Been a While...August 30, 2005

I need to make myself more accountable for updating this blog once a week. Not sure if I will but I'll continue to try. The problem is that I like to update my blog at work. Usually during lunch or when there is nothing else going on. Problem is that recently I have been extremely busy. I could consider posting while at home and I sometimes do, but when I have free time after work I usually like to play poker and if not poker, then I'm running errands, miles or hanging out with my wife. My point: I'll try to do better, but I can't make any guarantees.

So how have I been doing lately? My winning streak came to an abrupt halt. I worked my way up from the $10 SNGs to the $20 SNGs. I could have gone up to the 30 SNGs but I was killing the $20 SNGs and I wanted to get in the positive on the year at the 20s, so I stayed there for a while and then when I got up to the $30 SNGs I felt like it was a totally different ballgame. Is the game a bit different level wise? Possibly, but more likely I think I got out of my rhythm and started overthinking when I should be making the obvious play and underthinking when my opponent would give me a clue to his hand. So instead of just losing money until I was playing the 10s again. I took money out of my account and delegated myself to the 20s and gave myself a couple chances to go 10s or 30s. Of course I lost.

So I played a bit at the 10s and have worked my way up to the 20s. Yesterday I played my first 20 game in a week or so and on the very first hand I had QJs. I limped in looking for a monster. Flop comes J95 with two clubs. Small blind bets the minimum 15 and he gets two more callers. I raise to 100 to see where I stand. I could be outkicked, I could be way behind against a set, I could be a slight underdog against AQc or AKc (unlikely because more often these hands would raise preflop, but possible since it is first hand). So I bet 100 and the small blind calls, all others fold. I thought this was promising because he called quickly indicating a draw and I likely was not outkicked. Next card is a T of hearts and my opponent moves all in.

I have two options. Fold or Call. The board shows JT94 with two clubs and I have QJ. I thought about folding but I felt like I made a good enough raise on the flop to force out an inside straight draw (KQ, 87 or Q8). Plus, if he really hit his inside straight would he really move all in in this spot? Wouldn't he check, make me bet (since I showed strength on the flop) and then come over the top? I thought so and discounted the straight. There are no flush possibilities on the board which is important. If he is ahead of me at this point, I still have outs with my Q. If I catch a K or 8 I will have a straight that will beat any two pair or set. So does he have a set? If he has two pair did he catch it on the turn? Which would give him JT, T9 or T5. Does he have a set of tens? Possible again, but unlikely. Did he have a set or two pair on the flop? Well, I think the dangerous board would have caused him to raise me preflop. Plus I think he would have taken a bit more time in calling my flop raise. I had this guy on a flush draw, so I decided to stick with my initial instincts. I called for all these reasons, PLUS because it was the first hand. During the first hand real bad players play awful aggressive poker and take chances trying to push people around.

He turned over Q9. So he raised all in with top pair and an open ended straight draw. Which means he has only two cards (one of the remaining nines) that can win him the pot and eight cards that can chop the pot (any K or 8 would give us both a king high straight). An 8 came on the river and we split the pot.

This isn't a bad beat story or anything. I just wanted to share a hand with you that I actually thought about and tell you my imperfect analysis. So I had him on a flush draw but he had a smaller pair. So if someone calls quickly they are often chasing. Not necessarily a flush draw but possibly a second pair. With some players I may not have raised enough to chase away an opponent that was looking for a straight draw with KQ. They have ten outs against me (all four tens, and three K and Qs). But that is the beauty of poker. You have imperfect information and you have to make you best guess based on the information available. The best part is that I wrote notes on this players so I know that he is very aggressive and a guy you wouldn't mind facing with top pair in the future.

Anyone interested in how the tournament ended? Well, amazing enough the same guy got heads up with me, but he had a decisive 1000 to 7000 chip advantage. I got the lead 3 more times! and I got all my chips in against him 5 more times and he beat ended up beating me. Three times I had my chips in with the lead and the game would have ended. Oh well. That's poker.

