Most annoying $1k day ever

Well, I guess it wasn’t that bad. I did a sweat session today with WiltOnTilt (I’ve been getting some coaching from him lately, really great guy), and decided to play a little 2/4 and 3/6 just to make sure I was getting my money’s worth (I don’t really want to do coaching sessions at 1/2 unless I really have to). We did pretty well and finished up about $1400 I think. I played for a couple more hours afterwards and ran very bleh at 2/4, and finished the day up a little over $1k in two thousand hands. I made about $1k at 3/6, another $1k at 1/2, $200 or so at 100nl hu, and dropped 3 buyins at 2/4.

The 2/4 tables were pretty irritating – I wasn’t really running hot or cold, I just wasn’t running at all. I kept isolating this one absurd fish, but I was missing every flop and pretty much got owned. I hit a few sets in multiway pots only for everyone else to just check/fold… you know, the usual. But yeah, I can’t really complain.

Oh yeah, here’s a fun hand from the hu part of the session…

Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: $87.40
arrrrtard (BB): $398.10

Pre-Flop: T T dealt to arrrrtard (BB)
SB raises to $3, arrrrtard raises to $10, SB calls $7

Flop: ($20) A T 2 (2 Players)
arrrrtard bets $14, SB calls $14

Turn: ($48) J (2 Players)
arrrrtard checks, SB bets $22, arrrrtard raises to $114, SB calls $41.40 and is All-In

River: ($174.80) J (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: $174.80 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
SB showed J A (a full house, Jacks full of Aces) and WON $174.30 (+$86.90 NET)
arrrrtard showed T T (a full house, Tens full of Jacks) and LOST (-$87.40 NET)

Update: Loool, kind of off the subject but god damn it Buffy is adorable. I’m watching the fifth episode of the sixth season, in which Buffy is sad and swigs a lot of hard alcohol. Watching Sarah Michelle Gellar make an icky whisky face over and over again is freaking priceless 🙂

Wow…

I just finished watching the fifth season of Buffy, and wow, in all seriousness it was probably the best season of any TV show I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing that sounds ridiculous but this show is just amazing – it makes me wonder how good Firefly could have been if it had gotten a couple more seasons.

Irritated

I played another 1.5k hands today and finished up about $160, so pretty disappointing. I picked up a few buyins at 1/2 and dropped a bunch at 100nl hu. I was pretty card dead at 100nl but played really badly. One guy I played against was pretty decent but was a compulsive bluffer – I would have called him down super light but I never ever had a hand. But I kept trying to force things, which is bad when you’re just gonna get rebluffed all the time. I should have toned down my aggression a bunch and just started value betting any time I had an even halfway decent hand.

Bleh, I’ve got a ton to learn about hu. I’m not used to having to adjust my strategies to individual players – that probably sounds a little weird but at 6max you can get away with just avoiding irritating players, and usually don’t need to adjust all that severely. Or rather, what I mean is at 6max it feels like you’re playing with an entire table – hu is completely different, and it really feels like a battle.

Anyways my point is I got owned, and I’m kinda pissed about it. Oh well, I’ll get good eventually.

To end on a higher note, here’s a somewhat interesting hand from my 6max session. Villain seems like a solid regular and I figured he could fold JJ/QQ, since we’re over 200bbs deep. I’m not sure how I feel about my betsizing though, since he’s getting very good odds on the river. Hmm. At any rate I think I did a good job of selling my hand with my timing, etc., so I’m pretty pleased with my play.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: $264.10
arrrrtard (BB): $461.60
UTG: $307.65
MP: $118
CO: $666.45
BTN: $436.25

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to arrrrtard (BB)
UTG calls $2, MP calls $2, CO raises to $11, 2 folds, arrrrtard raises to $40, 2 folds, CO calls $29

Flop: ($85) 8 5 5 (2 Players)
arrrrtard bets $60, CO calls $60

Turn: ($205) 5 (2 Players)
arrrrtard bets $139, CO calls $139

River: ($483) 2 (2 Players)
arrrrtard bets $222.60 and is All-In, CO folds

Results: $483 Pot ($3 Rake)
arrrrtard mucked A K and WON $480 (+$241 NET)

Update: I just finished another session at 1/2 and ran pretty badly, so I’m now down about $160 on the day. I just lost 99<A7s all-in preflop against a complete monkey (who instaleft the table… grrr) and don’t really feel like playing any more. This time it’s a promise: no more poker till I get back to Boston.

