What Would You Call With?

While I was multi-tabling 4 NLHE SnG's yesterday at Full Tilt and interesting hand played out. Here is some of the background:

I am just under the starting stack of 1500 at this table because I have been folding nearly all my hands. Anyone who is observant would see this and peg me as a tight player. I haven't shown anything to define whether I am passive or aggressive. In the cut-off I am dealt AQ and bring it in for a standard 3X raise. The small blind raise back pot. I think about it for a second and realize that there are two other big stacks at this table and if I have any chance to compete in this SnG this is going to be as good a time as any. I push and my opponent calls. Before you read on, think about what my opponent has and venture a guess.

HIGHLIGHT THIS AREA --->Pocket 3's! <--- TO SEE THE RESULT. Identifying a bad play is almost as valuable as performing a good one so I'm spending a lot more time analyzing some of the more interesting hands that I come up against. There are some key points that I want to outline that I feel are important:

• I was the one who pushed all-in. It's one thing to push all-in but it's another to call an all-in, especially pre-flop. Since I push all-in I can add some fold equity to my hand giving me the edge versus a small pair.
  
• With my hand I'm only worried about 4 other hands. Aces, Kings, Queens and Ace-King. With every other hand out there I am either a coin flip or I'm dominating them.
• My image, even though it doesn't really matter at these limits, is that of a very tight player, and with the push all-in I can now be classified as Tight-Aggressive.
• My opponent is at best, 50/50, but it's just as likely that they are dominated. Even though I was only afraid of four hands there is only one hand I can hold (deuces) where my opponent can be confident.

My opponent still called, even though they had all these factors against them. We both still had playable stacks and there was still plenty of time to build a stack in a better situation. I consider this call to be a very bad play, one I don't think I would make if I was in the same situation. What I notice, at every stake I play at, is that once a person places chips into the pot, they put a lot more into the pot to try to get them back. This ends up being a huge leak in their game.

By the tone of the post many would think that I lost the hand. They would be wrong. I won the hand with a straight but that really doesn't matter. I feel that I still made the right play and even if the pot got pushed to my opponent I would still feel good about pushing all-in.

Wow, Really, Calling All In With That?

POKERSTARS GAME #16057183014: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.01/$0.02) - 2008/03/17 - 21:45:24 (ET)
Table 'Weringia V' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: Pecek ($1.05 in chips)
Seat 3: jonshadow ($5.35 in chips)
Seat 4: Doctor-Lay ($5.96 in chips)
Seat 6: poste2006 ($4.50 in chips)
FranckRock will be allowed to play after the button
poste2006: posts small blind $0.01
Pecek: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jonshadow [Kh Ac]
jonshadow: raises $0.04 to $0.06
Doctor-Lay: folds
poste2006: calls $0.05
Nundrspock joins the table at seat #1
Pecek: raises $0.99 to $1.05 and is all-in
jonshadow: raises $4.30 to $5.35 and is all-in
poste2006: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jd 8h Kc]
*** TURN *** [Jd 8h Kc] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 8h Kc Jh] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pecek: shows [7c 9s] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
jonshadow: mucks hand
Pecek collected $2.06 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2.16 | Rake $0.10
Board [Jd 8h Kc Jh Td]
Seat 2: Pecek (big blind) showed [7c 9s] and won ($2.06) with a straight, Seven to Jack
Seat 3: jonshadow mucked [Kh Ac]
Seat 4: Doctor-Lay (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: poste2006 (small blind) folded before Flop


This player was pushing on a lot of hands, pre and post flop. I figured him for a weak ace but I was very surprised when I saw that he had called that raise with 79. Sure he caught his 4-outer on the river to beat me but I know that in the long run I'm taking all his money.

Learning to Play a New Style

Over the past week it looks like I have snapped out of the slump that had eaten away a lot of my February profits. I have cashed in around half of my sit and go's earned enough to book a slight profit for the week.

