Games today

1. I get a succession of pairs, call a couple of raises, get raised behind once and call that. I call a bet with one on the flop but the guy rivers his ace and now I'm down t400. I then don't see a card over seven for about 30 hands. Eventually at t150, I push with KT and the cardrack in the BB shows AA. This is the third time in the tourney he's shown AA and obv. I don't beat it. -$11
2. I get AA in the second hand. I raise a limper to 100, next guy reraises to 180, fourth guy calls, limper reraises all in. I call, threebettor pushes over, fourth guy calls that too, LRRer calls. Note that the fourth guy called a raise and reraise and then a push that a guy had already called. Now he had a decent hand, JJ, but his calls on each occasion are atrocious. He cannot expect to be ahead. Still, maybe he knew that the first guy had Q7 (!!) and the second guy something like K9 (!!!!!). Obv. the guy with JJ rivers a J. I also had AA cracked in a 4/180 this morning. I raised big with it, and a guy called with 33. He didn't have the odds to setmine, but never mind, he felt like a pokering genius anyway when he stacked me when he hit his 3 on a wettish board. -$11
3. I pick up 77 at t50. There's one limper UTG and the BB checks. The flop comes 988. That should be fairly decent for my hand. BB and limper check, I check behind. Turn is another 8. Both check and I put in a small bet. Limper minraises. I put him on a steal, which is reasonable because you can't really put an 8 or 9 in his hand UTG. River he checks, I check behind, because he's not calling with OCs, and I'm just going to lose money to bigger pairs or whatever else. I am tearing out my hair when he shows Q8s. I mean, he had a big stack, but that's just throwing money away. Unless you're playing Dr Zen. Then you will get paid. I think my play is okay. I didn't lose very much and mostly I would win that pot. It's worth charging OCs to draw, I think. His play is atrocious. He can't expect me to bet at the river, and sandbagging there is just ridiculous. I make it back up to 1600 by flopping lucky in the BB (yes, it happens; the difference is that I don't call huge raises and then get lucky) and winning a bunch of chips, and then making value from a pair against a guy chasing a straight draw BvB. It's lucky he didn't bluff on the river, because there were two OCs to my pair on the board, and I might well have folded the best hand. This was the minraisingest table I've ever been on: a sure sign that you're among retards. But it doesn't help that the other players are idiots if you do not get dealt playable cards. Still, at last, I picked up AA. A retard had minraised UTG. I had t1240 at t150 blinds, so I generally would shove over. But I raised instead, to t750, figuring that he would probably call that with hands he might not call the shove with. I would shove any flop. The flop came KJx. Imagine my joy to see he held KJ. The turn was another K, just to rub it in. But mirabile dictu, I rivered an ace. I stayed competitive at t200 by pushing every time I was in the SB. I then doubled up again with AA. A tard made it 500 to go from the button. Again, I raised rather than pushing. He called. I shoved the Q high flop, and he called. He had a flush draw but this time the poker gods smiled. But not for long. BvB I shoved 86 into a guy who I thought should call fairly tightly. He had 7BB. But no. He thought K8 was good enough and took a huge chunk out of my stack. I had folded a couple of blinds, so I was mystified by this terrible call. Still, I did suck out with KQ vs 99 to double back up. He had his revenge when very short, his A7 outsucking my 33 when I was BB. I actually hate calling with small pairs in the blind, but getting 2 to 1, you can't fold. Finally, I shoved over a minraiser with T6s, he called with K9 and I busted. I absolutely despair. The same guy had two hands earlier minraised and folded to a shove that offered him 2 to 1. I had more chips than the other shover, so this guy wasn't even getting a good price. His hand was a dog too, clearly just something he thought he could steal a blind with. Why he decided to make his stand against me, I don't know. -$11
4. So we are down to four players at t30. These people just thoroughly hate money. I love it, but it hates me. The best was the sixth guy to go. He had Qh9h. He limped on the button. The BB raised to 330 (!!). Button called. The flop came Axx with two hearts and button pushed. BB had an ace, and called. He turned his kicker but button rivered a heart. Sadly for button, it was also BB's kicker. I then watch him hand his stack to the other players with a series of terrible plays. I got a small piece, calling a minraise with QT and a tiny bet with the straight draw, straightening on the turn. Sadly, the river paired aces, so I just called another tiny bet. The chances that he had AJ or even A3 and had boated up were too great to raise for value. I then busted him when I standard