My Stack Is Floating Away

Deceptive title - I've been winning lately at $.25-$.50 6-max. My BB/hour win rate is much lower at this level than at $.10-$.25, but my $/hour win rate is slightly higher. So I'm at the right place. I haven't had a lot of interesting hands recently, although I'm tempted to post some more hands just to demonstrate how bad some players are and how easy it can be to make money if you can find them and wait for a hand.

When I've been losing lately, it's almost always against aggressive floaters. I'll get picked off a few times and won't necessarily make the right adjustments to my game. So I keep raising hands like A7s and 89s and when I don't connect, I'll let the floater just continue to take away pots that are ~8-12 BBs large. When I'm not hitting flops against these types, I think I should probably be mixing in some bluff-check-raises on later streets, since I earn credibility by folding to several floats in a row. But I haven't had the nerve to pull the trigger.

But on the flip side, I've had a really amazing run of winning big pots. It seems every time my whole stack is on the line, I've been on the right side, and I've avoided suckouts too. I can say I haven't been stacked in my last 800+ hands. But I'm still susceptible to being whittled away at. I'll have to try to mix in those aggressive late-street raises and report back on how that works out.

I'll be back in a few days with some poker goals for '09.

2K Final Table

I don't play many tournaments, but when I do, I often peek over at Bodog to see what Guarantee tournaments they might be running, since the Bodog guarantee tourneys will often offer a pretty decent overlay. So Monday, I jumped into the $12+$1 $2K guarantee super-stack tourney, which offered a really great structure with a lot of play, which you very rarely find for a small buy-in. And I made a good run, getting to the final table out of 135 entrants.

I managed to win a huge pot off the former chipleader when he slowplayed KK and I hit a set of 5's. Here I am with a giant chiplead.



But my luck ran out. I was in position to take out another large stack when I flopped middle set of 8's on an A-8-5 board, and a villain with A-8 moved in. But he caught his two-outer A on the turn, and chopped my stack in half. I hung around and then lost a couple of races when it got to push-fold time. I ended up finishing 4th for $160. Disappointing, since $400 or $600 was in range and I was playing well, but still can't complain, considering how rarely I play these types of tourneys.

Merry Christmas and good luck at the tables.

Playing Pot-limit HE

I've just recently taken to playing the 6-max PLHE tables. That's right, pot limit. Why, you may ask? Why not, I would duly reply. Since I very rarely overbet the pot, it makes scant difference to me whether I'm sitting at a PL or NL table. And it does seem that there is some looser play at the PL tables, more scared money, and more clueless short-stackers.

Examples 1-3:

1)
Full Tilt Poker Game #9550960351: Table Rizari (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Pot Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: noldmax ($52.20) <--BB
Seat 2: JeramyMD ($48.95)
Seat 3: storyteller_68 ($36.60)
Seat 4: nicole19586 ($18.95)
Seat 5: BabyCakes123 ($50) <--SB

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to noldmax [Kh Kd]
JeramyMD folds, storyteller_68 calls $0.50
nicole19586 raises to $2.25
BabyCakes123 folds
noldmax raises to $7.50
storyteller_68 folds
nicole19586 calls $5.25

*** FLOP *** [Kc 4h Ad]
noldmax bets $9
nicole19586 raises to $11.45, and is all in
noldmax calls $2.45

nicole19586 shows [As 5s]
noldmax shows [Kh Kd]

*** TURN *** [Kc 4h Ad] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 4h Ad 7d] [Jd]
nicole19586 shows a pair of Aces
noldmax shows three of a kind, Kings
noldmax wins the pot ($36.75) with three of a kind, Kings

Nice call of 1/3 your stack PF with A5s sir/maam.

