I have decided to come up with a new plan: To build my bankroll from a $200 start. This plan actually came about on Saturday 3/24/07 but I haven't had a chance to write about it.
I've found that I am the type of person that excels when there is some sort of goal at hand. When things are just in limbo, I don't really work as hard as I should to make things happen. For example, before I started this blog, I wasn't too successful at poker. But once I started the blog, I wanted to post positive results, which I was able to do. Not that I was playing bad poker before on purpose, but I wasn't necessarily as focused as I should have been. I was more of a gambler and trying to be the guy that gives the bad beat instead of the guy that laughs a bad beat off.
So now I've hit another wall. I feel like I have done well in the game that I play ($200 buy-in, blinds @ $3/5). I've been profitable since I started playing it and I've learned how a majority of the players play. I'm not saying that I'm the best player at this level--I'm nowhere near it--but I do feel that I can win on a consistent basis, which means that maybe I should take a look at moving up to the next level.
Unfortunately there is a problem there for me. I have never built a poker bankroll since I started playing. I've always had bills to pay with my winnings, gone out and spent a lot of money, etc. Now I still have bills to pay but I want to build my separate poker bankroll. Earlier last week when I was (somewhat) reeling from my bad night and loss, I was thinking I would just take $40 and try to build it into a bankroll. I would start at the $40 NL table and just go up. That was my plan until Saturday when I talked myself out of it. My thinking was that if I have trained myself at the $200 table and learned a lot of the players, etc., why not start there if I have my edge in that game? I've only played the $40 a few times and I have been unsuccessful because it is a very different game than the $200 NL game. So I decided that I will take $200 and see how big I can build it. I am not restricting myself to the $200 NL game, but that is my starting amount. I will keep a running tally of it on here and see how far I can get that original $200. Who knows, I might lose it all the next time I'm at the casino.
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Day 1: $200 (starting)
Well this was Saturday, 3/24. I was going to pick my dad up at 11 am from LAX but his flight didn't end up leaving Seattle until 1045 am so I had some time to kill. I cleaned up the apartment and got some food and still had about an hour and a half until he touched down. So I headed to Hollywood Park with my $200 bankroll and decided to start the mission.
I sat down at a table around 11:45 AM, table seemed somewhat loose. I quickly went down to about $145 or so, I think I called a pre-flop raise with AK once and missed and called with a small pocket pair. I worked my way back up to like $235 with some pre-flop raising and continuation bets, then the following hand came up: I am in middle position with 55, I limp. Everyone limps. The flop comes A58 with two diamonds. I bet $15. Small blind raises me to $45 so I put him on either two pair or flush draw. The turn was another 8 and he checked to me. I really should have bet here but I checked behind him and the river was a third diamond. He bet $50 and at this point I was thinking he might have A8 so I just called and he showed 10-8. The turn was my perfect opportunity to double up and I missed it!!
Anyways my dad called and I had to leave, I came up $142 in an hour so it was a successful session.
I will start a new tally of my numbers:
Time: 1 hour
Game: $200 NL
W/L: +$142
$/HR: $142/HR.
Current Bankroll: $342
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
I suck, again
This is from an email to a friend:
Yeah I feel you. I can tell you that I didn't make money until I started playing no limit. I keep records of all my poker stuff and I lost in 2/4, 3/6, 4/8 but won a lot in 6/12. I really only lost too huge hands yesterday and that was my undoing: One I had 8d4d and the flop comes Jd10d4c. Then the turn is the 8c, giving me two pair with the flush draw. I bet 150 and the worst player calls. The river is the 2d, giving me the flush. I bet $150 and he calls and has KdQd. Then my last hand the worst player is in early position and raises to $10. I just call with AsKs, then the guy on my left raises to $35. Four people call, making the pot $175. I push all-in for $435. The guy on my left takes a LONG time and then calls. Then the worst player calls. I completely miss the board. I show my hand, the guy on my left has AK also and the worst player won with JJ.
Things that I really pay attention to are how loose/tight every player is, betting patterns/tells on bets, who chases, and who is willing to gamble a lot.
Yeah I feel you. I can tell you that I didn't make money until I started playing no limit. I keep records of all my poker stuff and I lost in 2/4, 3/6, 4/8 but won a lot in 6/12. I really only lost too huge hands yesterday and that was my undoing: One I had 8d4d and the flop comes Jd10d4c. Then the turn is the 8c, giving me two pair with the flush draw. I bet 150 and the worst player calls. The river is the 2d, giving me the flush. I bet $150 and he calls and has KdQd. Then my last hand the worst player is in early position and raises to $10. I just call with AsKs, then the guy on my left raises to $35. Four people call, making the pot $175. I push all-in for $435. The guy on my left takes a LONG time and then calls. Then the worst player calls. I completely miss the board. I show my hand, the guy on my left has AK also and the worst player won with JJ.
Things that I really pay attention to are how loose/tight every player is, betting patterns/tells on bets, who chases, and who is willing to gamble a lot.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Sucking Out is fun (see AK vs. QQ)
Decided to hit the table last night based on the fact that Monday nights have historically been profitable for me. I also didn't play at all over the weekend (I can't remember the last time that happened) and I knew I wasn't going to play today (Tuesday) because I always lost on Tuesdays.
