Week 4
I have decided to post another week of my experiences playing online while
I wait for suitable employment to present itself. To be perfectly honest,
I am loving this life. I get up with the kids, and make breakfast and
lunch for them. As soon as they leave I go back to bed for a few hours. I
get up around noon and play paradise 5/10 until 3:00 – 3:30. The kids get
home and I do any chores that need attending to. We have someone playing
soccer almost every night. I coach a Boys under 10 team and a girls under
8. So far the boys are 2-0 and the girls are 1-0. My daughter is quite a
strong player, and I love to watch her play. Once the younger kids are in
bed around 9:00 PM I sit down to play again. I usually have to fight with
my 15 year old for the computer except on weekends when she is nowhere to
be found. Luckily I have an old machine I can use when she is “chatting”.
My wife is studying to be a nurse and will write her exams in August. She
watches TV down here some nights an disappears to study on others. I’m
certainly getting more time with my family than I ever would have working
in town somewhere.
I got a check from Paradise today, it’s my first cashout since going
starting this adventure. It took a week to get to me, which is slow for
paradise. I have always got them within 72 hours before, but it was a
holiday weekend here in Canada so that may have something to do with it.
I haven’t had a losing day since my 1200 blow up 10 days ago. I started
off Sunday continuing the steady play. I posted a $220 win.
Monday was a holiday so I didn’t play during the afternoon. I managed to
sneak in an hour just before dinner when the yard work was done and the
kids were all off playing at friends. I had a small win a that time, then
a wild roller-coaster in the evening.
I always sit down with 300 at each table. If I get below 150 I will add
200 to it. On one of my tables I added 200 twice in the first hour. Hands
like this one contributed.
I got 99 in the cutoff. 3 limpers to me and I limped along too. Button and
both blinds played and 7 see the dream flop of Qh Qd 9d. I’m praying for
the flush to get there. There was a bet and 2 calls to me. No need to
slowplay now and I raised. 3 folds, a call, and then a raise. The raiser
is not a good player, but I can’t imagine he’s bluffing here, he must have
a Q. Cold call between us and I decide to just smooth call him. I wanted
to trap a few more and raise the more expensive street. I don’t know if
that’s right or not. 4 of us see the turn for 3 bets each. Turn is the A
of diamonds which is perfect. Two checks to the cold caller and he bets.
There’s the flush. I call, again trying to keep some more players in. One
call behind me, then a check-raise from the bad player. (He has Q7, I
can’t imagine raising here is good). Called in between us and I 3-bet it.
One fold and 2 calls. River is a seemingly benign 7. yep. Checked to me
and I bet, get raised by the better full house, and we both call. The 3rd
guy had Q8. I still think the pot would have been smaller if I had raised
every opportunity I had. Oh well.
So I’m down around $450 on this table, and hitting everything on the
other. This was the first huge rush I’d had since the previous Monday
(Maybe Monday is my night). I got up over 700 at one point. So when the
dust settled I had another good night + $551.
Tuesday
Played 3 hours in the afternoon and ended up exactly even. It has occurred
to me that the biggest weakness in many of my opponents games is their
inability to let a chance to bet go by, even if they have nothing. If it’s
checked to them they are going to bet. It makes playing the blinds so much
easier because you get so many chances to check-raise and drive out the
borderline hands that might outdraw your pair of 8’s. There is too much
macho in a lot of these players and taking advantage of them sure helps me
win a few pots a night.
Tonight I watched American Idol with the kids (I’m betting on Clay). You
know there aren’t many shows on TV an entire family can watch, but we like
this one. When I finally sat down I proceeded to lose $350 in 30 minutes.
I don’t ever recall seeing it go so fast. Two flopped sets that got run
down, and several draws that didn’t get there. A big hole to climb out of.
But the rush hit shortly there after and I found myself up over $400 at
one point before finishing the night up $273. Already up $1,050 for the
week.
Here are some hands from tonight. This first one is a questionable play I
will admit to making all the time. The dreaded cold call. I do it with
medium pairs and suited broadway cards. I know we’re not supposed to, but
I seem to have a lot of success with it. I welcome comments. UTG raises.
