Tabulating my results in the cash game of late, I am playing/running very well, moving my hourly rate to $13.90 on the year.  I am up $2573 on the year.  Anyways, I went through an interesting hand earlier today and I would like to know what you all think about which hand you would rather have. 

I was up about $35 early in my cash game session today and had AQ offsuit in early/mid position.  I raised to $12 and got 3 callers.  Flop came A96 two hearts.  I led out with $30 and got insta-raised to $60.  He had about $200 and I had roughly 150 after my contnuaton bet.  What would you do? Call, Shove all in, or fold?

I elected the fairly coservative fold based on  few reasons.  The player who min raised me is fairly tight, and I dont see him doing that with AJ or less. I put him on 2pair. So many times throughout the last year or so if someone raises me when I have Top pair great kicker, they flopped a raggedy ace 2 pair.  He ended up showing his hand after I asked if he\'d show.  He had 89 hearts.  What is very interesting about this predicament is that according to poker odds calculator, he is a 52% to 48% favorite. I want to know what you all think out there. Would you take the made hand, AQ or the mid pair, flush draw, and backdoor straight draw (all kinds of outs)? I would certainly take the outs and his hand especially when he has position on me. 

On a side note, I ended up finding a couple spots to steal and win a couple small pots en route to being a small winner today of $70 profit.  Of my last 5 sessions, I have won 4 with a profit of $700 in 19 hours.

Well I have been on an up and down cycle the last couple weeks, losing 2 nights straight of about $150 apiece,(with an awful beat, worst of the year and I will show it later in this pos) then winning three straight nights of abou $150 respectively in the cash game. However throughout this roller-coaster of events, I realized there is a leak in my game that needs to be fixed...

I need to get more value for my winning hands.  Too often I am involved in a cooler type hand (set over set, etc) to where I am becoming a bit gun shy.  I will illustrate this right now.  I have AQ offsuit in the small blind and there is 3 limpers before me in a 1/2 cash game setting and I raise it up to $12.  I get 1 caller (big stack) and we see a flop.  Flop comes 783 rainbow and I don't continuation bet because I felt like the 783 flop may have hit his hand (he calls raises on a variety of hands, and he would have raised with big suits anytime).  He checked behind me.  Turn card is a Q giving me TPTK and I check to induce perhaps a bluff to get some money in there.  I figured if I bet I make no money, and he is susceptible to bluffing.  He bets $25 and I call. River is the gin card, an ace. Gives me top 2 pair no draw.  I checked figuring the turn and river didnt hit my opponents hand.  He bet another $25 and I just called.  WHY DONT I RAISE? well I strongly considered it, but the thought of him flopping a set crossed my mind.  A strength of mine in poker is keeping the pot small when I am unsure of where I am. In this case I believe I made a mistake in not raising because I have too strong a hand to throw away.  He showed his Q8, which I don't know why he didnt bet the flop.  I know i would have likely gotten paid if I made it $60 to go on the river to get more value. I need to not be afraid of the cooler hands and just raise it.... Besides in most cases on that board AQ is too strong to fold to a re-raise anyways.  So what if he flopped a set. I'm sue if I raised like that in the long run there is even more +EV on that play.  That is my leak in my game that I need to get better on. 

Onto my bad beat of the year thus far.  It happened about 10 days ago:

I have a meager stack of about $110. I raise to $12 with KK and get 3 callers.  Flop reads AK3 rainbow giving me a set of Kings.  One guy bets 30, there is a raise all in to 90 and I obviously shove.  Guy who led out first had AJ and folded.  Guy who shoves has A3 fo two pair.   I obviously have a stranglehold on the hand.  With their shared ace all there is is 1 card in the deck to save him.  1 Ace.  One-outer Ace hits on the turn... It was pretty sick.  I took it in stride.  Such is poker sometimes. 

Bad beat count: 2 received, 1 taken in Aprl.

Well my mood on poker had made a complete 180 since my last post, and I think I figured out a good formula for curing a mini downswing for the future.  Anyways, Sine my last postI have had 5 straight winning sessions! However, that can be a bit misleading because I had a couple mini and moderate wins sprinkled in.  I won 68, 120, 255, 130 and 165 the last 5 nights at the cash game.  I wanted to tell you about a hand in which I GAVE the suckout; being my first large suckout of the year.

So I am dwn $50 ad my stack is at a meager $100 in my usual 1/2 cash game.  I limp in wih QJ of hearts and the flop is very draw heavy for my had, reading 8 9 3 with 2 hearts, giving me a straight draw and strong flush draw.  We are 6-way on the flop and I check and a guy in late position leads out $20.  With one guy calling ahead of me I make the easy call with great pot odds (4 to 1 with 12 straight/flush outs) plus my 2 overs, plus anohter guy behind me calls!.  The turn is another 3, which seems like an awful card.  I have about 75 in my stack at this point, and this does't look like a great semi buff card because there is always that chance im drawing dead to a full house.  So I check, and seat 7 leads out again for 30.  There is a call, so I fgure I need to call, and seat 6 check raises all in! When I see that I feel like almost for sure someone has filled up .  The guy who led out folds, as does one of the other callers.  So now here is the tough part: I don't know if I am drawing dead now with the strength he just showed?  Did he fill up? So I am deciding whether I have the odds to call, and from my estimation I absolutely do.  I am getting about 4.5 to 1 on a call for all my chips, and I have bout a 27% chance to win the pot wth my big draw.  However, I for a fact don't like to go broke on just a draw.

Anyways, I was honestly pressure sure he filled up; but then again the board did not look like a full house was possible: 8 9 3 3.  Could my opponent have a junk 8-3 or 9-3 suited? Highly unlikely to me.  He was a solid semi aggro player so if anythng he would raise, not limp with crap.  I had a hard time putting him on 8-8 or 9-9 because he surely would have raised in midpostion 9/10 tmes.  Then he says, "you can pick a card to see." At this point I know this is strength.  I told myself, if I see a 8 or 9 I definitly need to fold.  So I picked a card, and it was a 3! I like seeing that because I dont put him on aboat, only trips.  No way he has 8-3 or 9-3... If he did I was willing to pay him off and go home, because it didn't seem likely and my odds were too good to pass up if I was live. 

