Thursday, June 24, 2004
Monday, June 21, 2004
Ding Dong the Streak is Dead, the Streak is Dead, the Streak is Dead
Losing streak that is. Granted it was a shortened week of play but not one losing session out of the last four makes me feel good. I even played a few sit and go’s with success. I don’t usually play them but things worked out.
Saturday night I sat down to play and found that on the weekends Aztec Riches puts a lot of no limit tables up but not many limit ones. With only one 1/2 table available I had to join the wait list. I was anxious to play so I checked out the SNG tables and decided to try a $5.50 table. I haven’t played no limit in months and I wasn’t even a break even player when I did. Feeling frisky though I figured it was worth a shot until my regular table opened up.
Several bloggers I’ve been reading are playing the SNG tables regularly. They’ve been saying that early you need to play it very tight because many players will go all in early. I adopted this strategy and before long people were exiting. I wasn’t staying unless I was extremely confident I had the nuts and was even able to eliminate 2 players in one hand. I held the chip lead through most of the play and only started to sweat when it got down to two of us. Again I called upon the teachings of my fellow bloggers and went aggressive. I made sure I never folded the blind unless it was complete crap and raised when prudent to do so. My opponent happened to be the table “expert” as he chastised all non-conventional play. This played into me and he layed down a lot. He felt I was getting “lucky” on him and took every opportunity to tell me so. Even after beating him he continued to whine. Victory was indeed sweet.
With the confidence of the win I joined the limit table and continued to have success. I wasn’t going to break the bank but solid play helped me take a profit from the table and that’s all I ask of the game we love.
Sunday Was more of the same but I finished 3rd in the SNG instead of 1st. Still money won but I don’t think I will begin to play them regularly yet.
Saturday $5.50 Sit-N-Go, 1st place, $19.50 profit
Saturday Table – 105 minutes, 6.5BB, 3.71BB/Hr, 84 hands
Sunday $5.50 Sit-N-Go, 3rd place, $4.50 profit
Sunday Table – 50 minutes, 6.77BB, 8.12BB/Hr, 45 hands
Week total
SNG’s $24.00 profit
Tables – 5.97 hours, 29.02BB, 4.87BB/Hr, 349 hands
Saturday night I sat down to play and found that on the weekends Aztec Riches puts a lot of no limit tables up but not many limit ones. With only one 1/2 table available I had to join the wait list. I was anxious to play so I checked out the SNG tables and decided to try a $5.50 table. I haven’t played no limit in months and I wasn’t even a break even player when I did. Feeling frisky though I figured it was worth a shot until my regular table opened up.
Several bloggers I’ve been reading are playing the SNG tables regularly. They’ve been saying that early you need to play it very tight because many players will go all in early. I adopted this strategy and before long people were exiting. I wasn’t staying unless I was extremely confident I had the nuts and was even able to eliminate 2 players in one hand. I held the chip lead through most of the play and only started to sweat when it got down to two of us. Again I called upon the teachings of my fellow bloggers and went aggressive. I made sure I never folded the blind unless it was complete crap and raised when prudent to do so. My opponent happened to be the table “expert” as he chastised all non-conventional play. This played into me and he layed down a lot. He felt I was getting “lucky” on him and took every opportunity to tell me so. Even after beating him he continued to whine. Victory was indeed sweet.
With the confidence of the win I joined the limit table and continued to have success. I wasn’t going to break the bank but solid play helped me take a profit from the table and that’s all I ask of the game we love.
Sunday Was more of the same but I finished 3rd in the SNG instead of 1st. Still money won but I don’t think I will begin to play them regularly yet.
Saturday $5.50 Sit-N-Go, 1st place, $19.50 profit
Saturday Table – 105 minutes, 6.5BB, 3.71BB/Hr, 84 hands
Sunday $5.50 Sit-N-Go, 3rd place, $4.50 profit
Sunday Table – 50 minutes, 6.77BB, 8.12BB/Hr, 45 hands
Week total
SNG’s $24.00 profit
Tables – 5.97 hours, 29.02BB, 4.87BB/Hr, 349 hands
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Almost…Not Quite
Another win last night and I’m feeling pretty good. That’s only two wins since my losses, so I’m not ready to call an end to the slump yet, but things are looking good.
Another night of Aztec Poker and I found a table composition I hadn’t run into before. 9 out of the 10 players were playing very tight. I wouldn’t say they were all rocks as some were making mistakes but certainly not the loose tables I’m used to there. It was easier to get some of them to lay down hands on bluffs so that was fun to do every now and then. I feel I could have done better as I rocked back and forth between up and down for a while. A few table “experts” provided some amusement but they hurt more than they helped the table.
Stats – 138 minutes, 9.25BB, 4.02BB/Hr, 155 hands
Another night of Aztec Poker and I found a table composition I hadn’t run into before. 9 out of the 10 players were playing very tight. I wouldn’t say they were all rocks as some were making mistakes but certainly not the loose tables I’m used to there. It was easier to get some of them to lay down hands on bluffs so that was fun to do every now and then. I feel I could have done better as I rocked back and forth between up and down for a while. A few table “experts” provided some amusement but they hurt more than they helped the table.
Stats – 138 minutes, 9.25BB, 4.02BB/Hr, 155 hands
Friday, June 18, 2004
Back From The Beyond
It’s been a while since my last update. That’s very unlike me but I’ve had the week from hell and I haven’t played any poker until last night. To start things off we have a massive Thunder Storm on Friday night. We discover on Saturday that we have lost allot and I do mean allot of equipment due to a lightning stike. I spend 34 hours straight at work and then my mom falls, shatters a disc in her back and breaks her foot. Between work, hospital, and trying to catch up on sleep, I have had no free time whatsoever.
Since I couldn’t finish through the weekend I ended a second week down although it was only -$17.25. Last night I decided to forgo sleep (which I still need desperately) and play some more at Aztec Riches. I had a hard time focusing but managed to make some money in the hour at the table. I don’t know if I’ll have time tonight to play but I need the adrenaline boost a good weekend at the tables can give.
Total – 65 minutes, 6.5BB, 6BB/Hr, 65 minutes
I have enabled a site feed now so newsreaders can pick up my posts. See the link in the links section.
Since I couldn’t finish through the weekend I ended a second week down although it was only -$17.25. Last night I decided to forgo sleep (which I still need desperately) and play some more at Aztec Riches. I had a hard time focusing but managed to make some money in the hour at the table. I don’t know if I’ll have time tonight to play but I need the adrenaline boost a good weekend at the tables can give.
Total – 65 minutes, 6.5BB, 6BB/Hr, 65 minutes
I have enabled a site feed now so newsreaders can pick up my posts. See the link in the links section.
Friday, June 11, 2004
A Change of Scenery
More of the same last night as the Party players handed me my ass hand after hand. I’m getting frustrated and pushing the issue to many times. You’d think I would learn that I can’t push a player off a hand if he’s holding the nuts. Oh well.
After reaching my loss limit yet again I decided to check out the 1/2 games at Aztec Poker. I forgot to mention that over the weekend I received my chip set from PokerSource for signing up at Aztec. It really is a nice set and I was pleasantly surprised by it’s quality. The aluminum case seems sturdy enough but it did have some minor cosmetic flaws when it arrived. A little ding and a chip in the case but it was free so I’m not going to be complaining. I will complain about Aztec Poker’s cashout process though. I tried to remove some money from the account and they wanted a copy of my drivers license and a utility bill to verify who I was. I just wanted the money deposited back into the original neteller account that it came out of so I feel this is unnecessary. I faxed them a copy of my license and they wrote me back to tell me it was illegible. I’ve heard others have had this problem as well so I’m just going to scan what they need and email it to them. Hopefully that will correct it.
Back to poker I sat at an Aztec table and really had a solid effort. I’m not usually one for superstitions but Party has been killing me the last week and a half so I’m going to go ahead and play Aztec for a little while. (At least until I can get some of my money out of there.) Poker Tracker now imports prima hand histories so I have no reason for not switching for a while.
Party:
Table One – 14 minutes, -11.5BB, -49.29BB/Hr, 17 hands
Table Two – 78 minutes, -19.63BB, -15.1BB/Hr, 83 hands
Aztec:
103 minutes, 15.63BB, 9.1BB/Hr, 107 hands
Total – 195 minutes, -15.5BB, -4.77BB/Hr, 207 hands
After reaching my loss limit yet again I decided to check out the 1/2 games at Aztec Poker. I forgot to mention that over the weekend I received my chip set from PokerSource for signing up at Aztec. It really is a nice set and I was pleasantly surprised by it’s quality. The aluminum case seems sturdy enough but it did have some minor cosmetic flaws when it arrived. A little ding and a chip in the case but it was free so I’m not going to be complaining. I will complain about Aztec Poker’s cashout process though. I tried to remove some money from the account and they wanted a copy of my drivers license and a utility bill to verify who I was. I just wanted the money deposited back into the original neteller account that it came out of so I feel this is unnecessary. I faxed them a copy of my license and they wrote me back to tell me it was illegible. I’ve heard others have had this problem as well so I’m just going to scan what they need and email it to them. Hopefully that will correct it.
Back to poker I sat at an Aztec table and really had a solid effort. I’m not usually one for superstitions but Party has been killing me the last week and a half so I’m going to go ahead and play Aztec for a little while. (At least until I can get some of my money out of there.) Poker Tracker now imports prima hand histories so I have no reason for not switching for a while.
