I'm reading Harrington 3 at the moment. I've heard from some people that it's not as good as 1 and 2, and I have to say that I'm finding that to be true. I haven't got all that far into it, but I'm not sure that his advice to call raises after limping with speculative hands is all that good. It's all very well to pick a few celebrity hands that have played out well, but I think Dan himself would be chucking a lot of the hands he urges us to call.
He's also too willing to play poker in sngs for my liking. At least at the low level I play at, I don't think it's smart. Take his Problem 13. We have AT in the cutoff at a loose table at t50.
One guy limps to us. Harrington thinks it is "mousy" to fold here, but sometimes I will. If I limp, the button is encouraged to limp behind, and that will likely bring both blinds too. I'm not keen on AT fivehanded. It's a trap hand of the worst kind. It doesn't play all that well on an ace-high flop, and you don't get enough T-high flops to make it a great hand either. I don't like raising much though, because if I put enough in to scare off the first limper and fold out the button, I will have put quite a bit into the pot with a middling hand. ATs is probably hand enough for the play.
So we limp and the button and SB fold. The big blind checks his option and the flop comes AhJh5d. The EP limper bets out $100 into a $175 pot.
The bet tells me he likely has one of three types of hand in descending likeliness: an ace of some sort, a flush draw that he's semibluffing with or 55. The last is fairly unlikely because most players would check that in an unraised pot, fearing that no one has an ace. (I wouldn't, as it happens, because players often limp aces, particularly if they're suited, and then play them strongly if they get lucky.) He could have AJ or A5; they're not counted out necessarily, even if many players will slowplay them. I would probably make this kind of bet with AJ, hoping that someone with exactly the hand we have here does what I would surely do in this spot, and raises.
Harrington advises a call. I think that's terrible here. I want to define my hand and quickly. If the guy is pushing a flush draw, a raise to $300 might well push him out. If I get called, I'm done with this hand, and won't piss any more chips away. Harrington won't raise because he is too scared that the big blind might be sitting with something. Well yeah, he might, and let's hope that if he is, he raises us off our hand, so that we don't dribble our chips away with a moderate hand.
The turn comes 9h and the limper puts $150 in. Harrington advises calling. Well, okay, we might still be ahead, but the list of hands we're beating (and likely to be facing) is getting shorter: A8, A7, A6, A4, A3, A2. If he was pushing a flush draw, he just made it. If he has a bigger ace, A9 or A5, we are paying him off. I never like to call down in a sitngo. I might call a bet on the river if I think the other guy is bluffing or betting a worse hand for value, but I will rarely play this passively. It just doesn't pay.
The river is Td. Well, that's improved our hand and I think you have to call the bet on the end. The EP guy puts $250 into a $675 pot. I am hoping that he's been pushing AK, AQ, A5 or one of the other bullshit aces, and I would probably win more than one in four times, so this is an easy call. I wouldn't raise because few hands I beat will call a raise here, and it would be very very hard to fold if the other guy pushes.
The other guy shows Th8h for the flush. Harrington says that it would be results oriented to say that if we had raised on the flop we might have driven the other guy out, but I think his analysis is way off. Most times you are losing even more than this taking his course, because the river bet will be somewhat bigger. True enough, if I raised on the flop and the other guy called, then checked to me on the turn, I'd take the free card, and then be looking at paying off on the river, so I'd probably lose about the same as he did. Many times, I would not pair my kicker on the river, so my way would have been a lot cheaper when I folded to the river bet.
Do I risk folding the best hand? Yes, it's true I do, but I don't think that's as painful in an sng (or any tourney) as it is in a cash game. I mean, I often do. I often fold draws that I do not have the odds to call that come in on the next street. It hurts but of course in the long term, paying too much to draw hurts more. And it's far less painful than going too far with top pairs that are beaten all the way from the flop. One reason I don't think it's too "mousy" to fold away AT in this spot is that you can find yourself in this position way too easily: with too much hand to fold to pressure but not enough that you feel confident about raising.
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Monday, 25 June 2007
Bluffs, tells, and telling all about bluffs
So I am in the doctor's office and he spots my Theory of Poker, which I'm rereading. Ah poker, he says, do you play? A bit, I say.
And of course he wants to talk about tells and bluffing, because people think that's what poker's all about. For me, because I mostly play online, tells are barely an issue, and bluffing is just one more aspect of poker, something I do almost without thinking about it. Which is probably a bad thing in itself, because you ought to be thinking about it! I guess that at some point I will need to work out properly a system of bluffs for limit at least. What do I mean by that? Well, as Sklansky notes, if you bluff the correct number of times, your opponent cannot make good choices against you, so long as you bluff at random. You have to adjust the "correct number" depending on your opponent, but you can work out your optimal bluffing percentage for a given pot and bet size. You don't have to do the maths, of course. Experience helps you develop a feel for it. But the randomness is important. You should not bluff every time you have a busted draw, for instance, but you should sometimes, unpredictably for your opponent. I've never really bothered figuring it out, because I play idiots who I don't have that many games against, but one day I hope to play better players who will be regulars in the games I play, so I need to know it. (If you're curious, you should be bluffing so that the odds you are bluffing match the odds that the pot offers the other player. Say you're at the river in a .50/1 limit game and you're first to act. You have a busted draw and you think that your opponent has you beat -- to make it obvious, let's say you have 64 and were drawing to an openended straight but missed. The pot is $5, so if you bet, your opponent will be getting 6 to 1. You should bluff one in seven times in this spot. You can randomise the bluff by deciding on the turn to bet if your straight card comes and if say any queen or ten of diamonds comes off -- which is approximately the right number of cards. In this way, whether you bluff is not something you decide, so your opponent cannot outguess you. You can even announce to him that you are doing it! There is nothing he can do about it. If you want to see the maths that prove it, read Theory of Poker.
I tend to bluff more situationally than that, which works okay in no limit. I probably don't bluff enough in limit though, so it's something to think about.
Live, tells are a bit more important than they are online, but if you're expecting people to put Oreos to their ear or fidget in a particular way, you're dreaming. If people do have tells like that, I don't play against them. You can never be all that sure in my experience, although two of the players I play against do have noticeable tells, which I think are fairly reliable. One puts his chips out differently when he has it; the other tries too hard not to fidget when he is bluffing. Me, I chatter, laugh, smile and fidget like a fool all the time, so that I give out too much information. I don't even try to keep a poker face because I'm hopeless at it. Someone mentioned that they thought I swallowed when I didn't have a big hand, so now I swallow when I do against him. The worst thing a person can do is tell you your tell. What a foolish thing to do. As the guy who told me that I always bet half the pot as a cbet (which I don't, as it happens, far from it), and got his arse busted when I flopped a full found out.
Ultimately though, poker is not a game of tells, because betting is a much more reliable guide. If you've been betting small at pots when you have nothing and big when you have something, I don't need to see you crack the Oreo. You're readable as a book. And if I know you are cluey enough to follow a betting pattern, but you've been betting your top pair timidly, you're getting bluffed reasonably often when a flush card hits the river and I look like I've been drawing.
