The grind….

I was sitting at around $2100 balance today when I sat down at the table, few short stacks which means they might be donkeys…or playing so tight you can win the small pots.

Just an awful session of cold cards and missed flops….minus $1000 at the lowest point, I could feel myself tilting a little and just calling a few loose cards to see if I could catch a monster.  Anyway, grinded it out…some better cards came but I still couldn’t profit really well…threw away KK after the flop had an Ace + betting….had AA twice but things were so dire, I just slow played once to get as much as I could and re-raised $175 preflop the other time.

But I hung in there, reminding myself that when you go down, you can only go up (or go broke!)….I was only winning 15% of my hands (I lost $950 the other day and still won 25% of my hands)…..I was only seeing flops 26% of the time at one point unlike my usual 33-42%.

Finished the session +$369…..good result considering the circumstances. 

I think I can obviously play the 5/10 cash game, I’m playing with mostly full time poker players who do this for a living so I must be doing something right….

 I’m all pokered out now….as I’ve won, gonna take a few days break (I know, said it before) before Friday’s $200+$20 live rebuy tournament.  Need to watch WSOP 2006 and read Dan Harrington now.

Balance is currently $2469.75.   I long for my $4K again…..

Bad poker

Saturday AM had a break even session.  Then had a horrendous session on Saturday PM, played tight, missed flops.  Got run over basically and called too many starting hands.  Result -$1250.

Another mistake I made was playing too many starting hands when the table was aggressive.  This strategy is fine – seeing 36-41% of flops when bluffing post-flop.  But it didn’t work because there were 2 aggressive players at the table.  I think this style works better when the table is passive, and I should have switched to uber-tight final table style.

Anyway, after refining and reviewing the hand history, I realised I had to adjust and tighten up my starting hands.  When I’m picking up lots of small pots, people may suspect me of bluffing, so if I play goofy 10/6 suited and it hits, I can take them to the cleaners.  Sadly this -$1250 session I was missing everything.  I even got my money in on a huge str. but the other guy had straight too!  Bah!  Althought $1250 down sounds bad, I avoided a tonne of nasty hands all Saturday – elected just to call a $30 raise with KK and yup, an Ace hit the board.  Lots of betting ensued and I got out quickly.  Another hand I would have hit a straight but the flush came out too.  Yeuch!

So, that sucked basically.  Read some Dan Harrington and went back to the tables.

Next session I went up a little and down a little.  2 full-time poker players / semi-pros were playing and they gave my post-flop raises respect or even my re-raises respect.  So I picked up some small pots.  Ended +$50.  Not great, I would have ended +$350 but the last hand I got AKo.  Decided after everyone limped, to raise it for a change (I only typically raise with KK or AA) and hoped everyone would have taken notice and folded.  They didn’t and I missed the flop.  The other player raised $90 post flop, I raised $180 and then he re-raises $600.  He had trips, I had to let it go.

Next session was better, again, tight starting cards.  The table was passive, real tight vultures, so I knew I could pick up the pots post-flop for small change.  Even hit a full house by 4th st, bet $45 to make it look like a steal but no one challenged me, the two tight players were in the pot.  Did true small pot grinding and ended the session +$367.  I also set my check out tim$e at 8.30 AM too…very important!

Balance now is : $1817

As long as I don’t get too crazy, hopefully I can push it back up to $4000 like it used to be!  There is some pressure here, as I have promised myself if I lose all my profit, I will not reload.

6-handed?

Well, couldn’t stay away, was looking again at the poker rooms online and saw a 6-handed table with 1 recognised tight player and 3 donkeys…had to get in.  My AJo paired with ace on the board, had a small moment when I moved all in with top pair, A kicker.  Got called by donkey (thanks man!) with A10 offsuit.  Nice pot, finished a 15 minute session +$700.

Total balance now : $2770.

So this AM, I reached a low-point of $1667….worked it back up to $2000 then quickly rocketed it up to $2770.

Wow!

So I am still +$670 for the week, although I’ve lost $1230 since my high point…..what a ride!