Party:
Table One – 14 minutes, -11.5BB, -49.29BB/Hr, 17 hands
Table Two – 78 minutes, -19.63BB, -15.1BB/Hr, 83 hands
Aztec:
103 minutes, 15.63BB, 9.1BB/Hr, 107 hands
Total – 195 minutes, -15.5BB, -4.77BB/Hr, 207 hands
Thursday, June 10, 2004
A Tilt By Any Other Name Is Still A Tilt
I wanted to write a glorious tribute to my return to profitability but I can’t. I played for an hour on Monday night and did well. Tuesday night I did really well, and Wednesday night I gave back every penny I earned on Tuesday.
I was up early on Wednesday but soon found myself down to my loss limit. Instead of judiciously calling it a night I started to chase. I wasn’t chasing cards as I was still able to lay down a hand. I was chasing my money. I’ve stated before that chasing was my kryptonite and this just confirms it. Chasing is chasing.
Monday – 56 minutes, 7.75BB, 8.3BB/Hr, 57 hands
Tuesday – 93 minutes, 23BB, 14.84BB/Hr, 82 hands
Wednesday – 104 minutes, -23BB, -13.27BB/Hr, 109 hands
I was up early on Wednesday but soon found myself down to my loss limit. Instead of judiciously calling it a night I started to chase. I wasn’t chasing cards as I was still able to lay down a hand. I was chasing my money. I’ve stated before that chasing was my kryptonite and this just confirms it. Chasing is chasing.
Monday – 56 minutes, 7.75BB, 8.3BB/Hr, 57 hands
Tuesday – 93 minutes, 23BB, 14.84BB/Hr, 82 hands
Wednesday – 104 minutes, -23BB, -13.27BB/Hr, 109 hands
Monday, June 07, 2004
Tilt Is A Four Letter Word
I’ve just had my first overall loss for a week since moving to the 1/2 tables. My loss was not as great as last weeks win but close enough to make me worry. As those of you who have been following along know the entire week had been a struggle. I had managed to hold my own though and keep the losses to a minimum. That all changed on Friday night.
To set things up a player two to my right stated that he was having a problem chasing cards. Everyone chimed in on the chat and I stated something to the affect that it’s fine as long as I’m not in the pot. The comment was in jest but I should have taken it as a sign of things to come. Another player who was seated across from me was chatting freely and often showing his cards or telling everyone what he had when he was in a pot. The chatter seemed a little loose but was always talking and showing good cards so he appeared to be on a good run.
I decided to play tight (as it turns out a bad weak/tight) in preparation for the chasers play but was receiving a horrible run of cards. Looking at Poker Tracker I see that I got just about every combination of hands I could get with very few duplicates. I was not doing a good job of holding my own and found myself approaching my 20BB stop loss.
I saw what appeared to be a questionably played hand by the earlier chatter and decided to look at the hand histories. It turns out that the chatter had been lying about his hands a majority of the time and I was laying down to him. This started the tilting process as I knew I was being ignorant for taking him at his word. I wasn’t tilting because of the other player, I was tilting because of myself. He was deploying a strategy to hook the fishes and I was right there with them nibbling at the bait.
There was now no way I’m going to lay down to this guy and it would have been a sound strategy. I say would have been because this is also the time that the chaser decided to come alive. I would beat down chatter only to be beaten down by chaser catching his flush when 4 hit the board or making his bottom pair a set or any other possible suckout you can think of. I literally started yelling at the screen for the first time in months and actually was poised to throw my mouse at one time. If the week had been different up to that point I might not have reacted so harshly but enough was enough.
I blew through my loss limit and gave away the entire $50 that I sat down with. A sane and normal person would have stopped at that point but I was pissed and fired up another table and another $50. Then the amazing happened. My tilting led to aggression which led to pushing the table around which led to pots. I found myself on a roll and I took down the biggest pot I’ve ever had at $52. I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth and after calming down I decided to call it quits for the night. I had not recovered my whole $50 loss yet but close enough that I could feel alright with it.
Saturday night would be more of the losing as I met my loss limit in a very uneventful manner. I can truly attribute Saturdays loss to cold cards and I don’t think I ‘ve really been able to do that up this point. I usually can pinpoint something I’ve done wrong but Saturday was played the way I play my game. In order to try to pull a winning night out I’m going to try to tighten up my starting hand selection. This should help minimize my swing and hopefully give me a confidence boost. I didn’t play Sunday night and as I’m at this moment on a plane headed home I don’t know if I will play tonight either. I really don’t want to take two nights off but a two day break may be in order.
Friday Night:
Table One – 108 minutes, -25BB, -13.89BB/Hr, 130 hands
Table Two – 82 minutes, 18.86BB, 13.81BB/Hr, 97 hands
Total – 190 minutes, -6.13BB, -1.93BB/Hr, 127 hands
Saturday – 98 minutes, -21.5BB, -13.16BB/Hr, 91 hands
Big Pot of the Weekend
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: lifesagrind is SB with Ad, Jc.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button calls, lifesagrind completes, BB checks.
Flop: (5 SB) Jh, 5s, 8h (5 players)
lifesagrind bets, BB calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, Button raises, lifesagrind calls, BB calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls.
Turn: (7.50 BB) Ac (5 players)
lifesagrind bets, BB raises, UTG+2 folds, MP1 calls, Button calls, lifesagrind 3-bets, BB caps, MP1 calls, Button calls, lifesagrind calls.
River: (23.50 BB) 2c (4 players)
lifesagrind bets, BB calls, MP1 calls, Button folds.
Final Pot: 26.50 BB
lifesagrind shows Ad Jc (two pair, aces and jacks).
BB shows Ah 5c (two pair, aces and fives).
MP1 shows As 5d (two pair, aces and fives).
Outcome: lifesagrind wins 26.50 BB.
To set things up a player two to my right stated that he was having a problem chasing cards. Everyone chimed in on the chat and I stated something to the affect that it’s fine as long as I’m not in the pot. The comment was in jest but I should have taken it as a sign of things to come. Another player who was seated across from me was chatting freely and often showing his cards or telling everyone what he had when he was in a pot. The chatter seemed a little loose but was always talking and showing good cards so he appeared to be on a good run.
I decided to play tight (as it turns out a bad weak/tight) in preparation for the chasers play but was receiving a horrible run of cards. Looking at Poker Tracker I see that I got just about every combination of hands I could get with very few duplicates. I was not doing a good job of holding my own and found myself approaching my 20BB stop loss.
I saw what appeared to be a questionably played hand by the earlier chatter and decided to look at the hand histories. It turns out that the chatter had been lying about his hands a majority of the time and I was laying down to him. This started the tilting process as I knew I was being ignorant for taking him at his word. I wasn’t tilting because of the other player, I was tilting because of myself. He was deploying a strategy to hook the fishes and I was right there with them nibbling at the bait.
There was now no way I’m going to lay down to this guy and it would have been a sound strategy. I say would have been because this is also the time that the chaser decided to come alive. I would beat down chatter only to be beaten down by chaser catching his flush when 4 hit the board or making his bottom pair a set or any other possible suckout you can think of. I literally started yelling at the screen for the first time in months and actually was poised to throw my mouse at one time. If the week had been different up to that point I might not have reacted so harshly but enough was enough.
I blew through my loss limit and gave away the entire $50 that I sat down with. A sane and normal person would have stopped at that point but I was pissed and fired up another table and another $50. Then the amazing happened. My tilting led to aggression which led to pushing the table around which led to pots. I found myself on a roll and I took down the biggest pot I’ve ever had at $52. I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth and after calming down I decided to call it quits for the night. I had not recovered my whole $50 loss yet but close enough that I could feel alright with it.
Saturday night would be more of the losing as I met my loss limit in a very uneventful manner. I can truly attribute Saturdays loss to cold cards and I don’t think I ‘ve really been able to do that up this point. I usually can pinpoint something I’ve done wrong but Saturday was played the way I play my game. In order to try to pull a winning night out I’m going to try to tighten up my starting hand selection. This should help minimize my swing and hopefully give me a confidence boost. I didn’t play Sunday night and as I’m at this moment on a plane headed home I don’t know if I will play tonight either. I really don’t want to take two nights off but a two day break may be in order.
Friday Night:
Table One – 108 minutes, -25BB, -13.89BB/Hr, 130 hands
Table Two – 82 minutes, 18.86BB, 13.81BB/Hr, 97 hands
Total – 190 minutes, -6.13BB, -1.93BB/Hr, 127 hands
Saturday – 98 minutes, -21.5BB, -13.16BB/Hr, 91 hands
Big Pot of the Weekend
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: lifesagrind is SB with Ad, Jc.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button calls, lifesagrind completes, BB checks.
Flop: (5 SB) Jh, 5s, 8h (5 players)
lifesagrind bets, BB calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, Button raises, lifesagrind calls, BB calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls.
Turn: (7.50 BB) Ac (5 players)
lifesagrind bets, BB raises, UTG+2 folds, MP1 calls, Button calls, lifesagrind 3-bets, BB caps, MP1 calls, Button calls, lifesagrind calls.
River: (23.50 BB) 2c (4 players)
lifesagrind bets, BB calls, MP1 calls, Button folds.
Final Pot: 26.50 BB
lifesagrind shows Ad Jc (two pair, aces and jacks).
BB shows Ah 5c (two pair, aces and fives).
MP1 shows As 5d (two pair, aces and fives).
Outcome: lifesagrind wins 26.50 BB.
