Yes, it's not even 10:30 and I'm home already from the tournament. I actually played quite well and didn't get blinded off as usual. I got my money in with the best hand and was the victim of a donkey.
Here's the final hand. We were in level 5 with the blinds at 300/600 and I had the 2nd highest chip stack at my table with about 8000. I had AdKd on the button and a MP player raised to 1500. He had me slightly out-chipped with about 8800. I just called.
I looked at his stack and decided not to push all-in which is what basically everyone else at the table had been doing during that round. Since we were the 2 chip leaders at the table I thought I'd see a flop and go with it if it hit me.
The flop was KQ2 all hearts. He bet 2500 into me and I could only fold or move all-in. There's no point in calling here because if another heart came on the turn or river I would have to fold if he bet into me. So I moved all-in for my last 6500.
The dude took a while to decide which made me think he must've had a piece of the flop or at least a big heart. I was thinking I didn't really want him to call me. Finally he did call and turned over KcJs. He had top pair with a mediocre kicker and I was in great shape.
That didn't last long as the Jd came on the turn and the meaningless 5h came on the river. I was out after being beaten by a 3 outer. As usual, I just don't understand this play.
Why would he put his tournament life at risk with that hand? He had to assume that I was drawing with a big heart or maybe a straight draw or both. It still doesn't make much sense since he would've still had over 5000 chips and would be in good shape at our table still.
As it turns out, I was a 75% favorite before the flop and an 82% favorite after the flop. This is why so many people play poker. Anyone can win even when they make a bad decision.
I really only had 3 other significant hands. The first I had AcKc under the gun and was raised all-in on a flop of AK4 all spades. I made the call and my opponent turned over AdQs for top pair and the nut flush draw. My 2 pair held up and I doubled up.
The 2nd hand I had AK again (off-suit this time) and was re-raised all-in before the flop. It wasn't much of a raise so I made the call. My opponent turned over AQo and I was again in great shape. The flop came AJ2 so I was still looking good. But then the turn and river both brought Jacks so we split the pot.
The 3rd hand came just after the first break. I was in MP with 99. The UTG player raised all-in to 1500 with blinds at 200/400. I had about 5200 in chips and made the call. I only called because the BB had been playing almost every hand - even to a raise - and I wanted him to play this one.
The BB surprised me by re-raising all-in for about another 1500. Since the pot was almost 5000 I had to call the extra 1500 and hope I was in the lead. The BB actually had a better hand than I expected as he turned over AKo. The initial raiser had AJo so I was basically racing both of them. The final board was 77662 so I scooped the pot and eliminated 2 players. That was the highlight of my tournament.
Overall, I'm pissed that I went out so early and that I was the victim of a bad beat but I'm also happy because it was a great experience. I'm still trying to decide if I'd prefer to be the victim of a bad beat or if I'd rather go out by being blinded out of chips. The bad beat victim knows he got his chips in with the best of it but the other way I get to play a lot longer. I guess either way I don't make any money.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Recovering
I guess it's been a while since I posted on here. I've basically been recovering since the beating I took at both FullTilt and PokerStars. Since that beating I've dropped down to lower blind levels and I've started playing 6 handed tables.
So far the results for me have been great. I've been playing much more aggressively and I attribute that to being more willing to take some risks on draws. The bet amounts don't seem quite so huge and so I'm willing to put my money in to chase a draw more often now and it seems to be paying off.
In addition, I'm much more willing to attempt a bluff at someone who shows weakness. I've had this happen against me and now I'm willing to try it myself.
The scenario usually occurs when I'm in one of the blinds and I call a preflop raise and then call a bet on the flop. I usually do this with medium pocket pairs or AK and I can comfortably call a pot-size flop bet even when I don't hit the flop. Then if the preflop raiser checks on the turn I will usually bet into him on the river unless a scare card appears. I rarely get called when this I do this and it's easy to get away when I get raised.
I've had people do this to me especially at the higher blind levels I was playing at before and I've always suspected I'm being bluffed but the bet amounts were so large that I just couldn't call. Now I feel much more comfortable with the bet amounts that I'm willing to make this play myself.
I think this has really improved my game and my bankroll. I've read lots of articles about bankroll management and how sometimes you need to drop down in levels until you've recovered from a bad stretch. I've had bad stretches before but I've usually been able to struggle through them and remain at the same blind levels. This time I decided to drop down and see what happened. So far I'm happy with the results.
On another note, tonight I did something I haven't done in a long time but something I've wanted to do for a while. I went to Canterbury Park (my local card room) and registered for a tournament that's part of their "Fall Poker Classic". They've been running this series of tournaments each year for a while now and I've always thought of playing but just never made the effort to do it.
So tonight I plunked down my cash and registered for a tourney on next Tuesday the 16th. Hopefully I'll have some good results to post. I really don't play very many tournaments because they take so long to play and usually I only have a couple of hours each night to play.
I played in a tourney at Canterbury a couple of years ago. The top 11 places were given a trip to Vegas and entry in a satellite to play in one of the World Poker Tour events. Out of about 225 players I came in 23rd. For my first live tourney I thought that was pretty good but I was still disappointed that I didn't win a trip to Vegas.
On my last trip to Vegas I played in a small tourney and came in 6th place but of course only the top 4 were paid. It seems kind of common for me to just miss the money and I think that's because I keep playing tight as the tourney progresses. I've read lots of books about making moves as the tourney goes on and how you can't let yourself get blinded off but I just can't seem to pull the trigger when I'm actually playing. I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen next Tuesday.
So far the results for me have been great. I've been playing much more aggressively and I attribute that to being more willing to take some risks on draws. The bet amounts don't seem quite so huge and so I'm willing to put my money in to chase a draw more often now and it seems to be paying off.
In addition, I'm much more willing to attempt a bluff at someone who shows weakness. I've had this happen against me and now I'm willing to try it myself.
