Week 10
The experiment is all but over. Another horrible night has left me in a
very bad position. The bankroll can’t withstand another week of this. I am
going to have to find a real paying job very quickly or dip into long term
savings. I’ve only had 3 winning days in the last 17 days. My confidence
is shattered and I’m doubting everything. I keep waiting for one of those
days where the deck hits me in the face instead of kicking me in the ass.
I’m blaming Party for this. I decided to take a break from paradise and
was up $60 for my first hour when the Party servers crashed…again. So I
went over to paradise and got into a good 8/16 game and a 5/10. At the
5/10 the guy on my left was horrible. Truly awful. And he took me for $250
in 2 orbits. AK losing to A3. QQ losing to J4s (remember he’s on my left
and calling my raises with these hands), and the coup de grace, my AQs
(which made a flush on the turn) losing to T8o when he made a boat on the
river. I ended up at 2 good 8/16 games and down over $1200 within 90
minutes. I had won 6% of my first 200 hands, and 17% when I saw the flop.
10% of my showdowns etc. It was awful. Luckily I did go on a run, I was
just too far down to get even. In fact once again I should have quit when
the 1st 8/16 game broke around 4:00 AM because I was only down $500 then.
In the last 2 orbits I played I came 2nd in 3 heads up hands and gave back
a couple more c notes. Ended up down $700 at paradise. 8/16 is out for me
now. I can’t afford any more days like that.
The one hand that helped save my night and started my comeback. UTG raises
and gets 3 cold callers. I’m in the SB with 99 and I call too. BB plays as
well and 6 see the flop. Flop is 4 4 8 rainbow. UTG bets and gets called
twice, then my buddy Looba raises from the button. He would make this play
with an 8 so I 3 bet to see if maybe I can get heads up with him. BB calls
all 3 (Spider sense tingling), UTG calls too, 2 folds and Looba calls too.
OK there is no way I’m ahead and I’m done with this hand. Turn is a 9.
Yippee!! I bet, and all 3 call me. River is a 6, and I bet again. BB
raises (Yep there’s the 4 and if I’m lucky its 64 or 84) UTG calls 2 more,
Looba folds (JJ he told me later) and I 3 bet it. They both call. BB had
A4 and UTG had TT. Biggest pot I’ve ever won $413.
I’ve gotten a lot of supportive words and advice from everyone and I’m
reading it all searching for an answer. Again, I’m probably not playing my
best, but I’m not playing bad enough to justify these losses. I am getting
cold decked like crazy. I had AK against AA 3 times last night and flopped
an A or K every time. You can’t put that down heads up. I had KK vs AA and
on and on. Rigoletto suggested I’ve gotten too loose pre-flop, but I don’t
think that’s it. If anything I’ve tightened up, but I am probably going
too far post flop with 2nd best hands. I seem to flop 2nd pair every time.
Of course top pair is always out there. Then I laid down a $285 winner
(AT) because of the betting and saw KT beat 99 on a board of QJTxx. Timing
is everything and right now I’m making the wrong moves every time. I think
I’ll concentrate on Party again for a couple of days and see what happens.
Wednesday
And the beat goes on. I tried a suggestion I was given from a poster and
played 3 3/6 games at Party this afternoon. The thought being there are
lots more bad players in the 3/6 games. I didn’t have any problems
following the 3 games so that was good. But my luck was still bad. You
can’t get anyone to fold in these games even to 2 or 3 bets on the flop.
Everyone wants to see the turn. So if your hand holds up you really get
paid, but of course you get run down a lot, and I did. I was up for most
of the session, then in the last ½ hour I played, I had a terrible run. KK
cracked twice, and a couple of draws that didn’t get there and a small win
turned into a $250 loss.
Evening
Again I got off to a better start playing 2 5/10 games at Party. Strangely
enough it was free plays from the BB that put me ahead. 75o flopped a
straight and T3o flopped trips and turned to a boat . On both hands I got
raised on the turn and made a nice profit. Then for 2 hours I just hovered
between up $100 and $150. Then the curse hit me again. In half an hour I
lost my entire buy in on one table. Because my Party bankroll is so
limited (and I can’t replenish it now) I just played down to my all-in
(Where I made 2 pair but lost to a bigger 2 pair). Maybe I’m not folding
early enough but can you fold this hand? 4 limpers to me on the button
with Ac 4c. I limp too. Flop is A J 4 rainbow, no club. Checked to MP who
bets. I raise, he re-raises and I just call. We are heads up. He bets the
last two streets and I just call. He had AJ. This has happened to me again
and again. I just can’t see how I could have saved any money. Fortunately
on my other table (Where 2+2’er Jim Easton was on my right) we had the
maniac of all maniacs. He was playing loose for the entire session, but
all of a sudden he snapped and started raising every time the play was on
him. Every street. With nothing. I was fortunate enough to win 4 pots
during this run where the pots would be around $200 even heads up. I also
lost 1 where I 3 bet him with 77 to isolate and he had 87. He made a
runner runner straight to take me down. But I had quad Kings against his
unimproved 73s and he still capped the turn and river. That was nice. I
ended up ahead $320 on that table to put me up $70 for the evening and
down $180 for the day at Party.
After I had busted out of the 2nd table at Party I played 1 5/10 table at
Paradise. I must be on their sh**-list because I played 100 hands and won
3. I’m not kidding 3. And the first 2 were really tiny. Luckily I won a
big pot at the end of the end of the session to finish down only $150
there. Sigh!! One of these days I’m going to break out, I just hope it’s
before I run out of money.
Thursday
Finally a good day in the davidross household. First off I got the cheque
from the one day of work I did a few weeks ago. So I’m ahead for the day
no matter what. I decided to give the 3/6 games at Party another try and
again played 3 tables. There are truly some horrible players, and in the
long run I have to be able to beat these games. The connection to Party
was horrible though and a true test of my patience. Disconnections
happened at least once every 5 minutes to everyone making the games very
slow. I would say we saw less than half the hands we normally would. I
played a long afternoon session between settling childrens arguments and
scheduling their weekend plans and get togethers. And for the first two
hours the misery continued. I had to rebuy on one table putting my entire
Party bankroll in play, and it was down to around $350 at one point. Then
an interesting thing happened. My wife came and sat with me. She had been
alerted by the kids telling her that daddy was swearing and yelling at the
computer, and that he was losing all our money playing poker. I guess I
need to be more careful when they are around. And I think the losing
streak is getting to me. She told me to change my attitude and promised me
a night of “mind blowing” sex if I could win $700. And guess what. I
started to win. Party has this annoying cheer and fireworks that goes off
when you win a hand. And as it started to play more often for me I think I
developed a Pavlovian response to hearing it. I get sexually aroused every
time it plays now. I made a great rally and came from $250 down to a win
of $157 for 5 hours of play. I saw a glimmer of hope.
2 hands that I don’t know how to play any different.
I open raise with Kc Ks in MP. I get 2 callers plus the BB. Flop comes Ad
9s 7s…of course. I contemplated check/folding the way things have been
going, but I bet. Only one caller. Turn is Ts. I now have some extra
outs…maybe. So I check, and he bets. Without the spade I think I bet once
more because I’d like to see the showdown. I just call. River is the 6c, I
check he bets and I reluctantly call. Should I lay it down here? He had Ac
Tc.
2nd hand. I have A7o in the SB and there is 1 limper to me and I call. The
BB raises. Crap, here I go again. To be honest I should probably fold
here. But I called. Now of course the flop contains an Ace. A J 2 to be
exact. I check and he bets. MP folds and I call. I don’t know what else I
can do here. I just keep getting cold decked. There is some chance he has
a big pair and I can’t see folding here. Turn is a 4, check l, and the
river brings a 7…did I just turn the tables and suck out on someone else?