A-3 seemed most likely and sure enough he had A-3.  I don't mind seeing that at all.  In fact it makes complete sense that he had that.  So there goes 1 flush out, but I am still OK with the situation.  Sure enough a 7 of hearts hits, completing my flush! I take back a $280 pot, and end the night in profit land, up $130.  I got lucky, and was all giddy inside! It feels so good getting lucky sometimes.  I left the table immediately after that hand, hit and run style.  Sometimes when you feel all satisfied and giddy about a hand, you are likely to not make great decisons later.  I didn't feel I would have been on my A game after that hand, so I left in profit land. 

I am on my 2nd book of the year, Mike Caro's Most Profitable Holdem Advice. Let me tell you, the book has great pointers. Mike Caro is a genius.  I recommend that read for a player of any level above beginner.  I realized that the cure for me when I am on a downswing is a slight reduction on amount of hours at the pokerroom and more READING of poker books.  My results are provng that and my mind is much less foggy.

POKER IS FUN =)

I havent been doing too well lately (2 bad beat cash game sessions straight and a loss in a tournament), but instead of telling you all my bad beat story I decided I need a poker break in order to try and forget about the beats. I have went through some bad luck in the last couple sessions to the point where I lose money by making a great decision to fold.  For example, Seat 7 raised to $10 and seat 6 called.  I have JJ on the button and re-raise to $30 believing I have the best hand.  Both call as we go to the flop.  Flop shows 10 8 2.  Seat 7 checks, and 6 fires a puzzling $50.  I wisely fold and he shows 1010, set of tens.  I make a very nice fold, but lately I have continued to be out-drawn and card dead. This rough stretch has made my mind become foggy to the point where I feel fear when I get the larger pocket pairs.  This is a sign of a needed break for any poker player, and for the last 5 days I have taken a break, and I intend to rest my poker mind indefinitly until I am ready to grind the tables once again.  During this rough stretch I have lost $350.  Other situations I have went through include straight and flush draws my opponents have been hitting lately.  It gets very frustrating when you are on the wrong side in 4-1 favorite type odds especially when its a streak of bad beats.  I know I will get it back, it just may take a little time...

I plan on writing about my first session back in great detail.  Until then...

I also have decided starting in April I will keep track of how many bad beats I give, and how many I receive.  This is yet another quality gauge as to how I am playing.  As long as me getting sucked out on is a lot more than me getting lucky, I am happy with my play.

Just a quick update on the year about 2 months through 2010...

1) I am up $1120 net profit while logging in 90 hours thus far for 2010. This equates to $12.44 hourly rate. 

2) I have done 1 tournament and am looking to do another rather shortly here....

3) I am almost finished with my first book, "Daniel Negreanu's Power Holdem Strategy." I think its a pretty good book and I would recommend it for any intermediate player.  Even advanced players could pick up a thing or two, or even brush up on some things...

I am not satisfied with my hourly rate thus far, but 8 days ago I was in somewhat of a rut, only up $624 through 79 hours of play making a measely 8 bucks an hour... Last few sessions have went better, and I am making my way up the ladder while picking up some valuable experience.

Since my last update I have played three sessions, essentially breaking even overall.  I haven't had the best run of cards lately, but nonetheless I want to focus on the positives lately.  I made one of the greatest laydowns I have ever made and I will thouroughly explain it right here:

I have J4 suited diamonds in the small blind and a guy in middle position raised to $5 preflop.  Obviously this is a pot building raise.  Instead of trying to kick people out of the hand, its in hopes for everyone to call and for the pot to be big.  So there are 5 callers ahead of me, and I figure I might as well call in hopes for diamonds, 2-pair or trips because I get 6 to 1 on my money. 

Flop goes A99 with two diamonds. I check, and one of the other guys bets $10.  I like having a relatively strong flush draw, but I don't like the board being paired.  There is 2 callers, so (as the books says) I should call the $10 becuse its calling ten to make my hand with a flush to win $70. Turn card is a 5 of diamonds and I hit the flush.  However, I don't have quite enough information about the hand to be sure my hand is good.  I check, and the origional better puts out $30, there is a slow hesitating call, and I fold! Believe me, it was hard to fold my made hand, but I felt like folding was the best choice based on the information I was given.

Believe it or not, I was in 3rd place in that hand.  One guy had the Ace-High flush, and the other had a full house, 9's full of fives.  The fact that I had the sense to fold to the small $30 bet ON THE TURN when I made a strong flushing hand tells me I am really improving my game and discipline. A year ago I would have for sure called the bet on the turn and maybe even the river bet.  I made my hand and still folded when I hit. 

Well, short and sweet, thats all I got for now.... Can't wait until I play again... Hopefully a few times this week

I haven't updated my blog in a little while, and during this 2-week hiatus I have only played in 2 live sessions.  In my first session, I bought in for $200 in a $1/2 cash game and won 1 hand and left.  I had AQ and raised it up to $10. I got 4 callers. The flop went Q 9 3 with two hearts.  I bet out pretty strong to weed out my opponents to $40.  I got 2 callers.  turn card is an ace, giving me a premium 2 pair, I bet $60 on the turn and get 1 caller.  River is a blank 5 of diamonds.  I know at this point I have a lot in the pot, and if I am going up against a cooler set, I will just check call. So I checked and unexpectedly my opponent bets out $100.  I call, and he shows a busted straight flush draw of J10 hearts.  I avoided a lot of outs! It was a nice pot, and my opponent made a good effort to scare me.  I was afraid of a set, but a set didn't quite make sense based on the structure of the hand. 