In addition to the SnG's I have also been flirting with playing a new style at the cash games. The limits are low but I'm finding that I am enjoying this new style. In the past I have always thought of myself as a tight, aggressive player. As a result of watching some Cardrunner videos I am opening up my starting requirements and becoming a bit looser. I am raising almost every pot that I enter and breaking even. I'm still making two mistakes that I will most likely resolve in short time.

The first mistake is that I'm over-aggressive with a pre-flop raiser when I have a strong hand. I should be playing my strong hands with a little more deception. Playing these hands fast is a by-product of taking some bad beats and trying to prevent that. As I play in more cash games this fear should be reduced.

The second mistake is that I try pushing players off hands too often. I have to remember that I'm playing low-limits and as such I should just focus on playing ABC poker, with a more loose aggressive style. In the past I used to get frustrated by the loose aggressive players that raise so many hands but I'm discovering that if it's done in the right situation, and in good position it can be a formidable weapon at any limit.

A Bad Run...

For the past week I have been having a bad run during my Sit and Go's, both in Hold' Em and in PLO8. I haven't really seen much reason for the bad run. A bad run will always be a mixture of bad cards, bad luck, and even some bad play. I have been guilty of all of three even though I feel the luck has been the main factor going against me.

I have played in some turbo tournaments and that is something that I should be staying away from. The blinds move up too quickly in my opinion and even though the tournament concludes faster, it also becomes a bit of a luck-fest.

On the flip side I multi-tabled a few Hold' Em NL tables and did very well. I played a style of poker that is a bit foreign to me after watching a CardRunners video. The video focused on playing aggressively in position and smartly out of position. I usually play tight, only raising with premium hands but watching these videos showed me that most players, even in the lower stakes don't want to call with weak hands against players who show aggression pre-flop. I raised nearly every hand that I got involved with and never stopped betting until I was shown some resistance. The nice thing was, even if someone played back at me I'd say I was winning half the time so I was able to take some pots and show down some good hands. For me one of the amazing things two of my more powerful hands (Jacks and Ace Ten) were hands I was able to easily release based on my read of my opponents. I really felt comfortable during these sessions.

Time to get back to the tables to see if the bad run is over.

Slow and Steady...

Tonight I played in one 9 person PLO8 Sit and Go. From the start of the match the action was fast and furious. Nearly half the table was eliminated during the first blind level. My strategy at this point was simple, let everyone bust each other out while I play only premium hands. Unfortunatly, once play got to five handed things slowed down considerably. There was almost no pre-flop raising and most pots were won on the flop. After playing Omaha for the last few weeks this turn of events was certainly puzzling.

As the blinds continued to increase pots continued to get pushed to the bettor and raiser. Only one of my pre-flop raises were ever contested and for several levels I was the only player making raises pre-flop. We got to the break with the chips pretty evenly distributed. I was the short-stack once we got 5 handed and stayed that way until the money bubble burst. It took almost 70 minutes to get to the money. That kind of timing is normal in a 18 person SnG but pretty rare in a 9 person match.

When the dust settled I ended up getting runner-up in the match. I'm happy with the result and how I played since I didn't over-value my hands and didn't chase low draws. Considering my chip stacks compared to everyone else for an hour of the match I'm happy with how things turned out.

Full Tilt Doesn't Make It Easy

I played several Sit and Go's tonight and my evening started off being very rough. It seemed to be like a continuation from the previous day and by bankroll was taking another significant hit, but then, when all seemed to be lost, I picked up the chip-lead in two different SnG's at the same time.

Moving back and forth during a see-saw battle I was able to earn the runner-up spot in both matches. These cashes pushed my bankroll and evening into a profitable one. I still saw plenty of bad luck (for me) or good luck (for them), however you want to look at it. I found it tough because it seemed like when I was aggressive, I trapped myself with powerful hands. On the flip side, when I was being passive the hands never seemed to break my way.

