Friday, August 10, 2007
PLO
Ive decided that I'm going to learn PLO. Reading the blogs of the high stakes players and seeing some of the shit that goes down even at games like 200/400 is just retarded. There's a lot of money to be made in this game. Right now Im still focusing on NLHE so this will be on the back burner for awhile as the games at my stakes have been pretty good lately. Im going to spend a lot of time studying the basics and then I will probably dip my toe into the 2/4 PLO games or something just to see how the games flow.
Variance is fun
Tonight was pretty crazy. I sat down to a couple 2/4 UB tables and immediately felt it was going to be "one of those nights". Not far into the session, I got a donkey all in prf with KK only to be shown AA. I also got all in with QQ on a rag flop and my opponent again had AA. Kevin and I were playing on a couple tables together and he beat the game pretty bad. I on the other hand ended down $700 after only a couple hours of play. Feeling a bit dejected, I decided to call it a night.
I logged into FTP not really planning on playing, but I decided to sit down on two different 2/4 heads up tables. The session started very poorly with me getting coolered on both tables for decent sized pots multiple times. I decided to keep grinding it out because I really felt my opponents were playing poorly and I had a significant edge in the game due to the mistakes they were making. Sure enough, 3 hours later I was sitting with over $5,000 on both tables combined. I'm really tired right now so I'm not going to post any hands for discussion, but I was very pleased with my ability to stay focused and play the best poker I know how to play. I believe I ended the day up roughly $3,000 or so.
I logged into FTP not really planning on playing, but I decided to sit down on two different 2/4 heads up tables. The session started very poorly with me getting coolered on both tables for decent sized pots multiple times. I decided to keep grinding it out because I really felt my opponents were playing poorly and I had a significant edge in the game due to the mistakes they were making. Sure enough, 3 hours later I was sitting with over $5,000 on both tables combined. I'm really tired right now so I'm not going to post any hands for discussion, but I was very pleased with my ability to stay focused and play the best poker I know how to play. I believe I ended the day up roughly $3,000 or so.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Rebound
Today started out terribly. I sat down to a couple 2/4 tables and the carnage began. I started off by getting into a pretty sizeable pot against a very aggressive player. I had top pair and had the sense to check the river behind. He had a set. I then go involved in another hand with him and 3 other players. In this hand I called prf on the button behind him with 66. The flop was A 8 6 with two hearts. Bink. Myself and the aggro player ended up getting in on the flop and he had 88. Sonofa....he left shortly after. I then got top two in against bottom set, had to fold QQ on a T 9 x board to a check/raise, etc. It was a pretty shitty hour of poker. I found myself down two buyins ($800) pretty quickly and left before any sort of tilt set in.
I dicked around for a few hours until things got quiet around the house, then fired up UB once again. The 2/4 and 3/6 games weren't really active, in fact there wasn't one 3/6 game going. I looked up at the 5/10 and saw some sick juicy action games with players (donkeys) I recognized from 2/4. Well that settles it. 5/10 it is. I sat down and within the first 30 minutes had doubled on a table with KK against QQ. Tough luck for the other guy. I stayed pretty stagnant the rest of the session and never was up or down anymore than $200 from my original double up on both tables combined. The games started getting more solid as the donkeys left so I decided to step back down to my normal stakes as I don't really want to play 5/10 SH against solid players when there are so many better games to play. I ended up doing pretty well on both my 2/4 and 3/6 tables and ended up $700 total for the day after the $800 loss earlier. Pretty pleased with my tilt control and overall demeanor.
There was one very interesting hand and I honestly didn't really know what the right play would be. Would like to hear comments on this one.
Care2Tango is at seat 0 with $1034.
jmxthievez1 is at seat 1 with $1549.75.
Killer_O is at seat 2 with $200.
lvnoffsklskyb is at seat 3 with $2411.
Gookman is at seat 4 with $3260.75.
feelnlucky is at seat 5 with $985.
The button is at seat 5.
Care2Tango posts the small blind of $5.
jmxthievez1 posts the big blind of $10.