raised KK at t100 and he pushed over with A8. For once, my cowboys held up. Sadly, I lost a few chips threehanded, raising with AT. The bigstack reraised, but I didn't feel I could fold getting 2 to 1. He pushed the flop, which I missed. So you're thinking, this is going well, right? Yeah. So the shorty, who is not so short, limps his button. I raise big with AQs and he pushes. He has K8s. I mean, jeezus. He flops a king obviously, and even though I flopped a straight flush draw, I still lost. This is what I'm talking about. That's a terrible move on his part: first of all, calling is terrible, he should raise or fold; second, he should just fold to the raise--pushing 16BB is not just bad, it's insane: I just won't have a hand that he beats, so he's always trying to get lucky; third, I snapcalled his push, obviously, but really, can I not win these occasionally? This is why I'm having such a bad run. It's like no matter how bad your hand is, get it in with Dr Zen. You will win way more than your share. I bust shortly afterwards, pushing QcJc with about 8BB. The BB has me dominated. This also happens all the time. I don't even have live cards when I'm short, and you just don't seem to suck out all that often in that spot. +$9
5. Card dead. Had AK BvB at t20 but other guy folded to 3x raise. Pushed A5s. Called by AQ obviously. -$11
6. I raise to 100 with KK at t30, and three call. A guy raises to 430 and I shove. He has QQ. MHIG. Tough hand in the BB followed. I have 8d3d. Flop comes 8 high with two diamonds. I could bet here, but I check and call a small bet, along with three others. Turn is another diamond. A completely retarded player bets 2000. This is very tough because he can easily have Adx and have paired his kicker, or even be bluffing completely, but he can also have the flush. Normally, I go broke here, because it's nearly always just the ace, but I decide to retain the equity I have in the tourney and fold. The guy put 2000 chips into a pot with about 300 chips in it, if that. I think it was a good fold. Maybe I wouldn't have made it but for the past three or four flushes I've scored -- flopping two of them -- I've been beaten by bigger flushes. At t150, some guy pushes 4BB and all fold. The other, you'll be pleased to know, scooped me a tiny pot when no one showed any interest at all. Next hand, he goes again, with 5BB. I'm in the BB with A9 and snapcall. He has A6. A split pot is a real possibility with that kind of setup, and when it flops 883, his hopes rise. But I turn a 9 and he's busted. I'm not sure what range you should call with in that spot but he's got to be pushing pretty wide, so probably quite a lot. I've been trying to loosen up a bit in those spots, because I think I call far too tight. Next time in the BB, an old "friend", Rabidbunny2, raises from UTG. He is trying to steal my blind, and I've noticed he does this often against me. It could be coincidence though, because Bunny's greatest failing is that he's too tight short and although he raises a bit more when he's big stack, he plays far too weakly. He has improved though, because he used to be losing a bit, and now he wins at 5 per cent or so. I enjoy playing against him (and the other weaktighties who infest the 5s and 10s) except when he's deep on the bubble, because he has no idea to pwn, which favours the weak passive types. However, Bunny has now started pushing or stealing with a wide range from UTG, and that leads him to get it in behind an awful lot. So he's traded one leak for another, pretty much. I net another 2K when some guy raises to 2.5x at t200 when I have JJ in the SB. I could push over, but I call to see a flop. He bets small on a K high flop and I'm pretty sure it didn't hit him. I call. Turn is a brick and he checks. I check behind to induce a bluff on the river or to set up a value bet. It's another blank and he checks it to me. I bet 1K and he calls with TT. I'm not sure about how I played that but I think he is folding to a raise on the flop or a bet on the turn, and possibly to a shove preflop. I obviously am not minimising my losses playing like that, because I'm not likely to fold to bets on the turn or riv, because I think I'm good most of the time. Next up, I make what I suppose is a weak push, A6 from the button. I am chip leader and the BB has 12ish big blinds. The SB snapcalls with JJ. Oh dear. I flop AA8. Hooray! So ITM I double up one shorty when I can't overtake 33, and knock out the other when I beat 22 with A5. I crush the remaining guy heads up. +$39
