Call the cops !!!

I just got raped by the fish !!11!! 

 

Agghhhhh it’s so frustrating – I play a nice cool calm and collected game, plenty of discipline, well within my bankroll, grinding out small profits and then wham bam thank-you mam I get rogered up the arse by fishy fish.

 

Played 850 hands (big session for me) and it started off ok, a few small wins a medium loss, a few more wins, pretty standard and then lost a load to some donkey who played any two cards and couldn’t lay a hand down.  Oh and I also got raped by a set vs set too lol !! 

 

At one point I was $65 down (about 2 and a half buy-ins) but towards the end I managed to win a bit back and decided to call it a night $20 down, so could be a lot worse I suppose but it’s so frustrating !!

 

Give me some sympathy people !!

 
Here is the evidence of tonights’ crimes 

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771287

 
This was the fishiest of all the hands and put me on serious tilt. No way I was folding this. Such a dry flop and on the turn, there’s only 1 fooking card in the deck that has me beat. Aghhh !!!!!!

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771327

 

Same villain couple of hands later limping and calling as usual. I have  a zillion outs to the best hand here and double barrel flop and turn. How can he call ?!! What does he think he’s beating here ?!! If he thinks he’s ahead, why doesn’t he bet or raise ?!! 

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771353

 

Same fooking villain again !! I was tilting in this hand otherwise I would never have called his raise on the river. Couldn’t believe he called my turn bet…
He then proceeded to donk off a lot of his winnings, but unfortunately none of it came back to me and he soon left the table.

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771371

 

Villain hits his 3 outer on turn lol…

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771384

 

QQ cracked by JT obv 

 

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771399

 

Set vs set, sniff

 

Luckily I won some back:

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771413

 

Big pot, but I overplayed it (no doubt playing a bit scared) If only Mitak13 had called on the flop too because judging by his reaction I had him crushed too. Btw, if Lisamari had caught her flush I would have have tilted so hard lol!

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771441

 

KK > JJ pretty standard.

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771450

 

This guy was pretty bad…
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1771461

 

Just decided to limp AA here because the table had been so aggro. Can’t believe they called my huge raise preflop. Again I overplayed it on the flop but I was sick of getting sucked out on. Oh well, I’ll take it.

 

I feel a bit better now lol

 

GL at the tables, hope you have a bit more luck than I did this last session.

 

Grinding

Quick 300 hand session and finished up another half buy-in. Yeah, nothing sexy but I’ll take it lol.

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1765460

 
Hmm I like my play on the flop here but I should have bet out about 2 thirds of the pot on the turn because villain was quite aggro and so if he had a made hand, he would have repopped it on the flop so I’m sure he had a flush draw here…

 

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1765483

 

This was one of those WTF hands lol ! I normally raise AQo here preflop but decided to mix it up a bit. Turns out I lost the minimum in fact.

 

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1765490

 

Nut straight on the turn with plenty of action in front of me so I wasn’t gonna slow play this particularly with the flush draw out there.

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1765512

 

Villain was very weak but quite unpredictable and had been seen calling down quite light and making ridiculous minbets like this one on the flop so decided to repop it. Was a bit concerned when he came out firing on the turn, but my hand had showdown value so I wasn’t folding yet.

 

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1765527

 

Terrible call preflop by villain with A3 and that’s what happens when an Ace comes on the flop – he had no idea whether his Top pair crap kicker was any good so ended up checking behind and giving me a free card to make my flush. Can’t believe he called my bet on the river too !
GL at the tables.

 

Is pokerhand.org borked ?

Well is it ?

I’ve just been rereading my blog and my hh links on pokerhand.org all seem to point to other peoples’ hands ?!  (Apart from my previous post which I have updated by hand)

Anyone else experiencing this ?!

WTF ?!

Just a quickie

Just played a very quick 230 hand session and finished up about half a buy-in.

There were 2 key hands, one I lost and one biggie where I made a move preflop and outplayed villain post flop for a big pot. 
Here are the hands:

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1760444

 

Standard raise preflop with my pocket pair and decided not to mess about on the flop. I was obviously delighted when he reraised me all-in  with just top pair crap kicker. Was a bit less delighted when he hit runner runner for a better full-house .. lol Damn

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1760475

 

Villain had been very aggro both pre and post flop and I had been playing very tight so decided to draw a line in the sand with the monster hand that is KTs lol!  Sweet flop for me and I was pretty sure he didn’t have AK cos he would have repopped it preflop without a doubt. I decided the best line would be a check on the flop and then a strong bet on the turn to make it look I was stealing the pot. He insta-reraised all-in and I insta-called lol.  Ship it.