When all was said and done things went ok. It's important to look at how hands and tournaments are played and in the long run the results will speak for themselves. It's tough when you put the money in as a favorite and then see the pot get pushed to your opponent. The main thing is to stay focused and continue to try to keep your composure as you push on. Time will reward strong play.

A Very Tough Day On The Virtual Felt

Today has been one of the worst days of poker that I have had on Full Tilt in quite a long time. I usually have to suffer through a bad beat or a foolish mistake every once and a while but I have had some brutal beats during the Sit and Go's today. The worst part is that most of them are happening on the money bubble so I'm investing lots of time into the match and then walking away in frustration.

When these kinds of sessions happen with some players they will buy into larger games trying to build up their bankroll. I'm the opposite. I'll play at a lower limit so that if my emotions start getting involved I won't have as much cash up for grabs.

In terms of money this day isn't a big deal at all. My overall roll is only down 2% so it's not as though it's painful financially, it just gets frustrating when you get un-drawn, you get unlucky, and when you play badly. Hopefully the streak is short lived.

Playing Well At Full Tilt, Party, Not So Much

I haven't had much success at Party since receiving my bonus. I was playing a bit out of my bankroll with their Sit and Go's, the SnG's took forever to fill up and even though I was always in contention of cashing the blinds seemed to get up to high late in the SnG. I also played a little Pot Limit Omaha High Low cash games. These usually never went very well. I would build up my stack then suffer a bad beat and that would clear out a lot of hard work. I'm glad I was able to play more at the site, and that it was technically free but now that my bonus has been used up I'm back to playing full time at Full Tilt where I have been playing very well. My success is coming primarily in PLO8 9 and 18 person Sit and Go's. I guess my style of play is more successful in PLO8 tournaments rather then cash games.

No Love at Lunch

Played in two low limit PLO8 SnG's at lunch and busted in 5th during both of them. I was a combination of too tight/weak starting hands throughout most of the first match. I finally get AA2T, suited once and my opponent pushes with QQ44. I go all in and winning this places me in 3rd and almost a lock for the cash. Flop comes 422 and it's all over. Thanks Full Tilt.

Second match saw me with top two pair and a low draw against a made flush on the turn. No help comes on the river and I'm out. I wasn't short-stack at this table but it was heading that way. It was probably also due to a bit of tilt since I knew my chips were going in bad when I called all-in.

I played in two more matches when I got home, one was a 9 person SnG at Party and the final one in bed was a 18 person SnG at Full Tilt. I was out in 5th during the match on Party. I had a nice chip stack about halfway through the match but then lost a great portion of it drawing to a flush and low draw that never came. Three people were knocked out in the first few hands so I figured that the rest of the match would be like that, it wasn't. Play slowed considerably when we got down to 6 handed and the short-stack to my right played very strong to stay in contention. It was all over for me when my nut straight on fourth street turned into a full house for my opponent on the river.

The second match, the 18 person SnG went much better as I cashed and ended up finishing in third. There wasn't much though behind this match. I played my strong hands strong and folded my weak hands and draws.

Overall the day was pretty uneventful. I posted a small profit at Full Tilt and a slightly larger loss at Party.

Lunchtime Poker

I went 1 for 2 in my Turbo 9 person PLO8 Sit and Go's that happened today at lunch. I played uber-type and patient in both matches. I was able to get a couple powerful scooping hands in the second match and took it down while using other players aggression against them.

I posted my first thread about a hand that happened yesterday. Click here to check it out.

#Game No : 6823100677
***** Hand History for Game (?) *****
PL Omaha Hi-Lo $6 USD Buy-in Trny: 38662748 Level: 5 Blinds(200/400) - Tuesday February 26 20:55:52 ET 2008
Table Table 125768 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 3
Seat 5: InsaynePayne ( 14 485 )
Seat 6: mark2004222 ( 1 675 )
Seat 7: Hero ( 3 840 )
Trny: 38662748 Level: 5
Blinds(200/400)

Holecards:
Dealt to Hero [ ]
RAISE Hero , 1,200
CALL InsaynePayne, 1,000
CALL mark2004222, 800

Flop:
[ ]
BET InsaynePayne, 3,600
mark2004222 folds
Hero folds
InsaynePayne does not show cards.
InsaynePayne wins 7,200 chips

Playing Normal Again

I played in two more PLO8 Sit and Go's at Party Poker tonight and earned second place in each of them. I was more patient during these matches and was willing to wait for good hands to play rather then getting my money in bad and hoping to draw out.

