Current and predicted failure

This afternoon I was thinking if I should either play poker or just play Wii and darts with my housemates, I chose the latter but half way through the first game of bowling I quickly realised that I had completely ballsed up my "challenge". At the restart of this blog I was aiming to spend a month trying to play on average 4 hours a day of poker for 5 days a week, it sounds really easy in theory but basically aside from the first day or 2 I just havent been doing it. The main reasons are 1) that I hit a mini downswing which knocked my motivation a bit, 2) the tables at midday are a lot tougher than the evening, 3) I'm too lazy. I must admit that in some ways I'm pretty dissappointed in myself for not sticking to something that I couldn't wait to get stuck into during my exams. At this stage I'm not sure whether to just forget about it and continue to relax and enjoy myself or to make a renewed effort to play some structured poker but perhaps try something a little more achievable. I'll decide soon.

Good session

I just finished playing Colin HU - he beat me again but it was basically a crap shoot at the end since the blinds got so high, the turning point in the match was when I 3bet shove the flop with a gutshot and he called with top pair, I think he had a 4 or 5-1 chip lead on me but the blinds were at a nice level so I was able to shove my way back into contention and then I won a 30/70 in his favour to get a small chiplead and basically from there we let the crap shoot commence. While I was playing colin I also had some 600nl tables open and I ended up getting some nice hands and having another good session.

Anywayzzz back to the hands from last session.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134049
Pretty standard really but it shows the advantages of a loose image.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134051
Again pretty standard, we are 4 handed so my call isn't that loose, I think that I probably should have minraised his cbet here since there arent any draws on (that he is likely to have) so I dont have to be worried about being shoved off the best hand that much.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134066
This hand is pretty messed up and obv a shity spot. I haven't been at the table that long and this hand has happened almost instantly after the last one (hence my reload hasnt come through). I think in hindsight I prefer bet/folding the turn since opponent seemed like a fairly weak player, if he had called then I still think c/c a small/medium bet on the river is good against this type of player.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134106
How not to play KK as a short stack.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134108
I probably should have bet more on the turn but I wasn't that scared of any cards and I wanted to keep this guy around since he was a complete 100% good old fashioned donkey - the type I haven't seen in ages. On the river he had like 4-1 odds so I really don't know what he had - I'm guessing a FD.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134120
Very standard, if I dont hit an openended straight flush draw on the turn I probably check behind, I think you can argue for just calling the checkminraise but shoving is also good too imo.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134126
Zzzz Boring.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134129
As I said, donkey.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134131
A good spot to flat call on the turn since I obviously have no fold equity and he has a monster since hes a weak player.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134137
Its been a while since I gave a beat like this although I did have 7 outs, again both the guys in the BB and SB were retards so I limped on the button with 65o hoping to hit a good flop and I did.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134145
Erm, I really don't understand this.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134147
Or this.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134151
Pretty standard hand really but I'm undecided whether betting the turn or check/calling is best, ideally we both check the turn then I can bet any river and fold to a raise but checking and then being forced to call isnt really that great (obv check raising is spew without a read). On the other hand betting almost turns my hand into a bluff and I'm sort of screwed on the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134174
Standard really.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134184At the end of my first session this guy sat down who was the same guy I had the mamoth HU match with over the weekend. I seemed to have the edge early on though since I purposely tightened up a bit since I had been playing very aggressively towards the end of our last match. Clearly hitting TPTK in a RR pot against someone who thinks I am crazy and who doesn't have a full stack = get stack in fast. I think that calling the turn then shoving the river is best because it might look like I'm trying to bluff (obv I would bet a FD on the flop the majority of the time so if he thinks about my river shove then he can't think I have the flush that often) and therefore get value from hands like 99 while at the same time making sure he can't check any lower aces.

Thats the end of the first session today, its getting late and I can't be bothered to do the second session - you would be suprised how long it takes to actually write all this stuff.

Quick summary of the match with Colin...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134217
I think checkminraising definitely has its place HU and I sometimes like to add it in for confusion, unforunately Colin generally knows how to deal with it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134223
This hand I played badly. I don't mind turning my hand into a bluff on the turn but I need to follow it up with a river bet if that is my intention, alternatively just checking the turn and check/calling the river is also a viable option. Obviously Colin played the hand fine.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134229
Minraise time again.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134232
Pretty standard HU play.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134237
This is my attempt at representing the jack by donking the flop to induce the raise but against Colin who knows that I won't have the jack that often here it isn't as good. :( Against an unknown the play works well because they "should" fold a7 there but Colin clearly made the right call against me.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1134244
Suckout FTW? It appears that my former ties with Lee Jones still hold sway.

From then on it was basically a cointoss which Colin won - probably deservedly given that I sucked out before.