So I got there at 7 pm and got seated right away. As soon as I sat down I could tell my table was a low-action tight table, which is not my favorite type of table to play at. I actually started getting some good hands, notably 1010 and AQ. The 1010 I caught on the small blind. Most of the table limped and I popped it to $35 expecting everyone to fold. Two people called and the flop came Q-7-X with two hearts. I checked, one guy bet and the other went all in. I folded and they showed Q-10 vs. 10h7h. I had them both dominated but the 10h7h ended up winning with a caught flush. My AQ bricked and my stack dwindled to about 100.
In the meantime, I noticed this cat Elijah, who resembles a fat LL Cool J was at HP. Last time I was there, he was sitting right by me and asked if he could hold $100 until 10 pm when his ATM limit starts over. I told him that I didn't have a lot of money on me but he convinced me the money was coming back in an hour and me being the idiot that I am, let him hold it. Of course he lost it at the $100 table and disappeared. I know he has money because he rolls a nice ass Escalade and regularly plays the $400 NL game, but I was pissed at the way that he just disappeared that night without saying anything. So I saw him and called him out on it and he was saying "I got you, I got you" because he didn't want people to know that he didn't pay me back yet. So then my boy Fred, who is probably one of my two closest "HP friends" was asking me about it and we were laughing about it and Elijah comes over and gives me the $100 without saying anything, apparently upset. So why is he upset? Because we are laughing about him not paying. After Fred leaves, Elijah comes back and says "Yeah now tell your peoples that I paid you and y'all can laugh about that." Whatever, dude is pissed because I lent him $100 thinking he was giving it back in an hour, then he vanished and now he's mad at me? Right. I'm never loaning anyone money again unless he is one of my friends away from poker or his name is Phil Ivey. My mistake.
Anyways back to the poker. A loose/passive eastern european guy sits at the table, he's about the same age as me. He's playing every pot. He's a natural born roller coaster, a real moron. I'm on the button, he's on my right and he raises to 10. I have Ad5d. I call, everyone calls. Flop comes 9-5-3 rainbow. Everyone checks, he bets $10. I raise him to $30. Everyone folds and he reluctantly calls. I have him on KQ or something. Turn is another 9. He goes all in for like 140 and I called. River is nothing and he shows J9. Chips!!! Rebuy for $300 more.
I can't even remember how, but that stack went down to $80 when the following hand occurs: I get 22 in middle position. Someone raises to $25. I shouldn't even call. I do. Four people call. Flop comes 289 with two spades. Small blind goes all-in. Two other people go all-in before I even act. Obviously I go all-in. Turn Qc, river is a blank. One guy shows QsKs for QQ, another guy shows JJ and another guy shows As10s. I quadruple.
About 10-15 minutes later, I get myself in some more trouble. I have AK offsuit. This loose/tilty dude that's on my immediate right raises to $25. I just call, I'm in bad position. I thought about raising but I didn't. Two more people call and the button raises to $75. The loose original raiser goes all in for like $120 or so and at this point I have about $280 more behind. The action's on me and I'm really taking my time thinking about it. I know I have the loose all-in beat but I don't know about the button raiser. While I'm thinking, he is telling his neighbor he has the best hand, at least he thinks he does, etc. When he says "At least I think I do," I went all in, trying to push him out. He calls with QQ. We all flip our cards. Loose all-in has 10c9c. Flop comes 889, turn 6, river King. Hell yeah. Double up!!
I won a few more hundred after that, the biggest hand was when I had 66 in the big blind. Button, who is a tight/aggressive player, raises to $35. He usually raises his button and raises when he enters a pot. So I call. The flop comes 3-4-6 with two spades. He bets $60 and I raise him to $120. He then goes all-in for about $80 more and I call. He shows 55 and I'm worried about the straight but the turn secures it for me with a 4.
I left at about 12 am after beating a guy with J9 on a board of J-10-8-7-J. Came up about five hundy.
Right now I'm trying to get my money right and also start a bank roll that will allow comfort when I play, knowing that I can make moves/bluffs and not worry about rebuying... I feel like good poker has to allow for that. I am not the type of player to sit around for eight hours until I get AA or KK. I am starting to go with my reads a lot more often and sometimes they are right, sometimes wrong. I hate the player who folds, then says "I know you got nothing." So raise him, asshole.
So I got there at 7 pm and got seated right away. As soon as I sat down I could tell my table was a low-action tight table, which is not my favorite type of table to play at. I actually started getting some good hands, notably 1010 and AQ. The 1010 I caught on the small blind. Most of the table limped and I popped it to $35 expecting everyone to fold. Two people called and the flop came Q-7-X with two hearts. I checked, one guy bet and the other went all in. I folded and they showed Q-10 vs. 10h7h. I had them both dominated but the 10h7h ended up winning with a caught flush. My AQ bricked and my stack dwindled to about 100.
