Winner winner, chicken dinner

Well, it's done.  I'd like to thank my wife, children, the academy, my mom...  Count me among those who are a winning player at 100NL.  A combination of running good and playing even better has allowed me to overcome what I felt like was an insurmountable deficit of 12 buy ins at that level prior to the beginning of the month.  Tonight marks the completion of the final step in the journey to become a true poker degenerate :-).  Of note, not only did I overcome the remaining $-57 from yesterday's 100NL session, but I smashed today's session with a 4.5 buy in win.  I am marginal (1.75 PTBB/100) winning 100NL reg, which I expect will continue to increase over time.

All told, I think the biggest difference in my play from a month or so ago and now is that I have concentrated on my blue line, otherwise known as "Won money at Showdown, W$SD."  Prior to this month, I have never had a positive blue line - let alone a break-even blue line.  In fact, it has always been a linear downward slope - in direct contrast to my red line, otherwise known as "Won money without Showdown."  It's nice to look at my monthly graph and see both lines converge towards similar points - with my blue line, in fact, overcoming my red line!  To be honest, being the aggressive player I am, I never thought I'd see the day.  I can't credit all of it to spectacular play, though; I've been getting hit by the deck, my hands are holding when I'm all in, and I'm table selecting like a fiend.  I am making a point to work on note taking, so I am slowly marking all of the decent / good regulars, which leaves the non-noted and noted "green / fish" players as my targets for tables.  Finally, I've reduced my tables to 6-7 instead of the usual 9.  I'm having more time to make solid decisions and less pressure to act quickly.  All of the above amounts to a win rate of nearly 9PTBB/100 - ~16 buy ins for the month so far.

An excerpt from my PTR page, winnings & win rate by stake

Going forward, the only thing I would like to change is time.  I'd like to be able to eventually spend more time at the virtual felt to see if I can truly make a consistent coin at this game.  I'm just shy of 23 hours in 13 days, with 9100 hands completed.  9100 hands is what some regs do in a single day!  I've been looking at the top grinder board on PTR - the top regs at 100NL earn $10K+ per month!  I need to get back on track and pump up the volume.  I need to quit my day job.

I leave you with my September graph thus far:

Disturbing for me to look at.  Quite a turnaround.

Sorry for the brag; I'm proud of the fact that I'm no longer a losing 100NL player.  Go me!

#12 on today's PTR top winner list!

It's been awhile since I checked PTR's top winners list for all sites, but I had a pretty decent day today.  The short of it is that since I'm going to AC tomorrow, I wanted to get a solid start on my mid-year Iron Man bonus.  I have 10,000 FTPs to generate throughout the next 45 days - at least 2 of which will be absorbed by this trip.  Therefore, I took today and grinded 6 hours worth of poker.  The results were very good to say the least...  Good enough for #12 on all sites at my stakes!  Not too shabby...

(I blocked out my name for privacy-sake.)

Finally! A few big hands to get things rolling!!!

It's about time!  I had such a good run Friday night - 8 buy ins!  Here are two monster pots that I had the benefit of being on the right side (for once in a LONG time):

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

UTG+2: $50.75
MP1: $57.40
MP2: $17.50
CO: $17.00
BTN: $52.30
SB: $56.90
BB: $145.10 - 27 / 23 / 64% steal / 7.7% 3bet / 145 hands
Hero (UTG): $135.35
UTG+1: $48.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG with 4s 4d
Hero raises to $1.75, 7 folds, BB raises to $5, Hero calls $3.25
This guy has been 3 betting wide and shoving just as wide.  However, I'm not prepared to get stacks on the line with nearly 300 BBs - I feel this way even with AA, though I would be more inclined to re-pop it to $20 in this spot with AA.  However, I'm getting HUGE implied odds to set mine.

Flop: ($10.25) 3s 6d 5c (2 players)
BB bets $7, Hero calls $7
If I'm not going to flop a set, this is as good of a flop as can possibly be.  Open-ended, and regardless, I may very well be ahead.

Turn: ($24.25) 2s (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $15, BB calls $15
Bingo, but is he check / calling down now?

River: ($54.25) 8c (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $108.35 all in, BB requests TIME, BB calls $108.35
Clearly, I'm not going to be able to get it all in with a pot sized bet.  Why not try for overbet for value?  This guy is either calling or not, despite my bet.  This bet is HUGE and I realize that, but I think I show up with a lot more JJ, QQ type hands than sets in this spot, to a non-thinking player such as this.  I realize that he is not a fully aware player, and is willing to go to the mat with overpairs, but he just can't bring himself to release his hand.

Final Pot: $270.95
BB mucks Kc Ks
Hero shows 4s 4d (a straight, Six high)



Hero wins $267.95
(Rake: $3.00)



Same player, later in the night, at a different table:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $80.95
BTN: $38.20
SB: $16.45
BB: $67.00
UTG: $50.00
UTG+1: $111.45
MP: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with 8d 8h
2 folds, MP requests TIME, MP raises to $1.50, Hero raises to $5, 3 folds, MP calls $3.50
Again, same propensity for going broke with hands, but raising wide, so I 3 bet in position

Flop: ($10.75) 8s 6c 9s (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $8, MP calls $8
Not the world's best flop, but pretty decent since I hit my set.

Turn: ($26.75) Jc (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $20, MP calls $20
And it keeps getting scarier.  At this point, I again put him on an overpair which he just can't rid of...

River: ($66.75) 5s (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $17, MP calls $17 all in
I think this is a pretty thin value bet; perhaps a check through is the better option, but I just can't put him on a spade draw where he checks the river on his made flush.  Moreover, I can't put him on a 7x hand where he checked his made straight.  Therefore, I go for stackage and it turns out to be correct.

Final Pot: $100.75
Hero shows 8d 8h (three of a kind, Eights)
MP mucks Tc Ts
Hero wins $97.75
(Rake: $3.00)

And finally, here's another hand, where I'm just dumbfounded by his calling off of 200BBs...  Just, WOW!

