We are gearing up for a family vacation. With that plus work, plus birthday celebrations, plus family in town, I haven’t been able to focus much on my game. When I have found time to play, I’ve been tired and fairly unfocused.
Last night I was able to play for a while. It was a session of really cold cards, coupled with my inability to focus very well on my opponents play. So, I found myself just trying to avoid trouble, steal a pot here and there, and float along to keep even. Yuck. Then, on a couple of hands I got nut flush draws on the flop and found myself pushing and gambling.
It’s the type of play that I hope to see my opponents make, so I know that I was making bad plays. Or at least sub-optimal plays, since at least one of my opponents should have folded rather than calling with a relatively weak hand. As I was doing it, I was conscious of the fact that I was making gambling plays, but I couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t hit, so I was suddenly down two buy-ins. I hate playing for an extended period of time, floating along, and then dropping like a stone at the end.
So, I opened one more table to regain some losses, and I redoubled my effort to focus. Usually, a session like this ends with losses compounded on losses. Fortunately, in one big pot, I hit a lucky set on the river with jacks to come from behind and stack one opponent. It made up for a good chunk of the losses for the evening, and this makes up for some of the beats I’ve been through in the past. I’ll just count it as luck evening out. But, when you win though a bad beat, it’s a reminder that you’re making bad decisions and getting your money with the worst of it.
So, with the WSOP approaching, I’m a bit down about where things stand for me in poker, at this point. After my WSOP experience last year, my goal was to improve my game and return to the WSOP again this year. I had planned to play in the same $2000NL event as last year, or possibly a bigger game. I thought that there might be an outside chance that I could build up my bankroll enough to play in the Main Event this year, but I simply haven’t focused enough to work up to that level. I’ve also gone through a super-LAG learning period that took a bite out of my bankroll this winter. At least I’ve tried out several different styles and I have a better sense of what kind of play works the best for me.
But, our weekends are filled with activities through July and August. Its very unlikely that I will be able to make it to Vegas in July during the WSOP. And, even if I were able to make it there, it would be a significant bite in my bankroll to play in a WSOP event. I could swing it, but I would have to devote about 1/5 or 1/4 of my bankroll to one tournament.
I think I would be just as satisfied with playing a few $500 or $1000 events in Vegas, rather than one bigger WSOP event. A couple of noon Wynn tournaments, a Bellagio evening tournament, and a Caesars evening tournament, combined with cash game play would suit me fine. The poker energy in Vegas during the WSOP is electric, no matter where you play.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Do you trust your read?
Live game Friday night, NL with $2/5 blinds. I’m in seat 1, on the button with QJo. Seat 7 is a 25-year old chatty player. Tight and seemed decent. He raised to $20. Two callers, I call, and button calls.
Flop is J-7-3, rainbow. He checks, others check to me, and I bet $60. BB folds, Seat 7 calls fairly quickly, and the others fold. Now we’re heads up.
My read is that he has AJ, AQ or AK, maybe AT. Why? It was mostly instinct – I just sort of felt it. Thinking back to the hand, I guess the reason was his check on the flop, and quick call thinking that I was making a play on the button since everyone checked, hoping to take the pot from me later. I was leaning against AJ, because he likely would have bet that flop in a multi-way pot with a junky flop.
Turn was a [J-7-3]-4. He checked, and I checked behind. This was my first mistake.
River is [J-7-3-4]-K. He bets $150 into a ~$220 pot. I sat back and studied him for a good long while. This was the first time in a long time (since I’ve been playing mostly on-line), that I’ve “stared someone down.” I just relaxed and watched, trying to get a read.
At this point, I was 50/50 on whether he had AQ or AK. This would require a call, since I was getting more than 2 to 1 from the pot of $370. Based on his past play, it could be either AQ or AK, and if he had AQ I thought that he was betting with the thought that he would push me off a jack, or I simply had a draw on the flop with something like T9. His bet was larger that what I would think he would value-bet on the river if he had AK.
I loaded up $150 for the call, set it in front of me, and watched some more for a reaction. He seemed really nervous, and now he was bouncing in his seat and fidgeting with chips. He normally shuffled and fiddled, but this was clearly nervous fiddling. I read this as weakness, and that he didn’t want a call. So I was leaning toward call, maybe 55/45, still very close. Now the turning point for my decision became calling just to see if my read was correct.
So I called. He had AK.
Reflecting on the hand and his reaction, I think he just got really nervous being watched so intently for so long. I didn’t think of that at the time.
While he was stacking his chips, he looked at me and said "Sorry." He meant it -- he was a nice guy. I think there was a bit of guilt in hitting on the river, and that contributed to the nervousness.
I should have raised the river, or just pushed -- I'm almost positive he would have folded, since we both had over $1000 behind. Damn.
Flop is J-7-3, rainbow. He checks, others check to me, and I bet $60. BB folds, Seat 7 calls fairly quickly, and the others fold. Now we’re heads up.
My read is that he has AJ, AQ or AK, maybe AT. Why? It was mostly instinct – I just sort of felt it. Thinking back to the hand, I guess the reason was his check on the flop, and quick call thinking that I was making a play on the button since everyone checked, hoping to take the pot from me later. I was leaning against AJ, because he likely would have bet that flop in a multi-way pot with a junky flop.
Turn was a [J-7-3]-4. He checked, and I checked behind. This was my first mistake.
River is [J-7-3-4]-K. He bets $150 into a ~$220 pot. I sat back and studied him for a good long while. This was the first time in a long time (since I’ve been playing mostly on-line), that I’ve “stared someone down.” I just relaxed and watched, trying to get a read.
