...I hang around far past the point I'm really enjoying myself or focussing properly and end up losing money. I'm really angry with myself because I spoiled a great deal of good play just from a refusal to stop playing when I knew I really should.
I'd played well across a couple of tables, and was around $4 up. I decided to have one more go, and yet again I let myself go totally on tilt. I dropped down to about $2 (from usual $5 buy-in), built myself back up to about $3.50 but just couldn't bring myself to stand-up from the table! Instead I just got looser and looser, until I finally wiped out. It's becoming quite a common problem for me now, the inability to leave until I'm either wiped-out or back in profit. The stupid thing is that overall I'd still have been up if I'd walked away with $3.50, or even with $2. But instead I just get trapped, and get frustrated and fatalistic.
It's a huge hole in my game, much bigger at the moment than any of the actual strategy and something I need to fix as soon as I can.
Monday 23 July 2007
Friday 20 July 2007
feels good!
The last few sessions, although I've felt I'm improving in my play style, I've either been making a loss or just a small profit, so today it feels pretty good to leave with a nice profit which I feel like I earned!
In general I was happy with my play, though I noticed I've started over-using the shove, misjudging the committment of other players, which means I've lost more chips than I needed to when holding a weak hand.
The wins came from two big hands, one of which allowed me to do my first hero call and take the stack of someone trying to buy their way out of the hand.
#Game No : 6167951572
***** Hand History for Game 6167951572 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, July 20, 14:01:35 ET 2007
Table Table 126376 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: umpi1166 ( $5.60 USD )
Seat 7: NoRegretLife ( $5 USD )
Seat 9: Sciter ( $4.47 USD )
Seat 4: markusb0815 ( $2.76 USD )
Seat 2: snappyman ( $1.70 USD )
Seat 3: e_r_c ( $4.39 USD )
Seat 6: xsardas ( $7.17 USD )
Seat 5: Pokerlady701 ( $4.76 USD )
Seat 10: Vlim_Zarnas ( $4.88 USD )
Seat 8: Raistlin1976 ( $5 USD )
Vlim_Zarnas posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
umpi1166 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Kc Kd ]
snappyman folds
e_r_c raises [$0.12 USD]
markusb0815 calls [$0.12 USD]
Pokerlady701 folds
xsardas folds
NoRegretLife folds
Raistlin1976 folds
Sciter calls [$0.12 USD]
Vlim_Zarnas folds
umpi1166 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4h, 7d, 6c ]
e_r_c bets [$0.20 USD]
markusb0815 calls [$0.20 USD]
Sciter folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
e_r_c bets [$0.78 USD]
markusb0815 is all-In [$2.44 USD]
e_r_c calls [$1.66 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
e_r_c shows [ Kc, Kd ]a pair of Kings.
markusb0815 doesn't show [ Qd, Ah ]high card Ace.
e_r_c wins $5.42 USD from the main pot with a pair of Kings.
As you can see, markusb0815 has a paltry three outs with an Ace after the turn (so that's roughly a 6 - 7% chance of winning the hand) So, he tries to scare me off. I had a moment's pause because I'm always overly cautious when there's any chance of a straight, but I bet on him not have weathered the betting this far if he was holding a low card like a 5 and took it to the showdown. It was a nice feeling!
#Game No : 6167954828
***** Hand History for Game 6167954828 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, July 20, 14:03:05 ET 2007
Table Table 126376 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: umpi1166 ( $5.54 USD )
Seat 7: NoRegretLife ( $5 USD )
Seat 9: Sciter ( $4.27 USD )
Seat 2: snappyman ( $1.70 USD )
Seat 3: e_r_c ( $7.22 USD )
Seat 6: xsardas ( $7.17 USD )
Seat 5: Pokerlady701 ( $4.68 USD )
Seat 10: Vlim_Zarnas ( $4.86 USD )
Seat 8: Raistlin1976 ( $5 USD )
Seat 4: Neidomu ( $5 USD )
e_r_c posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Neidomu posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 9c 9d ]
Pokerlady701 raises [$0.08 USD]
xsardas folds
NoRegretLife folds
Raistlin1976 folds
Sciter folds
Vlim_Zarnas raises [$0.16 USD]
umpi1166 calls [$0.16 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.14 USD]
Neidomu folds
Pokerlady701 calls [$0.08 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ts, 9s, Ad ]
e_r_c bets [$0.40 USD]
Pokerlady701 calls [$0.40 USD]
Vlim_Zarnas folds
umpi1166 calls [$0.40 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2h ]
e_r_c bets [$1 USD]
Pokerlady701 folds
umpi1166 calls [$1 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 3c ]
e_r_c checks
umpi1166 bets [$1.08 USD]
e_r_c calls [$1.08 USD]
umpi1166 shows [ Kh, As ]a pair of Aces.
