I've been having a rough go at it in cash games lately. Not terrible, but not winning either. I was down about $70 over 17 hours of play. Not the best. I haven't been upset about it but at the same time you want to win, build that bankroll, and move up to higher stakes.
I have also been trusting myself a lot more in regards to the way I play. One recent example really made me think about this and how general poker knowledge isn't always right even if EVERYONE agrees on it.
Back in the day, we used to play a lot of tournaments at the Sahara. That casino is closed now but for low buy-in tournaments it used to be the place to be. Daily tournaments at 11 AM, 7 PM, and 11 PM for $60. My wife used to do really well in them. Me, not so much. And she would always have a SUPER short stack, but miraculously something would happen and she would have a huge stack out of nowhere.
She always used to min-raise late in the tournament, even with a somewhat short stack herself. I thought it was a bad idea. Books and everything at the time were recommending just pushing preflop even if you had a decent number of big blinds (same thing today) but also were recommending raising 3x or more. I blindly bought into that.
Now when I look at things like the Tournament Poker Edge podcast or other things, min-raising is super standard and they look at people 3x-ing and 4x-ing as fish a lot of the time. I don't think my wife's logic was bad back in the day. She just realized that even though a min-raise is giving people great odds, they still aren't calling a lot of the time. So you are better off min-raising in those spots. She realized that when other people recognized as "better" did not.
That makes me think that I should think more and believe common poker wisdom way less. I guarantee that in my recent tournament successes, people would say I was an idiot for letting my stack get so short or passing on some spots. And in cash games, I'm just going to dial back the aggression a lot except when I have a huge hand. Even draws, I might just pass on them or play them more passively instead of auto-raising every time I flop a flush draw. Those rules are probably OK if you are clueless at poker and don't grasp all the concepts. But when I know some old guy is betting out into me, why raise him? He probably has top pair or better a lot of the time. Will he fold? Sure, he probably will sometimes. But he's not betting into me with air or even somewhat weak hands. Maybe some draws but in my experience the typical old guy is just check-calling a lot with those and betting out when he gets there.
The uncomfortable part is when you don't win a lot, and the strategy you are using is not straight from the most recent book. When I left the WPT Boot Camp, I was playing insanely aggressive in a lot of spots and it didn't always feel right. But at least you can fall back on the excuse : "well, I played exactly like book X said, so I cant be blamed for losing". I learned some good concepts but I don't think blindly following them is the way to play. But when you are losing or breaking even, it makes you wonder if you need to go back to that style.
I've also had a lot of people folding to me when I'm getting big hands. Last night at Santa Fe I got JJ under the gun and raised to $10. 2 callers. Flop J-7-8 with 2 clubs. Lady leads out for 20. Guy calls, I raise to $75, they both fold. Ugh.
But then hands like this one come up.
Lady with about $200 makes it $8. Dumbass guy with sunglasses calls.
Oh, some context on that guy. Earlier he shoves $150 or so on the river, basically a pot sized bet. Gets called by this black guy who had middle pair. IMO a moronic hero call that he did not have to make. But, he was right... his A-9 on a J-9-x-x-x board was good against the other guy who showed his T-3 or whatever garbage hand he had. Bluffing the river with bottom pair. Then he says "well, it was a good shove". LOL. Maybe percentage wise it was, depending on his reasoning and what he knows about the guy. But if your first reaction was "that was good" I think you have some problems.
So he calls, my wife calls, I call with T-9 suited, and that same black guy calls. He had been making some really weird big bets sometimes. For example, one hand preflop went $7, $20, then he made it $120.
Flop is great - T-9-2 with 2 diamonds. It checks to me and I bet $25. The black guy calls out of the blinds, and everyone else folds.
Turn is an offsuit 4. Now he leads for $75!
REALLY big bet in this game. I called. Definitely didnt want to fold, but raising was also out of the question. The 4 changed nothing. I was only worried that he flopped a set and was trying to trap more people in on the flop, but when nobody called he was trying to get max value on the turn.
River is a offsuit 6. He checks. It brought the 7-8 straight, but it didnt seem very likely he had that. I thought about it for a while and decided I was going to bet. Grabbed 7 red chips, put them on top of a stack and slid them out. $135. He thought about it, counted out the chips, and put a stack out. I flip them up. He looked and took a while but threw his cards away. Big pot for me. Maybe another stupid hero call? Ship it.
Won $313 last night (Thursday August 8th). Felt so awesome to get a win. My faith in my playing style wasn't wavering too bad yet, but it was great to get that big win to keep me motivated. Feeling great heading into this weekend.
