Monday, September 21, 2009
Someone please analyze this hand!
Full Tilt Poker Game #14827998111: $1 Tournament (108682456), Table 14 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:06:36 ET - 2009/09/20Seat 1: hockyman91 (6,895)Seat 2: MommyJones09 (9,920)Seat 3: bonicka (3,748)Seat 4: bogdanov1987 (3,140)Seat 5: Black Sheep 08 (5,793)Seat 6: actzeng (10,725)Seat 7: cleanson1971 (13,292)Seat 8: ApeGape (25,187)Seat 9: johnny28173 (8,470)hockyman91 antes 25MommyJones09 antes 25bonicka antes 25bogdanov1987 antes 25Black Sheep 08 antes 25actzeng antes 25cleanson1971 antes 25ApeGape antes 25johnny28173 antes 25MommyJones09 posts the small blind of 120bonicka posts the big blind of 240The button is in seat #1*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to actzeng [Jh Jd]bogdanov1987 foldsBlack Sheep 08 foldsactzeng has 15 seconds left to actactzeng raises to 600cleanson1971 calls 600ApeGape foldsjohnny28173 calls 600hockyman91 foldsMommyJones09 foldsbonicka folds*** FLOP *** [Kd Td Jc]actzeng bets 2,385cleanson1971 foldsjohnny28173 calls 2,385*** TURN *** [Kd Td Jc] [Ad]actzeng bets 7,715, and is all injohnny28173 calls 5,460, and is all inactzeng shows [Jh Jd]johnny28173 shows [Kh Qh]Uncalled bet of 2,255 returned to actzeng*** RIVER *** [Kd Td Jc Ad] [8s]actzeng shows three of a kind, Jacksjohnny28173 shows a straight, Ace highjohnny28173 wins the pot (18,075) with a straight, Ace high
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Cruising
Won three straight SNGs last night. Can't remember the last time that happened. Of course they were of the $2 variety, so it's relatively little money. But a solid $20 profit on $2 games? I'll take it. I will probably end up taking a shot at a $5 again in a bit - maybe two.
The cards are falling my way. I think I won both coinflip situations, and a 60-40, and my dominating hands held up. But it's not that I'm getting great cards. Sure I'm getting decent cards deep, but not getting AA every hand. And it's not so much the cards I'm getting as the timing of the good cards. Getting very strong cards early in an SNG is dangerous if you're not willing to let go of them. Late, the decisions are much easier. All three games went the same way - I was low stacked in or around the money, then shoved fairly strong hands and ended up being the favorite.
I did lose with TT to 44, so it's not as if I won every hand. I think I was just able to avoid the suckouts. In the last game, I hit a huge three-way all in with 88 vs. 55 vs. AJ and was able to hold.
Been keeping up in the Take 2 challenge. If I play every day for the rest of the month, I will amass 23 days of play. But after I hit the bonus on day 15, the next bonus is at 25 days, which I will not be able to make. Right now, I'm at 9 days. I'll play tonight and get a $10 bonus....weeeeeee!
I think I'll wait until after I get the Take 2 money to do the cashout.
The one good thing about the Take 2 is that it's getting me to play some cash games. And as Herm Edwards would say - You play to win the game! You don't just play it to qualify for the Take 2! And I think I've turned a modest profit in the games, and am getting more confident in my reads. I still bet too much with the nuts.
Couple things that I think I've improved on - one is not being afraid to sit down with a big stack at the table. I used to avoid tables with guys sitting with $7 because they'd just buy every pot from me. I'm better at picking my spots against these players now, evaluating which hands have good value to see a flop and hit a big one. Because it's PLO and not NL, there's a lot more you can do to control the size of the pot, even if you don't have a really deep stack. I've been basically forced to play with bigstacks though because the micro tables are usually full, so you just gotta get in where you fit in.
The other is getting away from marginal hands. In PLO, at least at the stakes I play, this is absolutely key. It's probably the #1 most important thing in the entire game. Hand values just don't transfer from NLHE. It's a completely different game from a hand-evaluation standpoint, reading the board, etc.
Couple things I have not been able to do well is bet-size appropriate on the turn. I still have a lot of difficulty figuring out where I am. If someone's on a flush draw and I bet pot, are they getting really good value to call that bet and float to the river? I generally like keeping pots small until I have a good sense of where I'm at. And in PLO, there's a lot of value in betting small to protect against your opponent hitting his spade on the river. And when it does come, you can get away from the hand at that point. It's almost like buying insurance. At these stakes, guys are gonna call. You may even want to consider just checking a set or dummy straight. The other is set over set. When I have the under, and there are not obvious straights or flushes, I will probably go broke.
If the next couple sessions go well, maybe I'll move up to 2/5 cent and see how it goes. Maybe one table of 2/5. I know that my game is not suited to play against people who play big and play for "real" money. I will absolutely get bullied. In order to be a great player in PLO, you must be able to raise with a wide, wide variety of hands on every street. I like to limp to see a lot of flops. That won't happen the higher up you go.