Friday, June 04, 2004
Not What I Had In Mind
Well this entry will be short and sweet. I played a good game last night but couldn’t come up with the break out night I feel I need. I sat at one table and rec. 3 decent starting hands right off the bat but lost each of them. Then the table broke. I never got a rhythm and had to move on. The next one was better but I was only able to recover the loss from the first. I feel I played well and I wasn’t the victim of any unusual bad beats, I just didn’t get the cards I needed to have a good night.
I think I’m having a bad run but I don’t feel down and out. Last night was pretty much just cold cards. I have faith that I will still breakout this week.
Table One – 11 minutes, -6.5BB, -35.45BB/Hr, 12 hands – Told you it broke up fast.
Table Two – 160 minutes, 6.25BB, 2.34BB/Hr, 149 hands
Total – 171 minutes, -0.25BB, -0.09BB/Hr, 161 hands
I think I’m having a bad run but I don’t feel down and out. Last night was pretty much just cold cards. I have faith that I will still breakout this week.
Table One – 11 minutes, -6.5BB, -35.45BB/Hr, 12 hands – Told you it broke up fast.
Table Two – 160 minutes, 6.25BB, 2.34BB/Hr, 149 hands
Total – 171 minutes, -0.25BB, -0.09BB/Hr, 161 hands
Thursday, June 03, 2004
A Gamblin’ Good Time
I lost $12 last night and I feel good about it.
How’s that for a statement. I had such a good time with the family last night that when I sat down to play poker my good mood carried over and I wanted some action. Adopting a more loose and fast style I just sat and had fun playing the game. In retrospect I should have gone to a lower level to do this but what the heck.
My stack was in a constant state of flux. I would go from –18BB to +1BB and back down again. Over and over the cycle would continue and I really was enjoying myself. Normally around 11:30 pm my eyelids start to feel heavy but not last night. Before I knew it the clock was showing 2 am. And of course instead of being at the +1BB of the rotation I was at the negative end. Since it was late and I really did not want to log a –19BB loss for the night I became one with the “Rock”.
The entire table was loose but not stupid. It didn’t take long for them to catch onto my change of pace. It was actually quite amazing. I had been watching them but I hadn’t realized how closely they were watching me. After a few orbits my raises started carrying a lot of weight. I was super tight but aggressive and very few of my hands were making it to the river. In honor of my new found status I began to loosen up a little bit. I still had good starting hands but with some relaxed post flop play. After a few hands I ran into someone with the best of it and unfortunately the table realized what I was doing. I kept to strong hands but a few chasers kept me from getting back to even. At 3:20 I had to call it a night. I wasn’t tired but I knew the wake up time was fast approaching and if I wanted any sleep now was the time.
As with any endeavor one should learn something from ones experiences. Last night I realized just how crappy K10o can be. I don’t recall really getting this hand a lot in the past but last night it seemed like I was getting it about every other rotation. In light of my loose play I was playing it everytime I got it. I won with it a few times but overall it seemed to really be a crappy hand. If I remember correctly Sklansky recommends only playing it in late position. I’m going to have to agree. (like he needs my agreement)
Anyway, tonight will have to be back to serious play. The loss last night makes it seem like I’m having a bad run (5 losses and 5 wins in last ten)so I need to rectify that with a good night tonight.
Stats: 268 minutes, -6.07BB, -2.72BB/Hr, 279 hands
PS. I just checked my K10o stats in Poker Tracker and I in fact had the hand 7 times which was the most of any hand. Interestingly though it was an overall winner earning me .01BB for the night. Just thought I would point that out. Once again perception and fact don’t match up exactly. Also it was a loser from late position (4x) but a winner from early(2x w/ once in the BB as loser). Go Figure.
Overall, of the 9,143 hands I have in Poker Tracker I’ve rec. the hand 75 times. This has resulted in a -20.25BB’s. That tells me last night was a rare upswing for the hand and I need to be careful about when I play it. My biggest losing hand of all time so far is KJo for a -34.41BB’s. I’ve had it 111 times and need to be careful with this one also.
How’s that for a statement. I had such a good time with the family last night that when I sat down to play poker my good mood carried over and I wanted some action. Adopting a more loose and fast style I just sat and had fun playing the game. In retrospect I should have gone to a lower level to do this but what the heck.
My stack was in a constant state of flux. I would go from –18BB to +1BB and back down again. Over and over the cycle would continue and I really was enjoying myself. Normally around 11:30 pm my eyelids start to feel heavy but not last night. Before I knew it the clock was showing 2 am. And of course instead of being at the +1BB of the rotation I was at the negative end. Since it was late and I really did not want to log a –19BB loss for the night I became one with the “Rock”.
The entire table was loose but not stupid. It didn’t take long for them to catch onto my change of pace. It was actually quite amazing. I had been watching them but I hadn’t realized how closely they were watching me. After a few orbits my raises started carrying a lot of weight. I was super tight but aggressive and very few of my hands were making it to the river. In honor of my new found status I began to loosen up a little bit. I still had good starting hands but with some relaxed post flop play. After a few hands I ran into someone with the best of it and unfortunately the table realized what I was doing. I kept to strong hands but a few chasers kept me from getting back to even. At 3:20 I had to call it a night. I wasn’t tired but I knew the wake up time was fast approaching and if I wanted any sleep now was the time.
As with any endeavor one should learn something from ones experiences. Last night I realized just how crappy K10o can be. I don’t recall really getting this hand a lot in the past but last night it seemed like I was getting it about every other rotation. In light of my loose play I was playing it everytime I got it. I won with it a few times but overall it seemed to really be a crappy hand. If I remember correctly Sklansky recommends only playing it in late position. I’m going to have to agree. (like he needs my agreement)
Anyway, tonight will have to be back to serious play. The loss last night makes it seem like I’m having a bad run (5 losses and 5 wins in last ten)so I need to rectify that with a good night tonight.
Stats: 268 minutes, -6.07BB, -2.72BB/Hr, 279 hands
PS. I just checked my K10o stats in Poker Tracker and I in fact had the hand 7 times which was the most of any hand. Interestingly though it was an overall winner earning me .01BB for the night. Just thought I would point that out. Once again perception and fact don’t match up exactly. Also it was a loser from late position (4x) but a winner from early(2x w/ once in the BB as loser). Go Figure.
Overall, of the 9,143 hands I have in Poker Tracker I’ve rec. the hand 75 times. This has resulted in a -20.25BB’s. That tells me last night was a rare upswing for the hand and I need to be careful about when I play it. My biggest losing hand of all time so far is KJo for a -34.41BB’s. I’ve had it 111 times and need to be careful with this one also.
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
My Kryptonite
Faster than a small child.
More powerful than your Grandma.
Able to leap tall blades of grass in a single bound.
Look! At the Computer Desk!
It’s a white collar worker, it’s a short fat guy, it’s lifesagrind!
Yes! It’s lifesagrind – strange visitor from
Kansas who came Earth with powers and abilities
far beyond those of mortal fish. lifesagrind who
can change the course of mighty pots, bend chips
with bare hands, and who, disguised as an online
poker player, System Manager for a Metropolitan
Tote Company, fights the never ending battle for
Pots, Bankroll, and the American Way.
So what could possibly stop this behemoth of a man you ask? Chasing hands! That’s right viewers, his weakness known to few mortals is of his own doing. Can he overcome such a mighty foe! Will he be able to bounce back! Stay Tuned! Don’t Touch That Dial! More To Come!
Ok, perhaps I went a bit overboard. But, really, I went from feeling like superman to being brought down to earth with a crash. Monday night was a complete failure as I met my loss limit and Tuesday didn’t start out much better. I played down 10BB at one table then went to the next. As I started the next table the truth of my downfall washed over me like an acid bath. I couldn’t blame the cards or the players. I was the culprit.
It started out innocently enough. I’d have A10o and limp in. The flop would be rags and I’d convince myself overcards were enough to keep going. A 10 would come and I’d still feel I was good enough. Another rag on the river and I’d think, “They can’t bluff me off this pot!” Lo and Behold I wouldn’t have squat compared to the other player and I’d see 4 or more BB’s leaving my stack. I’m not sure what caused this behavior but I’m sure glad I was able to realize it.
The next table faired much better and I was able to recover the loss from the first one. I ran out of playable time and the table dried up before I could recover from the previous night though.
Monday Night – 118 minutes, -19.5BB, -9.92BB/Hr, 123 hands
Tuesday Night
Table One – 15 minutes, -12.75BB, -51BB/Hr, 16 hands
Table Two – 85 minutes, 20.13BB, 14.21BB/Hr, 90 hands
Total – 100 minutes, 7.38BB, 4.43BB/Hr, 106 hands
More powerful than your Grandma.
Able to leap tall blades of grass in a single bound.
Look! At the Computer Desk!
It’s a white collar worker, it’s a short fat guy, it’s lifesagrind!
Yes! It’s lifesagrind – strange visitor from
Kansas who came Earth with powers and abilities
far beyond those of mortal fish. lifesagrind who
can change the course of mighty pots, bend chips
with bare hands, and who, disguised as an online
poker player, System Manager for a Metropolitan
Tote Company, fights the never ending battle for
Pots, Bankroll, and the American Way.
So what could possibly stop this behemoth of a man you ask? Chasing hands! That’s right viewers, his weakness known to few mortals is of his own doing. Can he overcome such a mighty foe! Will he be able to bounce back! Stay Tuned! Don’t Touch That Dial! More To Come!
Ok, perhaps I went a bit overboard. But, really, I went from feeling like superman to being brought down to earth with a crash. Monday night was a complete failure as I met my loss limit and Tuesday didn’t start out much better. I played down 10BB at one table then went to the next. As I started the next table the truth of my downfall washed over me like an acid bath. I couldn’t blame the cards or the players. I was the culprit.
