Quick Update

I haven't played for about a week now. Mostly because I have been busy with other things, and mostly because I'm just trying to keep my head straight. I've been playing pretty conservative in big pots, and been trying to just let hands go when I don't really have much equity involved. Sure I've made some nitty laydowns, but if you know small stakes, you know players are not willing to fold very often. So there's no sense trying to push them off of hands, because they will just call down light either way. Instead, you should be looking to value bet them to death. Again, because they will call down if they have a pair or draw. Pot odds and implied odds don't matter.

Here's a few hands from last nights session...

Hand #1



Pretty standard hand. It's only the third hand of the session and I get AK off in the BB. Early on I don't like playing too fast. I don't want to get a real loose image and get stuck early. When I get stuck early, I tend to play really spewy. So I decided to flat the raise OOP. Flop comes perfect for me and I really don't have a line on the two villains, so I decided to go for a check raise. With a SS'er in the hand, I know he'll commit with just about any pair. Sure enough, we get the money in and he is drawing really thin.

Hand #2



I butchered the hell out of this hand. First, against a SS, AQ at best is racing. I should have just folded to his weak 3 bet. But the LAG in me just wasn't having it. So I 4 bet him in and of course he has AK.

Hand #3



There's a theme growing, more hands against SS'ers. I get 102 SOOTED in the SB versus the BB. I decided to limp against the SS'er, because he is very capable of shoving with an ace or any pair, so best to play flops with them. I get a great flop for my hand and bet OOP. When he flat calls, I'm sure he has an ace and decide to play pot control from there. Most SS'ers play flops horribly. He should have raised the flop knowing that I'm probably not limping an ace and probably have middle pair or a draw. When he bets the turn I decided to call with just pot odds. I knew that he probably wouldn't shove the river, so a thin value bet would get called. Which is odd for me to understand. When you have $7 left and somebody bets $4 at you, you have to shove or fold. Why they call off their money and not commit the final $3 I will never understand. The only hands he can beat on the river are bluffs and single aces.

Hand #4



This hand perfectly illustrates small stakes weak players. Villain was playing 40/0, that's right 0 raising over 90 hands. So he sees a lot of flops, too many really, and never raises. So his limp in the SB is FUCKING wide. He could be limping any pair, or just about any connected or suited hand. So raising his limp IP is just fine. I hit GIN on the flop and make a standard CBET when checked to. Most weak players usually just check fold in these spots, so his call was kind of shocking. At this point, I put him on the case ACE, possibly an underpair. Since there weren't any reasonable draws I couldn't really put him on anything else. So when the turn comes 10, I decided to play a little slow. I didn't want to get check raised off the hand and figured he would only call with a better ace, I could have gone for two streets of value. However, at the same time, my check makes my flop bet look like a missed flop and just standard CBET. QUADS on the river is delicious. Mainly because it's hard to put someone on the case ACE and will call a thin value bet. So his check call is pretty standard for him. I'm surprised he didn't go for a check raise at any point in the hand.

Hand #5



I pretty much butchered this hand OOP. I make a standard raise UTG with AK off. Player flats IP, again pretty standard. When the flop comes Q high suited I rate to have the best hand, or at least the best draw. I make a standard CBET and get min raised. Most min raises from small stakes players is usually a made hand or set. So I decided to play like a pussy and just check it down unimproved. When he checked the turn IP, I knew he was weak, but just couldn't find the nerve to value bet at any point. So it was pretty funny to see what kind of hand he min raised the flop with.

Hand #6



So many times you hear bad beat stories, well here is a beat I gave out. I got lucky to win the pot, but the way the hand played out was just weird. First I raised 75s in late because my image was tight, and the players behind me were weak passive players. Second, the villain flat calling a raise with Q9s is pretty bad IMO. When the flop comes down my hand goes from speculative to a monster. Flush draw, straight draw, and a pair. I make a standard CBET with two players in the pot and both call, interesting. The turn comes blank for me, and now the player OOP leads out, so I decided to flat call. However, the BUTTON decides to raise at this point. I had to think about the hand because nothing was making sense at this point. How did the 9 help out the button? I know he didn't call with 108 or 85 on the flop, the only hand that made sense was A9 or a flopped set trying to protect his hand now. I made a mistake by just calling, I should have jammed the turn, especially because of his stack size. Then I got lucky and hit my dream card. On a side note, the villain was bitching about how I hit a one outer. But look at the hand again. If he had two pair I could have won with any 4 or 7, and the 4 of hearts gives me the nuts. Since he only had 1 pair, I could win with 4-4's, 3-7's or 3-5's. So 1 outer, I don't think so. I'm still 20% in the hand on the river. The other funny side note is that he had the Queen high flush, but what if I had the ACE high flush. It's conceivable that I raised with A7, or AK in that spot. Then with either a pair and a flush draw or two overs and the nut flush draw played it the same way. So for him to go off about 1 outing him and the such, it just shows how small stakes players don't really grasp the odds and theory of poker.

So last night was a lot of fun and I ended up about 1/2 a buyin. I paid off some hands I shouldn't have and found myself in auto CBET mode again. So I made some really silly CBET's and got raised off of marginal pairs and draws. So at the lower stakes I need to back off and realize that most players are not going to make moves. MOST aren't, there will still be wild idiots, but for the most part, small stakes players won't give action in marginal situations. They just nut peddle and wait for situations. That's why min raises ring the alarm to me. I have been min raised by made flushes and sets so many times that I can generalize that play. So the few players that min raise weak hands are few and far between.

New Month, New Gameplan

So May has begun. I haven't played a session yet, but I'm getting a gameplan together. So here are my goals for the month:

1.) Play 25K hands this month.
2.) Write a blog post at least twice a week.
3.) Keep strict bankroll requirements and play within them.
4.) Play with a stop loss of 3 BI's.
5.) Regain my Ironman status.
6.) Finish reading Zen of poker and Owning the Dragon.
7.) Watch the cash game series videos on PokerVT.

So those are the goals for this month. I lost my Ironman status this month. Mainly because I have been running bad and my mind was shot. I just couldn't get myself to sit and play. I was playing afraid to lose, and not to get in to some good spots. I was not willing to risk losing more buyins, since I have been losing just about every session the last couple of months. So I am going to try and get back to the grind and get the bankroll back to where it should be.

I need to focus more on playing position and my post flop play. Most of the sessions that I lost were because of some sick coolers and beats. If I win even 50% of the hands that I was a massive favorite, the month would have been profitable. However, losing big pots killed my month and my bankroll. So I need to focus on hand selection, being aggressive in position, playing better post flop, and playing small ball in marginal situations. So that is the plan for the month, now let's see if I can make it happen.

In terms of my bankroll, I'll be playing 100 NL to start the month. If my bankroll gets down to 20 BI's, I'll be dropping down to 50 NL, that would give me 40 BI's which is more than enough, and hopefully I can grind my way back up. So we'll see how the month goes.

Quick Update

I played a pretty good session tonight. Started out playing pretty tight, just waiting for spots really. I was trying to get a little run going and then just wait for some opportunities. Mostly because I know that players at 100NL don't really pay much attention and just play their hands. Some are good, solid players that can be quite tricky. But for the most part, they don't really pay attention. And don't even get me started with the SS'ers...ugh the cockroaches of the Earth.

So I get stuck a few bucks early on and just grind my way back and forth to be up and down a few bucks. Nothing really special. It was quite a special night. Twice I flopped QUADS with 10's, it was awesome and made a little each time. However, they wouldn't pay me off on the river for a reasonable value bet, but what can you do. So on to some quick hands.