Writing blogs is definitely slow. Still have the broken hand. Lot to write about and not much time. I'm moving soon - 3 blocks away from the Golden Nugget! Super exciting. I also have some thoughts about poker-related iPhone apps I want to work on. Maybe coming soon!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Cash meltdown (somewhat)
Bonus Blog : posting out of frustration. Busted the Aria tournament, then dumped $500 immediately after. The next blog (already scheduled) will certainly have a more positive tone than this one because I won $300 last night. So frustrating to lose $625 the very next day.
Hand 1 : in the small blind with KdJd. Thought about raising, but an older guy (45ish) limped and I thought he might have a big hand, so I called. 5 people saw the flop.
Flop came 874 with 2 of my suit. I checked, old guy bet, button called, I called. Turn 5. I check, old guy bets 30. I think it could be a good time to represent the straight. I was in the blind after all. I thought he could have a smallish overpair like 99, maybe a set, but then I have outs. I raise to 85. He calls, but took a long time and looked pained. I thought he might have a set and was trying to fill up.
River off suit queen. I slide out a stack of $100. He thinks about it, "you have 6-9..." Thinks some more, "maybe we have the same hand" and calls with 6-7. OMG. Ugh.
Buy in for another 200.
Limp 8-6 of hearts after a couple limpers. Blind (same older guy) makes it 16. 2 people call and I call.
Flop is huge - K83 with 2 hearts. Older guy leads for 50. 2 folds to me.
I think about raising. I have $270 or so. If I raised to $150 I thought I wouldn't have any fold equity on the turn. But I wasn't folding. I just called. We see the turn heads up.
Offsuit queen on the turn. He checks. About $180 in the pot. I over-shove for $220.
He tanks and thinks forever. Counts the chips out... And shoves them in. River off suit 10. Fuck. Flip up the 8-6. He has... Ace fucking queen. Called 220 with second pair. I still had 30%+ equity and couldn't get there. Sigh.
I guess I just didn't have to make those moves, or any moves. I don't really know if either were that bad. I really thought my bets looked super strong on the first hand especially since I was in the blind, but he had the nuts. Then on the second hand I think it was ok too, but I understand that after bluffing that EXACT same guy literally minutes earlier, I'm really making it a ton easier for him to call. And the over shove does look a little bluffy.
Sigh. Just when I thought I was doing better in cash, I dump $500 in a matter if minutes. I'll try not to bear myself up about it. I honestly feel like both spots weren't THAT bad, but in the first one I'm basically trying to get a set to fold (bad idea) and in the second I'm bluffing a guy that KNOWS I'm capable of big bluffs. Ugh.
Life goes on. I'd love some comments with your thoughts.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Recent cash recap
I've been playing a mix of cash and tournaments lately. With my recent tournament success, cash is feeling way less exciting. Plus I'm trying to not just blindly follow the WPT Boot Camp strategy. I think since people usually play a much tighter range when betting/raising, and way looser when calling, that a lot of the advice is not great at 1/2 NL.
Example: Santa Fe Station 1/2 NL. I raise to $8 in early position with AQ. An old guy calls me out of the blind. Flop J-10-x. He bets out $10. I raise to $30, he calls. I miss twice and fold to a river bet.
What was I trying to accomplish here? Is some old guy just betting the flop with air? No. A 10? Probably not. Maybe K-Q, 8-9, but then he is not folding to a raise (although I have the best hand). But I bet an old guy is more likely check-calling that. He probably just has some crap like Q-J, J-x suited, or something better. So why waste the $30? Just save it for a better spot.
Or better yet, something I've been thinking about a LOT is more turn aggression. Like call the flop here. If he checks the turn, bet $25 and take it down a lot of the time. If he bets again, he has it.
I'm also considering not c-betting the flop anywhere near as much against total calling stations. Just saving that bet and making it on the turn. On the flop they expect you to bet and auto-call a lot. Or they check their monsters. On the turn if they check to you twice, its more likely they don't have much. Then you can put out the same c-bet. This seems especially true for a flop that they could see you checking back if you hit it. Like A-A-x. Or even just a ace or king high board with no draws. If you check the flop and c-bet the turn they might feel like you were trapping them on the flop.
I've been making some mistakes. For example, this weekend I called a straddle under the gun with 4-4, a guy with about $300 made it $20 and I called. Unless he is really aggressive (which most people are not) you just aren't getting paid off enough to call that IMO. I also have limped in late position with total garbage in multiway pots to try to hit something big. Like with 3-6 offsuit. Maybe not the worst idea, but that hand is just not good enough.
I've also been getting somewhat unlucky with monsters where nobody has much, or makes an insanely big fold for no reason.
Flop set of 8s on K-10-8 board with flush draw after raising pre. Bet $20, 2 callers. Turn perfect card, king. Check to me, $35, both fold.
