As a dedicated part time poker player you may be wondering where the good players really make their money over the long run. Is there some complex trickery which you are unaware of? The simple answer to this is no, there is nothing complicated about poker whatever many authors may try to convince you of. It is unlikely that you are being outplayed as somebody's play is on a level above yours. Poker is in essence a very very simple game, if you can make everyone else in a pot fold - you win. If you have the best hand and stick with it - you win. Your job as a player is to work out where you are in a hand based upon simple cues - bet size, history with opponent and possibly bet speed.
It is that simple. Obviously there are going to be times where you make some horrible misjudgements but if you are taking heed of all the information given to you, tracking players, narrowing the range with which they may be doing certain things you are most of the way to becoming a winning player. For me poker is very much a simple game of mathematics and understanding basic and implied odds is essential to your development as as player.
Anyway the places you make your money are quite simple and number one above everything else is THE RIVER. This is the point in a hand where the pot is biggest and therefore the size of bet you make or call will be by far the largest for that individual hand. Being scared of being behind at this stage is understandable but if you think your opponent has a weaker pair or kicker you MUST bet for value AND be prepared to fold if they raise. If you have them on a flush which missed, check and let them try to buy the pot. It is your decisions after the last card which are the most important financially. Don't call if you think you are behind, and get value if you think you are ahead. Weak river play is the surest sign of a losing player - how can you win overall if you don't take advantage of the biggest opportunity for gain. Get into the habit of betting on the river when you think you are ahead but might be behind - you'll be surprised how often you get called down by poor hands and how rarely your instincts are wrong.
I had a comment on my blog the other day that it is easy to play a set and although this is a great situation on the flop you would be amazed how badly most people play these hands. Usually it is through trying to ensure you make something and playing it slow - not only do you often win the minimum you also get committed to big pots giving your opponents fantastic odds to draw to a well disguised hands. The main thing I would say about these is that it is fine to win nothing post flop on them, sometimes everyone will fold to your aggression BUT over all of these hands strong play is almost always the best way forward. The other thing I would say is that you want to be looking for implied odds of 10:1 to draw to a set pre flop - if one person bets 4X the BB and you are the only caller with 44 you are going to lose money unless you have a brilliant read on your opponent and are able to call down light against aggression.
The other main place you make your money is laying down BIG hands early and not getting over-committed. Being aware of what might happen later in a pot and the position you have is essential. Here is one I played yesterday where I swear most people get over-committed and stacked, almost nobody I know folds this and I genuinely think mine IS the best option (could be I'm a wuss).
I have KK UTG and bet to $40, 2 callers both with position on me and I have no read on them at all, all players have $1,000 in front of them. Flop of Q72 - lovely for my hand, I bet $80 and player A calls and B raises to $190 - what do you do? My brother when asked said call and then push on the turn if a low card comes (my brother loses at poker). I looked at this situation and hated it for me. I basically have 3 options (unlike usual) , fold, call or raise to define my hand. Lets analyse these
Raise - I currently have $120 in the $450ish pot, I am not over-committed and my initial reaction to the raise is 'balls' as I have no idea where I am, I may be ahead, I may be drawing virtually dead. Raising needs to be a big raise to define my hand as a small minimum raise will be called every time. A big raise will put over half my stack in the middle in a situation where I have no idea where I may be. I dislike this option as if they call I have to shove the turn almost without looking at what card comes.
Call - Just don't do this, it is horrible beyond reason, player A may reraise and if he flat calls what do you do on the turn?? I haven't defined my hand at this stage and a turn bet again commits me quite heavily. If I check, I really have to raise rather than call any bet and again I am committing my stack without having a clue where I am in the hand. The check call may even be the worst option going as you then pretty much have to call the river as otherwise you thought you were behind so why didn't you fold before.
Fold - You have a powerful hand, you also have pride and don't want to look like a wimp. Maybe 40% of the time you are ahead of the KQ and AQ and that's great, you look and feel like a prat when these hands are shown down. However sometimes you just have to wave goodbye to the money committed and accept that you are clueless and let it go for that reason alone. I folded after agonising over the decision but I do believe that in the long term that decision makes/saves me a small fortune. Committing your stack with little idea where you are and limited opportunity to define your hand is rarely a good plan and if the situation leaves you with little idea just let the hand go. I would also have folded AA here quite happily.
Just for the record and because it backs up my point making me look special (in a good way) my opponents had QQ and 77 respectively and I was dead to a K. Obviously I could have been ahead but I would still stand by my decision to fold. When dropping big hands you have to accept that sometimes you will be wrong and could have won a monster.
Think honestly about the hand and I doubt many of you would have been able to drop the KK that early, it's something which comes from experience above anything and I never used to be able to do this, my game and profits rocketed when I avoided rubbish situations like this.
That is all for now, may blog over christmas, may not but either way I will be playing as I do like that festive generosity which is often displayed at the tables
seasons greetings etc
Steve
Sunday 23 December 2007
Tuesday 18 December 2007
Some fine play from me, some less fine play from my opponents
I promised I'd blog some hands, or at least one in particular so here are a couple of interesting ones from the past couple of days. Both are against massively overaggressive opponents who do tend to experience massive swings in their chips stacks.
Heart in Mouth Decision Making - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1826815
I have KK in early position in this hand and flat call the raise preflop from an aggressive player looking to capitalise on his aggression later on. 358 flop which is pretty much ideal as he is selectively aggressive but very little in his range is beating me here so I elect to flat call again, probably getting him to put me on a flush draw. 6 on turn and I check again looking to raise his next bet. He bets about the full pot putting me in a very awkward position - if I am to play this remotely properly I have to raise if I continue and will be committed for the rest of my chips.
His bet is very very strong and if I'm wrong I will be in a very bad situation. I think about his play and go with my thoughts pre and post flop and raise to $510 thereby taking away the decision if he raises as I have only $330 or so left. I am definitely looking for a fold at this point as anything else will usually signify I'm behind. Sadly he raises and I have to call as I know he can do this with a lot of weaker hands than mine. River comes a Q which was ok (not a flush) and pleasingly I saw him flip JJ to rake a big pot.
This was a hand which got my pulse racing a lot as it is way outside my comfort zone and explains why players like this can win a lot as it is so hard to put them accurately on a hand an you need to be willing to commit to decisions rather than bailing out when they bet every street. Rectified my evening and I was pretty happy with my play as I had a plan and followed it through in the face of some strong discouragement.
Right no pictures as I am an idiot and copied down the wrong HH and am not about to trawl through to find it. Anyway, 4 way pot for $30 preflop and I have 66 and will be second to act of the four players after the flop. A beauty of 26Q comes down with two spades and preflop raiser puts $100 in, I flat call with aggressive player behind to disguise and hopefully drag the flush draw in too. Aggro boy raises to $250 which means very little as he rarely has anything near what he represents, strangely last player to act calls this and raiser drops. Me to act and I have to push here as anything else is weak and I will get called by a lot behind me. Both call and I am praying for no spade as I am certain one of them at least has the flush draw. Both called creating a massive $3k pot (these hurt to lose, they really hurt) Turn a 2 - get in as I have the fh and river another 2 which momentarily worried me. They flipped and aggressive player had AQ???????????????????????????????????????? and the other guy had AT spades.
I really hate both sets of play for a variety of reasons. My play is fine theirs is genuinely horrid and here is why. The guy with AQ - knows he is likely ahead of preflop raiser and raises to define position vs me - ok so far, however when player behind calls and I raise all in an easier fol could not be had, it isn't even a decision but NO, he pushs all his chips in when 95% he is behind. Awful, just awful.