Care2Tango: -- --
jmxthievez1: -- --
lvnoffsklskyb: Td Qd
Gookman: -- --
feelnlucky: -- --
Pre-flop:
lvnoffsklskyb raises to $35.
Gookman calls.
feelnlucky folds.
Care2Tango folds.
jmxthievez1calls.
Flop (board: Qs 6s 4h):
jmxthievez1 checks.
lvnoffsklskyb bets $85.
Gookmancalls.
jmxthievez1 calls.
Turn (board: Qs 6s 4h Jd):
jmxthievez1 checks.
lvnoffsklskyb bets $225.
Gookman folds.
jmxthievez1 goes all-in for $1429.75.
lvnoffsklskyb folds.
jmxthievez1 is returned$1204.75 (uncalled).
I think overall this is a pretty conservative fold honestly. I didn't have a ton of info on jmx tho so I wasn't very sure as to what he would do this with. It sure does look like a combo draw of some sort though. I mean, what Q would he do this with besides QJ? He called prf, then called the flop after a bet and a call from a huge calling station (gookman). I highly doubt he has a set or KQ/AQ here. QJ was really the only Q I could think he would logically have, but sometimes these games are so nuts you see some sort of retarded 46s hand or something. I decided to wait for a better spot as I hadn't really seen jmx get out of line a lot. I don't know. I actually think looking at this in hindsight this is a call. I can't really see what he has that beats me here, but in the heat of the moment I guess I was thinking, "Im not playing such a huge pot against such a massive check/shove here with QT. Meh. Still not sure.
I dicked around for a few hours until things got quiet around the house, then fired up UB once again. The 2/4 and 3/6 games weren't really active, in fact there wasn't one 3/6 game going. I looked up at the 5/10 and saw some sick juicy action games with players (donkeys) I recognized from 2/4. Well that settles it. 5/10 it is. I sat down and within the first 30 minutes had doubled on a table with KK against QQ. Tough luck for the other guy. I stayed pretty stagnant the rest of the session and never was up or down anymore than $200 from my original double up on both tables combined. The games started getting more solid as the donkeys left so I decided to step back down to my normal stakes as I don't really want to play 5/10 SH against solid players when there are so many better games to play. I ended up doing pretty well on both my 2/4 and 3/6 tables and ended up $700 total for the day after the $800 loss earlier. Pretty pleased with my tilt control and overall demeanor.
There was one very interesting hand and I honestly didn't really know what the right play would be. Would like to hear comments on this one.
Care2Tango is at seat 0 with $1034.
jmxthievez1 is at seat 1 with $1549.75.
Killer_O is at seat 2 with $200.
lvnoffsklskyb is at seat 3 with $2411.
Gookman is at seat 4 with $3260.75.
feelnlucky is at seat 5 with $985.
The button is at seat 5.
Care2Tango posts the small blind of $5.
jmxthievez1 posts the big blind of $10.
Care2Tango: -- --
jmxthievez1: -- --
lvnoffsklskyb: Td Qd
Gookman: -- --
feelnlucky: -- --
Pre-flop:
lvnoffsklskyb raises to $35.
Gookman calls.
feelnlucky folds.
Care2Tango folds.
jmxthievez1calls.
Flop (board: Qs 6s 4h):
jmxthievez1 checks.
lvnoffsklskyb bets $85.
Gookmancalls.
jmxthievez1 calls.
Turn (board: Qs 6s 4h Jd):
jmxthievez1 checks.
lvnoffsklskyb bets $225.
Gookman folds.
jmxthievez1 goes all-in for $1429.75.
lvnoffsklskyb folds.
jmxthievez1 is returned$1204.75 (uncalled).