Gl at the tables everyone.

An actual poker update

I had a long weekend at my parents' and I must admit that it was nice to just do nothing for a few days as well as trying to 3 table on their pc since it helped me to remember how fun poker could be - it seems that poker players have a short memory regarding the validity of poker as a means to derive enjoyment and to some extent relaxation when they are running badly. On Monday night I actually ended up playing a 3 hour heads up match against a pretty solid player and even though this was one of the longest and hardest matches I've played in a while I really enjoyed it, my feelings about it may be slightly biased because I ended up 3 buyins against him but I can honestly say that it was fun and really characterized what poker is to me: firstly a means of enjoyment and mental stimulation and secondly a way to make money. Personally whenever I seem to focus too much on the money aspect I dont enjoy it as much but I also find myself playing worse which can lead to a vicious cycle.

Anyway this is meant to be a hand related update so I'm going to get through some hands now and then I will probably have to post again in a little while since I have a HU match with colin in 15mins. I played for about 1 hour 15mins at crypto and party at 500nl and 600nl mainly playing 5 tables.

Btw it seems that pokerhand.org is back up.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1133795
This hand I was planning on checking the turnand then value betting the river since my opp seemed a bit weak-tight who might fold an ace on the river if I bet 3 streets so I thought I could make more money by checking the turn then potting the river - a line that looks much more like a bluff plus gets more value anyway because I can't really bet pot on the turn here because it looks too strong. He bet anyway so obviously I have to call, raising is an option because he looks/is pot committed but it seems a bit spewy against this player, I think I need to shove the river though because he probably checks behind all his 1 pair hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1133803I'm quite proud of this hand to be honest and I derived real enjoyment in making my river bet - how sad am I? PF and flop are pretty standard, its 4 handed and an aggressive player raises my BB from the button so I 3bet and make the obligitory cbet, on the turn I have to check because I can't represent the T or the flush that well and even if I had either of them I would have to check anyway because thats how I would play them if I hit them (the majority of the time anyway). On the river I thought that it was pretty likely that he had middle pair type hand like 88 or 98 that had showdown value but couldn't stand much action because if he had a strong hand he would raise the draw heavy flop and if he was floating me then the turn gave him the ideal chance to steal the pot - which he didnt take. Now bear in mind this is relatively early on in the session so my image is still pretty decent (ie not overly aggressive) so I make a fake blocking bet bluff to represent an overpair looking for value. The beauty of this bet is that a) it looks so unlikely to be a bluff because I'm offering such good odds on such a dangerous board that a strong player must fold quite a few hands.

Its HU time now so I'll finish the rest of the hands later.

A Quick HU Guide: Some general HU thoughts

A lot of HU play is about image and momentum and less about the cards that each player holds.


For example if you have just won two decent pots in the last 6 hands while showing down a good hand each time then it is time to put the pressure on your opponent because

1. they will be more inclined to give you credit for a hand so they wont play back with air
2. they will have less confidence in their own hands so you can make them fold e.g. middle pair with a 2 barrel which wouldn't have worked before
3. they will often have less confidence in general so they rarely try to make moves ie they wont give you credit for a hand but still try to push you off it.

All these factors point to being more aggressive in the near future to exploit this; for instance opening more hands on the button, reraising more in the BB, double barrelling more etc. Your opponent will either tighten up immensely and allow you to run them over until they find the nuts to make a stand (the more likely scenario) or he/she will start to give you no credit and play back at you - in which case we can adapt by tightening up in the big pots (ie no 3 barrelling or messing around with middle pair) but still being aggressive in the small ones to maintain that crazy image to ensure you get paid off when you hit a hand.

Alternatively it may be the case that your opponent is being looser and more aggressive than you are. In this case you are more able to represent big hands and bluff him due to your relatively tight image, if you are oop then throw in the occasional big hand line bluff like c/c flop then c/r turn, this will mean that your aggressive opponent will have to fold a lot of his hands and you win a nice pot - clearly you shouldn't over do this move and once you have done it twice in a match you should generally have a big hand the third time since your opponent may start to get suspicious.

You can also lure your aggressive opponent into trying to push you off hands which you aren't going to fold. For example if you call oop with KdTc and the flop comes Ks7s4h then here is a great spot to slow play and just check call for two streets then decide whether to check call the river or bet for value. In this situation your aggressive opponent will often think you have a draw or a weak pair and will try to 2 barrel you reguarly and even 3 barrel sometimes because they just cant believe that you wouldnt try to raise at some stage in the hand with a K or better.

More to follow...

PS: I'm sorry that these random thoughts are poorly organised but hopefully you guys can get something from them.

