A-Hands
AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AK, JJ
I don’t worry about position with A-hands. I raise PF with all of these hands. I will reraise PF with AA, KK, QQ. If the aggressor is another player I will reraise PF with all 3 of these. If someone goes back overtop of my goodly sized reraise I will push all-in with AA and KK. I will fold the QQ to this aggression because the predominate holdings are AA or KK. Yes you might get the hyper-aggressive reraise or push with QQ, AK, JJ, AQs, and AJs, but I think in the long-run you will pay out much more than you will win in this situation. Depending on how much the reraise was I will call the flop and see if I spike that Q. With AK or JJ I just call a PF raise and hope to hit a nice flop and can hopefully then bet or more often CR the flop. I am cautious with JJ on low flopped boards. I will bet or CR it and if I get too much resistance I am done with the hand or depending on bet size C/C to showdown. I prefer to just bet it and see where I stand instead for calling bets. I figure if I’m willing to put a certain amount in the pot I mind as well put him to the decision because if they don’t have a premium hand or are afraid of overs they are more apt to fold to that aggression. If I am the PF aggressor and get 1 or 2 callers I will always CB the flop no matter the board. With 3 or more in the flop hand I will always bet AA and KK. I will sometimes slowdown with overs on the board with my PF raised QQ and JJ, because with 4 callers odds are that I’m beat and they are looking to CR. Sometimes I will bet a little over ½ pot to reduce the field and gather some info. If I’m CR’d here I’m done. If my AK whiffs the flop I will always CB with 1 or 2 PF callers. If 3 or 4 are with me to the flop, I either check hoping to see the turn or I will bet a little over ½ pot to see where I stand. I don’t go broke as often with K’s, Q’s, AK, and JJ anymore. I do still find it hard to let K’s and Q’s go if there are no overs. But now if I get all-in action over my CB and there are overs on the table I drop and save my stack for another opportunity. I might hold the winning hand on occasion but why risk it all the time. The rest of strategy wins enough small pots that I don’t want to lose all my grinding money on one big hand where I put it all-in with the worst hand. I will break my own rules here if I have a read on the player, but that goes without saying. If I totally crush the flop with a set or trips I will usually slow-roll till the turn or depending on their aggression CB the flop instead. If the board isn’t all that innocuous, but instead is coordinated with straight and flush draws, I bet out even my monsters as to make them pay to chase. A big no-no for me is slow-playing PF. I always bet PF; I don’t care if is folded around to me in the SB, they pay to play – this ain’t a Holiday Inn Express. Lastly, I obviously bet PF to isolate against 1 player or 2 at the most; anymore than that and you are just asking for trouble.
B-Hands
All prs Ten and under – TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
I play these cards for set value. I usually limp and do a little set-farming. If I’m able to limp in and hit the flop I usually slow-play the flop. If the flop is bet I CR or smooth-call opting for the turn bet or CR. If there is a bet and 1 or more callers on the flop, I add their bets to the current pot and raise that amount, because they are showing that they are willing to add money to the pot and if they are on draws I definitely need to make them pay to see. If the board is scary I don’t even mess around, I just bet pot and see where we go from there. I will fight a little bit on the flop if I have an over-pr (usually opening or RR’ing for info and hopefully taking it down right there) but as a rule you should never put all your money in on an unraised pot, because the other limpers could be holding anything because they weren’t forced out PF. (2pr is a very likely holdings.) With TT and 99 I will raise PF in an unopened or un-limped pot if I’m the cut-off or button because I will have position on my side if I get any takers. I will call a PF raise with any of these pairs for set value. This tactic works especially well against a PF raiser, because they might have premium hole cards that they will find hard to fold and double me up. The more people that get in PF the better, because it usually juices up the pot for my set. Also the PF raiser usually CB’s the flop, which increases the pot. I usually check to the PF aggressor, then I decide to smooth call or CR according to the board. I prefer to CR on the flop and hope we can get all the money in right there, and optimally they are drawing to a 2-outer, but it also keeps them from drawing cheaply. If I’m out of position and it is a drawy board I just lead out and hope to take it down.
C and D hands plus the summary coming up next.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Thursday, July 05, 2007
My Current Style: Part 1
My current game
It is somewhat passive, but it is designed to let me know where I stand on the flop, and to minimize hands where I’m dominated. I make money with this style so don’t knock it too readily. I am averaging over a buy-in per session. (8 tables for 1 ½ to 2 hrs) With no bad beats on big hands I am making 2 or 3 full buy-ins. I have added in some hands omitted from my old rock stratagem, so I play more hands, and thus get more callers when I do have premium hands, plus I spike more junk hands because I’m seeing more flops. I have added in these other hands because I have gained a post flop game and often can take down small pots without risking much. I’m not great, but don’t check to me. I’ll go through the basics of my PF strategy. I will also explain how I play some things on the flop. I know a lot of players would rank some of these hands different, but this is my current style. In case you are wondering – this Style is made for Full Ring Micro to Small stakes play. In this 1st segment I will just give you the hand ranks, to be elaborated on in subsequent posts.
A-Hands
AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AK, JJ
B-Hands
All prs Ten and under – TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
C-Hands
Ace anything suited – AQs, AJs, ATs, A9s, A8, A7s, A6s A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s
Suited Connectors down to 76s – KQs, QJs, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s
AQ, KQ, KJs
D-Hands
AJ, AT, KT, KJ,QJ, QT, JT
King anything suited – KTs, K9s, K8s, K7s, K6s, K5s, K4’s, K3s, K2s
Suited-Connectors – 65s, 54s, 43s, 32s
Suited –Gappers – KTs, K9s, QTs, Q9s, Q8s, J9s, J8s, J7s, T8s, T7s, T6s, 97s, 96s, 95s, 86s, 85s, 84s, 75s, 74s, 73s, 64s, 63s, 62s, 53s, 52s, 42s
It is somewhat passive, but it is designed to let me know where I stand on the flop, and to minimize hands where I’m dominated. I make money with this style so don’t knock it too readily. I am averaging over a buy-in per session. (8 tables for 1 ½ to 2 hrs) With no bad beats on big hands I am making 2 or 3 full buy-ins. I have added in some hands omitted from my old rock stratagem, so I play more hands, and thus get more callers when I do have premium hands, plus I spike more junk hands because I’m seeing more flops. I have added in these other hands because I have gained a post flop game and often can take down small pots without risking much. I’m not great, but don’t check to me. I’ll go through the basics of my PF strategy. I will also explain how I play some things on the flop. I know a lot of players would rank some of these hands different, but this is my current style. In case you are wondering – this Style is made for Full Ring Micro to Small stakes play. In this 1st segment I will just give you the hand ranks, to be elaborated on in subsequent posts.
