A frustrating session

I played a rather lengthy session of $50 NL hold'em last night (maybe 250 hands) in which I won not quite $6. In some ways, it was a great session because I stayed patient, waited for big hands, and generally lost the minimum. In another way, it really sucked because I played so well and I have so little to show for it.

I just reviewed some of the statistics for the session in PokerTracker. I lost only two pots of more than $10, each of which I played reasonably well. The first was a small blind vs. big blind confrontation. I was the big blind and had QTo. I flopped a top pair (tens) and then two pair on the turn. I then folded the river when a nine flopped, giving a very dangerous board. The other hand was a hand that I played aggressively with ATo on a flop of Ad Xd Yd. My opponent called a big bet on the flop with Kx Qd and then caught the flush on the turn (calling my bet). He then checked the river.

I could mention some of the big pots that I won, but I won precisely zero pots worth more than $8. It was an entire session of small ball. I might have actually won a single big pot, but an asshole who wasn't in the hand starting typing about how I held AK and that my opponent should fold. I did hold AK and he eventually folded. That really sucked (but I didn't tilt, somehow).

I simply need to keep grinding away. This might be the best poker that I've ever played.

Tilt, More Tilt, Great Play, and Coolers Galore

The title of this blog sums up my last 24 hours of poker. I had been grinding my stack while playing $25 NL, reaching as high as $345. I then had a mini-argument with my wife, which put me on tilt and I pissed away $22 playing like a donkey.

This morning, I was still on tilt from having pissed away that $22. I noticed that Poker Stars has heads-up $100 NL games, so I jumped right in and lost another $40. My bankroll certainly was unhappy about that.

I thought a bit about what I had done and I decided that I simply needed to play well. For some stupid reason, I decided that playing great at $50 NL would be the solution. And it was! I kicked ass all day and I won back all of my money, re-building my stack to $347.

And that's when variance took over. I bought into an EXTREMELY JUICY table, but that's when the coolers kicked in.
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Cooler#1: Donkey limps from UTG. It's folded to me in the small blind and I raise it up with QQ. I've seen him limp-re-raise-all-in twice in the last six hands. I insta-call and he flips over AQ. The turn is an ace and I lose.

Cooler#2: An over-aggressive donkey raises from the cutoff. I again wake up with QQ in the small blind. Because I know that this guy is an ATM, I make a 3x re-raise, assuming that he'll pay me off. He call and the flop is Q T 3 (rainbow). Again, I figure that this guy is going to pay me off and so I make a pot-sized bet; he calls. The turn is a nine. I bet out and he pushes all-in. I probably should have folded but I didn't. He had J8o and the river bricked.

Shitty Hand#3. This wasn't a cooler because I actually won the hand. It was against the same donkey as Cooler#2. He raised from the cutoff and I called from the big blind with Tc 8c. The flop is something like Qx 7c 6x. I check and call his pot-sized bet. The turn is the 9c, hitting my straight. I bet out and he raises me; I call. The river is the 6c, both pairing the board and giving me a STRAIGHT FLUSH. I make a small bet and he folds. FUCK!!!!!

Cooler#3: I am dealt AJs in the big blind. It was folded to the small blind, who mini-raises and I call. The flop is T J J. He bets out; I call. The turn is a blank; he bets out and I call. The river is a four and he check-raises me all-in and flips over 44. FUCK!!!

I could easily be up $150 tonight, but instead I'm $25 or so. Shit. I hope this gets better.

Going well... and then a brutal session

For whatever reason, no limit hold'em is like a drug to me. I am drawn to it and I cannot stay away, no matter how well I play limit hold'em. The good news is that I have been playing very well and I have been building my bankroll.

Things have been going especially well, in fact. But sadly, today, I had the inevitable session when I ran incredibly bad. How bad?

Hand#1. I raise from the cutoff with AA. The button calls with 33, even though he only had about double my bet. He flops a set, of course.

Hand#2. This was undoubtedly the worst one of the bunch. I am dealt KQo in the big blind. UTG makes a mini-raise and three people call (including me). The flop is J T 9 (rainbow). Figuring that my hand is well-disguised, I bet out and it is immediately raised and then re-raised all-in before it comes back to me. I shove and get called by the UTG too. They hold JT and Q8, respectively, but I manage to split this huge pot when a king comes on the river.

Hand#3. This one put me on tilt because I played it so bad. I raise from the button with AKs and the small blind calls. The flop comes K 7 7 and we both check. The turn is an ace and we both check. The river is a queen and he checks. I finally decide to bet and he mini-raises me and I call. He flips over QQ.

Hand#4. This was about my last hand of the session. I am dealt QQ on the button and I raise it up and the big blind calls. The flop is all rags, so I make a pot-sized bet; he calls. The turn pairs the board and I make another big bet and he calls. The river is a ten and he check-raises me all-in. I'm pretty much pot-committed here, so I gladly call and he flips over TT.

Well, enough bitchin'. I'm playing pretty well, so I just need to keep grinding away.

A new experiment: Playing drunk

A quick update on my bankroll... it's been bouncing up and down from $215 to $170... last night was especially brutal as everyone seemed to be catching two pair on the turn or their inside straight draw on the river. I lost $40 or so playing $0.50/$1.00 limit hold'em and another $10 playing $0.05/$0.10 no limit hold'em. The night ended nicely, however, when I won a $5 + $0.50 SNG (9-person), so my bankroll was just under $200.

I played a little this morning, winning about $5 and then I had a short session this afternoon when I won $15. So, my bankroll is at a recent high of $220.

