Friday, July 31, 2009

Full tilt Update and AK Multiway

Two huge thumbs up so far with the new Full Tilt Update. The long awaited game filters have arrived and arrived in a big way. There are so many ways to show your tables for selecting including saving different configurations. Nice!!

I also like the Full Tilt Points Counter Widget that you can add on the right sidebar. Now, I could always get this information from my Holdem Manager; but I like seeing how many points I have received without looking at HEM which also makes me look at results.

Here is a hand from yesterday with AK in late position after a raiser and 3 callers. What do you do with AK from Cutoff?

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/212506
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $19.00
BB: $270.40
UTG: $63.80 22/5/1.7 306 hands
UTG+1: $100.00 40/10/.8 30 hands
MP1: $88.80 30/12/2.7 258 hands
MP2: $38.25 21/14/inf 14 hands
Hero (CO): $101.50
BTN: $149.25

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with Ad Kc
UTG raises to $3.50, UTG+1 calls $3.50, MP1 calls $3.50, MP2 calls $3.50, Hero ??

I can see doing any of the three calling, folding or raising. Stats for the players are above in case you missed it. Also , rank the actions in order that you think. In other words just using that order from above it would say... calling greater than folding greater than raising.

Also remember this is a Pot Limit table.

Have a nice day!!!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Nothing to see here.

Frustrating day to say the least. It started off by flopping nut flush only to lose to runner, runner full house. I should have know not to mention having a good day in my last post.

To top it all off, I just quit to go watch the WSOP on my DVR and they didn't record for some reason. I went and looked on my DVR and it said cancelled which usually means that there was some kind of conflict with other recordings. No big deal right, ESPN must show it 100 more times, right? Nope, they are only showing one of the episodes over the entire next week and not until Saturday. HUH? What's up with that? Is there a place to watch these online?

Just one of those days, I guess.

No hands today as nobody likes to see bad beats.

But while we are on the topic, I want to think everyone for making comments in the past few days. It is definitely nice to see what others think on hands.

Have a nice day!!!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Stats nice for the day and ReSqueeze the Squeezer?

Granted, I only play to get my 200 pts a day which is about an hour a day (a little less yesterday).. but here are my stats from last night...

Hands: 521
VPIP: 14.9
PFR: 10.2
3bet: 7.1
WTSD: 21.5
W$SD: 64.3
AF: 2.86
bb/100: 39.60

Now, this was play a mix of 50PL, 100PL and 100NL; but I find it hard to find too much wrong with those stats. The really nice thing (or maybe bad thing) is that I didn't play a pot over 25bbs.

Here is a hand from the other day that I tried something different... Thoughts?


The Villain in this hand is a 22/16/1.8 guy over 1.5K hands. He DOES squeeze 3% and loves to play/steal in position as witnessed by his 65% steal rate. Now, he only 3bets 2.8% In other words, looks like a solid player who loves to play position.


Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/206287
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $29.40
MP2: $77.95
Hero (CO): $50.00
BTN: $50.00
SB: $59.60
BB: $16.60
UTG: $80.50
UTG+1: $10.00
UTG+2: $28.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Qd Ad
3 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 raises to $2.25, Hero calls $2.25, BTN raises to $10.25, 4 folds, Hero raises to $34.25,

Anybody like the re squeeze here (if that is even the right terminology)? Raise size?

Have a nice day!!!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Hurt Locker and Maniacs Have Hands too, or do they?

Mrs Wonka and I actually had a kidless Friday night. After trying to figure out what to do, we settled on the traditional dinner and movie. We decided to see a movie called "The Hurt Locker". It was one of those low budget movies with a bunch of fairly big stars (Jeremy Renner, David Morse, Guy Pearce). The basic gist is that it is about a bomb squad team in Iraq and their daily dealings with dismantling bombs. I highly recommend it.

OK, this happens every single time. I just can't figure it out. I have one of those breakdown days. Yesterday was one of those days losing nearly 5 buyins at 100PL. You know those days, you hit sets and get runner, runnered to lose. Oh well... back to the drawing board.

I played this hand against a maniac. I'm still not sure what to do on this hand.

The villain was a 56/44/7.0 over just 56 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/202853
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $100.00
CO: $55.90
BTN: $131.20
SB: $37.45
BB: $14.50
UTG: $18.50
Hero (UTG+1): $104.35
MP1: $17.50

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG+1 with As 9s
1 fold, Hero raises to $3.50, 3 folds, BTN calls $3.50, 2 folds

Flop: ($8.50) Ah 4d 3h (2 players)
Hero bets $6, BTN calls $6

Turn: ($20.50) Tc (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $20.50, Hero calls $20.50

River: ($61.50) Ac (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $101.20 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero ???

