An update and a hand history

I’ve been very busy with the new job – so far, it’s been way more responsibility than I ever imagined prior to taking the job.  I’ve had to hire a new team of ~30 people, work personnel conflicts and issues, learn the new program’s processes and procedures, and ensure my new team is doing the same, all the while learning my predecessor’s roles and responsibilities.  I’m truly busy from before 7:30 I the morning until at least 5:00 at night.  The pattern has been that I go back to the hotel, go to the gym, get some dinner, take a soak in the hotel hot tub and go to sleep.  Rinse & repeat, save for the weekends, where, if I’m not heading home or somewhere with my family, I have free time to go & explore Denver or get in a solid day of poker up at Blackhawk.  It’s a funny thing; I started out thinking that the “single” life would enable me to have more free time, but somehow my free time is fully consumed.

Regardless, live poker out here is an utter joke.  The games are so soft it’s unbelievable.  Sit on the nuts and they’ll pay you off without fail.  People love to slow play, making drawing hands super profitable.  The bet sizing for most players is so laughably bad that I find myself facing true immediate odds compared to the pot, and frequently not even needing to worry or think about implied odds.  The room is regularly busy, with more than enough fish and tourists to keep my bankroll sated.  I’ve seen so many people just call or limp their KK / AA hands, and check / call to the end when their hands are clearly dead.  I’ve seen players pay me astronomical prices for their flush draws or their straight draws when they’re so way behind in their draws.  Lastly, the rewards structure in the poker room (Ameristar) is pretty decent: they give you your choice of $1 / hr in comps to be used for slots, $2 / hr in comps for food, or $0.50 / hr in rakeback.  Your choice – and you can decide to cash out at any point.

In the online front, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a moment to sit down and get a good online poker session in.  I was able to sit down for a good 3 hours last night, sitting in my new favorite online room, Seals with Clubs.  I was afraid that it had been so long since I’d last played a hand there, the games may have dried up and I would forget how to be aggressive.  My fears were not realized, because the fish were really fishy and my aggression still remains.  I’m still able to pick off blind steals, squeeze with air, and generally produce 3bets in the 8%+ range.  It’s a cool feeling to see the regs avoiding big pots with me out of fear, and the fish trying to pay big bets in the hopes of hitting a miracle.  On one table, all of the players were starting to get pretty deep; 200+BB.

I was sitting on 300+BB when I was dealt TT.  A laggy nemesis was trying to 3bet me on quite a few tables (he was to my left and trying to defend his blinds / BTN); we’d gotten into a few pissing contests and we were roughly even as far as who blinks first – perhaps he was 20-30 BB up on me (I’m not keeping track because I’m more thinking in metagame parameters that he’ll blow up sooner or later).  He’s sitting on about 300BB when I raise his BTN from the HJ for ~3x – no limpers and it’s a steal position from his perspective.  As expected, he opts to 3bet me 3x to 9BB.  Not one to be dissuaded from a little aggression, I 4bet him to 22BB and he cold calls in position.  Flop comes 9 6 2 rainbow and I lead for 30BB.  He shoves over for 250BB; is it wrong to call here?  What do you do?  Do you fold?  This is such a polarizing bet to value / air, but what can he show up with in this spot?  JJ?  QQ?  I felt like given the action that he’s not 5 betting me (probably a fold PF), he’s going to show up with so much air.  The problem is that we’re so deep at this point, a 250BB call if I’m way behind is a HUGE mistake.

Thoughts?

Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll Results!

Short blog post to congratulate all who placed in the money - and particularly to Tony Big Charles, to took the thing down for [I believe] 180 chips. The results were as follows:

1. lightning36 - Tony Big Charles
2. cstationj
3. wwwin
4. SugarSugar - Lightning36 (they swapped screen names for whatever reason; don't think lightning had a choice in the matter)
5. mhe34
6. itsik78
7. DonMagicJuan

I think it was a terrific turnout - around 30 runners. I saw bloggers like RobVegasPoker, CarmenSinCity & PetePPeters, as well as old school bloggers like cmitch who runs opoker. It was good to catch up; watching Heffmike get sucked out on within the first few minutes was a reminder of days of old - and of course, he was pissed! (Sorry Mike - wasn't me who did it!)

Anyway, once again - congratulations and thanks to all for playing.

Most importantly, thank you to Bryan Micon and Seals With Clubs for hosting the event & contributing the prize pool.

Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll - 2 days left for signup!!!

Just 2 days until the Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll!  Seals with Clubs has been kind enough to sponsor a 500 chip freeroll (worth .5 Bitcoin) for bloggers to be held on Wednesday, February 26th, 2014 at 5PM PST / 8PM EST.  I've had a decent response, but not nearly all the people who I expected!  If you're seeing this post, are a blogger and are interested, get that post up on your site so you can play along with old friends (and new)!

Entrance to the tournament is simple:

1.    If you don’t already have an account with Seals with Clubs, you can sign up by following this link.

2.    Simply place the banner / picture below onto your site in the form of a post, telling your readers how you will be playing in the Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll at Seals with Clubs.  You can cross-link this site for further, detailed information if you wish.

3.    Send me a verification email with a link to your post containing the banner to ThePokerMeisterTPM@gmail.com.

4.    Upon verification, I will send you a password to the freeroll.

5.    Please do not share this password, as it will ruin the idea of a blogger-only  freeroll.  Remember: Bryan Micon & Seals with Clubs have been kind enough to contribute all 500 chips to the freeroll, intending to give back to the blogger community!  Let's show them that the blogger community is still alive and kicking!

