Typical and 20K Hand Checkup and Presto

Unfortunately, I had a terrible weekend pokerwise. Again, it's the same old story. I work myself up with good sessions and then give it away. We will take a look at my 20K+ of hands of Micro NL to see where I go from here.

But first, an early exit in the MATH when my JackAce was no good against ATs and a pocket pair. I finished 3rd in that deal and was sent packing very early.

Presto? Is anybody tired of reading about Presto being Gold? I know I am and I don't even read those posts anymore; but wait? Maybe he is right? So if you can't beat them, join them. Fuel, this is for you.


Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $52.65
UTG: $129.20
CO: $64.50
Hero (BTN): $50.00
SB: $62.00

Pre Flop: Hero is BTN with 5 5
UTG raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $2, 1 fold, BB calls $1.50

Flop: ($6.25) 4 3 3 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $4.40, BB raises to $17, UTG folds, Hero raises to $48 all in, BB calls $31

Turn: ($102.25) 5

River: ($102.25) 5

Final Pot: $102.25
BB shows 8d 8h (two pair, Eights and Fives)
Hero shows 5d 5s (four of a kind, Fives)
Hero wins $99.25
(Rake: $3.00)

OK, OK. I guess Presto is gold.

So, I decided to switch back over to No Limit a couple of months ago and see how that goes as I really, really struggled with my Limit Game. The plan was to play about 20K of Micro No Limit at 50NL and then decide where to go from there. As stated above, things went as they normally do even when I was playing limit. Below is a graph:

As you can see I had a couple of really bad "give backs" which were in the 9 buy in range. Let's look at some stats:

March:

6,826 hands 28.22/15.75/2.11 .49 BB/100 hands (33 whole dollars).

April:

14,636 hands 24.39/17.82/2.83 2.63 bb/100 ($380)

Combined:

21,462 hands 25.61/17.16/2.52 1.95 bb/100 ($413)

I'm not going to take a long look at these as the answer is quite obvious. While March was break even, it is clear that those stats aren't what I want. They are way too passive for 6 max play. I can see that April got much better and if wasn't for last weekend where I gave back $484, it would have been a good month.

So I want to build on what I have started; but it is clear I need to stay at this level as I am clearly NOT beating the game to what I should be so I will go another month at the 50NL level and see what happens and re-evaluate then.

That should do it for now. There are a couple of hands from the weekend that I want to gets some comments on; but I need to run for now.

Have a nice day!!!!

Theme of the Week Pocket Pair Hand Histories

So it seems there has been some Hand Histories going around from our buddy CMitch. Even better than the posts have been the comments discussing the hands which revolove around QQ and JJ. If you haven't had a chance to drop by, stop now and click on link. BTW, don't pay any attention to the comments I left as it is obvious that we are playing two completely different games (50NL vs 200NL).

Going along with this theme, I am going to throw out two hands from last night involving KK and JJ that were very tough decisions for me.

But first, I did play the Mook. I think I made it a little past half way when new blogger MorningThunder knocked me out with AK. I believe I raised from fairly EP and he reraised. He had a big stack at the time and thought he was just position raising and I pushed. He turned over AK; but WAIT... Q on the flop... But WAIT Again.. K on the river and IGHN. Congrats to MT for taking those chips to the final table.

Onto the hands.

First hand involves KK:

Let's set the stage. I am down over 2 buyins and not catching the breaks. Nothing unusual, one bad beat and one terrible play by me.

Anyway, the two players are normal, good players:

MP: 22/16/3.0
BTN: 13/11/2.14

Why I was at this table is another problem for another day. I still need to keep track of how the dynamics of the table change over time.



Full Tilt Poker No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $53.65
SB: $19.85
Hero (BB): $90.45
UTG: $56.75
MP: $64.35
CO: $57.95

Pre Flop: Hero is BB with K K
1 fold, MP raises to $2, 1 fold, BTN raises to $6, 1 fold, Hero calls $5.50,

As with others, I mix 4 betting and calling here. OOP, I chose to call, nothing too far from standard. More fireworks to come.


MP raises to $22, BTN calls $16,
Hero ??????

So we have raises and cold callers from good players. What do you do?


