...but not quite as disasterous as it could have been. After doing so not so well earlier in this week, I was hoping to focus and pull myself up and back into profit for this week. Instead, I managed to go on a massive downswing, the nadir of which left me back down in the $30s for my bankroll. The worst of it was that very little of my play was particularly bad. I couldn't point to too many incidents where I made particularly bad calls. It was just that the run of cards I had was consistently bad, and the very rare occasion I took a premium hand I got no action, or horrible suckouts.
It was most dispiriting, but fortunately I had a sudden turnaround this afternoon. After some fairly quiet play, I'd finally got paid by a fish and doubled up. I decided to cash-out and hit a new table. My first hand I turned a straight against an opponent with AA that had chosen to slowplay it and only try and push once I had a made hand. The very next hand i get 54s, flop a 4 and get a free card to see a 5 on the turn. Third hand i make a boat and have almost trebled my original buy-in. Anyway, from that point things went quite well, and though it wasn't enough to fully undo the carnage of the previous sessions, I at least reached a point of it not being quite so embarrassing...
This Week: -$6.68
Total: $48.06
Sunday, 28 October 2007
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
tired play, and big pairs
With my girlfriend away off biting other men, I've seized the chance to play as much as possible. Which is great, except I'm stil not recovered from weekend's excesses as so have been playing while utterly exhausted. This was particularly apparent on Monday - I bust myself pretty quickly, rebought and worked my way all the way back up into profit, then lost it all again on the final hand of the night.
The only postive of the night was that I got some nice experience in making and playing straights. I've realised that I get rather too attached to the idea of drawing on an open-end or double belly-buster straight or to a flush, which costs me when they don't hit. But when it's been made cheap enough to draw to, the straight is a great hand because it's much less obvious than the flush. Any fool can count three of a suit on the board, but when there's [K, 9, 6, 5] rainbow there's not too many people holding a King who are scared of [8,7]!
So, my focus now is going to be maintaining discipline and assessing the actual pot odds when deciding on whether to call on a draw. Implied odds obviously matter here too, no point calling a bet if it's going to mean either myself or the bettor being all-in because then there's no extra turn/river bet to profit from. Chasing draws when I DON'T have good pot odds is definitely a leak for me at the moment, my last few stupid big losses were all from chasing straights and flushes that didn't materialise.
Tuesday, I was still pretty tired, but didn't actually play too badly. I didn't play as much as I could have, mainly due to connection problems on Party. Then when I finally got back on, every 3 hands the table I was on got taken down for maintenance! So, with the various hassles I kind of didn't realise that I'd made money until I added it up today. Sadly it wasn't enough to fully reverse the horrible loss on Monday, but at least I'm now quite as down as I could have been.
I've put up two hands from Tuesday, the first I thought was fun just from the fortuitous appearance of three big hands all in one pot. (click to see hand)
#Game No : 6439161545
***** Hand History for Game 6439161545 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, October 23, 15:58:45 ET 2007
Table Table 127739 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 3: x__BShark__x ( $4.55 USD )
Seat 5: LEKDJ ( $1.23 USD )
Seat 7: reno_man001 ( $5.10 USD )
Seat 8: TS99_87 ( $5.94 USD )
Seat 9: peck3r ( $3.18 USD )
Seat 10: DavidLarsen ( $6.98 USD )
Seat 4: e_r_c ( $2.92 USD )
Seat 6: Dixvins ( $2.68 USD )
Seat 1: Nextone7777 ( $1.92 USD )
Seat 2: HoneyJar ( $4.96 USD )
HoneyJar posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
x__BShark__x posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Ad Ac ]
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
LEKDJ folds
Dixvins folds
reno_man001 raises [$0.08 USD]
TS99_87 folds
peck3r folds
DavidLarsen calls [$0.08 USD]
Nextone7777 folds
HoneyJar folds
x__BShark__x calls [$0.04 USD]
e_r_c raises [$0.46 USD]
reno_man001 calls [$0.42 USD]
DavidLarsen calls [$0.42 USD]
x__BShark__x folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4c, 8s, Tc ]
e_r_c is all-In [$2.42 USD]
reno_man001 calls [$2.42 USD]
DavidLarsen: QQ
DavidLarsen folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qs ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7d ]
e_r_c shows [ Ad, Ac ]a pair of Aces.
reno_man001 shows [ Kc, Kh ]a pair of Kings.
e_r_c wins $6.12 USD from the main pot with a pair of Aces.
DavidLarsen: grrr!!!
I think I played the above hand pretty well. On the flop I moved in for the following reasons. First, with a rags flop and with the level of preflop betting I didn't think anyone would have stayed in with a pocket pair below Jacks. I also didn't want to be second-guessing myself too much on the turn and river, so getting my money in while I was most likely ahead seemed the best plan.
It was fortunate for me I did, as you can see if I'd slowplayed the hand at all then DavidLarsen would have stolen it on the turn.
Another lesson in not slowplaying Aces was my final pot of the night, alonlu123's weak bet on the flop makes it worth me seeing the turn with my middle pair /overcard and I get some nice help and break him.
