Wild Night at the Poker Room
I know... I know... I just posted a blog a few days ago entitled "Wild Night at Golden Palace Poker". I definitely realize that I need to stop having these wild nights. But, poker is poker and variance happens. I'm usually pretty tight, thus avoiding variance, but sometimes you can't avoid the unavoidable. (Yep, I'm in a slightly silly mood)
In my last blog entry, I talked about losing some cash at the Poker Room while bonus chasing and trying to grind my way back by playing $50 NL. That was my plan last night, and that's how it started off. Unfortunately, I lost my buy-in at least three times, all with good hands that went against better hands (i.e., I didn't bluff my money way, at least).
Then I did something that was probably stupid. I decided to start playing heads-up $100 NL. I was slightly on tilt and for some reason this sounded like a good idea. When I say slightly on tilt, that means that my judgement on game selection was poor (like playing heads up) but that I could actually play just fine.
Why was playing heads-up such a bad idea? I have played numerous heads-up SNGs and I am pretty good at them. But, I have only rarely played heads up cash games, and I have usually done poorly. Very poorly.
Luckily, last night was an exception and I did very very well. I started out stuck about $80 (from the $50 NL games) and I eventually finished the night +$30. My first heads-up opponent was very weak, bluffing on the river far too often. Eventually, I flopped a set and then slow-played it to the river, taking his money when he bluffed all-in.
My second heads-up opponent was quite a bit better. He was very aggressive pre-flop and on the flop, trying to steal as many small pots as possible. I used a couple of different strategies here. First, I'd call his preflop raise with a good hand (like AJ, 55, 78s, etc) and hope to catch a nice flop. Second, I'd randomly re-raise just to slow him down a bit (he folded 100% of the time). Third, I'd call with a big hand (e.g., JJ or better) and try to take his money.
I was doing very well with this strategy for awhile, winning almost enough to be even for the night. I was contemplating quitting when I caught a flush draw on the flop while holding 5s6s. I then caught the flush on the turn, but then made a huge mistake when I merely called his re-raise (I should have pushed him all-in). The fourth spade came on the river, and he won the pot with Ts6c.
After that hand, I went on semi-tilt for a short while, losing about $20 so that my stack was dwindling around $15. After that, though, I started playing much much better and I doubled up twice, rebuilding my stack to around $50. Then, we had a big hand where he held A3 and I held Q9. The flop was A Q 6 and he made a reasonable bet, which I called. The turn was a nine; he again made a reasonable bet and I again called. The river was a blank and I called his all-in, taking his money with my two pair.
The highlight of the night actually occurred after that hand. I really needed to quit, but I wanted to play a little bit more. So, I bought into a room with only $30, where a guy sat, holding around $200 (remember: $100 max buy-in). He quickly typed in that he wasn't going to play unless I bought in for at least $75. I found this annoying. He had a rather big advantage over me with his huge stack, but he merely looked at it as risking $200 to merely win $30. So, I replied that I would simply sit in my chair to keeping him from playing anyone else. He was less than pleased. I then opened another table and played for about 10 minutes, winning perhaps another $5.
I am not sure if I will continue to play heads-up at the Poker Room. I don't know if I have a skill advantage with the games or not (i.e., did I just get lucky last night?). I don't think I am particularly good at playing 5-handed no limit hold'em (plus, the games break up far too frequently) and I don't particularly enjoy playing full-ring games either. After clearing this bonus, I am definitely going to stop playing at the Poker Room.
In my last blog entry, I talked about losing some cash at the Poker Room while bonus chasing and trying to grind my way back by playing $50 NL. That was my plan last night, and that's how it started off. Unfortunately, I lost my buy-in at least three times, all with good hands that went against better hands (i.e., I didn't bluff my money way, at least).
Then I did something that was probably stupid. I decided to start playing heads-up $100 NL. I was slightly on tilt and for some reason this sounded like a good idea. When I say slightly on tilt, that means that my judgement on game selection was poor (like playing heads up) but that I could actually play just fine.
Why was playing heads-up such a bad idea? I have played numerous heads-up SNGs and I am pretty good at them. But, I have only rarely played heads up cash games, and I have usually done poorly. Very poorly.
Luckily, last night was an exception and I did very very well. I started out stuck about $80 (from the $50 NL games) and I eventually finished the night +$30. My first heads-up opponent was very weak, bluffing on the river far too often. Eventually, I flopped a set and then slow-played it to the river, taking his money when he bluffed all-in.
My second heads-up opponent was quite a bit better. He was very aggressive pre-flop and on the flop, trying to steal as many small pots as possible. I used a couple of different strategies here. First, I'd call his preflop raise with a good hand (like AJ, 55, 78s, etc) and hope to catch a nice flop. Second, I'd randomly re-raise just to slow him down a bit (he folded 100% of the time). Third, I'd call with a big hand (e.g., JJ or better) and try to take his money.
I was doing very well with this strategy for awhile, winning almost enough to be even for the night. I was contemplating quitting when I caught a flush draw on the flop while holding 5s6s. I then caught the flush on the turn, but then made a huge mistake when I merely called his re-raise (I should have pushed him all-in). The fourth spade came on the river, and he won the pot with Ts6c.
After that hand, I went on semi-tilt for a short while, losing about $20 so that my stack was dwindling around $15. After that, though, I started playing much much better and I doubled up twice, rebuilding my stack to around $50. Then, we had a big hand where he held A3 and I held Q9. The flop was A Q 6 and he made a reasonable bet, which I called. The turn was a nine; he again made a reasonable bet and I again called. The river was a blank and I called his all-in, taking his money with my two pair.
The highlight of the night actually occurred after that hand. I really needed to quit, but I wanted to play a little bit more. So, I bought into a room with only $30, where a guy sat, holding around $200 (remember: $100 max buy-in). He quickly typed in that he wasn't going to play unless I bought in for at least $75. I found this annoying. He had a rather big advantage over me with his huge stack, but he merely looked at it as risking $200 to merely win $30. So, I replied that I would simply sit in my chair to keeping him from playing anyone else. He was less than pleased. I then opened another table and played for about 10 minutes, winning perhaps another $5.
I am not sure if I will continue to play heads-up at the Poker Room. I don't know if I have a skill advantage with the games or not (i.e., did I just get lucky last night?). I don't think I am particularly good at playing 5-handed no limit hold'em (plus, the games break up far too frequently) and I don't particularly enjoy playing full-ring games either. After clearing this bonus, I am definitely going to stop playing at the Poker Room.
posted by frazwood at 11:21 AM
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