Hero raises to $90.45 all in, MP calls $42.35 all in, BTN calls $31.65 all in

Probably a no brainer; but MP insta called and I thought I was in trouble. BTN tanked for a long time before he called. Below is how it played out. Any thoughts?

Flop: ($182.60) 8 Q 7

Turn: ($182.60) 4

River: ($182.60) 4

Final Pot: $182.60
BTN shows Jh Jd (two pair, Jacks and Fours)
Hero shows Kd Kh (two pair, Kings and Fours)
MP shows Kc Ad (a pair of Fours)


Hand #2: JJ



Set up: Button was a really good play or that was my read anyway. He was 22/20.5/4.40.



We had already had some history where I had laid down to his 4 bets. Generally, he was really aggressive and I backed down. I'm just going to show the hand and get your thoughts. I think I really messed this one up.




Full Tilt Poker No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $214.75
SB: $51.95
Hero (BB): $52.65
UTG: $18.55
CO: $57.00

Pre Flop: Hero is BB with J J

2 folds, BTN raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.75) 5 A T (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $3, Hero calls $3


Turn: ($9.75) 4 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $8.20, Hero calls $8.20

River: ($26.15) T (2 players)

Hero bets $15, BTN folds

Final Pot: $26.15
Hero wins $24.85
(Rake: $1.30)



We talked a little afterwards and he was critical of making this bet. He said (and I think he was probably right)... why put a hand that has showdown value in the form of a bluff. The truth is that if I thought I was ahead, do I check and hope that he bets? If he puts in a big bet, can I still call? Again, this comes down to bet sizing and pot control which I am still really weak in.

Well there you have it and there you are...

Had a nice 4 buyin loss tonight. That is always fun. I need to learn to not pay off sets.

Have a nice day!!

Image is Everything

How do tend to play at the beginning of a session or maybe even the beginning of a tournament. Unless the cards are just horrible, I usually start of a little loose. Is this good? I'm not sure and tend to think not. But before we talk about that, I'll briefly mention the MATH.

Again, I find myself doing really well in this as again, I love the 6 max format. Things were going swimmingly until I lost a pretty big hand with 99 when Gydyon hit a set with his 77 on the turn as we were all in preflop.

We were down to the final 3 tables and this is the hand that did me in. I so, wanted to pull the trigger on the flop which I should have done. I'm pretty sure that I would have taken it down with an all in on the flop. What are your thoughts?

Full Tilt Poker Mondays at the Hoy No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t200/t400 Blinds + t50 - 5 players

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: t18105
BTN: t10890
SB: t12658
Hero (BB): t8835
UTG: t4795

Pre Flop: Hero is BB with 4 4
1 fold, CO raises to t1050, 2 folds, Hero calls t650

Flop: (t2550) 2 5 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

I should have just pushed right here. I would have been about a 4-1 favorite and I believe JackAce would have folded here. But I waited for the c-bet and was planning to check raise; but didn't get the opportunity. What do you think?

Turn: (t2550) J (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t1200, Hero raises to t7735 all in, CO calls t6535

River: (t18020) Q
Final Pot: t18020
CO shows Ac Jh (a pair of Jacks)
Hero shows 4d 4s (a pair of Fours)
CO wins t18020

Dang!!!! Out in 14th. 8 got paid.

Back to image. My cash games got a real bad start with I believe my very first hand. Take a look and give me your thoughts:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
MP: $47.50
CO: $21.85
BTN: $50.70
SB: $54.20
Hero (BB): $50.00
UTG: $143.85

Pre Flop: Hero is BB with K 9

3 folds, BTN raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5.50, BTN calls $3.75

My first hand and again I tend to be a little loose and want to make sure that people know that I am going to play back at you. K9s is not a great hand obviously; but it can be a bit disguised if you hit.

Flop: ($11.25) 3 Q 6 (2 players)

Hero bets $7.70, BTN calls $7.70

I'm c-betting almost 100% on this flop hoping to take it down right here. The flat call here spells trouble.


Turn: ($26.65) J (2 players)

Hero bets $13.35, BTN raises to $37.50 all in, Hero ??????