So i walked away up $278 and decided to buy into my first tournament of the year.  It was a $40 buy in with 60 entrants.  Top 6 were getting paid.  However, the structure of the tournament was way too fast.  The blinds went up wayyy to fast (every 15 minutes doubled everytime).  I felt as if there was more luck then skill in this tournament.  I missed the money, placing 13. But there was really no way I would place based on the timing of particular hands. Next time I go in a tournemnt I will choose my tournaments more wisely. 

I played in a cash game a few days ago and I went up against a cooler hand.  A guy in seat 2 raised to $18.  I have pocket tens and I re-raise, trying to make it so I am heads up in this hand and to also see what kind of hand he has.  He smooth calls and at this point I am putting him on a big pair (higher than mine).  Flop comes 10 8 2! I flop the nut set.  Heads up, I figure hes gunna bet out the flop. He checks, and I figure there is no need to bet here.... If he has an overpair he is paying me off on later streets and my hand will appear less strong.  Turn card is a king. I have slight fear he turned a set of kings, but my hand is too strong to lay down.  He checks again, and I bet $20.  He instantly raises me, making his hand either AK KK or AA.  Based on the information and my 2nd nuts, I can't lay this down heads up.  I go all in and he calls with a set of kings.  That was a cooler, and I am broke (15 big blinds).  Thats just the way it goes sometimes.... set over set is so rare, but it happens.  Whether I bet on the flop or not, hes calling or raising me on the flop and the money is going in either way. 

In  my last hand of the session I grind my way to 23 big blinds ($46). I have AA and raise to 15, knowing I am shoving on the flop regardless of what comes up, I get one caller and the flop comes j64 with 2 diamonds. I go all in, and he calls with A4 and two diamonds.  He missed his flush, but to my demise a trip 4 hits on the river.  I leave ending the night down $200.  That was some rough luck....

Lately if you have read my blogs I have been continuously cracked with AA... I know its not an unbeatable hand by any means, but when you continue to get cracked by weak aces and you have them totally dominated (9 to 1) its frustrating and discouraging.... There's always another day. My bankroll is still healthy and I am looking forward to the next session.

I have been a bit lazy with updating my blog of late.  Ever since I last checked in I have had another 2 winning sessions, allowing me to make a very solid comeback to profit land.  I won $175 five days ago in $1/2 cash game setting logging in 4 hours.  I started the day with a few tough decisions in the hole, getting very good flops to only be beat down by a great flop.  For instance, I chose not to raise with AJ offsuit in a rowdy table based on certain circumstances and the flop would go J 10 5. I would bet the pot of $15 holping to get maybe a bunch of folders and 1 caller, and to my demise I would get repopped to $45.  I smooth call, throw in a stopper bet on the turn then get repopped again. When a solid player re raises you two times like that, that's when you just have to fold em...

I was in the hole about $110 and got KK. Riase to $12 and get two callers, just like I want.  Flop comes A55 and I don't like that flop. I bet a feeler bet, half the pot of $25.  If I get a caller I know I am beat.  I get a caller, and the hand pretty much stops right there for my betting.  He fires out the turn, committing himself to the hand. I for sure know I am beat then and just cut my losses. That is always frustrating to fold those cowboys... But it was the right fold, just a poor flop for my hand.

Later on, my luck finally changed a bit... I raised on the button with 1010 to $15 looking for isolation. I bet one caller right in front of me. Flop is great, going Q 10 5, flopping me the 2nd nuts with a set.  The  guy in front of me leads out to my surprise, a tester bet of $15. I act as if its  a relatively tough spot for me and just smooth call. I am in a great position now because I know he has top pair with a very good kicker, and he will continue to lead out and fall for my trap. He bets a weak $20 on the turn as another blank hits, 2 of hearts.  I call again. River is a 8, and I know I have a hammerlock on the hand.  He leads out another weakish bet, and I minraise him to get as much profit as possible.  I win the relatively large pot, and at this point it brings me up to just over even. 

With a few other big hands and good solid grind out poker, I left up $175. I can't complain...

The next night (three nights ago, monday night) I picked up some monster hands, and monster flops.  I was up $400 in the first 20-30 minutes! So far buying in for the max has worked exceptionally well for me, allowing me to use all my poker skills instead of forcing me to play only premium hands in the shortstack.  I raised $10 with AK suited and get 3 callers....

Flop comes KQ3, 2 spades.  I have top pair top kicker and no flush draw. I lead out $25, figuring I have the best hand. I get 2 callers.  Turn is luckily a blank, 7 of diamonds.  I bet out $40, and surprisingly get 2 callers again! I figure one of these donks is on just a flush draw.  River is a deuce, a great card for my hand. There is no straight or flush out there, but since the pot is so big already, I just check, putting myself in a check/call stage.  I figure if I bet the river, itd be painful to call a a raise with just 1 pair and if I was behind the whole way itd cut my losses...

Guy behind me bets $50, and this is a scary bet... did he hit 2 pair on me? It's unlikely he would slowplay KQ on me on all 5 streets.  Guy bets out $50 and gets a call from the other guy.  I have to call I feel because there is so much in the pot and I have a good enough hand that its still probably a winner. I call and show AK.  I take down a $225 pot, and the other 2 muck.  The guy who bet $50 had 7's with a busted flush draw, and the other guy had KJ. 

I won some other nice hands, but nothing too notable. I ended up winning $500 in 4.5 hours of poker.  Nice for a live game. I won my first $400 early on, but I am still satisfied with the way I played and when I left the table. I am always happy when I leave the table when I am at my highest profit of the night. I was up $500 and as soon as I got to that point, I felt hungry and tired and called it a night.

