Bodog 25NL players teach you the art of bluffing

Played for an hour and a half today, won just under a buyin. Here's a funny hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1136721

Pete

Back, limit

Well, I'm back from my Memorial Weekend trip, which was fun but it's good to be home. I only had a chance to play for a few minutes yesterday and won a whopping 80 cents. Huge. LOL. Anyways, I hope to play some today but I have some chores to do around the house too so hopefully I can work a good session in there somewhere.

Also, Schneids' first Cardrunners video has inspired me, and I'm motivated to try out some limit hold 'em. With my current bankroll on Bodog I can comfortably play 1/2 and could move up to 2/4 very quickly. The winrates for limit are obviously less than NLHE in terms of BB/100, but each BB is worth more so it sort of evens out. For instance, if I crush 25NL at 8 ptBB/100, that's $4.00/100 hands. If I can beat 2/4 LHE at 1BB/100, that's $4.00/100 hands too. A normal solid winrate seems to be 1-2 BB/100 for limit. So I'm going to try and study the CR limit videos and mix a session of limit hold 'em in there. I think varying the games you play can help keep you fresh and motivated and keep you from going on autopilot, which is maybe one of the worst things you can do as an online poker player.

Starting to trust my reads...

It just didn't make sense that he had me beat here...also, unlike yesterday, there was a slight pause before his big river bet:

Bodog History for Hand #730870538
Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007-05-26 12:10:32
Table 'Maracana' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: aavee ($6.75)
Seat 2: Peter1972 ($25.50)
Seat 3: akaloa ($23.85)
Seat 4: brito54 ($30.45)
Seat 5: MadHapa ($9.75)
Seat 6: gobsmacked1 ($39.84)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
aavee: posts the small blind $0.10
Peter1972: posts the big blind $0.25
MadHapa: posts the big blind $0.25
--- DEALING POCKETS
gobsmacked1 is dealt [Qd,Qc]
akaloa: calls $0.25
brito54: folds
MadHapa: checks
gobsmacked1: raises $1.10 to $1.35
aavee: folds
Peter1972: calls $1.10
akaloa: calls $1.10
MadHapa: folds
--- DEALING FLOP [3d,Jh,6d]
Peter1972: checks
akaloa: checks
gobsmacked1: bets $3.60
Peter1972: folds
akaloa: calls $3.60
--- DEALING TURN [7s]
akaloa: checks
gobsmacked1: checks
--- DEALING RIVER [5s]
akaloa: goes all in $18.90
gobsmacked1: calls $18.90
akaloa: shows [Ad 2d], High Card, Ace
akaloa: shows [Ad 2d], High Card, Ace
gobsmacked1: shows [Qd,Qc], a Pair, Queens
Hand 730870538:
gobsmacked1: wins main pot($47.90)
with a Pair, Queens
akaloa: is sitting out

Almost up 2 buyins in 45 minutes, not bad.

Pete

Good session

Won 2+ buyins in just over a half hour. I like putting in quick sessions, I think I play more focused. The play was awful. Here are examples:

Bodog History for Hand #729768832
Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007-05-25 18:06:45
Table 'York' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: gobsmacked1 ($24.35)
Seat 2: mjman ($32.45)
Seat 3: Wock ($12.90)
Seat 4: DAYDAKS ($18.86)
Seat 5: Lovely06 ($15.25)
Seat 6: AcEsOvErEiGhts4 ($18.00)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
AcEsOvErEiGhts4: posts the small blind $0.10
gobsmacked1: posts the big blind $0.25
--- DEALING POCKETS
gobsmacked1 is dealt [Ks,Kh]
mjman: calls $0.25
Wock: calls $0.25
DAYDAKS: calls $0.25
Lovely06: folds
AcEsOvErEiGhts4: calls $0.15
gobsmacked1: raises $1.55 to $1.80
mjman: calls $1.55
Wock: folds
DAYDAKS: calls $1.55
AcEsOvErEiGhts4: calls $1.55
--- DEALING FLOP [5c,Jh,8c]
AcEsOvErEiGhts4: checks
gobsmacked1: bets $4.90
mjman: goes all in $30.65
DAYDAKS: folds
AcEsOvErEiGhts4: folds
gobsmacked1: goes all in $17.65
$8.10 is not called, return back to mjman:
mjman: shows [Kc Jd], a Pair, Jacks
--- DEALING TURN [2s]
--- DEALING RIVER [5s]
gobsmacked1: shows [Ks,Kh], Two Pair, Kings and Fives
mjman: shows [Kc Jd], Two Pair, Jacks and Fives
Hand 729768832:
gobsmacked1: wins main pot($51.05)
with Two Pair, Kings and Fives