The scenario usually occurs when I'm in one of the blinds and I call a preflop raise and then call a bet on the flop. I usually do this with medium pocket pairs or AK and I can comfortably call a pot-size flop bet even when I don't hit the flop. Then if the preflop raiser checks on the turn I will usually bet into him on the river unless a scare card appears. I rarely get called when this I do this and it's easy to get away when I get raised.
I've had people do this to me especially at the higher blind levels I was playing at before and I've always suspected I'm being bluffed but the bet amounts were so large that I just couldn't call. Now I feel much more comfortable with the bet amounts that I'm willing to make this play myself.
I think this has really improved my game and my bankroll. I've read lots of articles about bankroll management and how sometimes you need to drop down in levels until you've recovered from a bad stretch. I've had bad stretches before but I've usually been able to struggle through them and remain at the same blind levels. This time I decided to drop down and see what happened. So far I'm happy with the results.
On another note, tonight I did something I haven't done in a long time but something I've wanted to do for a while. I went to Canterbury Park (my local card room) and registered for a tournament that's part of their "Fall Poker Classic". They've been running this series of tournaments each year for a while now and I've always thought of playing but just never made the effort to do it.
So tonight I plunked down my cash and registered for a tourney on next Tuesday the 16th. Hopefully I'll have some good results to post. I really don't play very many tournaments because they take so long to play and usually I only have a couple of hours each night to play.
I played in a tourney at Canterbury a couple of years ago. The top 11 places were given a trip to Vegas and entry in a satellite to play in one of the World Poker Tour events. Out of about 225 players I came in 23rd. For my first live tourney I thought that was pretty good but I was still disappointed that I didn't win a trip to Vegas.
On my last trip to Vegas I played in a small tourney and came in 6th place but of course only the top 4 were paid. It seems kind of common for me to just miss the money and I think that's because I keep playing tight as the tourney progresses. I've read lots of books about making moves as the tourney goes on and how you can't let yourself get blinded off but I just can't seem to pull the trigger when I'm actually playing. I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen next Tuesday.
Monday, September 17, 2007
FullTilt Crap
When I first started playing online at FullTilt Poker I was somewhat surprised by my results. After all, I had already been playing online for over a year at many sites and done quite well at each of those sites. But when I played on FullTilt I would win a little bit for about 4 to 5 days and then I would lose it all and then some. I couldn't decide if the players were better than me or my luck was just bad at FullTilt for some reason.
At one point I actually vowed never to play there again because I just couldn't win. After reviewing my play I decided the players were not better than me. They were just much looser than the other sites at which I played. And that led to much worse luck because that loose play invited bad beats.
I can't tell you the number of times I would see someone raise pre-flop and get called from someone in late position. Both players would get their money in after the flop. The cards would be turned over and the pre-flop raiser would have pockets Aces and the caller would have Q9o or other similar garbage. The flop would have a Queen on it and so the pre-flop caller would think they were good. And the bad beat 9 (or Queen) would always come on the river. I've seen this occasionally at other sites but not with the frequency that it occurs on FullTilt.
I'm writing this because even after I vowed not to play at FullTilt, I still went back to play. I am a "bonus whore" and FullTilt offered me some pretty good bonuses if I played on their site again. Plus I found a way to earn rakeback of 27% so that was enough incentive for me. Plus many of the other online poker sites no longer allowed U.S. players because of some idiotic legislation that the U.S. government passed so I was limited as to my choices.
After about 3 months of play on FullTilt, my results had changed and I was actually doing quite well. Until 3 nights ago that is. I cannot believe the plays I saw and the results that occurred.
Here's a replay of some hands at one particular table - a $3/6 no-limit hold'em table. After about an hour at this table I was about even and nothing terribly interesting had happened. Then a new person joined the table and he sat down 1 seat away from where the blinds currently were. And he immediately posted. This is one of the dumbest things I see people doing. They're going to have to post the BB on the next hand anyway so all they have to do is sit out one hand and then they'll be able to play.
But this donkey posts and checks when it's his turn to check or raise. Everyone folds and the button raises to the size of the pot. The donk calls. After the flop brings an Ace and rags he checks and calls the button's bet. The turn is another rag and he bets into the button and the bet calls. The river is another rag so this board has a bunch of junk and both players check. The button turns over AQo so he has a pair of Aces and the donk turns over K3o for absolutely nothing.
To summarize this hand the donk called a big pf raise with K3o when he was out of position and then proceeded to call a pot-size flop bet with nothing and bet on the turn with nothing. This was all I needed to confirm that a donk was at my table.
He solidified my belief when he proceeded to play almost every hand after that by limping into the pot and then calling down all bets when he had nothing better than bottom pair. He did this on many hands and actually won quite a few of them. I guess that's why he kept doing it.
The next hand I'll summarize is when I was in the SB with Td9d. The above donk limped as usual and by now half the table was limping too because we all knew that we could easily take his money if we hit the flop hard. On this hand the flop came down KdTsTh. Obviously I hit the flop hard and was quite happy when the BB bet the pot after I checked. The donk made his usual call while everyone else folded to me in the SB. I raised to the size of the pot and the BB re-raised all-in. The donk finally folded but there was no way I was going to fold since it wasn't that much more money and I easily had the BB covered.
The BB turned over Ks3s. According to CardPlayer.com I was an 88% favorite to win the hand. Of course the turn and river were both spades so he caught runner runner for a winning flush. I'm stunned when I see this crap. I can understand if he had QJ or a King with a big kicker but did he actually think he had a decent chance with a 3 kicker? And this wasn't even the same donk I was referring to earlier!
The next hand I'll replay occurred against the first donk I mentioned above. I was in early position and limped with 22 because like I said before, everyone was limping to get the donk's money and it seemed to be working (except for me). A player in middle position raised to the size of the pot and the donk called. Everyone else folded but I called since I was getting good enough pot odds and great implied pot odds.
