, big Donk calls in the hi-jack, Hero 3 bets in CO w AsJs, button and SB fold, V#4 calls in BB, V#3 and Donk just call. (4 players, 12.5 small bets)
- flop: 3c9dJd, check, V#3 bets, Donk folds, Hero raises, V#4 calls, V#3 calls (3 players, 18.5 small bets)
- turn:3c9dJd7s, V#4 bets (and has 0.75BB remaining), V#3 raises (both V#3 and Hero are very deep), Hero mucks, V#4 calls all in. (2 players, 12.5 big bets)
- river: 3c9dJd7s? (brick). V#4 shows QJo, V#3 mucks.
The first hand wouldn't have been so bad if I had mucked on the turn (although I'd still be pretty sick). The player on my left is taking the lead, so probably 80+% of the time I will only need to call 1 bet on the river closing the action to showdown in a big pot. Additionally, I've played enough with Villain #2 to know that he calls much faster on the river with any hand that beats me.
I honestly think that given the information available at the time it was possible to deduce that a very significant % of the time I am at worst chopping the pot with one or both Villains.
To make matters worse, I foolishly admitted to mucking the best hand, yet another -EV decision. A terrible, terrible metagame slip up.
The second hand is slightly less bad than the first, although still incredibly weak. I was too flustered to comprehend the reasoning of Villain #4's turn bet. My current thoughts are that he had a hand like JT and was conscious that he had less than 2 big bets remaining that were going to put in the pot no matter what, and he bet on the possibility that I raised the flop on a flush draw.
At any rate, it is very straightforward that I will be paying exactly 3 big bets to see the showdown on a 12.5+1=13.5 big bet pot. Given the uncertainty of Villain #2's range and the pot odds, this is a simple calldown.
First I should try to define my mental state prior to these two hands. In the only 3 hands I had been involved in during the previous 30 minutes I missed a very good opportunity to bluff at a 4.5 big bet pot on the river in a 3 way hand (Hero was in 1st pos, pfr was on my left: protected pot) and was outdrawn twice in ~5BB pots by the Donk on my immediate right. My confidence level was somewhat deflated at the start of these hands, and significantly impacted after hand #1.
hand #1
8 seated $20/$40 LHE
Villain #1: very large preflop limping range, plays draws very aggressively on the flop, very often slow plays the flop with hands like a set even on coordinated boards
Villain #2: fairly aggressive postflop, but slows down in the face of extreme aggression even with hands as good as bottom set
- preflop: Hero limps UTG w AcJs, fold, fold, Villain #1 calls, Villain #2 calls in CO, button calls, SB completes, BB checks (6 players, 6 small bets)
- flop: 2c5cJd, blinds check, Hero bets, V#1 raises, V#2 3-bets, folded back to Hero, Hero calls, V#1 caps, both call. (3 players, 18 small bets)
- turn: 2c5cJd6s, Hero checks, V#1 bets, V#2 quickly calls, Hero calls (3 players, 12 big bets)
- river: 2c5cJd6s3d, Hero checks, V#1 bets, V#2 very reluctantly calls, Hero mucks (final pot 14 big bets) V#1 shows QJo, V#2 takes the pot with KJo
hand #2
9 seated $20/$40 LHE (4 hands after hand #1)
Villain #3: appears to be a LAG, but I have yet to seen him get too out of line
Villain #4: has a very large preflop calling range, but generally has a good sense of where he stands in the hand postflop. Capable of tricky plays, but may be on a mild case of tilt from a couple of bad beats
- preflop: fold, fold, V#3 raises, fold, big Donk calls in the hi-jack, Hero 3 bets in CO w AsJs, button and SB fold, V#4 calls in BB, V#3 and Donk just call. (4 players, 12.5 small bets)
- flop: 3c9dJd, check, V#3 bets, Donk folds, Hero raises, V#4 calls, V#3 calls (3 players, 18.5 small bets)
- turn:3c9dJd7s, V#4 bets (and has 0.75BB remaining), V#3 raises (both V#3 and Hero are very deep), Hero mucks, V#4 calls all in. (2 players, 12.5 big bets)
- river: 3c9dJd7s? (brick). V#4 shows QJo, V#3 mucks.