A-Hands
AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AK, JJ
B-Hands
All prs Ten and under – TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
C-Hands
Ace anything suited – AQs, AJs, ATs, A9s, A8, A7s, A6s A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s
Suited Connectors down to 76s – KQs, QJs, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s
AQ, KQ, KJs
D-Hands
AJ, AT, KT, KJ,QJ, QT, JT
King anything suited – KTs, K9s, K8s, K7s, K6s, K5s, K4’s, K3s, K2s
Suited-Connectors – 65s, 54s, 43s, 32s
Suited –Gappers – KTs, K9s, QTs, Q9s, Q8s, J9s, J8s, J7s, T8s, T7s, T6s, 97s, 96s, 95s, 86s, 85s, 84s, 75s, 74s, 73s, 64s, 63s, 62s, 53s, 52s, 42s
Nice Week - Still Moving Forward
Poker is continuing to go well. As long as I don’t get hit with too many suck-outs in my session I usually end up money for that session. If I don’t get any big hand bad beats I am currently doing rather well. I took that $300 from last week and have turned it into $500. At $400 I got on the $50 tables and hovered around $425. I decided if I dropped a buy-in would drop back down to $25 and make my way back up again for another try. I won some nice hands hit $550 at one point in that night’s session. I slowly dwindled back down to even due to a mix of bad play, bad luck, and bad beats; I would say that most of it was due to tilting after a few ugly hands. I got a few mid-level pots taken away when I went in with the best. And then I slow-played my set of 4’s on the flopped board of A4T rainbow. Turn comes a 3 and I raise his bet, to which he pushes. I call and he shows 52o for the nut. My boat misses port and I drop another buy-in. At that point I’m back to even and was playing badly. I knew it was time to get off. I un-check all of my auto-blinds and as I’m waiting for the blinds I get dealt KK. I reraise PF to $5 and get a call from the original raiser and another player between us. How come 2, 6, 8 - 2-suited. It is bet and I push for the rest of my chips. $80 worth of calls from the 2. If I lose this hand I am down a buy-in for the session and would have been totally distraught at how the session went to shit. The tables got out of hand for a min and when I finally clicked back I was up 80 bucks. I didn’t even look to see what they called with. I finally gave out a bad beat other than a coin-flip. I had KK I raised and got 1 caller. The board was something like J,8,2. I bet the flop and he shoves. I just couldn’t see justifying a lay-down here. Yes, a set comes to mind, but so does AJ, or an aggressive AK. A lot of people can’t give up that AK. AA or QQ would have likely reraised or pushed the flop. I call and see I’m looking at a 2-outer some kind of triple-runner. River brings my king and the unlucky bastard started with a tirade of expletives about my donkass skills and overall intellect.
I loaned out $40 to one of my Bros so I currently sit at $460. I still haven’t gotten last month’s rakebreak so I still have a nice chunk of change coming. I’m really accruing a lot of rake this month as of yet due to being on the $50 tables. I’m keeping that same strategy as I try to move my way back up. If I reach 8 full buy-ins for a stake I will move up and play at that stake. If I lose a buy-in I will drop and make it back to 8 buy-ins. Hopefully I hit $800 soon so I can play at the Hundo tables. I think this strategy gives me the best of both worlds: bankroll management and advancement opportunity. I play 8 tables at a time so it works out well, especially if I chip-up early on so I get a little cushion.
Oh yea a really cool thing. A guy at work told me about the Fantasy Poke League on Tilt over a month ago when I started back on tilt. I picked my 15 pros and just stuck with them through every single event. My picks have done well. I have now won entry into 3 events. And I am in 4th place overall in the entire league. There are only 3 or so events left to go in the WSOP for the ’07 series. If I stay in the top 100 I will get an entry into a big tourney with a chance at a seat in the ’08 Main Event. I also won a hat. I could easily get bumped out of the top 100 if a few pros cash in the Main even and they aren’t my picks. I did pick 3 bracelet winners: Helmuth, Cunningham, and Deeb. One of the tourneys that I got in was Stud Hi Fixed. This really sucked and I wasted 1 ½ hrs of my life playing this slow game. Now I have qualified for the Horse freeroll. I played a SNG just to see how to play somewhat. I got 2nd. Not bad but I’m pretty sure I will get my ass handed to me. 1000 players max, yet so far in these freerolls, less than half the people register. I cashed in 1 event. NL with 388 starting. I end up felting in 37th for a measly $10 cash. I was in the top 10 for the whole tourney right until the end where I lost a huge had to a bad beat and then I donked off the remainder within the next 3 cycles.
I loaned out $40 to one of my Bros so I currently sit at $460. I still haven’t gotten last month’s rakebreak so I still have a nice chunk of change coming. I’m really accruing a lot of rake this month as of yet due to being on the $50 tables. I’m keeping that same strategy as I try to move my way back up. If I reach 8 full buy-ins for a stake I will move up and play at that stake. If I lose a buy-in I will drop and make it back to 8 buy-ins. Hopefully I hit $800 soon so I can play at the Hundo tables. I think this strategy gives me the best of both worlds: bankroll management and advancement opportunity. I play 8 tables at a time so it works out well, especially if I chip-up early on so I get a little cushion.
Oh yea a really cool thing. A guy at work told me about the Fantasy Poke League on Tilt over a month ago when I started back on tilt. I picked my 15 pros and just stuck with them through every single event. My picks have done well. I have now won entry into 3 events. And I am in 4th place overall in the entire league. There are only 3 or so events left to go in the WSOP for the ’07 series. If I stay in the top 100 I will get an entry into a big tourney with a chance at a seat in the ’08 Main Event. I also won a hat. I could easily get bumped out of the top 100 if a few pros cash in the Main even and they aren’t my picks. I did pick 3 bracelet winners: Helmuth, Cunningham, and Deeb. One of the tourneys that I got in was Stud Hi Fixed. This really sucked and I wasted 1 ½ hrs of my life playing this slow game. Now I have qualified for the Horse freeroll. I played a SNG just to see how to play somewhat. I got 2nd. Not bad but I’m pretty sure I will get my ass handed to me. 1000 players max, yet so far in these freerolls, less than half the people register. I cashed in 1 event. NL with 388 starting. I end up felting in 37th for a measly $10 cash. I was in the top 10 for the whole tourney right until the end where I lost a huge had to a bad beat and then I donked off the remainder within the next 3 cycles.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Live Update and Analysis of My Home Game Players
Live is still going well. Shit actually it is booming. I have the game totally under my control. I’m not running the table, but I am waiting in the wings ready to pounce as often as I can. I often fold, fold and watch the blinds and missed flops eat away my stack and then swoop in and accumulate a moderate to large pot. I then eat myself slowly away again and play the waiting game. But as this happens my stack grows larger each time well above what the blinds are doing to me. I do see a lot more hands than at a FR game due to the shorter game and because I can often out-play certain players. I out-play opponents and they call me dirty for the moves I use to get the maximum chips from the hands that I play. I get deep respect from some players and they are scared of my bets and I can often push them of their hands with a well-timed bet. Some are calling-stations and I do need the best hand because we are likely going to showdown. I know the players so well that I know exactly how to approach each hand by which one of the guys is in the hand with me. This has been a long process, but we have played together for so long that it’s hard not to learn their styles. Here are my results since my last live update: +$31, +$136, +$20, +$74, -$7, +$59, +$27, +$15, +$34. 10 to 1 win/loss ratio isn’t bad that is for sure. This in itself is a big factor why my bets get respect – they know I almost always go home with a win and they don’t want to risk being a help to lining my pockets. I’m not trying to brag up my game here I am just telling you how well I have the usual players figured out. Knowing everyone’s weaknesses, strengths, motivations, plays, and abilities does help enormously and lets you know which moves you can make on which players because you know where each one’s knowledge base is at. But that doesn’t always mean you will win. Earlier in the year I lost 4 out of 5 sessions and was totally bummed about my ability as a player. I was also sucking at online poker, which I have most of this year anyways, and that was adding to my negative outlook. I was second-guessing every decision that I made and really was furthering my plight, but the card dead nights and horrible multi-suck-out sessions left and I was back in business, with variance back in the black.