I bet, he calls and my A7 beats his AQ. Maybe the worm has turned.
Evening
I went to paradise again and promised myself I’d stay at the 5/10 tables.
The law of averages was enforced and after my 2% win rate the night before
I won 21% of my first 150 hands, winning 100% of my showdowns and 50% of
the hands where I saw the flop. I also very quickly reached my $700 goal.
I think my wife has become my poker Muse. She went to bed telling me to
wake her when I came up. Like I needed to be reminded. Actually for 2
hours I just broke even and even lost a bit to fall below my $700 goal,
leaving me an interesting ethical dilemma…nah I wouldn’t have told her,
before going on another rush to finish with a $900 paradise win and a
$1050 overall day. Lets hope it’s the start of a new streak.
I still had some big losses, but they’re not nearly as hard to take when
you’re actually making some hands. In fact I don’t think my hand selection
was any different. But when I flopped top pair, they held up, and when I
bet out with middle pair, everyone folded. For two weeks I was always
second best. And I had the confidence to run some bluffs, and I ran some
beauties last night. But of course that’s the difference between running
good and running bad.
Very early in the paradise session this hand came up. It is a perfect
example of the difference between running good and running bad. I open
raised with AQo. The button 3 bet me and we were heads up. Flop came T
high rainbow. I checked and he bet. I hate AQ in this situation, AK I will
see the showdown almost every time, but a normal player isn’t 3 betting
with less than AQ. But I didn’t know this guy at all, and there are a lot
of players at paradise who like to make plays from the button. I decided
to go to the showdown. Turn and river were small cards, there were some
straight possibilities but I wasn’t too concerned with them. He bet each
street and I called, including the river. He turned over QJs and I won a
nice sized pot.
I had several monster vs monster hands too. I lost AK to AA twice, once an
A flopped and once a K. I lost QQ to KK and I had KQs vs KK when a K and a
Q flopped I pushed real hard and again lost a biggie. Imagine my bottom
line without those hands. But I beat AA with KQ when a K flopped and a Q
turned, and I flopped several sets for big pots too. I flopped 2 pair 7
times and 5 of them held up. In the last week none of them had held up.
And then there are those harder to play hands. I had 8d 5d in the BB and
got a free play against an UTG limp, and the SB. Flop was 9 5 3, with one
diamond. BB checked and I bet. They both folded. I either wouldn’t have
had the nerve to bet, or I would have bet and got raised last week, so I
don’t know if this is a good play or not.
So off I went to bed, and she was true to her word ;-). I’ve found a new
motivation.
Friday
Another day started off well, my cheque from Paradise arrived. I certainly
have no complaints about that service. They courier cheques to me within
48 hours everytime. Very good service. I played 3 3/6 tables at Party
again this afternoon. They seem to have fixed their connection problems as
the pace of play for 3 tables was very quick. I had another very good
session winning $520 in 4 hours. My wife informed me yesterdays offer
still stands so with a little luck it could be another good night for
davidross..wink wink.
A couple of observations. It’s not possible to pay proper attention at 3
games so I’m limited to playing ABC poker. Maybe that’s good for me. No
slowplaying and very little semi-bluffing. To be very honest that’s
probably the best way to play many of these tables. I got very good cards
and played almost perfectly I think. One hand where I erred went like
this. I got a free play with K8o in the BB. 3 limpers I think. Flop comes
K J 6 with 2 hearts. I don’t have a heart. I checked. I don’t like leading
with a weak top pair, especially on tables where no one will fold anyway,
and someone with KT for example will not raise. So I check and hope for a
bet from the button. I will fold to an EP bet usually. In this case the
bet came from the middle of the 3 players. I was paying attention to
another table when my turn to play came up. The button had folded and the
play was on me and I raised. I like this play a lot if the bet came from
the button, but in my experience, the guy betting with people to act
behind him has top pair more often than not. I was called by the MP only.
I bet the turn which was a 2 or 3 and he called. Another small card
rivered and I bet again. I think I should have checked here since most of
the K’s I could beat were now 2 pair. On the other hand a J might call me
down. Anyway he called and showed KT. I think had I been able to analyze
this a little longer before acting I would probably have folded to the
flop bet.
For the first time in my life I’m disappointed that the Canadian dollar is
doing so well against the US greenback. When I was a kid the two
currencies were on par. I have vacationed in Maine my entire life, and in
the 60’s and early 70’s we could use Canadian money everywhere. In the mid
70’s when we had the French separation issues, and our government began
running up massive debt, the dollars began to drift apart and vending
machines had to be changed so they wouldn’t accept Canadian coins anymore
(they are the exact same size, but now made of different alloys so
machines can detect the Canadian coins). So every summer when I had to pay
for my cottage in US dollars I would complain about the exchange rate. Now
finally I am earning money in US dollars and in the last 3 months the
Canadian dollar has come back 17 cents. In February I got 1.50 for every
$1 US. I cashed out to buy my TV and home entertainment system. Now I’m
getting 1.33 only. My timing sucks.
The extra concentration required for 3 tables took it’s toll. 4 hours was
about all I could handle of that. I’ll have to see if I can stretch it out
little by little. With the kids home from school now I’d like to adjust
the schedule to not play so late at might and be able to get aup a little
earlier in the morning.
Evening. A disappointing session. I managed to win $120 at Paradise, but I
was up $400 at one point earlier. I got off to a terrific start again, but
went card dead for the last 2 hours. Hardly played a hand, and lost with
every one I played. QQ got beat 3 times, twice on river Aces which makes
it even more expensive, and AK lost to a cold calling AJ twice.
An interesting hand. I have been accused of being “weak tight” before and
this hand won’t change the mind of those who share that belief. I’m not
sure if I a) shouldn’t have played at all b) Needed to play it more
aggressively or c) needed to call it down.
I have Kh 7h on the button and I open raise. SB raises. He’s on my
immediate left and we have tangled a few times. His raising standards are
much lower than my own, including very weak Aces. Now the BB times out and
go’s all in. Flop is Kc 8h 4s. SB bets and I just call. Turn was 2h and I
called his bet. River brought the Ad and I folded. He turned over QQ.
Aaargh. All in boy had K3 and took a small part of my pot. I needed to
raise the flop at least. He may still have raised me back, he’s that
aggressive, but with a bigger pot I would probably have called it down.
I am now up $700 going into the last day of this abbreviated week.
Saturday
Played a short 2 ½ hour afternoon session. 3 3/6 tables at Party again and
these games are so juicy. There are some truly terrible players here. That
puts some dead money in more often than not. I managed another $240 win.
Then I took my 3 younger kids and one of my daughters’ friends to go see
“Finding Nemo”. What a terrific movie. If you haven’t seen it, find a kid
and take him/her. Money well spent.
This one could have cost me a lot more. In a 6 way raised pot I called in
the BB with Ts 2s. I think 11-1 is enough for a suited hand but I admit
it’s loose. You hope for a flop like the one I got Td Th 7d. While I’m
trying to figure out whether to play fast or slow the SB bets. I just
call, and it gets raised behind me. 2 folds and a call, and the SB 3 bets.
It would appear the other T is out here with a flush draw and maybe the
overpair that raised originally. I call and so do the other 2. Turn is the
Ac, SB bets, I call and my left raises all-in. Everyone calls. River is
the 9d and the SB bets again. I fold, and the pre-flop raiser raises. SB
calls. SB had 77 for a flopped boat, all-in had Jd 5d for the flush and
the PFR had AA for the turned full house. I was a distant fourth. Wow.