Flop 8-9-x rainbow. I had limped with 6-7, about 4 people in. Blind bets $5. Next guy makes it $10. I call. Lady who bet $5 calls. Turn 10 - bingo. Check and guy who bet $10 now bets $16. I raise to $45. He thinks a bit and folds TOP TWO PAIR, 10-9, face up. Come on. That is not typical. KGB vs Mike McDermott situation there... I should not have been eating Oreos. Da fuck you lay that down?????? Lays down a monster.....
Flop bottom set on J-9-6 board, min-raise the drunk guy who won't shut up and is dumping all kinds of cash and he folds. Showed a jack, said he had top two but I doubt it.
Recent results (almost 17 hours of play):
Santa Fe Station 1/2 NL - Sunday July 28th : +$31
Red Rock 1/2 NL - Monday July 29th : -$130
Santa Fe Station 1/2 NL - Friday August 2nd : +$128
Red Rock 1/2 NL - Saturday August 3rd : -$13
Santa Fe Station 1/2 NL - Sunday August 4th : dead even
Santa Fe Station 1/2 NL - Monday August 5th : -$95
Overall down $79 in cash. Just really slow. Not a ton of great hands and not great action on my few big hands. I'm hanging in there though.
On the bright side, I'm loving poker lately. Totally into it. It comes and goes, but some of my best times are when I'm on a poker happiness upswing. Not making a ton of money but I'm having fun, playing smart and thinking about the game as best I can, and just enjoying it win or lose.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Zero to hero (part one)
It's still Friday, July 26. I just busted out of the aria tournament, and I'm buying back in.
I felt pretty good. I thought I played relatively well in the first attempt. I still had plenty of time. Not a huge stack, but well over 20 big blinds.
Right away, I flopped a set of eights after raising in early position. I don't remember the exact action but I believe I bet the flop, checked the turn when the flush card hit, and bet the river and got no collars.
Next I pick up two red jacks. I raise to 900 in early position, and get one collar. the flop is King King eight with two clubs. I check the flop, and call 1400. Not sure why I decided to check, but I did think I probably had the best hand. Turn was the seven of clubs and we both checked. River was the four of clubs. I decided I was going to turn my hand into a bluff. I bet out pretty small, 2600. He folded and I picked up a good pot.
Next hand I'm in the blind with ace king of clubs. This is at the 300 600 blind level. Two people limp in, and the button makes it 2100. I decided to just call. I could every raised, but the razor had a ton of chips and it would have committed me to the pot. I also figured that the two limpers would just call also. They did.
The flop was 10 94 with 2 hearts and one club. I check, and feel pretty good that I didn't reraise this one pre-flop. To my surprise, it checks around. The turn is the two of clubs, giving me a flush draw. I decided that this was a great spot to bluff since nobody had bet the flop. I bet something like 3600 and took it down. That was a really big pot and really helps me out a lot.
This next one was pretty bad. In older guy limped in and called my raise. I raised in late position with pocket nines. The flop came King high with two lower cards. The old guy bet out small something like a third or less of the pot. I called. The turn came and he bet again. Again it was a very small bet. For whatever reason, I got caught up thinking that he could be betting a flush draw, or a smaller bet. It honestly makes no sense whatsoever now. And even if he was, good for him. Ship him the pot and let me fold and keep my chips. So I called something like 2500 on the turn, and 3000 on the river, and he turns up a king. At the break I have 10,600 chips. Just over starting stack.
After the break I pick up pocket eights under the gun. Raise and get two collars. The flop is fantastic, 10 86 with two hearts. I bet 2000. The big stack to my left calls. Now the third guy goes Allin. He has almost exactly a min raise - only a little bit over 2000 more for a total of 4000 or so. I could have gotten cute and just called, but the pot was already pretty big and I simply went all in. The other guy folded. My opponent had pocket kings, and I won a huge pot.
Somewhat interesting blind verse blind battle. The small blind limps. He has been raising me a decent amount out of the small blind. Although, he probably has only had the chance to or three times Max. I look down at 72o and check.
Flop comes 10 98. I bet the minimum, 800, and he called. I missed the turn and it went check check. Bricked the river as well, he checked, and I decided to give up. He was slow playing ace 10. Suited.
I continued to get short. Finally I was under 10 big blinds and looking for a spot to shove. I had my eye on the people in the blinds as likely people that would fold. It folded to me. I look down at King two off suit. Not the best cards, but being first in the pot is a huge advantage. I go all in. The blind looks down, and snap calls with pocket queens. Two Kings show up on the board, and I double my 15 K up to around 32 K.
I will finish up the tournament report in the next blog. Thanks again for reading!
I felt pretty good. I thought I played relatively well in the first attempt. I still had plenty of time. Not a huge stack, but well over 20 big blinds.
Right away, I flopped a set of eights after raising in early position. I don't remember the exact action but I believe I bet the flop, checked the turn when the flush card hit, and bet the river and got no collars.