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $52.25
BB: $99.10
UTG: $52.95
UTG+1: $95.30
MP: $50.75
Hero (CO): $140.70
BTN: $54.45

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with 6s 6h
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 2 folds, BB raises to $5.75, Hero calls $4
Again, decent odds to set mine.

Flop: ($11.75) Qc 4h 6c (2 players)
BB bets $6.75, Hero raises to $18, BB raises to $55, Hero raises to $134.95 all in, BB calls $38.35 all in
He's signaled to me that he's happy with his hand.  Such a dry board, if he has a set of Queens, so be it, but I'm willing to go broke here.

Turn: ($198.45) Js (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($198.45) Qd (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $198.45
BB shows Qh Ac (three of a kind, Queens) - TPTK stack off for 200 BBs...  Nice...
Hero shows 6s 6h (a full house, Sixes full of Queens)
Hero wins $195.45
(Rake: $3.00)

Winner winner chicken dinner - Book a Mook win

Sorry to steal a line from Will Wonka, but I won the Mookie / Dank last night, and "I got a golden ticket" to a seat at The Battle of the Bloggers 5 Tournament of Champions, scheduled for May 27!  If you're interested, the summary of events can be found on many sites - the one that I've been using is via AlCantHang's site (can't get to anything poker-related other than blogspot addresses at work).

I'm very excited about this; first, I don't play (nor win for that matter) tournaments.  In fact, I'm a crappy tournament player, on the basis that I like to have deep pockets and auto-top off, as I do in my cash games.  However, now that I've won the Mookie, I have the opportunity to play to win one of 3 seats to the WSOP ME, or 2 $2K packages to preliminary events, in which, as it turns out, there should be approximately 18 runners...  Quick math says that's a 1 in 4 shot assuming everyone is of equal poker ability.  Kick a$$!!!

Before I began the tournament, I told myself that I was either taking first or nothing at all.  I think my play clearly evidenced that - I took at least 2 coin flips that I didn't necessarily need to take, but wanted to either crush the thing or get out.  I'd imagine playing against a guy who has decided he has nothing to lose is a dangerous opponent...

Since I had a nothing-to-lose attitude, I was playing quite aggressively early.  I was able to chip up to within 5th place from the get-go, and got as high as 4.5K in chips with blinds at the 20-40 level.  I 3bet a few opponents and was able to take down pots uncontested.  My initial table was very tight, so I took maximum advantage.  However, I was on a chip roller coaster; since I was willing to gamble, I was up and down quite a bit.  Details are fuzzy (play finally ended at 1:30AM [YAWN!], but I captured some of the hands from memory.

Hands of note included (and I'm sorry I don't remember my opponent's name) "Mr. X" slow playing KK against my early position raise with 33.  A [solid flop for underpairs] flop of something like 2 6 8 came, with my stack dwindling down to 1500-2K early on, with blinds at the 80-120 level if I recall.  I cbet and he pushed with his 4-5K stack.  I decided to call and was shown the bad news; I had a ~10% shot of being busted out early - no big deal; I've been on the rail before, and I would be out in 70th.  Fortunately, a 3 on the river saved my butt and the tournament.  Reinvigorated, I was able to steal, and 3bet a few pots to bring my stack up to respectable levels.

Throughout the rest of the tourney, standard playing ensued... win some, lose some...  I seemed to have the hands I needed at the time I needed them - AA vs. a small stack push (I think suited connectors) where I flopped a set and rivered quads...  As the big stack bully, pushing ATCs and finally getting a call from a mid-stacker from whom I was stealing, where I show up with QQ (need to be consistently shoving all hands and ranges, so I got "lucky" that he called with the hand he had) and I think he had 88... etc.  All in all, I ran well as well as (outside of the 33 into KK) played pretty decently.  In fact, outside of the hand above, I think I flipped approx. 4 times (losing once to a short stack) - all other times I was a decent favorite (75%+) to win, and did not get sucked out on.  Most hands simply did not go to showdown, though.  As big-ish stack, I was able to push people off of their [presumably] better hands by sheer might.  Lastly, I did not see J9s at all last night :-(.

The two primary coinflips that I took were both against the chip lead at the time, Lucko, (whose site I have linked, but I'm not 100% certain it's the same person).  The fist time, I had finally settled into a recently rebalanced table with Lucko as the chip lead (50K) and I had ~15K and [I think] 88.  I noticed that he had become quite aggressive with his stacks, as a big stack should.  He was stealing liberally from most if not all positions, and I finally had a hand where I felt comfortable 3betting his range.  He decided to auto shove his AQo and my 88 held to push me up to ~30K and him down to ~35K.

Lucko would continue to pressure the smaller stacks, and I would join in on the fun, trying to avoid Lucko when possible.  Again, though, I had it in my mind that I was there to win - if I had to take an educated gamble, I would not think twice about doing so.  I don't remember what the stack sizes were, but Lucko raises as was typical (I had him covered) and I 3bet my 66 in position.  This would be the final time Lucko & I would tango; he pushed and I decided to call against his wide-ish range.  In retrospect, I had 3bet him once or twice in prior hands, where he gave up his cards and I took it down uncontested.  I probably should have thought about the fact that he was showing respect to my 3bets a little more before making the call, but I snapped it off figuring that I would either go out in a blaze of glory (from chip lead to last), essentially handing him the monster stack, or vice-versa.  He turned out to have AK against my 66, and I think there was a 6 was in the window... my hand held up.  I wish I had the hand history here at work, but we're debating it over at Bayne's blog if anyone cares...  Perhaps Lucko has the HH & prior action?  My HUD had Lucko running around a 35/25 or something like that.