#Game No : 6439576391
***** Hand History for Game 6439576391 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, October 23, 18:55:37 ET 2007
Table Table 126296 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: Carsten1081 ( $3.65 USD )
Seat 5: JanssonJ ( $0.29 USD )
Seat 6: alonlu123 ( $1.54 USD )
Seat 2: geordie_dave ( $4.25 USD )
Seat 4: hansdampf101 ( $4.04 USD )
Seat 8: chrizbradley ( $4.28 USD )
Seat 3: e_r_c ( $5.04 USD )
Seat 7: johoy ( $3.29 USD )
Seat 10: LuxStyle ( $5.37 USD )
hansdampf101 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
alonlu123 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 6c Ac ]
johoy folds
chrizbradley raises [$0.12 USD]
LuxStyle folds
Carsten1081 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.12 USD]
hansdampf101 did not respond in time
hansdampf101 folds
alonlu123 raises [$0.16 USD]
chrizbradley calls [$0.08 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.08 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kd, 6h, 2h ]
alonlu123 bets [$0.24 USD]
chrizbradley calls [$0.24 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.24 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6d ]
alonlu123 bets [$0.48 USD]
chrizbradley calls [$0.48 USD]
Knifkator has joined the table.
e_r_c raises [$2.20 USD]
alonlu123 is all-In [$0.62 USD]
chrizbradley folds
** Dealing River ** [ Jh ]
e_r_c shows [ 6c, Ac ]three of a kind, Sixes.
alonlu123 doesn't show [ Ad, As ]two pairs, Aces and Sixes.
e_r_c wins $1.10 USD from side pot #1 with three of a kind, Sixes.
e_r_c wins $3.82 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Sixes.
This Week: -$1.17
Total: $53.57
The only postive of the night was that I got some nice experience in making and playing straights. I've realised that I get rather too attached to the idea of drawing on an open-end or double belly-buster straight or to a flush, which costs me when they don't hit. But when it's been made cheap enough to draw to, the straight is a great hand because it's much less obvious than the flush. Any fool can count three of a suit on the board, but when there's [K, 9, 6, 5] rainbow there's not too many people holding a King who are scared of [8,7]!
So, my focus now is going to be maintaining discipline and assessing the actual pot odds when deciding on whether to call on a draw. Implied odds obviously matter here too, no point calling a bet if it's going to mean either myself or the bettor being all-in because then there's no extra turn/river bet to profit from. Chasing draws when I DON'T have good pot odds is definitely a leak for me at the moment, my last few stupid big losses were all from chasing straights and flushes that didn't materialise.
Tuesday, I was still pretty tired, but didn't actually play too badly. I didn't play as much as I could have, mainly due to connection problems on Party. Then when I finally got back on, every 3 hands the table I was on got taken down for maintenance! So, with the various hassles I kind of didn't realise that I'd made money until I added it up today. Sadly it wasn't enough to fully reverse the horrible loss on Monday, but at least I'm now quite as down as I could have been.
I've put up two hands from Tuesday, the first I thought was fun just from the fortuitous appearance of three big hands all in one pot. (click to see hand)
Big Pair Three-way
#Game No : 6439161545
***** Hand History for Game 6439161545 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, October 23, 15:58:45 ET 2007
Table Table 127739 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 3: x__BShark__x ( $4.55 USD )
Seat 5: LEKDJ ( $1.23 USD )
Seat 7: reno_man001 ( $5.10 USD )
Seat 8: TS99_87 ( $5.94 USD )
Seat 9: peck3r ( $3.18 USD )
Seat 10: DavidLarsen ( $6.98 USD )
Seat 4: e_r_c ( $2.92 USD )
Seat 6: Dixvins ( $2.68 USD )
Seat 1: Nextone7777 ( $1.92 USD )
Seat 2: HoneyJar ( $4.96 USD )
HoneyJar posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
x__BShark__x posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Ad Ac ]
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
LEKDJ folds
Dixvins folds
reno_man001 raises [$0.08 USD]
TS99_87 folds
peck3r folds
DavidLarsen calls [$0.08 USD]
Nextone7777 folds
HoneyJar folds
x__BShark__x calls [$0.04 USD]
e_r_c raises [$0.46 USD]
reno_man001 calls [$0.42 USD]
DavidLarsen calls [$0.42 USD]
x__BShark__x folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4c, 8s, Tc ]
e_r_c is all-In [$2.42 USD]
reno_man001 calls [$2.42 USD]
DavidLarsen: QQ
DavidLarsen folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qs ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7d ]
e_r_c shows [ Ad, Ac ]a pair of Aces.
reno_man001 shows [ Kc, Kh ]a pair of Kings.
e_r_c wins $6.12 USD from the main pot with a pair of Aces.
DavidLarsen: grrr!!!
I think I played the above hand pretty well. On the flop I moved in for the following reasons. First, with a rags flop and with the level of preflop betting I didn't think anyone would have stayed in with a pocket pair below Jacks. I also didn't want to be second-guessing myself too much on the turn and river, so getting my money in while I was most likely ahead seemed the best plan.
It was fortunate for me I did, as you can see if I'd slowplayed the hand at all then DavidLarsen would have stolen it on the turn.
Another lesson in not slowplaying Aces was my final pot of the night, alonlu123's weak bet on the flop makes it worth me seeing the turn with my middle pair /overcard and I get some nice help and break him.
