Gotta love 'em, gotta hate 'em.
By the way this is Euro, not $$. I was doing fine until this hand came along. It went up and back down the toilet after that.
http://www.holdemmanager.net
Limit Holdem $2(BB) Prima Game#2500150881
Hero ($80.75)
Arnaldo19 ($80.30)
Sokje ($118)
Rayon ($75.61)
Twistoffate ($280)
AKONNIE ($63.50)
Hero posts (SB) $1
Arnaldo19 posts (BB) $2
Dealt to Hero Kc Kd
fold, fold, fold,
AKONNIE calls $2
Hero raises to $4
Arnaldo19 raises to $6
AKONNIE calls $4
Hero raises to $8
Arnaldo19 calls $2
AKONNIE calls $2
FLOP ($24) 6c 3h Jd
Hero bets $2
Arnaldo19 raises to $4
AKONNIE calls $4
Hero raises to $6
Arnaldo19 raises to $8
AKONNIE calls $4
Hero calls $2
TURN ($48) 6c 3h Jd 6h
Hero bets $4
Arnaldo19 calls $4
AKONNIE raises to $8
Hero calls $4
Arnaldo19 calls $4
RIVER ($72) 6c 3h Jd 6h 4h
check, check,
AKONNIE bets $4
Hero calls $4
Arnaldo19 calls $4
AKONNIE shows 5d 6d
(Flop 25.2%, Turn 90.5%)
Hero shows Kc Kd
(Flop 55.3%, Turn 4.8%)
Arnaldo19 shows Jc As
(Flop 19.5%, Turn 4.8%)
AKONNIE wins $81
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Argh.
This game gives me the shits sometimes.
I had a massive, massive cooler over the weekend. Lost about 12 buyins altogether over only a few hours of play. I probably wasn't playing my best, hit cooler after cooler, and possible ended up a little bit on tilt by the end of the session.
Example horrors were my flopped set and turned boat killed by quads, and AQ flopped ace, turned trips killed by a boat. I might collate a litany of the session and post it up a bit later.
The bottom line is that all my good work in no-limit play has been destroyed in a single session.
I think I'm going to play a live PLO rebuy on Tuesday to blow off some steam.
Side note: Full ring on iPoker is the most ridiculously nitty game I have ever seen. One table after 50 or so hands: (VPIP/PFR) 0/0 0/0 5/5 15/5 8/5 0/0 0/0 42/30 (hmm, that last one would be me raising ATC from MP on). Note that this was just one table for a short while, and not the reason I got stacked time after time.
I had a massive, massive cooler over the weekend. Lost about 12 buyins altogether over only a few hours of play. I probably wasn't playing my best, hit cooler after cooler, and possible ended up a little bit on tilt by the end of the session.
Example horrors were my flopped set and turned boat killed by quads, and AQ flopped ace, turned trips killed by a boat. I might collate a litany of the session and post it up a bit later.
The bottom line is that all my good work in no-limit play has been destroyed in a single session.
I think I'm going to play a live PLO rebuy on Tuesday to blow off some steam.
Side note: Full ring on iPoker is the most ridiculously nitty game I have ever seen. One table after 50 or so hands: (VPIP/PFR) 0/0 0/0 5/5 15/5 8/5 0/0 0/0 42/30 (hmm, that last one would be me raising ATC from MP on). Note that this was just one table for a short while, and not the reason I got stacked time after time.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Live poker + bad play = profit!
Finally made it into Burswood last night, and sat down with $200 at a 2/3 table.
I was actually quite disappointed with how I played. I played very weakly in the last few rounds especially.
I was amazed by the badness of the play in general. It felt like I was playing a sort of 10/30 limit game, where nobody bet anywhere near the pot size on the later streets. Lots of players would go limp, call a raise to 10 or 12 or 15 and then fold to some pathetic flop bet. Other guys would go all the way with middle pair and no kicker on a 6 way flop.
After folding a round or so, I picked up an AK under the gun. Raised to 10, called by a mid position player and the fairly tight Asian player in the SB. Flop was Q high and ragged. I Cbet 20, MP folded, SB called. Turn blank, I bet 50, he raised to 125 and I folded. Not a good start. I was down to about 80 and rebought for another 100.
