Back

I'm home again. Played a bit the last few nights. No really big hands, but I ended up about $160, so I was pleased.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?702829

I've been experimenting with open limping from the cutoff or button. I pick up a lot of pots that get checked around, and I have position, etc. I'm not sure quite where to draw the line, but the button was pretty tight and I expected the limp to purchase the button. Anyway, I have a pair + OESD on the flop, so I bump it. I hit the straight on the turn and fire. The only interesting part is the river; I was really hesitant to bet because I wasn't sure what I was beating. I really doubt he has a heart draw because of near PSBs on both streets, and he was the BB; could have 96. Could have a naked six, though, or two pair. I'm actually not sure if betting here is correct, but I've been consciously trying to make thin value bets and there you go.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?702842

I'm still trying to work out profitable set lines. b/3b doesn't quite work when you're deep. Here it was fine; I was trying to represent a draw or bluff and bam. When he minraises that might be a draw, and I'm not keen on giving them decent odds. In this case, overs could kill my action, too. I guess the preflop raiser b/3b is a draw about never, though, so I'm not sure if this was the best line. I mean, he might be on a draw, in which case pushing might be right just to smash his implied odds, but I don't think this extracts max value from TPTK-esque hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?702850

Here I turn a set and again miss some value. At the time I was like "yessssss he has trips and I'm going to maul him" but I didn't realize that this could also be a flush draw that is drawing totally dead and yet will still pay me off.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?702853

Come on, who doesn't get paid off with top set in a raised pot? I was so totally going to checkraise him and he was too rude to comply. I think he had AK or maybe jacks, because I can't see anything else.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?702858

:(. OOP is awwwwwful. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a pocket pair except maybe aces (or jacks if he is a total lucksack) because the threebet and ace should put the fear of God into QQ-KK. I think he has AK/AA here a lot. He claimed to have AQ, which also makes sense and shows how valueable the button is. Still, I'm pretty sure the best case scenario there is a split pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?702866

http://www.pokerhand.org/?702867

I need to stop betting the turn after my flop raises get called. To me, it makes no sense; I'm totally selling a monster but they can't seem to fold. Dude might have the ten there, or jacks (his raises were always big, but I think TT-JJ are raised heaviest preflop because people hate playing them postflop) but bottom two? How is that not KJ/KQ/T9? Shrug. I guess I'll just do it with good hands and get paid off.

bleh

http://www.pokerhand.org/?686585

I hate monotone flops. I think it's pretty standard up til he checkraises the turn; calling is sketchy but I have terrific odds. c/c c/r is a line for monster, but I think he's drawing here enough that it's profitable.

I also lost another pot with top two. Just a bad session in general; c-bets going nowhere, outturned, etc. There's no one hand I can point to (well, the above) as totally stupid, I just have a ton of pots where I'm $5 in the red. I'm quite happy with some, losing minimum and making good folds etc; I think I made some marginal mistakes (Not raising enough preflop in one, maybe a loose turn bet in another, etc) in others, but it just seems like I'm running bad. I hate that, because I know I'm making mistakes and the fact that I can't find them is worrisome.

Oh well. I'm going to Arizona for Christmas (white ones are overrated) and probably won't play poker until the new year. Cheers, folks. Merry Christmas.

I feel fortunate

I'm only down $165 today over two sessions. Yep, "only." Some coolers, got sucked out on for 200 BBs (yeah that was fun) and I think I misplayed the biggest pot I won anyway. Some hands follow. I'm not overly upset with anything I did except missing some value on the last hand.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?686267

"Rat bastard." I think PF is fine; we're super deep. My flop raise was actually too small, but when he pushed I figured that he'd raise JJ+ preflop for damn sure and maybe a bit lower. It's very hard to credit him for 88 or 99 because he'd need both, and 66 is a bit of a loose raise. I thought he had an overpair and was right. Frowns at results.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?685339