Next I pick up two red jacks. I raise to 900 in early position, and get one collar. the flop is King King eight with two clubs. I check the flop, and call 1400. Not sure why I decided to check, but I did think I probably had the best hand. Turn was the seven of clubs and we both checked. River was the four of clubs. I decided I was going to turn my hand into a bluff. I bet out pretty small, 2600. He folded and I picked up a good pot.
Next hand I'm in the blind with ace king of clubs. This is at the 300 600 blind level. Two people limp in, and the button makes it 2100. I decided to just call. I could every raised, but the razor had a ton of chips and it would have committed me to the pot. I also figured that the two limpers would just call also. They did.
The flop was 10 94 with 2 hearts and one club. I check, and feel pretty good that I didn't reraise this one pre-flop. To my surprise, it checks around. The turn is the two of clubs, giving me a flush draw. I decided that this was a great spot to bluff since nobody had bet the flop. I bet something like 3600 and took it down. That was a really big pot and really helps me out a lot.
This next one was pretty bad. In older guy limped in and called my raise. I raised in late position with pocket nines. The flop came King high with two lower cards. The old guy bet out small something like a third or less of the pot. I called. The turn came and he bet again. Again it was a very small bet. For whatever reason, I got caught up thinking that he could be betting a flush draw, or a smaller bet. It honestly makes no sense whatsoever now. And even if he was, good for him. Ship him the pot and let me fold and keep my chips. So I called something like 2500 on the turn, and 3000 on the river, and he turns up a king. At the break I have 10,600 chips. Just over starting stack.
After the break I pick up pocket eights under the gun. Raise and get two collars. The flop is fantastic, 10 86 with two hearts. I bet 2000. The big stack to my left calls. Now the third guy goes Allin. He has almost exactly a min raise - only a little bit over 2000 more for a total of 4000 or so. I could have gotten cute and just called, but the pot was already pretty big and I simply went all in. The other guy folded. My opponent had pocket kings, and I won a huge pot.
Somewhat interesting blind verse blind battle. The small blind limps. He has been raising me a decent amount out of the small blind. Although, he probably has only had the chance to or three times Max. I look down at 72o and check.
Flop comes 10 98. I bet the minimum, 800, and he called. I missed the turn and it went check check. Bricked the river as well, he checked, and I decided to give up. He was slow playing ace 10. Suited.
I continued to get short. Finally I was under 10 big blinds and looking for a spot to shove. I had my eye on the people in the blinds as likely people that would fold. It folded to me. I look down at King two off suit. Not the best cards, but being first in the pot is a huge advantage. I go all in. The blind looks down, and snap calls with pocket queens. Two Kings show up on the board, and I double my 15 K up to around 32 K.
I will finish up the tournament report in the next blog. Thanks again for reading!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Tournament fail
Sorry I haven't been writing blogs for a while. It's pretty tough with a broken hand. I found this new dictation app on the mac though, which is really going to help out. It actually works really well. So without further ado, here's a blog for ya.
Aria - Friday, July 26
We decided to play the 7 PM tournament at Aria. I bought in at 7 PM and had high hopes. We were alternates in the tournament, but a new table started and we were off and running.
I picked up pocket aces pretty early on. I raised it to a little bit over two big blinds and the big blind called me. The flop came Queen 45. The big blind let out for 300 which was a little more than the whole size of the pot. I raised to 800 and he called. The turn was an eight which was a little bit scary because it made this straight.
(sorry, some of this is transcribed a little weird, but it's pretty difficult to go back and fix it, so I'm just going to leave it. I'm making sure the action is correct at least.)
Now, the guy leads out for 700 again. I just call. The river is a nine which changes nothing. Now he checks and I'm pretty sure I have the best hand against something like ace queen. I got 2000, he calls, and flips over a set of fives. In retrospect, I probably could have bet less on the river because I don't know if you would call 2000 with just a week one pair hand.
Next hand I play, I flop a set of jacks. No action. After that, pocket aces again but little action.
This next hand got pretty crazy. I raised small under the gun to 525 with pocket aces. I believe the blinds at this point were 100 and 200. it comes around to this long-haired fortysomething dude and he reraises it to 1050. Now this older guy in the blind calls 525. The dealer lets him know that he can either call the rest or forfeit his 525. He says "I'm not folding "and calls.
I am salivating all over the table at this point. One guy is trapped for a raise and a reraise. Now, I reraise again to 3700. The long-haired guy Insta calls. The blind folds.
At this point I have about 4500 left in my stack. The pot is way over that. Flop comes Queen Jack Blank. Not the best flop, but I'm not sure there's much you can really do. I decided to bet somewhat small. If I'm beat I'm beat, but betting small might allow a weaker hand to continue. I think I bet something like 2000 or 2500. He went all in for the rest which was not very much. I call, he has pocket queens, I lose. Huge pot.