e_r_c shows [ 9c, 9d ]three of a kind, Nines.
e_r_c wins $5.74 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Nines.
This hand I was quite lucky to get a fair bit of action, with some pre-flop raising and four of us seeing the flop which turned out really nicely for me. Not only did I hit my set, but the Ace there meant people most likely misjudged what I was holding and thought themselves to have a strong hand. To be honest, I was less concerned with the Ace than I was with the ten, because I was fairly sure no-one had pocket Aces, but a pair of Tens in the hole could have been possible. My check on the turn was again down to my irrational fear of straights, as if someone would have called those bets holding 4,5! When he bet I was THIS close to pushing all-in, but I just wasn't quite sure enough.
So, a really satisfying session, which ended doubled up at $10 and has pushed me back up into profit. Vindication! I'm not a terrible poker player after all!
This month's profit: $2.15
In general I was happy with my play, though I noticed I've started over-using the shove, misjudging the committment of other players, which means I've lost more chips than I needed to when holding a weak hand.
The wins came from two big hands, one of which allowed me to do my first hero call and take the stack of someone trying to buy their way out of the hand.
#Game No : 6167951572
***** Hand History for Game 6167951572 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, July 20, 14:01:35 ET 2007
Table Table 126376 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: umpi1166 ( $5.60 USD )
Seat 7: NoRegretLife ( $5 USD )
Seat 9: Sciter ( $4.47 USD )
Seat 4: markusb0815 ( $2.76 USD )
Seat 2: snappyman ( $1.70 USD )
Seat 3: e_r_c ( $4.39 USD )
Seat 6: xsardas ( $7.17 USD )
Seat 5: Pokerlady701 ( $4.76 USD )
Seat 10: Vlim_Zarnas ( $4.88 USD )
Seat 8: Raistlin1976 ( $5 USD )
Vlim_Zarnas posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
umpi1166 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Kc Kd ]
snappyman folds
e_r_c raises [$0.12 USD]
markusb0815 calls [$0.12 USD]
Pokerlady701 folds
xsardas folds
NoRegretLife folds
Raistlin1976 folds
Sciter calls [$0.12 USD]
Vlim_Zarnas folds
umpi1166 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4h, 7d, 6c ]
e_r_c bets [$0.20 USD]
markusb0815 calls [$0.20 USD]
Sciter folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
e_r_c bets [$0.78 USD]
markusb0815 is all-In [$2.44 USD]
e_r_c calls [$1.66 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
e_r_c shows [ Kc, Kd ]a pair of Kings.
markusb0815 doesn't show [ Qd, Ah ]high card Ace.
e_r_c wins $5.42 USD from the main pot with a pair of Kings.
As you can see, markusb0815 has a paltry three outs with an Ace after the turn (so that's roughly a 6 - 7% chance of winning the hand) So, he tries to scare me off. I had a moment's pause because I'm always overly cautious when there's any chance of a straight, but I bet on him not have weathered the betting this far if he was holding a low card like a 5 and took it to the showdown. It was a nice feeling!