Pretty standard; there's some argument for not c-betting that many people, but I have a reasonable chance to improve to what's probably the best hand. Check the turn because something feels off, call the river. Lost about the minimum.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?686244

Heh, after he called the turn I said out loud "Man, I hope he doesn't push the river...fuck." The problem is that quite aside from heart draws, he could be betting A8+ or so for value. He probably doesn't threebet quite that loose, but the small threebet could be a smaller ace or pocket pair. I think I see worse aces there a lot more often than AK.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?686260

I do not, as a rule, open limp. I made an exception here because I wanted the BB to come along, wanted a multiway pot, and even if I limp/call a raise, that's more indicative of a lowish pair anyway. Not really much I can do flush over flush. I think I have the overflush a fair amount of the time there anyway, not to mention him having QT instead.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?686299

I think I actually screwed up in a couple places here, but I'm not sure. That minraise on the flop could be a ten, a set, AJ, worse two pair, AT, etc. I think the threebet is fine, but firing again on the turn might be a little extreme. Of course, if I check and he rivers a straight with a ten I look like an idiot, so it's hard to say. After he called on the turn I thought he was a likely candidate for a set or made straight and thought he'd call my push; it was less than a PSB. He might've been just scared enough of a set that he folded though, which is unfortunate because I think there is no way in hell he checks behind me unless he really just has a ten and missed everything, and even then he might push a bluff. So I missed some value there.

:(

-3

sad.

Things went decently well today, but I stacked off three times anyway.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?683922

This was unfortunate, but I think it's basically standard; I raise on the flop because most of the time donk bets are just that and they fold. Besides, I have something like 21 outs if he paired the board. When he shoved things were a little more interesting, and I doubted my overs were outs, but I had twelve outs to the nuts for 45% equity and was being asked for 38%. High variance marginal +ev situation; I hate people who whine and fold faced with these and I'm not a big fan of hypocrisy, so I call. Shrug. (It's possible he flopped a straight which leaves one less jack for broadway, but I still have equity with eleven outs and it's also possible he has AQ or something similar and I have ~15 outs as well.) I'm not sure how to calculate the ev for situations where he has a set and thus redraws, though. I ran some simulators and I'm 33% against 88, which is sad, but on the other hand he probably raises TT or QQ, so a set is a smaller part of his range.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?683944

This hand is mediocre; I called his flop raise because I thought calling and betting the turn would yield a fold often enough, but then I turned the flush draw and check/called. I think betting might be a better line there, but it's hard to say; if he continues to fire middle pair or Jx I have more outs to crush him. I thought I had him smashed on the river and checked to invite a bet, then called, and whoops. It's hard to get away from after the turn, and on the river he damn sure could have J9+, or even a six, or AQ etc.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?683962

This is almost a total spew, but the guy was fairly aggressive and I thought he was semibluffing a four or a small overpair. I was repping an overpair, and mistook his value bet on the river for a blocking bet and totally wrecked myself. I just way outthought myself and hung for it. Embarassing.

:/.

Running red hot continues; a 30BB/100 rate for a thousand hands is quite the nice upswing. I'm definitely catching cards (99+ seven or more times, twice standard distribution rate) and doing some sucking out, but I havn't put a ton of money in behind and I'm getting paid off nicely. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, but making out like a bandit meanwhile.

I try to make these in order, but I forgot to open up notepad and write down hands to look up in PT later, so y'all are out of luck and I'm just looking at big pots won/lost. I have some hands I'm quite proud of that involve me c/c'ing the river with ace high and mauling some bluffs, but I can't seem to find them. In the interim:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?681980

Standard. Dunno if I go broke in a reverse situation; I probably do since I make it $25 to go at least on the turn and I'm damn sure not folding the river for those odds. Of course, I don't limp/call K6 UTG, either.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?681989

Heh on me? I raise, he's been pretty aggressive, so I call his threebet and bet the flop; I find that folds out a lot of junk. Well, he's clearly not folding top set, but he wants to trap for more money and instead I make runner runner gutshot for his stack. I think he should've bet the turn rather than let me draw to a flush for free, but hindsight is 20/20 and such.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?681991