Am going to really play uber-tight now as the state tournament 100+10 approaches and I should be focusing on that.

Back to the table

…since I had been losing then sticking in and winning, I decided to go back to the 5/10

This session wasn’t so bad, I played more cautious after analysing my hand history which had too many bluffs, if small inexpensive-ish bluffs….they all added up to a $950 loss.

Managed to grind it up to $600….then lost some when I had top pair on the flop, bet pot, short stack called, raised the short stack all in on 4th st. and lucky for him, he had caught his 2nd pair on 4th st.  Very loose call from the short stack on the turn, but I guess he was steaming by that point.

Ended session +$325.  Total balance  = $2016. 

So I’m up overall $2016 but down about $100 for this week.

I need to tighten up and play much more cautiously I think.  Although, even my last losing $950 session, I won 22-25% of my hands….showing I’m in there picking up the small pots.

Just need to apply the brakes even MORE now.  At least my stake money has been paid out to Neteller.com

Online poker yeuch!

Well, today I started in at $2600.

I played really good poker, betting when I thought I could steal, backing off when I was challenged. 

Best hand was trip Jacks but didn’t pay much.  Also K4 which turned into KK44, only got a small amount of dough for that.

Finished at $1677….that’s -923 for today.  Major losses and I didn’t get into any big hands, applied the brakes quite a bit but still won my traditional 22-25% of hands.

This does coincide with my withdrawal…although I’ve had 3 winning sessions, now 2 bad losing sessions…I wonder if my luck will turn around???

In any case, I’m playing on profit, so we’ll see where this all goes…but even though todays loss was pretty big, I didn’t make any major mistakes, checked out when it looked dangerous or paid off small bet when I was 2nd best rather than going over the top.

Online Poker Rollecoaster #3

Well, here’s the progress :

 Sunday : +700

Monday +539

Wednesday +987 (but minus $337 for some sit’n'gos, variance in previous session in AM) = +650

Today -1400 (urgh!)

 That still makes me +489 for the week however.

I made some stooooopid mistakes…..first of all I bluffed a tight player.  He nearly folded, took his time, then called.  Here is the hand :

#2727765464: $5/$10 – No Limit Hold’em – 9:58:03 ET – 2007/06/21Seat 1: pokerstory ($917)Seat 2:  ($936.50)

Seat 3:  ($728.45)

Seat 4:  ($1,218.65)

Seat 5:  ($1,408)

Seat 6:  ($1,000)

Seat 7:  ($413)

Seat 8:  ($295.50)

Seat 9:  ($1,518.25)

1 posts the small blind of $5

2 posts the big blind of $10

The button is in seat #1

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to pokerstory  [Ac 2c]

2 folds

3folds

4 has 15 seconds left to act

4 folds

5 has 15 seconds left to act

5 raises to $20

6 folds

mr x calls $20

pokerstory calls $20

1 folds

2 folds

*** FLOP *** [5s 7d 8c]

3 has 15 seconds left to act

3 has timed out

3checks

mr x bets $45

pokerstory  calls $45

3 folds

*** TURN *** [5s 7d 8c] [8h]

mr x has 15 seconds left to act

mr x checks

pokerstory  bets $120

mr x calls $120

*** RIVER *** [5s 7d 8c 8h] [6d]

mr x  checks

3 has been disconnected

pokerstory  has 15 seconds left to act

pokerstory bets $250

3 has reconnected

mr x has 15 seconds left to act

mr x calls $250

*** SHOW DOWN ***

pokerstory shows [Ac 2c] a pair of Eights

mr x shows [Js Jh] two pair, Jacks and Eights

mr x wins the pot ($902) with two pair, Jacks and Eights

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $905 | Rake $3

Board: [5s 7d 8c 8h 6d]

Seat 1: pokerstory (button) showed [Ac 2c] and lost with a pair of Eights

)

Seat 9: mr x showed [Js Jh] and won ($902) with two pair, Jacks and Eights

Basically he didn’t give me credit for A8 or 87 or 8-anything.  I was close to taking this one but didn’t.  It then set me up for the next fall where mr x didn’t believe me :

 So two expensive bluffs.Although I lost $1400 today, the last 3 sessions have been great and since my last post to the blog, I’m +$469.

