Two big hands is all it takes when you’re playing badly

I started out playing 50NL. I bought in for my usual $25 but this time things didn’t go so well. It wasn’t that I was getting bad beat or anything, it was simply a matter of catching too many middle pairs and betting aggressively with them only to have them lose to better hands. I wasn’t playing well, my bluffs weren’t working and I wasn’t reading my opponents great either. So after I lost my original buy-in I dropped down to 25NL. I just wasn’t feeling it so I thought moving down a level was the right move.

I wasn’t playing that great at 25NL either but then I caught lightning in a bottle:

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: $32
BTN: $3
Hero (SB): $23.90
BB: $18.85
UTG: $27.95
MP: $28.90

Pre-Flop: 4 6 dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG calls $0.25, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.15, BB checks

Flop: ($0.75) 2 3 9 (3 Players)
Hero bets $0.75, BB folds, UTG raises to $3, Hero calls $2.25

Turn: ($6.75) 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $6.75, UTG calls $6.75

River: ($20.25) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $13.90 and is All-In, UTG calls $13.90

Results: $48.05 Pot ($2.40 Rake)
Hero showed 4 6 (a flush, Nine high) and WON $45.65 (+$21.75 NET)
UTG mucked A 9 (two pair, Nines and Eights) and LOST (-$23.90 NET)

Two hands later….

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

BB: $32
UTG: $3.35
Hero (MP): $45.65
CO: $18.85
BTN: $3.70
SB: $28.65

Pre-Flop: 7 7 dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero calls $0.25, CO raises to $1.10, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.85

Flop: ($2.55) J A 7 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $1.50, Hero raises to $7.05, CO raises to $17.75 and is All-In, Hero calls $10.70

Turn: ($38.05) 2 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

River: ($38.05) 5 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: $38.05 Pot ($1.90 Rake)
Hero showed 7 7 (three of a kind, Sevens) and WON $36.15 (+$17.30 NET)
CO showed J A (two pair, Aces and Jacks) and LOST (-$18.85 NET)

I started off fast. I was aggressive throughout the session. Overly aggressive probably. Usually I play pretty aggressive but within reason. I wasn’t really thinking things through and I was getting caught bluffing….a lot. I was also playing way too many hands. But I think the reason I got paid off on the hands I posted is because I was so aggressive (especially post flop and beyond) and I think that helped my cause. I’ve been really trying to be aggressive especially post flop as I feel this is where most of the money is won in cash games. The pots are larger on later streets so I’ve been working on being aggressive after the flop as opposed to pre-flop.

The first hand I get a one gap suited connector in the SB. My kind of hand especially if I can see a flop cheaply and I get my wish. I get my flush draw and I raise again. This time I get a re-raise and I just flat call. Even if he/she has a set I’m in decent shape. I hit my flush and I bet yet again. I make it a big bet like I’m buying the pot. Most players at this level are going to check hoping to check raise which is the standard line. Too standard in my opinion. So I put out a pot sized bet. I’m hoping to disguise my big hand by betting big. Sounds counter intuitive doesn’t it?

It works as the villain takes his/her time before finally calling and pays me off on the river. Looking back I think I may have lost a lot of value by going all in on the river but since I was playing aggressive throughout the hand I might as well overbet the river also.

I was really surprised that he called me down with TPTK but I’m not complaining. I would like to think that I confused him with my overbets.

The hand after that was also a pretty good one. I get 77 in EP. I elect to call and see if I can set mine for cheap. I get a raise and I call. My luck is turning around because I get exactly what I hoped for….a set. I check hoping that the bandit bets out. He bets out and I check raise big. Again the standard line that most players take is check calling with this kind of board so I elect to check raise big like I’m bluffing. Again this is counter intuitive as most players at these levels are used to the check call play trying to milk that pot for as much value as they can squeeze out of it. It’s too standard IMO, so standard that I feel that I’m giving away my hand if I play this way. So I take a different line.

Sure I lose value at times when I do this but the times that I do get that guy on the hook, I’m usually taking down a huge pot. This time it works out.

I’m running good but alas the good times don’t last and eventually the well dries up and it’s back to the same old same old at Fulltilt.

I give a lot of it back but manage to leave with a profit of $15 which isn’t so bad considering. Basically these were the only huge pots that I won all session. However, this was enough to give me the cushion that I needed because I was playing skittish (ok I was a bit of a maniac and a donkey) the whole night and donked off a lot of my profit I had made from the above hands.

Oh well….that’s poker. Good thing I left otherwise I’m sure I’d probably lose it all.