I played in a live Ameristar $2/5 NL cash game last Friday, and came away with $1300 profit. My live game picked up where I left off in Vegas. I went into the session with the goal of continuing my focus and remaining patient, and it paid off. I started tight, then loosened up and pulled off some bluffs after I built up my tight image and a big stack.
I rarely overplayed a hand, and was very willing to release if I felt that I was beat. This is a significant adjustment for my cash game play. In the past, I think I would call down with inferior hands too much. Now, I keep reminding myself in tough situations that better opportunities will come along, and I save my chips for those moments.
I had a solid read on everyone at the table. I like live poker so much more than on-line, because of this main difference. There moments again where I knew exactly what my opponent was holding, or what another player held when I was not involved in a hand. Generally, it is much easier to read hands when you’re not involved and you can focus all of your attention on the read. When you’re involved in a hand, the distractions of running through calculations and the natural nervousness that comes with people watching you are distractions from reading your opponents hands.
With significant live practice, however, distractions during a hand are easier to block out. When I’m really relaxed and in the zone, there is no need to “block” anything out – instead I’m just 100% focused on the moment and reading what my opponent has, and I don’t have to run through any calculations or worry about people watching and waiting for my move. I’ve come to be very comfortable in these situations. I still see a lot of players get very nervous when the spotlight is on them during a hand, and you can see them tense up and lose the ability to focus on their decision.
Picking off the LAG
My patience paid off against one particular player. He sat down about an hour into the session, two to my left. So, I was horribly out of position against him. He was 20-something and seemed to be a walking advertisement for Nike, with a Nike hat, shirt and jacket. I named him Swoosh. He immediately started raising pre-flop nearly every hand, and made obvious continuation bets and bluffs on later streets. For a while, he got away with this and didn’t have to show down a hand.
His stack fluctuated wildly, and he eventually picked off some players for big pots with goofy hands. He’d hit two pair with K6, for example, that turned into a boat with another 6 on the river. Everyone had trouble putting him on hands and playing back at him. After about 2 hours, he’d built up a healthy stack, and my goal was to get it from him.
But, the opportunity never seemed to arise. He routinely called my PF raises when I had good hands, or he would make a big raise after I limped with several other limpers. I didn’t get frustrated, I just told myself to stay calm and wait for an opportunity. The hand started with all but two players limping to me in the SB. I called with 56o, a nearly useless hand except for straight potential. BB checked.
The flop was Q-3-4 rainbow. I decided to lead out for $25, specifically thinking that if I connected later I might win a decent pot against Qx. Swoosh called and everyone else folded, so I knew he had at least a Q. Would this be the hand that I’d get some of his chips?
The turn was (Q-3-4)-T, now with two spades. I bet $40, again with the specific thought that if I hit my hand would be completely disguised. Swoosh raised to $90. I put him on either two pair with QT or a draw with two spades or something like KJ or AJ. With a $50 call into a pot of about $215, my thought process remained the same – I’d either be folding on the river, or getting a lot more of his chips.
The river was a beautiful (Q-3-4-T)-7, no possible flush. My leads on the flop and turn actually paid off -- it seems like these are usually wasted bets, unless my opponent folds. There was virtually no way that he would guess my hand since I led out on the flop and the turn. It probably looked like I was betting something like KQ or QJ, possibly a flush draw on the turn. So, my only thought on the river was how much would he call?
I bet $80, which either looked like a blatant value bet or a weakfish bluff. He stared at me, and I decided that this was one situation where I should make direct eye contact and try to play some mind games. He was exactly the type of player that would read any confrontational non-verbal signals as a sign of weakness, forcing him to play back more aggressively. Strong means strong, but he would read it as strong means weak following classical tell literature.
He usually bet very quickly, but here he paused for a while during this staring contest. To my surprise, he raised $120.
Wow. This was completely unexpected. I double-checked – I do have the nuts, right? Yes. We continued our staring game while I tried to figure out how much more he would call. I raised another $150. My initial $80 river bet had grown to $350 total.
Swoosh had about $600 more behind, and I had him covered. He started fumbling around with chips, and it looked like he was trying to put together $150 in red and green. Then he just jammed all the chips together and pushed everything in.
I couldn’t call quickly enough and flip over my cards. Showing 56o for the nuts put the frighteners on everyone, and I was able to run the table after that because I could be holding any two cards. A player at the other end later said that Swoosh had Q4 -- what the hell does he beat after I put in the third bet on the river? He slow played himself to death.
The next day, I went and bought one of these with some of the winnings at Best Buy:
Internet Play
As good as my live play has been going, I am running exactly the opposite on-line. During my first session after the Vegas trip, I played several SNGs and was crippled or knocked out of five in a row when I got my all chips in as about a 75% favorite or better. The first two SNGs I lost with AQ vs A7 and AK vs AQ. No big deal.
But, this trend continued. I ended up running several hands on PokerStove just to make sure I wasn’t losing it and overestimating my edge. It was an amazingly horrific series of beats. The session ended when I was knocked out as a 92% favorite against a 4-outer on the river. Incredibly frustrating, but nothing that I can do in these situations. I just hate it when beats bunch up and make me feel like I’ve completely lost the ability to play poker. Could someone please make the bad beats spread out a bit more?
So, switch to on-line cash games. I am reminded that live play ruins my on-line play. I rely heavily on my reads in live games, so much of what I base my decisions on in live games is completely lost on-line. Its like I have to re-learn how to play on-line cash games after playing mostly live. Without live reads, I find myself lost at times when faced with a crucial but close decisions. On-line, I lean more toward calling rather than folding because the players are much more loose overall. Combine this with a beating in SNGs, and the picture starts to look bleak.
Live upswing = on-line downswing. Frustrating when I know that I won’t get to play live again for quite a while.
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