This guy has raised with 64s and J2s in the last hour. But to be honest I
probably make this call even if eMark makes the raise. I’m hoping for a
bunch of callers, and if I don’t get them at least I have position. I have
Jd Td in MP and I call. A month ago I would have expected the calling
frenzy to begin behind me. That used to happen a lot. I have found lately
that my games have tightened up. I don’t know if people are respecting me
more because of all the attention I’m getting from the posts (I get 2 or 3
observers saying hello almost every night now, it’s very cool) or just a
coincidence, but I am winning a lot of blinds with EP raises, and now my
cold calls aren’t setting off the multiple calls I want either. Strategy
changes are required I guess. Anyway, to my chagrin we are heads up.
Flop is Ah Jh Tc. Sweet. He checks the flop, which really surprises me.
I’m a little afraid of AA now. I bet and he calls. Turn is the Th. He
checks again and I bet again. He check-raises me. OK has he made his
flush, does he have AA or his he just messing with me? As an aside, I am
always amazed at how many times I am bluff-raised heads up at paradise.
Maybe I’m too stupid to fold, but I have to have nothing to fold here. I
bet I make an extra $100 a day on bluff raises. Of course I probably pay
off just as much in real hands. Oh well. I decided to raise once more and
see and he just called. Phew. He’d bet his AA here. River brings the 3h,
putting 4 hearts on board and he calls my bet. He had KQs for a flopped
straight.
So I’m interested in comments on the cold call. I am going to be honest I
do it all the time with hands like this and QJs or even KJs. Is this a big
leak? I can afford to fold on the flop 6 times for every one of those
hands I win, and quite often the pots are much bigger if youcan get the 3
more cold callers behind you.
Here’s part of my game that has really improved, hand reading. Until
recently I would never have folded top pair on the flop.
I get a free play in the BB with Ks Ts. 6 of us see the flop.
*** FLOP *** : [ Qd Kh 8h ]
I check. I don’t think I can thin the field much by betting out here, so I
gamble and hope for a late position bet. Unfortunately there is a bet and
2 calls before it gets back to me. I’m a little worried about KJ now, but
I call. Everyone behind me calls too and still 6 see the turn.
*** TURN *** : [ Qd Kh 8h ] [ 6c ]
I check again to see how it plays out. Same guy bets, and the player next
to him raises. One fold to me, and I folded my top pair. I got a comment
last week saying I might be too willing to lay down a hand. What do you
think? I can’t imagine I’m best here.
Turned out the raises had 8 6 so I might have odds to stay. The bettor had
AJ and got there with a T on the river.
Wednesday
The winning streak is over. After 13 straight winning days I lost $433
today. I think Wednesday must be my unlucky day. I dropped $270 in the
afternoon session and another $160 tonight. I’m most upset about tonight.
I played like a fish, paying off hopeless rivers again and again. I had
one of those days, we all have them. I got big slick about a hundred
times. I raised with it every chance I got. If I hit, I got raised on the
turn, and if I missed I was bet into. When I raised with AA everyone
folded. I felt like my cards were face up today. It happens. But There was
no need for me to keep calling those turn raises and paying off the river
too. I didn’t catch anyone bluffing.
If I was going to give advice to new players trying to learn the game I
would tell them to approach it in stages. Eventually you will have AA
against KK, and KK against AA. You’ll flop sets, and they’ll be flopped
against you. Step 1 in becoming a winning player is making sure that on
your fair share of winning hands, you win the max, and on your losing
hands you lose the least. Doing that properly will make the difference
between a loser and a winner. I think I max my wins pretty well. And when
I’m running well I do allright with the minimizing losses. But on days
like today, I lose it. I can’t believe my big hand has been cracked again,
even though the evidence is right there in front of you. And I keep paying
off. No one in the world could have won money with my cards today. But I
should have lost around $300. That’s $130 I won’t have at the end of the
week. I need to do better.
For what it’s worth I think the 2nd stage to go through is winning more
than your fair share of hands with selective semi-bluffs and strategic
raising to force out hands that could beat you later in the hand.
Following the WSOP as closely as I can. Looking forward to reading day 3
results tomorrow morning and watching Annika play with the boys. I’m up
$613 for the week.
Thursday
Well the afternoon session was everything yesterday was not. I got great
cards, and was hardly ever raised. Just call call call. I love that. Up
$775 in 3 ½ hours. I won 15% of the hands I played (400 hands), and won
50% of the time I saw the flop. Incredible numbers, Just a pure card rush.
Here is a hand I won, but I am not sure I should have been there by the
river. What do you think.
Decent player raises from MP and I just call from the button with Ah Kh.