Bingo! The flop comes Q62 rainbow and I have flopped trips. I check and the pre-flop raiser bets about 2/3 pot. The donk raises all-in and I call. The donk has me covered so I cannot raise anymore. The donk flips over QJo and I see that I'm a 98% favorite to win. Of course the turn comes another Queen which knocks me down to an 84% favorite and the river is a Jack to complete his runner runner full house that beats my full house.
These are the kind of donk plays I see at FullTilt all of the time. I have a hard time understanding why I can't win at this site when I'm usually getting my money in with the best of it. I know it's not rigged but this kind of crap sure makes you wonder. And really makes you doubt your ability.
At one point I actually vowed never to play there again because I just couldn't win. After reviewing my play I decided the players were not better than me. They were just much looser than the other sites at which I played. And that led to much worse luck because that loose play invited bad beats.
I can't tell you the number of times I would see someone raise pre-flop and get called from someone in late position. Both players would get their money in after the flop. The cards would be turned over and the pre-flop raiser would have pockets Aces and the caller would have Q9o or other similar garbage. The flop would have a Queen on it and so the pre-flop caller would think they were good. And the bad beat 9 (or Queen) would always come on the river. I've seen this occasionally at other sites but not with the frequency that it occurs on FullTilt.
I'm writing this because even after I vowed not to play at FullTilt, I still went back to play. I am a "bonus whore" and FullTilt offered me some pretty good bonuses if I played on their site again. Plus I found a way to earn rakeback of 27% so that was enough incentive for me. Plus many of the other online poker sites no longer allowed U.S. players because of some idiotic legislation that the U.S. government passed so I was limited as to my choices.
After about 3 months of play on FullTilt, my results had changed and I was actually doing quite well. Until 3 nights ago that is. I cannot believe the plays I saw and the results that occurred.
Here's a replay of some hands at one particular table - a $3/6 no-limit hold'em table. After about an hour at this table I was about even and nothing terribly interesting had happened. Then a new person joined the table and he sat down 1 seat away from where the blinds currently were. And he immediately posted. This is one of the dumbest things I see people doing. They're going to have to post the BB on the next hand anyway so all they have to do is sit out one hand and then they'll be able to play.
But this donkey posts and checks when it's his turn to check or raise. Everyone folds and the button raises to the size of the pot. The donk calls. After the flop brings an Ace and rags he checks and calls the button's bet. The turn is another rag and he bets into the button and the bet calls. The river is another rag so this board has a bunch of junk and both players check. The button turns over AQo so he has a pair of Aces and the donk turns over K3o for absolutely nothing.
To summarize this hand the donk called a big pf raise with K3o when he was out of position and then proceeded to call a pot-size flop bet with nothing and bet on the turn with nothing. This was all I needed to confirm that a donk was at my table.
He solidified my belief when he proceeded to play almost every hand after that by limping into the pot and then calling down all bets when he had nothing better than bottom pair. He did this on many hands and actually won quite a few of them. I guess that's why he kept doing it.
The next hand I'll summarize is when I was in the SB with Td9d. The above donk limped as usual and by now half the table was limping too because we all knew that we could easily take his money if we hit the flop hard. On this hand the flop came down KdTsTh. Obviously I hit the flop hard and was quite happy when the BB bet the pot after I checked. The donk made his usual call while everyone else folded to me in the SB. I raised to the size of the pot and the BB re-raised all-in. The donk finally folded but there was no way I was going to fold since it wasn't that much more money and I easily had the BB covered.
The BB turned over Ks3s. According to CardPlayer.com I was an 88% favorite to win the hand. Of course the turn and river were both spades so he caught runner runner for a winning flush. I'm stunned when I see this crap. I can understand if he had QJ or a King with a big kicker but did he actually think he had a decent chance with a 3 kicker? And this wasn't even the same donk I was referring to earlier!
The next hand I'll replay occurred against the first donk I mentioned above. I was in early position and limped with 22 because like I said before, everyone was limping to get the donk's money and it seemed to be working (except for me). A player in middle position raised to the size of the pot and the donk called. Everyone else folded but I called since I was getting good enough pot odds and great implied pot odds.
Bingo! The flop comes Q62 rainbow and I have flopped trips. I check and the pre-flop raiser bets about 2/3 pot. The donk raises all-in and I call. The donk has me covered so I cannot raise anymore. The donk flips over QJo and I see that I'm a 98% favorite to win. Of course the turn comes another Queen which knocks me down to an 84% favorite and the river is a Jack to complete his runner runner full house that beats my full house.
These are the kind of donk plays I see at FullTilt all of the time. I have a hard time understanding why I can't win at this site when I'm usually getting my money in with the best of it. I know it's not rigged but this kind of crap sure makes you wonder. And really makes you doubt your ability.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Up Late Again
So once again, I stayed up until 1:00 AM last night playing hold'em on FullTilt and PokerStars. It was the usual 4 table setup - 2 tables on each site. At first I was holding steady at FullTilt but up pretty good on PokerStars. Then my FullTilt tables turned bad.
I was card dead - completely missing every flop when I raised pre-flop or getting no cards even worth seeing a flop. I usually follow up a pre-flop raise with a continuation bet on the flop and now I was getting check-raised pretty big on ugly boards so I had no choice but to fold.
After about an hour of doing well on PokerStars, my best table disintegrated. It usually starts when a couple of people decide to leave at the same time and within one round most everyone else leaves when it's time for the to post the BB.
So I was down to playing 3 tables and not doing well on any of them. The only consolation was that I did well at the other table that I just left so I wasn't down that much.
At this time I was also getting pretty pissed about the action I was getting. I was getting some pretty good hole cards - pocket Aces, Kings and Queens - but no one would call my pre-flop raises so I wasn't winning anything but the blinds. My strategy for entering a pot is to raise almost every time if I'm the first person in the pot and I will always raise the same amount. That way I do not give away the strength of my hand - I may have AA or I could have A4.