Only 48k hands to go

I played the first 2k or so hands of my hand challenge today, and I thought it went pretty well. I started off with a couple quick hu sessions while wandering around town (had to get my yearly eye exam and some new contacts) and pretty much crunched people, and I just finished playing a fairly long (too long, quiting while frustrated is sooo hard for me) 6max session. I think I was playing pretty well towards the beginning of the session, not so much towards the end. 200nl is definitely softer than I remember, so I’m kind of irritated I couldn’t make any more money. I got impatient and started spewing chips for a while, so I’m a little disappointed.

Oh well, not the end of the world. Otherwise it was a fun day – we took my old babysitter (she’s like 90 years old now and basically a surrogate grandmother) out to a fancy restaurant (I had crab bisque and some sort of venison thing… mmmm). Somewhat amusingly my parents told me at said restaurant that I “clean up nice.” I really need to buy some new clothes.

About the hand challenge, I need to really make sure I bear in mind that this isn’t just about playing x number of hands at lower limits – it’s about taking a slightly different approach to getting better as a player. The quality of play at 1/2 is pretty terrible for the most part, so I’ll be pissed if I get soft over the next month or so. I’m not dropping down to play easier competition, I’m dropping down so I can focus more on my discipline issues. The session I just played at 1/2 was kind of a waste of time since I didn’t consciously do anything differently – I just played like I always play. Which just isn’t good enough.

Okay enough philosophizing, here are some of the more interesting hands from the session…

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

riversidejoe (MP): $273.90
biancocane (CO): $386.10
Fischer Black (BTN): $283.95
arrrrtard (SB): $273.20
Ship It_DUCY (BB): $200
Lapdog84 (UTG): $443.70

Pre-Flop: A Q dealt to arrrrtard (SB)
Lapdog84 folds, riversidejoe raises to $7, 2 folds, arrrrtard raises to $25, Ship It_DUCY folds, riversidejoe calls $18

Riversidejoe is a pretty solid TAG in my somewhat limited experience. He calls 3bets in position waaay more than most though, so he can be a little frustrating to play against oop. In the future I might have to start 3betting him less, not really sure yet.

Flop: ($52) A K Q (2 Players)
arrrrtard checks, riversidejoe checks

Yaargh that flop is ugly. I think I need to bet/fold it though – joe is solid enough that he probably won’t bluff me off the best hand, and I can definitely get value from worse two pairs, club draws, etc.

Turn: ($52) 8 (2 Players)
arrrrtard bets $40, riversidejoe calls $40

I kind of have to assume I’m ahead after he checks behind the flop, so I’m in bet/fold mode for the rest of the hand.

River: ($132) 5 (2 Players)
arrrrtard bets $96, riversidejoe calls $96

Results: $324 Pot ($3 Rake)
riversidejoe mucked Q K (two pair, Kings and Queens) and LOST (-$161 NET)
arrrrtard showed A Q (two pair, Aces and Queens) and WON $321 (+$160 NET)

By the river I was trying to get value from KQ, nice that he obliged. For what it’s worth I think his call is pretty bad – if I’m going to bluff it’ll probably be on the flop, so he’s kind of just hoping I have AJ here I guess.

Next hand I take an odd line with KK. To be honest I can’t remember why though. It’s a pretty dry flop though so I don’t really mind it, and there’s no way I can fold the turn. Villain seemed pretty solid, maybe a little on the LAG side.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

arrrrtard (SB): $278.80
jadedjason (BB): $355.95
gr8whyte (UTG): $159.85
oceanwolf79 (BTN): $92.95

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to arrrrtard (SB)
gr8whyte raises to $7, oceanwolf79 folds, arrrrtard raises to $25, jadedjason folds, gr8whyte calls $18

Flop: ($52) 4 8 5 (2 Players)
arrrrtard checks, gr8whyte checks

Turn: ($52) 7 (2 Players)
arrrrtard bets $30, gr8whyte raises to $134.85 and is All-In, arrrrtard calls $104.85

River: ($321.70) J (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: $321.70 Pot ($2 Rake)
arrrrtard showed K K (a pair of Kings) and WON $319.70 (+$159.85 NET)
gr8whyte showed Q A (Ace Queen high) and LOST (-$159.85 NET)

Next up, we see why playing overpairs oop is really annoying. I’m pretty sure I butchered this one. I think if I bet a bit larger on the flop, like $40, it sets up a much easier turn decision. As played I don’t think I can really do much else on the turn (since he’s going to be floating a decent amount and will probably fold most hands I beat if I fire a second barrel), but I could have gotten him to commit more chips if I had just inflated the pot a bit. Oh and villain was pretty bad, something like 35/16/2.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

Willrake (UTG): $215.60
FristSux (MP): $216.85
yedam (CO): $216.65
stankmouth (BTN): $199.35
bmulford32 (SB): $79.15
arrrrtard (BB): $265.10