Cracking Aces
#Game No : 6439576391
***** Hand History for Game 6439576391 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, October 23, 18:55:37 ET 2007
Table Table 126296 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: Carsten1081 ( $3.65 USD )
Seat 5: JanssonJ ( $0.29 USD )
Seat 6: alonlu123 ( $1.54 USD )
Seat 2: geordie_dave ( $4.25 USD )
Seat 4: hansdampf101 ( $4.04 USD )
Seat 8: chrizbradley ( $4.28 USD )
Seat 3: e_r_c ( $5.04 USD )
Seat 7: johoy ( $3.29 USD )
Seat 10: LuxStyle ( $5.37 USD )
hansdampf101 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
alonlu123 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 6c Ac ]
johoy folds
chrizbradley raises [$0.12 USD]
LuxStyle folds
Carsten1081 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.12 USD]
hansdampf101 did not respond in time
hansdampf101 folds
alonlu123 raises [$0.16 USD]
chrizbradley calls [$0.08 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.08 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kd, 6h, 2h ]
alonlu123 bets [$0.24 USD]
chrizbradley calls [$0.24 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.24 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6d ]
alonlu123 bets [$0.48 USD]
chrizbradley calls [$0.48 USD]
Knifkator has joined the table.
e_r_c raises [$2.20 USD]
alonlu123 is all-In [$0.62 USD]
chrizbradley folds
** Dealing River ** [ Jh ]
e_r_c shows [ 6c, Ac ]three of a kind, Sixes.
alonlu123 doesn't show [ Ad, As ]two pairs, Aces and Sixes.
e_r_c wins $1.10 USD from side pot #1 with three of a kind, Sixes.
e_r_c wins $3.82 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Sixes.
This Week: -$1.17
Total: $53.57
Sunday, 21 October 2007
sunday suckouts!
Sunday I sat down to play after quite a heavy night on Saturday, and wondered whether playing while tired and hungover was the best idea. I quickly got an answer when I rapidly destroyed my first buy-in with some horrible, horrible play.
I rebought back in and slowly, slowly inched my way back up to break even point, occasionally slipping back down a couple of dollars. To be honest, I never really felt like I got into the flow of the game. I was picking up small pots but never really connecting with a big hand.
Anyway, I eventually made my way up by about a dollar and was ready to call it a day, when I got dealt a pair of Jacks, and the player to my left pushed all-in on pre-flop. Normally I'd have dropped the hand, but the very hand before the same player had responded to my preflop raise by pushing all-in, so I was sceptical about the strength of his hand. This was a mistake on my part, as he turned over a pair of Aces! However, it seems the poker gods had decided I was due to some payback after getting sucked out on in previous occasions, see below...
(I'm experimenting with hiding the full hand history to reduce page length, click the link to show it)
***** Hand History for Game 6432882848 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, October 21, 12:58:39 ET 2007
Table Table 130758 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 6: e_r_c ( $6.03 USD )
Seat 3: gamerno ( $1.17 USD )
Seat 5: Schlotzinger ( $1.73 USD )
Seat 1: Hectorleduxe ( $1.41 USD )
Seat 10: Simply1303 ( $1.19 USD )
Seat 8: vonschlagt ( $4.80 USD )
Seat 7: vesa9800 ( $3.19 USD )
Seat 2: starbuckmaus ( $2.09 USD )
Seat 4: linkku70 ( $2.34 USD )
Seat 9: krzmn ( $2 USD )
gamerno posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
linkku70 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Jh Js ]
Schlotzinger folds
e_r_c raises [$0.12 USD]
vesa9800 folds
vonschlagt folds
krzmn folds
Simply1303 folds
Hectorleduxe folds
starbuckmaus calls [$0.12 USD]
gamerno folds
linkku70 is all-In [$2.30 USD]
e_r_c calls [$2.22 USD]
starbuckmaus folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jd, Jc, Td ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7d ]
e_r_c shows [ Jh, Js ]four of a kind, Jacks.
linkku70 doesn't show [ Ac, Ad ]a flush, Ace high.
e_r_c wins $4.58 USD from the main pot with four of a kind, Jacks.
Week's Total: $13.30
Total: $54.74
I rebought back in and slowly, slowly inched my way back up to break even point, occasionally slipping back down a couple of dollars. To be honest, I never really felt like I got into the flow of the game. I was picking up small pots but never really connecting with a big hand.
Anyway, I eventually made my way up by about a dollar and was ready to call it a day, when I got dealt a pair of Jacks, and the player to my left pushed all-in on pre-flop. Normally I'd have dropped the hand, but the very hand before the same player had responded to my preflop raise by pushing all-in, so I was sceptical about the strength of his hand. This was a mistake on my part, as he turned over a pair of Aces! However, it seems the poker gods had decided I was due to some payback after getting sucked out on in previous occasions, see below...