But it seemed like everyone knew when I had a big hand and they were folding or maybe I was just getting unlucky that no one else had a good enough hand when I did. Regardless of the reason, I decided to mix up my strategy.
The first time came when a guy in early position made a standard pre-flop raise. I had AA and just smooth called in middle position. I don't usually do this because it gives everyone else better pot odds to come in with things like suited connectors and AA doesn't play well in multi-way pots. After the flop, I made a minimum raise of his flop bet and he called. There were possible straight and flush draws on the flop so he probably believed I was drawing - which is what I wanted him to believe. He checked to me on the turn and I bet 1/2 pot. He check-raised me all-in and I was glad to call. He turned over TT and I won a nice pot. My pre-flop slow play seemed to work.
About 1 round later I had KK and just limped - very abnormal for me as I hate seeing an Ace come on the flop. Everyone else folded to the SB who made a decent size raise. I re-raised him to 3x his raise and he folded. This wasn't a huge pot but it was nice to get some action on my good starting hand for once even though it didn't even get to the flop.
Overall, I won a few bucks on the night but it was another frustrating night of few cards and little action. I'm starting to think about playing some smaller tourneys or at least some Sit-n-Gos just to get a change of pace.
I was card dead - completely missing every flop when I raised pre-flop or getting no cards even worth seeing a flop. I usually follow up a pre-flop raise with a continuation bet on the flop and now I was getting check-raised pretty big on ugly boards so I had no choice but to fold.
After about an hour of doing well on PokerStars, my best table disintegrated. It usually starts when a couple of people decide to leave at the same time and within one round most everyone else leaves when it's time for the to post the BB.
So I was down to playing 3 tables and not doing well on any of them. The only consolation was that I did well at the other table that I just left so I wasn't down that much.
At this time I was also getting pretty pissed about the action I was getting. I was getting some pretty good hole cards - pocket Aces, Kings and Queens - but no one would call my pre-flop raises so I wasn't winning anything but the blinds. My strategy for entering a pot is to raise almost every time if I'm the first person in the pot and I will always raise the same amount. That way I do not give away the strength of my hand - I may have AA or I could have A4.
But it seemed like everyone knew when I had a big hand and they were folding or maybe I was just getting unlucky that no one else had a good enough hand when I did. Regardless of the reason, I decided to mix up my strategy.
The first time came when a guy in early position made a standard pre-flop raise. I had AA and just smooth called in middle position. I don't usually do this because it gives everyone else better pot odds to come in with things like suited connectors and AA doesn't play well in multi-way pots. After the flop, I made a minimum raise of his flop bet and he called. There were possible straight and flush draws on the flop so he probably believed I was drawing - which is what I wanted him to believe. He checked to me on the turn and I bet 1/2 pot. He check-raised me all-in and I was glad to call. He turned over TT and I won a nice pot. My pre-flop slow play seemed to work.
About 1 round later I had KK and just limped - very abnormal for me as I hate seeing an Ace come on the flop. Everyone else folded to the SB who made a decent size raise. I re-raised him to 3x his raise and he folded. This wasn't a huge pot but it was nice to get some action on my good starting hand for once even though it didn't even get to the flop.
Overall, I won a few bucks on the night but it was another frustrating night of few cards and little action. I'm starting to think about playing some smaller tourneys or at least some Sit-n-Gos just to get a change of pace.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Playing but Not Posting (and Donkeys)
So I haven't posted for a while but I have been playing. I have 2 reasons for not posting. First, I had an amazing night 3 nights ago at the tables. I was playing fine but just getting very unlucky - not necessarily bad beat unlucky but more like AA vs KK and I had the KK so I lost my stack. This was happening on 3 of the 4 tables I was playing. But then suddenly I had a good run and was almost even for the night. I was satisfied with only losing a little bit after being down a ton so I turned off all of the "auto-post blinds" checkboxes because I was on my last round at each table. Then the bottom dropped out. In about 20 combined hands at the 4 tables I went right back down to where I was and then kept falling. It was my worst night of poker ever.
After that I had to think long and hard about my game and what I should do to build my bankroll back up. I decided to keep playing the next night because I believe most of my losses were due to plain old bad luck and not bad play on my part (although I did tilt off some of it after I started falling so fast). So for the last 3 nights I've been winning again but it hasn't been easy. I've gotten down most nights and had to stay up late just to get back ahead.
I think that's one of my biggest downfalls - I always believe I can win back the money I've lost if I just keep playing. So sometimes I stay up quite late just to get back even and it rarely works out. I don't think this is a bad attitude to have because it shows I have confidence in my game. But I also need to realize that sometimes I can be playing great but the cards just aren't falling for me so I need to cut my losses and wait for the next night.
My second reason for not posting lately is that I've been staying up so late trying to get a win that I haven't wanted to stay up even later to post an entry here. And then the next day I don't have time to post due to plans for the day.
I guess I have a third reason for not posting lately and that's because I realized I'm mostly posting about significant hands I've played and that probably gets a little boring to read. But it's kind of nice to write about because it helps me think through the hand and how I played it. So I guess I haven't decided exactly what I want to include in this blog and that's what has kept me from posting also.
I do have one thing that I want to mention in this post though. That's the number of complete donkeys I encounter every night at the $2/4 and $3/6 blind levels. My neighbor (who I discuss my play with quite a bit) always comments that these blind levels are pretty high stakes. When I tell him about some of the plays I've seen he's always shocked by the play because he assumed that the caliber of player at this level is so much higher than the level he plays at. In general I would agree with him that most of the players at my tables are better than those at his tables. And that's why I'm surprised by some of these plays also.