The first hand wouldn't have been so bad if I had mucked on the turn (although I'd still be pretty sick). The player on my left is taking the lead, so probably 80+% of the time I will only need to call 1 bet on the river closing the action to showdown in a big pot. Additionally, I've played enough with Villain #2 to know that he calls much faster on the river with any hand that beats me.
I honestly think that given the information available at the time it was possible to deduce that a very significant % of the time I am at worst chopping the pot with one or both Villains.
To make matters worse, I foolishly admitted to mucking the best hand, yet another -EV decision. A terrible, terrible metagame slip up.
The second hand is slightly less bad than the first, although still incredibly weak. I was too flustered to comprehend the reasoning of Villain #4's turn bet. My current thoughts are that he had a hand like JT and was conscious that he had less than 2 big bets remaining that were going to put in the pot no matter what, and he bet on the possibility that I raised the flop on a flush draw.
At any rate, it is very straightforward that I will be paying exactly 3 big bets to see the showdown on a 12.5+1=13.5 big bet pot. Given the uncertainty of Villain #2's range and the pot odds, this is a simple calldown.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
JTs
Interesting hand from my last live session. It is a classic small stakes hold'em hand. I am unfamilar with all players except for the BB (LAGgy) and the player on my right (Loose passive) (MP+2). Button appears to me to play very "tight and solid" (not a compliment). This was a $20/$40 game, as the $40/$80 looked tough, and I'm practicing good game selection. :P
Any comments or criticisms are welcome.
hand #1
Live $20/$40 LHE 9 seated
- preflop: 2 folds, MP+1 limps, MP+2 limps, Hero calls with JhTh, CO calls, Button raises, 4 calls, Hero re-raises, call, Button caps its, blinds calls, MP+1 folds, everyone else calls. (6 players, 26 small bets)
- flop: 8h8s9h, checked to Hero who bets, all call back to MP+2 who check raises, all call (6 players, 38 small bets)
- turn: 8h8s9h9s, SB bets, BB mucks, MP+2 calls, Hero calls, CO mucks, Button calls (4 players, 23 big bets)
- river: 8h8s9h9sKc, checked around, SB shows 9dTd, MP+2 shows Ac8c, muck, muck.
Preflop is standard with my average pot equity in what is likely to be a 7 handed flop. I can easily get away from my hand if I miss, and won't get too married to my hand with something like top pair. Button I put on KK+ preflop, but based on some later comments after the hand was over, I believe the range was actually JJ+, with JJ being the most likely hand.
On the flop, I bet with the intention of 3 betting the button's overpair. MP+2 loves to play Axs, and I was almost certain he was playing A8s when he revealed his strength (I would have a hard time paying off if an Ah hit on the river since there will almost certainly be people behind me given our positions and the pot size; I'd probably call a bet from MP+2 and fold to a raise from button). I did not put MP+2 on a boat or better since he would have waited for the turn. It was a mistake to not 3 bet the flop (assuming that the majority of the field would continue in the hand given the huge pot size). According to PokerStove, my pot equity is in the high 30s+ regardless of whether the button has KK+, QQ+, or JJ+ (ironically the looser the hand range for the button, the lower my pot equity since Qs represent a decent portion of my "outs").
At the time, I did not 3 bet because I did not have a clear enough picture on which PP button had with me out of position. The button's smooth call of my bet confused me. I wasn't sure if it meant the button had JJ/QQ and was worried about my potential overpair, or if the button had KK/AA and was waiting until the turn to make the field face 2 big bets.
On the turn, I'm down to 2 outs, but have an easy call. (although I hollywooded for 20 seconds to disguise my hand if a 7h hit on the river)
On the river, it sucks when you can't beat the board.