(I'm experimenting with hiding the full hand history to reduce page length, click the link to show it)
JJ v AA suckout
***** Hand History for Game 6432882848 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, October 21, 12:58:39 ET 2007
Table Table 130758 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 6: e_r_c ( $6.03 USD )
Seat 3: gamerno ( $1.17 USD )
Seat 5: Schlotzinger ( $1.73 USD )
Seat 1: Hectorleduxe ( $1.41 USD )
Seat 10: Simply1303 ( $1.19 USD )
Seat 8: vonschlagt ( $4.80 USD )
Seat 7: vesa9800 ( $3.19 USD )
Seat 2: starbuckmaus ( $2.09 USD )
Seat 4: linkku70 ( $2.34 USD )
Seat 9: krzmn ( $2 USD )
gamerno posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
linkku70 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Jh Js ]
Schlotzinger folds
e_r_c raises [$0.12 USD]
vesa9800 folds
vonschlagt folds
krzmn folds
Simply1303 folds
Hectorleduxe folds
starbuckmaus calls [$0.12 USD]
gamerno folds
linkku70 is all-In [$2.30 USD]
e_r_c calls [$2.22 USD]
starbuckmaus folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jd, Jc, Td ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7d ]
e_r_c shows [ Jh, Js ]four of a kind, Jacks.
linkku70 doesn't show [ Ac, Ad ]a flush, Ace high.
e_r_c wins $4.58 USD from the main pot with four of a kind, Jacks.
Week's Total: $13.30
Total: $54.74
Thursday, 18 October 2007
taking all donations...
I've had some positive few sessions since my last post, with a particularly profitable session tonight. Over the weekend through to Monday I had a lot of fun, very swingy play where I doubled up a good few times but busted out almost as much! Some of it was horrible suck-outs and some of it was just my own foolishness but I turned a small profit and enjoyed myself while doing it.
The last two sessions I've played a lot tighter and so suffered a lot less in the way of swing. Wednesday I had a terrible run of hands, never really hitting a big hand throughout. In a way though, it was very good for me, because I still ended up in profit. I think I'm finally getting towards the point where I've got the confidence to go out and grab the small pots, but with the discipline to drop more troublesome hands. Well, mostly...
Anyway, the nice profit margin I have couldn't have happened without a few guys who decided to throw their money at me. So here's a few special mentions:
Firstly Dragoonee, who was a big contributor to tonight's $7.25 profit. Maybe it's just me, but when there's 3 of a suit on the board I slow right down. Just after this pot he said 'fuck you' and fled the table, and I felt a twinge of pity for him, thinking he must have been unlucky with a lower-card flush like Jack/Queen-high. Then I saw what he actually had and all pity disappeared.
#Game No : 6424315032
***** Hand History for Game 6424315032 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, October 18, 16:09:34 ET 2007
Table Table 129355 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: SteveWarris ( $6.44 USD )
Seat 7: Ryoken86 ( $5.81 USD )
Seat 8: Michel1804 ( $3.24 USD )
Seat 9: BigBobbel ( $4.98 USD )
Seat 10: jam27222 ( $1.91 USD )
Seat 1: e_r_c ( $6.63 USD )
Seat 3: GibMir23 ( $4.96 USD )
Seat 6: amber2007111 ( $2.42 USD )
Seat 5: jonez113 ( $1.68 USD )
Seat 4: Dragoonee ( $4.96 USD )
GibMir23 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Dragoonee posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Ac 5c ]
jonez113 calls [$0.04 USD]
amber2007111 folds
Ryoken86 folds
Michel1804 folds
BigBobbel folds
jam27222 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
SteveWarris folds
GibMir23 calls [$0.02 USD]
Dragoonee checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2c, 3d, Kc ]
GibMir23 checks
Dragoonee bets [$0.16 USD]
jonez113 calls [$0.16 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.16 USD]
GibMir23 folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6c ]
Dragoonee bets [$0.72 USD]
jonez113 calls [$0.72 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.72 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Qd ]
Dragoonee bets [$1.60 USD]
jonez113 folds
e_r_c raises [$3.20 USD]
Dragoonee calls [$1.60 USD]
e_r_c shows [ Ac, 5c ]a flush, Ace high.
Dragoonee doesn't show [ Ks, 3s ]two pairs, Kings and Threes.
e_r_c wins $8.74 USD from the main pot with a flush, Ace high.
But my 1st prize goes to Suisse444! Let's look at quite possibly to worst ever example of a time to get your money in:
***** Hand History for Game 6411081455 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, October 14, 09:28:10 ET 2007
Table Table 129296 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: allende5 ( $6.93 USD )
Seat 2: e_r_c ( $5.42 USD )
Seat 6: AlKuhl ( $5 USD )
Seat 8: Nightmare508 ( $2.06 USD )
Seat 10: Europa180g ( $4.96 USD )
Seat 5: kingelvo ( $2.51 USD )
Seat 3: Suisse444 ( $3.89 USD )
Seat 7: coccinella82 ( $4.92 USD )
Seat 9: PartyMaus20 ( $2.36 USD )
Seat 4: henri2912 ( $1.76 USD )
Europa180g posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
allende5 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Kh Kc ]
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
Suisse444 calls [$0.04 USD]
henri2912 folds
kingelvo raises [$0.20 USD]
AlKuhl folds
coccinella82 folds
Nightmare508 calls [$0.20 USD]
PartyMaus20 folds
Europa180g calls [$0.18 USD]
allende5 folds
e_r_c raises [$0.68 USD]
Suisse444 calls [$0.68 USD]
kingelvo is all-In [$2.31 USD]
Nightmare508 folds
Europa180g folds
e_r_c calls [$1.79 USD]
Suisse444 is all-In [$3.17 USD]
e_r_c calls [$1.38 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, 2h, Td ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5d ]
e_r_c shows [ Kh, Kc ]a pair of Kings.
