Hands that make me smile...

Happy New Years, everyone! This Bodog hand made me smile... I lost it, but it's not often where I actually have pot odds for a call going into the river *KNOWING* I'm behind...

***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Bodog)
$50.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 29, 11:37:22 ET 2010
Table Emperion (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: Player1 ( $32.45 USD ) - VPIP: 28, PFR: 8, 3B: 3, AF: 1.6, Hands: 324
Seat 2: Player2 ( $13.99 USD ) - VPIP: 53, PFR: 21, 3B: 10, AF: 3.3, Hands: 38
Seat 3: Player3 ( $41.10 USD ) - VPIP: 32, PFR: 12, 3B: 10, AF: 3.6, Hands: 138
Seat 4: Player4 ( $43.70 USD ) - VPIP: 22, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: Infinity, Hands: 9
Seat 5: Player5 ( $53.10 USD ) - VPIP: 18, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: 1.1, Hands: 187
Seat 6: Player6 ( $66.93 USD ) - VPIP: 45, PFR: 13, 3B: 17, AF: 1.8, Hands: 38
Seat 7: Hero ( $65.75 USD ) - VPIP: 27, PFR: 16, 3B: 4, AF: 2.3, Hands: 8732
Seat 8: Player8 ( $26.60 USD ) - VPIP: 28, PFR: 8, 3B: 9, AF: 2.4, Hands: 90
Seat 9: Player9 ( $44.25 USD ) - VPIP: 38, PFR: 1, 3B: 0, AF: 0.8, Hands: 317
Player6 posts small blind [$0.25 USD].
Hero posts big blind [$0.50 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 9d 8d ]
Player8 calls [$0.50 USD]
Player9 folds
Player1 folds
Player2 calls [$0.50 USD]
Player3 folds
Player4 raises [$2.00 USD]
Player5 calls [$2.00 USD]
Player6 calls [$1.75 USD]
Hero calls [$1.50 USD]
Player8 calls [$1.50 USD]
Player2 calls [$1.50 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ac, 5d, 7s ]
Player6 bets [$8.00 USD]
Hero calls [$8.00 USD]
Player8 folds
Player2 folds
Player4 raises [$16.00 USD]
Player5 calls [$16.00 USD]
Player6 calls [$8.00 USD]
Hero calls [$8.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Js ]
Player6 checks
Hero checks
Player4 bets [$25.70 USD]
Player5 raises [$35.10 USD]
Player6 calls [$35.10 USD]
Hero calls [$35.10 USD] <-- With *THIS* much money in the pot, I think I actually get odds to make the river call based on equity. I have 8 outs up & down; 20% equity vs. 17% pot odds.
** Dealing River ** [ 2c ]
Player6 bets [$13.83 USD]
Hero folds
Player6 wins $13.83 USD
Player4 shows [Ah, Kd ]
Player5 shows [7c, 7d ]
Player6 shows [5c, 5h ]
Player5 wins $27.79 USD from main pot
Player5 wins $176.21 USD from main pot

Hands that piss me off...

Bodog Hand History, so no stats readily available, though this hand truly speaks for itself...

***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Bodog)
$50.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 29, 11:38:10 ET 2010
Table Onit (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Seat 1: Player1 ( $27.35 USD )
Seat 2: Player2 ( $50.30 USD )
Seat 3: Player3 ( $49.95 USD )
Seat 4: Player4 ( $61.65 USD )
Seat 6: Player6 ( $22.25 USD )
Seat 7: Hero ( $96.45 USD )
Seat 8: Player8 ( $72.60 USD )
Seat 9: Player9 ( $23.54 USD )
Hero posts small blind [$0.25 USD].
Player8 posts big blind [$0.50 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Jh Ah ]
Player9 folds
Player1 folds
Player2 calls [$0.50 USD]
Player3 folds
Player4 folds
Hero raises [$2.50 USD]
Player8 folds
Player2 calls [$2.25 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, As, 7c ]
Hero bets [$3.25 USD]
Player2 calls [$3.25 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9c ]
Hero checks
Player2 bets [$6.25 USD]
Hero calls [$6.25 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 5c ]
Hero checks
Player2 checks
Hero shows [Jh, Ah ]
Player2 shows [2c, Ac ]
Player2 wins $23.75 USD from main pot

Really? Betting the draw but checking the second nuts? I love Bodonkeys!

What would you do? #213 - WTF?