My chips were very low at that point. Way less than 10 big blinds. I shoved King Queen into queen 10. Double up. Very next hand, pocket eights. I shoved again, this time about 10 big blinds. Longhair guy calls again, ace king, I'm out.
Brutal exit. How do you get pocket aces three times before the first break and still lose. I probably made a mistake in the first hand with aces. Other than that, I thought everything was fine. I decided to buy back in. You can reenter these tournaments up through the first two hours. So I plopped down another hundred and $25, and sit back down at a new table.
I will discuss that buy-in in the next blog. Thanks for reading! Or should I say thanks for reading Johnny, the one person that actually reads this blog. LOL.
Aria - Friday, July 26
We decided to play the 7 PM tournament at Aria. I bought in at 7 PM and had high hopes. We were alternates in the tournament, but a new table started and we were off and running.
I picked up pocket aces pretty early on. I raised it to a little bit over two big blinds and the big blind called me. The flop came Queen 45. The big blind let out for 300 which was a little more than the whole size of the pot. I raised to 800 and he called. The turn was an eight which was a little bit scary because it made this straight.
(sorry, some of this is transcribed a little weird, but it's pretty difficult to go back and fix it, so I'm just going to leave it. I'm making sure the action is correct at least.)
Now, the guy leads out for 700 again. I just call. The river is a nine which changes nothing. Now he checks and I'm pretty sure I have the best hand against something like ace queen. I got 2000, he calls, and flips over a set of fives. In retrospect, I probably could have bet less on the river because I don't know if you would call 2000 with just a week one pair hand.
Next hand I play, I flop a set of jacks. No action. After that, pocket aces again but little action.
This next hand got pretty crazy. I raised small under the gun to 525 with pocket aces. I believe the blinds at this point were 100 and 200. it comes around to this long-haired fortysomething dude and he reraises it to 1050. Now this older guy in the blind calls 525. The dealer lets him know that he can either call the rest or forfeit his 525. He says "I'm not folding "and calls.
I am salivating all over the table at this point. One guy is trapped for a raise and a reraise. Now, I reraise again to 3700. The long-haired guy Insta calls. The blind folds.
At this point I have about 4500 left in my stack. The pot is way over that. Flop comes Queen Jack Blank. Not the best flop, but I'm not sure there's much you can really do. I decided to bet somewhat small. If I'm beat I'm beat, but betting small might allow a weaker hand to continue. I think I bet something like 2000 or 2500. He went all in for the rest which was not very much. I call, he has pocket queens, I lose. Huge pot.
My chips were very low at that point. Way less than 10 big blinds. I shoved King Queen into queen 10. Double up. Very next hand, pocket eights. I shoved again, this time about 10 big blinds. Longhair guy calls again, ace king, I'm out.
Brutal exit. How do you get pocket aces three times before the first break and still lose. I probably made a mistake in the first hand with aces. Other than that, I thought everything was fine. I decided to buy back in. You can reenter these tournaments up through the first two hours. So I plopped down another hundred and $25, and sit back down at a new table.
I will discuss that buy-in in the next blog. Thanks for reading! Or should I say thanks for reading Johnny, the one person that actually reads this blog. LOL.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Bad weekend
Red Rock - Sunday July 14th, $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
Went back the next day and was ready to play. My wife stayed home and my goal was just to get about 3 hours of play in.
Overall the session did not go well. I didn't run especially well, but as I said in the last blog, I think I'm playing too passive as well. Falling into the trap that you see all old guy falling into. Playing too safe, under the guise of "I want to keep my variance down" or "I'm trapping everyone" or whatever it might be. I'm going to change that in the next session and play the WPT Boot Camp style again for sure. Win or lose it's better than what I did this weekend.
Hand 1 : I limp in with 3-3 in early position. Late position guy with a mountain of chips makes it $10. I call, and we see the flop 4 ways. Flop is Q-9-5 and it checks around. Turn is a 5, check around again. River, 3. Boom. I bet out $30, everyone folds.
Probably should have bet less. I was hoping (as I often do) to bet bigger and make it look like a bluff. But I don't know how well that's going to work in a situation where nobody has shown any interest in winning this pot. Probably should have just bet $15. Or even $8, hoping to induce a bluff raise or something. But $30 was just too much especially when nobody showed any interest in the pot, and nothing interesting hit on the river.
Hand 2 : Raise A-10 of clubs in early position (probably should just fold). Button makes it $40, I fold.
Hand 3 : I raise to $10 with 9-9 in early position. (Lot of early position hands, I'm noticing.) The big stack from hand 1 calls me. Flop comes 8-8-6. I bet out $15, he calls. Turn is a 7, giving me an open end straight draw and bringing backdoor spades. I bet $25. He raises me $40 more. I call. River is an ace. I check, he bets $65, I fold.