Have a nice day!!!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Wii and Better to be Lucky than good

OK, so I just bought my first video game system since Intellevision. You could say I'm a little behind the times. Anyway, we opened it up and played Wii bowling. I almost had to east some humble pie as my 5 year daughter almost beat me twice in bowling. We didn't get the Wii fit; but upon further review we ordered it last night. Perhaps that will make it better for my wife and kids.

Sometimes, in poker, it is just better to be lucky than good. The hand below will show this. The session just went from bad to worse last night finding myself down a couple hundred dollars; but then this hand came up.

The villain was your typical fishy type opponent with stats of 47/21/2.8 over 155 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/198144
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $102.70
SB: $166.35
Hero (BB): $112.30
UTG: $162.35
UTG+1: $216.45
MP1: $122.25
MP2: $184.80
CO: $183.50

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with Jh Ah
3 folds, MP2 raises to $3.50, 2 folds, SB calls $3, Hero calls $2.50

Flop: ($10.50) 2s Js As (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $6, MP2 raises to $14, SB folds, Hero calls $8

Turn: ($38.50) Ac (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $12, Hero raises to $32, MP2 raises to $117, Hero calls $62.80 all in

River: ($228.10) Tc (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $228.10
Hero shows Jh Ah (a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
MP2 shows Jd Jc (a full house, Jacks full of Aces)
Hero wins $225.10
(Rake: $3.00)

I guess preflop you could argue folding or raising; but against this opponent, I just want to see the flop.

Any thoughts?

Have a nice weekend!!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

How to play every street bad.

I bombed out of tourney last night early. For the most part didn't hit flops with hands like AQ and AK. I didn't hit my flushes at all and ultimately got it in with pocket 10s twice and lost both of them. Once to pocket Jacks and once to KQs when K came on the flop. Overall, the play was pretty weak at my table; but I was just getting to know people so I stayed pretty conservative (which is my game anyway).

Here is a hand that I played badly on every street.

Let me know what you would have done differently; especially on the river.

Villain was a 28/8/2.2 over 6K hands who I show losing over $1,500.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/196475
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $55.20
MP2: $38.35
CO: $20.00
BTN: $34.50
SB: $110.15
BB: $54.60
UTG: $126.60
UTG+1: $96.00
Hero (UTG+2): $144.85

CO posts a big blind ($1)

Pre Flop: ($2.50) Hero is UTG+2 with 4d 4c
2 folds, Hero raises to $4.50, 5 folds, BB calls $3.50

Flop: ($10.50) 4h 7h 5d (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.25, BB calls $5.25

Turn: ($21.00) 8d (2 players)
BB bets $10.50, Hero calls $10.50

River: ($42.00) Qs (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Final Pot: $42.00
BB shows 9h 9d (a pair of Nines)
Hero shows 4d 4c (three of a kind, Fours)
Hero wins $39.90
(Rake: $2.10)

Have a nice day!!!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Gotta Represent what you representing, right?

Today, I am starting a monthly poker league. It's a WSOP poker league. The nice thing about this one is that it awards 8 of the 32 league members to the WSOP. A couple Main Events and 6 $1500 ones. I'm probably in over my head; but we will see how it goes.

Here's a hand that I didn't like the turn card; but probably don't have any choice but to represent strength.

Villain is a 37/9/1.7 over just 40 hands.

So does this make the fact that he has calling station like stats factor into turn decision?

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/194582
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $64.10
MP1: $55.60
MP2: $96.30
CO: $100.00
BTN: $76.20
SB: $98.15
BB: $241.40
Hero (UTG): $100.00
UTG+1: $91.85

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with Qh Kh
Hero raises to $3.50, 1 fold, UTG+2 calls $3.50, 6 folds

Flop: ($8.50) 2h 9h Qc (2 players)
Hero bets $5, UTG+2 raises to $10, Hero raises to $32, UTG+2 calls $22

Turn: ($72.50) Ac (2 players)
Hero bets $64.50 all in, UTG+2 calls $28.60 all in


Thoughts?

Have a nice day!!!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

River Decision

Here is the hand that I meant to post yesterday.

The villain is the same guy as yesterday.