I also played the Fam Game twice since the last update. We always play small $5 tourneys. 1st time I dropped -$20 and the 2nd time I lost -$5. Some to bad play on my part and some to horrible and moderate beats. It is about playing with family and less about winning, but I am always very competitive. I can’t help that and of course you are supposed to play your best game every time out anyways, right? I don’t care that it is only $5 when I make my decisions; I play with my stack and I play as well as possible. It does frustrate me some when I go in with the best and am called with shit and the shit hits. Races don’t bother me ever, that just is poker in my mind. But a bad call from an opponent for all my or their chips when I am 70% or better cuts me deep when they spike their shit. I know that there are outs for a reason but damn. I guess it hurts because it doesn’t often go the other way because I hardly ever put my money in with the worst of it. Not to say that I’m this great player that never makes bad calls, I’m just stating that I more often than not go in with the best of it, so the suck-out ratio is skewed towards the other players. Basically I’m saying that when I play cards I am never in Freeroll mode. I always do have fun at the Fam Game, I just think I take it a little too seriously sometimes.
I will now tell you about each player’s styles and weaknesses and strengths and little tells and odds-and-ins I have noticed with their games. These are the Home Game guys not the Fam Game players. The rest of this post is on each player’s current style – just warning you so you don’t waste your time if you don’t like player analysis of people you don’t know. I’m am really doing it more for myself because as I write, it makes me really think about their game and my counter-methods to their styles. Long post ensues.
Smitty – He is a total LAG. He has never seen hole cards that he didn’t like. He always wants to see the flop no matter his holdings. He will either raise PF or call and will rarely fold to a raise or reraise PF. If he is the aggressor just let him keep betting for you and depending how innocuous the board is make your decision on which street to raise or CR him. If I have the hand and he is in position I just bet out and forget the slow-rolling because if he has any pr or any possibility of making a flush or a straight he will chase it as long as I don’t bet too much. If he has 4 cards to a straight (even gut-shot or the low end) or a flush he will find it hard to fold to any sized bet. If he has 2 hearts and 1 heart hits the flop that constitutes a flush-draw in his mind or if he has 2 cards and the flop brings 1 more card in succession that constitutes a flush-draw to him. So for example, if he has Ts, Jc and the flop brings Ks, 7s, 2h he will see the turn for a nice bet just to see if another spade or an A, Q, 9, 8, comes so he can chase again on the river. Sometimes he hits these long-shots and rivers a huge pot, which keeps him trying. He is very aggressive. If he raises PF, which does often, he will CB every street no matter the board or if he hit anything or if the board is all overs to a small PP. So if I have any suited-cons, PP’s, or nice paint is dealt to me I will call for the possibility of a nice score. You can usually CR the river and he will call with any pr just to see if you are bluffing. He hates to be out-played. If you bluff him he takes it as a personal slight towards his manhood and will call you down most of the night just to make sure you don’t hurt his pride further. So basically I will bluff with a busted draw often early on in the session just so I can turn up the bluff and induced the vendetta grudge mode. He amasses tons of chips early on every session with his aggression. This always happens because he is betting on just about every hand. He then gets pissed because in his mind he should win any hand where he showed aggression the whole way. If he loses a few busted aggressive hands, especially if someone calls him down with horrible holdings in a short period of time, bad beats, getting bluffed, river beats especially if they called to the river with total junk where he had them crushed the whole way, or any combination of these 4 common occurrences he hits ultra-full-tilt-mode. Guaranteed he will push all-in PF or on the flop very soon after he starts bitching about others horrid play or his unwarranted bad luck. He usually has shit and needs to prove to himself that he is in control of the table again. Depending on how much he has left when he shoves and what I holding I will call even with minor holdings that I normally wouldn’t call with because he see making this move PF with any Ace, any suited cards, small pr, paint, and on the flop if he hit any part of the board or with any flush or straight draw. If he doesn’t get smacked-down too often in a short period of time he doesn’t tilt and I can continue to take nice pots from his growing stack. He ends sessions usually up big or down big and both happen about half the time. It looks like a lot to remember, but really he is pretty predictable. Oh yea, one tell that he has makes and/or saves me large river bets. If he takes a long time on the river and keeps recounting his chips in a stack like he is trying to figure out exactly how much he wants to bet, he almost is always bluffing a busted draw. If he just bets river quickly he can have it or be on a bluff and put you to a decision, but if he does the long think-tank chip stacking routine he is usually full of shit and on a busted draw. He is still pretty new to the game and I try to teach him here and there, even though it took him a run of losing sessions before he would fight his ego and listen. He still has issues with reading the board at showdown. He has trouble with the best 5 card rule and how to figure out which cards play. I argued with him for 3 minutes just last game before he relinquished the pot. The board was 664QQ. He bet with T4 and was called by Van Horn with K7. He just kept saying that he had a pr and that it shouldn’t go to kickers. I told him that your trying play 3pr. He also has a hard time deciphering kicker fights and what cards exactly play on the board. I often have to actually push the cards up for both players and count out the 5 cards that play. He is smart so I really don’t get why he is having suck a hard time with this basic aspect of the game.
Van Horn – He is loose-passive to the extreme. He wants to see every flop, yet doesn’t raise often, but when he does, it is usually just a min-raise. The min-raise is usually nice paint. When he bets a little more he has a PP, you just have to figure out how high. He will always CB once if he raised PF. If you CR him he will usually just call. If he has an over-pr to the flop he will reraise your CR. That is when you know your holdings and drop out with weak holdings. If the flop brings a flush draw or a nicely coordinated straight draw he will just call your CR and check-call the rest of the way. So you can lose some change if you don’t be careful. He will usually call to the river with his small PP’s set-faming the turn and river for the anemic 2-outer because he doesn’t realize how bad his odds are of spiking – he will usually drop to the river bet with his small PP. If 4 cards to a flush hit he will call a moderate bet with a weak card of that suit and say that he had to see. He likes being the sheriff and if everyone folds he is more apt to stay in to “keep you honest.” Back to PF - he loves to see the flop and likes junk cards for odd superstitious reasons. Anytime he folds he always states that he hated to fold because he just knows it will hit. He makes a big deal when it does hit and that is a big reason why he such a call-station. He barely ever goes home with any money unless he gets some monster hands or sucks-out on some monster hands. Over the session he just calls it all away. He is the one that usually ends up putting Smitty over the edge, by hitting the river with junk that anyone else would have folded PF or to any bet. He is a checker, slow-playing most hands that he hits. But he doesn’t raise much on the river when his traps work. Often he just calls. He is a very weak player. You barely ever know when he has you beat or not because he just check-calls all the way to showdown even with nice hands. He is afraid of the board often thinking monsters are in the closet at every flush, gut-shot, or paired board, yet he almost always will call to the showdown to sheriff the table. He usually wins these pots, but since he calls bottom-pr and mid-pr and every possible draw imaginable to the river or showdown. Ultimately he usually ends up short-stacked early in every session with Smitty accumulating most of his chips because he calls all Smitty’s bets to the river and then usually folds. He is the ultimate weak calling-station. When he gets short-stacked he always says it’s almost time for an all-in hand and then subsequently he pushes within a few hands with marginal holdings at best – usually suited though. Since Smitty and Van Horn both love to see the flop they often call each other’s all-ins when the pusher is tilting with their shorty with holdings just as marginal and near races ensue. Van Horn always buys back in and plays the exact same style. Just hit the flop and keep betting and he will usually call you better hand to showdown and build your stack.