Details of the tournament:

1.    Name: Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll

2.  Game Type: No Limit Hold'em

3.    Date: Wednesday, February 26th

4.    Time: 5PM PST / 8PM EST

5.    Starting chips: 3000

6.    Structure: Normal

7.    Prize: 500 chips

8.  Who is invited: Anyone with a blog willing to share the Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll Logo on their site

I’m hoping that you will blog about the tournament during or afterwards, as I think it will be fun to get all of the old and new bloggers together.

Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll - Advertised on SWC

If you are a blogger and would like to get a chance at some free bitcoins, please check out the Seals with Clubs Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll!

https://sealswithclubs.eu/bitcoin-blogger-freeroll-2-26/

or refer to my post:

http://lowstakeshands.blogspot.com/2014/02/an-invite-to-all-bloggers-blogger.html

An invite to all bloggers - A Blogger Bitcoin Freeroll on Seals with Clubs

I would like to formally invite all bloggers to the Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll, hosted by Seals with Clubs, the world’s largest bitcoin poker website.  Seals with Clubs has been kind enough to sponsor a 500 chip freeroll (worth .5 Bitcoin) for bloggers to be held on Wednesday, February 26th, 2014 at 5PM PST / 8PM EST.

Entrance to the tournament is simple:

1.    If you don’t already have an account with Seals with Clubs, you can sign up by following this link.

2.    Simply place the banner / picture below onto your site in the form of a post, telling your readers how you will be playing in the Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll at Seals with Clubs.  You can cross-link this site for further, detailed information if you wish.

3.    Send me a verification email with a link to your post containing the banner to ThePokerMeisterTPM@gmail.com.

4.    Upon verification, I will send you a password to the freeroll.

5.    Please do not share this password, as it will ruin the idea of a blogger-only  freeroll.  Remember: Bryan Micon & Seals with Clubs have been kind enough to contribute all 500 chips to the freeroll, intending to give back to the blogger community!  Let's show them that the blogger community is still alive and kicking!

Details of the tournament:

1.    Name: Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll
2.  Game Type: No Limit Hold'em

3.    Date: Wednesday, February 26th

4.    Time: 5PM PST / 8PM EST

5.    Starting chips: 3000

6.    Structure: Normal

7.    Prize: 500 chips
8.  Who is invited: Anyone with a blog willing to share the Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll Logo on their site

I’m hoping that you will blog about the tournament during or afterwards, as I think it will be fun to get all of the old and new bloggers together.

What spawned this?

I read a post the other day that mentioned the Mookie / Dank.  For those who are new to the blogosphere, the Mookie (renamed the Dank) was a weekly poker tournament held on Full Tilt before the DOJ shutdown / seizure.  The intent of the tournament was to have a place where all the bloggers and their readers could meet weekly, put up their [nominal, $10] buy in and take bragging rights for the week.  Most players would blog about the play on their respective blogs, but most importantly, it was a great way to hang out and play with friends.

I’m hoping that this tournament can turn into a weekly buy-in tournament.  Perhaps we can rekindle the fire of the Mookie / Dank once again, allowing for the rivalries that we had among each other.  Depending on how the Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll turns out, Seals with Clubs has kindly offered to set up a recurring blogger tournament (buy-in to be determined).

Hope to see you there!

P.S.  Not to be modest or anything (‘cause I’ve never been known to be modest J ), but I do have prior bragging rights of my own, as I won a Mookie / Dank twice in the past...  I was able to turn the $10 buy in into a nice little run of around $2k.  Check it out here & here (which enabled me to freeroll in the Tournament of Champions (TOC) tournament, detailed briefly here).

P.P.S.  If you'd like to find out more about Bitcoins and Bitcoin poker - transactions, how it works, etc., I put a short post together awhile ago summarizing operations.  See here & here.  Seals with Clubs has an FAQ on the site and how it operates, as well as a brief Bitcoin overview as well.

Finally, FWIW, you have an option of playing within a Windows (or Mac) software downloadable client (which is non-invasive; i.e. it does not install onto your machine - you download it, unzip it & run the executable), you can play on the website's Flash client (play within your browser), or you can play on your Android phone or tablet with their downloadable app.

Took 4th in the 25k krill freeroll!

Seals has a points system similar to Stars or Tilt, but the usage of the points is a bit different from the other sites.  When you hit certain milestones, you gain entry into 100 hour freerolls, or rakeback percentages, etc.  Moreover, the points you gain, or "krill," (since the theme is "Seals" with Clubs) is cumulative - therefore, you never lose the points.  It's not like Stars or Tilt where you have to play a certain amount in a month or year to get to a status; you retain the your current status in perpetuity.

Anyway, I made 25k krill a week or two ago, and was eligible for my first 25k krill freeroll.  Those who read this blog know that I'm a total fish in tournaments, and, more importantly, absolutely despise tournaments.  I decided, though, since SWC is good enough to put together the freerolls, I'll give it a try - after all, the tourney is a perk of my play on the site.  The 25k freeroll is a 2000 chip event that runs every 400 hours, scheduled to run last night at 11.  I gave it a shot, ran pretty good, held up where I needed to and got the appropriate cards at the appropriate moments, and wound up taking 4th for 200 chips - not bad for free!

"System: XXXX finishes tournament in place #4 and wins 200 chips"

Booyah!  Now it's time for bed!

Overbet for value

Thanks, Zeebo!

Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $10.00
CO: $10.00
BTN: $3.85
Hero: $12.69
BB: $11.78
UTG: $7.82
UTG+1: $10.77

UTG+1 posts a big blind ($0.10)

MP posts a big blind ($0.10)

CO posts a big blind ($0.10)

Pre Flop: ($0.45)

Hero is dealt [4c, 5c]

UTG calls $0.10, UTG+1 checks, MP checks, CO checks, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.05, BB checks

Flop: ($0.60) Jd 4h 6d (6 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, MP checks, CO checks

Turn: ($0.60) 4s (6 players)
Hero bets $0.50, BB folds, UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP calls $0.50, CO folds - Sweet turn!  Time to go for value from the diamond draws that didn't bet the flop, or the weak Jacks.

River: ($1.60) 4d (2 players)
Hero bets $9.40, MP calls $9.40 all in - Best river card in the deck (outside of the 5d, perhaps).  If he was drawing to the flush, he's folding whatever I bet.  But if he's holding a Jx hand, he has to think that he just split the pot with me.  In his mind, there's only one hand that beats him, and it's so unlikely that I runner runnered quads here...  Therefore, $9.4 into $1.6!

Final Pot: $20.40
Hero shows [5c, 4c], 4 4's
MP shows [Jc, 8h], 4's full of Jacks
Hero wins $19.90
(Rake: $0.50)

Not complaining, but finding a lot of weird lines from the players lately...

It's been a long while since I've posted any online hand histories.  I've been forced to adapt to 6max play if I want to 8+ table online at seals.  There simply aren't enough tables to go around where I am forced to mix in 6max.  I've really taken to the amped up aggression levels.  It's kinda shocking.  The players seem to understand that aggression is the key to the game, but they don't understand when they need to apply the aggression.  Much like in my play, they realize that they can bluff certain spots.  However, what they don't realize is that they need to adjust to me, who is willing to call down "light" and understands good bluff spots.


I got lucky here, admittedly, but there's no way this guy should be stacking off with a pair of Aces, crap kicker:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $26.58
Hero: $20.87
CO: $31.82
BTN: $20.86
SB: $24.83 (Loose passive player)

Pre Flop: ($0.30)
Hero is dealt Js Qd
Hero raises to $0.60, 2 folds, SB calls $0.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.40) 8s 5s Ad (2 players)
SB bets $1.00, Heroraises to $2.25, SB calls $1.25

Turn: ($5.90) 9c (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $5.00, SB calls $5

River: ($15.90) Ts (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $13.02 all in, SB calls $13.02

Hero shows Js Qd, Q high straight
SB shows Ac 2c, pair of Aces

Final Pot: $41.94
Hero wins $41.34
(Rake: $0.60)

But more to the point, I'm finding a lot of crazy crazy lines and play at the 6max table...  so much so that it has me wondering whether I should have been playing 6max all along for the past 4-5 years...

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $26.95 (LAG, wide steal range)

SB: $20.10

Hero: $25.32

UTG: $4.09

CO: $19.34

Hero is dealt Qc Tc

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

2 folds, BTN raises to $0.60, 1 fold, BB raises to $1.80, BTN calls $1.20 - standard 3bet re-steal

Flop: ($3.70) Qh 5s 2h (2 players)

Hero bets $2.75, BTN calls $2.75 - I hit top pair, way ahead of his range.  His call is somewhat unsettling, but his aggression factor is off the charts - in the 50% realm over 400+ hands.  He's like *NEVER* just calling on a drawing board.

Turn: ($9.20) 5c (2 players)

Hero bets $5.00, BTN raises to $10.00, Hero calls $5 - Now I'm concerned, but if he has a 5, is he min raising or going for an all-in raise?  I have to imagine he's pushing the turn with a random 5, but I'll play along...  His line deviates far from standard for this particular player.

River: ($29.20) 9h (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $12.40 all in, Hero calls $10.77 all in - Such a sick crappy card, completing the obvious straight.  But now his story makes no sense.  He repped the trips on the turn (or he could have a set of 2's), but now he's trying to rep the heart flush.  In the end, I'm not buying any of it, so I tank call with my Q's mid kicker...

BTN shows As Th, pair of 5's, A high

Hero shows Qc Tc, pair of Q's

Final Pot: $50.74

Hero wins $50.14

(Rake: $0.60)

This is the hand that drives this guy INSANE (he went on the blow through >5 buy ins):

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $19.06

BTN: $32.10

Hero: $54.38

BB: $20.70 (Total LAGbot - loves to steal and 3bet; certainly not afraid of throwing money around, another very high aggression factor)

UTG: $45.20

Hero is dealt Tc Th

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

3 folds, SB raises to $0.60, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) 5c 3s 4c (2 players)

Hero bets $1.20, BB calls $1.20 - pretty sure he has Ax; I think he's raising a paired Ace thinking his inside straight draw & Ace are good outs as well as his pair.  However, he flats leading me to believe he has Ax.

Turn: ($3.60) 5h (2 players)

Hero bets $3.50, BB raises to $8.00, SB calls $4.50 - His raise throws me off, but I can't see him showing up with any random 5 here.  There's simply not a ton of holdings that he can have with a 5; 65, A5, 75, but again, I think he raises the flop with those cards.  He may be LAGgy, but he's not outright dumb; he's not playing 72o or Q5...

River: ($19.60) Qc (2 players)

Hero checks, BB bets $10.90 all in, SB calls $10.90 - I check to let him bet his air again.  By this point, he's so polarized to air / monster that given his aggression factor, he's far more air...  If he got lucky and hit a Q on the end, so be it...

BB shows 7d 2d, pair of 5's Q high  - OOPS!  I guess he can show up with 72 here...  FWIW, I will be folding all 2's, A's and 6's (and possibly 7's) on this board.