At this point, I was 50/50 on whether he had AQ or AK. This would require a call, since I was getting more than 2 to 1 from the pot of $370. Based on his past play, it could be either AQ or AK, and if he had AQ I thought that he was betting with the thought that he would push me off a jack, or I simply had a draw on the flop with something like T9. His bet was larger that what I would think he would value-bet on the river if he had AK.
I loaded up $150 for the call, set it in front of me, and watched some more for a reaction. He seemed really nervous, and now he was bouncing in his seat and fidgeting with chips. He normally shuffled and fiddled, but this was clearly nervous fiddling. I read this as weakness, and that he didn’t want a call. So I was leaning toward call, maybe 55/45, still very close. Now the turning point for my decision became calling just to see if my read was correct.
So I called. He had AK.
Reflecting on the hand and his reaction, I think he just got really nervous being watched so intently for so long. I didn’t think of that at the time.
While he was stacking his chips, he looked at me and said "Sorry." He meant it -- he was a nice guy. I think there was a bit of guilt in hitting on the river, and that contributed to the nervousness.
I should have raised the river, or just pushed -- I'm almost positive he would have folded, since we both had over $1000 behind. Damn.
Super Secret Blog
So far, I'm the only one reading this blog. I know this because I haven't told anyone about it yet.
Is that strange? Sort of. I wonder who will read this, or if I will even tell anyone about it. I've presumed that this could be found through some type of search, but I don't really know.
Isn't the point of writing a blog to have the masses read and participate? I guess so, but that doesn't seem to the reason that I am writing this.
Maybe some day I'll win the WSOP main event, and then this will be the cool thing to read.
Yeah, right.
Is that strange? Sort of. I wonder who will read this, or if I will even tell anyone about it. I've presumed that this could be found through some type of search, but I don't really know.
Isn't the point of writing a blog to have the masses read and participate? I guess so, but that doesn't seem to the reason that I am writing this.
Maybe some day I'll win the WSOP main event, and then this will be the cool thing to read.
Yeah, right.
Volatility and the Challenge
I played live poker last night, which I don’t get to do nearly often enough. I played just OK. I played well on about 90% of the hands that I played (didn’t fold PF). Playing 10% of your hands badly can be costly errors in NLHE. I misplayed 3 critical hands for a loss of about $225, and I got very unlucky on one hand for about $300, which accounts for the total loss of $525 on the night. The remainder of my hands were a mix of good plays and OK plays, for break even poker.
Tonight, after I had a very long 45-minute reading session with the kids (a whole Berenstein Bears chapter book in one sitting!), I decided to sit for some 6-handed $3/6 NL. After about 10 minutes, I drop a buy-in when I flop a set, we get all the chips in the middle and opponent hits a gutshot straight draw on the river. (All-in on a gut-shot draw – what the hell are these people thinking?!)
So I sit at another table, and after about 5 minutes I’ve cleaned two players out and I’m sitting on about $1400, just like that, more than making up for the initial buy-in that I dropped. Huge swings, and I was only looking to sit for a while and play some easy poker. You’ve got to bring it each and every time. No-limit can produce giant pots in a heartbeat, and when the cards hit you can’t hesitate to put your whole stack at risk. Do not play unless you’re willing to take these risks and can live with the consequences without tilting.
I closed the table where I was the big stack to lock in the profits and get away from two very tricky players, and as I type this I’m up about $130 on another table so I’m going to pack it in for the evening.
Last night, I sat next to a guy who was very chatty. We got to talking about poker in general. At one point, he said “I just love this game. The money is nice if you win, but that’s not why I play. I just enjoy playing. I love the challenge and strategy and competition.”
From time to time, I’ve wondered why I like playing so much. This pretty much sums it up.
Tonight, after I had a very long 45-minute reading session with the kids (a whole Berenstein Bears chapter book in one sitting!), I decided to sit for some 6-handed $3/6 NL. After about 10 minutes, I drop a buy-in when I flop a set, we get all the chips in the middle and opponent hits a gutshot straight draw on the river. (All-in on a gut-shot draw – what the hell are these people thinking?!)
So I sit at another table, and after about 5 minutes I’ve cleaned two players out and I’m sitting on about $1400, just like that, more than making up for the initial buy-in that I dropped. Huge swings, and I was only looking to sit for a while and play some easy poker. You’ve got to bring it each and every time. No-limit can produce giant pots in a heartbeat, and when the cards hit you can’t hesitate to put your whole stack at risk. Do not play unless you’re willing to take these risks and can live with the consequences without tilting.
I closed the table where I was the big stack to lock in the profits and get away from two very tricky players, and as I type this I’m up about $130 on another table so I’m going to pack it in for the evening.
Last night, I sat next to a guy who was very chatty. We got to talking about poker in general. At one point, he said “I just love this game. The money is nice if you win, but that’s not why I play. I just enjoy playing. I love the challenge and strategy and competition.”
From time to time, I’ve wondered why I like playing so much. This pretty much sums it up.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Super Screaming Monkey Tilt
I won’t say that I’m un-tiltable, but its close. The cards are random, bad beats happen, I sometimes make bad decisions, I sometimes get outplayed, and in the end I seem come out ahead. Poker is just a game, and I’m generally winning. Keep it fun.
Well, I’ve been seriously tested in the last week.
In my last several sessions, I’ve suffered the most horrendous stretch of bad beats. I won’t whine much, so indulge me. Aces cracked by kings, jacks, tens, and jacks again, all for large pots. Sets outdrawn by improbable runner-runner flushes. Two- and five-outers hitting on the river for the suckout. Each of these qualified as true bad beats, because my betting on prior streets gave my opponents improper odds to call. So, I was making the correct moves, and getting outdrawn. Repeatedly.