Lately, I've felt like I'm on the road to Missing Floppsville. Have you ever been there? It seems that I have totally decent pieces of the flop, as evidenced below, but nowhere near strong enough to call a stack off. I'm getting raised constantly when my TPTK should be good, and I'm getting smacked by the variance tree. WTF?

Anyway, what do you think about the hand below?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $50.00 - 18/13 / 4.3% 3bet / 33% steal / 1.3AF @ 485 hands
Hero (MP1): $83.40
MP2: $34.25
CO: $20.95
BTN: $39.15
SB: $62.65
BB: $50.00
UTG: $68.30 - 63/38 / 3.0 AF / 8 hands
UTG+1: $18.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP1 with As Ah
UTG calls $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50, UTG+2 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $3.50, 5 folds, UTG calls $3, UTG+1 calls $3, UTG+2 calls $3

Flop: ($14.75) Qd 4c 8c (4 players)
UTG bets $7, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 raises to $46.50 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero folds, UTG folds

Final Pot: $28.75
UTG+2 wins $27.35
(Rake: $1.40)

What would you do? #212 - Flopped second nut flush facing river raise

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $76.55 - 17/10 / 3.6%3bet / 45% steal / 2.8AF  @ 97 hands
MP2: $50.00
CO: $54.00
BTN: $36.10
Hero (SB): $69.00
BB: $50.75
UTG: $67.10
UTG+1: $24.25
UTG+2: $25.40

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Kc 9c
3 folds, MP1 raises to $1.50, 3 folds, Hero calls $1.25, BB calls $1
Call with a pump or dump hand.  Easy to get away from, but this player has been fairly active in very recent hands.  Also, we're a little deep, so I feel comfortable with the speculative call.

Flop: ($4.50) Tc Qc 6c (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP1 bets $2, Hero calls $2, BB folds
Can you say "Yahtzee?"

Turn: ($8.50) 5h (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks
Bummer.  He missed the flop entirely.  Suckage.

River: ($8.50) Ad (2 players)
Hero bets $7.25, MP1 raises to $20.25, Hero requests TIME, Hero ???
Okay.  Ace completes quite a few hands - mainly AK.  I lead, expecting a call behind to get a little value on my hand and am greeted with a nice raise.  What do you make of it?



Click to see results

I waffled back & forth between a call or a shove. He seems to be *VERY* interested in this Ace. Given the raise, I can put him on a few hands that beat me, but nothing likely - AcKc, AcQc are obviously not possible. All other AcXc hands are, though, but again, none seem too likely. Sets are clearly possible - particularly rivered set of Aces. However, isn't a set reduced to bluff catcher at this point? Then, I considered the line I took - I have a very concealed flopped flush, and he's not likely to believe that I waited until the river to get value out of it. Therefore I shove and am insta-called by the nut straight :-). GG sir!
Hero raises to $65.50 all in, MP1 calls $45.25

Final Pot: $139.50
MP1 mucks Kh Jc
Hero shows Kc 9c (a flush, King high)
Hero wins $136.50
(Rake: $3.00)

Trip to London, anyone?

I booked my trip to London last week.  I'm going to be arriving at Heathrow at 10pm, January 16th, and leaving at around 4:00pm, January 22.  I'm staying near Farnborough, so it'll be annoying to get to London during the week, but I'm going to try.  Anyone interested in meeting up in one of the London casinos?  I'm planning on going Thursday night, as a minimum.  I'll have a car.

Any of my British readers interested?  HappyPixel, I know you're across the pond...

What would you do? #211 - Snap fold turned TPTK?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $50.00
MP1: $99.55 - 14/10 / 7.6%3bet / 20%steal / 10% squeeze attempt / 4.0 AF / 56% lead flop @ 205 hands
MP2: $46.75
CO: $81.15
BTN: $78.25 - 24/5 /0%3bet / 10% steal / 0% squeeze / 0.8 AF / 0% lead flop @ 133 hands
SB: $127.25
BB: $50.00
Hero (UTG): $51.75
UTG+1: $19.20

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG with Qh Ac
Hero raises to $1.50, 2 folds, MP1 calls $1.50, 2 folds, BTN calls $1.50, 2 folds

Flop: ($5.25) 9d 6s 3h (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($5.25) Qs (3 players)
Hero bets $2.75, MP1 raises to $7.50, BTN calls $7.50, Hero ???
A little more detail on MP1:  From the 205 hands I have,  here is his positional AF:

Click to see results

Hero folds

This was SUCH A SNAP fold, it wasn't even funny. What other hands can a 14/10 hand who checks the flop, but suddenly wants stacks, or is trying to get the pot pumped by the turn? Baluga much?