Hero shows Tc Th, 2 pair, T's and 5's

Final Pot: $41.40

Hero wins $40.80

(Rake: $0.60)

A few hands later, I drive him nuts again with the following:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 4 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $32.28

Hero: $74.75

BB: $19.00

CO: $44.60

Hero is dealt 2c Ac

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

2 folds, Hero raises to $0.60, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) 6h 2h Ks (2 players)

Hero checks, BB checks - if he has something, he's going to bet here

Turn: ($1.20) 5s (2 players)

Hero bets $1.00, BB calls $1 - 5 is pretty blank.  He hasn't shown any aggression and therefore I want to shut him down.

River: ($3.20) 6s (2 players)

Hero checks, BB bets $2.00, Hero calls $2 - He's always going to bet when checked to on the river.  Therefore, why not let him hang himself?  Also, it cuts down on his ability to get crafty and river raise me off my showdown worthy hand.  C/c river with 2's and he goes balistic - what a terrible call, yada yada yada....

BB shows Jh 4h, pair of 6's K kicker

Hero shows Ah 2h, 2 pair, 6's and 2's

Final Pot: $7.20

Hero wins $7.02

(Rake: $0.18)

Sorry for the chat capture,  but I had to replay this one out...  It's just funny...  He compares me to Phil Ivey, in fact!  Admittedly, he had a big target on his back based on his screen name...  I can't stand the YOLO crap, and I certainly can't stand the second half of his name...

YOLO-nigga: 65 hands played, 7 wins

YOLO-nigga: perfect

Heisenberg44: aight i gotta go, peace yall

YOLO-nigga: i should stop playing

YOLO-nigga: because my high percentage hands will obviously not outdraw anyone

keepfloppin: nahhh..... -> Can't help but to fan the flames

YOLO-nigga: 69 hands, 9 wins

YOLO-nigga: 6 handed

YOLO-nigga: no biggie

Dealer: keepfloppin, you have 10 seconds to act

Dealer: keepfloppin shows [2c Ac] (Two Pair, Sixes and Deuces +A)

Dealer: YOLO-nigga shows [4h Jh] (a Pair of Sixes +KJ5)

Dealer: keepfloppin wins Pot (7.02) with Two Pair --> Rubbing it in with the 2's showdown

YOLO-nigga: another airball

YOLO-nigga: against the guy who calls everything

YOLO-nigga: yes

keepfloppin: like the pr 2's lookup?

YOLO-nigga: yeah you call everything

YOLO-nigga: congrats

YOLO-nigga: epic dode, everytime

YOLO-nigga: dodge*

YOLO-nigga: this is how this is gonna go

YOLO-nigga: you're gonna pay me off one hand

YOLO-nigga: and then you're gonna leave

YOLO-nigga: guaranteed, 100% thats how this is going to go

keepfloppin: hope not

keepfloppin: but cant be perfect

YOLO-nigga: there's no way you stay here long

keepfloppin: not always 100% with my reads

YOLO-nigga: because your hero calls don't work everytuime

YOLO-nigga: and then you'll bail

keepfloppin: yup

YOLO-nigga: rick, any commentary on this shit show?

YOLO-nigga: or is it just standard, can't catch a fucking break yolo runbad?

YOLO-nigga: 16 outs and can't hit, guys calling me down with bottom pair, guys jamming all in 20% and slamming the river

KillaKat420: i havent been watching i will go through the hand history later, too many tables up now

YOLO-nigga: want a rundown?

keepfloppin: you half explain it

YOLO-nigga: leo is a certified retard and lucky

YOLO-nigga: keepflopping thinks he's phil ivey and can't fold

Leoprox: such lose. wow.

keepfloppin: LOL

keepfloppin: that's awasome

KillaKat420: good beat bad beat can't let emotion get the best of ya

keepfloppin: gotta capture this

YOLO-nigga: no emotion

YOLO-nigga: i just don't understand how through all these reps, i can't make ONE FUCKING HAND

YOLO-nigga: NOT ONE

keepfloppin: is he ur zen psychologist?

YOLO-nigga: AGAINST GUYS WHO CAN"T WAIT TO CALL

keepfloppin: cant wait to check call that is --> again stoking those flames...

Anyway, moving on...  I think I goofed on this hand; I should have checked the turn to let him bet.  However, he's passive post flop for the most part...

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $19.06

SB: $41.60

Hero: $41.41

UTG: $10.04

MP: $21.22

CO: $48.20

Hero is dealt Ah Qh

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

UTG raises to $0.52, MP calls $0.52, CO calls $0.52, 1 fold, SB calls $0.42, Hero raises to $3.00, 2 folds, CO calls $2.48, SB calls $2.48 - this is a somewhat standard squeeze.  A .52 open is a really weird bet sizing; standard is .6, or 3x.  Therefore I give it a good pop to 6x and get 2(!!!!!) callers.  I figured I'd take it down with a 6x raise, but these guys are just so LAGgy.

Flop: ($10.04) Jh 2s Qs (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $6.50, CO folds, SB calls $6.50 - Nice flop, TPTK.  I'm not going to let this one go.  I lead ~2/3 pot, looking for a raise, but just get compliance with a call.

Turn: ($23.04) 3h (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $15.00, SB folds - I turn the heart draw to go with my TPTK and I'm never letting go of this.  Note the stack sizes are such that we are both 200BB deep.  Given how LAGgy these guys are, I think I'm almost always good getting it in here and don't mind stacking of 200BB with TPTK + FD.  Alas, it's a no go...