In my first match I honesty did not voluntarily put money into the pot for the first 20 hands. THis was a combination of some weak holdings and multiple raises pre-flop. As a result I cashed before ever having to risk a chip! It's not impossible to have that happen during a Sit and Go but it doesn't happen often.

With the second match I was involved in more pots but I still kept things under control. I released drawing hands when I was under too much pressure and things worked out quite well. I only had to play in one all-in hand but I was ahead pre-flop and on the flop, fell behind on the turn and then rivered my flush. The chips I earned in that pot let me coast to the final three.

A pivotal hand that I played when it was three handed:

Level: 5 Blinds(200/400) - Tuesday, February 26, 20:55:52 ET 2008
Table Table 125768 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 3
Seat 5: InsaynePayne ( 14,485 ) (This player has been super aggressive throughout 3 and 4 handed play)
Seat 6: mark2004222 ( 1,675 )
Seat 7: JonShadow12 ( 3,840 )
Trny: 38662748 Level: 5
Blinds(200/400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to JonShadow12 [ 4h 2d Ks Kd ]
JonShadow12 raises [1,200] (3 handed I figure I'll pick up the blinds with the raise. If not I still have a reasonable hand to play with and can afford an all-in against the short stack.)
InsaynePayne calls [1,000] (He's called lots of hands, I'm not surprised here.)
mark2004222 calls [800] (This surprises me a bit. He's low in chips so I'm pretty sure my hand may not be very strong now. I have to hit this flop hard to continue.)
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, Th, 9c ] (Not the best flop. Lots of hands beat me and I don't have any draws.)
InsaynePayne bets [3,600] (Damn - This puts me all in if I call but that bets smells like a small set or tw0-pair trying to keep anyone from drawing at a low.)
mark2004222 folds (With this fold, mark only has 475 chips left. I can call and probably lose or fold and almost certainly get second place. Based on my hand, my opponene and my remaining chips if I fold I decide to play it safe and fold.)
JonShadow12 folds
InsaynePayne does not show cards.
InsaynePayne wins 7,200 chips (This gives InsaynePayne a lock on the chip lead and eventually the match. At the same time though I cruised into an easy second place when I could have easily been in third with a foolish call.)

I'll take the profit and it's nice that my foolishly bad play didn't continue past 24 hours.

There's No Reason I Should Be This Lucky

Throughout the past couple of days I have ended up breaking even in my PLO8 Sit and Go's. Most have been 9-10 person matches with a couple 18 person matches thrown in for good measure.

Even though I would consider myself to have played very poorly in the past couple of days I still ended up breaking even overall. Once match I won by being extremely lucky. We were getting ready to leave and meet up with friends to go see a movie. I started the Sit and Go nearly an hour and a half before we had to go, and felt that this would be more then enough time. Nearly an hour and a half into the match and we were still 3-handed. With little time to spare I ran upstairs, shaved, brushed my teeth and played poker all at the same time.

By the time we got to heads-up play I was already late and trying to get dressed. I decided to push all my hands to get it over with. Within two hands I had won the entire SnG. My starting hand for the last hand was a 6789, compared to my opponents AAT2. In PLO8 this is the equivalent of Aces being up against 72. When the flop hit I got as lucky as I could have. 69J put me ahead with two pair and then I disconnected. All the money was in by that time so when I reconnected I checked the cashier and sure enough I had won the match. It's not the prettiest way to win things but sometimes, that's what it takes.