In the meantime, I noticed this cat Elijah, who resembles a fat LL Cool J was at HP. Last time I was there, he was sitting right by me and asked if he could hold $100 until 10 pm when his ATM limit starts over. I told him that I didn't have a lot of money on me but he convinced me the money was coming back in an hour and me being the idiot that I am, let him hold it. Of course he lost it at the $100 table and disappeared. I know he has money because he rolls a nice ass Escalade and regularly plays the $400 NL game, but I was pissed at the way that he just disappeared that night without saying anything. So I saw him and called him out on it and he was saying "I got you, I got you" because he didn't want people to know that he didn't pay me back yet. So then my boy Fred, who is probably one of my two closest "HP friends" was asking me about it and we were laughing about it and Elijah comes over and gives me the $100 without saying anything, apparently upset. So why is he upset? Because we are laughing about him not paying. After Fred leaves, Elijah comes back and says "Yeah now tell your peoples that I paid you and y'all can laugh about that." Whatever, dude is pissed because I lent him $100 thinking he was giving it back in an hour, then he vanished and now he's mad at me? Right. I'm never loaning anyone money again unless he is one of my friends away from poker or his name is Phil Ivey. My mistake.
Anyways back to the poker. A loose/passive eastern european guy sits at the table, he's about the same age as me. He's playing every pot. He's a natural born roller coaster, a real moron. I'm on the button, he's on my right and he raises to 10. I have Ad5d. I call, everyone calls. Flop comes 9-5-3 rainbow. Everyone checks, he bets $10. I raise him to $30. Everyone folds and he reluctantly calls. I have him on KQ or something. Turn is another 9. He goes all in for like 140 and I called. River is nothing and he shows J9. Chips!!! Rebuy for $300 more.
I can't even remember how, but that stack went down to $80 when the following hand occurs: I get 22 in middle position. Someone raises to $25. I shouldn't even call. I do. Four people call. Flop comes 289 with two spades. Small blind goes all-in. Two other people go all-in before I even act. Obviously I go all-in. Turn Qc, river is a blank. One guy shows QsKs for QQ, another guy shows JJ and another guy shows As10s. I quadruple.
About 10-15 minutes later, I get myself in some more trouble. I have AK offsuit. This loose/tilty dude that's on my immediate right raises to $25. I just call, I'm in bad position. I thought about raising but I didn't. Two more people call and the button raises to $75. The loose original raiser goes all in for like $120 or so and at this point I have about $280 more behind. The action's on me and I'm really taking my time thinking about it. I know I have the loose all-in beat but I don't know about the button raiser. While I'm thinking, he is telling his neighbor he has the best hand, at least he thinks he does, etc. When he says "At least I think I do," I went all in, trying to push him out. He calls with QQ. We all flip our cards. Loose all-in has 10c9c. Flop comes 889, turn 6, river King. Hell yeah. Double up!!
I won a few more hundred after that, the biggest hand was when I had 66 in the big blind. Button, who is a tight/aggressive player, raises to $35. He usually raises his button and raises when he enters a pot. So I call. The flop comes 3-4-6 with two spades. He bets $60 and I raise him to $120. He then goes all-in for about $80 more and I call. He shows 55 and I'm worried about the straight but the turn secures it for me with a 4.
I left at about 12 am after beating a guy with J9 on a board of J-10-8-7-J. Came up about five hundy.
Right now I'm trying to get my money right and also start a bank roll that will allow comfort when I play, knowing that I can make moves/bluffs and not worry about rebuying... I feel like good poker has to allow for that. I am not the type of player to sit around for eight hours until I get AA or KK. I am starting to go with my reads a lot more often and sometimes they are right, sometimes wrong. I hate the player who folds, then says "I know you got nothing." So raise him, asshole.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Up, Down, Up, Down
Interesting night last night. Felt I played pretty well although I did get caught up in some hands that I needed to get away from towards the end of my session. Also at the beginning, once again I had to buy-in a few times to get rolling.
I started off on a table that I thought looked good and easy to read. It consisted of a couple loose/weak players, a few extra tight players and some average players. When I first got there I was taking down a lot of small pots by bluffing on the flop when I knew no one hit, etc. I also made two calls, one which was pretty ridiculous:
I have 9-7 in late position, I limp. Button raises to $25, three callers before me and I call. Flop comes 9-4-5. Everyone checks to player behind me, who bets $30. One player calls and I call. Flop comes Q. Everyone checks. River is ace and a guy who I know bluffs a lot bets $75. I call, guy behind me says he folded 1010 (I don't believe him) and bettor mucks his hand.
Another call I made on the guy directly to my left, who sucked big time and went on tilt because of me (When I called with 9-7 and he supposedly mucked 1010). I have K10. Guy on my left raises to $30 in middle position. I'm the only caller because I know he's an idiot, normally it's a bad call to go head's up with K10. But this guy sucks. Every hand he folds he claims he's folding a great hand. I'm after him like a bounty hunter. Flop comes 10-3-6. I check. He bets $55. I raise his punk ass to $110. He thinks for a minute, then goes all-in, purposely flashing his cards to his neighbor as if he has aces or some shit. I can tell he's nervous though because he's all antsy. I call and I'm like I got the 10. Then the king hits the turn and I say "Now I have two pair" and he says "fucking unbelievable" or some shit like that. He's about to muck after the river when a guy on the table asks for his hand and he shows 10-8, so he was toast all the way and my two pair was unnecessary.