Smutek - He barely ever wins and thus doesn’t play often. When he does play and loses his first buy-in of $20 or $25 he calls it a night. He is so predictable that everyone knows his game and get out of the hands and he only takes the blinds or one bet. If he bets the flop he usually has TP or better. Everyone folds and he wins a baby pot. Also if he weakly hit the flop he will look down at his chips for a second, shit sometimes reaching for his stack, and then he will check. At that point most people check their draws opting for a free card or put in a nice bet and he usually folds his pr. He respects my game to the point at he folds even nice hands to my bets thinking I’m suckering him in for his money. He folds the winning hands quite often because he thinks that every time a flush or straight is on the board that a bet from someone means that that’s what they have. He plays scared which isn’t winning poker in the least. Everyone knows this and just slowly scares Smutek out of pots or folds to his bets so he wins minuscule pots and his stack keeps dwindling. Often he will double up once short-stacked because he finally has to make a stand and the other players are still in predator mode thus bullying with shit. Therefore he most often drops that last hand to bad beats which always sucks to exit with. He also will lose a big hand when 4 cards to a flush or a 4-flush is on the board. He will call the flush with marginal holdings and fight with the small side of the straight. I have been working on these leaks with him but he is slow to grasp what I’m trying to teach him. I have stopped a few of his bad habits, which is helping his game. First of all I told him to stop showing his cards when people fold. He is the only player that folds PF more than I do, so when he does get into a hands he is already under scrutiny by everyone at the table. So when he bets and everyone drops and then he shows them that he had it, they know that they made the right call and that predictable Smutek hasn’t changed his game. Now he never shows his hands unless they pay to see. The other leak that he had was telling everyone at the table when he was on a draw. He would call someone’s bet and say out loud that he wanted to see one more card. So if a coordinated card hit the board they could slow down in the hand or if the card whiffed, they would bet hard knowing he would fold. I am working with him on other aspects trying to help him compete. But as it stands right now, if he gets in a hand and he acts first and bets you drop or if he checks you bet. If you are first to act you make a nice bet and if he calls you know he has something. It’s sadly that simple.
Phil – He is a weird player, but also highly predictable at times. But he will put money in the pot with good cards and shit cards with equal frequency so you have to be careful. He likes to see the flop, but will fold total junk. If he is up he usually sees every flop. He will call PF raises with marginal hole cards. He will pay moderate calls to the river chasing his flushes, often even large bets. He then folds if he misses. He also opening but unwittingly visually and sometimes vocally lets all know he is on a draw. You know to raise if next card is innocuous. He finds it hard to get away with from small prs and will bet them just as hard as if he held TPTK. Sometimes I put him on 2pr or something nice and once everyone folds he will show pocket 6’s. At other times I will reraise him and he will keep calling my bets for the remainder of the hand, often leading the betting again on the next street and I will slow down. I then bet big on the river with a monster and he calls and shows down pocket 4’s that was lower than any card on the board, thus only beating a total bluff. He honestly doesn’t think your bluffing, he just has some weird idea that if you likely have the best hand PF you are supposed to win the hand. I don’t get it, but at least once a session he makes a horrible call for a lot of money with a total shit hand that has everyone scratching their heads. I always just hope it is when I’m in the big hand with him. He has brain farts – that is the nicest way I can put it. Like he will miss-read his cards and think he has a straight or last time he paid off a full-boat for a huge pot with “3 pair.” No lie, he thought he won the hand. He often goes up early on and accumulates chips because he doesn’t know how to fold and picks off Smitty’s BS bluffs, which in turn infuriates him. He also picks up pots where his big bets make players drop. Honestly he aggravates me often, to the point that I won’t sit beside him. Every time around the table you have to remind him that he is the big blind and then most of the time tell him that he is the small blind on the very next fucking hand. And I mean every time around the table. And then he has trouble putting in the right amount of chips for the blinds that he is in. I’m not joking. You can probably see how this can be irritating. And then if that isn’t bad enough when the action comes back around to him in the small blind he will say check or put in a whole big blind instead of the other half of his small blind so the guy next to him has to at that point, to speed up the game, just scoot him back has original small blind chip. And if he is in the big blind you have to yell out a preemptive strike by telling him that he can check because he will always throw in a chip because he remembers that he is BB. And if you don’t catch him before he throws in his chip, depending on how you phrase it, he will either pull it back out or bet it. If you say you can check, he will say oops and pull it back out or if someone says are you raising it, he say ahhh, yea I’ll raise it. He really slows down the game and aggravates the fuck out of me until I get 1 beer in me or I find a way to stop ruminating of his stupidity. When we first start playing I can’t help but focus on it when it is about his turn. It will say to myself, he it comes. Just to put this little rant into perspective – will never get better, we have been playing for 2 years now, so if he hasn’t figured it out by now he never will. I actually like it when he doesn’t show up to the games; it really takes down my stress level. The only reason I have never snapped and hurt him is because he can’t help it and he is the nicest person you will ever meet, who is willing to help out any friend with whatever shit task without even thinking twice about it. Nice but fucking aggravating.
To be continued…
I also played the Fam Game twice since the last update. We always play small $5 tourneys. 1st time I dropped -$20 and the 2nd time I lost -$5. Some to bad play on my part and some to horrible and moderate beats. It is about playing with family and less about winning, but I am always very competitive. I can’t help that and of course you are supposed to play your best game every time out anyways, right? I don’t care that it is only $5 when I make my decisions; I play with my stack and I play as well as possible. It does frustrate me some when I go in with the best and am called with shit and the shit hits. Races don’t bother me ever, that just is poker in my mind. But a bad call from an opponent for all my or their chips when I am 70% or better cuts me deep when they spike their shit. I know that there are outs for a reason but damn. I guess it hurts because it doesn’t often go the other way because I hardly ever put my money in with the worst of it. Not to say that I’m this great player that never makes bad calls, I’m just stating that I more often than not go in with the best of it, so the suck-out ratio is skewed towards the other players. Basically I’m saying that when I play cards I am never in Freeroll mode. I always do have fun at the Fam Game, I just think I take it a little too seriously sometimes.
I will now tell you about each player’s styles and weaknesses and strengths and little tells and odds-and-ins I have noticed with their games. These are the Home Game guys not the Fam Game players. The rest of this post is on each player’s current style – just warning you so you don’t waste your time if you don’t like player analysis of people you don’t know. I’m am really doing it more for myself because as I write, it makes me really think about their game and my counter-methods to their styles. Long post ensues.
