what a month! i had 1 losing session in 11 and was up almost 25 buyins. i credit a lot of that to being on the right side of variance (running pretty hot), but i can also say i played well.
often sessions come down to 4-5 big hands that make the difference. following a session, on-line players have the luxury of reviewing their hand histories including every detail about their opponents etc. while i don't have all the hard data sitting in front of me on a screen, i seem to have pretty good recall for my big hands in a session. writing them down here in this blog also helps me digest my play and whether i thought i played a hand correctly. its been a good learning experience so far. thanks for coming along on my adventures.....
so i played in a home game last night for about 5 hours and ended down 1/3 of a buyin. i was running pretty cold and didn't really get too many hands. maybe it's a good thing though as one of the players stacked off twice with KK vs. AA and AK into AA on a K high board. and that was at a 7 handed table. pretty much coolers. the host (damn you CG!) mopped up the field as has typically been the case. he made a nice laydown when i flopped the nuts with the ace high flush and he held top pair / top kicker.
so after busting up another player with a turned straight vs. 2 pair, the game broke and i decided to head up to oceans 11 for short session. i got there about 1am and knew that i would only be playing til 4am or so when my brother was getting into town. [they drove at night due to the oppressing heat of late and a broken a/c in the car].
about 10 minutes in, i doubled up when i flopped 2 pair with KQ vs. AA. he let me get there cheap too. i made a standard raise in middle position and he just called on the button. i flopped 2 pair and bet out and he raised. i three bet him and he tanked and then pushed all in. i couldn't shove my "All In" pumpkin quickly enough. he bricked out and i took a nice pot.
i had already put in for a table change as there was some juicy action on the table next to me. a very loose aggressive player had a huge stack and there was another donkariffic guy who i've played with before (i wrote about a hand in which he told me he folded a flopped straight vs. my set on an unpaired board cuz he thought i might have a full house! i did end up with a boat, but whatever...) anyway, the table was looooooose and bluffy. i didn't need to wait that long to get paid off.
i raised a couple of limpers on the button with pocket 5s. loosey goosey called me in the big blind. the flop was ace high and he checked to me. him calling a preflop raise meant absolutely nothing. he has even told me before that hand selection is one of his least important criteria. once he is in a pot, he will call raises with any two. anyway, so he checked to me on the flop and i bet. he called. now i'm done with the hand. he probably has a hand like A-10 or A-9, and i'm drawing pretty slim. i was going to fold to a turn bet, until the jakepot card hit: a 5! he led out pretty strong. i have seen him push his hands when he thinks he has the best of it and make some pretty thin value bets on the river. i thought about raising the turn, but i knew he would lead again on the river if i looked weak. i smooth called his turn bet. river Q. he fires out a big bet of more than half of my remaining stack. i thought there was a good chance he made two pair. i pushed and he insta-called me with AQ, top 2 pair.
soon after i called after several limpers with K-9 and flopped top 2 pair. a guy who i wasn't familiar with check-raised me on the flop. i might lose him if i re-raise, so i just called. he led strong on the turn and i just called. the river brought another brick and unless he had check-raised with a straight draw, i had him. he made a big bet on the river, which i just called (instead of raising without the nuts). i knew i had him beat, but i "called" him so he had to show down his hand first. he, of course, could muck it and save himself the embarrassment but he chose to show a bluff with 3rd pair. when someone 3 barrel bluffs, i want to see what they have when i call.
anyway, it was a great session (+2.5 buyins including the small loss in the home game) to wrap up the month. later on, i'll post what my final BB/hour winrate was for the month. looking forward to the next syndicate event on monday. it's time to start making some noise.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
another "wow" at the poker tables
i just remembered a story from the other night. it happened early on in my session. a guy who had recently sat down and bought in for only $100 (a full buy-in at 2/3 NL is $300), had played maybe 1 hand and hadn't gotten very involved yet.
there was a limper then an early position standard raise and he went all in over the top in late position. the total bet was $88, which was $73 more than the initial EP's raise. everyone folded back to the initial raiser. but apparently the late position all-in guy forgot the initial raiser was still in the hand and tabled his cards face up: pocket JJ. the raiser saw this and thought for a second, and said, "i'll give you action. i call." we expected to see AQ or AK. he tabled his hand face up as well and we couldn't believe what we saw. KJ offsuit.
merry christmas guy. the pocket Jacks held up for the biggest gift of $88 i have ever seen.
