98 Dollars an hour and Reliance on HUD

Well, as my days of being employed comes to an end (my last day is May 8th), the more I am going to have to come up with something to do during the off time. Obviously, I will still be out there putting out resumes and making calls and all of that stuff; but.......


I had an unusually good weekend playing poker. Usually the weekends just chew me up; but this weekend I made $98/hr play NL/PL 50. Seems easy enough to sustain, right? OK, I kid; but it was nice weekend making 33.54 bb/100. See the chart below:




I don't feel like I am playing a whole lot different. It just seems that my hands are holding a little bit more right now. I obviously know that will change at some point; but for now, I will enjoy it while it lasts.


I layed down pocket aces this weekend to a turn check raise. See below:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/112789
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $79.70
CO: $100.30
BTN: $57.60
SB: $89.85
BB: $29.50
UTG: $50.65
Hero (UTG+1): $55.90
MP1: $48.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with As Ac
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, 1 fold, MP2 calls $1.75, 3 folds, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($5.50) 9c 7h 9d (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4, MP2 calls $4, BB folds

Turn: ($13.50) Jd (2 players)
Hero bets $10, MP2 raises to $25, Hero requests TIME, Hero folds

I'm not sure if it was the right play or not; but it felt good to be able to do it in the first place. The villain in the hand was a 12/8/3.0 player after 2K hands so he was a solid TAG player. He does check raise on the turn 24% of the time so it may have been the wrong move to fold; but again, it felt good to be able to fold. Not too long ago, I would of been pushing this 100% of the time.

I've listened to a few podcasts lately where the pro says that mid stakes players (and I guess we can include low stakes players) rely on their HUD too much. I think that is pretty easy to say as a high stakes plays a population of people that are fairly limited. At 50NL, there are just tons of new faces. Sure if you pay close attention, you can pick up tendencies; but if you are playing 10-12 tables, it is just not that easy. I can't find the hands now; but there were at least 3 hands where I called down with 3rd pair or worse and won against players who stats were especially LAGgy so to that I say, thanks for the HUD. Over reliance on HUD can be a mistake I guess; but I sure know that I would feel lost without it.

That should do it for now.

Shamus, have a nice day!!