WTF is up with the weather?

Monday was beautiful here in southern MN. 40+ degrees outside, and the snow was nice and sticky and we were able to make snowmen. Then, not 24 hours later, the temperature dropped well over 50 degrees and we were in the middle of a full fledged blizzard.

I'm one of those Minnesotans who don't like the snow and winters. I don't snowmobile, ski, or play hockey. The only thing that I enjoy in regards to winter is sledding with my kids. Pretty strange huh? In fact, I have never been downhill skiing. Not even once. I think I have had ice skates on my feet twice in my life.

*******************************

I had a pretty good poker weekend. It started off bad, but the donks were out in full force at night time. I even had a successful session at 400NL! Here is a quick graph of Saturday through Sunday.

Here are today's Sweet Hands of the Day.

I have two, both of which the other player slowplayed their hand, and got burned by it.

The button has TT and he just limps. lol. And then hits his set and doesn't raise. Then doesn't raise on the turn. Then my gin card hits the river, and that is when he decides to start raising. Sweet

Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players

CO: $111.10
BTN: $109.45
SB: $109.05
Hero (BB): $138.70
UTG: $36.65

Pre-Flop: Ks Js dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls $1, CO calls $1, BTN calls $1, SB folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($4.50) 5c Qs Td (4 Players)
Hero bets $3, UTG folds, CO calls $3, BTN calls $3

Turn: ($13.50) 8c (3 Players)
Hero bets $8, CO folds, BTN calls $8

River: ($29.50) Ad (2 Players)
Hero bets $22, BTN raises to $97.45 and is All-In, Hero calls $75.45

Results: $224.40 Pot ($3 Rake)
BTN showed Tc Th (three of a kind, Tens) and LOST (-$109.45 NET)
Hero showed Ks Js (a straight, Ace high) and WON $221.40 (+$111.95 NET)


Hand 2

Dude slowplays AK on the flop, and I hit my set on the turn. Not sure why he wouldn't raise that flop.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

Hero (SB): $92.50
BB: $101.50
UTG: $101.85
MP: $166.10
CO: $136.30
BTN: $111

Pre-Flop: 9c 9h dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, CO calls $1, BTN calls $1, Hero raises to $6, BB folds, CO calls $5, BTN folds

Flop: ($14) Ks Th 5c (2 Players)
Hero bets $9, CO calls $9

Turn: ($32) 9d (2 Players)
Hero bets $20, CO raises to $121.30 and is All-In, Hero calls $57.50 and is All-In

River: ($187) 8h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $187 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 9c 9h (three of a kind, Nines) and WON $184 (+$91.50 NET)
CO showed As Kh (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$92.50 NET)

****************************

Here is the Sour Hand of the Day

I probably could have folded here, since someone for sure had a set, if not KQ for the nut straight. But damn, I had a pair plus the Open Ended Straight Flush draw! Gambool!!!

Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

UTG: $123.55
Hero (MP): $117.65
CO: $188.80
BTN: $161.55
SB: $97.50
BB: $26

Pre-Flop: Tc 8c dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $3.50, CO calls $3.50, BTN folds, SB calls $3, BB folds

Flop: ($11.50) 9c Jc Ts (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $7.50, CO raises to $15, SB raises to $48, Hero raises to $114.15 and is All-In, CO folds, SB calls $46 and is All-In

Turn: ($214.50) Kh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($214.50) 5h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $214.50 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed Tc 8c (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-$97.50 NET)
SB showed 9d 9h (three of a kind, Nines) and WON $211.50 (+$114 NET)

******************************

I plan on playing in the mookie and a whole lot of poker tonight. I have a good $200 in bonus money that still needs to be cleared. I won't clear it all, but I only have two more days to get in as much as possible.

And I leave you with the picture of the day. This is the coolest thing I have ever seen.

Cheers!

I pwn Last Donk Standing

Last night was probably the most entertaining poker night I've ever had. Of course it doesn't hurt that last night was one of my most profitable poker days ever.