[well, the hand from bay 101 where a guy tried to 4 bet the flop with 1 pair of AA was a nice little bonus for me, but at least he had an overpair.]
there was a limper then an early position standard raise and he went all in over the top in late position. the total bet was $88, which was $73 more than the initial EP's raise. everyone folded back to the initial raiser. but apparently the late position all-in guy forgot the initial raiser was still in the hand and tabled his cards face up: pocket JJ. the raiser saw this and thought for a second, and said, "i'll give you action. i call." we expected to see AQ or AK. he tabled his hand face up as well and we couldn't believe what we saw. KJ offsuit.
merry christmas guy. the pocket Jacks held up for the biggest gift of $88 i have ever seen.
[well, the hand from bay 101 where a guy tried to 4 bet the flop with 1 pair of AA was a nice little bonus for me, but at least he had an overpair.]
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
made the cut
i got a total of about 5 seconds of air time on espn's broadcast of the main event last night! i was shown sitting next to robert varkonyi during the hand i anticipated them showing. pretty cool, as i don't think i've ever been on national television before. i was shown three different times in the episode including congratulating rob on doubling through chris ferguson.
near the end of the episode, they did a crowd scan and showed my table again. you could only see the back of my head, but my brother was clearly visible on the rail behind me. quite possibly his TV debut as well.
autographed photos now available. email me for a cost quote.
[hahaha!]
near the end of the episode, they did a crowd scan and showed my table again. you could only see the back of my head, but my brother was clearly visible on the rail behind me. quite possibly his TV debut as well.
autographed photos now available. email me for a cost quote.
[hahaha!]
it was a pretty good run
finally a losing session. well, not really too bad. down just 1/2 a buy in. i can't remember how many + sessions in a row that was -- somewhere near 10. got cold decked for a long stretch in the middle of the session. i flopped 2 pair a few times and bet it, only to fold to a big river bet when i knew i was beat. granted i made some good laydowns, but still it was frustrating to hit some nice hands and have to lay them down when my opponent out drew with 3, 4, and 8 outers. one guy in particular had my number all night. he continued to make calls when he was behind and outdraw. after a while i was hoping for his action just so i could possibly beat him in a hand. it took a while but finally, he flopped 2 pair when i flopped a set. we got it all in on the turn and he didn't hit his 4 outer.
about to head home about $20 up on the session after making a big comeback from down 2 buy ins, i asked the chip runner how long until she scanned the ID cards again (you can accumulate hours for casino benefits). she said, "2 minutes." on the very next hand, i called a small raise in the blinds with AsJs. the flop was J high, and with 5 players in the hand, i led out. i got raised from middle position and everyone else folded. nothing out there scared me and i thought the guy might be on QJ or KJ. i could have easily gotten away from 1 pair here, and out of position, i should have dumped it without a second thought. what did i do instead? i re-raised. he immediately shoved for $400 more. obviously i dumped it and he said he had bottom set of 4s. the timing (and quality) of my play was comical !! i had literally been racked up and ready to go, instead choosing to wait for one last scan. nice $260 choice that was.
about 5 minutes later i called a standard raise on the button with J-9. 3 of us saw the flop. i called a continuation bet from early position with an open end straight draw. i made the nuts on the turn with an 8-10-4-7 board. he lead out again. now i was pretty sure he was on an overpair or possibly top pair / top kicker. i thought if i smooth called, he would probably check/fold or check/call on the river, so i thought the best chance to get his chips in the middle was to raise the turn. he had only about the amount of the pot behind, so i raised enough to make him fully commit to the pot, but not all in. well, he tanked and then pushed all in. i insta-called. busting that guy caused the table to break, so i ended down just a bit on the session.
