Thursday, February 28, 2008

PAHud

I've read a few posts the last couple weeks talking about PokerTracker and PAHud, so I wanted to show my set up and explain it to those interested.

Here is my current set-up for the 6 max tables at Full Tilt.



Link to a bigger version of this pic (Not sure why you cant click on it and see bigger version)


I based a lot this off of FruityPro's setup from CardRunners (sadly, it seems he doesn't play much poker any more these days). As you can see, I have a lot of information out there. One thing that I really like, and that I think is really important, is to color code the numbers. PAHud gives you the option to assign a color to ranges in each stats. For example, anyone who has a VP$IP less than 15% gets purple. Red is between 15% and 22%, Orange between 22% and 30%, Yellow between 30% and 40%, and Green above 40%.

The first row are the two most important, VP$IP (Voluntarily put Money in Pot) and PFR% (Pre-Flop Raise Percentage) I classify a NIT as being 16/13 and lower. A Standard good LAG at the stakes I play is 27/23 - 24/21. These are typically the players I like to stay away from. There are hardly any good LAGs at 100NL, and a few at 200NL. You will find some some so-called "LAGs" even looser than that, but I think once you start getting above 27/23, you turn into a LAGtard. I seek out the players that have VP$IP of greater than 40%. A table with at least two people with VP$IP above 40 is an awesome table.

Second row is Total Aggression Factor and Total Hands. A Total Aggression of less than 1.0 is a calling station. Greater than 4.0, and they are super aggressive. As far as total hands, I think once you have more than 1000 hands on someone, you can feel comfortable that the stats you are seeing are accurate.

Third row is Attempt to Steal Blinds and Fold BB to Steal. Someone who steals greater than 40%, I am going to 3-bet light from the Blinds. People with a number greater than 90% for the Fold BB to Steal are people I am stealing blinds from any time it is folded to me in the CO or button.

Fourth Row is Fold to Continuation Bet, and Fold to Flop Bet. These are pretty much the same thing, and the numbers are usually similar. I don't use these too much (instead, I look at the 6th row numbers in regards to the flop). Obviously, you don't want to be betting the flop with air when someone has one of these numbers less than about 30%

Fifth Row is Continuation Bet % and Bet River Percentage. I don't rely on these stats too much. If someone continuation bets greater than 85% of the time, I may be more apt to check-raise them. If a TAG has this stats at below 50%, you can be pretty certain that they have something when they continuation bet. And if someone has a high Bet river percentage (like above 40%), then I may call down (Or raise) lighter on the river, or go for a check-raise if I am out of position.

Sixth Row is Call Continuation Bet and Raise Continuation Bet. These two stats are pretty important, and I am always looking at these. Since I play a TAG game at 6 max, I am usually the Pre-flop raiser if I am involved in the pot. So it is really important to see what players are more than likely to call and/or raise my continuation bets. If either of these numbers are above 20%, I proceed with caution. If someone has a really high Call C-bet %, I like to look at the "Fold to Turn Bet" stat in the pop up window when hovering over their name. This can tell me how often they call a c-bet, and then fold to a 2nd barrel. I run into a lot of players like this. I guess you can call this "floating". I'm not a big fan of floating, but one way of combating constant floaters is to stay aggressive on the turn.

One other hint I have learned about these numbers, is that every once in a while, I will see a player who sixth row stats are zero, or very close to zero. What I have found, is that a lot of these players are the ones that will lead into you (or donk bet as some call it) quite a bit. If someone has a zero for these stats, but a pretty high aggression factor and they call your Pre-Flop Bet from the blinds, get ready to see a lead out donk bet. If they don't lead out, C-bet 100% of the time, and you will take it down.

Seventh Row is Won When Saw Flop Percentage, and BB/100. A good TAG/LAG regular will have this stat around 40%. If you see someone with above 50%, they are super duper aggressive. Almost maniacal. And with BB/100, it is always nice to see who the winners and losers are.

In the bottom left corner there are two numbers which you see (15.8 and 15.8 respectively). Those are my VP$IP and PFR% numbers at that particular table. I think it is really important to know what your stats are on that table to get a feel for what the other players may think about you. If you have only played one hand in the 20 hands you've been at the table, everyone there is going to think you are a NIT. When you are playing multiple tables, you may not realize how tight or loose you are playing at one table, so having this out there is important.

Upper left is the table stats. Average VP$IP, Average PFR%, and Average Pot. When searching for a table, I very rarely sit at a table with less than 30% for VP$IP. If I'm playing during slow times, I'll play at tables as low as 27%. But once that average gets down to 24 %, I'm leaving.