I think overall this is a pretty conservative fold honestly. I didn't have a ton of info on jmx tho so I wasn't very sure as to what he would do this with. It sure does look like a combo draw of some sort though. I mean, what Q would he do this with besides QJ? He called prf, then called the flop after a bet and a call from a huge calling station (gookman). I highly doubt he has a set or KQ/AQ here. QJ was really the only Q I could think he would logically have, but sometimes these games are so nuts you see some sort of retarded 46s hand or something. I decided to wait for a better spot as I hadn't really seen jmx get out of line a lot. I don't know. I actually think looking at this in hindsight this is a call. I can't really see what he has that beats me here, but in the heat of the moment I guess I was thinking, "Im not playing such a huge pot against such a massive check/shove here with QT. Meh. Still not sure.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
A New Day
Today went very well I'm happy to say (minus one incident I'll get into later). I ended up $2,600 on the cash tables at UB playing 3/6. The games are very soft there and I really enjoy playing at UB. The only thing I really have a problem with there is the hand histories. They're very hard to check after the hand while you're playing a couple tables and I wish they would fix that.
I had a couple interesting hands today with one hand kind of confusing me as to the best play. Here it is:
lvnoffsklskyb is at seat 1 with $2219.15.
D_Blake is at seat 2 with $962.60.
BluHorseshoe is at seat 3 with $692.
The button is at seat 1.
D_Blake posts the small blind of $3.
BluHorseshoe posts the big blind of $6.
lvnoffsklskyb: Jc Js
D_Blake: -- --
BluHorseshoe: -- --
Pre-flop:
lvnoffsklskyb raises to $21.
D_Blake calls.
BluHorseshoe folds.
Flop (board: 3c 3s 5c):
D_Blake checks.
lvnoffsklskyb bets $34.50.
D_Blakeraises to $120.
lvnoffsklskyb calls.
Turn (board: 3c 3s 5c 8h):
D_Blake bets $399.
lvnoffsklskyb folds.
D_Blake isreturned $399 (uncalled).
Now, this may seem like an odd fold at first glance and to be honest I'm still not 100% sure about it. But in poker you're really never 100% sure about anything, so I'm OK with that. We are of course only concerned about long term profit and what the best play will be over the long haul. Now my read on this guy was that he was pretty much a loose cannon pre-flop, however, once the flop came out and he got action, he wasn't messing around. If he was playing a big pot, he had a hand. On this hand, he check/raised the flop, then overbet the turn. I will concede that there are definitely hands in his range he would do this with that I beat, but based on my read of his post-flop play and given the fact that I had no FE and no chance of keeping the pot small, I decided to let it go. I think he shows up here with a better hand a lot and I think that even if I had him he probably had a lot of outs to beat me. I think at worst here he has probably 99 or a flush draw that possibly paired on the flop or turn. Not to mention the fact that this guy also calls raise pre-flop OOP with big hands occasionally so we can't rule out QQ+. I'll look at it more in depth later and I suspect that if I plugged it into pokerstove I would have a good amount of equity in this situation, but I think that my fold is correct given my read. Would love to hear opinions on it.
My mishap of the day occured this afternoon. I was playing two seperate tables on UB and had KQs on one and AQo on another. I re-raised both pre-flop from the small blind against pretty aggressive players that raised in LP. Both players on both tables called. On one table the flop was all rags, something like 7 5 2 and I led out. I was called and the turn was an ace which was a money card for me because this guy was stacking off weak aces like it was his job and I was fully convinced he would call me here with bare ace high. I led again and he insta-shoved. I pretty much beat him into the pot and the river was a Q. He showed AK and I was thinking, "wow he had a hand, unlucky for him" as the pot slid his way. I quickly checked the board for flushes and saw none, so obviously I was now a bit annoyed at the pot sliding to him. I then looked at my other table and saw AQ on my monitor. Fuck. I just called an all in on the turn for an $1,800 pot with K high. Bah. Moral of the story: look at your cards before calling an all in. :)
I had a couple interesting hands today with one hand kind of confusing me as to the best play. Here it is:
lvnoffsklskyb is at seat 1 with $2219.15.
D_Blake is at seat 2 with $962.60.
BluHorseshoe is at seat 3 with $692.
The button is at seat 1.
D_Blake posts the small blind of $3.
BluHorseshoe posts the big blind of $6.
lvnoffsklskyb: Jc Js
D_Blake: -- --
BluHorseshoe: -- --
Pre-flop:
lvnoffsklskyb raises to $21.