I thought my hand was pretty much face up as a draw, although I suppose I'm repping clubs and not the OESD. I allllllllllllmost flat called to see if the other guy would overcall, but he needs something like aces up to call there, so I decided to take the first raiser for a ride. I think a raise to $15 is more +ev, though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?681993

This is actually really marginal preflop; I was pretty sure he had an overpair and he didn't quite have the stack to fill the implied odds. But, there was some dead money and I was utterly positive a set was good for his stack. I think c/c c/r may not be the best line because of how scary it looks, but I'm essentially minraising that turn, and c/c c/c bet river is basically the same. I didn't want to bet/threebet the flop because I was afraid he'd put me on aces. I could've bet/raised the turn; that might be better.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?682001

Man, I 100% fell for this one. I was pretty sure he had an ace with a mediumish kicker and was playing it scared. My bet on the river was supposed to look scared and induce a raise from AT et. al. and instead he crushed me with middle set. I think his line was awesome because of what it's representing, but I dunno if it's the most +ev if he tries to start playing for stacks on the turn. Hard to say how Ax plays if he c/c's and bets the turn; I think I would've raised and done a lot of glaring if he came over the top or pushed the river, and dunno if I'd stack off or not. I'd like to think I wouldn't (what am I beating that does this? slow AQ?) but it's hard to say.


Sleep, etc. More play, updates, over the next few days.

Currently running a bit hot at 50 NL. 500 hands, $164. Deal.

Doyle's seems super soft. People are very transparent about their holdings, and very willing to pay off with middle or bottom pair.

Anyway.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?679616

I think that hand is very interesting. Obviously my first instinct was "okay, how do I get all the money in here?" I dunno if shoving the flop is the most expedient way of going about it; I was afraid of a heart killing my action (well, and stacking me, but unless he has AJh he wouldn't have a flush) and thought that a push would look enough like a draw or a desperation bluff from jacks or something to elicit a call. Really, who jams nut trips? In retrospect, I doubt I'm getting action once I call this raise from anything except AA/AK/AQ/KQ/KJ/KT/QQ/QJ. I think most every Kx gets felted here, but I doubt he raises K9- UTG and calls a third bet. Underpairs might come along, but probably not. I think flat calling here and bombing the turn is a far better line. I'm pretty sure KQ and QQ just rape me every time.

(oh, and nice suckout.)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?679655

I wonder if I'm getting a little carried away with my float attempts. I was super surprised when he called the turn raise and I thought the river bet might actually be a bit spewy, but that's roughly how I'd value bet two pair or something, and I was a bit surprised when he called. I wonder if I disregarded JJ+ in his UTG range. I hate how Doyle's doesn't show the hand your opponent mucks; I'm pretty sure he had something like TT.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?679662

I considered check/raising the flop, but I like c/c and betting the turn as a general rule, because then you get the scare value of the turn as well. I figured him for Qx when he called, and was pleasantly greeted with aces up. I checked to induce the bluff and called. I even went through the hand and was like "there's no way he plays any five like this" and called. I guess he might have A4 or 45, but I think he has Qx almost all the time, or a pure bluff. Shrug.

Dunno how much I'll be playing over the holidays, but I'm giving it a shot. I play a bit over 300 hands/hr at the Stars speed tables, but it looks like it's only 200ish at Doyles, which is frowns. Anyway, updates will continue as I play.

Moving Day

I've moved over to Doyle's Room for eventual play of 50 NL. Since they have a 200 BB max buyin, though, I'm playing .1/.2 NL to get used to having multiple deep stacks around over the weekend while I acclimate to the software and whatnot.