Early on I get AQ in the CO and raise to steal the blinds, both blinds call. Flop comes with two Queens, and the SB check raises all in. Easy call he has KK...what a horrible play. He didn't 3 bet OOP, although even if he did he was a 1/2 stack and probably would have min 3 bet. SO BAD. I raised a couple of pairs IP, didn't really get good flops and just let them go, that was another thing I was trying to keep myself from doing tonight. The AUTO CBET. So many times over the past month or so I would just auto CBET a flop and get called down by weak hands to lose. So I was trying to throttle that back a bit.

I lost a couple of big hands to SS'ers who both limp shoved with small pairs. The first time I had AK and 3 bet a min raise in early. He shoved OTB for 20 BB's, easy call his stats were horrific. Lost a race to 77. A few hands later I pick up KK and 3 raise the SS limper, he shoves with 66. 6 rolls off on the river to lose another 20 BB's...UGH. And the coupe de grais. QQ raise another SS'er in blind versus blind when he limps SB. He shoves with A3. I flop a Q, nice 98-2 favorite. He hits runner runner for the straight. So not counting the AK race, I lost about 40-50 BBs in horrific beats. So if you take the -40, then add the +40 I would have won it would have made the night very profitable and good. Instead I'm up a whole 16 BB's...WAY TO GO JAY!!!!

One of the most interesting hands of the night though was when a LAG raised in middle position. I had 3 bet him a couple of times earlier and both times he 4 bet big on me. So I get AK off and decide to play a flop with him because he is horrible post flop. A shortstack shoves and he then 4 bets big again. Now I know he's not catching a lot of hands and is UBER aggressive. But I can't really call a nitty short stacker with AK off for that much. So I fold to look at AJ and AQ squaring off on a 8 high board. Again, GG JAY!!!

Finally, there were a couple of spots in which I folded overpairs to LAGs. I'm not sure if they were good laydowns or not, but I'm pretty sure they were. The bets were really fishy and looked like strong value bets on dangerous boards. With a small hand, I didn't really want to committ more money than I had to just an overpair. Probably the nitty way to play the hands, but at least I didn't drop a couple of buyins. So hopefully the rest of the month will go well. Here's hoping the best.

Running Bad?

I don't know what the deal is right now. I just can't seem to get any sessions together right now. I've been playing just about every day, but I seem to be running break even. I know it's partly due to my own stupidity. But at the same time, I just can't seem to get a good profitable session together. I'm still getting beat by longshots and have been trying to play small pots with small hands. It's just funny right now. I went back and reviewed some hands, and it's just hilarious how they will chase hands on the turn without any pot odds and get there. The key to chasing draws is to get the right implied odds. Sure you need decent pot odds, but if you chase hands without the implied odds to go with them, you will show a loss over time. You may win a hand from time to time with your longshots, but if you dont' get paid off on the end you are going to show a loss. So it's just funny.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. We're playing 100 NL. We both have about 100 BB's. It's a limped pot and I flop top pair top kicker on the flop, and bet IP 2/3 pot. There's a flush draw present so I'm pretty sure with 4 people in the hand somebody will have a flush draw. Sure enough I get called in 2 spots. Turn brings a blank, so I fire close to the pot to give the draws the wrong odds. 1 player calls. River brings the flush card and now he leads, of course I have to fold because I can only beat top pair weaker kicker. He shows Q3 for the flush. He had only the flush draw and 1 over on the flop. Not a bad call, little loose, but understandable. If he had improved to a pair the turn call would be understandable, but to call OOP with only a flush draw and 1 card to come is abysmal. But that's how I run right now.

So for the session tonight, I need to focus on playing position and not chasing draws or hands without the odds to continue. I have been running into a lot of players that will call just about any hand for a raise IP. It's quite frustrating to have to play strong hands OOP and then be put to a test on the flop. The other frustrating thing is not getting paid off when they call flop bets or turn bets and leave themselves pot committed then fold. It's the weiredest thing. They will check call with some kind of hand on both the flop and turn and leave themselves very little behind. If you think you have the best hand or have a draw, it's time to committ. Why they leave so little behind is beyond me. I saw it a lot yesterday. I flopped top set and a guy called in position, checked the turn behind when I tried to trap him for a bet, and just called off most of his stack levaing himself 6 BB's behind on the river. Maybe it's some new advanced play I don't know about. It's just weird.

So like I said, I need to focus on not getting too LAGGY with weak hands and trying to make hero calls all the time. Remember, give them credit for being a NIT until you find out otherwise. GL at the tables.

Update Fom Last Night

Last night went well, for the most part. Most of the night I was playing pretty horrible. I was CBETing way too much in spots where I really shouldn't have. And I was either calling down too light or playing position poorly. Once I got the mojo back, things started to look up. I was down a little over a buyin after the first hour. Here are a few hands worth noting and my thinking during the hands.

Hand #1



Pretty standard hand. Villain is playing a 33/17, but I only have a couple dozen hands on him so far. He might be limping AA UTG, but more than likely he's limping a decent ace or a smaller pair. So I ISO him and hope to get it heads up. The BB who's playing 33/13 over 150 hands calls the ISO. For the BB to call, he has to be calling with a small pair and just set mining. The UTG limper calls as well. Flop is pretty draw heavy, but for a raised pot, they are either going to hit their set or go broke with an overpair. Villain played the hand pretty bad OOP.

Hand #2



UTG+1 makes a standard raise. He's playing a 35/9 over 97 hands. With his stack, facing a 3 bet, it's time to shove. JJ rates to be the best hand right now, and you're probably in a race situation. Now is the time to shove your stack and make the other person call, rather than play a flop. Instead he flats the 3 bet, then check calls his stack off with an AK flop. For my 3 bet range and that flop, he is toast. I'm not 3 betting 10's and betting that flop with a shortstacker. Hell, I'm not 3 betting a shortstacker with anything but QQ+ and AQs+. Horrible call on the flop for his small stack.

Hand #3



This hands kind of interesting, because I thought he had either AA or KK. His stats over 520 hands are 11/6 with a 2 3 bet. I decided to take the weak line and not committ myself against such a nit for 100 BB's. If I 3 bet and he 4 bets me, I don't get to see a flop and I could get bluffed off the hand. The main reason I played it this way was because of position. If I was on the button, I would play the hand more aggressively. But because he can float me IP, then bet me off the hand later, I decided to take the conservative side. I cost myself some money on the hand, but I'm okay with how I played it. Especially because if he gets out of line on the river, I could try to sell a weak hand like an 8 or a bluff.

Hand #4



Another funny hand in which it shows how many leaks the low limit players have. Weak tight player UTG limps in, I decide to see a flop and not committ to his shove with the small pair. He's playing an 18/2, so his limp is probably the range that he shows down. His range is probably 2's-10's, suited ace up to A10, and broadways suited. I don't mind the flop bet, he could have made it a little smaller to save some money if he's beat, but to flat call the check raise is just ridiculous. To call a big portion of your stack with just top pair on a wet board is suicide. For me to check raise OOP, I either have a straight draw with a flush draw or two overs (KQ, KJ, J10, etc...) with the flush draw. If I have any of those hands, I'm a favorite. If he thinks he's ahead, he needs to shove and not flat.

Hand #5



Villain is short and is playing 59/20, so his range is fucking wide. His range is just about any connected or suited cards. He decides to min raise, big sign of weakness. I 3 bet to 4. The problem with the way he played the hand is the flat call. Best case scenario he's in a race. Again, I'm not 3 betting a shortstacker with a hand worse than KJ off. So for him to flat, I know he's making a play. If he had a small pair he would have 4 bet shoved. Hell, I've seen shortstackers limp shove with 2's-10's. When he shoves the flop, I knew it was a stop and go, and even if he had a pair I was the favorite in the hand.

