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Monday, May 25, 2009

Comparing sites and a milestone: a $500 BR

I have spread out my bankroll across 4 sites: PokerStars, Party Poker, Everest Poker and Titan Poker. Except for Titan, where I still have some 40 euro left (a bonus I cannot withdraw until I earn like 2k TP's), I deposited/kept $100 on each of them.
The next few weeks I'll be rotating them playing 10NL so I can compare level of competition, software and bonus/loyalty programs. The goal is to increase my BR at every site from $100 to $200, dropping back to 5NL if I fall below $100.

So far Pokerstars and Everest seem to be the extremes in terms of level of play. At Pokerstars, the average is definately higher than Everest, and maybe that's because at Everest 10NL is the lowest stake. In fact, there are a lot of bad shortstackers and on a typical table, it seems there may be one or two decent players and two to four total fish. On Pokerstars I'd say there's about two or three decent players (at this level of course) and one or two fish. Both Party and Titan seems to be in between.

After a very nice and sunny week-end with the family and friends, I was eager to play some good poker last evening. I quickly got up $15 and after a short break, I decided to add a third table (playing at Everest). I ended up $25 in about 350 hands so that was great. I played well, got some decent hands and people were paying off nicely. Next up in the rotation is Titan Poker.

I also decided to play the 2+2 Pokercast Invitational on PokerStars, which is a freeroll (well, it's 1 fpp) with some nice prizes ($200 for first). I didn't last very long though.
I'm OTB with AKo and decide to raise a bunch of limpers. UTG+1 3bets and I call (bad, bad, bad, bad, bad). I miss the flop and fold to villain's flop bet.
Then I'm card dead for a while and have to push with 2BB left. I get two callers and I'm out. No biggy, but it's weird: I feel I understand the basics playing cashgames, but have no idea how to play tournies. Also, I find it difficult to mix a tourny with several cashgame tables opened as well.

For what it's worth: that 2+2 Pokercast is a good show, with a lot of interesting guests (last episode featured Daniel Negreanu), strategy segments with aejones, Sklansky and others regularly throwing in some advice and stuff to think about, and a decent coverage of the latest news. As it is sponsored by the Pokerstars VIP program, Pokerstars gets some extra attention. So, my advice is to check it out at the 2+2 site. You can also add it as a podcast via iTunes.

Have fun!

Astafas

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Another rough session

I put in about 500 hands yesterday evening and was stuck most of the time.
At first, I slowly build up some winnings but then two hands knocked me down 2 buyins, both against the same opponent.

This guy was playing like 70/35/8 so he was all over the place and already at a stack of 300bb.

First hand was a bit of a cooler I guess: he raises on BTN and I reraise from the BB with AKo. Flop comes Kxx, I bet, he raises (he was raising A LOT of hands) and I shove. Villain has AA and I loose $10.

A couple of hands later, he raises again from the BTN and I call from the BB with KQo, a MP limper calls as well.

Flop comes QJT, so I have TPWK and an OESD.
We check to initial raises who bets $3 into a $1.50 pot.

This was a tough spot for me: his bet really says I have something good but I don't want anyone to draw, so that could mean AA, KK, AQ, AK (unlikely), QQ (unlikely), JJ, and maybe AJ, TT, KQ, KJ. There was also the possibility he was trying to bully again.

Because he had been pushing people out of so many pots, I figured I was slightly behind at worst so I raise to $6. (maybe should have shoved or folded there)
Villain shoves and have to call $3.5 for a $16.5 pot, so I have to call.
Of course he shows QJ for top two and I have 10 outs (A, 9 and K) but miss them all.
I guess I didn't make a huge mistake here, but I just didn't get lucky.

I spent the rest of the session trying to get back and end up with a $3 loss.

Again, not a big loss, but again, not a win either.

Bye

Astafas

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

And then a not so decent session at 10NL

Well, I'm right back to where I was: down 4 buyins at 10NL.

As I wasn't feeling all that fresh, I was thinking to skip my usual Sunday evening session and watch some tv instead. Finally, I did sit down to play and stupid me even opened 4 tables. I shouldn't have done that, in fact, I shouldn't have played at all (head-aches are bad for your A-game).

I quickly dropped a buyin due to a bluff that didn't work and several missed flops where I faced strength on the turn. After a little while I got it back up to almost break-even (this is when I should have quit), but then dropped back to - $4.

By this time, I started closing tables when I get AKo OTC and raise it to 3.5x and I get two callers. The flop is good: K42 with two clubs, so I make the 2/3 cbet.
Now the BB checkraises me to $6. For some reason, I thought he was semi-bluffing here and I wasn't going to fold TPTK (I guess the typical I'm stuck, so I'm not giving up this pot syndrome, so I shoved. But like I said, I was tired and had a head-ache and somehow I managed to not notice we were 150bb deep instead of 100bb.
A quick call by villain tells I'm beat, and he shows 22 for trip deuces.
FUCKING DONKEY ME!!!! I could have hit my head against the wall if it didn't hurt already. Seriously pissed.