There you have it. If anyone would like a copy of my set-up file and import into their PAHud, just let me know. I'm really interested to hear what other people think about this set-up. Feel free to link me up so that I can get tons of feedback on this, since something like this can really improve everyones (and my) poker game.

I need to do some more research on Hold 'em Manager and the new Poker Tracker 3. One stat that I think is really relevant in these games is 3-bet percentage. Right now, I can't see that stat. But I know in Hold 'em Manager you can. I may give it a try once all the bugs are ironed out.

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So last night, I sat down to play a little bit. I wasn't quite in the mood to play, but I wanted to get a nice picture of my set-up with me sitting at the table and some of my stats in the lower left hand corner. I played about 150 hands and lost three frickin buy-ins at 200NL. Awesome. I lost a huge pot where I had a huge draw and a lot of fold equity. He had the one and only hand (bottom set) that he can call with. And then I miss my draw. Then I lost AA vs AQ all-in on a KQx flop. Then lost QQ vs AA all-in PF against an agro LAG. Why do these LAGs always have a hand when I get one too and play back at them? I didn't play any more that night, even when I had a free hour. M-E-G-A T-I-L-T.

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I'm heading over to OhCaptain's house tonight for some home game fun. I haven't met OhCaptain yet, and it turns out he lives just a mile away. So that's pretty cool that another poker blogger lives so close to me. It will be fun to see the look on his face when the 7' 1", 320 lb PokerFool shows up at his door. I take up two spots at a poker table, just to let you know :)

Cheers!

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Close, But No Cigar

I took 16th place Saturday night in Full Tilt's $50+5, 50k guaranteed tournament this past weekend for a decent profit of $300. I was pretty pleased with how I played, but just couldn't catch any cards towards the end. In fact, in the 360 hands I played in this tournament, I was dealt AA zero times, KK zero times, QQ once, JJ twice, and TT zero times. I was dealt AK twice in the first hour, and then only saw it once after that. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

When I make it deep in a big tournament, I like to write up a pretty detailed recap, so here ya go.

I hovered around the starting chip stack of 2000 for the first hour and a half. About half way through the 2nd hour, during the 50/100 level, I busted a shorter stack with JJ vs 66 to get up to 5000 chips.

About 15 minutes later, during the 60/120 level, I saw a free flop with 87s. Flop was 69T and I flopped the nuts. The SB bet pot, and I called. Turn was a Q, and the SB bet pot again, and I called. the river was a blank 3, and this time he pushed, which was three times what was in the pot, and I made the easy call with the 3rd nuts. He had J9, and I was now the new table chip leader.

Then the most absurd hand that I have ever been in happened. Blinds were still 60/120 and I had 8000 in chips. There was one player at the table who had me covered. So I raise with Q8s in MP, and that idiot calls from the CO. Flop is K42 with two clubs. I continuation bet 3/4 pot and he calls. Turn is the 3 of diamonds. I fire a 2nd barrel, something that I very rarely do in Tournaments (but have been doing more of in the cash games), and he calls again. River is a 9. I was really close to firing a 3rd barrel, but I checked, and he checked behind. We flip over our cards and he has AJ of hearts. He called two bullets with no pair, no draw, and one over. These type of players make me confident that I am going to make a big score in a tournament sometime.

Anyways, I still had an average chip stack, so there was no need to panic. I remained aggressive, and continued to steal blinds with all sorts of hands like J5s, AJ, etc... I tried to steal with QT and called twoblackaces short stack all-in and beat his AJ during the 100/200 level.

Nothing happened for the next few levels, and I was now a short stack with a 4800 stack during the 200/400/50 level. I pushed in late position with A6 and was called by A2 and won that one to bring me back to an M of 7.

A few hands later, an interesting hand happened. A really tight player limps in MP. I find 99 in the CO and raise, and the tighty is the only caller. Flop is J52 with two hearts. He checks, I bet 3/4 pot and he pushes. Pot has 12,200 in it, and I have 4000 left. I decided to fold there, mainly because he was so tight. (My HUD had him at 5/3 for the last 40 hands. That means he had voluntarily put money in the pot just twice in 40 hands).
So that left me with only 4000 chips and an M of 4. It was during this time I found my best pocket pair of the night, QQ. But obviously everyone folded to my push.

A few orbits later, and I was still alive with 4300 chips at the 250/500 level. I found 99 on the button and it folded to me, so I pushed. The BB called with KT, and I won the coinflip!! Up to 9300 and an M of 8!

I won a pot a few orbits later in a Blind vs Blind battle where I just completed the SB with K9s. Flop was King high and I knocked out the BB who had K8. Blinds were up to 400/800/100 and I still had a comfortable M of 9.

