Weathering the Storm

My cards are as cold as it is outside. That’s a bummer.

It’s one thing to get good cards and it’s a whole other thing to be card dead.

I’ve been experiencing a mixture of both, but the problem is when I get good cards they don’t seem to hold up.  Couple that with being card dead at crucial times, then I’ve got a little bit of a down streak going.

Case in point. I’m playing in a league poker game. It’s my freeroll. My set is demolished by a higher set. That’s the way it goes sometimes.

I catch a set of 6s only to be punched in the mouth by a set of 8s. Not very lucky I should say.

The next game I’m the chip leader and we’re on the bubble. I get A/K suited. A shortie pushes. I call. He has A/4. The 4 on the turn doubles him up.

A few hands later I get A/Q, again they were suited. The shortie who I doubled up, pushes again on the button. I’m the BB so I call. He has A/9.  Guess what happens next.

Now I’m the short stack and on the bubble. That sucks. From chip leader to short stack in two hands. I don’t blame myself really, I did what I had to do to win. The thing that bothers me the most is that nobody else at the table was willing to try and take out the shortie. They were waiting for me to do it. That’s just the way it is. It’s also why I’m pretty successful in my poker league. The players are just too chickenshit to play to win. They’d rather get points and finish in the money.

Fast forward about 10 hands and I get A/Q and I push. When I think I have the steal, I get called by J/6 suited. Holy smokes. J/6 of hearts.  He hits his two pair and I’m done on the bubble.

He said he felt that I was stealing and he felt his J/6 was going to hit. Can’t blame a man for being optimistic. I can’t blame him for being a donkey also. It didn’t really matter as my stack wasn’t enough to scare anybody away so I guess it was a fitting end to my night.

I haven’t played online as much lately as I’ve been playing more live games. It’s just so much more fun to play live than online. You can really see some interesting things playing live people than online. It’s just different but definitely more fun in my opinion.

That being said here’s my body count for October:

I lost $59 online playing 25NL. That includes the horrible run this month. I accomplished that feat in only 4,100 hands. Talk about being a donkey. 

I won $273 playing live. $148 was from tournament winnings and $125 in cash.

I made the money 5 out of 10 games. With 1 first, 2 seconds and 2 thirds. Not bad considering my card deadness.

Now if I could just get FullTilt to stop rewarding donkeys and let me win a few hands when I’m ahead or dominating that would be a nice thing, so until then I’m just going to put the cash games on hold for a bit until I feel if and when the luck gods come back on my side.

That’s a big IF.

I Should Know Better

Had another bad week of holdem. I lost just over 2 buy-ins at 25NL.

I get stacked when my set is ambushed by another set. My KK is brutalized by AA preflop. My K high flush runs into the nut flush. Sure I can say it’s variance but I know the truth.

The truth is that this is my leak. My achilles heel. I can’t lay down big hands when I get the feeling that I’m beat.

The biggest disappointment is that I can’t lay down those hands. The KK vs AA hand was something I probably could’ve laid down given the circumstances. EP limps in, I raise and get re-raised, I pop it again and then he pushes. Now this could be a move but I know better. At these low stakes, it’s not a bluff, it’s a tell, he’s telling me he slowplayed his AA and I couldn’t fold my KK. And I missed it. I fell right into his trap. I should know better.

The set over set was another situation that I should’ve figured out. I’m playing against a passive/calling station. I raise preflop with 55 and he flat calls (something he’s done all game). I hit my set and I’m golden. He checks and I check. The turn is blank. I bet out and he just flat calls. The river doesn’t help and I bet out again and he pushes. I know I’m beat. This passive/calling station isn’t going to do that with air. As a matter of fact, from the way I’ve observed his play, he would’nt bet this way unless he has the goods. I have a set of 5s and I call like a donkey, he shows a set of 7s. I should’ve known better.

Again I’m playing against a weak passive player. This time I have K/Q suited. I raised preflop and get a caller. The board is all hearts. I have the second nut flush. I have position. He bets out the minimum. This should’ve raised a red flag right there. Anytime a weak/passive player bets out the minimum bet out of position, he must have a big hand right? I flat call. The turn is nothing. He bets out another small bet. I raise, he re-raises me all in. Why would he do that? Very simple, these types of players are so scared of getting rivered, they’ll protect their investment even if they have a monster and the pot is small. He doesn’t know how to value bet, he’s scared of getting drawn out. He’s so scared that when he has the nut flush, he’s still worried about me boating on his ass on the river. I made the mistake of calling his re-raise, once this weak/passsive player is raising me, I know I’m in trouble. I should’ve known better.