Any comments or criticisms are welcome.
hand #1
Live $20/$40 LHE 9 seated
- preflop: 2 folds, MP+1 limps, MP+2 limps, Hero calls with JhTh, CO calls, Button raises, 4 calls, Hero re-raises, call, Button caps its, blinds calls, MP+1 folds, everyone else calls. (6 players, 26 small bets)
- flop: 8h8s9h, checked to Hero who bets, all call back to MP+2 who check raises, all call (6 players, 38 small bets)
- turn: 8h8s9h9s, SB bets, BB mucks, MP+2 calls, Hero calls, CO mucks, Button calls (4 players, 23 big bets)
- river: 8h8s9h9sKc, checked around, SB shows 9dTd, MP+2 shows Ac8c, muck, muck.
Preflop is standard with my average pot equity in what is likely to be a 7 handed flop. I can easily get away from my hand if I miss, and won't get too married to my hand with something like top pair. Button I put on KK+ preflop, but based on some later comments after the hand was over, I believe the range was actually JJ+, with JJ being the most likely hand.
On the flop, I bet with the intention of 3 betting the button's overpair. MP+2 loves to play Axs, and I was almost certain he was playing A8s when he revealed his strength (I would have a hard time paying off if an Ah hit on the river since there will almost certainly be people behind me given our positions and the pot size; I'd probably call a bet from MP+2 and fold to a raise from button). I did not put MP+2 on a boat or better since he would have waited for the turn. It was a mistake to not 3 bet the flop (assuming that the majority of the field would continue in the hand given the huge pot size). According to PokerStove, my pot equity is in the high 30s+ regardless of whether the button has KK+, QQ+, or JJ+ (ironically the looser the hand range for the button, the lower my pot equity since Qs represent a decent portion of my "outs").
At the time, I did not 3 bet because I did not have a clear enough picture on which PP button had with me out of position. The button's smooth call of my bet confused me. I wasn't sure if it meant the button had JJ/QQ and was worried about my potential overpair, or if the button had KK/AA and was waiting until the turn to make the field face 2 big bets.
On the turn, I'm down to 2 outs, but have an easy call. (although I hollywooded for 20 seconds to disguise my hand if a 7h hit on the river)
On the river, it sucks when you can't beat the board.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Spinning my wheels, but swinging for the fence
Weekend
I currently have no juicy online promotions influencing me to play online limit ring games . As a change of pace, the last few days have been devoted primarily to live play and online MTTs and supers. The live limit ring games continue to go well, and to balance things out nicely the MTTs and supers ran for a big goose egg. The grand total for the last 3 days of work is an uninspiring -$50. (Net investments in securing a WSOP ME seat now exceed -$850)
The $216 FTP WSOP super last night was kind of fun. During the course of the MTT, I was seated with Andy Bloch, savemyskin (Chris Fargis), TheDonator (a highly ranked online MTT player), and a goodly number of loose passives and weak tights. I busted in the low teens and TheDonator bubbled in 3rd (the 2 seat guarantee was exactly met with 120 entrants). This was the 2nd time I have run this event, and the field was very soft on both occasions. I'll continue to play this event if I don't win a seat elsewhere.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game choices for the short term
I've made some decisions on my game play for the next few months that deviate from recent strategy. In a nutshell, I plan to de-emphasize steady bankroll growth and variance minimization. My tolerance for going broke is increased. To quantify this, I would say that a tolerable risk of ruin in the next 12 months is 30%.
Over the last 4 months, I've entered an average of ~15 $100+ buyin MTTs or Supers per month. Until the WSOP, I plan to increase my entry rate into these class of events substantially. The schedule will be designed such that I will enter 60/month with the expectation that the actual number will be considerably less (40-50) either due to making it very deep in some events (and not wanting to start any additional events simultaneously) or missing some scheduled events due to busyness in my non-poker life. Satellites to big buy in events will represent a good 20-25% of the MTTs.
