Pete's Poker Blog

2nd biggest pot I've ever won

2009-05-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

Only $500 ($1000 pot) but still!

Played a fish at 5/10, with 500 buyin. Thought I was gonna get coolered with the flop min raies but had to go with it.

http://cakepoker.com/en/HandHistory/Default.aspx?Hand=xczCxsTFxsDEwsTExMXAwIjHwM3Ex8U%3d

That's it for March!

2009-03-31T22:20:00.001-07:00

Good month for me. I think I'm playing the best I ever have, and hope it continues. I made about 15k in 40,000 hands of mostly 99% 1/2 with a tiny 2/4 and 3/6 mixed in on one or two weekend nights when mega donks were playing.

Poker training videos that changed my game in the past year or two:

-James Davis' stuff on Stox focusing on 3barrelling regs and putting players who are uncomfortable going broke with one pair in tough situations.

-The CR video interviewing Balbomb where he talked about playing more hands on the button than you are now. I have incorporated that in my game and you begin to realize against just how vital position is even when you thought you knew all about that before.

Advice for the month:

-Be creative. Never be a robot. Figure out ways to surprise people and do thigns differently. But pressure on people and don't be afraid to lose a stack making a move. Just use that information and value town them the next time. Good luck all.

Pete

Feb results, on to March

2009-03-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

I restrained from playing any 2/4 in February, and stuck with my grinding 1/2 and it went really well. I tilted less this month than ever before, but part of that was running well and playing fewer hands also.

End results were about +12kish at 1/2, + 1200 rakeback in 31,000 hands.

My goal is to make at least $10,000 a month every month this year after rakeback and bonuses, so I'm doing well so far.

March has been great so far also, I have been running hot as the sun and crushing the games. Part of it is game selection as well and just avoiding tables filled with solid regs. I'm up like 8500 or something in 10k hands which is ridiculous, almost all at 1/2.

I have been thinking more about concepts lately, about things like the importance of position and just playing hands creatively in certain spots in order to give good players looks they don't see often, as well as put them in spots that make me uncomfortable when I'm put in them. Also playing more posflop and not getting two spewy preflop, as well as thinking a lot about stack to pot ratio.

Have a great month all,

Pete

First update of '09!

2009-01-31T22:20:00.000-08:00

Poker is going well. I made some key adjustments in my game after a blah November and the last two months have been killer, with more monies in fewer hands.

I've still had a hard time at 2/4 any time I've taken a shot as the 2/4 games on Cake are pretty damn tough, so I'm going to stick with 1/2 for now and not play any 2/4 in February.

January results were +12kish at 1/2, -3kish at 2/4, +1500 rakeback in 35k hands or so. I'll take it! :)

Pete

Another update

2008-10-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Thanks for those who posted comments on my last post and actually still look at this from time to time. Poker is going great for me now. I have been making 10k+ month playing 50k-60k hands of Cake 1/2NL 6-max a month (9 tables at a time)...it is amazing how my game has changed even since spring...I am continuing to learn and improve, as I still think I have a long way to go...but it's crazy to think earlier this year I was struggling to make $1000 a month.

I am active on the Stox low limit boards, and am a Stox, Leggo, DC, and CR member still. Leggo is my favorite, DC my 2nd fav.

I hope all you guys who still have my blog address are doing well and poker is treating you well. (Glad to earn you some rb bonus Noel - you so owe me! haha)

Best wishes to you all, and thanks for all the support and help when I was struggling at this game the most.

Pete

Quick update

2008-05-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

I doubt anyone reads my blog anymore, but if you care, a quick update on me...I just moved up to playing 200NL and this will be my first full month at it. I hope to make $8000. We'll see! :)

Good luck all,

Pete

Break even...

2008-02-07T00:41:00.000-08:00

Played 1000 hands of 50NL full ring tonight and won a little over a buyin, but lost that much playing some heads up. Anyways, I know the cards will break my way sooner or later. This hand sums up how I've been running lately, but things will change and I will start to make good money again soon. Time and again I get it in for full stacks way ahead, and sooner or later my Sklansky bucks will turn into real money. Lol.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2060940

Frustrating night

2008-02-06T01:32:00.000-08:00

Down like 2-3 buyins after playing 3500+ hands of NL50 6-max on FT today. I thought I had been playing too cautiously lately so I tried to be more aggressive and pick my spots today, and I think I played well for the most part but not much went my way. Here are some hands:

1) I almost never slowplay sets on the flop but this seemed like a good time. Bit me in the ass, too.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2055831

2) Villain was playing 38/16...thoughts?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2055833

3) I'm so bad.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2055838

4) Aces go down in flames yet again.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2055841

5) Don't even know what I'm doing here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2055844

6) LOL Quadaments I play so bad why am I calling the turn and playing so weak.

My aces also lost to Q9o but I'm sick of posting stuff so let's just call it a night. Good luck at the tables all,

Pete

Still alive!

2008-01-31T13:30:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted here in forever!

It's been a crazy last few months poker wise. November was my worst month ever as a player, as I broke even for the month with rakeback, meaning I actually lost a couple hundred bucks playing cash games. My confidence was ravaged, and I took the hit really badly. My Cardrunners membership expired and I didn't renew because I hadn't been taking the time to watch the videos and devote time to my game, and I was suffering. I decided to try and just grind out some profit in December playing tight in full ring and just being solid to get myself going again. I grinded out some profit but then had a day where I lost several buyins playing on Full Tilt and Cake and played some SNGs for the hell of it and won them. So then I suddenly decided that this short term variance meant I must play SNGs and they would be the key to my survival! I did well in them after reading Collin Moshman's 2+2 book and won about $900 in December playing a limited amount.

In January I kept playing SNGs and even joined SNG Icons. I also got a free subscription to Stox Poker through a Pocket Fives promotion. I played SNGs the first half of January to about a 10% ROI and modest profits at the 10's and 20's. But I could not stay away from the cash games and eventually returned. I vowed to dedicate myself to studying the game and fixing the leaks and flaws in my game as these limits (50NL) should be VERY beatable, even on Full Tilt! I watched several Stox videos my Cottonseen, Hunter Bick, and Leatherass and thought I identified several key leaks in my game. I returned to the tables and started to crush. I have had a great January, up around $2000 now not including rakeback. My goal each month is to make enough money to cover my wife and my car payment and save a little bit, which ends up being about $1000, so doubling that is obviously great to me.

I have since renewed my Cardrunners membership for another 6 months and have dedicated myself to improving my game, and watching both CR and Stox videos every week to improve, fix leaks, and keep making money. I have had a fun month, aside from the last two days which have been a bit of a downswing, but I have also been working on staying cool mentally when bad times come, and not just abandoning ship and taking up a new game! :)

I have learned a lot over the past few months and it feels good to put it into words. Thank you for reading.

Pete

Good session

2007-11-13T18:24:00.000-08:00

+3 buyins in about 700 hands at 50NL, 5 tables of full ring and 1 of 6-max tonight. I think I played really well for the most part and was happy to have some good results after this bad weekend. I know that I just need to keep working on my game and that when I have time to put in more hours I will crush the 100NL full ring game this January.

My big hands held tonight which was nice and I consistently got it in ahead. Only one big pot that I lost went something like this:

Full ring, one MP limp, I raise AA from MP and SB and limper call. Flop comes K85r. Limper donks $2 into like a $9 pot, I raise to $8, SB folds, limper reraises to $14 and I shove for his stack of $35ish.

Am I EVER ahead of a hand that has this line with the weak lead out and then min reraise? I was mad at myself for not folding (he obv had 55) but I cooled down and came back really strong after that.

Pete

Meh...

2007-11-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

I feel confident and comfortable at the 100NL full ring games but the results are not there yet. I've run really badly which seems to happen after you run well and have a good month, doesn't it? I have also played a few key hands very badly, one where I lost set-over-set and knew I was beat but couldn't let my set go because hey it's a set and you can't fold that, and the other where I had an overpair on a dangerous board where the guy got there on the turn and again I couldn't fold. I feel worse about that hand because at least the other is set over set but each hand I played badly and have nobody to blame but myself.

I also haven't had the chance to play a lot of hands this month, with the semester coming to a close or at least getting to its busy part. So after 10 days I was up a little over four buyins for the month which is pretty good considering how I've run and played at times. But then this weekend I took two more set over sets, lost some big draw vs big made hand type hands, and dropped 2 more buyins at 100NL. Then I played HU and lost another big draw vs overpair hand for another buyin, then tilted off 2 more buyins before stopping. So my month is back to where we started, about even after 12 days.

I need to make some money and get my head right again so I'm going to play 50NL full ring again the rest of this month and in December. I then plan on playing 100NL again in January when I will be able to play a LOT more hands. I know I can beat the level and feel okay at it now, but I also want to win some money this month because poker is my third job so I'm just going to play it safe until next semester and then play 100NL again. The good thing is that I was winning this month and that includes SIX set over set hands where I lost over full buyins, and that's in less than 10,000 hands. (to be fair I had one set over set hand go my way this month, so that nets me at -5) So I know the cards will get better, but I need to play better and not tilt, also, because letting a beat get to you and then tilting off a few more buyins because of it really adds up, as happened to me this weekend.

Anyways, it's the struggles we all go through, and YOU will go through it too, if you already haven't!

Good luck at the tables...and work on not tilting!

Pete

Good mindset

2007-11-07T13:30:00.001-08:00

I've been proud of myself so far in my move up to 100NL that I'm not letting bad beats and coolers get to me. Yesterday I ran awful and in the course of 1000 hands of 100NL full ring I:

-lost with second set to top set twice for 120BBs each time
-ran AK into shortish stack's (30-40 BBs) AA twice where we were getting it AIPF no matter what
-Lost a big pot with flush over flush
-Lost AK to A9o AIPF
-Lost KK to QJ all in on a jack high flop

And despite of all that I never let any of these beats get to me, I kept my cool, kept playing my game, and ended up $78 at the end of the session despite all that. I know I didn't play the flush over flush hand perfectly on the river but I was mad about how I played it, not that "I was coolered, life's no fair, etc etc".

Face it...the most of us are able to consistently make money playing a silly game with some cards that we love to play. We'll all win in the long run if we keep a good mindset and don't go on terrible tilt sessions. But it happens to the best of us, just read Brian Townsend's latest blog posts.

Keep your cool, relax, and just play hands the best you can. The money will come!

Pete

Moving up

2007-11-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have moved up to 100NL full ring on Full Tilt after my biggest month ever playing full ring 50NL last month. I think I might have found my niche, and I don't care what people say about boring full ring nitty poker or whatever, if it's profitable that's what I want to play!

I've been three days so far at 100NL and found the play very managable. I won 2.5 buyins the first two days, and lost a little under a buyin yesterday. I played some hands badly, but the good thing is that I am understanding where I mess up in hands more often now, and am correcting those errors. I feel very comfortable at the next level up and so far the play has still been pretty easy to play against, just a bit more aggressive at times. Really, though, the 50NL 6-max games at Full Tilt are more aggressive and tougher than the 100NL full ring games, no joke.

My goal for the month is 5 ptBB/100 winrate, which would equal $2000-3000 playing 20k-30k hands. We'll see what happens. I'll keep you updated!

Pete

Things are going well...

2007-10-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, sorry for no update in a long time. Very busy with school and squeezing in as much poker as I can, as well as some traveling I have to do for various reasons.

So far this month playing NL50 full ring on Full Tilt and a little bit on Cake I'm up over 30 buyins in probably 20kish hands, so that translates to about 7.5 ptBB/100. I've run hot at times, and while I'm probably running a bit ahead of expectation I don't think this is all luck, obviously. I love how soft and passive the games are, and I think beating them for 5 ptBB/100 is very, VERY managable.