I hate their software; the tables aren't resizable and are gigantic. Chat is in a separate window, which is fine except that when you close them so you can see you don't see the dealer's warning that your time to act is dwindling from the massive twenty seconds each player gets to act. I've already folded a hand unwittingly because of that. I wasn't too upset (the hand is below and I think it warrants a fold) but if I had the nuts and couldn't size my raise fast enough and was mucked, there would be righteous hell to pay. The other wierd thing is that when you raise $5, you call the bet you're facing and put $5 on top of it, which takes some getting used to from Stars/Party.

The actual mechanics of the game is fine; they have pretty quick action and stuff. I would kill a man* for a timebank and resizable tables, but I can live without them. I'm not sure if you can access HH's live to see what people much at showdown, and PAHUD doesn't display it, but it seems to be in Pokertracker, so I might just be missing something.

Actual gameplay seems to be quite fishy. I had aces on my first hand. UTG limps, UTG+1 raises 6x to $1, MP calls, I reraise to $4 from the BB (too lightly, actually) and UTG and UTG+1 fold. Flop is Qh 9s 4s. MP only has $7 back, so any c-bet commits him. I put him in, he calls. I'm like, great, he has a set. He turns over A2. I'll take it...

Someone else open pushed 44 UTG with about 20 BBs or so. Cracked my kings, but yeah.

Shortstacks aren't predominant, but it's not uncommon for one or more people to have 50 BBs or less, which is irritating. 25-200 range for buyin is frowns, but there's at least one other deepstack around.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?673568

Is. I'm not actually sure if raising the turn is the best way to get it all in, but he was pretty clearly screaming QQ+ (I guess maybe nines, too, but he'll help get it in if he has middle set) and the board was already paired, straightening, and had two flushes out there. He's not going to buy that I have a seven, so he's not folding in fear of that. I think it's fairly transparent that I have 99 or JJ, but I dunno. It may be more +ev to flat call and have one of us push the river; he can concievably get away from the turn, but if he blocks the river he probably still has to call me coming over the top.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?673577

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out or remember why I checked the flop. I assume it involved timing. I definitely should bet there, although stacks are way too deep to threebet all in if he raises. I think I b/3b heavy representing a semibluff with a draw (or a scared overpair I guess) and hope he shoves. I think c/r flop, bet turn, bet river is a neon sign that I have a monster, but I guess he liked his hand anyway. I can only assume something like 87, a set, or maybe T9, but I dunno.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?673588

The plan was to check-raise the flop more or less on a steal, although I think JT is certainly ahead a lot here. I think I c/f if the turn is an overcard, b/f if it isn't, but after turning two pair, I think c/c the turn, bet river is going to get at least one, maybe two extra bets, especially if the river bricks and they think I'm bluffing a busted flush, but I was hoping overpair or TPTK and setting up for a river shove.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?673595

This one was harder. On Stars, I never saw people b/3b with sets. c/c flop was popular, but b/c was the most standard line. This one was wierd; UTG open limps, calls a raise, threebets the flop. I couldn't decide if it was for value or 9x Xx, and if it was for value, how often it was QJ+ as opposed to a set. Limp-call leans towards pocket pair, sure, but case tens or jacks aren't too likely, leaving eights vs the draw/TPTK range. I think a shove is a little overboard, but I'm not going to be happy to see A, K, Q, 9, or 7 hit the turn. OTOH, folding top two to a reraise can't possibly be right. J9, T9, too, are pretty up there.

I'm still not quite sure about the best course of action on this hand. I guess I could flat call and bet/fold the turn, but that is pretty much what drawing hands and TPTKesque stuff wants me to do. Being objective, I think my pushes are only called by sets, paired nines, maybe AJ. Clearly I'm behind to that range. I guess since I'm looking to fade about twenty cards or so I should look to fold, but only the range has twenty outs; individual hands have ten or so. I don't think call, bet/fold turn is right, but it's the least wrong line I can come up with.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?673606

This is the one I was folded on time, but I was heading there anyway. I'm not particularly afraid of a straight, but I'm pretty sure that's an overplayed set.