I have also taken out my original stake and am now playing on profit only.

I must learn to apply the brakes to a stand still once I get caught bluffing/call too many pots / bet to win.

I guess I underestimated 21seantaylor’s tight game, but it just might bite him in the ass the next time we play…here’s what happened with someone when I flopped the nuts  :

#2718550436: – $5/$10 – No Limit Hold’em – 9:44:23 ET – 2007/06/20Seat 1: ($962)Seat 2:  ($865)

Seat 3: pokerstory ($1,267)

Seat 4: ($365.75)

Seat 5: ($2,888.50)

Seat 7: ($683.25)

sg posts the small blind of $5

pokerstory posts the big blind of $10

The button is in seat #1

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to pokerstory [Jc 5c]

1folds

1 stands up

2 folds

3 folds

4 folds

sg raises to $35

4 adds $200

pokerstory has 15 seconds left to act

pokerstory calls $25

*** FLOP *** [5s Jd Kh]

sg bets $45

sg raises to $120

sg calls $75

*** TURN *** [5s Jd Kh] [5d]

sg checks

pokerstory checks

*** RIVER *** [5s Jd Kh 5d] [9h]

sg bets $200

sg has 15 seconds left to act

pokerstory raises to $510

sg calls $310

*** SHOW DOWN ***

pokerstory shows [Jc 5c] a full house, Fives full of Jacks

sg mucks

pokerstory wins the pot ($1,327) with a full house, Fives full of Jacks

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $1,330 | Rake $3

Board: [5s Jd Kh 5d 9h]

Seat 2: sg (small blind) mucked [Kd 9d] – two pair, Kings and Nines

Seat 3: pokerstory (big blind) showed [Jc 5c] and won ($1,327) with a full house, Fives full of Jacks

In any case, I need to apply more braking when at the table.  Less fire, lol!  All lessons.

I hope I can somehow look on todays loss as a lesson.  Getting deep into pots is how I make money sometimes but also lose some.

So for the record, my balance after removing my stack is $2619 right now.  Which means I’ve tripled my stack in 19 days.  That’s still good going.  Sadly, it was $4000 this morning…booo hooo!!!!!  I also saw a big winner ’supercute’ lose about 1K today.  Loose call, called with AQ pair of Aces on board but the other guy hit trip Jacks and exited with a full house on the river.

Other news : the Monday nite game was 11 handed and cold carded.  Spent $100, finished 7th.  Blinds were ridiculous eventually.  Went all in 4 times, won once, 3 times lost – twice I was up against Ace/Ace!!!!

More drama online…..

Started in at $2815……had noticed a few low stacked donks on the table, felt mentally in the mood and energised.

Sat down with the usual $1K.

Little variane, -$100.  Then I got in deep with a hand where I didn’t believe the raise on the flop.

Then I had the flush draw, 3 players.  If it hadn’t been 3 players, I’d have gotten out due to poor pot odds.  Missed flush, got out and somebody had full house anyway.  Was -$700 at this point.

Had a hairy all in moment where we bet to the river, then I re-raised all in with the straight – possible flush out there.  He folded…either small flush or he didn’t have any flush.

From there I climbed from the ashes and battled my way up, taking lots of small pots where possible, sometimes having to bet out.  Did some sneaky check-flop then re-raise on the turn moves when I had top pair.

Caught some nice cards towards the end of the session, perceived as loose-aggressive people came in the pot with me and respected my raises less.  Good when you’re catching nice cards.  Finished $3454. 

That’s +$639 for the session of 133 hands.

 A great result as I’ve surpassed the $3200 initial target.  I need to think about withdrawing $1200 original stake money, but it seems that it might ‘doomsday switch’ you if you do that.  Some say it does, some say not. 