My league poker game. I’m up against a loose/passive player. He’ll call with anything suited. He doesn’t know how to lay down a hand. So what do I do? We have about the same amount of chips but this guy has too much pride. He hates being bluffed out of pots. His ego is too big to lay down a crappy hand, he’ll play any two suited cards that type of player. He’s willing to race all his chips. So the blinds are 400-800 and I have A/10 suited and just over 7,800 chips. There’s only 5 of us left. I’m in the CO position, I push all-in and he calls with 9/7 suited. He hits runner for the flush. In retrospect, I should’ve just made a standard raise against him and try and outplay him on the flop, this would’ve been a better situation. The flop comes up empty, I bet out and he probably folds. The key is that I know I could outplay him after the flop but when we’re both all-in then the situation is out of my hands, I can’t control it anymore and that’s how the donkeys beat you. They need to see all 5 cards on the board to beat you. I should’ve known better.

I’m playing in another tournament. I have top two pair and I’m up against a guy who is fishing. He always fishes for his draws. He can’t help it. So I value bet the flop and turn and he calls of course. The river hits him. I know it and he knows it. So what do I do? I bet out and he re-raises me. I know I’m beat but I can’t lay down my two pair so I pay him off. This was a bad hand for me. I know he’s chasing and when he hits I should fold. I still have chips to play with and I can get those chips back if I just play my game. But that didn’t happen. I should know better.

The moral of this post is very simple. When you see things that you know about the other player and don’t act on it, it means that I’ve played badly. It’s not variance, it’s not bad luck, it’s not anything. It’s on me. I should’ve folded in every situation described above. I’ve laid down some monster hands before but that’s when I’m on my game and playing each hand individually. This time I let myself down. I was greedy. I didn’t believe in myself and that’s why I’m been getting killed. There’s no one to blame except me.

I should know better.

These are the Morons I play with at Full Tilt

Full Tilt Poker Game #8517711279: Table Helen (6 max) – $0.10/$0.25 – No Limit Hold’em – 16:46:18 ET – 2008/10/16
Seat 1: YelloMenace ($9.10)
Seat 2: mrbigslik1 ($24)
Seat 3: marcosparrow ($26)
Seat 4: Bumbaclaart ($32.85)
Seat 5: sausages88 ($29.75)
Seat 6: I_blooddope ($52.55)
mrbigslik1 posts the small blind of $0.10
marcosparrow posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to YelloMenace [9d 7h]
Bumbaclaart folds
sausages88 has been disconnected
sausages88 has reconnected
sausages88 has 15 seconds left to act
sausages88 folds
I_blooddope folds
YelloMenace raises to $0.85
mrbigslik1 raises to $1.45
marcosparrow folds
YelloMenace calls $0.60
*** FLOP *** [4d 7c 3h]
mrbigslik1 bets $1
YelloMenace calls $1
*** TURN *** [4d 7c 3h] [3s]
mrbigslik1 checks
YelloMenace bets $5.15
mrbigslik1 has 15 seconds left to act
mrbigslik1 calls $5.15
*** RIVER *** [4d 7c 3h 3s] [6c]
mrbigslik1 bets $15.45
YelloMenace calls $1.50, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $13.95 returned to mrbigslik1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mrbigslik1 shows [5d Kd] a straight, Seven high
YelloMenace shows [9d 7h] two pair, Sevens and Threes
mrbigslik1 wins the pot ($17.55) with a straight, Seven high
YelloMenace is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $18.45 | Rake $0.90
Board: [4d 7c 3h 3s 6c]
Seat 1: YelloMenace (button) showed [9d 7h] and lost with two pair, Sevens and Threes
Seat 2: mrbigslik1 (small blind) showed [5d Kd] and won ($17.55) with a straight, Seven high
Seat 3: marcosparrow (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Bumbaclaart didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 5: sausages88 didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: I_blooddope didn’t bet (folded)

Donk calls with a gutshot. Sometimes you can’t win against these idiots.

The 2nd Week of October is a Flop

flop/flɒp/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[flop] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation verb, flopped, flop·ping, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to fall or plump down suddenly, esp. with noise; drop or turn with a sudden bump or thud (sometimes fol. by down): The puppy flopped down on the couch.
2. to change suddenly, as from one side or party to another (often fol. by over).
3. to be a complete failure; fail: The play flopped dismally.
4. Informal. to sleep or be lodged: to flop at a friend’s house.
5. to swing loosely; bounce; flap: His long hair flops in his eyes when he runs.

What a difference a week makes. Last week I’m hitting quads like nobody’s business. Anything I needed to hit, it hit.