It started out innocently enough. I’d have A10o and limp in. The flop would be rags and I’d convince myself overcards were enough to keep going. A 10 would come and I’d still feel I was good enough. Another rag on the river and I’d think, “They can’t bluff me off this pot!” Lo and Behold I wouldn’t have squat compared to the other player and I’d see 4 or more BB’s leaving my stack. I’m not sure what caused this behavior but I’m sure glad I was able to realize it.
The next table faired much better and I was able to recover the loss from the first one. I ran out of playable time and the table dried up before I could recover from the previous night though.
Monday Night – 118 minutes, -19.5BB, -9.92BB/Hr, 123 hands
Tuesday Night
Table One – 15 minutes, -12.75BB, -51BB/Hr, 16 hands
Table Two – 85 minutes, 20.13BB, 14.21BB/Hr, 90 hands
Total – 100 minutes, 7.38BB, 4.43BB/Hr, 106 hands
Monday, May 31, 2004
Stupid Is As Stupid Does
That would be the overall theme for the night when describing my play. I was determined not to let Party pick my table so I scouted out three possibilities and joined the waiting lists. Being promptly seated I played one orbit. The next table became available and since a known fish was at that table I decided to bail and join the new one. In the one orbit of play at the original table I did get involved in one pot and was down 2BB.
At the new table I was just horrible. I was not playing anything like myself and within an hour I was one pot away from hitting my stop loss. Fortunately I snapped out of it and hit a good run of cards. Looking back at the play I can’t for sure say what happened. It looked like I was on tilt but I had no reason to be. I did read an article earlier in the day about “Ram and Jam”. Maybe subconsciously I was trying to do this, but if so I’m not very good at it.
Seeing my buy-in dwindling to nothing must have snapped me out of it. I started laying down hands and combined with a good run I was able to squeeze out a profit for the night. The hand that turned it all around for me also was the biggest pot seen at the table while I was there. A woman I would describe as a possible “rock” raised preflop and if I didn’t have position I would have folded. Luckily I did not and the rest is history. (it also helped that mr. fish was in the hand)
Big Pot Of The Night
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (8 handed) converter
At the new table I was just horrible. I was not playing anything like myself and within an hour I was one pot away from hitting my stop loss. Fortunately I snapped out of it and hit a good run of cards. Looking back at the play I can’t for sure say what happened. It looked like I was on tilt but I had no reason to be. I did read an article earlier in the day about “Ram and Jam”. Maybe subconsciously I was trying to do this, but if so I’m not very good at it.
Seeing my buy-in dwindling to nothing must have snapped me out of it. I started laying down hands and combined with a good run I was able to squeeze out a profit for the night. The hand that turned it all around for me also was the biggest pot seen at the table while I was there. A woman I would describe as a possible “rock” raised preflop and if I didn’t have position I would have folded. Luckily I did not and the rest is history. (it also helped that mr. fish was in the hand)
Big Pot Of The Night
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (8 handed) converter
Preflop: lifesagrind is Button with Jc, Tc.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 (fishy) calls, MP2 (Mrs. Rock) raises, CO calls, lifesagrind calls, SB folds, BB folds, MP1 [color:purple](fishy)[/color] calls.
Flop: (9.50 SB) 7h, 9c, 8c (4 players)
fishy bets, Mrs. Rock calls, CO calls, lifesagrind raises, fishy calls, Mrs. Rock calls, CO calls.
Turn: (8.75 BB) Ad (4 players)
fishy checks, Mrs. Rock bets, CO raises, lifesagrind 3-bets, fishy calls, Mrs. Rock folds, CO calls.
River: (18.75 BB) 3h (3 players)
fishy checks, CO checks, lifesagrind bets, fishy folds, CO calls.
Final Pot: 20.75 BB
CO shows As 6s (one pair, aces).
lifesagrind shows Jc Tc (straight, jack high).
Outcome: lifesagrind wins 20.75 BB.
Table One – 9 minutes, -2.25BB, -15BB/Hr, 10 hands
Table Two – 125 minutes, 10BB, 4.8BB/Hr, 139 hands
Total – 134 minutes, 7.75BB, 3,47BB/Hr, 149 hands
Also another week has come and gone. I’m still satisfied with my 1/2 performance overall. I hope to be able to start leaving some of my profits in the account soon so I can move up another level.
Week Ending Numbers
9.3 hours, $11.73/Hour, 590 hands, $109.13 for the week
Sunday, May 30, 2004
Oh What A Relief It Is
The cable guy showed up yesterday morning before I had to go to work and replaced my cable modem. This had me back in business and I was actually getting excited on the way home from work anticipating the play. I was sure the recent downturn was behind me and last night was going to be big.
With a night of no internet access at all on Friday the Wife and I decided to watch some movies. First up was The Last Samurai. I didn’t expect much from this movie and I was pleasantly surprised when it ended up being a good flick. Next up I decided to watch Rounders. I bought the DVD a while back but hadn’t watched it since I started playing online about a year ago. After watching it two things stood out to me:
1) They sure say the “F” word a lot.
2) That guy was really stupid.
I’m sure when I started out I wanted to be a “Mike”, but after learning more and seeing my style of play I’d much rather be a “Knish”. Sure the quick take is enticing but the odds of success and the cash necessary to weather the lack of money placings just don’t appeal to me. No limit tourneys will always be a fun game but the steady income of limit play will remain my focus. I think a sequel needs to be made following the Knish character. It would be nice to see a sensible, responsible poker player portrayed in film.
Onto the poker play. I sat down and again Party did not have any 1/2 tables available. I joined the waiting list for the first available and was seated about 30 seconds later. Once again letting Party Poker pick my table was disastrous. After 27 hands I knew this table wasn’t for me and I was bleeding money away quickly. I didn’t play badly, I just wasn’t getting anything on the board to help my hole cards. I did win one very small pot but I decided to check the lobby and test the waters.
Since Party doesn’t give you much information about the tables you are looking at I usually just look for one with an average pot size of $14 dollars and join it. This has been leading to a few more tight players at the table than I like so I went for something new. I joined a table with an $18 average pot. I was greeted by a player with stats I don’t recall ever seeing before. I’ve seen plenty of players that want to see every flop but this guy would raise just about every time preflop no matter what he had. He would even reraise your raise if he had the chance. He was seated two seats to my left and he caught me a little off guard at first. His Poker Tracker numbers are pretty amazing so I’ll share them with you. VP$IP 85.71%, Went to SD% 58.54, PF Raise % 77.55, Won $ at SD 45.83%.
According to Tracker after about 12 hands he was the only, and I do mean only, player at the table who had won money. He was in everything and his cards were hitting left and right. Since he raised indiscriminately his raises meant nothing to me but if others were staying I had to really weigh whether it was worth being in the hand. This forced me to tighten up a lot and for a while I couldn’t get anything going.
It didn’t take long though to realize that the Maniac was actually a Fish. If he had any part of the flop he would stay, if he didn’t he’d fold it. The tricky part came in knowing what part of the flop he had. Since I was reduced to playing primarily premium hands, if I also had a part of the flop I would pound him. It wasn’t 100% effective but for the most part I would have the better of it. He eventually played back everything he had gained and left. There was the normal influx and departure of players and after the big fish left things were pretty normal. I was really able to get into my game and if not for the first table loss I would have had an exceptional night.
Table One – 23 minutes, -13BB, -33.91BB/Hr, 27 hands
Table Two – 118 minutes, 37.5BB, 19.07BB/Hr, 128 hands
Total – 141 minutes, 24.5BB, 10.43BB/Hr, 155 hands
I would like to thank Habsfanca11 for responding to my call for help in finding some good poker books. Now the rest of you need to get up off your butts and respond as well.
With a night of no internet access at all on Friday the Wife and I decided to watch some movies. First up was The Last Samurai. I didn’t expect much from this movie and I was pleasantly surprised when it ended up being a good flick. Next up I decided to watch Rounders. I bought the DVD a while back but hadn’t watched it since I started playing online about a year ago. After watching it two things stood out to me:
1) They sure say the “F” word a lot.
2) That guy was really stupid.
I’m sure when I started out I wanted to be a “Mike”, but after learning more and seeing my style of play I’d much rather be a “Knish”. Sure the quick take is enticing but the odds of success and the cash necessary to weather the lack of money placings just don’t appeal to me. No limit tourneys will always be a fun game but the steady income of limit play will remain my focus. I think a sequel needs to be made following the Knish character. It would be nice to see a sensible, responsible poker player portrayed in film.
Onto the poker play. I sat down and again Party did not have any 1/2 tables available. I joined the waiting list for the first available and was seated about 30 seconds later. Once again letting Party Poker pick my table was disastrous. After 27 hands I knew this table wasn’t for me and I was bleeding money away quickly. I didn’t play badly, I just wasn’t getting anything on the board to help my hole cards. I did win one very small pot but I decided to check the lobby and test the waters.
Since Party doesn’t give you much information about the tables you are looking at I usually just look for one with an average pot size of $14 dollars and join it. This has been leading to a few more tight players at the table than I like so I went for something new. I joined a table with an $18 average pot. I was greeted by a player with stats I don’t recall ever seeing before. I’ve seen plenty of players that want to see every flop but this guy would raise just about every time preflop no matter what he had. He would even reraise your raise if he had the chance. He was seated two seats to my left and he caught me a little off guard at first. His Poker Tracker numbers are pretty amazing so I’ll share them with you. VP$IP 85.71%, Went to SD% 58.54, PF Raise % 77.55, Won $ at SD 45.83%.