BuddyDank/MiamiDon Radio

+$300 in the 100NL 6 max tables (Up to $550 at one point)

3rd place in the Mookie for +$105

1st place in a $50 SNG for +$170

Two wins in "Last Donk Standing" 50 FPP all-in prop bets for +$280 or so

That adds up to $855.

The Mookie: 13th hand in I got involved in a hand with Iakaris with my AA. I 3-bet pre-flop and he called. Flop was 7 high and he called my c-bet. Turn was a blank and he folded to my 2/3 pot bet. That got me up to about 4000 in chips or so. I played tight and didn't get involved in too many hands until the 40/80 level. I get dealt KK in the Big Blind, and there is a raise and 3 callers! So I squeeze and get it all-in with a shorter stack who has QJs. Lost that one to a flush on the turn. Then i was a short stack for the next couple levels and it went fold fold fold for me. Finally at the 100/200 level and got a hand I felt I could push with, as my M was only 5. A7o. Too bad jmathewson_III had AQ. But the 7 on the turn kept me alive!

Then I went on a stealing rampage. I stole stole stole, and got called a few times, but they always folded to my c-bets. At the 250/500 level, I had built my stack up to 10,000 in chips. I knocked off a short stack while I was in the blinds with T8s vs his KJo. That got me up to 14,000, which was a top 5 stack at the time. Continued to steal and was up to 20,000 when it got down to 2 tables. Then my stack started to dwindle all the way back down to 12,000 during the final table (and money) bubble. I was able to double up against Rakefeeder with AA vs 99 and then the bubble burst and I was at the final table sitting in 4th place. Things went pretty fast, and people were getting knocked quickly. I ended up busting ElSnarfGrande in 6th place with AQ vs his A9.

I was finally knocked out in 3rd place when my A7s ran into bdidde's KK. I was in the SB, and DonkeyPuncher74 raised from the button for about the billionth time, and I decided to take a stand with my A7s. Unfortunately bdidde woke up with KK in the BB. I flopped a flush draw, turned my bottom pair, but missed one of my 13 outs on the river.

That topped off a very fun Mookie tournament. And for the first time, I listened to the BuddyDank Radio crew. They had MiamiDon, Chad, ScottyMc, Hoyazo and BuddyDank on air commentating about the tournament. They were very entertaining. When the tournie started to wind down, and all of them had busted out, they decided to do some last longer all-in contests in the 50 FPP satellite tournaments. Everyone would pitch in $11, and we would all push in on every single hand. The person who lasted the longest won the pot. We did this 4 times. I won the first two, pocketing an easy $300 or so. the 3rd one we all busted out on the first hand, and the last one, fuel55 won.

That's not even all of the e-mails!!

Here are the hand histories for the two that I won.

HAND 1

Full Tilt Poker Game #4973996093: 50 FTP Sat to $750K satellite (37759216), Table 3 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:59:18 ET - 2008/01/24
Seat 1: fergus94 (1,500)
Seat 2: bdidde (1,500)
Seat 3: ItalianSconi (1,500)
Seat 4: BeeeBack (1,500)
Seat 5: bobsspinner (1,500)
Seat 6: cracknaces (1,500)
Seat 7: OMGitsPokerFool (1,500)
Seat 8: castorlber (1,500)
Seat 9: E_Z MONEY FITZ (1,500)
fergus94 posts the small blind of 15
bdidde posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OMGitsPokerFool [2d Ad]
ItalianSconi folds
BeeeBack folds
bobsspinner calls 30
cracknaces raises to 1,500, and is all in
OMGitsPokerFool calls 1,500, and is all in
castorlber folds
E_Z MONEY FITZ calls 1,500, and is all in
fergus94 folds
bdidde calls 1,470, and is all in
bobsspinner calls 1,470, and is all in
cracknaces shows [Th 7c]
OMGitsPokerFool shows [2d Ad]
E_Z MONEY FITZ shows [4s 4c]
bdidde shows [Jh 6c]
bobsspinner shows [8d 7d]
*** FLOP *** [Ts Jc Ah]
*** TURN *** [Ts Jc Ah] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [Ts Jc Ah 3c] [Ks]
cracknaces shows a pair of Tens
OMGitsPokerFool shows a pair of Aces
E_Z MONEY FITZ shows a pair of Fours
bdidde shows a pair of Jacks
bobsspinner shows Ace King high
OMGitsPokerFool wins the pot (7,515) with a pair of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,515 Rake 0
Board: [Ts Jc Ah 3c Ks]
Seat 1: fergus94 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: bdidde (big blind) showed [Jh 6c] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: ItalianSconi didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: BeeeBack didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: bobsspinner showed [8d 7d] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 6: cracknaces showed [Th 7c] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 7: OMGitsPokerFool showed [2d Ad] and won (7,515) with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: castorlber didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: E_Z MONEY FITZ (button) showed [4s 4c] and lost with a pair of Fours


