Decisions Not Results I Guess?

Ok wtf. Last night was sick. Just a sick, brutal run of cards, luck, and bad/tilty play. I am fucking pissed off still from it. Unreal night at the tables. Here are some highlights:

Let's just start here. I have a donk ready to go to my left, omgapair. His name is apt, as he has shown that he will go bust with very weak holdings. Only he hasn't. So I try to trap him a bit by not 4-betting, and hoping he gets top pair or at least a pair on the flop. Not the best flop for AA, but good enough to go to the mat with, which was my intent from the beginning unless the board got REALLY nasty. Outflopped. Bummer, but it happens.

On this hand, I raise preflop with QQ, big stack makes it 10 straight, I know he likes his hand now. I decide to 4 bet to 3x his bet, and we get it in pre. Jack on the flop and that's all she wrote. Sigh.

I am mid-stacked on this one, sitting at 31.00. I pick up KK, raise preflop, get re-raised, etc. until we are all in. Q on the flop, and again, that's all she wrote. Fuck. Again? Really?

I have built my stack up a bit on this one, sitting at 71.00. I pick up KJ in the SB and call the min-raise to see the flop. I flop a gutshot, and am done with the hand unless it's really cheap. A min bet counts as really cheap. I peel my gutter to the nuts, and we get it all in on the turn. I thought I was up against another KJ the way he played it. So to the river we go, and boom, boat. WTF. I know that this isn't like an amazingly terrible beat, the guy had outs but c'mon,(I was 77% to win) AGAIN? And in one night?!

Here I am sitting at a half stack, and I flop the nuts. I made a semi loose call of a standard pre-flop raise from a decent but not good player. There were two other callers ahead of me and I closed out the action. I thought if I hit on him he was likely to go broke with a second best hand, especially since I don't have a full stack. Well I try to get the stabber to come along for one more stab on the turn, but he just minbets, and I am not waiting around anymore, so I jam. I get instacalled by 2 pair and he boats the river. This is getting to be phenomenally horrific.

This was a disaster. Willbilly was a fucking retard. Complete uber donk just ready to give it away. He raises pre, and a mid shorty goes all in for 16.00. Now it's on me, and I flat call. Wildbilly was a station, but I don't think he's going all in pre-flop with that hand. The flop is not pretty but could be worse. I bet half of his stack on the flop, and we get the rest in on the turn when the board pairs. I don't have him on a Jack, I think he would have just shipped the flop had he had one, so it's a really good card for me, protecting me from lower 2 pairs. He has an open ender and a pair, and trips up on the river. I was still a big favorite against both players though, I was surprised a bit at how big. Another huge pot goes the wrong direction tonight. I think my ears have turned red at this point and I have punched the couch pillow 14 times or so.

This one is nothing monumental, it's me versus a short stack, and I have QQ vs his AK. Just to make sure that I know I am not winning any hands on this night, the poker gods send a clear message by not just pairing him up, but making it a boat.

This all happened on one night, and of course at the higher level. I haven't updated my spreadsheet yet.. I am not looking forward to it. I had scrapped my roll up to $1,200, but now it has to be below $1,000.00 again. I am not sure how bad it is, I just slammed my laptop and played halo with Jeh and Fred. Rough estimate would be $900-1000 range. I might drop back down to .10-.20 to reset and get back up to where I want to be.

Humbling night in any case.. (btw I sucked ass at Halo last night too)(and I had to stay late at work and missed a +1 tournament I had pre-registered for)(and I called the Apple store to make sure they had an adapter I want, drove down there from Everett, and they didn't have it). But overall, life is good, and I know I will battle back from this debacle. I am just bummed to see such a chunk of my roll gone to beats in one horrible session I guess..

Just maintaining at .25-.50, and some hands.

I am basically just treading water at $.25-.50... Although I have been having some pretty big swings along the way. I have been adjusting and tweaking my game a bit since coming to the new level here, but I think I will need to adjust even further to be successful.

Here are some hands:

This is one of the most ridiculous hands ever. A medium stack raises in MP and I re-pop hard with AA. He calls. The flop is dreamy for me, I have the nut flush draw, a gutshot, AND friggin AA for an over pair. There are like a small handful of hands I am even behind here, and even then, I am drawing strong. This retard has one such hand, and I cant find a diamond for the win or a 3 for the chop. I was shocked when I saw his hand.

This guy is a bit of a loose cannon, and I played my flopped trips with much aggression against him. I just went pedal to the medal the whole way and he payed me off with 10 10.