I built my stack up to about 400 (from 200) pretty quickly. My pre-flop raises were rarely getting called and I was showing most of them with hands like QQ. A guy told me he made a "tough fold" for a $35 raise when he had KQ suited and I told him I had QQ. Then I got AK in middle position, raised to $30 and he calls. The flop comes Aqx and he asks "Do you have QQ again" I said "yeah" and bet $35. He raised it to $75 and I insta-called, which obviously worried him. He checked the turn to me and now I know he doesn't have AQ. However I know he has AJ or A10. I bet $100 on the turn and he thinks for a LONG time. Then he goes "well I guess I'll go home or double up" and goes all-in. I have him covered by like $13 and I call. The river is a jack and I say "You just hit that river didn't you" and he says "yeah" and shows AJ. I rebought for $200 and doubled up with a flush draw that hit on the turn with 4h5h. The flop was A75 with two hearts. I led out betting $45 and the button, who had raised to $15 pre-flop moved all-in for about $125, so it was like $80 more. I called and hit the 2h on the turn. My next big hand I had 10h7h in the big blind. EVERYONE limped. The flop came 10c2h3h, a great flop for my hand. However, it was a tricky play considering I have seven people behind me and my 7 kicker is weak. So I came out somewhat strong, betting $30. One tight (tiiiight) player raised me to $80. I re-raised him all-in and he reluctantly called. The turn was the 5c and the river was another 10. He cussed when the river hit and showed 2c3c. I took that down and had more outs then I thought as I figured he had a higher 10 then me. That's why you don't play 23! The guy who beat me with AJ had a huge stack and we became five-handed. A few of us really wanted to play with him but one player wanted to re-seat to full tables so we broke and I won $525 on the table.
So after the table breaks, this cat named Omar who I have become cool with tells me to sit at his table because the action is crazy. He tells me seats 7, 8, and 9 call anything anytime no matter what the the bet is. So I sit and second hand I get 33. The flop comes 2-4-6 and I bet 10 as a feeler. One guy calls and the button, seat 9, raises to $30. I can tell he is trying to steal, I'm not sure why but I just know. My mistake was not re-raising him. I call and the other player folds. There are actually two hearts on board as well. The turn is the king of clubs. He bets 60 and I call, I don't think he hit the king. The river is the 3 of hearts, giving me my set, putting a straight and a flush on board. I check and he bets 100, which seems like an overbet to me. I call almost out of curiosity and he shows Q-5 off-suit for the rivered one-card straight. It was a bad call on my part but I got a little too curious and it cost me.
So I have to rebuy for 300. I don't even remember what happened to that 300, but it was still "house money." Actually now I remember. I just dwindled down to like $75. Then I called a $25 pre-flop raise with J-8 suited trying to crack. Button goes all-in, another player goes all-in, and I go all-in for the chance to quadruple up hoping that I have two live ones. WRONG!! The guy that went all in had KK, the guy that called had JJ. So, from now on I'm referring to the KK guy as "KK" because the case J hit the flop, JJ took down a huge pot and from this point on, "KK" was on TILT.
So I rebuy for 300 (now this is my money again)...
This is where it starts getting better. I made some good calls again, notably when I held Q-8 and the flop hit Q-9-5, I bet and loose player called me. I bet the turn again and he asks me if I want to check it down. I said no and then the third spade hit the river. He bet $75 but after evaluating his crazy ass mannerisms (he tried to call the clock on me) I put him on 10-J draw, not the spade draw. So I essentially put him on a J high hand. I called, he shows me the 10 of spades like he has a flush and then mucks.
I ran my stack up to about 1100 through nothing but solid all-star play. Just phenomenal. Actually loose aggressive asian dude raised to $25 pre-flop (he had been raising on 50% of hands pre-flop). I called with AQ on the button. Everyone calls. The flop comes AQ4 with two clubs. Everyone checks to lag asian guy, who bets about $40. I raise him to $80 then the small blind, "KK", who is a tight player but tilting, goes all-in for $175. LAG Asian folds and I call with top two. He shows Kc3c and I feel like he's gonna hit his flush easily but he misses. That pot was about $400. He later said he made a bad play but he was on tilt.
Then my downfall came. This kid sits down who I had seen playing on the other table when a commotion came up because he CALLED two all-ins for $200 with 7-2 offsuit. He obviously lost and when he sat at our table he said that he's trying to make his money back because he lost $2k on the other table. So he plays a few hands then raises to $25 and I have AK. I raise to $125 and he goes all-in for $150. I call and he is saddened to see his AJ against my AK. Especially when the flop is 6-8-10 all clubs and I have the ace of clubs. He has no clubs and is now down to two outs. Turn is nothing and the river is...................jack of spades.
Not much later I get AA in the small blind. Everyone limps and I raise to $35. Well this youngster calls and everyone else folds. I know he has dog shit because he never raised before me. Flop comes 8-9-J rainbow and I push him all in for another $94. He goes into the tank moaning and groaning and shit. He calls, I say "all you have is a 10, huh?" he says "yeah" and the turn is a 7. Obviously I need a 10 on the river to chop and it doesn't come. He had A10.