Suisse444 doesn't show [ Ks, 4c ]high card King.
kingelvo shows [ Qh, Qd ]a flush, Queen high.
e_r_c wins $2.62 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Kings.
kingelvo wins $7.58 USD from the main pot with a flush, Queen high.
Now, as you can see, I get horribly sucked out on in this pot. But, luckily for me, I had Suisse444 to make sure I didn't leave empty-handed. Let's look - I'm UTG so I call and hope to get raised, which kingelvo obliges. With another couple of callers I know I can raise fairly large, and do so. Now, Suisse444 has a double raise to face, and he calls. I don't know what he's thinking at this point, since he has a trash hand. A big re-raise might have made sense as an audacious steal attempt, but a call? Things just get worse, as kingelvo moves all-in. I'm pretty sure I've got the best hand so it's an easy call from my point of view. But then Suisse444 pushes all-in too.
Now, what can he really gain from this? If I fold, there's no extra sidepot past what kingevol's put in, and you can't shove someone who's already all-in. He's a huge dog to pretty much any hand.
Of course with the way that board went, if he'd held the other King he'd have walked away with the whole pot, in one of the greatest suckouts in poker history!
So, thank you Suisse444 for my $2.62 donation, I really hope to see you again sometime!
This week: $10.04
Total: $51.48
The last two sessions I've played a lot tighter and so suffered a lot less in the way of swing. Wednesday I had a terrible run of hands, never really hitting a big hand throughout. In a way though, it was very good for me, because I still ended up in profit. I think I'm finally getting towards the point where I've got the confidence to go out and grab the small pots, but with the discipline to drop more troublesome hands. Well, mostly...
Anyway, the nice profit margin I have couldn't have happened without a few guys who decided to throw their money at me. So here's a few special mentions:
Firstly Dragoonee, who was a big contributor to tonight's $7.25 profit. Maybe it's just me, but when there's 3 of a suit on the board I slow right down. Just after this pot he said 'fuck you' and fled the table, and I felt a twinge of pity for him, thinking he must have been unlucky with a lower-card flush like Jack/Queen-high. Then I saw what he actually had and all pity disappeared.
#Game No : 6424315032
***** Hand History for Game 6424315032 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, October 18, 16:09:34 ET 2007
Table Table 129355 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: SteveWarris ( $6.44 USD )
Seat 7: Ryoken86 ( $5.81 USD )
Seat 8: Michel1804 ( $3.24 USD )
Seat 9: BigBobbel ( $4.98 USD )
Seat 10: jam27222 ( $1.91 USD )
Seat 1: e_r_c ( $6.63 USD )
Seat 3: GibMir23 ( $4.96 USD )
Seat 6: amber2007111 ( $2.42 USD )
Seat 5: jonez113 ( $1.68 USD )
Seat 4: Dragoonee ( $4.96 USD )
GibMir23 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Dragoonee posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Ac 5c ]
jonez113 calls [$0.04 USD]
amber2007111 folds
Ryoken86 folds
Michel1804 folds
BigBobbel folds
jam27222 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
SteveWarris folds
GibMir23 calls [$0.02 USD]
Dragoonee checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2c, 3d, Kc ]
GibMir23 checks
Dragoonee bets [$0.16 USD]
jonez113 calls [$0.16 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.16 USD]
GibMir23 folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6c ]
Dragoonee bets [$0.72 USD]
jonez113 calls [$0.72 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.72 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Qd ]
Dragoonee bets [$1.60 USD]
jonez113 folds
e_r_c raises [$3.20 USD]
Dragoonee calls [$1.60 USD]
e_r_c shows [ Ac, 5c ]a flush, Ace high.
Dragoonee doesn't show [ Ks, 3s ]two pairs, Kings and Threes.
e_r_c wins $8.74 USD from the main pot with a flush, Ace high.
But my 1st prize goes to Suisse444! Let's look at quite possibly to worst ever example of a time to get your money in:
***** Hand History for Game 6411081455 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, October 14, 09:28:10 ET 2007
Table Table 129296 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: allende5 ( $6.93 USD )
Seat 2: e_r_c ( $5.42 USD )
Seat 6: AlKuhl ( $5 USD )
Seat 8: Nightmare508 ( $2.06 USD )
Seat 10: Europa180g ( $4.96 USD )
Seat 5: kingelvo ( $2.51 USD )
Seat 3: Suisse444 ( $3.89 USD )
Seat 7: coccinella82 ( $4.92 USD )
Seat 9: PartyMaus20 ( $2.36 USD )
Seat 4: henri2912 ( $1.76 USD )
Europa180g posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
allende5 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Kh Kc ]
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
Suisse444 calls [$0.04 USD]
henri2912 folds
kingelvo raises [$0.20 USD]
AlKuhl folds
coccinella82 folds
Nightmare508 calls [$0.20 USD]
PartyMaus20 folds
Europa180g calls [$0.18 USD]
allende5 folds
e_r_c raises [$0.68 USD]
Suisse444 calls [$0.68 USD]
kingelvo is all-In [$2.31 USD]
Nightmare508 folds
Europa180g folds
e_r_c calls [$1.79 USD]
Suisse444 is all-In [$3.17 USD]
e_r_c calls [$1.38 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, 2h, Td ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5d ]
e_r_c shows [ Kh, Kc ]a pair of Kings.