AKo I would 3 bet, but I don’t mind keeping the blinds in here with the
big suiteds. SB folds, but BB 3 bets. MP calls and I just call. In
hindsight I probably should have capped here now that they’re both
committed.
*** FLOP *** : [ Ts 4c Qd ]
BB bets and MP raises. If my A or K are good then my call here is fine,
but that is pretty unlikely isn’t it? I don’t think I have odds to call
for just the J, 6.5 to 1 on an 11-1 shot, but I called anyway.
*** TURN *** : [ Ts 4c Qd ] [ Jh ]
Beautiful. Bet and a call to me and I raise. They both call.
*** RIVER *** : [ Ts 4c Qd Jh ] [ Th ]
Uh oh. Two checks to me and I bet. One call only (SB) and I’m good. He had
KK. SO my A was good against him, but it’s possible MP had AQ. Still not
sure about the flop call. Of course the action I got when the J hit
justified it. Hard to calculate that.
Yesterday I mentioned a second stage of improving play was to steal some
pots you don’t deserve. Here’s one I stole today.
UTG (an unpredictable generally weak player) limps. I am in MP with 4h 3h.
I would like one more limper, but the table has been passive so I take a
flyer and limp along. Button and BB come along.
*** FLOP *** : [ 2c 9s 8c ]
It gets checked around.
*** TURN *** : [ 2c 9s 8c ] [ 5h ]
Checked to me, I bet my open ender and they all fold.
That’s 2 bb’s right there. Quite often there are times where no one seems
to want the pot. Doing that twice a night can certainly add to your
profits.
When it rains, it pours. I added another $475 tonight to make a $1250 day.
Interesting night. No massive rush of cards. I’d win a couple of hands,
then nothing playable for several rounds. Then go through the cycle again.
Just a slow and steady gain all night.
Before I get into any hands I have to brag, my daughter scored 6 goals in
her soccer game tonight. We go for ice cream when she scores, I think I
need to take out a Baskin and Robbins franchise, it’ll be cheaper. My wife
told me today that she can tell if I had a winning night by the time I
come to bed. If it’s after 3:00 AM she knows I’ve lost and I stayed up
trying to get even. If it’s before, then I quit on time with a win. I
think there’s a message in there for me….stop chasing.
AT is a tricky hand to play. I’ve given up playing it in the first 3
positions, but in this hand I got it in the BB, 2 limpers and a button
raise. This is a hard decision for me. Heads up against an UTG raise I
will let this go, but now the pot odds are better, and button raisers can
mean so many different hands. So I called.
*** FLOP *** : [ 9s Jc 8h ]
Very nice for me. I check, EP bets, MP calls, button calls, and I call. I
think I should have raised here though and build the pot. The only problem
is a Q doesn’t give me the nuts.
*** TURN *** : [ 9s Jc 8h ] [ Ac ]
Hmm. Now where am I? I check, EP bets, MP folds and button calls. Again I
could raise. I don’t think the button has a big Ace or he would have
raised, but EP could have QT or 98, so I just call again.
*** RIVER *** : [ 9s Jc 8h Ac ] [ 3h ]
I check, and it gets checked around. My hand was good. EP had 9c 2c, and
button had QQ. So I won a $89 pot, but my position and the uncertainty of
my A being good kept the pot much smaller than it could have been. Still
don’t know if that’s a good call from the BB or not.
A very poorly played Isolation raise. I don’t do this very often, and
you’ll see why. An extremely loose raiser raises in EP. My notes have him
raising T8s, 33, Q7s etc. Everyone folds to me on the button with 88. I
decide I don’t want the blinds playing so I raise. I think it’s a good
play, I’m just not used to making it. The BB calls though, as does the
raiser.
*** FLOP *** : [ 6h Kh 2s ]
Checked to me, I bet and they both call.
*** TURN *** : [ 6h Kh 2s ] [ Ac ]
Checked to me again, and I bailed out and checked. I have to bet here. I
have represented a big hand, and this board would scare even QQ I think.
With the 3 bet pre-flop they are going to see the turn on almost anything.
*** RIVER *** : [ 6h Kh 2s Ac ] [ 5d ]
Checked to me again and I checked again. I don’t think it’s worth betting
here now, I’ve already showed weakness. BB had Td 6d (You have to love him
in your game) and EP had 99. I think I should have won this pot. I don’t
believe he calls to showdown, but maybe I’m wrong.
Hand reading …Good.