This week was the total opposite. In a word; this week was a flop.

One of the definitions for flop is “to be a complete failure or to fail”. This is ironic because for the past week I’ve been basically outflopped. The other definitions are also a good description of my online play this past week.

My Aces get cracked by 88 (he hits his set on the flop and we’re all-in before the flop). This player was super aggressive. I have AA in EP and decide to limp in trying to trap and it works until the flop hits. He sees my limp and raises to $2.00. I re-raise him $5. He re-pops me all-in. I call of course. He hits an 8 on the flop and I’m re-buying. This sucked too as I was winning before this hand stacked me.

Same guy, this time I have A/K hearts. I raise to $1. He re-raises me to $3. I re-pop him back $8. He flat calls. The flop comes out K/9/7 two clubs, one diamond. I bet out $8 and he re-pops me all-in. I call. He has K/J diamonds. Runner, runner gives him a flush. I’m stuck another buy-in.

I buy-in one more time just to see if I can reverse the curse. It doesn’t happen for me. I lose another $10 when he hits two pair on the turn against my top pair top kicker. The only thing that kind of saved me was that there was 3 clubs on the board which slowed the action down. That’s when I stop playing and call it a night.

One thing I’m beginning to realize in poker is that it’s a lot easier to lose your profits than it is to build your profits. I lost $65 in about 100 hands, it was that quick. Now I’m stuck for the month. This ain’t good.

So I switch tables, hoping to turn my luck around. Bad move. More of the same but a lot of it this time was my bad playing as I was hoping to win it all back at once. Which is never a good thing.

This, my friends is a recipe for disaster. Combine bad luck, mix it in with a little tilt bake it in a 6 man ring game oven and you get a losing session.

This is disappointing to me as I’ve been trying to work on not tilting as much and I can handle the bad beats as long as it doesn’t come in bunches. It’s those times when the variance hits me hard over a short period of time is when I have trouble dealing with tilt. I just have to realize that I’ll have these sessions from time to time, even week to week (hopefully not month to month) and it’s how I deal with those sessions that will either define me as a winning or losing player. I’m still struggling with this.

So whatever it is, whether it’s karma, mojo, variance, donkey play or bad luck, it’s something that I have to deal with and try to improve. It’s easy to play poker when you’re running hot like I was last week, it’s a lot harder when you’re losing with the best hand preflop and get outdrawn or when you’re on tilt and burning your cash away. But that’s poker. Your luck can change that quickly, especially online.

Playing with Sharks

Last Friday we had a last minute tournament with some players that I hadn’t played with for awhile.

These were the guys that I played with before I joined my poker league. These guys are pretty good when you compare them with your run of the mill poker players.

So my friend Rob, who spent over a year in Vegas playing poker for living is back in town and I get an email that an impromptu game is happening. He finished 5th in a $1,500 WSOP event two years ago for a cool $112k win. He’s no slouch.

The other players were pretty good also, cashing in some minor poker tourneys in AC and the Turning Stone. They’re pretty decent players in their own right. Plus 3 of them are lawyers which makes them sharks in and out of the poker table. These guys are pretty smart dudes.

I get to the game and they’re already playing cash. When I get there they decide to play a tournament. 7 players $60 buy-in. We start off with 2,500 chips. Turbo.

These guys are aggressive and play position well. I’m fairly aggressive also it’s just a matter of finding the right time to execute the aggression.

I start out playing close to the vest. I’m limping in early trying to catch a huge hand but that doesn’t happen for me. When the blinds get to 75-150 I start to ramp up my aggression. I’m stealing pots now, making timely raises.

I win a big pot when I have A/9 suited and I push with two spades on the flop. MP raises to 450 and I re-pop for 1,200. He calls. The flop has two spades. He checks and I push.

I win another big hand when I get KK in the BB. Cut-off raises to 500. I re-raise the minimum. He calls. The flop is all low cards with two clubs. I push and take down another pot.

There’s 5 players left and I have roughly 7k in chips. I’m cruising. Andy who’s acting before me is the SB. The blinds are now 300-600. He ups the bet to 2k. I push the rest of my chips in with 10/7 diamonds. I had this feeling he wasn’t that strong and if he called I had two live cards. He folded.

I make a loose call with Q/6 spades trying to take down a short stack. It doesn’t work. He doubles up.

The same person triples up when the button raises all-in and gets two callers. SB had A/Q, BB had A/8 suited and the button was blind stealing with 8/9 offsuit. The SB wins the pot and he’s the chip leader.

There’s 3 of us left. We decide to chop the pot as it’s getting late (2:30 am) and people have places to go and things to do the next day. We give Rob a little extra as he’s the chip leader. Eric and I split the rest.

