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.