The turn card brings me a gutshot and flush draw and maybe still an over. When he pushes all in, I know I am toast. Do you make this call? I ended up making the call because of the above stated outs with the one added factor of it I did go to showdown and lost with this hand, it might make people think twice about what I had. Or hopefully, they would play more pots against me.

River: ($100.25) J

Final Pot: $100.25
BTN shows Qc Kd (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
Hero shows Kc 9c (a pair of Jacks)
BTN wins $97.25
(Rake: $3.00)

OK... River was bad and I got stacked on my very first hand. Thoughts?

One final hand that got one guy really talking was this hand. Again, really early in the session.


Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BTN: $85.60
SB: $44.40
Hero (BB): $43.75
UTG: $52.55
MP: $50.00
CO: $16.15

Pre Flop: Hero is BB with K A
UTG raises to $1.75, MP calls $1.75, CO calls $1.75, BTN raises to $14.40

Seems like an obvious squeeze here. Hmm... I'm going to put him to the test.

, 1 fold, Hero raises to $43.75 all in, 2 folds, CO calls $14.40 all in, 1 fold

Well, as I thought he folded. I did not expect the shorty to call. Look and see what he called with.

Flop: ($50.45) 3 3 9

Turn: ($50.45) 4

River: ($50.45) T

Final Pot: $50.45

Hero shows Kd Ah (a pair of Threes)
CO shows Jd 4d (two pair, Fours and Threes)
CO wins $47.95
(Rake: $2.50)

DOH!!!!! Thoughts?

I did end up the night a little above break even counting tourney fees.

Stats:

644 hands 22.67/18.32/3.71 6.56 bb/100

Have a nice day!!!

Weekends like they ought to be

It was a glorious weekend despite the weather here in St Louis being cold and rainy... again. Perhaps this week will be the week that we see Spring. We've seen glimpses so maybe, just maybe this will be the week.

Friday night started out with my hosting a game. We had a pretty good turnout as we had 20 people show up. I made the final table but I believe I went out in 7th place. Congrats to Iceman for taking it down. He had a huge chip lead once we got to the final table and he played his stack well. In other words, he was a bully.

Saturday, I had a quick hit and run session on FTP as I won 3 buyins in just 150 hands. You know you have aces and somebody has kings, you have a flush and somebody has a lower flush, etc... I had no intention of doing a hit and run; but baby Wonka just didn't want to take a nap this day. Finally, I just had to quit and attend to her. Truthfully, I wasn't too upset.

Saturdy night brought a decision. There were two possible home games to go to. There was the one that Jamyhawk introduced me to and there was another one in which I have played a bunch from an old coworkers father in laws. I ultimately went with the latter as I had only played in the other one once and since Jamyhawk wasn't going to be able to make (some lame excuse about a kids birthday... lol), I didn't really know anybody there. It turned out to be a good decision as I won the tournament for about $350. Gotta love that. I was severely crushed with about 5 people left when there was a huge 3 way pot and I actually had to fold on the river when 4 spades came on the board. It ended up that we both had AQ on a Q high board; but he had the Ace of spades. Later, 3 handed, I laid down 88 when there was a raise and a call. Nobody could really believe it. It ended up that I would have got rivered so I'll take it. I just hate calling for all my chips which this would have basically done. I wouldn't have called, I would have pushed; but it would not have been enough to make them fold.

And then finally, on Sunday I played the ThisIsTheNuts 10K Freeroll. This was looking really good for a while. There were almost 300 people and 1st place paid a little over $2,000. I was in the top 5 for most of the 1st hour and a half. But as I always say, you have to win the races and lost a pretty big one and then lost a 60/40 which more or less did me in. Ironically, I folded TT in a similar situation to above where there was a big raise and call. This time I would have won. Oh well. Anyway, I did make the money; but only $45 which is better than nothing.

To bad all weekends can't be like this not to mention that the Masters was on. As it turned out, it wasn't too exciting; but it was still THE Masters plus Direct TV had 3 channels devoted to the tournament so I had all 3 channels up at one time on their Masters Mix channel. Pretty cool.

I am now about 14,000 hands into my No limit experiment. Not doing great; but I'm doing OK for now as my winrate is about 5 BB/100 hands. I will make my decision on what to do once I reach 20,000 hands.