After a while, I picked up KQ UTG+1. I would normally raise or fold this, but given the table conditions I limped. In hindsight, I think a raise was probably better. Anyway, it went to the flop with a bunch of limpers - maybe 5. Flop came down something like K85 rainbow (the sort of flop where I would much rather two opponents than five), and I bet about 12 called in a couple of places. Turn was a very pretty Q, and I bet about 25. I think there was just one caller this time. River J (no flush on board). I bet 60, and the villain minraises to 120. Side note, this guy has been playing with his cards face up - if he has a pair he bets. The raise is strong but could easily be only one pair. I push the rest of my chips for about 140 or so, but fear a slow played set (I couldn't credit the runner runner gutshot straight). He turns over AK for a masterfully slowplayed tptk. Actually, he tried to underraise to 100 so I was quite lucky he had announced "raise" and was forced to complete.
A while later I picked up KK in MP. I raise to 10, and still manage to pick up about 3 callers despite playing very tight in early position. Flop comes Q74 with two clubs. I Cbet 30, one caller - a not-too-terrible player in the blinds. Turn blanks and I fire 60. He calls, somewhat reluctantly. River blanks and for some reason I check behind. He showed A9cc for a busted draw and I drag another decent pot. I really should have value bet the river to extract some value from a queen - he only had about 80 behind.
After this I had some respect, and managed to Cbet some pots with air, and built my stack to around 600.
At some point I picked up A9o in the cutoff. With a couple of limpers to me, I decided to pump it to 15 - two callers. Flop came AKx, and a player (who talked a good game but played some complete garbage for raises in the blinds) donked 25. Second player shoves for about 39. I'm unhappy, but call. Turn is a blank and we check it. River is another blank, and he fires 50. I call, and they both turn over AJ. I don't know if I should have folded the flop here, as I think they are turning over worse aces or kings much of the time.
Eventually most of the complete muppets left, and the table started to look as if it vaguely knew what it was doing. I picked up A9hh (A9 was my trouble hand when I played live 10/20 too), and pulled my "complete moron" play of the night. I flopped a flush draw and called very modest flop and turn bets. River didn't complete my flush and I folded to a pathetic $10 bet. Trouble is, the board read KK66x and my ace rated to be good for at least half the pot. I don't know what I was thinking, but after that I figured I should probably call it a night.
With a few hands to go, I overlimped QJcc in MP. Flop came down KT2 with two diamonds, and I check called a small ($10?) bet (as did my sidekick sitting on my right). Turn was something like a 6 putting two spades on board. I check-called a $30 bet, and sidekick folded (what he later told me was KQ). River was an offsuit 8, and I gave up only for the villain to drag the pot with 52dd for a princely pair of deuces. I am quite dark about how I played this hand. I completely failed to show any aggression, and then gave up when the river blanked out. In some ways I would have been happier if I checkraised all-in on the turn and got called (villain had another 80 or some behind). This is also a good example of where it can be worth sticking in a minbet on the river (say 25 or so) - since the other player can easily have another busted draw that beats yours but will fold to a tiny bet.
Anyway I still managed to get up with a $91 profit, which is not too bad considering how abysmally I played.
I was actually quite disappointed with how I played. I played very weakly in the last few rounds especially.
I was amazed by the badness of the play in general. It felt like I was playing a sort of 10/30 limit game, where nobody bet anywhere near the pot size on the later streets. Lots of players would go limp, call a raise to 10 or 12 or 15 and then fold to some pathetic flop bet. Other guys would go all the way with middle pair and no kicker on a 6 way flop.
After folding a round or so, I picked up an AK under the gun. Raised to 10, called by a mid position player and the fairly tight Asian player in the SB. Flop was Q high and ragged. I Cbet 20, MP folded, SB called. Turn blank, I bet 50, he raised to 125 and I folded. Not a good start. I was down to about 80 and rebought for another 100.
After a while, I picked up KQ UTG+1. I would normally raise or fold this, but given the table conditions I limped. In hindsight, I think a raise was probably better. Anyway, it went to the flop with a bunch of limpers - maybe 5. Flop came down something like K85 rainbow (the sort of flop where I would much rather two opponents than five), and I bet about 12 called in a couple of places. Turn was a very pretty Q, and I bet about 25. I think there was just one caller this time. River J (no flush on board). I bet 60, and the villain minraises to 120. Side note, this guy has been playing with his cards face up - if he has a pair he bets. The raise is strong but could easily be only one pair. I push the rest of my chips for about 140 or so, but fear a slow played set (I couldn't credit the runner runner gutshot straight). He turns over AK for a masterfully slowplayed tptk. Actually, he tried to underraise to 100 so I was quite lucky he had announced "raise" and was forced to complete.