Next up for me. I have been playing a lot of SNGs and I think it is hard to stay fresh. I could quit playing for a while, but I really do enjoy it. Poker has always been about the enjoyment for me rather than the money, but it is nice to have both. :) I bought Harrington on Hold Em 1 and Small Stakes Hold Em but Ed Miller, David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth. I have heard they are excellent books and I can confirm HOH. I am not finished with HOH 1 or 2, but I thought to keep myself fresh I would learn how to play small stakes limit games. I think with my math skills, I could calculate pot odds and be a decent player. Right now I'm good enough to break even at the casino and make a small amount of money on the internet. But I need to learn how to calculate pot odds quickly and to control the size of the pots so I can get the odds in my favor. Hopefully my game will improve and I can really start making the money. Basically most people will admit that it is much easier to make a lot of money playing limit cash games than it is to win consistenly at SNGs.

Interesting Hand and HOH2 - August 12, 2005

My consecutive winnings streak came to an end this week. Although the week was still a success. My week starting off with a live game, continued with some more live action at a friends cabin, and concluded with some up and down Party Poker results.

There were twelve people playing at a live game I played through work. The plan was to start with six at each table and combine the table once we got down to eight. We started with about 900 chips and blinds started at 5/10. Very first hand at my table there is raising and reraising between two guys until one finally calls after both have committed 400 chips each to the pot preflop. The flop comes J74 all spades. Small blind checks. Initial preflop raiser bets 100. Small blind raises 100 and initial raiser moves all in. Keep in mind that this is the FIRST HAND! The small blind thinks for about 5-10 minutes and then calls. Small blind turns over QQ with a spade. I look at the original raiser and say "show me your aces or kings". He turns over AK...no spades! Just shows that you never know what to expect in a live game.

Blinds went up every half hour so there was plenty of times at a short table to play good poker. I made some good reads and caught some fortunate cards and was able to win the tournament. It was fun to play and there were some experienced poker players at this tournament. My only frustration is not knowing the total payout rules to begin with. Rules were laminated on a card next to me so it is my own fault, but I could have probably made another ten bucks. Total winnings were split between the top three except for $10 which served as a bounty on the last month's winner. I think I could have won that ten bucks earlier in the game. I crippled the prior winner with a value bet on the river when I could have forced her all in and probably picked up the ten bucks.

I went up to a buddy's cabin for the weekend. Normally the weekends are spent playing cards, going out on the boat, playing various games like croquet and bocce ball, but this year we actually played a lot of poker. There were 11 guys and we played various tournaments throughout the weekend. Small stakes, but it was still a lot of fun. The players had various experience so it was very interesting trying to play against players who have lots of experience, players who have a little experience and players who have no experience at all. Amazing how the players who have the least amount of experience can control the tempo of the game. They dictate what the opening bet is and what the breaking point is to fold your blind (if there is a breaking point at all).

Once I got back I played a bit on-line earlier this week and had one night when I was 0-3 in SNGs. The first two games I made good reads on the players hands but ended up getting knocked out of the tournament and the last tournament I finished fourth. The first game, I picked up AT on the button and everyone folded to me. I made it 150 to go with blinds at 25/50. I started the hand out with 1500 chips and the small blind had 725. He calls and the flop comes 279 rainbow. He checks and I decided I was either ahead or way behind. I think he has to have an inbetween hand. One that is not good enough to reraise all in preflop but a hand that he is hoping to catch something. Instead of messing around, I make a bet of 600 into a 350 pot and put him all in. He calls and I think I'm in trouble until he turns over A9. What? Of course a 9 comes on the river which brings me down to 750. I asked him after the hand what he though I had that A9 could beat, but he did not respond. I finally moved all in with 66 and went down when an AQ called and caught a pair.

The second game I was playing against a LAP in the small blind and I called his 2x preflop raise with K7s from the big blind. The flop came rags, 936 rainbow. He put out a small bet and I put him to the test by moving all in. I didn't have enough money to make a small bet without leaving myself pot committed. However, I felt I had enough chips to create folding equity (FE). I pegged him for two overs and as the blind I could have been calling with anything to a 2x bet. He calls with AK and wins the hand.