This dude was on mega tilt (as you can see by the chat box). I flop top pair and bet hard at the flop. He calls, but I have no clue where he is at. The turn comes, and instead of betting pot again, I decide to just ship it on him, because I know he's angry, and it will look like a "fuck you" bet. He calls off, then leaves the table, then types every terrible word ever recorded in the chatbox as an observer. lol.

This one hurt. I limped on the button with 4h5h, and flopped an open ender and a flush draw. The turn brought my straight. There was a pot bet and a call in front of me, so I decided to raise it up hard. I got one all in out of it and was happy to call. I was a little afraid of the 89 though, but instead the guy had the EXACT same situation as me. Crappy luck on the river..

Dano1 was on a sick tear before I got there. And he was a big time aggro player. I checked my option, and flopped a flush draw. He hammered the pot, and I called hoping to peel a club and take advantage of his hyper aggressive betting. The turn came, and gave me a gutshot, but he hammered again. This was tough, pretty marginal spot for me, but based on what I had seen, h would do this type of thing with all types of hands. I called, but was really hoping for a flush. I hit my gutter, but instead of betting out, I let him fire one last shell, and then I was going to check-raise him. He fired the biggest shell possible and I wasn't going to fold. He had bot-bot.

I was happy to flip with this maniac. He was playing pretty crazy. I was actually really surprised he had such a big hand. The flop sucked ass, but the river didn't.

Two short stacks going at it.. I min raise the flop trying to commit him (and me) I do and he shows down... K9?? He had absolutely nothing on the flop or turn.. weird.

I get the same short stack in a real pickle here, but he wiggles free.. At least it was small pot.

First session at .25-.50

Making the transition to the next level up is a bitch. You are happy to finally be there, but not comfortable enough with the stakes to play on autopilot. Also, if you happen to drop a few buy ins in your first session or two, back down you go to the previous level to rebuild. Additionally, I am trying to be very aware of the table, the players, and the play in general, as it tends to change substantially from level to level. All of this adds up to some stress and excitement. I had some of both on my first real foray into .25-.50 on Cake.

On my first confrontation this happened. Lame. I am always happy to call short stacks with AK preflop. Turn gave me a ray of hope, but it wasn't to be.

On my first major confrontation, I did this. This was sort of retarded of me to do, as I had no real reason to even be in the pot in the first place. First off, sandercott was pretty tight and seemed solid enough. I was folding hands way better than this to him during the session. I SUCK was horrible, he bluffed his stack twice and showed on super scary boards, then bluffed off his stack and reloaded. Total fish idiot. Anyway I take a flop and of course flop my flush draw. Amazingly, sandercott WAY underbets the flop with his set, and after I flat call, I SUCK just calls too. Dreamy. The turn is pretty harmless, but now sandercott fires 6.00 into the pot. I decide to make a stand and raise it to 30.00 straight. I figure unless sandercott has a hand, he can't call. Of course I SUCK check raises all in with his 2nd pair and flush draw. Sandercott puts the rest in with his set, and I am going along for the ride, just praying for a heart. No such luck, and I have officially biffed off my first full buy in at the next level! :/

I was at 2x .25-.50 tables and 2x .10-.20 tables when I started out the session. (I ended at 3x .50 and 1x .20). This was my biggest hand from the smaller stakes. Of course I catch my miracle one outer against a short stack at the lower level... Oh well, good story for the grandchildren ahah.

I had my biggest hand to date here. I raise preflop to the standard size, get one caller behind me and then a minraise from the table donk. I am not going to try to get too pushy with AQo preflop as he will pay off for sure if I hit so I just call as does the other guy. I flop top pair 2nd kicker and the 2nd nut flush draw. I lead hard into the pot, and get a flat call from the guy behind me. Turn is a brick, and I apply maximum pressure on the guy by shipping. He insta-calls with top 2 pair, and I get one of my 12 outs.

So after all, I made around 10 bucks on the session. The connection was ass, so I decided to call it good there. Sat with Ryan for a short session at .05-.10, and also played some more PLO8, but this time tried the 10-handed tables instead of the 6. So far I am preferring the 10.

More on Wednesday I am sure.

Cracked 4 digits

Well I made it to $1,000.oo on the Cake Challenge. I posted on That's Not Poker, but I figure I had better have a post here as a milestone. It feels good but I am now entering the next level for online poker, and I have a lot to learn before I feel like my game is really well rounded and solid. In this upcoming year I hope to move up more levels, and read more online about hands and play. I also want to get in the regular habit of going over a whole session, but with someone else there too for advice. I am thinking this will be a really good learning tool and help me clean up my game a lot. I also want to read more poker books. Not only do I learn from them, it also keeps my game fresh and keeps me feeling like I am moving forward.