The ratio of live/online play will be maintained (to sustain/improve live play skills), and as such, time allocated for exclusively multitabling online ring games will be substantially reduced. I will still be playing 1 or 2 tables of 6max limit games during the early stages of MTTs, but I imagine the total number of online LHE ring game hands played per month will decrease by half.
Additionally, I intend to move up sooner than planned from playing $10/$20 6max to $15/$30 6max. My understanding is that the quality of play is comparable at both levels, so the difference (after adjusting for the 2/3 SB structure) is just in the stakes.
I intend to follow this plan, but will reevaluate if my results hit a combination equivalent to -50 MTT buyins and -300BB ring game loses.
Much of the motivation for making a strategic change is related to an increasing likelihood of staying at my day job for the forseeable future.
I currently have no juicy online promotions influencing me to play online limit ring games . As a change of pace, the last few days have been devoted primarily to live play and online MTTs and supers. The live limit ring games continue to go well, and to balance things out nicely the MTTs and supers ran for a big goose egg. The grand total for the last 3 days of work is an uninspiring -$50. (Net investments in securing a WSOP ME seat now exceed -$850)
The $216 FTP WSOP super last night was kind of fun. During the course of the MTT, I was seated with Andy Bloch, savemyskin (Chris Fargis), TheDonator (a highly ranked online MTT player), and a goodly number of loose passives and weak tights. I busted in the low teens and TheDonator bubbled in 3rd (the 2 seat guarantee was exactly met with 120 entrants). This was the 2nd time I have run this event, and the field was very soft on both occasions. I'll continue to play this event if I don't win a seat elsewhere.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game choices for the short term
I've made some decisions on my game play for the next few months that deviate from recent strategy. In a nutshell, I plan to de-emphasize steady bankroll growth and variance minimization. My tolerance for going broke is increased. To quantify this, I would say that a tolerable risk of ruin in the next 12 months is 30%.
Over the last 4 months, I've entered an average of ~15 $100+ buyin MTTs or Supers per month. Until the WSOP, I plan to increase my entry rate into these class of events substantially. The schedule will be designed such that I will enter 60/month with the expectation that the actual number will be considerably less (40-50) either due to making it very deep in some events (and not wanting to start any additional events simultaneously) or missing some scheduled events due to busyness in my non-poker life. Satellites to big buy in events will represent a good 20-25% of the MTTs.
The ratio of live/online play will be maintained (to sustain/improve live play skills), and as such, time allocated for exclusively multitabling online ring games will be substantially reduced. I will still be playing 1 or 2 tables of 6max limit games during the early stages of MTTs, but I imagine the total number of online LHE ring game hands played per month will decrease by half.
Additionally, I intend to move up sooner than planned from playing $10/$20 6max to $15/$30 6max. My understanding is that the quality of play is comparable at both levels, so the difference (after adjusting for the 2/3 SB structure) is just in the stakes.
I intend to follow this plan, but will reevaluate if my results hit a combination equivalent to -50 MTT buyins and -300BB ring game loses.
Much of the motivation for making a strategic change is related to an increasing likelihood of staying at my day job for the forseeable future.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Thinking for myself...
is not one of my strongest fortes.
On the subject of the current and future state of poker, I really don't know what to think. Being unknowledgable about the majority of the concrete facts related to the health of the poker industry, I am restricted to guessing about the medium term future of poker through ancedotal information and the opinions of others.
My descriptions of even just the current state of poker would be like the tale of the 6 blind men describing an elephant taken to an extreme. Additionally, the poker world is a gradual but ever changing beast.
Mike May's latest blog about the state of the poker industry sounds reasonable and is something I would like to believe.
As usual, I just can't think for myself.
On the subject of the current and future state of poker, I really don't know what to think. Being unknowledgable about the majority of the concrete facts related to the health of the poker industry, I am restricted to guessing about the medium term future of poker through ancedotal information and the opinions of others.