HAND 2

Full Tilt Poker Game #4974115647: 50 FTP Sat to $750K satellite (37759960), Table 3 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:12:08 ET - 2008/01/24
Seat 1: cracknaces (1,500)
Seat 2: ck31 (1,500)
Seat 3: 0007Bmw745LI (1,500)
Seat 4: Maruchy (1,500)
Seat 5: streetrider (1,500)
Seat 6: streitan (1,500)
Seat 7: Scratched (1,500)
Seat 8: jwk0423 (1,500)
Seat 9: OMGitsPokerFool (1,500)
cracknaces posts the small blind of 15
ck31 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OMGitsPokerFool [Td 8c]
0007Bmw745LI folds
Maruchy folds
streetrider raises to 60
streitan folds
Scratched: need chippies
Scratched raises to 1,500, and is all in
jwk0423 folds
OMGitsPokerFool calls 1,500, and is all in
cracknaces calls 1,485, and is all in
ck31 calls 1,470, and is all in
streetrider calls 1,440, and is all in
Scratched shows [Qs 5c]
OMGitsPokerFool shows [Td 8c]
cracknaces shows [9h 2h]
ck31 shows [Jd 3c]
streetrider shows [Tc Kc]
Scratched: yee
*** FLOP *** [Ks 7c 4h]
*** TURN *** [Ks 7c 4h] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [Ks 7c 4h 9d] [Js]
Scratched shows King Queen high
OMGitsPokerFool shows a straight, Jack high
cracknaces shows a pair of Nines
ck31 shows a pair of Jacks
streetrider shows a pair of Kings
OMGitsPokerFool wins the pot (7,500) with a straight, Jack high
OMGitsPokerFool: woot
Scratched stands up
streetrider stands up
ck31 stands up
cracknaces stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,500 Rake 0
Board: [Ks 7c 4h 9d Js]
Seat 1: cracknaces (small blind) showed [9h 2h] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 2: ck31 (big blind) showed [Jd 3c] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: 0007Bmw745LI didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Maruchy didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: streetrider showed [Tc Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: streitan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Scratched showed [Qs 5c] and lost with King Queen high
Seat 8: jwk0423 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: OMGitsPokerFool (button) showed [Td 8c] and won (7,500) with a straight, Jack high

-----------------------------------------------------------

I have to post the last one, because I damn near won that hand too. I hit top pair with my Ace, and Fuel flops bottom pair and a gutshot. The gutshot hit the turn, and he hit one of his 9 outs. So close!!!