When you’re running well you can make these folds. One limper to me in MP
and I have Kc Tc. I limp too. Raised on the button, both blinds, EP and I
call. 5 see the flop.
*** FLOP *** : [ 5h 5c Td ]
Checked to EP who bets, and I raise. I think you have to raise here and
pay attention to what happens. Button and SB fold, but BB calls 2 cold
(alarm bells ringing, there are no draws here. He has a T, a 5 or a pocket
pair). The EP calls.
*** TURN *** : [ 5h 5c Td ] [ 6h ]
BB checks, and EP bets again. I thought as long as they’d let me and I
folded. I could not think of a hand EP would play like this that I could
beat, plus the BB still worries me. I hate folding top pair good kicker,
but I think this is a good fold. On my bad day the day before I called to
the rive on a hand like this only to be shown the trips I knew I’d see. On
this hand the EP had 66 and turned the full house. BB called him down with
AT. I was doomed. $20 saved, and it spends just as well as $20 won.
Getting lucky
EP raises, and there are 2 cold calls. I am in the BB with Jc 7c and I
call. I’m getting 7 to 1 which is enough to make the call for the flush
alone.
*** FLOP *** : [ 5s 6s Jh ]
I bet here. I get called in EP and MP and raised in LP. We all call.
*** TURN *** : [ 5s 6s Jh ] [ 4d ]
I’m afraid the raise was an attempt at a free card, which could be
disastrous for me, my pair is pretty tenuous, so I bet again. Two folds
and a call from LP. No spade, no spade.
*** RIVER *** : [ 5s 6s Jh 4d ] [ 3h ]
I decide to check, because if he’s truly on a spade draw he won’t call, so
maybe I can induce a bluff. Sure enough he bets. Only now did I notice I
made a straight. I had missed it completely. I raised and he called. He
had JJ for a flopped set. Ouch. Better to be lucky than good. I went to
bed shortly after this one.
Friday
Afternoon I just played a very short 1 ½ hour session. Got nothing in the
way of cards, but won a nice pot right at the end of the session to end up
down only $25. One hand I found interesting.
I have Jh 8h in the BB. 3 limpers and the SB raises. I think he’s a good
player, but predictable. I call as do all the limpers.
*** FLOP *** : [ 8c Qd 6c ]
SB checks. He wouldn’t check with a pair. I bet my middle pair, one fold
but 3 calls.
*** TURN *** : [ 8c Qd 6c ] [ Kh ]
Sb checks. I’m worried he has AK and I check too. This is probably weak.
MP bets, LP folds and SB calls. I fold too.
*** RIVER *** : [ 8c Qd 6c Kh ] [ 5c ]
It gets checked around.
SB had AT (I’m rethinking my opinion of him, I hate that play from the
SB), and the MP wins with 6s 3s. So I folded a winner, but given the
circumstances I don’t think it was terrible. The guy that won the pot is a
big time loser so I don’t want to be too results oriented here.
Fri Night. An absolute Roller Coaster of an evening. I lost $200 on my
first orbit. Two huge hands beaten by flushes on the river, then 2 draws
that didn’t get there. I finally got a seat at a second table and within
an hour I was down 310 on the first table, and up 315 on the second. I had
to go pick my daughter up around 11:30 and came back to two new tables,
even for the night. I quickly got up $400, then gave it all back in a card
dead hour. Ended up down $7 for the night and $32 for the day.
When Slowplaying goes bad. I used to slowplay way too much. I thought I
was cured of it. Here I risked a nice raised pre-flop pot by smooth
calling. Look what happened. Two limpers to me in LP and I raise with Ac
Jc. BB calls as do the two limpers.
*** FLOP *** : [ Qc 5c Tc ]
Can you say “Nuts”. Two checks and the guy on my right bets into me. I
just call. Hehehe. BB calls, EP folds.
*** TURN *** : [ Qc 5c Tc ] [ 2h ]
Again he bets into me, and again I cleverly smooth call to keep the BB in.
He calls too. Yippee, my plan is working.
*** RIVER *** : [ Qc 5c Tc 2h ] [ 5h ]
Well I don’t like it, but I’m not that worried about it. Check, bet and
finally I put the hammer down. BB folds, no wait a minute he raises me.
What?? Other guy folds. He couldn’t could he? I would have heard from QQ,
TT or 55 by now. A5 maybe. Should I raise? I just call. He has 52 sooted.