#Game No : 6167954828
***** Hand History for Game 6167954828 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, July 20, 14:03:05 ET 2007
Table Table 126376 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: umpi1166 ( $5.54 USD )
Seat 7: NoRegretLife ( $5 USD )
Seat 9: Sciter ( $4.27 USD )
Seat 2: snappyman ( $1.70 USD )
Seat 3: e_r_c ( $7.22 USD )
Seat 6: xsardas ( $7.17 USD )
Seat 5: Pokerlady701 ( $4.68 USD )
Seat 10: Vlim_Zarnas ( $4.86 USD )
Seat 8: Raistlin1976 ( $5 USD )
Seat 4: Neidomu ( $5 USD )
e_r_c posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Neidomu posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 9c 9d ]
Pokerlady701 raises [$0.08 USD]
xsardas folds
NoRegretLife folds
Raistlin1976 folds
Sciter folds
Vlim_Zarnas raises [$0.16 USD]
umpi1166 calls [$0.16 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.14 USD]
Neidomu folds
Pokerlady701 calls [$0.08 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ts, 9s, Ad ]
e_r_c bets [$0.40 USD]
Pokerlady701 calls [$0.40 USD]
Vlim_Zarnas folds
umpi1166 calls [$0.40 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2h ]
e_r_c bets [$1 USD]
Pokerlady701 folds
umpi1166 calls [$1 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 3c ]
e_r_c checks
umpi1166 bets [$1.08 USD]
e_r_c calls [$1.08 USD]
umpi1166 shows [ Kh, As ]a pair of Aces.
e_r_c shows [ 9c, 9d ]three of a kind, Nines.
e_r_c wins $5.74 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Nines.
This hand I was quite lucky to get a fair bit of action, with some pre-flop raising and four of us seeing the flop which turned out really nicely for me. Not only did I hit my set, but the Ace there meant people most likely misjudged what I was holding and thought themselves to have a strong hand. To be honest, I was less concerned with the Ace than I was with the ten, because I was fairly sure no-one had pocket Aces, but a pair of Tens in the hole could have been possible. My check on the turn was again down to my irrational fear of straights, as if someone would have called those bets holding 4,5! When he bet I was THIS close to pushing all-in, but I just wasn't quite sure enough.
So, a really satisfying session, which ended doubled up at $10 and has pushed me back up into profit. Vindication! I'm not a terrible poker player after all!
This month's profit: $2.15
Sunday 15 July 2007
Leave the table, moron!
When I'm playing, I'm often also thinking about what I've learned that session and what I'll say about it in these posts. On Saturday, the tone of what I was going to write changed drastically about three times. First off, it was going to be something fairly positive, since I'd played a short session, made a round $1.50 in that short time, mainly due to the generosity of a nice Dutch player called g_niels who was very fond of raising and preflop and then letting me push him off the pot postflop. The only time he was brave enough to call some fairly hefty bets by myself, he ran right into a set of Aces. Since the flop was 4,A,A and he had K4, I'm not sure quite why he did that, but I was happy to bankrupt him. So with my modest but pleasantly rounded profit I was ready to log off. Insanity follows.
I was a couple of places away from the button, so I'd just see the next hand and then leave with a nice round profit. But then, disaster! Two people sat the hand out so I was forced to be big blind. Obviously I couldn't leave with $1.46, that would be madness! So, I played a few more hands, and was down to $1.06. With the blinds approaching I could see my hand for those two and if I didn't hit anything I'd have a nice round dollar. But no, I got I decent hand on the SB, and so called a bet, only to have to fold. So now I've got less than a dollar, and I can't leave the table with that pittance. So I play some more... and end up around $3 down.
Queue the next planned post, a sober reflection on the need to quit while ahead. Luckily, again going quite badly down managed to shake me up enough to get me to focus and build myself back up again. Most of the credit for ending up in profit, though, was down to one big hand, which I'm not printing because it's on a different computer to the one I'm writing this on.
I limped into the flop with 3s,4s, and saw Qs,6h,5s. So I had outs on a 2, a 7, or any Spade. A guy, Liatch, put in a small bet, which two of us called, and then another bet on the turn. I raised, seeing if I could push him off and he called and we went to river. The river was the Ace of Spades, giving me the flush. Liatch put in a reasonable bet, and I went all-in. He must have figured it for a bluff because he didn't hesitate to call me, and to give me a very nice pay-off. I was pretty quick to leave after that, with a $1.09 profit.