According to Tracker after about 12 hands he was the only, and I do mean only, player at the table who had won money. He was in everything and his cards were hitting left and right. Since he raised indiscriminately his raises meant nothing to me but if others were staying I had to really weigh whether it was worth being in the hand. This forced me to tighten up a lot and for a while I couldn’t get anything going.
It didn’t take long though to realize that the Maniac was actually a Fish. If he had any part of the flop he would stay, if he didn’t he’d fold it. The tricky part came in knowing what part of the flop he had. Since I was reduced to playing primarily premium hands, if I also had a part of the flop I would pound him. It wasn’t 100% effective but for the most part I would have the better of it. He eventually played back everything he had gained and left. There was the normal influx and departure of players and after the big fish left things were pretty normal. I was really able to get into my game and if not for the first table loss I would have had an exceptional night.
Table One – 23 minutes, -13BB, -33.91BB/Hr, 27 hands
Table Two – 118 minutes, 37.5BB, 19.07BB/Hr, 128 hands
Total – 141 minutes, 24.5BB, 10.43BB/Hr, 155 hands
I would like to thank Habsfanca11 for responding to my call for help in finding some good poker books. Now the rest of you need to get up off your butts and respond as well.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Sometimes I Feel Like, Somebody's Watchin' Me
Or perhaps their really just out to get me. I logged onto Party last night with high hopes and dreams of glory. I immediately found the perfect table and was just getting into the groove when Party reports "Connection Lost". I have cable internet so I'm hardly ever out of service, but low and behold the cable light was dark on the modem. I rushed downstairs to check the TV and the cable was working. I then dashed back up but the telltale light was still out. I tried to reset the modem and to my overjoyment I was back in business. Well...for the time being. Fifteen minutes later I'm again disconnected and nothing I tried would bring the internet service back up. Upon being forced to leave the table I was up 7.9BB. I only have about half of the hand histories so I don't have the statistics but I was doing very well at the time. A phone call to my cable provider was absolutely no help and the earliest they can get someone out to fix it is Saturday morning. Unless a miracle happens I won't be playing tonight. This makes the wife happy so maybe another night off will do the homelife good.
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Something is Amiss
3 losing days in the last 4 played. That is not like me. Ok scratch that. I just looked at my spreadsheet and back in April I actually had 4 losses out of six days. I bounced back from that with 2 big days so maybe I do have a bright horizon before me. Overall though this doesn’t happen to me very often. Looking over the results so far in 2004 I have to go back to January 28-Feb 02 to find another multi day down spin. I lost four days in a row back then and I was playing .25/.50 at the time. Since January 1st I have 57 black days and 28 red days. That’s a ratio of 2.04:1. The red days include a bad run in January-February where I lost 6 out of 8 days. As long as my wins are consistently bigger than my losses I should be in good shape. I do need to work on widening this ratio. That will become my next goal. I would like to see this ratio move to around 3:1 at this level. I don’t think that’s impossible but will be difficult. This will force me to become a more disciplined player.
Reviewing the levels I’ve played this year starting with .25/.50, the win to loss ratio was 1:1. Not good at all, I’ve stated it before but I really struggled at that level for some reason and my losses were bigger than my wins. The next level (and the one I’ve played the most) the ratio is 2.8:1. At .50/1 I felt like I had a lot of success. I was able to build my bankroll up pretty fast considering the amounts played. With the feeling of success and a ratio of 2.8:1, 3:1 should leave me ecstatic. My new level, 1/2 is still in its infancy. I’ve only played 12 days and my ratio is 1.4:1. Still much to early to tell anything and the recent bad run is included in that. I’ve been able to have my wins far out pace my losses though so I’m still up 80BB even with the tight ratio.
If you’ve read everything so far you have surely figured out that last night was a loss. I started on one table, realized the players were not to my liking, and moved to another. The second table started out better but quickly deteriorated and I suffered because of it. I was very surprised to log on last night and find that not one 10 seat table at 1/2 had an empty seat. I joined a waiting list for the next available table and was seated at a table full of tight players. I was the loosest player at the table so the “chips” were stacked against me. I bled of a few BB and realized I was not going to be staking a claim. I went back to the lobby and discovered a listing of 10 or 12 tables available.
I found one that met my criteria and as I sat down two players left. The table chat eluded to a fish being ran off and I should have taken that as a bad sign and left myself. I didn’t follow the fish though and quickly found myself up against 8 weak/tight players and 1 loose player. This was alright because the weak players were laying down hands and the loose player was paying off. I settled in to what I thought was going to be a good night but then the inevitable happened. The loose player sucked out on the table “expert”. He quickly began to berate the offending player. Two hands later the “expert” won a pot in which both myself and the loose player stayed to the river. The “expert” let loose with “TAKE THAT!”. I did not want Mr. Loose to leave so I responded with “OOOOO AAAAHHH”. It was too late though and Mr. Loose took leave of the table. The “expert” then began to bitch about how the “fish” left with “his” money. DUUH!! If the stupid bastard had kept his virtual mouth shut he would have eventually gotten his money back and we all may have profited.
The “expert” left shortly thereafter but I couldn’t mount anything against the remaining opponents. I started bleeding off bets. It seemed that all the pots I won were small and all the pots I lost were big. I should have expected that against a table full of weak/tight players. The reasoning’s for table selection have eluded me during my poker “career”, but now that info is starting to sink in. Next month I will be reaching my one year poker anniversary. It seems as though a lot of the bloggers are now reaching that mile marker and I will soon join the ranks.
Table One – 29 minutes, -9.25BB, -19.14BB/Hr, 25 hands
Table Two – 88 minutes, -10.63BB, -7.24BB/Hr, 102 hands
Total – 117 minutes, -19.88BB, -10.19BB/Hr, 127 hands
Reviewing the levels I’ve played this year starting with .25/.50, the win to loss ratio was 1:1. Not good at all, I’ve stated it before but I really struggled at that level for some reason and my losses were bigger than my wins. The next level (and the one I’ve played the most) the ratio is 2.8:1. At .50/1 I felt like I had a lot of success. I was able to build my bankroll up pretty fast considering the amounts played. With the feeling of success and a ratio of 2.8:1, 3:1 should leave me ecstatic. My new level, 1/2 is still in its infancy. I’ve only played 12 days and my ratio is 1.4:1. Still much to early to tell anything and the recent bad run is included in that. I’ve been able to have my wins far out pace my losses though so I’m still up 80BB even with the tight ratio.
If you’ve read everything so far you have surely figured out that last night was a loss. I started on one table, realized the players were not to my liking, and moved to another. The second table started out better but quickly deteriorated and I suffered because of it. I was very surprised to log on last night and find that not one 10 seat table at 1/2 had an empty seat. I joined a waiting list for the next available table and was seated at a table full of tight players. I was the loosest player at the table so the “chips” were stacked against me. I bled of a few BB and realized I was not going to be staking a claim. I went back to the lobby and discovered a listing of 10 or 12 tables available.
I found one that met my criteria and as I sat down two players left. The table chat eluded to a fish being ran off and I should have taken that as a bad sign and left myself. I didn’t follow the fish though and quickly found myself up against 8 weak/tight players and 1 loose player. This was alright because the weak players were laying down hands and the loose player was paying off. I settled in to what I thought was going to be a good night but then the inevitable happened. The loose player sucked out on the table “expert”. He quickly began to berate the offending player. Two hands later the “expert” won a pot in which both myself and the loose player stayed to the river. The “expert” let loose with “TAKE THAT!”. I did not want Mr. Loose to leave so I responded with “OOOOO AAAAHHH”. It was too late though and Mr. Loose took leave of the table. The “expert” then began to bitch about how the “fish” left with “his” money. DUUH!! If the stupid bastard had kept his virtual mouth shut he would have eventually gotten his money back and we all may have profited.
The “expert” left shortly thereafter but I couldn’t mount anything against the remaining opponents. I started bleeding off bets. It seemed that all the pots I won were small and all the pots I lost were big. I should have expected that against a table full of weak/tight players. The reasoning’s for table selection have eluded me during my poker “career”, but now that info is starting to sink in. Next month I will be reaching my one year poker anniversary. It seems as though a lot of the bloggers are now reaching that mile marker and I will soon join the ranks.
Table One – 29 minutes, -9.25BB, -19.14BB/Hr, 25 hands
Table Two – 88 minutes, -10.63BB, -7.24BB/Hr, 102 hands
Total – 117 minutes, -19.88BB, -10.19BB/Hr, 127 hands
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Back In the Saddle Again
I haven’t posted in a few days because my weekend play was crap. I took a night of to regroup then came back last night with a healthy win.
Saturday – 63 minutes, -17.13BB, -16.31BB/Hr, 77 hands. I had a few pots I shouldn’t have been in but overall I just wasn’t getting any cards to help me. Sometimes the cards don’t fall your way and this was one of those days.
Sunday:
Table One – 44 minutes, -4.88BB, -6.65BB/Hr, 50 hands. Things weren’t going my way on this table so I decided to quit and look for greener pastures. For the most part I was holding my own but since the table was full of tight players we were just feeding off of eachother.
Table Two – 176 minutes, -13.13BB, -4.47BB/Hr, 194 hands. Mediocre hands, bad beats, and disinterest. That pretty much sums up the table and the night.
Monday: All important day off. The more I thought about it I was playing on Sunday night because I felt I had to, not because I wanted to. That meant I needed a night off.