So raising the flop would have dropped him, raising the turn would have
made him pay more for his draw, but do I really want them to fold with a
hand like mine. I think his odds were pretty long.
WSOP is down to 3 players. I’m trying to follow it on Poker Pages. I can’t
imagine playing under that pressure. Wow.
Saturday.
In honor of the WSOP I played 2 1 table no-limit tournies. I do quite well
on the low limit tourneys at paradise, mostly because there seem to be 4
players that have no idea how to play. When I’ve tried the multi table
tournaments at Pokerstars I’ve gotten nowhere, but I’ll try the next King
of the Zoo again in a couple of weeks. I managed only a 3rd in one of the
tournaments.
Played 4 hours tonight and posted a $246 win (Including being down $37 on
the tournaments). My concentration was good tonight, I made some good
river bets, but paid off a couple of hands I shouldn’t have. That puts me
up $2,075 for the week, another successful week. I keep waiting for the
bubble to burst, but so far so good. This coming week will be a challenge
to get the hours in. I have a cousin getting married next Saturday, and
all my family from Montreal is coming to stay with us. That will make
playing Friday and Saturday tough. I’m glad I’ve had two good weeks to pad
the bankroll in case I come up short 15 hours or so this week.
This is a humourous hand from tonight. I’ve never seen anything quite like
it.
UTG open raises. I am next to act and I 3 bet with QQ. MP cold calls 3,
and so does the button. Both blinds fold, and utg caps it. We all call.
*** FLOP *** : [ 2h 6s Kd ]
utg checks. I smell a slowplay and I check behind waiting to see how he
reacts to the inevitable bet. It gets checked around.
*** TURN *** : [ 2h 6s Kd ] [ Ah ]
Yuck. Utg checks again. Now I think he probably does have a smaller pair
than me, but there are 2 people behind me to act. I check, and so do both
of them. 4 bet pre-flop, 4 players, now checked around twice.
*** RIVER *** : [ 2h 6s Kd Ah ] [ 5s ]
Checked around again to the button who bets. Everyone calls…lol.
Button had 65s, the 2 free cards sure helped him. Utg had TT, and 1st cold
caller had ATo. I was ahead after the flop, but I doubt the flop bet would
have won it for me, but who knows.
Week 5
Sunday.
Starting my 5th week of playing full time. Still no concrete job
opportunities so lets hope the good results continue. I think I played as
well as I can tonight. I didn’t start until late because I was helping my
wife with her resume until pretty late, and when I sat down I quickly lost
$200. for the next 3 hours I hovered between -100 and -300. It seemed
every hand went like this one.
I have Kh Qc in the BB. UTG limps, and the SB completes. I just call.
Flop Ks Td 5s
SB checks, I bet and they both call.
Turn [Ks Td 5s] Qh
Again I bet and they both call.
River [Ks Td 5s Qh] 9s
SB bets, I fold and the UTG calls. SB had the flush and UTG had T9. Every
time I made a hand, the board would have flush and straight written all
over it. I won only 9% of the hands I played tonight, which usually means
a break even night at best. But in the last half hour before quitting, I
got hot. Won several big pots and ended up with a $209 win. I’m pleased
with the patience I showed, both in waiting for the cards to come, and
laying down obvious losers, again and again and again. On to tomorrow.
Monday
Maybe I’m just a slow learner. So many of the concepts I have read about
are only now becoming clear to me. There is no doubt that playing as many
hands as I have in the past month has improved my game. One of the
concepts that has only recently become clear to me is the concept of
manipulating pot size and field size. For example, AKo has always been a
raise for me no matter what. Lately though, in late position or the
blinds, with a large field I just limp along. There is no way to limit the
field at this point so the raise doesn’t help there, and although it makes
the pot bigger when I hit, it also gives everyone odds to chase their
gutshots and bottom pairs. On the other hand, a hand like ATs on the
button would have been a call for me after limpers, now I find myself
raising it. If the flush comes, I will get chased. You do have to be
careful though when you flop top pair only though. I am also much more
likely to 3 bet a middle pair hand or AKo in order to try and get heads
up, where my hand stands a much better chance of winning unimproved. All
these things David and Mason tried to teach me are slowly starting to make
sense, and money.