I wasn’t exactly tilting, but its enough to get any player peeved. When this happens, no matter how strong your resolve, you start expecting it. I found myself actually squinting and wincing in anticipatory pain when I’m heads up all-in, and the cards are being dealt out. I’m ahead with an overpair, opponent has one lower pair, and I’m just expecting him to hit a set or two pair. Then, BANG, it happens, and I can stop wincing because the pain has actually arrived.
Reload.
Last night, it all built to a fabulous crescendo. The family was gone for the evening, so I thought I’d settle in for a very rare early on-line session after work. Normally, I only play after the kids are in bed.
Earlier in the day, the phone company dug a trench in my front yard to replace important underground stuff. These are the twenty-something people who barely graduated from high school -- if they were that successful. One kid was wearing overalls and a farmer-style cap from which protruded a massive pile of hair. He looked like a country-bumpkin cartoon character, and he must have been damn hot from the hair alone.
Several days earlier, various colored dashed lines and flags appeared in my yard, marking underground cables, tubes, wires and dungeon corridors. Apparently operating a mini-bobcat with a backhoe is very tricky business. Despite glowing-bright orange, yellow, and red lines on the ground, and flags in case you can’t see the lines, they tore the cable line from the green box sitting on the corner of my lot. TV and internet connection was down for about 30 minutes when I got home, threatening to ruin an otherwise peaceful and entertaining evening.
I wandered outside to watch one guy dig, and another guy watching the guy dig. I had the urge to ask whether they try to avoid the colored marks, or instead they try to hit some of them on purpose, just to piss of the neighborhood. They were able to call upon all of their finely tuned skills and plug the wire back into the box before they left for the evening. Connection restored, evening saved.
I was playing in a Party MTT, a Party cash game, and a Stars SNG at the same time. Smooth sailing. Winning on the cash table, and for once I had no feeling of impending suckout doom. Five players left in the SNG, and I was above average and approaching the money in the MTT.
Suddenly the TV starts sputtering. I look outside, and there’s a guy from the cable company in the trench with a shovel, nosing around. I start to sporadically lose internet connection. No! Not now! I have connection -- don’t fuck with it! Its such a rare occasion that I get to play poker before 10pm, when I’m droopy-eye tired -- please don’t mess this up.
At that precise moment, there was an unbelievable harmonic convergence of good hands on all three tables. In the SNG, I had KK on the button, and I raised. SB, a smaller stack, pushed, and it was BB’s turn to act. In the MTT, the antes had just kicked in, there was a raise in EP, I had KK in the cutoff, and it was folding around to me. On the cash table, I had AKs on the button.
Then, before I could act on any of these hands, the dude in the trench cut off the connection.
I don’t normally react in situations like this, or curse at the top of my lungs. This was different. I was so pissed that I couldn’t see straight. I stomped outside and -- politely, I believe -- asked when connection would be restored.
“The phone guys damaged box.” Yeah, I knew that. “We’ll have ‘er up in about twenty minutes.”
When connection was restored, I was well below average on the MTT. Damn antes. In the SNG, my KK was folded and had lost a bunch to rapidly repeating blinds.. I still haven’t recovered from my fury, and I proceed to donk off my stack in the MTT, and bust out on the bubble in the SNG.
I closed the cash table and bailed out. Operation Peaceful Poker night was in ruins. There was no way that I would be able to play good poker any longer. So, I was way down for the week, and I was as pissed about poker as I can ever get. And, it wasn’t even the poker that got me in such a bad way. Cripes.
I went for a 2-mile jog, in the dark, to clear my head. While jogging, I made the decision that I’m tired of dinking and doinking around with low-stakes on-line poker when I play for higher stakes in live play. My on-line game was starting to feel like a drag at the lower stakes. Playing for relatively small stakes, and getting constantly punched by bad beats, was starting to just suck, and I felt like I was just wasting my time.
So, I made the decision to just put the whole on-line bankroll into action after the jog and either build up a decent bankroll quickly, back to its former status, or flame out in a blaze of glory. This goes against everything that I’ve learned and everything that I’ve taught myself in the last two years. I’ve always played well within my bankroll. I’ve segregated my live bankroll from my cash bankroll. So, while putting my entire on-line bankroll on the line is really only the equivalent of about two live buy-ins for me, its still risking the whole on-line amount. I take personal pride that I’m still building the original $200 deposit from two years ago, but things were sputtering back to start.
After I returned and showered, I sat down and scanned my options. I found a decent $3/6 6-seat NL table that looked about right. This was actually lower than I planned to play, but I gave it a shot.
To my surprise, I played very solid, and won over $400. It felt good. The tilt was completely gone. I was making good decisions, and avoiding trouble. The players in this game were clearly better, and more cautious, than the players in the $1/2 games. It was a bit tighter play, and I was able to get a solid read on each of my opponents and their styles. It may have been because my mind was clear, or because I was proceeding cautiously. I was totally focused on one table.
Whatever the reasons, it was a good end to what could have been an otherwise horrible poker night. I’m ready to continue at these stakes with the plan of building up a real on-line bankroll, so I can play at stakes that feels like it matters. I make better decisions and pay more attention at the higher stakes.
This could be a recipe for disaster, or it could be what my game needs right now. Everyone warns against jumping to higher stakes to make up for bad runs, including me. We’ll see what happens.
Epilogue: I’ve won over $1000 at the $3/6, 6-max tables. I think I’m onto something.
Well, I’ve been seriously tested in the last week.