This is an example of the play I keep running into in the 3/6 games. I
open raised UTG with ATo. I stopped playing AT UTG quite some time ago,
and have started playing it again because of the tight nature of the
paradise 5/10 games. It’s a mistake to play it in these 3/6 games and I
will drop it. I get cold called on my left, and 3 bet 2 to my left. MP
calls 3 cold, so does the button, SB and BB call as well. I reluctantly
put $3 more in and 7 of us see the flop for 3 bets each. Flop is 5 5 2
rainbow. Checked to the 3 bettor who bets. MP calls, button folds and both
blinds call. I fold. I don’t think chasing in these games at any time is
worth it. Miss the flop get out, so I don’t regret the fold. One more
caller behind me and 5 see the turn. Turn is Ac (2nd club). 3 bettor leads
again and gets raised by the MP. I’m feeling very good about my fold now.
The river is a 9h and MP bets and 3 bettor calls. MP has QcTc pulling the
semi bluff on the turn and the 3 bettor wins with…..Ad 8d. Aaargh. That’s
what you’re up against in 3/6. I had another similar hand with K9 in the
BB and a flop of AKx. I checked and folded to a bet and a call, and I
would have been good. But again, in these games I think I’m better waiting
for top pair hands and not chasing middle or bottom pair in bad position.
Right idea, wrong time. I played Ad 4d after 1 limper from MP. 2 more LP
calls and both blinds played too. Flop was 6h 5h 4s. It gets checked
around. Turn is the 7d and it’s checked to me and I take a stab at the
pot. The SB is the only one who calls me. Then the river brings the 8s and
the SB checks and I bet again in case he can’t read the board. He calls,
and turns over Js 9s. ZOINKS!! What did he call the turn for, and why
didn’t he bet or raise the river?? Oh well.
Evening
This was an instant replay of last night. I sat down and started winning
right away. I was up around $450 in the first 2 hours, but then I hit a
real bad stretch and gave half of it back. Finished up $220. I’m making
some big hands, twice winning set over set, but my big pairs aren’t
holding up at all. But considering the way my week started, I’m very happy
to post a $1,000 win. I’m up $375 at Paradise, and $800 at Party.
The 10 week summary is almost exactly where I was after week 6, up $9000.
Now the question is how often can I expect a bad run like what I just went
through? Can I go months before it happens again or will this happen
fairly often. The job front shows nothing promising, I have a possible
contract out of province, and there is still a full time opportunity
possible, but nothing that looks at all certain right now. I need another
good week to give me some cushion bankroll wise. I will continue to play
Party 3/6 during the day, now I need to decide which site to play in the
evenings.
A topic I’ve been meaning to mention for a while is raising from the
blinds. I’m seeing a lot of what I consider foolish raising from the
blinds lately. In multiway pots I’m seeing people raise Ax offsuit or KJo.
Usually I would be happy to see people make bad plays, except when I’ve
limped with a hand that wants to see the flop cheaply. I’m starting to add
this to notes I’m keeping so I can be more careful of the limps. On this
hand I thought it had happened again. I got 66 in MP and open limped. The
button called and the BB raised. I thought this was another one of those
bad raises and I decided to 3 bet. I do this all the time with AA and KK
(Although at Party I don’t need to, you never win blinds only there), so I
thought I’d represent that here. The button folded and the BB called. Flop
came 3s Ts 8h and the BB bet out. I raised and he called. Turn was a 9d
and he bet again. Uh oh, maybe he really had it this time. I just called.
River is the beautiful 6s. He bets, I raise and he calls. My hand is good.
I went to the hand history to see if he had AA or KK and surprise
surprise, he had Ad Kd. I was good the whole time.
66 was my hand last night and I rivered a huge pot with it when I called a
raiser and cold caller from the BB with it. Flop came 8c 4c 4d and I bet
out. I was raised and cold called again and I just called. Turn was 8h. I
checked, the raiser bet and was called again. I thought there was still a
chance I was ahead. I thought the cold caller might be on clubs or
overcards, and the raiser could easily have AK. I called once more. River
brought my 6c. I checked and it was bet and raised behind me. I 3 bet, and
they both called. The raiser did have AA and couldn’t let it go, and the
cold caller had Kc Tc for the rivered straight.
Week 11
Sunday
What a great way to start the week. I played a short 1 hour session at
Party around lunch time while my older daughter was at her riding lesson.
Played 3 3/6 tables again and I won $380 in the hour. It was an unreal
hour. Killed me to have to stop and go pick her up. Sunday night I decided
to play Party 5/10 for a change and in my first orbit I lost $180. That
wasn’t so much fun. I played until midnight at Party and lost $40 so I
made a bit of a comeback. Again I don’t notice much difference between the
5/10 at Paradise and the game at Party. I had to go get my daughter from a
friends and when I came back I went over to Paradise. Played for 2 ½ hours
and went on another rush. Up $668 making it a $1,005 win for the day.
Strange session, at one point I lost JJ, QQ KK and AA in the span of 10
minutes, but made sets with 55, 66 and 33 and won big pots. Got AKs 3
times and made the flush each time.
Monday
Played a 5 hour session at Party. Again these 3/6 games are very soft.
After getting stuck early, I managed to play solid poker and post a nice
$200 win. Lots of “experts” on these tables, telling everyone how badly
they are playing. I used to waste energy trying to get them to shut up,
but now I just stay quiet. My win would have been better except for yet
another “mathematical catastrophe” I allowed myself to be part of. I
really need to think longer before acting.
I have QQ utg and I raise. I get cold called once in LP and the BB calls
too.
Flop is Ac Qc 7c.
BB bets, I raise and LP 2 bets. BB calls and I cap it (even if the flush
is out there I have lots of outs). They both call.
Turn [Ac Qc 7c] 4s
I bet, LP raises and BB calls. Now I’m a little worried and just call. “No
club, No club”
River [Ac Qc 7c 4s] Tc
Crap. BB checks, I check, LP bets, BB calls, and I have a brain lock and
fold. There is over $100 in a 3/6 pot and I lay down a set. LP had 77, no
club, and BB had A4 no club. I sat there stunned for about a minute.
That’s 3 hours work at least handed away. Then to make it worse I started
calling everyone down in stupid situations and wasted more bets. Thank
goodness these games are as soft as they are, I was able to still post a
win.
Evening
Tough Night. I played 4 ½ hours at Paradise on 3 different tables (2 at a
time) and I had to rebuy on every one. I actually think I played very
well, I just got cold decked all night. If I raised with AQ, the guy on my
left had AK, and an A would flop. I got a free play with K8 in the BB
against a limping SB, the flop came 8 high, he bet I raised and he called.
I bet the turn he called, I checked the river and he had A8. I had QQ
against KK and KK against AA. I lost AA to 44 (4 on flop) and AA to TT (T
on flop) etc etc. I was down over 600 until a minor rush late in the
session brought me back some. The games were actually pretty good just not
my night for cards. I ended up down $390 for a loss on the day of $180.
A few observations;
1) Other players bad play will make me far more money than my fancy or
brilliant plays.
2) The guy that leads with a bet on the turn after not betting previously,
has a big hand.
3) Folding costs me nothing pre-flop. If it’s a close decision, I can’t go
far wrong by folding. (I need to tape this to the computer)
Tuesday
Afternoon. Another huge day at Party. 3 tables again at the 3/6 limit and
I won $470 in 4 hours. Obviously I’m getting good cards, but again the
players here really pay you off when you hit. Here’s a good example.