A quick guide to HU cash

I've just had another crappy session and I'm on semi tilt - owned someone HU only for him to suckout for stacks and remove any profit then I got hit and run by a short stack whos a5 beat my tt, then I got backdoor flush over flushed and finally spewed a stack at £500 on a horrible bluff, well only about £250 was spew but still annoying (ie the initial bluff was good but it soon became clear he wasnt folding). I'm discliplined enough not to play but I've got a burning desire to so I'm going to write about it instead. Sorry for the whine, I actually find it annoying when people whine about beats and to be honest I don't really care about my beats - its more the fact that I made a stupid mistake because of them.

Anyway lets talk HU. Let me start by saying that like any form of poker there is no perfect strategy, it is all about establishing a "normal" line then deviating from that in certain ways in order to maximize your expectation against opponents who adapt to your "normal" style.

Preflop

First off starting hands, like 6max or full ring your starting hands should depend on your position, your opponent and your image but a rough default range might look something like this...

Button raising range - no limping!: any suited cards, any K any A, most Q's, any connectors or one gappers, any hand with two medium cards or two big cards ie 69 or J7, any pair etc. In some ways it might be easier to state which hands to fold, generally I fold hands like q2o, j4o, 83o, 72o, 32o ie ones that have nothing other than pair potential and even when we hit those pairs we are either very very vulnerable to be outkicked or the pair is very low and basically only better than A high, hands like 45o are much better than j2o due to straight potential.
Note: The one time when limping is viable is against short stacks who are very volatile. E.g. someone who has $100 with $2/$5 blinds, raising to $15 (3x is standard hu raise) puts you in a very tough spot if they push.

BB range: Generally it is good to be relatively tight in the bb to keep things simple while trying to ensure you dont get ran over by someone. Obviously a big part of successful HU strategy is to not be too predictable, so when I say calling or reraising ranges I mean them as a rough guide and you should merge the two ranges at the ends ie call mostly but reraise sometimes with the strong end of the calling range ie 88 or T9s and similarly the opposite for reraising hands ie reraise mostly with KJ but sometimes call.

• Calling: suited aces and kings, a7o+, K7o+ Q8+ j8+, hands like 87o or 96s, all pairs, all suited connectors etc.
• Reraising: ATo+, A8s+, KJ+, 99+, some suited connectors or 1 gappers

Finally a rough BTN 3bet calling range would be basically the same as the reraising range from the BB but you can losen up a bit if you want since you have position but I tend to keep the "Big card part" ie Ax the same but play more suited connector type hands.

Flop

Its pretty hard to write a short summary for post flop play HU because literally every line is available to you so I'm not even going to try. Instead I'll try to talk about the very basics and add in a couple of deviations to consider. The key to good post flop play HU is to play standard and add in lots of little deviations along the way to confuse your opponents and make them play incorrectly against you.

In position: In HU the majority of the time no-one has anything but the key isn't always just blind aggression but who can represent the hands best. Generally cbet the majority of flops particularly A-Jxx ones or 26T etc which are unlikely to hit your opponents, flops like JhTs7h should be bet rarely for obvious reasons. Basically use your knowledge of normal cbetting and adapt to hu.

When you hit a pair you nearly always want to bet it because a pair is a good hand in HU and obviously you are cbetting a lot so you need to balance that out a bit. Similar to the btn raising range it might be easier to state times when you might want to check a good hand. Times might be when you raise K5 and flop comes K96, by checking here with a strong hand (TP is a monster) you achieve a few things a) you make it so that your opponent knows you are capable of checking a hand so they won't autobet the turn every time you dont cbet, b) it is a good place to slowplay because only an ace can really hurt you, c) you can sometimes get more value from a 9 because you can bet both remaining streets and they will certainly call.

One other technique to consider is very occasionally checking good hands on draw heavy boards, this is because no-one can ever give you credit for a hand on future streets and so opponents often try to bluff you or completely overvalue their hand if they have one. Clearly you should only do this rarely but an important thing to remember is that most of the time people dont have a hand HU and that includes draws, so even if one of them hits you can still have some confidence that you hand is good as your opponents are likely to be bluffing the draw.

Out of Position: Again the "opponent dependent disclaimer" is very valid here. Checkraise aggressive opponents a lot - with both air, draws and good hands, they will react to this in two ways either they slow down and allow you to control the match by leading the turn and taking pots with hands which have no showdown value and they let you check down your hands like 33 or A high which have showdown value but mostly can't stand any heat (note A high is often good HU and things like K high call downs are "normal?"), alternatively they start reraising your C/Rs so the normal "tighten up and wait for a hand e.g. top pair" applies, very occasionally people start calling the C/Rs in which case they often either fold a lot to a turn bet. Hands like middle pair or bottom pair are best played from behind the majority of the time i.e check/call one or two streets as standard - again I stress that its important not to be predictable so if you have J9d on a As9s4d board it is probably best to check call say 80% but C/R the other 20% for example. I generally don't lead that much in OOP because its often better to C/R as you likely get a cbet as well as the current pot, however I like lead bluffing on draw heavy boards since opponents are scared to raise due to a possible shove putting them in a crap spot and on very dry boards that are unlikely to hit my opponents and as such sometimes they don't cbet them as often.