Playing full ring and adding more tables has helped me stop some spewage that was occurring in the 6-max games just by playing too many marginal hands in marginal spots and making bad decisions. The decisions are often quite easier here due to less aggressive play and hand ranges being more defined because of the full ring structure.

This is my biggest month ever and I hope to move up to NL100 full ring next month. I hope you are all doing well and running well and good luck at the tables.

Pete

Full ring

2007-10-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

I've been playing some 50NL full ring on FT lately. The game are weak, a lot weaker than the 6-max games. The low stakes 6-max games on FT have lots of CR and 2+2ers, smart players who are learning. Full ring has a LOT more dead weight, at least so far.

Give full ring a try if crazy variance at 6-max is bugging you!

Pete

A good read...

2007-09-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

No pun intended...found this article on 2+2 and it's a good read for the low limit NL cash grinder.

Pete

----

" posted this in another thread started by Fallen Hero, but after posting my original thoughts, i've developed a few others that I think are worthy of including, and therefore should be included....thus I'm copying my original and adding to it. Sorry if this causes you to read it twice.

First rule of reads - You have to apply any reads you have to the context and history of the hand....does it make sense what the villain is doing?

Example from the other day. I pick up queens in the BB. 4 limps to me, including the SB. I raise it 8xbb. Folds to SB (who is TAG). SB goes all in for 50bb's. Does that make sense? Could he have possibly gone for a limp-reraise with AA or KK here with only the BB left to act who is OOP for the rest of the hand? The answer is clearly no. He put me on the squeeze play and assumed I had garbage. I didn't, I called, and I stacked his completely dominated QJ. Whenever an opponent makes a play, does it make sense in the context of the hand.

A few really valuable reads to have on villains.

Valuable read 1 - villains that overplay TPTK

One of my villain's notes is "plays TPTK like the nuts, even with it's TP of 9's. Raised and called all in with A9 on a 7889 threeflush board."

I've used that read to stack a particular villain at least 4 times.

However, this has to done in the context of the hand. Conversely if you have a read that a loose passive opponent can't fold top pair, and the flop comes 7 high and he'd raised preflop with a relatively narrow raising range, you know he's not going crazy with TPTK...you know he's got an overpair.

Valuable read 2 - Plays way too agressively when there is a flush draw on the board.

These villains are great to flop big hands against in position because you never even have to bet or raise because you know they don't have the draw either. Example, you have pocket 7's in position. Villain raises, you call. Flop comes XX7 with 2 spades. Villain pots it, you call. Turn - blank, villain pushes, you call and stack his AA that he overplayed due to the draw-heavy board.

Valuable Read 3 - total donkey calling station

One of the best reads known to man. Do not semi-bluff these guys, do not threebet all in with a coin flip hand because they'll call, and you are only 50/50....try to catch your hand because they will call once you catch it too. They can't fold TP even on a straigthening flushing board. Value bet, value bet, value bet. I called a $20 turn bet against one of these guys into a $10 pot with a flush draw last week on a TJQK board. Rivered the flush, push overbet for $250 and he called with the ace hi straight.

Valueable read 4 - minbets draws

You've all seen these guys. They minbet into you and try to draw cheap, then they go ahead and call your big raise. I really have no idea what they are thinking...they know they can't pay full price to draw, which is why they bet small, but then they call a raise anyway. Punish these guys, and fold if any draws come home.

Valuable read 5 - minraises small pockets/SC's/suited aces preflop.

Some villains will typically minraise either small pockets, or sc's or suited aces preflop...they don't usually minraise all three, but lots of villains will minraise at least one of these. If you start getting action with a big hand on a ragged board or a board like 55K, you can generally figure they've got the trips with top kicker, or a set on a 852 board or something similar. It can save you money a lot of the time..or you can PUNISH them on a 55K board when you've got KK because you KNOW they've got A5.

Valuable read 6 - can't read boards and tell when he's counterfeited. Also, the converse "smart enough to know he just got counterfeited"

These villains are great. Flop comes 228, and they have 89. You bet with Jacks and they call. Turn 9...you bet they raise, you reraise, and villain has top 2...can't fold right, even though TT+ kills them, which you represent. They don't realize your 2 pair beats them. This is a great read to have. Good LAGS typically realize this but still can't fold. Example from above 982 though, you bet and get raised...think you might be behind to 98 so you flat call. Turn comes a 2, and now villain checks.....now you've got him. Start value-betting, he'll probably call.

Valuable read 7 - minbet-threebets monsters

These are great too because they let you get away cheap. Villain leads into you with a minbet on a draw heavy board knowing you'll raise. You oblige, and now the threebets all in with a set...you easily dump your hand (provided you have this read). Villain doesn't realize he could have potted it and gotten a much bigger raise out of you but hey...his bad play is why you are here.

Valueable read 8 - plays ALL draws agressively

A read that an opponent plays big draws agressively doesn't really help you much other than including the big draw in his range when he's raising on a draw heavy board.

A read that an opponent will play ANY draw agressively is however. Any ragged 2 flush board with him raising makes it easier to include the draw and not a set as his likely holdings. Same thing on connected flops like A78....makes it easier to put him on 9T or 56 and lets you know by his action if he's hit. A good way to determine if villains got a monster or not is to flat call his flop raise when OOP and donk into him on the turn. If he raises you again, it's generally a big hand. If he calls he's probably got the draw and that lets you play the river perfectly. Against a lot of these villains if you threebet the flop big you are likely to get raised all in and are then faced with a tough decision. I generally like to call their flop raise, and then disappoint them by donking a PSB on a blank turn, this destroys their odds and eliminates tough decisions on your part as very few of them have the guts to go all in at that point.

Valuable Read 10 - makes weak C-bets with whiffed hands, makes big c-bets with hands that connected

These villains are really easy to float against with nothing, or punish with big hands. If a villain makes a weak c-bet into me I'll generally raise if I think he'll fold right on the flop, or wait until the turn to raise as that's always more scary and almost always gets a fold. Conversely, if the villain makes a PSB and I have nothing, I know I can safely fold and won't try to float because I know he's got a hand. This is why it's so critical that you always make your cbets a standard size.

Valuable read 11 - Does not consider pot size when determining the strength of a bet

Some villains associate the size of the bet in relation to the stakes as a strong bet, rather than the size of the bet in relation to the pot. For example...some villains think their $10 bet into a $50 pot is strong because it's a big bet for $50NL. We as a group typically consider that a weak bet...but if the villain doesn't, beware.

Valuable Read 12 - villain ALWAYS raises in the BB if it's a headsup blind battle and the SB completes.

This read makes you money in a number of ways. First you know not to complete with hands you want to play OOP to a raise, because you know you'll get one. And second you KNOW he's raising so you limp with TT+ and punish him when he does. After enough of these you can start limping and not expect a raise.

Valuable read 13 - Villain reraises light and flatcalls with truly big hands.

I found a TAG villain that religously reraises with marginal hands (AJ for example) but NEVER reraises with AA/KK. This makes him easy to play against because if he reraises you, you know your AK is good on an a K hi flop, because AA isn't in his reraise range.

Valuable Read 14 - Calls pot-size bets on draws on the flop AND turn, then either goes for the checkraise when it hits (or donk bets it, depends on villain)

Lots of villains (myself included) will call smallish PSB's on the flop with draws. Not as many will call on the turn. The ones that will call large turn bets are truly great buddies for life and worth following around. When you get called by one of these guys on the flop on a draw heavy board. You must make a PS turn bet, screw pot control, punish these donkies. Conversely, slow way down when the draw hits and consider folding. The other great thing about these guys if that they'll almost always go for a checkraise when they complete their draw, disappoint them by not letting them get the checkraise in.

Marginal but sometimes valuable timing tells

Assuming a villain normally acts in a certain period of time, sometimes something outside of that normal range can give you a tell. The most common one is the delayed call or bet. If a villain raised on the flop and then a flush card falls, and that villain takes an inordinately long period to act after the card hits, it's almost a certainty that he hit the flush. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this and it's been the flush. They are thinking that you'll associate their long thought period with weakness, but in reality it's strength. I generally insta-fold TP with this read and i'm almost always right. This read is subject to a villain that is only single-tabling though. If it's against a multi-tabling tag it's not as reliable as he could be acting on another table, etc.

Other Ramblings - Absent reads I'm typically very reluctant to call large river bets with good, but not unbeatable hands. I've gotten burned by this lately with things like K high flushes facing pushes and losing to the nut flush, things like that. Villains typically just don't bet rivers huge without the nuts or near nuts. Also beware of the full pot size bet or slight overbet if you checked the turn behind after a draw hit. This almost always signifies a whiffed turn-checkraise that the villain is trying to make up for. If a villain is capable of bluffing the river with missed draws and things of that nature, then calling is standard, but I have to have a read to make me do this and it has to be a very good read."

Sick hand...

2007-09-17T15:07:00.001-07:00

I just knew I was good here, but it looks pretty sick without history and such. Felt bad for the guy. I gotta be careful with hands like these, though.

Pete

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1492536

A change in the blog

2007-09-10T01:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted forever, just really busy with stuff and in my free time I fit in all the poker I can. I don't expect people to post and respond to my hands, either, as I don't have the time to help others out right now.

So, to keep this blog worthwhile I'm going to try and post at least once a week with an article about my thoughts on this crazy game. Some might be strategy stuff, others just basic mindset stuff and making things click. Read it if you'd like, if not, no biggie.

So far at 50NL 6-max on Full Tilt I'm at like 4 ptBB/100 over like 12,000 hands. 12,000 hands so far THIS MONTH, which is huge for me since I used to play 12k hands total on Bodog in a month and now I'm probably going to play at least 30k this month at 50NL. Just the rakeback alone is sweet. I have run really bad the last few days and managed to find myself only down like 2 buyins in that time so I'm very happy with how I'm playing and how I've cut back on my spewage. But that's the subject for a future article, so until then...

Pete

Very quick update...

2007-08-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted, the start of the semester has been busier than I anticipated for several reasons that you guys don't care or need to hear about. I haven't had time to look at blogs and I'm behind on CR videos again, as my free time I've spent playing. I am interested in having a core blog group though where we can all post on one blog like DodgyKen, Peten2toms, etc are doing. If you want to be that core of 4 guys or so please respond to this post and we'll get it started! Having to go to one blog to look at hands will be much easier for busy people like me. :)

I've been doing well, moving to NL50 6-max soon with a very comfy bankroll...

Pete

Back and crushing!

2007-08-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

I'm in my new place, just getting settled, etc etc! It feels good! I've played a bit the last few days in some odd spots and since making some key adjustments in my game, namely to REALLY tighten up in the first two positions at the table, I've been spewing a lot less and winning at over 12 ptBB/100 for the last 4000 hands or so. So it's been nice!

I'm going to limit my hands to only two hands per post from now on because I think it's hard to really look over and comment on 5 hands or something, so here are two interesting ones:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1375581

The turn is a weird spot as I pick up the nut flush draw here but if I bet like I do and the short stack plays his hand correctly and shoves here I have a bad call to make but I hate to stick money in there and fold so is just checking here the best option or did I not play this terribly and get lucky?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1375591

I assume preflop and flop is fine here. The turn I pick up a set on a drawy board and fire. Should I value bet the river to try and get a two pair hands to pay me off? Am I getting paid off by much here? If somebody shoves I have to fold? Weird spot.

Thanks guys, good to be back, I hope to post on your blogs ASAP. We also need to get a core group going, so whoever is looking for some regulars to read their blog let me know!

Pete

Moving day...back in a bit!