In my last several sessions, I’ve suffered the most horrendous stretch of bad beats. I won’t whine much, so indulge me. Aces cracked by kings, jacks, tens, and jacks again, all for large pots. Sets outdrawn by improbable runner-runner flushes. Two- and five-outers hitting on the river for the suckout. Each of these qualified as true bad beats, because my betting on prior streets gave my opponents improper odds to call. So, I was making the correct moves, and getting outdrawn. Repeatedly.
I wasn’t exactly tilting, but its enough to get any player peeved. When this happens, no matter how strong your resolve, you start expecting it. I found myself actually squinting and wincing in anticipatory pain when I’m heads up all-in, and the cards are being dealt out. I’m ahead with an overpair, opponent has one lower pair, and I’m just expecting him to hit a set or two pair. Then, BANG, it happens, and I can stop wincing because the pain has actually arrived.
Reload.
Last night, it all built to a fabulous crescendo. The family was gone for the evening, so I thought I’d settle in for a very rare early on-line session after work. Normally, I only play after the kids are in bed.
Earlier in the day, the phone company dug a trench in my front yard to replace important underground stuff. These are the twenty-something people who barely graduated from high school -- if they were that successful. One kid was wearing overalls and a farmer-style cap from which protruded a massive pile of hair. He looked like a country-bumpkin cartoon character, and he must have been damn hot from the hair alone.
Several days earlier, various colored dashed lines and flags appeared in my yard, marking underground cables, tubes, wires and dungeon corridors. Apparently operating a mini-bobcat with a backhoe is very tricky business. Despite glowing-bright orange, yellow, and red lines on the ground, and flags in case you can’t see the lines, they tore the cable line from the green box sitting on the corner of my lot. TV and internet connection was down for about 30 minutes when I got home, threatening to ruin an otherwise peaceful and entertaining evening.
I wandered outside to watch one guy dig, and another guy watching the guy dig. I had the urge to ask whether they try to avoid the colored marks, or instead they try to hit some of them on purpose, just to piss of the neighborhood. They were able to call upon all of their finely tuned skills and plug the wire back into the box before they left for the evening. Connection restored, evening saved.
I was playing in a Party MTT, a Party cash game, and a Stars SNG at the same time. Smooth sailing. Winning on the cash table, and for once I had no feeling of impending suckout doom. Five players left in the SNG, and I was above average and approaching the money in the MTT.
Suddenly the TV starts sputtering. I look outside, and there’s a guy from the cable company in the trench with a shovel, nosing around. I start to sporadically lose internet connection. No! Not now! I have connection -- don’t fuck with it! Its such a rare occasion that I get to play poker before 10pm, when I’m droopy-eye tired -- please don’t mess this up.
At that precise moment, there was an unbelievable harmonic convergence of good hands on all three tables. In the SNG, I had KK on the button, and I raised. SB, a smaller stack, pushed, and it was BB’s turn to act. In the MTT, the antes had just kicked in, there was a raise in EP, I had KK in the cutoff, and it was folding around to me. On the cash table, I had AKs on the button.
Then, before I could act on any of these hands, the dude in the trench cut off the connection.
I don’t normally react in situations like this, or curse at the top of my lungs. This was different. I was so pissed that I couldn’t see straight. I stomped outside and -- politely, I believe -- asked when connection would be restored.
“The phone guys damaged box.” Yeah, I knew that. “We’ll have ‘er up in about twenty minutes.”
When connection was restored, I was well below average on the MTT. Damn antes. In the SNG, my KK was folded and had lost a bunch to rapidly repeating blinds.. I still haven’t recovered from my fury, and I proceed to donk off my stack in the MTT, and bust out on the bubble in the SNG.
I closed the cash table and bailed out. Operation Peaceful Poker night was in ruins. There was no way that I would be able to play good poker any longer. So, I was way down for the week, and I was as pissed about poker as I can ever get. And, it wasn’t even the poker that got me in such a bad way. Cripes.
I went for a 2-mile jog, in the dark, to clear my head. While jogging, I made the decision that I’m tired of dinking and doinking around with low-stakes on-line poker when I play for higher stakes in live play. My on-line game was starting to feel like a drag at the lower stakes. Playing for relatively small stakes, and getting constantly punched by bad beats, was starting to just suck, and I felt like I was just wasting my time.
So, I made the decision to just put the whole on-line bankroll into action after the jog and either build up a decent bankroll quickly, back to its former status, or flame out in a blaze of glory. This goes against everything that I’ve learned and everything that I’ve taught myself in the last two years. I’ve always played well within my bankroll. I’ve segregated my live bankroll from my cash bankroll. So, while putting my entire on-line bankroll on the line is really only the equivalent of about two live buy-ins for me, its still risking the whole on-line amount. I take personal pride that I’m still building the original $200 deposit from two years ago, but things were sputtering back to start.
After I returned and showered, I sat down and scanned my options. I found a decent $3/6 6-seat NL table that looked about right. This was actually lower than I planned to play, but I gave it a shot.
To my surprise, I played very solid, and won over $400. It felt good. The tilt was completely gone. I was making good decisions, and avoiding trouble. The players in this game were clearly better, and more cautious, than the players in the $1/2 games. It was a bit tighter play, and I was able to get a solid read on each of my opponents and their styles. It may have been because my mind was clear, or because I was proceeding cautiously. I was totally focused on one table.
Whatever the reasons, it was a good end to what could have been an otherwise horrible poker night. I’m ready to continue at these stakes with the plan of building up a real on-line bankroll, so I can play at stakes that feels like it matters. I make better decisions and pay more attention at the higher stakes.
This could be a recipe for disaster, or it could be what my game needs right now. Everyone warns against jumping to higher stakes to make up for bad runs, including me. We’ll see what happens.