My one suckout of the night came during the 600/1200/150 level. I had been obviously card dead, and had dwindled down to 12,000 in chips at a very aggressive table. The table chip leader (and 2nd in chips in the whole tournament) raised again from MP. My HUD stats had him running at 36/28 during the last 60 hands. WOW! I had seen him fold some of his open raises before, so I pushed my stack in from the BB with J8s. He took a while but finally called with A8 (huh?). I out flopped him and won a nice size pot.

I now had a decent sized stack where I could get back to being aggressive. I stole blinds with JT, A9, 66, 33, J3s, etc... and didn't get played back at once, which was really nice. I think this is one aspect of my game that has improved that last couple months, and that is staying alive and aggressive once the money bubble bursts.

During the 1200/2400/300 level, I had a stack of 30,000 and tried to steal with T9s from late position. I pushed my stack in and got called by the Big Blind who showed 88. I won the coinflip and got my stack back up to average for the first time in a while.

We got down to two tables, and I was sitting on a decent sized stack of 72k, which was a little above average, and good for 3rd in chips at my table. First hand at this table, and I stole the blinds with Q6o. Oh ya! Final table, here I come. A few hands later, I call a Min-raise from the BB with ATs. Flop is KK6, and it goes check/check. Turn is a Ten, and again it goes check/check. River is an 8, and I check/call a small half pot size bet. Dude has KK, lol.

I then make a button raise with A6 and fold to a raise by the BB. I then pick up JJ, and get the blinds again. Two hands later I find 99 UTG, and raise it up again. The same guy who 3-bet me in the A6 hand 3-bets again. I contemplate pushing, but decide that the best I can hope for is to be a coinflip. I have a decent sized stack still, so I fold. I posted this question over at 2=2, and they all agreed this was an easy fold.

Very next hand, and I am in the BB with 87 offsuit. Blinds are 2000/4000/500, and the short stack with only 11000 pushes. I have pot odds, so I call and I lose to A6. An orbit later, it folds to me on the button and I raise with Q9s. The short stack in the SB pushes for 3000 more, and I call. He has KT, and I can't win that 40/60 either. So I'm down to 44k in chips with an M of 4.4. Yuck. Now it is push or fold time.

I push with A3o and win the blinds. 10 hands later I do the same with AJ. Then an orbit later and my stack at 30000 (Blinds at 3000/6000/750) and an M of 2, I'm in the BB. The chip leader in MP min-raises and I decide KJ is a good enough hand to play with and he has A6. I can't win that 40/60 either, and I got home in 16th place. What do you think? I have to play with KJ there, right?

It's amazing I got this far with the way I ran. The last 3 hours of this thing I saw QQ, JJ, and AK only once each. It just doesn't seem possible to make it this deep without getting more premium hands. Oh well. One of these days I'll take one of these down like Hoy did on Sunday night. Damn, Good job Hoy! That is a 1st, 3rd, and 4th in 50/50 tournaments in just over a week. Ship the $20,000 month his way.

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I haven't played in the PokerStars $10 rebuy for a while, but I decided I would check it out on a Saturday night. Nothing too exciting happened during the rebuy period. I had to double rebuy just once and I ended the rebuy period with just above average chip stack. Here is a funny hand that happened 10 minutes after the rebuy period. I raise the 150/300 blinds to 900 with 77 from MP. The button, who has me barely covered calls. Flop is AK5r and c-bet. He calls. Turn is an 8 and I check, pretty much giving up. He checks behind. River is a 6. I check, and he bets really small (900 into the 6000 pot). I make crying call for some reason, and he has QJ and I win. I type in "lol" and he says, "dont talk s h it cuz u won a hand, i had plenty of outs". Ya, you had "plenty" of outs after my hand is flipped. You have 4 outs to a hand that has a A or K in it, which is totally in my range. These type of players make me confident that I am going to make a big score in a tournament sometime.

I ended up going out about 10 hands later when I flopped the nut straight and got it all-in vs top set when the river pairs the board. Standard.

I also played in PokerStars $50+5, 55k guaranteed. I hovered around the starting chip stack for the first hour and a half. I had been playing pretty tight and tried to re-steal with AT and got CALLED by 44. I had about 20 Big Blinds (Having around 15 to 20 BBs is the perfect size for re-steal pushes), and the dude who had raised PF from the CO, and who just barely had me covered (He had 22.5 BBs) Called an all-in with 44 for his tournament life. I flopped a Ten, but obviously a four came on the turn. Poker Gods laughed at me again when the river was another Ten. These type of players make me confident that I am going to make a big score in a tournament sometime.

