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.

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?

Headsup

So, I'm getting ready to call it quits on Friday. I was down a bit (maybe 1 1/2 buyins) for the night. I'm just looking around and I see that the #1 50NL PL (according to pokertable ratings) players is still playing and has an open seat. The only problem is that he only plays Heads Up. No secret that I'm not a heads up expert (even though I did win a blogger headsup challenge once upon a time); but why not play the best eh? After a couple dozen hands, I can see why this guy is successful. Pretty much unbridled aggression. His stats are:

65/58/4.7 - 3 bets 30% folds to 3 bet 35 and Cbets 91%.

The question of the day is how do you combat this? Do you play back with aggression? Do you play more passively? Leave me a comment with your thoughts.

I went with the more passive approach. I was aggressive preflop; but normally called as I 3 bet only about 20%.

Anyway, it was working as I picked off many bluffs on the river. Unfortunately, I lost 2 big hands and lost 2 buyins. I did, however, make up the 2 buyins playing others.

Well, that got my interest and was back to the heads up tables on Saturday. Ooops. Down 8 buyins. I've made back about 3 of them since then. I may continue to see if I can make it back. I know this game is a bad game at these limits as the rake just eats you up; but I'll keep at it for a while as 3 out of the top 5 players for the month are heads up players.

I also had bronchitis this weekend which also make things not so fun. Oh well, what are you going to do.

Have a nice day!!!

And then sometimes it doesn't work

This goes into the oops category. Similar to yesterday, I played the min raise game. Oops.


Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/161230
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $17.00
UTG+1: $49.75
UTG+2: $9.75
MP1: $5.50
MP2: $72.60
CO: $59.15
BTN: $49.25
SB: $103.00
Hero (BB): $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 4h Ts
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, 3 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($1.75) 4d 4s As (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, MP2 checks

Turn: ($1.75) Tc (3 players)
Hero bets $1, UTG+1 raises to $2, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $3, UTG+1 raises to $4, Hero raises to $5, UTG+1 raises to $7, Hero raises to $14.85, UTG+1 raises to $25, Hero raises to $49.50 all in, UTG+1 calls $24.25 all in

River: ($100.25) 2h (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $100.25
UTG+1 shows Ad Ac (a full house, Aces full of Fours)
Hero shows 4h Ts (a full house, Fours full of Tens)
UTG+1 wins $97.25
(Rake: $3.00)

Oh well,

Have a nice day!!!

Still Can't figure out the big difference

I continue to play mostly Pot Limit; but I also mix in NL tables when there aren't enough PL tables running. I've also starting mixing in some PL/NL 100 games as I have the bankroll to do so. So, what is the difference?

This weekend, I was positive for PL and negative for NL:

100PL ; 105.73 bb/100 .. OK, I obviously ran well
100NL ; -39.18 bb/100
50PL; 26.01 bb/100
50NL; -3.58 bb/100

I took a look at PokerTableRatings at one point over the weekend and I was:

6th for the week at 50PL
13th for the month at 50PL
13th for the year at 50PL

These lists include all games such as Heads-up and Short handed so it is really hard to really compare how I am doing against people playing at my games.

Here is one reason that I like PL:

http://www.holdemmanager.net
NL Holdem $0.50(BB) Replayer Game#12952819221

grouchoM ($69.90)
Danboi8 ($93.05)
sexycomadina69 ($139)
wphwpi ($50.50)
willwonka ($64.15)
kewer111 ($53.90)
FernandoFreitas ($25)
SchruteFarms ($50)

grouchoM posts (SB) $0.25
Danboi8 posts (BB) $0.50

Dealt to willwonka 3c 3s
sexycomadina69 raises to $1.75
fold,
willwonka calls $1.75
kewer111 calls $1.75
fold, fold, fold, fold,

FLOP ($6) 8s 3d 5c
check,
willwonka bets $3
kewer111 calls $3
sexycomadina69 folds

TURN ($12) 8s 3d 5c 8d
willwonka bets $6
kewer111 raises to $12
willwonka raises to $18
kewer111 raises to $24
willwonka raises to $30
kewer111 raises to $49.15 (AI)
willwonka calls $19.15

RIVER ($110) 8s 3d 5c 8d 2h

willwonka shows 3c 3s
(Flop 98.4%, Turn 100.0%)

kewer111 shows As Td
(Flop 1.6%, Turn 0.0%)

willwonka wins $107

Oh well, I guess it isn't important. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing for now.

Have a nice day!!!

Casino Tourney and Mook #4

So I went to the casino today and finished about break even on cash (down $3). I went to the tourney. They had 70 runners today. I saw somebody I knew and I mentioned that I had finished around 12th the last two Wednesdays and I said I would probably be one of the first ones out. That almost came true. Early on, I called a small raise from BB with 98s. I flop 2 pair and check raise and he 3 bets so I know he has an over pair. I went ahead and pushed the rest of my chips and sure enough he had aces and I'm in good shape. That is until he gets runner, runner spades (they are indeed gold) to take the pot. I got up and told him nice hand and started to walk away when the dealer stopped me and said I have a couple more chips left. Oh boy. Just what I need... to spend more time in the tourney instead of nice cash game. But then, double up, triple up and I'm back in this thing.

Short story. I remained short stacked the entire time; but picked up pots when I needed them. Eventually, it came down to a bad call that put me out. A raise and a reraise in front of me and I can't lay down JJ? What is my problem?? Anyway, 8 places paid and I finished 8th which was about 2 1/2 times the buyin. Oh well. Cashing is nice. I even went home afterwards and didn't locate the table games although part of me wanted revenge from last week.

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

Online Cash was also break even today (+$9) in an up and down session.

Speaking of runner, runner spades, does anybody make this call on river?

Villain was 31/5/2.4 over about 400 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/150183
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $58.80
CO: $55.50
Hero (BTN): $50.00
SB: $26.75
BB: $11.00
UTG: $52.70
UTG+1: $44.20
UTG+2: $50.00
MP1: $19.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Kh Ad
UTG calls $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero calls $3, 2 folds, UTG calls $2.50, 2 folds

Flop: ($10.75) 8h 2s Ah (3 players)
UTG checks, MP2 checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($10.75) 6s (3 players)
UTG checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $6.35, UTG calls $6.35, MP2 folds

River: ($23.45) As (2 players)
UTG bets $23.45, Hero ??

Regardless of call or not, it is yet another lesson on how not to play Big Slick.

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

While playing cash, I looked down at the clock and it was 9:09. YIKES!!! The Mook started at 9. I looked just in case there was still Late Registration and sure enough there was. I don't remember alot of details other than the turnout was understandably light (32 players) post BBT4; but I made it to the final table in fine shape. I got Heads Up with Bodee201 and lucked my way to my 4th Mookie title. I believe I was outmatched got the lucky hands when I needed them.

GG ALL

Have a nice day!!

Casino Shell Shocked And Extended Vacation Comes to an End

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. Following the fiasco from the Big Game bubble finishes, I went to the local casino (Harrah's) and played in their daily tournament. 80 runners. One preface to the story. The preceding week, I had finished 13th out of 90 (10 paid out) when my pocket Kings lost to AQ. Fast forward one week and we are again down to 15. I am comfortably above the average. Then... AK loses to AJ and QQ loses to JJ and I am out in 12th. To say that I was once again shell shocked would be an under statement. What to do now? I had to plenty to do outside of the casino as I had to help my father in law with some stuff. I was still up on the day due to the cash games preceding the tourney. Did I go home? What do you think? I preceded to drop another hundy at the Black Jack table and then over two hundy at the craps table and to put the icing on the cake. I even burned $10 at a slot machine.

Fast forward one day at home. I lose 8 buyins on bad beat, coolers, etc.... I am way past steaming now.

The story does have a somewhat happy ending as I have made up for the online losses. I'm headed back to Harrah's today to hopefully make amends for the last two tournies.