Hand #6



This hand was huge for the night. Little background. Up to this hand I had been somewhat active. What they weren't realizing, is that even though I was ISOing and stealing blinds, I was not committing without a hand. So I pick up the weapons of mass destruction in the CO. Perfect spot really. Villain is playing a 28/12 with a 7.5 3 bet. With two loose limpers in early position I decide to make it look like a weak ISO, villain flats. To stick with the weak ISO image, I decided to check raise the flop to make it look like a whiffed flop or a draw. The plan worked and instantly shoved in on me. I had to think about it for a second because he might be the one with the flush draw, and I usually can't fade those...lol. But if he had a set, just unlucky me.

Hand #7



I played this hand horribly. Villain is a 37/9 and raises 4X UTG+1. I don't mind the 3 bet preflop, but I don't like the CBET. I think I should have checked back the flop, then when a blank comes for me I can get away a little cheaper. With that flop, I don't think he's folding much. Especially because he doesn't fold to 3 bets very much and even less to a CBET. So I really don't like the line I took here.

Hand #8



Just a standard AA vs. KK hand with a shortstacker. Shortstacker is playing 6/6.

Hand #9



This is the kind of hand that makes poker fun. Villain is playing 39/22 over 118 hands. Raising AJ in early position, whether suited or not, is just throwing money down the drain. It's hard to play well after the flop and most of the time when you miss, you just have to let the hand go. I love my flat here. I know the guy OTB is going to call and maybe one of the blinds. The one thing I didn't notice was that a shortstacker had just joined the game in the BB. If he shoves in this spot, I can't call. I'm not going to call off 1/5 of my stack against a SS'er. So I hit GIN on the flop. This is where the mind games start. He instantly pots it, which basically is telegraphing his hand, either AJ or KJ. I decided to flat to try and get the button to make a move or call along. I know that if I raise on the flop, he'll get passive and probably just call down. I think it would be really hard to get his stack in the pot. So by calling, I think it really makes the hand look like KJ or QJ, maybe even Q10, if he thinks I'm that weak. I couldn't ask for a better turn card. He improves to top two and now only bets 1/2 pot. At this point, I decide to make the raise for two reasons. 1) I make it look like a weak bluff with just an ace when I floated him with just overs and 2) it makes it a little easier for him to committ his stack on the river. If I don't raise a pot bet on the river looks too dangerous, but when he flats the raise, it makes it much easier to get his stack in. If he checks the river, and I put him in, he'll be getting 3:1 to call. With top two pair, he pretty much has to call. The only hands he could really lose to are 910, JJ, 88, or 77. Since he has AJ, kind of hard to believe I could have JJ, so there's really only 3 logical hands I could have. Yes I know, 96 also beats him, but look at the way the hand played out. Is there really any way I would play 96 that way? I might as well just take my bank accounts, take 10% out and burn the rest.

Hand #10



Finally, villain is playing 30/13 with a 10.5 3 bet. He makes a really small raise after the limper, and I decide to 3 bet him. The first mistake I made was making the 3 bet so small. I should have 3 bet him to $6 or $7. I don't mind the CBET, but when he flat calls, I should have known something was up. When a loose player flats the flop, he could have just about anything. That is when the sirens need to start to sound. Sure he could have nothing, an inside straight draw, a 10, but he could also have a 6. I don't mind the check on the turn when the ace hit. At this point, it's time to play a small pot, because now I have a small hand. I really hate my call on the river. First, if had bet up to $11, it would be hard not to call. But his bet looks more like a value bet and not a defensive bet. In retrospect, he's telegraphing his hand. Betting $15 into $23 is just screaming for a call.

So all in all, it was a good session. I won a couple of buyins, and got off to a good start on the month. I really need to focus on a couple of things.
1.) Play small ball and play small pots with small hands, big pots with big hands.
2.) Don't overcommitt with just one pair.
3.) Take pot odds and implied odds into account. Don't chase without the odds.
4.) Starting standards and position. Remember to play position better and tighten up in a loose game and loosen up in a tight game.
5.) Don't focus on the money, focus on the decisions.

New Month, New Jay

So last month was a total wash. I dropped about 8 buyins and just couldn't get anything to hit or hold. It was so ridiculous. 21 outs on the flop, i'd miss. They would have 4 outs or less and hit. I lost a 100 BB pot to a 1 outer, those are always fun. So I lost a lot of big hands and ran into some coolers. It's really funny when a 60/30 player runs AA into your KK, good times.

Last month I had a few problems playing too long and either tilting off some buyins or just not table selecting like I should. I would get stuck a buyin at a table and just sit there hoping to get it back. From that I learned to table select a little better and jump onto a better table if the dynamics are not right. I can play either LAG or TAG, but sometimes the table is just not playing your way. So this month I have been using pokertableratings.com to find some juicy tables and things have looked up.

So far this month I am up a few buyins, now I just need to keep it going. Early in the session I'll try to play tight and look for the right opportunities. If the table is playing tight, I look to setup a LAG image so that they won't just nut peddle against me. That way it opens up their range a little more than 10's+ and AQ+. On other tables, if they are playing loose, I look to play TAG and get up, then open up the game a little more. I'm not really looking to gamble ealry in a LAG session and be stuck. Instead, I'm looking to just chip away and win some small pots then try to exploit the LAG's a little more.

I have been trying to play small pots with small hands and look to make more value bets on the river. That is one of the leaks I found in my game over the last month. I would play a big pot and be up against two pair or a set with just AA or KK. So I have pulled it back and even if some think it's a weak way to play a hand, look at your stats. Most of your losses come from one pair hands. So I have tried to not go broke with one pair. I have also tried to make more value bets. There are times when you get called down and a cooler on the river makes you check it back. However, if you play the hand back, it will tell you whether you should make a defensive bet or a value bet. At the lower stakes, most of the players will check raise with strong hands or big draws, but not many players will do that with weak hands or small pairs. I have noticed that pot bets from certain players are big signs of weakness, and from other players it's the mortal nuts. So just stay observant and look to find the patterns.

There was one player in particular that would bet small with weak hands, and would shove for 3X pot with the nuts. It was genius because he would get paid, but it was a very noticeable pattern. If he came out firing small, he had nothing, but if he check raised and shoved for 100 BB's, easy fold. I had to find the pattern the hard way. AA vs. 22 in a raised pot. J62 flop, he check raise shoved and of course when I'm in donkey mode, I'm not folding. So I'm gonna start something a little new and try to post some interesting hands from each session. Whether I win or lose, maybe I can get a little info from each one.

On a final note, I need to get my player notes organized. I have some good notes, I just need to get a better system together and make them more brief. Basically need to identify them as LAG/TAG, and some tendencies. So it's time for a good month. With rakeback and hopefully a decent win rate, this could hopefully be a good month.

Back to Basics

So I played the first session back from the abyss. I played about 800 hands and won a little under 2 buyins. Not a bad result. My win rate was about 20 BB's/100, so that was great. Especially because I felt like I was playing uber nitty. I was playing a 14/8 with a 2% 3 bet, and less than a 2 aggro. For me, that's uber nitty. But then again, maybe my losses lately were because I was playing way to aggro LAGGY, eh.

My goal for the session was to play flops and not play so aggro pre. I was also trying to play position much stronger than I had before. There were a couple of interesting hands that came up.

1.) Within the first 10 hands, I pick up 22 in late position. There was an early raise and two callers. I'm sitting on the button and flat call. I have position and if I flop a set, I'm sure I can get somebody to make a big mistake. Sure enough, the flop comes 962 rainbow. The raiser checks, so he probably had a decent ace, the next guy bets pot, there's my horse. It then goes fold, I flat call, raiser folds. Turn brings a jack, and he fires pot again. At this point, I have him on either A9, QQ, or 1010. He doesn't have enough to slowplay any longer, and if an ace hits the river I can't guarantee he'll shove or call. So I put him in, of course he calls, and shows QQ.

