Getting Lucky
The title of this blog is a reference to my poker play, not my personal life. In fact, on Friday, our obstetrician recommended that we avoid all "pelvic activity" (the precise phrase that she used) for the short term (yep, Mrs. Frazwood is pregnant again).
My poker play has been absolutely horrible. I have played like a donkey, making idiotic calls that made absolutely no sense. I should be stuck $200-$300, but instead I am up about $200 during the streak.
Lucky hand#1: $100 NL
I am dealt 77 in the big blind; three people limp; I check. The flop is 3c 4s 5s. I make reasonable bet (3/4 of the pot) with my overpair + inside straight draw. I get one caller. The turn is an overcard; let's say Kh (I don't remember exactly). I fire out again, and my opponent calls again. The river is As, completing the flush draw. I check and my opponent pushes all-in. For whatever reason, I call his bet. What reasonable hand can I beat here? After re-evaluating the hand, I can't think of one. Well, my opponent held a completely UNREASONABLE hand (6c 8h) and I took down a monster pot with a pair of sevens.
Lucky hand#2: $50 NL
The best part about this hand is that I dropped down in stakes. My opponent was to my immediate right and he had been raising about 25% of the hands preflop. So, I decided to play table captain when he raised in front of me (I held As Ts) and I pushed all-in; he immediately called. The flop was Js Qh Qc. The turn was 4d. The river was Ks, giving me a straight. The my opponent, the so-called "donkey", flipped over Ah Ad.
Lucky Hand#3: $50 NL
At this table, I had been playing rather loose-aggressive (at least for me). In this hand, there was one limper when I raised from the button with Kd Ts; both the big blind and the limper called. The flop was Td 7s 4s. The big blind checked; the limper made a smallish bet (maybe 1/4 of the pot); I raised about the size of the pot. The big blind then raised and the limper folded. I did not even think about the fact that the big blind had check-raised following a bet and a raise. This definitely means strength. Well, being the donkey that I am, I pushed all-in and the big blind instantly called. The turn brought another ten and the river brought a spade of some kind (I don't remember exactly). Anyway, my opponent held 7d 4h, so I got lucky and sucked out yet again.
Lucky Hand#4: $50 NL
This hand was lucky of a different sort. Well, maybe... you be the judge. I was dealt Ad Ah on the button. A loose-aggressive player raised 4x the big blind from under-the-gun. I normally re-raise in this position, but I figured that I could merely call and then push all-in on the flop after my opponent bet out. After everyone else folded, the flop was Ac 2s 2h and my opponent checked it to me. Because I held an almost an unbeatable hand, I checked also. The turn was a blank spade of some kind. My opponent checked. Now, I normally bet in this position (even if I slow-play, I normally make a bet on the turn), but I start to think that I should give my normally aggressive opponent a chance to bluff at this pot. In fact, I hoped for a spade to hit on the river, possibly giving him a flush (or at least that he can represent a flush). I get VERY LUCKY and when the river brings Qs. Even better, my opponent makes a pot-sized bet. I hope that he caught his flush, so I push all-in and he instantly calls. He held Qh Qd.
Now you might be wondering why I got so lucky here? Unless my opponent catches one of the two remaining queens on the river, I don't think I win more than $2 in this hand.
With all of this luck, I did the sensible thing: I quit for the day.
I most recently decided to open a new account at Full Contact Poker to take advantage of their generous sign-up bonus. For those of you who do not know about FCP, it is a Poker Room skin that was started by Daniel Negreanu (well, actually, Daniel sold the naming rights and then signed-up to endorse and promote the site). Before the site opened, Daniel asked members of the original Full Contact Poker forum to re-sign up. These people (including me) were deemed "charter members", which gives us special opportunities beyond the normal people. For example, my sign-up bonus is 100% up to $300 (the regular sign-up bonus is 100% up to $200).
The bonus at FCP clears rather slowly but they allow 90 days to clear it and you can clear it in installments. That is, right now, I have 90 days to clear a $100 portion of my $300 bonus. After that, I can try to clear another $100 worth (or I could go for all $200 of the remainder) of bonus and I get another 90 days to clear that. It's a weird confusing system. The problem is that I have a bankroll of only $100 and I need to play a lot of hands to clear the bonus.