Tuesday – 122 minutes, 34.32BB, 16.88BB/Hr, 117 hands. I admit that the cards fell my way at the right time and the bad beats were few and far between, but I felt like I was back in the groove. With three loose players and everyone else a rock it was pretty easy to know what to do and when to do it. One particular loose player fed everyone at the table for quite a while. After the loose players left though we began turning our attention on each other. When this happened it seemed like a good time to leave and call it a night.
Big Pot of the Night
This occurred on Sunday night. The night was bad but this hand was good. I have no idea what my opponent was thinking. We were heads up after the flop and this guy was certainly not paying attention. Perhaps he was trying to push me off the hand but since I lead out betting the flop it wasn’t a very smart play.
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Saturday – 63 minutes, -17.13BB, -16.31BB/Hr, 77 hands. I had a few pots I shouldn’t have been in but overall I just wasn’t getting any cards to help me. Sometimes the cards don’t fall your way and this was one of those days.
Sunday:
Table One – 44 minutes, -4.88BB, -6.65BB/Hr, 50 hands. Things weren’t going my way on this table so I decided to quit and look for greener pastures. For the most part I was holding my own but since the table was full of tight players we were just feeding off of eachother.
Table Two – 176 minutes, -13.13BB, -4.47BB/Hr, 194 hands. Mediocre hands, bad beats, and disinterest. That pretty much sums up the table and the night.
Monday: All important day off. The more I thought about it I was playing on Sunday night because I felt I had to, not because I wanted to. That meant I needed a night off.
Tuesday – 122 minutes, 34.32BB, 16.88BB/Hr, 117 hands. I admit that the cards fell my way at the right time and the bad beats were few and far between, but I felt like I was back in the groove. With three loose players and everyone else a rock it was pretty easy to know what to do and when to do it. One particular loose player fed everyone at the table for quite a while. After the loose players left though we began turning our attention on each other. When this happened it seemed like a good time to leave and call it a night.
Big Pot of the Night
This occurred on Sunday night. The night was bad but this hand was good. I have no idea what my opponent was thinking. We were heads up after the flop and this guy was certainly not paying attention. Perhaps he was trying to push me off the hand but since I lead out betting the flop it wasn’t a very smart play.
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: lifesagrind is SB with 8c, 8d.
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises, UTG+2 calls, MP1 folds, MP2 calls, MP3 folds, CO calls, Button folds, lifesagrind calls, BB calls.
Flop: (12 SB) 9h, 2c, 4s (6 players)
lifesagrind bets, BB folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, MP2 calls, CO calls.
Turn: (7.50 BB) 6h (3 players)
lifesagrind bets, MP2 raises, CO folds, lifesagrind calls.
River: (11.50 BB) 8s (2 players)
lifesagrind checks, MP2 bets, lifesagrind raises, MP2 3-bets, lifesagrind caps, MP2 calls.
Final Pot: 19.50 BB
lifesagrind shows 8c 8d (three of a kind, eights).
MP2 shows Kc Qs (high card, king).
Outcome: lifesagrind wins 19.50 BB.
I still have not rec. any book recommendations. Don’t any of you read? :)
Saturday, May 22, 2004
A Hurdle to Overcome
Last night definitely proved the greatest challenge of my short poker career. I sat at the computer and fired up UltimateBet expecting easy money. I was instead slapped hard in the face. Not by cards, but by my pot adversaries. I searched the lobby like a good little poker player. Gleaning as much information as possible hoping against hope that I could find the perfect table. There it was…a beacon in the night. Not perfect, nothing ever is, but close. The flop percentage could be a little higher but hey, beggars can’t be chosers. I clicked the “Join Table” button and was off.
First hand, Big Blind, 6 3 offsuit, let it go better cards will come, if they deal them, they will come. Second hand, Small Blind, 2 2, ah here we go. Certainly not a monster, not even close, but they can be deceptive if the right cards flop. Two callers to me, what to do, what to do, just call. Big blind raise, crap, I want to see the flop. Call, Call, Call. Let the flop fall right, please fall right…Yahoo!! Qd3d2c..sweet. Be cool…be cool. Check, Bet yes, Raise yes, Fold, Hit the button, just hit the button…Raise, BB caps it what the hell, Call, Call.
Stay small, stay small…YES! Turn 7c. Ok..bet. Raise, Oh Shit does he have QQ in the hole? The doubt is there..am I getting sucked in…no way to tell but to play it. Call, Let’s see where I’m at…Raise. BB calls Whew!, LP calls.
All right, just one more little one and I’m set. River…10c. Allright, no straight on the board…possible flush but no one is going to call that many bets trying for a club flush…Bet! BB raise, WTF! Ok, calm down…he overplayed his pair of Queens earlier and now he’s hit two pair...nothing to worry about. LP call. Sucker…you will pay for your transgressions against me…Raise!! BB caps it, MUWAHAHA!! Let’s all pay the price and see me...what…no…it can’t be…he has what…that’s impossible...NOOOOOOOO!!! fade to black. You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension of not only sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of the imagination – Next stop, The Suckout Zone!
Yes weary travelers…the dreaded runner runner flush took down our ignorant hero and thus set the tone for the rest of the evening. In one hand I not only saw the largest pot I’ve seen at this level, $61, but I lost the most I’ve ever lost in one hand, $20. Now normally if I lose 10BB at a table without winning a single hand I will look for greener pastures. As this was only my second hand…and I really wanted to take my money back…I decided to stick it out.
The lobby stats had this table pegged all wrong and you were lucky if more than two people saw the flop. It was a real grind but I wanted my money back, damnit! I was eventually able to wring a profit out of this group of tight wads (even mister runner runner tightened up). The table broke up a couple hours later and I felt I had accomplished something. Had the second hand of the night gone my way it would have been a much more enjoyable night, yet the feeling of coming back did leave me satisfied.
Table – 130 minutes, 6BB, 2.77BB/Hr, 179 hands – (Profit on the big pot was 20BB for the winner!)
First hand, Big Blind, 6 3 offsuit, let it go better cards will come, if they deal them, they will come. Second hand, Small Blind, 2 2, ah here we go. Certainly not a monster, not even close, but they can be deceptive if the right cards flop. Two callers to me, what to do, what to do, just call. Big blind raise, crap, I want to see the flop. Call, Call, Call. Let the flop fall right, please fall right…Yahoo!! Qd3d2c..sweet. Be cool…be cool. Check, Bet yes, Raise yes, Fold, Hit the button, just hit the button…Raise, BB caps it what the hell, Call, Call.
Stay small, stay small…YES! Turn 7c. Ok..bet. Raise, Oh Shit does he have QQ in the hole? The doubt is there..am I getting sucked in…no way to tell but to play it. Call, Let’s see where I’m at…Raise. BB calls Whew!, LP calls.
All right, just one more little one and I’m set. River…10c. Allright, no straight on the board…possible flush but no one is going to call that many bets trying for a club flush…Bet! BB raise, WTF! Ok, calm down…he overplayed his pair of Queens earlier and now he’s hit two pair...nothing to worry about. LP call. Sucker…you will pay for your transgressions against me…Raise!! BB caps it, MUWAHAHA!! Let’s all pay the price and see me...what…no…it can’t be…he has what…that’s impossible...NOOOOOOOO!!! fade to black. You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension of not only sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of the imagination – Next stop, The Suckout Zone!
Yes weary travelers…the dreaded runner runner flush took down our ignorant hero and thus set the tone for the rest of the evening. In one hand I not only saw the largest pot I’ve seen at this level, $61, but I lost the most I’ve ever lost in one hand, $20. Now normally if I lose 10BB at a table without winning a single hand I will look for greener pastures. As this was only my second hand…and I really wanted to take my money back…I decided to stick it out.
The lobby stats had this table pegged all wrong and you were lucky if more than two people saw the flop. It was a real grind but I wanted my money back, damnit! I was eventually able to wring a profit out of this group of tight wads (even mister runner runner tightened up). The table broke up a couple hours later and I felt I had accomplished something. Had the second hand of the night gone my way it would have been a much more enjoyable night, yet the feeling of coming back did leave me satisfied.
Table – 130 minutes, 6BB, 2.77BB/Hr, 179 hands – (Profit on the big pot was 20BB for the winner!)
Friday, May 21, 2004
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Looking at the numbers from last night I should be happy. Problem is I really screwed up a good night by playing stupidly down to my loss limit. I had a solid 35BB night working and I blew a majority of the profit on 2 overplayed hands. I did learn something from reviewing the play in Poker Tracker today. I suppose if you learn something from your mistakes all is well. The key is not to forget what you learn and apply it in future sessions. I won’t waste the space to give a blow by blow hand history but I will briefly summarize.
The lesson learned is not to overvalue your hand and play it too aggressively. I made the same mistake on all three hands. In bad play #1 I had two pair on the flop and when it was checked around to me I bet from last position. The player to my right check-raised it and I called. So far all is OK. On the turn he bet into me, this is a huge flag, especially with this player. I was locked in on what I believed he had (which was top pair) and did not take the time to review the board. I then raised him, mistake 1. He re-raised and instead of properly folding I called, mistake 2. On the river I at least didn’t raise again but of course made a third mistake by calling the bet. He showed a flopped straight and I was down 5.5BB.