2.) I get KK in early and raise to $1.50. A nitty tight player with stats of 9/7 and 2.5% 3 bet raises me to $4.50. Against just about any other player, I'm ready to play a big pot, and I'm definitely not folding KK to LAG's. However, this guy is an uber nit, so what could he possibly have? I decide to flat call, because I know if I 4 bet, we're getting it in. The flop comes K34, so I check call the flop OOP. Turn brings a 2, and I check to him again. He bet 2/3 pot on the flop, and a little over 1/2 pot on the turn. So I raise him in, and he calls with AA. I think if I played it faster before the flop, it's a negative EV play. Just so you know, I had him on AA the whole time. With stats like that, and raising an early position raiser, I don't think he's doing this with QQ or AK. If I didn't flop the king, I might have taken 1 card, depending on what he bet. Who knows.

3.) Much later in the session I get JJ in middle position. I had been playing pretty solid, but had been switching gears lately. SO I raise it up and get 3 bet by another nit. With JJ you really want to see a flop, but with a NIT raising, it's better to just cut your losses and find a better spot. Coincidentally, I pick up QQ later and ended up stacking the NIT when he thought I was on tilt. He 3 bet me 4 times and everytime I would just fold. I decided to take a flop with QQ to his 4th 3 bet, and the flop comes 8 high. I check called him down to see JJ.

So the first session back went well, I just need to keep my patience and discipline. I need to play small ball and let the pots come to me. There's no need to fire countless and mindless bluffs into LAG's. Decide when it's a good time to CBET and when it's a good time to cut your losses. Finally, don't get tied to a one pair hand for your stack. That and don't give any action to the cockroaches of the internet, the short stackers.

On a personal note, this weekend we are heading to spring training in Arizona. It should be a really great time, especially now that the Mariners have Griffey back. So I'll have lots of pics and stories when I get back.

Starting Over

I decided to start my challenge over. I withdrew some money and took my account down to 50 buyins. So I am changing my goals for the month. I know I probably won't make it to the 100 NL level this month, so my goal is to steadily increase my bankroll and to win at a 4-5 BB/100 rate. That's pretty reasonable.

Now on to why I decided this. This month has been a complete was so far. I am getting so frustrated with the suckouts and bad play I am up against. Here's two examples:

1. I have 99 in late position, nobody entered the pot. I raise 3X, as always. The BB calls, and the flop comes 974 rainbow. BB bets 2 BB's, really weak bet, but there is really no draw out, so I flat call. The turn brings a Jack, he donks 3 BB's, again, pretty weak bet. He only has about 20 BB's when the hand started, so I raise hoping he'll take it as a steal and push. He does, and shoves in, I instacall. He shows 44 and has 2% chance to win the hand. BAM...4 on the river. UGH!!!

2. I'm playing very solid, not too LAGGY. I get KK in middle position and raise. BB calls, the flop comes QJ7, BB checks. Not a good flop to slowplay, so I fire a CBET of 2/3 pot. He flat calls. We both have about 50 BB's. Turn brings a blank, he now donk bets into me for the pot. Most of the time this would be the classic check call, lead on the turn play, signifying a set or two pair. However, most of those players will lead for 1/2 to 2/3 pot, not the full pot. So I raise him and put him in, he instacalls and shows K7. HUH? Of course a 7 rolls off on the river to win a giant pot for him.

I have been getting very unlucky in so many spots and have played well for the most part. So I am going to refocus on starting standards and isolating. I need to get over the beats and get back to playing well. Over the last couple of days, I have dropped a ton of buyins from either calling down when I shouldn't have, or getting outdrawn. I can't believe how unlucky this month has been for me. Hopefully getting back to the basics will help me get over it.

So for the rest of the month, I'll be playing 50 NL and can hopefully get back to the grind. I need to stop paying off people when I know I'm beat, and get away from hands when I get raised. I need to play position better. Finally, when players raise, depending on player type, they usually have at least one pair beat. So stop putting so much money in with only one pair. I can't believe how many times I have been up against a set when I've had an overpair, it's just disgusting.

I Suck

I can't believe how many times tonight I had big hands get cracked by sets, (i.e., AA vs. 55, KK vs. JJ, AA vs. QQ). Not only that, but the sheer number of floaters that would catch a set on the turn with an underpair to the board. It was laughable. I saw a lot of funny things tonight. When players had AA or KK and the board would come with a four straight and three flush, it would take a stick of dynamite to get their pair out of their hand. Don't try to make them aware that there are possible straights and flushes, they ain't folding. Again, hilarious.

So I'm do a couple of buyins tonight, which sucks. This month has been horrendous. So hopefully it will get better.

March Goals

So the new month has started and I'm off to a decent beginning. I lost a little the first day, and won a little the second day. So it's time to set some goals for the month.

[] Make Ironman for the second month in a row. Hopefully Gold or Iron.
[] Play 25,000 hands.
[] Win 4 BB/100.
[] Watch the video series on PokerVT about poker math.
[] Finish reading Bill Chen's book.
[]Move to 100 NL.

These seem like pretty reasonable goals for the month. With rakeback and hopefully a good month, I should be able to move up. I need to keep playing small ball and stay out of marginal situations for 20+ BB's. That is one thing I have noticed. I was playing way to LAGTARD in big pots. I would get the money in with coin flips and on some big draws. But I noticed that a lot of players would play smaller pots with marginal hands. So I need to play more post flop situtations and look to exploit them.

So let's get this month going and make some moves.

Week in Review

So this week has gone pretty well so far. I reviewed my hand history for the past few days, and was shocked how many times I had to get lucky to win, and how many times I got unlucky to lose big pots. A couple of days ago I had an 80% win at showdown rate, and only cashed for 2 BB's. Then tonight I run at 8.3 BB/100. Go figure. Another funny stat is how consistent my stats have been. I've been running a 16/8 all month long with about a 3.6% 3 bet. My aggression factor has been up around 4 and down to about 1.8 at times, but pretty consistent for the most part. So the month has gone pretty well. I'm up about $300, not including rakeback. Not too bad, especially since I had a couple of -$250 days.

Here were my goals for this month:
1. Play at least 3 sessions per week, hopefully more so I can get my ironman status back. I haven't qualified for ironman since July.
*I've played every day, some days I only played enough to get 1 point to get the Ironman One a Day bonus. But I have put in at least 3 good sessions a week, so mission accomplished.
2. Get to the next level by March.
*Sadly, I don't think I'll get to the next level by March. Maybe if I can make a late push and not get coolered I might be able to get there. I did notice that I have had to get very lucky to win some pots, just amazing how a lot of players who have horrific stats always seem to have strong hands against me. One guy was running 65/20 and beat me out of some pots with trash. Oh well.
3. Lower the number of bluffs I make and stay out of marginal positions OOP.
*I've done much better on this one lately. Early in the month I was bluffing way too much and should have folded some hands that in retrospect was telegraphed that I was beat.
4. Write at least 1 blog post per week, and upload some hands and graphs.
*Easily accomplished.
5. Finish reading Championship Omaha, Bill Chen's book on poker math, and Owning the Dragon.
*I finished reading Championship Omaha, and started Bill Chen's book. However, I got distracted with Power Hold'em again. I'm almost done with that one, so then it will be back to Bill Chen's. 1/2 accomplished?
6. Play more than 20,000 hands in February.
*With a couple of days left, I should be able to get this one done. I'm at about 18,200 right now, and am pretty sure I'll put in at least two good sessions this week. So that one should be pretty easy to get.