A while later I picked up KK in MP. I raise to 10, and still manage to pick up about 3 callers despite playing very tight in early position. Flop comes Q74 with two clubs. I Cbet 30, one caller - a not-too-terrible player in the blinds. Turn blanks and I fire 60. He calls, somewhat reluctantly. River blanks and for some reason I check behind. He showed A9cc for a busted draw and I drag another decent pot. I really should have value bet the river to extract some value from a queen - he only had about 80 behind.
After this I had some respect, and managed to Cbet some pots with air, and built my stack to around 600.
At some point I picked up A9o in the cutoff. With a couple of limpers to me, I decided to pump it to 15 - two callers. Flop came AKx, and a player (who talked a good game but played some complete garbage for raises in the blinds) donked 25. Second player shoves for about 39. I'm unhappy, but call. Turn is a blank and we check it. River is another blank, and he fires 50. I call, and they both turn over AJ. I don't know if I should have folded the flop here, as I think they are turning over worse aces or kings much of the time.
Eventually most of the complete muppets left, and the table started to look as if it vaguely knew what it was doing. I picked up A9hh (A9 was my trouble hand when I played live 10/20 too), and pulled my "complete moron" play of the night. I flopped a flush draw and called very modest flop and turn bets. River didn't complete my flush and I folded to a pathetic $10 bet. Trouble is, the board read KK66x and my ace rated to be good for at least half the pot. I don't know what I was thinking, but after that I figured I should probably call it a night.
With a few hands to go, I overlimped QJcc in MP. Flop came down KT2 with two diamonds, and I check called a small ($10?) bet (as did my sidekick sitting on my right). Turn was something like a 6 putting two spades on board. I check-called a $30 bet, and sidekick folded (what he later told me was KQ). River was an offsuit 8, and I gave up only for the villain to drag the pot with 52dd for a princely pair of deuces. I am quite dark about how I played this hand. I completely failed to show any aggression, and then gave up when the river blanked out. In some ways I would have been happier if I checkraised all-in on the turn and got called (villain had another 80 or some behind). This is also a good example of where it can be worth sticking in a minbet on the river (say 25 or so) - since the other player can easily have another busted draw that beats yours but will fold to a tiny bet.
Anyway I still managed to get up with a $91 profit, which is not too bad considering how abysmally I played.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
It had to happen...
Inevitable that the good run had to end. I've just been stacked three times in the space of about 50 hands.
Hand 1: In general I am happy to get stacks in with AK PF against when playing 100bb deep, but I'd be interested in views. Sometimes I will call and evaluate, which usually means folding to pressure on the turn.
Hand 2 was against a compulsive limper. It's the sort of flop where I want to get the chips all in, with heaps of outs against most hands I am trailing (but not so many against AA).
Hand 3 is bad, I think. Maybe the button call is ok PF, but I think once he min 3bets the turn I should know that he has a bigger flush. Maybe the straight flush draw clouded my thinking here.
Hand 1: In general I am happy to get stacks in with AK PF against when playing 100bb deep, but I'd be interested in views. Sometimes I will call and evaluate, which usually means folding to pressure on the turn.
Hand 2 was against a compulsive limper. It's the sort of flop where I want to get the chips all in, with heaps of outs against most hands I am trailing (but not so many against AA).
Hand 3 is bad, I think. Maybe the button call is ok PF, but I think once he min 3bets the turn I should know that he has a bigger flush. Maybe the straight flush draw clouded my thinking here.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Double up!
I've just had a look at my records, and made a startling discovery. The low point of my downswing was $1650 on February 16th. Last night I broke through $3300 for the first time. So I have doubled my entire bankroll in less than a month.
Obviously the NoiQ rake races were a pretty big part of that recovery, but I am also running very well since my transition to playing 6max No Limit Holdem.
Perhaps it is just that I am running well, but I have to say that No Limit feels a lot less precarious than limit. Even in the sessions where I have been stacked, I am usually compensated by winning a number of small pots or stacking some muppet who calls down my set on three streets with middle pair.
Last night was a case in point, where I think I was stacked four times (my set two outed on the river, overpair JJ beaten by overpair KK, stuff like that). Despite what I thought was a pretty bad run of luck I still managed to come out of the session slightly ahead, and a rakeback kick put me through that $3300 barrier.
So far I have played mainly 20NL (Euro) and 50NL ($ and Euro). I will start taking shots at 100NL with a full stack quite soon. Then we will see whether this is all just good fortune or whether NL really is the game for me.
Obviously the NoiQ rake races were a pretty big part of that recovery, but I am also running very well since my transition to playing 6max No Limit Holdem.