I am looking forward to see how far this will take me. Hell, I might tilt it all off tomorrow for all I know.. :)

Mixing it up, and some hand review.

Played some more PLO8 and took a few mini shots at the next level up over the last few days..

The play at the .25-.50 tables I have been at (2 total) as been pretty consistent with the play at .10-.20. One exception is the the players seem a little more aggressive, they bet more. They also seem to be a bit more "refined", where they will bet 3/4 pot instead of just hitting the pot button etc. I did feel comfortable though, even given the stakes in relation to my roll.

PLO8 has been quite an adventure. I am playing the 6 handed tables, but I think I am going to switch to full ring. In 6 handed NLHE, I know what hand strengths are what, and how to adjust pretty well. But in PLO8 I am essentially nut peddling when I have to be pushing smaller edges; something I am not good at yet. So I think I will switch over to full ring next time and continue my learning process. I will say its really nice to get in more hands when you are learning though.

Speaking of hands:

In this PLO8 hand I flop the straight flush wheel. This is cool.

This hand happened during one of my "shots" at .25-.50. Villain had the Ac8c and hit the nut flush on the river. I am glad I played this as aggressively as I did, because I don't think he had me on a set based on my action. I check raised the flop on him, and then led for ~80% of the pot on the turn. I think he though I had a big Q or something.. Anyway, being aggressive made sure I doubled up when the gin card hit, and I also charged him quite a bit to see the river in case it didn't.

I decided to get cute on this pretty harmless flop. I thought the J was a great card for me, but it wasn't and I paid off the short stack as quick as I could.

This sorta sucked against a short stack. I guess I am glad it wasn't a bigger stack..

This dude played his KK very strangely. But what about how I played my hand? Did I need to fire the second shell? And if I did, did it need to be so big? I thought at the time that I had 2 live overs probably and of course the nut flush draw. Thoughts on this one would be appreciated.

I had KQ on this one. At the time it felt like a bigger laydown than it looks here..

This one just sort of developed. I was calling ballinn's bet no matter what. He was tilting really hard and just spewing chips. Then a half stack behind just calls. Hmmm. This makes my decision that much harder, as he has to have a hand he likes quite a bit in order to call. But here is the catch, yes, I did bring it in for a normal raise, but that doesn't mean I am calling 7.00. Volare knows this, and he also knows that ballinn is spewing. I think he just figured that he was good against ballin, and that I would go away. When I shoved, he only had ~3.00 more to call off, but he probably wasn't happy about it. It's not often that two opponents essentially have only 5 outs against you preflop.

On this hand I sorta chickened out on the river, and just checked. Villain had KQ0. :/

I finesse the living shit out of this guy. (did that sound gay?) I bring it in for a pot raise preflop. He minraises me. Even though it gives up a lot about the strength of my hand, I 4 bet. I keep it pretty small though, I am not trying to scare him out of the pot, I am just trying to commit him. I feel pretty comfortable on the flop, and frankly, I am not folding in any case. He checks to me, and I figure I had better let him hang himself, as he can't really call anything if he has whiffed the flop. He checks again on the turn, and I am not waiting any longer. I jam the flop and he puts in the last of it.

I think I should have value bet the river here, even though I forget what he had. I think I was going to just check-call.

This fucking hand sucks. And it's what I am talking about when I bitch about bad timing for my beats. I maintain that I take a very normal amount of beats(which of course feels like WAY too many), but they have been happening at terrible times. Like this one. I RR preflop with my AQ. I get flat called and flop a Q. I lead hard at the flop, and I really felt he was just trying to take the pot away as I had seem him make these big moves at pots earlier at the session. I make the call but he hits his gutshot, bummer.

Funny session last night and some thoughts.

I played 2 separate sessions last night, for a total of ~800 hands I think, and I made a dollar. It's funny how that works. I am actually kind of proud of the session, as I still struggle with the notion that it's ok to show up, play great poker (which I didn't do last night btw), and break even. I guess it goes against my competitive nature in some way. I show up to win. When I get to the table, I am excited, and I am there to play. But it doesn't work that way in poker. Often times passiveness is rewarded more than being active. I need to re-read Zen and the Art of Poker again, the author hammers these points home almost too much.