D_Blake calls.
BluHorseshoe folds.
Flop (board: 3c 3s 5c):
D_Blake checks.
lvnoffsklskyb bets $34.50.
D_Blakeraises to $120.
lvnoffsklskyb calls.
Turn (board: 3c 3s 5c 8h):
D_Blake bets $399.
lvnoffsklskyb folds.
D_Blake isreturned $399 (uncalled).
Now, this may seem like an odd fold at first glance and to be honest I'm still not 100% sure about it. But in poker you're really never 100% sure about anything, so I'm OK with that. We are of course only concerned about long term profit and what the best play will be over the long haul. Now my read on this guy was that he was pretty much a loose cannon pre-flop, however, once the flop came out and he got action, he wasn't messing around. If he was playing a big pot, he had a hand. On this hand, he check/raised the flop, then overbet the turn. I will concede that there are definitely hands in his range he would do this with that I beat, but based on my read of his post-flop play and given the fact that I had no FE and no chance of keeping the pot small, I decided to let it go. I think he shows up here with a better hand a lot and I think that even if I had him he probably had a lot of outs to beat me. I think at worst here he has probably 99 or a flush draw that possibly paired on the flop or turn. Not to mention the fact that this guy also calls raise pre-flop OOP with big hands occasionally so we can't rule out QQ+. I'll look at it more in depth later and I suspect that if I plugged it into pokerstove I would have a good amount of equity in this situation, but I think that my fold is correct given my read. Would love to hear opinions on it.
My mishap of the day occured this afternoon. I was playing two seperate tables on UB and had KQs on one and AQo on another. I re-raised both pre-flop from the small blind against pretty aggressive players that raised in LP. Both players on both tables called. On one table the flop was all rags, something like 7 5 2 and I led out. I was called and the turn was an ace which was a money card for me because this guy was stacking off weak aces like it was his job and I was fully convinced he would call me here with bare ace high. I led again and he insta-shoved. I pretty much beat him into the pot and the river was a Q. He showed AK and I was thinking, "wow he had a hand, unlucky for him" as the pot slid his way. I quickly checked the board for flushes and saw none, so obviously I was now a bit annoyed at the pot sliding to him. I then looked at my other table and saw AQ on my monitor. Fuck. I just called an all in on the turn for an $1,800 pot with K high. Bah. Moral of the story: look at your cards before calling an all in. :)
Sunday, August 5, 2007
A Disappointment and a Setback
Played my first session in a few days last night...drunk. Yesterday was my birthday so my wife and I went to the live games to hang out and have a good time. She actually ended up crushing it over there for like $700. I won about $150 myself then came home and like an idiot signed on to my account.
It's not like when Im drunk I just play out of my mind or do these crazy things (usually) and just mindlessly donk off money. It's more that if things aren't going well I tilt easily and play real fast without much thought to the hand or past history, etc. The damage wasn't too bad, but it was a couple thousand dollar setback and that annoys me. Some of the hands really were gross though and I ran very poorly. I played a guy 5/10 HU on UB and some of the shit he was hitting was amazing. I flopped two pair on an A high flop, he called me down with a bare pair of 4's (he had 44) and hit a running flush. Then he called a big c/r on the flop with a bare pair of 8's (he had 88) and turned an 8. I need to find that guy again when I'm ready to play 5/10 regularly. Anyway, I think I've realized that I just need to cut alcohol out of my life completely. There really is no need for me to drink and it just causes problems for me. I'm pretty upset at myself, not really because of the money because I think that I would have lost most of that last night had I been playing sober cuz I was just running so badly. But Ive made a commitment to not play drunk and it really shouldn't be a hard thing to do. I'm going to stop drinking. Wish me luck.