35/0/.3 over 17 hands.

Instead of showing decisions, I'm going to show what I did without results. Give me thoughts on river play.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/193479
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $186.80
SB: $71.15
BB: $111.00
UTG: $78.70
UTG+1: $143.80
MP1: $54.35
MP2: $100.00
Hero (CO): $116.20

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with Kc Ad
UTG calls $1, 3 folds, Hero raises to $4.50, 3 folds, UTG calls $3.50

Flop: ($10.50) 4s 4c Kd (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $7, UTG calls $7

Turn: ($24.50) 2s (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $15, UTG calls $15

River: ($54.50) As (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $54.50, UTG calls $52.20 all in


Have a nice day!!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Flop Decision?

EDIT!!! I meant to paste in a different hand so I have changed the title of this post to Flop Decision. I'll put in the other hand tomorrow or tonight.


I'm a little sad (OK, a lot sad) that Tom Watson couldn't find a way to win this weekend. If he could have only parred the final hole. He was my dad's favorite player so I was really hoping for him to pull it off. Pretty amazing anyway that he did what he did.

Full Tilt Bonus. I didn't know that you had 2 months to get the needed points to get the full bonus. What a relief. I won't have any problems now getting the needed 12000 points.

I started off this hand bad and then it got worse. I accidentally checked from the big blind with AK. Is this an obvious fold? Or do you assume that you are behind knowing that you have outs?

I only have 17 hands on this guy. He was a 35/0/0.3 guy

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/191431
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $186.95
UTG+1: $62.25
UTG+2: $110.00
MP1: $45.65
MP2: $144.30
CO: $33.85
BTN: $100.00
SB: $98.00
Hero (BB): $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with Ah Ks
3 folds, MP1 calls $1, 4 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($2.50) Kc Ts Ac (2 players)
Hero bets $1.25, MP1 raises to $6.25, Hero raises to $21.25, MP1 raises to $36.25, Hero ??

Have a nice day!!!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

More Thoughts

  • Who thinks Phil Ivey can win? This final table has to be great for poker. I'll be interested to see how they spin everything
  • How many "Still Here" posts have you seen lately? Definitely a busy time of the year.
  • Half way through July and I'm NOT halfway through working off my Full Tilt Bonus; but I have at least made it back to postive territory for the month.
  • How much of a can of shaving cream is actually used versus washed/rinsed off your hands. 50%?
  • I'm still having issues with Full Tilt updates. Now, more so with disconnecting and reconnecting. I get disconnected from FTP; but my internet is still working.
  • Having recently switched to Cable from Direct TV, I miss all my HD channels (although I haven't completely gotten rid of DTV yet)
  • Has anybody listened to the B Team on Poker Road Radio podcasts. They are much better than the "A" team. Stapes/Seebock/Gavin I think are kind of cashing it in and Cort/Gobbo Boy/ and I can't remember the last one are much better on all counts.... Poker Strategy / Comedy and everything in general. I know Seebock has tons going on running the thing.

Have a nice day.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Random Thoughts

Some random thoughts

  • Wow, I have not been too motivated to post. I had a good month of June; but July has been a struggle.
  • It seems like every time that Full Tilt has their mid year or end of year bonus, I play worse as I try to play more hands that I usually do.
  • Speaking of Full Tilt. Their software really stinks. I'm still having table focus problems and lag and it seems that I have been disconnecting more lately
  • Ivey and the Magician are top 10 in chips. There are a few big names left as we are starting to get down to the nitty gritty. St Louisian Dennis Phillips is also still hanging tough. Could he make two consecutive Main Event Final Tables
  • My wife wants a Palm Pre. Does anybody have one of these yet?
  • Turbo SNGs are fun, frustrating, fast, variance filled, addicting all at the same time. I played about 15 of them a couple days ago and was a loser. Having said that, I still may play more

That should do if for now. I am going to hopefully get back to posting hands on a semi regular basis as your comments always help.

Have a good day.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

15,000 Points

Full Tilt has their mid-year bonus. I guess this is the first time that I have achieved Iron Man all 6 months and now have to clear 15K points to get the full bonus. I normally run about 7.5K points a month. I'm wondering if it is even worth it to try to play more this month to clear the whole bonus? Bonus is obviously a reduction to rakeback so I guess I could do some math; but I don't really see that happening. Chances are that I will start off trying to clear it and see how a week or so goes.

What do you think? Bonus or status quo with rakeback?
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