For example, at my table last night, a guy in late position does the minimum raise thing (which I hate) and the button calls but the SB folds. I'm in the BB with the all-powerful 53o. I call since I'm getting such incredible pot odds. The flop comes 467 with 2 hearts. I've flopped the bottom end of the straight and decide to slow play since neither of these players have much money so I figure I'll be putting at least one of them all-in on a check-raise. The pre-flop raiser doesn't disappoint and bets 2/3 of the pot. The button calls yet again and I raise enough to put the original better all-in. He calls and the button calls too even though it leaves him with very little left. The turn is a blank so I bet enough to put the button all-in and he calls as expected. The river is a 5 which really pisses me off since I've seen so many people with pocket 8's in this situation who just got really lucky.
Well that wasn't the case this time. The original raiser turned over Qd7d and the button turned over A3o. I ended up splitting the pot with the button. So here's what I'm talking about donkeys. The original minimum pre-flop raiser had a lousy Q7s. If you're going to raise with that hand, why raise so little just to invite action? And then why do you call off all of your chips when you flop top pair with a mediocre kicker? Especially when your top pair is so low. Two donkey moves right there.
And then there's the button's play. I don't mind the pre-flop call since the raise was so little to begin with but it may have been better to re-raise to see if his Ace was any good. But then after the flop, he cold calls a bet of 2/3 pot and all he has is an over card and gutshot straight draw. This is a pretty stupid play but then he makes it worse by calling my big check-raise. Did he actually think he could hit something to win the pot? What could I be check-raising with where he still had a chance and his odds were good enough to take that chance? The only thing I can think of is if I had a flush draw but then I probably would've had the Ace of hearts and my kicker was probably better than his 3. So his only chance of winning the pot outright would be to hit the 5 and hope I didn't have an 8. In addition, he only calls my check-raise instead of re-raising to put his last few chips in. I guess he knew I was going to bet on the turn so he decided to just wait for that. I can't decide which of these 2 is the bigger donkey.
This is the kind of play I see frequently at my tables. And of course there's always the donkey who calls off all of his chips with pocket 3's on a flop of AK6. I can't believe these people play at these blind levels. Are they completely new to the game and they don't realize 2/4 and 3/6 are quite high to start out at? Or do they just have so much money that they don't care? I wish I had that problem.
After that I had to think long and hard about my game and what I should do to build my bankroll back up. I decided to keep playing the next night because I believe most of my losses were due to plain old bad luck and not bad play on my part (although I did tilt off some of it after I started falling so fast). So for the last 3 nights I've been winning again but it hasn't been easy. I've gotten down most nights and had to stay up late just to get back ahead.
I think that's one of my biggest downfalls - I always believe I can win back the money I've lost if I just keep playing. So sometimes I stay up quite late just to get back even and it rarely works out. I don't think this is a bad attitude to have because it shows I have confidence in my game. But I also need to realize that sometimes I can be playing great but the cards just aren't falling for me so I need to cut my losses and wait for the next night.
My second reason for not posting lately is that I've been staying up so late trying to get a win that I haven't wanted to stay up even later to post an entry here. And then the next day I don't have time to post due to plans for the day.
I guess I have a third reason for not posting lately and that's because I realized I'm mostly posting about significant hands I've played and that probably gets a little boring to read. But it's kind of nice to write about because it helps me think through the hand and how I played it. So I guess I haven't decided exactly what I want to include in this blog and that's what has kept me from posting also.
I do have one thing that I want to mention in this post though. That's the number of complete donkeys I encounter every night at the $2/4 and $3/6 blind levels. My neighbor (who I discuss my play with quite a bit) always comments that these blind levels are pretty high stakes. When I tell him about some of the plays I've seen he's always shocked by the play because he assumed that the caliber of player at this level is so much higher than the level he plays at. In general I would agree with him that most of the players at my tables are better than those at his tables. And that's why I'm surprised by some of these plays also.
For example, at my table last night, a guy in late position does the minimum raise thing (which I hate) and the button calls but the SB folds. I'm in the BB with the all-powerful 53o. I call since I'm getting such incredible pot odds. The flop comes 467 with 2 hearts. I've flopped the bottom end of the straight and decide to slow play since neither of these players have much money so I figure I'll be putting at least one of them all-in on a check-raise. The pre-flop raiser doesn't disappoint and bets 2/3 of the pot. The button calls yet again and I raise enough to put the original better all-in. He calls and the button calls too even though it leaves him with very little left. The turn is a blank so I bet enough to put the button all-in and he calls as expected. The river is a 5 which really pisses me off since I've seen so many people with pocket 8's in this situation who just got really lucky.
Well that wasn't the case this time. The original raiser turned over Qd7d and the button turned over A3o. I ended up splitting the pot with the button. So here's what I'm talking about donkeys. The original minimum pre-flop raiser had a lousy Q7s. If you're going to raise with that hand, why raise so little just to invite action? And then why do you call off all of your chips when you flop top pair with a mediocre kicker? Especially when your top pair is so low. Two donkey moves right there.
And then there's the button's play. I don't mind the pre-flop call since the raise was so little to begin with but it may have been better to re-raise to see if his Ace was any good. But then after the flop, he cold calls a bet of 2/3 pot and all he has is an over card and gutshot straight draw. This is a pretty stupid play but then he makes it worse by calling my big check-raise. Did he actually think he could hit something to win the pot? What could I be check-raising with where he still had a chance and his odds were good enough to take that chance? The only thing I can think of is if I had a flush draw but then I probably would've had the Ace of hearts and my kicker was probably better than his 3. So his only chance of winning the pot outright would be to hit the 5 and hope I didn't have an 8. In addition, he only calls my check-raise instead of re-raising to put his last few chips in. I guess he knew I was going to bet on the turn so he decided to just wait for that. I can't decide which of these 2 is the bigger donkey.