2 limpers to me in the cut off and I limp with Ad Js. SB calls and BB
checks.
Flop is As Th 3d.
SB bets and then 2 people fold. MP raises and it’s on me. I 3 bet. I don’t
want to just call here, I’m more worried about 2 pair than a bigger ace.
They both just call.
Turn [As Th 3d] Qs
I bet, SB calls and MP raises all-in. We both call. (I couldn’t raise
because of the all-in, I really wanted to build a side pot to salvage
something if he did have me beat.)
River [As Th 3d Qs] 8s
Again I bet and SB called.
SB had A7o and MP had A9o. That’s a pretty big pot for Aces with a J
kicker.
Evening
Another bad night at Paradise. Really bad to start. For one thing the
games were terrible. Tight with small pots. And I was cold-decked again. I
made a flush against quads, flopped a straight only to see runner runner
flush beat me. I got into a big hole early and with the tables being so
tight saw little chance of getting back. I changed tables several times,
but never made much headway. I was down $800 around 1:00 AM and ready for
bed. My daughter was still up and put on a movie and the games were
getting better as they often do at this time so I evaluated my play (I
wasn’t playing poorly, just bad cards) and decided to keep playing. It
paid off. I went on a nice run to end up down only $390 for the night and
giving me a $70 win for the day. That puts me up $900 for the week.
I know I need to beat tight games as well as loose games if I want to be
successful at this, and I guess we all find it easier to beat the loose
games. Put very simply when the table gets real tight (15% seeing the flop
last night for a while) I am the loosest player at the table, and I’m
going to lose. These guys are limping in with AK and when I raise with AQ
in late position I get nailed. In the loose games I’m one of the tighter
players and my cards on the whole are better than my opponents so I’m
going to be ahead more than behind. There that’s the simple explanation. I
need to stay out of those tight games, or tighten right up.
I’ve played so straightforward in the 3/6 games with a lot of success.
Here’s what happens at paradise when I try to generate some extra money
from a hand.
I have Ks Jd in the cutoff. 2 limpers to me and I limp too. Small blind
plays and the BB checks.
Flop Jh Jc 4s
4 checks to me so I check too. I know a bet might look suspicious and get
some play, but there aren’t many hands that can be helped by this flop.
Turn Jh Jc 4s Th
Again checked to me and I bet. 3 folds and one call.
River [Jh Jc 4s Th] Qh
Now he bets. Uh oh. I raise thinking he might be betting his Q, and he
just calls. He has AK for a straight. DOH!!
Wednesday
If only we knew ahead of time. I could have played for about 20 minutes
yesterday and had the same end result as I got from 8 hours of play. My
afternoon session was dead even for 2 hours and 45 minutes, then I got a
major rush and in 15 minutes won $250. In the evening I won $50 on the
first hand, and that’s where I finished the night 5 hours later, up $50.
The afternoon session at Party was the same as it has been, with lots of
bad players. Today however they ran me down a lot more than they had been.
I can’t complain, it’s been a very lucrative week in those 3/6 games. I’m
considering playing them in the evenings too for a while. One guy limped
UTG with 72o and beat my KK when both a 7 and a 2 flopped. Another guy
called my AT raise with KT, and when an A and a Ten flopped I liked my
chances, but he called all my bets and when a Q and J came he beat me.
Still, I’ve taken $2,200 out of that game in just one week, I have nothing
to complain about.
The evening session at Paradise was a grind. I made quad Tens and a
straight flush early in the session, but won very few other pots. In fact
I won only 8% for the 600 hands I played on the night, but I did win big
pots. I’m very pleased with the evolution of my game, I’m picking my spots
a lot better and passing on marginal situations. I bbelieve it’s reducing
my variance. I’m also playing much more aggressively when I’m in a hand. I
think I probably lose a little more when I’m beat, but win much more when
I’m good.
It’s been a good week so far, $1,200 for the 4 days. I hope it continues,
I need to build a bankroll before my vacation in August as I won’t be able
to play for 2 weeks. There is no phone service in the cottage we rent so I
can’t even connect at night to try. Job prospects are slim and none right
now.
Thursday
Another great afternoon at Party. I’m on a huge rush right now. I know the
games are soft, but I’m clearly winning at a much higher than normal rate.
Thank goodness since I’m in a rut at Paradise. I won $420 in 4 hours at
Party.
I did some investigating and found out I can get a kit for my cell phone
to hook it up to a laptop and it will act as a high speed modem. The kit
will cost $100 and I’m pretty sure I can borrow a laptop for my vacation.
I would love to play a little while we’re away and try to defray some of
the costs. The only sticky point is going to be airtime. There is a
promotion on right now giving me low-cost air time for data transfer only,
but I think it only applies to within Canada. I’m afraid the roaming
charges will make it too expensive to try.
Aggression. I guess we all know how much better it is to be the aggressor
and here’s a hand that demonstrated it. I had Qc Tc and limped in first
from EP. At paradise I would raise or fold first in, but these games I am
less likely to to be raised and I could get a lot of limpers. As it was I
only got 1 caller and both blinds. Flop was an ugly A J 5 rainbow, one
club. It was checked around. Turn was another 5 checked to me and I made a
play for the pot by betting my gutshot and I got called. Yuck. River was a
6 and I bet again, and he folded. I don’t do this very often, and I guess
that makes it more effective when I do. Who knows I might have been best
anyway.
A well disguised hand. This will put a guy on tilt. UTG limps, LP calls
and the button calls, and I get a free play with the monster 3s 2h.
Flop 4h 5d Qh
Utg bets, LP folds and button calls. I just called.
Turn [4h 5d Qh] Qs
UTG bets again, button calls again and I call too.
River [4h 5d Qh Qs] Ad
Yes. I hate to miss a bet by having it checked around, but I think this is
the perfect spot for a check-raise. UTG bets again, button calls again and
I raise. UTG re-raises and button calls. Now I’m worried. 44 and 55 pop
into my head. I don’t think AQ or Q5 or Q3 are likely, and I know I’m
beating the button. I probably should have capped it but I wussed out. I
was good, UTG had KQ and button had 99. I love the button.
Numerology. This was weird. Simultaneously I got these 3 hands. Table 1,
66 and saw a flop of 99x. Table 2, 99 saw a flop of 66x. Table 3 69, I
didn’t see the flop. I told my wife it must be a sign…and she told me to
go back to work.
Evening. Another grind at Paradise. 5 hours, 600 hands and a $95 win. I
double checked my results spreadsheet and this is the first time since
March (When I was playing 2/4) that I’ve had 2 straight sessions with a
swing less than $100. Again I don’t think I got my fair share of cards, so
I’m happy with any win. I won 8% of the hands I saw, and only 28% when I
saw the flop. I saw 25% of the flops. I won 50% of my showdowns. I like to
see 11% wins, 33% when I see the flop, and 55% of the showdowns. A lot of
the weak players have gone from the Paradise 5/10 games. There is no doubt
the games are tougher than they were a couple of months ago. I was
resisting switching my 5/10 play to Party because of the bankroll, but my
Party bankroll is almost as big as my Paradise one now. I will probably
finish this week the same way, afternoons at Party and evenings at
Paradise, but I may switch next week to Party exclusively for a while.
Another thing I’ve noticed is how tight my games have become. I changed
tables around 5 times last night because the flop % for the table got
under 20%. Within 15 minutes the table I left would be up to 25-30%. It
can’t be my play driving it down because as I’ve said I’m playing around
25%, so I wonder if people are playing tighter because of me. My profile
has been raised because of these posts, and there is no doubt some people
have mistaken the fact that I’m playing full time with the assumption that
I’m a very strong player, but I didn’t think the people playing in those
games would fall into that group. It’s probably just a fluke, but I’m a
little concerned about that. My game can’t withstand the tables tightening
up.