My poker play has been absolutely horrible. I have played like a donkey, making idiotic calls that made absolutely no sense. I should be stuck $200-$300, but instead I am up about $200 during the streak.
Lucky hand#1: $100 NL
I am dealt 77 in the big blind; three people limp; I check. The flop is 3c 4s 5s. I make reasonable bet (3/4 of the pot) with my overpair + inside straight draw. I get one caller. The turn is an overcard; let's say Kh (I don't remember exactly). I fire out again, and my opponent calls again. The river is As, completing the flush draw. I check and my opponent pushes all-in. For whatever reason, I call his bet. What reasonable hand can I beat here? After re-evaluating the hand, I can't think of one. Well, my opponent held a completely UNREASONABLE hand (6c 8h) and I took down a monster pot with a pair of sevens.
Lucky hand#2: $50 NL
The best part about this hand is that I dropped down in stakes. My opponent was to my immediate right and he had been raising about 25% of the hands preflop. So, I decided to play table captain when he raised in front of me (I held As Ts) and I pushed all-in; he immediately called. The flop was Js Qh Qc. The turn was 4d. The river was Ks, giving me a straight. The my opponent, the so-called "donkey", flipped over Ah Ad.
Lucky Hand#3: $50 NL
At this table, I had been playing rather loose-aggressive (at least for me). In this hand, there was one limper when I raised from the button with Kd Ts; both the big blind and the limper called. The flop was Td 7s 4s. The big blind checked; the limper made a smallish bet (maybe 1/4 of the pot); I raised about the size of the pot. The big blind then raised and the limper folded. I did not even think about the fact that the big blind had check-raised following a bet and a raise. This definitely means strength. Well, being the donkey that I am, I pushed all-in and the big blind instantly called. The turn brought another ten and the river brought a spade of some kind (I don't remember exactly). Anyway, my opponent held 7d 4h, so I got lucky and sucked out yet again.
Lucky Hand#4: $50 NL
This hand was lucky of a different sort. Well, maybe... you be the judge. I was dealt Ad Ah on the button. A loose-aggressive player raised 4x the big blind from under-the-gun. I normally re-raise in this position, but I figured that I could merely call and then push all-in on the flop after my opponent bet out. After everyone else folded, the flop was Ac 2s 2h and my opponent checked it to me. Because I held an almost an unbeatable hand, I checked also. The turn was a blank spade of some kind. My opponent checked. Now, I normally bet in this position (even if I slow-play, I normally make a bet on the turn), but I start to think that I should give my normally aggressive opponent a chance to bluff at this pot. In fact, I hoped for a spade to hit on the river, possibly giving him a flush (or at least that he can represent a flush). I get VERY LUCKY and when the river brings Qs. Even better, my opponent makes a pot-sized bet. I hope that he caught his flush, so I push all-in and he instantly calls. He held Qh Qd.
Now you might be wondering why I got so lucky here? Unless my opponent catches one of the two remaining queens on the river, I don't think I win more than $2 in this hand.
With all of this luck, I did the sensible thing: I quit for the day.
I most recently decided to open a new account at Full Contact Poker to take advantage of their generous sign-up bonus. For those of you who do not know about FCP, it is a Poker Room skin that was started by Daniel Negreanu (well, actually, Daniel sold the naming rights and then signed-up to endorse and promote the site). Before the site opened, Daniel asked members of the original Full Contact Poker forum to re-sign up. These people (including me) were deemed "charter members", which gives us special opportunities beyond the normal people. For example, my sign-up bonus is 100% up to $300 (the regular sign-up bonus is 100% up to $200).
The bonus at FCP clears rather slowly but they allow 90 days to clear it and you can clear it in installments. That is, right now, I have 90 days to clear a $100 portion of my $300 bonus. After that, I can try to clear another $100 worth (or I could go for all $200 of the remainder) of bonus and I get another 90 days to clear that. It's a weird confusing system. The problem is that I have a bankroll of only $100 and I need to play a lot of hands to clear the bonus.
posted by frazwood at 11:29 PM
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