Good Game, I Go Home Now

I've been playing more MTTs and SNGs for the past 2 days. I final tabled another Stars $22-180 yesterday and played well I think. Busted out 4th when I ran 77 into KK and QQ.

No final table today but I made it really deep in the Stars $18K Gtd. Played well and restole many times to keep my stack healthy. Then a resteal went wrong and I busted in 20th place or so. First place paid $7K. Meh...at the rate that I'm running in MTT's I'm pretty confident I'll make a sizeable cash pretty soon.

So the goal for the next few days is to make more final tables and win one. And may that one win be in a big field MTT...

Over the past 2 days, I've played a whole bunch of SNGs and MTTs and I'm really really happy at how I've been playing. Anyway, I final tabled another Stars $22 180-SNG today. Lost a coinflip 3-handed with 77 vs A9, got crippled and busted out soon after. If I had won that flip, I would have been heads up with a 4-1 chip lead.

I think I played really well the whole tournament and am feeling super confident about my tournament game right now. Over the 3 or 4 weeks, I've made a few adjustments to my MTT play.

1. I'm taking more speculative flops in position in the early levels.
2. Paying more attention to my opponent's patterns and betting tendencies. Also taking more notes about their play.
3. More willing to take coinflips in midstages of tournaments.
4. Playing more hands in position and controlling the pot size better. Against some opponents and given some boards, I've been checking my top pair hands on the turn more to keep the pot manageable. Also, it induces my opponent to bet out a weaker hand on the river or attempt a bluff.
5. Also gotten better at putting my opponents on hand ranges.

Anyway, I won't be able to play any poker for the next couple of days since I'll be attending a wedding. I think it'll be a really good break from all the poker that I've been playing over the past week or so. I'll be back refreshed and ready to tackle more MTTs. Just hope that my cash game rut ends soon too...

I am still on my cash game break and only played a bunch of SNGs and MTTs on Stars. I actually final tabled 2 of the $22 Stars 180-SNGs. Here's a rundown of the first one.

Manage to chip up without any major confrontations. Made a couple of flushes in the 2nd hour to get a bigger stack. Then hover around average as the money bubble bursts. I have 99 in MP and about 9X BB when UTG+1 opens and with my stack and current stage of tournament, I think a shove is pretty much an automatic play. He calls pretty quickly with KK but I manage to suck out a set on the turn. Then on the final table bubble, I find AKs UTG+1 with about 15X BB. This is kind of a tricky spot. I figure any raise is going to commit me, so I open shove and get called in 2 spots by players who have about the same number of chips as me. I'm glad to see them flip QQ and JJ (bad overcall by JJ here) and of course, I hit trip Aces on the flop and I go into the final table 2nd in chips.

In the first orbit of the FT, this hand happens, I raise 3X BB with A8s from the hijack and get called by the BB. Flop comes 8-high, he checks, I c-bet about 1/2 pot and he shovels, I call and he shows J8. But he hits his Jack on the river. That pot would have given me a big chip lead but whatever. I still have a workable stack and honestly, I can't remember many significant hands after that. There was one hand 5-handed where I made a sick read and c/raised all-in on a stone cold bluff. I had KQ in the SB and I just completed since BB is a calling station and I didn't want to play a big pot with him OOP. Flop comes J-T-x with 2 spades and I have no spades. I check call his 1/2 pot bet with my straight draw. Turn is another spade, and I check again and he bets the same flop amount again and I call. River is a blank and I was ready to check/fold to a nice sized bet. However, he bets very weakly, slightly less than 1/3 pot and from previous hands earlier in the tourney, I noted that he bets these gay amounts when he has a marginal hand or air. So with this read, I c/raised him all-in and he folds. Then, I basically chipped up, other players get knocked out, then I called an all-in 3 handed with pocket treys and won that flip and entered heads up play with a 3:2 chip advantage. Manage to get my lead up to 2:1 at one point but lost a big pot to get back to even. Then decided to do an even chop for $900 each.