Essentially... Top pair+ is a strong hand ie bet for value on three streets, in a reraised pot you shouldn't fold top pair (otherwise why are you playing that hand in the first place) and occasionally middle pair too, in just raised pots getting your stack in with 2pair+ is good but again opponent specific. Making lots of small and medium well timed bluffs is important along with the rare 3 barrel after you know a little about your opponent.

Thats all I have time for at the moment, I will add more in the future.

Good luck at the tables.

Taking it easy

I'm back at my parents house this weekend for my dads birthday so consequently not that much poker will be played, however I found a couple of hours yesturdy and although I could only 4 table with difficulty on the small monitor here things went well despite losing all my conflips for stacks and having an annoying beat HU. It seems that pokerhand.org is down for some reason plus I don't have PT on this pc so I can't really pick out any hands but I'll try to remember to do so when I get back to york.

Running bad sucks

Typical whine post regarding standard bad beats and running like a legless pregnant turtle. The shit thing about running badly is that you lose some confidence or get slightly annoyed which obviously affects the rest of your game in an adverse way and can lead to a snowball effect.

I played a mix of £200, $500, $600, $1000 today and ended up down just under 1k, it could have been a lot worse. At the start I wasn't feeling very confident and I think it showed a bit in my play and of course when the bad beats kicked in things looked pretty bleak but I think I'm experienced enough and mentally solid enough to keep plugging away without letting that stuff affect me too much. I think at one stage I was down about 3k but I had a good end to the day (2 sessions total) so things don't look too bad. I started off playing 6 tables including 1 HU but by the end of the day I was playing 4 - a fairly simple adjustment but I think its something that people dont do enough when they aren't playing or running badly (ie probably on tilt - nothing to do with "run well = 99 tables vs run bad = 1 table"). I'm not too worried about losing today, I know I made some mistakes but the majority of my losses were bad beats or coolers.

I dont have the time to go through my hands too much so I'll pick the ones with the biggest pot size, not in order.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129702
A nice one to start off with, I had been dominating the table for a bit and obviously you almost never expect me to pop up with an 8 there which is why he was trying to pull off an elaborate bluff or thought his A high was good on the turn.

I played this guy HU twice during the day and I ended up losing money to him both times but I am definitely the better player and he just kept getting lucky on me. The trend of the match would go something like I grind him down for ages (he plays too tight) then he coolers/sucks out on me for a big pot, I grind down again etc.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129719

The key here is sizing the turn bet so I can shove the river with around a pot sized bet.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129721

Just one of those days.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129734

Retard.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129739

Tilt in progress, betting the river is ok - I think I bet a little too much though - but obviously it is a certain fold to his shove.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129742

Standard - gotta love my opps hand though.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129749

Semi-mistake on the river, I knew this guy didn't give me much credit for a hand in general so I should have shoved since I'm sure he would call me with a T or overpair. Check/calling was a bit silly but I just had a feeling I was beat at this moment and so curled up and crying check called instead of thinking about the bigger picture.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129753

This hand is fairly interesting and I haven't quite made my mind up about it. Starting PF I am fairly sure he doesnt have a big hand since he 3bet me small, the flop is pretty standard. The turn is the tricky part, I have two options either bet or check, I tend to alternate between the two roughly 50/50 while also taking into account the board, my player, my image. In this case if I bet the turn it doesnt let him draw to overs and enables him to checkraise bluff (as well as c/r for value), if I check it lets him draw and possibly entices a bet on the river but thats unlikely since my opp should realise that if I have draws he is ahead anyway and if I have a pair I'm not folding. So I decide to bet and call a c/r since it I will have odds to call given the % of time he is bluffing or has a FD+overs. My opponent actually played this hand quite well on the turn given that he hit his card but I think he does the same sometimes when he doesnt hit so hopefully my play isn't too bad.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129768

Dual C/R FTW.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129799

At the time it felt like I played this badly (it was early on in the day) but I don't think its actually that bad.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129803

Pretty standard HU hand.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129812

Aww crap.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1129830

That will do for now I think. I'm going to my parents' tomorrow for the weekend so I (probably) won't play (much).

Good luck at the tables guys.