Smitty – He is a total LAG. He has never seen hole cards that he didn’t like. He always wants to see the flop no matter his holdings. He will either raise PF or call and will rarely fold to a raise or reraise PF. If he is the aggressor just let him keep betting for you and depending how innocuous the board is make your decision on which street to raise or CR him. If I have the hand and he is in position I just bet out and forget the slow-rolling because if he has any pr or any possibility of making a flush or a straight he will chase it as long as I don’t bet too much. If he has 4 cards to a straight (even gut-shot or the low end) or a flush he will find it hard to fold to any sized bet. If he has 2 hearts and 1 heart hits the flop that constitutes a flush-draw in his mind or if he has 2 cards and the flop brings 1 more card in succession that constitutes a flush-draw to him. So for example, if he has Ts, Jc and the flop brings Ks, 7s, 2h he will see the turn for a nice bet just to see if another spade or an A, Q, 9, 8, comes so he can chase again on the river. Sometimes he hits these long-shots and rivers a huge pot, which keeps him trying. He is very aggressive. If he raises PF, which does often, he will CB every street no matter the board or if he hit anything or if the board is all overs to a small PP. So if I have any suited-cons, PP’s, or nice paint is dealt to me I will call for the possibility of a nice score. You can usually CR the river and he will call with any pr just to see if you are bluffing. He hates to be out-played. If you bluff him he takes it as a personal slight towards his manhood and will call you down most of the night just to make sure you don’t hurt his pride further. So basically I will bluff with a busted draw often early on in the session just so I can turn up the bluff and induced the vendetta grudge mode. He amasses tons of chips early on every session with his aggression. This always happens because he is betting on just about every hand. He then gets pissed because in his mind he should win any hand where he showed aggression the whole way. If he loses a few busted aggressive hands, especially if someone calls him down with horrible holdings in a short period of time, bad beats, getting bluffed, river beats especially if they called to the river with total junk where he had them crushed the whole way, or any combination of these 4 common occurrences he hits ultra-full-tilt-mode. Guaranteed he will push all-in PF or on the flop very soon after he starts bitching about others horrid play or his unwarranted bad luck. He usually has shit and needs to prove to himself that he is in control of the table again. Depending on how much he has left when he shoves and what I holding I will call even with minor holdings that I normally wouldn’t call with because he see making this move PF with any Ace, any suited cards, small pr, paint, and on the flop if he hit any part of the board or with any flush or straight draw. If he doesn’t get smacked-down too often in a short period of time he doesn’t tilt and I can continue to take nice pots from his growing stack. He ends sessions usually up big or down big and both happen about half the time. It looks like a lot to remember, but really he is pretty predictable. Oh yea, one tell that he has makes and/or saves me large river bets. If he takes a long time on the river and keeps recounting his chips in a stack like he is trying to figure out exactly how much he wants to bet, he almost is always bluffing a busted draw. If he just bets river quickly he can have it or be on a bluff and put you to a decision, but if he does the long think-tank chip stacking routine he is usually full of shit and on a busted draw. He is still pretty new to the game and I try to teach him here and there, even though it took him a run of losing sessions before he would fight his ego and listen. He still has issues with reading the board at showdown. He has trouble with the best 5 card rule and how to figure out which cards play. I argued with him for 3 minutes just last game before he relinquished the pot. The board was 664QQ. He bet with T4 and was called by Van Horn with K7. He just kept saying that he had a pr and that it shouldn’t go to kickers. I told him that your trying play 3pr. He also has a hard time deciphering kicker fights and what cards exactly play on the board. I often have to actually push the cards up for both players and count out the 5 cards that play. He is smart so I really don’t get why he is having suck a hard time with this basic aspect of the game.
Van Horn – He is loose-passive to the extreme. He wants to see every flop, yet doesn’t raise often, but when he does, it is usually just a min-raise. The min-raise is usually nice paint. When he bets a little more he has a PP, you just have to figure out how high. He will always CB once if he raised PF. If you CR him he will usually just call. If he has an over-pr to the flop he will reraise your CR. That is when you know your holdings and drop out with weak holdings. If the flop brings a flush draw or a nicely coordinated straight draw he will just call your CR and check-call the rest of the way. So you can lose some change if you don’t be careful. He will usually call to the river with his small PP’s set-faming the turn and river for the anemic 2-outer because he doesn’t realize how bad his odds are of spiking – he will usually drop to the river bet with his small PP. If 4 cards to a flush hit he will call a moderate bet with a weak card of that suit and say that he had to see. He likes being the sheriff and if everyone folds he is more apt to stay in to “keep you honest.” Back to PF - he loves to see the flop and likes junk cards for odd superstitious reasons. Anytime he folds he always states that he hated to fold because he just knows it will hit. He makes a big deal when it does hit and that is a big reason why he such a call-station. He barely ever goes home with any money unless he gets some monster hands or sucks-out on some monster hands. Over the session he just calls it all away. He is the one that usually ends up putting Smitty over the edge, by hitting the river with junk that anyone else would have folded PF or to any bet. He is a checker, slow-playing most hands that he hits. But he doesn’t raise much on the river when his traps work. Often he just calls. He is a very weak player. You barely ever know when he has you beat or not because he just check-calls all the way to showdown even with nice hands. He is afraid of the board often thinking monsters are in the closet at every flush, gut-shot, or paired board, yet he almost always will call to the showdown to sheriff the table. He usually wins these pots, but since he calls bottom-pr and mid-pr and every possible draw imaginable to the river or showdown. Ultimately he usually ends up short-stacked early in every session with Smitty accumulating most of his chips because he calls all Smitty’s bets to the river and then usually folds. He is the ultimate weak calling-station. When he gets short-stacked he always says it’s almost time for an all-in hand and then subsequently he pushes within a few hands with marginal holdings at best – usually suited though. Since Smitty and Van Horn both love to see the flop they often call each other’s all-ins when the pusher is tilting with their shorty with holdings just as marginal and near races ensue. Van Horn always buys back in and plays the exact same style. Just hit the flop and keep betting and he will usually call you better hand to showdown and build your stack.
Smutek - He barely ever wins and thus doesn’t play often. When he does play and loses his first buy-in of $20 or $25 he calls it a night. He is so predictable that everyone knows his game and get out of the hands and he only takes the blinds or one bet. If he bets the flop he usually has TP or better. Everyone folds and he wins a baby pot. Also if he weakly hit the flop he will look down at his chips for a second, shit sometimes reaching for his stack, and then he will check. At that point most people check their draws opting for a free card or put in a nice bet and he usually folds his pr. He respects my game to the point at he folds even nice hands to my bets thinking I’m suckering him in for his money. He folds the winning hands quite often because he thinks that every time a flush or straight is on the board that a bet from someone means that that’s what they have. He plays scared which isn’t winning poker in the least. Everyone knows this and just slowly scares Smutek out of pots or folds to his bets so he wins minuscule pots and his stack keeps dwindling. Often he will double up once short-stacked because he finally has to make a stand and the other players are still in predator mode thus bullying with shit. Therefore he most often drops that last hand to bad beats which always sucks to exit with. He also will lose a big hand when 4 cards to a flush or a 4-flush is on the board. He will call the flush with marginal holdings and fight with the small side of the straight. I have been working on these leaks with him but he is slow to grasp what I’m trying to teach him. I have stopped a few of his bad habits, which is helping his game. First of all I told him to stop showing his cards when people fold. He is the only player that folds PF more than I do, so when he does get into a hands he is already under scrutiny by everyone at the table. So when he bets and everyone drops and then he shows them that he had it, they know that they made the right call and that predictable Smutek hasn’t changed his game. Now he never shows his hands unless they pay to see. The other leak that he had was telling everyone at the table when he was on a draw. He would call someone’s bet and say out loud that he wanted to see one more card. So if a coordinated card hit the board they could slow down in the hand or if the card whiffed, they would bet hard knowing he would fold. I am working with him on other aspects trying to help him compete. But as it stands right now, if he gets in a hand and he acts first and bets you drop or if he checks you bet. If you are first to act you make a nice bet and if he calls you know he has something. It’s sadly that simple.
