Some brief notes.

Sometimes I give myself the creeps

Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me

It all keeps adding up

I think I'm cracking up

Am I just paranoid?

Grasping to control

So I better hold on

Who thought green day lyrics would end up here. I heard this song on the way home and now that parts here. Enjoy.

I’m still a huge n00b at NLHE, but I’m starting to feel better about my game. I want to be totally comfortable by winter. It takes a lot for me to be totally comfortable.

A couple of things:

Bet sizing: I still struggle with this but I’m getting better. Certain hands I misplay, and there are certain opponents that give me fits. I toyed with sizing flop bets for turn action to force my opponent into an uncomfortable decision. There are some players that just don’t want to play drawing hands for their full value.

River bets: There were several pots where I saw $10 bets taking down $80-100 pots. Brutal. I had a couple of hands where I bet the river and took down a nice pot with a hand that I’d often check. On a couple of occasions I made block bets that were slightly smaller than I’d value bet and was surprised when my HU opponent would fold.

Position: I really concentrated on playing tight in EP and opening up in LP. It worked really well for the first half of my session, but in the second half, I had 2 good players on my right, and total weakness on my left. I was able to open up (especially in MP) more than I normally should have. I’m not sure this is a great strategy, but man these players were weak post-flop.

Calling: Huge leak. I called some horrible bets on the river. I’ve got to stop that. It’s pretty disgusting.


Good Luck…

Another live session.

After my success last week I was anxious to get back to live play. Not so much. The fact is I have 3 weekends off in a row. I usually work on Saturdays, so I have the time for live play. Each time I go to the casino, I dread it more.

I worked on Friday, ate a light lunch (salad & applesauce). I brought my casino clothes (w/ a change in case I played a long session). I brought things to make me comfortable and for the first time I brought music.

I arrived at 1800 and was seated less than a half hour later. I started off slowly getting to know the table. I was into the table for 240 and up about 50 when the following hand came up. I was dealt K3 in one of the blinds. I think it was 3 to the flop. It came K 2 K. I lead out for less than the pot and get 2 callers. Turn was a 2. I was no longer worried about my kicker so I bet the pot. Only one caller this time. The river was a 3. Groovy man… I don’t recall the details but all of his chips got in (I had him barely covered) and I was up a comfortable amount. No more big action at that table, but I was moved when we went to two 1/2NL tables.

Within the first hour at the new table (I would play at this table until 1330 on Saturday) I was dealt A:c:3:c: in late position. I had a stack of about $500 as did my eventual heads up opponent in this hand. This was a straddle hand. I was the 3rd? caller and one of the blinds made it 20. The pot was over $70 when it came back to me so I called. The flop was K J 3 rainbow with one club. I don’t recall the betting on this street (I may have been drinking) but I called. Turn was a 3 :d: putting two diamonds on the board. I called a raise, it was re-raised behind by a 2/5 player that I’ve played with before. I pushed and he deliberated for quite some time and called. With K5. That’s man. Over 1k pot. Largest I had ever scooped.

The last hand I’ll share was bigger. My opponent is a good kid w/ a stack of a bit over $500. We’d apparently played before. Whatever. I was dealt AQ. I raised pre-flop. Flop was KJx. I bet just under the pot when it was checked to me and had two callers. The turn was the T (there was a possible flush draw if I recall correctly). A player pushed for his last $37, I raised to $100 (less than the pot), he made it $250 and I pushed. He said, “I know you don’t have AQ.” He called & showed Q9 really fast. I showed my cards, the river was dealt and he punched my knuckles and quickly left the room. New largest pot I’d ever scooped.

This was my largest profit day ever. Even beat my best online day. I'm kind of sad that my largest win is now in the no limit game. Not that sad though.

I think I played pretty well. I made some poor calls towards the end of the session and I really think I’ve got some leaks. While it's really important for me to play well, it's so nice to have a table with 6 or 7 really weak players.

I’ll do another post with some things I’m noticing in the NL game and some things I tried to do.

Drunken Fool & Some Live Play

Lesson #1. Don't play online drunk. I'm pretty sure by the time my liver kicks it I'll figure this one out. Gross. I'm so dissapointed.

Lesson #2. Live NL play. It's the cure for what ails you.

I had a long weekends worth of activities all crammed into 2 days. Other than Memorial Day, this was the first time in months I've had sat-sun off. Saturday I had two viewings and two bars to go to. That tied up 1pm to midnight. Long day. I had a buffet breakfast (at the casino) that I didn't want to attend the next morning. I knew that if I went home I'd end up not going. I had to come up with a solution... After about 2 minutes of deep thought I had a brilliant idea. Go right to the casino and play all night. I really do amaze myself sometimes. I couldn't go directly to the casino (30 minutes), I had to drive home first (40 minutes) to change into my casino outfit, wash up, get some tissues & allergy meds as well as some other things I'll leave out. I finally arrived at the casino at approx 1:30am and settled in for a nice game. Breakfast was at 9am.