Player with the flush draw - on the flop facing a big bet, call, raise he has two options depending on his reading the best of which is fold, an acceptable one is all in if he reads the players as capable of getting off hands like AQ or two pair - I wouldn't like it but it is a viable option. His call is terrible. Two players still to act and either may be on a biggie. Even if we just call the next bet will commit all his chips and make a call terrible if he has not hit on the turn. He is effectively paying $250 to see one card with a maximum 9 outs - 20% chance of hitting, as I have the set he has less outs and makes his call look even worse. His call of two people being all in after doing this is fine, expensive but ok I guess that is justifiable.
Honestly with play like this how am I not a millionaire, I just do not understand either of them in this hand and it was like christmas had come early
Good day today as a result although I am tired so may not play any more, I've put a solid 2 hours in which is pathetic but maybe I need more sleep.
Steve
Heart in Mouth Decision Making - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1826815
I have KK in early position in this hand and flat call the raise preflop from an aggressive player looking to capitalise on his aggression later on. 358 flop which is pretty much ideal as he is selectively aggressive but very little in his range is beating me here so I elect to flat call again, probably getting him to put me on a flush draw. 6 on turn and I check again looking to raise his next bet. He bets about the full pot putting me in a very awkward position - if I am to play this remotely properly I have to raise if I continue and will be committed for the rest of my chips.
His bet is very very strong and if I'm wrong I will be in a very bad situation. I think about his play and go with my thoughts pre and post flop and raise to $510 thereby taking away the decision if he raises as I have only $330 or so left. I am definitely looking for a fold at this point as anything else will usually signify I'm behind. Sadly he raises and I have to call as I know he can do this with a lot of weaker hands than mine. River comes a Q which was ok (not a flush) and pleasingly I saw him flip JJ to rake a big pot.
This was a hand which got my pulse racing a lot as it is way outside my comfort zone and explains why players like this can win a lot as it is so hard to put them accurately on a hand an you need to be willing to commit to decisions rather than bailing out when they bet every street. Rectified my evening and I was pretty happy with my play as I had a plan and followed it through in the face of some strong discouragement.
Right no pictures as I am an idiot and copied down the wrong HH and am not about to trawl through to find it. Anyway, 4 way pot for $30 preflop and I have 66 and will be second to act of the four players after the flop. A beauty of 26Q comes down with two spades and preflop raiser puts $100 in, I flat call with aggressive player behind to disguise and hopefully drag the flush draw in too. Aggro boy raises to $250 which means very little as he rarely has anything near what he represents, strangely last player to act calls this and raiser drops. Me to act and I have to push here as anything else is weak and I will get called by a lot behind me. Both call and I am praying for no spade as I am certain one of them at least has the flush draw. Both called creating a massive $3k pot (these hurt to lose, they really hurt) Turn a 2 - get in as I have the fh and river another 2 which momentarily worried me. They flipped and aggressive player had AQ???????????????????????????????????????? and the other guy had AT spades.
I really hate both sets of play for a variety of reasons. My play is fine theirs is genuinely horrid and here is why. The guy with AQ - knows he is likely ahead of preflop raiser and raises to define position vs me - ok so far, however when player behind calls and I raise all in an easier fol could not be had, it isn't even a decision but NO, he pushs all his chips in when 95% he is behind. Awful, just awful.
Player with the flush draw - on the flop facing a big bet, call, raise he has two options depending on his reading the best of which is fold, an acceptable one is all in if he reads the players as capable of getting off hands like AQ or two pair - I wouldn't like it but it is a viable option. His call is terrible. Two players still to act and either may be on a biggie. Even if we just call the next bet will commit all his chips and make a call terrible if he has not hit on the turn. He is effectively paying $250 to see one card with a maximum 9 outs - 20% chance of hitting, as I have the set he has less outs and makes his call look even worse. His call of two people being all in after doing this is fine, expensive but ok I guess that is justifiable.
Honestly with play like this how am I not a millionaire, I just do not understand either of them in this hand and it was like christmas had come early
Good day today as a result although I am tired so may not play any more, I've put a solid 2 hours in which is pathetic but maybe I need more sleep.
Steve
Monday 17 December 2007
Limited Amounts Happening
I've not played much over the past few days as we've had people staying but should be back to the tables in the run up to christmas now. Today has continued in the same way that previous experience at 5-10 has gone as very little happened. Win $500, lose $700, win $400 etc etc etc. It's dull when you play long hours and get so little happening. I've not hit much today and the bluffy players have not been at the tables so I have had to be more active with my bluffing and have successfully pulled off a few biggies without getting called down.
I've ended up about $700 up for the day and have played extremely solidly, it''s just been dull. Dull, dull, dull with one moment of heart pounding drama which I'll write about tomorrow as I'm too tired right now. Surely I'll have a big day at some point - four or five buy-ins is all I ask.
Steve
I've ended up about $700 up for the day and have played extremely solidly, it''s just been dull. Dull, dull, dull with one moment of heart pounding drama which I'll write about tomorrow as I'm too tired right now. Surely I'll have a big day at some point - four or five buy-ins is all I ask.
Steve
Tuesday 11 December 2007
Some Hands, Some Analysis, Some Waffle
I've not posted that many hands recently so I thought I'd put a few in to one post for analysis. They are a range of different hands which have created interesting pots.
Opponent Based Play - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1800126
Yesterday I was saying that I had been up against some overtly aggressive players and failed miserably with hitting anything where I could take them down. In this hand I succeeded and my play was based purely upon the opponent. Let me take you through the hand. I'm dealt QQ and my opponent has made a standard raise to $35 from mid-late position which he does a lot. I flat call in the hope of picking up a fairly sizeable pot later on. Flop comes 842 two diamonds and he bet near pot size at me. I have two options here but whereas I would usually raise this to discover how good my hand is, I decide flat calling is far preferable here as he is likely to either fold or repop and I don't want him to do either as my hand although strong could conceivably be in for a world of hurt.
Turn comes a 6h which felt very safe and to my surprise he bet $175, I would consider dropping here to many opponents on the basis that they are representing a fair amount of strength and I'm going to have to commit a lot to the pot as I HAVE to raise if I play on - a call is just horrible in my opinion. I decided that my opponent's raise was very very wide here and I was 75%+ sure that I was ahead and he was trying to run over me. Therefore I min raised, leaving myself enough to get away from it if needs be. I expected him to fold but he repopped all in. Did not like this at all and again against many opponents this would be going straight in the muck. However he is more than capable of doing this with diamonds/hearts/straight draw/weaker pair and after much thought I decided to go with my initial feelings and make the call. River a K and he flips TT so I was bang on in my decisions.
During this hand I truly did not specificly know where I was at, usually that is enough to get me to fold as I don't like taking guesses but because of the history with this opponent I was able to make good decisions throughout against some extremely well executed pressure. I still am unsure as to whether I think he's good or not, I've seen a lot of poor hands winning massive pots for and against him and he will make massive calls with mid pair etc. On the whole I like him being at the table as it loosens everyone up a bit but as he succeeds in making me uncomfortable a lot I suppose I should give him a lot of credit for being a pretty good maniac.
For a lot of unthinking players my play in the hand may seem obvious and simple as I had an overpair and went with it - trust me 75%+ of the time where the betting makes you feel like you're beat you are and being able to lay down the big hands is a key element in becoming a winning player long term.
Poor/unlucky for my opponent - you decide - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1800174
I like my play here and dislike my opponents as he checks the likely winner and gives up a free card in silly fashion. I have KK early pos and call a raise from the button. Flop comes T high and I suspect I am ahead here and decide to check raise what looks to be a good flop. My opponent who has a set of 5's checks behind. Turn comes a K giving me the current nuts, again assuming my opponent has nothing I go for a check raise and pump it to $170. Again my opponent flat calls. Turn comes a 9 leaving me thinking that the only possible hand I've lost to is JQ hearts but let's face it I cannot drop this to his river push ever as I'm way too committed and despite being a touch worried I bet the river strongly and called the raise. Huge pot and you may think I got lucky but lets look at my opponent's play.