I had another brutal start last night and spent the entire evening digging
out of the hole. I don’t think it’s a homeresque tilt start but you tell
me. All these were within 20 hands of starting.
I open raise 3 off the button with ATo. Cold called in the cutoff. Heads
up the flop is AJ4. Bet call. Turn is a 7, Bet, raise, I call. River a 7.
Check, bet call, he has AQ. Great start.
I open raise with AK in EP. Cold called on the button and the BB. Flop is
AT6. I bet, button calls and BB folds. Turn is a J I bet he calls. River
is a K, I bet he raises I call, he had AQ.
I played from small blind with 33 against 4 others. Flop A34. I bet, got
called and raised, then I 3 bet. Caller folded, raiser called. Turn was a
9. I bet he called. River a 2. I bet got raised and called. He had A5s.
Etc etc.
Then the good. A semi bluff that worked out. I think this is the true
definition of the semi-bluff. I thought I might take the pot down with the
raise, but I didn’t, then I hit anyway. I have AC 4c and limped in LP
behind another limper. Button and BB saw the flop too. Flop is 8s 5s 3c.
EP bets and I called with my gutshot/ backdoor flush/ single overcard
combination. Turn is the Tc. EP bets again and I thought this was a
perfect spot for the semi-bluff. Presumably he had an 8 and the turn raise
would represent a big hand. But the button ruined that plan by calling the
raise. The EP guy called too. River was the beautiful Jc. EP bet out, I
raised again, and the button called again?? I guess my hand was well
disguised now. EP raised again and I raised again. Button finally folded
and EP called. EP had KJ ??
Friday
9th straight winning session at Party 3/6. I’m seriously questioning why
I’m playing anything else right now. This was a small win only $70 for 5
hours. It was a real grind actually and I was quite exhausted by the end
of it, but a win is a win.
You know it’s going to be a tough session when…very first hand I played.
I have 33 posting in the cutoff. There is one limper, and I check. A raise
from the BB and we both called.
Flop 4s 3s Jd
Checked to me and I decide the board is benign enough and I’m going to
slowplay (Remember I promised not to do this anymore). I check too.
Turn [4s 3s Jd] As
BB bets, EP raises and I smile thinking my little plan worked to
perfection and I 3 bet. They both call.
River [4s 3s Jd As] 6c
BB checks, EP bets and I raise. They both call.
BB had AKs and paid 2 bets on the river to see if his A was good (Did I
mention I love these games). EP had AA (Limped pre-flop, did’t re-raise).
I guess I should be happy I didn’t lose more.
DO you like this play?
2 limpers to me on the button with Kd Td and I limp along (I thought about
raising but these guys play so many weak Aces that I don’t think I can
represent an Ace if it flops). BB plays too.
Flop Ad Tc 6h
Checked twice then bet in front of me. I raised. Here is my thinking.
1) I may be best. Not likely in this game but possible.
2) I will probably knock out QJ, which would kill me if my K came. I might
even knock out a weak A if I do happen to be ahead here.
3) I will probably get to see the river now for ½ price.
It worked and I got two folds, and the bettor called.
Turn [Ad Tc 6h] Ks
Well now it really worked out. Checked to me, I bet, he called
River [Ad Tc 6h Ks] 4d
Check, Bet, Call. He has A9 and I won a nice pot. Without being results
oriented though, who likes the play. Would you fold or just call?
Evening
We went out to dinner as a family and rented a movie, so I didn’t get down
to Poker until almost midnight. I had a felling all day that I was going
to have a big night at paradise. I started hitting almost as soon as I sat
down and within 30 minutes I was up $350. Then I flopped a set of 8’s in a
huge 5 way raised pot. The board was 2389 and when a T rivered one of the
blinds bet out and beat me with 67. I didn’t win another pot for an hour.
I didn’t win another big pot all night. I ended up down $320 3hours later.
I got AA in the BB twice, and it was folded to me each time. What made it
doubly frustrating was there was one very bad player playing the same two
tables as me and he lost his entire buy in on both tables, but none of it
to me. Reviewing my play again I think I played good solid poker, and
these games are still beatable, I just need some hands to hold up.
So I am now up $1,450 for the week. Still ahead of my goal, but not by
much.
Saturday
Another afternoon session at Party. Played around 3 hours and won $340.
Again, nothing fancy. Play good cards including any pair and suited
connectors. Play very tight post-flop, I raise fold a lot more here than
ever before. And it’s amazing how patience pays off here. I find it’s just
a slow steady win usually. That’s my 10th straight win and I think I will
try playing there in the evening too this week and see how it goes. I want
to keep playing some 5/10 because when the deck hits me in the face, as it
will do once in a while, I can make a lot more at 5/10. As of this moment
my Party bankroll is now larger than my Paradise bankroll and I guess I
could give the Party 5/10 a chance too. I think I will use what’s left in
the Paradise account for vacation and use the Party money as my stake.
Paradise will get one last try tonight.
Time for a break from Paradise. Another card dead session and I lost $436
in a 4 hour session. AA twice, won $20 once and lost a big pot on the
river to a straight. Lost KK 3 times, lost QQ twice. Never once flopped
top pair with a big Ace. Made 3 sets, wonthe blinds twice and lost to a
bigger set the 3rd time. And so on. Again the game seemed beatable, there
were two bad players and the usual group of average players. I’m trying to
be as honest as I can, because the competitor in me wants to keep playing
this game and beat it, because I’m sure I can. But the good poker player
in me says I make money off people playing in games they shouldn’t be in
and I’m starting to suspect I might be one of them. Even if I’m not
overmatched, there are softer games available and I need to take advantage
of them. So to summarize the week Paradise -$727 Party + $2,107. To be
honest a real disappointing finish. If I just go to bed Friday and
Saturday night I’m up over 2,000 for the week.
So after 11 weeks I’m pretty safe in saying I can probably make $50,000 a
year in US dollars, tax free. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and honestly
pretty close to what I can take home with a full time job after taxes, but
considerably below what I made as a contract worker. I have fewer job
prospects right now though than I did when I started this adventure so I
will continue to play. I am going to take a break from the weekly report
for a while. I don’t have anything new to say. I still love being home
everyday, but the emotional swings are tremendous. After a good day I walk
on air, and after nights like last night I feel sick and depressed. I am
(or was) as easy going as anyone I know. Living day to day like this
certainly changes a lot of things. I’m also not sure I want my kids seeing
me in front of a computer all day playing games for much longer.
Thanks to everyone for all the comments to my posts, and we’ll see you all
in the forums.
Week 12
I have decided to compromise. I don’t want to make twice a day updates
anymore, but I’ve had a number of people say they would like to keep
reading the updates, so I think I will make twice a week summaries. I’m
making this one on Wednesday morning.
I made a decision for this week anyway to play only Party 3/6, 3 tables at
a time. Because they have so many games going at all times of the day I am
going to try and play a little more during the day, and get to bed at an
earlier hour. This will allow me to function in the morning when my kids
get up since my wife is trying to use the morning to study for her
comprehensive exam on Aug. 5. That’s a biggie for her. If she fails she
has to re-take it on Aug 12th , and we are due to be in Maine on August
9th, so she better pass.(She’s been getting all A’s so I’m not too
worried). The only difficulty I’m finding is that it’s not as easy to play
3 tables for a long period of time as it was for me to play 2 tables. I
need to get up and take breaks far more often than I did before. I’m
trying to play from 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM, then from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM.