You could say I played these hands great and I should have won, but I don't think that is entirely accurate. I pegged the hands, but I didn't peg the player. I should have learned a valuable lesson from my weekend at the cabin and known that you have to understand the player before you can beat the player. I should have picked up somewhere in the game or from more time with the player that they were calling stations. For the first guy, I wrote notes on him that he thinks an over pot sized bet all in indicates a bluff and will call with very little. Hopefully I will meet him again. The second guy was a LAP calling station as so many are on party poker.

I've had a friend suggest I move up in limits so that I eliminate the bad players. The theory is that I could play better against better players. I used to think the same thing and it is possible that my style of play is better against players who are capable of folding a hand and realizing how to read the board, but I think it is incorrect to say that I should move up. Players at the lower stakes games are going to make more mistakes. If players make more mistakes, over the long run you should have a greater chance of winning.

I just need to become a better player myself so I can identify the type of player I'm playing against so I can take advantage of those mistakes. The only legitimate reasoning I have heard for moving up in levels to improve your winnings is for the situation where you have worse overall results at the higher limit tables, but the stakes are higher or the rake is less leaving yourself with a chance to make more money. A similar example is a player that plays multiple games a time. They may not win as much playing two games at once instead of only one. But if there results only decline slightly, they may make more money per hour playing two at a time.

Lastly, I wanted to discuss HOH2 (Harrington on Hold Em, Volume 2). Dan Harrington, one of the great tournament poker players wrote an excellent book on tournament poker strategy. There is a big buzz around the poker community because the book is so insightful. I have only read 100 pages of the book and it has already lived up to expectations. Lucky for me, my friend received an extra copy and gave it to me this weekend at the cabin. The 100 pages that I did read (which I need to read another 10 times to fully understand) allowed me to win a tournament two nights ago. After finishing a chapter, I decided to play a tourney when I came up with another AT hand. I had a very aggressive player who was in the CO (one right of the button) with 2200 chips. He was raising the blinds nearly every hand. The blinds were up to 50/100 and I was in second place with 2000 chips. There were only 5/6 players left. I had a legitimate hand and one that I was fairly confident was leading going into the hand.

He raised it to 300 and I wanted to take the hand down right there. My AT is probably the best hand, but it is susceptible to a draw and I would be playing out of position the rest of the way. I raised him to 800 chips. He called. Now this had me worried since I was playing out of position, but I also knew that this LAP was playing most of his hands preflop and I was probably a better player than him. The flop came K72. I could have decided to try to win the hand right there, btu with the money already in the pot, I would most likely had to move in. I wasn't willing to risk my tourney life on AT. He very well could have a K and I wanted to see how my opponent would play the hand so I checked. He checked behind me and the turn was a 7. His check confused me since he is an aggressive player. I checked again. He checks behind me and a king comes on the river. I check and he bets 400 chips.

My first thought was, is this a value bet? Was he slow playing me this whole time? Does he want to suck more money out of me because he has a monster hand? What could he have had that he would play the hand this way? With two sevens and two kings on the board, it was unlikely that he had a set on the flop, unless they were 2s so I discounted a set. Could he have a pair higher than 7? Possible, but my read on this player was that he would have reraised me all in preflop with any pair. Could he have a seven or a king? It is possible, but if he gets any part of that flop, it makes sense for him to take the pot down there. He has to know I have a decent hand to raise back at him and the pot was big enough that he should want to take it down and not let me draw to an Ace or a higher pair. I concluded that he didn't bet on the flop or turn because he was scared and he didn't know how to play his aggressive style post flop. He made a bet on the river to try to pick up the pot. I called and he flipped over Q8 suited and I won a big pot.