---

Bodog History for Hand #729775487
Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007-05-25 18:11:13
Table 'Glen Abbey' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Stacker_01 ($16.90)
Seat 2: blueplate ($42.05)
Seat 3: JealouSy ($12.30)
Seat 4: gobsmacked1 ($26.55)
Seat 5: grizzle0207 ($22.05)
Seat 6: flopminuts ($19.80)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
JealouSy: posts the small blind $0.10
gobsmacked1: posts the big blind $0.25
--- DEALING POCKETS
gobsmacked1 is dealt [Qh,Qc]
grizzle0207: calls $0.25
flopminuts: calls $0.25
Stacker_01: folds
blueplate: calls $0.25
JealouSy: calls $0.15
gobsmacked1: raises $1.35 to $1.60
grizzle0207: folds
flopminuts: calls $1.35
blueplate: calls $1.35
JealouSy: folds
grizzle0207: is sitting out
--- DEALING FLOP [3h,7d,4s]
gobsmacked1: bets $3.90
flopminuts: raises $3.90 to $7.80
blueplate: folds
gobsmacked1: goes all in $21.05
flopminuts: goes all in $10.40
$6.75 is not called, return back to gobsmacked1:
flopminuts: shows [6h Th], High Card, Ten
--- DEALING TURN [2h]
--- DEALING RIVER [6s]
gobsmacked1: shows [Qh,Qc], a Pair, Queens
flopminuts: shows [6h Th], a Pair, Sixes
Hand 729775487:
gobsmacked1: wins main pot($40.20)
with a Pair, Queens
flopminuts: is sitting out

***Pokerhand.org isn't working now so I posted them long hand.***

Anyways, I might get to play some tomorrow but then it's a few days off as we head to the Twin Cities. Good luck to everyone this weekend in any big tourneys they play...

Pete

My wife rocks the casbah and an interesting hand with timing tells...

So last night I'm surfing the net and my wife asks what I'm looking at. I tell her some poker blogs and then proceed to show her my blog, a few other CR members blogs, high roller blogs where Brian Townsend and CTS talk about winning and losing hundreds of thousands a night, etc. Then I show her Ryan Daut's blog. She laughs at most of his MS Paint stuff, the story about him dropping out of school, and so on. But if you're wondering if your woman is a keeper, just consider whether or not she'll let you show her not only a video of Tony G berating Ralph Perry ("come on Russian, on your bike), but the version Daut posted with Tony G as a Mangalore from the Fifth Element berating Ralph Perry and finds them funny...this, I believe, shows that my wife is awesome. She's very supportive of whatever I try to do, and so if you're reading this I love you! Also, she finds Tuff Fish hilarious, so that's another good sign right there.

Anyways, some poker content. Yesterday I played an hour and lost a little over a buyin on Bodog. I was up about half a buyin and then lost a stupid hand and then crumbled from there. I didn't play well and none of my draws got there, nobody had anything when I flopped a set, etc. But the first big hand I lost was interesting so I thought I'd post about it. (I don't have pokertracker since I'm here at work so I have to recap from memory)

I raise AKo UTG+1 to 0.90 and get three callers. $3.70 is in the pot going to the flop, which comes AQ6 with two diamonds. It's checked to me, and I fire out $3.30. Only the BB calls.

The turn is an offsuit J. The BB checks, and I check behind, wanting to keep the pot small with only one pair, plus the J isn't the greatest card I could see as AJ is very much in his range.

On the river (offsuit 2) he immediately, and I mean IMMEDIATELY fires out for pot, which is $10.30 if my math and memory are correct. I hem and haw and think about what to do. Obviously AJ and 66 are both possible here, but missed diamonds could be as well, and he bet so much on the river it seemed more like trying to get me off then actually having a hand, so I convinced myself to call. He flips over QJo and I feel stupid about playing a big hand with TPTK.