After playing that short session, we took our daughter to the emergency room because she was having trouble breathing. A quick dose of steroids, plus waiting three hours to make sure that she's OK and we're back home. I opened a bottle of wine and well... now I'm drunk.

I rarely drink and I can't ever remember playing poker when drunk... well, my version of drunk which is hardly three-sheet-to-the-wind... but anyhow, this should be fun. i am playing $25 NL (blinds = $0.10 and $0.25).

Big Hand#1: I raise with KQs and get three callers. The flop is Q J X. I make a pot sized bet and I get check-raised all-in by a small stack. It's only another $1 or so to call. He flips over QJ and I lose.

Big Hand#2: There is a raise and a call in front of me. My stack is only like $7 at this point and I push all-in with KK and no one calls.

Big Hand#3: I raise from UTG with QJ and I get one caller. The flop is Q Q X. I make a small bet and he folds. This is a big hand because I won very little.

By the way, I should mention my libation of choice tonight. It's a Savignon Blanc from Nobile winery in New Zealand. At $10 a bottle, I highly recommend it. The reason for this particular wine? A friend of mine has a brother who recently published a book on the wines from New Zealand... and I wanted to try one. This was the only one at the local liquor store.

Big Hand#4: I just raised from UTG with AKo. No one calls. I might have to start being an ass and raise every hand. My stack is now $10.70.

Big Hand#5. There's a limper when I raise from the button with KJo. The flop is J 3 2 and I bet out 3/4 of the pot and he folds. Stack = $12.45

Big Hand#6. I play a hand like a donkey from the big blind. I keep calling mini-bets, winning a $3.50 pot with a pair of sixes. Stack = $14.80

Big Hand#7. I somehow manage to go all-in with 66 vs. TT. Yes, I'm definitely drunk. I really have to learn to fold. Stack = $4.80

I just added $7 to my stack. If I bust, then I'm done for the night.

Big Hand#8: This is the hand immediately after I reloaded. The cutoff mini-raised and I re-raised from the button with Ac Kc and he calls. The flop is As Qc Jc, giving me TPTK plus a straight draw and a flush draw (indeed, a Royal Flush draw). I win a big pot when I catch the nut flush on the river. Stack = $19.45 (he had AKo)

Big Hand#9. There is a mini-raise and a re-raise (cutoff), so I call from the small blind with Ah Kh. The flop is K x x and we get it all-in on the turn and I take it down with TPTK. Stack = $38.45. (he had KQ)

I'm really rather drunk now and I am tired too. My plan is to play at least 100 hands for the session and then to quit (I've played ~85 hands so far).

Big Hands#10 and #11. I raise from with button with QTs; the flop is queen-high and I take it down with my continuation bet. The next hand, there is one limper and I raise in position with 99. The flop is T 8 5 and I fire on both the flop and the turn. He calls through the river and I win when he flips over 67o.

Big Hand#12. I raise from UTG+1 after UTG limps. I mistype my bet on the flop and he calls (I'm drunk, you see). I fire a 1/2-pot bet on the turn and he folds. Stack size: $44.70. I won $22.70 in exactly 100 hands. Not bad.

Time for bed.

Apparently, I don't suck anymore

So, after a flurry of poker about a month ago... I busted yet again at Full Tilt. I don't exactly know what my deal is there.. but I don't play very well.

A couple of weeks ago, I deposited $100 into Poker Stars. I don't really like Poker Stars because it's kind of slow, but it has a ton of players and a ton of players means more bad players. Also, their "fast" tables play pretty well, so it's all good.

I started playing $0.25/$0.50 limit hold'em and a few other games. My bankroll bounced around a bit, but eventually I found my way to 6-max limit hold'em, which might be my best game when I am playing well.

In playing this game, I have been able to grind my stack up to $185. I had a great session last night where I took a shot at $1/$2 limits and I won $30 or so. I also won a few bucks at $0.50/$1.00 stakes, which is where I have been playing for the most part. I know all of this is playing above my bankroll, but I'm confident and I'm winning.

I am really pleased that I almost have a legit bankroll for $0.50/$1.00 stakes, because those stakes are high enough for me to feel like I am not wasting my time. Also, I have been grinding really well (~ 5 BB/100 hands), as other than last night my bankroll has been slowly climbing rather than bouncing around.

In other news, I watched a video by Tony G last night that I thought was really interesting. He showed how to play LAG no limit hold'em and I've been dabbling with that playing style a bit at $0.05/$0.10 (blinds) stakes. I did well last night (won a few dollars) and I broke even this morning. I should have won a few bucks this morning, but I made a bad call on the river when my opponent caught a runner runner flush. It was a bad call (of about $1.50) because I had a weakish hand and because my opponent was passive and his betting should have told me that he was very strong (he had the nuts).

The really cool thing is that I was the loosest player at the table... I don't that's ever happened in my life (granted, my VP$IP was still only ~30% or so). Here's the proof:


Edit: I just played another short session of $10 NL with my "lag" style and I absolutely went on a heater. It certainly helped that I was at a table of LAGs, but it didn't hurt that they didn't have me pegged as a nit. I doubled up when I flopped the nut-straight and I won a big pot with a set of fours. I also won a big pot with AK when a donkey called my all-in with a flush draw (luckily, he missed). I could have won another big pot when I called a raise out of the small blind with QQ and I flopped top set, but sadly... I'd didn't get any action. Anyhow, he is my new stat like (looking above, I won $0.10 in 71 hands, so this means that I won almost $30 in 30 hands. Bitchin!).