I'm not saying I played the hand great because I could have folded the best hand if my opponent had been a bit more aggressive post flop. Although I do think it is a good example of me playing better poker recently. I am thinking more clearly and it has shown in my results. These type of hands make poker so much fun. It's like you are playing a puzzle and you just need to find the right pieces to be successful. Hopefully I can keep it up for a while so I can move up in levels and get some more experience with players that make less mistakes.

Hot Streak: August 3, 2005

First off, thank you for all of your feedback. I think it has helped me fine tune my game a bit. I have already learned too important lessons from this blog. One: I am limping from Early Position with suited connectors or mediocre hands way too much. Two: Calling from the BB when the SB raises 2x can be a very profitable play with whatever two cards you are holding as long as you are not short stacked.

I have not posted for a while. I have realized that I can't keep up with my initial hope that I would post once or twice a day. Juggling a job, marriage and other interests makes that difficult. However, I am going to try to post at least once a week and maybe twice from here on out. Even if it is just checking in with a quick update on how I am doing, I will post at least once a week. Haven't figured out what day it should be yet.

So as you see from the topic of this post, I have been playing pretty well lately. It is amazing how when you are in your groove you can look back and see how bad you actually were. I felt like I was playing legitimate poker during the first half of the year, but looking back I wasn't thinking at all. I was going through the motions, playing my hands as I should, making a guess every once in a while on whether the guy was bluffing or not, but not really making logical great decisions. I feel like I'm playing well right now. It isn't just that I'm winning (6 straight positive sessions), but even when I'm losing I made a bet for a reason and usually ended up getting a bad beat. For example...

Last night, I played in a $20 SNG and I was raised by a LAP from the SB when I was the BB. Blinds were 25/50. I had about 800 chips and he min raised to 100. I called with 6c 7d knowing that I could outplay this guy after the flop and I had pot odds to call. I didn't feel I was short stacked enough where I was pot committed to going all in or fold. Flop comes 4d 6d Td. Small blind raises 125 and I move in for my remaining stack. Why did I move in? I wanted to win the hand right now. If I have a better hand, it isn't by much. He could have a Ten or a pocket pair greater than six. If he had a hand, I think he would have bet the pot a bit more or check raised like most bad players do. So I thought that I had the best hand, but even if I didn't there was a chance that I had a flush draw with my 7 of diamonds. So I move all in and he calls. What does he have? As Ks. What? Turn is a King, river is a rag and no diamonds come to save me. Was I upset? Not really, because I got my money in as a huge favorite (about 84%) against a bad player. I'll take that bet every time and make money in the long run.

So what got me thinking about the hands a bit more and making good decisions? I give credit to someone who a lot of people don't like or are annoyed by. He is a 19 year old 2+2 forum poster and he plays under the avator zeejustin. Go to his website www.zeejustin.com and check him out. Plenty of bragging, but his recent article about one of his multi tournament game was fantastic. I thought it was good stuff.

Another great hand from the last week? I played in a live tournament at my friend Todd's house. Todd had just finished a softball tournament and was about 20-30 beers down. His roommate Joe was a little drunk as well. We all started with 50 chips and blinds were 1/2 to start. There were seven players and everyone calls the blind before it gets to Joe on the button. Joe raises to 8 and I fold my 83o. Everyone folds except my friend Beyer. Flop comes Q98 rainbow. Beyer checks and Joe bets 10. Beyer Calls. Turn is a J. There are no flushes possible as every suit is represented on the board. What does Beyer do? He bets 10. Now, Joe thinks for about 2.5 seconds and announces all in. Beyer ponders for a while and considers his options. Fold or Call. He says "What the heck" and calls. What does he have? AJ. He called with a pair of jacks when any queen, ten, two pair or a set would beat him. So what does Joe have? AK. No joke. Very first hand and he is knocked out with A high. Everyone was laughing except for Joe who was upset that Beyer called with a pair of jacks. I couldn't believe either of their plays, but that is what is so much fun about low stakes live tournaments with friends. You never know what to expect. Todd - Thanks for hosting. It was a fun time and we will have to do it again sometime.