Perhaps it is just that I am running well, but I have to say that No Limit feels a lot less precarious than limit. Even in the sessions where I have been stacked, I am usually compensated by winning a number of small pots or stacking some muppet who calls down my set on three streets with middle pair.
Last night was a case in point, where I think I was stacked four times (my set two outed on the river, overpair JJ beaten by overpair KK, stuff like that). Despite what I thought was a pretty bad run of luck I still managed to come out of the session slightly ahead, and a rakeback kick put me through that $3300 barrier.
So far I have played mainly 20NL (Euro) and 50NL ($ and Euro). I will start taking shots at 100NL with a full stack quite soon. Then we will see whether this is all just good fortune or whether NL really is the game for me.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
River shove=bluff?
These two hands tonight amused me after the discussion about river shoves with TFAL.
Credit to the villain in the first hand - he got me good.
Side note: after the second hand above, my NL is continuing to run extremely well.
Credit to the villain in the first hand - he got me good.
Side note: after the second hand above, my NL is continuing to run extremely well.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Playing the man
I'm pretty happy with this hand. I was playing 100NL half stacked as the 50 tables had long lists.
I had been watching this guy for a while. He was very aggressive, but seemed to be also willing to go to showdown pretty light. He had been fairly hammering me in the blinds, and he stacked me in an earlier hand when my flop checkraise shove (with a middle pair that I rated to be good a fair percentage of the time) was snapped off by his overpair JJ. I waited quite a lot of hands to finally pick up something decent with which to let his aggression defeat him.
I wouldn't normally just cold call preflop, but I wanted to let him take the lead in the later betting since that had been the pattern in our prior encounters. I raised the turn to a) give him a chance to checkraise all-in, and b) to let me make a modest shove on the river if he called the turn and checked to me.
I had been watching this guy for a while. He was very aggressive, but seemed to be also willing to go to showdown pretty light. He had been fairly hammering me in the blinds, and he stacked me in an earlier hand when my flop checkraise shove (with a middle pair that I rated to be good a fair percentage of the time) was snapped off by his overpair JJ. I waited quite a lot of hands to finally pick up something decent with which to let his aggression defeat him.
I wouldn't normally just cold call preflop, but I wanted to let him take the lead in the later betting since that had been the pattern in our prior encounters. I raised the turn to a) give him a chance to checkraise all-in, and b) to let me make a modest shove on the river if he called the turn and checked to me.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
A river shove bluff
I want to share a hand I played just now on NoiQ (50EUR table). I had just been stacked with a straight vs quads, so wasn't too happy.
This was a very tight player - 5/5 over 50 hands, but weak postflop. No showdowns in 50 hands, and I had already taken a couple of pots from her by calling Cbets and bluffing the turn.
Here my PF call is standard on the button. The flop is a bit scary for a PF raiser. Her range is maybe just overpairs and AK. The Cbet is half pot. I would peel this bet 100% of the time with overcards. Turn Cbet is also half pot. I can probably raise this and win a reasonable percentage of the time, but the bettor can probably put me on a draw and call. Instead, I decided to call the turn bet and bluff any ace or six on the river. Six comes, villain checks to me, I take it down.
In hindsight, my choice of bluffing outs was poor. I think after the weak Cbets, AK is a very significant part of the villain's range. So bluffing on an ace is a no-no. Instead, I think bluffing any six, eight or club is probably better - or even any non-ace. I am also expecting any king or ten to give me a winning hand pretty often. The six of clubs which arrived was really the perfect bluffing card.
Any thoughts?
This was a very tight player - 5/5 over 50 hands, but weak postflop. No showdowns in 50 hands, and I had already taken a couple of pots from her by calling Cbets and bluffing the turn.
Here my PF call is standard on the button. The flop is a bit scary for a PF raiser. Her range is maybe just overpairs and AK. The Cbet is half pot. I would peel this bet 100% of the time with overcards. Turn Cbet is also half pot. I can probably raise this and win a reasonable percentage of the time, but the bettor can probably put me on a draw and call. Instead, I decided to call the turn bet and bluff any ace or six on the river. Six comes, villain checks to me, I take it down.
In hindsight, my choice of bluffing outs was poor. I think after the weak Cbets, AK is a very significant part of the villain's range. So bluffing on an ace is a no-no. Instead, I think bluffing any six, eight or club is probably better - or even any non-ace. I am also expecting any king or ten to give me a winning hand pretty often. The six of clubs which arrived was really the perfect bluffing card.
Any thoughts?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Finally cracked the $3k.
