It's How You Close

Any b-ball player will tell you, starting from back in the day shooting hoops in the driveway, through high school practice, up to today's old man gym pick-up games, you always end with a made shot. It's a subtle confidence booster, something that allows you to walk away with your head up, no matter how many other bricks you shot through the games/shootaround.

This principle has great value when applied to poker. Ending on a big double-up, a well-timed river value-raise, or a nicely executed bluff is the perfect thing to keep my confidence high, and to drive my excitement for my next session....regardless of how big of a flop the overall session has been.

It's one of the biggest bummers about tournament play. Literally everyone but the champ ends on a bustout. And in live poker, you often leave after busting. To hell with those who invoke some sort of etiquette principle about hit-and-run - that it's wrong to leave right after you've won a big pot. It's a stupid concept, designed by the bitter losers who want a shot to win their money back. I will usually just play another round or so after a big pot, before asking for a rack and hitting the street.

Okay, I got off on a tangent there. I meant to segue into my session from Monday night, where I crashed and burned pretty hard as things kicked off...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BTN: $24.76
Hero (SB): $37.42
BB: $29.23
UTG: $25.35
CO: $30.66
Pre-Flop: 5 4 dealt to Hero (SB)
3 folds, Hero calls $0.15, BB raises to $0.75, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.50) 8 7 5 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BB bets $1.50, Hero raises to $5, BB raises to $28.48 and is All-In, Hero calls $23.48

Pair + FD + Gutter? Yep, I'm getting it in.

Turn: ($58.46) 8 7 5 [ J ] (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($58.46) 8 7 5 J [ A ] (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $58.46 Pot ($2.92 Rake)
Hero showed 5 4 (a pair of Fives) and LOST (-$29.23 NET)
BB showed 4 6 (a straight, Eight high) and WON $55.54 (+$26.31 NET)

Board goes brick-brick, and it turns out I was only looking for flush outs to scoop the pot.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
SB: $9.57
Hero (BB): $26.33
UTG: $73.15
MP: $30.03
CO: $37.52
BTN: $31.68
Pre-Flop: T A dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, BTN raises to $1.10, SB folds, Hero calls $0.85, UTG calls $0.85

Flop: ($3.40) J K 7 (3 Players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, BTN bets $3, Hero raises to $8, UTG folds, BTN raises to $30.58 and is All-In, Hero calls $17.23 and is All-In

NFD + broadway gutter? Yep, I'm getting it in.

Turn: ($53.86) J K 7 [ 3 ] (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($53.86) J K 7 3 [ T ] (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: $53.86 Pot ($2.69 Rake)
Hero showed T A (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-$26.33 NET)
BTN showed J 7 (two pair, Jacks and Sevens) and WON $51.17 (+$24.84 NET)

Brick-Brick and I lose to a flopped bottom-2. Don't spades always get there?

So I'm annoyed but not quite steamed. After all, a coin flip is exactly that, and neither play was a mistake. But it's getting late and my time is winding down, and I hate closing the session with those 2 hands being the main focus points. Then, right about the time I'm going to close it out...

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BTN: $60.60
Hero (SB): $59.05
BB: $55.80
UTG: $50.75
MP: $26.80
CO: $25.80
Pre-Flop: J Q dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG raises to $1.75, MP calls $1.75, CO calls $1.75, BTN folds, Hero calls $1.50, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($8.75) 9 8 T (5 Players)
Hero bets $5, BB calls $5, UTG calls $5, 2 folds

Bingo! Pretty sure I am dodging diamonds, since most sets would raise this flop.

Turn: ($23.75) 9 8 T [ 6 ] (3 Players)
Hero bets $17, BB calls $17, UTG folds
I guess villain could still be playing something like 88 conservatively, looking for a full house card before jamming it in, but it seems much more likely to be the flush draw still.

River: ($57.75) 9 8 T 6 [ 6 ] (2 Players)
Hero bets $35.30 and is All-In, BB calls $32.05 and is All-In
I obviously don't like that I no longer have the nuts, but I don't think I can check-fold, so I may as well shove and hope to get value from hands like 67/78/JJ/T9/T8/JT.

Results: $121.85 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed J Q (a straight, Queen high) and WON $118.85 (+$63.05 NET)
BB mucked 7 5 (a straight, Ten high) and LOST (-$55.80 NET)

Wow, didn't even think of the combo draw. And of course I wasn't perceptive enough to realize how great the 6 on the turn was, since I was discounting the possibility of my opponent holding a 7.

And like that, I'm back to even, and ready to bail out for the evening. So I turn off my "Auto-post" button and take in my last few hands. Turns out I'm on the button at one table, and the action isn't quite done yet.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
CO: $28.39
Hero (BTN): $25.58
SB: $25.75
BB: $26.92
UTG: $32.22
Pre-Flop: 4 8 dealt to Hero (BTN)
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.85, SB calls $0.75, BB folds
Right on the edge of my stealing range. Being suited seals it.

Flop: ($1.95) J 4 T (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.40, SB calls $1.40
Pair+FD, pretty darn nice for 84s. Villain's calling range could be wide, but is probably a J or T that means I'm behind right now.

Turn: ($4.75) J 4 T [ 2 ] (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.25, SB raises to $10, Hero calls $6.75

I fire again here to try to get a T to fold, but retrospectively, this might be a mistake. A lot of players won't fold a decent 2nd pair to a 2nd barrel here against a loose Button stealer. And a J is probably set to call me down. So this may be a good spot to take a free river, with a chance that my 4s hold up (against Q9/KQ/89, or a missed FD), and a decent chance that I improve. Once I get raised, it's pretty much an odds decision, and it's a close one. I'm getting a bit less than 3:1, and I might only be drawing to a flush, with 9 outs. If so, I need implied odds to make it a call. If an 8 or 4 is also good, then it is definitely a call.

River: ($24.75) J 4 T 2 [ K ] (2 Players)
SB bets $13.50 and is All-In, Hero calls $13.33 and is All-In

Bladow! Perfect card, hard for villain to put me on a diamond draw, and if he had a bigger diamond, so bet it.

Results: $51.41 Pot ($2.57 Rake)
Hero showed 4 8 (a flush, King high) and WON $48.84 (+$23.26 NET)
SB showed J Q (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$25.58 NET)

This is basically a running halfcourt jump hook to close out the shootaround. Leaves a sweet taste in the mouth, and has me pumped and looking forward to my next chance to play.