And of course he wants to talk about tells and bluffing, because people think that's what poker's all about. For me, because I mostly play online, tells are barely an issue, and bluffing is just one more aspect of poker, something I do almost without thinking about it. Which is probably a bad thing in itself, because you ought to be thinking about it! I guess that at some point I will need to work out properly a system of bluffs for limit at least. What do I mean by that? Well, as Sklansky notes, if you bluff the correct number of times, your opponent cannot make good choices against you, so long as you bluff at random. You have to adjust the "correct number" depending on your opponent, but you can work out your optimal bluffing percentage for a given pot and bet size. You don't have to do the maths, of course. Experience helps you develop a feel for it. But the randomness is important. You should not bluff every time you have a busted draw, for instance, but you should sometimes, unpredictably for your opponent. I've never really bothered figuring it out, because I play idiots who I don't have that many games against, but one day I hope to play better players who will be regulars in the games I play, so I need to know it. (If you're curious, you should be bluffing so that the odds you are bluffing match the odds that the pot offers the other player. Say you're at the river in a .50/1 limit game and you're first to act. You have a busted draw and you think that your opponent has you beat -- to make it obvious, let's say you have 64 and were drawing to an openended straight but missed. The pot is $5, so if you bet, your opponent will be getting 6 to 1. You should bluff one in seven times in this spot. You can randomise the bluff by deciding on the turn to bet if your straight card comes and if say any queen or ten of diamonds comes off -- which is approximately the right number of cards. In this way, whether you bluff is not something you decide, so your opponent cannot outguess you. You can even announce to him that you are doing it! There is nothing he can do about it. If you want to see the maths that prove it, read Theory of Poker.
I tend to bluff more situationally than that, which works okay in no limit. I probably don't bluff enough in limit though, so it's something to think about.
Live, tells are a bit more important than they are online, but if you're expecting people to put Oreos to their ear or fidget in a particular way, you're dreaming. If people do have tells like that, I don't play against them. You can never be all that sure in my experience, although two of the players I play against do have noticeable tells, which I think are fairly reliable. One puts his chips out differently when he has it; the other tries too hard not to fidget when he is bluffing. Me, I chatter, laugh, smile and fidget like a fool all the time, so that I give out too much information. I don't even try to keep a poker face because I'm hopeless at it. Someone mentioned that they thought I swallowed when I didn't have a big hand, so now I swallow when I do against him. The worst thing a person can do is tell you your tell. What a foolish thing to do. As the guy who told me that I always bet half the pot as a cbet (which I don't, as it happens, far from it), and got his arse busted when I flopped a full found out.
Ultimately though, poker is not a game of tells, because betting is a much more reliable guide. If you've been betting small at pots when you have nothing and big when you have something, I don't need to see you crack the Oreo. You're readable as a book. And if I know you are cluey enough to follow a betting pattern, but you've been betting your top pair timidly, you're getting bluffed reasonably often when a flush card hits the river and I look like I've been drawing.
Back on the horse
So I got back on my horse after that bad day, my first really big loss playing the fiver sitngos, and things went better. Now, I'm still not sure whether I just ran better or played better, but since then I've won back everything I lost and added some more winnings.
Yesterday I signed up to a limit tourney by mistake. I play limit okay, but I find in an SNG you need a bit of luck. The same principles apply, so far as I know. You play ultratight early and maintain a decent stack for when you do get involved. Unfortunately, I became quite shortstacked by getting involved in a hand where I figured to be best but was sucked out on; fortunately, I got it all in with KT, a dog of a hand, but paired the T and was tripled up. You're always a chance when you're playing people who are loose and stupid. My luck didn't hold heads up, where my opponent threebet 93 and flopped twopair against my big cards, and then threebet T6, paired the 6 and I didn't improve, again with a decent hand. But second is okay. I won a game at Stars at practically the same time, so I was feeling good about things just then, and I scraped into third in one of those ultratight games in which seven players get to 200-chip blinds. I do okay in those games, but they're not my favourite. When the strategy I use was invented/discovered, players were much looser, and you used to be able, apparently, to fold for three levels and watch half the table knock itself out. The golden days! That rarely happens, even at PokerRoom, which has more than its share of true fishtards.
Having said that, I was treated in one game today to a spectacular display of donkitude. I doubled up early with KK, raising and getting a caller in the small blind. The flop came king high with two diamonds. Tard bet and I raised. He pushed, and I fully expected to see a flush draw and have my cowboys cracked yet again (they are running second to the biatches as the hand I hate most, now that I mostly play AQ very slowly). Nope. He had K7 for top pair and the backdoor straight draw, which for once did not come in. I hardly played a pot until we reached t150, still with six players in. The way it had been going was that a guy would raise and all fold, rarely playing pots. Then, suddenly, a mania struck the players, and they indulged themselves in loose play, knocking each other out chasing draws, playing weak top pairs (I found myself doubled up by a guy with a gutshot draw!). I was able more or less to sit back and wait for them to finish each other off, and then outclass the last man standing heads up. Which I did. There's a type heads up who's easy to play: raises with good hands, limps moderate ones, folds trash; bets when he has something, checks when he doesn't, checkraises big hands. If you're that predictable, you're going to be minced heads up by someone who's this side of clueless. Which I barely am, so I minced him.
Straight after that, I played a nice game, chipping up where possible, not taking too many chances. On the bubble, shortstacked but not massively so, I picked up 88 in the small blind. A player who had been raising a tremendous amount raised once more, fairly small. I pushed over the top. I figure that at worst I'm going to have a race, but likely he will give up. I'm not passing the hand anyway, and calling leaves me in a tough spot if any OC comes on the flop. I could consider stopngoing it, and sometimes I'd make that play, but I figured that because he had me covered by maybe 900 chips, he has an easy fold with most of his range. But these guys cannot lay down an ace. He called with A3 and didn't improve. I knocked him out two hands later when he completed the small blind and I checked with KQ. I could and probably should have pushed, but the flop comes JT8 and he pushes. I call quickly with my openender and overcards. He has paired the eight and he was quite upset when an ace fell on the turn.
I make it to heads up and get lucky when I run 88 into AA but flop the set. The other guy then pushes or folds every hand, mostly the former. I don't like this play heads up. I don't know technically whether it's good or bad, but it seems to me that you allow the bigstack to pick his hand and beat you. I suppose you figure to chip up a bit though and can slow down when nearer even. I picked ATs to call him with and MHIG. I'm going to have to think about what is best in that spot. He's not pushing any two, but he has a very wide range. Probably, I should be calling with anything that beats his range. I think in that spot I'm probably a bit tight, but I reckon I'm about 80/20 against that strategy, which is better than I am overall.
Yesterday I signed up to a limit tourney by mistake. I play limit okay, but I find in an SNG you need a bit of luck. The same principles apply, so far as I know. You play ultratight early and maintain a decent stack for when you do get involved. Unfortunately, I became quite shortstacked by getting involved in a hand where I figured to be best but was sucked out on; fortunately, I got it all in with KT, a dog of a hand, but paired the T and was tripled up. You're always a chance when you're playing people who are loose and stupid. My luck didn't hold heads up, where my opponent threebet 93 and flopped twopair against my big cards, and then threebet T6, paired the 6 and I didn't improve, again with a decent hand. But second is okay. I won a game at Stars at practically the same time, so I was feeling good about things just then, and I scraped into third in one of those ultratight games in which seven players get to 200-chip blinds. I do okay in those games, but they're not my favourite. When the strategy I use was invented/discovered, players were much looser, and you used to be able, apparently, to fold for three levels and watch half the table knock itself out. The golden days! That rarely happens, even at PokerRoom, which has more than its share of true fishtards.