Winning that $500 put me at ease, and I decided its time to relax and take a few days off.  Poker is a viscious cycle, but its nice to take a well deserved break. Poker is fun =)

So after I have had such a tough time winning lately due to bad luck, I decided I needed to change something up: I bought in for the max ($200) in $1/2 cash game. This is the first time I have bought in for that amount, and I realized its the most profitable amount for my game. I have always been a good shortstack player, and I have bought in for a low amount of $100.  I realized it just handicaps you too much.  The other day when I was playing I would have won so much more money if I would have been able to see a few more flops. (I folded so many hands that turned out to be monsters post flop, flopping flushes and turning full boats).  I literally would have won $600+, instead I was right aroud the break even point.  Also, being a short stack makes the session less fun. I am not saying be impatient and play a bunch of hands you normally wouldnt be able to, but when you have less than $100 in your stack, you can't be as flexible and you cant ever see flops unless you have a predictable big pocket pair or big cards.

Now onto tonights session.  I ended up winning $201 in 4 hours tonight, breaking me basically even on the year.  I know with my new strategy of buying in for more I will be more profitable.  I ended up making a 5-star fold tonight.  I had 10-7 suited in late posistion and limped in for $2 and there were about 5 of us to the flop.  Flop shows A 10 7.  I was ready to pounce on the flop hard protecting a strong yet vulnerable hand.  Guy under the gun leads out with a pot sized bet and a call.  I figure I have the best hand with bottom 2 pair and pump it up to $45 hoping to probably take it down right then. Then the origional better goes over the top for $100.  Caller folds.  I am sitting there trying to think of what I had beat: next to nothing. This was a limped pot, so I can't assume he's playing a AJ AQ or AK because he would normally raise it preflop right there.  So i figure he has A7 or A10, or maybe a set of 7's.  I really have nothing beat, and this guy wouldn't just try to steal a pot.  I fold 10 7 face up and to my delight he shows A10. I was very happy with my fold, and I wouldn't have played it any other way.  If I had him beat my hand was still very vulnerable.  I raised to find out exactly where I stood.

I played a few hands later on in the day very profitably, I called a $7 raise with QJ offsuit and the flop came QJ9. I planned on check raising to see exactly where I stood here beacuse the origional raiser was behind me.  4 of us took the flop and unfortunately for my hand it was checked around.  I know if a 8 K or 10 hits on the turn I loose my chance to win the pot essentially, as there is four to a straight.  I thought checking the flop was a good move in that someone would bet and I could information raise knowing I am likely ahead at this point.  Unfortunately everyone checked, but fortunately the turn was a very safe card, 3 of clubs.  Guy in front of me bets $15 and I raise to $35.  Everyone behind me folds and he smooth calls.  River is a great card as well, 4 of diamonds.  Guy in front checks again and I value bet knowing I have the best hand.  I bet $35 into a $90 pot and he calls with KQ.  Very healthy sized pot =)

Towards the end of the evening I called a raise to $15 with AK offsuit on the button.  Flop comes A 5 3.  Raiser checks, and I bet $20.  He smooth calls. Turn is a queen of spades.  He checks again, and with him only having $45 left I bet him all in and he calls with AA! He flopped a set of aces on me and I could do nothing about it.  Sometimes you have to pay the man off when you have top pair, top kicker in a heads up pot.  There is no way I can really muck that hand. 

All in all this was a good session. I learned that it is much more profitable for me to have a larger buy in (100 big blinds in 1/2) and stack to play with.  I am going to continue this strategy becasue it's important to see flops and play poker.  Afterall along with making money, poker shouldn't be boring and sedentary.  I am there to have fun as well =)

So I played two nights straight and bought in for $100 each time. I will not go into too far of detail minus a few specific hands, but lets just say I am really struggling to cut any break whatsoever, or avoiding the bad beats.  I have always been ready for the downswing, but 4 straight sessions of losing is really starting to cause stress.  It can certainly weigh on you.

So after a rough session in the previous thread in which is somehow came out a mini winner, the rough breaks seem to mount even more.  On the bright side, I was able to fold queens preflop with no affect on my stack...

I was up about $90 last night with a stack of 190 and had QQ in a shorter 7 handed cash game at the moment of this hand.  I raised the pot to $10 and everyone folded, until the big blind re-popped me to $27.  I got the initial feeling I was beat by a bigger pocket pair preflop.  I looked at his stack and i easily had him covered, as he had 27 in and 55 back in his stack, basically making him pot committed regardless of the flop.  It hit me right then that I was crushed. He had Kings or aces.  What makes this fold pretty impressive on my part is that even if I am wrong, I am still about even on the evening if I don't catch a lucky queen.  I saw he was strong, and pot committed, and he was a solid fairly tight player.  I folded queens. Sometimes its so hard to fold queens because they look so good in the pocket.  Sure enough, he had kings! This is the second time I have ever folded queens and both times I was right. 

After folding them two times throughout my two-year career of playing serious poker, I realized queens are tough to fold, but certainly not impossible. I mean, what can you beat? AK would be the best case scenario, and if he is aggressive, he could have JJ or 1010. But otherwise, you are probably beat.  The ladies look great in the pocket, but you gotta fold em if you are beat.  Trusting your instincts is key.

On to later in the session... I am up about $50 and have an A7 of diamonds on the button.  Guy in early position raises to $7 and there are 5 callers. I would usually fold, but in this spot with $35 in the pot I am crazy not to call to hope for trips on the flop, diamonds, or a 2 pair.  So i call and the flop goes 5,6,9 all diamonds!!! I flop the nuts, and the origional raiser bets $15 and gets 1 call. Now to me. There is no way I can raise the pot if I think someone is on diamonds, beacuse I also have the nut straight flush draw.  A turn or river diamond is perfect for my hand, and I am going to take a chance i don't get sucked out on a runner runner full house with all the profit about to be made. 