Bad play #2 was very similiar. Everyone called the BB and I flopped top pair w/ a J 10. The board was a J57o. I bet out from EP to be raised by someone I had labeled a fish in LP. I called the raise. (see a pattern here?) Turn brought a 4 for a rainbow and I bet out again…I’m still debating this move. My thinking was LP was a fish and I would let him know his raise would not intimidate me. I think this was the right move but comments are welcomed with explanation. Anyway he raised again (red flag) I then made legitimate mistake number 1 and re-raised. I think at the time I didn’t believe he had a hand with that board. The betting indicates otherwise though and I was too dense to see it at this point. He capped it and mistake #2 was made with the call. The river was a blank and at least I wisened up a little to check then fold to his bet. He had a set of 5’s and I was beat from the flop once again. Another 5.5BB down the drain. A collection of little losses accounted for the rest and I ended the night as follows:
120 minutes, 12.88BB, 6.44BB/Hr, 118 hands
I still had a profitable evening though and since I reached my stop loss with an hour to go before bed time I headed back to Aztec Poker. I wanted to play off some more of my 250 raked hands for the chip set. I started out with two tables of .50/1 like the night before but things went even better. I was up 19.25BB at one table when it broke up and on the other I played for the full hour to achieve a 6.75BB profit. For my one hour of play I saw 47 hands and netted a profit of 26BB. Further bonus to my bonus.
I earned my largest pot ever tonight as well. It wasn’t the biggest pot I’ve seen at 1/2 or even the biggest pot of the night at the table. Still it was my biggest ever and I was happy to receive it.
Big Pot Of The Night
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
The lesson learned is not to overvalue your hand and play it too aggressively. I made the same mistake on all three hands. In bad play #1 I had two pair on the flop and when it was checked around to me I bet from last position. The player to my right check-raised it and I called. So far all is OK. On the turn he bet into me, this is a huge flag, especially with this player. I was locked in on what I believed he had (which was top pair) and did not take the time to review the board. I then raised him, mistake 1. He re-raised and instead of properly folding I called, mistake 2. On the river I at least didn’t raise again but of course made a third mistake by calling the bet. He showed a flopped straight and I was down 5.5BB.
Bad play #2 was very similiar. Everyone called the BB and I flopped top pair w/ a J 10. The board was a J57o. I bet out from EP to be raised by someone I had labeled a fish in LP. I called the raise. (see a pattern here?) Turn brought a 4 for a rainbow and I bet out again…I’m still debating this move. My thinking was LP was a fish and I would let him know his raise would not intimidate me. I think this was the right move but comments are welcomed with explanation. Anyway he raised again (red flag) I then made legitimate mistake number 1 and re-raised. I think at the time I didn’t believe he had a hand with that board. The betting indicates otherwise though and I was too dense to see it at this point. He capped it and mistake #2 was made with the call. The river was a blank and at least I wisened up a little to check then fold to his bet. He had a set of 5’s and I was beat from the flop once again. Another 5.5BB down the drain. A collection of little losses accounted for the rest and I ended the night as follows:
120 minutes, 12.88BB, 6.44BB/Hr, 118 hands
I still had a profitable evening though and since I reached my stop loss with an hour to go before bed time I headed back to Aztec Poker. I wanted to play off some more of my 250 raked hands for the chip set. I started out with two tables of .50/1 like the night before but things went even better. I was up 19.25BB at one table when it broke up and on the other I played for the full hour to achieve a 6.75BB profit. For my one hour of play I saw 47 hands and netted a profit of 26BB. Further bonus to my bonus.
I earned my largest pot ever tonight as well. It wasn’t the biggest pot I’ve seen at 1/2 or even the biggest pot of the night at the table. Still it was my biggest ever and I was happy to receive it.
Big Pot Of The Night
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: lifesagrind is Button with Qd, Th.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls, MP1 folds, MP2 calls, MP3 calls, CO calls, lifesagrind calls, SB folds, BB checks.
Flop: (6.50 SB) 7s, Kc, 9c (6 players)
BB checks, UTG+2 bets, MP2 calls, MP3 calls, CO calls, lifesagrind calls, BB folds.
Turn: (5.75 BB) Js (5 players)
UTG+2 bets, MP2 calls, MP3 folds, CO calls, lifesagrind raises, UTG+2 3-bets, MP2 calls, CO calls $1.25 (All-In), lifesagrind caps, UTG+2 calls, MP2 calls.
River: (19.37 BB) Jd (4 players, 1 all-in)
UTG+2 checks, MP2 checks, lifesagrind bets, UTG+2 calls, MP2 calls.
Final Pot: 22.37 BB
UTG+2 shows Kd 7d (two pair, kings and jacks).
MP2 shows 4c Ac (one pair, jacks).
CO shows As Qc (one pair, jacks).
lifesagrind shows Qd Th (straight, king high).
Outcome: lifesagrind wins 22.37 BB.
That was a fun one. Had the club come on the river I was dead, but I was making him pay to see it. :)
On a side note, Some of the advanced topics I hear and read about playing poker are now making sense to me. In recongnition, and celebration, of this fact I have decided to purchase a few poker books and start some hard studying. I would like to hear your recommendations. Please post some recommended reading along with why you would recommend it in the comments section. Thank You
Thursday, May 20, 2004
A Night Off...Sort Of
I didn't play any serious poker last night. The Wife and I watched a couple of back episodes of 24. With only about an hour left before nighty-nigh time I decided to play at Aztec and work off some of the 250 hands needed foe the chip set. I saw 156 hands. I played two tables of .50/1 at the same time and received much of the same results as I used to. A little better than before since I was just going to try ABC poker and not make any plays. I finished up around $13 on one table and down $1.50 on the other. I had a slightly loss earlier in the day yesterday when I played for about 1/2 an hour after downloading the software. Overall I'm up $8.99 over the deposit bonus. Pretty good results and I can't complain about anything.. Tonight I'll get back to the grind and shoot for some more profit. See ya at the tables.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
The Continuum
I didn’t have time to write an update yesterday but Monday and Tuesday were spent at the 1/2 table’s of PartyPoker. I’ll get to the write up in a moment but first I would like to pass on what I think is a hell of a bonus. I heard about this while reading Decker’s Journal. Poker Source Online is offering a free 300 11.5g chip set for signing up with Aztec Riches. On top of that Aztec is offering a 50% bonus. I’ve deposited a $100 for my $50 bonus. I’ve decided I want the chips more than the money so I’m going to play 2 tables of .50/1 until I reach my 250 hands for the chip set. If I make money off of the $50 then that’s further bonus, but I just want to get the 250 hands out of the way though so I can get the chips.
Monday Night – My first night of Party 1/2. I didn’t find the play much different than at UB except maybe a few more players playing any A and staying till the river w/ second pair. This night was for getting a feel of the tables and I was concentrating more on how the players were reacting than working my cards. I would have finished up a few BB’s and I only have myself to blame for not doing so. I had to get up early Tuesday morning for a field trip with my son’s class and I wasn’t watching the clock. I wanted to see if I could push a new player to the table off his hand when I found myself heads up holding what I believed to be the second best hand. He wouldn’t fold though and I lost my little profit. When I realized what time it was I just called it quits and ended the night as close to even as one can get. (without actually being even that is)
Tuesday Night – Now here we go. I found hand after hand hitting me when I first sat down and within 9 hands I was up 16BB. I went loose and within the next 7 hands I was down 3BB from my original buy in. This little wake up call brought me back to reality and I started playing my normal game. I had a few good runs of cards and never dropped below my original buy in again. In fact I doubled my buy in before leaving the table.
I’m torn between which site I should spend most of my time. It appears that playing either one will be profitable. I still have some bonus points at UB I need to convert but I end up playing against the same players much more often there. This may hurt me in the long run if people start to adapt to my play. I know I’m supposed to switch things up,and I try to, but fresh meat always seems more appealing. Party provides this but suckouts will happen more often there. Party will probably get more playing time from me, but UB may be my new weekend hangout.
Monday – 77 minutes, -.25BB, -.39BB/Hr, 77 hands – another minutes match hands anomaly.
Tuesday – 117 minutes, 25.75BB, 13.21BB/Hr, 126 hands
Finally had a pot that seemed big enough to mention.
Big Pot Of The Night
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Monday Night – My first night of Party 1/2. I didn’t find the play much different than at UB except maybe a few more players playing any A and staying till the river w/ second pair. This night was for getting a feel of the tables and I was concentrating more on how the players were reacting than working my cards. I would have finished up a few BB’s and I only have myself to blame for not doing so. I had to get up early Tuesday morning for a field trip with my son’s class and I wasn’t watching the clock. I wanted to see if I could push a new player to the table off his hand when I found myself heads up holding what I believed to be the second best hand. He wouldn’t fold though and I lost my little profit. When I realized what time it was I just called it quits and ended the night as close to even as one can get. (without actually being even that is)
Tuesday Night – Now here we go. I found hand after hand hitting me when I first sat down and within 9 hands I was up 16BB. I went loose and within the next 7 hands I was down 3BB from my original buy in. This little wake up call brought me back to reality and I started playing my normal game. I had a few good runs of cards and never dropped below my original buy in again. In fact I doubled my buy in before leaving the table.
I’m torn between which site I should spend most of my time. It appears that playing either one will be profitable. I still have some bonus points at UB I need to convert but I end up playing against the same players much more often there. This may hurt me in the long run if people start to adapt to my play. I know I’m supposed to switch things up,and I try to, but fresh meat always seems more appealing. Party provides this but suckouts will happen more often there. Party will probably get more playing time from me, but UB may be my new weekend hangout.
Monday – 77 minutes, -.25BB, -.39BB/Hr, 77 hands – another minutes match hands anomaly.