Having said that, I was treated in one game today to a spectacular display of donkitude. I doubled up early with KK, raising and getting a caller in the small blind. The flop came king high with two diamonds. Tard bet and I raised. He pushed, and I fully expected to see a flush draw and have my cowboys cracked yet again (they are running second to the biatches as the hand I hate most, now that I mostly play AQ very slowly). Nope. He had K7 for top pair and the backdoor straight draw, which for once did not come in. I hardly played a pot until we reached t150, still with six players in. The way it had been going was that a guy would raise and all fold, rarely playing pots. Then, suddenly, a mania struck the players, and they indulged themselves in loose play, knocking each other out chasing draws, playing weak top pairs (I found myself doubled up by a guy with a gutshot draw!). I was able more or less to sit back and wait for them to finish each other off, and then outclass the last man standing heads up. Which I did. There's a type heads up who's easy to play: raises with good hands, limps moderate ones, folds trash; bets when he has something, checks when he doesn't, checkraises big hands. If you're that predictable, you're going to be minced heads up by someone who's this side of clueless. Which I barely am, so I minced him.
Straight after that, I played a nice game, chipping up where possible, not taking too many chances. On the bubble, shortstacked but not massively so, I picked up 88 in the small blind. A player who had been raising a tremendous amount raised once more, fairly small. I pushed over the top. I figure that at worst I'm going to have a race, but likely he will give up. I'm not passing the hand anyway, and calling leaves me in a tough spot if any OC comes on the flop. I could consider stopngoing it, and sometimes I'd make that play, but I figured that because he had me covered by maybe 900 chips, he has an easy fold with most of his range. But these guys cannot lay down an ace. He called with A3 and didn't improve. I knocked him out two hands later when he completed the small blind and I checked with KQ. I could and probably should have pushed, but the flop comes JT8 and he pushes. I call quickly with my openender and overcards. He has paired the eight and he was quite upset when an ace fell on the turn.
I make it to heads up and get lucky when I run 88 into AA but flop the set. The other guy then pushes or folds every hand, mostly the former. I don't like this play heads up. I don't know technically whether it's good or bad, but it seems to me that you allow the bigstack to pick his hand and beat you. I suppose you figure to chip up a bit though and can slow down when nearer even. I picked ATs to call him with and MHIG. I'm going to have to think about what is best in that spot. He's not pushing any two, but he has a very wide range. Probably, I should be calling with anything that beats his range. I think in that spot I'm probably a bit tight, but I reckon I'm about 80/20 against that strategy, which is better than I am overall.
No! Not the seven!
Now this is what I call a bad beat! This is in the lucky dollar at PR:
NO_LIMIT TEXAS_HOLDEM $1+$0 (Real Money), #504,076,008
Lucky Dollar Multi Table Tournament, 24 Jun 2007 7:16 PM ET
Seat 8: Dr Zen ($1,410 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Dr Zen posts blind ($15), totoze posts blind ($30).
PRE-FLOP
Proschaden folds, Gindujun folds, bambosr folds, DanCAP3 folds, kariba1 folds, gaafar58 folds, schimpo folds, shera-76 calls $30, Dr Zen calls $15
I complete with JJ. I could raise here but I figure that with the right flop, I'll make more money with a disguised hand.
totoze checks.
FLOP [board cards 7D,7C,7H ]
Now that's the right flop!
Dr Zen bets $60, totoze calls $60, shera-76 calls $60.
I am obviously ahead here. There's no way the tards limped with anything better than jacks, and I'd put my stack on their not having a seven.
TURN [board cards 7D,7C,7H,2C ]
Dr Zen bets $200, totoze calls $200, shera-76 folds.
So neither one paired their high card. The caller either has a big face card that he hopes beats whatever I have, or more likely, a small pair, which he hopes beats the bluff.
But neither is at anything like smart thinking.
In the first case, let's say the guy has an ace. He has three outs to a pair but cannot beat any pair in my hand unless he does pair. On the flop, okay, you could believe I was bluffing, but on the turn, the bigger bet makes it a lot less likely.
In the second case, you are relying on my bluffing. But when I bet the flop, the pot was very small, and no one ever folds with trips on the board. Everyone peels for a small bet because they don't credit the bettor and they know they can draw to their six outs and maybe get lucky. But again, on the turn, the bet says, no, I do have it. So you are gambling that your pair is better than mine. And the key is, I'm betting mine. I could just check it and call any bet you make. I could get a cheap showdown with a weak pair.
Anyway, this is looking like a nice pot, which I'm sure I'm winning.
RIVER [board cards 7D,7C,7H,2C,7S ]
OMFG.
Dr Zen checks, totoze checks.
SHOWDOWN
Dr Zen shows [ JD,JS ]
totoze shows [ 9H,KC ]
OMFG.
This guy just called 200 chips on the turn with king high. He had four outs to beat any pair, and three to beat ace high, if I had that.
totoze wins $670.
You get this a lot in the lucky dollar of course. I doubled up a bit later in a hand where I raised it to 5BB after a couple of limpers with AKs, a guy pushed, and I called. He had KQ. Unbelievable. Then the very next hand, a guy with 4500 chips pushed. At 100-chip blinds! The big blind covers him -- the only guy at the table who does -- and calls. The pusher turns over KQ.
The guy has risked his whole stack for 150 chips with king high. Still, dollar tourneys are not the preserve of good players, and this is how players try to win. They play the huge gamble and try to get a big chip stack. Problem is, if they get one, they piss it away, because as clueless as they are with a normal stack, they're doubly so with a big one.
NO_LIMIT TEXAS_HOLDEM $1+$0 (Real Money), #504,076,008
Lucky Dollar Multi Table Tournament, 24 Jun 2007 7:16 PM ET
Seat 8: Dr Zen ($1,410 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Dr Zen posts blind ($15), totoze posts blind ($30).
PRE-FLOP
Proschaden folds, Gindujun folds, bambosr folds, DanCAP3 folds, kariba1 folds, gaafar58 folds, schimpo folds, shera-76 calls $30, Dr Zen calls $15
I complete with JJ. I could raise here but I figure that with the right flop, I'll make more money with a disguised hand.
totoze checks.
FLOP [board cards 7D,7C,7H ]
Now that's the right flop!
Dr Zen bets $60, totoze calls $60, shera-76 calls $60.
I am obviously ahead here. There's no way the tards limped with anything better than jacks, and I'd put my stack on their not having a seven.
TURN [board cards 7D,7C,7H,2C ]
Dr Zen bets $200, totoze calls $200, shera-76 folds.
So neither one paired their high card. The caller either has a big face card that he hopes beats whatever I have, or more likely, a small pair, which he hopes beats the bluff.
But neither is at anything like smart thinking.
In the first case, let's say the guy has an ace. He has three outs to a pair but cannot beat any pair in my hand unless he does pair. On the flop, okay, you could believe I was bluffing, but on the turn, the bigger bet makes it a lot less likely.
In the second case, you are relying on my bluffing. But when I bet the flop, the pot was very small, and no one ever folds with trips on the board. Everyone peels for a small bet because they don't credit the bettor and they know they can draw to their six outs and maybe get lucky. But again, on the turn, the bet says, no, I do have it. So you are gambling that your pair is better than mine. And the key is, I'm betting mine. I could just check it and call any bet you make. I could get a cheap showdown with a weak pair.
Anyway, this is looking like a nice pot, which I'm sure I'm winning.
RIVER [board cards 7D,7C,7H,2C,7S ]
OMFG.
Dr Zen checks, totoze checks.
SHOWDOWN
Dr Zen shows [ JD,JS ]
totoze shows [ 9H,KC ]
OMFG.
This guy just called 200 chips on the turn with king high. He had four outs to beat any pair, and three to beat ace high, if I had that.
totoze wins $670.