I finally cracked the $3k mark last night, after I had actually aimed to get there by the end of 2008. It's good to get it out of the way.
I played two limit tables (1/2 and 2/4 Eur) and a $50NL table on Eurolinx. Ran ok in NL, finishing up about $20. Ran bad on the 1/2 (down 20BB), but very well on the 2/4 (up about 15BB). The 2/4 was actually a very fishy table with about three players with VPIP over 50, and going to showdown too much. I won quite a few nice pots showing down ace high and weak pairs.
I don't know why, but it seems to me that the average play at 2/4 (and often 3/6) on Eurolinx seems much worse than 1/2.
I took up a reload bonus recently on Eurolinx - $150 at 13 raked hands per dollar (I could have gone for bigger, but I didn't manage to finish the last one). This makes for a pretty good deal when you add in the rakeback and rake race. I'm also looking at signing up for a new kickback on Unibet (also Microgaming) via PSO.
I played two limit tables (1/2 and 2/4 Eur) and a $50NL table on Eurolinx. Ran ok in NL, finishing up about $20. Ran bad on the 1/2 (down 20BB), but very well on the 2/4 (up about 15BB). The 2/4 was actually a very fishy table with about three players with VPIP over 50, and going to showdown too much. I won quite a few nice pots showing down ace high and weak pairs.
I don't know why, but it seems to me that the average play at 2/4 (and often 3/6) on Eurolinx seems much worse than 1/2.
I took up a reload bonus recently on Eurolinx - $150 at 13 raked hands per dollar (I could have gone for bigger, but I didn't manage to finish the last one). This makes for a pretty good deal when you add in the rakeback and rake race. I'm also looking at signing up for a new kickback on Unibet (also Microgaming) via PSO.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
February summary
Well I spent a long time in the dog house, but I'm finally back in the black. Having started the month on $1911, and sinking as low as $1650 during the month, I finished on approximately $2893. This is up from my previous high of $2710, and means my first dividend since November.
The result is due in very large part to the NoiQ rake races. I scored $300 from the Jan-Feb main race, and $400 from the RTR exclusive race. I also made $100 on the monthly race at Eurolinx, and $150 in rakeback ($100 from NoiQ and $50 from Euro).
Pokerwise, I made a princely profit of about $30. But I am actually really pleased with how the poker is going, especially considering that the month started on a continuation of a massive cooler. I am still in a transition phase to NL, and am running incredibly well at the 20EUR NL tables, up over 30bb/100. I *was* running well at 50EUR NL until a nasty session a couple of days ago where I lost three buyins to a mix of bad play and bad beat.
I probably won't play as much in March. I overdid it in Feb a little, due to the races and need to slow down. The NoiQ races are much tougher now, and I think the best I can hope for is a small score in the RTR exculsive race (maybe $50-$100). I'll aim to repeat the $100 win on Eurolinx, as that is pretty easy. I also aim to continue playing predominantly NL - $50 6max tables for preference, or else a mix of 20 and 50 Euro.
I may look for a new kickback this month, and might also attempt to sort out RTR VIP on Littlewoods (which I have tried and failed a few times). I still havent played that live session, but will try again this month - though perhaps it will be 200NL (2/3 blinds) rather than 10/20 limit.
The result is due in very large part to the NoiQ rake races. I scored $300 from the Jan-Feb main race, and $400 from the RTR exclusive race. I also made $100 on the monthly race at Eurolinx, and $150 in rakeback ($100 from NoiQ and $50 from Euro).
Pokerwise, I made a princely profit of about $30. But I am actually really pleased with how the poker is going, especially considering that the month started on a continuation of a massive cooler. I am still in a transition phase to NL, and am running incredibly well at the 20EUR NL tables, up over 30bb/100. I *was* running well at 50EUR NL until a nasty session a couple of days ago where I lost three buyins to a mix of bad play and bad beat.
I probably won't play as much in March. I overdid it in Feb a little, due to the races and need to slow down. The NoiQ races are much tougher now, and I think the best I can hope for is a small score in the RTR exculsive race (maybe $50-$100). I'll aim to repeat the $100 win on Eurolinx, as that is pretty easy. I also aim to continue playing predominantly NL - $50 6max tables for preference, or else a mix of 20 and 50 Euro.
I may look for a new kickback this month, and might also attempt to sort out RTR VIP on Littlewoods (which I have tried and failed a few times). I still havent played that live session, but will try again this month - though perhaps it will be 200NL (2/3 blinds) rather than 10/20 limit.
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