Later I thought about this hand and not only is it a bad call because of the ugly board (sure, his flop call is terrible but that's not the point), but the timing tell of his bet on the river should have gotten me to lay it down. He IMMEDIATELY bet on the river. If he had diamonds and was drawing, it would take a second to evaluate whether or not you hit your hand, and then decide what to do (whether to just give up the hand or make a big bluff). It might not take too long but it would at least take SOME time. When he fires that quickly on the river I have to know that he had a hand he thought was worth betting on the turn, but didn't. That shows that regardless of the river he knew his hand was worth betting. He wasn't looking to improve it or whatever. Really, I'm surprised he only had QJ here, a set would make a lot of sense in that situation as well, or even AQ/AJ.

I hope in the future I can take more advantage of timing tells. I had a hand the other day where I raised button and BB called, flop came 852 rainbow or something (I had junk), it was checked to me, I bet, he check raised me, I folded. The thing is, I knew he had something because there was the delay after the flop that wasn't usually there in these situations. It was as if he was thinking "okay, I hit this flop, should I bet it out or check raise it? That delayed check in these blind vs button situations is something I've been getting more of a feel of lately, and if it can help me check behind on flops that my opponent has hit, it's going to save me a lot of money.

Pete

A June challenge?

I'm trying to think of a challenge to do in June, whether it's number of hands, a monetary goal, whatever. Anyone have any cool ideas of something I could do. Instead of 10k in 50 days like Gambler2k4 I could do 1k in 50 days... :P

I think I'm going to start recording my daily results here for June as well, it's a nice way to track how you're doing I think.

Won't get to play much this weekend as my wife and I are going to visit some friends and then head to Minneapolis for Memorial Day. Not much poker until Tuesday then, I guess. Maybe I'll squeak in a session tonight if I have time.

Quick session, trying some things out...

Played for about 30 minutes earlier and won a buyin. I played a few hands differently than I usually do and they worked out, but I'm not sure if they're good plays or not:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1125646 I tried to rep the overpair here, and even if something like AJ calls me I have plenty of outs twice. Still, it's high variance, I know. I'm trying to be more aggressive on teh button though and almost never just smooth call raises from it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1125633 I put the villain here on a flush draw trying to control the pot to see if he got there. I picked up a draw on the turn and made an aggressive move here, but I don't know if it's a good one or not.

Thoughts are welcome. Thank you to all who have posted comments.

Pete

Strengths and weaknesses...

I think it's important to conduct an honest evaluation of your game now and then and look at what you believe you do well and what you don't do well. This can lead to improvement and a better self-realization of where you're at as a poker player and what games you should be playing.

My weaknesses at cash games:

1) I play somewhat weak/tight when I'm at levels higher than what I'm used to playing.
2) My patterns are somewhat predictable at times and good players could probably read me quite easily. (Luckily this isn't a problem on Bodog, lol)
3) I spew chips sometimes when I c-bet too much into dangerously textured flops.
4) Too often I c-bet flop, get called, and shut down on the turn, allowing people to bet me off hands on the river.
5) Going along with #4, if I c-bet flop and check turn, I probably don't have much. If I fire strong on turn I generally have the goods. Therefore I need to fire more barrels with nothing so that it's not that easy to put me on a hand (and sometimes check turn with a big hand)
6) If I start a session off losing I am constantly aware of how much I am down and I want to get that money back.
7) I tilt when I take beats and when a lot of things go wrong in a short period of time.

My strengths:

1) I have a great knowledge of positional poker and this gives me an edge over almost all my opponents.
2) I am aggressive and rarely limp.
3) I rarely slowplay, so my sets very often stack people without it ever looking like a big hand (a big check/raise or something).
4) I take down many, many pots with absolutely nothing in my hand just by being aggressive and playing position.
5) I have learned that I don't need to win every pot and to stay out of marginal spots.
6) I am vastly improved in not spewing money with marginal hands by calling and hoping to hit a flop.
7) I think I am a very good heads up player and that I could beat Full Tilt's .5/1 HU tables when I build enough of a bankroll there.

Tourney weaknesses:

1) My "middle game" is weak. (Explained more below)
2) I don't know how to resteal very well, and have a hard time accumulating a big stack.
3) I am more likely to last a while in a tourney and then bust out of the money never having had a stack instead of going by the "get chips or go home" philosophy.
4) I don't play the bubble aggressively enough.

Tourney strengths:

1) I think I'm very good once it gets to push/fold mode...this makes SNGs easier for me than tourneys because that middle stage of being semi-short but not into push/fold mode yet is shorter.
2) My early game is good, as I play a lot of cash and understand deep stacked poker better than most players on play against in tourneys.
3) Most of my cash game strengths translate at least somewhat here.