In any case I’m gonna let it sit there and take a break from the cash tables while I prepare for the local championship.

The Online Poker Roller Coaster part two

Well, after the last hairy session, I started with $2740 and bought in for $1K.

I spotted a table with loaded bases – 6 players had 1K+, 1 of which was 1.4K and the two were 2K and 3K.

I did my classic get-into-a-hand with nothing and represented trips 8s.  It didn’t work.  I bet the flop, turn and river but had to fold when re-raised.  It cost me $650.

Still I stuck in.

Got great hole cards, AK three times.  Once flopped two pair, no one came to party.  Other two times missed the flops completely.

Had AA, KK and QQ.  Royaly lost a tonne.

With my AA, raised $40.  Two callers.

Flop comes under cards, I bet.  I player calls.

Turn, blank.  I bet.  Player calls.

Then I check the river.  At this point I’m not sure what he has.

He prices me in at $250…..I call, he has trip 7s.

My KK and QQ got slaughtered also.  The software was definitely f*cking me after the last big $3K pot win from last session.

So I was down to around $1300 at the lowest point. 

But I stayed with it, grinded a little, then I found myself with J10 suited.  A raiser PF and a caller, I had to get in.

Flop comes 7KQ.  I got opened ended str.possibilities.

Bet is $100.

I call.  There’s too much money in the pot.

Next bet is $150, one guy folds, now it’s great pot odds.  There’s a tonne of money in the pot, some of it dead money.  $150 to car an open ended represents value.

I call.

River – 9.  I make the straight.  A10 would crucify me at this point, but it’s hard to see a guy betting all the way.  Again Doyle says don’t worry too much about having the nuts all the time.

So he bets, I move all in with my remaining $842.  He calls and I win.  Software didn’t show his hand.

Finished the session $2815.  +$65.

What a ride…persistance pays off.  I did play impeccably throughout pretty much.  Folding just enough and calling just enough I felt.

Time for a royal break now, unless I spot anymore opportunities.  Yesterday there was a maniac at the table, raised $200 with J9 suited etc., it was just crazy.  I had to get in but everyone else robbed him.  He ended up dropping $1500 on pure stupidity.

Online poker roller-coaster

Sheesh, what a session.

Started $1740…..then decided to bluff at a pot when a flush came out….cost me $650…more variance and I was down to $800.

Yeuch.

Decided to keep battling and ended up about $1600.

Nice hands – got AA and JJJ with A kicker.  Managed to extract as much money as I could.

Then got AA again.

Raised, then bet flop then moved all in on turn.  On the turn I could spike a club for the nut flush and I still had AA.  The board was a wee bit scarey as there was a Q, worried he hit QQQ.

Anyway, all the money went in, $3K pot.

He turns KK!!!!

So, I my balance was then $3000.  For the next two hands I got in firing, hoping these guys would fear me.  It didn’t work sadly but I ended the 3-hour session with $2722.07.

Thats +1K on what I started with mostly, and a great achievement to get back from $800.

I’m thinking of spending some of these winnings on tournament tickets for WSOP.  The buy is $500 + $50 at Full Tilt and it has 100 seats up for grabs.

Ouch…!

Well, yesterdays $2900 dollars soon depleted.

I was combing the 5/10 tables….one table had somebody around $5K and someone around $2.2k

I thought I’d take advantage, they should be due to lose soon.

I had JJ, limped in on the big blind, last to act.  3 players.

Flop 7/10/J rainbow

1st bets $20

2nd calls $20

I raise (3rd) to $60

2nd calls $60

Heads up.

4th street – blank.

I fire again.  $150

He re-raises $500.

I get all my money in – after all I have top set of trips.

He turns over the straight!!!!

River doesn’t pair the board and I loose $1K.

For the session down $1200 due to some variance.

My complete balance is $1740…so I’m still $540 up overall.

Oucheroonie…maybe I should raise with JJ but I feel it’s a waste of money as if it doesn’t hit, it’s worthless pretty much to an over-pair.