Next one was tougher for me. Basically just hung around all tournament with an average stack and entered the final table 4th or 5th out of 9. Was card dead and had to pick my spots well for resteals to keep my stack reasonable. Eventually we were down to 5-handed, I had TT in the BB and SB jams on me and I instacalled. He shows AQ and he wins the race. 5th was good for about $250.

Very happy with the way I played these tournaments. I know that once I have a workable stack in the 2nd hour (5000 or more), I've got a very good shot at making the final table. A lot of the players play very poorly on both the money and final table bubbles. Some are too tight while others are too loose. I think I calibrated myself quite nicely on both bubbles and made decent estimates of the push/calling ranges of my opponents. I'm feeling really confident about these tournaments right now. If only my cash game results were anywhere near as good....sigh...

So all in all, a +$1.1K day from tournaments and SNGs alone. I'll play more tournaments tomorrow and hopefully, more good news will follow. And once again, thanks to the FCPers who railed me on both final tables. You guys are teh nutz.

After a rough downswing over the past 5000 hands or so, I decided to do play some SNGs instead to take a break from the cash game grind. Later in the afternoon, I felt good enough to get back on the cash game saddle and actually felt very positive about things. About 150 hands in, I'm up about half a buy-in and feeling very confident about my game. Then these two hands occur about 10 hands apart.

First hand, I have 88 in MP and after 2 limpers, I limp in. Flop comes 8c-10c-2d, BB bets out 1/2 pot and I raise the pot, some donk flat calls and BB folds. Turn is an offsuit 9, I bet 2/3 pot and donk flat calls leaving not much behind. River is a blank, I shovel and he calls. He shows QJ for the Q-high straight. Yep, he flatcalled a pot sized raise on the flop with just a gutshot. But whatever...he was only about half a buy-in deep at that point.

Second hand, I have TT in the BB and folds around to the SB who raises 3X BB and I flat call since I am in position. 3-betting him pf would be something I would do half the time. Anyway, flop comes out T-x-x all spades. He leads for 2/3 pot, I raise him slightly more than the pot, ready to go to the felt with my hand, and he calls. Turn is an offsuit King, he checks, I bet 2/3 pot, and he c/raises me all-in and I insta-call. River is a spade and he shows KsQx for the rivered flush. Sigh....

So though I only lost 1.5 buy-ins over the 350 hands I played today, I think it's best if I take a break for the next couple of days. I know I'm playing my usual game but I think I might go on serious monkey tilt if I force myself to finish the 20K hands by the end of this week. So what's the final tally? Almost 5.5K hands played and I dropped a total of 10.5 buy-ins. At least I'm adequately rolled for this game, so I'm not in any danger of going busto, though dropping down a level might be necessary if I don't get out of this rut. In $-terms, this is only my 3rd biggest downswing after a $2K downswing in live minbet in late summer and a 3-week crappy streak in MTTs and SNGs last Spring.

In a sick way, this is what I like about poker. Variance can really hit you like a bitch sometimes and it's a really great test of your character when you keep getting kicked in the nuts by the cards over and over again. Some people get really upset and start trying to find reasons for their poor run. They convince themselves that they are inherently unluckier than others or that they would run better if they started playing like how their lousy opponents played. Others would start getting angry with their opponents and berate them (often using vulgar language) for making poor calls that ultimately pay off. I'm glad to say that I've never scolded my opponents for getting lucky on me. I realize that luck plays a major part in individual poker hands and I willingly choose to be part of it, staying for the long run. Besides, my opponents are free to choose to play their cards in whatever way they want and if they want to stick all their money in being a 3-1 underdog, so be it. It would be simply reflect very poorly on my character if I were to go off on my opponents for getting lucky. That being said, it's still really really tough to deal with these downswings. You can only take so many bad beats before doubts about your abilities start creeping into your mind. How do I deal with it? I just take a break or play other forms of poker like Omaha Hi/Lo or Triple Draw. Then once I start feeling the urge to play again, I'll play.