So I lost a lot of my stack and left a small winner, $245. I'll take it after some of the beats I took.
I started off on a table that I thought looked good and easy to read. It consisted of a couple loose/weak players, a few extra tight players and some average players. When I first got there I was taking down a lot of small pots by bluffing on the flop when I knew no one hit, etc. I also made two calls, one which was pretty ridiculous:
I have 9-7 in late position, I limp. Button raises to $25, three callers before me and I call. Flop comes 9-4-5. Everyone checks to player behind me, who bets $30. One player calls and I call. Flop comes Q. Everyone checks. River is ace and a guy who I know bluffs a lot bets $75. I call, guy behind me says he folded 1010 (I don't believe him) and bettor mucks his hand.
Another call I made on the guy directly to my left, who sucked big time and went on tilt because of me (When I called with 9-7 and he supposedly mucked 1010). I have K10. Guy on my left raises to $30 in middle position. I'm the only caller because I know he's an idiot, normally it's a bad call to go head's up with K10. But this guy sucks. Every hand he folds he claims he's folding a great hand. I'm after him like a bounty hunter. Flop comes 10-3-6. I check. He bets $55. I raise his punk ass to $110. He thinks for a minute, then goes all-in, purposely flashing his cards to his neighbor as if he has aces or some shit. I can tell he's nervous though because he's all antsy. I call and I'm like I got the 10. Then the king hits the turn and I say "Now I have two pair" and he says "fucking unbelievable" or some shit like that. He's about to muck after the river when a guy on the table asks for his hand and he shows 10-8, so he was toast all the way and my two pair was unnecessary.
I built my stack up to about 400 (from 200) pretty quickly. My pre-flop raises were rarely getting called and I was showing most of them with hands like QQ. A guy told me he made a "tough fold" for a $35 raise when he had KQ suited and I told him I had QQ. Then I got AK in middle position, raised to $30 and he calls. The flop comes Aqx and he asks "Do you have QQ again" I said "yeah" and bet $35. He raised it to $75 and I insta-called, which obviously worried him. He checked the turn to me and now I know he doesn't have AQ. However I know he has AJ or A10. I bet $100 on the turn and he thinks for a LONG time. Then he goes "well I guess I'll go home or double up" and goes all-in. I have him covered by like $13 and I call. The river is a jack and I say "You just hit that river didn't you" and he says "yeah" and shows AJ. I rebought for $200 and doubled up with a flush draw that hit on the turn with 4h5h. The flop was A75 with two hearts. I led out betting $45 and the button, who had raised to $15 pre-flop moved all-in for about $125, so it was like $80 more. I called and hit the 2h on the turn. My next big hand I had 10h7h in the big blind. EVERYONE limped. The flop came 10c2h3h, a great flop for my hand. However, it was a tricky play considering I have seven people behind me and my 7 kicker is weak. So I came out somewhat strong, betting $30. One tight (tiiiight) player raised me to $80. I re-raised him all-in and he reluctantly called. The turn was the 5c and the river was another 10. He cussed when the river hit and showed 2c3c. I took that down and had more outs then I thought as I figured he had a higher 10 then me. That's why you don't play 23! The guy who beat me with AJ had a huge stack and we became five-handed. A few of us really wanted to play with him but one player wanted to re-seat to full tables so we broke and I won $525 on the table.
So after the table breaks, this cat named Omar who I have become cool with tells me to sit at his table because the action is crazy. He tells me seats 7, 8, and 9 call anything anytime no matter what the the bet is. So I sit and second hand I get 33. The flop comes 2-4-6 and I bet 10 as a feeler. One guy calls and the button, seat 9, raises to $30. I can tell he is trying to steal, I'm not sure why but I just know. My mistake was not re-raising him. I call and the other player folds. There are actually two hearts on board as well. The turn is the king of clubs. He bets 60 and I call, I don't think he hit the king. The river is the 3 of hearts, giving me my set, putting a straight and a flush on board. I check and he bets 100, which seems like an overbet to me. I call almost out of curiosity and he shows Q-5 off-suit for the rivered one-card straight. It was a bad call on my part but I got a little too curious and it cost me.
So I have to rebuy for 300. I don't even remember what happened to that 300, but it was still "house money." Actually now I remember. I just dwindled down to like $75. Then I called a $25 pre-flop raise with J-8 suited trying to crack. Button goes all-in, another player goes all-in, and I go all-in for the chance to quadruple up hoping that I have two live ones. WRONG!! The guy that went all in had KK, the guy that called had JJ. So, from now on I'm referring to the KK guy as "KK" because the case J hit the flop, JJ took down a huge pot and from this point on, "KK" was on TILT.
So I rebuy for 300 (now this is my money again)...
This is where it starts getting better. I made some good calls again, notably when I held Q-8 and the flop hit Q-9-5, I bet and loose player called me. I bet the turn again and he asks me if I want to check it down. I said no and then the third spade hit the river. He bet $75 but after evaluating his crazy ass mannerisms (he tried to call the clock on me) I put him on 10-J draw, not the spade draw. So I essentially put him on a J high hand. I called, he shows me the 10 of spades like he has a flush and then mucks.