2)
Full Tilt Poker Game #9551295520: Table Rizari (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Pot Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: noldmax ($75.70)
Seat 2: JeramyMD ($52.80)
Seat 3: storyteller_68 ($34.90)
Seat 4: luderfamily ($17.65)
Seat 5: BabyCakes123 ($61.55) <-- SB
Seat 6: queens4u ($11) <-- BB

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to noldmax [Kc Ac]
noldmax raises to $1.75
JeramyMD folds, storyteller_68 folds, luderfamily folds, BabyCakes123 folds
queens4u calls $1.25

*** FLOP *** [9s 6c 7c]
queens4u checks, noldmax bets $3, queens4u calls $3

*** TURN *** [9s 6c 7c] [Kd]
queens4u checks, noldmax bets $6.25, queens4u calls $6.25, and is all in
noldmax shows [Kc Ac]
queens4u shows [Qc As]

*** RIVER *** [9s 6c 7c Kd] [Ks]
noldmax shows three of a kind, Kings
queens4u shows a pair of Kings
noldmax wins the pot ($21.15) with three of a kind, Kings

Was there any way this kid was ever folding AQ (the nuts!)? Those shortstackers do like to live on the edge. Fortunately, this one isn't quite done yet...

3)
Full Tilt Poker Game #9550984851: Table Rizari (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Pot Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: noldmax ($69.75)
Seat 2: JeramyMD ($48.45) <-- SB
Seat 3: storyteller_68 ($41.55) <-- BB
Seat 4: nicole19586 ($20)
Seat 5: BabyCakes123 ($50)
Seat 6: queens4u ($10)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to noldmax [Ks Kd]
nicole19586 folds, BabyCakes123 calls $0.50, queens4u checks, noldmax raises to $2.75
JeramyMD folds, storyteller_68 folds, BabyCakes123 folds
queens4u calls $2.25

*** FLOP *** [Td Jh Tc]
queens4u checks, noldmax bets $5, queens4u calls $5

*** TURN *** [Td Jh Tc] [7c]
queens4u checks, noldmax bets $3, queens4u calls $2.25, and is all in

noldmax shows [Ks Kd]
queens4u shows [Kh Ac]

*** RIVER *** [Td Jh Tc 7c] [3d]
noldmax shows two pair, Kings and Tens
queens4u shows a pair of Tens
noldmax wins the pot ($20.20) with two pair, Kings and Tens

Never folds AK either. Like I said, I like these PL tables and these hapless shortstackers. Within about 75 hands.

Blinded By The Blinds

One great thing in poker is seeing your flaws exposed, and then slowly learning how to correct them. Even better is, once having corrected those flaws, being able to recognize and exploit the same flaw in others.

The flaw, in this case, is overplaying your hand in a blind battle. See my flaws here. Saying that I've corrected this flaw is a stretch, so I won't try to draw any grand conclusions. I'll just say it's a real pleasure to turn the tables and watch someone blow up in a way you have so many times in the past...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: $30.70
MP: $58.60
CO: $60.55
BTN: $81.45
SB: $48.75
Hero (BB): $50

Pre-Flop: J 7 dealt to Hero (BB)
4 folds, SB raises to $2, Hero calls $1.50

J7 suited is a borderline call here, but being in position is a huge advantage heads up.

Flop: ($4) 3 7 6 (2 Players)
SB bets $3, Hero calls $3

I considered a raise here, but I don't want to bloat the pot, and I'd like to see a safe (non-face) turn card.

Turn: ($10) J (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $7, SB raises to $24, Hero raises to $45 and is All-In, SB calls $19.75 and is All-In

Gin. I guess my opponent thinks I'm firing for value with a 6 or 7 here, but I would almost never do so in this spot. I guess in a blind battle, top pair 4th kicker must seem like the nuts.

River: ($97.50) 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $97.50 Pot ($3 Rake)

SB showed J T (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$48.75 NET)
Hero showed J 7 (two pair, Jacks and Sevens) and WON $94.50 (+$45.75 NET)

The Rare and Elusive Post

I'm going to cut the (re-) intro short so we can get to the poker. The lil' gal is faring well...well enough to allow me to tiptoe back into the online poker waters, well enough that I can even escape for a night of janky poker once in a while, like I did last night.

I do have to say this - contrary to my preconceptions, I definitely have no diminished desire to play poker, despite the joy I experience from spending time with my daughter, and despite the energy drain of managing a first baby. I still love these poker games, friendly and janky alike. I keep waiting for this bug to fade, but it's not happening. Now, if I were on a brutal downswing of beats like my friend Dave is feeling, maybe I'd feel different.