The turn is a pretty bad card, pairing the board with a 6 of clubs.  Raiser bets 15 again and a call. I know I have to pounce on the hand now, and I raise to $60, knowing I might be beat or protecting my hand if someone has trips or 2 pair.  So the origional raiser folds, and the other guy (donk) raises all in, and I have to call even if I am drawing only to the straight flush because I probably have him beat, and I have to get it in ahead.  He shows 6 4 off suit with a 4 of diamonds! I am licking my chops because if the board doesnt pair, or a 4 doesn't hit, I take down a $200 pot and am up $250 and on my way out the door.  Sure enough, my downswing continues, as a 4 his the board.  I am so upset. The board didnt even re-pair! That is bad luck.... The suckouts continue... I lost my $100 tight then, and I decided its time to go home.  I could have rebought, but I was hungry and tired from a long day.

Onto tonight.... It was a very short and sad session.  There were two big stacks that would blind raise to $5 and re-raise to $10 for the past 12 hands.  So obviously they are doing this with junk hands.  So i am under the gun with $90 in my stack witH AQ suited.  I limp in, ready to go over the top.  So, as hoped for and planned already, big stack #1 raises small to $5 and gets re-raised to $10 (donkeys).  There are 4 smooth callers, and I see I can probably take it down with the best hand, and even if I am called all in, I am likely a coinflip or favorite when it all goes in.  So, with $60 in the pot already with the callers, I go over the top and all-in for $90.  I get called, and the origional raiser #1 actually has a legitimate hand for once, calling with JJ. I don't mind to see this because we are a coinflip and there is already $60 extra in there. I will take those odds any time of the week, putting in 90 to win $240. As bad swings prove themselves, I failed to win the coinflip and lost right then and there.  Looking back at the hand, I would have done that any day of the week. It is a winning play to put in $90 to win $240 as a favorite or a coinflip in worst case scenario given the situation.  Unfortunately I lost my only buy in of the night within 15 minutes. 

Tonight I played an extremely long session of 7 hours at $1/2 blinds cash game and played very solid and tight throughout most of the night.  I was grinding for about an hour and woke up with AQ in good solid position.  I had a stack of about $100 and called a $10 raise along with 3 other callers to the flop.  The flop went AQ8 with 2 spades. I know I have a hammerlock on this hand at this pont.  So the origional raiser bets out $25 and I repop him the minimal to $50, knowing he has something like AJ or AK.  He shovs all in and I insta-call.  He turns over AJ and my 2-pair holds on. 

After that quick double up, I have about $250 in my stack.  I have AA under the gun and raise to $12 and get 1 call, and then one re-raise to $57.  I posture and sit there for about a good solid 40 seconds, and repop im all in for my chips, guarenteeIng a heads up clash.  I'm sure he has KK or QQ with that re-raise so I am expecting a call.  The origional first caller folds to my all-in and the re-raiser in seat 5 calls with KK.  Guess what pops up on the flop? A king flops right out the window, giving him a set.  WIth $500 in the pot I was devastated. Instead of being up about $500, I loose $100... That is a $600 swing. Thats the mighty swings of poker...

So I am down $110 and get AA again. this time I raise to $12 in later position and get 1 caller.  The flop is a raggedy 7 6 2 with 2 clubs.  Heads up I feel as if I am able to slow play aces when the flop misses me opponent, hoping for that check to make my money on a later street.  And I did just that.  He checked in front of me and I checked.  The turn was a blank, 4 of spades.  He checks again, and I somewhat make an overbet on the turn of $40.  He calls, and the river 4 is another 4, which leaves no doubt my hand is good if he was slowplaying a miracle 2 pair like 76.  He checks, and I bet all in for $45 more.  He calls, thinking Ih am bluffing with Ace-high and I double up and am about even at this point.  I've learned that on the right situation with the right flop, it is ok to slow play aces heads up.  This proved true in this situation. 

Later on I get AA again and raise to $12 in early position.  I get 2 callers, and the flop comes 882 with 2 hearts.  Usually this is a very good flop for aces, and I throw in a bet of $15.  I relatively tight player raises me $30, and the other player calls.  I make a monster laydown and fold my aces, putting the tight player on a miracle 8.  The turn is another 8!.... yes another 8, which would have given me the second nuts with the biggest full house possible: Aces full of eights.  The raiser to my post flop bet ended up having A8 suited! I was so happy with my fold, but perplexed with the rough luck I have received tonight and lately with my big pairs (see previous entries). Essentially all the A8 could hope for post flop was running eights or diamonds.

 I know folding aces to a raise after the flop is a losing play in the long run given the structure of that flop, but sometimes you have to make a monster laydown when you know the opponent more than likely flops trips like that. 

Towards the end of the night despite the bad run of cards I have gotten, I am not quite dead yet.  I get AA yet again! An aggressive big stack raises the pot to $20 preflop with 1 caller. I repop it to $50, investing just over half my stack preflop, knowing I am shoving on the flop almost regardless the flop.  I get 2 callers, making the pot $150

Flop comes 886. Thats pretty much deja vu all over again.  Anyways, I go all in for my last $40, and get called on a random hand.  The drunk guy that called $50 preflop just calls me with queen high, either misreading his hand or just trying to gamble? It was basically a gift of $45 more dollars.  Well needless to say he turns a flush draw, and thankfully he doesn't runner runner flush me for my last $100.  That would have been beyond cruel if I would have lost that hand. 

That double up makes me go up $40 on the day.  Not too bad for someone who had such a rough run of cards.  I consider this a big wi n, because if I would have tilted at any point throughout the session, I would have lost $200.  Instead I won  $35.  This is barely even a win in  a cash game session, but I'll take it because of the rough luck I have gotten tonight and recently (see previous threads).  I am only up $50 dollars for the year, which is putting me at about a laughable $2 an hour, nowhere near my goal.  Considering the circumstances, I consider this a moral victory.  I just can't wait when the big pairs hold up when I get it all in preflop.... I will be licking my chops when my lucks just changes ever so slightly =)

Played another cash game last night. I folded about 4 hands anId woke up with kings.  The guy right next to me raised to $7 and I repopped him with KK to $20. After a little deliberation he called. He called and the flop came 8 6 3.  He checked to me and I bet all in. He snap called and to my demise he had American Airlines AA.  It was simply a cooler.  Nothing I could do about it.  My opponent trapped me very well, figuring I was a big pair like Kings or Queens.  I didn't buy in a second time based on the fact that it was such a cooler and my mind got foggy.  The same game will always be there on another night when I am in a better mindset...