You get this a lot in the lucky dollar of course. I doubled up a bit later in a hand where I raised it to 5BB after a couple of limpers with AKs, a guy pushed, and I called. He had KQ. Unbelievable. Then the very next hand, a guy with 4500 chips pushed. At 100-chip blinds! The big blind covers him -- the only guy at the table who does -- and calls. The pusher turns over KQ.
The guy has risked his whole stack for 150 chips with king high. Still, dollar tourneys are not the preserve of good players, and this is how players try to win. They play the huge gamble and try to get a big chip stack. Problem is, if they get one, they piss it away, because as clueless as they are with a normal stack, they're doubly so with a big one.
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Ups and downs
So I'm trying again, with one on PR and one on Stars. I don't know any of the players on Stars, but on PR, there's a couple of familiar faces. Homer J Fong is a semiloose player who can be a bit too keen on modest hands; baNASHed is in a word useless.
I can add another name to my tard list. The guy who minraised with K2s has earned his spot.
(PR) So I limp with TT and get a K high flop. Folding to a bet.
(PS) I get a free ride with 94. Nothing doing on the flop. I fold to a bet.
(PS) 88 in the SB. I call a minraise. The flop is AK9 and I fold to a bet.
The same guy minraises again the next hand and I note that the BB folded. That's usually a sign of having some sort of clue. The raiser went broke with 88 on a board that flushed. He had had a draw to an inside straight but once his bluff had been called, he needed to chuck it.
We lose two at PokerRoom. Both had hands they should never have played in the first place. One had an openender on the flop. A lot of players will go all the way with an OESD, which is terrible. Even worse, the other guy had TP2K.
We lost another on Stars but I wasn't watching. Looking at the history, I see he busted with second pair. Not even top pair! The guy who busted him is playing way too many hands but he's hitting a lot of flops.
I get a free ride at PR with K5. A K high flop. I check it and bet the turn. Some guy raises and I call. The board pairs on the river and we split it.
I win a nice pot at Stars. I call a small raise with 33 and flop the set. Unfortunately, no one wants to put much money in when the turn pairs Ks. Pity the raiser didn't have AK, because he would probably have been busted there.
We lose another at PokerRoom. He was unlucky to fall foul of full over full on an ATKKT board.
I pick up QQ at Stars and make a nice raise. The flop comes A high but I bet out. He calls. The turn and river are checked through. The guy sucks. He had 44.
I pick up AA at Stars in the small blind and raise it to 4BB. No one wants to play.
I complete the SB with 54s and the flop gives me an openender. I bet, all fold. Next hand I call from the button because the BB is sitting out. I have QT. The flop comes Q92. The SB bets and I call. The turn looks like a blank. I'm putting him on top pair, maybe only middle pair. He pushes the turn. He's quite short. This is a tough decision, but it's against Homer J Fong so I call. He has 92. Oh well. I think on balance I would win that more often than I'd lose, but I think I probably should have folded. Hard to distinguish correct play from bad results though. We lose another player on the next hand.
Now I'm quite short at PR, so I'm not too hopeful. Only five left and one sitting out though. I take a chance when the bigstack raises, and push with KQ. He has KJ and calls. Flop a J, but river a Q.
At Stars, I raise it 3BB with QQ. Some guy pushes. I have him covered easily and call. Whoops. He has KK. I flop a Q though and he's gone.
I get hammered at PR. I have KJ and the flop is J22. Big stack has limped from the button. I bet, he calls. Turn a Q and I check, he checks. River a blank. I make a valuebet, and I'm surprised when he raises. I call because this is so often a bluff. Not this time. He had 42s and you know, I could almost cry at the way I keep getting smashed like this. First a guy gets two pair with 92, then this fuckwit flops trips with 42. I then get it in with him with KJs vs QTs, same suits. He rivers a onecard straight.
At Stars, we're seeing a lot of minraising. We're at t100 and I'm the big stack by a tiny amount. I don't get involved in this stuff though, because I haven't had the cards. AK in the big blind. The small blind raises to 3BB. I reraise to 800. He gave up.
I limp KQ in a family pot. Flop comes AQx and I fold to a halfpot bet. Next hand I consider raising with QTs. Wish I had. The board shows a straight.
We're now at t150. I get a free ride in the BB with KT and we check it down. MHIG.
AQ and JJ get it all in. AQ flops two pair. Not bad. The other guy is not quite busted, but he's now fairly short. He completes his small blind next hand and the BB puts him all in. He calls. K2 vs KJ. Not a great call and he's gone. That leaves five of us. I am in second, and under no pressure from the blinds.
I get a free ride with J5, check it down again and MHIG is good when my J pairs. Then I complete with A6 but make nothing and fold to a minbet on the flop.
52s in the BB and another free ride. This time I don't improve and he wins when we check it down. Each time the button has called my blind and the SB has folded.
99 gets it all in with A8. A8 rivers an ace. Unreal.
I fold both blinds. We're now at t200 so I'm beginning to feel the pressure.
We lose another guy so now we're at the bubble. The SB completes and I check with T9. I flop a pair and bet. He folds. I'm still the short stack though.
It's quite tight now. I get a free ride with K8 in the BB and flop K88. I check it twice in the hope the other guy will improve some, but he clearly doesn't and I don't make any money.
I raise with AT and the BB calls. Oh dear. We check a raggy flop and he bets a J turn. I fold.
I make it back though with a free ride in the BB and by completing the SB and bluffing a raggy flop. Next hand I win another pot. I wouldn't normally get involved on the bubble but these guys are playing so poorly that it would be criminal not to.
I get AK a couple of times and take the blinds, then call with K7s on the button and steal on a raggy flop. Now we're at t200/25.
I get a free ride in the BB with 44, but the other guy rivers a Q when we check it down.
I raise with A7s in the SB, BB reraises small. I call but the flop is no good for me. That really hurt. I'm never sure how to play those hands. The small reraise tells me he doesn't have a great hand, because really good hands push.
I complete with A7 vs two shorties. Flop comes A76. I check, other guy bets, I raise big. He has tried to trap with QQ. Nice one. He's gone.
So we're down to three. One guy has a huge stack, one very short, me in the middle. I bust shorty with KT vs K6 and we're HU.
I comprehensively outplay the other guy HU. He gets lucky with one hand QJ vs K8, where he turns a Q, but it's not enough. Eventually, I limp AA, the flop comes 234 and we get it in. He has K4. He ought to know I have an overpair when I raise, but I guess he's thinking maybe I'm bluffing, which I have been quite a bit. The turn is a 5 and that's that.
I can add another name to my tard list. The guy who minraised with K2s has earned his spot.
(PR) So I limp with TT and get a K high flop. Folding to a bet.
(PS) I get a free ride with 94. Nothing doing on the flop. I fold to a bet.
(PS) 88 in the SB. I call a minraise. The flop is AK9 and I fold to a bet.
The same guy minraises again the next hand and I note that the BB folded. That's usually a sign of having some sort of clue. The raiser went broke with 88 on a board that flushed. He had had a draw to an inside straight but once his bluff had been called, he needed to chuck it.
We lose two at PokerRoom. Both had hands they should never have played in the first place. One had an openender on the flop. A lot of players will go all the way with an OESD, which is terrible. Even worse, the other guy had TP2K.
We lost another on Stars but I wasn't watching. Looking at the history, I see he busted with second pair. Not even top pair! The guy who busted him is playing way too many hands but he's hitting a lot of flops.
I get a free ride at PR with K5. A K high flop. I check it and bet the turn. Some guy raises and I call. The board pairs on the river and we split it.
