A few sessions ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with a complete and utter fish. This fish was the type that had no idea about the strength of hands, no idea about anything. One thing he did understand is raising and being aggressive. He loved to splash money in the pot, which was interesting because he didn't have a lot of money.
The table was a new table, but it was evident from the start that this guy had no idea what he was doing. He'd be all in on a bottom pair, betting and raising like he flopped the nuts. Inevitably, with these kinds of players, he would suck out to the best hand and amass a small but formidable stack. It was like watching a roller coaster, though. His raises were sickly - $20 with Q2, $30 with T8. No rhyme or reason seemed to apply - some people just like to watch the world burn, I guess.
Anyway, the roller coaster comes abruptly to a stop when he gets looked up by a second pair which finally holds, and he busts. He gets up and asks about rebuys. I smartly tell him they can hold the seat for him as long as he'd like - he was ready to leave and not come back. Upon hearing that, he raced over to the ATM and was back 20 minutes later.
He sits down and within 5 minutes, his $100 rebuy is up to around $120 when he raises like $20 into me (I'm on his left, thankfully, but can't hit a freaking hand that plays well against his any two cards). I have 8 8 and I consider 3betting, but feel like I can get it in on kind flop just the same as if I got it in pre flop - he's shown that he can fold 3bets and I don't really want him folding his BS cards. Therefore, I just call and the table folds.
We see a flop of 3 7 7 and he bets into me - like $20 again. This is a great flop for me. This is so far ahead of his range, but he calls off stacks with Q6, etc. so I have no problem raising here. Therefore, I raise to $60 and he just calls.
Turn is a blank and he checks. I shove for $100 (he has $40 or so behind) and he tanks and tanks... He starts talking about how he thinks I have a 7 and have him beat, which raises my eyebrows... I need trips to beat him? WTF? Then he asks me if he folds, will I show him my cards? I think this is a genuine question, not a probe for information, and I like the guy, so I agree - I ask if he'll show his cards which he quickly agrees.
He declares a fold and drops 33 for the flopped boat. I show my 8 8 and scoop. The table quietly stifles a gasp and an uneasy laugh as I scoop the pot for his perceived bluff. He busts out 5 hands later and says his farewells to the table (I think they cleaned him out completely). WTF? I get the one friggin time the LAGtard has an actual hand!!! DAMNIT!!! But WOW!!!!
As we (the table) discussed the hand afterwards, we tried to piece together his thought process (which was admittedly a difficult thing to do). The common thought was that he didn't understand poker hands, and thought he just had trip 3's, not a full house. He thought if I held a 7, I had him beat with higher trips.
LOL
Monday, December 23, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Interesting bits from last night's session and prior sessions
I played a short session last night - all of 3 hours - before I got tired & decided to call it quits for the night. Last night was the first night I've had free in... ohhh... say about 5 weeks? Time has been sucked into a vortex for me; balancing between work, school, home, travel (work), etc., there has been very little time to get out and grind.
Regardless, I had a few interesting hands where I think I got lucky, but perhaps I made the correct decision:
First hand, 4th hand into the session - no particular reads on any of the players.
Original raiser had been semi-aggro in the 4 hands I'd seen him play; he raised once and called a raise once (in 4 hands; meaningless sample obv). It limps around to dude and he raises to $11 in the BB. Seeing the 5 limpers, I start the waterfall by calling with 9c8c. 3 limpers call and we see a $55 pot of TcJc5s.
He loads up and leads out for $31 - odd bet, but whatever...
I sit & think for a bit - should I call or take the aggro line... True to myself, I take the aggro line and raise $45 on top. Folds around and dude tanks a bit and just calls (we're playing $200 deep to start the hand). Turn is a 5h and we check through. I consider a shove here, but opt to just check, planning on shoving most / all rivers. River is a 3s and he checks again. I shove my ~$110 remaining and he insta-mucks. Nice start.
Bit later, the table got very actiony when 3 middle age Chinese gentlemen sat down (separately, but all knew each other and were friends). One was immediately pissed that I called him out on the "English only" rule... he's having discussions about what I'd imagine to be the players. These 3 guys were not afraid to put money in the pot and one particular guy was a decent hand reader. Although he had position on me (immediately to my left) I was pretty sure he was trying to stay out of my way; he wasn't getting cutesy with raising when he sensed weakness or anything - he was fit or fold with me.