Anyway, I'm still making some adjustments to deepstacked poker. I don't even know how I'd go about stacking someone if we both bought in for 200 and doubled. Like, even if it was something insane like quads over nut boat, I would think we'd both be so concerned about the other folding someone might not get stacked. There'd probably be a very bloody raising war on the river though, so I assume someone would go to the felt.

Anyway. More deepstacked 20 NL through the weekend and maybe Monday depending on other stuff, but there will be a move to 50 early next week. Stay tuned and whatnot.

*no, really, I'd do it.

Update

If you're bluffing and your raise on the flop or turn is called, check/fold it down unless you have a really awesome reason. Like, super awesome. Middle pair can more or less be considered a bluff here unless you think they're drawing and the turn and river both bricked.

I've been generally aware of this principle, but I've been applying it more and saving money.

I've revised my stance on the second and third barrels from "use only in case of emergency" to "keep them at hand, just don't go spewing chips all over the table."

My stance on floating preflop raisers on the turn and river remains: it's awesome. Delayed checkraises almost always elicit a long pause and then a fold. Interestingly, it's almost always a pause until the "you have eight seconds left to act zomg!" thing pops up then they fold. I'm down with the whole wait and pretend to think thing, but at least mix it up.

Um, yeah. Today was basically a good one. Damnfool idiocy was kept to a minimum, which is always the primary goal, and some money got made in the offing, which is also a primary goal.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?667420

I wanted to fold that so badly, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. The limp-raise preflop elicited a "what the hell?" and then on the flop I had a bad feeling about it, but figured he could have TT-AA, which is more or less a flip, except with dead money. TT-JJ are probably not limp-raise candidates so much as QQ+, but I figured they canceled each other out anyway. I dunno. The little voice was saying fold, and I think I fold to a full stack there, but he wasn't betting enough to drive me off.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?667429

Hands like these are why I don't slowplay except very unusual situations. I thought about raising the flop and looking to fourbet all in, but I thought I might be able to get both of them for a decent pot. I think that's +ev compared to trying to push or not; most hands that threebet are probably calling the push, so the folding equity is close to nil and so it's a glorified coinflip with probably only one guy as opposed to a decent pot with both of them in it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?667438

I'm not sure where to draw the line between completing and raising when it's the button, me, and the big blind. Obviously the raise drives people off and whatnot, but I'm woefully out of position and probably have about as good a chance taking the blinds by just betting postflop. I mostly mix it up, but here I'd been quiet for a while and bumped it. Betting TPNK on every street for value feels really weird, but this guy was calling down with ace high so I felt I was ahead. Calling stations are strange beasts.

Rawr, and, uh, whatnot

There's been little activity recently due to stress involving finals. I took calc today, and the other two (drama, western civ) will be quite easy, so there'll probably be quite a bit of playing over the next few weeks I have off.

+4 buyins tonight, which is cool except for I dropped two over the last couple days (JT on QJT to QT, which was actually a mistake because I think a combo draw is most of his range when he bets out and shoves to a raise. I can't remember the other one, but I assume I probably did something stupid.)

I feel I've been playing quite well. Moves on the turn and river are a lot more frightening and likely to succeed than flop action.

Some hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?660629

Yep, I raised 32. I was on the cutoff and hadn't played a hand in a while. The donkbet on the flop looked like he was trying to resteal, so I called planning on raising the turn. I hit about the best card possible for me, and pop him back. He thinks forever and minreraises. At this point his only concievable holding beating me is KT, so I crush him, but I'm not sure how I play if that three is something like a five. I was pretty sure he had air on the flop, but the turn reraise made me figure him for at least a king or a strong ten, so I think I fold but I'm not sure.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?660638

This was awkward. I normally don't bet the turn with air if my flop raise is called, but I'm basically screaming AK or AJ, and I thought there was a good chance I'd take it down. I think I should've bet more like $12 though. Fortunate river, etc.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?660641

His play wasn't making sense. If he check-raises the flop for a relatively tiny amount and then bets the turn, I'm going to fold unless I have a strong hand, so he's not getting action on anything good. I think he was semibluffing a heart draw and I told him to go to hell.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?660645

I should've raised probably to $3.50 on the turn, but here nor there. His min-reraise combined with the minraise preflop made me leery of AA/KK/AK, but he could have a smaller pocket pair or worse ace. AT, A9, are other possible holdings, but from the small blind he could have any ace, any king, etc. Hard to say.