Here's the problem though - I need time to make my playing style effective. I play patient, I build up an image, and I have to wait it out to hit some hands before I can make any money. Last night, my game was thrown on its head - when I was patient, I got stomped with my big hands. When I lost patience and donked around, I struck gold.

The first (and only) Eureka:

Hand 1
Hand: Q8s, middle position
PF: 3 limpers ahead ($2), I limp, one behind. SB raises to $12, everyone calls. 6 to the flop. $72 pot.

Flop: Q-Q-Q (poker is easy)
Action: SB bets $10, one fold, 2 calls, I call (obv). Pot is $110.

The two callers in front are wonderful for two reasons - more money in My Pot, and some disguise for my hand...now the PFR may think he can milk money from other guys playing low pocket pairs.

Turn: 4
Action: Check all around

I'm hoping for an A or K here, so I can make some money on the end.

River: 5
Action: SB leads for $20, one caller ahead, I raise to $60, both fold. I scoop $150.

Easiest Hand I've Ever Played, Part 2. First off, a $10 raise is not how you narrow the field, not at this game, and not from out of position. I would have made it something more like $20-$30.

As it turned out, my Q and 8 both played and qualified me for the house high hand, which is important, since it's the only thing of value I had left my the time the night had ended.

Basically, nothing really got going, I lost a big hand (see below), and ended up dropping off my last $125 when I flopped a pair and a flush draw, got it all in as a favorite against two players with top pair, and missed my draw. Ended down $240.

But if I may jump back to the other big hand of the night. This is a hand where I think I played one too many tricks with myself in talking myself into a bad play. Judge for yourself:

Hand 2
Hand: Kc-Kh in MP
PF Action: UTG limps, folds to me, I raise to $12, it fold around and UTG calls. Pot is $25.

Flop: 10s-7d-6d
Action: UTG checks, I bet $15, UTG raises to $60, leaving $55 behind.

Pause for a second. This is messy...it's a bad flop, because it's coordinated and hits a lot of the hands that would limp-call from UTG, like 89, 67, 66, 77. UTG player has been relatively tight too...I haven't seen him make a big raise like this yet. All of these are telling signs, and I've picked up on them. But there are two big problems:

1) The board could also be read as draw heavy, with the diamond flush draw out there, and a hand like 88, 99, or even 7-8 or 7-9 possibly willing to make a big semi-bluff.

2) My villain only has $55 behind, which lures me into the false sense that there is a low cap on my losses in this hand. I mean, it's still another $105 total, over half my stack at the time, but it gave me some strange sense that it would be wrong to fold here.

So I pushed for his final $55, he called, the board ran out Q-Q, and he turned up 66 for a set-turned-boat.

Here's the question, and try to answer without regards to the revealed results: In these overpair facing aggression situations, how much influence should the presence of draws have on your assessment of your opponent's strength?

Should I be more or less concerned if the flop had been 10-7-6 rainbow?

And how much, if at all, should my opponent's remaining stack size play into my decision?

Quiet here, but not at my house

It's going to be quiet around here for a little while. This went and happened to me...





I'm going to have to work out a new schedule for squeezing in poker. It's certainly going to have to involve cash games, which is what I prefer anyway. I don't know how tournament players manage through a baby, where you can't really just give up on a game while it's going.

Raining Aces

I played a 472 hand session on Saturday, during which I was dealt AA 7 times. Now you know where this is supposed to go, being the resigned poker fatalists that you all are. But it's not gonna go there! I did not get cracked every time. In fact, I won every time. Twice I got it all in PF, once against QQ, once against KK. I netted +59.90 with my 7 AA holdings.

I also had KK 4 times, but this is where the story starts to losing it's sunny disposition. Because one of those KK hands single-handedly rendered my session bloody red. I ended up down $10. I'm not whining about the end result, because I fell down a full $50 buy-in within 10 minutes of starting play. Here's the hand that I so badly butchered.