Suisse444 doesn't show [ Ks, 4c ]high card King.
kingelvo shows [ Qh, Qd ]a flush, Queen high.
e_r_c wins $2.62 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Kings.
kingelvo wins $7.58 USD from the main pot with a flush, Queen high.
Now, as you can see, I get horribly sucked out on in this pot. But, luckily for me, I had Suisse444 to make sure I didn't leave empty-handed. Let's look - I'm UTG so I call and hope to get raised, which kingelvo obliges. With another couple of callers I know I can raise fairly large, and do so. Now, Suisse444 has a double raise to face, and he calls. I don't know what he's thinking at this point, since he has a trash hand. A big re-raise might have made sense as an audacious steal attempt, but a call? Things just get worse, as kingelvo moves all-in. I'm pretty sure I've got the best hand so it's an easy call from my point of view. But then Suisse444 pushes all-in too.
Now, what can he really gain from this? If I fold, there's no extra sidepot past what kingevol's put in, and you can't shove someone who's already all-in. He's a huge dog to pretty much any hand.
Of course with the way that board went, if he'd held the other King he'd have walked away with the whole pot, in one of the greatest suckouts in poker history!
So, thank you Suisse444 for my $2.62 donation, I really hope to see you again sometime!
This week: $10.04
Total: $51.48
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
a new goal, and some very swingy play
This week is the start of my new plan to try and set a firm goal to focus on in my poker. I figure that I'll never get anywhere if just allow myself to just splash around in the very shallows. With that in mind I decided to set myself a target. If I can get my bankroll up to above $100 then I'll move myself up to the higher stake tables. I reckon if I've got something to aim for it will give me a bit more drive and purpose.
So, I've played two sessions this week so far, both of them being profitable, although with the latter session it was a very close run thing!
Once again I've still not learned to get out while ahead, quickly doubling up from my $3 buy-in, then almost as quickly throwing almost all of it away again. A good chunk of it I lost in one hand by giving my opponent too much credit. I'd limped in on the big blind with 8-6o and turned a set of sixes, and lost my money not pinning someone on thinking J-6 was a worth paying to go in with!
As for how I bounced back from $1.50, I've got to hold my hand up and admit to a fair chunk of luck on my part. See below and shake your head at my foolish and fortunate play.
#Game No : 6400222027
***** Hand History for Game 6400222027 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, October 10, 16:24:07 ET 2007
Table Table 127105 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 3: DownHigher ( $5.88 USD )
Seat 9: rodrigoont ( $3.15 USD )
Seat 1: e_r_c ( $1.49 USD )
Seat 5: maestrul05 ( $5.57 USD )
Seat 4: sirexim111 ( $6.98 USD )
Seat 10: macalderini ( $6.54 USD )
Seat 6: tetraspack ( $5.14 USD )
Seat 7: MagicJ444 ( $5.04 USD )
Seat 2: Anagarih ( $3.90 USD )
maestrul05 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
tetraspack posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 9c Ts ]
MagicJ444 folds
rodrigoont folds
macalderini folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
Pract1ce has joined the table.
Anagarih raises [$0.20 USD]
DownHigher folds
sirexim111 folds
maestrul05 folds
tetraspack folds
e_r_c calls [$0.16 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Js, 5d, 7h ]
e_r_c checks
Anagarih bets [$0.30 USD]
e_r_c raises [$1.28 USD]
Anagarih raises [$1.96 USD]
e_r_c is all-In [$0.01 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8c ]
** Dealing River ** [ Ah ]
Anagarih shows [ Ad, Ks ]a pair of Aces.
e_r_c shows [ 9c, Ts ]a straight Seven to Jack.
Anagarih wins $0.97 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Aces.
e_r_c wins $2.89 USD from the main pot with a straight, Seven to Jack.
So, yep I pretty much had no more than 4 outs when I moved in and if I hadn't hit the Eight (or a Nine or Ten technically, since my opponent didn't have a made hand himself) I'd have been broke. My justification is that I was more betting on him dropping his hand, rather than betting on making the straight. Even so it wasn't the smartest play ever, even if it did get me back in the game on this occasion.
As for then doubling up, I had the help of a player who got very excited when his KQ saw a AKQ flop. Shame I had AQ...
So, I'm going to keep track of my wins/losses once more. I've started from a $33ish bankroll, so there's a good way to go to get to $100! Wish me luck...
This week: $5.25
Total: $39.09
So, I've played two sessions this week so far, both of them being profitable, although with the latter session it was a very close run thing!
Once again I've still not learned to get out while ahead, quickly doubling up from my $3 buy-in, then almost as quickly throwing almost all of it away again. A good chunk of it I lost in one hand by giving my opponent too much credit. I'd limped in on the big blind with 8-6o and turned a set of sixes, and lost my money not pinning someone on thinking J-6 was a worth paying to go in with!