2007-08-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

Well today my wife and I start our move into our new place. It has been a very busy and crazy summer but that is nearing to a close. I will be back in a week or two once internet is set up at our new place and we're settled in, and will have more time to post on your blogs and get back into the poker groove. Until then, good luck at the tables, thanks for reading and supporting this CR Grinder idea, and we'll see ya soon.

Pete

Marginal

2007-07-31T05:52:00.001-07:00

I made a really nice comeback yesterday and had a really strong day playing Full Tilt 25NL. I ran hot, but took a few beats too. The crazy thing is twice I got it all in with AA against another AA, once preflop and once on the flop, and both times I hit runner runner flushes to take the pot that should likely have split. If that goes the other way and I lose both of those I come on here complaining about having the worst luck in the world, etc etc. It's all variance...you just always have to keep that in mind!

Anyways, I posted yesterday about PAHUD helping my game. I think because I've played in games so far in my "poker career" that are so passive (Bodog 25NL) that playing big pot, reraised pots preflop is really hard for me. STacks are always at stake with any wrong decision. And I think PAHUD can help me with a few big decisions. Take this spot, for instance:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1318725 Imagine that the player doesn't reraise to $9.95. Against that three bet what is my play? Just call and hit a set? What is his range? I hate marginal spots OOP and TT is so hard to play OOP unless you hit that set. Is his range tight enough that I know I'll get paid off if I hit? Is it loose enough that I should stick in a reraise herE? What should my line be? Without PAHUD I don't really know, so I just fold. Now with PAHUD I might still fold, but it's just the idea of having a reason behind some decisions that could lead to big pots. Hope that makes sense.

Pete

Quick update as we end July...

2007-07-30T09:01:00.001-07:00

Didn't get to play this weekend as I was busy with some family stuff. I went fishing on Saturday, and it was nice to get away for a bit somewhere and not think about poker for a bit. I played this morning and didn't do well, I think I am still spewing too much by raising too loosely when I'm going to end up OOP in the hand. I think that I need to get PAHUD ASAP to help me with decisions and I think that it will improve my game by leaps and bounds. Right now I am just trying to get things in place so I can rock and roll come August 20th or so when I will start to be able to play quite a bit. I received most of my money from Bodog that I cashed out there so I am loading it onto Epassporte now and I will soon have a normal bankroll again. I am going to try and plug some leaks and then hopefully play 50NL by mid/late September. I am going to work I really tightening up my spewage, esp from all positions except the button, and work on really making laydowns with overpairs when I face a lot of pressure. The big hands will come and hopefully spewing less with increase my winrate quite a bit.

I won't be online/playing as much in the next few weeks because my wife and I are starting to move into a new place an hour away on Wednesday, so I probably won't update this a whole lot until we get settled, which will take a week or two. I will have internet at work, but not at home until about a week and a half into August. So good luck at the tables, and I'll catch up with you guys in a few weeks...I'm excited to play a lot and hopefully have some great results. And I wish you guys nothing but the best.

Pete

Motivated to kick some ass... :)

2007-07-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been a lot better. I've caught some cards and my hands have held, on Bodog at least. Yesterday I stacked guys twice when they flopped/turned a set and I turned a straight, so it's easy to win when the cards fall for you like that. But I'm up like 4-5 BI in the last two days so I'm happy to rebound. People have really been playing back at me a lot the last two days, yesterday I had aggressive players to my left on two tables who would float me on any c-bet and then fire near-pot whenever I checked the turn. Sometimes you have to slow down a bit.

TY for all the comments on my last post, some great stuff in there that I will keep in mind. I am motivated to start taking a shot at 50NL and kicking ass. The support and motivation from everyone is awesome and it makes me want to play really, really well. :)

I loved it when Ken said that we win at these levels by extracting value with our made hands, and not by bluffing, playing fancy, doing anything crazy, etc. I am going to try and keep it simple and aggressive and keep the pressure on people over and over and hopefully watch the money pile up. :P

Pete

Mistakes, mindlessness, and "that one bad hand" (LONG!)

2007-07-26T07:38:00.001-07:00

I was thinking about some stuff after my latest session this morning, and thought I'd try and put my thoughts into words.

I think I'm on the cusp of being a very good poker player, at least at relatively small stakes cash. My goals right now are not super high. Within a year I'd like to be a solid winner at 100NL 6-max. That would really provide my wife and I with some nice additional income and financial stability. I don't have dreams of turning pro or only doing poker for a living. I just want to make some significant money. Right now at 25NL it's nice to make money and sure better than losing it, but it's still not where I want to be even 6 months from now. I know I am better than this level and I have the tools, skills, and ability to win at higher levels.

One thing that's hurting me right now is that one bad hand a session or one bad hand an hour. You can play so well for an hour long session, let's say, but if you royally mess up that one hand it really drags down what your winrate should be. There is already so much variance and your edge can be so slight sometimes that giving away money in stupid hands just kills you. I'd rather lose money aggressively, like getting it in on the flop with a big draw against an overpair and missing, than losing the way I am now...just with a stupid bluff or a stupid call on the river when I can't beat anything.

I find that when I'm playing my worst I am on "autopilot". Phil Galfond, aka Jman aka OMGClayAiken recently wrote the same thing on his CR blog. So I know it's not just me. But I played a hand earlier today so awfully it was amazing, and I don't know if I was on autopilot or when I'm in the moment of a hand I just get caught up with the money in the pot and wanting to always take it that Ido stupid things, but I played it so badly and never even considered my opponent's range of hands.

It's funny how when you really pay attention it's not that hard to narrow down your opponent's range, and you need to do that EVERY TIME you're in a pot or else you'll get blown away by making dumb, mindless plays. Take my earlier hand, for instance:

I'm in the CO and raise AJo to .90 at my 25NL 6-max table on Bodog. The button flat calls, blinds fold. I had played a hand earlier with the button where I raised CO, he smooth called button, I led out with ATo on a raggy flop, he min raised, I folded. This time the flop comes 863 with two hearts (I don't have any hearts) and I check to him. He makes a very small, third-of-the-pot bet. This could mean a lot of things, a draw trying to get there cheap, a monster hand, or just a tester bet with a hand like AQ. But since he took a pot away from me before, I decided I wanted this pot and check raised him 2.5x. He calls. So here I made my first mistakes. Instead of just folding and moving on, or calling for very cheap and keeping the pot small, I raise it with absolutely nothing out of position, putting me in a really tough spot. My raise isn't big enough to drive many hands out of there, either, as even a hand like AK will probably call because of the inviting pot odds.

The turn comes an offsuit 2 and I fire out about 90% of the pot and get called. Okay, so at least I narrowed down his range a bit here. For him to call that bet as well as a flop check raise he has to have a strong made hand or possibly a heart draw, but he wasn't getting good odds on a heart draw so it's probably more likely he has a made hand or maybe even just got there with a hand like 45ss if he plays those types of hands. (I also don't know that, which is another problem)

The river comes an offsuit A giving me top pair solid kicker. Now I'm happy because I have top pair and that I might have just gotten lucky on the river to bail me out after my dumb play. I make another 90% pot bet on the river and he snap calls me with 33 for the flopped set.

The problem here is I didn't even THINK about his possible range of hands on the river. What could possibly pay me off in this spot that calls a flop c/r and a very strong turn bet? The board is 8632A with no suits. If he had a heart draw and missed, he's not paying me off. Checking is the play to induce a bet now that I have a hand with showdown value. He could easily have a hand like A8 and made two pair on the river. He could have 45 or a set. The only reasonable hands that I "get ahead of" on the river are pairs 99-KK, none of which seem all that likely here, and which most likely don't pay off another really strong river bet now with an ace on board. (though on Bodog 25NL I guess it's possible!)

So only the hands I beat fold, and only the hands I lose to call. And this one bad hand turned my session from a small winner to a small loser, and frustrated me because I know for 98% of my sessions I play very well, but I'm letting it slip away in that other 2% of hands.

I mean we're all going to make mistakes, that happens, we can't play perfect all the time, even the best go through that. But if I'm making mistakes I'd rather they be SMALL mistakes like folding a hand that might be the best on the flop or having a guy c-bet me off a pot with nothing when I don't have much either than making BIG mistakes like stacking off weak or making big bets with nothing at a level where I know that' sjust not going to work.

I hope this all makes sense, and maybe you seem something here that applies to your own game. Or maybe it's just me!

GL at the tables,

Pete

Interesting spot from this morning's session...

2007-07-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

The last two days have been good, I've won about 3 buyins total on Bodog. I tried to cash out and I couldn't because I cashed in some of my Bodog points for cash and have to earn a certain amount of points before I can cash out. So that's all good, I've made some more money in the meantime. :)

Interesting hand from earlier today...I'm at work so no PT hand history, sorry...I remember it pretty well though. At Bodog 25NL most pots are small preflop as 3 and 4 betting preflop are fairly rare. So I was wondering how to navigate a hand like this:

I have my opponent covered. He has just sat down with $25 and this is his first hand at the table. No history. I get dealth KcKs in the SB and it's folded to me. I raise to .80 and he repops me to $2.10. I know that he has a big hand because people don't do that at this level without a hand, and want to get it all in so I make a big raise to $9 thinking he'll likely shove. Instead he calls. $18 in the pot going to the flop, he has $16 behind.

Flop: Ac8c2x.

What should my line be here? My preflop range for him would be TT-KK, AKs, AKo. If he's crazy he could have AQs or something I suppose. If he has a pair I can get him off the hand (but I'd be ahead so do I want to?), if he has AK he's not going anywhere. But he has less than in the pot in his hand, so an $8 bet and then fold to a shove seems really weak. I hate just shoving blindly. Is checking the best play here? What's the best line?

I check, he checks. Turn comes 9c giving me the nut flush draw. I don't think he'd check behind AK on this flop, he'd probably check AAA behind but that's about it that beats me. Is it time for a value bet of $8ish here? More?

Any thoughts are welcome, thanks.

Theory discussion: Opening ranges

2007-07-23T08:47:00.001-07:00

Today I'd like to get your guys' thoughts on opening ranges in 6-max games.

I was thinking about Noel's post on another blog where he talked about playing super tight in positions 1 and 2, and very loose in the CO and button. I started thinking and came up with a "hand chart" of what to open in each position that I thought is very tight early and very loose late:

UTG: All pairs, AKs-AJs, AKo, AQo
2: all above plus AJo, KQs, ATs
CO: all above plus KQ-KJo, all suited connectors, all suited aces
Button: All above plus any two cards two apart or connecting (i.e 24o, 35o, 56o, etc), and all suited cards. Also any ace.

What do you think of these opening ranges? Is the button range too loose? Is the UTG range too tight/loose? Should all pairs always be raised because of how much you get paid off with sets at this level?

What do you guys think about mixing up an occasional suited connector raise UTG (very rarely) in order to "vary your range"? Is that even worth doing or do opponents at this level not even think about our possible holdings, making it not worth it?

Finally, how would you adjust your CO/Button opening range depending on limpers in front of you in the pot? My range above is assuming it's folded to me in each position.

What would you put your current range at? (Mine is slightly tighter than this as I don't open quite that loosely on the button but close)

Any discussion on the subject would be welcome!

Pete

Plugging a leak and recent videos...

2007-07-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hey guys-

I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully you guys are running well and winning money. :)

I won on Full Tilt today and lost on Bodog...blah blah, same thing as always, I play hands badly and have a lot of leaks to plug.