BTN is 29/13/3.3 over 125 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players
Hero (BB): $53.40
UTG: $34.85
BTN: $105.10
SB: $22.70

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, BTN calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, Hero raises to $2, BTN calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.50) T J 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $3, BTN raises to $7, Hero calls $4

Turn: ($18.50) 3 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $15, Hero raises to $44.40 and is All-In, BTN calls $29.40

River: ($107.30) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $107.30 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero showed K K (two pair, Kings and Sevens) and LOST (-$53.40 NET)
BTN showed 9 8 (a straight, Jack high) and WON $105.30 (+$51.90 NET)

I have to say that it's been quite a while since I've had an overpair get skewered like this. I'm sure that had a strong influence on my play and my apparent confidence that I was in pole position.

But I'm still left with a few questions about what was the right way to play this hand. There are two critical points here, the flop and the turn.

On the flop, Villain raises my C-bet from $3 to $7. Maybe I should I have been suspicious about a small raise. But if anyone tells me that they're folding there, I'd say they're crazy. Because if you fold an overpair to a min-raise (for all practical purposes) on the flop, you're throwing away dough. So I'm either calling or raising. Retrospectively, I think my mistake was not making another raise here. The benefit of my opponent's small raise is that he leaves me with room to make another re-raise without committing myself to the pot. So I could have raised to $17-$20, and given myself a chance to get away if he pushed. But if he doesn't push it in there, what am I doing when a blank hits the turn?

But a part of my villain's range here is a flush or straight draw (or both), so part of my logic was to hope for a blank on the turn and then make a strong move. That's what I ended up doing, check-raising all-in on an off-suit 3. I thought Villain's $15 turn bet seemed largish after making such a small flop raise, so I read it, optimistically, as a semi-bluff.

Maybe this is a worst-case type of situation, with little chance of escaping, but I wonder if anyone has any advice on how to act here.

Easiest Hand I Ever Played, Pt. 1

I'm showcasing a new column in today's entry. It's one that I pray becomes a regular feature, because it highlights a most wonderful kind of hand - one in which not only do you have a monster, but you have at least one opponent helping your cause by doing the betting, raising, and building up the pot. It's the most stress-free type of big hand you can play.

The featured hand went down about a week ago, and it came back to me when I was thinking about DQBs and the last few times I've had them (tangentially, DQBs stands for Dem Quads Bitches, making it one of the dopest acronyms in poker. It's origins are unknown to me, but I would say it's author deserves a proper flying chestbump. Further off the on tangent, I'm unsure whether it is correct to type DQBs, which might be read as Dem Quads Bitcheses, but we're talking about multiples quads instances, right?). I picked up quad fives this weekend when holding 7-5, and got called down by a donk holding a four that had paired up and made him a weak boat. It's not often you get a nice payday when holding quads.

This is the second-to-last time I picked up quads...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
Hero (BB): $49.35
UTG: $6.50
MP: $24.70
CO: $7.95
BTN: $51.30
SB: $28.15

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, CO calls $0.25, BTN raises to $1.10, SB folds, Hero raises to $3.65, CO folds, BTN calls $2.55

Flop: ($7.65) A 8 A (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $5.75, Hero calls $5.75

Turn: ($19.15) 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $10.75, Hero calls $10.75

River: ($40.65) 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $31.15 and is All-In, Hero calls $29.20 and is All-In

Results: $99.05 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A A (four of a kind, Aces) and WON $96.05 (+$46.70 NET)
BTN showed J T (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$49.35 NET)

Easiest hand I ever played. Check-called all the way down, against an opponent pushing with air on the end. We'll see how long it is until I get to post again in this series.

The One You've Been Waiting For

No, not the name of the first David Archuleta single. I'm referring to those big cash game hands that you shape your image around. The ones that you spend so much time patiently waiting for. It's the hand that's supposed to make up for those countless conservative folds. These are the hands that justify long stretches of stack stagnation. Because all of those small pot folds that drop your stack down 10 or 20 BBs can be instantly recuperated by one big 100BB double-up.

And then there's the flip side, and that's where I ended up yesterday. In my first session since going broke and reloading, I actually felt like my play was strong, and I managed to find a few tables with some weak, exploitable players.