It's not like when Im drunk I just play out of my mind or do these crazy things (usually) and just mindlessly donk off money. It's more that if things aren't going well I tilt easily and play real fast without much thought to the hand or past history, etc. The damage wasn't too bad, but it was a couple thousand dollar setback and that annoys me. Some of the hands really were gross though and I ran very poorly. I played a guy 5/10 HU on UB and some of the shit he was hitting was amazing. I flopped two pair on an A high flop, he called me down with a bare pair of 4's (he had 44) and hit a running flush. Then he called a big c/r on the flop with a bare pair of 8's (he had 88) and turned an 8. I need to find that guy again when I'm ready to play 5/10 regularly. Anyway, I think I've realized that I just need to cut alcohol out of my life completely. There really is no need for me to drink and it just causes problems for me. I'm pretty upset at myself, not really because of the money because I think that I would have lost most of that last night had I been playing sober cuz I was just running so badly. But Ive made a commitment to not play drunk and it really shouldn't be a hard thing to do. I'm going to stop drinking. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Life Tilt
I didn't play any poker today, mostly because my internet connection was fading in and out, so I didn't wanna chance getting in the middle of a huge hand and my connection going down. I've decided that every once in awhile I'll do a "Life Tilt" blog about things that are pissing me off whether poker related or not.
My current state of life tilt is focused on the movie Ghost Rider. I rented it tonight and couldn't believe how awful this movie was. This movie is about as worthless as foot fetish porn. Im pretty sure a 13 year old wrote this script. The movie already has Eva Mendes and it's pretty hard to fuck up a movie with her in it, but to make things worse the concept itself is off the charts awesome. The dude makes a pact with the devil and rides around all night on fire pimpin' a sick ass chopper fighting demons with a flaming chain from hell. How in the hell does someone fuck this up? There are more corny one liners than a Schwarzenegger movie. In once scene, Ghost Rider busts out of jail (he got caught by the cops in human form) and a cop chases him out of the station and hits him in the back with his club. Ghost Rider turns around and puts his finger up and goes, "uh uh uhhhh". Pathetic. They seriously couldn't think of anything better for him to say? Also, this movie features the guy from Road House who played Patrick Swayze's awesome bouncer buddy (evidently 60 year old dudes that weigh 140 lbs kick a lot of ass). It's amazing to me this guy isn't dead yet. He looked near death in the 80's but is somehow still playing the role of a badass at the age of 91. The one thing this movie had going for it was the phenomenal special effects. They really owned hard in that department. Other than that this shit is unwatchable and that pisses me off. Fuck this movie. Im so tilted.
My current state of life tilt is focused on the movie Ghost Rider. I rented it tonight and couldn't believe how awful this movie was. This movie is about as worthless as foot fetish porn. Im pretty sure a 13 year old wrote this script. The movie already has Eva Mendes and it's pretty hard to fuck up a movie with her in it, but to make things worse the concept itself is off the charts awesome. The dude makes a pact with the devil and rides around all night on fire pimpin' a sick ass chopper fighting demons with a flaming chain from hell. How in the hell does someone fuck this up? There are more corny one liners than a Schwarzenegger movie. In once scene, Ghost Rider busts out of jail (he got caught by the cops in human form) and a cop chases him out of the station and hits him in the back with his club. Ghost Rider turns around and puts his finger up and goes, "uh uh uhhhh". Pathetic. They seriously couldn't think of anything better for him to say? Also, this movie features the guy from Road House who played Patrick Swayze's awesome bouncer buddy (evidently 60 year old dudes that weigh 140 lbs kick a lot of ass). It's amazing to me this guy isn't dead yet. He looked near death in the 80's but is somehow still playing the role of a badass at the age of 91. The one thing this movie had going for it was the phenomenal special effects. They really owned hard in that department. Other than that this shit is unwatchable and that pisses me off. Fuck this movie. Im so tilted.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
I Hate Live Poker
I think I'm starting to come to the realization that the live games around here are really a waste of time. I remember talking to Kevin (Lucko) when I first started going and he told me he would never go to games like that because they're probably rigged. All the guys there are really awesome and a lot of fun to play with, but is it possible they're ripping me off? I honestly couldn't say a definite no, which didn't bother me before, but is starting to bother me.