Epilogue: I’ve won over $1000 at the $3/6, 6-max tables. I think I’m onto something.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Defending vs. KillPhil
I play in a regular Thursday night private tournament on PokerStars, with players from www.chiptalk.net. I am also reading the Kill Phil book, primarily to defend against the KillPhil strategy. I was put to the test last night.
Early in the game, I had AA cracked by QQ, and my stack was reduced to about 800. Weak-tight semi-regular player is sitting to my left. With blinds at 25/50, I am in the SB with 560 and get KQs. Solid player in MP opens with a raise to 200. Folded around to me in SB and I push. Weak-tight calls 510 more with a stack of 1522. Original raiser thinks for a long time and just calls. They check it down, and I hit trip queens and triple up to 1680. From the hand history, solid player had JJ, which is about what I put him on (99-JJ, maybe AQ), and Weak-tight player had 97s. Yikes – not Weak-tight, he’s just a Maniac tonight.
On the very next hand, LAG player in late position calls 50 with A4o. Maniac pushes in the BB with T8s, and hits trip tens for the double-up. I comment that someone has been reading the Kill Phil book, and Maniac feigns ignorance, but also makes a comment that leads me to believe he knows the strategy (which he is playing, but badly by calling too much). He also comments that he doesn’t care about the outcome of the game. (He went on to take 3rd, so I don’t buy that he doesn’t care.) He also comments that he would have called with 97s against JJ in the prior hand, which I believe.
On the next hand its folded to me in the CO. I raise to 155 with junk, and Weak-loose pushes on the Button. Blinds fold and I have to fold, also.
This, of course, is all set-up for the confrontation. On the very next hand, with blinds still at 25-50 and a stack of 1525, I get 66. I raise to 300. Maniac again pushes and has me covered. Its folded back around to me. 1370 to win a pot of 1600, giving me about 1.1 to 1 on the call.
Based on his history in this game, do I call? He’s called my short-stack all in with 97, and he’s pushed against a raise with T8. He’s showing that he is probably pushing with just about anything, so his range of possible hands is huge.
I called. He had QQ and I was bounced. Based on some PokerStove calculations, I was probably about 52/48 favorite based on his range of hands. Because these hands happened in quick succession, it was easier to make this call – he was showing all the signs of a raging maniac. If I has a slightly better hand, like 88, it would be a 58/42 advantage. Close decision.
It all worked out for the best, because I was able to focus on a few Party $1/2 NL tables and booked a $130 night – enough to cover the full quarter of entry fees in the private tournament.
Early in the game, I had AA cracked by QQ, and my stack was reduced to about 800. Weak-tight semi-regular player is sitting to my left. With blinds at 25/50, I am in the SB with 560 and get KQs. Solid player in MP opens with a raise to 200. Folded around to me in SB and I push. Weak-tight calls 510 more with a stack of 1522. Original raiser thinks for a long time and just calls. They check it down, and I hit trip queens and triple up to 1680. From the hand history, solid player had JJ, which is about what I put him on (99-JJ, maybe AQ), and Weak-tight player had 97s. Yikes – not Weak-tight, he’s just a Maniac tonight.
On the very next hand, LAG player in late position calls 50 with A4o. Maniac pushes in the BB with T8s, and hits trip tens for the double-up. I comment that someone has been reading the Kill Phil book, and Maniac feigns ignorance, but also makes a comment that leads me to believe he knows the strategy (which he is playing, but badly by calling too much). He also comments that he doesn’t care about the outcome of the game. (He went on to take 3rd, so I don’t buy that he doesn’t care.) He also comments that he would have called with 97s against JJ in the prior hand, which I believe.
On the next hand its folded to me in the CO. I raise to 155 with junk, and Weak-loose pushes on the Button. Blinds fold and I have to fold, also.
This, of course, is all set-up for the confrontation. On the very next hand, with blinds still at 25-50 and a stack of 1525, I get 66. I raise to 300. Maniac again pushes and has me covered. Its folded back around to me. 1370 to win a pot of 1600, giving me about 1.1 to 1 on the call.
Based on his history in this game, do I call? He’s called my short-stack all in with 97, and he’s pushed against a raise with T8. He’s showing that he is probably pushing with just about anything, so his range of possible hands is huge.
I called. He had QQ and I was bounced. Based on some PokerStove calculations, I was probably about 52/48 favorite based on his range of hands. Because these hands happened in quick succession, it was easier to make this call – he was showing all the signs of a raging maniac. If I has a slightly better hand, like 88, it would be a 58/42 advantage. Close decision.
It all worked out for the best, because I was able to focus on a few Party $1/2 NL tables and booked a $130 night – enough to cover the full quarter of entry fees in the private tournament.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
A good fold is hard to beat
PartyPoker $1/2 NL: +$111
More and more, I find myself judging the quality my play both by how much I’m winning, and how I make good laydowns. I hope that’s a good sign, but it feels odd to be happy about giving up a strong hand.
Yesterday I had this hand, which really pissed me off –
I’m BB with Jh6h, 5 limpers around to me, I check. Flop is 8h-9s-3h. I open for half the pot, MP and button call. Turn is [8h-9s-3h]-4h. I bet half the pot with my flush. MP mini-raises, and button calls. There’s three flushes out there that beat mine. One of these dudes must have at least the Kx flush, if not the Ax flush. I’m guessing that button has the best hand based on his flat calls. Even though I’m getting 7 to 1 on my money, I muck. MP and button play to showdown – button has a set, and MP reveals 2-pair.
Fuck. What made it extra aggravating is that I didn’t fold to a big bet, I folded to with fabulous pot odds.