Overall I think I played this one OK. On the turn when he raises me, I'm getting 3.5 to 1 on my call. If I think all of my outs are good (8 straight outs, 2 full house outs) then I think I can definitely call. I also thought he could have had a draw or something, although he insta-raised me on the turn which seemed strong. Like there was nothing to think about - raise. The ace on the river really changed nothing, but I thought about it for a while and just figured it was much more likely that he had a strong hand than a bluff, and I folded. He didn't look particularly scared, and his actions suggested strength for sure.
Hand 4 : Guy raises to $11 in early position. 3 people call. I look down at Q-5 offsuit in the blind. I decide, thats a lot of dead money out there if I can get through the initial raiser. Unfortunately, that's where my thought process ended. I hadn't really seen this guy play that many hands. I raise to $50. He reraises all-in for $150 more, I fold. Yes, this one was pretty sketchy.
Hand 5 : New old guy at the table raises to $10. I reraise to $25 with J-J. He reraises again, just grabs a stack and puts it out there, probably $65+ more to call. I fold face up.
Hand 6 : VERY next hand I have Q-Q and raise to $15 after a couple limpers. Get 4 callers. Flop is A-J-x. 3 checks to me, and I bet $45. The blind calls. Turn is a king and we both check, and I give up on the blank river. A-2 offsuit takes it down.
Hand 7 : I raise with A-Q to $10 in middle position and a guy in position calls me. Flop is 9-8-5 with 2 clubs. Not the best flop. I bet $12, he calls. Turn is a 7, I give up, he bets $30 and takes it down.
Hand 8 : At this point I'm frustrated and planning on leaving when the blind hits me. I limp with 7-7 in early position. Couple others call, and this guy goes all-in out of the blind for $47. He had done this a ton of times before, like a bunch of hands in a row. However, he had not done it in quite a while, maybe an hour, and I neglected to acknowledge that fact. So out of frustration for whatever reason, I call. Everyone else folds. Flop is Q-J-x. Turn 7. Boom. Flip up the 7-7. River blank. He flips up pocket kings and walks away from the table. Haha. But it really just made me feel even worse about how I played. I got out of that one, but it was another bad call. And I should NOT be putting that much in preflop with 7-7 like that.
Overall, I think I ran pretty bad and didn't get much going with the hands I did have. However, my wife pointed out that on the Q-Q hand if I was playing the WPT Boot Camp style I would have just checked the flop and saved that money. And the Q-5 raise was not a good play. If I knew the guy was really loose, like if the big stack raised, maybe it would have been a great idea. But this tight guy raises and I reraise out of the blind, that's not a good idea. And then the 7-7 hand was a disaster. So overall I was not happy with how I played.
As I said in the last blog, I'm going back to the WPT Boot Camp style for my next session. Wish me luck! Oh, and I lost $250 this time. Not going well for my first couple sessions back, but I'll get it going.
Went back the next day and was ready to play. My wife stayed home and my goal was just to get about 3 hours of play in.
Overall the session did not go well. I didn't run especially well, but as I said in the last blog, I think I'm playing too passive as well. Falling into the trap that you see all old guy falling into. Playing too safe, under the guise of "I want to keep my variance down" or "I'm trapping everyone" or whatever it might be. I'm going to change that in the next session and play the WPT Boot Camp style again for sure. Win or lose it's better than what I did this weekend.
Hand 1 : I limp in with 3-3 in early position. Late position guy with a mountain of chips makes it $10. I call, and we see the flop 4 ways. Flop is Q-9-5 and it checks around. Turn is a 5, check around again. River, 3. Boom. I bet out $30, everyone folds.
Probably should have bet less. I was hoping (as I often do) to bet bigger and make it look like a bluff. But I don't know how well that's going to work in a situation where nobody has shown any interest in winning this pot. Probably should have just bet $15. Or even $8, hoping to induce a bluff raise or something. But $30 was just too much especially when nobody showed any interest in the pot, and nothing interesting hit on the river.
Hand 2 : Raise A-10 of clubs in early position (probably should just fold). Button makes it $40, I fold.
Hand 3 : I raise to $10 with 9-9 in early position. (Lot of early position hands, I'm noticing.) The big stack from hand 1 calls me. Flop comes 8-8-6. I bet out $15, he calls. Turn is a 7, giving me an open end straight draw and bringing backdoor spades. I bet $25. He raises me $40 more. I call. River is an ace. I check, he bets $65, I fold.
Overall I think I played this one OK. On the turn when he raises me, I'm getting 3.5 to 1 on my call. If I think all of my outs are good (8 straight outs, 2 full house outs) then I think I can definitely call. I also thought he could have had a draw or something, although he insta-raised me on the turn which seemed strong. Like there was nothing to think about - raise. The ace on the river really changed nothing, but I thought about it for a while and just figured it was much more likely that he had a strong hand than a bluff, and I folded. He didn't look particularly scared, and his actions suggested strength for sure.