Try and do this for your own game...you may find that some honest self-reflection can be quite eye opening, and from there you can work to improve.

Shot in the dark...

I obv don't expect this, but if anyone is interested in staking me to play 100NL 6-max and FR on Bodog (or elsewhere where money transfers are easier) please email me at pete_k82@yahoo.comx (take off the x at the end!). I have beaten NL25 on Bodog at nearly an 8 ptBB/100 clip for over 40,000 hands. I think I'm ready to move up but after having to withdraw money this week I'm going to have to grind my roll back up for a while. Anyways, if not then I'll happily continue to beat the lower levels and be patient.

Also, does anyone who reads this play Cake Poker? I've read all about the bad software but the super soft play intrigues me. I have noticed the play on Bodog is a lot worse than a site like Full Tilt (not sure about Poker Stars, haven't played there), and it made me realize how I need to seek out the worst games possible in order to have the easiest time making money. So does anyone play on Cake? Thoughts? How is their volume of ring games?

Bad night, good morning

I ran and played terrible last night, dropping about a total of just under 4 buyins on Bodog yesterday total. Everything went wrong, I played poorly, but the good thing is that I stopped when it got bad so I didn't dig myself a bigger whole. A few hands from the debacle:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1121181 Is there any way all the money doesn't go in here?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1121187 Why do I try to make plays like this?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1121190 I guess he has the club.

I also lost AK to QJo all in preflop just to add to the fun. Then I bubbled a 45-man SNG on Full Tilt when a guy called my button shove from the BB with AQ (I had 99) with a short stack about to bust and if he lost it would have crippled him. Nice.

HOWEVER!

This morning was better, I cleared my mind and didn't dwell on last night and I won a quick buyin on Bodog before I had to go to work. (About a half hour of play) Some fun hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1121195 I was pretty sure he was drawing, but didn't care much for the turn. Picking off bluff on river is nice though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1121196 Hitting hands is nice, but pretty sure he missed spades and would have folded anyways. Made him pay to draw, though.

And my favorite hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1121197 I almost NEVER slow play because it doesn't put money in the pot, but I tried it here and it worked nicely. Villain paid me off with KQo even though it's completely obvious I have a huge hand here. Love 25NL.

Hopefully I can put my bad day aside and keep going like this. Long term, just keeping my head clear and staying focused and positive will help.

Pete

A down day...

First off, thanks to all who have posted comments and are reading this blog, I hope it'll be worth your time and that I can post some thoughtful comments here and there. Also I think viewing things through the mind of somebody working his way up and going through good times and struggles and evaluating their decisions can make you a better player as well, so hopefully we all become better players through this experience. The forums are IMO the best part of Cardrunners, and this "poker community" is something I'm a big fan of.

Anyways, I put in about 2 hours this afternoon. I played 10NL on Full Tilt and a $5 45 man SNG (I only have money on their from Rakeback so I can't afford to play any higher). I won a few bucks in the cash game and took 4th in the SNG with my AQ < A2 to take me out. The only big hand I won in cash was a cooler:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1119609

On Bodog I never really got anything going and I don't think I played that well to be honest. I ended up down about a buyin, with one big cooler in there against me, and then this pot as well which I don't like my play in but what can you do:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1119615

The thing is that 99% of the time after the check/raise at this level they are NOT folding. If he has just a K like KQ here I have 12 outs twice, so about 48%. If he's check raising with two pair or a set then I'm much worse off. It's a really close call for a push and I hate laying it down but I wonder if that's the best option here? I'll have to post this one on CR.

Then I got coolered:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1119622

But I got him back which is really funny because of how similar the hand is...notice his early min raise so I already put him on AA/KK here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1119626

Here I pick off a bluff:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1119629

Not much else of note. I hope to play some later.

About me...

I might as well post a bit about myself in this blog. My name is Pete, I'm 24 and live in North Dakota with my beautiful wife Nichole who I love a ton and is very cool about my poker playing. I have played online since December 2006, so only coming up on five months. In that time I've beaten NL25 at a 7.5 ptBB/100 clip on Bodog. Before that I played a bit with friends and in some local free leagues before joining Cardrunners and really getting serious about my game. I want to be playing at the 100NL or 200NL levels comfortably in the next year or two and be making a nice supplemental income on poker. I am currently in school working on a master's in communication, and I hope to teach someday. I play almost all cash games, but I think I'm decent in tournament play, just don't usually have the time to play them and think you can make a lot more in cash anyways. My biggest tourney cash is $240 on Bodog for 4th place in a $7 tourney.