Well, as you may or may not know, I lost my job around 5 weeks ago; but I'm hear to thank the Lord as my "extended vacation" will be coming to an end on Monday. Talking about all the aligning:

My severance from my previous job ends on Monday (the same day I start my new job).
My third interview was with somebody that graduated the same year I did from my same college. Go Bears!!!!
One of references worked as a senior auditor to my new boss so they already knew each other.

Anyway, I've enjoyed my time off (obviously); but I am ready to get back to a more normal life as crazy as that sounds.

I'll start posting some more hands tomorrow.

Have a nice day!!!

Shell Shocked (aka Bubble Boy)

I don't play many tournaments; but I decided to concentrate and only play 2 tables. The Big Game and the Big Game Mulligan.

Big Game... 7 Pay.. 1st place is 1,284.78. We are on the bubble. All in Preflop. I have KK vs AQ. Ace on the Turn and I am out on the bubble in 6th place.

Big Game Mulligan. 3 pay. 1st place $500. We are on the Bubble. All in Preflop QQ vs AKs. Runner Runner clubs for Smokee and I am out on the bubble (4th) AGAIN!!!!!!

I can't remember feeling this shell shocked in a long, long time.

How Not to play pocket eights

I had a good session yesterday mostly on a few good hands towards the end of the day. I'll still take it.

Looking at my stats, the blinds continue to me my biggest problem. Of course, it is not unusual to lose money in the blinds; but I believe that I am losing too much and need to work on that. I've started a 3 part video on Holdem Manager from Stoxpoker by Jason Ho. Hopefully, that will help a little bit.

Speaking of the blinds, here is how not to play a mid pocket pair from the blinds.

The villain in BB is a 12/8/4.3 player over 2.1K hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/136814
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $50.00
CO: $29.95
BTN: $81.95
Hero (SB): $50.75
BB: $55.30
UTG: $24.10
UTG+1: $90.70
UTG+2: $49.05
MP1: $58.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with 8h 8s
6 folds, BTN calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.25, BB checks

Flop: ($1.50) 6s 7d 2d (3 players)
Hero bets $1.50, BB raises to $6, BTN folds, Hero calls $4.50

Turn: ($13.50) 9s (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $10.40, Hero calls $10.40

River: ($34.30) 2h (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $21.95, Hero ??

Does the BB have a set? two pair? Is there anything here that I beat? Thoughts on the hand?

Have a nice day!

A Tale of Two Tournies

Later in the year, I am going to be doing a monthly WSOP tourney thing with 32 people including our St Louis Blog Buddy, Jamyhawk. He is actually heading out to the WSOP soon to try his luck due to this monthly game. Best of luck to you Jamy.

Anyway, I don't play live very much anymore so I decided to head down to Harrahs for their daily $40 tourney. As an aside, how much of the $40 goes to the tourney? Any guesses? I'll leave the answer in the comments at a later time. Anyway, there were 90 players and to make a longer story short, we got down to 2 tables where I proceeded to lose to coin flips, one with the pair and one with the over cards and I go out in 13th. Ten people paid.. Dang.

Conversely, I played in the Mook last night and was one of the first ones out when I get set over setted. Truthfully, I should not have called the reraise preflop with pocket sixes; but I was tilting a bit.. see below.

After I lost the tourney, I wondered over to the Blackjack pit. I had won $100 there last week and thought I would try my luck again. Down to my last $10 bet, I build it back to $100, 3 straight 21's for the dealer including a hand where I split and doubled more than doomed me and I lost the hundo as well. I did win $20 playing 1/2 so I have that going for me.

After that I was heading towards the exit and somehow gravitated over to the craps table. I had about $25o on me and was thinking about it. There was definitely a couple of high rollers there (now that we don't have loss limits in Missouri). He would start by spreading $235 over all the numbers and put down something like $15 on the pass line and then putting odds on top of that for a couple hundy. He just kept building his number bets as they hit (sorry, I don't know the terminology). There were a couple of good rolls and this guy was just raking it in. In fact, they brought out the pumpkin chips for him ($500 chips). At one point, he had to have over $2,000 on the table. After the 2nd crapped out, I almost said, I'll do what he is doing... only greatly minimized; but it was getting late in the afternoon and I needed to leave.

One thing we talked about was the tale of the person in Atlantic City who had one roll that lasted 4 or 5 hours. That is incredible. This guy at Harrah's said he would have easily made 2 or 3 million dollars on that roll with the AC stakes. I actually believe him after watching how he was betting. Of course, I didn't understand what he was doing; but it was fun to watch.

So I went home a loser for that day. Oh well.

Here is the hand that put me on tilt.

The villain here was a 76/37/4.3 over 167 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/136231
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $50.00
SB: $109.25
BB: $54.25
UTG: $66.90
UTG+1: $149.15
MP1: $82.05
MP2: $50.00
CO: $55.20

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Ac Kc
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 raises to $2.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $2.50, 2 folds, MP1 calls $2

Flop: ($8.25) Td 6c Kh (3 players)
MP1 bets $1.50, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $4.50, MP1 calls $3

Turn: ($17.25) Kd (2 players)
MP1 bets $2.50, Hero raises to $8, MP1 calls $5.50

River: ($33.25) 3d (2 players)
MP1 bets $33.25, Hero calls $33.25

Final Pot: $99.75
Hero mucks Ac Kc
MP1 shows 3h 3c (a full house, Threes full of Kings)
MP1 wins $96.75
(Rake: $3.00)

I got some of it back from him; but not near all of it.

Dang!

Queens, Have a nice day!!

Break even and dealing with a habitual squeezer

After about 39 hands, I found myself up almost 2 buyins; but as usual, reality set in.

Here is a hand dealing with a habitual squeezer.

BB (the squeezer) is a 46/20/1.7 who squeezes 16% which is very high.
SB is a 38/0/inf over just 10 hands.
Button is a 12/9/4.0 guy over 7.3K hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/135321
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $50.00
BTN: $50.00
SB: $17.05
BB: $47.75
UTG: $51.80
Hero (UTG+1): $55.45
MP: $49.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with Ac 9c
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, 2 folds, BTN calls $1.75, SB calls $1.50, BB raises to $9, Hero raises to $30.50

Truthfully, A9s from EP is probably not the best hand to open with; but against this table, I was ok with it. I get 2 callers and then the BB puts in a pretty sizable squeeze. I am almost always ahead of this kind of player so I decided to repop it. Thoughts?


Have a nice day!!!

1 on 3.2 Million Chance and Bad Weekend

What are the odds of flopping a set of kings in two consecutive hands at the same table. That's one in 3.2 million. Yikes, I should have bought a lottery ticket that day. The odds supplied by our friendly neighborhood twoplustwo poker forum.

The first hand I had an interesting decision to make.

Villain is a 32/3/1.3 over just 34 hands.

Full Tilt p0ker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/132671
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $50.00
SB: $48.50
BB: $44.60
UTG: $54.90
UTG+1: $41.10
UTG+2: $54.55
MP1: $42.65
MP2: $52.85
CO: $60.35

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Kh Kc
2 folds, UTG+2 calls $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $2.75, 2 folds, UTG+2 calls $2.25, MP1 calls $2.25

Flop: ($9.00) 9s Ks Tc (3 players)
UTG+2 bets $3, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $11.50, UTG+2 calls $8.50

Turn: ($32.00) Js (2 players)
UTG+2 bets $11.50, Hero ??

Can I just call? Or do I push and pray? Or just fold.

The second hand, I took it down with a continuation bet.

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

For the most part, the weekend was pretty bad. I lost a little over 3 1/2 buyins. According to the Allin EV calculations (which don't really take everything into consideration), I should have about broke even.





Here is a chart.







Have a nice day!!!

Losing Value if you don't bet?

Yesterday was one of those bad to worse days. Lost a few hands right away to start off in the red. I made my way back to the positive; but then proceeded to lose 5 buyins only to make about 3 of them back.

Part of the problem and it seems to be an ongoing problem is losing value; especially on river bets. Here are two hands where I tried to figure out if I should be betting / raising on river.