I win a nice pot at Stars. I call a small raise with 33 and flop the set. Unfortunately, no one wants to put much money in when the turn pairs Ks. Pity the raiser didn't have AK, because he would probably have been busted there.
We lose another at PokerRoom. He was unlucky to fall foul of full over full on an ATKKT board.
I pick up QQ at Stars and make a nice raise. The flop comes A high but I bet out. He calls. The turn and river are checked through. The guy sucks. He had 44.
I pick up AA at Stars in the small blind and raise it to 4BB. No one wants to play.
I complete the SB with 54s and the flop gives me an openender. I bet, all fold. Next hand I call from the button because the BB is sitting out. I have QT. The flop comes Q92. The SB bets and I call. The turn looks like a blank. I'm putting him on top pair, maybe only middle pair. He pushes the turn. He's quite short. This is a tough decision, but it's against Homer J Fong so I call. He has 92. Oh well. I think on balance I would win that more often than I'd lose, but I think I probably should have folded. Hard to distinguish correct play from bad results though. We lose another player on the next hand.
Now I'm quite short at PR, so I'm not too hopeful. Only five left and one sitting out though. I take a chance when the bigstack raises, and push with KQ. He has KJ and calls. Flop a J, but river a Q.
At Stars, I raise it 3BB with QQ. Some guy pushes. I have him covered easily and call. Whoops. He has KK. I flop a Q though and he's gone.
I get hammered at PR. I have KJ and the flop is J22. Big stack has limped from the button. I bet, he calls. Turn a Q and I check, he checks. River a blank. I make a valuebet, and I'm surprised when he raises. I call because this is so often a bluff. Not this time. He had 42s and you know, I could almost cry at the way I keep getting smashed like this. First a guy gets two pair with 92, then this fuckwit flops trips with 42. I then get it in with him with KJs vs QTs, same suits. He rivers a onecard straight.
At Stars, we're seeing a lot of minraising. We're at t100 and I'm the big stack by a tiny amount. I don't get involved in this stuff though, because I haven't had the cards. AK in the big blind. The small blind raises to 3BB. I reraise to 800. He gave up.
I limp KQ in a family pot. Flop comes AQx and I fold to a halfpot bet. Next hand I consider raising with QTs. Wish I had. The board shows a straight.
We're now at t150. I get a free ride in the BB with KT and we check it down. MHIG.
AQ and JJ get it all in. AQ flops two pair. Not bad. The other guy is not quite busted, but he's now fairly short. He completes his small blind next hand and the BB puts him all in. He calls. K2 vs KJ. Not a great call and he's gone. That leaves five of us. I am in second, and under no pressure from the blinds.
I get a free ride with J5, check it down again and MHIG is good when my J pairs. Then I complete with A6 but make nothing and fold to a minbet on the flop.
52s in the BB and another free ride. This time I don't improve and he wins when we check it down. Each time the button has called my blind and the SB has folded.
99 gets it all in with A8. A8 rivers an ace. Unreal.
I fold both blinds. We're now at t200 so I'm beginning to feel the pressure.
We lose another guy so now we're at the bubble. The SB completes and I check with T9. I flop a pair and bet. He folds. I'm still the short stack though.
It's quite tight now. I get a free ride with K8 in the BB and flop K88. I check it twice in the hope the other guy will improve some, but he clearly doesn't and I don't make any money.
I raise with AT and the BB calls. Oh dear. We check a raggy flop and he bets a J turn. I fold.
I make it back though with a free ride in the BB and by completing the SB and bluffing a raggy flop. Next hand I win another pot. I wouldn't normally get involved on the bubble but these guys are playing so poorly that it would be criminal not to.
I get AK a couple of times and take the blinds, then call with K7s on the button and steal on a raggy flop. Now we're at t200/25.
I get a free ride in the BB with 44, but the other guy rivers a Q when we check it down.
I raise with A7s in the SB, BB reraises small. I call but the flop is no good for me. That really hurt. I'm never sure how to play those hands. The small reraise tells me he doesn't have a great hand, because really good hands push.
I complete with A7 vs two shorties. Flop comes A76. I check, other guy bets, I raise big. He has tried to trap with QQ. Nice one. He's gone.
So we're down to three. One guy has a huge stack, one very short, me in the middle. I bust shorty with KT vs K6 and we're HU.
I comprehensively outplay the other guy HU. He gets lucky with one hand QJ vs K8, where he turns a Q, but it's not enough. Eventually, I limp AA, the flop comes 234 and we get it in. He has K4. He ought to know I have an overpair when I raise, but I guess he's thinking maybe I'm bluffing, which I have been quite a bit. The turn is a 5 and that's that.
Different ways to have a nightmare
So here we go. A five-dollar sitngo on PokerRoom. The only player I recognise is milfasseater, who is a tight player who makes big mistakes. I think I’ve played one of the other guys, but I don’t have any notes on him.
t20
Q5 on the button. Fold. That was quite promising. One guy put in quite a lot of money with KT on a K high flop and another called him flop and turn with AQ, giving him second pair.
43. Fold.
TT. I just limp. I flop it T high. Unfortunately, no one raised PF, so it’s unlikely anyone has anything, but it’s bet into me, one caller, so I raise. The turn is a Q. We get it all in. OMFG. The guy has QQ and I’m done.
That sort of thing happens. I don’t mind it. Obviously I have to get my money in with top set on the flop. The other guy’s play was awful, preflop and on the flop and he got lucky.
So let’s try that again. This time I know three players. Muradonna is a recklessly aggro loosetard – my note on him says “retarded”; Britney is close to clueless; and MASTAendgegn a very loose player who plays far too many hands and goes too far with them.
t20 (I begin with 1500 chips)
Q4 in the BB. I fold to a 5BB raise.
54. I fold. I’d probably complete if they were suited, but low connectors OOP are not a great hand.
53. Fold. Another big raise. Which I like. I like it when players make out of proportion raises, because I’m only getting involved if I have a very big hand anyway, and they’ll be playing for pots that are far too big for the hands they have. Britney takes a big pot from the raiser.
J8. Fold.
K3. Fold. A lot of players to the flop. That’s a good sign, because good players don’t play many hands and if a lot of players are playing, they aren’t good. Britney led out about 2/3 pot, and MASTAendgegn put in a huge overbet raise. We’re talking 400 into a 190 pot.
KT. Fold.
t30 (I have 1470 chips)
QJ. Fold. The flop comes KJJ, grrrr.
J4s. Fold. MASTAendgegn got it all in with the shorty. Yes, dude, QJ is a fine hand to gamble a third of your stack with.
93s. Fold.
QJ. Fold.
94s in the BB. I get a free flop. I don’t like it much though. KJ6. All check. Turn another J. I fold to a small bet. The bettor had top pair on the flop. I don’t like his play much. I don’t like his limp PF with K4s and I don’t like his check on the flop. I don’t know whether he was playing timidly or trying to trap.
K5. Fold.
K8. Fold. This time MASTAendgegn got it all in on the flop with an OESD, and got lucky.
Q5. Fold. We lose the guy who got it in with MASTA. 9 players.
t50 (I have 1425 chips)
92.
K3s. I fold to a minraise. The raiser checks a Q99 flop, which is odd. He checks an A turn, but raises MASTA on a J river. MASTA folds so I don’t see the guy’s cards.
A4s. Fold. Someone pushed but no callers.
T3. Fold.
87s. Fold.
82. Fold.
K3 in the BB. I fold to a minraise. Britney minreraised! Totally retarded. She wins the pot though.