As for how I bounced back from $1.50, I've got to hold my hand up and admit to a fair chunk of luck on my part. See below and shake your head at my foolish and fortunate play.
#Game No : 6400222027
***** Hand History for Game 6400222027 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, October 10, 16:24:07 ET 2007
Table Table 127105 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 3: DownHigher ( $5.88 USD )
Seat 9: rodrigoont ( $3.15 USD )
Seat 1: e_r_c ( $1.49 USD )
Seat 5: maestrul05 ( $5.57 USD )
Seat 4: sirexim111 ( $6.98 USD )
Seat 10: macalderini ( $6.54 USD )
Seat 6: tetraspack ( $5.14 USD )
Seat 7: MagicJ444 ( $5.04 USD )
Seat 2: Anagarih ( $3.90 USD )
maestrul05 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
tetraspack posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 9c Ts ]
MagicJ444 folds
rodrigoont folds
macalderini folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
Pract1ce has joined the table.
Anagarih raises [$0.20 USD]
DownHigher folds
sirexim111 folds
maestrul05 folds
tetraspack folds
e_r_c calls [$0.16 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Js, 5d, 7h ]
e_r_c checks
Anagarih bets [$0.30 USD]
e_r_c raises [$1.28 USD]
Anagarih raises [$1.96 USD]
e_r_c is all-In [$0.01 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8c ]
** Dealing River ** [ Ah ]
Anagarih shows [ Ad, Ks ]a pair of Aces.
e_r_c shows [ 9c, Ts ]a straight Seven to Jack.
Anagarih wins $0.97 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Aces.
e_r_c wins $2.89 USD from the main pot with a straight, Seven to Jack.
So, yep I pretty much had no more than 4 outs when I moved in and if I hadn't hit the Eight (or a Nine or Ten technically, since my opponent didn't have a made hand himself) I'd have been broke. My justification is that I was more betting on him dropping his hand, rather than betting on making the straight. Even so it wasn't the smartest play ever, even if it did get me back in the game on this occasion.
As for then doubling up, I had the help of a player who got very excited when his KQ saw a AKQ flop. Shame I had AQ...
So, I'm going to keep track of my wins/losses once more. I've started from a $33ish bankroll, so there's a good way to go to get to $100! Wish me luck...
This week: $5.25
Total: $39.09
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
just what i needed
Finally, I've broken my losing streak!
Tonight I had a really fun session, and ended up $3.71 in profit. Given my current run, I decided to buy-in with a slightly smaller stack of $3. It ended up working quite well - I felt a bit more relaxed with less to risk, and when you're down you're never too far away from being back to break even. Plus, when I was up I was still looking at my pot as if I'd come in with $5, so I wasn't tempted to loosen up too much.
Also, I had a visit to the table from my friend Steve. When he's down on the loose-change tables, where the max buy-in is less than a blind on his tables, he plays very loose bluffy poker, which makes for a very entertaining game. It also meant I had a ready caller when I hit good hands, which is always nice!
In general I felt so much more relaxed compared to the last few sessions I've played. Recently I've been very aware of my bankroll dropping quite steadily, and I've been a little tense. But after mucking around with Steve before he went off to play some real poker, I'd forgotten really about 'needing to win' and was able to just have fun, and I played much better for it.
So, I've ended my losing streak finally and got my confidence back a bit. Let's hope it's the start of a nice upswing, and not a blip in my downward spiral!
Tonight I had a really fun session, and ended up $3.71 in profit. Given my current run, I decided to buy-in with a slightly smaller stack of $3. It ended up working quite well - I felt a bit more relaxed with less to risk, and when you're down you're never too far away from being back to break even. Plus, when I was up I was still looking at my pot as if I'd come in with $5, so I wasn't tempted to loosen up too much.
Also, I had a visit to the table from my friend Steve. When he's down on the loose-change tables, where the max buy-in is less than a blind on his tables, he plays very loose bluffy poker, which makes for a very entertaining game. It also meant I had a ready caller when I hit good hands, which is always nice!
In general I felt so much more relaxed compared to the last few sessions I've played. Recently I've been very aware of my bankroll dropping quite steadily, and I've been a little tense. But after mucking around with Steve before he went off to play some real poker, I'd forgotten really about 'needing to win' and was able to just have fun, and I played much better for it.
So, I've ended my losing streak finally and got my confidence back a bit. Let's hope it's the start of a nice upswing, and not a blip in my downward spiral!
Monday, 1 October 2007
definitively on tilt
I haven't posted for a while, partly because I didn't play for a bit, but then latterly because I've finished most sessions feeling pretty despondent. The last half dozen sessions I've played I've ended up down, usually to the tune of at least one buy-in ($5).
Some of it I can put down to bad luck - getting Aces cracked on the river by Queens, or AK being sucked out by A5, but that doesn't explain away most of it. I've diagnosed a huge leak as getting into pots with 'trouble hands'. I was re-reading Brunson and had an epiphany that most of the hands I'd lost a big chunk on were listed in his 'trouble hands' section. In particular AJ - I think that hand alone has cost me about $10!
So, tonight I resolved to tighten up. I wrote down notes on playing each hand type and made sure to put a big box around all the trouble hands to remind me. With this new, sensible style I was feeling confident....