The tournament came down to Poker Grump, Fmarra17, and me as the final 3.  I had the chip lead until I made (will be disputed but I have a later post about this) a DONKEY STUPID STUPID call with 8d5d against a Grump shove with A8o.  Now, I claim this call to be a misclick; I just bought a N52TE speed pad, and clicked the "call" button instead of "fold," but c'est la vie and believe me or don't :-), Grump was now chip lead slightly (READ: PRETTY DAMN COSTLY MISTAKE!).  After I knocked out the short-stacked Fmarra17 on a flip (my A8 AIPF vs. his 44), things were settled for what I expected to be a long HU match between the two hard core cash players (well one hard core [Grump] and one donkey [me]).

Funny that neither of us wasted any time, as I think the whole HU match lasted 3 hands(?), where I was able to get it all in as a decent favorite with 99 vs. Grump's A8.  To his credit, I know he knows that I was aggressive as anything last night - he was at the table where I called the shove with 33 into the KK, and he also saw me pushing like 4-5 hands in a row earlier, and other such erratic volatile play (the supposed 85s misclick call), so it's possible that he put me on ATCs and making a play right off the bat.  Either way, no Ace came, and my 9's were good to win the match.  (I did save this HH.)

Full Tilt Poker The Mookie No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t1000/t2000 Blinds + t250 - 2 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN/SB): t148966         M = 42.56
BB: t112034                              M = 32.01

Pre Flop: (t3500) Hero is BTN/SB with 9s 9d
Hero raises to t6000, BB raises to t18000, Hero raises to t148716 all in, BB calls t93784 all in

Flop: (t224068) Jh 5c Ks

Turn: (t224068) 2s

River: (t224068) Tc

Final Pot: t224068
Hero shows 9s 9d (a pair of Nines)
BB shows 8h As (Ace King high)
Hero wins t224068

Congratulations to all who cashed.  It was a lot of fun getting to talk with all of you.  CMitch - thanks for the rail support (everyone else picked whomever was short stack at the given time :-P ).  Finally, a hearty congratulations to Grump & Frankie / Fmarra17 - it was definitely a great time.  A final thank you to alcanthang and the crew from Full Tilt for setting up the whole BBT5, and graciously giving the prizes.

The final table read as follows, for those interested:

333 total hands split between 2 tables, starting at 10:00PM and ending at 1:30AM with 87 runners.

A few thoughts on my current state of poker

Anyone whose read this blog for any span of time realizes that I've been a long-term proponent of tight aggressive play (TAG). Lately (over the past 4 months), though, my style of play has evolved into more of a LAG game. I'm sure, based on the hand histories I post, you can see the transition (steals, 3bets, etc.). I think my LAG conversion has been sped up by Rush poker. Taking complete unknowns, with unknown positions, and applying ranges and cards to them is akin to playing with your eyes closed. I am able to pick up patterns, which, amazingly, most of the players have similarities at all of the levels. I suppose there is a limited number of responses in poker (i.e. bet, fold, check, call), so the patterns are bound to be consistent from player to player.

Hand reading and pokery abilities
Regardless, my hand reading abilities have gone from... let's call it 15% of max capacity to maybe... 60%. My 3betting game is opened up; I'm much more prone to 3betting while in position, against an opponent whose PFR > 10, etc. From out of position, I'm starting to pick good spots to squeeze. In other words, my opponents are beginning to fear me. I view this as a good thing; perhaps the 100NL players are not so much in fear as the lower level players, but I can feel a certain level of respect.

100NL recap
In my first month of full time 100NL, I am just about break-even. I think I may be slightly positive; +2 buy ins or something like that. I am fairly certain I should be up a good deal more, but I keep running into players hitting their river over card (of which I am ceasing to contribute further money; it usually goes check / check which never ceases to amaze me - WHY WHY WHY are you floating with your AK vs. my KK and then checking when you have the winner!?!?!?!?!), set over setting me (when the money is all in on a prior street; 2 outters SUCK!), or generally sucking out once the money is all in. Nevertheless, I am not concerned. I feel as though I am playing the best poker of my life.

Coaching
However, in striving to be an even better online player, I have decided to get coaching. For a long time, I was on the fence with regards to coaching. I've been reading a lot of material from James "Splitsuit" Sweeney, and find that his philosophies very much jive with mine. He feels that the way to beat the game, nowadays, is by taking a LAG approach. He thinks that in order to play a successful LAG game, you need to understand how to play TAG - I couldn't agree more! At this point, I have the tools to play a successful LAG game; I understand steals, 3bets, hand ranges, etc. I am strongly considering hiring him as a coach - and will likely make a move within the next month. At this point, I think it's only a matter of finding a workable time for the two parties. I think I have numerous leaks in my game (some of which I'm probably not even aware of), and I'd like to close those gaps so that I can become more profitable. I'm hoping that Splitsuit will help me do exactly that.

Pokerstars and my small bankroll
Now that I've completed my Iron Man bonus for the month, I'm taking time to try to build my Pokerstars bankroll of (what sits right now as of last night's session) $~200. Obviously, I'm not playing the same stakes at P* as I do at Full Tilt; the highest stakes I can "reasonably" afford is 25NL. I feel like I'm doing Daniel Negraneau's bankroll challenge, but I'm finding far better results. It is funny; numerous times, I have "run out of money" where I cannot auto-reload or I actually go busto on a table or two, given my limited funding stream. Regardless, taking the time to drop back 2 levels to 25NL has been a huge ego bloat. I never really thought about it prior, but I can CRUSH these guys. Going back to the above paragraphs, the 25NL players (for the most part) are simply not equipped to handle my level of aggression. They don't know what to do when they get 3bet, they can't handle playing big pots without the nuts, and they don't understand what I'm doing. Their lines are easy to pick off... most of the time, they put a story together that does not make sense. It's fun times, and a head swell.

LAG play
In taking advice from Splitsuit and putting it to practice, I have shied away from table selecting the highest players/flop. Since I'm playing at P*, where there are no Rush tables, I'm stuck back at square one - playing standard Full Ring tables. I have now begun to table select towards the tight tables, looking for 16% plrs/flop or less. In a few of his videos, he points out that a LAG wants to avoid a lot of multi-way pots, and is looking to take on a single opponent for HU action for most hands. Tight tables are well-suited for this type of action.