Full Tilt Poker Game #4974340159: 50 FTP Sat to $750K satellite (37761637), Table 5 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:37:10 ET - 2008/01/24
Seat 1: Tarheels on Top (1,500)
Seat 2: teha908 (1,500)
Seat 3: DubsPoke (1,500)
Seat 4: mookie99 (1,500)
Seat 5: kazmer (1,500)
Seat 6: Fuel55 (1,500)
Seat 7: Gagg12 (1,500)
Seat 8: OMGitsPokerFool (1,500)
Seat 9: GuyFromVA (1,500)
Tarheels on Top posts the small blind of 15
teha908 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OMGitsPokerFool [Ah 3d]
Fuel55: this is the most fun i have had for a week
mookie99: lol
DubsPoke raises to 1,500, and is all in
mookie99 calls 1,500, and is all in
kazmer folds
Fuel55 calls 1,500, and is all in
Gagg12 folds
OMGitsPokerFool calls 1,500, and is all in
GuyFromVA folds
Tarheels on Top folds
teha908 folds
DubsPoke shows [8d 2d]
mookie99 shows [5h 7h]
Fuel55 shows [Ts Jd]
OMGitsPokerFool shows [Ah 3d]
*** FLOP *** [Td As Kh]
*** TURN *** [Td As Kh] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [Td As Kh Qc] [Kc]
DubsPoke shows a pair of Kings
mookie99 shows a pair of Kings
Fuel55 shows a straight, Ace high
OMGitsPokerFool shows two pair, Aces and Kings
Fuel55 wins the pot (6,045) with a straight, Ace high
Fuel55: boooooooooooom
mookie99: gasp
OMGitsPokerFool stands up
mookie99 stands up
DubsPoke stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,045 Rake 0
Board: [Td As Kh Qc Kc]
Seat 1: Tarheels on Top (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: teha908 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: DubsPoke showed [8d 2d] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 4: mookie99 showed [5h 7h] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: kazmer didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Fuel55 showed [Ts Jd] and won (6,045) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 7: Gagg12 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: OMGitsPokerFool showed [Ah 3d] and lost with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 9: GuyFromVA (button) didn't bet (folded)



********************************

I also played a $50+5 SNG and the $24+2 28k guaranteed while I played in the Mookie. I'm not much of a SNG player, but every once in a while I like to play them. And since I had been running really good at the cash games, I decided to play a $50 one. I ended up taking that thing down, so that was a nice $170 profit.

I played really tight in the 28k, but hit a few hands to stay above the starting 3000 stack. Then a mega-donk came to our table. He played at least half of his hands. I won a nice sized pot off of him right away with pocket QQ on a AQ8 flop. Then later on, he doubled up off of me with A3 vs another QQ for me. Then he accumulated a huge stack some how. He doubled me up when I 3-bet him PF with AA after his min-raise. He pushed with QTo and I won a nice pot. That got me back up to an average stack. A couple orbits later, he raised again, and I pushed with AK and an M of 10. I knew he would call with any high cards, and he did just that with AJ. Too bad the river was a J, and I bust out. If I win that hand, I am in the top 40 with about 400 people left. Oh well.

********************************

The cash games went really well yesterday too. At one point, I was up $550 at the 100NL tables. But towards the end of the night, that dwindled down to $300. I probably shouldn't have been playing so many tables with the Mookie and FPP last longer bets going on.

A couple of those hands:

I 3-bet a 45/16 donk with TT. Flop is 89J rainbow. I check-raise all-in and he has QQ. Not the hand I wanted him to have.

I raise a limper with J9s. Flop us QJ9 with two clubs. He leads into me, and I get passive and just call. I call his small turn bet. River is a Q and I call his his small bet. He has KQ. I really thought he was on some kind of draw ( I should have raised that flop anyways if that was my read.)

I raise with 54s and flop a flush. Other dude has a set and we get it all in, but the board pairs and I lose.

AA vs K9 all-in on a 9 high flop. King on the river. Doh!

Since this post is so long already, I'll skip the Sweet-n-Sour hands.

Cheers!

Tilt!

I admit to being on tilt for the past couple weeks (Heck, maybe months!). Why wouldn't I play poker if I had some good quality poker time available to me? Why would I rather play Call of Duty, or Guitar Hero? Why would I sit down and actually play, and then 15 minutes later log off? The answer is: tilt.

I would describe my tilt as being "Goddamn I run so frickin bad" tilt. It's the kind of tilt that makes you think you have the worst luck in the world. And I think I finally found the source of this tilt: PokerEV. PokerEV is a graphing program that gives you a nice little graph that shows how much actual money you have made, and how much you should have made. I've posted many PokerEV graphs here. And the bad thing that it does to you, is that it turns you into a results-oriented poker player. I mean it's right there in front of you! See! SEE!!! Look how bad I run! One time dealer! ONE TIME!!!

And what is the one of the main pieces of advice you always hear in order to become a better poker player? Don't be results orientated! Just concentrate on making the correct plays and the correct reads, and everything will turn out good. So that is what I am going to do. Also, I am never going to use PokerEV again.