That's about it, I hope you enjoy reading this blog and hopefully these archives are fun to look back on later as hopefully my game is successful and I move up the ranks nicely into higher games...with that, Cardrunners will help a TON.

Pete

Need the money in real life...

Some real life expenses came up today leading me to withdraw a good chunk of money from my Bodog account. As such, I'm no longer properly rolled for NL100, and will have to go back to grinding NL25. I have no problems playing NL25...I was excited for the chance to play NL100 and start making more money, but the time will come, and my wife and I needed the money, so I have no problems grinding the lower game...besides, I've been crushing it at a 7.5+ BB/100 over 40K hands...

Pete

Links...

I read Verneer's comment that I need to activate links so they don't need to be copied/pasted in. That has been changed.

EDIT: I ended up about $15 in my session earlier, don't think I said that in my post.

Pete

Day 2 at 100NL...

I felt I played a lot better than yesterday, though there are still many things I need to improve upon. I still bet out a few times into multi-way pots with nothing, making a c-bet and hoping to take things down, but I'm just spewing money as these guys call with ANYTHING and often raise too so it's tough. Not used to the aggression yet, and when you're playing higher than usual you tend to tense up I think.

I started up about a third of a buyin or so, and then got down about 3/4 of a buyin. Most of it was on this hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1111759: Obv knew I was ahead preflop and with his stack size I just shoved the flop hoping to get a small pair to call thinking I had AK. Of course he has the mighty 9To and flopped trips. :)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1111763 http://www.pokerhand.org/?1111763- Nice river but he might have had me already with a set and filled up on turn?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1111768 - Don't really know what I think of this one, but hey, I actually won a pot... ;)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1111781 - I think I played this optimally

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1111788 - I think I played this one like crap

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1111791 - I stack him! Whoo!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1111794 - My favorite hand of the session, because I NEVER would have made this play before, but I put him on a draw or weak hand here.

Still lots to learn...

Night one of 100NL 6-max...

I played two separate sessions tonight 3-tabling 100NL 6-max on Bodog. Session 1 was a little over an hour, session two was about 20 minutes. I started off down a little over a buyin, at about -130, got about 124 back in my short little session later however. I think I played really badly in the first session as I didn't adapt to the games well and got no cards and just plenty of bad/marginal situations. I played a bit too loose and most of my losses came from me c-betting with nothing and getting called/raised off of it. The play is noticeably tougher than my easy little 25NL game, but I think I can adapt.

1st session hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110659 - awkward spot with TT UTG, I really thought I was ahead here though as I would have expected him to raise QQ from the button, but he must have seen my UTG raise as strength or been mixing it up. I wanted to end things on the turn but after he called I obv shut down.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110661 - am I weak passive and terrible or what?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110665 - I continue to get pwned.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110669 - Sick of seeing me play terrible yet?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110671 - Me getting raised again after I c-bet

Now two hands I won:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110674 - Still have to see what he looked me up with.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110676 - I take down a buyin, baby. :)

Lots of improvement needed, and reflection on this stuff.

Pete

Stats at 25NL

Almost 40k hands down at 25NL 6-max, here's my graph:

http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=25nl40khandsjt2.jpg

Hope to jump to 100NL 6-max very soon...

Some good poker blogs...

Just want to list these for archival purposes...how the hell do I post links on the side anyways? Oh well.

http://10000hands.blogspot.com/(Verneer)

http://heineken23.wordpress.com/

http://sirnebsblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.fruitypropoker.blogspot.com/

http://papabigballer.blogspot.com/

http://beatsarealjob.blogspot.com/ (Six Peppers)

http://www.capansonpoker.blogspot.com/

http://aislephive.blogspot.com/

http://smaptastic.blogspot.com/

Lots of great Cardrunners peeps actively running blogs, hopefully I can join the list.

Pete

Post #1...

Just testing this out to make sure it works. This will be my poker blog as I am just about to move up from 25NL 6-max on Bodog to 100NL 6-max and I want a place to put hands, think about stuff, and hopefully get a few readers through Cardrunners. If nobody reads it but me, oh well, hopefully it can still be beneficial.

Pete aka gobsmacked1 on Bodog