Phil – He is a weird player, but also highly predictable at times. But he will put money in the pot with good cards and shit cards with equal frequency so you have to be careful. He likes to see the flop, but will fold total junk. If he is up he usually sees every flop. He will call PF raises with marginal hole cards. He will pay moderate calls to the river chasing his flushes, often even large bets. He then folds if he misses. He also opening but unwittingly visually and sometimes vocally lets all know he is on a draw. You know to raise if next card is innocuous. He finds it hard to get away with from small prs and will bet them just as hard as if he held TPTK. Sometimes I put him on 2pr or something nice and once everyone folds he will show pocket 6’s. At other times I will reraise him and he will keep calling my bets for the remainder of the hand, often leading the betting again on the next street and I will slow down. I then bet big on the river with a monster and he calls and shows down pocket 4’s that was lower than any card on the board, thus only beating a total bluff. He honestly doesn’t think your bluffing, he just has some weird idea that if you likely have the best hand PF you are supposed to win the hand. I don’t get it, but at least once a session he makes a horrible call for a lot of money with a total shit hand that has everyone scratching their heads. I always just hope it is when I’m in the big hand with him. He has brain farts – that is the nicest way I can put it. Like he will miss-read his cards and think he has a straight or last time he paid off a full-boat for a huge pot with “3 pair.” No lie, he thought he won the hand. He often goes up early on and accumulates chips because he doesn’t know how to fold and picks off Smitty’s BS bluffs, which in turn infuriates him. He also picks up pots where his big bets make players drop. Honestly he aggravates me often, to the point that I won’t sit beside him. Every time around the table you have to remind him that he is the big blind and then most of the time tell him that he is the small blind on the very next fucking hand. And I mean every time around the table. And then he has trouble putting in the right amount of chips for the blinds that he is in. I’m not joking. You can probably see how this can be irritating. And then if that isn’t bad enough when the action comes back around to him in the small blind he will say check or put in a whole big blind instead of the other half of his small blind so the guy next to him has to at that point, to speed up the game, just scoot him back has original small blind chip. And if he is in the big blind you have to yell out a preemptive strike by telling him that he can check because he will always throw in a chip because he remembers that he is BB. And if you don’t catch him before he throws in his chip, depending on how you phrase it, he will either pull it back out or bet it. If you say you can check, he will say oops and pull it back out or if someone says are you raising it, he say ahhh, yea I’ll raise it. He really slows down the game and aggravates the fuck out of me until I get 1 beer in me or I find a way to stop ruminating of his stupidity. When we first start playing I can’t help but focus on it when it is about his turn. It will say to myself, he it comes. Just to put this little rant into perspective – will never get better, we have been playing for 2 years now, so if he hasn’t figured it out by now he never will. I actually like it when he doesn’t show up to the games; it really takes down my stress level. The only reason I have never snapped and hurt him is because he can’t help it and he is the nicest person you will ever meet, who is willing to help out any friend with whatever shit task without even thinking twice about it. Nice but fucking aggravating.
To be continued…
Friday, June 29, 2007
Full Tilt and a Few Leaks Plugged
OK, it has been a month since my last update. I achieved my gold status for the month. I only missed the 100 points on one day. I have played every day this month. I have had my ups and downs. I got that hoodie plus I’m back up around 3000 points again. I opted for extra points as my Ironman bonus.
I started the month at $350 and was playing 4 tables at the $50 FR tables. I lost a few buy-ins but stayed at those stakes and tried for the comeback. I went all the way down to $150. I started playing the $25 tables and slowly dwindled down below $100. I hit $80 and was forced to drop to $10 tables. I started playing 8 tables with my whole roll at 8 different hopeful seats. I decided to play my regular game but really go into the think-tank on all-in hands, which is really hard for me because it is only $10. When you have played $200 and $100 tables for months only 6 months ago and recently $50 and $25 tables $10 just doesn’t hold as much respect in one’s eyes. But I had to focus on the fact that I only had $80 and $10 was actually 1/8 of my total BR. I began my refined game and hit 2 bad beats where I was at least a 70% favorite. It just seemed that lady luck was being at total bitch to me. I was now standing at $60 and 6 buy-ins. I held the line and continued on that same strategy. The bad beats stopped for a while and I began to gain in money. It was difficult to fold some of the big hands, especially when guys at these small stakes will call your PF raise and if they hit any piece of the flop will shove and put you to a tough decision. Usually I would still call if I had and over-pr to the flop. Occasionally that had hit their sets and I paid the ultimate price, but more often than not it turned out to be a semi-buff at best. I did lay down some hands where I was likely the best, but I was winning tons of small pots with my semi-tight-semi-agro game. I figured why lose all those hrs of grinding to one bad call. It was hard for me. I continued to gain all the while getting my 100 points a day. I decided on a new BR management strategy because I had already surpassed the 1st 4 or 5 stakes. I be scared to move up when I’m not scared money at those stakes. I will now move up stakes as long as I have 8 buy-ins at that level and at that point be willing to stay at that stake until I lose 2 buy-ins or advance up the ladder to the next stakes. I hit the $200 mark not too long ago. (2 weeks or so.) I moved up stakes back to the .10/.25 tables. I was finally playing solid poker. I wasn’t gaining a lot on each session but I wasn’t dropping big amounts either. I was making less bad calls on big hands. I also gave up the nasty river bluffs with busted draws when if called I would lose big pots to due to the size of turn pots and the amount that one would have to put in to make it a tough call for my opponents. I actually gave that up back at the strategy change at the $10 stakes. This was definitely one leak in my game. When it was I well timed bluff I made a nice hand payout, but when I was off in my assessment I wasted all my hard earned money. Now that I have taken out the nasty bluff and the bad all-in calls I am playing winning poker overall. Most of my wins and loses each day were very small due to some daily horrible beats. All that grinding gone to shit almost every session. But when the bad beats didn’t come in a session I usually made a buy-in or so. I continued to grind it out and make my 100 points a day. I had a nice 4 session rush this last week and built up my roll to $380. I was about to make the move up when some ugly beats have been dropping my roll. I am currently at $280. I have lived right around $300 for a week now, with a $25 swing or so either way. The last 4 sessions have brought some ugly beats. My roll hasn’t suffered too bad because my current game is winning enough small pots to sustain most of these horrid suck-outs. I’m telling you when the money goes in and I watch the cards turning over towards showdown I call-out the perfect suck-out cards because I just know they are going to hit. Coin-toss – fucking forget it, it just ain’t happening. I know everyone gets hit with these hands, but currently it feels like the world is a little skewed against my accurate decisions. It just hurts when you get all the money in, thus out-playing your opponent, and they stick it in you ass – no lube mind you. Last 4 days here are a few. PF AA vs AJ and JJ. J comes on river. That was over a $60 swing instead of being up $45 or so I go down $25. I haven’t even looked that hand up but I really shouldn’t be losing that too often. And twice the normal pr over pr 2-outer loses. I call a raise with TT – flop comes T – all-in on flop vs KK – river K for a $50 swing in my roll. Once my set gets smacked by a 4-flush, but I did slow-play the flop looking for the CR, so the guy did have his flush-draw. And lastly this morning after work I had my normal 8 tables going and soon after getting on another guy and I get all-in with $30 apiece in chips with AA vs AA. I called it – I just knew it was coming: 4 fucking clubs on the board. God that just really hurt after 4 days of this shit luck. I looked it up. 2.17% that he was going to win. OK, lets put this shit into perspective. If we played this hand 100 times I would only lose it twice. So a lost triple-up pot to a pure 1-outer and today a 4-flush Aces vs Aces beat – it just am finding it hard to stay positive. Luckily I ground my way back this morning and only ended down $8 for the session. What will tomorrow bring. If no bad beats it should be a nice session. One solace is that I get rake back through rakebreak at 27% and I will have accrued around $500 total rake for Tilt (damn they are pulling the dough) so I’m looking at around $130 added to my roll around mid-month when they add it to my account. So If I can tow-the-line for the next little while I will get my shot at $50 very soon.
Overall I am currently happy with my game now that I have exposed a few leaks in my game that were killing my bottom-line. I still make bad calls here and there but I have alleviated the big pot mistakes. My current game holds me up on most of the 8 tables that I simultaneously play. Although I have been playing one superstitious sort of rule: If I hit over $30 at a $25 table I wait for the blinds and exit and start a new table. Not totally superstitious I guess, but I just don’t want to put that extra money at risk. I feel that if it is in my account balance, it is building my roll and can’t be taken from me. I know that I should actually have it at the table for the same very reason that I play max buy-in poker: To optimize my profit potential against the other large stacks at the table when I hit my monsters against them. So that is where I currently sit. I will try to update more often in the future since I am playing fulltime again.