I've decided that I need to plug a big leak and prepare myself to be able to make the most money possible come August/September when I am able to play a LOT more. Therefore I have decided to take my money completely off of Bodog. I am going to purchase PAHUD which I have not ever used before (not compatible on Bodog which was my main site since I started playing in December). I am going to concentrate on two PAHUD compatable sites over the course of the next few months...Full Tilt and Absolute. (Yes Noel you convinced me)

It's been too long for me to play without using all the necessary tools and without having them at my disposal. I don't want to completely rely on PAHUD, but hopefully it can help guide me in some big spots and get me to lay down some more hands that I should.

I got my latest check from Bodog on Friday and I will be depositing that to my bank account tomorrow. From there I'll zip it onto Epassporte and then load up my Absolute and Full Tilt accounts once that is ready. The rest of my Bodog money should show up in a month or so and I'll use that to pad my accounts a bit more. I plan on starting off 5-tabling 25NL at both, 3 Tilt and 2 Absolute. We'll see how it goes.

Finally, another weakness in my game has probably come from not having time to watch Cardrunners videos as much. I've been studying and reading a lot of forum and 2+2 stuff but I've really gotten behind on videos as I barely have any time to be online at home so I use that to play instead of watch videos. I'll have a lot more time to watch come mid August, but in the meantime I was hopinh you guys could point me to some really good videos for guys at our stakes from the past month or two. The last video I remember watching all the way through (and loving) was Gaucho's so that gives you a time frame.

Thank you so much for reading and helping me out. Good luck at the tables,

Pete

Feeling good

2007-07-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Played just on Full Tilt this morning (trying to release my bonus there before I play elsewhere) and played well, I thought. Despite several coolers/bad beats I ended up a winner. I was really happy with how I played and when I start to run better I will do really well. Making the right decisions is what matters and I'm trying to stay focused for the long term.

Don't feel like you need to comment on these hands, I'm just posting them for myself so I have them somewhere. I'd rather you comment on the hands from last post if anything.

I like how I played this hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1285792 Checking the river lets diamonds bluff...I didn't check raise all in here because KQ beats me on the river and is a possibility. Also Q9, though less likely.

Good flop for me ehre, but I like how I played this too. If the flop comes rags how should I bet this against a short stack? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1285800

Blind on blind, I guess I could fold this preflop but I like having position. Should I raise flop or play it like I did? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1285807

Sickest hand of the session...in a good way. This guy said I owed him money like it was a bad beat: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1285813

Some hands from my sick session...

2007-07-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

So I got myself in a hole early when AA no good against AKs so I was doing my best not to tilt. I was proud of myself for just continuing to play and try to make the best decisions I could.

IMPORTANT: Feel free to look at only one or two hands if you only have time for that...four is a lot, I know!

Hand 1: Flopped set: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1284594 Is the turn check terrible here or not that bad?

Hand 2: Top two on scary board facing donk bets: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1284596 Do I pay off less than a full stack here? I thought the donk bet could possibly be a big hand or just a big club trying to get there cheaply. The turn shove is scary...is my call hideous when I don't really have a read?

Hand 3: Two pair trying to get paid: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1284603 I usually check/raise the flop or bet out on the flop here but I'm trying some different things out. What do you think of my line here? The river is a pot sized bet, is that too much?

Hand 4: Overpair facing an overshove on the flop: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1284607 I couldn't put him on a hand that beat me that he would play like this...thoughts? (Villain had been playing back at me some, but wasn't crazy aggro)

NOTE: THAT ENDS MY HANDS FOR YOU TO REVIEW! I DON'T WANT TO GIVE YOU TOO MUCH! THE REST ARE JUST ME POSTING HANDS FROM MY SESSION FOR FUN. :)

Big flop that I shove knowing he has an ace and we're getting it all in anyways: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1284613

I've had problems with AA lately and I like how I played this: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1284616

Sick sessions...roller coaster! And a thank you!

2007-07-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

I got to play twice today. This morning I five tabled Full Tilt 10NL and played really well. I wanted to get confidence back and have a solid session, and I did just that, winning two buyins.

Then tonight I played for about 2 hours, 3 tables Bodog 25NL and 2 tables Full Tilt 10NL. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many sick, sick hands. I will post them here later. Too many to do right now, and I want to look over your blogs as I've been falling behind on that.

Finally, I want to send out an honest thanks to everyone looking over my blog and going along with my little low limit grinder idea. I hope you all make a lot of money in this silly little game, and maybe make some poker friends as well. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are awesome.

Pete

P.S - my wife is also awesome because she stayed up with me until 6:00 AM watching the main event final table. How cool is that?

Three tough hands from yesterday...

2007-07-20T07:04:00.001-07:00

Finally got around to posting some of my tough hands...or maybe some of my terrible hands.

Hand 1: This was like my first hand at the table, no read on villain. SB raise here is generally quite strong, is a call with 99 okay or should I reraise to isolate and get heads up with position? Obv I'd like to take it down on the flop but his call sends off warning signs, especially after a limp/call preflop, seems like a set. I almost folded the turn, again, seems like he's pricing me in. Thoughts?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1282396

Hand 2: Again, very early in the session, no reads. He has to have a straight already, a set, a ten, or hearts here, right? Easy fold for someone who's good? :P

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1282405

Hand 3: Villain had been VERY aggressive against me since I sat down. I checked behind on flop because I hit and didn't want to get c/r off my hand with him having an ace, as I'm 99% sure he'd check/raise with an ace here. Is checking behind bad here, and once I make two pair do I need to felt it against an aggressive player?

P.S - the minraise was a misclick, as I was going to raise to 5 dollars even but if you just type in 5 on Bodog sometimes it leaves it as the min bet for you if you don't have a decimal after it. What would a good sized raise here be, anyways?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1282408

Tilt sucks

2007-07-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

Tilt sucks.

Not Full Tilt poker, but tilt itself.

I had a bad session at Bodog 25NL this morning. I lost 3 1/2 buyins in an hour. That's a lot for me, as I play a low variance style most of the time. I went in motivated by Noel's blog post to play aggressively and crush, but I was stupid about it and it ended up costing me.

I got stacked three times. The first was a stupid call with an overpair on a tough board. So I was pissed at myself for that and starting my session off badly. I had already had a tough hand with 99 where I laid it down on the river on an 8-high board. Then I got stacked with two pair vs a set. Then I was really pissed and I tilted off another full buyin with absolutely nothing.

I hate tilting and feel stupid for doing it afterwards. It also sucks to piss away money you work hard to earn.

I'm going to try and get over it and just relax about poker for a bit until I can get fully ready to go starting in late August when I will have much more time to play. As somebody said on this blog before, short sessions can be really rough and high variance, and maybe I should wait to play more until I have time to put in longer sessions.

How not to tilt? That's something I'm sure all of us can work on.

I'll post hands later.

Pete

P.S - at least I won a buyin on Full Tilt 10NL with QJ vs KK on QJxx board. :P

Theory discussion: Small Pairs in the Blinds (and a quick update)

2007-07-17T07:17:00.000-07:00

I played just under an hour this morning and aside from ONE HAND the entire session I was really pleased with my play. But it's getting bad when I make one big decision that's a poor one in one hand and it changes your entire session. In this hand I played AA too fast and ran into a set and got stacked on Bodog 25NL. I came back and ended up even for the session. On Full Tilt I played on a CR 10NL table for the first time and did very well, ending up a buyin on that table...unfortunately on the other table I played my AA lost to JJ AIPF so I ended up even on Full Tilt as well. So it's frustrating the results aren't quite there, but I'm happy with my play other than the AA hand, which I'm sure I will post here sooner or later. It's just a really bad spot I put myself in in a multiway pot with a guy left to act behind me.

Anyways, I wanted to add some "theory" posts to this blog as well to get people talking. My theory subject today is playing small pairs out of the blinds. I remember in Daut's CR video he talked about how he mostly folds small pairs out of the blinds because it's so hard to get paid of OOP to justify the all the times you miss your set and check/fold. So how do you guys usually play these situations with a pair like 22-55: (assume opponent is weak/average)

1) Opponent raises UTG in EP and you know he is likely quite strong. Do you call here to set mine OOP? If you hit your set how do you play it?

2) Opponent who raises button 90% of the time when it's folded to him raises on the button and you have a small pair in the SB. Just fold? Smooth call? Repop and play aggressively post flop by firing on any board?

3) Multiway limped pot, you have a small pair in SB. Complete and go for the set, I assume?

Trying to show it down cheap but they shove...two hands for you to analyze

2007-07-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hand 1: Villain had just moved to the table as a short stack and more than doubled by over shoving all in with AQ and got called by KQ. No other reads. The flop min raise worried me so I just called to see the pot to the river hopefully relatively cheaply, but then he shoves the river. Thoughts?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1270661

Hand 2: Villain has been playing very aggressively and overbetting a lot of hands. Sadly, he has not shown much down so I don't know a whole lot except that he can't have a hand every time...right? Again, I wanted to keep the pot small here and see the river, and on the river he shoves. Thoughts?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1270668

I played!

2007-07-16T07:27:00.000-07:00

I actually got to play a bit the last two days. I get in a really nice session yesterday for probably two hours. I won over a buyin on Bodog and thought I played very solidly for the most part. I was down money on Full Tilt after losing with A9 to AQ on an AQ9 flop, so I played a sit n go and won it (a $5 6-man, holla!) and then went back to the cash tables and ended up a few bucks.

This morning I ended up even on Full Tilt and lost about $20 on Bodog, one hand with top two vs a set, and another hand tilting and doing a stupid bluff. I will try to post hands by tomorrow morning at the latest for you guys to analyze. Just don't have a lot of computer time aside from when I'm at work, and don't have PT at work.

I've been following the main event coverage a lot the past two days and MY GOD is the play like what I see at 25NL or something. There was a hand where two guys were in a pot with like 300,000 in the middle, flop is Axx, goes check check, turn is a jack and the small blind shoves 2.8 million into a pot of 300,000. Button makes a great call with A9, and the dude had shoved it all in with J9 after turning middle pair. For what reason? What are you hoping to accomplish? That and guys just making horrible call offs of their stacks with like 99, people not understanding "deep" stacked poker at all...no wonder they call them donkaments, it's insane. Anyways, I'm sure there are some good players left too, and I will be watching the main event PPV so it should be fun to try and read players as the play unfolds without hole card cams already telling you what they have.

Let's see, what else...I'm going to put money on Cake Poker very soon and start playing 3-tables Bodog 25NL and 2-tables Cake 20NL. I want to get up to $1500 on Cake (I'm going to start with $1000-1200 once my Bodog check gets here and depending on how much I take out of Full Tilt), so I can have 30BI at 50NL 6-max. I've decided that in the fall I'm going to play Bodog 25NL 6-max and Cake 50NL 6-max (assuming I like playing there of course), because I'm just not doing well at Full Tilt and I think the play is better than at Bodog...it's definitely harder to get paid off. Of course this is 10NL and I see guys post donk hands from 50NL or 100NL Full Tilt all the time, but who knows. Anyways, I want to play where the ABSOLUTE WEAKEST competition is, and Bodog and Cake should fit that bill. Noel has talked to me about playing at Absolute Poker as well, and I might consider that, too, depending on how play at Cake goes. But I like the fact that Cake has 50NL 6-max, and I wish Bodog would add that too.

That's it for me, good luck at the tables guys.

Pete

Restless...

2007-07-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's tough not being able to play, and the crappy thing is that even when this week is over my time I'm able to play is still going to be very low until my wife and I complete our move to a new city new duplex by mid August. When mid August comes I'm going to be able to play a LOT and it'll be fun, but right now it's tough sitting on the sidelines waiting to make money and play well.

I've been following the WSOP Main Event a lot, and I REALLY want to play in the Main Event some day, I'm setting a goal of 2009 and hopefully I can make it. I think I'll get the final table on PPV, it's fun to watch with no hole cards.