Final Pot: $23.04

Hero wins $22.47

(Rake: $0.57)

Last hand for this huge hand history:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $26.65

BTN: $19.70

SB: $34.72

BB: $4.00

Hero: $20.30

MP: $19.70

Hero is dealt Jh Ah

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

Hero raises to $0.60, 1 fold, CO calls $0.60, 3 folds

Flop: ($1.50) 9s 8h Jd (2 players)

Hero bets $1.25, CO calls $1.25

Turn: ($4.00) Ts (2 players)

Hero checks, CO bets $2.20, Hero calls $2.20 - I consider continuing my betting, but opt to slow down into check / call mode.  I know this is dangerous, but with a 4 straight on the board, he can easily have hands with a Q that called a gutter on the flop.  To me, though, it feels so week to c/f here.  It's such an obvious bluff spot as well.  Unless he starts really putting pressure on, I'm going to continue to c/c to his story.

River: ($8.40) 2h (2 players)

Hero checks, CO bets $5.80, Hero calls $5.80 - He makes a fairly weak river bet and I get to showdown fairly cheaply.

CO shows Ad, 9d, pair of 9's

Hero shows Ah, Jh, pair of J's

Final Pot: $20.00

Hero wins $19.50

(Rake: $0.50)

Rare 4-way all-in... How did I hold up with my AA?

I'm figuring an AA vs. AA vs. KK vs. QQ type setup hand...

Surprisingly, I'm up against random pairs - 88, 55, QQ (maybe I understand, but given the action.... WTF?)

Somehow, I hold up though:

($ represent .001 BTC; roughly $20NL)
Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $21.84
BB: $3.20
Hero / UTG: $20.00
CO: $20.00
BTN: $43.19

Pre Flop: ($0.30)
Hero raises to $0.60, CO raises to $2.60, BTN calls $2.60, 1 fold, BB calls $2.40, Hero raises to $20.00 all in, CO calls $17.40 all in, BTN calls $17.40, BB calls $0.60 all in

Flop: ($63.30) 2d Ks 7s (4 players - 3 are all in)

Turn: ($63.30) 4c (4 players - 3 are all in)

River: ($63.30) 2h (4 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: $63.30
UTG wins $62.70
(Rake: $0.60)
Board [2d Ks 7s 4c 2h]

Seat 2: BB mucked [Qc Qd] -- Unkown
Seat 4: Hero collected (mɃ62.7) shows [As Ad]
Seat 5: CO mucked [8s 8h]  -- Aggro, loose
Seat 6: BTN mucked [5s 5c] --  Aggro, donkish (clearly)

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.

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.

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

Tilting and a recap

I never really thought of myself as a tilter, but I suppose I am.  Tilting comes in all forms - and I guess we're all prone to it, but never want to acknowledge it.  My form of tilt comes in two forms: entitlement and watching others' unbelievably poor play.

I started out winning the very first pot I played - limping T8o from late position and flopping 8 8 3 - two spades.  I led, got a caller.  Called a $25 bet on the offsuit K turn from the BB who thought he could rep 8's - figuring that I raise here, I likely blow him off of his hand.  River comes a T and he leads for $40(?) and I raise all in.  He fold rather quickly, leading me to believe that he either floated the flop or was drawing spades.  Good start to the night.

Bit later, I get 74o in the BB and check my option.  Flop comes a beautiful 3 5 6 - two hearts.  I immediately lead for $15 into the world of limpers and get called by the guy to my left.  Turn is an 8, giving the board 2 hearts and 2 diamonds, and I lead again, for $35.  He calls.  River: 9 diamonds and I lead for $50.  He flats and shows the nut straight: T7o - I get runner runnered by a gutter turned open ended.  There goes my nice start.  Just pisses me off that I put $50 in bad there, but I can't see myself ever checking the 4 straight; there's so much he can have that doesn't include the nut straight there...  Perhaps I should re-adjust thought?  Bet less?

Few orbits later, I limp T9o (this table was continually limping monsters, looking to limp / raise which inevitably no one ever did (raise to allow the limp / raise, that is).  I usually don't limp so frequently, but it was worth it getting involved with guys trying to "slow play" their AA, AK, etc.  So we see a flop of Q T 9 - rainbow.  Tight tight BB leads for $10 into $12 and gets called by a terrible player - black woman who was clearly out of her element.  I opt to raise to $35 because she's always calling with a J, and I think most of the players there are going to do so as well (see tilt #2 - poor play; do they really think I'm going to pay off a 4 straight board????).  Tight BB folds and woman calls once again into the limp pot.  Anyway, we see a 4 on the turn, putting 2 hearts - you see where I'm going with this?  She checks to me and I lead for $50(?).  She snaps it.  River is a third random heart and she checks.  I check through and am shown AhKh for the runner runner flush, once again from a gutter.  At least I didn't put out a big bet on the river.

I fish $100 out of my pocket to top up; in the hole for $100 now.  I would go on to become the angst of the table - I was virtually the only one raising in an otherwise passive table, and the 3 curmudgeonly older gentlemen were more than happy to stick with their small pocket pairs through my overcard raises and cbets.  I don't know why, but it took me awhile to figure out that they'll call me down extremely light just because they're stations.

Anyway, the last hand of note involved a $5 straddled pot where I raise AJo from late position - first in - to $15.  Folds to the UTG straddler who insta-calls.  Let me give a little description of this guy: 30-40 years old, dark sunglasses; looks like a brown-haired, fatter version of Andrew Brokos.

A picture of the incredible Andrew Brokos, for reference

Clearly fancies himself a serious poker player.  Trying to make moves, play tough, look tough.  Flop comes T 8 3 - 2 clubs.  Checks to me and I cbet $20.  He calls.  Check through blank turn / river and he shows T6o.  LOLWUT?  I think this tilt is a mix of entitlement and bad play tilt.  Villain clearly thinks he's the man and knows what he's doing, but yet gets $20 of value from a stupid hand that he chooses to defend his straddle?  I just don't get it - calling $15 with T6?  I shouldn't expect to win with AJ, but show me T9, JT, something reasonable to call 7.5BBs.  Shame on me for cbetting a blank flop.  Hope you make money with that, dude.