 

 

 

Hmmmm..

Well it seems to be 1 step forwards, 2 steps back atm lol. I played approx 600 hands yesterday and was running about break even and not really getting any cards and then absolutely butchered one hand to end the session down a buy-in and a half   Ah, I was so annoyed with myself it was one of those hands where you just “know” you are behind, but you call down anyway, just to be sure lol.

Anyway here are some of the key hands:

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?266222

 
Pretty standard check raise all-in on this flop IMO. Villain was shortstacked, was on the button and it had checked around to him and there was a lot of money already in the pot. He’s either got it or he hasn’t, but I’m not folding there. Thoughts ?

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?266229

 

Nice rearaise with A6s fish lol.

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?266236

 

This is the hand I totally butchered   I should have folded the turn because villain had an AF of about 0.75 so he obviously has a set of 4’s or 5’s here. I think what threw me a bit was that he had just won the last few hands by calling down light and catching a card on the river, ie typical weak passive play. But of course there’s a big difference between that and betting out on three streets….. Note to self, when a passive play bets into you 2 or 3 times, your single pair is no good … Ahhhh!! Awful play by me.
Not all doom and gloom though. I’ve been getting pretty good at identifying over aggro players who bluff too much and then inducing them to bluff with a weaker hand. I made 2 sick calls in this next hand and got villain’s stack:

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?266244

 
I had a really good read on the villain as a bluffer both preflop and postflop. I had seen him raise all sorts of trash hands preflop and fire 3 barrels postflop with air. Basically whenever the pot got big, he bluffed too much. The hardest call was on the turn where he was obviously trying to represent the King. I thought about it a bit, but didn’t believe he had it. I didn’t reraise though cos he would have folded and I wanted him to bluff at me again on the river.

 
So overall, a frustrating session made bad by misplaying one hand.

 

 

Pocket rockets baby!

Just played a quick 30 minute session, 2 tabling as usual.

There was a huuge fish on both of my tables. On table 1, he was making all sorts of fishy bluffs in bad spots and on my second table, he was calling down 3 streets with Ace high and generally being a station.

However, I was a bit card dead and was about to call it a night when I got dealt AA at exactly the same time on both tables and got action from both fish lol!

Here are the hands:

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2404593

 

When I 3 bet him, he tanked for ages before pushing me all in no doubt thinking he had me crushed or just being a total fish probably. After my bad luck yesterday, I was kinda expecting him to suck out on me, but luckily the hand held up

 

 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2404637

 

This was the calling station fish so I wasn’t in the least bit worried when he just flat called my bets on the flop and turn. I figured he might fold on the river if I bet again, so I checked to him and let him put the rest of his stack in all by himself lol.

This second hand really shows the importance of getting good reads on your opponents. Without a specific fish read, I would have probably slowed down the betting the bit in this hand, for example.

 

Anyway nice to see AA holding up and Thanks for your business, fish

 

Bad session

Just finished a bad session results-wise, dropping 3 buyins over 750 hands. I didn’t play too badly, but I was tired and I think my mind was on other things like work and stuff, so I shouldn’t have really played.

I got sucked out on a few times but I shouldn’t have paid the fish off on the river when they hit their hand. There was also a copmlete LAG tard fish at one of my tables who was catching all his cards and pushing everyone around. I knew he was raising light, but everytime I played back at him, he came back over the top grrr…..

Here are the key hands:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2399914

 

I knew villain had a Jack when he called my raise on the flop and checked the second Jack on the turn, because that’s what fish do. So why the fook did I raise him when the board paired on the river ?!! Because I just saw the heart and didn’t notice the board had paired (ie I’m a fish too )

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2399943

 

Hmm weird hand this one.  This was the LAGtard I was talking about earlier, hence my raise on the flop. Yeah like he’s going fold. So I hit my set on the turn and of course he hits his straight on the river. No way I can fold this river – I’m getting over 4-1 odds.   Grrr  damn you the 9 of hearts !!

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2399969

 

His bet on the turn really tilted me. I mean WTF is the purpose of a $1 bet into a $7 pot ??!! For value ? He thinks I’m gonna fold on that board ?  Same story on the river, but I really didn’t put villain on a flush here….