T4s. It’s tempting to complete but not so much with cards that don’t connect. The flop comes T high, which would possibly have been trouble for me.
t100 (I have 1350 chips)
AJ. I fold to a raise. I possibly have MASTA’s range beaten but I prefer to wait for a better spot here. A good choice. MASTA has KK, and Muradonna gets it all in with a pair of sevens on the flop. My note wasn’t wrong, eh?
86. Fold.
72. Fold.
At this point, I’m only going to play hands that I’m willing to get it in with. I haven’t chipped up at all, so it’s a question of picking a good spot because I don’t have the chips to play poker.
A8. Fold. MASTA has tried to steal with T4s. Called by AQ. He pairs his four.
T5s. Fold. We lose another player.
74. Fold.
K2 in the BB. The SB minraises and I fold. I doubt he had anything, but I let it go because it will pay in future.
Q6. Fold.
A6. Fold.
t150 (I have 1250 chips)
K9s. I've been card dead and it's time to try to steal a blind so I raise to 500. MASTAendgegn pushes and I call. I'm pretty much pot committed with only 750 behind. He has ATs. I flop the K but he turns an A. That’s me done. To be honest, I didn’t notice it was him in the BB. If I had, I would have folded. Never mind.
Okay, I know that was a bad play but MASTA could have had absolutely anything there. His range is basically any two cards. Perversely, a better player would probably have just called, if that, in his spot, and I would have pushed him off the flop, but you can't complain that bad players are bad.
t20
Q5 on the button. Fold. That was quite promising. One guy put in quite a lot of money with KT on a K high flop and another called him flop and turn with AQ, giving him second pair.
43. Fold.
TT. I just limp. I flop it T high. Unfortunately, no one raised PF, so it’s unlikely anyone has anything, but it’s bet into me, one caller, so I raise. The turn is a Q. We get it all in. OMFG. The guy has QQ and I’m done.
That sort of thing happens. I don’t mind it. Obviously I have to get my money in with top set on the flop. The other guy’s play was awful, preflop and on the flop and he got lucky.
So let’s try that again. This time I know three players. Muradonna is a recklessly aggro loosetard – my note on him says “retarded”; Britney is close to clueless; and MASTAendgegn a very loose player who plays far too many hands and goes too far with them.
t20 (I begin with 1500 chips)
Q4 in the BB. I fold to a 5BB raise.
54. I fold. I’d probably complete if they were suited, but low connectors OOP are not a great hand.
53. Fold. Another big raise. Which I like. I like it when players make out of proportion raises, because I’m only getting involved if I have a very big hand anyway, and they’ll be playing for pots that are far too big for the hands they have. Britney takes a big pot from the raiser.
J8. Fold.
K3. Fold. A lot of players to the flop. That’s a good sign, because good players don’t play many hands and if a lot of players are playing, they aren’t good. Britney led out about 2/3 pot, and MASTAendgegn put in a huge overbet raise. We’re talking 400 into a 190 pot.
KT. Fold.
t30 (I have 1470 chips)
QJ. Fold. The flop comes KJJ, grrrr.
J4s. Fold. MASTAendgegn got it all in with the shorty. Yes, dude, QJ is a fine hand to gamble a third of your stack with.
93s. Fold.
QJ. Fold.
94s in the BB. I get a free flop. I don’t like it much though. KJ6. All check. Turn another J. I fold to a small bet. The bettor had top pair on the flop. I don’t like his play much. I don’t like his limp PF with K4s and I don’t like his check on the flop. I don’t know whether he was playing timidly or trying to trap.
K5. Fold.
K8. Fold. This time MASTAendgegn got it all in on the flop with an OESD, and got lucky.
Q5. Fold. We lose the guy who got it in with MASTA. 9 players.
t50 (I have 1425 chips)
92.
K3s. I fold to a minraise. The raiser checks a Q99 flop, which is odd. He checks an A turn, but raises MASTA on a J river. MASTA folds so I don’t see the guy’s cards.
A4s. Fold. Someone pushed but no callers.
T3. Fold.
87s. Fold.
82. Fold.
K3 in the BB. I fold to a minraise. Britney minreraised! Totally retarded. She wins the pot though.
T4s. It’s tempting to complete but not so much with cards that don’t connect. The flop comes T high, which would possibly have been trouble for me.
t100 (I have 1350 chips)
AJ. I fold to a raise. I possibly have MASTA’s range beaten but I prefer to wait for a better spot here. A good choice. MASTA has KK, and Muradonna gets it all in with a pair of sevens on the flop. My note wasn’t wrong, eh?
86. Fold.
72. Fold.
At this point, I’m only going to play hands that I’m willing to get it in with. I haven’t chipped up at all, so it’s a question of picking a good spot because I don’t have the chips to play poker.
A8. Fold. MASTA has tried to steal with T4s. Called by AQ. He pairs his four.
T5s. Fold. We lose another player.
74. Fold.
K2 in the BB. The SB minraises and I fold. I doubt he had anything, but I let it go because it will pay in future.
Q6. Fold.
A6. Fold.
t150 (I have 1250 chips)
K9s. I've been card dead and it's time to try to steal a blind so I raise to 500. MASTAendgegn pushes and I call. I'm pretty much pot committed with only 750 behind. He has ATs. I flop the K but he turns an A. That’s me done. To be honest, I didn’t notice it was him in the BB. If I had, I would have folded. Never mind.
Okay, I know that was a bad play but MASTA could have had absolutely anything there. His range is basically any two cards. Perversely, a better player would probably have just called, if that, in his spot, and I would have pushed him off the flop, but you can't complain that bad players are bad.
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Broken
All of a sudden, my results have gone bad, and I don't know whether it's because I was running hot and now am not, or because I am playing badly, or a bit of both. Looking through the games, I think I am not doing the right things some of the time, often enough anyway to hurt me. I lost a bit at Full Tilt, and it's not like the players were better or anything, because they weren't. But my style means that I don't tend to make the small mistakes that kill the fish, but if I make a mistake, it's going to be big.
These are my notes on how I busted out of each tourney in the past three days:
FT: ran T3 into AA on AT3 flop
The guy had limped AA, so it was very hard to pick this. Could I have laid it down? I had 1160 chips and the blinds were at 60. Four to the flop, so the pot was 240 and I had T3 in the BB. I bet 2/3 pot and villain minraised. I put him on an ace and raised him a chunk more. He pushed. I didn't have much behind so I couldn't fold. Earlier on, we had played another hand in which I was in the big blind with QdJh. The flop had come Q high with two diamonds. I bet 3/4 the pot, he called. So I'm thinking uh oh, maybe a Q, maybe a diamond draw. The turn was Jd, so I bet that. With two pair and a draw to a Q high flush, I figure I'm going to be unlucky to be behind and not draw out. I bet about 2/3 pot, so he has no odds to draw if he happens to have a higher diamond, a hand like Ad5, which would have made middle pair and a backdoor draw on the flop. If he's called with a diamond flush draw, he'd surely raise. So he calls and if he does have the high diamond, well, let's hope another doesn't come on the river. Which it did. I bet out to stop him from bluffing at me and he just called. I was astonished to see his hand. He had AdQ! On the flop he had had TPTK and just smoothcalled. On the turn, he made a mistake but he wasn't to know it. He probably thought he was still ahead and could at worst draw out against the flush if he wasn't. On the river, only he knows why he didn't raise. He had the nuts and had nothing to lose.
Okay, so this suggested to me that the guy thinks he's "trappy", so in my bustout hand, I couldn't put him on anything that beat me, because I'm thinking he'll let me bet them for him.