Yesterday I played at lunch and at night and ended up being lucky in some matches and playing badly in other ones. I was happy to leave even over the past couple of days and I'm going to be focusing on my patience and starting hand requirements going forward to try to improve on my recent performance.

Several Sit and Go's, a Little Bit of Profit

Throughout the day and night I played in several PLO8 Sit and Go's at PartyPoker and Full Tilt. The earlier SnG's didn't go very well. I can pinpoint the reason though, I played bad. It happens and the important thing is to recognize that it's happening, or happened and then make the necessary improvements.

I was able to tighten up, regain my patience and then earn a profit for the day after a cash and win.

$50 From Party Poker

I always like it when a poker site sends my an offer for some type of bonus. Once you open it you find out that you must play x number of hands, or some other requirement. Even though this is usually not the hardest thing to accomplish I'd rather receive a bonus where you can us it right away and only cash it out if and when you complete the requirements. This is the best way to do bonuses because you will get players jumping right in and if they lose all of the bonus money they won't be upset and chances are the site earns back a great deal more in the rake and entry fee's that this new, loyal customer will contribute.

Well, PartyPoker.com did just that. I received a $50 bonus that I can't remove until I play some poker and a little bit of the on-line casino. Now, I'm not a fan of casino's, especially on-line ones, even though most who know me think I'm a gambler. Even though I don't like it I know I need to play and I'm cool with that since it's free money.

Good stuff PartyPoker, I commend you!

Another Good Night With Omaha Hi/Lo

In following with my plan to play Omaha Hi/Lo only for the next little while I played in three PLO8 Sit and Go's at Full Tilt. My first SnG saw me finish in a painful 4th place. This was after being the short stack for several levels and clawing my way back up several times. I made some mistakes earlier in the session that prevented me fro cruising into the cash, but I also learned from those mistakes.


Me next two SnG's were much more rewarding. I finished in second in the 9 person SnG and then figured I would try out a 18 person SnG. Even though it took a bit longer I was able to win the event thus increasing my overall bankroll by 10%.

I've said it in past entries, Omaha Hi/Lo is a game where you can recognize your mistakes easily and you are ofter rewarded for playing well. I find there is a lot less luck in PLO8 when you compare it to Texas Hold'em.

Another Milestone Reached

When I started the whole turn nothing into something bankroll experiment there were several milestones that would have to be achieved for the experiment to be a success. Here are some of the initial ones:

• Make money (Done when I got 3rd in a free-roll hosted by www.railbirds.com
• Get up to $20. I made this amount with the free-roll cash so I hit two milestones in one shot. Getting up to this amount allowed me to start playing in $1.00 SnG's. With the steep entry fee charged by Full Tilt these aren't a great value but since I made cash from their free-rolls I'm happy to give them a bit more juice than they should be charging.
• Get up to $100. (I just passed this milestone, and then some after a couple very successful days of poker.) This means I can start playing in $5 SnG's. Their value is a bit better a I'll see the number of really weak, crazy players diminish. There will still be plenty at this level but I know it won't be as bad. I've played in two $5 SnG's so far, 4th in the first and 2nd in the second one so I already have a small profit.
• The next step is to make it to $150 since that will allow me to start playing in ring games along with tournaments.

I have also been crushing some lower limit PLO8 (Pot -Limit Omaha High/Low). I played a lot of Limit Omaha High/Low in the past but I found it frustrating since I couldn't push others off hands. With Pot Limit I have the best of both worlds. Lots of cheap flops and I can apply heavy pressure against my opponents and make them pay for their mistakes. Out of the past 4 SnG's I have won 3 and gotten 2nd in the other.

My recent success has slowed in Hold'Em but continues to gather steam in Omaha Hi/Lo. A mixture of bad play and bad luck has seen me not cash in my last few Hold'Em Sit and Go's. I'm going to focus on Omaha and try to see if I can continue to build my bankroll playing a game where I'm doing quite well.