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2399988

 

Can’t believe the villain called my raise on the river lol

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2399999

 

No idea what villain had here. Without a made hand here, I often just fold when my c-bet gets minraised by the donks. I don’t understand why he would minraise then fold. I think he probably had JJ or QQ and put me on a set.

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2400025

 

I don’t think villain could have played his hand any worse. Check out his bet on the turn giving me > 22-1 odds to draw to my 2 outs !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short but sweet

If only it was always this “easy” …

I’ve just played a short 25 minute session, 2-tabling $25NL and won $30.

The winnings came from the following two hands and I am really pleased with how I played both of them:

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2386842

 

Very often, players (myself included) at the micro-stakes limp small pocket pairs in early position and then either give up on any flop when they don’t hit a set or bet/raise when they do. This is usually fine at the lower stakes where players aren’t really paying attention to what you’re doing, but it is a highly exploitable play and will get punished at $50NL and higher.

Something I am therefore slowly mixing into my game is raising up small pocket pairs from all positions to keep my opponents guessing. This hand was a good example. Deefburger made the correct play in late position reraising, but got too fancy and only minraised. This meant it was only $1 for me to call and he still had $13 behind. By reraising I knew he had a premium pair and that I was going to get his stack if I hit a 5, so this was an easy +EV call preflop.

Postflop, the hand just played itself. The other added benefit of this was that the whole table (especially the initial limper) could see I had raised pocket 55’s from EP and so meant my table image was now as a bit of a LAG.  This image helped get me action a few hands later vs the initial preflop limper (Brouns83):

 
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2386883

 

The way I played this hand was based on a read and previous history vs Brouns83. He had been very aggro (68/20/0.8) in the short time he had been at the table and his image of me was as a bit of a LAG (see previous hand)

It folded around to him and he open raised on the button. His range is very wide here, so I decided to 3 bet with my pair of 9’s which are well ahead of his range.  When he calls, I put his range on A8o+, any pocket pair, KJo+

On the flop, I have to bet having shown so much strength preflop and I’m still way ahead of his range. When he just calls, I was sure I had the better hand because my bet committed me and he would have just pushed if he had TPTK or better.

So when the 6 came on the turn, I figured that didn’t change much. If I bet (putting him all-in) I reckoned he would fold if he couldn’t beat TPTK, but I was sure he would try and bluff if I checked to him. Once he bet, I had to call – I had induced the bluff so had to call it.

 
GL at the tables

I’m back !

… in fact I never went away, but just stopped posting while working hard on my game, moving down limits to get my confidence and “A game” back !

As a recap to my poker history – I started this blog with a bankroll of about $270 and I was playing $10 NL. With a lot of grinding/discipline/patience, I built it up slowly and eventually moved up to $25NL where I really dominated and quickly moved up to $50NL when my bankroll hit $1000. Unfortunately on moving up, I took a few bad beats and then tilted a bit which resulted in me losing confidence, playing badly, tilting even more etc…. This all resulted in my bankroll taking quite a hit (down to $500 at one point) and me feeling really frustrated. I needed a break and took a few weeks off.

After the break, I went through my PT database and tried to analyse what went wrong. I realised that there had been initially nothing wrong with my game!! I had just that I had hit a downswing at a bad time and then tilt did the rest of the damage. Wow, tilt is such a monster and I now realise this is something that has to be overcome to be a true winner at poker. Those who have been following my blog from the start will know that I am a solid winning player, with plenty of discipline. I now know that if I can avoid tilting and can accept the variance, I can really beat this game.

So what have I been doing since my last post ?! Well when I started to rebuild, my bankroll was at $500 and I decided to move down to $10NL and nit it up playing good, solid ABC poker, making few moves, and grinding it out like I had done at the beginning. I also went back to 2-tabling and taking extensive notes on my opponents. This seemed to work, and I (eventually) started winning again, and most importantly enjoying my poker again.

When my bankroll hit $550 (+ 5 buyins), I moved back up to $25NL and carried on grinding. I took a few bad beats, but this time they didn’t seem to affect my play as each and every time I had got my money in good. I stopped playing if lost more than 2 buyins in a session and if I was starting to feel frustration/anger etc ! I broke even for a while at $25NL, but didn’t change anything in my game and just recently, it has been paying off and my bankroll is again moving up slowly and surely.

One of my strengths in my early days of success was my ability also to know when to stop playing a session and book a win, even a small win and not get too greedy, particularly if feeling tired. I used to do this so as to ensure I finish the session on a positive note. Some would say this is -EV if the tables are juicey, but I feel it can also be +EV because it means the next session will be played with a feeling of confidence and we all know how important that is Well I have been doing this again, and it seems to be working and my confidence is growing all the time.