I ran my stack up to about 1100 through nothing but solid all-star play. Just phenomenal. Actually loose aggressive asian dude raised to $25 pre-flop (he had been raising on 50% of hands pre-flop). I called with AQ on the button. Everyone calls. The flop comes AQ4 with two clubs. Everyone checks to lag asian guy, who bets about $40. I raise him to $80 then the small blind, "KK", who is a tight player but tilting, goes all-in for $175. LAG Asian folds and I call with top two. He shows Kc3c and I feel like he's gonna hit his flush easily but he misses. That pot was about $400. He later said he made a bad play but he was on tilt.
Then my downfall came. This kid sits down who I had seen playing on the other table when a commotion came up because he CALLED two all-ins for $200 with 7-2 offsuit. He obviously lost and when he sat at our table he said that he's trying to make his money back because he lost $2k on the other table. So he plays a few hands then raises to $25 and I have AK. I raise to $125 and he goes all-in for $150. I call and he is saddened to see his AJ against my AK. Especially when the flop is 6-8-10 all clubs and I have the ace of clubs. He has no clubs and is now down to two outs. Turn is nothing and the river is...................jack of spades.
Not much later I get AA in the small blind. Everyone limps and I raise to $35. Well this youngster calls and everyone else folds. I know he has dog shit because he never raised before me. Flop comes 8-9-J rainbow and I push him all in for another $94. He goes into the tank moaning and groaning and shit. He calls, I say "all you have is a 10, huh?" he says "yeah" and the turn is a 7. Obviously I need a 10 on the river to chop and it doesn't come. He had A10.
So I lost a lot of my stack and left a small winner, $245. I'll take it after some of the beats I took.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Playing Bad 101
Well I've played a couple of sessions since my last entry. I'm going to break them into two blog entries...
Saturday 3/10/07. Started off great. I'm in big blind with starting stack around $200. Six people limp and button raises to $15. I have 5c3c and I know if I call, the domino effect will get crackin' and the pot will be huge (15x8=120) and I most likely have the worst hand but if I hit it I know I'm good. Everyone calls and the flop comes what appears to be an ugly one, Q, 2, 4 rainbow. Then it hits me that I have the open-ender. Everyone checks and the button bets 15 again. I call and two others call. Turn is a 6. Money. I check and some dude bets $30 and I just call him as I have the nuts with no flush draw on the board. I am the only caller and so I check the river trying to check-raise but he checks and I take it down. He spazzes out when he sees that I had 5-3 and goes on tilt, horrible player.
I ended up building my stack up to about 1300 only to see it slowly dwindle down to 500 by the time I left seven hours later. I was extremely frustrated with myself and the way I played the big stack. I called a ton of big raises and never hit any flops. Then I get 7c2c in the big blind on a limped pot with like eight people. Of course I flop the flush, bet hard on the flop, bet harder on the turn and the button calls me with the ace of clubs only to see the four of clubs hit the river. I check the river and he makes the perfect bet of $45 and I feel like I have to call even though I know I'm beat.
I actually went on tilt after making a horrible call. I really rarely go on tilt but I was so mad at myself for my call. I had A8 on a board of 8-4-2, 6, Ace. I bet the flop hard because the whole table has been chasing all day. Two callers (I bet like $45 into a 25 pot). The six hits the turn and this guy comes out betting 125. This is where I made my horrendous call. The other guy folds. Then my ace hits giving me top two pair. The guy, who clearly has the nuts, bets another 150. I call, he shows the straight and some horrible player asks for my cards so I threw them at him. I felt bad about it and apologized, I was really pissed at myself.
Luckily I left with a small profit after tricking away my stack.
Saturday 3/10/07. Started off great. I'm in big blind with starting stack around $200. Six people limp and button raises to $15. I have 5c3c and I know if I call, the domino effect will get crackin' and the pot will be huge (15x8=120) and I most likely have the worst hand but if I hit it I know I'm good. Everyone calls and the flop comes what appears to be an ugly one, Q, 2, 4 rainbow. Then it hits me that I have the open-ender. Everyone checks and the button bets 15 again. I call and two others call. Turn is a 6. Money. I check and some dude bets $30 and I just call him as I have the nuts with no flush draw on the board. I am the only caller and so I check the river trying to check-raise but he checks and I take it down. He spazzes out when he sees that I had 5-3 and goes on tilt, horrible player.
I ended up building my stack up to about 1300 only to see it slowly dwindle down to 500 by the time I left seven hours later. I was extremely frustrated with myself and the way I played the big stack. I called a ton of big raises and never hit any flops. Then I get 7c2c in the big blind on a limped pot with like eight people. Of course I flop the flush, bet hard on the flop, bet harder on the turn and the button calls me with the ace of clubs only to see the four of clubs hit the river. I check the river and he makes the perfect bet of $45 and I feel like I have to call even though I know I'm beat.
