I had my first tough session in some time last night. I played a EUR5/10 and 3/6 table on Eurolinx, and a 3/6 on Cake. I ended up just under $200 down, which wasn't too bad considering I was probably down closer to $400 at one stage.
It wasn't one of those bad beat after bad beat sessions, but just one where it seemed like my good hands were never paid off (AA wins the blinds) while my marginal hands were pounded, and my draws seldom came in.
I'm glad I stuck with it, as I ended up getting paid off by a 20/5 nitfish on my left on the EUR3/6 table. My pocket aces were capped preflop. Flop came king high, and I just called his threebet fearing KK a little bit. Turn was an A for top set and we capped up both the turn and river. Fish turned up AK for the most abysmally played top two in the face of my pretty obvious AA or KK. Nice result for a >130 Euro pot.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
More tournaments and a cracker of a bad beat..
I played a few more tourneys last night. Bubbled in a PokerStars 180 player $10 SNG.
In a $10 R&A on Eurolinx, I was doing pretty nicely in the mid stages (about double average) until this happened:
Holding pocket fives, I flopped a set on a nine high flop (raised pre with one caller). Villain calls my modest flop and turn bets, and then donks all-in on the river which paired the nine. I go to snap call, and.....
Misclick the fold button.
Gnargh. Argle. Faark.
The third tournament was a $5 R&A ($3k guarantee) on cake. I did pretty well and was in or around the chiplead going into the final table. Four handed I was one of two huge stacks (the player on my right was chipleader). And then this:
Hand#18664F7D06001993 - Tournament Table 22 T5209350 -- Table 25 -- $1,200/$6,000/$12,000 NL Hold'em -- 2009/05/16 - 00:40:12
Seat 4: Filo*** ($257,616 in chips)
Seat 6: sava*** ($486,600 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero ($442,108 in chips) DEALER
Seat 10: sill*** ($162,176 in chips)
Filossoff posts ante of 1,200
savat24 posts ante of 1,200
Hero posts ante of 1,200
sillynagger posts ante of 1,200
Filo***: posts small blind 6,000
sava***: posts big blind 12,000
Dealt to Hero [8s,8c]
Hero: raises to 32,000
sill***: folds
Filo***: folds
sava***: calls 20,000
*** FLOP *** [6c,Qd,8d]
sava***: bets 37,400
Hero: calls 37,400
*** TURN *** [2d]
sava***: bets 74,800
Hero: raises to 200,600
sava***: calls 125,800
*** RIVER *** [ 3d ]
sava***: bets 12,000
Hero: calls 12,000
***SHOW DOWN***
sava***: shows [7d 6s] (Flush, Queen high)
Hero: mucks
sava***: wins 574,800 with Flush, Queen high
Hero: mucks [ 8s, 8c ] (ThreeOfAKind)
OMFG you've got to be kidding me. 76o on the flop, bottom pair on the flop, bottom pair plus awful FD on the turn. After that I busted out in 4th for $300. But it could have been 1st for $850. Would have been huge chipleader if my set had held up.
I probably should have raised a bit more on the turn but really...
As an aside, cash games are also going reasonably well right now. I have had some more successful tilts at 5/10, and 2/4 and 3/6 are also going pretty well.
In a $10 R&A on Eurolinx, I was doing pretty nicely in the mid stages (about double average) until this happened:
Holding pocket fives, I flopped a set on a nine high flop (raised pre with one caller). Villain calls my modest flop and turn bets, and then donks all-in on the river which paired the nine. I go to snap call, and.....
Misclick the fold button.
Gnargh. Argle. Faark.
The third tournament was a $5 R&A ($3k guarantee) on cake. I did pretty well and was in or around the chiplead going into the final table. Four handed I was one of two huge stacks (the player on my right was chipleader). And then this:
Hand#18664F7D06001993 - Tournament Table 22 T5209350 -- Table 25 -- $1,200/$6,000/$12,000 NL Hold'em -- 2009/05/16 - 00:40:12
Seat 4: Filo*** ($257,616 in chips)
Seat 6: sava*** ($486,600 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero ($442,108 in chips) DEALER
Seat 10: sill*** ($162,176 in chips)
Filossoff posts ante of 1,200
savat24 posts ante of 1,200
Hero posts ante of 1,200
sillynagger posts ante of 1,200
Filo***: posts small blind 6,000
sava***: posts big blind 12,000
Dealt to Hero [8s,8c]
Hero: raises to 32,000
sill***: folds
Filo***: folds
sava***: calls 20,000
*** FLOP *** [6c,Qd,8d]
sava***: bets 37,400
Hero: calls 37,400
*** TURN *** [2d]
sava***: bets 74,800
Hero: raises to 200,600
sava***: calls 125,800
*** RIVER *** [ 3d ]
sava***: bets 12,000
Hero: calls 12,000
***SHOW DOWN***
sava***: shows [7d 6s] (Flush, Queen high)
Hero: mucks
sava***: wins 574,800 with Flush, Queen high
Hero: mucks [ 8s, 8c ] (ThreeOfAKind)
OMFG you've got to be kidding me. 76o on the flop, bottom pair on the flop, bottom pair plus awful FD on the turn. After that I busted out in 4th for $300. But it could have been 1st for $850. Would have been huge chipleader if my set had held up.