On the poker front, I find it hilarious that there are so many short stackers online lately. I have made it my goal to not give them any action unless I have at least AA or KK. I refuse to get into race situations with AK or small pairs. Sure they can steal my blinds, but if I notice they start getting LAGGY, then I adjust. But for the most part I don't give them any action. I also find it funny how many people with decent stacks call down with underpairs when there is a QJ or K10, or the infamous 910J flop. I have seen it so many times. That and players that float you on the flop with third pair or just two overs. That happened so many times. One time in particular, I flopped bottom two pair with 78. Flop came 1087, so I led out, and got called. Turn brought a king. I thought it might have hit him and went for the check raise, he just called. River brought another king, I checked, he shoved. Easy fold. There's nothing I can beat. Of course he showed down AK. The flop call was iffy, but he had to know that he was in deep with the check raise on the turn, but most players in low limit don't think about these things. They think, "I hit my card, I'm good".

On a side note, there was one guy I had some notes on and knew he was pretty LAGGY, especially when he thought you were weak. He would raise limpers with 66+, A10+, and pretty much any broadway hand. So I limp in with K10 in the cutoff, he's on the button. I knew he had position on me but didn't mind, we were playing deep. Of course he instantly pots it, I just flat. The flop came down 3410 with two spades, and I have the K10 of spades. I check it to him, I didn't want to take the lead away because he CBETs almost 100% of the time. I decided to check raise him small to make it look like a draw. He calls. Turn brings a 2 and I lead out, he calls. River brings a blank and I bet about 2/3 pot, the flush card didn't hit and he instantly shoves on me. I had to think through the hand for a second. If he had A10, a set, or an overpair he would have called the flop raise, but he would have pushed the turn with the flush draw out there. So I knew he didn't have those hands. Next, the possibility that he rivered a set...highly unlikely, especially because the way the hand played out. SO I called and he showed 88. Then he started ranting about how I'm the guy that calls down and doesn't fold...blah blah blah. Look through the hand again and you'll see that he was a huge dog on the flop and decided to stick around.

So some things to consider when you're playing in the low limits.
1. Make sure to watch your opponents. Some play uber nitty, and others play super LAGGY. Get to the players types and what they are capable of. What do they raise with from the various positions? Do they play tight up front and loosen up closer to the button? Do they steal too much or do they just nut peddle?
2. Find out who the calling stations and the semi bluffers are. I saw so many players call down with really weak hands, and others check raise all in with various draws. Some weren't that bad a play, with hands like combination draws or two overs and a flush draw. But for the most part, find out who actually knows how to play post flop.
3. Watch their betting patterns. Most players at the low limits will telegraph their hands with their bets. They will bet small or min with weak hands, while others will shove for 4X pot with strong hands. In my experience the donk bet is usually a big sign of weakness. I don't know how many times I would get bet into from the BB on a pretty dry board, simply raise their bet and watch them fold.
4. Find out who likes to float you on the flop. Some players will float you with all kinds of garbage. Third pair, weak draws, and sometimes absolutely nothing. So find out who the floaters are. If you find yourself in a pot with somebody who likes to float, check your strong hands, and some of your weak hands into them and see what they do. If they have position look to get more info on the turn and keep the pot small. If they are out of position, I have found that if you check the flop, unless it's a wet board, wait for the turn.
5. Finally, most players don't think about your hand, so don't telegraph the strength of your hand with your preflop raise. I saw some players raise 3.5X with marginal hands, and 6+X with premium hands. I always make the same raise, unless there is a preflop raiser in front of me or any limpers. For instance, if I'm first in the pot I make it 3X everytime. I do this with everything from pairs, suited connectors, premium hands, doesn't really matter. I look to play flops, preferably in position. If there is 1 or 2 limpers in front of me, then I raise anywhere from 4.5-6.5X depending on position, hand strength, and who is ahead of me. Finally, if a loose player raises in front of me, let's say the pot 3.5X, I re-raise them to 9.5-10.5X. I have found these are pretty good raises to narrow down their hands. If a TAG raises in front of me, and I'm in late position or the blinds and can't be re-raised I look to play the hands that aren't easily dominated and can hit flops hard. Hands like small pairs, suited connectors are good for this. They are hands that are hit or miss. You'll either flop strong or not and if you don't you can get away from it. Think about it for a second. If you call a TAG with JJ and the flop comes 9 high you may get stuck in the hand. With 22-JJ I'm hoping to flop a set, if not, then I try to keep the pot small. I'll probably call a flop bet, but if another blank comes and he's still firing, it's probably time to get out. Again, it's all read dependent and knowing your opponents. However, if I have 56 SOOTED, and the flop comes 55, 66, 56 or gives me a strong combo draw with a pair, it might be time to get the money in.

So this month is almost over, and it's time to get my goals together for next month. Not sure what my goals are going to be yet, but I'll come up with something. The one thing I do know is that I need to put in some serious volume if I want to make it to the next level. That and stop getting into pots where I have to get lucky, that and not get unlucky. Trust your reads Jay, don't bluff as much, and look to value bet more. If they check call the flop and check the turn, look to either defensive bet or value bet the river. Don't let them control the action and bluff you on the river.

On the life front, the job is horrible...lol. I need to find my career path. Please LORD help me find my way in this world. My wife and I are raising our little puppy, I just wish she would get over this teething phase. I don't know if my hands and feet can take anymore. She is adorable and is getting big fast. She was 5 lbs. when we got her and is up to 22 lbs. in just a little over 2 months. My wife is almost done with her classes, so that will be great for her. I know she has been really stressed out lately, so next week will be a big relief for her. We are heading down to Arizona for Mariners spring training next month. It will be my first trip down, so that is going to be a lot of fun. Other than that, not much else going on. Life is great, now I just have to get my poker life together. GL at the tables.

Getting Closer

So it's been an up and down journey so far. I'll get up a few buyins, then get coolered and lose a stack. It's been quite frustrating to say the least. Of course, I'm to blame for quite a bit of that. Even tonight, I was lucky enough to suck out as a huge dog thinking I had the same hand and was probably splitting the pot. However, when I look back at the hand he had to have me beat. I had been quite active and should have known that they weren't going to play back unless they had a strong hand, especially on the flop. But we'll get to that in just a bit.

So tonight was pretty shitty right off the bat. I couldn't get any hands to hit, and kept running into sets. I would lose big pots, and when I would finally hit something, they would fold. UGH. Pay me off, I gave you some action, give it back. My stats for the session were pretty decent. I ran 16/9 with only a 2% 3 bet, and ran a little more aggressive than normal with a 3.86. I found some great spots to get my money in, but just couldn't hit or again was up against a set.

I'm still experimenting with making the "small ball" raises in cash games, and have actually noticed a lot of other players starting to make the same kind of raises. I don't know if it's because they are sheep or if they respect my game and see some merit to it. Either way, the raises have allowed me to be more proactive in hands when in position and I have got some real value out of some marginal hands, and a lot more value, when they hold up, with my big hands.

The first hour was pretty uneventful. I would come in with 10's in late, get called by the blind, and of course the flop would come AK. I got donk bet into, no need to continue in that hand. I'm sure he had a weak ace and wouldn't fold no matter what. So it was time to ditch it and wait for a better spot. The rest of the time it was just playing position and making them guess and pretty much just chipping up and losing small pots and winning small pots, nothing spectacular.

During the second hour, I was trying to make a play at a tight passive player, which worked out in the end, but I had to get lucky to do it. He raised the pot in late, and I flat called with 5's. Flop came K69 rainbow. He fired 2/3 pot, but I didn't think he had it, mistake number 1. I flatted his CBET, the turn brought a 10 giving two diamonds. He checked, I bet 2/3 pot, he called. River brought presto, for those that don't know a 5. He checked and I bet 1/2 pot, he called and starting ranting in the chat box. Sure it was a suckout, but he played the hand so passively that he was allowing all kinds of draws to get there. Remember the flop was K69, if I flat called with 78 I got there on the turn. If I flatted with 910 I got there on the turn as well. There weren't many hands he could beat that would confidently bet the flop. He took a great line by check calling, but to go nuts about it.