Pre-Flop: Q Q dealt to arrrrtard (BB)
2 folds, yedam raises to $7, 2 folds, arrrrtard raises to $25, yedam calls $18

Flop: ($51) 8 3 4 (2 Players)
arrrrtard bets $32, yedam calls $32

Turn: ($115) 9 (2 Players)
arrrrtard checks, yedam bets $50, arrrrtard raises to $208.10 and is All-In, yedam folds

Results: $215 Pot ($3 Rake)
arrrrtard mucked Q Q and WON $212 (+$105 NET)

Bleh I’m getting really sleepy so maybe I’ll post some more hands tomorrow. I’ll just leave you with the obligatory “wtf was I thinking” hand of the day:

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

Willrake (UTG): $304.15
FristSux (MP): $237.65
Unkle_Rukus (CO): $200
stankmouth (BTN): $267.25
Spear1 (SB): $198
arrrrtard (BB): $355.10

Pre-Flop: J 8 dealt to arrrrtard (BB)
2 folds, Unkle_Rukus raises to $8, 2 folds, arrrrtard raises to $28, Unkle_Rukus calls $20

Flop: ($57) 4 6 J (2 Players)
arrrrtard checks, Unkle_Rukus bets $34, arrrrtard calls $34

Turn: ($125) 5 (2 Players)
arrrrtard checks, Unkle_Rukus bets $62, arrrrtard raises to $293.10 and is All-In, Unkle_Rukus calls $76 and is All-In

River: ($401) 3 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: $401 Pot ($3 Rake)
Unkle_Rukus showed A A (a pair of Aces) and WON $398 (+$198 NET)
arrrrtard showed J 8 (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$200 NET)

Yeah… not really sure what to say about that one. Villain is a solid reg and I have no clue what I was doing. I can only wonder at how absurdly rich I would be right now if I could figure out how to stop that kind of shit from happening. Lol the worst part about this hand though was that the table fish started berating me in chat. I politely asked him if he wanted to play heads up, but he declined. Blargh.

Stuffed, and a challenge

Mmmm, feeling pleasantly incapacitated at the moment… my dad’s a really good cook and made all the usuals today: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, string beans, gravy, plus we had tons of ice cream and pumpkin pie for desert. Definitely a fun day. I made sure to rub it in on my younger brother, who’s doing a semester abroad in Australia with some friends from UPenn, and had to make do with homemade spaghetti 🙂

Like I said last time, I’m gonna take a little break from poker until I get back to Boston I think. For some reason I tend to play really poorly at home, so I might as well not force things. I’ve also decided that a hand challenge would be pretty useful, so the plan is to play 50k hands at 200nl 6max and 100nl hu before I play any 2/4 again. This is partially on account of all the money I withdrew recently (I’ve only got about $11k or so online at the moment, so I’m a little bit short for 2/4 probably), but more importantly I think the biggest thing I need to work on right now is discipline, not outfoxing regs at 3/6. When I’m playing well I think I’m more than ready for 3/6 and 5/10, but the problem is I play like an ass such a large percentage of the time.

I’m hoping that by the time I finish these 50k hands I’ll be much better at the “non-poker” aspects of poker, like putting in regular hours, not tilting so much, getting exercise, all that good stuff. Those things are like 90% of winning poker, so I really think if I work hard on this over the next month or so I’ll see some big strides in my game.

I’ll keep everyone posted here about daily results and how the challenge is going.

Arggghhh

God I piss myself off sometimes. I played yet another long, tilty session tonight (at 2/4 obviously, when I said I was gonna play 1/2 for a while), and dropped $1200 or so. About $250 of that was from some 100nl hu (got all-in on flop against a flush draw, got some bluffs snapped off). I’m pretty exasperated. Something is wrong when you continually try to bluff the completely unbluffable fish at the table. Fffuuuuckkkk

Well, I bought another copy of The Poker Mindset today (I can’t seem to find my old copy), so I guess I’ll take a few days off and try to do some constructive reading.