Villain is 49/1/6.8 guy over 70 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/130088
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $89.40
BB: $70.40
UTG: $53.95
UTG+1: $109.75
UTG+2: $56.00
MP1: $150.45
MP2: $53.15
CO: $50.40
Hero (BTN): $73.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Jd 9d
5 folds, CO calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, BB checks

Flop: ($2.00) 6d Ac 5d (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, CO bets $2, Hero calls $2, SB raises to $8, BB folds, CO folds, Hero calls $6

Turn: ($20.00) 6s (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($20.00) Td (2 players)
SB bets $12, Hero ??

Calling or Raising?


Hand #2

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/130091
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $101.50
MP1: $50.00
MP2: $125.85
CO: $53.30
BTN: $45.55
SB: $76.15
Hero (BB): $50.00
UTG: $38.40

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 4h 4d
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $1.75, 5 folds, Hero calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.75) Js 4s 8s (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $3, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($9.75) 7d (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $7.50, Hero calls $7.50

River: ($24.75) Kh (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $21, Hero ??

Calling or Raising or Folding?

Have a nice day!!!

AI Shoulda Woulda Coulda and more river decisions

Ah man!!! I should have bet on Chris Allen to win American Idol like I had mentioned in a few posts early on. 8-1 would have been a nice price to get. Again, I'm not shocked that he won and quite frankly expected him to win. Oh well..

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

As we know, river decisions are the hardest so here are a couple more.

Villain is a 31/21/5.3 guy over 70 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/129219
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $54.40
BTN: $98.15
SB: $51.00
BB: $26.10
UTG: $74.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with 2d Ad
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, 2 folds, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.75) Td Ks As (2 players)
BB bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

Turn: ($8.75) 5h (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($8.75) 2s (2 players)
BB bets $7.50, Hero ??

What beats me? 2 pair Aces, spades, straight (not likely)

What do I beat. I now beat KT, non 2 pair aces or a bluff.

What do you do?

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

Villain is a 36/16/2.3 guy over just 27 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/129220
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $50.85
Hero (CO): $78.50
BTN: $28.00
SB: $100.20
BB: $50.95
UTG: $50.00
UTG+1: $50.75

UTG posts a big blind ($0.50)

Pre Flop: ($1.25) Hero is CO with Qc Jc
UTG checks, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.50, BTN calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, BB checks

Flop: ($2.50) Tc 5c 9s (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $2, BTN calls $2, SB folds, BB folds, UTG folds

Turn: ($6.50) Js (2 players)
Hero bets $4, BTN raises to $8, Hero calls $4

River: ($22.50) 7h (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $17.50 all in, Hero ??

Should I have been re-raising on turn? Turn min raises are typcially pretty strong.

What do you do?

Mookie winner Smokkee, Have a nice day!!!

Ipod Touch and deciding on passive or aggressive lines.

I received my iPod Touch in the mail yesterday (compliments of Full Tilt). Cool!!!

I'm looking forward to playing around with it and the apps that go with it. What apps do people have out there that are pretty good?

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

Choosing passive and aggressive lines is always a struggle for me. Unfortunately, more times than not or at least more times that I probably should, I opt out for the passive line. Take this hand for example.

Villain is a loose 36/18/5.0 guy over just 40 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/128242
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $14.15
Hero (UTG+1): $52.80
UTG+2: $10.30
MP1: $50.75
MP2: $19.25
CO: $20.30
BTN: $27.95
SB: $109.60
BB: $22.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with Jd Qd
UTG calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, 4 folds, BTN calls $0.50, SB raises to $3, 2 folds, Hero calls $2.50, 1 fold

I never open limp; but I have been finding myself limping behind to try to get a multi way pot with a suited connector/mid pair type hand. It doesn't necessarily have to be broadway cards. In fact, I would prefer it not to be as the chance of being dominated is great.

OK. This guy is obviously trying to steal the pot. Everybody goes away; but I call anyway. I believe stacks are large enough to warrant this call... plus I'm in position on him.

Flop: ($7.50) Qc Th Kd (2 players)
SB bets $3, Hero calls $3

OK.. pretty good flop. Passive or aggressive?

Turn: ($13.50) Kc (2 players)
SB bets $3, Hero calls $3

The king is actually a good card. His bet sizing is a little off which probably puts me way ahead or way behind. Passive or aggressive?

River: ($19.50) 2d (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

OK.. he gave up. Passive or aggressive?

There's not a lot that beats me giving the betting; but there still is that chance. In the long run, am I losing value here. If I get check raised here, how do you play?

Obviously, I choose passive this hand. I'll hold results until later today.

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

I ended up making about 2 1/2 buyins yesterday. I sucked out one hand. I had AK.. Flop comes AK3 (EDIT: Flop was AA3.. thanks for comments.. my bad) ... Turn was a T.. we get it all in and he has 33, the river is a T and I sucked out. It felt pretty good to win one like that instead of losing one like it usually happens.

I also pulled a great OBFV (Over bet for value). In a $5 pot, I pushed $45 with the nut flush (there was a possible straight flush) and got called by the second nut flush. Those rarely work; but when they do, it feels good.

Have a good day!!!

Be Careful what you wish for and River Decision

As we all know, this game can be funny, you can be on you way to a solid session and BOOM!!! gone... Two river beats for stacks and two bad decisions and I found myself a little over one buyin down after being up 1 1/2 buyins.

This first hand goes into the "Be Careful what you wish for category".



The villain in this hand is a somewhat solid; but only break even player after 10K hands.
He is a 22/7/2..


Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/127463
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $50.75
CO: $39.25
BTN: $50.00
SB: $64.25
Hero (BB): $50.00
UTG: $30.30
UTG+1: $50.00
UTG+2: $50.20
MP1: $82.90

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Ah Ad
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to $1.50, 2 folds, CO calls $1.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $5.75, UTG+2 calls $4.25, 1 fold


Standard.
Flop: ($13.25) Qd 3h Ac (2 players)
Hero bets $7.50, UTG+2 raises to $15, Hero calls $7.50


Here is the wishing part. I say to myself... I hope he has pocket Queens as I had just lost set over set not too long ago. I'll just call this turn and get it in on the turn.


Turn: ($43.25) Qc (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 bets $20, Hero raises to $29.25 all in, UTG+2 calls $9.25


DOH!!!!! Did he really just hit a one outer??? I'm obviously not giving up here.


River: ($101.75) 6h (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $101.75
Hero shows Ah Ad (a full house, Aces full of Queens)
UTG+2 shows As Kh (two pair, Aces and Queens)
Hero wins $98.75
(Rake: $3.00)

WHEW!!! I thought I was a goner.


The next hand involves a river decision. You know the type. What would he call me with type.

Villain is a bad 62/7/0.0 player over just 30 hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/127466
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $50.00
UTG: $106.00
UTG+1: $30.25
UTG+2: $71.00
MP1: $164.00
MP2: $100.00
CO: $49.90
BTN: $20.30
SB: $64.95

CO posts a big blind ($0.50)

Pre Flop: ($1.25) Hero is BB with 6h Ts
2 folds, UTG+2 calls $0.50, 2 folds, CO checks, 1 fold, SB calls $0.25, Hero checks

Don't you love seeing BB hands for nothing?

Flop: ($2.00) 4s 2c 5c (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+2 checks, CO checks

Wow.. even checked down... Give me a 3!!!!
Turn: ($2.00) 3c (4 players)

What? It worked.

SB checks, Hero bets $1, UTG+2 calls $1, CO folds, SB folds

I'll throw out a half pot bet and see if I get any aces to bite.

River: ($4.00) Qd (2 players)
Hero bets $3, UTG+2 raises to $6, Hero ??

Ok.. now, I get min raised by a bad player who could obviously have anything. He obviously could have an ace; but more importantly he could have a flush. Given this kind of player, it's hard to tell. The pot isn't that big so is it worth re-raising? If he does have an ace, he is probably calling. If he has a flush, he is probably re-raising and we are playing for stacks now.