Day 2

I played a fair bit yesturday but unfortunately things started off pretty poor and then got progressively worse until I finally had a good evening session before my pc decided to BSOD my ass during a deep stacked hand at 5/10 where I had just flopped a set!! Overall I finished break even. I decided to play a bit at party during the day when the table selection is bad on interpoker and my first session there for months didn't go too well. I don't know what it is but I have never done well at party cash games, either because I dont adapt to the players properly or the software puts me on tilt or whatever I've just never done well. Hopefully I can change that pretty soon.


Anyway since there are loads of hands to go through and I want to start playing soon I will just stick to the big pots.


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124738
Standard.


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124741

Probably should have shut down on the turn since I doubt I can get him to fold 88/99 or a jack, not to mention overpairs/sets.


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124752
lol


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124755

I played this hand very badly, I dont mind betting the flop even though he CC PF because he could have AK/AQ but once he calls I need to either bluff or shut down.


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124762

This hand is a bit crappy too. The problem is that its very hard for me to ever get away from an overpair given my image. The problem on the turn is that the 7 didn't seem to change anything regarding hands that call the flop ie no draws completely and I doubt he floats with 77 there (although it is possible). The more likely outcome is that he now has a combo draw ie pair+ flush draw or or pair+ straight draw, however is this was the case then why not raise more since the big advantage of playing those hands aggressively is fold equity. So This lead me to believe that he was just making a delayed bluff and so I called the turn and obviously then I have to call the river too. Whether or not it was the right move I'm not sure since I don't really know enough about the player but I'm inclined to say it was a mistake.


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124777

I love short handed although this was almost HU given the nature of the short stack.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124794This hand may look like spew but I think its ok since it is a blind battle and I have a little bit of history with this guy from our short handed exploits. The flop is pretty standard, its unlikely he has a big ace since he would have rr pf and its unlikely that he raises a small ace for value since he opens himself up to a reraise/shove on a draw heavy board so my initial thought was that he had a draw or a bluff. The turn didn't really change anything in my mind and so I played to maximize my expectation given my thought about his likely holdings and I just check called, check raising may also be an option but I thought this guy might try and shove the river so I just called. The river brings a scare card ie the perfect card to bluff at so I called given my good pot odds as well. I think the guy read my hand well but didnt realise he was against a calling station.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124815
This was a pretty fun hand and I think it works well in the long run since it really looks like I have AK or AA (I hope anyway). Also since I sometimes overbet shove for value I need to (very) occasionally overbet bluff too so my opponents cant always say overbet = monster.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124823
HU against a good player who seemed to be playing a lot of 6max tables as well as HU, I think he plays a little too tight though and I'm sure I can beat him.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124858
This wasn't funny.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124860
If the jack or a ten hadn't come I would 3barrel since I was almost certain he had a small ace or middle pair but his range improves a lot with that card and there is no way I can rep the jack so gg me.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124866
It sucks when they have the hand you are trying to represent.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124868
Standard.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124870
Had odds against the donk.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124879
Almost died on the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124885
Calling station.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1124891
GG owned.

Annoyingly I've lost have of this blog post since my wireless died half way through and I don't want to do it all again.

So it begins...

I've been pretty busy recently so I havent had much time for poker even though I want to start my little poker challenge/experience as soon as possible. So I decided to start today even though I knew I wouldnt have much chance at playing for long, I got in just under a 2 hour session and I thought it went ok considering that I haven't been playing really or more importantly thinking about poker for a few weeks. So today sort of felt like riding a bike after a while - you can steer straight and feel safe but you don't really want to be trying any tricks yet. I was planning on mixing in some HU and 6max tables but oh boy the table selection was bad at 1.50pm so I sat down at the 500nl and £200nl HU tables and got on the waiting list for the only decent 6max table at all which happened to be 1knl. Things went well and I ended up 1.4k which is ok although I know I didnt play anything near my A game and in that sense I am dissappointed but its only to be expected.

Match 1
Nothing special but the first decent sized pot, it basically shows me that this guy is retarded.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117871

And some time later after me grinding him down for a bit this happens. End of match 1
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117872

Match 2
This match started with my opponent sitting with 200 and going bezerk for about 10 hands during which time I was completely card dead and he was pushing me around. Thankfully I hit a hand and he did too - although obviously he overplayed his.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117874

He reloads to 300 and we basically trade pots for a while until this hand. I like my play here and I'm almost certain its a winner in the long run. I basically put him on A5 or 44-99 excluding 55 on the flop and then 77 on the turn and I thought I could get him to fold. I think this player is fairly poor so it won't work as often compared to a good player but I still like it.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117875

Standard for me, not for him.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117886

I had been check raising this guy for a while with air and he had just started to call or play back at me so when I finally picked up a hand I was pretty happy. I think you can argue for betting the river but I was pretty sure he was bluffing since he tended to slow play his big hands so I checked the river to let him fire again, unforunately he didnt.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117889