Hopefully come this weekend or early next week I can get back in the groove of at least playing a BIT and contributing more to your guys' blogs again. Low internet access has been blah.

Keep running hot, I'll join you guys soon. :)

Pete

Possible week off...?

2007-07-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are house sitting for the next week and I don't really want to set poker software up on someone else's computer so I might not be playing much in the next week. I will still be looking at your blogs starting up again on Monday, but this weekend is super busy for us with some friends in town.

I played 45-50 minutes this morning and thought I played well. Of course I still lost on Full Tilt when I got stacked with AA (Ad) vs. QdJd on an all diamond flop. I thought I played well other than that and one frustrated bad bluff at the end of that session. I think I played very well on Bodog and ended up half a buyin. One thing I tried to do more of this morning was play aggressively from the blinds when everyone shows weakness (button limp, for instance) and I have something reasonable. I don't want to overdo it, but making a big raise can make it less obvious when I raise AA or KK from the blinds if I do it with a wider range...also they hit the flop so little that c-bets take down some easy pots and I think doing this will increase my profits. Something to think about, as before I played so ultra ultra tight from the blinds (hate being OOP obv) but I think some well-timed aggression can help a lot.

Anyways, I'll try to keep posting on your blogs, so post some good stuff. Good luck and hopefully I'll be back posting my own stuff soon.

Pete

Up and down...

2007-07-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Got a chance to play a nice hour and a half or two hour session tonight, 5-tabling with 3 25NL Bodog tables and 2 10NL Full Tilt tables. I ended up down a buyin on Bodog and down a buyin on Full Tilt. On Full Tilt I just never got hands and lost a buyin with AA vs KQ on a K high flop when he turned another K, so whatever. But on Bodog I got into some tough spots. I don't think I played terribly for the most part, but I'm frustrated with myself because I think I'm playing scared poker and not getting correct value when I'm ahead and paying people off too much when I'm behind. In a lot of the hands I've posted on this blog recently if I've erred it's by playing too weak and too cautiously, scared that somebody's going to hit a card on me or make a move on me. Like the hand in the post below where I check the turn with AK. WHY? If he check/raises me give up the hand, he's telling me he has me beat and I have no reason not to believe him. What am I scared of? I need to conquer this and I think it will bring more steady play.

I also need to work REALLY hard on making good decisions and not constantly thinking about whether I'm up or down for the session.

Hands from tonight:

1) http://www.pokerhand.org/?1238261 Opponent has been very passive, no reason to think she doesn't have a big hand here. Is this an easy fold to a represented set? Am I getting any value out of pushing here? Looking back I can't think that she plays JJ-KK like this at all, and AT seems really odd too. SEems like an easy fold but it's easy to say now of course!

2) http://www.pokerhand.org/?1238267 One of those hands where the board goes ugly on you, is betting the turn and folding to a raise okay here? Is my turn bet too weak?

Thanks again for all the comments, I will try to post on all of your blogs as well tomorrow (at work, lol). :)

Pete

Good short session

2007-07-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Ended up a winner on both Tilt (a few bucks) 10NL and Bodog 25NL (a buyin). I think I played really well except one hand on BOdog that was AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL and I won't let you guys see it it's so bad! :)

A few quickies for today:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1236879 Just check/fold on this flop?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1236887 Value bet this river? Any chance of getting called by a worse hand? Obvious he's scared of the board.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1236894 Opponent is aggressive and capable of check raising...is not betting the turn terrible here? Is paying off the river with the flush card hits terrible?

Thanks!

Pete

Not much interesting today...

2007-07-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th all. I played two short sessions today, won on Full Tilt this morning, then this afternoon lost a few bucks on FT but won on Bodog. Not much interesting in the way of hands, pretty standard. But here are a few just to see what you guys think:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1235075

By the river it's hard to imagine what I can beat unless he bets a bad ace the whole way or he was bluffing the whole time. Still someone else in the hand as well but I feel I'm getting priced in. I know I played this passively and I hate that but is there any way around that here or is my line okay?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1235082

My line okay here or any chance you try a sick value bet?

Pete

JJ from the blinds...

2007-07-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

At home so I thought I'd dig up two trouble hands from yesterday and post them here...they involve a similar spot, playing JJ from the blinds. I know I need to three bet from the blinds more often with this hand, but I fall into the trap of just smooth calling and making sure the flop brings low cards and that's pretty weak. Anyways, here are the hands:

Hand 1: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1230490

Oh man this is bad. Since I don't repop preflop I have no idea where I am postflop, so I'm playing tentatively OOP. Obv c/c the flop is pretty bad, do you guys like a lead here or a check/raise? I put his range at something like AQs, AK, 99-KK, very slightly AA possibility. He hadn't been getting out of line in his hands so I have to put him on one of those types of hands, very likely TT or QQ, even JJ. What do you think of his small river bet? Do I have to pay this off? What can I beat that bets that small? I butchered this, please help. I freeze up with a hand like JJ to an uncharacteristic large preflop raise.

Hand 2: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1230500

NOTE: My flop call of the check/raise was a misclick! Uggh. I hadn't decided what to do yet and accidentally clicked call, so that pretty much commited me I thought.

After I did that I just thought I'd get it all in and convinced myself maybe he had something I could beat...but I beat basically nothing, even the flush got there. My question is how do you respond to his turn check/raise that is so big? 3bet again preflop? How do you play a hand like this OOP against pressure on a raggy flop?

These hands make me look so awful...I am not always this bad I swear. :)

Thanks,

Pete

July goals...

2007-07-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

July will be a crazy month for me as I'm really busy with work and just enjoying the summer. As I have posted before, I will get to play a lot more come late August/September. I have a big move coming up in early August and I'm house sitting for a week this month so poker may be limited until then. Also with my Bodog cashout situations, my bankroll online has been depleted. I feel like I've been treading water lately but I know soon things will be back to normal and I will do well. That said, my goals for July are:

1) Try to play for at least 30 minutes every weekday morning before work. Play at night after work when time allows.

2) Get used to playing 5 tables at once without feeling overwhelmed.

3) Post regularly on other's blogs from the CR community.

4) Reflect more on my own hands through my blog, and don't be afraid to take criticism from others...it will help me improve. There are obvious leaks in my game I need to improve upon!

5) Trust my gut more and lay down hands when I think I'm beat instead of making stubborn calls that almost never are right!

6) Try not to focus on money won/lost each session, but instead how I'm playing. Keep track of money week to week, but not session by session. Focus more on decisions, not results.

7) Post 2 hands after each session on this blog for others to analyze and critique. This will help me plug some leaks and solve some trouble spots/hands/situations.

8) Get money on to Cake and start playing there ASAP! Weak competition is good!

9) Win money!

10) Don't stress out about poker, have fun in life and don't dwell on day to day results. Stay positive!

If I can do all this I will be set...it's a tall task and probably impossible, but something to work towards at least.

Pete

Back...

2007-07-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

I got back yesterday, the trip was fun and now I'm ready to get back and start playing again. I got in short sessions last night and this morning. Yesterday I won a buyin on Bodog that would have been 2 BI had I not misclicked/misplayed a hand, and lost a few bucks on Tilt. This morning I lost a quarter buy in on Bodog and lost about another buyin on Full Tilt. This is 10NL I can't beat on Tilt, but 25NL on Bodog is fine (and the play much less aggressive, lol).

I know I need to just focus and play better on Tilt and maybe it's just too many tables right now and I should cut back to 4 until I get used to it. The hand I lost a buyin on this morning was pretty stupid because I never should have been in the hand in the first place. It was the final orbit before I quit and I had played almost zero hands and was down probably a dollar just from blinds and stuff. Folded to me on the cut off I raise Q6hh to .35 and get one call from the button, a guy that had repopped me from the small blind and played pretty aggressively. The flop came 975 with two hearts. This was clearly a good flop for me with the gutshot and flush draw. I bet out .65 into the pot of .85. He immediately raises to 2.4. If he has just top pair I count 15 outs twice which makes me a favorite as long as he doesn't have Q9 (3 queens, 3 non-heart 8s, 9 hearts), so I shove in and he INSTA and I mean INSTA calls with 89ss. I brick out and I'm down another buyin.

I also played a hand really poorly on Bodog this morning. After the hand I was trying to tell myself "oh you just got cold decked" but I played it awfully, knew I was beat, and didn't lay it down. I had A4o in the BB and it was limped around and I obv checked. Flop comes A84 with two diamonds. SB checks, I lead out pot thinking that anyone at this level with an ace isn't going anywhere, and a bet out actually looks weaker than a check/raise so it's not a bad way to get value and not give any free cards. Folded back to the SB who min check raises. RUH-ROH. I call.

WHY? What hands min check raise at this level? Guys with strong aces at this level, besides likely raising preflop, do not do min check raises. He does not have AK here. So on an A84 flop, my A4 hand to his check raise, unless I have a read on him, is basically the same as AK. The only hands he's doing this with that I can think of are A8, 88, and 44. AA likely raises preflop. In a VERY rare case he has a pair and a diamond draw but that's so unlikely so even though I have a niec two pair hand, against his range of hands, what can I beat? Instead, I called his c/r, called his 2/3 pot turn bet, and the same on the river. A8 beats me, nh sir. UGH I am bad.

I am busy catching up with work stuff now that I'm back but I hope to post a lot on other people's blogs and get this Cardrunners Community thing going that I started for the low limit grinders. I will try to include more details next time but I'm not at my computer so I don't have poker tracker for the hand histories. I thank all who will comment on my hands ahead of time, and look forward to trying to help you out as well.

Pete

Can't beat 10NL!!!!

2007-06-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

I'm busy so I'll keep this short. Leaving for Chicago tomorrow, should be fun. I'm a really big Cubs fan.

I really want to get my money from Bodog and my money loaded onto Epassporte so I can play like normal. I hate feeling short playing my sessions on Bodog and Full Tilt, and I think it hurts your play worrying about not going busto because you're playing on limited buyins.

I'm running really really bad on Full Tilt. I won 2 BI the other night to get close to even but in one 25 minute and one 45 minute session in the last two days playing FT 10NL I've lost 3 buyins so I'm down again. I know nobody cares about coolers/beats but I'll list anyways:

-AQ vs QQ on A-high flop, he shoves all in and I call, river is the case Q
-22 vs 33 on 732 flop
-AQ vs 99 on AQ9 flop this morning

Blech. I know the cards will break my way soon, so maybe this vacation is coming at the perfect time. I can get refreshed and get going when I get back. I am excited to try my Full Tilt/Cake 5-tabling plan, as long as Bodog gets me my friggin' money SOMETIME soon.

GL at the tables...

Pete

P.S - the play at 10NL on Full Tilt is tougher than 25NL on Bodog. I've been three bet from the blinds so many times, people check/raise much more often, just more aggressive play in general. Makes me realize how weak play on Bodog is.

Trying to create a community...

2007-06-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

I had an idea and posted this on Cardrunners...I think it's a cool idea that could help a lot of our games, keep us motivated, etc...we'll see what people think.

****************

Hey fellow low limit grinders:

I'm trying to think of a way to make all of us work harder and play better, and ultimately, of course improve our games long term. I was thinking that some members of this board should do a group "challenge" for the month of July. I use quotations because I'm not thinking a money challenge, like who can make the most money in the month, but instead create a more collaborative environment for the really serious low limit grinders who want to work hard to improve their games, and work hard to discuss hands and situations with others who take the game seriously in order to improve. That's what these forums are all about, after all.