What do you do?

Have a nice day!!!

Extended Vacation

OK.. Today is my first actual day of my "extended vacation". I have a couple of months before I really have to start feeling the impact; but yeah, it feels strange today not getting up and going to work for the first time in my life. I do hope to keep somewhat productive and do some of the following things (in no particular order):

• Housework. It hurts me to say; but this really has to be a no brainer. With my wife working full time, I will need to pick up on the housework
• Poker. I will be playing a bit more than an hour a day that I normally do. How much? Time will tell. There will also be more live play, I think.
• Reading. Two parts to this. I will combine this with video watching as well as I study a little bit more on poker. The other part is getting back to my Bible reading.
• Working out. What? Did I actually say that? Let's call it more like exercising more. I hear that the YMCA may be giving out memberships for the unemployed. I will check into that. If not, there are plenty of ways to exercise, right?

That should do for a start.

So I finally played ring game poker for the first time in a week last night. Some things just never changed as it was an up and down session finishing up one buyin after getting my 200 points.

One hand I flopped the nuts and then there was a scary turn card. What do you do?

Villain in this hand was a 15/10/2.3 regular over 3.1K hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/126426
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $50.00
Hero (MP1): $57.60
MP2: $145.40
CO: $50.00
BTN: $86.55
SB: $105.25
BB: $101.20
UTG: $50.40

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP1 with Jh Th
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 3 folds, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($4.00) As Qc Kh (2 players)
SB bets $2.20, Hero raises to $6.50, SB calls $4.30

Turn: ($17.00) Ks (2 players)
SB bets $10, Hero ??

Pretty easy raise from MP with JTs. This guy donk bets around 8%. I consider that relatively low; but I'm not slowing down here and put in a small raise. Comments on bet sizing?

He calls and bets out again? What do you do?

Another hand, I kind of got berated by a couple people at the table which of course I don't mind. The fishier that I look, the better. Truthfully, the way I played wasn't that bad. If anything, I erred on taking this to value town.

Villain in this hand was a 66/40/3.9 guy over just 89 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/126427
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $50.00
Hero (BB): $50.00
UTG: $153.35
UTG+1: $50.00
MP1: $89.55
MP2: $100.00
CO: $102.30
BTN: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Ah Ks
UTG calls $0.50, 6 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, UTG calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.75) 2s 4s 4c (2 players)
Hero bets $2.80, UTG calls $2.80

Turn: ($9.35) 7s (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $5, Hero calls $5

River: ($19.35) Ac (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

Final Pot: $19.35
Hero shows Ah Ks (two pair, Aces and Fours)
UTG shows 5s 5c (two pair, Fives and Fours)
Hero wins $18.40
(Rake: $0.95)

I'll go ahead a post the whole hand on this one. Any thoughts? Do I get a call if I bet out on river? I didn't think so. Whether I check raise or check call, I hadn't exactly decided.

Have a nice day!!!

What a tourist and I'm not shocked

Wow, what a tourist I am. I am in Tennessee on vacation this week. We went on a little drive through a national park. First, we hiked a little to see a 80 foot waterfall. Pretty cool. Then we went through a driving loop called Cades's Cove. We saw at least 6 Black Bears and a dozen or so dear and a wild turkey out in the open. The really neat thing is that are almost totally tame so we were able to get out the car and take pictures and they didn't run away (or attack us in the bear's case). To me, that was pretty cool; but then again, I am your typical tourist and pretty easily impressed and entertained.

American Idol. While I am a little sad as I was rooting for Danny, I am not shocked that Chris made the finals. I believe I even posted a little while back that Chris would be the one that I would be betting on. I actually think he has a chance of winning this thing. I think he just has to do a good job during the finals and that will do it. How is that, you say? I think a lot of the people that were voting for Danny did not care for Adam. This is me except for the voting part. I don't actually vote; although my wife did one week. Anyway, the votes that were going to Danny may very well be going to Chris now. If the difference between 1st and 2nd last week was truly 1 million votes, then I think Chris could easily win this thing. I know I will be pulling for him. If he does win, he will just go into a line of champions that will most likely disappear.

I've only played one night of poker while on vacation. I played 4 $11 SNGs. I won one, finished 2nd twice and ran JJ into AA to finish 7th or worse (I don't really remember).

Have a nice day!!

Getting PWNed and Vacation

Wow, what a Friday. Nothing like getting totally PWNed.

What do I mean by that?

If I had AK and the flop was AK2, I got stacked because my opponent had 22.

If I had 55 on a 5JQ flop, my opponent hand JQ and hit his J and turn for another stacking.

If I had JQ and JQ3 board, I got it in against A3.. A on Turn

If I had KQ on a KQ3 board.. I would get it in against AA... 3 on the river gives him a better 2 pair.

Of course, there were the misplaced bluffs; but I can handle those as I'm going to get looked up every once in a while. It just happened more often last night.

What was the damage? over 6 buyins. After about 4, I said, I need to stop; but couldn't pull the trigger... Oops.. AA just got cracked, that's 5 buyins. I better stop. Oh, maybe I'll play a little longer. Ooops, My KK is not good against rivered flush.. I better stop. Ok..Yeah... I stopped; but wow that was painful.

I will probably get a chance to play on Saturday; but we are leaving Sunday for Vacation to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee so I won't be playing or blogging much. After that my "extended vacation" starts. I have thoughts on how my days will go; but we will have to see.

Have a good weekend and week next week!!!

Last Day and if it smells like a flush....

Well, today is my last day of being gainfully employed; although truthfully, it may be Saturday as I'm sure that I won't finish up what I need to. Some people think that I don't owe a company that termed me the right to get things in such a fashion that makes it easier for the transition team; but that is not really how I roll. I still want to help make things go as smooth as possible after I leave.

So I made a couple of low card flushes that the villain was also showing strength. So, if the villain's hand smells like a flush, if he is betting like a flush/flush draw and looks like it could be a flush, do you call at the end? Here are two hands from last night.

Hand #1

Villain is a 27/10/2.8 over 300ish hands.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/116431
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $56.30
BB: $60.15
UTG: $70.10
UTG+1: $89.65
UTG+2: $44.05
MP1: $25.00
MP2: $99.00
CO: $59.95
BTN: $42.00

MP1 posts a big blind ($0.50)

Pre Flop: ($1.25) Hero is SB with 6h 3h
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 checks, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.25, BB checks

Flop: ($2.00) Jh 8h Ts (4 players)
Hero bets $1.50, BB calls $1.50, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds

Turn: ($5.00) Ah (2 players)
Hero bets $3, BB calls $3

River: ($11.00) Ad (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $6.50, Hero requests TIME, Hero ??


I know some people fold this hand preflop; but I think I still prefer to complete after two limpers. Of course, it brings on decisions like this one. Anybody calling here?

Hand #2

Villain is a 15/5/1.5 over 1K hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/116436
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $86.90
Hero (BB): $56.15
UTG: $108.75
UTG+1: $31.75
MP1: $113.85
MP2: $50.00
CO: $73.25
BTN: $45.35

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 4h 7h
5 folds, BTN calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, Hero checks

Flop: ($1.50) 5h 7s Jh (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.50, BTN calls $1.50, SB folds

Turn: ($4.50) 2h (2 players)
Hero bets $2.50, BTN raises to $9, Hero calls $6.50

River: ($22.50) 3d (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $14.50, Hero ???

This one as a little tougher to figure out. His turn raise could have been with an Ace or King of hearts, small pair or more likely a flush. Who calls the turn? Does anybody call the river?