Suckout. Before this he had been catching almost every river while bluffing etc so it was nice to finally have the cards fall my way although it really was a nasty one for him.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117897

Match 3
Early on in the match although I think I've played against this guy before. Hero call for the win.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117904

Pretty sure I got max value here, shoving is a possibility but I think he folds too much since its obvious I'm never bluffing. He left after this. :(
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117906

Match 4
I'm so crap against even semi competent short stacks its not even funny and my next guy kept hanging around for ages until I finally but him after him reaching £150 at one point. The basic pattern of the match went: he doubles up and gets a 50bb+ stack at which point my big edge kicks in and I grind him down until he hits 25bb again and he works his way back up etc etc.

Early double up for him
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117912

Normal sized stacks = moves possible.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117915

Turn C/R didn't go as planned since he bet tiny.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117925

Finally!!!!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117927

Match 4
No time to commentate on this since I'm supposed to be in a pub by now celebrating with classmates who have just finished. Key hands...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117930

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117932

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117934 possible turn mistake

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117939

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117941

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117944

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117946 - just call river, silly mistake

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117947

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117953

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117949

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1117950

Done.

On a side note, I'm staking my good friend Craig/Pokerbhoy to play for the next week so make sure you check his blog out too - see my links.

Exams Over

I finished my final exam yesturday, it didn't go very well because I was tired and burnt out so I didn't revise as much as I should have and I paid for it. I received an offer from LSE regarding my MSc application but unfortunately it was contingent on me getting a first. I rate my chances 50/50 which sucks because I don't like coinflips without fold equity.

I'm going to have a few days break before I start my challenge, currently I'm just too tired and I don't feel that I could sustain a structured play schedule for any length of time. Hopefully in a few days I will feel refreshed and ready to go.

Shads

Accidental hit and run at 5/10

I played for 25mins today before my wireless cut out on me for a couple of minutes and by the time I got back my opponent had left, but unfortunately this was just a few hands after I coolered him so it must have looked like a blatent hit and run. Its not that bad but whenever I play people HU I always try to be polite and practice good etiquite to ensure return matches, I know some people act like complete assholes on purpose to try to encourage future action but I prefer the other approach since it comes more naturally to me. I saw a decent table at 1000nl today which basically had 3 regs I play with at 500nl a couple of fish and an unknown so I got on the waiting list and started a couple of 500nl 6max tables. After having 2 people refuse me HU at 500nl I sat at a table on my own but then I saw someone sitting with £40 at £200nl (read $400nl) and I eventually managed to separate him from his money but man I suck at playing against short stacks - its just such a grind. Anyway pretty soon after he left the 5/10 table became available and I took my place, unfortunately with a solid reg to my left. I started off pretty tight then exploited my image just doing a few standard squeezes and punishing limpers, unfortunately the remaining donk (I had taken the seat of the other) left and the table became HU with me and the unknown. I certainly fancied my chances HU against a random 6max player especially with my "tight but probably becoming looser" image so I played on and won one buyin before disconnecting and finding he had left when I returned.

6max hands
This was earlyish on one table where I had been 3betting quite a bit and generally been active since the game was 5 handed. PF is pretty standard and I catch a dream flop, however his weak cbet made me thing that he either had a monster looking to induce a reraise so he could shove or complete air so I just called with my gutshot+FD intending to re-evaluate the turn. If I hadn't caught a 7 I would have bet the turn with the intention of taking the pot away however now that I was ahead of overcards I think that checking again is good because a) it may induce a bluff on the river if he has nothing and b) it stops me getting checkraised allin- although I would call I would certainly be behind. On the river a pretty good card hit and I probably bet a little too much since I'm almost certain he had something like AQ and made a good fold, 180 would have been best I think.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1094948

Same table a bit later on. I normally mix it up between 3betting and calling with KJs out the blinds depending on the table dynamic and my image, this time I elected to call but 3betting is good too given my image. Flop is pretty standard, no draws so no point in C/R since I will only get action from hands that beat me, turn check is fairly standard and river can either be a bet/fold or check/call, with KQ I think I prefer betting but check/calling is best with KJ here imo.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1094984

Same table again - I guess the other one was boring. Pretty standard, I used to be more inclined to fire two barrels there but given my image I really don't think I can even get A2 to fold so I had to be a pussy and single barrel.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1095000

Standard.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1095024

Yea that table. Given my image I think its very likely he is making a move on me here plus I have a gutshot so its hammer time!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1095010