My idea involves something like this:

-"Sign up" if you want to be a part. When you do so, post what you plan to play in the month of July; What sites do you play, what stakes do you play, what are your goals for the month, how many tables do you play at once, how many hands do you usually play a month? This way we can have a better idea of where we're all at going in.

-If you don't have one already, create a poker blog.

-Starting July 1st, update your poker blog as often as you can. Go over your good and bad hands after each session in Poker Tracker, post them to your blog, give your thoughts behind your plays and why you did what you did, what you're confused about or think you could have done better, etc.

-Once you have posted, go through the other low limit grinder blogs and add comments to their posts about the hands they have posted, giving your opinions and creating discussion.

-To ensure that we have equality in effort and participation, only comment on the blogs of those members who are actively contributing on your blog and others! It's no fair if somebody goes through ten blogs and gives well thought out comments but nobody ever comments on his blog, and therefore he's not getting the same value out of doing this. So if you don't participate, contribute, comment, then you don't get anything on your own blog!

-I will start a centralized message board thread where we can talk about whatever, post our results, anything specific we want to talk about that's easier to post in a more centralized manner than on various blogs.

What do people think? I think this could be a great way to get people thinking more about poker and to encourage everybody to participate in helping each other out, instead of always just asking for advice about hands but never helping anybody else out. (We all do this at times...well, everybody against Sir Neb lol)

Also I don't intend on being a dictator, so any suggestions, comments, ideas, etc are welcome.

If you would like to be a part of this, please sign up now, and we'll start July 1st! (I will be in Chicago until July 2 but I will be back after that and happy to participate) Please fill out the form below and respond with what you plan to play/do in the month of July...be specific about 6-max, full ring, heads up, etc.

Name:
Cardrunners name:
Sites/stakes you will play:
Tables you will play at once:
Estimated # of hands you'd like to play during the month:
Blog address:
Poker goals for the month of July:
Anything else you'd like to tell us:

Make some laydowns!

2007-06-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

Making a good laydown is like winning money because once you click "call" and you lose, that money doesn't come back. I need to make more good laydowns and not call everybody down!

I had another losing session this morning on both Bodog and Full Tilt. Bodog doesn't even bother me because I had some ridiculous hands and the swings there I'm used to. (I got it in with AKss vs AJ on a J high flop with two spades, he held with his TPTK for the biggest pot I played) But Full Tilt is starting to piss me off because I've had three straight losing sessions of 10NL 6-max there and I'm down 2.5 BI in only three days. How can I not beat 10NL for crying out loud?

I lost a little under a buyin this morning...I won two nice pots, both with overpairs...JJ vs TT and AA vs a flush draw. I didn't get paid like I should with the latter hand because the board was scary. Flop was like Q53 two spades, villain calls my reraise and then the turn is another Q. Hate that. So we checked it down after that. The two big hands I lost were pretty bad. One was really my fault, the other was sort of just crappy. The first I had JJ on a board that was something like 45697. The villain made a big pot sized river bet and I time banked it and called like an idiot when there's nothing I could beat except a busted diamond draw. He flips over 96dd for two pair value betting a scary river card. NH sir and I'm a donk for calling. The other hand I had 55 and the flop came JT5 two spades. I had called a raise and the original raiser led out, I reraised, he called, turn comes As, we both check. River his a blank, he fires out big, and I call even though I can't beat spades and he flips over...KQo for the straight. LOL.

Running and playing badly is a nasty combo. But I don't want to do the "oh the cards are so bad I just can't win why is it all rigged against me I'm so unlucky" crap because I hate that (MKind please pay attention). The fault is my own, and I need to play better. End of story. I am making some -EV plays very regularly right now and I need to find out what they are and change them so I don't continue to burn money.

And I need a winning session at Full Tilt 10NL. Seriously! How bad is that?

Meh meh meh...

2007-06-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

I don't feel I've been playing all that well lately but the deck has been pretty bad aside from my really hot day the other day. When I hit hands nobody has anything...today I had a few cold decks as well but I could have laid the hands down. Here is one I should have folded, for example, but I just couldn't get myself to do it:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1204229

And why do I keep trying to bluff people at this level they will not lay hands like this down:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1204230

Also right now I can't beat 10NL on Full Tilt! I'm down like 1 and 1/2 buyins in 2 days of playing there. I won one big pot today with AA against some idiot, other than that nothing. I also had Q9cc all in on a TJ8A board against KQ, there were two clubs on board also but the river blanked. I also had T3dd against K7dd and the flush hit for both of us. Uggh.

But then at the end of an awful session I got lucky on Bodog and won a really nice hand and actually ended UP for the session!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1204217

I hope to get things going better in the next few days, maybe it's just the fact that I'm playing more tables? I think I REALLY REALLY REALLY need to tighten up on Full Tilt at the 10NL level and play REALLY boring poker and just NEVER BLUFF and try not to c-bet light much either. Bodog I'll be fine, just the swings of play I suppose but I think I can play better.

Pete

Blah

2007-06-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

Played a quick session today, lost on Bodog and Full Tilt. Lost about $10 on Bodog and $5 on Full Tilt playing 10NL there. Lol, it's hard beating 10NL on Full Tilt, you just HAVE to wait for cards people never fold ever.

I got stacked on Bodog with QTcc on a Kc6cT flop against pocket TT and K6. All three of us got it in after that cooler flop and I couldn't hit my club or else I would have tripled. I did make a sick call on a guy in this hand I'm posting here...just couldn't put him on a hand he'd play like this except a busted draw, or MAYBE QQ:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1201428

I'm happy I have a little money on Full Tilt now though...I actually was paid my rakeback on time this month from Rake Aid, first time ever! I was actually surprised it actually came without me having to badger them this time. Now when I get a little more money in there when my Epassporte is ready to go and when my cashout comes back from Bodog (mid/late July?) I'll be ready to roll. Getting used to 5-tabling again will take some work and ZERO distractions for me to play my best.

Pete

Still waiting...

2007-06-21T07:58:00.001-07:00

My very first cashout from Bodog that I made on May 19th to help cover some bills has STILL not yet arrived. Thank God for credit cards! Apparently I should get that around the 1st of July and hopefully get my other cashout in mid-late July. So frustrating.

Played a little bit this morning and won $7 or something small. Anything upwards, I'll take it. I worked on playing a bit more tight and working on cutting down on my fancy play syndrome. I just played hands and didn't do too much crazy stuff. I made some nice reads too.

I'm excited to get my money on Full Tilt so I can start 6-tabling! 3-tabling right now seems so slow. I'll probably start doing 5 tables, get used to that again, and then bump it to 6. (I played 5 tables at a time last month when I had money on Full Tilt...3 Bodog 25NL, 2 Full Tilt 10NL...but I used my Full Tilt money to pay for 6 more months of Cardrunners)

I set up my Epassporte account, now I just need to verify it and get that money in to Full Tilt. Hopefully do that by the start of next week!

Pete

4 BI+

2007-06-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

My biggest session at Bodog 25NL ever, only took an hour of 3-tabling so I ran hot and FINALLY caught some cards after running really bad lately.

Hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1193209 Shouldn't have smooth called with AA preflop sir.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1193218 This guy was playing crazy and just waiting to give all his money away with. I figured TPTK was likely good and put him on a worse K he couldn't get away from. An ugly board but I was willing to get it in against a shortie with TPTK there.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1193223 I played this passively but I think that's an okay approach here. I almost always 3bet this preflop but didn't this time just to mix it up. I should have raised the flop probably.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1193232 Hitting sets vs AA = good session.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1193240 Can I make my hand more obvious? Yet they still give me their money.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1193244 Kind of a funky hand. I knew the player leading out had a 10, and I wanted to isolate against the shortie to I min raised here to see where the guy behind me was at. I have no idea if that's a good play or a terrible play, but I guess if that guy shoves a draw I have to fold and that's pretty shitty.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1193248 Just so my ego doesnt' get too big, here's a hand I misplayed in about every way imaginable.

Good session, nice to hit some sets after seemingly getting nothing for weeks. Really nice to pull in 4 BI after starting to get a bit short on Bodog after cashing most of my bankroll out in order to put it on FT/Cake.

Pete

Of course when you leave yourself short...

2007-06-19T08:22:00.001-07:00

Of course you go on a downswing as soon as you pull money off a site and leave yourself a bit short there on funds...oh well. I played a bit more last night and lost about 1 and 1/2 buyins, though it was worse and I rallied a little. I lost two full buyins on hands, one was meh the other was just how it goes. The first I had KK UTG and a guy called on the button and stacked me with 22 when a 2 hit. I actually check/raised him on the flop and we got it all in and I lost. Oh well. The other hand I had JdTd on the button, call an EP raise, flop comes 9d8dx, I get it all in against AA and miss my zillion outs.

I came back with a few nice hands, but the best was with KK, I 3bet from SB, got called by original raiser, flop comes KKx. Flopped quads! I actually lead out for a 3/4 pot sized bet, he calls. I quickly check the turn, he checks behind. At this point I put him on 99-JJ. On the river I do about 9/10 of the pot and he tanks it and calls. Beautiful. Getting paid off with quads is nice, and I think I played it well because any flop check and raise just scares him off that I have AK or something (obv won't put me on quads), but betting out there seems like somebody who's trying to steal, checking the turn represents being scared now, and big river bet represents trying to steal again. I liked my line here.

So I'm nearing the stage that if I have another bad day I'm going to have to drop to 10NL on Bodog which sucks. I'm going to REALLY focus on playing LOW VARIANCE in my future sessions as I want to have some money to play there until they mail me my check in a month and I can put that money on Full Tilt. So I'd like to not go busto, and even possibly make some money in the meantime that I can later cash out and put on FT or Cake.

I'm going to be setting up an Epassporte account today or tomorrow. I'm setting up an online bank account that will just basically be for cashing stuff in and out so my online stuff isn't tied to my major checking account. That way if I ever get hacked it would only be for a few bucks...so hackers, don't bother unless you want like $20. :)

Hopefully the Epassporte setup goes smoothly, as I have about $200 to put on Full Tilt and will get $80 in rakeback there at the start of July. I'm not going to play 25NL though, I'm going to be very careful with my Full Tilt bankroll management and stick with my plan I outlined yesterday.

Not much else up here, it's kind of tough not being able to play much but hopefully I can be fresh and ready to go once things REALLY get going in August/September for me. Until then I just have to work on improving my game, studying, and preparing myself for some serious play in the fall.

I've also set a goal to win enough poker money to buy a really nice Apple Imac by Christmas time. My wife really wants one and if we get one I want to get a really nice one with a jumbo monitor, added on memory for more speed, etc etc. Apparently a new model is coming out in Septemberish, so Christmas time seems like the perfect time to get one. If I can make $1000 a month on average in September, October, November, and December I should easily be able to cash out enough to get something really nice. That's my goal...hopefully I can make it!

Pete

PS: Congrats to Sir Neb from Cardrunners for reaching $10,000 in his bankroll. Neb is one of the best posters on the CR low limits forums and attempts to give back to all the players there (he is one of the Pay It Forwards students of Brian Rue), and always puts a lot of time, thought, and insight in his posts and trying to help others. Check out his blog at sirnebsblog.blogspot.com - congrats Frank and good luck with 200NL...don't forget about us low limit grinders though. :P

Plans for the next few months...

2007-06-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

Lost a little under 2BI this morning before work...got QQ AIPF vs AKs and lost, had AA vs 66 and QQ on a 6-4-3 flop and lost that as well. The QQ guy actually called after the first two of us got our money in, pretty bad but I guess tough to lay down but you gotta know you're beat.

The crappy thing is this of course is right after I took the majority of my money off Bodog. I was hoping I could make it on about 9 BI at 25NL so this hurts that a little bit. I told myself if I get down to $100 I will go down to 10NL at Bodog which would seem so wrong but hey you gotta do what you gotta do.

