Friday, October 15, 2010

Do I dare say it?

Do I dare say that maybe my luck has finally turned around? I better not, cause I don't want to jinx it.

I played a bit of poker last night, and actually had a good night. After what my poker results have looked like the last 2 months, I'd say it is about time. October had been going a little better than September. Up until last night, I was slightly above even in October, after having a terrible month in the cash games in September (My decent MTT score in Sept at UB turning what could have been a really bad month into just a slightly losing one)

Last night I had some free time, and instead of firing up 5-8 MTTs, I decided to just play a few multi-table Sit-n-Go's while mainly playing the cash games. I played a 180 person $11 Rush tournament, a 45 person $26 KO SNG, and a 18 person $26 SNG. I finished the Rush tournament in 2nd place for a nice $250 profit, and the KO SNG in 6th for a $82 profit.

And then in the cash games, I finally had some nice results. Here are a few of the hands:

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Sometimes I 3-bet PF here. I've been trying to get away from the really loose, massive 3-betting style that you see at the 6 max games and play tighter.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

UTG: $99.00
MP: $254.50
CO: $111.70
BTN: $120.20
Hero (SB): $117.95
BB: $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with As Qs
1 fold, MP raises to $3, 2 folds, Hero calls $2.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($7.00) Qd 4h Ah (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $4, Hero raises to $12, MP calls $8

Turn: ($31.00) 6d (2 players)
Hero bets $25, MP calls $25

River: ($81.00) 3d (2 players)
Hero bets $77.95 all in, MP calls $77.95

Final Pot: $236.90
MP mucks Ad Kh
Hero shows As Qs (two pair, Aces and Queens)
Hero wins $233.90
(Rake: $3.00)

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Here is a nice hand where I flop the nizzles. I ended up taking a lot off this guy during the night (Took one stack off of him with AA vs QQ. AA actually held up!). He was really agro, and it was nice having position on him.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 4 players

SB: $100.50
BB: $206.45
CO: $101.70
Hero (BTN): $265.85

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BTN with 9h 8c
CO raises to $3, Hero calls $3, SB requests TIME, 2 folds

Flop: ($7.50) 6s 7h Td (2 players)
CO bets $4, Hero raises to $12, CO requests TIME, CO calls $8

Turn: ($31.50) 5d (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $24, CO calls $24

River: ($79.50) Ks (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $70, CO calls $62.70 all in

Final Pot: $204.90
CO mucks Th Qh
Hero shows 9h 8c (a straight, Ten high)
Hero wins $202.90
(Rake: $2.00)

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It's nice when you 3-bet with a mid pocket pair and then flop a set. It's even better when your opponent tries to bluff when you flop a set.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

BTN: $146.90
SB: $57.85
Hero (BB): $101.50
UTG: $110.00
MP: $100.00
CO: $231.30

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with 7d 7h
3 folds, BTN raises to $3.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $11, BTN calls $7.50

Flop: ($22.50) 7s Jc Qc (2 players)
Hero bets $14, BTN raises to $64.50, Hero raises to $90.50 all in, BTN calls $26

Turn: ($203.50) As (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($203.50) 4d (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $203.50
BTN shows 4c 4h (three of a kind, Fours)
Hero shows 7d 7h (three of a kind, Sevens)
Hero wins $200.50
(Rake: $3.00)

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This guy is a huge agro donk (and one I've been seeing a lot of. Gonna have to search him out more). This is a pretty interesting hand. He had been opening a ton, and I didn't want to 3-bet him with this kind of hand, because I think his 4-betting range is huge. So I just decided to go into check/call mode when I flopped Top Pair. I'm pretty sure he was bluffing the whole way, especially seeing the size of his river bet. I'm pretty sure he calls the extra $33 with AK, AQ, etc... When you play against some of these agro donks who like to bluff, you just gotta let them keep on betting sometimes.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em $0.20 Ante - 6 players

BTN: $136.60
SB: $214.10
Hero (BB): $100.00
UTG: $200.00
MP: $242.90
CO: $198.10

Pre Flop: ($2.70) Hero is BB with Th Ah
1 fold, MP raises to $4.70, 3 folds, Hero calls $3.70

Flop: ($11.10) Ac 3c 5d (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $7, Hero calls $7

Turn: ($25.10) 6d (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $14, Hero calls $14

River: ($53.10) Ts (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $41, Hero raises to $74.10 all in, MP requests TIME, MP folds

Final Pot: $135.10
Hero wins $132.10
(Rake: $3.00)

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And finally, here is a hand where I actually suck out on. hey, I'm due one of these! Even with this hand, I ended up about even in terms of $EV for the night, so there!

So I'm sure some of you might be able to find a fold there on the turn, but I didn't really think AK/AQ was in his range because he was pretty agro. BTW, the check raise when I am out of position, even though I was the pre-flop raiser, is a pretty common play from me lately, especially against agro players. More and more, I am finding people just can't help themselves but to bet when checked to with 100% of their range.

Anyways, I thought that AJ-Ax was all in his range there, so I called the turn raise. Lo-and-behold, he has AQ, but I spike my jack (another 4 or 7 would have given us a split).

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players

BTN: $97.00
SB: $112.60
BB: $117.20
Hero (UTG): $238.40
CO: $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with Ac Js
Hero raises to $3.50, CO calls $3.50, BTN calls $3.50, 2 folds

Flop: ($12.00) Ah Ad 4h (3 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $7, BTN folds, Hero raises to $21, CO calls $14

Turn: ($54.00) 7c (2 players)
Hero bets $30, CO raises to $75.50 all in, Hero calls $45.50

River: ($205.00) Jc (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $205.00
Hero shows Ac Js (a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
CO shows Qh As (three of a kind, Aces)
Hero wins $202.00
(Rake: $3.00)

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There you have it.

The Canterbury Fall Classic is going on right now, and I'm heading up for my annual live MTT on Tuesday. Should be fun. I'm looking forward to checking out Canterbury's new poker room. I hear it is really nice.

Cheers!