Progress is my middle name
This is an obscure reference to "Back to the Future", the 1980's movie with Michael J. Fox. With respect to my poker, however, it also happens to be true.
When I first starting playing poker two years ago, I remember the $0.50/$1.00 limit hold'em games at Party Poker being incredibly juicy. I can recall routinely winning pots bigger than $10 and often winning pots bigger than $20. To win pots like this, you must have both bad players and a strong hand. Over the last year or so, I have played relatively little $0.50/$1.00 limit at Party, but when I did... I never seemed to have any hands like this. Until yesterday!
I was two-tabling, playing a tight-aggressive style. In my first five hands, I flopped three sets, losing two of them to a donkey who caught runner-runner for a straight and then for a flush. Luckily, the same donkey paid me off big time with the third hand and I finished this early flurry of activity about even money. After that, I won a few small pots and managed to be up 2-3 big bets.
My first big hand occurred when I was dealt A6s in the big blind. There were three limpers plus the small blind, so I just checked. The flop was A 7 6 (rainbow), and I decided to check-raise to hopefully reduce the size of the field. My plan was thwarted when the opponent to my immediate left bet out and everyone called before it came back to me. I raised anyway, and luckily, the original better 3-bet it. Everyone else folded, and I capped it. The turn was a blank and I bet-called. The river was another blank and I check-called again, and my opponent flipped over 87o!
My second big hand occurred almost immediately on my other table. I was dealt J7 (sooted) in the small blind. There were 5 limpers, so I called, hoping to catch a big flop. The flop was K 7 5, giving me middle pair and a back-door flush draw. I checked, the big blind bet out and everyone called. I figured that I was behind here, but that the pot was big enough to merit calling a small bet. The turn was another seven, giving me trips. I checked; the big blind bet out; a couple people called; and then I raised. The orginal better re-raised and everyone folded to me; I capped. The river was a blank and I bet out and called after I was raised. The donkey flipped over a hand like K3o, for top pair, bad kicker.
My third big hand was after I had decided to finish the session and I was merely playing out the orbit. I was dealt JJ in mid-position. There were two limpers in front, but I raised anyway. The button, the big blind, and both limpers called. The flop was J X 5 (two hearts). The first limper bet out and I raised; both the button and the original better called. The turn was a blank and I bet out. The button raised and the original better called. I re-raised; the button capped and the donkey called. The river was another blank and I bet out and got called all the way around. The button flipped over 55; the donkey flipped over middle pair; and I raked in a $23 pot with my top set.
I also played a little $50 NL yesterday, winning a decent amount. By the end of the day, my Party Poker account had increased from $125 to $200! A good day for sure!
I also played a little bit at Full Tilt yesterday. I was monkeying around with $50 NL (on a $60 bankroll) and lost about $10, most of it on one hand where I bluffed and got raised.
Last night, though, I decided to play a HORSE SNG at Full Tilt. I played almost perfect poker throughout the entire SNG. I was very tight-aggressive and I won almost every hand that I played. I played very few, though, so I was about even after the first hour of play. This was the slowest HORSE SNG I've ever played. In my experience, about half of the HORSE SNGs are finished by the break, the others have been short-handed. This one, however, was still 7-handed! About three hands after the break, I was dealt JJ (Hold'em) and I took down a big pot against the former chip leader who held 88 (unimproved). With my new-found chip-lead, I started bullying the table, knocking out a few people. I took a bad beat when I lost a hand with AQ vs K2 on a flop of A 8 2, but I still managed to keep my chip lead. When the game switched to Omaha Hi/Lo, I scooped a couple of big pots and eventually got it heads up with a 10:1 chip lead. I won it all when it switched over to Razz and my opponent let me bully him down to the felt.
This morning I had a really "fun" session of NL at Party. I bought into two rooms, one of which was tough and the other was quite juicy. I lost my buy-in in the tough table after losing a few hands and then going all-in preflop with AK vs. KK (oops). I was doing better in the soft table but then I lost my stack when a donkey with a HUGE stack (5x the buy-in) called my all-in on the flop and caught a runner-runner flush. I bought right back in at the easy table and slowly starting rebuilding.
The first big pot involved me calling a raise with 66, flopping a set, and calling an all-in from a guy who held AA. The second big pot occurred a few hands later when I bluffed the same guy. The third big pot was when I held TT against a call station who could not fold his flush draw. The third spade never came and I finished the session up $3, which was absolutely fantastic considering that I was stuck $50 at one point.