HU Hands
There really were only 3 real hands in this very short match, unforunately because the SB was missed pokerhand.org doesn't like the first HH.
Hand 1
aeat 5: Psychatog ($902 in chips)
Seat 6: Hero ($1201 in chips)
Psychatog: posts big blind $10
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Jc Kc]
Hero: raises to $35
Psychatog: raises to $130
Hero: calls $95
----- FLOP ----- [7h Qd 8c]
Psychatog: bets $200
Hero: folds
Returned uncalled bets $200 to Psychatog
Psychatog: doesn't show hand
Psychatog collected $259 from Main pot

Hand 2
I should have raised to $40 here PF but I was just getting used to having the button on the BB so I just saw I was first to act and raised to 3bb - my normal raise for HU. Standard cbet on the flop and he raises at which point I give him no credit, I think he raises pairs PF and stuff like JT etc so he can only really have something like 54 or 46 here - which is a tiny tiny part of his range, so I decide to make a move and represent an overpair and call. I would have checkraised the turn anyway but since I got lucky and hit a draw I think I C/R fits this spot perfectly, he folded pretty fast.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1095061

Hand 3
Just a cooler really. I almost never 4bet first time with a good hand since people fold a lot so I just call with the intention of getting allin on the flop, also I remembered that he made a pretty big cbet last time in a reraised pot which made me certain that calling was the right play (if he had only bet say half pot then it would have given 4betting more value but still not enough vs calling here imo).
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1095086

So thats it, short but sweet.

2 posts in 1 day = I'm trying to avoid revision

So I've got a headache due to lack of sleep and I don't feel very productive so I thought I would go over some of the hands from last nights session.

HU hands

This hand was the major mistake of the evening, I think that I played it fine until the turn call because I'm pretty sure he folds a lot but when he pushes he basically always has a flush since we are early on in the match and no history has been built up. I tried to convince myself that he could have something like KxQc and I had the odds to call basically this hand belongs at 25nl or worse. :(
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087688

Decent double barrell.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087692

A not so good one.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087695

Zomgrivered. I was hoping to C/R the turn since I thought it likely that he was floating me on the flop and would try to take the pot away on the turn.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087705

Turning point in the match. Pretty standard really, he had done that small raise a couple of times to my 3bet cbets so I decided to call and see a turn card this time, and obviously I got lucky and he started to berate me - hello tilt. :D
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087696

The highlight of the evening. Truely brilliant. This hand is pretty meaningless on its own but basically over the course of the match he gave me absolutely no credit whatsoever and then started to tilt after the K9 hand so after flopping the stone cold nuts I decided to minraise his cbet (people on tilt hate minraises) to invite him to spew, thankfully he obliged.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087707

Some 6max hands:

Standard.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087720

Absolutely no respect.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087722

This river call looks good but actually its pretty easy IMO. Against a solid player OTBE this call is a lot harder to make but given the odds I'm getting I'm pretty confident that I see a busted draw enough of the time to make this profitable against a weak player.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087725

Pretty standard.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087731

HU tour against Badsastard
Semi standard HU hand, I often mix it up between checking or betting the turn there depending on if I think I can make more from charging draws on the turn or fake bluffing the river, unforunately I didn't get a call.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087736

Pretty retarded call of the 4bet, I'm going to attribute this to playing too many tables but it really is spew. I don't know if he minraised to induce the 3bet so he could 4bet bluff or if he just had a strong hand but either way it worked and I threw away chips.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087735

This was the key hand of the match. Colin had been 3betting me pretty liberally since he knows I open with garbage a lot on the button and given the stack sizes/blinds there isn't that much room for play post flop so I had to tighten up a bit and only call 3bets with hands that were playable in their own right - God I hate tournaments. Anyway so I raise with QQ and he 3bets me, IMO here calling with QQ is really the only option since 4betting or shoving is likely to restrict action to AK, JJ+ which I don't fare well against, by calling with position I hopefully extract a cbet from him on 90% of flops and I generally get more action from hands that I beat like AT or 88 on lowish flops. Obviously I open myself up to A/K high flops but I'm happy with that since this is HU and its unlikely that he hits those cards that much given that he is reraising a lot plus I have position. The flop comes low cards with draw potential and he checks which either means he is going for a C/R or he has high cards and knows I won't give him credit for a hand on this board, obviously I am willing to go broke here so I make a "weak attempt to win the pot since he showed weakness" and he calls. From this I know that he has high cards and he thinks that either he is ahead of a draw or that I am just full of crap or he has a weak draw that he doesnt want to get raised off. At this stage on the turn if I didnt have QQ I would happily get it allin with AJ+(so I am ahead of his A high hands on average) and any pair here because its obvious that he doesnt have a made hand. Logic: Any hand that c/c that draw heavy flop after 3betting is trying to maximize value by inducing bluffs (playing "from behind") or is a weak draw that doesnt want to comit to the hand, if he had a pair or Axd/97d etc he would play them aggressively on that flop, hell even with 88 or 66 I think he would cbet to try to induce a raise. Unfortunately Colin caught his king and stacked me and took me down pretty soon afterwards. :D
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1087738

I just realised that I wrote for ages about that hand but oh well, I hope it is coherent.

