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.