First of all he has raised with 55 and hit when in position - his check on the flop is ghastly as now if he shows strength later I'm gonna be suspicious also if I have AK he is missing out on the reraise I would undoubtably throw out to any bet. I will not have him on a set during the hand if he bets and the check guarantees minimum value from my hand if I fail to connect further. I could have lost a big pot if he'd played this better and I hadn't hit IF he bets the flop - a healthy amount of suspicion to the preflop raiser who checks the flop then shows a lot of strength is almost always a good idea.
He bets the turn and I reraise - he has got to reraise here, he must think he is ahead and I could be raising with a variety of draws and will be tempted to call in these cases. The flat call asks for trouble if really does, many draws available and he is giving me every opportunity. River leaves a straight possibility which he must at least realise I could have so when I bet 3/4 pot his raise is not good given how the hand has played as If I had AK I could easily drop it (also wouldn't have got in this situation but still...) Basically he has raised when he no longer has any idea where he is and is only getting called by hands which have him crushed.
This opponent is one of my current favourites to see as I don't think much of his game, he bluffs too much and then misplays his big hands.
How to play a set of 5's (sharp contrast to above) - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1800214
Having called preflop I hit a wonderful flop of KQ5 two hearts and am first to act. I decide the bet helps disguise my hand best and stick in $30, I am reraised to $90 and as I will do in these cases I flat call looking for a good turn card where I will commit. Turn comes a 2 and I felt that my opponent had something like AK or a flush draw so I put in a weakish bet to define where I was. I exepcted to be raised here and it duly happened as he banged it to $222. This is a no brainer for me as a call asks for trouble, if I raise I am committed no matter what comes on the river so I go for one of my favourite moves the big all in reraise (works well with the nuts or without if you know your opponents) and he calls it. He had KQ so I can understand that he couldn't get away, or at least felt that he couldn't - I'd have dropped personally unless I had a good read on my opponent.
Anyway this is somewhat different to how my opponent played his 5's in the hand previously and on the whole I rather prefer my more thought out play to his donkey antics.
Hero Call - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1800233
I'm not in this last one but my god what was he thinking, anybody? No... I don't have a clue either. Splash is one of the aggressive players I failed to connected against and he is very capable of moving the chips about with air BUT - you just don't call with the 3 here, there is no way that can ever be a winning play, almost everything beats him, even if he had a draw on the flop - he has hit. Oh I hate this call so much - you need such a good read to do this and with Splash's range you just cannot call this.
For all those who like making the big calls, please try making the big raises instead as at least that way you'll get paid off more when you have the goods and give your opponent the option of a fold. Splash's play is quality purely because he would have done the exact same thing with the nuts which can make him damn hard to play. Patience is the key in picking off the big bluffs, just don't get involved until you have something you are willing to put your whole stack in with.
I still cannot put splash on a single hand which the caller could beat, not one and I will die long before I figure out what on earth his opponent was thinking.
Right that's it for now, hopefully some interesting stuff for you and I'm going to try to sleep again
Steve
Opponent Based Play - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1800126
Yesterday I was saying that I had been up against some overtly aggressive players and failed miserably with hitting anything where I could take them down. In this hand I succeeded and my play was based purely upon the opponent. Let me take you through the hand. I'm dealt QQ and my opponent has made a standard raise to $35 from mid-late position which he does a lot. I flat call in the hope of picking up a fairly sizeable pot later on. Flop comes 842 two diamonds and he bet near pot size at me. I have two options here but whereas I would usually raise this to discover how good my hand is, I decide flat calling is far preferable here as he is likely to either fold or repop and I don't want him to do either as my hand although strong could conceivably be in for a world of hurt.
Turn comes a 6h which felt very safe and to my surprise he bet $175, I would consider dropping here to many opponents on the basis that they are representing a fair amount of strength and I'm going to have to commit a lot to the pot as I HAVE to raise if I play on - a call is just horrible in my opinion. I decided that my opponent's raise was very very wide here and I was 75%+ sure that I was ahead and he was trying to run over me. Therefore I min raised, leaving myself enough to get away from it if needs be. I expected him to fold but he repopped all in. Did not like this at all and again against many opponents this would be going straight in the muck. However he is more than capable of doing this with diamonds/hearts/straight draw/weaker pair and after much thought I decided to go with my initial feelings and make the call. River a K and he flips TT so I was bang on in my decisions.
During this hand I truly did not specificly know where I was at, usually that is enough to get me to fold as I don't like taking guesses but because of the history with this opponent I was able to make good decisions throughout against some extremely well executed pressure. I still am unsure as to whether I think he's good or not, I've seen a lot of poor hands winning massive pots for and against him and he will make massive calls with mid pair etc. On the whole I like him being at the table as it loosens everyone up a bit but as he succeeds in making me uncomfortable a lot I suppose I should give him a lot of credit for being a pretty good maniac.
For a lot of unthinking players my play in the hand may seem obvious and simple as I had an overpair and went with it - trust me 75%+ of the time where the betting makes you feel like you're beat you are and being able to lay down the big hands is a key element in becoming a winning player long term.
Poor/unlucky for my opponent - you decide - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1800174
I like my play here and dislike my opponents as he checks the likely winner and gives up a free card in silly fashion. I have KK early pos and call a raise from the button. Flop comes T high and I suspect I am ahead here and decide to check raise what looks to be a good flop. My opponent who has a set of 5's checks behind. Turn comes a K giving me the current nuts, again assuming my opponent has nothing I go for a check raise and pump it to $170. Again my opponent flat calls. Turn comes a 9 leaving me thinking that the only possible hand I've lost to is JQ hearts but let's face it I cannot drop this to his river push ever as I'm way too committed and despite being a touch worried I bet the river strongly and called the raise. Huge pot and you may think I got lucky but lets look at my opponent's play.
First of all he has raised with 55 and hit when in position - his check on the flop is ghastly as now if he shows strength later I'm gonna be suspicious also if I have AK he is missing out on the reraise I would undoubtably throw out to any bet. I will not have him on a set during the hand if he bets and the check guarantees minimum value from my hand if I fail to connect further. I could have lost a big pot if he'd played this better and I hadn't hit IF he bets the flop - a healthy amount of suspicion to the preflop raiser who checks the flop then shows a lot of strength is almost always a good idea.
He bets the turn and I reraise - he has got to reraise here, he must think he is ahead and I could be raising with a variety of draws and will be tempted to call in these cases. The flat call asks for trouble if really does, many draws available and he is giving me every opportunity. River leaves a straight possibility which he must at least realise I could have so when I bet 3/4 pot his raise is not good given how the hand has played as If I had AK I could easily drop it (also wouldn't have got in this situation but still...) Basically he has raised when he no longer has any idea where he is and is only getting called by hands which have him crushed.
This opponent is one of my current favourites to see as I don't think much of his game, he bluffs too much and then misplays his big hands.
How to play a set of 5's (sharp contrast to above) - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1800214
Having called preflop I hit a wonderful flop of KQ5 two hearts and am first to act. I decide the bet helps disguise my hand best and stick in $30, I am reraised to $90 and as I will do in these cases I flat call looking for a good turn card where I will commit. Turn comes a 2 and I felt that my opponent had something like AK or a flush draw so I put in a weakish bet to define where I was. I exepcted to be raised here and it duly happened as he banged it to $222. This is a no brainer for me as a call asks for trouble, if I raise I am committed no matter what comes on the river so I go for one of my favourite moves the big all in reraise (works well with the nuts or without if you know your opponents) and he calls it. He had KQ so I can understand that he couldn't get away, or at least felt that he couldn't - I'd have dropped personally unless I had a good read on my opponent.