Things have gone ok the past week or so. I moved back down to 100NL to get my head back on straight. I've also experimented with 9-tabling. Yep, that's right. NINE! This also forces me to be a little bit tighter, which I think is good for me right now. Plus, I can crank out that FT Bonus for this month. I'm looking forward to the month being done and this Full Tilt Bonus thing being over with. I want to try playing more over at PokerStars starting in February. I think I have become to dependant on PAHud and all the stats it gives you. And since I you can't datamine at Stars, and I don't have many hands over there, it will be like a clean slate over there. I will have to play good/solid poker, and go with reads other than the stats PAHud shows.

**************************

I played in a home game this past weekend with 15 other people. The set-up and structure was pretty nice with 30 minute blinds and rebuys in the first two hours. Unfortunately, I busted out in 12th place or something like that. Best hand of the day was JJ and AK once. Best hand I had after the flop was top two pair (That lost to AA when the board paired on the river). You gotta get dealt cards in these types of games to go very far. People are calling stations and they think any two face cards are gold. I went out with KT vs QJ. The QJ guy limped in EP and I pushed in LP for 11 big blinds. So the dude called off almost half his stack with QJ. Standard fare for home games though.

***************************

Here is today's Sweet Hand Of The Day.

A case could be made to just flat calling the BB's 4-bet on the flop. But I think that a call may look a little stronger than a push. Plus, if he has a Pocket pair of 88-QQ, an overcard may kill my action.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players

BTN: $125.20
SB: $108
BB: $132.50
UTG: $16.60
Hero (CO): $101.50

Pre-Flop: 2d 2s dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG calls $1, Hero calls $1, 2 folds, BB raises to $5.50, UTG folds, Hero calls $4.50

Flop: ($12.50) 2h 3c 7d (2 Players)
BB bets $8, Hero raises to $26, BB raises to $51, Hero raises to $96 and is All-In, BB calls $45

Turn: ($204.50) 4s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($204.50) 6c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $204.50 Pot ($3 Rake)
BB showed Ad As (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$101.50 NET)
Hero showed 2d 2s (three of a kind, Twos) and WON $201.50 (+$100 NET)

***************************

And the Sour Hand of the Day

This is the only hand of poker I played on Sunday. I sat down and planned on getting in a good hour or so while the kids napped. I obviously made some mistakes in this hand. I should have raised that flop for sure. And once the board paired on the river, I think a check/call is better than check raise. But I guess I went with my [wrong] read that he probably had the Ah. Oops.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

MP: $182.50
CO: $496.55
BTN: $264.35
SB: $564.10
Hero (BB): $200
UTG: $148.15

Pre-Flop: Kh 7h dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, MP calls $2, CO calls $2, BTN folds, SB calls $1, Hero checks

Flop: ($8) Qh 5h 4h (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP bets $6, 2 folds, Hero calls $6

Turn: ($20) Jc (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $10, Hero raises to $32, MP calls $22

River: ($84) 5d (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $48, Hero raises to $160 and is All-In, MP calls $94.50 and is All-In

Results: $369 Pot ($3 Rake)
MP showed 5c 4c (a full house, Fives full of Fours) and WON $366 (+$183.50 NET)
Hero showed Kh 7h (a flush, King high) and LOST (-$182.50 NET)


Cheers!!

December 2007 Results

I figured I better make a review post for December, so here it is. I didn't play that much again. Only 11,000 hands (Which is the same amount that EurekaKid did in one day!!! Yikes!). I'm still having trouble getting motivated to play poker. I guess I am going through a phase were it isn't that fun right now. I'm sick of the bad beats and running bad. If I'm playing, and feel like I may start going on tilt, I log off and frag some fools in Call of Duty 4. I guess that is better than continuing to play on tilt and losing money, right?

When you know what you are doing, and play a lot of hands against donks, you end up getting your money in when you are ahead. If I get my money in when I am ahead nine out of ten times, that means they have nine opportunities to suckout to my one time. Obviously that is how I want it, but it is a mental thing I need to work on. When I am in a big pot and I am a favorite to win, and I do win, I think to myself, "Well, I should have win that anyways". But if I lose I say, "Dammit, I should have won that one!!". Not sure how to solve this problem.