I probably should have raised a bit more on the turn but really...
As an aside, cash games are also going reasonably well right now. I have had some more successful tilts at 5/10, and 2/4 and 3/6 are also going pretty well.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
I guess this was the wrong time to take a shot at the 5/10 table
(Euros btw) But it was fishy, and I couldn't resist:
But on the plus side:
But on the plus side:
- I didn't lose as much as I might have
- I didn't tilt
- I didn't chase the loss after the fish on my right left
- I managed to (almost) break even on the session, even after dumping 15BB on a 2/4
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Sometimes it's good to have the fish on your left
Sometimes it can be handy to have the passive calling fish on your left.
For these hands, both the players on my left were huge fish calling almost any action preflop with any two cards, and paying off with marginal hands postflop. This gives you a great opportunity to play drawing hands like small pairs and suited aces from early position.
Sitting UTG+1 and UTG (consecutive hands), I would nearly always dump 66 and A3s at a FR table. Here, limping gave the opportunity to create a big family pot.
Note there is a bit of a glitch in the replay, as I was UTG+1 and UTG not UTG+2 and UTG+1. Also Ron was BB in the second hand.
The first hand didn't work so well when fish #2 folded, and we ended up three ways. On the eight high diamond flop I figured my hand was worth a value bet, but unfortunately my gin on the turn was not paid off.
Hand two worked almost perfectly, with my two fish coming along for the ride and a late position raiser. The TP+FD flop was perfect, and I bet for value. The turn bet is probably a mistake since I am almost certainly still drawing.
I made a few more good pots against alli after these. I made "isolation" raises, which he would call and the rest of the table fold. He then calls two Cbets and my Q high junk holds up :)
For these hands, both the players on my left were huge fish calling almost any action preflop with any two cards, and paying off with marginal hands postflop. This gives you a great opportunity to play drawing hands like small pairs and suited aces from early position.
Sitting UTG+1 and UTG (consecutive hands), I would nearly always dump 66 and A3s at a FR table. Here, limping gave the opportunity to create a big family pot.
Note there is a bit of a glitch in the replay, as I was UTG+1 and UTG not UTG+2 and UTG+1. Also Ron was BB in the second hand.
The first hand didn't work so well when fish #2 folded, and we ended up three ways. On the eight high diamond flop I figured my hand was worth a value bet, but unfortunately my gin on the turn was not paid off.
Hand two worked almost perfectly, with my two fish coming along for the ride and a late position raiser. The TP+FD flop was perfect, and I bet for value. The turn bet is probably a mistake since I am almost certainly still drawing.
I made a few more good pots against alli after these. I made "isolation" raises, which he would call and the rest of the table fold. He then calls two Cbets and my Q high junk holds up :)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
April summary
Looking back, I don't think I ever posted a summary for March. Maybe that's because I finished March down $300 after my PLO disaster and a couple of bad sessions.
Anyways, I started this month with a bankroll of $2495. I finished with a bankroll of $5133. That's an incredible 106% return. The net profit of $2638 was made up of $310 in rakeback, $250 in rake races, a $150 reload bonus on Euro, and about $120 of the RedStar signup bonus, and then about $1808 in poker profit (including $700 in tournament profit from Wednesday's second place).
Just reading that last paragraph, I can hardly believe it - especially with the relatively tough run I have had over recent months.
I actually went back to fixed limit for most of this month. Initially this was because the fishiness level on Eurolinx was very high, especially at the EUR3/6 level. My first sampling of the Cake (RedStar) waters was also very profitable on the limit tables. I wish I had tracker stats on RedStar, because I'd really like to know how hot I am running (apart from *very*) and how bad the fish are (some of them, also *very*).
The rake races on Eurolinx and RedStar were also great value this month, although RedStar got suddenly tougher in the last week when RTR emailed everyone to point out that there were 21 unclaimed prizes. I could have made it up to a $150 prize on Euro (rather than the $100 I ended up with), but I was tired after the tournament and needed a break so didn't play the last day.
One extra bonus showed up on Wednesday - I bought the Harrington tournament books as a set using my Eurolinx points. So that's an extra $100 or so of value right there.
For May, I plan to play a couple of live WSOP super sats and hopefully a bit of cash too. I will continue with the EL and RS races, and try to play some more no-limit. I will also aim to play a few more tournaments - maybe one or two a week, and maybe at slightly higher buyins.