at least i learned a pretty valuable something -- i made possibly one of the worst raises i've ever made. oh, and another thing.....why am i calling raises with AJ in the blinds anyway?
about to head home about $20 up on the session after making a big comeback from down 2 buy ins, i asked the chip runner how long until she scanned the ID cards again (you can accumulate hours for casino benefits). she said, "2 minutes." on the very next hand, i called a small raise in the blinds with AsJs. the flop was J high, and with 5 players in the hand, i led out. i got raised from middle position and everyone else folded. nothing out there scared me and i thought the guy might be on QJ or KJ. i could have easily gotten away from 1 pair here, and out of position, i should have dumped it without a second thought. what did i do instead? i re-raised. he immediately shoved for $400 more. obviously i dumped it and he said he had bottom set of 4s. the timing (and quality) of my play was comical !! i had literally been racked up and ready to go, instead choosing to wait for one last scan. nice $260 choice that was.
about 5 minutes later i called a standard raise on the button with J-9. 3 of us saw the flop. i called a continuation bet from early position with an open end straight draw. i made the nuts on the turn with an 8-10-4-7 board. he lead out again. now i was pretty sure he was on an overpair or possibly top pair / top kicker. i thought if i smooth called, he would probably check/fold or check/call on the river, so i thought the best chance to get his chips in the middle was to raise the turn. he had only about the amount of the pot behind, so i raised enough to make him fully commit to the pot, but not all in. well, he tanked and then pushed all in. i insta-called. busting that guy caused the table to break, so i ended down just a bit on the session.
at least i learned a pretty valuable something -- i made possibly one of the worst raises i've ever made. oh, and another thing.....why am i calling raises with AJ in the blinds anyway?
Monday, August 27, 2007
it had to happen sooner or later
i didn't play at viejas, but i did sit in a live game at oceans 11 on saturday.
ran hot at the beginning of my session and was up $400 pretty quickly. normally i wouldn't overvalue 1 pair of 9s, but against this particular player who was in about 80% of the pots and raised / called raises almost every hand, i gambled with him a bit with 1 pair. i flopped top pair of 9s from the small blind and led out. he mini-raised and i re-raised, he pushed all in and i decided to call with 7-9. i put him on a flush draw and i was right. he had Kh8h for a flush draw with 1 over, so i was (slightly) favored. he bricked out and i took down a nice pot with 1 measly pair. i also turned the ace high flush vs. JJ and got paid off with his whole stack.
moved to a new table and quickly got hammered with my favorite hand, AQ. flopped an ace, and made a near pot size bet and was called in 1 spot. the turn was a pretty bad 5d, that put 3 diamonds on board and created a straight possibility. he check raised me all in, but with my Q high diamond draw and top pair, i couldn't get away for the price. i missed and he showed A-2 offsuit for the wheel. nice preflop and flop call. i should have shown more discipline and checked behind on the turn. wouldn't have had to play for stacks with 1 pair.
hung around not playing too many pots. it was a fun table with a decent amount of money on the table, so it was worth sticking it out for a bit. one player had been raising a lot, so i re-raised on the button with 66 to isolate. he called. flop was 3 diamonds including the 6d, so i felt pretty good about my hand. he checked and i bet 2/3 pot and he called. the turn paired the board with a 9. now i'm a lock. he check raised me and i pushed all in hoping for his call, which he did. the board is now : Ad9d6d-9h. unless he holds AA or 99, i'm a huge favorite. he flips over AsKd for top pair / top kicker and the nut flush draw. well, his flush was obviously dead vs. my boat and his top pair was only good if he could fill it up. 4 outs: Two Aces and two 9s.
the river, you ask? the 9 of spades. nice counterfit card. i would have rather lost to an Ace. just brutal. a big nasty bad beat was bound to happen sooner or later and i finally took it in the shorts on that hand. i've taken 2 outers on the river with an overpair many times, but when you have a full house and play it perfectly, it seems to hurt that much more.
i took a little breather, but still felt like i was playing well. after losing those two big pots, i was down for the evening. i persevered and made it back to + $50, which seemed pretty pathetic, but hey + is better than -. i felt like i made good decisions and that's the most i can ask for.