I bounced up early with a little luck and a little slowplay by my opponent.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

Hero (MP): $50
CO: $50
BTN: $19.45
SB: $20.65
BB: $94.85
UTG: $42.25
Pre-Flop: K T dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 2 folds, SB calls $1.50, BB folds

Flop: ($4) Q Q A (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.50, SB calls $2.50
And I'm done. Prepared to check-fold.

Turn: ($9) J (2 Players) <-- Oh wait, Broadway! Nevermind. SB checks, Hero bets $5, SB raises to $16.40 and is All-In, Hero calls $11.40

River: ($41.80) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $41.80 Pot ($2.05 Rake)
Hero showed K T (a straight, Ace high) and WON $39.75 (+$19.10 NET)
SB showed Q K (three of a kind, Queens) and LOST (-$20.65 NET)

I do love being done slow, real slow. But I gave it back on this one...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
CO: $9.05
BTN: $20.25
SB: $25
BB: $33.95
UTG: $23.15
Hero (MP): $31.35

Pre-Flop: T T dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.85, CO folds, BTN calls $0.85, 2 folds

Flop: ($2.05) 8 6 3 (2 Players)
Hero bets $1.50, BTN raises to $3, Hero raises to $30.50 and is All-In, BTN calls $16.40 and is All-In

Turn: ($40.85) Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($40.85) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $40.85 Pot ($2 Rake)
BTN showed 3 3 (three of a kind, Threes) and WON $38.85 (+$18.60 NET)
Hero showed T T (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-$20.25 NET)

I thought about this one, but ultimately I think I'm fine with my play. I've seen enough in my session so far to make me believe that this could be an OESD or FD. And I've seen enough weak players make this kind of call with a naked 8. And my opponent's relative short-stack makes it all the more inevitable that we get it all in here.

So anyways, that brings us to the hand that spawned the title to this post...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
SB: $56.15
BB: $66.70
UTG: $50
Hero (MP): $58.95
CO: $21.25
BTN: $59.55

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds,
Hero raises to $1.75,
2 folds,
SB raises to $7,
BB folds,
Hero raises to $58.95 and is All-In,
Now I've started making this move in lieu of a 4-bet, because it elicits a surprising number of calls from JJ, QQ, and AK. And if I'm up against AA, we're getting it all in anyway.

SB calls $49.15 and is All-In
My opponent tanked, but finally made exactly the kind of call I was hoping for - with AK. So I'm right where I want to be, in a great position for a big bump. Calling all-in with AK here is a major leak, which I know from experience. That all in push means AA or KK probably 50% of the time, where AK is a big dog. The rest of the time, AK is only 50-50, unless you're up against someone you know is capable of pushing with AQ or something weaker. And if you know any such people, please refer them to me.

And then heartbreak hits...

Flop: ($112.80) 8 A 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: ($112.80) 6 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($112.80) 3 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $112.80 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB showed A K (a pair of Aces) and WON $109.80 (+$53.65 NET)
Hero showed K K (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$56.15 NET)

And now we have another problem, because I'm extremely close to going on major tilt after this. But fortunately, I got to end my session with the type of hand that revives my faith in my ability to be a profitable poker player.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
MP: $49.25
CO: $50
BTN: $50
Hero (SB): $65.20
BB: $50
UTG: $109.75

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, CO raises to $1.75, BTN folds, Hero raises to $5.75, BB folds, CO calls $4

Flop: ($12) K Q 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $8, CO calls $8

Turn: ($28) 6 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO checks
This check is from a newly (belatedly) added play in my playbook - "It's only one pair, let's not play for a huge pot with it"

River: ($28) 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $15, CO calls $15
But now I feel safe making a value bet.

Results: $58 Pot ($2.90 Rake)
CO mucked 4 K (two pair, Kings and Sixes) and LOST (-$28.75 NET)
Hero showed A A (two pair, Aces and Sixes) and WON $55.10 (+$26.35 NET)

Of course, I have to hope that this type of player has a thousand equally stupid clones. But it's still something to hope for.

I ended up down $16, but very close to up $100. Now I'm backing to waiting for that big hand again.