More on 25NL play at P*
Given my LAG play at the standard tables, and my table selecting for tight tables, I am far-and-away out playing these guys, as I talked about in an earlier paragraph. I laughed on more than one occasion, because I can see many of these players grumbling in the chat windows, shooting snarky comments towards me. Some are getting frustrated and moving away from tight play... trying to play more pots against me.

Case in point as far as not understanding what I'm doing: On one occasion, a player with position on me 3 bet me while I held QTs. I normally would lay down, but this was the 3rd raise in a row that he 3bet me. I decided to 4 bet bluff his $2.50 3bet to $7.50 (I was very deep stacked; 200+BBs, and he had 110BBs), to which he flatted. The flop came 3 7 J rainbow, and I donked into him for $10, essentially committing him. As predicted, he folded. And he complained. And complained. He talked about how he always misses his flops, etc. and that I'm always hitting. From the chatter, I could only derive that he folded AK, AQ. Life is easy at 25NL, and I can't wait to build by BR to a respectable $1k so that I can move up to 50NL. In fact, playing Full Ring has me considering venturing into 100NL full ring to see how the players fare there.

Rakeback and tournaments
Wow. At 100NL Rush, you can really crush this rakeback. For the essentially break-even month I've had in the 50K+ hands, I've probably collected around $600 in rakeback. That's a lot of money for doing something I'm going to do anyway... In addition, I'm gathering a lot of extra medals for the Iron Man bonus, enabling me to convert my $75 tokens at a much faster rate.

I found myself in the money for the first time in a long time while playing in the RakeTheRake $35K freeroll. I came in 128th (or thereabout; at work & can't remember exactly how I placed) out of 2500+ for a $42 win. The last large-field tournament I played and placed in the money was the Daily Dollar back in September where I took 60th for around $60. Not that I'm playing large field tournaments, but it did feel great to last that long.

Passover
Happy Passover to my fellow Jews out there. This holiday is already starting to make me cranky - AND IT'S CUTTING INTO MY PLAYING TIME. We hosted the first sedur at my house last night; my in laws, my wife's grandmother and my mother helped us celebrate the first night. Tonight, my in laws host my wife's brothers and their families. Perhaps I'll be able to get out earlier than last night... kinda tough to sit down at a computer when company is over :-).

Yet another biggest POT EVER!!!

This one will probably be the biggest for AWHILE!!! I've been fortunate in getting a lot of these lately... This hand is not only the biggest $$$ pot, but the biggest BB pot ever for me, though. I have a feeling that this will stand for awhile (hopefully not :-) ).

This is just a WOW hand... Wow...

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $84.00
UTG: $75.50
UTG+1: $85.75
UTG+2: $246.05 - 500 hands @ 14/7.25 with 2%3bet / 28% ATS
MP1: $128.15
MP2: $112.80
CO: $125.15
BTN: $52.60
Hero (SB): $272.35

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with 7c 7d
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to $3, 3 folds, BTN calls $3, Hero calls $2.50, 1 fold
We're so deep-stacked, I debated 3betting. However, I did not want to find myself in a spot where I'm out of position facing a 4bet. Therefore, I take a flop.

Flop: ($10.00) 7s Qs 3s (3 players)
Hero bets $10, UTG+2 calls $10, BTN raises to $20, Hero calls $10, UTG+2 calls $10
Wow. BTN's min raise is very scary. I'm most afraid of a set of Queens, but I'm also afraid of flopped flushses. UTG+2's twice flat is even scarier. I'm pretty sure he's on AsKx.

Turn: ($70.00) 3d (3 players)
Hero bets $15, UTG+2 calls $15, BTN raises to $29.60 all in, Hero calls $14.60, UTG+2 calls $14.60
Loving life, and I'm almost certain BTN has a set of Queens, if not trip 3's. I'm praying for another spade.

River: ($158.80) 4c (3 players - 1 is all in)
Hero bets $70, UTG+2 raises to $193.45 all in, Hero calls $123.45
Club sucks! I thought it would be the end of action with UTG+2. However, he surprises me with a HUGE all in shove of 194BBs. Now, I'm very very very concerned that UTG+2 has quads or a set of Queens, and perhaps the BTN had the flush, but I have SO MUCH vested here, that I'm not laying down my middle 7's full. Remember that the UTG+2 is a 14/7 which is plausible to be raising QQ here, so I'm generally discounting the quads. The other hands that make sense for a 14/7 are AKs, and very very very unlikely 44 (I would think he would have folded long ago).

Final Pot: $545.70
UTG+2 shows 8s 6s (a flush, Queen high) - From a 14/7? I'm not getting this line at all.

Essentially, on the river, UTG+2 turns his hand into a bluff. I'm pretty sure of what he put me on, but it's doesn't make sense: His all in raise says Queens full or 3's full. He has to put me on a suicide bluff or a turned boat, given the way the hand played out. Moreover, he has to expect, given the action, that there is likely a higher flush than his. As a corollary, I have to think that even an A high flush may be folding out here on the paired board. His shove represents the VERY top of the range.
BTN mucks Ts Js - Even BTN had a better flush!
Hero shows 7c 7d (a full house, Sevens full of Threes)
Hero wins $386.90
Hero wins $155.80
(Rake: $3.00)

What would you do? #64 / Biggest $ pot won to date

Rush poker:

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $175.30
BB: $201.15
UTG: $136.70
UTG+1: $61.00
UTG+2: $113.15
MP1: $65.00
MP2: $22.80
CO: $44.75
BTN: $70.05

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with Kd Tc
5 folds, CO calls $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5, BB calls $4, 1 fold
Standard steal

Flop: ($11.00) 7h 5h 8s (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Turn: ($11.00) 9c (2 players)
Hero bets $7.50, BB calls $7.50
If he's not going to take initiative, I'm going to go ahead and try to take it down

River: ($26.00) 6h (2 players)
Hero bets $13, BB raises to $188.65 all in, Hero calls $149.80 all in
So am I making this harder than it is? Is this simply a snap call? What would you do?