Of course, later in the session I saw he was raising 3x with his nonpremium hands, so in hindsight I think I lean towards a fold, it's hard to not be results-oriented.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?660652

Again, this didn't make any sense; he was clubbing me with aggression on a flop he can't possibly have gotten a piece of without a set. TT- have to be freaked out about overcards killing their action or killing them, though, and an ace might be shoving a wheel draw.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?660655

Again, what the hell? His minraise feels like either some sort of weird float or possible draw, so I repop and am a bit too gentle about it. Then he pushes. Huh? That doesn't make much sense for a set; I dig playing them fast but not THAT fast, and I don't think he has KK/AA because he raised 3x. I'm thinking heart draw, KQ, A8, possible set here.

People playing in a manner inconsistant with their logical holdings are vulnerable. I'm learning to exploit that, and it's lucrative. Even more so, I'm trying to make sure my bluffs fit a pretty standard line for TPTK, a set, etc. (I also try to keep my lines similar to each other, which isn't terribly hard when the default is raise preflop, bet the flop, then start the variation. Heh. I've been doing the call thing with position, though, and that can get pretty fancy.)

Stop slowplaying. Honestly.

I'm pretty sure if I sat down and did the math, there'd be less money in slowplaying than in betting your made hands because I bet the extra money from that extra street more than accounts for taking it down on the flop. Besides, if you don't bet your made hands, how the hell are you going to bluff successfully?

Besides, this kinda thing happens:

POKERSTARS GAME #7329581961: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.10/$0.25) - 2006/12/06 - 19:40:17 (ET)
Table 'Megrez IV' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: drewlo12 ($9.20 in chips)
Seat 3: DeadDrawin ($80.20 in chips)
Seat 4: JCUnit ($25 in chips)
Seat 5: Wiesio ($32.60 in chips)
Seat 6: WolfOnTheFol ($26.95 in chips)
Wiesio: posts small blind $0.10
WolfOnTheFol: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to WolfOnTheFol [5c 6d]
drewlo12: folds
DeadDrawin: raises $1 to $1.25
JCUnit: folds
Wiesio: folds
WolfOnTheFol: calls $1
*** FLOP *** [7d 4h Kc]
WolfOnTheFol: checks
DeadDrawin: checks
*** TURN *** [7d 4h Kc] [3h]
WolfOnTheFol: bets $1.75
DeadDrawin: raises $3 to $4.75
WolfOnTheFol: raises $7.25 to $12
DeadDrawin: raises $66.95 to $78.95 and is all-in
WolfOnTheFol: calls $13.70 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [7d 4h Kc 3h] [6s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
WolfOnTheFol: shows [5c 6d] (a straight, Three to Seven)
DeadDrawin: mucks hand
WolfOnTheFol collected $52 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $54 | Rake $2
Board [7d 4h Kc 3h 6s]
Seat 2: drewlo12 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: DeadDrawin mucked [7h 7c]
Seat 4: JCUnit (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Wiesio (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: WolfOnTheFol (big blind) showed [5c 6d] and won ($52) with a straight, Three to Seven

(The preflop call was because the guy was 35/25 and was shutting down on later streets.) Yeah, I got lucky to have the straight to his set, but it would have been "wrong" for me to call on the flop if he bets there. I'd call anyway for implied odds, but he would've looked and felt less like a damn fool.

I also mauled some poor outkicked bastard with KJ to QJ on JJ9, but that's not really his fault. (well, he did raise from UTG+1, but heh.)