We played soccer in a monsoon last night. The boys will remember that game
for the rest of their lives. It absolutely teemed right before the game
started. I was soaked to the skin, my shoes were full of water. The boys
were sliding all over the field. It was great. It was very warm which
saved us from having a bunch of sick kids today. We won 2-0.
Now Poker. 3 days, 3 more wins. That’s 13 straight wins at 3/6, for a
total of $4,500. $370 on Sunday, $502 on Monday and $580 yesterday. I know
it’s going to have to end somewhere, but as long as the quality of play
stays as poor as it is, I’ll have to have a dreadful run of cards just to
break even. These games were made for me. I can play lots of hands, build
pots at the right time and let mathematics do the rest. I’m starting to
see more and more 2+2’ers which isn’t a good thing. 3 of us played one
table last night, and it played much tighter and more conventional than
usual. Because I’m playing 3 tables, I don’t want to have to think too
hard about what they think I have. I want straightforward players. To be
perfectly honest some of these guys are so bad you can’t put them on a
hand at all. My KJo got rivered by a J2 last night played from EP. I
couldn’t put anyone on that, and paid his river raise.
Here are some of the adjustments I’ve made for these 3/6 games.
I am raising less pre-flop. At Paradise I would raise hands to try and
steal blinds, to limit the field, and for variance as well as to build
pots for my big hands. In the Party 3/6 games I am raising only to build a
pot. Most of these players decide to play based on their cards, and it
doesn’t matter if it costs them 1, 2 or even 4 bets, they are going to
play. So I’m not raising ATo or AJo unless I’m first in from LP. I have
raised and won the blinds exactly once in 2 weeks from EP. I don’t like
raising AJ, being called in 4 places then trying to play a shaky top pair
in a big pot.
I am back to playing any pocket pair from anywhere for 1 bet. If I think
there will be 5 players or more, I’ll call 2 as well. Sometimes the tables
are a little tighter or I’ll be in MP with no callers in front of me, then
I’ll drop the smaller pairs. Flopping sets is making a large percentage of
my money. These guys stay with any part of the flop, gut shots and bottom
pair, and I love having someone drawing dead and paying me off.
I’ll play any suited connectors, 65 and up from anywhere for 1 bet. Same
as the pairs, building big pots on the draw, is making me a lot of money.
If I have a 4 flush or an open ender, you can quite often get 4 or 5
opponents to put in 2 or more bets on the flop.
I am folding on the flop a lot. I’m not chasing at all. Raise AK pre flop.
Flop T73 rainbow. I check and fold to a bet. Too many guys calling your
raise with Ax, and now I can’t count on my Ace being any good if it turns
or rivers. Flop big or get out.
No slowplaying, unless I’m huge and there is action in front of me. Just
bet. Someone will chase.
No tilting when I get sucked out on. It will happen. Again and again. It
has to when they chase like they do. Just keep remembering how much you
made when your hand held up.
Playing suited Aces is trickier. Clearly they are good hands when flopping
a flush draw, but they have deceptive value when an A flops. I am much
more willing to stay at Party with a weak A then I was at Paradise. Of
course the problem at Party is 4 guys will call with 2nd or 3rd pair so
it’s less clear whether you’re A is good or not.
As an example, last night I raised 4 players from the SB with AA. 2 of
them called, the 3rd raised me all in (Only 1 dollar more) and I was able
to 3 bet when it got back to me. So 4 of us paid 3 bets, and the other was
all in for $7. Flop was As Qs 3h. I bet and got called by all 3. Turn was
8d. I was bet into and raised with the nuts. Everyone called both bets.
River brought the 6s. Crap!! I bet anyway and got called in 2 places. One
caller had K3, no spades, the guy who bet into me on the turn had K8, no
spades, and the all in guy had TJo. I can’t pretend to understand it. But
I’m not complaining.
This happens again and again. I raise pre-flop with AK, and get callers.
Flop Axx. I bet and everyone calls. No one folds on the flop, another
adjustment. Turn is a K. I bet and some fold. River is a scare card and
someone bets into me. I call and they have bottom pair. Over and over
again. I guess I’m value calling on the river.
Finally, who’s the fish here. I raise from the button with black Kings. 5
of us see the flop for 2 bets. Flop Ah Th Ts. I can’t think of a much
worse flop for me. In this game it’s even worse because you really won’t
know where you are. Checked to me and I decide to bet. I don’t consider
this chasing, because there is a good chance I’m ahead. But if I’m behind
I’m probably staying behind. I get 3 calls. I considered checking, but
didn’t want to give the flush draw a free card. Turn was the 4c. Checked
to me so I bet again. 3 callers again. River brought the wonderful Kh. EP
player bets. One caller and I raise. EP 3 bets. Caller folds and I smirk
and cap it. Thank god it wasn’t no-limit. He had Qh Jh for the Royal.
OUCH!!!
One other comment on the week so far. Twice more I’ve folded a winner on
the river. It doesn’t bother me to fold on the flop, and see my cards come
up later. But once I get to the river I need to remember that these
players aren’t normal. The first time I had a straight but saw a 4th Heart
river. There was a bet and a call in front of me and I mucked. The bettor
had rivered a set and the other guy had top pair. The 2nd time I had A3s
on the button, and saw the flop come AK9 with one of my suit. There was a
bet and a call to me and I called. Turn was a 7 of my suit, bet call and I
called again. River was an offsuit J, Bet, call and I mucked. K8 beat K6.
Sunday Morning
4 more days and 4 more wins. 17 straight winning days at Party 3/6. I owe
eMark a beer or two for pushing me to switch sites, and I can’t remember
which one of you gave me the idea of playing 3 3/6 tables, but I owe you
too. Wednesday and Thursday, I was card dead. I am playing around 1,500
hands a day, and each day I won only 7% of my hands. Rivered again and
again. And still I won $299 on Wednesday and $231 on Thursday. On both
days I was dead even for the afternoon sessions, but pulled out wins in
the evening. Then Friday I got better cards and won $434, and Saturday I
won another $440. So for the week I’m up $2,860, and my bankroll is
healthy again. During the 17 day streak since I started playing 3/6 I’m up
$5,900.
Maybe I should stop talking about how good these games are. Two or three
times this week I found myself at a table with at least 3 2+2’ers, and
those games played more like the paradise games and I didn’t win at the
same rate. I haven’t yet left a 3/6 table at Party because the game wasn’t
very good. At Paradise I did if often. But I came close a few times on
Wednesday and Thursday. If I leave your table without saying goodbye, it’s
a sign of respect for your game. I also want to apologize if I don’t
answer your comments at a table. I try to line up the windows for 3 tables
so I can see my cards on all 3 tables at the same time. In order to do
this I sometimes push the screen down low enough that the chat window is
completely off the screen. I’m not ignoring you. I would prefer not to
talk about posts and 2+2 at the table though. New players are nervous
enough without thinking about some secret organization that several of
their opponents seem to belong to. I keep wondering what they think when
someone says they like my posts and how am I doing this week.
I am now trying to be as objective as I can when evaluating the potential
long term for these games. After 6 weeks at Paradise 5/10 I thought I had
experienced an average run of cards, and clearly that wasn’t so. I guess
that’s a hazard of running well. So now I’m on a hot streak, and again it
seems like I’m not getting exceptional cards, so I can probably maintain
this. Right!! One thing I like about the 3/6 games is the lower risk of a
huge loss. I won’t win $1,000 at these limits as I did several times at
5/10, but I’m also not going to lose $800. In fact it seems like I’m not
going to lose at all. Amazingly during this hot streak my biggest win is
$584. When I sit down now it’s like punching a clock at a regular job. I’m
expecting to put in the hours and earn some money. Even after 3 weeks of
this I’m still surprised how poor some of the play is. The only really
difficult decisions seem to be on the flop. I find myself wanting to chase
more than I should because I know these guys are usually bad and may not
have anything. You almost always have odds to chase gutshots, so bottom
pair starts to seem worth chasing with also. I have to keep reminding
myself that’s going to make me like the guys I keep taking money from. No
chasing.