Final Pot: $351.60
Hero shows Kd Tc (a straight, Ten high)
BB shows As 9d (a straight, Nine high)
Hero wins $348.60
(Rake: $3.00)

I thought for a second or two about the HUGE overbet, and simply could not put him on hearts or JT... I think he's raising the turn as a semi-bluff if he has hearts right here. I also think he's raising the turn if he has JT - he wants to add money to the pot while he has an opportunity so that he can get more money in on the river.

How not to play deep stacked - Biggest $ pot won

100NL is presenting untold amounds of opportunities. In fact, I think in early going, 100NL (Rush) is easier than 50NL.

Now to the point of this post: don't stack off KK against resistance. I'm not claiming to be guilt-free of this type of behavior, but I'm not pushing into the aggressor... If need be, go into turtle mode and check / call down.

The fact that I flop a set is a cooler to KK. Don't make it worse by stacking off to me:

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $115.00
MP2: $165.70
Hero (CO): $193.35
BTN: $100.00
SB: $37.00
BB: $348.30
UTG: $139.25
UTG+1: $68.75
UTG+2: $103.75

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with 9s 9h
UTG raises to $3, 3 folds, MP2 raises to $10.50, Hero calls $10.50, 4 folds
Deep-stacked, I can comfortably call a raise up to ~$15 and still be marginally profitable. As is, he gives me a discount on my profitability, and I'm not going ANYWHERE. I suspect him for AK, QQ+. If I hit, I sometimes stack. If I miss, I fold depending on the action.

Flop: ($25.50) Td 9c 6d (2 players)
MP2 bets $14, Hero raises to $45, MP2 raises to $155.20 all in, Hero calls $110.20
I make a sizable raise; MP2 should have the brakes on! Instead, he chooses the aggressive line of shove. Who can call a 155BB shove here? Anyone that beats KK. That's why you go into turtle mode (check / call) or if you're good enough (I sometimes am and sometimes am not) to be able to get away from that overpair, *FOLD*.

Turn: ($335.90) 7s (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($335.90) 6s (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $335.90
MP2 shows Kd Ks (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
Hero shows 9s 9h (a full house, Nines full of Sixes)
Hero wins $332.90
(Rake: $3.00)

First time stacking somone at $100NL!!!

Cooler / suckout, but still nice to have! I know a previous post showed a stackage, but it was posted out of order from this post, which was my first actual stackage at the 100NL tables.

P.S. - I think I have the #rungood turned on!

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $75.10
MP1: $193.55
MP2: $161.20
CO: $58.60
BTN: $124.50
SB: $40.50
BB: $125.20
Hero (UTG): $101.50
UTG+1: $50.85

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with Kd Kh
Hero raises to $4, 2 folds, MP1 calls $4, 5 folds

Flop: ($9.50) 3h 9s 2c (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $5, Hero calls $5

Turn: ($19.50) Ks (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $12, Hero raises to $30, MP1 raises to $184.55 all in, Hero calls $62.50 all in

River: ($204.50) 8c (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $204.50
MP1 shows 2h 2d (three of a kind, Twos)
Hero shows Kd Kh (three of a kind, Kings)
Hero wins $201.50
(Rake: $3.00)

Edit: Copied from my comments below
My flop check was out of caution. At the higher levels, it seems most of the time hands that are typically first to enter a pot from an UTG raise are small PPs, and less so suited connectors. I've come to see that a lot of the premium PPs & AK are 3betting. There's also a lot of squeezing going on.

This is a fairly uncoordinated board. I'm not saying I put him on a set on the flop, because I probably didn't, but his $5 lead bet either puts him on air or a set (excluding the A4 / 45 drawing hands). If I raise the flop, what types of hands can call me? Potentially drawing hands, but I'm generally going to fold out your A9, Ax hands for the most part. (A thinking player seeing a 4x raise from UTG has a fairly well-defined range for the most part; QQ+, AK). I don't want to fold out those Ax, top pair-type hands, so I call. Then I get lucky on the turn.

If I don't hit my K on the turn, I'm probably raising regardless, but when he shoves all in, I think I have to conserve my last $~30 by folding it (not 100% sure I'm doing that, though I am getting better at folding out my overpairs). Clearly, when he shoves, he believes he's stronger than me, regardless of my hand.

Biggest Pot Ever!

After weeks / months of being on the wrong end of these big pots, I finally get my hand to hold up! This is clearly a milestone event; no suckouts, no split pots, no nothing! I -clear and simple- win the biggest pot of my career.

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

BB: $64.80
UTG: $43.15
UTG+1: $138.60
UTG+2: $104.45
MP1: $19.25
MP2: $30.00
Hero (CO): $153.50
BTN: $46.60
SB: $31.35

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Ad 7d
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to $1.50, 1 fold, MP2 calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, 2 folds, BB calls $1
We're playing [essentially] 200BBs deep, so I make the call which over time will make profit. I have implied odds of ~75x in making this call.

Flop: ($6.25) Kd 2d 6d (4 players)
BB checks, UTG+2 bets $4.50, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $10.50, BB folds, UTG+2 calls $6
Could this flop have been *ANY* better? I'm not sure what to do here, so I ~min raise - which I wasn't so sure about at the time.

Here's my take: It turns out that it was probably the best move I could have made. To my opponent, it showed that I perhaps hit a set or a weak King. Perhaps AK. I'm guessing that I led him to believe that I did not have strong diamond re-draw.

Turn: ($27.25) Jd (2 players)
UTG+2 checks, Hero bets $13, UTG+2 raises to $92.45 all in, Hero calls $79.45
I was very disappointed to see this diamond hit the turn. I figured it would kill my action. BOY was I WRONG! From $13 to all in? Without the nuts? What does he possibly hope to accomplish here?