I did fuck up in other ways as well though: I kept playing on a table I should have left (a super-aggro bigstack attacking every pot, combined with a few calling stations is a tough spot) or I should have at least adjusted my play.

Most of it was missed flops, big hands getting little action and a lack of focus.

I guess I'm a bad winner and a bad looser: if I'm ahead I start to push it to get even more or keep the pace when the cards aren't just as good, and if I'm behind I tend to push it to get it back. Arrrgh, patience is a not only a virtue but a necessity in poker.

I know I'm capable of beating 10NL, I just need to play solid every session, instead of playing well three sessions and then blowing it in the next.

Astafas

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Decent session at 10NL

I played some 350 hands at 10NL 6max yesterday, sticking to 2 tables as planned.
I quickly got up about $5 but then made a mistake (another lesson learned):

I raise PF with AKo and get a call from the BB.
Flop comes K93 rainbow and the BB checks.
I'm thinking I'm not gonna make much if I cbet, plus I wanted to balance my range here by checking.

Turn is a Q and now the BB leads out. Bingo! I continue my slow play and just call.
River is a T and now the BB checks and I bet half the pot, only to be raised...
And I make the call. BB shows a QJ straight and I loose 50BB.

F***ing idiot! DO NOT slowplay TPTK when the board shows some draws!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Won't be doing that again.

I loose another pot with KQ and a Q on the flop versus AQ.
The next few hands I rebuild from -$5 to +$5 and then I make another mistake.

I raise two limpers from the BB with AKo and both call.
Flop comes KQ6 with two diamonds (I have the ace of diamonds) and I make a potsized cbet (previous lesson learned) to keep people from drawing. Now the short-stack villain pushes, the other guys flats and I call.

I don't know why I called here. I didn't give the shortstack too much credit, but the overcall was a bit worrying. I guess I figured he was getting pretty good odds to draw, but could have a made hand as well. It should have been bet/fold, but I played it weak and just called.

Now the turn comes a J and the villain makes a 1/2 potbet and again I call.
River is a T of diamonds and I check (figuring villain might have made the flush).
Villain checks behind and shows a set of 6's.
I scoop the pot, but it was a horrible runner-runner suckout.
I was very surprised to see his set though, I really thought he would have played it harder to protect it against such a dangerous board. Perhaps he was afraid I had KK or QQ?

Anyway, I did play solid most of the time, putting in some good 3bets and generally showing some good aggression. I ended up $10 in the black, but it should have been break-even. I do tend to call raises too often: several times I called a raise on the flop and then folded to a turnbet. No big mistakes, but they do affect the bottom line.


Adios!

Astafas

Monday, May 11, 2009

Long term result of 10bb/100 at 4NL

With a nice result yesterday, I've finally achieved my goal of 10bb/100 at the 4NL level (after almost 45k hands).

As I wrote in earlier posts, I had reviewed and adjusted my game in october last year because I had been treading water at 4NL untill then ( -3.7bb/100 over 18k hands). After that, my results improved a lot as I ran at 19.5bb/100 over then next 26k hands, resulting in 10bb/100 overall.

Yesterday was kinda meh: I wasn't playing very well and quickly dropped 1.5 buyins due to some bad calls and stupid bluffs. Nevertheless, I ended up winning $7, partly by paying a bit more attention but mostly because of the much appreciated tendency of some of my opponents to just donate their money.

The weirdest plays keep popping up at this level all the time, which makes it harder to try and put people on a range of hands, but obviously is a +EV game.

A short example: I'm in the BB with 86o, and one guy limps in in the CO, so it's just the two of us.
Flop comes J86 rainbow, and the villain in CO shoves his remaining $2.50 in the middle. I mean, why on earth would you shove there? I made the call and he had a weak Jack and my two pair held up.

I'm definately running extremely well this month and that won't last, but at this point I'm up $54. I'll be playing 10NL for the rest of the month and I'm just hoping that will turn out better than my first (short) attempt at 10NL. The differences between FR and 6max are pretty big and it seems 6max is a lot more fishier. Most nits probably stick to full ring.

I came across a new pokersite, SimbaPoker, which has a nice and fast client and offers some non-standard stuff like Dealer's choice and Chinese poker, a loss limit (basically you can set a certain limit on your losses, after which you account is frozen for a period you choose), and some extra security features. The site also offers a transparent progressive rakeback scheme, with rakeback up to 50%.
The problem is the lack of traffic (they're on their own independant network), but I'm hoping that will pick up in the next few weeks/months as I'd consider to switch to this site because of the good client/security/rakeback scheme. Also, I sympathise with the underdog. So, if you're interested, check it out at www.simbapoker.com.


Until next time...


Astafas

Friday, May 8, 2009

Bluffcalling?

I was in a fun hand on 4NL 6max yesterday.