Tonight I tried to keep my mini upswing rolling, except tonight was just simply not my night. I ended up playing for five hours and won one pot... ONE POT! I won one pot, and all it was was small $20 pot on middle pair of queens on a A Q 5 flop.  After about 3 hours of literally folding every single hand, I had pocket 6's in middle position. A guy who raised quite often raised it to $12, and I shoved my last $42 in the pot in hopes of isolation if he indeed called.  He called as did another loose player, and Q10 took my final $42 after hitting top pair on a flop of QJ5. 

Onto my second $100, I folded every hand for about 40 minutes.  I held A6 and A7 and would have flopped trips two times, but being a shorter stack it would be a losing proposition to call the raises that were made preflop.  In other words, if I was a donk I could have won a few pots right there and been up on the evening.  After the 40 minutes of basically being on autofold, I wake up with pocket aces AA.  one guy raises to all in for his remaining $10, and I repop it to $25. Another guy in late position raises all in with pocket tens, having me just barely covered.  I am happy at this point having my money in good for the side pot and main pot.  The guy that is all in for $10 has pocket kings, I show aces, and the guy who repopped me all in has pocket tens.  Long story short, I didnt win the main pot... I didnt even win the side pot.  The guy with the pocket tens wins the entire pot with a a flush.  4 clubs hit the board and his ten of clubs takes it all down. 

Sometimes its just not your night.... You can't have a winning session every night.  I try to shrug it all off, but its frustrating to be so patient for 5 straight hours and not even pick up a to 10 starting hand.  I never picked up any ace higher than A10 off, and not a bigger pocket pair then 6's besides my last hand, the pocket aces.  I didn't win a pot the entire night basically, and I could have been even or ahead if I hold up against pocket tens.  I am a 4-1 favorite when all the money is in, and I still lost.  But hey, I'll take those odds everytime when getting it all in preflop...

I try to look at the bright side of these evenings... I essentially never won 1 pot, and I still had an opportunity to be ahead on the night on that final hand.  I will make money off these donkeys in the long run, the odds always even out and catch up.  The donkeys have to win sometimes or they won't ever come back to pay me in the long run =)

Great players don't let these nights get to them.  The same game will be there tommorow and the next, and for the rest of my life. 

The second session of 2010 was another success, and I am off to a nice start. Yesterday I was at yet another charity poker room in the same $1/2 cash game setting.  I won $195 in 3 hours.  This makes my yearly total of $315 profit in 9 hours of live play.  However, I had to rebuy into my second $100 to make this session positive.  Onto the notable hands...

In the first hour, I was flat out card dead.  You know how these slow nights go, when you get a 10-9 suited, you get excited.  After about 90 minutes into my session I had AQ offsuit in later position. I only had $70 in my stack without winning a single pot and bleeding blinds and small raise calls.  I bumped it up to a raise of $12 and got 3 callers.  The flop was raggedy and low, reading 235.  This doesn't do a whole lot for my hand except give me an inside straight draw and the possibility of missing all my opponents.  Everyone checks to me, and the pot is nearly $50.  So, having the tight image I have, I decide to go all-in assuming I can possibly take it down right there. Sure enough I get a caller who slow-played and checked to me on the flop, calling me with a set of 5's.  I was drawing dead, and was down my first $100.  I don't really question my all-in there because if someone flops a small piece of the flop, my current fairly table image would be good enough to take it down anyways.

Onto the rebuy of $100.  A player in early position raises to $7 and I call along with 2 others with AJ offsuit.  Flop is very nice for my hand, reading J56 with 2 diamonds.  The origional raiser bets $20, and at this point I have 2 people behind me.  I raise it to $40 to see where I'm at, and hoping my hand is best to just take down right then.  Sure enough, everyone folds and I take it down right then like I had hoped for.  This pot wins be about 45 bucks and I am grinding to $-50 at this point on the come up.

I won a few small pots with Big pairs (KK) and (AK) by raising and betting the flop, most of them favorable flops for me as I had the best hand.  I grinded myself back up to about +$30 after a few of these situations. 

I ended the final hour of my session with 2 MONSTER flops.  The first one was fairly profitable, as I called in late position with a 7-4 of hearts.  We go five handed in a limped pot. The flops is picture perfect 3-5-6 with 2 clubs.  I bet the flop with a fairly strong bet of $7 in a small $10 pot, making any 2 pair or flush draw have to pay to catch up to me.  I get an immediate raise to $15, and this is music to my ears as I have the full-blown nuts.  I re-raise to $35, and this is a very small re-raise, basically telling my opponent I have an absolute monster of a hand at this point.  He calls pretty immediately.  The turn is a decent card, a 9 of spades.  I no longer have the nuts, because an 8-9 would be the best hand.  However, I am very comfortable at this point because the player I am playing against has never re-raised on a big draw such as 8-9, so this is out of realm of possibilities.  I make the pot expensive to call with, by betting $50 and I take it down right there.  The guy I was involved with in the hand ended up having 2-pair, and I was not about to give him a free card.  I am happy to take down the pot right then.

