I played poorly - and have minus one buy in to show for it. In light of the poor play and sucky cards, I think that's not a bad result...
As evidenced:
98o < 99 - Top two vs. top set... live poker is rigged
AQ < 89dd - should have gotten away from that on the flop but paid off ~$100
KK < JT - just stupid play on my opponent who flopped 2 pair but should have never called pre-flop
57hh < 46o - Turned straight runs into rivered boat
I realized that I'm having a problem playing off the mid-stacks (~$150) when I have a good hand. I need to break myself of that habit - despite my raises pre-flop...
In good news, I played $100 worth of promotional chips and won back a $70 return at the blackjack tables! That feels good, even though I'm convinced I'm playing wrong. Does such a small sample size really matter when I'm playing for promo chips? I don't really care to take the time to print out the algorithms and "correct play." I just went by gut - I guess I did alright last night :-)
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The first hand with 98o versus 99 was brutal and kill your long term profitability. Of course the 57hh boat versus 46 straight is probably worse. In fact the only bad play looks like the AQ - sometimes it is hard to let go of AK and AQ after raising pre-flop. Those are the days that make me realize I will never be a professional poker player. The only way to weather the variance is to play a lot of poker. I have been playing online and have been getting hammered with ridiculous suck-outs. I am getting good at losing and not going on tilt.
ReplyDeleteThe first hand, I bet a 9 high flop, bink an 8 turn and get all in for ~$150 vs. top set. Second hand was my most disappointing - I raised $15 PF and called off ~$150 on a A 9 9 flop :-(.
DeleteI don't want to seem like a troll, but did you have an A-Q off and raised $15 PF( post?pre flop ) to a A 9 9 flop and then called a $150 re-raise? I don't understand at all. What did you think he had that you could beat: A-J or A-10? The only draw would be a flush on a paired board. The only way I would call that bet if the guy was an aggro who had totally annoyed me or I had the flush draw. He was probably raising 8 times the pot which means when he is bluffing if he gets called 13% of the time he doesn't break even. I don't think his bet was that great either - anybody with a 9 probably had him beat except for a 9-7. Probable hands to call: any A-9 and K-9,Q-9 suited, and J-9, 10-9, unless there was a BB or SB limper. A-A would be improbable because they would be slow played. Seems like you played a little weak - but this is just my opinion. I am certainly not a great poker player.
DeleteThe AQ hand was more like raise $15 with AQo - called 1st by villain and one other. Bet $30 on A 9 9 flop, get raised to $60 (should have been red flag there) but I call. Turn bet is like $80 and I awfuckit call.
DeleteLike i said, not proud of the hand. I sucked that night...
DeleteSeems like you tried to win a big pot with a small hand out of position. I think checking on the flop would have been correct. You are out in front. If you bet anyone without an A or 9 will fold. If someone does have a 9 you don't get sucked into a quagmire. Trying to win a big pot with a small hand is a good way to lose money against competent players. For me this is the big weakness of the nit strategy. You sit and wait for your big over-pair or TPTK and start to bet the shit out of it. Every good player on the table knows what you have. If they don't have you beat they just fold and you get nothing. If they do, then they punch you in the gut. You also start to get action from every drawing hand because the implied odds of hitting their hands. This increases your variance and makes it hard for a grinder to make money. I am not quitting my day job anytime soon. Also, yes I have done exactly what you did before and probably will in the future.......
DeleteTotally agree about the sentiments of the nit strategy; usually I can get away from hands like AK, AQ with TPTK, but I just couldn't find the fold button for the ~$150 total (or $120 more between the flop raise & turn shove). I've been having problems with short stacks lately - whether I'm getting outplayed as evidenced, or getting sucked out on outright... Last Sunday, I wound up making 2 solid calls only to get runner runner flushed with AQ vs. J7ss (AIPF) and 2 paired with K9 vs. Q3 on a K 5 3 board - each by the same idiot, each for ~$100.
DeleteThe one thing I can take solace in is the fact that we're playing 1/3, not 1/2, so the bite in terms of big blinds is not nearly as bad as it seems...nevertheless, we're still talking money here regardless blind sizes :-(.
So far as the nit strategy is concerned, people at the table can usually read a nit for what he is, and will call cheaply with their mid and low pairs hoping to flop sets and double up. Someone made a comment about the nit strategy the other night calling it "OMC," or old man coffee - the old men nits who sit & drink their coffees all day, waiting on AA, KK (while not even raising AK), shoveling it in and begrudging the fact that their opponent flopped a set with their POS 3's or 4's... and never taking the additional moment to think about how they play went down and their own image and how a raise given their image has too nearly 100% of the time mean their hand is toast...
Winning money on promo chips is always sweeter. As for blackjack -- perhaps Tony could give you some pointers ...
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