Anyway this is somewhat different to how my opponent played his 5's in the hand previously and on the whole I rather prefer my more thought out play to his donkey antics.
Hero Call - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1800233
I'm not in this last one but my god what was he thinking, anybody? No... I don't have a clue either. Splash is one of the aggressive players I failed to connected against and he is very capable of moving the chips about with air BUT - you just don't call with the 3 here, there is no way that can ever be a winning play, almost everything beats him, even if he had a draw on the flop - he has hit. Oh I hate this call so much - you need such a good read to do this and with Splash's range you just cannot call this.
For all those who like making the big calls, please try making the big raises instead as at least that way you'll get paid off more when you have the goods and give your opponent the option of a fold. Splash's play is quality purely because he would have done the exact same thing with the nuts which can make him damn hard to play. Patience is the key in picking off the big bluffs, just don't get involved until you have something you are willing to put your whole stack in with.
I still cannot put splash on a single hand which the caller could beat, not one and I will die long before I figure out what on earth his opponent was thinking.
Right that's it for now, hopefully some interesting stuff for you and I'm going to try to sleep again
Steve
Returning to the lifestyle theme
One of my recent posts seems to have hit a chord with a few people who live a similar lifestyle and the point that I made was that the time you have on your hands is not necessarily a great blessing.
When I worked full time for a living it was always a huge hassle to find the time to go to the shops, get my car fixed, read a book and a whole multitude of other things as well. I assumed quite naturally that when I turned pro this would cease to be an issue and I would spend my days indulging in excercise, sports, reading, watching films and spending whole days blissfully wandering around town browsing and buying stuff in shops.
Ah what a fool I was, nothing like this has happened, instead I have no routine to speak of and seem to exist in no particular timezone. My car was recently vandalised by some delightful children who bent my rear windscreen wiper into something resembling a modern artwork - lovely as it looks it is now somewhat less good at it's one and only purpose on my car in that it cannot clear the windscreen. This happened nearly a month ago now - have I fixed it, a job that would take a phone call and maybe a short drive? No, course I haven't as I don't have the time.
But surely with christmas coming I've been able to buy presents well in advance and really make the effort for people! Again no, in fact I've probably done less than I had this time last year (however whatever I do will be an improvement as I left all the presents in my house when I went home for christmas last year - oops)
I've become less active at browsing the internet as well which is truly weird as I am at my computer for many hours every day. I used to look at pocketfives.com every day, I used to use facebook more. However I didn't do these things at home, no, I did them at work and I think that holds something of a key in all this. When you are at work browsing the internet is a fantastic alternative to productivity and a miriad of sites are necessary additions to your day to while away the boredom.
Conversely when you set your own hours and decide exactly when you shall bother to do your work and there is no limit to the holiday you can give yourself, no deadlines etc there is also nothing to escape from so in this way you waste less time browsing the selfsame sites which gave some structure to your day.
I guess the biggest culture shock really is the lack of structure, no reason to go to bed, no reason to get up and you rely entirely on your own motivation (or lack of it) to get you through.
I've been thinking about this and although I am now 26 my life has never before been without some kind of structure. You go through school, university and jobs and throughout that time, however lazy you may be there is still a structure to your day - up at a certain time for school and work, socialising late evening at uni (getting up not so much of an issue there). So it is quite difficult to acclimatise to a life devoid of this.
The last few days I have risen around 4pm and gone to bed at about 8am - I'm enjoying myself and being productive but it's not ideal. Sadly I don't yet know what ideal is yet, not for me anyway. I want to play late at night/early morning, I want to be able to watch late night sports but I also want to see some daylight occasionally!
Thing is I try to go to bed at a smart time, 4-5am and my mind whirs away because I know I don't have to sleep, I could get up and do something. This leads to a small amount of burnout as my body struggles to cope with my inability to set a routine. Heck I don't even really want a routine, I don't want to set an alarm, I don't want to feel I should be doing things at certain times. However another part of me craves this exact thing.
I hated getting up in the mornings for work as I never could go to bed before 1am or so, thus I was always tired. However it gave me structure, it gave me a sleep pattern of sorts and I think that is important to my well being and motivation.
I enjoy what I do, I'm back to being relaxed and happy, but I still should be making more of it. My excercise regime has fallen flat at the moment, I don't go out and do stuff and I still have no routine, not even close to one.
Anyone who ever considers doing this for a living needs to be extremely strongwilled above all else. Possibly even above talent. If you don't have the determination and ability to make it work for you then you will crash and burn as the lifestyle could potentially make you miserable.
If you need people around you, again it is not going to be ideal as poker is essentially a solo pursuit. I'd love to have someone in the Birmingham area who I knew and liked who had a similar lifestyle as nobody outside the game really has a clue what you are talking about when you discuss bad runs, cracked draws, pot odds etc. But I do not have this, I knew that was the case and I'm perfectly happy with the situation, however in an ideal world someone who can empathise would be a useful addition to most full time players I would imagine.
I think most people when turning pro consider money and isolation as the two major issues which they will have to deal with during that time. However it is not the biggest hurdle - if you know you can cut it before going pro (and why are you trying if you do not know this) then the play itself shouldn't be an issue as you improve and adapt with the game and situations. The main obstacle to full time success has to be getting a routine which works for you - if you can't manage this then the poker lifestyle is not going to work out.
I still have many things to work on in this regard but I am extremely confident that I can and will make this work for me long term. The only other alternative is returning to work and that's just not gonna happen.
A bit rambly I know and I apologise for any repetition from previous posts but as I'm sure you can all tell I just write when I feel like it and then publish, there's no editorial process at work here - hence why emotions sometimes come across, especially when I'm losing!
Steve
When I worked full time for a living it was always a huge hassle to find the time to go to the shops, get my car fixed, read a book and a whole multitude of other things as well. I assumed quite naturally that when I turned pro this would cease to be an issue and I would spend my days indulging in excercise, sports, reading, watching films and spending whole days blissfully wandering around town browsing and buying stuff in shops.
Ah what a fool I was, nothing like this has happened, instead I have no routine to speak of and seem to exist in no particular timezone. My car was recently vandalised by some delightful children who bent my rear windscreen wiper into something resembling a modern artwork - lovely as it looks it is now somewhat less good at it's one and only purpose on my car in that it cannot clear the windscreen. This happened nearly a month ago now - have I fixed it, a job that would take a phone call and maybe a short drive? No, course I haven't as I don't have the time.
But surely with christmas coming I've been able to buy presents well in advance and really make the effort for people! Again no, in fact I've probably done less than I had this time last year (however whatever I do will be an improvement as I left all the presents in my house when I went home for christmas last year - oops)
I've become less active at browsing the internet as well which is truly weird as I am at my computer for many hours every day. I used to look at pocketfives.com every day, I used to use facebook more. However I didn't do these things at home, no, I did them at work and I think that holds something of a key in all this. When you are at work browsing the internet is a fantastic alternative to productivity and a miriad of sites are necessary additions to your day to while away the boredom.
Conversely when you set your own hours and decide exactly when you shall bother to do your work and there is no limit to the holiday you can give yourself, no deadlines etc there is also nothing to escape from so in this way you waste less time browsing the selfsame sites which gave some structure to your day.
I guess the biggest culture shock really is the lack of structure, no reason to go to bed, no reason to get up and you rely entirely on your own motivation (or lack of it) to get you through.
I've been thinking about this and although I am now 26 my life has never before been without some kind of structure. You go through school, university and jobs and throughout that time, however lazy you may be there is still a structure to your day - up at a certain time for school and work, socialising late evening at uni (getting up not so much of an issue there). So it is quite difficult to acclimatise to a life devoid of this.