So then there’s this hand today –
Seat 8: SpeakEasy_ ( $337.92 )
Seat 5: R-- ( $155.30 )
Seat 6: m-- ( $47.70 )
R-- posts small blind [$1].
m-- posts big blind [$2].
Dealt to SpeakEasy_ [ Ac Ts ]
SpeakEasy_ raises [$6].
R-- calls [$5].
m-- calls [$4].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, 4s, Ks ]
R-- checks.
m-- checks.
SpeakEasy_ checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Js ]
R-- bets [$27.72].
m-- is all-In [$41.70]
SpeakEasy_ folds.
R-- calls [$13.98].
** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]
R-- shows [ Qc, Qh ] a full house, Queens full of kings.
m-- doesn't show [ 2s, 6s ] a flush, king high.
R-- wins $98.40 from the main pot with a full house, Queens full of kings.
My read was that my straight was beat. I felt the flush, and the river boat was irrelevant to my decision. There was a time when I would never consider folding a straight.
More and more, I find myself judging the quality my play both by how much I’m winning, and how I make good laydowns. I hope that’s a good sign, but it feels odd to be happy about giving up a strong hand.
Yesterday I had this hand, which really pissed me off –
I’m BB with Jh6h, 5 limpers around to me, I check. Flop is 8h-9s-3h. I open for half the pot, MP and button call. Turn is [8h-9s-3h]-4h. I bet half the pot with my flush. MP mini-raises, and button calls. There’s three flushes out there that beat mine. One of these dudes must have at least the Kx flush, if not the Ax flush. I’m guessing that button has the best hand based on his flat calls. Even though I’m getting 7 to 1 on my money, I muck. MP and button play to showdown – button has a set, and MP reveals 2-pair.
Fuck. What made it extra aggravating is that I didn’t fold to a big bet, I folded to with fabulous pot odds.
So then there’s this hand today –
Seat 8: SpeakEasy_ ( $337.92 )
Seat 5: R-- ( $155.30 )
Seat 6: m-- ( $47.70 )
R-- posts small blind [$1].
m-- posts big blind [$2].
Dealt to SpeakEasy_ [ Ac Ts ]
SpeakEasy_ raises [$6].
R-- calls [$5].
m-- calls [$4].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, 4s, Ks ]
R-- checks.
m-- checks.
SpeakEasy_ checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Js ]
R-- bets [$27.72].
m-- is all-In [$41.70]
SpeakEasy_ folds.
R-- calls [$13.98].
** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]
R-- shows [ Qc, Qh ] a full house, Queens full of kings.
m-- doesn't show [ 2s, 6s ] a flush, king high.
R-- wins $98.40 from the main pot with a full house, Queens full of kings.
My read was that my straight was beat. I felt the flush, and the river boat was irrelevant to my decision. There was a time when I would never consider folding a straight.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Decent Tuesday
After a few sessions of bad beats, tight play, and minimizing my losses, I've finally had a decent night.
PartyPoker $1/2 NL: +$222
3 tables, 1 hour = 3 table-hours
One table started short-handed, and there were 3 players with "tex" in their names. Lots of raising, bluffing, macho stuff. Time to sit back, let the bullies have their play, wait for a big hand. Got the stack in with AA vs. QQ against one of the Tex players, and the aces held up. Patience pays off again.
I asked him if queens look like aces in Texas. He left the table.
PartyPoker $1/2 NL: +$222
3 tables, 1 hour = 3 table-hours
One table started short-handed, and there were 3 players with "tex" in their names. Lots of raising, bluffing, macho stuff. Time to sit back, let the bullies have their play, wait for a big hand. Got the stack in with AA vs. QQ against one of the Tex players, and the aces held up. Patience pays off again.
I asked him if queens look like aces in Texas. He left the table.
Poker Career So Far
When I graduated from law school in 1994, a started playing poker with a group of friends. We would play something like 8 to 10 times per year, rotating from house to house. We still have this home game going today, but we only play about 4 times per year, since nearly everyone in the group has 2.3 kids and careers. Most of us are attorneys. So I’ve been playing poker for about 12 years, but I freely admit that during the first 8 years or so I didn’t really know what I was doing.
During one of our home sessions in 2002, one of the guys proposes that we play “tournament style,” like they do for the World Series of Poker. We gave it a shot, but the blind structure was really messed up and it made for an awkward evening -- three guys sitting around for about 2 hours watching the rest of us play. That was my introduction to tournament poker.
Then the WPT aired. I caught the third show by accident. I was hooked, and became a regular viewer. I had played poker once in a casino prior to 2002, back in maybe 1998. I think it was Omaha (high). After the WPT ramped up and poker started taking off nation-wide, I was in the thick of it.
I started venturing to the local riverboat casino poker room about once every 4 to 6 weeks. At the time, my daughter was 3 and my son was just born, so a night away was a very rare event.
As the 2003 WSOP approached, I learned about on-line poker, and that players could win a seat in the Main Event through satellites. I made my first $200 deposit, strictly with the goal of winning a seat in the Main Event through a satellite. I lost that $200 in the wacky crazy rebuy sats. I made another $200 deposit and gave it another shot. No luck.
My wife and I scheduled a trip to Vegas for July 2003. I bought my first poker book -- Sklansky’s Hold ‘Em for Advanced Players. I read it and re-read it in preparation for my trip. Looking back, I probably understood about 30% of what I was reading, because you really need a lot of time at the tables to understand that book.
I discovered the 2+2 site. After reading many posts about bankroll management and other basic concepts, I decided to get organized about my new hobby. I made another $200 on-line deposit right before the July 2003 Vegas trip, and devoted $1000 of my own money as a live game bankroll. My general goal was to see how far I could take my $1000 live roll and my $200 on-line roll.