My descriptions of even just the current state of poker would be like the tale of the 6 blind men describing an elephant taken to an extreme. Additionally, the poker world is a gradual but ever changing beast.
Mike May's latest blog about the state of the poker industry sounds reasonable and is something I would like to believe.
As usual, I just can't think for myself.
Monday, April 03, 2006
March recap
During March, my primary online game transitioned to $10/$20 LHE 6max, and my primary live game became $40/$80 LHE full. The most noticible impact of these changes was that the number of sessions with a swing in excess of $1k was almost three times higher than any month to date. My desensitization process for swings of this magnitude is still underway and it may take a couple more months to get past this.
I am very happy with my progress in the $10/$20 6max game over the last 2 weeks. I am getting very comfortable with 3 tabling, and can manage 4 if I am well rested. The two most significant areas of improvement have been:
1) decreased tendency to tilt
2) speed of recognition that I am tilting, and immediately decreasing the number of tables played (in some cases to 0) until my mental state has recovered
#2 is undoubtably the most important "good" habit I have picked up this year.
Other less important improvements have come from:
3) improved preflop hand selection based on position and opponent types
4) slightly improved discipline in game selection (my buddy list at Party is getting very very long...)
With my new "skills" at $10/$20 6max, I have only a small amount of data (less than 5k hands). My hope is that my winrate is above +2BB/100h when 3 tabling and ~+2BB/100h when 4 tabling. Time will tell.
The other significant area that kicked off in March was the 2006 WSOP qualifiers. To date, my net investments in WSOP ME supers is ~$600 (when taking into account booby prizes when reaching the money but not getting a seat). I final tabled 3 times without winning a seat. Those 3 final tables awarded a combined total of 13 ME seats! Just sickening, but I take it as a sign that my chances are decent for winning an ME seat.
I was able to luckbox my way into a $50,000 HORSE seat in a Party freeroll earlier in the month. Assuming I can obtain a ME seat, I am considering taking 3 weeks off from my day job, and entering up to 10 events.
10 events sounds like a lot, but it includes all those el-cheapo $1k and $1.5k events after the ME starts. Basically, I would need to get knocked out of each event quickly enough to enter the following day's event.
In the end, I'll probably end up playing in only 1 event, but it is nice to dream.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(addendum)
One tool that I have found very helpful in doing efficient postgame analysis, is the autoreplay of hands in Poker Tracker. I usually set the playback speed fairly high, and interrupt and rewind for any interesting hands.
In regards to 10/20 6max statistics, my Fold BB to Steal is a tad high. ~65%. I'll need to do more research on blind defense to get that down a few points. That will basically work out to defending my BB about 2-3 additional times per hour when 3 tabling, so it shouldn't be a significant adjustment.
I am very happy with my progress in the $10/$20 6max game over the last 2 weeks. I am getting very comfortable with 3 tabling, and can manage 4 if I am well rested. The two most significant areas of improvement have been:
1) decreased tendency to tilt
2) speed of recognition that I am tilting, and immediately decreasing the number of tables played (in some cases to 0) until my mental state has recovered
#2 is undoubtably the most important "good" habit I have picked up this year.
Other less important improvements have come from:
3) improved preflop hand selection based on position and opponent types
4) slightly improved discipline in game selection (my buddy list at Party is getting very very long...)
With my new "skills" at $10/$20 6max, I have only a small amount of data (less than 5k hands). My hope is that my winrate is above +2BB/100h when 3 tabling and ~+2BB/100h when 4 tabling. Time will tell.
The other significant area that kicked off in March was the 2006 WSOP qualifiers. To date, my net investments in WSOP ME supers is ~$600 (when taking into account booby prizes when reaching the money but not getting a seat). I final tabled 3 times without winning a seat. Those 3 final tables awarded a combined total of 13 ME seats! Just sickening, but I take it as a sign that my chances are decent for winning an ME seat.