The last few days I have risen around 4pm and gone to bed at about 8am - I'm enjoying myself and being productive but it's not ideal. Sadly I don't yet know what ideal is yet, not for me anyway. I want to play late at night/early morning, I want to be able to watch late night sports but I also want to see some daylight occasionally!
Thing is I try to go to bed at a smart time, 4-5am and my mind whirs away because I know I don't have to sleep, I could get up and do something. This leads to a small amount of burnout as my body struggles to cope with my inability to set a routine. Heck I don't even really want a routine, I don't want to set an alarm, I don't want to feel I should be doing things at certain times. However another part of me craves this exact thing.
I hated getting up in the mornings for work as I never could go to bed before 1am or so, thus I was always tired. However it gave me structure, it gave me a sleep pattern of sorts and I think that is important to my well being and motivation.
I enjoy what I do, I'm back to being relaxed and happy, but I still should be making more of it. My excercise regime has fallen flat at the moment, I don't go out and do stuff and I still have no routine, not even close to one.
Anyone who ever considers doing this for a living needs to be extremely strongwilled above all else. Possibly even above talent. If you don't have the determination and ability to make it work for you then you will crash and burn as the lifestyle could potentially make you miserable.
If you need people around you, again it is not going to be ideal as poker is essentially a solo pursuit. I'd love to have someone in the Birmingham area who I knew and liked who had a similar lifestyle as nobody outside the game really has a clue what you are talking about when you discuss bad runs, cracked draws, pot odds etc. But I do not have this, I knew that was the case and I'm perfectly happy with the situation, however in an ideal world someone who can empathise would be a useful addition to most full time players I would imagine.
I think most people when turning pro consider money and isolation as the two major issues which they will have to deal with during that time. However it is not the biggest hurdle - if you know you can cut it before going pro (and why are you trying if you do not know this) then the play itself shouldn't be an issue as you improve and adapt with the game and situations. The main obstacle to full time success has to be getting a routine which works for you - if you can't manage this then the poker lifestyle is not going to work out.
I still have many things to work on in this regard but I am extremely confident that I can and will make this work for me long term. The only other alternative is returning to work and that's just not gonna happen.
A bit rambly I know and I apologise for any repetition from previous posts but as I'm sure you can all tell I just write when I feel like it and then publish, there's no editorial process at work here - hence why emotions sometimes come across, especially when I'm losing!
Steve
Monday 10 December 2007
Frustrating
I've been on some crazy tables this evening with a lot of bluffing going on, a lot of really marginal calls and usually this is a prime place for me to be as I bide my time, connect with the odd set and take some of them down. Sadly to do this you have to connect occasionally and I just didn't, every big pot I miss when I know that a stack will be coming my way should I connect - ended up a buy in down although it was worse than that for a time.
It's frustrating to see a couple of really poor plays and players getting paid off in a big way and being unable to capitalise at any point. You just can't call a $500 river bet with a straight when 4 hearts are on the board - your read has to be impeccable for this, yet I saw this happen...and pay off as the guy had bluffed the river - nice sized bluff, 60% of the pot, aggression beforehand and I really hate the call.
Same player who called got raised by the button, reraised and was then put all in for an extra $500 on $150 already committed - obvious call with A9 I hear you shout.. not to me, especially from an inactive button who has shown no bluffs but he had made a move with A2... makes you wonder it really does.
I feel like I'm playing well and have a reasonable read on the tables - if I didn't I'd be a lot more down as I made a lot back of one player through being able to predict where he'd bluff and check to let him fire at the pot.
Bed is calling as I got sucked into a longer session than Id anticipated - not a good day but not disasterous, there's always tomorrow
Steve
It's frustrating to see a couple of really poor plays and players getting paid off in a big way and being unable to capitalise at any point. You just can't call a $500 river bet with a straight when 4 hearts are on the board - your read has to be impeccable for this, yet I saw this happen...and pay off as the guy had bluffed the river - nice sized bluff, 60% of the pot, aggression beforehand and I really hate the call.
Same player who called got raised by the button, reraised and was then put all in for an extra $500 on $150 already committed - obvious call with A9 I hear you shout.. not to me, especially from an inactive button who has shown no bluffs but he had made a move with A2... makes you wonder it really does.
I feel like I'm playing well and have a reasonable read on the tables - if I didn't I'd be a lot more down as I made a lot back of one player through being able to predict where he'd bluff and check to let him fire at the pot.
Bed is calling as I got sucked into a longer session than Id anticipated - not a good day but not disasterous, there's always tomorrow
Steve
Saturday 8 December 2007
Strange Day
I'm just over $800 up for the day and cannot remember a time where I hit more hands - top/middle set on the flop etc. I should be on the situations and way I've played be about $3-4k ahead, sadly my hands are repeatedly getting sucked out on - lost a 2k pot where I flopped 999 for top set with no draws on as I raised on flop to $260, raised all in on the turn and got called by 9T which had hit a flush draw and connected with the 7 outer on the river. Shocking is not quite the word. I was shaking with anger after that one as it was right at the start of a session and I hate being put in a position where I'm chasing due to my opponent being a moron who knows nothing about pot odds. Being offered 2:1 my chances are around 7:1 yeah I call.
Sigh, I've not been so happy with my play for a good long time as I am consistently making the right decisions to extract value - now all I need is for my hands to hold up, not asking much I feel.
I'm coming off again having got level as I'm irritated by not being miles ahead, I'll play some more later and hopefully win lots. I'd really like a big day and it should be today as I've been great. I was so incensed by this last one that I told him to go XXXX himself - I'm usually so restrained in the text too!
Steve
Sigh, I've not been so happy with my play for a good long time as I am consistently making the right decisions to extract value - now all I need is for my hands to hold up, not asking much I feel.
I'm coming off again having got level as I'm irritated by not being miles ahead, I'll play some more later and hopefully win lots. I'd really like a big day and it should be today as I've been great. I was so incensed by this last one that I told him to go XXXX himself - I'm usually so restrained in the text too!
Steve
YES YES YES
OK, so maybe I wasn't entirely truthful in my last post, I'd been playing really well and despite the losses I cam back on and played a fully stacked table alongside the small stack I had been left with. Then this hand came up and I extracted a huge amount of value from it - there is virtually no way I should have made as much as I did so I'm going to talk through it.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1786486
I call the preflop raise and hit middle set with my 99 - obviously at this stage I know that there is no way I am getting off the hand unless a flush hits, then I may consider it. The preflop raiser bets $100 and is called by the other player left in - now I have a choice here as I suspect a flush draw for player B and don't really want to let him hit on the turn. However my main target is the original raiser as if I can get him to committ then I have a massive opportunity to win a big pot. This is why I just call, only a spade scares me and as I am on the button I know already that I am pushing any turn other than a spade.
Anyway turn comes a 2 which I rather liked and imagine my surprise when the original raiser bet $400 committing himself to the pot, KK did cross my mind at this point but I cannot ever lay this down here - anyone who does is a muppet by the way - I push all in knowing he has to call with whatever he has. I was praying for no spade on the river and got what I wanted - turns out preflop raiser had AK, player B 77 for bottom set - no way out for him and I scoop a $2800 pot. Oh it feels good, am now about $800 up for the session and have come off to o important things such as eat and get my vision back!
The guy with AK has played this horrifically - honestly his play is disgustingly bad, never ever get a full stack committed with one pair when you are not certain where you are in the hand. He has no clue after the flop and unless he puts us both on flush draws his turn bet is terrible as it committs him to the hand where he could have checked and seen both of us go all in before wisely folding. Ultimately he has gifted $900 to me here and should be ashamed of how bad his play was.