I pick up JJ OTB and openraise to 4bb, obviously hoping the blinds think I'm stealing.
The BB decides to 3bet me and he raises my $0.16 to $0.82(!).
A 5x reraise feels weird so I'm thinking he either has QQ, maybe KK or air a lot of the time.
Because we're bot 100 bb deep, I decide to just call (I have position).
The flop is perfect J 9 5 with two clubs.
Now the BB cbets $1.50 and I decide to shove it, now pretty convinced he does have that big pair.
Villain instacalls with... ATo, so he's pretty much drawing dead.

I guess 3betting an OTB raiser with ATo could be reasonable, however, why make it 5x?
Cbetting such a dry board, well, sure, why not.
But then calling a shove with ace high from someone who called your big preflop 3bet?
Please, send me more of these :)

Have a nice week-end!

Astafas

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Short but winning session

I didn't play too many hands yesterday, coz I spent most of the evening surfing to check out poker deals (bonusses and rakeback). Still managed to earn $13 in 150 hands 4NL and 150 hands 10NL.

I did witness some complete donkyness on my 4NL tables. Perhaps I was sitting at an exceptionally fishy table, but it seems level of play is actually dropping on these tables. I saw people going broke with second pair, paying off obvious straights/flushes etc. There was also an extreme tendency to limp. I was pretty card dead the first half hour, but after that I was able to take some money of my eager-to-donate opponents.

Just an example: I'm in the SB and have A2o. Everyone limps and, since I just sat down, I decide to complete instead of raise (raising wouldn't have worked anyhow, I learned later on).

Flop comes A K 9 rainbow and I check, figuring at least 1 of my 5 opponents must have a better ace than me. The table checks around. Turn is a ten. I'm still no really believing I'm the only one with an ace, but hey, let's find out: I make a potbet and get called by one player. River looks like a brick, but I check again, as I don't see many weaker hands than my TPWK callin a bet here. My opponent had called me with a 9. That's right: 4th pair in a limped pot, on a board with an ace and a king. Go figure.

On a 10NL I got to stack an opponent: I'm raising PF with AQo OTC and the button and the BB call. Flop is A x x (2hearts) and I make a potsized cbet and get a call
from the guy OTB. Turn is another heart and I check it. Now villain bets like $0.50 in a $2.00 pot, so I have to call. River is another heart and I make a small bet to induce a raise and sure enough he pushes AI (another $5) with a lower flush. Thank you.

Cheers

Astafas

Monday, May 4, 2009

Steamrolling 6max

I haven't regretted my switch from full ring to 6max yet as I'm runnning hot as hell at the moment: up $42 in only 1500 hands for a 72 bb/100! Obviously not sustainable, but a welcome boost in terms of results and confidence.
Even better, I'm having great fun playing poker again, still only playing 1 or 2 tables. Nice bonus: I made a king high straight flush that got payed in full :)
I'll probably play some more 4NL first and if my results keep up, I'll add a few 10NL session again to see if I'll do better this time (have a $44 hole to fill there).

Yesterday, I ended up playing HU at one table and even though I normally would switch tables then, I decided to sit down a little longer. We were both sitting with a full stack and after playing pretty conservative for a while, I felt I had a decent feel for my opponent's game. He was limping and checking quite often pre-flop and made minbets or small bets when he didn't have a hand. He also wouldn't lay down his hand often if he had hit the flop. Great spot for me: I started raising a lot of hands and tried to apply as much pressure as possible. After ten minutes or so (could have been five) he called bets on every street with his flopped top pair against my two pair and he lost half his stack.

By now some more players join the table again, and a little later I felt the HU guy and another player. Always feels nice :) How people can 4-table or 6-table HU is beyond me though: I had trouble keeping up playing 1 table 6max and 1 table HU.

Generally 6max seems pretty straight forward: play very aggressive, raise with a wide range of hands and add a (very) few tricky plays (like a check on the flop or a flatcall PF with a big pair). When facing real strength, let it go if you're likely behind. A lot of players will fold too often and the few aggro's are trappable.

I'm still not very comfortable playing pots OOP and I tend to play a lot more conservative when I'm called PF and/or on the flop. I'm aware this is a leak so any suggestions on how to deal with that kind of situations (PF raise, villain call IP, flop cbet, villain call/raise and I have missed) would be appreciated.

On a side note: in episode 9 of this season's High Stakes Poker, Tom Dwan plays an interesting pot with Howard Lederer: Lederer raises, Dwan reraises in position, Lederer 4bets and now Dwan raises yet again! I won't spoil the rest of the hand and the holecards, so head over to youtube to check it out yourself.

In another cool hand Phil Laak and Patrick Antonius go at it and here Antonius makes a great read. Excellent stuff to think about (it would be even better to hear Antonius explain his thinking there).

This episode also includes a nice degen story: at one point Antonio Esfandiari claims his stack is 50k short (as in $50,000!). Since he keeps saying he's 100% sure, it's a pretty bad situation. Turns out there are still 2 25k chips in his paper bag. I would have checked my bag 5 times to make sure it's empty, but I guess these guys handle money a bit differently.

Have a good time at the tables!

Astafas