Friday, October 12, 2007

Online Poker

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 2129417

Sunday, August 12, 2007

LOL donkaments

Decided to bring a box of Tums with me to the computer and play a lot of cheap MTT's this weekend.


L O L

1 for 11 (finished 240/2400) in a $3 rebuy.

Lost 4 races. 2 suckouts. ...and here's the part that kills me. 5 crazy ass calls (of course I had shit, but I still can't believe I got these calls

K9 off for 2/3 of stck
J9 suited for 1/2 of stack
A4 off for almost entire stack
A2 off for 2/3 of stack
A9 s for all of stack (we were dead even, I jammed from MP with 89 s, he snap calls)

I am truly shocked at the calls I'm getting lately. It's not like I'm 40% VP$IP, I generaly don't do too much stupid, but all of these calls were instacalls, too. No thought. They limp, I jam, CALL. Amazing.

Oh well, good to know that there are that many bad players out there, but it would be nice to take advantage of it.

Friday, August 10, 2007

What is going on?

Lost about 2 buyins at my Friday night game for my 3rd loser in 4 sessions.

The killer went like this.

AA in MP ~$120 in front. two limps, I make it $8 (.50/1.00 blinds)

LAG in CO calls, LP in UTG calls, UTG+1 (beyond LAG) calls "pot odds".

Flop - Td 4d 6h

UTG+1 ($150) leads for $15, I reraise to $60, he jams, I call.

He flips 9T. Good deal, 4/1 fave. Of course, I run good, so the 9 hits the turn and I don't improve. Yay. I love people getting out of traps for my stack.


Overall, I feel like I played well, lost money, go me.



I'd love to have some wonderful stuff to discuss or be in a better mood, buy whe

Friday, August 03, 2007

Runningbadaments

Last 3 MTT's I've played have lasted a grand total of 10 hands.

(all PF shoves)

AK < KK
KK < AA
AA < 77

GG variance.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Record keeping

If there's one area I could definitely improve upon, it's my record keeping. I've got a simple spreadsheet for my live play, but that's pretty much buy-ins/cash outs/total win/loss. As for online play, I really haven't tracked much, other than what I've put in PokerTracker. Problem is, I really have been playing more SnG's and MTT's of late, so PT isn't the best tool here.

To be honest, I've done a piss poor job of tracking my SnG/MTT play. I really couldn't tell you how I've done long term. Given that I prefer SnG/MTT's online, this is not good. So, I have finally gotten around to setting up Poker Analyst at Cardplayer and try to make an honest effort with my day to day play. I'll still track my ring games in PT, but, like I"ve said in the past, I'd rather play ring games live.....just so much easier.

I feel like I'm playing OK these days, I've gotten involved with a couple of stupid hands early, but nothing too silly. No stupid bustouts. Still getting my money in good. I'm just going to keep banging away and look for another FT or hot SnG run.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Changing directions

I'm going to try and change the focus of this thing a bit. Going to try and be bit more specific on poker related problems I'm having and get more out of this.

That being said....

Last night lost a buy-in in a regular .50/1.00 live game I've been playing. This game has changes a bit since I started playing it last year, it's gotten a bit more aggro post flop and people seem to be making more big plays. It's still an ATM when you can make some hands, but it's got me pulling my hair out as of late.

I hand two hands that made up most of my losses last night, one was a loose call (that I make 1000 times, given the opp. The other well.....)

Hand 1 went like this.

I've got Kd Td in the CO. Ultra super LAG donk (ATC, from any position) makes it $4 from UTG+1, MP calls, I call, BB (another LAG) call.

Flop is Ah Kc 3h
BB leads for for $7, UTG+1 calls, I call.

Turn is a Kh
Check around

River 9d
BB leads for $15, UTG+1 raises to $40.
Now, this means NOTHING. I've seen this guy bluff off more rivers than I can count. He also could have a mid-A....even a 3, for that matter. I'm sure he doesn't have a flush, and a bigger K is really all I'm worried about, I call, BB calls....which gets me worried.

I am shocked at showdown.

BB K8
UTG+1 AA....wow, he played this hand really well.

Hand 2
This hand kind of set me off, a little more than it should because of the circumstances, but it had been a frustrating night.

5 limpers to me and I've got KJ in the BB, I check.

Flop is 6 8 J

I lead for $5, MP calls

Turn 7

I lead for $12, MP calls

River 3

I check, MP bets $20, I call

MP shows 67, nice flop call buddy.

Hands like TP OOP are really kicking my butt lately. Mainly because most of the games I'm playing in my leads are getting called and I get zero info as to where I am. I'm getting called by bottom/mid pair, draws, I get no opportunity to shape the hand. I guess I can play hands like this a little weaker, maybe gear down from 2/3 pot bet to 1/2 pot bets, but then I feel like I'm just building a pot for chasers. At the same time, I don't want to get back to the "Bet Pot" trap I fell into many moons ago.

I'm concerned that my aggression is limited to initial aggression and I'm not sticking to my gus by 3-betting more to position raises. I still feel like this game is pretty soft, but I am struggling on how to attack it. I think if I ramp up the aggression with more reraises and jamming I can really take control, but I'm still getting lost more than I should

I'm seriously considering subscribing to PokerXFactor here in the near future for my online stuff. Given my online roll, that's a big investment, but I could use some outside help. +1 is great, but I'd like to watch some full session/tournament videos and get a different perspective on things.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Getting drilled in LL NL

It's kind of embarrassing, but I am getting owned at cheap NL ring games lately. I keep saying I'm going to stay away, but sometimes I just hop in. I'm not playing bad or anything, but I just get in these ridiculous spots with overpairs and have lost 4 buy-ins over the last week with them.

Case in point, this evening at Stars ($25NL, 6 max)

I've got QQ OTB, LAG donk (40/15/6) makes it .75 from UTG, MP calls, I make it $2.25

Now, I could have made it more, but I don't mind seeing a flop 3 ways vs. mid/big aces and all the other crap that might call. On a scary board, I can still pitch it.

Anyway, both call. Flop is 2c 8c Jh

Check to me, I lead out for $4.25 (2/3 pot), UTG jams for another $30. Gee, wonder if he has a flush draw? I call. Ks on turn, fucking 6c on river. He flips KcJc.

Easy (and correct) call here, but I just keep running into big draws that keep getting there. Add that to my wonderful ability to push into monsters/dominated hand in tourneys and SnGs and you have a wonderful little run going.

So annoying. I run like shit. Make an FT to get back to even for the last 3 months and then run shitty some more. Poker is fun.