Happier now
Steve
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1786486
I call the preflop raise and hit middle set with my 99 - obviously at this stage I know that there is no way I am getting off the hand unless a flush hits, then I may consider it. The preflop raiser bets $100 and is called by the other player left in - now I have a choice here as I suspect a flush draw for player B and don't really want to let him hit on the turn. However my main target is the original raiser as if I can get him to committ then I have a massive opportunity to win a big pot. This is why I just call, only a spade scares me and as I am on the button I know already that I am pushing any turn other than a spade.
Anyway turn comes a 2 which I rather liked and imagine my surprise when the original raiser bet $400 committing himself to the pot, KK did cross my mind at this point but I cannot ever lay this down here - anyone who does is a muppet by the way - I push all in knowing he has to call with whatever he has. I was praying for no spade on the river and got what I wanted - turns out preflop raiser had AK, player B 77 for bottom set - no way out for him and I scoop a $2800 pot. Oh it feels good, am now about $800 up for the session and have come off to o important things such as eat and get my vision back!
The guy with AK has played this horrifically - honestly his play is disgustingly bad, never ever get a full stack committed with one pair when you are not certain where you are in the hand. He has no clue after the flop and unless he puts us both on flush draws his turn bet is terrible as it committs him to the hand where he could have checked and seen both of us go all in before wisely folding. Ultimately he has gifted $900 to me here and should be ashamed of how bad his play was.
Happier now
Steve
Angry, very very angry
I build myself back up to 5-10 once more and what happens - my luck happens that is what. Ended up losing a $1600 pot with 777 on a K97 two heart flop where all the money went in to a guy holding K7 who hit runner runner hearts to screw me.
I am so angry with this as I only have one buy in of profit to play and open two tables - I win the hand and I'm away and sailing but no, now I have to drop back down and build up again. I just need the first big hand to go my way and not have this rubbish happen. I am not waiting to build up lots more at lower stakes as that is not how I operate, I take shots and rebuild through profits a higher stakes. It is really upsetting - I want to play 5-10, I should be playing 5-10 but I am being strict and now it is back to the waiting game.
Damn, damn, damn
Steve
I have carried on since this first post as I had $320 left on the table and I decided I may as well either succeed or lose it all and to be honest my luck has not improved - KK vs AA with a K on flop - would have stacked him for 1k but only had $250 at the time. Great hand, bad timing. Then I get all in for a 1k pot against a flush draw which obviously hits - so back to $200 and now I've had a set of T's vs 3's so would have stacked the guy again but because I was short only won $200. Had my hands held up I think I'd be about 3k up on this table rather than $600 down.
This sucks
Steve
I am so angry with this as I only have one buy in of profit to play and open two tables - I win the hand and I'm away and sailing but no, now I have to drop back down and build up again. I just need the first big hand to go my way and not have this rubbish happen. I am not waiting to build up lots more at lower stakes as that is not how I operate, I take shots and rebuild through profits a higher stakes. It is really upsetting - I want to play 5-10, I should be playing 5-10 but I am being strict and now it is back to the waiting game.
Damn, damn, damn
Steve
I have carried on since this first post as I had $320 left on the table and I decided I may as well either succeed or lose it all and to be honest my luck has not improved - KK vs AA with a K on flop - would have stacked him for 1k but only had $250 at the time. Great hand, bad timing. Then I get all in for a 1k pot against a flush draw which obviously hits - so back to $200 and now I've had a set of T's vs 3's so would have stacked the guy again but because I was short only won $200. Had my hands held up I think I'd be about 3k up on this table rather than $600 down.
This sucks
Steve
Friday 7 December 2007
Reflections on the first month as a pro
This post is going to be looking over how my first month of full time play has gone. Lessons which I've learnt, mistakes I've made and how it all differs from my expectations.
First and most important thing to acknowledge is that I'm unlikely to struggle to make a comfortable living playing poker as my only source of income. Regular readers will know that I have suffered some massive swings and some poor discipline during this time. However despite this I am still making a decent amount and have been able to build up after bad swings by dropping stakes and forcing better discipline upon myself.
I think this is a very important realisation for me. It hasn't by any means gone how I'd hoped and I've had to play lower than I would wish to but it's abundantly clear that I am (financially) at least a successful player.
What I have also realised is that my expectations and aspirations are extremely high and I demand a lot from myself. It is not going to be enough for me to make a comfortable living - I want a lot more and will not be happy unless I am making somewhere around $4k a week on average. This is more than attainable and is ultimately the minimum level which I wish to aim for when I return full time to 5-10nl.
What I have found a major problem is the lack of routine. This has surprised me with how difficult it is to impose when I have virtually no requirements upon my time or energies other than to focus on my game. I had assumed that I would fall into a routine of going to bed around 4am, rising by 1pm and then playing poker from around 10.30pm - 3.30am. This ain't happened, not even slightly.
I have taken to staying up all night on occasion, finding it difficult to bother going to bed - what this has resulted in is an ever varying schedule where I don't give myself the time during daylight hours to do other things. When I get up at 4pm Nat is home within an hour or so and my opportunity to do anything productive for myself disappears as I spend the evening with her and then when she goes to bed I play poker. It also means that I don't excercise as I'm lazy and need to do it when I'm in by myself during the afternoon.
I have found that when I keep to a more sensible routine I am happier, more productive and because of this I become more motivated with my game. My goal for the next month is to get into a proper routine which will involve getting up at a reasonable hour and not staying up through the night for no apparant reason other than because I can.
I have such a fantastic opportunity to be this relaxed, cheerful, carefree person with very few things to worry about and I've not been. I put this down to my lack of routine leaving me tired, my body confused and then I compound it by doing stupid things at poker. I need to refocus on why I am doing this for my job. I'm not going to say that it's not about the money because it so blatently is (at least in part). The money is a necessary and nice byproduct of doing something which I love, this will happen anyway so what I need to concentrate on is living my life to the full, making the effort with things and generally enjoying my time.
I didn't anticipate this being a problem, I don't struggle with boredom, I am happy with my own company for long periods but it has become one because ultimately I'm lazy. Because there is little which I have to do - I do nothing and that is not healthy or enjoyable. I've snapped out of my bad mood and lethargy now and I am going to make this work in a way I enjoy and am happy with. Step 1 in this is going to be imposing that routine on myself and the sooner I successfully do that the sooner everything else will fall into place.
It's not an easy life and I can see why people struggle with it, this way of being would not suit the majority of people I know. For me it is all about willpower and belief at the table coupled with discipline away from it. I manage ok with the first of these and have been woefully inadequate at the second - that must and will change over the next few weeks.
I'll keep you all updated on how it goes
Steve
First and most important thing to acknowledge is that I'm unlikely to struggle to make a comfortable living playing poker as my only source of income. Regular readers will know that I have suffered some massive swings and some poor discipline during this time. However despite this I am still making a decent amount and have been able to build up after bad swings by dropping stakes and forcing better discipline upon myself.
I think this is a very important realisation for me. It hasn't by any means gone how I'd hoped and I've had to play lower than I would wish to but it's abundantly clear that I am (financially) at least a successful player.
What I have also realised is that my expectations and aspirations are extremely high and I demand a lot from myself. It is not going to be enough for me to make a comfortable living - I want a lot more and will not be happy unless I am making somewhere around $4k a week on average. This is more than attainable and is ultimately the minimum level which I wish to aim for when I return full time to 5-10nl.
What I have found a major problem is the lack of routine. This has surprised me with how difficult it is to impose when I have virtually no requirements upon my time or energies other than to focus on my game. I had assumed that I would fall into a routine of going to bed around 4am, rising by 1pm and then playing poker from around 10.30pm - 3.30am. This ain't happened, not even slightly.