So, the third tone for this post: sober reflection on need to quit while ahead, and to fear the mentality I get into just before quitting, mixed with some positives on it being the first time I've gone all-in by my own choice and got the pay-off.
SUNDAY:
I took the 'quit while ahead' approach to heart today, playing for less than half an hour and leaving $2 ahead.
This month's total: -$4.88
I was a couple of places away from the button, so I'd just see the next hand and then leave with a nice round profit. But then, disaster! Two people sat the hand out so I was forced to be big blind. Obviously I couldn't leave with $1.46, that would be madness! So, I played a few more hands, and was down to $1.06. With the blinds approaching I could see my hand for those two and if I didn't hit anything I'd have a nice round dollar. But no, I got I decent hand on the SB, and so called a bet, only to have to fold. So now I've got less than a dollar, and I can't leave the table with that pittance. So I play some more... and end up around $3 down.
Queue the next planned post, a sober reflection on the need to quit while ahead. Luckily, again going quite badly down managed to shake me up enough to get me to focus and build myself back up again. Most of the credit for ending up in profit, though, was down to one big hand, which I'm not printing because it's on a different computer to the one I'm writing this on.
I limped into the flop with 3s,4s, and saw Qs,6h,5s. So I had outs on a 2, a 7, or any Spade. A guy, Liatch, put in a small bet, which two of us called, and then another bet on the turn. I raised, seeing if I could push him off and he called and we went to river. The river was the Ace of Spades, giving me the flush. Liatch put in a reasonable bet, and I went all-in. He must have figured it for a bluff because he didn't hesitate to call me, and to give me a very nice pay-off. I was pretty quick to leave after that, with a $1.09 profit.
So, the third tone for this post: sober reflection on need to quit while ahead, and to fear the mentality I get into just before quitting, mixed with some positives on it being the first time I've gone all-in by my own choice and got the pay-off.
SUNDAY:
I took the 'quit while ahead' approach to heart today, playing for less than half an hour and leaving $2 ahead.
This month's total: -$4.88
Thursday 12 July 2007
Playing better, losing bigger
Well, this month's total is now hovering somewhere around $9 loss, but I'm feeling fairly positive. I had a fun session on Monday where my friend Steve came down from the big leagues to play on the same table as me and give me some tips. To put it in perspective, the maximum buy-in on the tables I play on is the cost of a small blind at his usual level.
Anyway, with a bit of help from Steve, something finally clicked in terms of the betting. I'm being a bit more agressive with placing bets, so that I'm properly rewarded when called, and win a greater number of pots when my opponents are hesitant by taking them down on turn. The downside to this tactic is if my opponent sticks it out and hits something at the river, I lose a lot more than I would have done previously! The session with Steve ended with me losing a good chunk of money when the guy hit a flush on the river after I'd been ahead through the flop and the turn.
Tuesday I did manage to turn a small profit. It was just $0.60 but it felt good because I felt I'd really worked back up from low down (just $1.56 left from a $5 buy-in) to achieve it. I'd gone in and been a little loose and unfocussed at first, which combined with a new more agressive betting style meant I dropped money fairly quickly. Once I tightened up though, I felt a lot better, a lot more in control of each hand than I normally have. Just by assessing when people are not confident in the hand and putting in a small bet rather than checking I was able to arrest the usual slow bleed that I normally suffer from that eats away my money.
There's a couple of hands I'd like to put up for analysis, that nag me because I don't think I played them well. But I'm out of time for now, so they'll have to wait...
UPDATE:
Okay, here was one hand that bugged me a little.