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As far as cash games, I'm up about $400 or so the last couple days. I put in a lot of hands Saturday night while I was deep in the 50/50. I think I put in a total of 2000 hands, which I think is the most cash game hands I have put in during one day in a long time. Nothing too interesting to report there. I played super nitty, mainly because I was concentrating more on the 50/50. I think I ran like 15/13 or something like that. Yikes!!!!!

Cheers!

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Tournaments Are Fun

You know what? I really enjoy playing in poker tournaments. I'm not really sure why though. I've never had a big score in them. And I know for a fact that I down a lot of money from playing tournaments. But damn, they are fun.

This past Monday turned out to be my big tournament night for the week. And I fired up a lot of them. Probably too many, but that is ok. I played in:

- Full Tilt's $10+2 Daily Double A
- Full Tilt's $10+2 Daily Double B
- PokerStars $50+5, 55k guaranteed
- Full Tilt's $50+5, 50k guaranteed
- Full Tilt's $24+2, 28k guaranteed
- PokerStars $15+1.50
- Monday's at the Hoy ($24+2)
- BoDog $20+2

I cashed in one of them, the Daily Double B for a whopping profit of $10.42. Pretty nice, huh? I got pretty far in a few of them, but just wasn't quite lucky enough. I had a nice stack in the 28k, but KK can't beat AK, and then AK can't beat A6 in back to back hands.

I had the chip lead in the Daily Double B for a while. I was crushing the competition. The money bubble finally burst, and I was still in the top 10. Then this hand happened. I win this, and I have the chip lead again with about 150 people left.



The I got moved to another table 10 minutes later where the very bad chip leader was at. He had twice as much as 2nd place at this point, and he was playing every hand. EVERY single hand. I saw him call all-in's with K6, QJ, etc... My bust out hand went like this. A short stack who had 1/3 of what I had open pushes. I find QQ and push my average chip stack in. Chip Leader donk calls. Short Stack had AA. Chip Leader donk has KJ. Quess who won.

Oh well, one of these days I'll get a tournament win.

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Cash games have been pretty good this past week. I haven't played much, but my quick sessions have been pretty good. I attribute that to being able to actually win a few coin flips. I'm running at about 3 ptBB/100 at the 200NL level, and 7 ptBB/100 at the 100NL, which is pretty respectible.

Here is today's Sweet Hand of the Day.

Villain was running about 33/11 after about 50 hands or so.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players

SB: $162
BB: $151.95
Hero (UTG): $198.35
Button: $63.60

Pre-Flop: 6h 6s dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $7, 2 folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($15) Kd 6d 5c (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $12, BB raises to $30, Hero raises to $80, BB raises to $144.95 and is All-In, Hero calls $64.95

Turn: ($304.90) Qd (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($304.90) 7d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $304.90 Pot ($2 Rake)
BB showed As Ah (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$151.95 NET)
Hero showed 6h 6s (three of a kind, Sixes) and WON $302.90 (+$150.95 NET)

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Here is the Sour Hand of the Day.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this hand. The SB was a donk, running at 51/16. So I have an overpair on the flop, the SB checks, and the donk BB leads out. I raise, which is pretty standard to do on a donk lead. Then the SB cold calls my 3-bet, and the BB obviously folds. The only draw on the flop is either 76 or JT. The turn is a blank 3, which can't possibly help his hand. Now that I think about it, I probably should just check behind there and keep the pot small. I'm either ahead (with him having anywhere from 5-8 outs), or I am way behind. What do you think? The river bet was so small, I had to call and see what he had.


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

CO: $108.15
BTN: $79.20
SB: $123.50
BB: $35
UTG: $30.05
Hero (MP): $120

Pre-Flop: Js Jc dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $3.50, 2 folds, SB calls $3, BB calls $2.50

Flop: ($10.50) 4c 8h 9s (3 Players)
SB checks, BB bets $4, Hero raises to $18, SB calls $18, BB folds

Turn: ($50.50) 3c (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $36, SB calls $36

River: ($122.50) Tc (2 Players)
SB bets $15, Hero calls $15

Results: $152.50 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB showed 9d 8d (two pair, Nines and Eights) and WON $149.50 (+$77 NET)
Hero mucked Js Jc (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$72.50 NET)

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Yippe! Lost is on again tonight! I can't wait.

Cheers!

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Monday, February 18, 2008

You Can Call Me The Gutshot Fool

Because if you have a gutshot, your hand is good!!

Not too much poker this last week. From last Monday until today, I have only played 850 hands, which is only 2-3 hours worth. In that time, I am down a good $500, so that sucks monkey balls. I've had so many of my flopped sets go down in flames this month, it's not even funny. It has to be at least 25% of them. Unbelievable.