This is the kind of play I see frequently at my tables. And of course there's always the donkey who calls off all of his chips with pocket 3's on a flop of AK6. I can't believe these people play at these blind levels. Are they completely new to the game and they don't realize 2/4 and 3/6 are quite high to start out at? Or do they just have so much money that they don't care? I wish I had that problem.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Up and Down and All Around
Wow, what an up and down couple of days. I didn't get a chance to post my results from last night because I was up until 2AM and really didn't want to be up any later especially since I would've only been complaining about idiots. So after dropping a huge load last night, I play for an hour tonight and make it all back and then some.
Last night was one of the most boring poker sessions I've had. Again I played 4 tables - 2 on FullTilt and 2 on PokerStars - and all of them at the $3/6 blind level. I must've been more comfortable because I wasn't cold at all:) On the FullTilt tables, I actually did quite well but it was all on one table and all against one other player. My first hand in the BB I had AKo and there were 3 limpers then the SB and so I just decided to check. The flop came out with a K and a bunch of other junk but the SB led into me with about a pot size bet. I raised him and he reraised me. I couldn't believe he had me beat unless he got really lucky so I moved all-in for my whole stack of $240. He called and turned over Q9o - there was a 9 on the flop also but no Q. I don't know why he was willing to put in so much money with 2nd pair but I'm glad he did. I basically labelled him as a maniac and he proved me correct the rest of the night. I think I made about $400 off him alone.
Unfortunately PokerStars was just the opposite. I was so card dead that I basically played Texas Fold'em. I really had about 2 quality hands all night where someone gave me action and unfortunately I was on the wrong end of the action both times. The first time I had 99 on the button and it was folded to me. I made the standard raise and the BB reraised me. I just called and flopped a set. He bet into me but the board was T98 rainbow and if you've read my previous posts, you know I hate draws so I moved all-in. He called somewhat quickly and turned over AJo. He only had an open-end straight draw but of course he hit the 7 on the river and took my $425 that I had in my stack. The only other hand I had came with pocket K's. I was in late position and the guy under the gun made the standard pre-flop raise to 21. I reraised him to 54 and the BB cold called but the original raiser folded. Of course an Ace came on the flop but I had to bet so I put in 82 which was enough to cover what the BB had left. He insta-called and flipped over AK. So he hit a 3 outer and was basically an idiot to call pre-flop since it was probably obvious he was in bad shape - that's probably how he got such a short stack to begin with.
So now tonight is a complete turnaround. I couldn't miss. I played the same setup as last night - 4 tables with 2 at each site. I think I had pocket K's about 4 times in an hour and no Aces came on the boards and I actually got action. I also had AA against QQ for a pot of about $400. But my best hand of the night came on something I don't usually do. I was in the BB with 6h3h. There was a pre-flop raiser in early position for only the minimum raise. Usually this means the guy has a big hand and wants action and is an idiot because you don't want a lot of callers with big pocket pairs. But he got what he asked for - 4 callers total including the SB and me. Obviously I wouldn't usually play 63 suited or not but the pot odds were too good to pass up. The flop came 9h5d4h so I had a flush draw and open ended straight draw. The SB led out for a pot size bet of 40 and I just called. I didn't think there would be any other callers except for maybe the pre-flop raiser since I put him on a big pocket pair. He actually raised to 120 so I had to think a bit but I eventually called. I usually am not this gutsy but I had been running so good tonight and had a pretty decent stack so I decided it was worth it. The turn was the Jh so it was definitely worth it. My flush was pretty small but I figured it to be good. I checked and he bet 160. I raised all-in for 340 and he thought for a while before folding :( Oh well, it was still a nice pot.
So basically last night was really bad and tonight was really good so I'm a happy boy overall.
Last night was one of the most boring poker sessions I've had. Again I played 4 tables - 2 on FullTilt and 2 on PokerStars - and all of them at the $3/6 blind level. I must've been more comfortable because I wasn't cold at all:) On the FullTilt tables, I actually did quite well but it was all on one table and all against one other player. My first hand in the BB I had AKo and there were 3 limpers then the SB and so I just decided to check. The flop came out with a K and a bunch of other junk but the SB led into me with about a pot size bet. I raised him and he reraised me. I couldn't believe he had me beat unless he got really lucky so I moved all-in for my whole stack of $240. He called and turned over Q9o - there was a 9 on the flop also but no Q. I don't know why he was willing to put in so much money with 2nd pair but I'm glad he did. I basically labelled him as a maniac and he proved me correct the rest of the night. I think I made about $400 off him alone.
Unfortunately PokerStars was just the opposite. I was so card dead that I basically played Texas Fold'em. I really had about 2 quality hands all night where someone gave me action and unfortunately I was on the wrong end of the action both times. The first time I had 99 on the button and it was folded to me. I made the standard raise and the BB reraised me. I just called and flopped a set. He bet into me but the board was T98 rainbow and if you've read my previous posts, you know I hate draws so I moved all-in. He called somewhat quickly and turned over AJo. He only had an open-end straight draw but of course he hit the 7 on the river and took my $425 that I had in my stack. The only other hand I had came with pocket K's. I was in late position and the guy under the gun made the standard pre-flop raise to 21. I reraised him to 54 and the BB cold called but the original raiser folded. Of course an Ace came on the flop but I had to bet so I put in 82 which was enough to cover what the BB had left. He insta-called and flipped over AK. So he hit a 3 outer and was basically an idiot to call pre-flop since it was probably obvious he was in bad shape - that's probably how he got such a short stack to begin with.