I should be at the MATH tonight so I will see everyone there.

Have a nice day!!!!

Short Post and Big Dummy Award

Not much time so I will make this a quick one.

As usual, played the Mook. I got lucky and got and early double up when my AA held up against AQ on a Q high board courtesy of leftylu. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish off the deal and went out in the mid 20s out of 89 players.

The big blow late was again not winning as a 60% favorite when my A6s lost to KQ. A little deja vu from the previous night.

I did play a bunch of ring games as I played 1,354 hands. Around the time that I got knocked off the Mook, I was a couple of buyins up and was getting ready to shut her down for the night when all of sudden I took a 2 buyin hit and then proceeded to give away 2 more buyins. So I had to refasten the seat belts and try to make it up.

All in all, I ended up the night up 1/2 of a buyin. Again, something is better than nothing. Towards the end of the night I doubled up on two tables the same time. That is a pretty cool feeling.

So that is about it; but I thought I would show you this hand just for kicks. It was against a very short stacked person; but look at the end and see if he had odds to call?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $51.95
BTN: $55.40
SB: $69.70
BB: $54.45
UTG: $10.70
MP: $99.80

Pre Flop: Hero is CO with Q A
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2.25, 3 folds, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) 3 8 9 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $4, UTG raises to $8, Hero raises to $12, UTG folds


Yep, so he had to call 50 cents into a $20.20 pot. It wasn't a big pot or anything; but I believe he wins the big dummy of the day award.

I have a couple home games this weekend plus the TITN 10K freeroll on Sunday that I'm going to try and play. Good times indeed. Not to mention that the Masters is going on so things should be good even though the weather in St Louis is going to continue to be crappy.

Have a good weekend!!!!

No Knockout Punch and a little Satisfaction

My wife, who gets up at 5AM every morning to work out, keeps urging me to also start working out. Maybe one of these days. I can't go in the mornings as I have kid duty. And I find it hard to go in the evenings after we put the kids to bed. Back in the day, that was my preferred workout time. I loved the evenings. I could stay up late and not really have any problems getting up in the morning. Maybe because I was in better shape. Hmmm.. Maybe if I was in better shape, I would have a good Knockout Punch.

Anyway, I say all of that to say this. I lack the knockout punch needed in the end of tourneys. Yet another deep finish at the MATH. I was actually struggling to begin with as I was at a very tough opening table where the players were obviously comfortable with the 6 max format. I was among the cellar dwellers at the fist break.

After the break, things started happening and all of a sudden, I find myself in 2nd place. And at the second break, I am still among the leaders. I'm doing my thing. I'm probably not playing the big stack as well as I should have; but the thing is that it was not an overwhelming big stack so I did need to be careful and pick my spots.

We are getting mighty close to the money bubble and here is how my table looked..

FullTiltPoker Game #5948599611: Mondays at the Hoy (45101230), Table 1 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:33:33 ET - 2008/04/08
Seat 1: willwonka (17,576)
Seat 2: katiemother (7,154)
Seat 3: PokerBrian322 (12,870)
Seat 4: Chippy McStacks (27,733)
Seat 6: Schaubs (23,473)

I'm holding my own; but need to be careful and then I make this mistake which probably ends up the same way no matter how I play it.


willwonka antes 100
katiemother antes 100
PokerBrian322 antes 100
Chippy McStacks antes 100
Schaubs antes 100
willwonka posts the small blind of 400
katiemother posts the big blind of 800


Dealt to willwonka [7d As]
PokerBrian322 folds
Chippy McStacks folds
Schaubs folds
willwonka ??????

This is normally a slam dunk push; but for some reason I just raise to 2900



katiemother raises to 7,054, and is all in
willwonka calls 4,154

I have to call...

katiemother shows [Kd Qh]

OK... not terrible... Have to win these 60/40s to make the good payday. OK, it is actually 57/43.

Flop comes K2Q and that is that. As usual, I can't make the knockout punch.

I now find myself in a very familiar position. I'm not sure how much longer; but I find myself in 9th place after this with 8 people getting paid. Not another bubble is what I keep telling myself. It's going back and forth for a while but finally the bubble is burst when our good buddy Jordan's pocket 9s are no match for PokahDave's boat.