As a side note, I couldn't help thinking that if the flop had come T32, he would have thoroughly deserved to lose the big pot he would have lost, and would have whined about it to his mates afterwards. These guys think that limping their aces in is the cutest slowplay ever, but whine like bitches when they get cracked by the big blind flopping two pair.
OTOH, I can't tell you how many times this week I've put in a standard raise with AA or KK and watched the whole fucking table fold. The one time someone did call...
FT: raised 3BB with AA, guy with K8 flopped trips
I might have been able to get away from this. But let's face it, the tards love to bluff at a paired flop, and it's hard to fold when they do. Okay, it's hard when you're playing badly. In good form, I shrug my shoulders and allow them to bluff if they're bluffing. I know I'm in bad shape when I start getting all macho about it.
FT: KJ on KJ9 flop of course tard had QT
But I played it badly, because I led out and they pushed and I wouldn't lay it down. I'm not sure you can though. Of course, you can be beaten here, but also you can be ahead of AK, K9 and various other hands that the guy is sure are winning, not to mention straight draws etc. Mind you, I knew the tard had it when I called. I just knew it and should have laid it down.
FT: short 33 into QJ, he rivered straight
Nothing I could do about that. The guy made a very loose call and got lucky.
FT: Q9 vs KQ on Q high flop
Shortstacked, top pair is not easy to put down, particularly in an unraised pot. I had bet the flop and he called on a not too drawy board. On the turn, I checkraised him to represent making my hand, but he didn't buy it. I know, I don't need to be told, that fancy plays are stupid at this level.
FT: AK vs QQ
This was on the bubble, so it really really hurt.
FT: AQ vs JJ
At push or fold blinds, I'm pushing AQ every time, but I can't remember the last time I won a race, regardless whether I hold the pair or the overcards.
A bit short hu but okay otherwise
I just had too short a stack to overhaul the chip leader, but I came second at least.
FT: desperatelyunlucky heds up vs Calling station
I remember this. The retard got lucky on me twice in two hands. First, I raised nicely with AJ and he called with T9, flopping two nines. He bet small flop and turn, so I called with pot odds to outdraw what I took to be a small pair (I didn't think he had the 9, of course). Then on the next hand, I raised nicely with AK and he called with T6. When the flop came J66, I bet pot to take it away (this guy had shown no willingness to lay down hands to halfpot cbets, and I figured I was almost certainly ahead here). He minraised, which I could not call without committing myself. Now, on a good day, maybe I fold here, but I simply refused to believe that he had flopped trips two hands running! He had also made the same move a couple of hands earlier. I had raised nicely with A2. He called with whatever the hell he had. The flop had come down J high. I'd bet out and he checkraised me. I called instead of showing the good sense to fold and he pushed the turn. I was convinced he'd bluffed and when the same sequence came again, I was never laying down my ace high.
I'm beginning to realise that my bad run has a lot to do with bad play. Writing this out makes it clearer.
99 into KK
There was quite a nice pot and the guy had limped. A couple of others limped behind him. There's always a chance they're doing this, but on good days, you steal the nice pot. I figured that worst case I get called by overcards and have a race, with the overlay in the pot making it worthwhile to take the edge. The blinds were quite high, and I don't really understand why these guys think it's a good idea to limp decent hands, and allow others to outflop them cheaply, but I got caught twice by the play. I am never not making this move though. It has paid off a ton of times.
ran K2 into KT on KTx flop
This was just terrible, bad discipline, but when you keep losing, you start to chase it a bit.
FT: very bad
I fucked this one so badly I didn't even have a note better than that. Actually, I think I didn't do much wrong but got rivered on a couple of early hands and then pushed when a massive favourite shortstacked and didn't improve.
FT:33 into AJ, he flopped A
On the bubble again, small vs big blind. This is a fold for him, but he didn't know the theory ;-)
JTs on twoflushboard, he had set
This was just one of those things. I had JcTc on a board showing all undercards and two clubs. The guy bet out about 2/3 pot and I pushed to try to take down the nice pot, favourite against top pair. He didn't have top pair, but these guys will only very rarely bet a set. Whether he would lay down top pair is another question. Arguably, I should not push here, but a/ I will win more than I lose, b/ I have fold equity and many players will lay down a weak pair here, c/ quite often the bettor has nothing at all on a raggy board and thought it looked stealable and d/ I can't fold and don't like calling. Draws are a nightmare in no limit. You chase them and you are going to bleed chips unless the bettor makes it cheap.
AJs vs J7, he rivered straight
Don't ask me why a guy put his tourney on the line with J7. I have been seeing this quite a lot though, in low buyin tourneys as well as sitngos. I'm guessing that the donkeys have read somewhere, or realised, that you are better off with live cards if you're gambling. Yeah, but that means you're often better off pushing with KJ than AJ, not that it's a good idea to call off your stack with J7!
stupidlycalled push from KK with AQ
This is not like me at all. I'm generally able to lay down cards that I've raised with but meet huge strength. I wasn't short enough to be anything like desperate. Still, I was pretty disappointed not even to have a coinflip. The guy had been involved in some hands without decent values, so I didn't have any good reason to put him on as big a hand as he had. But I don't like to be calling allins at the best of times.
FT: JT vs A3. They keep calling with shit and beating me
This was on the bubble again. This was an easy, easy fold for this guy, particularly since I had been playing pretty tight, but some people will call any bet with an ace.
played cosily and bravely heads up
Hooray! A win. If I note that I played "cosily", I mean I didn't take too many chances or push edges, just won the hands that were there to be won.
PS: A9 vs A7, he flopped 7
Well, wtf can you do? I was fourth of five and this guy was third, covering me by a couple of hundred chips. Again, there is no way he should be calling a push with A7, but these guys will do it every time. I was pleased to see his holding, not so pleased to see a 7 on the flop.
PS: K6 short into KK
When you're pushing K6s into the big stack on the bubble, even with a very short stack, you know it's time to take a break. Which is what I'm going to do. No poker for a while, to try to recover my broken confidence. I'm going to do some reading and thinking, but just going through these games indicates to me that my game is really badly off. I'm not sure how to fix it though. The problem with the changing gears strategy of playing SNGs is that you tend to be short when the blinds are high, and if you bet at a flop, you don't have much behind if you fold to aggro, or get called. After all, the plan is to get it in with what you think is a good chance. I need to slow down on blind hands though, even if I think I'm winning with them. There's a huge difference between fearlessly getting it in with KQ on a K high flop and doing it with K2, not least that if you get called with the latter, you're nearly always beaten. Maybe I should play one game tonight, take detailed notes of every hand and post it here, so I can read it back and check on myself. Who knows, maybe a kind soul will stumble on this blog and berate me for my shitty play if indeed I play shitty.
These are my notes on how I busted out of each tourney in the past three days:
FT: ran T3 into AA on AT3 flop
The guy had limped AA, so it was very hard to pick this. Could I have laid it down? I had 1160 chips and the blinds were at 60. Four to the flop, so the pot was 240 and I had T3 in the BB. I bet 2/3 pot and villain minraised. I put him on an ace and raised him a chunk more. He pushed. I didn't have much behind so I couldn't fold. Earlier on, we had played another hand in which I was in the big blind with QdJh. The flop had come Q high with two diamonds. I bet 3/4 the pot, he called. So I'm thinking uh oh, maybe a Q, maybe a diamond draw. The turn was Jd, so I bet that. With two pair and a draw to a Q high flush, I figure I'm going to be unlucky to be behind and not draw out. I bet about 2/3 pot, so he has no odds to draw if he happens to have a higher diamond, a hand like Ad5, which would have made middle pair and a backdoor draw on the flop. If he's called with a diamond flush draw, he'd surely raise. So he calls and if he does have the high diamond, well, let's hope another doesn't come on the river. Which it did. I bet out to stop him from bluffing at me and he just called. I was astonished to see his hand. He had AdQ! On the flop he had had TPTK and just smoothcalled. On the turn, he made a mistake but he wasn't to know it. He probably thought he was still ahead and could at worst draw out against the flush if he wasn't. On the river, only he knows why he didn't raise. He had the nuts and had nothing to lose.