So now tonight is a complete turnaround. I couldn't miss. I played the same setup as last night - 4 tables with 2 at each site. I think I had pocket K's about 4 times in an hour and no Aces came on the boards and I actually got action. I also had AA against QQ for a pot of about $400. But my best hand of the night came on something I don't usually do. I was in the BB with 6h3h. There was a pre-flop raiser in early position for only the minimum raise. Usually this means the guy has a big hand and wants action and is an idiot because you don't want a lot of callers with big pocket pairs. But he got what he asked for - 4 callers total including the SB and me. Obviously I wouldn't usually play 63 suited or not but the pot odds were too good to pass up. The flop came 9h5d4h so I had a flush draw and open ended straight draw. The SB led out for a pot size bet of 40 and I just called. I didn't think there would be any other callers except for maybe the pre-flop raiser since I put him on a big pocket pair. He actually raised to 120 so I had to think a bit but I eventually called. I usually am not this gutsy but I had been running so good tonight and had a pretty decent stack so I decided it was worth it. The turn was the Jh so it was definitely worth it. My flush was pretty small but I figured it to be good. I checked and he bet 160. I raised all-in for 340 and he thought for a while before folding :( Oh well, it was still a nice pot.
So basically last night was really bad and tonight was really good so I'm a happy boy overall.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
So Far So Good
For my second report I have better news to report than the first. I did quite well tonight playing at PokerStars. I was playing 4 tables - 2 at the $2/4 blind level and 2 at the $3/6 level. This is No-Limit Texas Hold'em which is almost all that I play. Every once in a while I venture into the Omaha arena but I'm not very good at it so it's usually for small stakes and mostly for fun for me. I really like Omaha but have never read any books about it (unlike the countless books I've read on Hold'em).
The $3/6 blind level is a little bit out of my comfort zone but if I'm running good then I usually go for it. I notice that I get cold when I'm nervous about the level I'm playing at. Tonight I had to cover up in a blanket since I was at 2 tables that I was nervous about. At one of those tables I lost about $160 - mostly because I never caught any cards when I raised pre-flop. But at the other table I was up about $240 - mostly due to my pocket Kings getting all-in against pockets Jacks and my Kings actually holding up.
At one of the $2/4 tables I was down quite a bit until I raised pre-flop from late position and got a caller in the BB. I flopped a set of Tens (I had pocket Tens) and he check-raised me after I bet a little less than the pot on the flop. I re-raised him all-in and he ended up folding after thinking for almost his entire time allotment. I was pushing him because the board had a flush and straight draw possibility and I didn't feel like getting sucked out on.
At my other $2/4 table I did quite well from the first hand. About 2 rounds in, I got 55 in the BB when the pot was raised pre-flop and got 2 callers before me. I called also and the flop came 457 with 2 clubs. Again, I wasn't going to slow play because of the draws so I bet into the pre-flop raiser. He called me on all streets and I won a pot of about $260 when he showed pockets Jacks. That started off that table well and I didn't have much resistance after that.
Overall, tonight was a good night as I only lost at 1 of the 4 tables and I had a really good run of cards at one point. Hopefully I can keep this going through September to pay for all of the food and drink I had while with my brother these last couple of weeks.
The $3/6 blind level is a little bit out of my comfort zone but if I'm running good then I usually go for it. I notice that I get cold when I'm nervous about the level I'm playing at. Tonight I had to cover up in a blanket since I was at 2 tables that I was nervous about. At one of those tables I lost about $160 - mostly because I never caught any cards when I raised pre-flop. But at the other table I was up about $240 - mostly due to my pocket Kings getting all-in against pockets Jacks and my Kings actually holding up.
At one of the $2/4 tables I was down quite a bit until I raised pre-flop from late position and got a caller in the BB. I flopped a set of Tens (I had pocket Tens) and he check-raised me after I bet a little less than the pot on the flop. I re-raised him all-in and he ended up folding after thinking for almost his entire time allotment. I was pushing him because the board had a flush and straight draw possibility and I didn't feel like getting sucked out on.
At my other $2/4 table I did quite well from the first hand. About 2 rounds in, I got 55 in the BB when the pot was raised pre-flop and got 2 callers before me. I called also and the flop came 457 with 2 clubs. Again, I wasn't going to slow play because of the draws so I bet into the pre-flop raiser. He called me on all streets and I won a pot of about $260 when he showed pockets Jacks. That started off that table well and I didn't have much resistance after that.
Overall, tonight was a good night as I only lost at 1 of the 4 tables and I had a really good run of cards at one point. Hopefully I can keep this going through September to pay for all of the food and drink I had while with my brother these last couple of weeks.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
First Report
I decided to give FullTilt one last try tonight since it's still August and the points on PokerStars reset at the beginning of every month. Tonight started out just as the last 2 nights had gone. Within an hour I found myself down about $300. I was playing 4 tables and was doing fine at 3 of them but I just couldn't beat this donk at my other table. He always had position on me and every time I raised preflop, he always called and sometimes re-raised me. Then he'd continue his aggression on the flop and turn. I never caught anything with the first 4 cards so I ended up folding each time. And then each time he'd show me a bluff and my hand was actually ahead.
Then came my worst hand against him. I raised 3.5xBB in early position with AQ and he smooth called as he had frequently done before. The flop came KQJ rainbow and I bet about 3/4 pot into him. He made the minimum raise and I called since I'd seen him do this on a bluff many times before and there was the chance he had a K to put him ahead. The turn was an Ace to give me 2 pair but I was scared by the straight possibility so I checked. He checked also so I was really clueless at this point. The river was a blank but I still checked. He bet enough to put me all in for my last $140 and I had to call since the pot was plenty big and he was a serial bluffer. Of course he turned over T9 offsuit for a flopped straight and the best hand. He played it well I guess but I'm still always shocked when someone turns over that kind of crap after a pre-flop raise - especially since he was in middle position to call my raise.
That put me down to my low point of about $300 but a few rounds later I got it back. I was in the small blind with 2 red K's. He was under the gun and made a minimum raise which he had frequently been doing. It was folded to me and I popped it to about $40 since I didn't want the BB to get a cheap flop and possibly have an Ace. The flop came a glorious K97 but had 2 hearts. I made a continuation bet of about 2/3 pot which he called. The turn was a black T and I bet the pot because he could have just about anything that would at least give him a good draw (he played almost any 2 cards). He raised me all-in at this point which kind of surprised me but I had to call. I figured if he really had J8 then I was just getting seriously unlucky against this guy. He turned over T9 offsuit again (he must love that hand) for 2 pair and I had him drawing dead. The river was another T giving us both full boats but I scooped the pot for about $500. So I was close to even at this point since a little less than half of that $500 was my money before that hand.