#Game No : 6139485895
***** Hand History for Game 6139485895 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, July 10, 16:04:02 ET 2007
Table Table 126410 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 5: e_r_c ( $3.91 USD )
Seat 8: Black_Code1 ( $5.84 USD )
Seat 9: Cruzephyx ( $5.56 USD )
Seat 7: Oskaron ( $5.06 USD )
Seat 6: vatai_b ( $4.75 USD )
Seat 2: gabbyka ( $4.75 USD )
Seat 1: cbpoker75 ( $5 USD )
Seat 4: mad223 ( $4.83 USD )
Oskaron posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Black_Code1 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 7s 8s ]
Cruzephyx folds
cbpoker75 calls [$0.04 USD]
mad223 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
gabbyka has left the table.
vatai_b calls [$0.04 USD]
Oskaron calls [$0.02 USD]
Black_Code1 checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, Jc, 5d ]
Oskaron bets [$0.16 USD]
Black_Code1 folds
cbpoker75 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.16 USD]
vatai_b calls [$0.16 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4d ]
Oskaron bets [$0.32 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.32 USD]
vatai_b folds
** Dealing River ** [ 6s ]
Oskaron bets [$0.57 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.57 USD]
Oskaron shows [ 9c, Ad ]a pair of Nines.
e_r_c shows [ 7s, 8s ]a straight Five to Nine.
e_r_c wins $2.34 USD from the main pot with a straight, Five to Nine.
The table I was on was pretty passive, so I thought it was worth limping in and seeing what turned up. From the flop I had outs for a straight on any Ten, any Six and runner,runner on a flush. The turn nixed my flush draw, but I still had outs for the straight so I called to see the river and hit my hand. What bugs me is that I then just called the guy's bet. At the time I had some kind of vague worry that he had a higher straight than I did, but looking over it again I see how unlikely, or in fact impossible, that is. There's no reason for me not re-raising that bet.
UPDATE 2:
Played another session on Thursday night, and ended it $0.77 up. I didn't have any regrets with the way I played, the only thing that grated was again I always seem to hit a big hand when everyone else has junk. I get AA and put in a modest preflop bet, and everyone folds. I hit a straight flush, and everyone's already ticked the 'Fold to any Bet' button.
Most annoying though, I limp in with A2o, and turn the straight. I put in a bet and finally get some action. The river drops a 2 and the guy gets to split my pot because he's got an Ace!
Anyway, I've got into the habit of calculating my outs, but not yet got the knack of properly translating it and comparing it to the pot. My plan is to go back through the histories of my bigger pots, and retroactively work out whether I made the right call. So wish me luck with that, as I shake off the dormant part of my brain i once used to do maths with...
This month's total: -$7.97
Anyway, with a bit of help from Steve, something finally clicked in terms of the betting. I'm being a bit more agressive with placing bets, so that I'm properly rewarded when called, and win a greater number of pots when my opponents are hesitant by taking them down on turn. The downside to this tactic is if my opponent sticks it out and hits something at the river, I lose a lot more than I would have done previously! The session with Steve ended with me losing a good chunk of money when the guy hit a flush on the river after I'd been ahead through the flop and the turn.
Tuesday I did manage to turn a small profit. It was just $0.60 but it felt good because I felt I'd really worked back up from low down (just $1.56 left from a $5 buy-in) to achieve it. I'd gone in and been a little loose and unfocussed at first, which combined with a new more agressive betting style meant I dropped money fairly quickly. Once I tightened up though, I felt a lot better, a lot more in control of each hand than I normally have. Just by assessing when people are not confident in the hand and putting in a small bet rather than checking I was able to arrest the usual slow bleed that I normally suffer from that eats away my money.
There's a couple of hands I'd like to put up for analysis, that nag me because I don't think I played them well. But I'm out of time for now, so they'll have to wait...
UPDATE:
Okay, here was one hand that bugged me a little.
#Game No : 6139485895
***** Hand History for Game 6139485895 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, July 10, 16:04:02 ET 2007
Table Table 126410 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 5: e_r_c ( $3.91 USD )
Seat 8: Black_Code1 ( $5.84 USD )
Seat 9: Cruzephyx ( $5.56 USD )
Seat 7: Oskaron ( $5.06 USD )
Seat 6: vatai_b ( $4.75 USD )
Seat 2: gabbyka ( $4.75 USD )
Seat 1: cbpoker75 ( $5 USD )
Seat 4: mad223 ( $4.83 USD )
Oskaron posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Black_Code1 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 7s 8s ]
Cruzephyx folds
cbpoker75 calls [$0.04 USD]
mad223 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
gabbyka has left the table.
