Down by the elevator and up by the stairs

After the carnage of my last session I just wanted to put in a solid showing and go back to basics. Thankfully that's what happened. I only played 3 tables for about an hour; 1 HU and 2 6max and I just concentrated on playing good solid poker and not doing anything too fancy (read spewy!). I ended the session up about $470 which is exactly what I was looking for and hopefully I can build on this next time.

Hand time!

HU Table
My encounter was pretty boring really; I was up against a tight passive opponent so 90% of the hands was just me winning lots of small pots then occasionally him winning a medium one when he called my cbet with top pair. The match finally ended with the following hand...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818094
This hand is obviously a bit of a cooler but I think I played it pretty well by checking the turn against this opponent who could easily have been leading the flop with J9 or 22 and hoping to c/r the turn. K high v A high flush sucks though.

Next I played against a completely different player who was much more LAG and actually played quite well aside from a few leaks.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818131
This was the 3rd so I didn't want to raise the flop and be open to a 3bet without knowing anything about this player so calling is best I think. The turn is a pretty standard call given how weakly I played flop. However a bet on the river would have made an interesting decision and would depend on betsizing I think since the guy could easily have been value betting a worse jack but there is also a good chance I would have been beat. I think I would have called a half pot bet because I could easily be ahead plus also because information about someones flop donking and 3barrelling ranges are very valuable. On thinking about it though I think that I should have made a half pot bet on the river to get max value but checking isn't a terrible mistake.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818165
Pretty standard I guess, you've gotta love C/R the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818172
Standard up to the river I think, if the board didn't double pair I would have had a crappy spot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818174
I had to fight back my urge to 4bet shove here. I really think had air but I was determined to be a good boy. Next time...

6 Max Table 1
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818185
I think I should have bet just a little more on the flop here to make it so I had under $100 on the river so my guy couldn't fold his ace.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818201
Man I love 200nl, I forgot that these people existed.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818206
The river is pretty interesting IMO. I think that you can make arguments for turning my hand into a bluff and looking for a showdown. Given the way the flop was played and the subsequent tiny bet on the turn and check on the river I think we can say that its unlikely that my opponent will have a flush unless its a poorly played AxTc etc. Without our history I think the river is a pretty easy pot sized bluff but because he folded to my shove when I had a flush I'm inclined to think he might want to look me up more than usual. Overall I still think it should be a bet but seeing a showdown with AK here certainly isn't a huge mistake.

Table 2
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818241
One the joys of playing 200nl is that you can make river bets like these without fearing a C/R allin.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1818252
This guy 3bets fairly light so calling with the intention of making moves occasionally is ok I think.

So thats it, a pretty good sesson overall but obviously I still have plenty of areas of improvement. :)