Okay, so this suggested to me that the guy thinks he's "trappy", so in my bustout hand, I couldn't put him on anything that beat me, because I'm thinking he'll let me bet them for him.
As a side note, I couldn't help thinking that if the flop had come T32, he would have thoroughly deserved to lose the big pot he would have lost, and would have whined about it to his mates afterwards. These guys think that limping their aces in is the cutest slowplay ever, but whine like bitches when they get cracked by the big blind flopping two pair.
OTOH, I can't tell you how many times this week I've put in a standard raise with AA or KK and watched the whole fucking table fold. The one time someone did call...
FT: raised 3BB with AA, guy with K8 flopped trips
I might have been able to get away from this. But let's face it, the tards love to bluff at a paired flop, and it's hard to fold when they do. Okay, it's hard when you're playing badly. In good form, I shrug my shoulders and allow them to bluff if they're bluffing. I know I'm in bad shape when I start getting all macho about it.
FT: KJ on KJ9 flop of course tard had QT
But I played it badly, because I led out and they pushed and I wouldn't lay it down. I'm not sure you can though. Of course, you can be beaten here, but also you can be ahead of AK, K9 and various other hands that the guy is sure are winning, not to mention straight draws etc. Mind you, I knew the tard had it when I called. I just knew it and should have laid it down.
FT: short 33 into QJ, he rivered straight
Nothing I could do about that. The guy made a very loose call and got lucky.
FT: Q9 vs KQ on Q high flop
Shortstacked, top pair is not easy to put down, particularly in an unraised pot. I had bet the flop and he called on a not too drawy board. On the turn, I checkraised him to represent making my hand, but he didn't buy it. I know, I don't need to be told, that fancy plays are stupid at this level.
FT: AK vs QQ
This was on the bubble, so it really really hurt.
FT: AQ vs JJ
At push or fold blinds, I'm pushing AQ every time, but I can't remember the last time I won a race, regardless whether I hold the pair or the overcards.
A bit short hu but okay otherwise
I just had too short a stack to overhaul the chip leader, but I came second at least.
FT: desperatelyunlucky heds up vs Calling station
I remember this. The retard got lucky on me twice in two hands. First, I raised nicely with AJ and he called with T9, flopping two nines. He bet small flop and turn, so I called with pot odds to outdraw what I took to be a small pair (I didn't think he had the 9, of course). Then on the next hand, I raised nicely with AK and he called with T6. When the flop came J66, I bet pot to take it away (this guy had shown no willingness to lay down hands to halfpot cbets, and I figured I was almost certainly ahead here). He minraised, which I could not call without committing myself. Now, on a good day, maybe I fold here, but I simply refused to believe that he had flopped trips two hands running! He had also made the same move a couple of hands earlier. I had raised nicely with A2. He called with whatever the hell he had. The flop had come down J high. I'd bet out and he checkraised me. I called instead of showing the good sense to fold and he pushed the turn. I was convinced he'd bluffed and when the same sequence came again, I was never laying down my ace high.
I'm beginning to realise that my bad run has a lot to do with bad play. Writing this out makes it clearer.
99 into KK
There was quite a nice pot and the guy had limped. A couple of others limped behind him. There's always a chance they're doing this, but on good days, you steal the nice pot. I figured that worst case I get called by overcards and have a race, with the overlay in the pot making it worthwhile to take the edge. The blinds were quite high, and I don't really understand why these guys think it's a good idea to limp decent hands, and allow others to outflop them cheaply, but I got caught twice by the play. I am never not making this move though. It has paid off a ton of times.
ran K2 into KT on KTx flop
This was just terrible, bad discipline, but when you keep losing, you start to chase it a bit.
FT: very bad
I fucked this one so badly I didn't even have a note better than that. Actually, I think I didn't do much wrong but got rivered on a couple of early hands and then pushed when a massive favourite shortstacked and didn't improve.
FT:33 into AJ, he flopped A
On the bubble again, small vs big blind. This is a fold for him, but he didn't know the theory ;-)
JTs on twoflushboard, he had set
This was just one of those things. I had JcTc on a board showing all undercards and two clubs. The guy bet out about 2/3 pot and I pushed to try to take down the nice pot, favourite against top pair. He didn't have top pair, but these guys will only very rarely bet a set. Whether he would lay down top pair is another question. Arguably, I should not push here, but a/ I will win more than I lose, b/ I have fold equity and many players will lay down a weak pair here, c/ quite often the bettor has nothing at all on a raggy board and thought it looked stealable and d/ I can't fold and don't like calling. Draws are a nightmare in no limit. You chase them and you are going to bleed chips unless the bettor makes it cheap.
AJs vs J7, he rivered straight
Don't ask me why a guy put his tourney on the line with J7. I have been seeing this quite a lot though, in low buyin tourneys as well as sitngos. I'm guessing that the donkeys have read somewhere, or realised, that you are better off with live cards if you're gambling. Yeah, but that means you're often better off pushing with KJ than AJ, not that it's a good idea to call off your stack with J7!
stupidlycalled push from KK with AQ
This is not like me at all. I'm generally able to lay down cards that I've raised with but meet huge strength. I wasn't short enough to be anything like desperate. Still, I was pretty disappointed not even to have a coinflip. The guy had been involved in some hands without decent values, so I didn't have any good reason to put him on as big a hand as he had. But I don't like to be calling allins at the best of times.
FT: JT vs A3. They keep calling with shit and beating me
This was on the bubble again. This was an easy, easy fold for this guy, particularly since I had been playing pretty tight, but some people will call any bet with an ace.
played cosily and bravely heads up
Hooray! A win. If I note that I played "cosily", I mean I didn't take too many chances or push edges, just won the hands that were there to be won.
PS: A9 vs A7, he flopped 7
Well, wtf can you do? I was fourth of five and this guy was third, covering me by a couple of hundred chips. Again, there is no way he should be calling a push with A7, but these guys will do it every time. I was pleased to see his holding, not so pleased to see a 7 on the flop.
PS: K6 short into KK
When you're pushing K6s into the big stack on the bubble, even with a very short stack, you know it's time to take a break. Which is what I'm going to do. No poker for a while, to try to recover my broken confidence. I'm going to do some reading and thinking, but just going through these games indicates to me that my game is really badly off. I'm not sure how to fix it though. The problem with the changing gears strategy of playing SNGs is that you tend to be short when the blinds are high, and if you bet at a flop, you don't have much behind if you fold to aggro, or get called. After all, the plan is to get it in with what you think is a good chance. I need to slow down on blind hands though, even if I think I'm winning with them. There's a huge difference between fearlessly getting it in with KQ on a K high flop and doing it with K2, not least that if you get called with the latter, you're nearly always beaten. Maybe I should play one game tonight, take detailed notes of every hand and post it here, so I can read it back and check on myself. Who knows, maybe a kind soul will stumble on this blog and berate me for my shitty play if indeed I play shitty.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)