vatai_b calls [$0.04 USD]
Oskaron calls [$0.02 USD]
Black_Code1 checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, Jc, 5d ]
Oskaron bets [$0.16 USD]
Black_Code1 folds
cbpoker75 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.16 USD]
vatai_b calls [$0.16 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4d ]
Oskaron bets [$0.32 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.32 USD]
vatai_b folds
** Dealing River ** [ 6s ]
Oskaron bets [$0.57 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.57 USD]
Oskaron shows [ 9c, Ad ]a pair of Nines.
e_r_c shows [ 7s, 8s ]a straight Five to Nine.
e_r_c wins $2.34 USD from the main pot with a straight, Five to Nine.
The table I was on was pretty passive, so I thought it was worth limping in and seeing what turned up. From the flop I had outs for a straight on any Ten, any Six and runner,runner on a flush. The turn nixed my flush draw, but I still had outs for the straight so I called to see the river and hit my hand. What bugs me is that I then just called the guy's bet. At the time I had some kind of vague worry that he had a higher straight than I did, but looking over it again I see how unlikely, or in fact impossible, that is. There's no reason for me not re-raising that bet.
UPDATE 2:
Played another session on Thursday night, and ended it $0.77 up. I didn't have any regrets with the way I played, the only thing that grated was again I always seem to hit a big hand when everyone else has junk. I get AA and put in a modest preflop bet, and everyone folds. I hit a straight flush, and everyone's already ticked the 'Fold to any Bet' button.
Most annoying though, I limp in with A2o, and turn the straight. I put in a bet and finally get some action. The river drops a 2 and the guy gets to split my pot because he's got an Ace!
Anyway, I've got into the habit of calculating my outs, but not yet got the knack of properly translating it and comparing it to the pot. My plan is to go back through the histories of my bigger pots, and retroactively work out whether I made the right call. So wish me luck with that, as I shake off the dormant part of my brain i once used to do maths with...
This month's total: -$7.97
Sunday 8 July 2007
ups and downs (mainly downs)
I played quite heavily this weekend, playing on both Friday evening and most of Saturday. Well, actually I'll revise that. I played poker on Saturday, on Friday I just sat in front of the computer and doled out money to anyone that asked.
I basically did everything it's possible to do wrong on Friday; I played with lots of distractions around (the window was open because it was warm and so the television was on ridiculously loud to drown out the noise of the city); I called big raises when I should have read from the board the danger I was in, twice I ran a Ace-high flush right into the jaws of a full house; when I did win it was for tiny amounts because I fluffed the betting; I allowed myself to get frustrated and into the mentality of 'winning my money back' with the consequence that I played on far past the point I was enjoying myself and just dribbled away further money.
So, pretty much an unqualified disaster, losing me $4.74 and putting me way down for July but more importantly erasing all of my previous profits and putting me in loss. It's only $0.64 down at the moment, but it's still a little disheartening.
Saturday I decided to try something different, and entered a couple of the Rookie Freerolls. It was my first time playing tournaments and it's very much a different game to the cash tables. I played three tourneys, each with just over a thousand entrants, placing 143rd, 743rd and 265th respectively. The relatively poor performance in the 2nd tourney came from being on a very aggressive table at the beginning. To survive it I really tightened up, but I didn't hit any 1st tier hands and so when I was moved to a new table full of big stackers I got flattened.
Although I placed lower in the 3rd tournament, I thought I played it very well. A couple of problems I've mentioned before is that I don't take notice of people's stack sizes when betting against them and that I'm far too reserved with betting when I'm ahead. With a tournament it's ALL about stack sizes and I felt it played well terrorising the small stacks and going all-in against big stacks when I had the nuts. I think I could've gone much further, but it was getting late and so I started playing like I didn't care if I got eliminated, which was true, and lucrative until I went all-in against someone with AA...
I'm hoping I'll be able to bring some of that back to the cash game tables, although I've got to be conscious that they're a very different game!