...I lost my stack again, plus most of almost all of a smaller buy-in. Fittingly a chunk of it was on AJ, but in my defense, I did have 2 pairs when I got nailed by the flush draw.
Weirdly, I actually seem to do worse when I tighten up - I think because by playing fewer hands I'm picking up fewer small pots when no-one hits on the flop. Although, crucially, I seem to have forgotten how to get value out a hand when I have one. I can't remember the last big hand that I was in where I got all my money in and got paid off, with the exception of when I've already been knocked down to a short stack and so 'all-my-money' is about $1.80. Twice I've had quads in the last two days and got not much more than $1 for them each time. A lot of the time that's just luck in not having an opponent with a good hand to bet at, but it still adds up to me losing big and winning small, which is not the correct way round!
Anyway, I clearly need to really look at how I play. I need to sit down and actually work out whether my bluffs are costing me more than they're making, whether I'm playing good hands too fast or too slow, in particular whether I'm paying too much on chasing draws. And I need to fix it soon before I run out of money...
UPDATE: A history of one of the last hands I played tonight:
#Game No : 6375758021
***** Hand History for Game 6375758021 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, October 01, 19:26:01 ET 2007
Table Table 130478 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 4: e_r_c ( $0.54 USD )
Seat 2: psycow777 ( $5.04 USD )
Seat 1: LeonOrellano ( $7.53 USD )
Seat 9: Ocean53 ( $5.82 USD )
Seat 10: neato451 ( $6.17 USD )
Seat 3: Jan145111 ( $4.94 USD )
Seat 5: Hurdy_G ( $4.94 USD )
Seat 8: akrde ( $5 USD )
Seat 7: Tante_Kaete ( $2.16 USD )
Seat 6: korningg ( $0 USD )
akrde posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Ocean53 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Td 2s ]
neato451 folds
korningg has joined the table.
LeonOrellano folds
psycow777 folds
Jan145111 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
Hurdy_G folds
Tante_Kaete folds
akrde calls [$0.02 USD]
Ocean53 checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ac, Jc, 8c ]
akrde checks
Ocean53 checks
e_r_c bets [$0.12 USD]
akrde folds
Ocean53 folds
e_r_c shows [ Td, 2s ]high card Ace.
e_r_c wins $0.24 USD from the main pot with high card, Ace.
psycow777: cool
e_r_c: that was my homage to doyle brunson
Some of it I can put down to bad luck - getting Aces cracked on the river by Queens, or AK being sucked out by A5, but that doesn't explain away most of it. I've diagnosed a huge leak as getting into pots with 'trouble hands'. I was re-reading Brunson and had an epiphany that most of the hands I'd lost a big chunk on were listed in his 'trouble hands' section. In particular AJ - I think that hand alone has cost me about $10!
So, tonight I resolved to tighten up. I wrote down notes on playing each hand type and made sure to put a big box around all the trouble hands to remind me. With this new, sensible style I was feeling confident....
...I lost my stack again, plus most of almost all of a smaller buy-in. Fittingly a chunk of it was on AJ, but in my defense, I did have 2 pairs when I got nailed by the flush draw.
Weirdly, I actually seem to do worse when I tighten up - I think because by playing fewer hands I'm picking up fewer small pots when no-one hits on the flop. Although, crucially, I seem to have forgotten how to get value out a hand when I have one. I can't remember the last big hand that I was in where I got all my money in and got paid off, with the exception of when I've already been knocked down to a short stack and so 'all-my-money' is about $1.80. Twice I've had quads in the last two days and got not much more than $1 for them each time. A lot of the time that's just luck in not having an opponent with a good hand to bet at, but it still adds up to me losing big and winning small, which is not the correct way round!
Anyway, I clearly need to really look at how I play. I need to sit down and actually work out whether my bluffs are costing me more than they're making, whether I'm playing good hands too fast or too slow, in particular whether I'm paying too much on chasing draws. And I need to fix it soon before I run out of money...
UPDATE: A history of one of the last hands I played tonight:
#Game No : 6375758021
***** Hand History for Game 6375758021 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, October 01, 19:26:01 ET 2007
Table Table 130478 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 4: e_r_c ( $0.54 USD )
Seat 2: psycow777 ( $5.04 USD )
Seat 1: LeonOrellano ( $7.53 USD )
Seat 9: Ocean53 ( $5.82 USD )
Seat 10: neato451 ( $6.17 USD )
Seat 3: Jan145111 ( $4.94 USD )
Seat 5: Hurdy_G ( $4.94 USD )
Seat 8: akrde ( $5 USD )
Seat 7: Tante_Kaete ( $2.16 USD )
Seat 6: korningg ( $0 USD )
akrde posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Ocean53 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Td 2s ]
neato451 folds
korningg has joined the table.
LeonOrellano folds
psycow777 folds
Jan145111 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
Hurdy_G folds
Tante_Kaete folds
akrde calls [$0.02 USD]
Ocean53 checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ac, Jc, 8c ]
akrde checks
Ocean53 checks
e_r_c bets [$0.12 USD]
akrde folds
Ocean53 folds
e_r_c shows [ Td, 2s ]high card Ace.
e_r_c wins $0.24 USD from the main pot with high card, Ace.
psycow777: cool
e_r_c: that was my homage to doyle brunson
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