Later, Ash out…
I started the month at $350 and was playing 4 tables at the $50 FR tables. I lost a few buy-ins but stayed at those stakes and tried for the comeback. I went all the way down to $150. I started playing the $25 tables and slowly dwindled down below $100. I hit $80 and was forced to drop to $10 tables. I started playing 8 tables with my whole roll at 8 different hopeful seats. I decided to play my regular game but really go into the think-tank on all-in hands, which is really hard for me because it is only $10. When you have played $200 and $100 tables for months only 6 months ago and recently $50 and $25 tables $10 just doesn’t hold as much respect in one’s eyes. But I had to focus on the fact that I only had $80 and $10 was actually 1/8 of my total BR. I began my refined game and hit 2 bad beats where I was at least a 70% favorite. It just seemed that lady luck was being at total bitch to me. I was now standing at $60 and 6 buy-ins. I held the line and continued on that same strategy. The bad beats stopped for a while and I began to gain in money. It was difficult to fold some of the big hands, especially when guys at these small stakes will call your PF raise and if they hit any piece of the flop will shove and put you to a tough decision. Usually I would still call if I had and over-pr to the flop. Occasionally that had hit their sets and I paid the ultimate price, but more often than not it turned out to be a semi-buff at best. I did lay down some hands where I was likely the best, but I was winning tons of small pots with my semi-tight-semi-agro game. I figured why lose all those hrs of grinding to one bad call. It was hard for me. I continued to gain all the while getting my 100 points a day. I decided on a new BR management strategy because I had already surpassed the 1st 4 or 5 stakes. I be scared to move up when I’m not scared money at those stakes. I will now move up stakes as long as I have 8 buy-ins at that level and at that point be willing to stay at that stake until I lose 2 buy-ins or advance up the ladder to the next stakes. I hit the $200 mark not too long ago. (2 weeks or so.) I moved up stakes back to the .10/.25 tables. I was finally playing solid poker. I wasn’t gaining a lot on each session but I wasn’t dropping big amounts either. I was making less bad calls on big hands. I also gave up the nasty river bluffs with busted draws when if called I would lose big pots to due to the size of turn pots and the amount that one would have to put in to make it a tough call for my opponents. I actually gave that up back at the strategy change at the $10 stakes. This was definitely one leak in my game. When it was I well timed bluff I made a nice hand payout, but when I was off in my assessment I wasted all my hard earned money. Now that I have taken out the nasty bluff and the bad all-in calls I am playing winning poker overall. Most of my wins and loses each day were very small due to some daily horrible beats. All that grinding gone to shit almost every session. But when the bad beats didn’t come in a session I usually made a buy-in or so. I continued to grind it out and make my 100 points a day. I had a nice 4 session rush this last week and built up my roll to $380. I was about to make the move up when some ugly beats have been dropping my roll. I am currently at $280. I have lived right around $300 for a week now, with a $25 swing or so either way. The last 4 sessions have brought some ugly beats. My roll hasn’t suffered too bad because my current game is winning enough small pots to sustain most of these horrid suck-outs. I’m telling you when the money goes in and I watch the cards turning over towards showdown I call-out the perfect suck-out cards because I just know they are going to hit. Coin-toss – fucking forget it, it just ain’t happening. I know everyone gets hit with these hands, but currently it feels like the world is a little skewed against my accurate decisions. It just hurts when you get all the money in, thus out-playing your opponent, and they stick it in you ass – no lube mind you. Last 4 days here are a few. PF AA vs AJ and JJ. J comes on river. That was over a $60 swing instead of being up $45 or so I go down $25. I haven’t even looked that hand up but I really shouldn’t be losing that too often. And twice the normal pr over pr 2-outer loses. I call a raise with TT – flop comes T – all-in on flop vs KK – river K for a $50 swing in my roll. Once my set gets smacked by a 4-flush, but I did slow-play the flop looking for the CR, so the guy did have his flush-draw. And lastly this morning after work I had my normal 8 tables going and soon after getting on another guy and I get all-in with $30 apiece in chips with AA vs AA. I called it – I just knew it was coming: 4 fucking clubs on the board. God that just really hurt after 4 days of this shit luck. I looked it up. 2.17% that he was going to win. OK, lets put this shit into perspective. If we played this hand 100 times I would only lose it twice. So a lost triple-up pot to a pure 1-outer and today a 4-flush Aces vs Aces beat – it just am finding it hard to stay positive. Luckily I ground my way back this morning and only ended down $8 for the session. What will tomorrow bring. If no bad beats it should be a nice session. One solace is that I get rake back through rakebreak at 27% and I will have accrued around $500 total rake for Tilt (damn they are pulling the dough) so I’m looking at around $130 added to my roll around mid-month when they add it to my account. So If I can tow-the-line for the next little while I will get my shot at $50 very soon.
Overall I am currently happy with my game now that I have exposed a few leaks in my game that were killing my bottom-line. I still make bad calls here and there but I have alleviated the big pot mistakes. My current game holds me up on most of the 8 tables that I simultaneously play. Although I have been playing one superstitious sort of rule: If I hit over $30 at a $25 table I wait for the blinds and exit and start a new table. Not totally superstitious I guess, but I just don’t want to put that extra money at risk. I feel that if it is in my account balance, it is building my roll and can’t be taken from me. I know that I should actually have it at the table for the same very reason that I play max buy-in poker: To optimize my profit potential against the other large stacks at the table when I hit my monsters against them. So that is where I currently sit. I will try to update more often in the future since I am playing fulltime again.
Later, Ash out…
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Where I'm at
Live is still going well. Last 6 games: +$21, +$21, -$21, -$15, +$94, +$39. I can live with that. Now if I can just get the ole lady out of my BR I’ll be rolled for whatever I feel like doing.
I started playing at Full Tilt again. It has been a while. Back when I used to play there was no Iron Man stuff. I plan on being gold this month. I only need 1000 more regular points to get a cool hoodie: red and black. I brought over most of my bankroll from UB. $350 total. I’m going to give $50NL a go but if I drop a buy-in or 2, it is back to the $25NL tables. I am doing 4 at a time.
I’m still not playing solid poker. I just don’t get it. I play pretty well and get up on most tables and then blow it all on one big hand where either I get sucked-out on or I just have 2nd best hand.
At least I started playing again.
I started playing at Full Tilt again. It has been a while. Back when I used to play there was no Iron Man stuff. I plan on being gold this month. I only need 1000 more regular points to get a cool hoodie: red and black. I brought over most of my bankroll from UB. $350 total. I’m going to give $50NL a go but if I drop a buy-in or 2, it is back to the $25NL tables. I am doing 4 at a time.
I’m still not playing solid poker. I just don’t get it. I play pretty well and get up on most tables and then blow it all on one big hand where either I get sucked-out on or I just have 2nd best hand.
At least I started playing again.
Monday, May 21, 2007
A NEW HOPE
I have really been off track this year. I have only put in a few true sessions this year as of yet. Last year I used to put in solid month after month of multi-tabling, utilizing every moment that I wasn’t working or sleeping, sadly sometimes to the detriment of my family. I started with $180 last year after starting on the penny tables the year prior. I took that $180 and turned it into slightly over $5000. I was an anal little bitch and didn’t move up levels until I had 25 to 35 buy-ins and was crushing the current stakes. Sadly life threw me a few curves and I cashed out all but $500 of my roll. Shit I had just started playing the $200NL tables. I was making it. And since the cashout I haven’t been motivated to play. I was crushing the game overall when I left. 5 winning sessions to 1 losing. Now I am finding that I am playing even poker at stakes that I used to fucking destroy. I now sit at $650 total on 3 different sites. God, the year is over 1/3rd over and I am up $100. I need to get going.