Anyway, I raise AJo to $10 from MP and get a LAG caller from the BTN and one of the blinds.
Flop comes 8c7c 2d. Pretty meh flop, but worthy of a cbet. I lead for $25 (I think - maybe it was $20) and LAG calls. I put him on a draw.
Turn is 8d and we check through. River is 3c and I check once again. He looks at his cards, then the board - pauses for a moment, looks at me - and then bets $25.
I take pause and think about his body language and consider the information. His whole demeanor screamed missed draw, but the club got him there, so can that be? I think he always bets his turned trips, and if he's shy, then he's basically bluffing his hand now with the 3rd club out there. Then I start thinking about the body language: he looked at me, picking up that I'm uncomfortable with the 3rd club, given the action in the hand. He's turning his hand into a bluff - but the bullshit is whether or not he has a 7, 3 or 2 and doing this, or simply T9, 65 draws that missed altogether. 1/2 players are shitty like that - they don't know when their hands have showdown value, so they think they need to bluff the river. Clearly, I should be calling all overpairs, especially for $25, so is that ever going to get me off my hand. Regardless, I sit with AJ high, just 2 overcards - and not great overcards at that. Eventually, I coax myself into a call and wait for him to flip. As expected, he shows 65 and I flip AJ to scoop. Although I don't think the call was that hard, the Asian guy to my left *CERTAINLY* took note and the kid to my right thought it was an excellent call.
Last hand in the post:
I raise TT (no heart) to $15 after one limper. Get called in 2 spots (other gambly Asian dude and original limper).
$45 flop comes 3h 6h 8h and it checks to me. I lead for $30 and get check raised by Asian fella - I think he raised to $75 or something; I didn't bother to get a count. Original limper folds and I had expected him to do this, as he had been doing it all night. I think he shows up with a ton of Ah x and just stupid draws, so I insta shove, putting him all in for $120. I got an overpair and I'm not going anywhere; he's been bullying the table all night.
Well, he tanks & tanks and shows his neighbor his decision... The one time I run into this ass when he has a hand! He has JhJx!!! As time runs, he finds his fold button (I'm shocked) and I scoop.
That's the second time I've aggro bet with the second best hand and gotten a fold at MDL - the first time, I'll describe in another post, because it's cringe worthy.
Regardless, I had a few interesting hands where I think I got lucky, but perhaps I made the correct decision:
First hand, 4th hand into the session - no particular reads on any of the players.
Original raiser had been semi-aggro in the 4 hands I'd seen him play; he raised once and called a raise once (in 4 hands; meaningless sample obv). It limps around to dude and he raises to $11 in the BB. Seeing the 5 limpers, I start the waterfall by calling with 9c8c. 3 limpers call and we see a $55 pot of TcJc5s.
He loads up and leads out for $31 - odd bet, but whatever...
I sit & think for a bit - should I call or take the aggro line... True to myself, I take the aggro line and raise $45 on top. Folds around and dude tanks a bit and just calls (we're playing $200 deep to start the hand). Turn is a 5h and we check through. I consider a shove here, but opt to just check, planning on shoving most / all rivers. River is a 3s and he checks again. I shove my ~$110 remaining and he insta-mucks. Nice start.
Bit later, the table got very actiony when 3 middle age Chinese gentlemen sat down (separately, but all knew each other and were friends). One was immediately pissed that I called him out on the "English only" rule... he's having discussions about what I'd imagine to be the players. These 3 guys were not afraid to put money in the pot and one particular guy was a decent hand reader. Although he had position on me (immediately to my left) I was pretty sure he was trying to stay out of my way; he wasn't getting cutesy with raising when he sensed weakness or anything - he was fit or fold with me.
Anyway, I raise AJo to $10 from MP and get a LAG caller from the BTN and one of the blinds.
Flop comes 8c7c 2d. Pretty meh flop, but worthy of a cbet. I lead for $25 (I think - maybe it was $20) and LAG calls. I put him on a draw.
Turn is 8d and we check through. River is 3c and I check once again. He looks at his cards, then the board - pauses for a moment, looks at me - and then bets $25.