When I first starting playing poker two years ago, I remember the $0.50/$1.00 limit hold'em games at Party Poker being incredibly juicy. I can recall routinely winning pots bigger than $10 and often winning pots bigger than $20. To win pots like this, you must have both bad players and a strong hand. Over the last year or so, I have played relatively little $0.50/$1.00 limit at Party, but when I did... I never seemed to have any hands like this. Until yesterday!
I was two-tabling, playing a tight-aggressive style. In my first five hands, I flopped three sets, losing two of them to a donkey who caught runner-runner for a straight and then for a flush. Luckily, the same donkey paid me off big time with the third hand and I finished this early flurry of activity about even money. After that, I won a few small pots and managed to be up 2-3 big bets.
My first big hand occurred when I was dealt A6s in the big blind. There were three limpers plus the small blind, so I just checked. The flop was A 7 6 (rainbow), and I decided to check-raise to hopefully reduce the size of the field. My plan was thwarted when the opponent to my immediate left bet out and everyone called before it came back to me. I raised anyway, and luckily, the original better 3-bet it. Everyone else folded, and I capped it. The turn was a blank and I bet-called. The river was another blank and I check-called again, and my opponent flipped over 87o!
My second big hand occurred almost immediately on my other table. I was dealt J7 (sooted) in the small blind. There were 5 limpers, so I called, hoping to catch a big flop. The flop was K 7 5, giving me middle pair and a back-door flush draw. I checked, the big blind bet out and everyone called. I figured that I was behind here, but that the pot was big enough to merit calling a small bet. The turn was another seven, giving me trips. I checked; the big blind bet out; a couple people called; and then I raised. The orginal better re-raised and everyone folded to me; I capped. The river was a blank and I bet out and called after I was raised. The donkey flipped over a hand like K3o, for top pair, bad kicker.
My third big hand was after I had decided to finish the session and I was merely playing out the orbit. I was dealt JJ in mid-position. There were two limpers in front, but I raised anyway. The button, the big blind, and both limpers called. The flop was J X 5 (two hearts). The first limper bet out and I raised; both the button and the original better called. The turn was a blank and I bet out. The button raised and the original better called. I re-raised; the button capped and the donkey called. The river was another blank and I bet out and got called all the way around. The button flipped over 55; the donkey flipped over middle pair; and I raked in a $23 pot with my top set.
I also played a little $50 NL yesterday, winning a decent amount. By the end of the day, my Party Poker account had increased from $125 to $200! A good day for sure!
I also played a little bit at Full Tilt yesterday. I was monkeying around with $50 NL (on a $60 bankroll) and lost about $10, most of it on one hand where I bluffed and got raised.
Last night, though, I decided to play a HORSE SNG at Full Tilt. I played almost perfect poker throughout the entire SNG. I was very tight-aggressive and I won almost every hand that I played. I played very few, though, so I was about even after the first hour of play. This was the slowest HORSE SNG I've ever played. In my experience, about half of the HORSE SNGs are finished by the break, the others have been short-handed. This one, however, was still 7-handed! About three hands after the break, I was dealt JJ (Hold'em) and I took down a big pot against the former chip leader who held 88 (unimproved). With my new-found chip-lead, I started bullying the table, knocking out a few people. I took a bad beat when I lost a hand with AQ vs K2 on a flop of A 8 2, but I still managed to keep my chip lead. When the game switched to Omaha Hi/Lo, I scooped a couple of big pots and eventually got it heads up with a 10:1 chip lead. I won it all when it switched over to Razz and my opponent let me bully him down to the felt.
This morning I had a really "fun" session of NL at Party. I bought into two rooms, one of which was tough and the other was quite juicy. I lost my buy-in in the tough table after losing a few hands and then going all-in preflop with AK vs. KK (oops). I was doing better in the soft table but then I lost my stack when a donkey with a HUGE stack (5x the buy-in) called my all-in on the flop and caught a runner-runner flush. I bought right back in at the easy table and slowly starting rebuilding.
The first big pot involved me calling a raise with 66, flopping a set, and calling an all-in from a guy who held AA. The second big pot occurred a few hands later when I bluffed the same guy. The third big pot was when I held TT against a call station who could not fold his flush draw. The third spade never came and I finished the session up $3, which was absolutely fantastic considering that I was stuck $50 at one point.
posted by frazwood at 12:03 PM
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