Up four buyins today, which makes me happy because it really validates my opinion that I've been playing really well lately. I've been doing a lot more stuff on the turn and getting friendly with the second barrel (and third) again and it's been working out. I've been floating more and betting more rivers with air and it's awesome. I've actually scaled back on my preflop raising quite a bit; I still whack people with the position stick but just stealing and cbetting isn't really cutting it. Taking pots away on the river is far more lucrative.

This has ceased to amuse me

My smallball is really awesome. Like, really. I've gotten pretty good at bullying a table (and probably more important, when to back off) and I've gotten quite excellent at taking away people's toys. I'm a lot more positionally aware than my opponents are, and that's making me money. I'm second (even third) barreling with a fair amount of precision, and I'm avoiding getting all the money in behind.

I'm still apparently incapable of winning big pots though; I got all in with AA against Q6 on QT5 and he hit, then KQ against 45 on KQ45 and he hit. So I'm actually down in a session I feel I played quite well. So it goes.

It's slightly dangerous that I've noticed most of my big hands earn a fold after the second or third barrel, because I'm liable to start abusing that.

I'm making more moves on the turn and river now; people are fairly aggressive (or passive, but still calling) on the flop but they're a lot more hesitant to do it on the turn or river.

(plus draws like to stab at the river once they've missed completely, which is usually good for an extra bet.)

I'm not dead

I kinda wish I were (finals next week) but no. Havn't been playing much poker though, what with the finals thing and all.

I played a bit tonight, and actually ended up down a buyin despite playing really well; I was floating well and making some nice moves on the turn and river, and was doing really well with bluffing the river. I broke out the second barrel and started doing well with that.

It's actually kind of funny how transparent I was playing a while ago. That's cool though, because I recognize myself now, and after I see someone raise preflop, bet the flop, then check/fold I think free money and start picking up free pots on the turn.

(doing that has actually led me to cut back my pfr a bit, too. It's a lot nicer to be floating people than firing in the dark not entirely sure where you are.)

It's also cute to see people donkbetting into my raises and then sheepishly think for a while and fold to my raise. They're not even trying to get the c-bet.

Despite this I still ended down :(. I'm apparently unable to get action on my big hands; AA picked up the blinds twice and was well on it's way to stacking some guy when he rivered a two outer. Like, it's awesome that he decided to call down with 44, not so much when he nailed his set.

Then there were just some coolers that involved being dominated with two pair. God, that's awful. Top and bottom against top two? frowns.

But yeah. Playing well, running not so hot. Mostly going to be studying for the next few days anyway.

Back to 25

I dropped down to -3 buyins at NL 50. Now, I was figuring on quitting after five. But.

I liked playing 50. I thought I could beat the level, and could do it on a regular basis. I still do; I think once I workout my postflop play and scale back a little on my preflop aggression I will do quite well. However, I wanted to make it my primary stakes. Not being rolled, I figured I'd build my roll playing turbo 15+1s, since playing the 10s was how I worked up to the roll for 25.

Man, is tournament poker ever different than cash games. I played fine, but still lost four straight. (outkicked, out-turned, lost two flips) I felt really constrained, because I like to be aggressive preflop on and on the flop, and that's just not possible at a SNG because in the midlevels, raise, c-bet, and if that's called, there's not much room to maneuver.

I'm going to do the nose to grindstone thing with NL 25. Amusingly, my recent antics make me no longer rolled for it in the strictest sense of the word (19 buyins) but I'm confident that I can rebuild.

I'm going to wait until I have won $600 more at NL 25 to make a go at 50. When I move up, I want to be able to stay there for a considerable duration, and I want to prove to myself that I really can crush 25 the way I think I can.

I'd hoped to be moving up by Christmas, and felt it was a realistic goal. I'm down over $300 in the last couple days. (some of that profit from NL 50; actual losses are $214) I will consider myself fortunate to be playing 50 by my birthday in April.

so it goes.

I feel like such an idiot.