Regardless, I came out of a 4 session slump with a solid W last night.  I just need to continue my run.  I have a running bet with a buddy of mine, where whichever of us has the higher earn rate for the year gets a free dinner from the other.  I'm rooting for him to come in a penny per hour under where I end the year, though his last night's session really boosted up his earn rate.  Hopefully, free dinner at Prime Rib!

P.S. I've been playing a bit of PLO online lately.  I'm loving the game.  I did a bit of analysis on my hand histories, though, and found that I'm a huge loser at the game (huge being relative to the stakes I'm playing).  If I want to get better, I had better read about the game; I'm discovering that I have a vague idea of what hands I should be playing, but no solid footing for certain.  I started reading Pot Limit Omaha by Jeff Hwang and have found it's tremendously helpful.

2 quick examples:

• I wasn't aware that the particular cards I want to enter into a pot are top gappers rather than bottom gappers: 5 7 8 9 plays far better because of nut value than 5 6 7 9 or 6 7 8 T.  I'd imagine this was a huge leak to me because I was continually drawing to suck ends of draws.  There are other components: suited Ace with 3 straight cards, suited Ace with offsuit pairs, etc.  Point is: you want to be drawing to the nuts whenever you get involved in a pot, unless you have reason to otherwise do so.
• I wasn't aware that unimprovable nut hands should proceed carefully - like flopped straights.  If I have a hand like A 4 5 6 and the board flops 2 3 5, I should not be intending to get it all in on the flop.  I have an hand that can't improve, and only set myself up for getting freerolled by the same 4 6 with a 7 and/or 8.  Backdoor draws are important there too; I'd be less cautious if my hand were double suited and the board had one of each suit, for example.

At any rate, if you get the motivation, my dear readers, come join me on Seals with Clubs.  If you let me know, I can work something out to throw you a few chips to get you started.  If nothing else, there's a few ways you can earn free chips: Seals has hourly freerolls where you can win a few chips to get you entry into some of the cash games, and there's a few websites which offer free bitcoins for inputting codes - one particular one I've been playing around in is Daily Bitcoins.  We're talking micro bitcoins here, but still, you can build up a minimal roll if you put in a little time clicking.

Variance at the PLO tables

I've been playing a bit of PLO (pot limit omaha) lately, to give myself a change of pace.  I still haven't built up the courage to solidly 2 table or more; I'm still adjusting to simply the hand reading aspect and figuring out my own equity... much less introducing more complexity by adding more tables and hands to sort through.

The following hand leaves me -300 for the night:

Hand #7354006-231 - 2013-05-22 00:11:05
Game: PL Omaha (20 - 100) - Blinds 0.50/1
Site: Seals With Clubs
Table: PLO 6max .5/1 #2
Seat 1: Player1 (96)
Seat 2: DONKEY (456.48) - 100/50 in my estimation
Seat 3: AveragePlayer1 (105.15)
Seat 4: LAG1 (1010.15)
Seat 5: Hero (100)
Seat 6: AveragePlayer2 (196.21)
AveragePlayer1 has the dealer button
LAG1 posts small blind 0.50
Hero posts big blind 1
** Hole Cards **
Dealt to Hero [Ad Ah 9s 4d]
AveragePlayer2 folds
Player1 folds
DONKEY raises to 3.50
AveragePlayer1calls 3.50
LAG1 calls 3
Hero raises to 17.50
DONKEY calls 14
AveragePlayer1calls 14
LAG1 calls 14
70 in the pot and 83 behind
** Flop ** [As 6d 7d] - I flop top set with the nut flush draw and 2 blockers to the up & down straight draws
LAG1 checks
Hero checks
DONKEY bets 68
AveragePlayer1raises to 87.65 (All-in)
LAG1 raises to 399.20
Hero calls 82.50 (All-in) - snap call fist pump
DONKEY raises to 438.98 (All-in)
LAG1 calls 39.78
** Turn ** [6c]
** River ** [6h]
** Side Pot 2 Show Down ** [As 6d 7d 6c 6h]
DONKEY shows [4s 5h 6s Kh] (Four of a Kind, Sixes +K)
LAG1 shows [9d 8s Ts Td] (a Full House, Sixes full of Tens)
DONKEY wins Side Pot 2 (702.66) with Four of a Kind
Rake (0)
** Side Pot 1 Show Down ** [As 6d 7d 6c 6h]
AveragePlayer1 shows [8d Qc Ac 5d] (Three of a Kind, Sixes +AQ)
DONKEY wins Side Pot 1 (15.45) with Four of a Kind
Rake (0)
** Main Pot Show Down ** [As 6d 7d 6c 6h]
Hero shows [Ad Ah 9s 4d] (a Full House, Aces full of Sixes)
DONKEY wins Main Pot (398) with Four of a Kind
Rake (2)
Got it in with HUGE equity vs. the field: 2 4's, 2 5's , 2 8's, 3 9's - 9 outs against the field - and I get runner runnered by quads...  hrmph!