I have taken to staying up all night on occasion, finding it difficult to bother going to bed - what this has resulted in is an ever varying schedule where I don't give myself the time during daylight hours to do other things. When I get up at 4pm Nat is home within an hour or so and my opportunity to do anything productive for myself disappears as I spend the evening with her and then when she goes to bed I play poker. It also means that I don't excercise as I'm lazy and need to do it when I'm in by myself during the afternoon.
I have found that when I keep to a more sensible routine I am happier, more productive and because of this I become more motivated with my game. My goal for the next month is to get into a proper routine which will involve getting up at a reasonable hour and not staying up through the night for no apparant reason other than because I can.
I have such a fantastic opportunity to be this relaxed, cheerful, carefree person with very few things to worry about and I've not been. I put this down to my lack of routine leaving me tired, my body confused and then I compound it by doing stupid things at poker. I need to refocus on why I am doing this for my job. I'm not going to say that it's not about the money because it so blatently is (at least in part). The money is a necessary and nice byproduct of doing something which I love, this will happen anyway so what I need to concentrate on is living my life to the full, making the effort with things and generally enjoying my time.
I didn't anticipate this being a problem, I don't struggle with boredom, I am happy with my own company for long periods but it has become one because ultimately I'm lazy. Because there is little which I have to do - I do nothing and that is not healthy or enjoyable. I've snapped out of my bad mood and lethargy now and I am going to make this work in a way I enjoy and am happy with. Step 1 in this is going to be imposing that routine on myself and the sooner I successfully do that the sooner everything else will fall into place.
It's not an easy life and I can see why people struggle with it, this way of being would not suit the majority of people I know. For me it is all about willpower and belief at the table coupled with discipline away from it. I manage ok with the first of these and have been woefully inadequate at the second - that must and will change over the next few weeks.
I'll keep you all updated on how it goes
Steve
Thursday 6 December 2007
An Interesting Hand
I've won about $800 back today and played fairly well in a shortish session. One intriguing hand came up where I would strongly question my opponent's play. I'll talk through it and you'll see what I mean.
I'm on the button and all players involved have a full stack ($400). Player A raises to $16 and B then reraises to $44, me to act and I have KK - pretty good but the number of times that reraise means AA on this level is ridiculously high so dropping the hand is a genuine option. I decided to flat call the raise. Two reasons I decided to do this, first is that it means I can get away from any flop with an A or a big reraise from the initial raiser. The other is that my call is extremely scary (or should be to the other 2 players) and will hopefully curb the preflop action allowing me to make my decisions based upon the flop.
Player A completes and the flop comes 778. This is an excellent flop for me as I am only likely to be behind to AA and it also enables QQ,JJ to pay me off handsomely if they decide that they may be good. Action is checked to me which is great news as barring a 7 I now am certain I am ahead in the hand. I bet a 2/3 pot $84 and player A calls and B folds.As I was more worried about player B this is superb for me. Turn comes with a 9 and after it is checked to me any bet I make commits me and I opted for the overbet push which probably look weaker than a lesser bet - however either way I am comitting myself to the pot so the best course of action is the one which brings my opponent in most often and I think the overbet lets my opponent decide that I am blufign often enough to make it possible. River came a 2 and my opponent showed the JJ as an $830 pot was pushed my way.
Here is my problem with my opponent's play - my flat call pre-flop and my opponents reraise should be sending massive warning signs to a hand like JJ. OK he has an overpair to the board BUT there is big action and not only is he facing an $84 bet on the flop but also the original reraiser is still going to be acting after him - to me this is a really easy fold with virtually no exceptions. However a call is okish if you play a really quite loose game.
On the turn he would be much better off pushing as it at least gives me the option of folding (I wouldn't have) however when he faces a bet larger than pot size and assuming he's paying attention he must be aware that the chances are that I have AA,KK,QQ and he has 6 outs, or in other words it's not worth it.
However he calls and I imagine he is already saying the words I know you have AK in a bout of foolish misplaced optimism. It is amazing how often people put you on AK to justify calling, the number of times you see this typed into chat is quite extraordinary.
I love players who not only can't get away from their big hands but especially those who call off all their chips rather than betting them strongly and giving me a decision to make.
Steve
I'm on the button and all players involved have a full stack ($400). Player A raises to $16 and B then reraises to $44, me to act and I have KK - pretty good but the number of times that reraise means AA on this level is ridiculously high so dropping the hand is a genuine option. I decided to flat call the raise. Two reasons I decided to do this, first is that it means I can get away from any flop with an A or a big reraise from the initial raiser. The other is that my call is extremely scary (or should be to the other 2 players) and will hopefully curb the preflop action allowing me to make my decisions based upon the flop.
Player A completes and the flop comes 778. This is an excellent flop for me as I am only likely to be behind to AA and it also enables QQ,JJ to pay me off handsomely if they decide that they may be good. Action is checked to me which is great news as barring a 7 I now am certain I am ahead in the hand. I bet a 2/3 pot $84 and player A calls and B folds.As I was more worried about player B this is superb for me. Turn comes with a 9 and after it is checked to me any bet I make commits me and I opted for the overbet push which probably look weaker than a lesser bet - however either way I am comitting myself to the pot so the best course of action is the one which brings my opponent in most often and I think the overbet lets my opponent decide that I am blufign often enough to make it possible. River came a 2 and my opponent showed the JJ as an $830 pot was pushed my way.
Here is my problem with my opponent's play - my flat call pre-flop and my opponents reraise should be sending massive warning signs to a hand like JJ. OK he has an overpair to the board BUT there is big action and not only is he facing an $84 bet on the flop but also the original reraiser is still going to be acting after him - to me this is a really easy fold with virtually no exceptions. However a call is okish if you play a really quite loose game.
On the turn he would be much better off pushing as it at least gives me the option of folding (I wouldn't have) however when he faces a bet larger than pot size and assuming he's paying attention he must be aware that the chances are that I have AA,KK,QQ and he has 6 outs, or in other words it's not worth it.
However he calls and I imagine he is already saying the words I know you have AK in a bout of foolish misplaced optimism. It is amazing how often people put you on AK to justify calling, the number of times you see this typed into chat is quite extraordinary.
I love players who not only can't get away from their big hands but especially those who call off all their chips rather than betting them strongly and giving me a decision to make.
Steve
Tuesday 4 December 2007
Back we go
Another less than stunning day at 5-10 where nothing much which was good happened so I'm dropping back for a bit until I've built up enough to have another shot, hopefully won't take more than a day or so as I'm eager to get it going back at the stakes I belong at.
This may happen a few times as I'm going to be strict with my requirements for playing 5-10 and as I keep a short bankroll I could be up and down a ew times over the next week or two. Hopefully I move back up, get something going and build a larger roll to play with but I'm not going to push my luck as that is what destroyed my roll at omaha in the first place. I'd rather be slightly bored by the stakes than stressed because I can't afford to lose!
Steve
This may happen a few times as I'm going to be strict with my requirements for playing 5-10 and as I keep a short bankroll I could be up and down a ew times over the next week or two. Hopefully I move back up, get something going and build a larger roll to play with but I'm not going to push my luck as that is what destroyed my roll at omaha in the first place. I'd rather be slightly bored by the stakes than stressed because I can't afford to lose!
Steve
Return to 5-10
And it hasn't gone as well as I'd have hoped. Played well and was quite happy with my play in general but it felt like i just didn't get the run of the cards. I played so few large pots - biggest was only about $600 and I was sucked out on in that. Whenever I had something I got no action and basically bled chips for 1500 hands. Still I only lost a buy-in so it could have been a lot worse and at least I felt immediately comfortable and happy with the tables I was playing.