I was able to luckbox my way into a $50,000 HORSE seat in a Party freeroll earlier in the month. Assuming I can obtain a ME seat, I am considering taking 3 weeks off from my day job, and entering up to 10 events.
10 events sounds like a lot, but it includes all those el-cheapo $1k and $1.5k events after the ME starts. Basically, I would need to get knocked out of each event quickly enough to enter the following day's event.
In the end, I'll probably end up playing in only 1 event, but it is nice to dream.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(addendum)
One tool that I have found very helpful in doing efficient postgame analysis, is the autoreplay of hands in Poker Tracker. I usually set the playback speed fairly high, and interrupt and rewind for any interesting hands.
In regards to 10/20 6max statistics, my Fold BB to Steal is a tad high. ~65%. I'll need to do more research on blind defense to get that down a few points. That will basically work out to defending my BB about 2-3 additional times per hour when 3 tabling, so it shouldn't be a significant adjustment.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Virgin Stud
I played my absolutely first session of live 7 Card Stud (Hi) today. The only game running was a $4/$8 limit game with $1 ante and $1 bring in.
Probably no one will be interested to read this hand, but I'm posting it for myself so that I can come back and read my thoughts after gaining more experience. As this is a new game for me, I expect that there will be a large percentage of hands that will require postgame analysis. However, I don't even know how to write a hand history for Stud!
This hand occured fairly early in the session, and I had yet to see 4th street. In the meantime I had been asking the dealer quite a number of Stud rules questions. 3s has already busted twice and each time had done a short buy of $40. I had a very large stack of chips that I had brought over from an Omaha8 game and not bothered to cash out. 7s has a large number of stacks in front of him and seems like a decent player. 5s also seemed like a decent player.
hand #1
8 handed 7CS (Hi only), Hero is in the 8s.
- 3rd st:
1s: XX-2h
2s: XX-Th
3s: XX-Qc
4s: XX-Jh
5s: XX-Kd
6s: XX-Jd
7s: XX-3h
Hero is dealt 4s6s-2d, and brings it in for $1, muck, muck, 3s completes, call, call, muck, call, Hero calls (5 players, 7 small bets)
- 4th st:
3s: XX-Qc7h
4s: XX-Jh2c
5s: XX-Kd9c
7s: XX-3h5d
Hero: 4s6s-2d5s, and it is checked around (5 players, 7 small bets)
- 5th st:
3s: XX-Qc4hTd
4s: XX-Jh2cTc
5s: XX-Kd9c?
7s: XX-3h5d5c
Hero: 4s6s-2d5s7c
7s bets, (3s starts to call), Hero raises, all fold. (final pot 6.5 big bets)
After I raised, 3s went in the tank and eventually commented that I was raising with 257 offsuit? I replied that I have no idea what I'm doing and my plan was to get everyone to fold. After thinking another 30 seconds, 3s mucked and everyone else turbo mucked behind him.
I have no idea how bad or how good my 5th street play is, but my understanding is that aggression is important in limit poker.
- At the time, my goal was to win the hand without a showdown. If I get headsup with 7s, I will bet all the way unless 7s visibly improves on 6th st (and I do not). I will have position on 7s the vast majority of the time for the remainder of the hand.
- What is the value of my hand here? My 3 flush is completely live (but it is 5th st already), only 1 of my OESD cards is out. A 6 or 7 might improve me to best hand.
- What hands could my opponents think I am representing? I assume I am representing 2 pair or a set.
- The pot size seems to be right at that marginal size that it is big enough to semibluff, and yet not so big that I'd get too many callers
- What should I do if 7s (re)raises me on 5th or 6th street?
--- On a 5th street 3 bet, I would 4 bet and take a free card unimproved on 6th street. If 7s bet out on 6th street, I would muck.
--- If 7s called on 5th street and CR'd 6th street, I would muck.
Probably no one will be interested to read this hand, but I'm posting it for myself so that I can come back and read my thoughts after gaining more experience. As this is a new game for me, I expect that there will be a large percentage of hands that will require postgame analysis. However, I don't even know how to write a hand history for Stud!