Immediately followed by this hand which puts me down -400 for the night:

Hand #7354156-233 - 2013-05-22 00:14:13
Game: PL Omaha (20 - 100) - Blinds 0.50/1
Site: Seals With Clubs
Table: PLO 6max .5/1 #2
Seat 1: Player1 (96)
Seat 2: DONKEY (1186.73)
Seat 3: AveragePlayer1 (40)
Seat 4: LAG1 (548.67)
Seat 5: Hero (100)
Seat 6: sigmasquared (129.59)
Hero has the dealer button
AveragePlayer2 posts small blind 0.50
Player1 posts big blind 1
** Hole Cards **
Dealt to Hero [Ad Tc Td 8s] - I call here because DONKEY has PROVEN he only has 3 buttons: "pot" for what he believes to be his value hands, "call" for his draws, and "fold" for his rare misses
DONKEY calls 1
AveragePlayer1 calls 1
LAG1 raises to 4
Hero calls 4
AveragePlayer2 folds
Player1 calls 3
DONKEY calls 3
AveragePlayer1 calls 3
** Flop ** [8h 8d 2c] - Trip 8's with an Ace kicker; boom
Player1 checks
DONKEY checks
AveragePlayer1 checks
LAG1 checks
Hero bets 10
Player1 folds
DONKEY calls 10
AveragePlayer1 folds
LAG1 folds
** Turn ** [Ts] - It just gets better!
DONKEY checks
Hero bets 20
DONKEY calls 20 - This guy has an overpair who desperately wants to get to showdown; he doesn't understand that his overpair is no good.
** River ** [Qc]
DONKEY bets 78.50 - There's so much in his range that he's value betting thinking he's good here.  He has no problem dumping in with random 8's, so I'm not too concerned about his shove.  I think this is a snap call.
Hero calls 66 (All-in)
DONKEY refunded 12.50
** Pot Show Down ** [8h 8d 2c Ts Qc]
DONKEY shows [Qs Qd 3c Jd] (a Full House, Queens full of Eights) - 2 outted!  WTF?
Hero shows [Ad Tc Td 8s] (a Full House, Tens full of Eights)
DONKEY wins Pot (210.50) with a Full House
Rake (2)
Hero adds 100 chips

Now, as I said, I've been learning the game.  Poker is poker, and reads still are reads.  Since I've been playing live, I've improved my reads a TON.  Since there is no HUD for PLO on Seals With Clubs, I've focused on discerning hand ranges and player types.

The following are the upsides to last night, as I went on a mini heater after all the bad stuff.  A little background is that DONKEY doubled me up in the next 2 or 3 hands or so (with my bottom 2 pair vs. his TPTK AK), so I'm sitting on 200 or so chips when we get into another hand:

I have A K J 9 double suited and I raised pre.  He opts to 3bet to 12 and I think we're heads up and the flop is:
K Q 9 two spades

He leads pot ~26.
I think for a little and call; J T is a possibility, but even though he raises 50% of his hands, he 3bets rarely; like this is his second time - and AA is squarely in his range.
Turn is the 8s - bummer shitty.
To my chagrin, he pots again; 78.  If I call, I'll have 84 behind and a huge pot in the middle.  It's shove or fold time for me.  I just don't believe he has the spades, and I'm trying to collect my thoughts with regards to his ranges.  He can 3bet AA and KK holdings.  I have a K in my hand, so it's less likely for him to hold 2 K's.  He has a habit of mashing pot when he believe he has value.  He has no consideration for his opponent's hands; he's a level 1 player.  His value hands that beat me are AA K Q, AA JT, AA XX with 2 spades.  Any other AA xx hands are beat.  I opt to shove and he does not snap it off; I breath a sigh of relief - no JT, no spades.  He calls with AA xx and I double through again - 400 to finish the hand.

Then, I get into a hand where I hold AA double suited against a standard-ish player.  I raise pre and he calls; we're heads up and he has ~200 to start the hand:

7 in the pot and the flop is K J 3, rainbow.
He checks, I lead pot and he calls.

21 in the pot and the turn is a 3.
He checks and I lead pot again.  He calls

63 in the pot and the river is a J.
This time, he leads pot.  I snap it off; he can have random jacks, but I think 2 pair are going to check raise at some point in the hand - mostly the flop.  This bet does not make any sense, hence the snap call.

K J 3 3 J board and am shown A K Q T.

I'm learning.

I made the Wednesday Big Ass Pot of the Week!

Pretty cool that someone blogged about a hand I played last week!

For reference:  http://www.bitcoinpokerblog.com/index.php?p=493

Calling with King high...

I played an interesting hand the other day.  I "played up" to 3/6 on SWC and ran into a TOTAL LAGbot who was playing a 50/30 or thereabout.  I raised KQs UTG and get him as the second caller:

(Sorry for the raw format; I don't believe there's a hand converter available just yet for SWC)

Game: NL Hold'em (120 - 600) - Blinds 3/6
Site: Seals With Clubs
Table: NLHE 9max 3/6 #1
Seat 1: a*m (1877.66)
Seat 2: A***1 (564)
Seat 3: P***a (596.33)
Seat 4: a***8 (715.91) - sitting out
Seat 5: W***a (250) - waiting for big blind
Seat 6: P***f (543)
Seat 7: M***s (571.57)
Seat 8: K**pFloppin (679.73)
Seat 9: P***o (855.26)
P***a has the dealer button
P***f  posts small blind 3
M***s posts big blind 6
** Hole Cards **
Dealt to K**pFloppin [Ks Qs]
K**pFloppin raises to 18
P***o calls 18
a*m calls 18
A***1 folds
P***a folds
P***f has timed out
P***f folds
M***s folds
** Flop ** [6h 3d 8h]
K**pFloppin bets 35 Standard cbet
P***o folds
a*m calls 35 When he calls, I'm 95% putting him on a flush draw.  He's the type that raises all hands, and has no problem stacking of top pair, which is how he's built his 1877 chip stack - aggression into the fear of the normally low stakes players.
** Turn ** [5c]
K**pFloppin checks I'm going to check for pot control just in case he shows up with something stupid.
a*m checks
** River ** [2s]
K**pFloppin checks Another blank, but it makes a backdoor 4 straight.  4's are in his range, but I can't ever see him checking through all the way like this.  He's got a flush draw, but the question is: is it Ace high - or worse.
a*m bets 70
K**pFloppin calls 70
** Pot Show Down ** [6h 3d 8h 5c 2s]
a*m shows [Kd Th] (High Card King +T865)
K**pFloppin shows [Ks Qs] (High Card King +Q865)
K**pFloppin wins Pot (266.18) with High Card
Rake (6.82)