Hard to get into a rhythm in the afternoon session. A contractor came by
45 minutes in to the session to talk about some work we need done, then I
got 2 calls about possible contracts. One is just a couple of days with
someone I’ve worked with before, the other is for 6 months, but at a
reduced rate from what I’m used to. I was pretty much even until half an
hour before quitting when the rush hit. I ended up +$320 for the session.
TT from early position is a hand I’m struggling with . It seems if I’m
called, I’m in big trouble unless I flop the set. I always raise it and
I’m wondering if I should consider limping with it. I guess it needs to be
part o an overall strategy though. If the game is tight and I’m likely to
win the blinds with it I’ll keep raising, but those games with lots of
callers I need to think about limping more I think. Although the presence
of lots of callers makes it worth raising for when you make your set.
Hmmm. Tough hand.
Evening. The downside of Internet Poker. It requires communications.
Sometimes they don’t communicate. I experienced both sides of it
yesterday. For those of you who don’t play online, if you lose contact
with the poker site, you are considered all-in for that hand. This does
leave some room for abuse. Imagine you are holding an overpair and have
been leading the betting, and a scare card comes on the turn, and you’re
bet into by a habitual bluffer. You’ll have to pay 2 more big bets to get
to the showdown. So you turn off your computer. The system will put you
all in and you can play for the pot as it is now without paying the last 2
BB’s. I’m not saying it happens a lot, but it does happen. Of course most
of the time it is a legitimate disconnect, as happened to me yesterday. In
a multiway, raised pot I had 87s in the BB. The flop came 8 high and I bet
out. A player in EP timed out and was put all-in. two people called and
when a 2 turned I bet again and they both folded. The river brought a Q,
and the all-in guy had QT and took th elions share of the pot. I don’t
believe he would have still been there except for the all-in.
Then later on in the evening I raised pre-flop from LP with Th 9h and got
called from the big blind, Flop came Kxx and I bet and got called. Turn
didn’t help me and was checked around. A t came on the river, I was bet
into and I clicked call. My system just froze. It never came back up. I
still don’t know what happened, although I assume I lost that hand. I
called my service provider 20 minutes later to hear a message saying they
were servicing the network and to expect periodic outages. I lay down on
the couch and fell asleep. I woke up 2 hours later and I was still down so
I went to bed. Up $70 for the evening and $390 for the day.
Interesting hand. I get a free play from the BB with 7h 5s. 3 limpers to
me and 4 see the flop.
Flop 6s 8d 2s
I bet my open ender and get called twice then raised. I call and so does
everyone else.
Turn [6s 8d 2s] 4h
I’ve got the nuts. How do you maximize this? I chose to play it straight
forward and bet. Two folds to the flop raiser, who raises again. I 3 bet
and he called.
River [6s 8d 2s 4h] Qc
I bet and get called. He had Ks 8s.
I wonder if I could have kept the two others in by check calling on the
turn, but my play was probably the best.
Tuesday
Strange day. My body clock is all off since I got all the extra sleep last
night. Didn’t go back to bed this morning, I played instead. Only one 5/10
game going so I played some 3/6 too. I won at 3/6 and lost at 5/10.
Decided to play a tournament just for some variety. Joined a Pokerstars
$20 NL tournament with 180 players. Got no cards. I mean none. I played
for 2 hours and the biggest pair I got was 88 and the biggest A I saw was
AJ. The AJ hand won me a nice pot and I won a pot with J9 from the BB.
That was it. I managed to just hang on for 8 rounds but when the antes
forced me to play I got it all in with 22 in the SB against a button
raiser with A5. He flopped a 5 and turned a 5. That was it. Back to
Paradise after lunch. Again played 3/6 waiting for a seat at 5/10. Won
$150 at 3/6 before getting 2 5/10 tables going. I won a $270 pot with a
flopped straight against a set and AA, but still managed to lose $280 in
45 minutes. Wow. Twice I raised the river with the 2nd nuts only to be
shown the nuts. I saw 5 sets against me in that same time frame. Glad to
call it quits for the afternoon.
On the plus side I’ve got 2 days of work for next week and an Interview
for a 6 month contract. Going to cut into my hours next week.
Tuesday night. Tuesday sucked. We lost our first soccer game of the season
(boys), when I got home there was a message from my bank. I’ve ben
negotiating to change banks for my mortgage. It seems that it doesn’t
expire until next year though, I was looking at the wrong statement. It’ll
cost me $2,400 to break it now. Then the poker picked up right where I
left off in the afternoon. Absolutely card dead, and when I did get a
hand, I either won the blinds or got beat. I was down over 400 when
midnight came, then poof, Wednesday was another day. One of the regulars
who lurks here joined both tables I was playing at (he knows where the
fish swim), and asked how I was doing. As I complained about the bad day,
the deck hit me in the face. Within an hour I was up for the day. Ended up
+ 245 for the night, and + 114 for the day.