Towards the end of the session, I was up about $80 and raised the pot to $15 in the small blind with AJ of hearts.  I made it expensive because there was already about 5 callers and I really was content taking it down there, knowing my hand is beatable but yet the best at that moment in time.  The flop is wonderful, reading J-J-Q with 2 clubs.  I know this flop could potentially read decently for a few of the callers (ex. K-10, anyone with a queen, or 2 clubs), so I was not about to slow play, especially in a calling-station type of table.  I bet pretty strong, with a bet of $25 and got 1 caller.  This narrows the hands to the ones potentially listed above, with the exception of QJ (I would have to pay the man off if this was the case, especially when I have him covered).  The turn card is great for my hand, changing nothing, 5 of spades.  I bet this time VERY STRONGLY, making the opponent think I was perhaps stealing, and trying to price him out of any type of draw.  I bet $100 into a pot of about $80, a definiate overbet for someone that holds a jack.  The fact that I bet $100 obviously caused him to be suspicious of me bluffing, and the $100 bet was enough to put him all in.  That alone tells me it was a wonderful bet, as the river was a 5 giving me a full house.  The caller didn't even show his hand and mucked it, as the river gave me the near nuts.  This tells me he must have thought I was stealing and was on a draw.  I am so happy with the way I played my hand because I really confused my opponent with that big overbet on the turn. 

Anyways, those were the notable hands I played in a relatively short 3 hour session.  What I really enjoyed about this session was that I faced very little difficult decisions.  Everything I played was easy to fold, and easy to raise.  It was a successful, enjoyable afternoon and session.  Also, this was proven again in this session: You must always have the option of a rebuy when in a cash game.  If I didn't rebuy, I would have lost $100 instead of winning $195.  This is a $295 swing in money!  However, I am not going to get too excited about the solid start to the year because I am bound to have a couple losing nights in the near future...

I will end with a quote about poker from the great David Sklansky: "When we play, we must realize, before anything else, that we are out to make money."

 

I played a 6 hour session to start 2010 at a charity pokerroom near school at a 1/2 $200 max buy in cash game.  I ended up coming out a $120 winner getting me off to a decent start to the year.  For the first 2 1/2 hours I had a very difficult time grinding up the ladder, wavering down 50 dollars and up 35 for the first couple hours. 

In the first hour, I had 2 very notable hands, one good and the other turned off bad. I had pocket 5's and i limped in in middle position. The flop came 10 5 3 with 2 diamonds.  I flop the second nuts, giving me a set of fives.  The guy in seat 4 bet $7 and I smooth call, making us go heads up.  The turn is a 9 of spades, and I love that card beacuse there is no straight or flush on the board.  Now its time to make a move on the pot to get rid of any drawing hands.  The guy in seat 4 bets $15, and I raise to $45. He re-raises me all in and at this point I know I have to stay in based on the power of my hand and how much I have invested in the pot.  The turn card was beautiful, giving him top 2 pair, tens and 9's.  The river card was a 3, giving me a full house as I took down a 100 dollar pot.  I am up 90 bucks at this point.

About 15 minutes later, I woke up with KK.  I raised in early position to $12 and got 8 CALLERS! This is BADDD news at this point.  The flop comes 4 5 9 rainbow.  At this point the pot is about $80, and this is a great flop for my hand.  I bet $50 and got one caller.  At this point I assume that the guy who called either has a set or top pair considering him just smooth calling. The turn is a 9, and we both check.  The river is a meaningless blank card.  The guy who called me in seat 6 bets $30 dollars.  I felt as if I had to call considering the pot was already almost $200.  I called, and he shows a full house, flopping a set of 5's just as I suspected.  I am mad at myself for calling, because obviously it was a value bet.  It was a bad call, but it would have taken a hell of a lot of discipline to fold it.  At this point I was about dead even.  Sometimes you just have to pay the man off...

I was up 40 bucks and was in late position with pocket 7's ina  limped pot.  I decided to limp and this was costly, as the flop was 566.  I bet $15 basically to see if anyone had a 6 and I had two callers.  I ended up losing a medium sized pot, and both the callers turned up very weak starting hands with a 6.  If I would have raised the pot preflop, I would have taken it down.  I played the hand too passively preflop, and I was probably the favorite with any callerif I would have raised preflop .  That was a great flop for 7's if I would have raised.  Both the pepple with the weak 6's would have folded to any raise. 

Another example of me playing passively involved me with A6 of hearts.  There was a $7 raise and I called based on good pot odds.  There was 5 of us to the flop and the flop  read 10 9 7 with 2 hearts.  I picked up the nut flush draw.  I failed to bet the flop as everyone checked. That check proved to be costly.  The turn was a queen of clubs. I called a 12 dollar bet on the turn,. The river was a blank , 3 of spades.  I tried stealing the pot with a slight overbet  (45 in a 55 dollar pot) on the river, and got a caller with Q7.  If I would have bet the flop, he would have folded already and I would have taken it down. 

After a few hours of grinding my way up 30 bucks, I limped in on the button with Q2 suited.  The flop comes 2 2 7, two diamonds.  The guy to my left bets $6 with 2 callers.  At this point I decide to raise to $25, assuming that someone is on a flush draw by two people just calling the $6 bet.  I get one caller, the guy who origionally bet $6. The turn is BEAUTIFUL and is the queen of spades, giving me a full house. I check as does the guy to my left.  The river is an ace and he bets $45.  I raise to $90 and get paid off.  He turns over trip 2's with a King kicker and I show the full house and win a $230 pot. 

Towards the end of the night, I was up about $260 and limped in with a healthy 79 of hearts and we are six handed to see a flop.  I have an entertaining flop, flopping a pair of sevens and a flush draw. The flop was A 10 7 with two hears.  One guy bets $12, and I just call with another guy behind me calling.  The turn is a 9, giving me bottom 2 pair and a flush draw.  The origional better bets $40.  At this point I am fairly confident I may have the best hand. I raise to $80, he smooth calls, and its just me and the origional better to my right.  The river is a meaningless deuce, and we both check it down.  He shows two pair, aces and tens and I am loose a $100 pot. 