Tired

After looking through the hands I played last night I've decided not to put up the video, I made quite a few errors and I really think that it is pretty bad. If I play again in the next few days I'll try to remember to record it.

On a different note it appears that my poker tracker is screwed since different numbers for amount won, winrates etc are showing in general info and game notes/position stats plus it seems to have lost about 80,000 hands so now I have many sessions where I won/lost money without playing a hand. Hopefully I can get it sorted soon because I really want to keep accurate records after my exams.

Anyway its time for food then revision.

Rusty Rusty Rusty

I gave myself the evening off today and so after relaxing until about 9 I decided to play some poker. The tables looked pretty juicy, especially the HU ones since two fishy regs were playing each other at 4 of the 5 tables, so I sat down and eventually got a game against a guy I had seen at the 6max tables but not HU. Unfortunately things started badly and I ended up spewing a buyin a buyin early on as well as spewing in my 6max games. Well it wasn't horrible spew as such but it was one of those plays where deep down your gut tells you its wrong and with more discipline I wouldn't have done it but since I hadn't played for a while I was in a gambling mood :(. I started to play a little better as time went on although still underpar, I think the main problem was discipline. I also played Colin aka Badsastard (spoonerism!) HU and he beat me, its pretty funny how he probably gives me more problems than some of the "regulars" I've played in HU cash but I guess it helps when he knows to give me no credit.

I actually recorded my session today with partial commentary and it includes about 5mins of the match against colin, at the moment I'm undecided whether to upload it or not because as I said I didnt really play very well but at the same time I guess it would show some of the more "standard" HU plays. I'll decide tomorrow anyway since it is now 1am and I have had 10hours sleep in the last 2 days thanks to a smoke alarm this morning.

PS: 1 more exam to go :D
PPS: the exam today went crap :(

HU cash games

At this moment in time I have 2 more exams to go (both 3 hours!) until I am finished, so far things have been going well and I think I completely spanked my mathematical economics paper this morning. The only problem is that I got no sleep last night and I really can't be motivated to revise for tomorrow's exam but unfortunately this is one of the exams I am least prepared for, plus its a module where I need to get a big score to ensure a first.

Anyway since I am procrastinating right now I thought I may as well add to my blog. I was playing a lot of HU cash games before my exam period and doing pretty well. I really like HU because your cards matter a lot less (compared to 6max) and it is all about what you think your opponent has, what your opponent thinks you have, what your opponent thinks you think he has and what I think my opponent thinks what I have etc... Of course sometimes you still find fish and the only way to beat them is to sit back and wait for a hand to stack them.

The only problem is that I was finding it increasingly hard to find a game at 500nl, I don't want to sound like I'm bigging myself up here but basically no regulars would play me any more, so I only got to play against people who were playing 500nl-2000nl HU or people who were/are complete fish and hence don't care who they play. So I'm wondering if the honeymoon period is temporarily over regarding HU until I move up stakes (assuming I am still good enough to win) and I get to play against the whole player pool again? Obviously there are still a decent number of people who play 500nl HU and the odd new average player comes along but as the stakes increase there is a much smaller player pool and it would be a lot harder to get action, so perhaps concentrating on HU is good in the short run but not so much in the long run?

Anyway I plan on finding out when these exams are over, enough time wasting - back to revision!

The Blog Starts Again

I've decided that I'm going to start blogging again but since it has been ages since my last post I think its best to have a clean start. This is because a lot has happened since my last post (back then I was just getting back to $400nl but now where I am spanking 500nl and occasionally taking shots at $1000nl) and I'm starting a new challenge.

I finish my final university exams in 10 days and after that I will have 6 weeks of pure 95% free time and then the summer holidays - sweet!. Anyway during my twilight weeks of academia I'm going to play poker professionally for one month - what I mean by that is I am going to try to put in 4-6 hours of poker a day for 5 days a week for 4 weeks and not getting a job. I am certainly not thinking of becoming a poker professional but this is something that I have always wanted to experience and there is no better time to do it.

I'm assuming that it could get a little boring and repetitive so I am also going to make an effort to get fit at the same time by alternating between running and other exercises every day and I'm going to buy a nintendo Wii, and of course I also plan on drinking a lot. :D

So thats it, I should be revising about now but I can't be bothered so I figured I may as well start blogging. By the way, I might even make some more videos if people are actually reading this.

Good luck at the tables.

Shads