This hand occured fairly early in the session, and I had yet to see 4th street. In the meantime I had been asking the dealer quite a number of Stud rules questions. 3s has already busted twice and each time had done a short buy of $40. I had a very large stack of chips that I had brought over from an Omaha8 game and not bothered to cash out. 7s has a large number of stacks in front of him and seems like a decent player. 5s also seemed like a decent player.
hand #1
8 handed 7CS (Hi only), Hero is in the 8s.
- 3rd st:
1s: XX-2h
2s: XX-Th
3s: XX-Qc
4s: XX-Jh
5s: XX-Kd
6s: XX-Jd
7s: XX-3h
Hero is dealt 4s6s-2d, and brings it in for $1, muck, muck, 3s completes, call, call, muck, call, Hero calls (5 players, 7 small bets)
- 4th st:
3s: XX-Qc7h
4s: XX-Jh2c
5s: XX-Kd9c
7s: XX-3h5d
Hero: 4s6s-2d5s, and it is checked around (5 players, 7 small bets)
- 5th st:
3s: XX-Qc4hTd
4s: XX-Jh2cTc
5s: XX-Kd9c?
7s: XX-3h5d5c
Hero: 4s6s-2d5s7c
7s bets, (3s starts to call), Hero raises, all fold. (final pot 6.5 big bets)
After I raised, 3s went in the tank and eventually commented that I was raising with 257 offsuit? I replied that I have no idea what I'm doing and my plan was to get everyone to fold. After thinking another 30 seconds, 3s mucked and everyone else turbo mucked behind him.
I have no idea how bad or how good my 5th street play is, but my understanding is that aggression is important in limit poker.
- At the time, my goal was to win the hand without a showdown. If I get headsup with 7s, I will bet all the way unless 7s visibly improves on 6th st (and I do not). I will have position on 7s the vast majority of the time for the remainder of the hand.
- What is the value of my hand here? My 3 flush is completely live (but it is 5th st already), only 1 of my OESD cards is out. A 6 or 7 might improve me to best hand.
- What hands could my opponents think I am representing? I assume I am representing 2 pair or a set.
- The pot size seems to be right at that marginal size that it is big enough to semibluff, and yet not so big that I'd get too many callers
- What should I do if 7s (re)raises me on 5th or 6th street?
--- On a 5th street 3 bet, I would 4 bet and take a free card unimproved on 6th street. If 7s bet out on 6th street, I would muck.
--- If 7s called on 5th street and CR'd 6th street, I would muck.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Keep It Simple Stupid
I started writing a summary of my poker happenings for the last week, but it just came out as a long drawn out version of a "results" post that appears on so many other blogs. Instead a summary:
online MTTs and Supers: I feel the need to puke
online ring games: I play goot
bonus whoring: meh
live play: nada
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Completed my Party VIP bonus this week with ~plenty~ of time to spare. There is a whole 9 hours before the next (and finally last!!) week of the current promo, so this means I have some time to actually play some live Hold'em. Who knows, there might even be some interesting hands played. One can only hope. $40/$80 here I come!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(addendum)
Back from the live session. Playing 10 handed full ring is like watching paint dry. However, there was one fun hand.
I raised UTG with 2 black kings, and it is capped coming back to me. Flop comes KKQ rainbow. The dealer wasn't helpful enough to put an A or J or another Q out there, but it was still a nice pot anyways. When you are running goot you wish you were playing in bigger games...
online MTTs and Supers: I feel the need to puke
online ring games: I play goot
bonus whoring: meh
live play: nada
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Completed my Party VIP bonus this week with ~plenty~ of time to spare. There is a whole 9 hours before the next (and finally last!!) week of the current promo, so this means I have some time to actually play some live Hold'em. Who knows, there might even be some interesting hands played. One can only hope. $40/$80 here I come!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(addendum)
Back from the live session. Playing 10 handed full ring is like watching paint dry. However, there was one fun hand.