OWNED

Sometimes I play like a gangster, what can I say.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: $217.60
BB: $200
arrrrtard (UTG): $207.25
MP: $311.55
CO: $42.80
BTN: $236.25

Pre-Flop: T 4 dealt to arrrrtard (UTG)
arrrrtard raises to $7, MP raises to $24, 4 folds, arrrrtard calls $17

Flop: ($51) 4 9 2 (2 Players)
arrrrtard checks, MP bets $51, arrrrtard raises to $183.25 and is All-In, MP calls $132.25

Turn: ($417.50) T (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

River: ($417.50) K (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: $417.50 Pot ($3 Rake)
arrrrtard showed T 4 (two pair, Tens and Fours) and WON $414.50 (+$207.25 NET)
MP showed J J (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$207.25 NET)

I was fiddling with my pahud layout (which is totally sick btw, I’m really pleased with it) and couldn’t resist getting a little frisky 🙂

Distractions…

I’m back home in Virginia now after spending a fun weekend in New York with my parents and my little sister Helen. It was her 13th birthday, and predictably all the broadway stagehands decided to go on strike so we couldn’t go see The Little Mermaid or Spamalot like we planned. We more or less just wandered around instead and saw a bunch of movies. My dad and I saw No Country for Old Men, and I have to admit, it’s a fucking creepy movie… I really enjoyed it and I’m reading the book at the moment. It’s an incredibly well made film and Anton Chigurh is frankly a pretty terrifying badguy. I can’t remember the last time I felt so genuinely unnerved by a movie villain.

On Sunday we caught an early morning showing of Beowulf in 3d IMAX. I didn’t think the movie looked all that great from the previews but I had a really good time – it was way better than I thought it would be. The visuals are obviously incredible and seeing it in 3d was pretty sweet. Heh, and although I’m not generally a big Angelina Jolie fan, daaaamn she looked good as Grendel’s mom 🙂

I tried playing a little poker over the weekend but had to call it quits after I dropped 3 bi in like 200 hands at 2/4 – having the family in the background was more distracting than I thought it would be and I just wasn’t focusing at all.

I haven’t played any since then and to be honest I’m a little uncertain as to what I want to be doing with poker at the moment. I withdrew some money about a week and a half ago, with the intention of playing mostly 1/2 for a bit, but instead I caught fire at 2/4 and more than made back my withdrawal. That wasn’t really the plan so I think I might just withdraw another $4-5k or so and start back over at 1/2 again. Basically I just think I could use a break from the stress of poker for a bit – I feel really comfortable at 2/4 but the swings do get to me a bit, so 1/2 sounds like a better idea for the next couple weeks.

New biggest day ever! Woot

Not by much but whatever, it was still a pretty fun session. Thankfully it was way smoother than the old record holder. I ran really well and played pretty well too I think, so a nice combination.

Guess I’ll go ahead and post some of the bigger hands…

Villain here is pretty crazy. He calls 4bets really light and is basically a ridiculous spewtard. He’s apparently up a decent amount on the month though, good for him.

I try a postflop squeeze play… and get lucky. The pfr in this hand is a complete weirdo so he can have total air when he cbets. And the sb was an unknown so I figured he had a weak ace and couldn’t stand a c/r. I bet small on the turn since I figured villain didn’t have much.

Weeeird spot. My play probably looks terrible but if you know who the villain is it’s tough to fold here. We played a hand earlier in the day where he called a flop cbet ip after I flopped TP, called a turn bet after I made top two, and then minraised my river bet with complete air. I’ve never seen someone take so many nonsensical lines in so few hands.

Like I said, this guy likes to call 4bets. And is a retard.

Interesting spot… something just felt kind of off about his flop c/r and the timing of his turn bet. I think I would have folded to a river shove though. Not sure how I feel about this hand tbh. And does it make sense to shove the river? I thought he might have called me with some random ace he had turned into a bluff. Meh, pretty thin, although I think he’s never got a set here after checking the river.

Okay and now for some of the losers…

Listen dude I know you have KJ, just fold it… blast. Pretty good flop to float, and I think he’s got to be scared by the river, since KQ/KT/AJ are all very much in my range. I think against my range his call is bad, so I don’t mind my play. He beats a complete bluff and that’s it, and I don’t see anything particularly fishy about my line. Meh.

Blargh, why isn’t this a credible bluff? It’s again one of those spots where I really don’t think his call is very good – I honestly can’t remember the last time I tried a bluff in this kind of spot, so my range is very much weighted towards an 8 or the occasional bluff with air. Maybe I should have bet more? Hmm.

Hmm… I think this should be a fold on the river. Villain is super solid and doesn’t seem to make very many moves. He can obviously show up with AQ here but I think his range is too far ahead of mine to warrant a call.

That’s about it, most of the other hands were pretty standard.

Killin it… sort of

Well I’d be crushing if it weren’t for stupid Bodog and stupid 3/6. Here’s a pretty sweet screenshot (updated to reflect continued pwnage) of my results sans riggedness.

I’m off to New York tonight. It’s the little sister’s birthday and we’re all hanging out in the city for the weekend, and then we’ll head back home to Virginia for Thanksgiving. Not sure how much playing I’ll be doing but hopefully I can keep this heater alive.