Here are today's Sweet and Sour hands of the Day!

Sweet Hand of the Day

.......... ummmm, I got nothing. Biggest pot I've won this past week is probably a typical raise PF, and win with a continuation bet.

Sour Hands of the Day.

So ya, raising with T4s is probably not smart. But I had been at the table for 2 orbits and hadn;t played a hand yet. You gotta start stealing the blinds in these position or you are never gonna get any action. So the donk in the SB basically min-3-bets. He was running at about 45/10. When a donk min-3-bets PF, it is almost always a huge hand like AA or KK. So I obviously call cause if I hit the flop, they never can fold AA. The flop is a monster flop for me with a pair and a flush draw. Of course he doesn't have AA or KK, but A8s. Awesome set up full tilt. Thanks

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

BB: $204.75
UTG: $219.55
MP: $200
CO: $286.85
Hero (BTN): $199
SB: $236.05

Pre-Flop: 4c Tc dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to $7, SB raises to $15, BB folds, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($32) 4s Kc 9c (2 Players)
SB bets $15, Hero calls $15

Turn: ($62) 5c (2 Players)
SB bets $15, Hero raises to $58, SB raises to $101, Hero raises to $169 and is All-In, SB calls $68

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

Results: $400 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 4c Tc (a flush, King high) and LOST (-$199 NET)
SB showed Ac 8c (a flush, Ace high) and WON $397 (+$198 NET)

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I probably could have folded to his turn push. But folding overpairs to 40/20 donks is not my strong point

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

SB: $229.25
BB: $176.95
Hero (UTG): $203.35
MP: $64.40
CO: $110.60
BTN: $288.90

Pre-Flop: Qh Qd dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $7, 4 folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($15) Jd 8c 5s (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $12, BB calls $12

Turn: ($39) 9s (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $32, BB raises to $157.95 and is All-In, Hero calls $125.95

River: ($354.90) 5h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $354.90 Pot ($3 Rake)
BB showed Td 7d (a straight, Jack high) and WON $351.90 (+$174.95 NET)
Hero showed Qh Qd (two pair, Queens and Fives) and LOST (-$176.95 NET)

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This is to a short stack, but sucks none the less. He CALLS knowing that at best he could have 4 outs.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players

Hero (SB): $198
BB: $200
UTG: $69.70
BTN: $200

Pre-Flop: Ac As dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG calls $2, BTN folds, Hero raises to $10, BB folds, UTG calls $8

Flop: ($22) Jd Ah 8s (2 Players)
Hero bets $16, UTG calls $16

Turn: ($54) 9s (2 Players)
Hero bets $54, UTG calls $43.70 and is All-In

River: ($141.40) Qc (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $141.40 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero showed Ac As (three of a kind, Aces) and LOST (-$69.70 NET)
UTG showed Ts Kc (a straight, Ace high) and WON $139.40 (+$69.70 NET)


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We went on a mini-vacation this weekend, and when we got back, my internet connection has been really really slow. Not sure what happened, but this morning it was fine. But then during lunch today, it was back to being really really slow. I want to play some poker tonight and play in Monday's at the Hoy, so hopefully my connection is better when I get home.

What is even more strange, is that I can still find some Call of Duty 4 servers that are just fine and in the 80 ms ping range. Where as my usual COD 4 servers are in the 400-500 ms ping range. Plus, Full Tilt is acting really really slow. WTF? That is leading me to think there are some major internet issues out there in the country/world, and not on my end. Why would some COD4 servers be just fine, and other be total crap?

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And finally, Activision announced that they are releasing a new Guitar Hero game this summer: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith!!! Being a huge fan of Aerosmith, I am really pumped for this. Woot!!

Cheers!!

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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

BOOM then DOOM

Man, what a wild and wacky poker weekend. I was fortunate enough to find a couple mega donks on Saturday morning. One guy was running 90/54 and the other was at 60/8. And they were on the same table. And what was even better, was that the 92/55 guy played two tables and would move around a lot. So I was able to follow him around and take a lot of his money.


Too bad the rest of the weekend was crap. I couldn't win a coin flip to save my life. Throw in a couple coolers, and I only ended the weekend up $200. Yikes. I'll take that kind of downswing any time though.



Yep, that's right. I ended my saturday morning session up $1350. I should have listened to my wife and not play anymore for the weekend, lol.

The sweet hand of the day is the huge spike at hand 650. This was at 200NL, and it is my biggest pot ever. A $1000 pot where I profitted $700! WOW! I'm just gonna post the exact hand history. Seat 2 (Aske6pot) was donk #1 running at 60/8. Seat 5 in the SB was JBPresident, who was MegaDonk #2 running at 90/54. The button was just a regular TAG.