Another bad thing about me not wanting to play much poker right now, is that Full Tilt's Year End bonus is going on right now. I have almost $600 in bonus money that I can clear this month, but I have only gotten through a third of it. That right there should give me motivation, but it's not. I have started to play a lot more Omaha the past week. That is starting to put the fun back into playing poker. And playing Omaha makes me play a lot more focused. Since I don't have PokerTracker Omaha, I have to pay more attention to reads and position, and can't rely on those PA HUD stats I am so used to at Hold 'Em.

Here are my results for December.

In addition to this, I lost about $250 playing MTTs/SNGs, and made $476 in rakeback. So I made about $800 total. Meh.

*********************************

I had to really look hard to find a Sweet Hand of the Day. Here ya go.

First hand at this table. Nice little gift, huh? Pretty sad that this is the best hand I could find for the past week?

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

BTN: $241.75
SB: $101.85
Hero (BB): $200
UTG: $111.40
MP: $199.40
CO: $72.45

Pre-Flop: Ah Kc dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, MP raises to $4, 2 folds, SB calls $3, Hero raises to $18, MP folds, SB raises to $101.85 and is All-In, Hero calls $83.85

Flop: ($207.70) 4c Jd 8s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($207.70) 4d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($207.70) 6d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $207.70 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB showed Th Kh (a pair of Fours) and LOST (-$101.85 NET)
Hero showed Ah Kc (a pair of Fours) and WON $204.70 (+$102.85 NET)

**********************

The Sour Hand of the Day.

I played this hand pretty bad. I probably should have continuation bet that flop with my flush draw. But I decided to take the free card in position. I probably should have folded on the turn, but with MP calling that bet also, I thought that I might have some decent implied odds. And then they check to me on the river. I didn't have too many hands on the SB, but he had never check-raised on the river, so I thought it was an ok spot to bluff. His check-raise push is really strange there. Whatever. I'm sure I logged off after this hand and played some COD 4.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

CO: $84.90
Hero (BTN): $240.30
SB: $204
BB: $203
UTG: $210
MP: $201.70

Pre-Flop: 5s 7s dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, MP calls $2, CO folds, Hero raises to $9, SB calls $8, BB folds, MP calls $7

Flop: ($29) Jd 2s Ts (3 Players)
SB checks, MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($29) 2c (3 Players)
SB bets $19, MP calls $19, Hero calls $19

River: ($86) 9h (3 Players)
SB checks, MP checks, Hero bets $60, SB raises to $176 and is All-In, 2 folds

Results: $206 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB mucked and WON $203 (+$115 NET)



Cheers!

Maybe I Should Start Playing More PLO?

I played a ton of tournaments last night, including the Blogger Skillz Series tournament, which was Pot Limit Omaha. This was only my 2nd PLO tournament, and I am proud to say I am 2 for 2 in making final tables in them. Unfortunately, I was the bubble boy last night, going out in 7th place. I was a short stack for the last half of the tournie, and with it down to 7 people, I tried to steal the blinds with a crappy hand from the button. The BB called, but I flopped bottom two pair, so I pushed my remaining stack in and got called by top pair. My opponent rivered one of their kickers to send me to the rail with a higher two pair. Bottom two pair after the flop in Omaha is just slightly ahead of top pair, so it wasn't a bad beat in my book.

The other tournaments didn't fair to well, and I didn't cash in any of them. I kept track of all of my all-in hands, and I have to say, it was pretty much the un-luckiest I have ever been. Out of those tournaments, I was all-in 16 times. Only one time did all my money get in as an underdog, and lost (77 vs AA), Got it in as a coinflip five times, and lost four of them. I got it all-in as a favorite ten times, and lost seven of them. Those hands:

• AK can't beat A8 on a Ace high flop. Turn and River were 8's.
• KK can't beat AQ All-in Pre-Flop. Ace on river.
• AK can't beat KJ on a AKT flop. Queen on river.
• AK can't beat A7 on AQJ. 7 on river.
• 77 can't beat 55 All-in Pre-Flop. 5 on turn.
• AJ can't beat QJ All-in Pre-Flop.
• AQ can't beat KQ All-in Pre-Flop. King on river.