Finally, here are a couple of hands from the tournament. I tried this overpot value bet on the river a couple of times and got paid off well by weak hands (gotta love the hero call with ace high).
Landmark of the month: I have now won more money playing poker in the last year than I lost on the stock market :)
Anyways, I started this month with a bankroll of $2495. I finished with a bankroll of $5133. That's an incredible 106% return. The net profit of $2638 was made up of $310 in rakeback, $250 in rake races, a $150 reload bonus on Euro, and about $120 of the RedStar signup bonus, and then about $1808 in poker profit (including $700 in tournament profit from Wednesday's second place).
Just reading that last paragraph, I can hardly believe it - especially with the relatively tough run I have had over recent months.
I actually went back to fixed limit for most of this month. Initially this was because the fishiness level on Eurolinx was very high, especially at the EUR3/6 level. My first sampling of the Cake (RedStar) waters was also very profitable on the limit tables. I wish I had tracker stats on RedStar, because I'd really like to know how hot I am running (apart from *very*) and how bad the fish are (some of them, also *very*).
The rake races on Eurolinx and RedStar were also great value this month, although RedStar got suddenly tougher in the last week when RTR emailed everyone to point out that there were 21 unclaimed prizes. I could have made it up to a $150 prize on Euro (rather than the $100 I ended up with), but I was tired after the tournament and needed a break so didn't play the last day.
One extra bonus showed up on Wednesday - I bought the Harrington tournament books as a set using my Eurolinx points. So that's an extra $100 or so of value right there.
For May, I plan to play a couple of live WSOP super sats and hopefully a bit of cash too. I will continue with the EL and RS races, and try to play some more no-limit. I will also aim to play a few more tournaments - maybe one or two a week, and maybe at slightly higher buyins.
Finally, here are a couple of hands from the tournament. I tried this overpot value bet on the river a couple of times and got paid off well by weak hands (gotta love the hero call with ace high).
Landmark of the month: I have now won more money playing poker in the last year than I lost on the stock market :)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Big tournament cash!!
I foolishly started a couple of $11 R&A tournaments last night at 10:30pm after getting home from some indoor climbing.
Four hours later (or was it five?) I took down 2nd place on Eurolinx for a very nice $750. In the similar tournament on RedStar (Cake), I busted out with TT when my top set was cracked by a rivered straight.
I have a theory that there is an awful lot of dead money in these R&A tournaments from players who rebuy very late in the rebuy period (like the third level). At that point, a rebuy buys so few blinds that you are forced to shove preflop pretty well straight away. The Cake R&A has extra value, since it takes late registrations until the end of rebuys. I think at least half of the players are usually late starters.
I will probably post some hands tonight or tomorrow. After watching Tom Dwan play in the Aussie Millions cash game, I was inspired to try a couple of overbet (1.5-2 times pot) river value bets. The results were great, with calls coming from hands (including an ace high call) that I'm pretty sure wouldn't have called a "normal" value bet.
Four hours later (or was it five?) I took down 2nd place on Eurolinx for a very nice $750. In the similar tournament on RedStar (Cake), I busted out with TT when my top set was cracked by a rivered straight.
I have a theory that there is an awful lot of dead money in these R&A tournaments from players who rebuy very late in the rebuy period (like the third level). At that point, a rebuy buys so few blinds that you are forced to shove preflop pretty well straight away. The Cake R&A has extra value, since it takes late registrations until the end of rebuys. I think at least half of the players are usually late starters.
I will probably post some hands tonight or tomorrow. After watching Tom Dwan play in the Aussie Millions cash game, I was inspired to try a couple of overbet (1.5-2 times pot) river value bets. The results were great, with calls coming from hands (including an ace high call) that I'm pretty sure wouldn't have called a "normal" value bet.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Blind battles 101
I love the hand to hand combat of blind battles. The villain of this piece was folding his BB way too often (over 60% IIRC), so I was pretty liberally raising from the SB.
In hand one, he plays back on the flop and I fold. In hand two, I started to get the feeling he was getting wise to my SB raises and making a play (he had also been 3betting my raises from the button a lot). The turn jack was a nice card to play back at him. A risky play though, and not one to attempt too often.
Hand three plays out similarly, except with a proper hand in AK I am happy to see a showdown. Sometimes the villain gets lucky on the end.
In hand one, he plays back on the flop and I fold. In hand two, I started to get the feeling he was getting wise to my SB raises and making a play (he had also been 3betting my raises from the button a lot). The turn jack was a nice card to play back at him. A risky play though, and not one to attempt too often.
Hand three plays out similarly, except with a proper hand in AK I am happy to see a showdown. Sometimes the villain gets lucky on the end.
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