This month's total: -$4.34
I basically did everything it's possible to do wrong on Friday; I played with lots of distractions around (the window was open because it was warm and so the television was on ridiculously loud to drown out the noise of the city); I called big raises when I should have read from the board the danger I was in, twice I ran a Ace-high flush right into the jaws of a full house; when I did win it was for tiny amounts because I fluffed the betting; I allowed myself to get frustrated and into the mentality of 'winning my money back' with the consequence that I played on far past the point I was enjoying myself and just dribbled away further money.
So, pretty much an unqualified disaster, losing me $4.74 and putting me way down for July but more importantly erasing all of my previous profits and putting me in loss. It's only $0.64 down at the moment, but it's still a little disheartening.
Saturday I decided to try something different, and entered a couple of the Rookie Freerolls. It was my first time playing tournaments and it's very much a different game to the cash tables. I played three tourneys, each with just over a thousand entrants, placing 143rd, 743rd and 265th respectively. The relatively poor performance in the 2nd tourney came from being on a very aggressive table at the beginning. To survive it I really tightened up, but I didn't hit any 1st tier hands and so when I was moved to a new table full of big stackers I got flattened.
Although I placed lower in the 3rd tournament, I thought I played it very well. A couple of problems I've mentioned before is that I don't take notice of people's stack sizes when betting against them and that I'm far too reserved with betting when I'm ahead. With a tournament it's ALL about stack sizes and I felt it played well terrorising the small stacks and going all-in against big stacks when I had the nuts. I think I could've gone much further, but it was getting late and so I started playing like I didn't care if I got eliminated, which was true, and lucrative until I went all-in against someone with AA...
I'm hoping I'll be able to bring some of that back to the cash game tables, although I've got to be conscious that they're a very different game!
This month's total: -$4.34
Thursday 5 July 2007
quick session
A very quick session to start the month, I was only on for about 45 minutes. In that time I was trying to play pretty tight and so I don't think I saw more than 2 showdowns, one of which I won. Of course the hand I won on I probably should have folded if I was playing super-tight, but hey...
#Game No : 6124375788
***** Hand History for Game 6124375788 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, July 05, 15:11:21 ET 2007
Table Table 125972 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Lekos111 ( $1.58 USD )
Seat 8: polhokustaa ( $4.16 USD )
Seat 9: e_r_c ( $2.08 USD )
Seat 4: rimviss99 ( $1.84 USD )
Seat 6: vinc80vega ( $5.24 USD )
Seat 3: RAYBODIE ( $1.68 USD )
Seat 10: ruffyMR ( $5.06 USD )
Seat 2: confy_pp ( $4.35 USD )
Seat 5: realDStrange ( $1.48 USD )
Seat 7: natalka3333 ( $1.72 USD )
rimviss99 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
realDStrange posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Kh Tc ]
vinc80vega folds
natalka3333 folds
polhokustaa folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
ruffyMR could not respond in time.(disconnected)
ruffyMR folds
Lekos111 folds
confy_pp calls [$0.04 USD]
RAYBODIE folds
rimviss99 folds
realDStrange checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, Jc, Ah ]
realDStrange checks
e_r_c checks
confy_pp checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8c ]
realDStrange bets [$0.16 USD]
e_r_c raises [$0.40 USD]
confy_pp folds
realDStrange raises [$0.48 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.24 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 2s ]
realDStrange is all-In [$0.80 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.80 USD]
realDStrange shows [ Ad, Js ]two pairs, Aces and Jacks.
e_r_c shows [ Kh, Tc ]a straight Ten to Ace.
e_r_c wins $2.87 USD from the main pot with a straight, Ten to Ace.
So, as you can see I wasn't dealt a total killer hand [K,T offsuit] and I did consider dropping it. At the lower stakes tables though, play tends to be less aggressive and so you've got a lot more chance of seeing the flop without any raises. When I hit the straight on the flop, I was pretty sure I'd got the nuts. I've been trying to try different betting strategies to get an idea of what works and what doesn't, so I decided to check and see how others thought they were doing. No-one wanted to chance a bet and we went to the turn.