Brack and Brue Chips, have a nice day

Let the Graph do the Talking and interesting Blind Steal Hand

I played the Mook last night. There were about 80 runners. With about 30 or so left, I find myself in the top 2 or 3. I then had 3 straight "oops" moments. I pushed against an EP limper from the button with AQ and he snapped called with QQ. I four bet Jordan who I thought was squeezing with either AQ or AK... Ace on the flop and Ace on the turn; but oh by the way, a K was also on the flop... oops. Finally pushed my small stack with KQs and got a couple of callers. I flopped my flush draw but ultimately lost to AT. Out in 24th. Dang!! Truthfully, I don't play the Mook for the money. I play for the social part of it and to win. Anything from 2nd to last is pretty much the same to me.




Cash games started off great; but then went crazy from there. Up and down and up and down. I'll just let the graph do the talking.






Good Times!!!

I mentioned the other day about people relying on HUDs too much. I still argue that point and here is one hand where I relied on stats.

The villain in this hand was a 19/12/3.8 guy which is fairly standard for a good, aggressive guy. Let's look further. He squeezed 4% and 3 bet 3.8% and 4bet 11%




Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/115732
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $70.80
UTG+1: $50.00
UTG+2: $51.50
MP1: $54.00
MP2: $120.15
CO: $103.05
Hero (BTN): $117.50
SB: $55.15
BB: $114.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Ac Jh
6 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, SB raises to $5, 1 fold, Hero calls $3.25

Standard steal from the button with JackAce. I get three bet; but as the stats show, this is not unusual for this guy. His range is fairly large.

Flop: ($10.50) 7s 5d Kc (2 players)
SB bets $7, Hero raises to $21, SB requests TIME, SB folds

OK.. more stats. He Cbets 91% of the time. The rest is history. Thoughts on the hand?

Final Pot: $24.50
Hero wins $23.30
(Rake: $1.20)


TJ, Have a nice day

Even the LAGtards have hands somtimes and who is "Your" American Idol

Last night was one of those fun nights where the LAGtards actually had hands and for whatever reason, I decided to look them up a few times (see below). I hate it when that happens. Of course as they always do, they gave back the money to the rest of the table.

Villain in this hand was a 69/16/.8 guy over a 60 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/114863
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $100.00
MP2: $55.00
CO: $25.00
BTN: $66.85
SB: $187.80
BB: $43.40
UTG: $34.15
UTG+1: $50.90
Hero (UTG+2): $102.30

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+2 with Qd Qh
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2.25, 3 folds, BTN calls $2.25, 1 fold, BB calls $1.75, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($9.25) 4d 6h 7h (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $7, BTN raises to $14, BB folds, UTG folds, Hero calls $7

Turn: ($37.25) 5d (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $37.25, Hero raises to $86.05 all in, BTN calls $13.35 all in

River: ($138.45) 9c (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $138.45
BTN shows 8h 7c (a straight, Nine high)
Hero shows Qd Qh (a pair of Queens)
BTN wins $135.45
(Rake: $3.00)

Dang.. 87o.. who knew? I should have gotten away; but let his LAGgy tendencies sway me.


After being a few buyins down I was able to scrap my way back up to even for the night thanks to one of the above mentioned LAGs.

No really interesting hands last night so I'll switch topics.

Who is Your American Idol. As a degenerate, I'm not too concerned who wins, I interested in the betting side of it.

Here are the odds (courtesy of BoDog).

Adam Lambart: 4/11

Danny Gokey: 11/4

Allison Iraheta: 15/2

Kris Allen: 8/1

Adam is obviously the odds on favorite to win; but is it worth putting $50 or some amount on one of the others. I know in horse racing that if there was a huge favorite (as in this case), it is not even worth it to bet on the favorite. Kris Allen was somebody I was thinking about putting some money on a few weeks ago; but now I don't know. Who would you be betting on? We know longshots can win... look at the Kentucky Derby this last weekend.

I don't know if I can pull the trigger. We'll see.

With your second TOC seat,

Jordan, have a nice day

Peeling with Gutters

The last few days I've done something that I rarely do regarding the use of Holdem Manager. I usually always have HM up and I am checking out stats throughout the session. The things I am checking are whether or not I am winning or losing, how often I am hitting sets, general VPIP/PFR info, graphs, EV adjusted stats and how many pts I have received. Well, the last couple of days, I haven't checked it at all. I'm not sure if I like it or not; but it definitely makes me concentrate more on the game and the individual hands and not worry about the session. I know how long it takes me to get to my 200 points so I don't really need to keep checking HM to tell me that. So now or at least the last couple of days, I don't look at my HM until x amount of time has gone by where I normally get my 200 pts. It's a small sample obviously; but I have good sessions so I will probably try it a couple more times.

OK, the topic of the day. When is it good to peel the flop with a gutterball straight draw? First, let's take a look at a hand.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/114014
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $20.15
UTG+2: $32.10
MP1: $50.25
MP2: $74.65
Hero (CO): $50.00
BTN: $17.45
SB: $64.45
BB: $33.70
UTG: $53.95

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with 6d 8d
3 folds, MP1 raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.75, 3 folds

First, I don't mind playing these suited one gappers in position especially against tight guys as in the case where the villain was a 10/5 guy.

Flop: ($4.25) 7d Jh Ts (2 players)
MP1 bets $3, Hero calls $3

This is not a really bad flop for me in my opinion; but obviously not the best. One, I do have the gutterball straight draw, a backdoor flush draw and generally just a scary board for the preflop raiser. In my opinion, our stacks are deep enough to peel a card here. Thoughts?


Turn: ($10.25) 9s (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $6.60, MP1 calls $6.60

Bingo, I hit my card. Standard bet here, I think... maybe even if I didn't hit my straight. OK, he calls, what are putting him on? Sounds like a big pair, flush draw. Of course not having the nut straight is always scary.

River: ($23.45) 7s (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero ??

Do you bet here? How much do you bet? Does a bet commit your stack here?


This was one of my first hands. Ironically, somebody hit a gutter on me a few hands later; but I finished ahead in the deal by a whopping $1.25 so I have that going for me.

So that should do it for today, short and sweet.

Cmitch, have a good day!!!

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!!

Comments and Free Poker Training

I played an impressive 44 hands last night. I keep on having some internet problems and I didn't feel like dealing with it yesterday. The cable folks say it is something wrong with my wireless router which is fairly new. I don't know. They make cable modem/wiresless router combos these days. Maybe that is my ultimate answer. The good news is that I was gifted over a buyin in those few hands.

So, the month of April was a positive month which feels good that maybe I am finally turning this thing around. See graph below. I had a bad run towards the end of the month which stopped me from having a really good month.

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

I wanted to mention that I have added a couple of blogs to my top 15. I have been meaning to add these two for a while now; but have been too lazy. As I've mentioned, I have my top 10 commenters over on the right side. Suffice it to say, if you are commenting on my blog (which of course I love), then I will be linking you up. So go on over to these much better written and interesting blogs:

Card-nal Knowledge

and

Poker and Peaking

One nice thing about blogger commenting is that when you make a comment on somebody blog, it can email you with further comments on that post. I remember the days of having to try and remember what blogs you had commented on to see further comments on that blog. Sometimes, though, the box to email comments is not there because you have not officially signed in yet. Never fear, there is a work around to this. Make your comment and sign on; but don't submit the comment. Simply preview the comment. Now after that, when you go to submit the post, you will see the email me box when you go to submit your comment. Everybody probably already knew about this; but just in case, there you go.

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

Does everybody know about the free poker training that you can get from Cardrunners and Stoxpoker? It's called Truly Free Poker Training. It is simply one of the best deals going on out there. The basic gist is that you play and earn points on Full tilt and with those points, you can get CR and Stox video subscriptions. Beginning with May, if you earn 3,000 pts, you can get a month of Stoxpoker. If you earn 5,500 points, then you can get a month of CardRunners. If you earn 8,500, then you can get both. Not a bad deal, eh? Head on over to the website for more details. Oh, by the way, the best thing. It doesn't actually deduct the points from Full Tilt nor does it effect your MGR for rakeback. So, in this case, it really IS Truly Free. Nice job CR/Stox and thank you very much.