I raised UTG with 2 black kings, and it is capped coming back to me. Flop comes KKQ rainbow. The dealer wasn't helpful enough to put an A or J or another Q out there, but it was still a nice pot anyways. When you are running goot you wish you were playing in bigger games...
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Busy
Been really busy the last few days due to the day job, so no time to post. There were a couple of comments on my last post that I didn't have a chance to respond to. Sorry!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I managed to make a decent comeback from my downswing of late last week, although I am still substantially stuck for ring games this month.
On a new note, I am starting to learn how to play Stud 8. It is really quite interesting learning how to play a new game, and I am starting at the lowest limits - $0.50/$1.00 (reading Ray Zee's Hi Lo split poker book during hands that I muck) and will try to work my way up.
When I play limit hold'em, I might finish a session up or down a couple of thousand $, and all I can think about is 2 or 3 BB that I left on the table. My mentality is substantially different when playing a new game. I was tickled pink with my first +$30 session. God know how many mistakes I made, but 30BB wow! It has been a long time since I had that kind of thrill.
Stud 8 is quite a swingy game, and it is just so much fun jamming on 6th and 7th streets when you've got a lock on one side and quite possibly the best hand for the other side.
On the other hand, the rate of hands dealt for Stud 8 is dreadfully slow. At some points, I am thinking this has to be the slowest table on the site; yet when I go to the lobby and check the hands/hr, the table turns out to be the fastest one.....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I managed to make a decent comeback from my downswing of late last week, although I am still substantially stuck for ring games this month.
On a new note, I am starting to learn how to play Stud 8. It is really quite interesting learning how to play a new game, and I am starting at the lowest limits - $0.50/$1.00 (reading Ray Zee's Hi Lo split poker book during hands that I muck) and will try to work my way up.
When I play limit hold'em, I might finish a session up or down a couple of thousand $, and all I can think about is 2 or 3 BB that I left on the table. My mentality is substantially different when playing a new game. I was tickled pink with my first +$30 session. God know how many mistakes I made, but 30BB wow! It has been a long time since I had that kind of thrill.
Stud 8 is quite a swingy game, and it is just so much fun jamming on 6th and 7th streets when you've got a lock on one side and quite possibly the best hand for the other side.
On the other hand, the rate of hands dealt for Stud 8 is dreadfully slow. At some points, I am thinking this has to be the slowest table on the site; yet when I go to the lobby and check the hands/hr, the table turns out to be the fastest one.....
Saturday, March 18, 2006
An interlude for results-oriented thinking...
I'm on day 3 of a notable multi-day downstreak. The mix of play has primarily consisted of $10/$20 online LHE 6max and $40/$80 live LHE full. There was also been some BP5/BP10 online LHE 6max and $20/$40 live LHE full thrown in there . The hit is in excess of -225BB.
This is the only time I am going to allow myself to dwell on results. After I click on the "Publish" button, those thoughts will leave my mind.
I'm even....right now.....
This is the only time I am going to allow myself to dwell on results. After I click on the "Publish" button, those thoughts will leave my mind.
I'm even....right now.....
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Off to the races
Earlier today, I started on a more introspective post but never got around to finishing it.
Anyway, I got a couple of good night's sleep in a row, so tonight I'm off to the local poker room to play some $40/$80 LHE. Hope the donks are out tonight. If not, I'll drop into a surely good $20/$40 game.
Anyway, I got a couple of good night's sleep in a row, so tonight I'm off to the local poker room to play some $40/$80 LHE. Hope the donks are out tonight. If not, I'll drop into a surely good $20/$40 game.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Great WSOP stories...
I'm going to start off a post that will contain links to my favorite stories from the WSOP (any year). I'll update it from time to time whenever I come across a worthy one.
Here is the first one:
1. hand for hand
Here is the first one:
1. hand for hand
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