FullTiltPoker Game #5183700962: Table Bardstown (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 10:22:16 ET - 2008/02/09
Seat 1: OMGitsPokerFool ($302)
Seat 2: Aske6pot ($803.50)
Seat 3: Peadar110 ($247.15)
Seat 4: Doppelgaenger ($200)
Seat 5: JBPresident ($580.10)
Seat 6: softbatch66 ($80)
JBPresident posts the small blind of $1
softbatch66 posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OMGitsPokerFool [Jd Js]
OMGitsPokerFool raises to $7
Aske6pot has 15 seconds left to act
Aske6pot calls $7
Peadar110 folds
Doppelgaenger has 15 seconds left to act
Doppelgaenger raises to $35
JBPresident calls $34
softbatch66 folds
OMGitsPokerFool calls $28
Aske6pot calls $28
*** FLOP *** [3s Jh 8h]
JBPresident has 15 seconds left to act
JBPresident bets $142
OMGitsPokerFool calls $142
Aske6pot has 15 seconds left to act
Aske6pot calls $142
Doppelgaenger raises to $165, and is all in
JBPresident calls $23
OMGitsPokerFool calls $23
Aske6pot calls $23
*** TURN *** [3s Jh 8h] [6h]
JBPresident checks
OMGitsPokerFool bets $102, and is all in
Aske6pot raises to $603.50, and is all in
JBPresident folds
Aske6pot shows [Ah 5h]
Doppelgaenger shows [As Ac]
OMGitsPokerFool shows [Jd Js]
Uncalled bet of $501.50 returned to Aske6pot
*** RIVER *** [3s Jh 8h 6h] [3d]
Aske6pot shows a flush, Ace high
OMGitsPokerFool shows a full house, Jacks full of Threes
OMGitsPokerFool wins the side pot ($204) with a full house, Jacks full of Threes
Doppelgaenger shows two pair, Aces and Threes
OMGitsPokerFool wins the main pot ($799) with a full house, Jacks full of Threes
Doppelgaenger adds $200
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,006 Main pot $802. Side pot $204. Rake $3
Board: [3s Jh 8h 6h 3d]
Seat 1: OMGitsPokerFool showed [Jd Js] and won ($1,003) with a full house, Jacks full of Threes
Seat 2: Aske6pot showed [Ah 5h] and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 3: Peadar110 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Doppelgaenger (button) showed [As Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Threes
Seat 5: JBPresident (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 6: softbatch66 (big blind) folded before the Flop

Not too shaby, huh?

I could post a whole lot of Sour Hands of the Day, but I'm gonna skip it for now. The worst one was me flopping top two vs a regular and him having the only hand that I'm worried about, bottom set. Oh well, I'm still doing awesome for the month of February.

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No Mookie for me tonight as I am heading up to the Cities to see Linkin Park play. This is the one concert me and my buddy Josh have been looking forward to for a long time. We have awesome seats, so it should be a blast.

Cheers!

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Friday, February 08, 2008

Results of Interesting 200BB Deep Hand

Thanks to Fuel and Alan a.k.a. RecessRampage for their comments about the AK 200BB Deep hand.

I did in fact push the river, and villain folded. I did get another good comment about this hand over at Bet-the-pot.com, and they said, "Villan made this pretty easy for you to play. I would grow some balls if I was villain and shove the turn and then let you poop your panties."

I knew that I shouldn't have posted a brag post, as I knew the DoomSwitch would be activated, Ha! I lost 3 stacks in a quick session this morning.

  • AK loses to AQ all-in pre-flop for full stacks
  • AJ loses to QJ on J73 rainbow flop
  • KK loses to 32s to a half stack donk. He called big PF raise. Called a Full pot c-bet. I pushed the 3rd spade river for less than pot size (I had the K of spades)
  • Lost to a flopped straight where I had trips.
I didn't tilt though, and still feel really confident about my game.

Now go over and read RecessRampages last post. It will make you a better poker player.

Cheers!

Thursday, February 07, 2008

I Cashed in FTOPS #1!!

Wednesday's are easily my favorite poker day of the week. You got the Mookie, Buddy Dank Radio, and lots of good tournaments going on. Add into that the start of Full Tilt's Online Poker Series Tournaments last night, and you got a great night of poker. I very rarely play in any of the big online tournaments. Mainly because I'm a cash game donk and that most of the big tournies start at dinner time on Sunday's. But with the $200 stating at 8 PM on a Wednesday night, I decided to give it a shot. I tried a few satellites last week, but never won my way in. So I decided to buy right into this thing. I've been running really well in the cash games, so I just figured that I satellited in through the 1/2 NL tables.