Tournaments are still pretty fun for me, but I don't ever expect to make money off of them. In order to win tournaments, you have to be super lucky. I'd say tournaments are 10% skill, and 90% luck. Oh well, I ended up around even for the night when you factor in the cash games I was playing.

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Here is a hand from last night that seems to be pretty common situation, and I want your opinion on it.

Villain is a donk with 3/4 of a stack to begin with. I flop two pair on a two diamond board. Villain calls my c-bet, and the third diamond comes on the turn, and he leads into me. Is this an easy fold? Or is it closer than I think?

Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
SB: $102.45
BB: $100
UTG: $70.80
MP: $145
Hero (CO): $89
BTN: $104.50

Pre-Flop: Ks Jc dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG calls $1, MP folds, Hero raises to $4.50, 3 folds, UTG calls $3.50

Flop: ($10.50) Kd 7h Jd (2 Players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $8, UTG calls $8

Turn: ($26.50) 2d(2 Players)
UTG bets $20, Hero


I've been in a lot of really strange hands with donks lately, and I plan to put up a nice big post in the future with some of those hands. It should be interesting.

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Here is today's Sweet Hand of the Day!

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players

Hero (BTN): $199
SB: $362.60
BB: $172.15
UTG: $534
CO: $565.05

Pre-Flop: 9h 9d dealt to Hero (BTN)
2 folds, Hero raises to $7, SB raises to $23, BB folds, Hero calls $16

Flop: ($48) 9c 5s Qh (2 Players)
SB bets $36, Hero calls $36

Turn: ($120) Ts (2 Players)
SB bets $79, Hero raises to $140 and is All-In, SB calls $61

River: ($400) 9s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $400 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 9h 9d (four of a kind, Nines) and WON $397 (+$198 NET)
SB showed As Jh (a pair of Nines) and LOST (-$199 NET)


What do you people think of my flat call of the 3-bet Pre-flop? Villain was TAG with stats of 18/15. I think that my implied odds are there to set mine, especially with me in position. Plus, my nines could easily be ahead there. Do you like a raise on the flop?

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And the Sour Hand of the Day.

Not really sure what to say about this hand. This guy is a fish, and I see him around a lot, so I always try and get on his tables.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players

UTG: $415.65
CO: $208.15
BTN: $107.70
SB: $165.15
Hero (BB): $212.25

Pre-Flop: Kh Kd dealt to Hero (BB)
3 folds, SB raises to $6, Hero raises to $20, SB calls $14

Flop: ($40) 2s 5h 5c (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $32, SB calls $32

Turn: ($104) 4s (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $99, SB raises to $113.15 and is All-In, Hero calls $14.15

River: ($330.30) 4h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $330.30 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB showed 5d 5s (four of a kind, Fives) and WON $327.30 (+$162.15 NET)
Hero showed Kh Kd (two pair, Kings and Fives) and LOST (-$165.15 NET)

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I'm updating my links to the right by adding a few more poker blogs out there. Check them out!

Eurekakid is from Australia and plays the same stakes as me, so I find it really interesting. He has some really good hand discussions on his blog. Check it out!

Fuel55 - Expert at playing the speed limit (pocket 5's).

RecessRampage - Lots of good poker content here.

Julius Goat - More good poker content.

Miami Don - Damn good writer and poker player living in Las Vegas.

Al Can't Hang - I can't believe I didn't have him on my links yet. Doh!


Cheers!

Hello 2008!

2008 is upon us, and it's time for me to get back into the swing of things.

I just started a new job at the beginning of the year, so I was able to take some time off during the holidays while I was between jobs. It was nice not having to go into work for almost two weeks straight. My new job is vastly different than my old job. My old job was as a Hardware Engineer and it was interesting, but it was really slow. Which actually, was fine with me. I would come in late, take a long lunch, and leave early. If I needed to drop off or pick up my daughter at pre-school, it was no problem. But my career was going nowhere. And the job security was terrible.