Something else I have been doing too is practicing good table selection. I have no ego. I have no desire to be the best player in the world. I want to play vs fish with full stacks, so that is what I have been doing

So, to cut a long story short, my bankroll is now standing at $690, I am enjoying my poker again and have big plans to keep grinding and take another shot at $50NL and then take things from there. I am not going to give myself monetary goals, because that is out of my control. I will simply be trying to play regulary and making good decisions and I’m sure the money will take care of itself.

Finally, I would just like to say I am pleased to say I never once had to redeposit my account, I never went broke and am now looking forward to keep moving on up through the limits

Here are a few hands from my last few sessions (good and bad):

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2378880

Villain was a complete maniac running at 83/65/2.8

He was open-raising all-in a lot and generally overbetting all the pots. I insta-called this and was 80% favourite when the money went in…..

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2378910

Meh, I like my flat call here preflop. I’m keeping weaker Aces in and keeping the pot small OOP. I was sure he was going to cbet so checked to him on the flop and check raised him on the turn. Can’t believe he called the turn, what does he think he’s beating ? However I could/should have found a fold on the river…

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2378945

lol this guy was such a fish. No way I was folding to a minraise preflop, knowing my implied odds were HUGE vs this sort of player if I hit the flop. When I saw the flop, I decided straight away I was going to commit and the only problem was how to get the money asap. Luckily villain obliged !

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2378968

These 3 villains were all maniacs and had all been locking horns against each other which is why I reraised it hard preflop. I couldn’t believe they all called though. Aces vs 3 villains isn’t good, but they had shortish stacks so I was committed on any flop. JSLYCORD paused for ages when I put him all-in on the turn so I knew I had him crushed. I really wanted him to call to win a big sidepot in case BOJICUBS already had me beat. I am sure he would have called if it hadn’t had been for ShooterrrNJ telling him he was crushed. Idiot, if it had been a live game, I would have called the floor (after the hand) to complain. (He had KT btw)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2379027

Ship it !

GL to all of you

A few hands

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1926264

Hmm, There are some things I like and dislike about how I played this hand. I like my call preflop with my suited connectors. There’s a raise from mp and a caller ahead of me. I am on the button with a hand that can flop well. I was pretty sure if I called that one of the blinds would come along too. The prelop raiser was quite taggy and I put him on 88+/AQ/AK.

On the flop, the villain made his c-bet and I was getting just less than 3-1 odds to call. His bet felt a bit weak, kind of half-heartedly protecting his hand, but not really. I felt that 2 high cards (AK/AQ) was more likely than a made hand. I was very tempted to raise this up and semi-bluff with my flush draw, but with a player still to act behind me, decided against it. My call is ok, if I think villain will put more money in the pot on later straights. When he checked to me on the turn, I knew I was now ahead, and felt that AK/AQ was the most likely, but if I bet out he’s just going to fold with the spade scaring him off. I then made a thin value bet on the river to try and get him to look me up.

It worked, but the extra $2 still didn’t justify the call on the flop. Over all, I called $2.50 on the flop and won $8.80 ($4.35 + $2.50 + $2) ie total pot odds of 3.52-1 whereas I would have needed 4.2-1 to make my flop call +EV. Doing the maths, I needed to win at least an extra $3.65 on the turn and river to make my flop call profitable in the long-run. Since villain just had 2 overcards, I doubt he would have called that much.

Is my maths right here ? Is a raise better on this flop ?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1926409

I nearly had a heart attack here when I got 3 callers preflop. I had to bet this flop but didn’t like betting into 3 loose villains OOP. Luckily 2 of them folded and the other one flat-called. I already had a read on him as a calling station and a flush chaser, so I had every intention of  double barrelling the turn. I think I got my bet sizing just right here. When he checked to me on the river, I decided to just check behind too. I’m not getting any more money out of a busted flush draw and I’m only getting called by a better hand there.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1926470

Villain’s stats: 60/3/0.45  (typical weekend loose passive)

I was pretty lost on this hand from the turn onwards. His flat call to my huuge raise on the flop along with the club on the turn made me think the fish had drawn out on me, and for such a passive player to make a bet like that on the river, begging for a call, I had to be beat. Even getting 7-1 odds to call, I hate paying off the fish. 89, AK, any 2 clubs all have me beat there. Yuck !