I take pause and think about his body language and consider the information. His whole demeanor screamed missed draw, but the club got him there, so can that be? I think he always bets his turned trips, and if he's shy, then he's basically bluffing his hand now with the 3rd club out there. Then I start thinking about the body language: he looked at me, picking up that I'm uncomfortable with the 3rd club, given the action in the hand. He's turning his hand into a bluff - but the bullshit is whether or not he has a 7, 3 or 2 and doing this, or simply T9, 65 draws that missed altogether. 1/2 players are shitty like that - they don't know when their hands have showdown value, so they think they need to bluff the river. Clearly, I should be calling all overpairs, especially for $25, so is that ever going to get me off my hand. Regardless, I sit with AJ high, just 2 overcards - and not great overcards at that. Eventually, I coax myself into a call and wait for him to flip. As expected, he shows 65 and I flip AJ to scoop. Although I don't think the call was that hard, the Asian guy to my left *CERTAINLY* took note and the kid to my right thought it was an excellent call.
Last hand in the post:
I raise TT (no heart) to $15 after one limper. Get called in 2 spots (other gambly Asian dude and original limper).
$45 flop comes 3h 6h 8h and it checks to me. I lead for $30 and get check raised by Asian fella - I think he raised to $75 or something; I didn't bother to get a count. Original limper folds and I had expected him to do this, as he had been doing it all night. I think he shows up with a ton of Ah x and just stupid draws, so I insta shove, putting him all in for $120. I got an overpair and I'm not going anywhere; he's been bullying the table all night.
Well, he tanks & tanks and shows his neighbor his decision... The one time I run into this ass when he has a hand! He has JhJx!!! As time runs, he finds his fold button (I'm shocked) and I scoop.
That's the second time I've aggro bet with the second best hand and gotten a fold at MDL - the first time, I'll describe in another post, because it's cringe worthy.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Easy Peasy on SWC!
Just running through some calculations on my Seals with Clubs tracker and it turns out I ran ~9 BB/100 this year! Granted, this is micro stakes and "only" a 65,000 hand sample size, but still, not too bad for the limited time I played.
I think it just goes to show how easy the micro and small stakes games on SWC really are. They're definitely beatable and exploitable.
They changed my screen name from upper / lower case to all lower case about 2 months ago, so my tracker tracked it as a separate user. I think the first graph (smaller sample size) is probably more telling as it is the most recent results - I've been running like poop lately, and I'm still putting in a ~3.7 BB/100. I expect next year's run to be a quite a bit larger in terms of sample size because SWC recently changed their software to allow for window re-sizing. More viewable screens = more tables running. I'll probably never grind at the same rate I was grinding in the Full Tilt heyday, but it's nice to be back on the grind.
I think it just goes to show how easy the micro and small stakes games on SWC really are. They're definitely beatable and exploitable.
They changed my screen name from upper / lower case to all lower case about 2 months ago, so my tracker tracked it as a separate user. I think the first graph (smaller sample size) is probably more telling as it is the most recent results - I've been running like poop lately, and I'm still putting in a ~3.7 BB/100. I expect next year's run to be a quite a bit larger in terms of sample size because SWC recently changed their software to allow for window re-sizing. More viewable screens = more tables running. I'll probably never grind at the same rate I was grinding in the Full Tilt heyday, but it's nice to be back on the grind.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Overbet for value
Been a long time since I've posted a hand history. Sorry for the crappy conversion :-( but this is about as good as it gets with Seals With Clubs for now...
The $$$ = 1/1000 bitcoin; about $1 each. This is roughly $50NL - 6max.
The $$$ = 1/1000 bitcoin; about $1 each. This is roughly $50NL - 6max.