So I survived the sharks. It’s been awhile since I’ve played with these guys. They’re great guys and I wish that these sessions were more common than it’s been the last two years but sometimes life gets in the way of playing poker.

In any event it was fun to see the guys again and play poker and catch up. It was a tough, good game just like old times.

Floptober Fest

It’s early still but things are looking good.

I’ve been hitting flops hard during this first week of October.

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: $52.50
Hero (BTN): $16.50
SB: $24.95
BB: $36.10
UTG: $25

Pre-Flop: 9 T dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG calls $0.25, CO folds, Hero raises to $0.75, SB calls $0.65, BB folds, UTG calls $0.50

Flop: ($2.50) T 9 T (3 Players)
SB checks, UTG bets $2.25, Hero calls $2.25, SB folds

Turn: ($7) T (2 Players)
UTG bets $2.75, Hero calls $2.75

River: ($12.50) 4 (2 Players)
UTG bets $2.25, Hero raises to $10.75 and is All-In, UTG calls $8.50

Results: $34 Pot ($1.65 Rake)
Hero showed 9 T (four of a kind, Tens) and WON $32.35 (+$15.85 NET)
UTG mucked A 9 and LOST (-$16.50 NET)

Not only did I catch the fullhouse on the flop, I turn quads on the river and get paid off as well. It’s nice to be a little lucky.

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

Hero (BTN): $9.40
SB: $20.15
BB: $25
UTG: $29.20
MP: $19.25
CO: $25.25

Pre-Flop: T 7 dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.85, SB calls $0.75, BB folds

Flop: ($1.95) K 3 3 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.95) 7 (2 Players)
SB bets $1.95, Hero raises to $3.90, SB calls $1.95

River: ($9.75) 9 (2 Players)
SB bets $6.25, Hero calls $4.65 and is All-In

Results: $19.05 Pot ($0.95 Rake)
Hero showed T 7 (two pair, Sevens and Threes) and WON $18.10 (+$8.70 NET)
SB showed A T (a pair of Threes) and LOST (-$9.40 NET)

On this hand I just felt that the villain had A/x or K/Q something in that range or a flush draw and tried to buy the pot, so I called. It was just a gut feeling on this hand that I was ahead and the other player was chasing. Sometimes I’m way off but sometimes I feel like a real poker player and make a decent call.

On a side note, I think I’ve been calling way too many hands on the river trying to catch bluffs. Sometimes it works (like this hand) and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve been trying to really improve my hand reading so that’s why I’ve been calling. Also I think by calling the river bets, I’m getting some people to quit bluffing against me, it’s kind of worked out from time to time but I’m trying to find the right balance between calling and folding.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: $12.90
BB: $34.20
UTG: $5.40
CO: $19.65
Hero (BTN): $15.90

Pre-Flop: A T dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, CO raises to $0.85, Hero calls $0.85, 2 folds

Flop: ($2.05) T 2 T (2 Players)
CO bets $1.25, Hero raises to $3.25, CO calls $2

Turn: ($8.55) T (2 Players)
CO checks, Hero checks

River: ($8.55) 2 (2 Players)
CO bets $4, Hero raises to $11.80 and is All-In, CO calls $7.80

Results: $32.15 Pot ($1.60 Rake)
CO mucked K 2 (a full house, Tens full of Twos) and LOST (-$15.90 NET)
Hero showed A T (four of a kind, Tens) and WON $30.55 (+$14.65 NET)

I hit quads again this hand. It’s great to catch cards and have people pay you off. I guess it’s because I’m playing very aggressively as of late and that’s why I’ve been getting called more. My variance will bounce up and down and I’ve lost a lot of money by pulling called bluffs but it’s an experiment I’ve been working on to see if playing ultra aggressive will help pay me off bigger during cash games. In the past I’ve been playing more of a grinder type of game and I’m opening up to see if that works for me also. I think the key to playing aggressively is knowing when to bet big (to induce calls or folds) and when to call off your aggressiveness when you know you’re beat. It’s something that I’ve been working on as well because I think that adding this to my arsenal will only benefit my game in the long run.

I also chopped 1st place in a league tourney in which I won a huge triple up when my 8/9 diamonds hit the flush on the turn. I could’ve won first place but my luck ran cold a little and after an hour of playing heads up we decided to chop the pot.

So basically it’s been a good October start for me and I really hope this will last as I’m trying to build enough money to use for Christmas presents this year.

Of course this won’t last because as I’m writing this blog I lose $10 to guy who hits runner runner straight against my aces. Oh well.