Hand 4 : Guy raises to $11 in early position. 3 people call. I look down at Q-5 offsuit in the blind. I decide, thats a lot of dead money out there if I can get through the initial raiser. Unfortunately, that's where my thought process ended. I hadn't really seen this guy play that many hands. I raise to $50. He reraises all-in for $150 more, I fold. Yes, this one was pretty sketchy.
Hand 5 : New old guy at the table raises to $10. I reraise to $25 with J-J. He reraises again, just grabs a stack and puts it out there, probably $65+ more to call. I fold face up.
Hand 6 : VERY next hand I have Q-Q and raise to $15 after a couple limpers. Get 4 callers. Flop is A-J-x. 3 checks to me, and I bet $45. The blind calls. Turn is a king and we both check, and I give up on the blank river. A-2 offsuit takes it down.
Hand 7 : I raise with A-Q to $10 in middle position and a guy in position calls me. Flop is 9-8-5 with 2 clubs. Not the best flop. I bet $12, he calls. Turn is a 7, I give up, he bets $30 and takes it down.
Hand 8 : At this point I'm frustrated and planning on leaving when the blind hits me. I limp with 7-7 in early position. Couple others call, and this guy goes all-in out of the blind for $47. He had done this a ton of times before, like a bunch of hands in a row. However, he had not done it in quite a while, maybe an hour, and I neglected to acknowledge that fact. So out of frustration for whatever reason, I call. Everyone else folds. Flop is Q-J-x. Turn 7. Boom. Flip up the 7-7. River blank. He flips up pocket kings and walks away from the table. Haha. But it really just made me feel even worse about how I played. I got out of that one, but it was another bad call. And I should NOT be putting that much in preflop with 7-7 like that.
Overall, I think I ran pretty bad and didn't get much going with the hands I did have. However, my wife pointed out that on the Q-Q hand if I was playing the WPT Boot Camp style I would have just checked the flop and saved that money. And the Q-5 raise was not a good play. If I knew the guy was really loose, like if the big stack raised, maybe it would have been a great idea. But this tight guy raises and I reraise out of the blind, that's not a good idea. And then the 7-7 hand was a disaster. So overall I was not happy with how I played.
As I said in the last blog, I'm going back to the WPT Boot Camp style for my next session. Wish me luck! Oh, and I lost $250 this time. Not going well for my first couple sessions back, but I'll get it going.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
First session back
Red Rock, Saturday, July 13th - $1/$2 NL Hold'em
Went up to the Rock tonight and played for a little over 3 hours. This was my first NL session in a long time.
Overall it was pretty slow. The table was fine, nothing special though. Lot of regulars, although I don't think they are particularly good. I played super tight the whole time. A little passive in a couple hands too. Maybe it was a mistake, although I thought I had valid reasons for both hands where I played a little too passive. But it's up for debate.
Hand 1 : I limp with 6-5 of clubs in the cutoff. My wife raises on the button to 7. 3 people call and I call. Flop comes A-10-3 with 3 clubs. Boom, I flop a flush. Checks to me and I check. I'm thinking I'll let her bet and I'll trap some additional people in there, and put in a big raise. Unfortunately she checks.
Turn is another ace. The blind bets out $10. One guy calls, and I call. I definitely could raise, but I figure this guy has an ace. And the other guy either has an ace or something like the king of clubs. So I'll see a river, and I can figure out what to do next since I'm in position. If it's a club I can just fold. Otherwise maybe I can raise the river and get value from an ace. I've under-repped my hand for sure.
River is a king. The blind bets out $10 again. Now the next guy raises to $55.
I thought about it for a bit and called. The blind folded. This guy has A-10. Flopped top two, turned a boat. I feel like this one is just a cooler, although maybe I could get away from it. Not sure. I think I pretty much just have to call since I under-represented my hand so much. But at the same time, what is this guy raising with? Maybe an ace, especially since the guy bet so small. So I guess it's OK. But I don't know if most people are raising the river just with A-J or A-9 there.
Hand 2: Limped J8s on the button after 4 limpers. Flop 10-9-4. Guy bets out 10 in early position, I call. Turn is an ace. He checks, I check. River I miss, he checks and I check. He had 9-8.
This one was pretty weak. I could have raised the flop, but I was OK with just calling. On the turn though, after the guy checks, I think I really have to bet. I was trying to just lose as little as possible, but a bet of $17-$20 on the turn would likely take it down. And if he calls, I can still hit. Seems really unlikely he would be check-raising. So that was not good.
Hand 3 : I get pocket jacks on the button. My wife raises to $10 to my left. I decide to just call. I would raise pretty much everyone else, so that is a mistake already. 3 others call. Flop comes Q-9-x, it checks to me, and I check. Turn is a jack. Boom. One guy checks, lady bets $20. Folds to me. I decide to just call. River is a king. First guy leads for $50, lady calls, I fold. They have 9-10 and Q-10 respectively.