Things started out slow for the first hour, as I hovered around the starting stack. Then not too long after the first break, I went on a short card rush and won a few hands. Within six hands, I was dealt QQ three times, doubling up on two of those. That sent my stack into the top 30. First QQ hand I doubled up against 77. In the second QQ hand, there were two limpers, and I raised the 40/80 blinds up to 500 (about 10% of my stack). I got four callers! The flop was a beautiful AQ4. I got it all-in with the donk on the button who had AJ.

Short time after this, I busted one of the Full Tilt Pros, Ali Nejad. I don't know much about Ali, but apparently he is a High Stakes player and also a commentator for NBC on some of their poker shows. He was a short stack and I raised up ATs in late position. He pushed with A8, and I flopped the nuts. As a reward for busting a Full Tilt Pro, I won my buy-in back and a free T-Shirt!

And then for the next couple hours, I went completely card dead. I picked KK once, but only won the blinds. I stole every now and then, but my stack always hovered around the 10k - 17k area. To make a long story short, I made it into the money, and busted out in 533rd place when I pushed with 76s in late position with an M of 2.5 and got called by AQ. I flopped a flush draw, but none of my outs came. 533rd place payed out $308, so I won a whopping $93 for my efforts ($293 if you count the pro bounty)

I probably should have been more aggressive towards the end, but I just wasn't getting any cards to get aggressive with. In well over 250 hands, I did not see AA once. I got KK the one time where I won the blinds, and I got QQ only those three times (All within six hands of each other in hour 2). No JJ or TT, and 99 and 88 once. I only got AK and AQ twice each also.

In addition to FTOPS #1, I also cashed in the $24+2 28k guaranteed, busting out in 84th out of 1347. I didn't see AA in that tournament too. Yikes!


Cash games were also nice to me. +$500 for the night there, and that is even with two massive suckouts and one KK vs AA Blind vs Blind war. One of the massive suck outs saw another of my sets go down in flames to a rivered gutshot. The other was me flopping the nut straight with AK, and a donk going runner runner Royal Flush on me, LOL.

Before I get to the Sweet and Sour hands, here is a very interesting hand where we are 200 BBs deep. There were two major donks at the table, The CO and the BB. The CO was playing pretty much every hand, and he limps. The Button is a very good regular LAG, who I see at 2/4 NL a lot. He has been raising a lot to isolate the donks. Well, I pick up AKs and squeeze from the SB. But the Donk in the BB cold calls (his stats were 33/10 with low aggression factor). Flop comes a pretty coordinated KJ9 rainbow. He calls my flop bet. The turn is an 8, but I'm not too worried about that, as it doesn't help any draws. I bet again and he calls. Uh oh. A cold call of a 3-bet PF can definitely mean monster. Now I am really worried about AA here.

What do you do on the blank river?

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

BTN: $197
Hero (SB): $404.65
BB: $478.05
UTG: $383.35
MP: $200
CO: $428.90

Pre-Flop: Ah Kc dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, CO calls $2, BTN raises to $9, Hero raises to $33, BB calls $31, 2 folds

Flop: ($77) Jd 9c Ks (2 Players)
Hero bets $50, BB calls $50

Turn: ($177) 8h (2 Players)
Hero bets $120, BB calls $120

River: ($417) 2c (2 Players)
Hero ?????

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Here is today's Sweet Hand of the Day.

This guy was really loose and playing a lot of hands. I was little worried about the second Ten falling on the turn, but when the third one fell on the river, I knew i was good.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players

SB: $292
BB: $446.15
UTG: $347.40
Hero (BTN): $191

Pre-Flop: Ac As dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $7, SB folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($15) Td 4s Qh (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $12, BB calls $12

Turn: ($39) Th (2 Players)
BB bets $14, Hero calls $14

River: ($67) Ts (2 Players)
BB bets $54, Hero raises to $158 and is All-In, BB calls $104

Results: $383 Pot ($2 Rake)
BB mucked Js Qd (a full house, Tens full of Queens) and LOST (-$191 NET)
Hero showed Ac As (a full house, Tens full of Aces) and WON $381 (+$190 NET)

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And today's Sour Hand of the Day.

Here is the previously mentioned runner runner Royal Flush hand with ATo. Villain was a donk with stats of 59/33. Thankfully I didn't pay him off (tried to get by cheap by throwing out a blocking bet).