River: ($23.00) 6d (2 players)
MP1 requests TIME, MP1 bets $30, BTN calls $30

Final Pot: $83.00
MP1 shows 9c 9s (a full house, Nines full of Sixes)
BTN mucks Qc Ad
MP1 wins $80.00
(Rake: $3.00)

What would you do? #210 - Limped Trip Aces facing raise

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $58.45 - 15/12 / 2.6%3bet / 29% steal / 1.9 AF @ 472 hands
Hero (BB): $77.85
UTG: $67.90
UTG+1: $50.00
UTG+2: $23.00
MP1: $48.10 - 40/0/ 0%3bet / 0% steal / 0.2 AF @ 124 hands
MP2: $30.00 - 70/0/ 0%3bet / 0% steal / inf AF @ 10 hands
CO: $46.90
BTN: $50.60 - 15/13 / 9.7%3bet / 29% steal / 6.5 AF @ 656 hands

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 3c Ah
2 folds, UTG+2 calls $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 calls $0.50, 1 fold, BTN calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, Hero requests TIME, Hero checks

Flop: ($3.00) 8h As Ac (6 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+2 checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($3.00) 4d (6 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.75, UTG+2 folds, MP1 raises to $3.50, MP2 folds, BTN raises to $11, SB folds, Hero ???


Click to see results

Hero folds, MP1 calls $7.50
I just can't see BTN checking the flop and raising the turn without better Aces or flopped/turned boats. He's raising into a host of players, and 3betting the MP1 raise. It just screams of strong Aces.

River: ($26.75) 9d (2 players)
MP1 checks, BTN bets $39.10 all in, MP1 folds

Final Pot: $26.75
BTN wins $25.45
(Rake: $1.30)

Hands that piss me off: The equity call

Competent reg:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $22.35
BTN: $54.10
Hero (SB): $55.50
BB: $61.15
UTG: $47.80
UTG+1: $50.75
MP1: $66.60
MP2: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Kc Kd
5 folds, BTN raises to $1.50, Hero raises to $5.25, BB requests TIME, BB raises to $16.25, 1 fold, Hero raises to $50.25, BB calls $34
Really?  I use TableNinjaFT - it automatically sizes my raises.  While playing 12 tables, I failed to realize that raising to $50.25 was not my full stack.  However, BB flat calls with $5.25 behind!  He clearly sees "raise," "call," or "fold."  Is he playing games with his database where he drops an Ace on the flop and he shoves the remaining $5.25?  It winds up working out way in my favor; I get it in as a 86/14 favorite instead of a 70/30 favorite.  What an idiot. 

Flop: ($102.00) Th 6d 4h (2 players)
Hero bets $5.25 all in, BB calls $5.25

Turn: ($112.50) 6s (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($112.50) Qh (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $112.50
Hero shows Kc Kd (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
BB shows Ks Ad (a pair of Sixes)
Hero wins $109.50
(Rake: $3.00)

What would you do? #209 - Line check with TPGK

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $59.10
UTG+2: $86.30
MP1: $31.35
MP2: $18.50
CO: $46.45
BTN: $48.75 - 100/0 @ 1 hand
Hero (SB): $50.00
BB: $50.00
UTG: $20.15

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Jc Ah
6 folds, BTN calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.25, 1 fold, BTN calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.00) 6h As 5h (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $1.50, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $5.25, BTN calls $3.75

Turn: ($15.50) 8s (2 players)
Hero bets $10, BTN raises to $41.25 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero folds

Final Pot: $35.50
BTN wins $33.75
(Rake: $1.75)

Thoughts? Am I making too much of this; is this any easy fold or a stupid fold? It just seems like such an polarizing overbet. What do you think?

Royal Flush Deluxe Poker Table $67.49 Sports Authority AC

I purchased this a while ago for a bit under $100. For the price, it's a decent table, though I recommend this *ONLY* for occasional home games. It is of lesser quality than a standard wood folding table, though it works.