Not too much later, I go out in 8th when my A9 can't beat ChippyMcStacks K5. This time a 63/36 favorite and I could not get the Knockout Punch. OK, I guess I did as I knocked myself out. Chippy wasn't quite getting 2-1; but he had so many chips that who can blame him for calling. I was so shortstacked, it really didn't matter even if I did double up there as I would still be on my last breaths.

-------------

I did also try a 2 table SNG as recommended by Jamyhawk ; but got a little impatient and pushed with top pair into some body's flopped set. I still think that I will give that another try to get a $26 token.

-------------

I did get a few hands in cash play but started off badly again. Early on, my KK was busted by a flopped set of 3s. I definitely could have and should have gotten away from this one. Hopefully, live and learn on this one.

Towards the end of the night, I am down about 2 buyins and now have two Uber LAG-tards to my right on my tables. One of them is just killing me. He is a 72/0/3 guy so he is limping and calling with everything. He stacks my QQ with A8, he hits flushes on me, I flop 2 pair with AJ; but he hits his set. You know the story.

So what do I do. I call it quits like the other night and lick my wounds. Yeah right!!! Never!!! He has my chips and I want them back so I do the worst thing possible. I start limping in right along with him. Hey, if you can't beat them, join them. I was still raising my good hands to build pots; but I found my self limping with suited connectors and one gappers to try and trap him.

One hand I flopped Quads and guess who wasn't in the hand? You guessed it. That also steams you. This guy would stick around the whole hand and then put crazy 5x pot bets on river. I finally caught him with pocket ACes and I just let him keep betting into me and raise him on river in which he folds.

And then finally this hand. A little Satisfaction. I apologize for raw HH. Converter didn't work on this hand.



FullTiltPoker Game #5949084378: Table Ellsworth (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:19:19 ET - 2008/04/08
Seat 1: mothernorth ($70.10)
Seat 2: jdills1371 ($111.50)
Seat 3: willwonka ($89)
Seat 4: Punk_Fish ($88.50)
Seat 5: cartoonman1 ($50)
Seat 6: YesItsTrue ($90.35)
cartoonman1 posts the small blind of $0.25
YesItsTrue posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to willwonka [Kd Ah]
mothernorth raises to $1.75
jdills1371 calls $1.75
willwonka raises to $6.50
Punk_Fish folds
cartoonman1 adds $0.25
cartoonman1 folds
YesItsTrue has 15 seconds left to act
YesItsTrue folds
mothernorth folds
jdills1371 calls $4.75
*** FLOP *** [Td Ks 3c]
jdills1371 bets $11.50
willwonka has 15 seconds left to act
willwonka raises to $33
jdills1371 raises to $105, and is all in
willwonka calls $49.50, and is all in
jdills1371 shows [7c 6d]
willwonka shows [Kd Ah]
Uncalled bet of $22.50 returned to jdills1371
*** TURN *** [Td Ks 3c] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Td Ks 3c 8s] [7h]
jdills1371 shows a pair of Sevens
willwonka shows a pair of Kings
willwonka wins the pot ($177.50) with a pair of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $180.50 Rake $3
Board: [Td Ks 3c 8s 7h]


Gotta love the LAG-tards. Well, at least sometimes.

All in all after 666 hands, I ended up 1 buyin which equates to 7.20 bb/100.

My stats are much less aggressive due to the way I played towards the end. They ended up being:

23/17/2.58

I don't mean to be results oriented; but I will take the winning day and move on and try to keep improving.

I'm off to watch the BB game.

Have a nice day!!!!

Sorry, my favorite hand and Raise the Turn

It sounds like there were plenty of others that were miffed when Full Tilt decided to go down Saturday. Luckily, I was right at the end of my poker day. I did come back later in the evening and had to use Absolute. I never did hear what happened.

Friday night was a little different. I was struggling from the outset. Not hitting flops, blah, blah. Finally, about an hour into the session, I'm back to the positive about a buy ins worth. Then it happen.... AGAIN!!!