Tuesday – 117 minutes, 25.75BB, 13.21BB/Hr, 126 hands
Finally had a pot that seemed big enough to mention.
Big Pot Of The Night
Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: lifesagrind is Button with Td, Ad.
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO calls, lifesagrind raises, SB folds, BB calls, UTG+1 calls, CO 3-bets, lifesagrind calls, BB calls, UTG+1 calls.
Flop: (12.50 SB) Ts, 4h, 5h (4 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, CO bets, lifesagrind raises, BB folds, UTG+1 3-bets, CO caps, lifesagrind calls, UTG+1 calls $1 (All-In).
Turn: (12.25 BB) 6d (3 players, 1 all-in)
CO bets, lifesagrind calls.
River: (14.25 BB) Jd (3 players, 1 all-in)
CO bets, lifesagrind calls.
Final Pot: 16.25 BB
UTG+1 shows 7h Ac (high card, ace).
CO shows Th Kc (one pair, tens).
lifesagrind shows Td Ad (one pair, tens).
Outcome: lifesagrind wins 16.25 BB.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Rollin, Rollin, Rollin On The River
What a weekend. Saturday night was solid, followed by an unsuccessful outing at the World Blogger Tour III, and then my second biggest night ever on the tables as I send a player on tilt. How Poker was meant to be. I’ll start with the blogger tourney. I left the few notes I took at home so I don’t have much of a recap. It was fun playing although I didn’t really know anyone involved. I managed to take the chip lead for a very short period of time early in the tournament when my full house ended up being bigger than another players. My apologies for not having his identity but like I said, my notes are at home. I continued to play card dead for quite some time after that. I splashed in a few pots but eventually found myself shortstacked with 435 in chips. I was on the button and found myself looking at pocket 7’s. An EP raised and I foolishly decided to make my stand, pushing all in. I wasn’t going to survive much longer due to blinds but I should have known better. I thought I would be up against over cards and race to the river. SB called me for his all-in and the three of us went to the river with no help. I went down to the Hilton Sisters. I finished 19th out of 30. My only solace is in the knowledge that Otis knocked me out and he went on to win the tourney. So it stands to reason that he was the only player at the table better than me. Surely I would have finished second if we did not start out on the same table. That’s sound logic, isn’t it? :)
Saturday night I played two separate tables. Looking back at the numbers I probably should have just stayed on the first one, live and learn. I went down early on table one and after struggling to come back I worked a profit. I wasn’t feeling entirely comfortable against the players so I decided to find a different table. The next table turned out to be a total grind. I spent twice as much time on it and only earned about 1/3 as much. Overall I had a solid night.
Table One – 56 minutes, 9BB, 9.64BB/Hr, 67 hands
Table Two – 102 minutes, 2.5BB, 1.47BB/Hr, 133 hands
Overall – 158 minutes, 11.5BB, 4.37BB/Hr, 200 hands – This win cancelled out the previous nights loss leaving the UB bankroll still able to handle 1/2 action.
Sunday Night. First the tourney, then back to UltimateBet for some 1/2 limit action. As in the previous nights play I started out down and contemplated changing tables. We were starting to get some turnover, which was like changing tables, so I decided to stick it out. This, as it turns out, was the smart play to make. I went on a tear and found myself seated with a table comprised of primarily very tight players. These players would be aggressive preflop, raising it up but then go passive if they didn’t flop a hand. This made the pot’s decent to begin with and the odds dictated allot of post flop play. As I mentioned earlier I managed to send a player on tilt. I’m sure I’ve done this in the past and will do so in the future, but this is the first time I can remember a player actually throwing out comments. He did not attack me personally and I never responded to him directly, but his chatter certainly helped me take down more pots as he swayed others to his thinking. I should probably reward him by offering up a toke, nnnaaaahhh, I’ll just look for him next time and try to do the same thing again.
Since it amused me so, I will share with you what happened. It all started innocently enough. I was dealt QhTh UTG and limped into see the flop. The flop came two hearts with a J high on the board. Tilter lead out from the SB and I called. Turn brought a T giving me second pair so I raised him, and he called. River brought a heart and I took down the pot. He held a QJ so I did river him and he remained silent at this time.
Exactly one orbit later I limp in with Jc10c, Tilter in SB raises and I call. Flop came 6,8,10 all diamonds. Tilter bet out, I had top pair on the board and he was so weak/tight I knew a raise would shut him down so that’s what I did. Everyone else folded and he checked to me on the turn. I bet he called. River brought a J giving me the two pair and again tilter checked and called. I took down his AA with my two pair. Again I rivered him, and if he had played his AA back at me I would have folded the flop. This is where slow playing can kill you. Even though the flop showed flush the odds are in the 150’s to 1 that you will flop a flush. I’ve seen it happen on several occasions but he should have reraised me to see where he was at. This of course is where he went on tilt. UltimateBet does not seem to put the chat into the hand histories so I don’t have the quotes but he made reference to me rivering him twice.
I then took another pot with another player where the river gave me two pair. I was ahead before the river and would have won anyway but the tilter was fixated on the fact that I two-paired the river and again made a comment. This distracted everyone from actually paying attention to my play and the pot. I started getting raised up and the straw that broke the tilters back wasn’t even against him. I was in MP w/ KQ and raised preflop. The flop came 9TQ giving me top pair and the inside straight draw. The turn was another 9 and the river brought a J giving me the straight. Again I was ahead the whole time as my opponent had QJ and the river gave him two pair. Tilter didn’t see this though and began making comments about how I called the flop without even a draw. Huh? I was labeled a river chaser from that point forward and was paid off nicely because of it for the rest of the night. Eventually tilter left and the play became pretty straight forward. I decided to take my bounty and leave.
Table – 138 minutes, 37.75BB, 16.41BB/Hr, 188 hands
I’ve heard bad things about the Party 1/2 tables being hard to beat. I’ve done alright with the tight play at UB though so I’m going to give it a shot at Party. See You There.
Saturday night I played two separate tables. Looking back at the numbers I probably should have just stayed on the first one, live and learn. I went down early on table one and after struggling to come back I worked a profit. I wasn’t feeling entirely comfortable against the players so I decided to find a different table. The next table turned out to be a total grind. I spent twice as much time on it and only earned about 1/3 as much. Overall I had a solid night.
Table One – 56 minutes, 9BB, 9.64BB/Hr, 67 hands
Table Two – 102 minutes, 2.5BB, 1.47BB/Hr, 133 hands
Overall – 158 minutes, 11.5BB, 4.37BB/Hr, 200 hands – This win cancelled out the previous nights loss leaving the UB bankroll still able to handle 1/2 action.
Sunday Night. First the tourney, then back to UltimateBet for some 1/2 limit action. As in the previous nights play I started out down and contemplated changing tables. We were starting to get some turnover, which was like changing tables, so I decided to stick it out. This, as it turns out, was the smart play to make. I went on a tear and found myself seated with a table comprised of primarily very tight players. These players would be aggressive preflop, raising it up but then go passive if they didn’t flop a hand. This made the pot’s decent to begin with and the odds dictated allot of post flop play. As I mentioned earlier I managed to send a player on tilt. I’m sure I’ve done this in the past and will do so in the future, but this is the first time I can remember a player actually throwing out comments. He did not attack me personally and I never responded to him directly, but his chatter certainly helped me take down more pots as he swayed others to his thinking. I should probably reward him by offering up a toke, nnnaaaahhh, I’ll just look for him next time and try to do the same thing again.
Since it amused me so, I will share with you what happened. It all started innocently enough. I was dealt QhTh UTG and limped into see the flop. The flop came two hearts with a J high on the board. Tilter lead out from the SB and I called. Turn brought a T giving me second pair so I raised him, and he called. River brought a heart and I took down the pot. He held a QJ so I did river him and he remained silent at this time.
Exactly one orbit later I limp in with Jc10c, Tilter in SB raises and I call. Flop came 6,8,10 all diamonds. Tilter bet out, I had top pair on the board and he was so weak/tight I knew a raise would shut him down so that’s what I did. Everyone else folded and he checked to me on the turn. I bet he called. River brought a J giving me the two pair and again tilter checked and called. I took down his AA with my two pair. Again I rivered him, and if he had played his AA back at me I would have folded the flop. This is where slow playing can kill you. Even though the flop showed flush the odds are in the 150’s to 1 that you will flop a flush. I’ve seen it happen on several occasions but he should have reraised me to see where he was at. This of course is where he went on tilt. UltimateBet does not seem to put the chat into the hand histories so I don’t have the quotes but he made reference to me rivering him twice.
I then took another pot with another player where the river gave me two pair. I was ahead before the river and would have won anyway but the tilter was fixated on the fact that I two-paired the river and again made a comment. This distracted everyone from actually paying attention to my play and the pot. I started getting raised up and the straw that broke the tilters back wasn’t even against him. I was in MP w/ KQ and raised preflop. The flop came 9TQ giving me top pair and the inside straight draw. The turn was another 9 and the river brought a J giving me the straight. Again I was ahead the whole time as my opponent had QJ and the river gave him two pair. Tilter didn’t see this though and began making comments about how I called the flop without even a draw. Huh? I was labeled a river chaser from that point forward and was paid off nicely because of it for the rest of the night. Eventually tilter left and the play became pretty straight forward. I decided to take my bounty and leave.
Table – 138 minutes, 37.75BB, 16.41BB/Hr, 188 hands
I’ve heard bad things about the Party 1/2 tables being hard to beat. I’ve done alright with the tight play at UB though so I’m going to give it a shot at Party. See You There.
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