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.