AQ on a T9A board gets bested by a set of 9s. Yes, I know what you are thinking, don't ever lose your stack with one pair. The problem was the villain was an uber LAG-tard. I'm talking 50/30 guy. Sometimes, I tend not to believe them. These types really, really enjoy bluffing.

7 hands later... same uber LAG-tard. He raises with A7 and I reraise with KK. Short story, he flops OESD and hits on the turn. Again, I didn't believe him and paid him off.

And finally 37 hands later (relatively speaking as I was playing 3 tables). A different LAG-tard; but again the same stats as he was a 50/30 guy raises from EP and I reraise with AJo. The amounts aren't important as it was standard type play. Flop comes 3AK (2 hearts). I bet (only 1/2 pot) and he calls. Turn 8. This time I bet $15 and he goes all in for $41. I pretty much have to call especially given the villain. He turns over K8 and takes me down.

Now, I'm especially steaming after getting stacked 3 times within 10 minutes; but this guy says "Sorry, my favorite hand". I don't why; but that made want to stick my hand through the computer and wring his neck. Instead, I did the more sensible thing and just called it a night down 2 1/2 buyins after about 250 hands. I'm actually kind of proud of myself as normally I would have continued to play and more than likely continued to lose. I do have the tendency to really go after players like this which is good normally as you always look to play with the LAGs; but patience is the key there and I definitely have been known to lose my patience after a few of these.

Fast forward to Sunday and another interesting back to back hand occurred against the same player. Let's say the theme is what to do when you hit your hand on the turn and your opponent is betting into you.

Hand #1

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $52.95
MP: $45.25
Hero (CO): $67.90
BTN: $82.75
SB: $50.00
BB: $54.95

Pre Flop: Hero is CO with Q Q
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, BTN calls $1.75, 2 folds

Flop: ($4.25) K 3 J (2 players)
Hero bets $3, BTN calls $3

Turn: ($10.25) K (2 players)
Hero bets $5, BTN calls $5

River: ($20.25) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $14, BTN calls $14

Final Pot: $48.25
Hero shows Qc Qs (a full house, Queens full of Kings)
BTN mucks Jh Jc
Hero wins $45.85
(Rake: $2.40)

Here the villain hit his set on flop and full house on Turn only to lose to a bigger full house on river. A turn bet most likely sends me out of the hand as this guy was pretty straight forward. If he was betting he had something. He was a little passive with 36/12 stats.


Hand #2

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $53.20
CO: $44.50
Hero (BTN): $89.25
SB: $62.00
BB: $50.00
UTG: $52.45

Pre Flop: Hero is BTN with J A
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, SB raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.25

Flop: ($6.50) Q K K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($6.50) T (2 players)
SB bets $6.50, Hero calls $6.50

River: ($19.50) Q (2 players)
SB bets $19.50, Hero folds

Final Pot: $19.50
SB shows Ah As (two pair, Aces and Kings)
SB wins $18.55
(Rake: $0.95)


Here, I hit my straight on Turn and just called the turn bet. The ultimate scare card came on river and I folded the winning hand that would have cracked his aces. I have to admit that it was a very nice bet from him as this card also was the ultimate scare card from him as well. Here, a turn raise probably would have gotten paid off.

So, the question of the day is how to play those hands on the turn. So many times you want to wait and try to let your opponent catch up where he will fire away again on the river and you can the push and hopefully get paid off. After these two hands, I'm not so sure. Does anybody raise these hands on the turn?

----------

I think that this bears repeating. After watching a few Stoxpoker videos, it has changed how I've played for the better, I think. It is obviously too soon to tell; but certainly we can tell that my aggressiveness has been increased.

In March over about 6,800 hands, my stats were 28/16/2.11. Most definitely, I was calling way too many hands. My win rate was about break even at .49bb/100

So far in April after 3,700 hands, my stats are 23/18/3.59 which so far has lead to 6.54 bb/100.

Again, way too early to tell; but hopefully I am headed in the right direction. Being new again to NL, I'm not sure what kind of stats are good and what kind of win rates I should expect at this level. I'll just keep truckin' on and see what happens and re-evaluate after 20,000 hands similar to the Mook.

Have a nice day!!!