He sets the turn up such that only a better hand can possibly call him - with... perhaps... a pesky flopped / turned set as a distant calling possibility. I'm not getting this $13 -> shove, but thanks!!!

River: ($212.15) 9s (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $212.15
UTG+2 shows Qh Qd (a flush, King high) - Second nuts.
Hero shows Ad 7d (a flush, Ace high)
Hero wins $209.15
(Rake: $3.00)

January, 2010 - A new year & a new outlook

I began the month playing $25NL, continuing from last month's cash out & playing the stakes that were affordable to my bankroll. However, I realized that given my bankroll, I can begin going back to the $50NL tables, which is what I did from the 2nd day of the month, onward. I began to crush the games again, not because I was playing particularly well, but because my hands held up for the most part. As the month wore on, I began to CRUSH the $50NL competition, and I have started to take shots at $100NL. The $100NL tables provided a small loss this month, but nothing that I am concerned about (I finished the month down about $30 at $100NL in approx. 800 hands). In part thanks to Rush poker, my attempt to steal remains astounding, north of 70%! I cannot describe the relief I feel that I am actually adding to my bankroll, and also feel like I am playing the best poker of my life. On to the rest of the recap:

I made Iron Man status in the Iron Man challenge / bonus. I was able to convert all of my mid year bonus ($400) and convert a $75 token from the Iron Man challenge into a $69 cash out. Achieving Iron Man status allows me:

1. I am eligible for $100 in the mid year bonus.
2. I can continue to convert medals to dollars.
3. All of the poker played allowed me to qualify for free CardRunners and Stoxpoker training through totallyfreepokertraining.com.

Full Tilt poker profits: $1251
Poker Stars poker profits: $0.00 - With Rush poker, the mid year bonus, and rakeback, there has been very little incentive to play at Poker Stars.
Live poker profits: $-131.50 - DAMN GARDEN CITY DONKEYS!
Rakeback bonus profits: $327.45
Full Tilt bonus profits: $469.00
Total: $1915.95

A quick rundown of my stats: 38.7K hands played on Tilt in 106 hours. My hold'em All In Luck calculator says that since the beginning of the month, I've run $-222, which says that I've overcome my negative expected value in all in situations.

Looking forward to February, I am properly rolled to play the $100NL tables, which I have already started doing. The game seems to be a bit more difficult; much less betting and much more checking. The betting seems to take place on the turn and the river, with WAY more floating - both in and out of position. The $100NL players pick up instantly on lines that don't make sense, and they'll raise you right off the hand if they sense a moment's hesitation or weakness. As soon as I get enough history, I will put a post together on comparing $50NL and $100NL. I do not intend to play $100NL Rush, though, at the current time. I want to become acclimated to the full ring tables first, in order to establish that I truly belong playing at that level.

Also, I'm committed to moving to HEM. I am converting as I write this post.

Thanks, Full Tilt! Iron Man bonus achieved 22 days early!

Thank you for inventing Rush, so I can rush to get my end of year bonus money! I love Rush poker.

Biggest pot ever!

Again, nothing special; my flopped set vs. AA. I knew what he had pre-flop, which is why I called. 150BB deep, it's worth a peek to see what happens. I'm definitely laying down an A or K high flop with my set after the 3bet.

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

BB: $69.65
UTG: $20.00
UTG+1: $46.25
UTG+2: $62.60
MP1: $78.25
Hero (MP2): $125.70
CO: $50.00
BTN: $50.25
SB: $93.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP2 with 4h 4d
3 folds, MP1 raises to $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, 4 folds

Flop: ($4.25) 2c 8d 4s (2 players)
MP1 bets $2, Hero raises to $6, MP1 raises to $18, Hero raises to $45, MP1 raises to $76.50 all in, Hero calls $31.50

Turn: ($157.25) 5s (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($157.25) 9c (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $157.25
MP1 shows Ad As (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows 4h 4d (three of a kind, Fours)
Hero wins $154.25
(Rake: $3.00)

2009 Poker year in review

I wanted to put together a quick post for the 2009 year. First, thank you, everyone who reads this blog. Thank you for your participation in the comments. Thank you for taking time to digest, what my wife sees as, my nonsense. It is very cool that I started out writing because I needed an outlet to vent my frustrations and second-guesses in poker; it turns out that people actually seem to like my stream of thoughts.

I'm not going to make any resolutions for the 2010. Nor am I going to predict what will happen in 2010. The only goal I have for this year is a very tangible one, which is to use Hold'em Manager and migrate away from Poker Tracker. However, I will break down my 2009 half year career. Since meeting up with Josh in June, I learned how to properly play Texas Hold'em as a tight aggressive. I learned about hand ranges, positions, equity, and bankroll management. Only a half year ago, my learning curve was exponential, like Google's stock chart. Although my learning has slowed as of late, I am constantly in the mode of looking to increase my knowledge base. I am picking up subtle things, like when to overbet a pot on the river, as an "either you got a hand or you don't, but I'm not betting pot to get a call, I'm shoving and either you're calling or not" type situation, or folding small pocket pairs, OOP, against a short stacker, because there isn't enough reward to benefit me in the long term. I'd say my learning curve right now, to use the stock market analogy, is more like Walmart, where it's more matured, slower and steadily increasing. I want to continue to stay one step ahead of the donks, and move up in stakes, but looking back, I've jumped 2 levels in 6 months ($10NL to $25NL to $50NL). I hope this pattern continues.

The year ended on a low note, with my earnings showing a marked decrease within the last 3 months. I attribute that downswing to running $-850 in all in expected value. There isn't much I can do about that; how many times can I get myself in a position to be playing for stacks as a >60% favorite and lose? I look at these loses as pent-up good karma; I should have a nice run for 2010 because karma owes me :-).