I made a couple of really horrible plays that cost me some big pots as well. I raised AJ in late got 3 bet from SB. Normally I would fold in this situation. Mainly because if you hit your ace your no good, and there really isn't much upside to playing this kind of marginal hand. But I get stubborn and call. Of course an ace hits the flop and I call down his value bets to the river to be up against AK. See what I mean? Most players are not going to 3 bet you OOP with a worse ace, and more than likely you'll be up against a premium hand. Horrible play jay. I continue to just win blinds and small pots, then spew off a buyin in great fashion.

Standard TAG player, raises pot in middle, I flat OTB with AQ SOOTED. Flop comes J104 with two spades, giving me a GS two overs and a flush draw. I figure I'm probably a pretty decent favorite and decide to get the money in as soon as possible, so that a scare card doesn't stall the action. He bets pot, I raise 3X, he shoves, I call. Of course, I'm up against the one hand that I'm a dog to, the dreaded SET of jacks no less. I blank out and lose a buyin. So from there, it was back to the grind and try to get my stack back. I was down a couple of buyins at this point and didn't want to end the night down. But at the same time, I didn't want to spew off more money and be down even more. What to do, what to do? Well, I'm a degenerate, so I decided to play on.

It was really frustrating getting no action and not getting paid off. Not only that, but the sheer number of people that would just flat call raises and float flops was alarming. I know that flop play is what is paramount, but seriously. The hands that were being shown down and getting there on the end was just laughable. So I just had to stay patient. I wanted to play more like a LAGTARD, but I had to keep pulling myself back. This was mainly because everybody was playing so tight. The other frustrating thing was dealing with LAGGY short stackers. The TAGGY ones I don't mind. When they raise, you know what they have. But when a short stacker is playing 35/19, they could have just about anything. So I was looking to play a flop with one. I get K8 SOOTED, and flat his raise IP. Flop comes with a K and two spades, giving me top pair and the flush draw. He shoves, I call, he shows K9, and his kicker ends up playing.

Then the big suckout occurred:

***** Hand History for Game 10721558257 ***** (Full Tilt)$50.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, February 19, 05:58:58 ET 2009Table Concentration (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the buttonSeat 1: leofederer ( $74.35 USD )
Seat 2: tralafiti ( $10.60 USD )
Seat 3: SAMDOG310 ( $65.25 USD )
Seat 4: - JimmyGleeZ - ( $11.25 USD )
Seat 5: KennyBlanknship ( $24.85 USD )
Seat 6: philtiltalot ( $18.10 USD )
Seat 7: jay311md ( $60.30 USD )
Seat 9: Wenona1 ( $58.10 USD )
tralafiti posts small blind [$0.25 USD].
SAMDOG310 posts big blind [$0.50 USD].
** Dealing down cards
**Dealt to jay311md [ Kd As ]-
JimmyGleeZ - folds
KennyBlanknship folds
philtiltalot folds
jay311md raises [$1.50 USD]
Wenona1 raises [$4.00 USD]
leofederer folds
tralafiti folds
SAMDOG310 folds
jay311md calls [$2.50 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6h, Ks, 9c ]
jay311md checks
Wenona1 bets [$5.00 USD]
jay311md raises [$18.50 USD]
Wenona1 raises [$49.10 USD]
jay311md calls [$35.60 USD]
Wenona1 shows [Ad, Ah ]
jay311md shows [Kd, As ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6c ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]
jay311md wins $113.95 USD from main pot

So that was good fun. Just so you know, Wenona1 was running 28/11 with a 16% 3 bet. If she was playing more like a 15/10 or 12/8 it would be an easy fold. So anywho, I was lucky to win that one, thank you Lord.

So my table image was great, they weren't realizing that I might have been raising quite a bit, but I wasn't calling 3 bets very much. So later on a loose player in middle raises and I'm OTB with KK. I flat, just hoping the flop is pretty dry. Four see the flop which comes QJ8, checks to raiser who CBETs about 1/4 of his stack, so I decide to raise him to get him committed. So long story short, he had AQ and got felted. And now to the metagame aspect.

Remember how I told you about raising quite a bit, but not playing 3 bet pots OOP and really just moving on to the next hand. Well, I had raised A9 off and got 3 bet, so I folded. The very next hand I pick up AA and make the same raise. I get 3 bet again from the BB this time. I 4 bet him enough that if he's going to play, he might as well just put his stack in, which he does. I got AA, he has KK, and hits a four flush on the river, that one hurt a little. Especially because I had set up the play and was ready for the payoff, but it wasn't meant to be. So again, back to grinding my stack up. There was one hand where I rivered top pair then my internet went out, of course I timed out and don't know what won, probably should have been me, but eh.

So I got back on and played a few more orbits. There was one final hand of note. I get A3 off in the BB with 3 limpers. So 4 to the flop and of course I flop GIN. Nothing better than holding a weak ace and flopping the wheel. When the flop comes 245 with two hearts, it's kind of dangerous, but really you're only worrying about two possibilities. 1.) a heart comes on the turn to complete a flush or 2.) you get counterfeited with your straight and have to chop with another ace. So I check it hoping somebody will bet at it. I know that if I lead out, I probably won't get called, because that's a pretty strong move to bet into 3 players OOP with rags on board. What could I be betting? At worst I would be betting a semi bluff with a flush draw and a 3, but more than likely either two pair or the straight. So I check it and the button bets 2/3 pot. I decide to check raise 3.5X to shut out any flush draws. The button re-raises min, and I decide to just go ahead and committ him, he already has about 2/3 of his stack in. He calls off with QQ and is drawing pretty much dead. So that was a great way to end the night.

So in conclusion, I went from down a couple of buyins to up a couple of buyins. With rakeback this week, I am only about 6 buyins from my goal of reaching the next level. I've played about 13,000 hands so far this month. I'm a little short of my goal, but hopefully I can make a late push. On the Ironman front, I can only reach the silver level. Because I was too much of a pussy to put in some volume on a couple of days I didn't have enough points to get to gold or iron. So that will be my new goal for next month. The rakeback is going well, and I just need to get my volume up. With the rakeback and hopefully running well, I should accomplish my goal in no time. So time to get some sleep. GL at the tables.

Quick Update

I've put in a couple more sessions since my last post. One session I kept getting coolered and seriously ran big pairs and top pair top kicker into sets. So that pretty much sucked and ruined the good run I had going. Especially because I was back from the abyss from a couple weeks ago when I tilted off about 5 buyins. So I'm still down a few buyins.

On a more positive note. I've been experimenting with playing Negreanu's small ball theory in cash games. They say that it is really a tournament strategy and doesn't really work very well in cash games. I have to disagree. I was making smallish raises, in comparison to the table and most players that hit the pot button every time. I was getting a lot of action with my hands, and was put into some weird spots. It was pretty cool though, because it really helped my hand reading and helped to maximize some of the value of some marginal hands. I can't seem to win with AK suited or not. For some reason, I either miss the flop entirely or run into a set. It's the damndest thing.

So I've been playing well and trying to play more flops rather than race off chips. So hopefully that will keep going well. So back to work and see where I can get by the end of the month. On a final note, I unistalled Holdem Manager and have reinstalled the new beta. I don't have my old hand histories anymore and sent a request for them from Full Tilt. So hopefully those will come in. If they don't, oh well. It would probably be good for the psyche to start fresh anyway. But I did have a lot of data on some regs that was quite useful. Months about half over and I'm halfway to my goals of making Ironman again and putting in 20K hands. Just have to keep it up.

Quick Post

I played a real short 500 hand session tonight. I won 2 buyins, so I'm only down about 1 buyin. I've gotten off track the last couple of days. I accrued enough points for the first 4 days to get into the Ironman Iron level, but the last couple of days, the volume has completely declined. This is mainly because of my work schedule. They have had me working long hours, and when I get home I'm just not in the mood to play or too tired.