I actually went on tilt after making a horrible call. I really rarely go on tilt but I was so mad at myself for my call. I had A8 on a board of 8-4-2, 6, Ace. I bet the flop hard because the whole table has been chasing all day. Two callers (I bet like $45 into a 25 pot). The six hits the turn and this guy comes out betting 125. This is where I made my horrendous call. The other guy folds. Then my ace hits giving me top two pair. The guy, who clearly has the nuts, bets another 150. I call, he shows the straight and some horrible player asks for my cards so I threw them at him. I felt bad about it and apologized, I was really pissed at myself.
Luckily I left with a small profit after tricking away my stack.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Back in Effect
“I learned at a young age not to ride with dummies…That won’t die for they man but’ll die for money…” – Jada Kiss.
Time to get started again. Had an interesting end of the year, not all gravy but I’m a true believer that everything happens for a reason and that’s that. Took a couple of trips, ended a relationship, and learned some lessons.
Anyways I’ve decided to get back on the blog trail. I’ve been playing a lot recently and winning a decent amount in the $200 buy-in ($3/5 blinds) at Hollywood Park and also Commerce. I took a trip to Vegas with some friends during the NBA All-Star weekend and had a good time beating up on some extremely beginning players. Felt bad at some points but I’d rather take their money then have the casino take their money.
This past weekend I pulled off what basically amounted to three all-nighters. Thursday night I went all night and ended up a little. Friday was my best night and Saturday was a good night too. It’s really important to me to keep winning sessions going, no matter if the profit is large or small. I know that winning is contagious and I believe it’s addictive as well. There are many different types of gamblers and I’ve gone through almost all the stages. There are gamblers who play for the thrill of the gamble. These are usually losing gamblers because the larger the risk, the greater the thrill. I’ve been there before, taking on a challenge so great that I am doing it just to defeat the odds. There are also gamblers that become addicted to losing. They think their luck is so bad that they forget to correct their mistakes and continue doing what they’re doing despite the fact that they continue losing. They simply blame their losses on bad luck. These are usually losing poker players. For instance, a player that always pushes all-in with top pair when he sees a flush draw on the board, will lose a majority of the time, even if he is going all-in with the best hand. He is going to lose to a flush draw one out of three times to a flush draw, and the time he loses will cost him his stack. He will also lose to a better hand (set, two pair, etc.) every time. Therefore, even though he thinks he is always pushing with the best hand, he’s really putting his entire stack at a risk. These are players that lose consistently. No creativity and no improvement.
Then there are winning gamblers. These are gamblers that learn to bet when the odds are in their favor. When they lose money, they learn how to increase their chances the next time. If they lose at something, say craps, they pick up a new game where they have a better chance, maybe sports betting or poker.
I believe that both winning and losing is addictive in gambling. Losers don’t know when to stop – essentially they don’t stop for the night until they have gone broke. They will win $400 but keep playing until they are down $400. Then the next time they will show up and won’t stop until they win that $400 back. Bad idea. This is why I am trying to focus on winning, no matter what the amount is. I know it will become not only an addiction but a habit to win.
Not even more than five months ago, I played such a wider range of hands out of position than I do now and I can feel myself changing. Now I look at so many things before playing a hand---the obvious things such as hand quality, position, etc. But also at who’s in the hand? Can I raise them off a bluff? Do they continuation bet every time they raise pre-flop? Do they call me down every time I bet? I’ve learned that these things are key to picking up chips. They seem very obvious when written or read but it is completely different to learn the players and apply these ideas and strategies when playing.
The thing that I’ve noticed over my past few sessions is that it takes me a few buy-ins before I start building my stack. Each of my last four sessions, all of which were winning sessions, I’ve bought in three times. At first it was confusing to me why do I have to buy in three times to start winning? But when I think about it, it is extremely obvious. By the time I’ve made my third buy-in, I’ve pegged each player at the table and learned his playing style. I know which guy I can re-raise off of top pair and which guy will call me down all the way with middle pair. The adjustment I need to make is to play much tighter when I sit down until I’ve learned the players.
My last session I made a huge mistake when a new player sat down towards the end of my session, around 4 a.m. I raised pre-flop with 99 in late position and six people called. The flop came AQ4 and no one bet, including myself. I felt like someone might be trapping, so I checked to try and hit the 9 on the turn. A second ace came on the turn and the new guy bet $30, which wasn’t much. I insta-called him, trying to make it look as if I had a monster. The river was another four. Now I put him on the Queen. He checked to me and I bluffed $125. He called right away and showed an ace for aces full of fours. The player next to him says to me “You obviously haven’t played with him before,” indicating that he would have played this hand with nothing less than the ace. I felt pretty stupid because I tried to bluff a player who is obviously extremely tight and I could have just checked it down. This is why it is extremely important to learn players and their tendencies…each poker player is so different from the guy next to him.
Anyways I’m learning a lot every time I play and I feel like I’m applying what I learn, which is a great feeling.
I’ve been going with my boy Matt (hence the Jada Kiss quote) and we’ve both been having winning sessions, which is great because we used to only have losing sessions in common. I guess it’s funny because we kind of came up through gambling together. We started off playing black jack, learned craps the same weekend and now we both stick to poker. Hopefully we’ll keep improving and moving up in the ranks.