Hand Information
| Game: | |
| Blind: | $0.25/ $0.50 |
| Hand History converter courtesy of pokerhandreplays.com | |
Table Information
| Seat1: | Hero | ($50) | |
| Seat2: | Player 2 | ($133.34) | Dealer |
| Seat3: | Player 3 | ($48.75) | Small Blind |
| Seat4: | Player 4 | ($56.03) | Big Blind |
| Seat6: | Player 6 | ($111.81) |
| Dealt to Hero | |
  |
Preflop (Pot:0.75)
| Player 6 | FOLD |
| Hero | RAISE | $1.50 | - Standard steal - none of these players are particularly steal prone or steal aware. They have very high fold to steal percentages. I've been getting away with late position steals all session. |
| Player 2 | CALL | $1.50 | - 24/19, low 3bet % |
| Player 3 | FOLD |
| Player 4 | CALL | $1 |
Flop
(Pot: $4.75)
| Player 4 | CHECK |
| Hero | BET | $3.50 | - Decent flop for my hand; obviously Kx has me beat but most of the time it's a check / fold for villain. |
| Player 2 | CALL | $3.50 | - He doesn't snap call here; most of the time he shows up with Kx, less so with a diamond draw. I need to back off the turn if I don't bink two pair or better. |
| Player 4 | FOLD |
Turn
(Pot: $11.75)
| Hero | BET | $6.50 | - Well, that's a nice turn! I want to get value from him and not let him fear the turned flush. I bet slightly more than half pot to allow him to feel comfortable with his Kx. |
| Player 2 | CALL | $6.50 | - He once again tanks for a bit and flats. At this point, I can put him squarely on a Kx hand - I'm hoping he doesn't have a backup diamond though, giving him 9 extra outs to his K. |
River
(Pot: $24.75)
| Hero | ALL-IN | $38.50 | - Absolute BEST card in the DECK! Gives villain a boat and gives me the stone nuts. In villain's mind, there's only one hand that beats him here: AA, as he's never putting me on 5x. Most likely, to him, I show up with Kx or annoyed / sucked out flushes (rarely AA, since I've been stealing pots from the BTN right & left). He's usually folding a flush with any bet, but he's never folding a 5's full of Kings boat, thanks to Zeebo! I go with my read that he has a King rather than a flush, so I overbet shove the sucker and... |
| Player 2 | CALL | $38.50 | - He totally snaps me off... as in he beats me to the pot! |
Showdown:
| Hero SHOWS | |
| - DQB (Dem Quads, bitches)!!!! |
| Player 2 SHOWS | |
  |
| Hero | wins the pot: $100.20 |
Monday, December 2, 2013
News, notes & updates
First, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to my [remaining] readers. I know it's been pretty quiet around here. Between work, school and family, I haven't had much time to keep up with blog updates. I've been lucky to get in a few poker sessions here & there, but the grind takes lowest precedence over the aforementioned activities.
I was in Chicago last week for less than 24 hours (day trips stink!) and had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with another blogger, Lightning36. We've talked on the phone / exchanged emails / compared notes / played online poker together for years, but I had yet to meet him in person. We met for a 2 hour breakfast, and I felt like it was no different than 2 old friends seeing each other once again. In other words, the meet up was exactly how I'd imagine it would be.
The family and I went to Massanutten Resort in the sticks of Virginia with another family, instead of stuffing ourselves with the traditional Turkey Day meal. The kids had a blast at the indoor water park, which we followed up with snow tubing. They had a blast and we all came back exhausted. I got to ride a continuous wave machine, the Flow Rider:
It was a blast, and the kids had fun on it, too. My youngest was a natural (like her dad :-) ) and was doing tricks within the first few seconds. The resort amenities were pretty cool - there was a lot to do on site - but the room was simply awful! It was rustic, to say the least - about the quality of what I'd imagine a Motel 6 to be like. Whatever; we had fun.
The year is quickly coming to a close, and I'm feeling the pressure of all the things I have to do before the end. I have a paper to write, a final to study for, a work trip to Huntsville, AL, and a host of other goodies. I'm continuing to play online for Bitcoins - I've become a watcher of the price. At the time of this writing, the price of Bitcoin stands slightly more than $1,000 USD! Incredible!
Hope you all have happy holidays!
I was in Chicago last week for less than 24 hours (day trips stink!) and had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with another blogger, Lightning36. We've talked on the phone / exchanged emails / compared notes / played online poker together for years, but I had yet to meet him in person. We met for a 2 hour breakfast, and I felt like it was no different than 2 old friends seeing each other once again. In other words, the meet up was exactly how I'd imagine it would be.
 |
| Lightning36 & the Poker Meister |
(Watch in 720p / high definition)
It was a blast, and the kids had fun on it, too. My youngest was a natural (like her dad :-) ) and was doing tricks within the first few seconds. The resort amenities were pretty cool - there was a lot to do on site - but the room was simply awful! It was rustic, to say the least - about the quality of what I'd imagine a Motel 6 to be like. Whatever; we had fun.
The year is quickly coming to a close, and I'm feeling the pressure of all the things I have to do before the end. I have a paper to write, a final to study for, a work trip to Huntsville, AL, and a host of other goodies. I'm continuing to play online for Bitcoins - I've become a watcher of the price. At the time of this writing, the price of Bitcoin stands slightly more than $1,000 USD! Incredible!
Hope you all have happy holidays!
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