BE AGGRESSIVE, BE BE AGGRESSIVE

Ok, I recently saw Bring It On and the Fear Factor episode with the cheering couple. As corny as it is, this was definitely the theme of the night. I logged onto Absolute Poker for a little single table action. I debated playing at all for the whole weekend but Absolute had their 15% one year anniversary deposit bonus. I didn’t want to miss out on free money so I reloaded and played with the following results:

50 min, +57.75BB, 69.3BB/hour, 44 hands

This table was a dream. The table never filled up while I was there and we usually had between 6 and 8 players. I could do no wrong and with 2 players that were seeing virtually every flop I was getting paid. I had 5 pots over 10BB. Everyone at the table was passive and could be pushed off of hands. Even the loose preflop players would lay down after I burned them. A preflop raise still didn’t mean much but after the flop I could command the table. The cards were also falling my way. The big blind brought me two winners when I saw J4s turn into a set of 4’s and 76o became a straight on the turn. I would have played a whole lot longer but before starting I signed up for a freeroll multi tourney. When the tournament started I decided to quit while I was ahead. This big win more than makes up for my losses earlier this week and has really raised my spirits.

The tourney was uneventful. I caught a big hand early but then lost out when my two pair A’s and 6’s lost to A’s and 8’s. This hand put me on life support and I went all in a few hands later to go out before the first break. 999 people entered and I was out around 650 or something. I wasn’t really paying to much attention and was just happy to have the big table win earlier.

Bad Beat of the Night

Yeah, right :). I didn’t have any hands strong enough to start with that could qualify for a bad beat. I was seeing incredible flops. The highest A I had was AJo and the only pair I had was 10’s which paid me handsomely

Big Pot of the Night

This was my 9th hand of the night and my 3rd winner. This hand allowed me to start scaring the other players. It wasn’t a beautiful play or anything, it just set the tone for the rest of the night.
Six of us are at the table. I’m on the button with AcJh
Two callers, one fold, I raise. Blinds and all others call. Five see the flop.
Flop 10d 3h Ah
Check around to late position who bets, I raise, SB calls, BB folds, EP calls, LP raises, I call since I’ve been fired back at, remaining players call. 4 see the turn
Turn 5d
Check to LP who bets, everyone calls. 4 see the river
River Jc
Check to LP who again leads out, I raise. A flush is no longer possible and even if LP has made two pair with the A, my two pair are now bigger. SB folds and EP calls as does LP.
Showdown
Absolute has a feature where you don’t have to show your hand if you are the loser and you’ve called, so I don’t know what everyone else had. I do know that my hand held up though and I took down a $20 pot after the $1 rake.

Another observation. I am definitely an advocate of putting as much time as you can in at the tables. Experience can make a huge difference. In the past two weeks I have had two sessions which posted over 50BB. Before that the biggest win I had was at 37BB. I know I was despondent about my losses earlier this week but I truly believe that without some of the things I’ve learned since starting this, I never would have been able to control the table like I did last night. I would have been a winner, but not as big a winner.

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