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)