By the river, he has position on me and has checked through the turn.  If he has *ANYTHING* here, he's betting the turn, as he's proven time & time again to do - in fact, I'm surprised he's not betting the turn with the naked draw.  Not only is he LAGgy, but he's aggro when he senses weakness.  I'm fairly (more than 90%) certain he's on the flush draw - the question is how good of a flush draw does he have?  He's shown to 3bet any good Ace broadways, so I can more or less discount that from his range.  I can beat all K high or worse draws.  The main concern I have is if he shows up with the Ax flush draw, or nipped a low pair.  If he nipped the low pair, I can easily see him checking through to get to showdown, but leads 70% pot; he wants to win the pot outright without a showdown.  Although the 2 completed the 4 straight, he's rarely showing up with Ah4h, the other concern (again, he didn't bet the turn).  Since there's much more to his range than Ax (50% VPIP, after all), I snap call his bluff on the river with a bit of a gulp.

He got very pissed at my snapping his bluff - he got up and left immediately.  Fun times when you can call K high and win :-).  Definitely not an everyday occurrence.

WHAT? Bitcoin is up to $~142?!?!??!

Just 1-2 weeks ago, I was selling bitcoins I earned at the virtual felt for $75!  Don't I feel like an idiot when I check out the latest going rate for BTC was $142 - nearly double what I sold it for 2 weeks ago!?!??!

I continue to keep grinding away at Seals With Clubs, but I'm beginning to wonder what will happen as the price of BTC continues to rise - or stays at its current levels.  The lowest current offering is a 1/1 NLHE game.  Each chip is worth 1/1000 of a BTC.  I'm no math genius, but my spidey skills say that each chip is worth $0.14 meaning that a full buy in at 1/1 is playing bigger stakes than 10NL - $14.00.  I'd imagine that for a lot of people, the buy in has become too big and they're becoming dissuaded from playing on the site.

I fear that the prior "easy money" games at the lower stakes will dry up with the rise in the price.  I'm worried that a lot of the players have "BTC inventory" if you will, having bought the BTC prior to its recent run-up.  I have to become used to getting paid off on most every hand - flopping sets on an A high board and stacking a mouthbreather thinking his A2o is good - not only stacking off, but calling off an all in shove raise. 

On the other hand, I'm seriously wondering whether I should be cashing in or holding my extra BTC.  As I continue to grind, I'm adding an increasing amount of coins, selling as I get them.  Should I be holding my "investment" for greater returns later?  I've heard reports talking about how bitcoin is expected to rise to $1,000 - wouldn't that be a huge coup?  Over the past month or so, the going rate for the coin has risen around 6% PER DAY!  WTF?!?!?!?

As with real life investing, I've always taken the approach of dollar cost averaging - to date, I've tried to take the same approach with bitcoin; as I get the BTC, I've sold them periodically at the different price points.  I'm thinking I'm going to stray from that prior course of action and see how many coins I can accumulate and hold.

Finally, I'm rarely posting hand histories, so I wanted to share a hand where I didn't get paid [a rarity].  I was hoping the villian hit a straight on the turn, or had any hand - he called my flop bet.  I wasn't able to extract much of anything for the royal flush, and the high hand promotion has gone away.  I checked the Cardschat odds for hitting a royal flush and it seems to be 649,739:1.  According to Wikipedia, those are pretty crazy odds.  It's highly unlikely.  The weirdest part is I've played around 1.2 million hands, yet hit 3-4 royals lifetime.  I guess I run good at my royal flush per hand played ratio...

Perhaps you have alternate opinions as to how I could have played this hand a bit better.  It obviously plays pretty easy once I hit the royal - my second or third [online] lifetime royal.  Certainly, this counts as my first royal since I won the $800 for hitting the live royal flush at Charles Town a few months back.  Check it out:

Game: NL Hold'em (40 - 200) - Blinds 1/2
Site: Seals With Clubs
Table: NLHE 9max 1/2 #6
Seat 1: WXXXXe (177)
Seat 2: mXXXXc (201)
Seat 3: lXXXXXe (94)
Seat 4: fXXXXXr (312)
Seat 6: mXXXXa (259)
Seat 7: DXXXXw (172)
Seat 8: kXXXXXe (182)
Seat 9: KXXpFloppin (772)
mXXXa has the dealer button
DXXXXw posts small blind 1
kXXXXe posts big blind 2
** Hole Cards **
Dealt to KXXpFloppin [Tc Kc]
KXXpFloppin calls 2
WXXXXXe folds
mXXXXc calls 2
lXXXXe folds
fXXXXr folds
mXXXXa folds
DXXXXw calls 1
kXXXXe checks
** Flop ** [Qc Th Ac]
DXXXXw checks
kXXXXe checks
KXXpFloppin bets 8
mXXXXc calls 8
DXXXXw folds
kXXXXe folds
** Turn ** [Jc]
KXXpFloppin checks
mXXXXc checks
** River ** [4d]
KXXpFloppin bets 100
mXXXXc folds
KXXpFloppin refunded 100
KXXpFloppin wins Pot (24)
Rake (0)
KXXpFloppin shows [Tc Kc]