I played a little 8/16 tonight. A table started and the flop % was
unbelievably high. One player was the reason. I played about 3 orbits, got
involved in two hands with the guy, won around $150. He went broke and
immediately the table tightened right up and I left. That is a part of my
game that didn’t exist 3 months ago. Recognizing tables where you aren’t a
big favorite, and no one will pay you off even if you do hit.
Wednesday
Lot’s of non-poker action today. I have an interview set up for Monday for
a 6 month contract, and I got a call about a full time position that they
want me to start Monday. Yuck. I’m having too much fun playing poker. A
month ago I would have jumped at the chance to do either, and now I’m not
really considering the full time job.
Poker wise I started off real slow again. For the 4th straight session I
got killed right off the bat. I never really dug out of it and ended up
down $140.
At night again I dropped $150 in the first hour before leaving that table.
Then finally seemed to get in a groove. I won steadily for the next 3
hours and ended the day + $300. Almost a 600 dollar swing.
I made a couple of very good calls tonight. The first was against an
unknown player which makes it really hard to decide. I raised an EP limper
with Ac Jc. Everyone folded back to him. Flop was 662. He checked I bet
and he called. Turn was a T, no flush draw. He checked, I bet and he
raised. In the 30 seconds I have I checked my notes to see I had nothing
on him. I tried to put him on a hand he could play like this and it was
either a bluff or he had a 6. I decided to pay off a 6. He bet the river
too which was an 8 and I called. He showed a Js 5s for a complete bluff,
and pretty bad starting standards.
The second call was against a known bluffer which made it much easier to
call. He had raised 86s and J9o already in this session. He raised from
the button first in and I 3 bet with A4o. I bet the flop which was Q 9 3,
and he raised. I called. Turn was a J, check bet call, and the river was
another 3. He bet again and I called. He had 86o. So two big pots with
unimproved A’s. Maybe I was just lucky, but I like to think it was good
reads on opponents or situations.
I did something I’ve never done before tonight, I folded TT on the button
pre-flop. There was a raise from a solid player and a 3 bet from a new
player beside him. I folded reluctantly. Flop came Q high and they both
checked. Turn was checked as well, and when a K rivered the 3-bettor bet
and took it without a showdown. Good laydown? Probably.
I believe playing to your opponents is the real challenge in poker. Heres
a huge pot I won, that I probably played very poorly if I had strong
opponents. In my opinion it’s pretty easy to tell I have a monster on the
turn. Yet I got paid off by 2 players with relatively weak hands.
I have 99 in the BB. UTG (2+2’er Utah) raises, gets called on his left,
button and in the SB. I complete.
Flop Ad 9s 6h
SB checks and I check too. Utah bets, EP folds and button raises. SB
calls, and against a strong field I would raise right here. But I smooth
call, and Utah calls too.
Turn [Ad 9s 6h] 4d.
Again I check, the button bets and the SB calls. Now I raise. Utah
recognizes the hand and folds (good 2+2’er read), but I get called by both
the others.(remember this when you see their hands). River brings another
4 filling me up, I bet and they both call.
Button had TT, and SB had……………A2o. How could they pay me off? Oh well, I
guess the moral is find these guys and play against them.
Finally a BB hand that I wondered about. Button raises (TT guy from
before) and I call with T8o. Flop is K98 rainbow. I checked my bottom
pair, he bet and I called. In situations like this I usually go into
check-call mode with top pair, because I don’t want worse hands to fold,
but with bottom pair I think I have to raise here. Anyway the turn was
another 9, which I think is good for me, but again I check call. River is
a 7 and he bets again. I think the river bet probably means I’m beat but I
call anyway and he shows 77 and hit his 2 outer. Is this just bad luck or
should I have driven him out earlier? I think the real crime would have
been letting him hit an overcard on the river because I didn’t raise that
flop. Oh well. Up $1,012 for the week.
Thursday. I only played 45 minutes this afternoon. Getting the house ready
for company this weekend. But I played a real interesting hand against
2+2’er Rigoletto. Yesterday I posted a hand I played one way because of
the low caliber of opposition. This one I played specifically because I
know how good he is, and how capable he is of making a laydown.