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

UTG: $216.15
Hero (MP): $328.85
CO: $200
BTN: $345.50
SB: $365.30
BB: $214.95

Pre-Flop: As Kc dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $7, CO folds, BTN calls $7, SB calls $6, BB folds

Flop: ($23) Td Qh Jh (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $16, BTN calls $16, SB folds

Turn: ($55) Th (2 Players)
Hero bets $36, BTN calls $36

River: ($127) Kh (2 Players)
Hero bets $42, BTN raises to $100, Hero folds

Results: $211 Pot ($3 Rake)
BTN showed Tc Ah (a Royal Flush) and WON (+$101 NET)

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February kicks butt. Please don't activate DoomSwitch!
Cheers!

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Monday, February 04, 2008

Pocket 6's is the nuts

That was a pretty exciting Superbowl yesterday. At the beginning of the game, I really didn't care who won. I was just hoping for a good, close game. I wouldn't have minded New England winning because I've always been a Randy Moss fan, and it would have been nice to see him with a ring. And I also wouldn't have minded New York winning because then us Vikings fans could say that our team destoyed the Super Bowl champs. But as I was watching the game, I started rooting more for the Giants. I guess I just like rooting for the underdog. I've got a pretty short attention span, and I very rarely can watch a whole football game from beginning to end without either doing something else, or flipping constantly between shows. But the game yesterday was good from beginning to end, so it was an easy one to get into.

Poker was pretty good this weekend. I'm up a decent amount so far this month. I made just over $800 on Sunday, so that was really nice. I've even ran into quite a few coolers too, but I'm still up, so I can't complain. Three of my sets this month have gone down in flames. One to set-over-set, and the other two to straights. WTF?


Like I said a few posts ago, I was going to try and play some more cash game hands over at PokerStars. I did that, but I don't think I'll be putting in too many more hands there. It is just more difficult to find the fish and stay away from the regulars without being able to datamine. Add into that the 27% rakeback, and I think it makes the decision easier to make.

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Here is Today's Sweet Hand of the Day

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

CO: $318.95
BTN: $218.60
SB: $97.85
BB: $80
Hero (UTG): $275.20
MP: $89.95

Pre-Flop: Qc Qh dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $7, 2 folds, BTN calls $7, SB folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($22) Qs 7c 5c (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $16, BTN calls $16, BB folds

Turn: ($54) 8d (2 Players)
Hero bets $41, BTN raises to $82, Hero raises to $252.20 and is All-In, BTN calls $113.60 and is All-In

River: ($445.20) 6d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $445.20 Pot ($3 Rake)
BTN showed Ks Kd (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$218.60 NET)
Hero showed Qc Qh (three of a kind, Queens) and WON $442.20 (+$223.60 NET)

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And the Sour Hand of the Day

This happened last wednesday night. SB was the fish at the table. The BB is a regular 2+2 LAG (Loose Aggressive) player with stats around 26/22 or so. I knew that he could be squeezing really light, especially with the fish between us. Not sure what the heck he is doing with AJ there. Does he think I am going to fold after 4-betting? His play is so terrible, but of course he gets rewarded by winning the 72/28. I'm pretty sure this is my biggest losing pot ever. If I win this hand, I have my first ever $1000 day. Boooooo

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

CO: $160.25
Hero (BTN): $618.60
SB: $198.20
BB: $281.45
UTG: $29.75
MP: $324

Pre-Flop: Qd Qh dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to $7, SB calls $6, BB raises to $28, Hero raises to $90, SB folds, BB raises to $281.45 and is All-In, Hero calls $191.45

Flop: ($569.90) Td 4c 2h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($569.90) 5d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($569.90) 3c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $569.90 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed Qd Qh (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-$281.45 NET)
BB showed Ah Js (a straight, Five high) and WON $566.90 (+$285.45 NET)

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I also have to mention one other hand played last Wednesday. In this hand, I witnessed one of the worst poker plays I have ever seen (and of course they got rewarded). It was at the final table of a FTOPS #1 sattelite. Top 4 got $215 seats, and there were 9 left. I had just below average chip stack, with about 12 Big Blinds or so (but only about an M of 5.5). I find AK in early poistion, and I push. I don't like to mess around with AK with an M that low. I like to see zero cards or all five cards. I get called by a bigger stack in late position. The SB also calls. I had the SB just barely covered. The Late Position guy had KJ. The SB had 66. So that means that the SB calls off his whole stack (about 10 BBs worth) after two people have already gone all-in with 66. Obvisouly a 6 came on the flop and he tripled up. And then to rub it in even more, he knocked me out on the next hand with my QQ <>

So that's the kind of poeple that will be playing in FTOPS #1? I am seriously considering buying directly into FTOPS #1 on wednesday night. I'm due for a nice tournament score, so mayeb it can happen on Wednesday.

Coming up tomorrow, I'll review January.

Cheers!

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