7. So success and failure are equal impostors, right? Well, I treat success that way sometimes, but it's nice to get a win after a long run of disappointing results. Now I notice I'm up against a couple of players whose names I recognise, and I'm wishing I took better notes. When you play at work though, you don't always pay that much, or any, attention. I recognise one of the guys from the previous game. He's terrible, prone to minraising with awful hands. He's the flush guy from game 6. I had the pleasure of busting him out of that game in the end. The other guys are, I think, just standard bad players. I seem to recall that one of them is fairly tight, but the others are willing to play too many hands. On one hand a guy minraises one limper, and is also called by the small blind. The flop is TT7 and checks through. I don't need a note to tell me the minraiser is terrible. Maybe my luck is looking up: I call with QcJc on the button. There are three others in the pot. The flop checks through and the turn brings a second club. I call a minbet. The river is a K and I fold to a bet but some other guy calls. How lucky was I! They held Ac3c and Kc2c. Many players urge folding hands like QJs at low blinds, and they cite this kind of hand, but frankly, you are not taking much risk with it, so long as you are able not to overvalue TP. It may be -EV all in all, but I think folding hands on the button that I would raise in loose games of other types is a bit too much. So everyone in this game has been terrible, bar one tightish guy, but it doesn't matter how terrible they are if you don't have cards to play with them. They trade the chips among themselves, and you get blinded down. And weep a bit when you see a guy limping in with T7s. And gnash your teeth to pulp when you see yet another UTG minraise from a player who last folded to a shove in the twentieth century. The mad thing is that halfway through t150, these clowns have still not knocked each other out. We are sixhanded. I am staying alive by pushing BvB one orbit, and pushing when the SB completes on the next. The next hand I judiciously fold. 87 is not faring well if I'm called, and now the BB outstacks me, so he might open up a fair bit. I pick up AQs and shove. All fold. Now we're at t200, still sixhanded. This is going to be tough. I have JT in the BB. The flop comes Q94, two spades. The button bets when checked to. Do I have fold equity here? Maybe against a nine or a flush draw, but not against Qs3s. This is how bad these players are. They limp Q3s. Sadly, I do not hit my draw and that's me done. -$11
8. Should I have folded to that bet? Possibly. It's easy to think you should when you see that he had TP. But this guy is terrible, has been betting and folding to raises before, and would definitely bet a 9 or a draw. Against 98 or something like that, I have 14 outs, 11 against J9/T9 and 8 against the bare queen. He's never folding the queen, but the others I must have some FE against, and if he doesn't fold, I'm a favourite against any 9 that doesn't come with a Q, J or T. So meh. So here we are; another QJs hand. I limp it again from the BTN. Flop is AT3. Checked round. I check too. The chances are way too strong that one of the other four players has an ace. Which one does. I call a minbet on the turn, getting 7.5 to 1 and it's checked through on the river. The guy with A9 took it. Given how tamely he played it, I don't think you can consider him an ace master. An orgy of minbetting then breaks out. The best is a TJQK turn with three clubs. One guy bets t20, the next raises to t50 and the original bettor smacks it up to t80. Well, do him credit, he at least put in t200 on the river. The other guy called and played the board, because a 9 had come. The first guy had 9c2c. There's a retort for those of us who think that that is not good enough to limp from the CO. So at t150, I finally play another hand. I push AK with 1200 or so chips. I'm called by JJ, but I hit both A and K to knock him out. The next hand I get it all in with K4s vs a very shortstack who limped the button. In the BB, I put him in for his remaining 250 and catch a king on flop and turn. I think I'm okay against his range, which has to be pretty wide, but you could make a case for seeing the flop before pushing. So that makes it five at t150 and I have just shy of 3K. It's no wonder these guys aren't knocking each other out. It's all minbets and ridiculously weak raises. One guy hilariously traps another with QQ. He limps it and checks a raggy flop. The other guy pushes. He has made bottom pair with A2. Oh dear. It would have been nice for him to flop an ace, because the guy who limped QQ thoroughly deserved that. Still, I bubble. It's just fucking incredible. I have JJ and raise in the small blind. The BB pushes, and has me covered. I call. He has ATs. But being a 68-32 favourite is not enough. I've had enough for this afternoon. I am down $18 in eight games. I have been playing some of the worst players I've ever encountered, but I can't win. In the past week playing the $10s, I have not beaten the rake. I was on the verge of moving up permanently to the $20s but I'm worried that this run is indicative of where I'm at, and I had been running very hot previously. It didn't feel like I was, and I don't feel like I'm playing badly, but it's hard to feel you are really a winning player when you don't win.