Sports Authority has the Royal Flush Deluxe Poker Table on sale for 89.99 - 25% Friends and Family Coupon (Good through 12/14) = $67.49.
This is a savings of $17.50 over their black friday sale.


http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1055550/

What would you do? #208 - TPTK vs. call / 3bet shove on the flop with 2 flush board

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $94.30 - 17/9 /2.3%3bet / 30% steal / 1.5AF / 2.4K hands
CO: $51.75 - 14/9/4.8%3bet/16% steal/ 3.3AF / 969 hands
BTN: $50.00
SB: $57.20
BB: $50.00
UTG: $27.85
UTG+1: $70.30
Hero (UTG+2): $56.00
MP1: $35.05

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+2 with Kh Ah
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, 1 fold, MP2 calls $1.50, CO calls $1.50, 3 folds

Flop: ($5.25) Ks 8h 6s (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $3, CO calls $3, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $8.50, MP2 calls $5.50, CO raises to $50.25 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero ???


Click to see results

Hero folds, MP2 folds

I'd imagine that this is a pretty easy laydown; there aren't many draws that he can be on - save for the obvious flush draw. He's clearly not showing up with AsKs, though 9s7s is possible but highly unlikely. More than likely, in this spot, he's looking to get a call out of one of us given my check/raise - I put him on a set of 8's or 6's. FWIW, CO MP2 took quite a while to fold this hand out - I believe he was on a spade draw or some combination thereof.

Final Pot: $30.75
CO wins $29.25
(Rake: $1.50)

Continually reinventing myself...

It's funny; the more I play this game, the more I realize that I don't know squat about playing this game.  As you have probably surmised from my lack of daily posts over the past month or so, I've been a horrendous downswing.

When I moved up to playing 100NL back in September, I experienced the best month of my poker career; BB/100- and winnings- wise.  It was fantastic.  My total win rate for the month was on the order of 8 BB/100, 4 PTBB/100, which I knew was unsustainable, but felt damn good.  I wasn't so much as sucking out, but the hands where I was ahead were holding and I built up a fair amount of positive EV for the month as well.  I was flying high.

Leading into October, the other shoe dropped.  I remember distinctly when it happened; sitting in the airport, waiting for my plane to leave from Portland, Oregon, I decided to utilize the free internet available.  I experienced 2 horrendous all-in suckouts and lost 4 buy-ins in a 30 minute session.  Needless to say, it was all downhill from there; set over sets, 0 equity calls from river suckouts, blah blah blah - as a poker player for any length of time, you know the drill.  I've never had a losing month prior to this past October.  It was not a good feeling - definitely not a feat I want to repeat.  Needless to say, my September wins were wiped away, and I started eating into my yearly profit.

The point of this post is not to brag nor complain; it's to describe where I am right now, as far as my mental state.  It took me dropping back in stakes plus the better part of November to get my head screwed on correctly.  While I was "in search of my poker self," I've come to discover something: in this game, you need to continually reinvent your game.  It's very easy to fall into a cycle where you're comfortable with your game, style, etc.  However, your opponents, if they're good, will adjust to you and pick apart your shortcomings; i.e. no particular style of play is "unexploitable."  If you play tight, then your opponent need open up his game to force folds.  If you play loose, your opponent need trap more often.  If you play aggressive, your opponent should call for value, and if you play weak, your opponent should bet more often.  You get my point.

My new self has changed my game from a 23 / 18 to a 19 / 14.  My new self has changed my won money at showdown from a mid-40% or lower player to a near 50% player.  I'm folding AJo UTG most of the time, along with KQo.  My new self has started table selecting with a lot more scrutiny.  As I come out of this losing stretch, I'm starting to look forward to playing once again.  I'm hungry to win.  I'm working hard to improve my game, rather than just resting on my laurels.

A quick summary of this month and my plan for the future:  I broke even; +$70 for the month.  The next point is more telling, though.  I played around 30K hands this month, 20K of 50NL to close out the month.  My win rate at 50NL for the month was 7.5BB/100, 3.25PTBB/100.  Those numbers should tell you how poorly I performed at 100NL to start the month, and the comeback I made to simply get to break-even.  I am currently owning 50NL, better than I was prior to my departure onto 100NL.  My plan is to continue to play 50NL for the month of December, with the end of December featuring a mix of 50NL and 100NL, rather than isolated to only 100NL.  The idea is that table selection will be easier when I have 2 stakes to choose from, rather than sticking to 100NL solely.  There are plenty of fishy tables at 50NL, but not so much at 100NL.  I am planning on taking my new game to the 100NL players; aiming to maintain my ~50% W$SD rate, with the expectation that if I can flat-line my showdown results, I can reap the profits of forced folds, rather than relying on my forced folds (i.e. won $ without showdown) to offset my W$SD losses.  I'm ready to shot 100NL again.  I belong.