My game has evolved to the point that I don’t where I was at before. I think I have too many tools at disposal. (That sounds conceded right?) I think it is time for me to step back and hit reset. I think I need to play standard old boring ABC ghey poker. No nasty bluffs. No betting and raising on every street with my draws. No expensive chasing. No playing just out of position. No playing junk in position. Just monsters and play ram and jam. Get in cheap with my prs and do some set-farming. I know playing this style will suck, as I will just know I could take a hand down with a move, but I think I shall refrain for awhile. It’s time to play punk-ass rock style. I will be so temped though with my PT and Ace Hud data mining these tards. I will play straight full ring and multi-table.
I’m going to put in some time and try to pump up this egg-roll. If I, fuck that, when I get it big again I am going to keep stepping up. $5000 is a lot, but I would love to give this a shot at the title. I want to make Vegas money baby. I want to be making lobster loot. It was in my grasp last year I know it was, but I gave it all up. I was on the cusp…standing at the precipice ready to take that big money leap of faith. I’m giving it another shot bitches. As LL used to say, “Don’t call it a comeback…I’ve been here for years.”
Later, Ash out…
My game has evolved to the point that I don’t where I was at before. I think I have too many tools at disposal. (That sounds conceded right?) I think it is time for me to step back and hit reset. I think I need to play standard old boring ABC ghey poker. No nasty bluffs. No betting and raising on every street with my draws. No expensive chasing. No playing just out of position. No playing junk in position. Just monsters and play ram and jam. Get in cheap with my prs and do some set-farming. I know playing this style will suck, as I will just know I could take a hand down with a move, but I think I shall refrain for awhile. It’s time to play punk-ass rock style. I will be so temped though with my PT and Ace Hud data mining these tards. I will play straight full ring and multi-table.
I’m going to put in some time and try to pump up this egg-roll. If I, fuck that, when I get it big again I am going to keep stepping up. $5000 is a lot, but I would love to give this a shot at the title. I want to make Vegas money baby. I want to be making lobster loot. It was in my grasp last year I know it was, but I gave it all up. I was on the cusp…standing at the precipice ready to take that big money leap of faith. I’m giving it another shot bitches. As LL used to say, “Don’t call it a comeback…I’ve been here for years.”
Later, Ash out…
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Update: Breaking Rake
I played for the first time in forever last night. I kicked up 4 $25 FR tables on Stars. BTW, I have a cool Stars T-shirt coming in the mail. Points baby. “You call me baby…you be all done,” as Scottie would say. I took done a $120 bonus that has been sitting there since July of 2006. That just goes to show how much I play at Stars.
At first when I played 4 tables at Stars it was really awkward to see and play the Tables. I would size down the screen and get all 4 on the table at once. It was frustrating. But I have gotten used to it. I really like it now. It is nice to see all tables at once without popping through different screens; you can just focus on the ones that have cards. The only thing that is aggravating to me now with the set-up is that you have activate the table first before you can push a button. So if you want to fold you first have to click the table once and then you can click the fold button. That drives me nuts. I now make the screens a little bigger and let them overlap the other tables a little. To do this you have to organize the tables so you aren’t sitting in the middle of the screen where they will get covered by the overlapping tables.
I cashed out my $250 to Epassporte. It was instantaneous. That was the first time that I have ever had an instant withdraw. They had a deposit bonus going but I became ineligible by withdrawing. That sucked. I will likely put it back on Stars until UB has a bonus going.
I hope to start playing again. I have been in a funk pokerwise lately. I really just don’t feel like playing and when I do finally decide to play I get off quick because I just can’t get into it. I want to start playing and hopefully start winning again.
One bitch hand from last night. I have $28 or so. I flop a straight from a slightly PF raised pot. I’m also in position. Board 972 with 2 clubs. 4 of us in hand – 1st - $12, 2nd - $15, 3rd - $3.5, and Me - $28. 1st checks. 2nd bets $1.5. 3rd goes all-in for 3.5. I make it $6. 1st then goes all-in from $12. 2nd puts in the remainder of his $15. I obviously call. The only thing that beats me at this point is a set of 9’s. I figure someone has a flush-draw and 2nd who was the PF raiser has an over-pr. I was right – 1st has A8c, 2nd has JJ, and 3rd mucks at showdown. I need to stay away from some outs here I am guessing because I don’t know there hands until showdown, although it was pretty obvious what I was up against unless these guys where total loose-cannons. Turn brings a Club like figured. I still had $3 measly bucks that I could win, but yep, you guessed it. The guy hits a J on the river to totally stick it to me and let me know how Lady Luck currently feels about me.
I know this kind of shit happens, but lately it has been disproportionate. I’m telling you my hands aren’t holding up like they should. I think this is one of the main reasons that I haven’t wanted to play. It gets old after awhile.
Current bankroll:
Epassporte - $257
FT - $55
WPEX - $47
UB - $404
Total = $763
That is only $263 for the year. Hey, at least I’m in the black.
So far this year if I added up my bonuses and rakeback, That would be all my profits for the year. I am playing even poker. I'm just beating rake and only bringing in the little extra that sites give out for hanging around. When I get back to playing and get some hands in I will have to reevaluate my game.
Later, Ash out...
Thursday, May 03, 2007
UPS and DOWNS
Ah, the poker scene. Once again I haven’t played a lot, but I do have a little bit to share. The second time I got on after deciding to play the higher stakes my Bro gets on. I was still playing full-ring. He lays out a proposal. He says that 6-max is where the $’s at and that we should get 3 tables going and split any winnings. I obviously say yes. Has been on a real heater. I loaned him $100 not too long ago and he has turned it into $2000 or so.
We get on 3 $100 6-max tables and sit across from each other so we don’t raise each other’s blinds all the time. His game has changed from when we used to play. He has become a LAG. But he plays it well. He had all 3 tables on total tilt. He was raising, what seemed like every hand. When someone would reraise, he often would call. If he missed the flop and they raised, he would fold and show his junk. If they checked and he was in position he would bet out. If they did a C/R he would usually fold and show his junk. These hands where he was flinging money out the window were setting the table up for when he did hit, because they had no respect for his holdings. They thought he was a dumbass that was just bullying the table with no ulterior motive. Also he won most hands right out PF or 2/3’s of the time on the flop when he bet and they missed their holdings or didn’t hit hard enough to call. And if he called their PF raise or reraise and they were holding high pairs, he would usually stack them when he hit hard. His 46s would take down their KK and they would leave or rebuy, but ultimately the table would be on total tilt. People started hitting 2nd-pr and finding it hard to let them go. They were playing out of their comfort zone and he was raking in the money. He was also hitting some cards on the flop and turn, which was really helping his bravado out. Put it this way, I was totally impressed. He was the King of the Rounders the whole night.
We played for like 13 hrs straight until 9:30am. I was up as much as #350 at one point. Late in the game I lost some hands that just happened to be 2nd best and a few bad beats thrown in. But truly counting all the hands that we played, my earnings should have been a reflection of my total game. Still it is possible that a just had a bad variance night, but I doubt it. I think that my full-ring game is where I thrive. I ended the night up $26. He ended up making $750. So he put $375 into my account and I placed a badass $13 into his. LOL. Overall a very goodnight.
Since then I haven’t played much. The next time that I did though, I played the $100 tables and lost around $250. Honestly it was to bad beats, but it really smacked my confidence into the dirt. I dropped down to the $50’s again. The next time I played I lost more. I got down to $300 or so on UB, thus losing pretty much all of that night’s earnings. I only really played once more after that and now sit at $400. So on all sites tallied together I sit at $650 or so for the year. That is a cool $150 profit for the year. I really haven’t put in much time this year, but with the time I have, I should be up quite a bit more. I am truly disappointed with myself and my game. Unless I play with my Bro again I plan on playing full-ring.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