The NL games spread there are 1/2 with a $100 max buyin and 2/5 with a (I think) $300 max buyin. I'm not a big fan of the small buyin, but it's a really good game. After 45 minutes or so I was into the game for $180. I couldn't make a hand and had a c-bet called and a bluff-raise picked off. I tightened up and built up a nice stack. I was moved at about 2am and our table was short handed. I really love live short handed play. It's a good opportunity to open up a bit and play. The table really doesn't adjust well and remains either loose-passive or predictable and nitty. Fun times.

The other tables broke and we ended up 10-handed for a short while. I was up to about $350 at this point. We were joined by two 2/5 players (one was very good and the other very bad), and the rest were 1/2 players to include two kids that seemed pretty unfamiliar with live play (had a bit of a snafu with a blind chop). I hovered at $350-$450 until we got back to a 5 handed game and was at that point fortunate enough to win a couple against the solid 2/5 player and stack the kids a few times. They kept buying in short. On several occasions I was able to raise them out of pots by betting or raising 1x the pot size on the flop. I always had at least a pair (or really solid draw) when I did it. They were quite readable. Fun times.

I was kind of bummed when the game broke up at about 7:30am. We played 4 handed for a while until one of the kids got tired of being felted, and the table broke. I got to take most of the money off of it. The other 2/5 player was really down. In more ways than one. I felt bad for him. He ran a couple of sets into flushes/boats and badly misplayed a flopped set of J's against me. He made a weak flop bet (I raised), bet the turn when I made my straight, then checked and called my river bet when I improved again and made a flush. He made a couple of rude comments during play about me and the things I do at the table, and berated me as the game broke.


WSOP Notes...

I'm having a blast following our +1 members that are out there playing. Congrats to Shawn sprstoner on his 2 cashes so far. He was a great last round pickup in the last round of the fantasy draft! Also GL to the rest of the +1ers playing in series.

GOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!!!

My precious game isn't the same...

Well, I dove back into the waters at my old pace this weekend (first time in months), and I have to say I was pretty dissapointed.

I started with full ring limit, which was my old bread & butter, playing 2 levels below my most comfortable, and 4 levels below where I was at my high point. Play was predictably poor and I made money. Groovy.

I then played a few hundred hands of 6-max (sam limits). Play was still poor, but I expected it to be worse. I just coudln't get anything going and was kind of bored. I think it was the stakes, but I'm not sure.

I then played some 6-max NL. Post-flop play is just horrible. It's freaking awesome. I'll call this level -2, and I'll hope to get to "ground zero" in a few months. It'll be a bit tough since I'll be making regular withdrawals. Of course, I could go busto, but I seriously doubt it.

Some NL notes:

-PF Raise Sizing: I'm off on this. I've read several places about sizing based on position and I've been toying with it. PF I tend to open anywhere from 2x to 5x the blind. I've also been RR'ing rather than calling with strong (but not monster) hands.

-Bet Sizing: I'm pretty happy with this so far. I've tried to err on the side of betting too big. :) It's bitten me in the ass a few times, but I can't believe the calls my made hands are getting from 2nd pair or worse.

-Calling: I'm used to factoring in pot odds and pretty much ignoring implieds. I think I've folded in error on some strong draws in multi-way pots. I've got some work to do here.

-C-Bets & Bluffing: It's amazing how often a c-bet will take down a pot on a harmless board or an A-high board when I've got a medium pair. Also I'm learning there is a time to fire another round on the river HU w/ air. I've taken some nice (relatively speaking) pots that I'd have lost out on in LHE.

-Letting go: I think I'm too predictable when I miss the flop and don't like the texture. I may let go of my AK-AJ, or 77-JJ too easily. I'll get more comfortable as I play more hands.

That's what I've got going through my mind after my first few sessions back. I don't anticipate moving up until mid-July or the beginning of August. Also, I don't have PT on the computer I'm playing on yet. I've got to load it this week and I'll hopefully be able to plug a few leaks. That program is great.

On the home front, I gutted our main bathroom (we only have 1.5) memorial day weekend. Down to the studs & joyces. It's the first construction project I've ever done myself and it's going a bit slow. I've got tub surround, floor, walls, toilet & vanity left to go. I'm taking it easy this week as I've hurt my back a bit. I really am glad we bought the motorhome last year (thanks donks). The shower in there is small, but without it I would have been in a rush and very uncomfortable with things.

Good Luck at the Tables...