[EDIT:] oh yeah -- i was 12 hours into the session before i got AA. i made a standard raise from middle position and everyone folded. i won $5.
the 4 BB/hour i won brings me down to 23.5 BB/hour since Aug 1.
i got home, got a short nap in and heather and i headed to del mar racetrack for a day watching the races. a friend's girlfriend's family has some nice table service seats that were really cool. we could watch the races in comfort (including shade) and with drinks of choice. while they enjoyed frosty adult beverages, i stuck to red bull to stave off the sleep monster. we won our first bet and then lost all the rest, but it was a really nice afternoon with the horsies. also funny to see my normally cynical friend be so cutesy with his belle.
ran hot at the beginning of my session and was up $400 pretty quickly. normally i wouldn't overvalue 1 pair of 9s, but against this particular player who was in about 80% of the pots and raised / called raises almost every hand, i gambled with him a bit with 1 pair. i flopped top pair of 9s from the small blind and led out. he mini-raised and i re-raised, he pushed all in and i decided to call with 7-9. i put him on a flush draw and i was right. he had Kh8h for a flush draw with 1 over, so i was (slightly) favored. he bricked out and i took down a nice pot with 1 measly pair. i also turned the ace high flush vs. JJ and got paid off with his whole stack.
moved to a new table and quickly got hammered with my favorite hand, AQ. flopped an ace, and made a near pot size bet and was called in 1 spot. the turn was a pretty bad 5d, that put 3 diamonds on board and created a straight possibility. he check raised me all in, but with my Q high diamond draw and top pair, i couldn't get away for the price. i missed and he showed A-2 offsuit for the wheel. nice preflop and flop call. i should have shown more discipline and checked behind on the turn. wouldn't have had to play for stacks with 1 pair.
hung around not playing too many pots. it was a fun table with a decent amount of money on the table, so it was worth sticking it out for a bit. one player had been raising a lot, so i re-raised on the button with 66 to isolate. he called. flop was 3 diamonds including the 6d, so i felt pretty good about my hand. he checked and i bet 2/3 pot and he called. the turn paired the board with a 9. now i'm a lock. he check raised me and i pushed all in hoping for his call, which he did. the board is now : Ad9d6d-9h. unless he holds AA or 99, i'm a huge favorite. he flips over AsKd for top pair / top kicker and the nut flush draw. well, his flush was obviously dead vs. my boat and his top pair was only good if he could fill it up. 4 outs: Two Aces and two 9s.
the river, you ask? the 9 of spades. nice counterfit card. i would have rather lost to an Ace. just brutal. a big nasty bad beat was bound to happen sooner or later and i finally took it in the shorts on that hand. i've taken 2 outers on the river with an overpair many times, but when you have a full house and play it perfectly, it seems to hurt that much more.
i took a little breather, but still felt like i was playing well. after losing those two big pots, i was down for the evening. i persevered and made it back to + $50, which seemed pretty pathetic, but hey + is better than -. i felt like i made good decisions and that's the most i can ask for.
[EDIT:] oh yeah -- i was 12 hours into the session before i got AA. i made a standard raise from middle position and everyone folded. i won $5.
the 4 BB/hour i won brings me down to 23.5 BB/hour since Aug 1.
i got home, got a short nap in and heather and i headed to del mar racetrack for a day watching the races. a friend's girlfriend's family has some nice table service seats that were really cool. we could watch the races in comfort (including shade) and with drinks of choice. while they enjoyed frosty adult beverages, i stuck to red bull to stave off the sleep monster. we won our first bet and then lost all the rest, but it was a really nice afternoon with the horsies. also funny to see my normally cynical friend be so cutesy with his belle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