I ended down $1,000 tonight at the 5/10 game. It really does seem odd to me though how badly people play and how consistently they get bailed out. I came home after the live game and won $1,600 online in a few hours against much better players. There are a number of things this could be. Online you see more hands allowing variance to even out quicker, the players are better, which means they are less likely to chase trash and make really spewy plays, etc. But I've been playing these games for a number of months now and I'm a significant loser in them. I hardly ever walk away with a win. Contrast this to Las Vegas where I have never walked away a loser and in fact have crushed the cash games out there. It is all just getting a bit too fishy for me. Is it possible Im just running bad? Of course. And that is more than likely the case. But there is doubt in my mind and that makes me a bit uncomfortable. A few hands that I've lost really couldn't have been written better in novel form for my opponents.
Moving on though, I pretty much crushed FTP tonight. I played HU and 6 max 2/4 just 2 tabling and focusing. I know that a lot of players like to play 6-8 tables at once and that really used to be me, but I have found that focusing on one or two tables has significantly improved my play. I just see so many things that others that are playing a lot of tables may miss. I get away with a lot of bluff raises and very thin value bets simply because I'm paying attention to everything going on while my opponents may not. I'm currently running at 17BB/100 at 2/4 HU. Im not really sure if that's great or anything since I don't have any numbers to compare this to, but I suspect winning $136 every 100 hands HU at 2/4 is pretty damn good. I ended the night on a very sour note. I had about 3K on one table and was playing a guy with a full buyin. He was a good player and the game was incredibly aggressive. We got AI prf me with QQ and him with AA. I immediately left after this hand as it is very easy to tilt after a cooler like that. One thing I have improved 100 fold in my game is the mental aspect. I don't play drunk anymore and I really feel no tilt at all because I leave when I feel my play deteriorating. I don't play when Im tired or don't feel like it. Back in the day I used to log in and just auto-pilot to "get hands in". Im fully convinced I can make more money playing 100% my best on a few tables rather than 50% at 6 tables and my results are proving this. Well, it's 7AM and I just finished a long session, so Im gonna head to bed. Good luck at the tables.
I ended down $1,000 tonight at the 5/10 game. It really does seem odd to me though how badly people play and how consistently they get bailed out. I came home after the live game and won $1,600 online in a few hours against much better players. There are a number of things this could be. Online you see more hands allowing variance to even out quicker, the players are better, which means they are less likely to chase trash and make really spewy plays, etc. But I've been playing these games for a number of months now and I'm a significant loser in them. I hardly ever walk away with a win. Contrast this to Las Vegas where I have never walked away a loser and in fact have crushed the cash games out there. It is all just getting a bit too fishy for me. Is it possible Im just running bad? Of course. And that is more than likely the case. But there is doubt in my mind and that makes me a bit uncomfortable. A few hands that I've lost really couldn't have been written better in novel form for my opponents.
Moving on though, I pretty much crushed FTP tonight. I played HU and 6 max 2/4 just 2 tabling and focusing. I know that a lot of players like to play 6-8 tables at once and that really used to be me, but I have found that focusing on one or two tables has significantly improved my play. I just see so many things that others that are playing a lot of tables may miss. I get away with a lot of bluff raises and very thin value bets simply because I'm paying attention to everything going on while my opponents may not. I'm currently running at 17BB/100 at 2/4 HU. Im not really sure if that's great or anything since I don't have any numbers to compare this to, but I suspect winning $136 every 100 hands HU at 2/4 is pretty damn good. I ended the night on a very sour note. I had about 3K on one table and was playing a guy with a full buyin. He was a good player and the game was incredibly aggressive. We got AI prf me with QQ and him with AA. I immediately left after this hand as it is very easy to tilt after a cooler like that. One thing I have improved 100 fold in my game is the mental aspect. I don't play drunk anymore and I really feel no tilt at all because I leave when I feel my play deteriorating. I don't play when Im tired or don't feel like it. Back in the day I used to log in and just auto-pilot to "get hands in". Im fully convinced I can make more money playing 100% my best on a few tables rather than 50% at 6 tables and my results are proving this. Well, it's 7AM and I just finished a long session, so Im gonna head to bed. Good luck at the tables.
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