I'm still finding it difficult to impose any sort of routine on my days and fall so easily into bad habits with my sleep patterns. Yesterday I got up at midday stayed up till 7.30am and have risen at about 4pm today - so I have managed to miss all the daylight hours! Now it's not like I need to keep to any routine but I do feel that I should be getting up by 2pm at the latest really. Still I had good reason for staying up last night - NFL followed by Super Mario Galaxy for a couple of hours, truly a fine evening (setting aside poker results)
Steve
I'm still finding it difficult to impose any sort of routine on my days and fall so easily into bad habits with my sleep patterns. Yesterday I got up at midday stayed up till 7.30am and have risen at about 4pm today - so I have managed to miss all the daylight hours! Now it's not like I need to keep to any routine but I do feel that I should be getting up by 2pm at the latest really. Still I had good reason for staying up last night - NFL followed by Super Mario Galaxy for a couple of hours, truly a fine evening (setting aside poker results)
Steve
Sunday 2 December 2007
I just shouldn't play 2-4nl
I may have mentioned once or twice how much better I've been doing in 3-6nl with most of my wins coming from these tables on the rare occasions they get going on party. This could not be more true than this evening. I haven't been in the mood for much play so have played a few short sessions across either 1 or 2 tables of 3-6nl and completely ignored the lower game.
It's gone quite well - I'm now up to $2k up for the evening and have won a fair few sizeable pots with some nice play of high cards and sets. I just won an $1100 pot with KK as the flop came AK7. I had been reraised pre-flop and flat called. The guy played it like he was stringing me along for my whole stack and I was absolutely certain he had AK or AA. Usually when I get this feeling I am proved right as I have a knack for feeling out the monster hands. Imagine my surprise as he check raised me the min on the flop and then bet and called on the turn as he flipped...AT. Honestly shocked, I'd not raised preflop for about an hour and had folded virtually every hand.
I'm very grateful to the lad but what exactly was he thinking of - I called two reraises ad then raise him all in. What can I have that AT is beating????????mJust goes to show that even at higher stakes some people just do not notice what is blindingly obvious and lose their stacks because of it.
If I had the AT out of position on the largest rock at the table I would have folded pre-flop and not gone any further - the re-raise is as horrible as my flat call is beautiful. I never quite understand what people read into my table image. When I get aggressive people keep on folding, when I play like a rock people donate their entire stack when I clearly have it - these are not the regular players I'm talking about (they know better and watch) but some of the one offs are just awful and are the reason why poker is a very crushable game in the long term.
Steve
It's gone quite well - I'm now up to $2k up for the evening and have won a fair few sizeable pots with some nice play of high cards and sets. I just won an $1100 pot with KK as the flop came AK7. I had been reraised pre-flop and flat called. The guy played it like he was stringing me along for my whole stack and I was absolutely certain he had AK or AA. Usually when I get this feeling I am proved right as I have a knack for feeling out the monster hands. Imagine my surprise as he check raised me the min on the flop and then bet and called on the turn as he flipped...AT. Honestly shocked, I'd not raised preflop for about an hour and had folded virtually every hand.
I'm very grateful to the lad but what exactly was he thinking of - I called two reraises ad then raise him all in. What can I have that AT is beating????????mJust goes to show that even at higher stakes some people just do not notice what is blindingly obvious and lose their stacks because of it.
If I had the AT out of position on the largest rock at the table I would have folded pre-flop and not gone any further - the re-raise is as horrible as my flat call is beautiful. I never quite understand what people read into my table image. When I get aggressive people keep on folding, when I play like a rock people donate their entire stack when I clearly have it - these are not the regular players I'm talking about (they know better and watch) but some of the one offs are just awful and are the reason why poker is a very crushable game in the long term.
Steve
Very little if anything about poker - I recommend avoiding reading
I'm finding it quite hard to play at the moment, my brain is just not in gear and my concentration span is pitiful at best. It's not really poker related as things have been going well, I've played a bit today and am $1k up but I almost don't care. I am struggling to motivate myself at all and it's an effort to be smiley and happy, or or those who know me, to be my version of this state of being (cynical and grumpy).
I'm not particularly happy at the moment and I am struggling to put my finger on why. There have been a number of things going on over the last few months and I think I've just let things get on top of me a bit. Rather than enjoying life and taking the rough with the smooth I seem to be brooding on things and failing to allow any joy to penetrate my soul.
Luckily I am pretty sure that it is not my career choice or the life I lead alongside this as I actually rather like not having a job and having time to myself - sure I could spend it a lot more productively than I do and probably should BUT I rather like my lifestyle. I think I just need to make more effort with things in general to snap myself out of this as I genuinely like being active and doing lots of stuff but i do have a bad tendancy to get myself into long ruts where I fail to make the effort. This comes in a variety of forms from keeping in touch with friends or excercise right down to making the small efforts with Nat.
I've had my brother over for the weekend and it's quite sad but playing pro-ev actually gave me some spark as we get fairly competitive and unneccessarily OTT celebrations are the norm in the event of crucial last minute goals. There are few games where I see people go from smug elation to angry and miserable within a few minutes and it is entertaining. Also saw one of my close friends who I've not seen for a while and she is currently extremely happy which is great to see.
Sadly once they'd gone I no longer have to make any effort and at the moment that seems to be hugely negative for me as I drop in to a somewhat less than cheery individual.
It worries me when I feel sad as it's really not my normal state. I'm usually very content and cheerful inside (grumpy/cynical/sarcastic) is what everyone else will see! and I'm not used to prolonged periods of feeling down. I find it very difficult to snap myself out of it and I'm awful at letting people help and they tend to get their heads bitten off for having the temerity to be nice (sorry Nat).
I'm back to a stage where I am ready to move back into the 5-10 game and this should be exciting and a good thing for me but I really have very little passion at the moment so shall refrain from doing so until my mental state is somewhat improved.
Who knows I may wake up tomorrow and feel much better, it will go away as quick as that it's just a matter of when really. Who knows mayybe the prospect of playing Mario Galaxy on the Wii will help!!!
Steve
I'm not particularly happy at the moment and I am struggling to put my finger on why. There have been a number of things going on over the last few months and I think I've just let things get on top of me a bit. Rather than enjoying life and taking the rough with the smooth I seem to be brooding on things and failing to allow any joy to penetrate my soul.
Luckily I am pretty sure that it is not my career choice or the life I lead alongside this as I actually rather like not having a job and having time to myself - sure I could spend it a lot more productively than I do and probably should BUT I rather like my lifestyle. I think I just need to make more effort with things in general to snap myself out of this as I genuinely like being active and doing lots of stuff but i do have a bad tendancy to get myself into long ruts where I fail to make the effort. This comes in a variety of forms from keeping in touch with friends or excercise right down to making the small efforts with Nat.
I've had my brother over for the weekend and it's quite sad but playing pro-ev actually gave me some spark as we get fairly competitive and unneccessarily OTT celebrations are the norm in the event of crucial last minute goals. There are few games where I see people go from smug elation to angry and miserable within a few minutes and it is entertaining. Also saw one of my close friends who I've not seen for a while and she is currently extremely happy which is great to see.
Sadly once they'd gone I no longer have to make any effort and at the moment that seems to be hugely negative for me as I drop in to a somewhat less than cheery individual.
It worries me when I feel sad as it's really not my normal state. I'm usually very content and cheerful inside (grumpy/cynical/sarcastic) is what everyone else will see! and I'm not used to prolonged periods of feeling down. I find it very difficult to snap myself out of it and I'm awful at letting people help and they tend to get their heads bitten off for having the temerity to be nice (sorry Nat).
I'm back to a stage where I am ready to move back into the 5-10 game and this should be exciting and a good thing for me but I really have very little passion at the moment so shall refrain from doing so until my mental state is somewhat improved.
Who knows I may wake up tomorrow and feel much better, it will go away as quick as that it's just a matter of when really. Who knows mayybe the prospect of playing Mario Galaxy on the Wii will help!!!
Steve
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