On the turn we get an 8c, which doesn't give me anything to worry about, and realDStrange puts in a fairly conservative bet, and then re-raises my raise. Come the river and I'm certain I'm ahead - he saves me the problem of working out how much I can extract from him and goes All-in, and I'm happy to call and take all his money.
I'm not really sure what his betting pattern was really about - I can only think is that my check at the flop totally threw out of his head the idea of a straight. Even then, the obvious thought on my re-raise would be that I'd hit a set of 8s. That might just show my lack of sophistication still at reading hands, of course. I guess he could have thought I was on a Heart or Clubs flush draw and thought he could shove me off when neither hit, or had two lower pairs like Aces and 8s and wanted to get his money's worth.
The fact all these thoughts don't turn up until a good while after the hand is probably why I still have a good way to go before I'm a decent player. Similarly, my first attempts at working out outs and pot odds are so far hampered by it just taking me a bit too long to think about it. (not that I had that many hands post-flop to try it out on this session)
So, stuff to think about even from that short a session, and I kick off July with a (teeny) profit.
This month's profit: $0.33
#Game No : 6124375788
***** Hand History for Game 6124375788 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, July 05, 15:11:21 ET 2007
Table Table 125972 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Lekos111 ( $1.58 USD )
Seat 8: polhokustaa ( $4.16 USD )
Seat 9: e_r_c ( $2.08 USD )
Seat 4: rimviss99 ( $1.84 USD )
Seat 6: vinc80vega ( $5.24 USD )
Seat 3: RAYBODIE ( $1.68 USD )
Seat 10: ruffyMR ( $5.06 USD )
Seat 2: confy_pp ( $4.35 USD )
Seat 5: realDStrange ( $1.48 USD )
Seat 7: natalka3333 ( $1.72 USD )
rimviss99 posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
realDStrange posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ Kh Tc ]
vinc80vega folds
natalka3333 folds
polhokustaa folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
ruffyMR could not respond in time.(disconnected)
ruffyMR folds
Lekos111 folds
confy_pp calls [$0.04 USD]
RAYBODIE folds
rimviss99 folds
realDStrange checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, Jc, Ah ]
realDStrange checks
e_r_c checks
confy_pp checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8c ]
realDStrange bets [$0.16 USD]
e_r_c raises [$0.40 USD]
confy_pp folds
realDStrange raises [$0.48 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.24 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 2s ]
realDStrange is all-In [$0.80 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.80 USD]
realDStrange shows [ Ad, Js ]two pairs, Aces and Jacks.
e_r_c shows [ Kh, Tc ]a straight Ten to Ace.
e_r_c wins $2.87 USD from the main pot with a straight, Ten to Ace.
So, as you can see I wasn't dealt a total killer hand [K,T offsuit] and I did consider dropping it. At the lower stakes tables though, play tends to be less aggressive and so you've got a lot more chance of seeing the flop without any raises. When I hit the straight on the flop, I was pretty sure I'd got the nuts. I've been trying to try different betting strategies to get an idea of what works and what doesn't, so I decided to check and see how others thought they were doing. No-one wanted to chance a bet and we went to the turn.
On the turn we get an 8c, which doesn't give me anything to worry about, and realDStrange puts in a fairly conservative bet, and then re-raises my raise. Come the river and I'm certain I'm ahead - he saves me the problem of working out how much I can extract from him and goes All-in, and I'm happy to call and take all his money.
I'm not really sure what his betting pattern was really about - I can only think is that my check at the flop totally threw out of his head the idea of a straight. Even then, the obvious thought on my re-raise would be that I'd hit a set of 8s. That might just show my lack of sophistication still at reading hands, of course. I guess he could have thought I was on a Heart or Clubs flush draw and thought he could shove me off when neither hit, or had two lower pairs like Aces and 8s and wanted to get his money's worth.
The fact all these thoughts don't turn up until a good while after the hand is probably why I still have a good way to go before I'm a decent player. Similarly, my first attempts at working out outs and pot odds are so far hampered by it just taking me a bit too long to think about it. (not that I had that many hands post-flop to try it out on this session)
So, stuff to think about even from that short a session, and I kick off July with a (teeny) profit.
This month's profit: $0.33
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