Friendy Games

Last night I played in two $5 friendly Sit and Go's. I was fourth place in the first and third in the second one. It was fun even though I didn't get to cash but I do like playing in those types of matches to experiment with different playing styles. I had a maniac to my left that made things just a little harder than exacted. There were a few hands that I could have played differently but for the most part I felt I did ok. It seemed like when I had the goods I had no callers and when I was semi-bluffing I could have had more callers. It was frustrating but that's part of the game. I should have been more aggressive against the maniac and that is one of the lessons I'll take from the games.

1 For 2 Again

This time I busted out in my NLHE SnG in seventh place and cashed in my H.O.R.S.E. event for 2nd place. There wasn't anything too eventful that happened. No crazy hands. All I had to do was play the cards, play my opponents and the poker gods took care of the rest. Very little profit, but profit none the less, and valuable experience.

It's Just an Ace

I went 1 for 2 in my Sit and Go's tonight at Full Tilt. I got second in my NLHE 9 person table after being completely card dead for the entire tournament. I know people love to blame the whole card dead thing for not doing well but hey, I got second so it's not that I'm using my lack of playable hands as an excuse. I played as well as I think I could have considering the circumstances.

My H.O.R.S.E. event was much different, and shorter. In my first playable hand I was in the Limit Hold'em section of the event. I was dealt TT in late position. It was raised by the UTG +1 player and I made it 3 bets. The small blind calls, UTG+1 caps the betting and I call. The flop comes 385 and the UTG raiser bets out. I raise to isolate and the small blind folds. UTG+1 re-raises and I just call. Another eight peels off on the turn and the UTG player bets out again. I remember feeling that I wasn't playing aggressive enough during limit so I decide to raise. He re-raises and I figure I'm up against a bigger pair or even possibly an A8. I call and know that I'm calling the bet the UTG player makes regardless of the river. The river is an Ace. I call his bet and he reveals A4. He had 7 outs on the turn and caught one after heavy betting from me. Before you think this was a brilliant play by the other player but I assure you, he donked off his chips pretty quickly throughout the SnG.

I never really recovered after that. During the Stud High/Low event I though I was drawing to a scoop hand. I didn't catch my flush for the high and I lost to a better low. Out in seventh but I don't think I would have played either hand any differently.

Grr Full Tilt

I know it isn't Full Tilt, it's random, but damn if it doesn't feel like someone is controlling the cards, seeing how badly they can put someone on tilt.

I'm playing in a 9 person NLHE SnG and it is 4-handed. I'm the short-stack and card dead, not a good combination. Here is the hand that I'm knocked out with:

Seat 2: Sayntin (2,445)
Seat 3: Iam4U (2,505)
Seat 7: wcarro4 (7,110)
Seat 9: JonShadow (1,440)
JonShadow posts the small blind of 120
Sayntin posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JonShadow [Kh As] (Best hand I've seen in 30 deals.)
Iam4U folds
wcarro4 raises to 480
JonShadow raises to 1,440, and is all in
Sayntin folds
wcarro4 calls 960
JonShadow shows [Kh As]
wcarro4 shows [Qc Jc]
*** FLOP *** [Th 4h Jh] (He hits top pair.)
*** TURN *** [Th 4h Jh] [Ks] (I hit top pair.)
*** RIVER *** [Th 4h Jh Ks] [9s] (He hits a straight on the river!)
JonShadow shows a pair of Kings
wcarro4 shows a straight, King high
wcarro4 wins the pot (3,120) with a straight, King high

This is a very painful way to lose a hand. It's like being given two bad beats in a row. One is usually bad enough but two, that's just cruel.

I take a tiny amount of comfort in the fact that it seems I lose most of my SnG's this way.

The other SnG I played in was once again a H.O.R.S.E 8 person match-up. I made a wheel that allowed me to scoop early on and take a chip lead. From there most of the hands just played themselves. I ended up winning the SnG when all was said and done, and I did get my fair share of luck so I guess it makes up for the NL SnG.