So my plan for the coming months is as follows:

I'm busy the rest of the summer with a few trips, work, and moving to a new city and into a new place. Therefore my play will be sporadic until mid August or so when we're finally settled and the school semester starts. I hope to get my money I cashed out from Bodog yesterday in about a month. (They're saying 20 business days which is basically 4 weeks) So let's just err on the side of caution and say I get that by the end of July or start of August. I'm going to take that money and put it into Full Tilt. I plan on creating an Epassporte account in the next day or two and putting like $100 on Full Tilt. I have something like $7 on there now and will be getting $80 in rakeback there at the start of July. So $180-ish should be enough for me to 3-table 10NL while I 3-table Bodog 25NL.

I will do this until I get my money from Bodog at the end of August, like I was saying. From there I should have enough to easily play 25NL on Full Tilt and very soon 50NL. I'd like 30 buyins if possible, so $1500 is the bankroll goal for Full Tilt.

Once I receive that Bodog check, I will take the rest of my money off of Bodog, however much that ends up being (hopefully my bankroll survives there for the next month and a half!) I will have them mail another check to me (SOOOOOO slow, ugggh) and then take that money and put it on Cake, along with enough funds so I can play 50NL on both Full Tilt and Cake. (5-tabling, 3 FT 2 Cake) I hope to do this by September 1.

So my plans are as follows:

Now - Aug. 1: 3-tables Bodog 25NL 6-max, 3 tables Full Tilt 10NL 6-max. (Moving down to 10NL on Bodog if my bankroll falls)

Aug 1 - Sep. 1: 6-table Full Tilt 25NL 6-max

Sep. 1 - on: 3-tables Full Tilt 50NL 6-max, 2 tables Cake Poker 50NL 6-max

I hope to get in 20,000 hands a month, and if I can beat 50NL at 5 ptBB/100, that would be $1000 a month. From there I want to make money and get comfortable at that level and with my bankroll before trying to move up to 100NL 6-max on both sites sometime next year. I think this is a good plan that will allow me to comfortably move up without rushing things or risking too much money by taking shots and "playing short". If I don't like Cake Poker then I just plan on 5 or 6-tabling on Full Tilt.

We'll see how things go and if I can meet these goals...I want to continue to work everyday on improving my game and preparing myself for tougher, more aggressive games...(not that I expect 50NL to be THAT tough).

Getting money off Bodog...

2007-06-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

The Bodog check thing is getting ridiculous so I am trying to get my money off of there...the shitty thing is that I have to wait like two months to get my money so it'll be a bit before I can take that money and put it on to Full Tilt/Cake. But when I do it will be worth it...I can play Full Tilt 50NL 6-max, whereas on Bodog the jump goes from 25NL to 100NL. Also, I can easily 5 or 6-table on Tilt, and on Bodog it's 3-tables max. I think this will be a good decision.

Fun hand of the day:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1182473 I knew the villain liked to bluff and now I know he calls with gutshot draws and bluff weakly on the river. Almost laid it down but I just couldn't put him on a hand he'd value bet there.

Insane session...

2007-06-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Just played a crazy session of Bodog 25NL where I ended up down about 10 bucks...I was down about 80 at one time though so I'll take it. Some crazy hands here, feel free to check out the insanity below:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1175914 Not the best way to start a session.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1175916 Small pot, but can still piss me off! He did have a ton of outs though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1175919 Worst hand of the session. This guy plays crazy like this and shows the occasional bluff but usually has the goods when he plays hard into multiple people here. Total tilt hand and stupid stupid stupid.

Why was I on tilt? This stupid hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1175925 NH SIR!

But things got better and I rallied...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1175927 I don't think I played this hand that well, but can the villain play his hand any worse?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1175930 Another hand I overplayed, but WHY DOES HE CALL THE FLOP? Put me on AK lol I guess. :)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1175932 He called me down with A3o with the 3 of diamonds! LOL!

And then the sickest hand of all:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1175935 Online poker is so rigged lol.

Crazy session, I think I tilted a bit too much and overplayed my hands at times...I need to settle down and relax and not tilt when things aren't going my way because I didn't even really take any bad beats here...the T8 vs AQ hand is stupid but oh well...the set over set stuff happens...I need to stay calm, focused, positive and the good hands swing back your way in no time! (Hello quads)

Pete

Hand analysis...

2007-06-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

I posted this hand analysis at a more "beginner" poker board today, so sorry if some of the stuff seems obvious, but I like walking through this hand and talking it out:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1173914

Bodog History for Hand #759635334
Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007-06-14 8:29:12
Table 'Poppy Hills' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: hugepot ($91.19)
Seat 2: gobsmacked1 ($25.00)
Seat 3: nyyankeefan1021 ($12.75)
Seat 4: coachwcc ($63.07)
Seat 5: Narez ($51.35)
Seat 6: amypoker ($25.65)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
amypoker: posts the small blind $0.10
hugepot: posts the big blind $0.25
--- DEALING POCKETS
gobsmacked1 is dealt [9d,9h]
gobsmacked1: raises $0.65 to $0.90
nyyankeefan1021: folds
coachwcc: calls $0.90
Narez: calls $0.90
amypoker: folds
hugepot: folds
--- DEALING FLOP [6s,9c,7c]
gobsmacked1: bets $1.95
coachwcc: calls $1.95
Narez: folds
--- DEALING TURN [Js]
gobsmacked1: bets $4.10
coachwcc: calls $4.10
--- DEALING RIVER [Kd]
gobsmacked1: checks
coachwcc: bets $7.00
gobsmacked1: calls $7.00
coachwcc: shows [5c 4d], High Card, King
gobsmacked1: shows [9d,9h], Three of a Kind, Nines
Hand 759635334:
gobsmacked1: wins($27.70)
with Three of a Kind, Nines

Here's a hand from today's morning session that I liked how I played.

I'm UTG 6-max and raise 99. Pretty standard. Some people limp 99 here because it's hard to play OOP and you're going to miss most flops and have overcards as well so it's a tough hand to play and they want to see a flop cheap. I hate limping so I don't do that here. But if you DO limp 99 UTG you HAVE to limp AA, KK, QQ as well because if you always raise your big pairs UTG and always limp 99-22 you become very easy to read!

So the flop is great, I hit top set. But I'm not going to slowplay or check here, I'm going to bet out. I do that for a few reasons. One, the board has obvious straight and flush draws. It's a dangerous board, so I'm not giving any free cards. Two, I'd even bet if the flop was 9-5-2 rainbow because I'm also going to bet that flop when I have AK and have completely missed. So if I slowplay here with a big hand and bet out when I miss I become easy to read. Therefore I have to bet my big hands as well as my missed hands. Third, slowplaying doesn't put any money in the pot and something I always see people do is slowplay a huge hand on the flop, not get any money in the pot, and then on the river they're not really winning much money because they didn't bet big on the earlier streets, scared of scaring people off. So what if they fold sometimes, you have to bet your big hands or else it's hard to bet your missed hands with any credibility. Your opponents need to know you could have anything.

So I bet the flop with the second nuts and get called. What could he have? These guys will call raises with a LOT of hands at this level, so I could be looking at anything from a club draw to 5-4 to any hand with an 8 in it to two pair hands like 9-7 or even a hand like 66 or 77. I don't think he has 10-10 or JJ or QQ type of hands because he'd raise here to protect them. So I think he has a weak pair, two pair, draw, or maybe even a set. A draw is most likely.

The turn doesn't hit any draws. The clubs missed, and if he had 8-T he already had me on the flop. No reason to think I'm not still ahead, and no reason to slow down, so I fire another bet. He calls. No reason to change my view of what his hand was on the flop. Club draws and straight draws seem likely.

The river misses those draws. I check. Why? Because if I bet into a missed draw, he'll just fold and I won't make any money. If I check to him, he's likely to see that as weakness and try to take the pot away with a big bet. If he had 8-10 so be it. He may have even had a hand like AKcc and have hit top pair on the river and think it's good. I check to him, he bets, and I call. I'm not going to raise, because if I raised a missed draw all in he's just going to fold anyways, and a few hands beat me. (JJ and KK, though they're unlikely) He had 5-4 for a missed draw, and I scoop the pot. I made him pay on the flop and turn, and let him bluff into me on the river. Love this hand.

Pete

Quick update

2007-06-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

A quick update:

I had interest from one person as far as a possible staking deal. We're going to take our time and talk things through and not rush into anything, and I think that's a good plan. Also, I don't have time to play a lot of hours right now, and I'll have time to play a good deal more come mid-August, which I'm looking forward to.

I think I've been playing better the last few days, but I'm still making a few mistakes. One thing I think that has hurt is that I used my rakeback money that I have on Full Tilt (my Bodog rakeback is transferred there since Bodog doesn't allow transfers) to cover my Cardrunners costs for the next 6 months. So I only have a few bucks on Full Tilt right now and haven't been playing there. Before, I was playing 3 tables of Bodog 25NL and 2 tables of Full Tilt 10NL just to keep me busy. Now I'm back to playing 3 tables of Bodog 25NL and nothing else. I think fancy play syndrome (FPS!) sometimes catches up with me as I get "bored" of not playing enough hands. I think that multitabling is a good thing for me at this level because it gets me to fold more marginal hands and not spew as much. Yesterday I was having a nice session and then raised J3cc on the button and ended up losing a large pot with a river bluff against a guy with KQ on a K-high board he was never laying down in a million years. Spewing money in spots like that is what's hurting me now, so cutting back on those plays and just playing good solid poker and NOT BLUFFING at this level aside from c-bets is going to be what nets me the most money. So yeah, I look forward to playing more than 3-tables at once again. I signed up for Epassporte, and my plan is to put some money into either Full Tilt or Cake so that when I get my rakeback at Full Tilt next month I can start 5-tabling or maybe 6-tabling again in July.

Still, I think I'm playing better lately. The funny thing is that you get so many gifts at Bodog that I know I just have to be patient and big pots will fall into my lap. I raised JTss UTG five handed yesterday and the flop came 9-high all spades. I got it in on the flop against the button who had K9o. I've also had people tilt and push whole stacks into my the last few days with KQ vs my AK, and A9 vs my QQ. The funny thing is on the latter hand I isolated raised all in and a player CALLED after me with A7cc! And you wonder why I love to play Bodog!

Anyways, my cards have been pretty blah lately so I think I'm doing okay...I made a buyin yesterday so I'll take it. I haven't been running BADLY, as far as bad beats and stuff...just getting dealt boring hands like Q5o and J4o all session. So when the cards pick up I know I'll make money.

Wow, this got longer than I planned. To give you the cliffs notes, I'm excited about getting money on either FT or Cake so I can start playing more than 3-tables at once again. (Damn your three table limits Bodog!) The other cool thing is that all the money I'll have on Cake or Full Tilt (well most of it, depending on how much I put on Epassporte) will have come completely from rakeback and earnings from that rakeback...I've still only deposited that original $200 to Bodog, and everything after that has been profit. Being able to start bankrolls on different sites without ever having to truly deposit your own money there is pretty sweet.

Pete

Cardrunners post...

2007-06-11T07:26:00.001-07:00

I posted the following this morning on Cardrunners. I don't really expect to get a stake from it, but it was easy to put together and what's the harm in trying? I tried to get myself across in the post, and I thought including visual aids couldn't be anything but helpful. :) If I don't get a stake I'll still be fine because I consistently win at 25NL and I am building up rakeback money to start playing regularly on either Full Tilt or Cake, so playing more tables will increase my profitability. But still, be able to take a shot at 100NL and being able to play optimally instead of worrying about only having a three buyin shot for it or whatever would be REALLY nice. Plus from what I've seen on Bodog, those games are SO beatable over time with a decent bankroll. I KNOW I would win at them.