The cards are falling my way. I think I won both coinflip situations, and a 60-40, and my dominating hands held up. But it's not that I'm getting great cards. Sure I'm getting decent cards deep, but not getting AA every hand. And it's not so much the cards I'm getting as the timing of the good cards. Getting very strong cards early in an SNG is dangerous if you're not willing to let go of them. Late, the decisions are much easier. All three games went the same way - I was low stacked in or around the money, then shoved fairly strong hands and ended up being the favorite.
I did lose with TT to 44, so it's not as if I won every hand. I think I was just able to avoid the suckouts. In the last game, I hit a huge three-way all in with 88 vs. 55 vs. AJ and was able to hold.
Been keeping up in the Take 2 challenge. If I play every day for the rest of the month, I will amass 23 days of play. But after I hit the bonus on day 15, the next bonus is at 25 days, which I will not be able to make. Right now, I'm at 9 days. I'll play tonight and get a $10 bonus....weeeeeee!
I think I'll wait until after I get the Take 2 money to do the cashout.
The one good thing about the Take 2 is that it's getting me to play some cash games. And as Herm Edwards would say - You play to win the game! You don't just play it to qualify for the Take 2! And I think I've turned a modest profit in the games, and am getting more confident in my reads. I still bet too much with the nuts.
Couple things that I think I've improved on - one is not being afraid to sit down with a big stack at the table. I used to avoid tables with guys sitting with $7 because they'd just buy every pot from me. I'm better at picking my spots against these players now, evaluating which hands have good value to see a flop and hit a big one. Because it's PLO and not NL, there's a lot more you can do to control the size of the pot, even if you don't have a really deep stack. I've been basically forced to play with bigstacks though because the micro tables are usually full, so you just gotta get in where you fit in.
The other is getting away from marginal hands. In PLO, at least at the stakes I play, this is absolutely key. It's probably the #1 most important thing in the entire game. Hand values just don't transfer from NLHE. It's a completely different game from a hand-evaluation standpoint, reading the board, etc.
Couple things I have not been able to do well is bet-size appropriate on the turn. I still have a lot of difficulty figuring out where I am. If someone's on a flush draw and I bet pot, are they getting really good value to call that bet and float to the river? I generally like keeping pots small until I have a good sense of where I'm at. And in PLO, there's a lot of value in betting small to protect against your opponent hitting his spade on the river. And when it does come, you can get away from the hand at that point. It's almost like buying insurance. At these stakes, guys are gonna call. You may even want to consider just checking a set or dummy straight. The other is set over set. When I have the under, and there are not obvious straights or flushes, I will probably go broke.
If the next couple sessions go well, maybe I'll move up to 2/5 cent and see how it goes. Maybe one table of 2/5. I know that my game is not suited to play against people who play big and play for "real" money. I will absolutely get bullied. In order to be a great player in PLO, you must be able to raise with a wide, wide variety of hands on every street. I like to limp to see a lot of flops. That won't happen the higher up you go.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Up and down
It's been a while since I last blogged. Pokerwise, things have gone way up and way down. I'm still toiling in the $2 games. I had a really hot run in $2 SNGs and then decided to switch to $5, and then tumbled downward. I guess my luck had run out. It's been quite a while since I've actually won an SNG - just not hitting hands when I get 3 handed, losing flips, etc. Overall, I'm about even.
I've started to play more PLO cash .01/.02, mostly because of the Take 2 promotion FTP has going. Basically, if you two table-cash games 25 out of 30 days in the month, they will give you $50. At the stakes I play, I would seriously have to try to lose that much in a month. Luckily, the games have been profitable for right now, albeit profitable for 1/2 cent games. Maybe I'll "take a shot" at 2/5 cent one of these days.
I didn't play at all for the first week of this month, so I can't get $50, but if I play 15 out of 30 days, I get $25. They will probably penalize my rakeback again.
I'm doing horribly in MTTs. Been a while since a decent cash. I think I'm due, but I just don't have the time or energy to play them anymore.
I'm considering a hefty cashout, since I am not playing any higher with a bigger bankroll, and since there is some uncertainty about banks and online poker. I'm thinking of taking out about half my roll, since I'm afraid there may come a day that I won't see any of it, then this will have been all for naught.
I've started to play more PLO cash .01/.02, mostly because of the Take 2 promotion FTP has going. Basically, if you two table-cash games 25 out of 30 days in the month, they will give you $50. At the stakes I play, I would seriously have to try to lose that much in a month. Luckily, the games have been profitable for right now, albeit profitable for 1/2 cent games. Maybe I'll "take a shot" at 2/5 cent one of these days.
I didn't play at all for the first week of this month, so I can't get $50, but if I play 15 out of 30 days, I get $25. They will probably penalize my rakeback again.
I'm doing horribly in MTTs. Been a while since a decent cash. I think I'm due, but I just don't have the time or energy to play them anymore.
I'm considering a hefty cashout, since I am not playing any higher with a bigger bankroll, and since there is some uncertainty about banks and online poker. I'm thinking of taking out about half my roll, since I'm afraid there may come a day that I won't see any of it, then this will have been all for naught.
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