I discovered how to check my playing stats this week so I can evaluate my
day. The numbers are considerable different than they were at Paradise.
When I had a good day at paradise I typically played 25% of the hands, won
10 or 11%, 33% when I saw the flop and 50-60% of my showdowns. Break even
days seemed to see me win 8 or 9% of my hands and 7% or less was a losing
day. At Party I haven’t won 10% yet. I seem to be at 8% on good days and
7% on the average days. I guess that’s a result of how many players go to
showdown. And it shows how these games are an example of winning big pots,
not lots of pots.
An unforeseen problem with playing 3 tables is accidentally making the
wrong play on the wrong table. Sometimes you get involved in hands on all
3 tables (in fact I quite often fold marginal hands that I would have
played just because I’m in a hand on another table). When it’s my turn to
play on a certain table, that window pops on top of my screen. If you were
about to click something else, you can make a wrong play. Playing 2 tables
I can keep the buttons far enough away from each other that this is
impossible, but I can’t do it with 3 tables. SO the other night I tried to
fold AA on the turn with an A on the board. Thank god there was no action
in front of me so I got the reminder, “It is free to check, are you sure
you want to fold?”. I yelled at the screen “Noooo” so that my wife jumped
up from the couch. Lat night I raised T7o by mistake after 2 limpers. The
flop came K89 giving me an open ender soI bet the flop and everyone
folded. Lol.
Don’t you have dreams about hands like this?
I limp in EP with 99. I get raised in LP and the BB calls all-in. 2 of us
see the flop of A 9 7. I hope he has an A. If I suspect he has an A, I
like to bet, If I don’t think he has one, I’ll check. This time I bet and
he raised. Yessss. I smooth called, planning to check-raise the turn. Turn
is another A. Oh this is sweet. Another change of plans. I smell 3 bets
and I bet again. He raises and I 3 bet. This is the moment of truth. If he
has AA or A9 or A7, I’ll get capped. He just calls. Yesss. River is the
case 9. Better and better. Now he thinks he’s splitting at least. I bet,
he raises, I 3 bet and he caps…could he really have AA? Nope. He had AQ
and I won a doozie for a heads up 3/6 pot. $110.
Money saved spends as well as money earned.
I posted in the cutoff and found 33. One limper to me and I called. BB
raised and we both called. Flop is J43, two spades. BB checks, limper
checks, and I checked too. I can’t explain why, but it’s in the hand
history. I guess I was slowplaying, but it seems like a strange time to
try it. Presumably the BB has AK and will call a flop bet but maybe not a
turn bet. I should bet here. Maybe this is another hand where I hit the
wrong button. Turn is an A though and it looks like my slowplay worked. BB
bets, EP raises, and I 3 bet. They both call. River is a 6, no flush. BB
checks, EP bets and I raise again. They both call. BB had AKs as I
suspected, EP had AA. Doh!!! I can guarantee if our hands are reversed
he’s going to lose more than I did. Perspective. I just count that as $12
saved and go to the next hand.
I think I’ll do the twice a week update again next week. Let me know if
you like this format.
Week 13
Well the winning streak has reached 20 days. That’s 20 consecutive days
playing 3 3/6 tables at Party without a losing day. I have had some losing
sessions, but by the end of the day I have been up every time. Did I
mention this has lasted 20 days? Did I mention I love these games?
I started with a great day on Sunday. For the first time since I
discovered how to find my stats, I won 10% of my hands for an entire
session and it showed in my biggest 1 day win at 3/6, $628. Monday however
was a different story. 7% wins only, in both the afternoon and evening
sessions. I lost $100 in the afternoon but managed to win $138 in th
evening for a $38 win. And yesterday I had my first truly horrible
session, down $400 at one point and pretty sure the streak was over. I had
a lot of tables fold and at one point I had played on 7 different tables
and lost on all of them. Then I went on a rush and finished the afternoon
down only $180. In the first 35 hands of the evening session I won 9 of
them, 5 in a row on one table and suddenly I was up for the day again. A
very solid evening left me up $331 for the day.
So that’s close to $1,000 for the first 3 days of the week. I’m beating
these games for a phenomenal amount right now in BB’s per hour. Beyond all
expectations. I thought these games would give me a more stable earning
with less risk of big losses. Obviously it’s too soon to tell what the
long term expectation will be, but it raises some interesting questions.
How much is it worth to play against weaker players? I guess If I played
long enough to get win rates per hour at both 3/6 and 5/10 I could solve
it mathematically, but there are intangibles too. With my bankroll a
little bit low right now and a vacation coming up it’s worth a lot to me
not to fear a huge short term loss. The 3rd table is what makes the 3/6
games a better proposition for me right now, and I don’t feel comfortable
playing 3 5/10 games yet. The 3/6 games are much less complicated than the
5/10 games. The Multi-way pots make it much less likely that I’m being
played at and decision making is easier. Someone suggested 2 3/6 tables
and one 5/10 table, but for right now I don’t want to change anything.
An interesting development in the job hunt. My Brother in law e-mailed me
a job he found on Monster.com (A big job search website) for a customer
service rep, for a company selling on-line gaming software. I suspect the
position is junior to my experience, but they are looking for exactly the
skills I have so I sent off an application. Maybe I could get the software
developers to put in some extra coding that gives any user with the name
davidross an extra few AA hands.
The biggest challenge in these 3/6 games, as far as I’m concerned is
determining when to value bet the river. I guess I should re-phrase that,
since it’s probably the most important part of any game, but the decisions
are certainly different in 3/6. There is no such thing as a brick on the
river. I 3 bet pre-flop with KK last night, and got cold called on my
left. I bet every street and the final board was Q J 8 5 3. I got raised
on the river and called. He showed me J 3. Suited he pointed out when
someone (not me) questioned his starting standards. Add to that the fact
that I have been bluff raised more on the river in the last 3 weeks than
in the previous year at Paradise and you can’t fold if raised on the
river. So they love to bluff, they love to slowplay, they play any 2 cards
and some of them play very passively. I’ve seen AA call every street
(pre-flop too) and just showdown. It is a challenge deciding what to do on
the river, and there is certainly no formula you can follow. Mostly I just
bet and pray.
I mentioned in a post last week that I am still paying off too often when
it’s clear I am beat. I see bad players do this all the time and I think
it’s the last major gap I need to fill in my game. I need to acquire the
discipline to fold top pair or even an overpair when it becomes clear you
are beat. It’s so easy to see when you’re not in the hand, but for some
reason when it’s me that it’s happening to, I take it personally and seem
to say, “I used to have the best hand, and I don’t deserve to lose this
hand, and I’m not folding”. Sounds pretty stupid when I phrase it like
that. Maybe thinking about it that way will help. Of course it’s much
easier to do when you’re winning.
You’re going to love this one. I was at a table that broke suddenly. That
seems to happen a lot at Party. A great reluctance to play shorthanded. 2
seats will open up, and within 2 hands everyone else sits out or leaves.