I'm going to copy something that I once saw TripJax do in that at the end of my blog, I will link to a blog that I believe deserves mentioning on my ending "have a nice day" part. So given that thought,

LJ, Have a nice weekend.

Does anybody like Pocket Jacks?

I was able to make up most of what I lost yesterday as I was up a little over one buyin which is fine be me. If I can make a buyin in my hour of play a day, I would obviously be happy.

Does anybody really like pocket Jacks? I had them twice last night with weird situations. What are you actions on these hands?

Villain is 36/13/2.2 over 713 hands.

Hand #1
Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/109466
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $106.05
MP1: $107.45
MP2: $51.65
CO: $160.70
BTN: $50.95
Hero (SB): $69.80
BB: $50.75
UTG: $52.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Jh Jc
4 folds, CO calls $0.50, BTN calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.50, 1 fold, CO calls $2, 1 fold

Flop: ($6.00) 4s 3c 9h (2 players)
Hero bets $4.25, CO raises to $18.75, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $14.50

Does anybody buy his check raise here? I decided to float this and see what happens on turn

Turn: ($43.50) 3h (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $139.45 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero ???

This is either the nuts or air in my opinion. It this just an OBFV (Overbet for value) or is it a bluff?


Hand #2
Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/109467
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $19.40
Hero (BTN): $50.00
SB: $62.80
BB: $34.25
UTG: $64.15
UTG+1: $36.35
UTG+2: $18.80
MP1: $62.20
MP2: $29.85

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Jc Js
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, UTG+2 calls $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 calls $0.50, CO calls $0.50, Hero raises to $4.25, 4 folds, MP1 calls $3.75, MP2 calls $3.75, CO calls $3.75

Are you raising or limping here in this family pot? My initial instincts were to limp; but decided against to try and narrow the field.


Flop: ($18.75) Qc 9c 5d (4 players)
MP1 bets $9.35, MP2 calls $9.35, CO folds, Hero folds

Anybody calling here? Pushing?


Turn: ($37.45) Jh (2 players)
MP1 bets $18.70, MP2 calls $16.25 all in

It figures.. I fold and I hit my hand. DANG!!!!


River: ($69.95) 5s (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $69.95
MP1 shows Qd Th (two pair, Queens and Fives)
MP2 shows Ac 5c (three of a kind, Fives)
MP2 wins $66.95
(Rake: $3.00)

http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/109466-109467

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

American Idol. Does anybody really believe that Adam Lambert was in the bottom two? I don't. That's all I have to say about that.

Have a nice day!!!

Poker on TV and Good time to Bluff?

I am really, really enjoying High Stakes Poker. If there is any doubt that Tom 'durrrr' Dwan is the sickest player on the planet, then watch last weeks episode. I should also mention a very close second with Patrick Antonius calling Phil Laak's bluff with bottom pair (or close to it.. a pair of 4s). It is definitely one show I don't miss. Meanwhile, I have about 7 World Poker Tours on the DVR to be watched and about 10 Poker After Darks. I will say that I have been keeping up on the Heads Up Championship. It's not always the best poker; but it is fairly quick and for the most part fun to watch.

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

Things are beginning to feel eerily familiar as far as the way I am running. The last two days have seen me running into coolers... bad beats, etc... I found myself 1 1/2 buyins down last night. I guess the good news is that I was over 5 buyins down at one point and I did fight my way back. I felt I wasn't tilting off like I was the previous night and still felt strong enough to keep on fighting; however, I did get to a point where I found a good stopping point even though I had not made it all back. I think that is definitely a difference in me that maybe 1 year ago where I would just keep playing until I made it back or in a lot of cases lost a lot more. I now have that sense of when I am playing good poker (more or less).

Last night I ran into a hand against a known player to me. He is a good player and is the kind of guy that senses weakness and goes for it. So, I hand came up where I thought (at the time anyway) that it was a good bluffing opportunity. Here is the hand:

Villain is a 13/10/2.5 over 2K hands.


Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/108709
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $138.70
UTG: $79.25
UTG+1: $34.75
Hero (UTG+2): $51.65
MP1: $30.85
MP2: $129.35
CO: $46.75
BTN: $51.55
SB: $65.20

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+2 with Qd As
UTG raises to $1, 1 fold, Hero calls $1, 2 folds, CO raises to $4.75, 4 folds, Hero calls $3.75

Why I limped, I can't remember. I seem to remember either misclicking or trying a limp out. Either way, I don't really like limping here (especially in this position)and I'm not sure why I did it.

Flop: ($11.25) 6s Kh 9s (2 players)
Hero bets $7, CO calls $7

Ok.. is villain just playing position or does he have a hand. My thoughts were that he was just playing position. He just calls. Not exactly what I was wanting.

Turn: ($25.25) 5s (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

hmmm.. check behind.. kind of smells like a pair below Kings.

River: ($25.25) 8c (2 players)
Hero bets $23, CO requests TIME, CO ??

Ok.. I thought he had a middle type pair here. What is it going to take to win this pot? Can I win the pot? So I chose to bet almost a pot sized bet. Again, this guy is a good player so I know he can lay down a good hand if he thinks he is beat; but does my line make any sense. I'm trying to think what he thinks I might have. He thought a long, long time before he acted. I won't say whether he called or folded at this point.

Thoughts?


Have a nice day!!!

Why do I do what I do

Meltdown day yesterday. Nothing too tragic; but I did lose 3 buyins. It was one of those things where I was rolling along nicely or should I say steadily.. and then my top pair (KQs) loses to Aces from a 50/8 guy (yep they get aces as well). A few hands later my aces get cracked when villain hits his gutter on the turn and then hands like K8s and 43s and AJ from EP start looking good and I finally had the sense to just quit; but why didn't I quit earlier? I guess that is just me being me.

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

Job hunt is still going; but nothing is coming up just yet. I've had a few interviews. My current job just extended my term date for the 3rd time so at least I have that going for me; although this time, it was only for a week until May 8th. I'll take what I can get.

That's it for now..

Have a nice day!!!

Good Turn Card or Bad Turn Card?

I didn't play very much this weekend and ended up making one buyin over about 1,700 hands. It was nice to have some more football on the tubes again. While I'm not a big fan of the NFL draft, I do like to watch it (mostly in fast forward mode on the DVR) to see what is going on.

Here is one hand that I wasn't sure what to do?

Button.. 14/10/4.7 655 hands
SB.. 15/9/2.8 5K hands
BB.. 33/0/1.6 74 hands

Full Tilt p0ker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/105271
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $43.70
UTG: $73.90
UTG+1: $50.00
MP1: $65.85
Hero (MP2): $50.00
CO: $56.00
BTN: $118.75
SB: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP2 with Ts Jc
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 1 fold, BTN calls $1.75, SB calls $1.50, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($7.00) Ks Ad Kh (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($7.00) Qc (4 players)
SB bets $4, BB folds, Hero calls $4, BTN folds

River: ($15.00) 4s (2 players)
SB bets $8, Hero calls $8


Thoughts on Turn call and River Call??

Different line on turn? fold? Raise?

Have a nice day!!!

OK.. I'm done with FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome) and iTunes Radio

Why do I think Fancy Play Syndrome will work at 50NL/50PL. So what if the guy is 80/30, he still can check behind. Nice way to fix my leak of not getting max value on my hands. Ok, more on that later.

I won an impressive $1.90 on my session tonight. The highlight of the session except for the aforementioned FPS was hitting a set twice only to lose to a 4 card straight of an under pair. In other words, I had something like 99 I hit my straight and the board ends up 689T and pocket 7s wins... The last one was a tough one because it was against one of those ultra TAGs. I didn't hit my set; but let's take a look.