Looking to 2010, as I talked about in my December wrap-up, I have the Iron Man bonus of $400. I also have a $69 Iron Man token to convert to cash, amounting to $470 in January bonuses on Full Tilt. Additionally, PokerStars is offering a reload bonus of 25% up to $150 (if you reload $600) which I may or may take advantage of. I *WILL* take advantage of the VIP Stellar Rewards program that they are running, though. The short of it is that they are offering $10 for each 750 VPPs earned up to the first 4 sets of 750 VPPs (i.e. 3000 VPPs = $40). Not a great payout, but good enough if I want to increase my bankroll there. I'd imagine they are moving towards a quasi-rakeback system, but the payouts at each level diminish the higher you go in VPPs. Not very well thought out, but a bonus nevertheless.

Now to the summary:

	Full Tilt	Poker Stars	Rakeback	Bonus	Live	Total
July '09	$ 709.00		$ 70.97	$ 100.00		$ 879.97
August '09	$ 530.00		$ 93.81			$ 623.81
September '09	$ 935.03		$ 158.75		$ 39.00	$1,132.78
October '09	$ 27.16		$ 319.46	$ 50.00		$ 396.62
November '09	$ 59.72	$ 84.65	$ 301.08	$ 100.00	$ 70.00	$ 615.45
December '09	$ 147.82	$ (10.35)	$ 161.95			$ 299.42
Sum Total	$2,408.73	$ 74.30	$1,106.02	$ 250.00	$ 109.00	$3,948.05

I can't complain about ~$4K for 6 month's work. I'm very happy with the outcome. The greatest thing about it is that the $4K includes all stakes ($10-$50NL). In theory, assuming I continue to show profit at the higher levels, I should be able to earn larger returns this year.

December, ho-hum...

Due to the being afraid that IUGEA would go into effect, I cashed out most of my Full Tilt account. As a result, I dropped down in stakes to play in the $25NL games. Despite playing underolled (since I cashed out), I was able to maintain a positive win rate of 2.52BB/100. Every time I'd get enough of a roll to take a shot at $50NL, I'd get clobbered, sending me back down to $25NL. I really crushed $25NL though, so I felt good about that - it soothed my confidence. Additionally, I really worked on my attempt to steal percentage; my ATS for the month is 65%!!! SIXTY FIVE PERCENT!!! That's freakishly big. I have become quite a kleptomaniac. I steal everything that isn't nailed down. And when I am met with resistance, I am cbetting & usually taking it down right then & there. Most players at 25 & 50NL don't pay much attention to steal percentages, but a person could make a living just stealing the blinds. Anyway, here's the rest of the story:



I made Gold status in the Iron Man challenge / bonus. Unlike last month:

1. I am eligible for $75 in the mid year bonus. Last month added $100 to my mid year bonus.
2. I can convert medals to dollars.
3. All of the poker played allowed me to qualify for free CardRunners training through totallyfreepokertraining.com and stoxpoker.com.

Full Tilt poker profits: $147.82
Poker Stars poker profits: $-10.35
Live poker profits: $0.00
Rakeback bonus profits: $161.95
Full Tilt bonus profits: $0.00
Total: $299.42

A quick rundown of my stats: 5.5K hands played on stars in 21 hours + 25.5K hands played on Tilt in 72 hours. My hold'em All In Luck calculator says that since the beginning of the month, I've run $-52, which says that I've overcome my negative expected value in all in situations.

Looking forward to January, I have $400 in year end bonuses accumulated through the Iron Man challenge. I have my work cut out for me and 45 days to make good on it. It will wind up being about 8000 points to get the full bonus. Therefore, I am moving up to $50NL to make a more efficient time of converting the bonus. At the time of this writing, I have achieved 1035 points, 1/8th of the way there. At this rate, I will qualify for iron status in the Iron Man during January as well. Additionally, I am going to attempt to convert Iron Man bonus medals (using $75 tokens) into $69 in cash with omgitsjoshua. I will put a post up shortly explaining it, if we are successful. Therefore, I stand to take about $469 in bonuses through Full Tilt during the month of January.

P.S. If anyone has converted medals to cash, let me know. I've read a few posts on the various sites saying it's easy, but have yet to do it myself.

November, another mediocre month

Perhaps this is the kind of result I can expect out of $50NL - and my first month at that level was more of an anomaly? I ran my profits up $500 within the first week or two of the month, then went on a big downswing and back up again. Since that point, it has been down hill. I seem to continue to get my money in good but get sucked out on. My head is getting screwed on a bit better, though, so perhaps December will be better. October was difficult, though, with my withdrawal of the bulk of my funds (thus I was under-rolled) plus the holidays, giving my little time to play hands. I also started my Poker Stars account back up, with a $50 swap with a friend + a nice little contest win over on Jordan's blog High On Poker. Thanks Jordan!


I once again made Iron Man status in the Iron Man challenge / bonus. As with last month:

1. I am eligible for $100 in the mid year bonus.
2. I can convert medals to dollars.
3. All of the poker played allowed me to qualify for free CardRunners training through totallyfreepokertraining.com and stoxpoker.com.

Full Tilt poker profits: $59.72
Poker Stars poker profits: $84.65
Live poker profits: $70.00
Rakeback bonus profits: $301.08
Full Tilt bonus profits: $100.00 (Holiday Hundred Bonus)
Total: $615.45

A quick rundown of my stats: 2K hands played on stars in 16 hours + 39K hands played on Tilt in 97 hours. My hold'em All In Luck calculator says that since the beginning of the month, I've run $-271, which says that I've overcome my negative expected value in all in situations.

Englightenment... my short history

I was reflecting on the defining moments of my poker career. I can map them out perfectly, as they are well known points that most of you probably know already and have for sometime. (For me, I'm a little dense, and it takes me longer to learn things.)