Anyway, I was playing my hands on the other tables when my table popped up
with just 2 of us playing. I was the BB/Button and had K4. He was the SB
and had called the bet. I typed a message to him saying “last hand, let’s
just check it down” and I called. He didn’t answer and the flop came K T
7. He checked so I figured he agreed and I checked too. Turn was a 4 and
now he bet!! The stinker, wanted my 3 bucks that bad. So of course I
raised. River was a Q and he bet again. I raised again and he called. HH
showed him with Q9. I felt pretty good after that one.
One last comment. Similar to what I found at Paradise, the afternoon games
seem tighter and tougher than the evening games. I want to play more in
the daytime, but I’m making all my money at night. Oh well, we go where
the money is.
I was in the middle of my $400 loss yesterday afternoon when I got this
hand. 2 limpers to me in MP and I raise with KK. 2 cold callers and the BB
too. 6 of us see the flop.
Flop 6s 8s 9h.
Not exactly what I wanted to see. 2 checks and a bet on my right. That’s
what I wanted. Now I raise to clear them all out. Ha. One of them folded.
5 to the turn. I’ll put the bettor on a 9, someone on Spades and someone
with a 7. Not very many good cards for me.
Turn [6s 8s 9h] Th
That can’t be good. Checked to me. I checked. I was tired of doing all the
betting and just getting raised. It gets checked around.
River [6s 8s 9h Th] 8h
Checked around again and I’m good. T3, A9 (the flop bettor), Qs 5s, Ks 2s
were the other hands. This is an example of how hard it is to read hands
in these games, and as much as I wish I had bet (I probably missed 6 BB’s
on this hand, that’s ½ an hour of work for me…lol just kidding) I think if
I played that hand against 4 players 100 times, I would lose more than I
won.
Friday
I’m making a midweek entry here because we’re going away for the weekend
to my Aunt’s cottage. I will have access to play in the evenings, but no
access to my notes so I thought I’d make a short entry now. I knew this
day was coming but it hurts just the same. The streak has ended after 21
days. And in a brutal fashion. Wednesday saw a big afternoon win of $400
and an evening loss of $160 leaving me $240 to the good, and Thursday had
a nice $240 win in the afternoon. But Thursday evening might have been the
most unusual night I’ve ever had. Ultimately I dropped $430 for the
evening leaving me $190 down for the day. I got as good a run of starting
hands as I can ever remember. 900 hands I got AA 6 times, KK 6 times and
big Aces over and over again. I seemed to hit every flop, and I lost, and
I lost and I lost. This hand was from early in th evening and I think it
was a harbinger of things to come.
I got AA in MP and there was 1 limper in front of me. I raised, got 1 cold
caller in the cut off, both blinds called and the limper called. Flop is A
J J. Now the only question was how to make the most out of this one. SB
bet, and the EP called. I smooth called, certain I would be bet into on
the turn. Just 3 of us to the turn. Turn brought the 3rd J. SB checked, EP
bet, and now I think he’s got an A or a J. If he’s got the J I’m screwed,
and if he’s got the A I’d like to keep the SB in for another bet. So I
just call. SB raises. Anyone got the balls to lay down AA here? I didn’t.
SO we both called. River was a 2 and we both called again. He had it of
course, KJ, and the SB had A3.
So I’m up $1,070 for the 5 days, slightly ahead of the $200/day goal, but
facing a limited number of hours for Saturday. I need a good day today.
I played some 5/10 last night after yet another couple of big hands got
cracked by crazy chases. IN my first 2 orbits I got AA, KK, JJ and AK 3
times. And I ended up even. That’s when I went to bed. The 5/10 game in
the early morning seemed pretty good. I got lots of action on those big
hands. I’ll have to look into playing there some more.
I’m playing JJ and TT differently than I used to. If I’m first in I’ll
raise them, but otherwise I’m playing them like middle pairs. There are so
many 4 way pots that I hate getting into with those hands, so I’m limping
behind limpers and playing for a set. Even if I’m an overpair to the flop,
naked K’s and A’s play to the river making it improbable that they hold
up.
The other thing I’ve noticed is how often the blinds raise in these games.
Sometimes they’re legit, but usually thet’re not. They are just hurting
themselves, but they are hurting some of the hands I like to limp in LP
with too. I’m thinking of dropping the K9o and Q9o that I would normally
play from the button for 1 bet once I notice one of these guys in my BB.
I’m wondering what hands I could add though, if any?
In this hand I have KQ in late MP. 1 limper in front of me and I limp too.
Button calls and SB raises (another blind raise) . BB folds and 4 see the
flop for 2 bets.
Flop Qh 9h Ad
Yikes. SB bets out and EP limper calls. EP would raise with an A here so
now I have to decide if BB has me beat. I raise. Button cold calls, and
the other two call. I’m actually most worried about the button now. He
would play a weak A like this. Or a flush draw.
Turn [Qh 9h Ad] Ac
BB bets out. EP folds and it’s on me. The 2nd A makes it less likely he
has one, but if he does I’m now drawing dead, and the button is still to
act behind me. The brave play I guess is to raise and fold to a re-raise,
but I chickened out and folded. That turn bet is nearly always a strong
hand. Heads up I call him down I think. Button just called. Now I’m not so
sure he’s got a weak A.
River [Qh 9h Ad Ac] 3d. SB bets out and the button raises. Phew I think.
SB calls. SB had 77, and wins when Button shows KT. Aaack.
Again this is the offshoot of my not taking to many chances in these
games. But it still hurts to get outplayed like that.
Just back from the cottage and it’s Monday afternoon. Quick Poker update.
Friday was another tough day. After the $400 loss of Thursday night, I
picked right up where I left off and dropped another $200 in a short
session Friday afternoon. My daughter was working at a camp and needed a
ride home. Normally I would have sent my wife to get her, but I was
running so bad I decided to take a break. I think I need to do more of
that when I’m running bad rather than pushing to get even. As much as I
think I’m still playing my best, I’m probably not. I made the same
suggestion to SoBeDude last night when he was running awful. I couldn’t
get back to even though on Friday night. In fact I started out dropping
another $250, making a $850 slide since Wednesday at dinner time. I did
make a comeback and got back to be down only $189 for Friday before I was
through. Saturday we headed up to the cottage and I played a 4 hour
session after everyone had gone to bed. Got back on track with a $180 win.
That means a win of $1,020 for the week. Seems terrible after the 2 prior
weeks, but not the end of the world.
Obviously Tells aren’t as reliable online as they are live, but there are
tells in online poker. The long pause before betting on the river almost
always is a big made hand. He wants you to think he’s thinking, but it’s
almost always followed by a bet. The guy that raises pre-flop then checks
the flop heads up, almost always has flopped a set. The masochist in me
paid off on Saturday on one of these even though I was 90% positive what
had happened. I raised first in from LP with AKo. I was 3 bet from the SB
and we saw the flop heads up. Flop was K J x. He checked. The alarm bells
started ringing in my head. I was almost positive he had JJ. I checked
too. I probably should have bet and checked the turn. He bet the turn and
river and I called both . He had JJ. The other tell is the change in
cadence. Quite often heads up you feel a rhythm to the betting. Flop bet,
turn bet, river..pause. That usually means he’s not comfortable with his
hand. Some of these I have found extremely reliable.
I have found the games a little tougher this week. A lot more 2+2’ers at
the table. I don’t jump around like I used to at Paradise because there is
no indicator to tell me which tables are loosest. I do have a few
preferred opponents that make the games good all by themselves, so I can
look for them. One of the problems is it can be a lot of fun playing at a
table with a lot of 2+2’ers. Good conversation and challenging play. I
have to remind myself I’m trying to make a living. I certainly have my big
days when I’m surrounded by bad players, not 2+2’ers. More on that next
week.
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