Villain is 8/6/2.0

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/104054
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $59.50
UTG+1: $107.10
UTG+2: $63.05
Hero (MP1): $63.00
MP2: $143.20
CO: $76.40
BTN: $50.00
SB: $36.85
BB: $72.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP1 with Ks Kh
UTG raises to $2, 2 folds, Hero calls $2, 4 folds, BB calls $1.50

OK.. This guy raising UTG is realistically only 3 hands maybe 4. QQ, KK(unlikely since I have it) or AA.. maybe AKs.
Even worse, I had just reached my 200 pts and winding down and I am up close to 1 buyin. I don't really want to go home with a KK vs AA hand. Couple these two reasons and I don't want to play a big pot. I'll take the risk of pricing somebody else in. My other option was to 3bet and fold KK preflop to a raise and that would stink.


Flop: ($6.25) Jh Td 3s (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $4, Hero raises to $10, BB folds, UTG calls $6

OK, let's find out. Bet sizing is probably little off here. Should be more like $12-$14. If I get re-raised, I can find a fold pretty easily.

Turn: ($26.25) Ac (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

YIKES!!! He checked. Would he really check Aces here? What about AK?

River: ($26.25) Kd (2 players)
UTG bets $10, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $10

The only thing I beat here is AK. It was one of those calls that I just wanted to know.

I think you could argue that I played every street wrong. Thoughts?

Final Pot: $46.25
UTG shows Qs Qc (a straight, Ace high)
Hero mucks Ks Kh
UTG wins $43.95
(Rake: $2.30)


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

I just discovered iTunes Radio. Nice! I really like it. I found a 90s Alternative Station that brings me back to my college days. Nice!!!! Some STP, Jars of Clay, King Missle, Toad the Wet Sprocket, even Metallica. Very cool.

Now, they are playing Tori Amos.. really get into this station.

I guess I am dating myself here. Oh well.

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

OK.. this is just for amusement. I'm done with FPS. I don't know what I was thinking.

Hand #1
Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/104072
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $24.75
BB: $21.35
UTG: $27.05
Hero (UTG+1): $50.00
UTG+2: $93.00
MP1: $55.40
MP2: $54.65
CO: $56.90
BTN: $24.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with Ks Qs
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, UTG+2 calls $1.75, 6 folds

Flop: ($4.25) Kc Kd 6h (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 checks

Turn: ($4.25) 5h (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

River: ($9.25) Jc (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 checks

Final Pot: $9.25
Hero shows Ks Qs (three of a kind, Kings)
UTG+2 shows Ac Ad (two pair, Aces and Kings)
Hero wins $8.80
(Rake: $0.45)

Hand #2
Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/104073
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $100.55
BTN: $66.65
Hero (SB): $50.25
BB: $136.00
UTG: $53.80
UTG+1: $53.60
MP: $53.80

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Ts As
2 folds, MP raises to $1.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($3.50) 8d Th Tc (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

Turn: ($8.50) Kh (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $4.50, Hero calls $4.50

River: ($17.50) 4c (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

Final Pot: $17.50
Hero shows Ts As (three of a kind, Tens)
MP shows Jc Kc (two pair, Kings and Tens)
Hero wins $16.65
(Rake: $0.85)

http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/104072-104073

Both of these hands, I could have gotten paid. Color me dumb. Oh well. At least I won 2 bucks tonight. Better than losing.


Have a nice day!!!!

Floating

I've been thinking bout the profitability of floating the flop. At this point, regardless of position. Let's take a look at the good that can happen.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/101490
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $47.75
UTG+1: $71.05
Hero (UTG+2): $71.45
MP1: $26.55
MP2: $47.05
CO: $99.25
BTN: $102.25
SB: $100.00
BB: $67.90

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+2 with Qh Kh
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 4 folds, SB calls $1.50, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($5.25) 3c 9h 7c (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $5, Hero calls $5, SB folds

Turn: ($15.25) Qc (2 players)
BB bets $15.25, Hero raises to $61, BB raises to $61.15 all in, Hero calls $0.15

River: ($137.55) 5s (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $137.55
Hero shows Qh Kh (a pair of Queens)
BB shows Tc 9d (a pair of Nines)
Hero wins $134.55
(Rake: $3.00)

The villain in the above hand was a 50/21/1.1 guy over just 34 hands. SB was a very good regular. When is a good time and a bad time to float? Heads up against a bad player, it has be OK as you will get paid off sometimes. When there is a third person who is aggressive, it may not be good. What do you hope to accomplish with floating?

A) You hit your hand and you bet
B) You don't hit your hand; but the villain doesn't bet the turn and you steal (if you are out of position, you can try to steal after the river card)
C) A scare card comes and you can bet to steal the pot away.

Now, the other side of floating. You call the flop and then fold the turn. That has happened to me 63 times over the last two months losing almost $400. Looking at the number, I may be floating too much.

I'm sure that I could look at this in more detail; but the general thought today is when is it good to float and when is it not good to float. Is it solely based on opponent? Position? Board Texture? Showdown value of your hand (like pocket pairs)?All of the above?

I don't know the answer; but will study this a bit more over the upcoming weeks? Anybody have thoughts on floating?

Have a nice day!!!

TGIF and Ipod Touch

Wow, it has been one of those weeks where I'm glad that it is almost over. Pokerwise, I wish it could keep on going; but that's ok.

The hand yesterday, There are just too many hands that really dominate me. At the same time, there are some hands that would call me. At the end of the day, I folded again for alot of the same reasons as yesterday. I was given the business by some poker buddies so let me throw this out here.

How much positive EV are you willing to give up to have some positive mental EV? First, let me say that I don't necessarily tilt. I may throw something or yell; but for the most part, I am back to normal the next hand. Or am I? I was reading Short Stack Shamus where he referenced passive tilt and I think I am positively guilty of that. So here is the thing. I think I am ok with giving up some EV on some hero type calls or "correct" plays to save me some EV from things like passive tilt ( which is a reference from Matthew Hilger's Poker Mindset Book which I would really like to read). We'll see how it goes.

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

So, I have a few Fult Tilt Points and I think I am finally going to use them. I may buy the above referenced book; but I do know of one thing that I am going to buy..... a 32 gig iPod Touch. Does anybody have one of these? Of course, I will sacrificing some rakeback money; but it would be nice to see something tangible for my poker playing. I've even asked Mrs Wonka to take a look at the various site's Points Stores.

So, anybody with any iPod Touch experience, tell me some of the good apps out there. I have a little 4 gig nano; but I think comparing the two is apples to oranges. I'm looking forward to playing around with it.

Have a good weekend!!!

Somebody pinch me.

Somebody pinch me as I must be dreaming.. One of my first hands... I double up.. A few orbits, I double up on another table. The thing is they weren't nut type hands. There were just a bunch of good tables at the Pot Limit tables last night.

I wanted to mention the hands from yesterday. I ended up folding both of them. The first one is really questionable; but I'm ok with the second one. Even though I am usually the lord of the hero call, I'm starting to realize something. I feel alot better if I fold than if I call and lose. Obviously the money difference is the main reason; but in the big overall picture, the potential for money saved seems to sit better with me than the money potentially gained. Maybe it's become I am a conservative finance type. Who knows.

Speaking of folding vs hero calling. Here is a hand where I flopped 2 pair. What do you do?

Villain is a 25/12/0.8 guy over 442 hands.
he check raises flop 17%
3bets 4.5 and folds to cbet 47%

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/97366
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $52.20
Hero (CO): $50.00
BTN: $50.95
SB: $50.25
BB: $42.90
UTG: $50.00
UTG+1: $80.10

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Tc Jc
2 folds, MP calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.25, 2 folds, BB calls $1.75, 1 fold

Flop: ($5.25) Qs Jh Th (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4, BB raises to $10.60, Hero calls $6.60

Turn: ($26.45) 4s (2 players)
BB bets $26.45, Hero ???

So this guy likes to push a little bit. Although he is not very aggressive as far as aggression factor goes. The real question I kept asking myself, would he flat call with AK preflop? I guess it could be 98. Could be flush draw... The decision is just not on the turn here as a call here commits me to the river. What about the flop call?

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

The Blues let me down in the first game of the playoffs; but the good news is that they played pretty well barring their special teams which are normally excellent. We'll try it again on Friday.