Not sure when I’m going to start posting numbers again, I’m kind of undecided on that but I do like to do it to keep track of hourly profit or loss, etc.
I’m not sure when I’ll play next, probably Friday at the latest. I have a basketball game tonight and then the movies. Tomorrow I might go if a dinner doesn’t last too long.
Time to get started again. Had an interesting end of the year, not all gravy but I’m a true believer that everything happens for a reason and that’s that. Took a couple of trips, ended a relationship, and learned some lessons.
Anyways I’ve decided to get back on the blog trail. I’ve been playing a lot recently and winning a decent amount in the $200 buy-in ($3/5 blinds) at Hollywood Park and also Commerce. I took a trip to Vegas with some friends during the NBA All-Star weekend and had a good time beating up on some extremely beginning players. Felt bad at some points but I’d rather take their money then have the casino take their money.
This past weekend I pulled off what basically amounted to three all-nighters. Thursday night I went all night and ended up a little. Friday was my best night and Saturday was a good night too. It’s really important to me to keep winning sessions going, no matter if the profit is large or small. I know that winning is contagious and I believe it’s addictive as well. There are many different types of gamblers and I’ve gone through almost all the stages. There are gamblers who play for the thrill of the gamble. These are usually losing gamblers because the larger the risk, the greater the thrill. I’ve been there before, taking on a challenge so great that I am doing it just to defeat the odds. There are also gamblers that become addicted to losing. They think their luck is so bad that they forget to correct their mistakes and continue doing what they’re doing despite the fact that they continue losing. They simply blame their losses on bad luck. These are usually losing poker players. For instance, a player that always pushes all-in with top pair when he sees a flush draw on the board, will lose a majority of the time, even if he is going all-in with the best hand. He is going to lose to a flush draw one out of three times to a flush draw, and the time he loses will cost him his stack. He will also lose to a better hand (set, two pair, etc.) every time. Therefore, even though he thinks he is always pushing with the best hand, he’s really putting his entire stack at a risk. These are players that lose consistently. No creativity and no improvement.
Then there are winning gamblers. These are gamblers that learn to bet when the odds are in their favor. When they lose money, they learn how to increase their chances the next time. If they lose at something, say craps, they pick up a new game where they have a better chance, maybe sports betting or poker.
I believe that both winning and losing is addictive in gambling. Losers don’t know when to stop – essentially they don’t stop for the night until they have gone broke. They will win $400 but keep playing until they are down $400. Then the next time they will show up and won’t stop until they win that $400 back. Bad idea. This is why I am trying to focus on winning, no matter what the amount is. I know it will become not only an addiction but a habit to win.
Not even more than five months ago, I played such a wider range of hands out of position than I do now and I can feel myself changing. Now I look at so many things before playing a hand---the obvious things such as hand quality, position, etc. But also at who’s in the hand? Can I raise them off a bluff? Do they continuation bet every time they raise pre-flop? Do they call me down every time I bet? I’ve learned that these things are key to picking up chips. They seem very obvious when written or read but it is completely different to learn the players and apply these ideas and strategies when playing.
The thing that I’ve noticed over my past few sessions is that it takes me a few buy-ins before I start building my stack. Each of my last four sessions, all of which were winning sessions, I’ve bought in three times. At first it was confusing to me why do I have to buy in three times to start winning? But when I think about it, it is extremely obvious. By the time I’ve made my third buy-in, I’ve pegged each player at the table and learned his playing style. I know which guy I can re-raise off of top pair and which guy will call me down all the way with middle pair. The adjustment I need to make is to play much tighter when I sit down until I’ve learned the players.
My last session I made a huge mistake when a new player sat down towards the end of my session, around 4 a.m. I raised pre-flop with 99 in late position and six people called. The flop came AQ4 and no one bet, including myself. I felt like someone might be trapping, so I checked to try and hit the 9 on the turn. A second ace came on the turn and the new guy bet $30, which wasn’t much. I insta-called him, trying to make it look as if I had a monster. The river was another four. Now I put him on the Queen. He checked to me and I bluffed $125. He called right away and showed an ace for aces full of fours. The player next to him says to me “You obviously haven’t played with him before,” indicating that he would have played this hand with nothing less than the ace. I felt pretty stupid because I tried to bluff a player who is obviously extremely tight and I could have just checked it down. This is why it is extremely important to learn players and their tendencies…each poker player is so different from the guy next to him.
Anyways I’m learning a lot every time I play and I feel like I’m applying what I learn, which is a great feeling.
I’ve been going with my boy Matt (hence the Jada Kiss quote) and we’ve both been having winning sessions, which is great because we used to only have losing sessions in common. I guess it’s funny because we kind of came up through gambling together. We started off playing black jack, learned craps the same weekend and now we both stick to poker. Hopefully we’ll keep improving and moving up in the ranks.
Not sure when I’m going to start posting numbers again, I’m kind of undecided on that but I do like to do it to keep track of hourly profit or loss, etc.
I’m not sure when I’ll play next, probably Friday at the latest. I have a basketball game tonight and then the movies. Tomorrow I might go if a dinner doesn’t last too long.
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