In retrospect, there's really no good reason to not raise that turn. At the time I was thinking I'll just slowplay a bit, and hopefully trap her for another bet on the river. The board wasn't super scary. And if she checks to me on the river, I can bet big and maybe get her to call. I had seen her snap off a bluff with a really weak hand earlier (snap off - more like make a terrible call and get lucky) so I figured she might do that with me too. But I don't even know if I thought that at the time or not.
Overall, at the time I thought I played this session fine. However, in retrospect I can see I'm just playing really passive even with my big hands, which is not great. In this situation I probably saved money, but that doesn't mean I played them right.
Talking to my wife about it this weekend, I think I'm going to go back to the WPT Boot Camp style of play that I was using for a while. There are some minor modifications I think I'd like to make to it, but overall I WAS winning playing that style. Even though I had some big downswings, I also had some huge sessions.
Lost $75 this session. I'll report about the next one soon!
I'm going to try to go back to my Tuesday/Thursday blog schedule while I'm playing a lot. I'm definitely going to get some more sessions in next weekend, and I have another blog lined up for Thursday already. Enjoy!
Went up to the Rock tonight and played for a little over 3 hours. This was my first NL session in a long time.
Overall it was pretty slow. The table was fine, nothing special though. Lot of regulars, although I don't think they are particularly good. I played super tight the whole time. A little passive in a couple hands too. Maybe it was a mistake, although I thought I had valid reasons for both hands where I played a little too passive. But it's up for debate.
Hand 1 : I limp with 6-5 of clubs in the cutoff. My wife raises on the button to 7. 3 people call and I call. Flop comes A-10-3 with 3 clubs. Boom, I flop a flush. Checks to me and I check. I'm thinking I'll let her bet and I'll trap some additional people in there, and put in a big raise. Unfortunately she checks.
Turn is another ace. The blind bets out $10. One guy calls, and I call. I definitely could raise, but I figure this guy has an ace. And the other guy either has an ace or something like the king of clubs. So I'll see a river, and I can figure out what to do next since I'm in position. If it's a club I can just fold. Otherwise maybe I can raise the river and get value from an ace. I've under-repped my hand for sure.
River is a king. The blind bets out $10 again. Now the next guy raises to $55.
I thought about it for a bit and called. The blind folded. This guy has A-10. Flopped top two, turned a boat. I feel like this one is just a cooler, although maybe I could get away from it. Not sure. I think I pretty much just have to call since I under-represented my hand so much. But at the same time, what is this guy raising with? Maybe an ace, especially since the guy bet so small. So I guess it's OK. But I don't know if most people are raising the river just with A-J or A-9 there.
Hand 2: Limped J8s on the button after 4 limpers. Flop 10-9-4. Guy bets out 10 in early position, I call. Turn is an ace. He checks, I check. River I miss, he checks and I check. He had 9-8.
This one was pretty weak. I could have raised the flop, but I was OK with just calling. On the turn though, after the guy checks, I think I really have to bet. I was trying to just lose as little as possible, but a bet of $17-$20 on the turn would likely take it down. And if he calls, I can still hit. Seems really unlikely he would be check-raising. So that was not good.
Hand 3 : I get pocket jacks on the button. My wife raises to $10 to my left. I decide to just call. I would raise pretty much everyone else, so that is a mistake already. 3 others call. Flop comes Q-9-x, it checks to me, and I check. Turn is a jack. Boom. One guy checks, lady bets $20. Folds to me. I decide to just call. River is a king. First guy leads for $50, lady calls, I fold. They have 9-10 and Q-10 respectively.
In retrospect, there's really no good reason to not raise that turn. At the time I was thinking I'll just slowplay a bit, and hopefully trap her for another bet on the river. The board wasn't super scary. And if she checks to me on the river, I can bet big and maybe get her to call. I had seen her snap off a bluff with a really weak hand earlier (snap off - more like make a terrible call and get lucky) so I figured she might do that with me too. But I don't even know if I thought that at the time or not.
Overall, at the time I thought I played this session fine. However, in retrospect I can see I'm just playing really passive even with my big hands, which is not great. In this situation I probably saved money, but that doesn't mean I played them right.
Talking to my wife about it this weekend, I think I'm going to go back to the WPT Boot Camp style of play that I was using for a while. There are some minor modifications I think I'd like to make to it, but overall I WAS winning playing that style. Even though I had some big downswings, I also had some huge sessions.
Lost $75 this session. I'll report about the next one soon!
I'm going to try to go back to my Tuesday/Thursday blog schedule while I'm playing a lot. I'm definitely going to get some more sessions in next weekend, and I have another blog lined up for Thursday already. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)