• The ability to count outs and determine the equity my hand holds. I first read about hand equity when Justin "WPThero" Rollo of PokerSavvy Plus fame wrote an expose' on the dailyhandquiz.com. If you are unaware of how to count outs, it is along the same lines as the article written by the same author: Making a Tough Call By Justin Rollo. I remember that I immediately followed it up with a ton of research on odds and found the rule of 4x and 2x (essentially counting your outs and multiplying them by 4 for the flop and 2 for the river for your percentage of winning the hand), which is a bit easier to use. Based on that information, I formulated a spreadsheet to quickly figure out my equity at each round, as compared with the pot odds that were being offered. I was now able to figure out how to quickly know where I was in each and every hand. I can approximate that I became aware of the rule of 4x and 2x back in early 2009, 2-3 years into my unsuccessful (but lucky) poker career. You can read a few of the original posts on this blog to see what a donkey I was.
  
• However, I was still finding myself running into situations where I was completely unsure as to whether I was ahead or behind in the hand. Back in the days prior to using Poker Tracker or knowing my co-blogger, omgitsjoshua, situations would arise where I would limp Js3s in the UTG and a J high flop would hit a 2 flush (diamonds) drawing board... Was I ahead or behind? Was my opponent calling my bet because he was drawing to a flush or because he had a better J? I would commit way too much stack on way too weak holdings only to find out that I was dominated the whole time by AJo. I always knew enough to fold Ace rag, which likely kept me out of trouble for the most part, but my pattern for online poker was usually deposit $20 -> play $10NL poker for about a month -> re-deposit. Upon meeting up with omgitsjoshua back in June 2009, after 2 hours of talking and watching him play, I understood how to play a tight aggressive style. (Hint: TAG is not limping Qs3s and folding to a raiser.) I immediately understand ranges and positions. Within 2 months of playing TAG, I earned back all of my prior lost poker money (and continue to this day to show strong profits).
• Finally, learning bankroll management is the last critical piece to become a poker semi-pro. I learned that I was playing in games FAR above my bankroll when I first started out on Full Tilt and other sites. I never had a huge problem with bankroll management, though. I started with $100 on Bodog.com, where I was able to run my bankroll up [and down] I would deposit $20 at a time on my prior poker site, sportsfanatik.com (Cake Poker network), play $10NL and sometimes go broke by night's or week's end. However, when I joined Full Tilt, I built my roll up to $100+ and immediately broke into 1-tabling the $25NL games, which far exceeded my bankroll. I posted a nice table of how to properly manage a bankroll, taking care not to enter into games where you cannot afford the buy in. Learning bankroll management miraculously kept me from going broke. I honestly believe that joining Full Tilt was my last straw - I told myself that if I went broke on FT (lost my initial buy in & 100% match), I was not going to continue feeding the credit card into the site with regular deposits like I had been on my prior site. I had spent ~$500 to that point in the 3 years I had been playing online, and I thought it time to give up if I could not figure out how to profitable. Fortunately, the rest, as they say, is history...

I think anyone with ambition can learn to become a good, profitable poker player. It takes dedication to get there, but you can certainly do it. Start with fundamentals and work from there. I believe the above 3 bullets outline the basic tenants a poker player should have - adding in the finer details such as button steals and 3 bets as he or she become accustomed to how the game is played.

Biggest $ pot won #3

Not much here; I nearly tripled through 2 donkeys at my table... we're talking VPIP > 35...

Like I said, I ran well last night!

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/367845
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $19.65
Hero (BB): $71.00
UTG: $10.70
UTG+1: $52.30
UTG+2: $28.75
MP1: $64.15
MP2: $34.75
CO: $101.50
BTN: $10.30

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Ah Ac
5 folds, CO calls $0.50, BTN raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero raises to $7.50, CO calls $7, BTN calls $4.50

Flop: ($22.75) 6s 6c 4d (3 players)
Hero bets $7.50, CO calls $7.50, BTN calls $2.80 all in

Turn: ($40.55) Kh (3 players - 1 is all in)
Hero bets $10, CO raises to $20, Hero raises to $30, CO raises to $40, Hero raises to $56 all in, CO calls $16

River: ($152.55) 4s (3 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $152.55
Hero shows Ah Ac (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
CO shows As Ks (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
BTN shows 9c 9s (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
Hero wins $119.95
Hero wins $29.60
(Rake: $3.00)

Biggest session to date 2009-11-13

Tonight i played 1,815 hands in 4.28 hours... I turned in a session of $321.05 - the largest single session profit to date. That translates to a sick 17.69 PTBB/100! This brings my November back into good shape. I'm not going to lie; I ran extremely well, being dealt Aces 16 times, making up the largest portion of my 122 pocket pairs on the night (a little above the mean @ 6.7% pocket pair hands). I flopped sets at a below average rate, 8.2%, but my hands held up for the most part - I ran $108.41 above EV in all in situations.

An up & down (and up) month... October [thankfully] comes to a close

This month was anything but typical. It seems I never could shake a bout of bad luck and bad play. The bad luck would drive me to make more river calls than I normally would - not believing that my bad luck 2 / 4 / 6 outters on the river had actually hit... only to verify that they actually did happen. One circumstance definitely drove the other - I got sucked out on continually, but compounded the error by calling.

At any rate, there is some silver lining to the rain cloud of October. I made Iron Man status in the Iron Man challenge / bonus. This is an achievement on multiple counts:

1. I am eligible for $100 in the mid year bonus.
2. I can convert medals to dollars.
3. All of the poker played allowed me to qualify for free CardRunners training through totallyfreepokertraining.com and stoxpoker.com.

I also turned around a losing month on the last day of the month - I had a nice $185 day today (which is hard to see from the graph).
Online poker profits: $27.16
Live poker profits: $0.00
Rakeback bonus profits: $319.46
Full Tilt bonus profits: $50.00 (Take 2 bonus paid October 1)
Total: $396.62
A quick rundown of my stats: 32K hands played in 88 hours for a win rate of 0.19 BB/100 (PT3 BBs) - my dollar / hour average was non-existent at a paltry $0.31. My hold'em All In Luck calculator says that since the beginning of the month, I've run $-519, which says that I've overcome my negative expected value in all in situations. Due to my nice recent run, though, if the end of the month is an indicator of things to come, I feel good about November. Good luck me!