UTG limps. Rigoletto (Who is up around 1,000 already) limps too. (That’s
an important consideration in the way I played the hand). 1 MP call and
the SB completes. I check the BB with Ac 9s.
Flop Qc 8c 3c.
Checked to UTG who bets. Rigoletto raises. Folded to me. Here’s my thought
process. He doesn’t raise with the flush here. Even if he has it, he knows
it’s not the nut because I have the A. He limped preflop so I don’t put
him on AQ. SO I think he’s got a weak Q (QJ maybe with the Jc, or the Kc
with anything). I 3 bet. If he has the hand I think he does, I believe he
can lay it down, if not here, then on the turn. UTG folds and he raises me
again. OK maybe he’s stronger than I think, or maybe he wants the free
card for the turn. In either case I can’t believe he can raise my turn bet
without the nut flush.
Turn [Qc 8c 3c] 6h
I bet out continuing the semi bluff. I still think he’s capable of laying
it down here if I can convince him I’ve got the nuts. He thinks a long
time (I thought he was thinking about foding, he was actually thinking
about raising). He calls.
River [Qc 8c 3c 6h As]
Hmm. I hadn’t decided if I would continue the bluff on the river. I think
I would have had to, because there’s no way I was winning unless he
folded, but now I have a showdownable hand. I check, he checks and my A’s
were good. He had KK (Kc too). In a million years I wouldn’t have put him
on that. I’ve never limped behind a limper in EP with KK or AA. I don’t
like the play but I’m willing to listen to the merits of it.
I was up $99 for my 45 minutes.
Evening. I’m not feeling very well tonight. I thought it was allergies,
but now I’m reconsidering. Christ what a lousy time to get sick. My house
is about to fill up with visitors. My daughter scored 2 more goals (first
5 minutes of the game) in her soccer game tonight. I quickly put her in
goal and on defence for the rest of the game. She’s not very good at
either of those positions so it will do her some good. I don’t know what
it is about her, she’s not the fastest, not the strongest kicker, but what
a nose for the net.
I played for 4 hours tonight at two crazy tables. The insults were flying,
tempers were frayed. It was a great game. I won another $485 to make it
$584 for the day and $1595 for the week. I am almost certain I will be
offered a job next week, and I really don’t wan tot take it. I am loving
this life right now and it would make for a great summer. But I think with
4 kids and a wife not working it would be pretty irresponsible to turn
down guaranteed income, when I can still play 20-25 hours a week anyway.
Here’s a hand I goofed on.
First 2 in limp and I limped too with Ac Tc. 2 more limpers and the BB
play.
Flop 9h 8s 7d
3 checks to me so I bet my open ender with an A overcard (I don’t think I
can count on the T being good). 2 folds and 3 calls.
Turn [9h 8s 7d] 3h
Again checked to me and I bet. Mistake number 1. I know I should check
here. This bet will not win me the pot so It’s not a valid semi-bluff. I
have nothing but a prayer right now. Raised by the last guy before the
button. One fold and a 3 bet on my right. I immediately worried that I
might be drawing only for a split. I folded. Bet you can guess the rest.
River [9h 8s 7d 3h] Jh
7c 3c and 9c 8c were the two hands. Wild how all 3 of us were on clubs.
Friday
Very little poker today. Preparing for company took up most of the day,
and I’m stillnot feeling well. Played for 1 ½ hours in the afternoon.
Again down big early (around $200) but fought back to post a $24 win.
My eldest daughter was in the school production of Oliver tonight. My Mom
arrived this afternoon and she came with us. The show was fantastic. There
is a lot of talent in our young people. Played for only 2 hours tonight
and again (for about the 6th session out of 7) I lost big on the first
orbit. This time I couldn’t recover. Lost $221 for the day. Going to a
wedding tomorrow so I don’t think I’ll be playing. This could bring an end
to my brief professional career. I have two interviews on Monday and 2
days of contract work on Tuesday and Wednesday so I sure won’t be able to
put in the hours next week. And I suspect I will accept one of the jobs (I
hate having to be responsible) and will probably start the week after
that.
I’ll keep a log next week too just in case. Thanks for all the nice
comments I’ve received, and I love when people say hi at the tables. Good
luck to everyone. For anyone keeping track I am up almost exactly $9,000
for the 5 weeks.
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