So I put together a little session tonight. I found 6 real soft tables and couldn't believe how bad most of the players played. It was almost laughable. I saw so many weak plays and obvious steal attempts that it was like shooting fish in a barrel. I only lost a couple of pots because I either didn't CBET to protect my hand, or read the player right. I was selectively aggressive tonight, and not outright positionally aggressive. It really helped my game quite a bit and made some nitty plays, but they were right for the situation. I didn't get many big hands, I was looking to play flops in position. So with the rakeback coming in, I just need to get my ass in gear and put some hands together.

I'm almost back to where I was at the beginning of the month. Now it's time to make my move into the bigger games. So with the rakeback and hopefully hitting my goals, I'll get there. Time to get some sleep. GL at the tables.

I'm a Spewtard

I played for a couple of hours, and totally lost my mind. I spewed off about 5 buyins total. I was cruising along and just getting my groove, chipping up little by little. Then I ran into some really weird plays and made some really horrible calls.

Hand #1
I raised with AA, and get two callers. Flop comes A-10-7 rainbow. My dumbass decides to check it to try and trap. Which is the correct play. So everyone else checks as well, 8 of diamonds on the turn, I decide to bet out and get called. Blank diamond on the river, I make a defensive bet with trips and get called by J9 of diamonds. Don't know if he would have called a CBET on the flop, but the way everyone was playing today, probably.

Hand #2
I bring it in with QQ, and shortstacker 3 bets small, I push him in, he calls with AK SOOTED. Of course he hits his ace and I'm down even more.

Hand #3
I bring it in with KK. Player flats before the flop and it comes K-5-4 rainbow again. Again, I decide to slowplay it. I checked it to him and he fires out a pot size bet. I flat call. Turn brings a diamond, I check it with the intention of raising, he checks behind. Diamond on the river, and now I decide to protect the hand...duhhhh!!! dumb move Jay. He raises me with the backdoor flush with A9 SOOOTED.

Hand #4
Player min raises in late, SB flats, I pot it to 8X with the min raise and caller. Raiser calls and the flop comes A-9-3, what a great flop when you got KK in your hand. I checked, he checked. Turn brought a J, and he bets when I checked, I should have just mucked, but I decide to pay him off on the turn and river. Another great play.

Hand #5
Player in early raises the two posters. Second guy flats and I flat from SB with 99. Flop comes 7 high with two spades. CBET from raiser, pretty standard, guy behind calls. This should have raised the alarm bells, but I decide to peel one more street. Turn brings a 2 and the guy behind shoves for almost 2X's the pot. I thought about it for a while, don't know why, should have mucked it. Then called off to see JJ in my face.

Hand #6
I 3 bet a loose aggro player from SB with AQ SOOTED. He flats, flop comes Q-J-8, I CBET, he min raises. I shove, he calls with JJ in the hole. Another great play Jay.

Hand #7
Raise from early with QQ and get two callers. Flop comes Jack high so I CBET about 3/4 the pot, player in late flats. Ace on the turn, I check, he bets 1/2 pot, I check raise shove. He calls with AK off. No pair, no draw. I don't know if it was a great play on his part, just unlucky on mine. Today has really shaken my confidence though.

Hand #8
Finally, the coup de grais. Player UTG raises 4X. He had been playing about 33/17, so I knew his range was fucking huge. So I flat on the button with AK. BB calls as well. Flop comes A-K-Q all clubs. BB checks, UTG bets pot, I raise pot, knowing he probably has a club maybe a weak ace, but not much. BB shoves in for a little more than a min raise. I call off and look at J10 of hearts. He flopped the joint and now I only had 4 or less outs. UGH!!!!

I need to really think about the hand, and even if I don't like it, but my gut tells me to fold, I should follow my instincts. So many times tonight, I had a feeling I was beat, but kept spewing. So back to work in just a bit, I'm now down about 1 buyin since I came back, 5 for today.

QUICK UPDATE:
I played one more session last night. Another 1k hands. I ended up 1 buyin, so 1 down 4 to go to get even. I played a pretty TAGGY 14/10 style, and CBET about 70%. My 3bets were down a little, but mostly because the last session stuck me a bit. So I throttled back the aggression and looked to get more value bets in. Not only that, but I was waiting for the turn to make moves rather than the flop. This was because I noticed a lot of players either floating or overvaluing draws and pairs. If a scare card or a blank came on the turn, then I would judge what to do, depending on position of course. So it went pretty well. My goal is to make Ironman again this month. Hopefully Iron, but Gold would work just as well. SO I need to put another session in tonight, since I chose the shortest month of the year to accomplish this. GL at the tables.

Short Session

I played a quick session last night. Only about 600 hands, but put together a +1 buyin session. I need to start putting in at least 10-12 hours per week. The rakeback is a great bonus, especially because I am trying to get to my goal of jumping levels. So I 6 tabled for about an hour and a half. Early on, didn't get much, and just folded. I was trying to just grind a profit, then open up the game a little. So I pick up QQ in the second orbit and raise. I get no action. I was running pretty TAG at most of the tables, and noticed that a couple of the tables were pretty squeaky tight and played a little more LAG. I showed a profit on every table except for 1. Of course it was because my AA ran into a set, but I did lose the min and not my stack. Pretty dangerous board and just check called OOP to lose the min. No biggy.

A few orbits later, I pick up some blinds with nothing, then raise with AK off in late. I get called, then donk bet into on a 9 high board. Most donk bets don't mean great strength, but I decided to just let it go. Then I pick up JJ in the BB and flat a very loose player. Queen hits the flop, and I check raise his CBET and take down a little pot. Against a tight player, I might have respected the CBET but when you're playing 45% of the hands, you will miss more than you hit. Throughout my session, I made some really silly CBETs that cost me some money. When playing low stakes, you have to throttle back your CBETs and look to value bet more. Because you will run into a lot more loose calling stations, just value bet more and bluff less.

The first big hand came up with a short stacker limping in late. There were already two other limpers, so I bump it up to 7X with AA in the BB. SS'er calls and the flop comes Q105 with two hearts. He had less than the pot, so I decided to open shove, to make it look like a bluff. I figured if he had a 10 he might call, but would definitely call with a Queen. Sure enough, he calls off his stack with 910 SOOTED....lol. After that it was pretty uneventful for a few orbits. Raise IP and CBET to take down small pots, and get some big hands that give some decent ones.

The first 100 BB pot I won was with QQ. A guy playing 57/35 raised 4X, so you know he's getting re-raised opens. I 3 bet and the SB flats, the raiser folds. Flop comes Queen high and SB check raises all in. Top set, gee what should I do? He has AQ SOOTED, and gets stacked and then bitches about what a "cooler" it was. HAHAHAHA. What the hell were you doing calling a 3 bet with AQ OOP?

Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. I stacked another guy later on with QQ again when he tried to slowplay AK on the flop with a king. I raised, he flat called IP and flopped top pair. I CBET, he flatted again. I was ready to shutdown and fold to his bet on the turn, when presto a two outer. So I bet the turn like I was trying to push him out with a draw, he flatted again. Blank on the river, I shoved for a little more than the pot. At this point, I knew he probably had top pair because there weren't any draws but a flush draw and his numbers were pretty tight. I knew he probably wasn't chasing a flush draw and thought I might get paid off. Sure enough, he paid off the shove with top pair.

Finally, to finish the session, I made a really stupid 3 barrel bluff into a calling station. It was really ridiculous. I lost a little, but was still able to book a win. So all went well, and now I just need to get ready for my next session. Hopefully I can keep the ball rolling and get to the next level soon enough. On a different note, I'm reading T.J. Cloutier's book on Omaha. I'm really interested in that game, and will probably test the waters out soon enough. I'm not a noob, I've played it quite a bit, but want to learn the proper strategies. It's been a good book so far, especially because it covers all forms of Omaha.