Anyways, here's my post:

----

So here's my story:

I'm Pete, and I'm a 24 year old master's student about to be a doctoral student in communication (officially get my master's in August). I have been interested in poker since the Moneymaker boom, but I only started playing online in December of 2006. Before then I couldn't really deposit online for a few reasons, but I joined Cardrunners and studied for months before I started playing because when I started playing for real money I wanted to do things right. Before then I just played with friends and at free bar leagues and stuff like that.

I deposited on Bodog in late December and ran really hot to begin with, so my end of December and January were very profitable. I believe around that time I got Poker Tracker (it might have been mid January) and started datamining. I know have over 45,000 hands of mine logged at 25NL, mostly at Bodog 6-max and a few at Full Tilt 6-max. Over those 45,000 hands I have beaten 25NL 6-max at a 7.2 ptBB/100 clip. (overall I have likely beaten it at a higher level, but like I said I ran hot when I first deposited on there. Since then I have grown tremendously as a player and continue to develop!)

This month I prepared a move up to 100NL 6-max on Bodog. The reason I skipped 50NL is because Bodog doesn't have 6-max tables at that level, and I don't enjoy full ring games as much. I made my move to 100NL and then my car broke down. I had to withdraw a big chunk of my bankroll to cover that and some other bills, and so I was back at 25NL in no time because it takes a while to make back $1000 playing at that level for the amount of time that I do.

Anyways, I believe that my numbers show I am ready to move up to at LEAST 50NL 6-max, but I don't have the bankroll for it on any other site than Bodog, and Bodog doesn't have 6-max tables at the 50NL level. Therefore, I would like to be staked for:

-50NL on Full Tilt or Poker Stars
-100NL on Bodog or Cake

I'm open to other ideas as well. I believe that the play on Full Tilt and Poker Stars is tougher than Bodog and that the 50N: levels are probably more like the 100NL levels on Bodog or another soft site in Cake. The tough thing about staking somebody on Bodog is that money transferring is not easy, and they don't even accept Epassporte, so that kind of sucks. But again, I'm open to suggestions. Cake I put in here because I have heard it is even softer than Bodog, and they allow peer-to-peer money transfers, making staking on that site easier. Full Tilt and Poker Stars are obviously potential sites even though the tables may be a bit tougher, because they are MUCH easier to multitable than Bodog or Cake. (Bodog has a max of three tables, Cake's screens are really big)

I have included a graph of my 25NL 6-max stats here. I would also be happy to share Poker Tracker data, etc.

I am looking for a stake at 50NL or 100NL. I have never been staked before, but I think a deal where you get your money back and 50% of my profits (if I win) would be fair. We could do it on a month to month basis. I am open to discussing things such as how to keep track of my profits (obviously we need to make sure I am honestly reporting what I'm winning, etc. How do people do that?), make sure you get paid, etc.

While you may not know me, I am happy to discuss via email or even over the phone anything related to this stake. I am a fairly regular poster in the small stakes NLHE forum, and I update a blog regularly where I discuss my growth and struggles as a poker player. I am open about myself as a poker player and am not trying to pull a scam. I love the game and love studying it and improving. I feel the fact that I was a Cardrunners member for months before I ever played a real money hand online shows this dedication and desire to improve and be able to do this well.

Right now I don't play a super high volume...probably 10k - 15k hands a month. A lot of this is due to the fact that Bodog only allows you to play three tables at once. I also have a very busy summer ahead of me, but when August comes around I should have a lot more time to play and be able to get in many more hands, especially if I am able to 5-6 table.

If you would like to discuss this further send me a PM on Cardrunners and I'll give you my email info. Reply here or send me a PM with any questions. Thanks!

Pete

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9011/25nl45khandspu8.jpg

Tough last few days...

2007-06-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

The last three days have been pretty bad results wise. Three days ago I posted about dropping 2BI at 25NL. The next day I dropped a buyin and a half at 100NL taking a shot there, which really hurt me. I was down the whole session, rallied back to being down only $5 or so, and then lost it from there. I played 99 about as badly as you possibly can and lost half a buyin on that hand alone.

Today I played LHE and NLHE on Bodog 1/2 and 25NL. NLHE was meh, I played AK terribly and lost a huge pot with two pair against a flush where I called out of frustration when I couldn't beat anything and it was obvious he had me beat but I couldn't lay it down...but I made it back the next hand with QQ with an overshove representing tilt and I got called with A6ss. In LHE the cards were terrible, but all in all I'm down just over a buyin at my usual stakes (25NL).

I haven't been playing well lately and the only one at fault is me! I need to make better decisions, not spew as much with mediocre hands, not call out of frustration when I'm running badly, etc.

On the plus side I've read some great posts on the 2+2 forum by AEJones regarding figuring out hand ranges on the river and figuring out what hands to bet for value on the river as well. A great point he makes is that most of us bet our top 15% and bottom 10% of hands on the river...big hands and big bluffs. He argues we need to bet more of our pretty good hands on the river to get value from people that always think we're bluffing.

I've realized I have a long way to go in improving my post flop game and that I can't just run people over all the time with blind aggression, especially when you move up. Nobody gives you credit for a hand when you do the "standard" things anymore, it seems. (Button raise, c-bet, etc) I need to become more creative with my post flop play...well, maybe thoughtful and analytical is the better word.

I've also been reading more about 3-betting from the blinds vs button raises, putting more pressure on people with check raises on dry boards, etc. I think by thinking about my game like this it will help me get through these tough streaks, find leaks in my game, and ultimately make me a better and more profitable player.

Pete

P.S - I know to many of you losing 3-4 buyins over three days is nothing but I play a fairly low variance game and don't play a lot of hours so to me it seems bad, but I understand how this run isn't really that bad...I just wanted to still complain about it. :P

Down 2 BI at 25NL...

2007-06-06T16:38:00.001-07:00

I played 25NL today as I'm only going to take limited shots at 100NL right now and not play it every day. I think I played really well for about 95% of the time. I messed up some big hands though. I messed up AKo and got it AIPF against three players that ended up having AQ and QQ. The QQ held and I lost a buyin there.

I misplayed 46ss from the button...flop came 643 all clubs and I got it all in against somebody who had flopped a flush.

And then I ran really badly too, couldn't hit a set for the life of me with so many chances to stack people if I did. I made some really nice plays too, raising when I sensed weakness, getting people to pay me off, etc. I still feel very confident in my game, I know days like these will happen and I just need to eliminate mistakes to get better.

Here's an idea of how I ran and the caliber of play at Bodog:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1152518

Limp UTG and call a huge raise out of the blinds with Q4o? Oh of course. :)

I'll do better next time. Peace.

Pete

Nice session, multitabling, Macs...

2007-06-05T07:39:00.001-07:00

I squeezed in about 40-45 minutes of play before work today and had my biggest session ever at +$115 or so. I played both 25NL 6-max and 100NL 6-max. I also had a small winning session yesterday in which I played 25NL and some 50NL full ring but at a short handed table. (PBB thanks for the comment...while I don't play 50NL usually because Bodog doesn't have it at 6-max, I'll keep my eyes open for short handed tables that act the same...the play was super soft)

Anyways, this morning I won two big pots at the 100NL table. I don't have PT here for exact hands, but one was 99 vs. a short stacks all in CALL with 56o, and the other was me raising 9Tcc from the SB, BB smooth calls, flop comes T8x...I lead, he has been very aggressive and reraises, I shove, he calls with 97, turn and river brick and I scoop a nice pot. It's much higher variance than I typically like to play, but I want to at least be aggressive enough at this level so that people don't push me around, and I read him about perfectly on this hand.

At 25NL I got lucky on a hand where I had AKo with the Kh, flop comes Axx all hearts, and I get it all in vs Jh8h. The turn comes the 3h and I take down a buyin. I was actually impressed the guy actually played his hand fast enough to get all the money in on the flop instead of doing the usual Bodog slow play.

So I've been running pretty well lately but I also think I'm playing really well too. I am taking limited shots at 100NL when I believe the tables are weak...I have no interest playing good players, I am not in this for pride! I just want easy money. I feel extremely comfortable playing 25NL but I can't play that forever, and I always want to improve. I will continue to play 50NL at times when the tables are short handed, but I really don't have much interest in playing full ring a lot because I don't think I'm as good at it...have to have a lot of patience, and that can be hard playing only 3 tables at once on Bodog.

That's another thing I want to talk about...multitabling. Right now I really only have money on Bodog, so I can only play 3 tables at once. I had money on Full Tilt (that's where my Bodog rakeback is sent since Bodog doesn't do transfers), but I'm using that money to pay for 6 more months of Cardrunners. I've also not done all that great on FT and I think the play is a bit tougher in general than your average site. My plan right now is to use my rakeback money and a few extra bucks I have from selling some books and stuff to start up an account on Cake Poker, which is supposed to be about the softest site around. Hopefully on my Dell XPS laptop I can fit two tables of Cake and 5-table. I think that's a good amount for me until I get really good at doing that, because I know right now I just can't handle 8-tabling and I don't play on Stars or Full Tilt with resizable tables anyways.

My wife wants to get an Imac for our next computer, so I want to get one with a jumbo 24" monitor...anyone know how many tables you can easily fit on one of those? (Then I'd only have to figure out how to get poker software to work on a Mac!)

Anyways, that's it for me...ty for comments, etc.

Pete

100 NL...

2007-06-03T08:36:00.001-07:00

I took a small shot today at 100NL...nothing insane, just 2 tables of 6-max and 1 table of 50NL Full Ring on Bodog for a very brief session...I won just under half a buyin. I am comfortable taking small shots at 100NL on occasion because I KNOW I can beat the games, I just don't have the full bankroll I need right now, and because I KNOW I can crush 25NL that I always have that. I have set aside a few buyins of my bankroll that I could lose and still be okay with to take shots at 100NL on occasion when the games look good. (I am datamining a lot)

When looking back at my few sessions of 100NL before, I realized I spewed too much money c-betting on flops where I could easily be taken off them (those way ahead/way behind situations where you have a hand but it's weak like KJ on a K-high flop maybe), or just when I had nothing. You can't run people over at this level like you can at 25NL, people float a bit more, raise more, and try to take pots away. I think playing position/nitty/smart can work at that level because people still pay you off because the play is pretty awful for the most part and people are willing to go all the way with top pair mediocre kicker. Anyways, we'll see how it goes.

My best hand from today's session...the river shove is pretty bad in hindsight. Oh well.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1142960

Good luck to all of you at the tables!

Pete

June update #1...

2007-06-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

Playing very well now. Very confident in my game. Making good decisions most of the time. One thing I have REALLY improved upon in the last few months is getting away from marginal hands post flop, especially OOP. I just played for two hours and only won $7 at 25NL which was frustrating because one big beat for a buyin kept it from being more (I flopped set vs his top pair, he hit runner runner straight).

Still, I'm very confident in my game and I know I could beat 100NL if I had the bankroll...sucks to have to grind it up again but that's life...sooner or later I'll get my shot and I'll do very well.

Pete

Bodog 25NL players teach you the art of bluffing

2007-05-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-26T10:17:00.001-07:00

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

2007-05-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-25T07:16:00.001-07:00

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?

2007-05-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-23T11:44:00.001-07:00

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...

2007-05-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-05-18T22:45:00.001-07:00

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

2007-05-18T09:50:00.002-07:00

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...

2007-05-18T09:25:00.001-07:00

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...

2007-05-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

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