Another thing that I was reminded of by Jason is the notion of taking shots. I have heard this recommended by some big time pros like Brian Townsend and others. When I first read the Ferguson rules, I was planning on amending them by saying I could take maybe 10% of my roll at any time and try for the next level up or something like that. But I haven't really done that at all. I think that I will start though, but in certain situations only. Namely, I will only attempt a shot at the level immediately above the one I am properly rolled for. Also, I will only attempt a shot when I am approaching the level as far as bankroll goes. I played at the .25-.50 for 111 hands last night, and initially found the play to be about the same as at the level I am current playing. I will give it a few more shots, but once I lose a buy in there, I won't take another shot until I have built back up.

Any thoughts/advice regarding these topics?

Closing in on 1,000

After my yo-yo month, I am coming very close to the 1,000 mark. After I get to 1,000, I will be staked for the .25-.50 game. I think that this is where the competition will start to really stiffen up, as this level is popular for the hardcore low limit young guys. Most of the good players move up pretty quickly though, and 50.00 buy in is a limit where lots of "normal" people feel comfortable playing. And normal people are horrible at poker so that's good news.

I am bracing myself for a failed attempt though, and am mentally prepared to drop back down if I have to. Of course I actually have to get there first....

One thing I am going to keep doing though is mixing up what I am playing. My staple will be 4-tabling the NLHE tables, but throwing in some of those turbo SNG's and some low limit PLO8 really helps keep me fresh for when I sit at the NLHE tables I think. I am planning on playing a pretty straightforward TAG gameplan as my base, and adjusting as necessary to the table and players. I am not sure where this will take me in the next year, but I am just hoping to continue my gradual ascension up the limits...

Rakeback!

I got back from Vegas anticipating a very big rakeback bonus in my account.

Not dissapointed: $180.80 in rakeback for the month. I was initially shocked by this number, but upon reflection it makes more sense. I had a pretty tough month, I was playing exclusively at the .10-.20 level, and it felt like every time I was going to break through and continue upwards, things would go awry. This lead to a holding pattern for a good part of the month. I started at $400.00, and ended at $720.00 before rakeback. Overall it was an upward trend, but I had a very gradual upward swing. This is what the month looked like:










As you can see, there is a very long stretch where I was in a holding pattern. A byproduct of this holding pattern is me giving lots and lots of money to the rake. Every upward swing meant dumping money to the rake, and every downward swing meant I had to do it over again. I guess this is quite profound when you are 4-tabling 6-handed tables.

So overall, I get a big fat rakeback check to get me going in the new year. Yay.

Did the unthinkable: played some PLO8

Today I didn't really feel like playing cash games, I played a couple of tournies, but those just pissed me off (even though I won one of them). So what is a poker prodigy to do? What else but try out some 6 handed PLO8!

I bought in for $10.00 at the .05-.10 6-handed table and tried my luck at it. I have now played it enough to be at least somewhat comfortable with it, as many of the concepts of the game are shared with other poker games. I did run into a few spots where I wasn't sure what to do though. Overall I just played very conservatively and picked my spots. I saw lots of flops though as my table was extremely passive preflop. I ended up getting visited by the quartering fairy quite a few times overall. I made it to about 15.00 pretty quickly, but over the course of the next hour or so lost it all back slowly. I rebought, and cashed out for 40.00 at the end of it all. Now the hands/questions:

On this hand I have 6644, I flop two sets, but when the action heats up a bit I call it quits. It seems like someone probably has a straight or something and I have no low. Thoughts? Is this being too passive?

On this hand I have Js Kh Jd 7c. I flop top set, but after getting significant heat from a player I know from the NLHE tables and have notes on that says he's a good player, I dumped it. Looking back it seems far too conservative to fold here, but I did. He is an aggressive player and I would have had to put all the rest in for sure, so I got out early. Also, earlier in the session I got into a hand with him where he pot bet the turn like that, I happened to have a set of Jacks that time too. I called him, and boated up on the river. He check folded to me with the nut straight. Anyway what is the play here?

I wasn't involved in this hand, but its kinda funny. The board ends up being a straight flush, but of course nobody can play it.

Here I have Tc 5c Qd 5h and flop middle set. I bet the pot on the flop, and get minraised. I and one other call that. Turn puts out a 7, and I am too wary of a straight to continue. I checked out my odds on this board. I had no low possible so I just gave my random opponent the nut low, and I also gave him a straight. Results not pretty.
Is this typical of the spot I am in there with middle set and no low? What a horrible spot, that seems good.

Any other feedback is appreciated.