I started to creep back down again until my best hand of the night. This was at a different table and the donk had left the other table anyway. I had been raising a lot preflop and not winning much or getting re-raised big so I was kind of frustrated. I was in middle position with 99. After 1 limper, the guy to my right made a raise to 3xBB. Since I wanted some action, I smooth called. For the first time of the night (after about 2 hours) I finally flopped a set. I smooth called his flop bet and then raised him on the turn when the board became scary. He re-raised me all-in on the turn and I called. He turned over KK and he had only 2 outs. This time I scooped a pot of about $600 which put me up for the night to stay.
I played a couple more rounds at each table and then called it quits since I was finally ahead for the first time in 3 days. Overall this was a pretty frustrating night again. I actually had pocket Aces more times than normal but I never got any decent action on them. I guess that's better than getting them cracked like I did the previous 2 nights. I also flopped a couple of low straights but the board was always scary so I always bet out and never got any callers. Oh well, at least I won tonight. Hopefully I'll continue to have these kind of reports.
Then came my worst hand against him. I raised 3.5xBB in early position with AQ and he smooth called as he had frequently done before. The flop came KQJ rainbow and I bet about 3/4 pot into him. He made the minimum raise and I called since I'd seen him do this on a bluff many times before and there was the chance he had a K to put him ahead. The turn was an Ace to give me 2 pair but I was scared by the straight possibility so I checked. He checked also so I was really clueless at this point. The river was a blank but I still checked. He bet enough to put me all in for my last $140 and I had to call since the pot was plenty big and he was a serial bluffer. Of course he turned over T9 offsuit for a flopped straight and the best hand. He played it well I guess but I'm still always shocked when someone turns over that kind of crap after a pre-flop raise - especially since he was in middle position to call my raise.
That put me down to my low point of about $300 but a few rounds later I got it back. I was in the small blind with 2 red K's. He was under the gun and made a minimum raise which he had frequently been doing. It was folded to me and I popped it to about $40 since I didn't want the BB to get a cheap flop and possibly have an Ace. The flop came a glorious K97 but had 2 hearts. I made a continuation bet of about 2/3 pot which he called. The turn was a black T and I bet the pot because he could have just about anything that would at least give him a good draw (he played almost any 2 cards). He raised me all-in at this point which kind of surprised me but I had to call. I figured if he really had J8 then I was just getting seriously unlucky against this guy. He turned over T9 offsuit again (he must love that hand) for 2 pair and I had him drawing dead. The river was another T giving us both full boats but I scooped the pot for about $500. So I was close to even at this point since a little less than half of that $500 was my money before that hand.
I started to creep back down again until my best hand of the night. This was at a different table and the donk had left the other table anyway. I had been raising a lot preflop and not winning much or getting re-raised big so I was kind of frustrated. I was in middle position with 99. After 1 limper, the guy to my right made a raise to 3xBB. Since I wanted some action, I smooth called. For the first time of the night (after about 2 hours) I finally flopped a set. I smooth called his flop bet and then raised him on the turn when the board became scary. He re-raised me all-in on the turn and I called. He turned over KK and he had only 2 outs. This time I scooped a pot of about $600 which put me up for the night to stay.
I played a couple more rounds at each table and then called it quits since I was finally ahead for the first time in 3 days. Overall this was a pretty frustrating night again. I actually had pocket Aces more times than normal but I never got any decent action on them. I guess that's better than getting them cracked like I did the previous 2 nights. I also flopped a couple of low straights but the board was always scary so I always bet out and never got any callers. Oh well, at least I won tonight. Hopefully I'll continue to have these kind of reports.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Getting Started
I've been playing poker somewhat seriously for about 4 years now and my brother (http://judoinmylife.blogspot.com/) encouraged me to write a blog about my experience so I thought I'd give it a try.
In this blog I'll most likely be talking about some specific hands that I played or about my general feelings about poker. Hopefully I'll be posting lots of good experiences and not complaining too much about bad beats.
For the last 2 nights I've been attempting to earn the remainder of a bonus that was given to me at FullTiltPoker. Although I did earn the bonus I basically took a beating at the tables so earning the bonus only served to soften the blow somewhat. I'm not really a big fan of FullTiltPoker as I seem to experience many more bad beats there than at other sites. I think I'll start playing at PokerStars again for September and hopefully I can earn enough points so that I earn Gold VIP status at least. That way I can "purchase" some cool stuff with my points. The higher your VIP status, the better stuff you can buy. I already have a ton of points so I just need to get to a good VIP level to get the good stuff.
If I play tonight, I'll attempt to post my hands and thoughts from the tables. Until then I hope a few people can find this site and will be willing to comment on my play and add some insite to my game.
In this blog I'll most likely be talking about some specific hands that I played or about my general feelings about poker. Hopefully I'll be posting lots of good experiences and not complaining too much about bad beats.
For the last 2 nights I've been attempting to earn the remainder of a bonus that was given to me at FullTiltPoker. Although I did earn the bonus I basically took a beating at the tables so earning the bonus only served to soften the blow somewhat. I'm not really a big fan of FullTiltPoker as I seem to experience many more bad beats there than at other sites. I think I'll start playing at PokerStars again for September and hopefully I can earn enough points so that I earn Gold VIP status at least. That way I can "purchase" some cool stuff with my points. The higher your VIP status, the better stuff you can buy. I already have a ton of points so I just need to get to a good VIP level to get the good stuff.
If I play tonight, I'll attempt to post my hands and thoughts from the tables. Until then I hope a few people can find this site and will be willing to comment on my play and add some insite to my game.