The Vegas trip was a success. Tight-aggressive play at the $5/10 and $15/30 tables. I was playing somewhat above my bankroll, but I played very tight and generally avoided trouble. At this point, I was not following the world poker seen, but I heard the results of the WSOP and the Moneymaker win on the day it happened.
I started playing with more focus on-line. I played strictly at night, after the kids went to bed. I would never allow poker to become a distraction from my family. I slowly built-up my bankroll. We went to Vegas again in 2004, and I played some poker, but not as much as I would have liked since it was a trip with my wife and I didn’t want to abandon her for significant periods of time.
I started keeping records on my live play. I continued to play at the local poker rooms about every 4 or 5 weeks, continuing to build the bankroll. In January 2005, I set the goal of winning enough to pay for a July 2005 Vegas trip, and entering one of the lower buy-in WSOP events.
In June 2005, I went to Vegas a few days before my wife flew out. I played in the $2000 NLHE WSOP event. I made it to about 235th place out of over 2000 players, and I got knocked out by Spider-Man. I also played in a Bellagio $500 tournament, and win $4845, my biggest cash to date. I also played some $5/10 NLHE cash games, and won a good amount.
At this point, my combined on-line and live bankroll together was over $10,000. I had increased my starting bankroll ten-fold in about 2 years.
I had been keeping records in an Excel spreadsheet, but our computer hard drive crashed in the fall of 2005, and I lost all of the data. Stupidly, I did not have an electronic back-up or even a paper copy. I tallied the accounts up, and started over with my records.
My total bankroll reached a peak of over $11,000 in August 2005. Then I withdraw money to pay for the July Vegas trip (I balked, but my wife held me to my commitment) and I also purchased a fantastic 1000 set of Paulson Pharaoh chips. This drained a total of about $2,800 from the bankroll. In August 2005 I withdrew about $300 for a flat-panel computer monitor. After these withdrawals, my total bankroll was around $8,500.
In August 2005, the “Family Poker Debacle” occurred. I have a separate post about this occurrence. Though an unfortunate series of events, my niece unintentionally evacuated my PokerStars account to the tune of over $1646.
Christmas Day 2005 was perfect. I had an absolutely wonderful day with my wife and kids from morning ‘till the kids bedtime, playing games and having a great time. That evening, I simultaneously cashed in a PokerStars and a FullTilt tournament for a combined $1900 win. Its hard enough to cash in any tournament, and cashing in both at almost the exact same was a big surprise. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I was very relaxed and was under no work-related stress during the holiday break.
So, by the end of 2005, I had fully recovered from the Family Poker Debacle, and the total bankroll was at about $7,500. In January 2006, I decided to take a dip into higher on-line stakes. After some bad beats, compounded by some bad plays, I got smacked back down to the lower limits.
I also started taking some hits in the live games. As I got more advanced with my play, I moved into an almost hyper- LAG stage of my poker development. This resulted in bigger swings, with some nights where I’d win $2000, followed by a few $800 losing sessions. Looking back a few months, I think I was just testing out some new techniques.
I was very aware that I was playing more loose and aggressive, but it was like a context with myself to test my live read on my opponents. I wasn’t really playing against my opponents, it was more like I was testing my own read of my opponents. In a hand, if my read was that my opponent had a mediocre hand, I would push the action in an effort to test my read and make him fold.
Unfortunately, as I learned, this style doesn’t work against weaker players. They aren’t skilled enough to see that you are sending the signal “I have a set,” and so they call with middle pair. My read was correct -- yea me -- but I still lose the pot.
So, backing off from the tricky stuff, I’ve decided to regroup on my game and get a plan of attack in May 2006. I’m back on the winning track, and I’m still playing on that original $1000 live and $200 online starting bankroll from 2003.
This blog will be an effort to set some goals and track my play.
June goal:
Build on-line bankroll to $3500
Longer term goals
Play in the Bellagio tournaments in October, if I can arrange it. Can’t make the WSOP this year (unless I win a seat on-line…)
During one of our home sessions in 2002, one of the guys proposes that we play “tournament style,” like they do for the World Series of Poker. We gave it a shot, but the blind structure was really messed up and it made for an awkward evening -- three guys sitting around for about 2 hours watching the rest of us play. That was my introduction to tournament poker.
Then the WPT aired. I caught the third show by accident. I was hooked, and became a regular viewer. I had played poker once in a casino prior to 2002, back in maybe 1998. I think it was Omaha (high). After the WPT ramped up and poker started taking off nation-wide, I was in the thick of it.
I started venturing to the local riverboat casino poker room about once every 4 to 6 weeks. At the time, my daughter was 3 and my son was just born, so a night away was a very rare event.
As the 2003 WSOP approached, I learned about on-line poker, and that players could win a seat in the Main Event through satellites. I made my first $200 deposit, strictly with the goal of winning a seat in the Main Event through a satellite. I lost that $200 in the wacky crazy rebuy sats. I made another $200 deposit and gave it another shot. No luck.
My wife and I scheduled a trip to Vegas for July 2003. I bought my first poker book -- Sklansky’s Hold ‘Em for Advanced Players. I read it and re-read it in preparation for my trip. Looking back, I probably understood about 30% of what I was reading, because you really need a lot of time at the tables to understand that book.
I discovered the 2+2 site. After reading many posts about bankroll management and other basic concepts, I decided to get organized about my new hobby. I made another $200 on-line deposit right before the July 2003 Vegas trip, and devoted $1000 of my own money as a live game bankroll. My general goal was to see how far I could take my $1000 live roll and my $200 on-line roll.