Our puppy is doing well, she's already up to 15 lbs. She was a whopping 5 lbs when we got her 6 weeks ago. Such a cute dog, but a little firecracker to say the least. Hopefully when the puppy energy runs out she will calm down. Right now she is a little barker and rogue. Still love her though. Married life is great as well. I try to take care of the house a lot more often because she gets so busy with work. I don't like her coming home and being stressed out, so poker might have to take a backseat this weekend, we'll see. She is the best wife I could ever ask for.

So my list of things for February:
1. Play at least 3 sessions per week, hopefully more so I can get my ironman status back. I haven't qualified for ironman since July.
2. Get to the next level by March.
3. Lower the number of bluffs I make and stay out of marginal positions OOP.
4. Write at least 1 blog post per week, and upload some hands and graphs.
5. Finish reading Championship Omaha, Bill Chen's book on poker math, and Owning the Dragon.
6. Play more than 20,000 hands in February.

Late Night Session

I played a little over 1,000 hands tonight. I knew I was going to play for about 2-3 hours, so for the first 10-15 minutes, I was trying to set up an image contrary to how I normally play. I was playing anywhere from 18/15 on one table to 25/19 on another. I then geared down and waited to get PAID. And did I. On the table that I was playing the most LAG, I pick up KK in late position. There were 3 limpers and I raised it up the pot plus 2 BB's. Pretty standard raise, just trying to get rid of some junk aces and narrow the field, while having position. Sure enough, two people OOP call. The flop came J-8-4 rainbow. It checks to me, and I bet out 2/3 the pot and get check raised all in. Pretty easy call, he's probably sitting on a decent jack like AJ, KJ, or J10. Sure enough, J10 and he gets stacked. From there I was playing really well and was up 3 buyins in no time.

The thing that sucked about the games tonight was that there were so many limpers in every hand. Not only that, but some of the players were playing ultra tight. There were a couple of players playing between a 3/3 and 5/5. If they were interested in the pot, just let it go, unless I flopped a monster. If they were raising, I was folding, I even folded 9's, 7's, and AQ, pretty easy folds when you're facing a player playing 3 to 5% of their hands. Honestly, what could they have? Their range is pretty simple: QQ+ and AK, maybe AQ suited, but that's about all they are playing.

So things were going great, until the LAGTARD in me just had to keep pushing later on. I was still up about 3 buyins and lost with AA to KJ, AJ to AK (stupid push pre), QQ to K4 suited, and JJ to A8 off. I reviewed my session and couldn't believe how many times I had a big pocket pair and of course an over came out and they connected with a junk hand. I also noticed that players were calling down super light, with junk hands like K5 suited from UTG, Q7 off from middle and a bunch of other crap. So I just need to idle it back a little and wait for some good opportunities. I did make a great play against an opponent I had some notes on. He loves to raise when he thinks everyone is weak and when it's blind versus blind. So I'm in the BB with J10 off, and he raises me again. I flat call and see a flop. The flop came 9-4-2 with two hearts. He bets 2/3 the pot, and I decide to make it look like a draw, even though I have nothing and quickly call. The turn brings a queen of hearts, and he bets out again. Now I have a legitimate draw and have some bluff outs. The river brings the 3 of hearts, a perfect card, and he bets it one more time. One thing I noticed was that on the turn and river, his bets got much smaller in comparison to the pot. I read it as a blocking bet, and decided that since I played the hand like a draw, I would push on him now. I raised him 4 times his bet and he went to the tank. I was praying to myself, "Fold, fold, fold, dear god please fold." Sure enough he uses his timebank and eventually folds. WHEW!!

There were a couple of players who were playing incredibly loose passive. They were playing 45 and 89% of their hands. I caught some great betting tells on the super loose one, and the other one just overvalued top pair hands and would call down. So I took some notes on them and can't wait to get them on my table again.

I'm reading Harrington on Cash Games right now, and I do have to say that it's a great book so far. I finished volume I, which is mostly about preflop play and flop play. Volume II covers post flop play and reading players. So I have taken a lot of great info from them so far. I just need to apply small ball and look to play my hands in position much better. I made a little over a buyin after all the dust settled, which is pretty frustrating. Especially since I am getting close moving up to the next level. I just have to keep putting some good sessions together and let the rest take care of itself. So far I have had 3 out of 4 winning sessions.

My rakeback site gives me my rakeback every week, so that is a great bonus. I've only played one session a week so far, but if I put together a couple of days a week, I should get a couple of buyins back just from rakeback. At that rate, I would be at the next level within a couple of months. It's time to get some sleep. In summation, I need to focus on playing in position better and look to exploit players tendencies and patterns more. I've been three betting and isolating really well. Now I just need to put the rest together and get some sessions together.

Fucking Snow

Beautiful, yet cold Sunday morning. Head off to work at about 11. Little cloudy outside, but nothing unusual for Washington State. Next thing I know, it starts to dump down snow at about 3 in the afternoon. I finally get out of work at about 7, and the streets are undriveable. I try to make it home, but get stuck on just about every intersection and just about every hill. If I even think about hitting the gas, it does nothing but spins the wheels. So GG me. I guess that will teach me to buy a Corvette. I really need to get a better winter car, maybe a Jeep. I guess now is the best time to get one. Of course knowing my luck we will never see another snowflake. But enough of me bitching and rambling. I'm gonna try and put a session together tonight, so we'll see.

Back to the Grind

I finally put in a good session. Albeit and very spewy session, but I put in a session. I played a little over 1000 hands, and was down a little over 2 buyins at one point. I have taken so much time off from poker, that I was spewing chips left and right. I was pushing with some great draws, but didn't take the time to read through the hands the right way. I pushed with AK suited with two overs and a flush draw, only to be up against a set for a buyin. I need to get back to playing small ball.

I got into the groove later on and ended up only down about 1/3 of a buyin total. So once I take rakeback into account, my session was a little below even. However, I was getting into the groove later in the session. There were quite a few hands in which my position and my aggression were getting me paid off. For instance, there was one hand in particular where I get AA in the BB. The button min raises, and the SB just calls. I repop it to 6 times his raise and the SB flat calls and the button folds. Right then and there I put him on 77-JJ. The flop came 3-7-9 and he checked it to me. I CBET the flop and he check raised the pot. I was thinking he might have flopped a set of 7's or 9's, but thought that if he had, he would have just called and then made a move on the turn. That's what most players do. When they flop a set, they slowplay the flop then lead the turn. So the check raise meant 10-QQ to me. So I shove to his check raise and he calls to show JJ. He bricked out and I was up quite a bit.

There were so many pots in which I was a good favorite when the money went in, but I just couldn't get it to hold. My All-in EV equity was about 3 buyins in the positive, but I ended the session down just a bit. I chalked up most of the losses to it being Saturday night and people were just either really bad and getting lucky or just tilting off and getting paid. So I am proud of the way I played, just couldn't get any traction to stick. I would get up a buyin then lose it back to a suckout a few hands later. Overall, my table image was pretty solid and I don't think the others really knew where I was coming from. They were playing very passive on flops and calling down with second and third pairs. I probably bluffed too much, but with the hands I was facing, I'm surprised they called me to the river with a lot of their hands.

So, some things to think about for the next session:
1. I need to focus on playing position strong and knowing who I can get to fold both before the flop and with a CBET.
2. I need to pull back the preflop aggression and look to get more value for my strong hands and not bluff as much as I did this session.
3. Play more small ball and control the pot more often.
4. Most of all, don't overvalue very marginal hands or marginal situations.

So those are some of the things I need to focus on for the next session. Hopefully I can get the train rolling again and get to the next level. I need to win about 15-16 buyins before I take a shot at the next level. When I do get to the next level, and I get to a specific amount I will drop down to the previous level. So time to get back to the grind and focus on making the right decisions.