Looking back on the last hand, I would have not played that pot any differently.  I played it to win the pot, and I could freeze any 2 pair with that raise.  Raising narrowed the hands I was up against, and any 7,9, or heart would give me the best hand as it turned out.

A few minutes later a short stack player raised $20 all in with pocket 7's, I called with A10, putting us in a coinflip situation. His 7's held up, and he took down a small pot.

At the end of the night I was getting hungry and tired. I had the discipline to call it a night.  I could have played better, and I felt as if I played a little too passive in a few notable hands (ex. pocket 7's hand and the nut flush draw hand), but a win is a win. If I would have played more assertive poker, I would have profited much better. I left the pokerroom a bit disapointed in myself, because tonight could have been a much better session.  There's always another day in poker, and the whole point of writing in this blog is to vent notable hands by pointing out my good plays and learning from my mistakes. Every session is a learning experience...

Here is this year's list of poker goals for the year 2010. As a fairly recreational player, I am not full-time... Heck I'm not even part time at this point:

 1) End this year with a net profit of $9,500. I ended 2009 with a net profit of $5,829 logging in 392 hours in the 1/2 cash game setting. This equates to roughly $14.86/hr. At one point, I was just above 15 dollars an hour before i ended the year on a negative note (In my last 3 sessions I logged 13 hours with a loss of $225 in a mini-downswing). I was disapointed in the way I ended the year, but this year equates to a brand new slate. It would be very nice to grind up to 9,500 for 2010. However, if my hours become 600-700 for the year, I expect this mathematical figure to be $11,400-13,300 for the year.

2) End this year with an hourly rate of $19/hour. If I would have ended 2009 stronger (The last 3 sessions introduced above), I would have had an hourly rate of nearly $16. As I continue to read through quality Texas Holdem material, I should be able to clean up a few flaws in my game.

3) Log in 500 hours minimally for 2010. Yes, being the numbers kind of guy I am, I figured out what my first two goals would be by making a goal to log in 500 hours. If I log in 500 hours and make 19 dollars an hour, I will make $9500 for the year.

4) Read 5 new poker books this year. I am currently reading Daniel Negreanu's Power Holdem Strategy and I am about to read Mike Caro's Most Profitable Holdem Advice. I hope to purchase one of the great Dan Harrington's tournament style books on Texas Holdem shortly as well.

5) Begin competing in tournaments. In 2009, I did purely 1/2 cash games at predominately local charity pokerrooms along with the occasional casino stop. Now that I am 21 in May, I can begin to play at the casinos downtown. I plan to sprinkle in a few tournaments here and there to expand my poker game. I really enjoy the cash games, but to spice things up I think its important to compete in 1-2 tournaments a month for roughly 15 tournaments a year. This will at least give me a small sample space to see what how my rates compare with that of the cash game.

6) Place in at least 4 tournaments. This is not the greatest profit, but I believe need to start off attainable and basic before expanding my goal on this one. In tournaments, this year is more a year of experience. I think of myself as a skilled low-limit cash game player, but I am still a beginner in tournaments. Rome was not built in one day.

7) Have the Bankroll to be able to play in a few VERY JUICY $2/5 cash games. Yes, I certainly don't have the bankroll today to play in 2/5 on a regular basis, and I plan to be a regular $1/2 cash game player even at the end of the year. However, by the second half of 2010, I would like to have the flexibility to be able to introduce the idea of $2/5. I will have to continue to have a solid hourly rate. The problem with $2/5 is that you can WIN a lot more, but you will have to take larger swings. The reason I say problem is because I don't quite have the bankroll for it. For example, in $1/2 NL, I bring $200 to play with. (usually 2 $100 buy ins if need be). If I play $2/5, I will probably have to buy in with $250 (2 buy ins equate to being willing to loose $500 on horrid nights). I cannot handle these swings, so I will likely not participate in this limit much or at all for 2010.

8) Continue to achieve great poker habits with my personal Bankroll. I have kept this rule of thumb since day 1: For each poker session, in $1/2 cash games I will bring 2 $100 buy ins, making my worst case scenario a $200 loser. This is a very sound strategy because I will not be overstressed on losing nights when I am relaxing at home. If I am in $2/5, I have to be willing to use this rule of thumb: Bring 2 $250 buy ins making my worst case scenario a $500 loser. This is why I am not quite ready for $2/5. I am very proud of myself because I see this. I believe I have the skill level to compete and profit at this level, but I always prepare for the worst. I will be ready for a downswing, and my bankroll must be able to weather the storm.

Another rule of thumb for myself before moving up in limits for the cash game is this: Have a minimal of 10 buy in SESSIONS for the level you are playing at. If you don't have that minimal requirement, you must lower your level. It's always ok to do this. For example, I need to have minimally 2,000 dollars in my bankroll to play $1/2. ($200 willing to loose each night) In order to move up to 2/5, it has to be minimally $5,000. This is another example of why my bankroll is not ready. I may have the yearly profit to play $2/5 and even $3/6, but I am continuing to make payments on college classes, along with everyday expenses, so obviously I dont have that money in my name.

9) Continue to make a log of my winnings and losings for each session. This is probably the easiest and most basic goal I have for myself. Without this goal, all the other goals are impossible to factually know. Each year I have a notebook that contains the date/ Number of hours logged in that session/ +-$ that day. I am very true to myself, because if I don't do this, I am cheating myself. The only way you can truley figure out how your really doing is to be exact and consistent on your personal log. This is how I find out my hourly rate and net profit for the year.

10) Make sure I write about each session for the entire year. This is pretty self explanatory.

I know this was a pretty long list of goals, but I believe this is attainable with hard work. If I don't conquer at least 8 of the 10 goals, I will consider this year as somewhat of a failure. Wish me luck!

For the vast majority of journal entries, I will conclude with a quote from a poker professional or a life quote that is related to my poker session: "If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes." -Andrew Carnegie