The Vegas trip was a success. Tight-aggressive play at the $5/10 and $15/30 tables. I was playing somewhat above my bankroll, but I played very tight and generally avoided trouble. At this point, I was not following the world poker seen, but I heard the results of the WSOP and the Moneymaker win on the day it happened.
I started playing with more focus on-line. I played strictly at night, after the kids went to bed. I would never allow poker to become a distraction from my family. I slowly built-up my bankroll. We went to Vegas again in 2004, and I played some poker, but not as much as I would have liked since it was a trip with my wife and I didn’t want to abandon her for significant periods of time.
I started keeping records on my live play. I continued to play at the local poker rooms about every 4 or 5 weeks, continuing to build the bankroll. In January 2005, I set the goal of winning enough to pay for a July 2005 Vegas trip, and entering one of the lower buy-in WSOP events.
In June 2005, I went to Vegas a few days before my wife flew out. I played in the $2000 NLHE WSOP event. I made it to about 235th place out of over 2000 players, and I got knocked out by Spider-Man. I also played in a Bellagio $500 tournament, and win $4845, my biggest cash to date. I also played some $5/10 NLHE cash games, and won a good amount.
At this point, my combined on-line and live bankroll together was over $10,000. I had increased my starting bankroll ten-fold in about 2 years.
I had been keeping records in an Excel spreadsheet, but our computer hard drive crashed in the fall of 2005, and I lost all of the data. Stupidly, I did not have an electronic back-up or even a paper copy. I tallied the accounts up, and started over with my records.
My total bankroll reached a peak of over $11,000 in August 2005. Then I withdraw money to pay for the July Vegas trip (I balked, but my wife held me to my commitment) and I also purchased a fantastic 1000 set of Paulson Pharaoh chips. This drained a total of about $2,800 from the bankroll. In August 2005 I withdrew about $300 for a flat-panel computer monitor. After these withdrawals, my total bankroll was around $8,500.
In August 2005, the “Family Poker Debacle” occurred. I have a separate post about this occurrence. Though an unfortunate series of events, my niece unintentionally evacuated my PokerStars account to the tune of over $1646.
Christmas Day 2005 was perfect. I had an absolutely wonderful day with my wife and kids from morning ‘till the kids bedtime, playing games and having a great time. That evening, I simultaneously cashed in a PokerStars and a FullTilt tournament for a combined $1900 win. Its hard enough to cash in any tournament, and cashing in both at almost the exact same was a big surprise. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I was very relaxed and was under no work-related stress during the holiday break.
So, by the end of 2005, I had fully recovered from the Family Poker Debacle, and the total bankroll was at about $7,500. In January 2006, I decided to take a dip into higher on-line stakes. After some bad beats, compounded by some bad plays, I got smacked back down to the lower limits.
I also started taking some hits in the live games. As I got more advanced with my play, I moved into an almost hyper- LAG stage of my poker development. This resulted in bigger swings, with some nights where I’d win $2000, followed by a few $800 losing sessions. Looking back a few months, I think I was just testing out some new techniques.
I was very aware that I was playing more loose and aggressive, but it was like a context with myself to test my live read on my opponents. I wasn’t really playing against my opponents, it was more like I was testing my own read of my opponents. In a hand, if my read was that my opponent had a mediocre hand, I would push the action in an effort to test my read and make him fold.
Unfortunately, as I learned, this style doesn’t work against weaker players. They aren’t skilled enough to see that you are sending the signal “I have a set,” and so they call with middle pair. My read was correct -- yea me -- but I still lose the pot.
So, backing off from the tricky stuff, I’ve decided to regroup on my game and get a plan of attack in May 2006. I’m back on the winning track, and I’m still playing on that original $1000 live and $200 online starting bankroll from 2003.
This blog will be an effort to set some goals and track my play.
June goal:
Build on-line bankroll to $3500
Longer term goals
Play in the Bellagio tournaments in October, if I can arrange it. Can’t make the WSOP this year (unless I win a seat on-line…)
Thursday, June 01, 2006
The June $100 Challenge
I started a challenge on ChipTalk in May. Isolate $100 in an on-line account, see how far you can take it during the month of May. I ran it up to $704 in 65.5 table-hours (usually playing 2 or more at a time).
By popular demand, we are repeating the challenge in June. My ridiculously over-aggressive plan for the month:
Bankroll - - - Stakes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Move up
$100 - - - - - 2 $.25/.5 tables - - - - - - - - - - - - -$300
$300 - - - - - 1 $.25/.5 table, 1 $.5/1 table - - - $400
$400 - - - - - 2 $.5/1 tables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -$600
$600 - - - - - 2 $1/2 tables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $1000
$1000 - - - - 1 $1/2 table, 1 $2/4 table - - - - - - -$1400
$1400 - - - - 2 $2/4 tables
As in May, I will start very tight, avoid going broke, wait for the double-up hands, and then loosen up to my normal game as I move up in stakes.
By popular demand, we are repeating the challenge in June. My ridiculously over-aggressive plan for the month:
Bankroll - - - Stakes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Move up
$100 - - - - - 2 $.25/.5 tables - - - - - - - - - - - - -$300
$300 - - - - - 1 $.25/.5 table, 1 $.5/1 table - - - $400
$400 - - - - - 2 $.5/1 tables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -$600
$600 - - - - - 2 $1/2 tables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $1000
$1000 - - - - 1 $1/2 table, 1 $2/4 table - - - - - - -$1400
$1400 - - - - 2 $2/4 tables
As in May, I will start very tight, avoid going broke, wait for the double-up hands, and then loosen up to my normal game as I move up in stakes.
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