Have a nice day!!!

Folding Top Pair?

Starting off badly tonight with Kings getting in as a favorite and losing at the end; but it is what it is. I was able to come back and win 3 buyins.

One thing I struggle with is Top Pair Hands.

Here are a couple, let me know what you do?


Hand #1

Villain is 35/6/4.1 over 65 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/96286
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $32.25
UTG+1: $73.60
UTG+2: $70.90
MP1: $35.75
MP2: $73.10
Hero (CO): $69.30
BTN: $19.20
SB: $50.25
BB: $10.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with Ts As
4 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.25, 3 folds, MP2 calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) 2s 8c Ad (2 players)
MP2 bets $2.60, Hero calls $2.60

Turn: ($10.45) 5s (2 players)
MP2 bets $10.45, Hero calls $10.45

River: ($31.35) 7d (2 players)
MP2 bets $15.65, Hero requests TIME, Hero ??

The original plan once he donk bet on the flop (which he does a lot at 58%) was to call down. The half pot river bet confused me a bit. Do you call?




Hand #2

Villain is 24/8/14.0 over 63 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 8 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/96287
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $47.35
CO: $39.15
Hero (BTN): $87.45
SB: $171.20
BB: $38.00
UTG: $44.85
UTG+1: $18.20
MP1: $50.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Kc As
4 folds, CO calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.25, SB raises to $7.75, 2 folds, Hero calls $5.50

Flop: ($16.50) 9s Kh Qd (2 players)
SB bets $16.50, Hero calls $16.50

Turn: ($49.50) 9h (2 players)
SB bets $49.50, Hero ??

For what it is worth, I'm at the end of my session. Do I play for stacks against this aggressive guy?

Have a nice day!!!

PLO Experiment and Deja Vu

PLO Experiment is OVER!!!! I lost 3 buyins tonight. I don't know how often people hit quads; but they hit them three times on me tonight.. I had nut straight once until river... and nut full house twice... until river... Another flopped full house was outdown on the turn. Yikes... I think I will hold off for a while.

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

I started playing a little earlier to get my 200 pts tonight and boy were the games good starting around 6:30 Central Time. I couldn't believe the tasty seats available. Of course, as we know, these tables bring on variance big time... Such as 3 flopped sets going down, etc, etc.. I lost two buyins; but my EV adjusted earnings were nearly 2 buyins up for a 4 buy in difference. Ouch.

Here is the chart.

Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Have a nice day.

Don't Cry for Me Argentina

Wow, what a Masters. A little anti-climatic in the end even though it went down to sudden death. To me, it is always special when Phil and Tiger are in the same group and boy did they not disappoint. Definitely a coulda woulda shoulda moment for them as they just didn't have enough in the tank and bombed the last two holes. It was sure exciting while it lasted though.

Congrats to Argentinian Angel Cabrera. I'm sure Kenny Perry is a little disappointed as well. Augusta has claimed many victims in its day.

----------

Break even weekend of poker and not really anything too interesting.

I'm down a little bit on my PLO experiment; but only a couple of bucks.

Have a nice day!!!

Just for the fun of it

Just for the fun of it, I have been throwing in 1 table of 25 PLO over at Stars just to change things around. I'm still playing my 200 pts worth over at FTP. I'm playing like a total fish while I feel it out. There are definitely some bad players.

I ran into a blogger buddy poker peaker over at the PLO tables tonight. He wasn't one of the bad players by the way. Good playing a little PLO with you tonight.

I'm pretty much break even so far after after about 5 tries. Up and down. You know... that's PLO.

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

I'm definitely looking forward to the Masters. Always a good time watching who gets the green jacket.


Have a nice day!!!

Don't tell anyone

Don't tell anyone; but my near 50 buyin downswing may be over. Here is a graph of the last 17 days. Enough said; but let's keep this to ourselves. We don't want to jinx myself.





Also found a widget that shows your top 10 commenters. I have added that to the sidebar. Thanks to all those who take a few minutes to make comments.

Have a nice day.

900K pot and 3 part question with mid pkt pair

I watched the latest episode of High Stakes Poker tonight and I have to say my stomach is a little sick. That Barry Greenstein and Durrrr hand was wild even though the money was in early. I won't ruin any more; but it is definitely worth the watch. Adding to the sickness is watching the continuing bad luck of Kid Poker. I guess he will back for the next session whereas most of the guys are leaving. As usual, it continues to be the best poker show on TV.

I played a hand with pocket sixes lately that brought up 3 points that I am working on or at least thinking about. Give me your thoughts. I already ran it by some poker buddies and got some varying answers.

Full Tilt p0ker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/87812
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $36.85
BB: $27.25
UTG: $62.05
UTG+1: $25.00
MP: $30.35
CO: $175.35
Hero (BTN): $76.10

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 6d 6c
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, MP calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, BB checks

Question #1

I used to never, never limp preflop (outside of blinds). For whatever reason, it was always raise or fold. After talking to somebody, I'm mixing in limps.

After two limpers, what is your normal play with 66 on the button? Both limpers in this case are loose players (67/17/.5 and 40/5/2.5).

I limped. thoughts?


Flop: ($2.50) 3s 5h 4h (5 players)
SB checks, BB bets $2.50, UTG+1 calls $2.50, MP calls $2.50, Hero calls $2.50, SB folds

Question #2

I'm not going to hide my action. OK. Pot sized bet with two callers on a great flop for me. I had my raised typed in; but just called with the plan of raising any turn card (would think about it if a Heart came). The pretty lame reason as I look on it now, is I wanted to keep people in the hand and let them lead the turn.

Thoughts?


Turn: ($12.50) Qd (4 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 bets $12.50, MP folds, Hero raises to $25 (min raise puts both guys all in), The other villain is the BB and he was a 18/6/2.5 guy


Question #3

OK, not the greatest card. UTG+1 is the 67/17 guy so I held to my plan.

Thoughts?


----------

Congrats to Tar Heels. I really thought it would be a closer game. Truthfully, after a few minutes, I didn't even watch any more. I just fast forwarded on my DVR. If I had been betting, I would have taken the 7 or 8 points. I am glad to see NC win for Tyler Hansbrough's sake. With him being from Missouri, I was rooting for him.


Have a nice day!!!

Weird Session

I had a really weird session last night.

A session that saw me win only 40% at showdown..

It was a session that out of 690 hands, I had aces 7 times , kings 4 times and queens twice..

I ran my aces into aces.. my kings into aces and queens into aces. On the kings hand I flopped my set and he rivered his ace

I hit a royal flush for the 2nd time this week

I was river guttered 2 or 3 times

I turned a nut flush only to be boated up on the river.

I didn't hit my first set for over 300 hands; but then ended up with a set % at 15% (better than the 12.5% expected rate).

Overall, I was up almost 1 buyin; but it was sure a roller coaster ride.

One hand that I couldn't really figure out what to do.

Villain is a 40/23/3.8 over just 127 hands 3bets 7.5% and 4bets 25%
Folds to 3bets 75% and cbets 69%

Full Tilt p0ker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/83831
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $47.75
CO: $24.25
BTN: $100.00
Hero (SB): $68.35
BB: $54.35
UTG: $58.65
UTG+1: $25.95

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with Qd Qh
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP raises to $1, 2 folds, Hero raises to $4, 2 folds, MP raises to $11, Hero calls $7


First dilemma was preflop. Who 5bets here against this guy?


Flop: ($23.00) Jc 6c 3d (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $23, ??

If I called preflop and get this flop is there anything stopping me from putting all my chips in? Should I be leading out which would let me fold potentially? Can I assume that I may be ahead and push it in? Do I just wimp out and fold and maybe save the chips for a better spot?

A couple of poker buddies that are much better than me said more or less the chips are going in. One said preflop and the other said after the flop. Agree/Disagree? Of course, not knowing the results skews things; but makes the decision making better. I'll post what I did later in the comments.

Have a nice day!!