And here I am at my new job as a Software Quality Engineer. It has the potential of being interesting, but I haven't seen it yet. I already find myself staring at the clock, wishing it would move faster. Granted, I haven't been given any projects yet, so maybe that will change. I'm trying to remain optimistic.

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As far as poker goes, 2007 was another decent year for a casual poker player. I think I averaged around a grand a month, so that's not bad. Of course, that was how 2006 was too. But 2006 had a higher percentage of profit coming from bonuses. 2007 I made a decent chunk of change from the actual poker tables. So that must mean I became a better poker player? Sweet!

Later this week, I'll put up my December results (It was good until the last day). But I'll first show some graphs of the last five months.

That's kind of a sad overall graph, isn't it? There is that huge upswing around Thanksgiving.

And here is the PokerEV graph. I'm a good $1,200 below expectation. Hopefully my blue line is higher than my red line for 2008.

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I plan on posting more here (So tell your friends and link me up!), and one thing I am going to do is have a Sweet and Sour hand of the day.

So here is the inaugural Sweet Hand of the Day!


Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

BTN: $197
SB: $225.60
Hero (BB): $201.20
UTG: $190.70
MP: $148.85
CO: $222.40

Pre-Flop: 4c 5h dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, CO raises to $7, BTN calls $7, SB folds, Hero raises to $31, CO calls $24, BTN folds

Flop: ($70) 2c Ad 3h (2 Players)
Hero bets $40, CO raises to $191.40 and is All-In, Hero calls $130.20 and is All-In

Turn: ($410.40) Ks (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($410.40) 8s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $410.40 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 4c 5h (a straight, Five high) and WON $407.40 (+$206.20 NET)
CO showed 9d 9c (a pair of Nines) and LOST (-$201.20 NET)

I go for a typical Squeeze play here. I hadn't been very active yet on this table, so I felt it was a good time to do this. The CO was a Slightly LAG (about 21/17) regular, and the button was a loose/passive donk. Of course I was hoping to just take it down pre-flop, but that flop was sweet. I bet just over half pot so that if the CO pushed, he would think it had some fold equity (If I bet closer to full pot, a push by him gives me 3:1 on the call, where as only betting 40 make his push a pot size push giving me only 2:1).

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And The Sour hand of the Day


Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

CO: $180.80
BTN: $259.25
Hero (SB): $321.55
BB: $272.55
UTG: $194
MP: $272.10

Pre-Flop: 7d 7s dealt to Hero (SB)
4 folds, Hero raises to $6, BB raises to $14, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($28) 8s 3d Ac (2 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Turn: ($28) 7h (2 Players)
Hero bets $20, BB raises to $40, Hero raises to $120, BB raises to $258.55 and is All-In, Hero calls $138.55

River: ($545.10) 4d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $545.10 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 7d 7s (three of a kind, Sevens) and LOST (-$272.55 NET)
BB showed Ah As (three of a kind, Aces) and WON $542.10 (+$269.55 NET)

The BB was a mega-donk, running about 55/25. I think I could have gotten away from this hand, but this guy had been so agro, that it could have been AJ-AK too. A min-raise PF, then a min-raise then a push on the turn from anyone else, and it is easily AA. Oh well. I'll chalk it up to it being a cooler. That makes me feel better :)

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I got a comment from reader Luger asking about bankrolls and when to move up. I'm a huge bankroll nit. I have almost 65 buy-ins in my online roll for the stakes I play. And I even play the stakes one lower too. If you look at conventional bankroll management, I have enough to play 400NL right now. I have started to take some shots there though.

But for the smaller stakes, I would say to go ahead and start taking shots at 15-20 buy-ins (so $750 for 50NL), and move up full time when you have 30 buy-ins. Also, you want to have yourself convinced that you can beat the 25NL stake before moving up. As far as quality of play from your opponents, I don't think there is much of a difference between 25NL and 50NL. You may start running into some good regular multi-tablers at 50NL, but they will be few and far between. Just stay away from those players. You'll be able to spot them pretty easily. There are still plenty of donks out there.

Good Luck!