So what's the plan for me over the next few days or week? I guess I'll just be doing some reading (both poker and non-poker related). I'll probably put in several sets of multitabling SNGs and play some Triple Draw online....maybe try to get a live game with my friends going. Some shopping will probably be done as well.

I'll be back soon.

So I made a resolution not to bet on sports. But someone on FCP offered me Ohio -7.5 which was the exact same spread that the sportsbooks were offering. What makes this bet +EV is that I won't have to pay any vig if I win the bet. So that means that I'm getting at least a 5% discount on my bet. Now a 5% edge is too big to pass up in my opinion. Or I'm just a degenerate. It's fun being able to justify degeneracy with some math.

I watched March of the Penguins today and found out that those penguins are really really fat. I would really like to eat one. I can imagine penguin steak to be quite juicy and yummy.

Another 1000 hands, another 4 buy-ins dropped. Got oversetted once. QQ, raise pf, bet flop and shove turn, get instac-called by AK who hits it on river. AA gets hit by 2-pr. I tilt shove by flush draw on turn and miss. 2-pr ran into a turned higher 2-pr. Had 4 or 5 15-outs twice hands, played it fast and of course never get there. LKJSadlkjdakldjaslkdjasdaslkdaj!!Dasdasdaskdjl! At least I got FPPs....LOLOL. I hate this game. At least I'm not doing this for a living....At this rate, by the time I finish my 20K hands quest, I'll be in bustoland. fck that.

Ok, here's the rundown of the tournaments (aka donkaments/lollerments/gangbangaments)that I played today on Stars.

$11-180 - At 25/50, after 1 limper, I limp behind with 88 and this big time donk minraises, a total of 3 flat callers before it comes back to me. I know that my 88 is way ahead of his range and even though he is likely to call my shove, I am more than willing to gamble being the favorite. So I shovel, he calls with KJs (lol...at least it was sooooted) and he flops the K. IGHN.

$22-180 - Carddead and got blinded down to 8X BB. Folded to me on button, I shovel with KJ and get called by 66 and do not suckout.

$16.50-360 - Did pretty well in this tournament. Picked my spots well. So we were down to final 4 tables and doink raises 3X BB in LP, I have AQ and with my stacksize, it's an insta-shove. He thinks and calls with ATs (SOOOOOTED!!), flops the flush draw and makes it on turn. At least I cashed in this one.

$22-180 - Again card-dead, down to 8X BB, shoved with KQ on the button get called by AJ and no 40/60 suck out.

$22-180 - Managed to get an average stack going into level 5, 2 limpers and I have A8 in the SB, I shove, first limper thinks and calls with A5. Of course he wins the 3-1.

$11 15K Gtd - Hover around average for the first hour. Just into 2nd hour, I get AK UTG with 14X BB, I open shove, get called by AJ in BB and of course, he wins the 3-1 again.

$27.50 18K Gtd - Didn't really get anything going and hover around average into 2nd hour. Down to 7X BB, folded to me in the Hijack, I shove with 57s and get called by AT and don't suckout. How come SOOOOTED cards don't work for me???

$22-180 - 2nd level. After a limper, raised with JJ on the button, limper calls. Flop comes J-7-8, he checks, I bet 2/3 pot, he calls. Turn 4, he checks, I bet 1/2 pot, he calls. River Q and he shoves, I insta-call and he shows the 65o for the turned straight. Don't think I can get away from this hand. So many hands that donks would play like this that I have crushed.

$11-180 - Hover around my starting stack into 2nd hour. Folded to SB who shoves and I instacall with AJ for half my stack. Of course his QT wins. I get knocked out soon after.

$22-180 - Took some speculative flops and was down to 1200 when this hand happened. 50/100 blinds. I have KK otb, folded to me and I raise to 300. SB shoves and BB overshoves and I instacall. They show 88 and A9. Sweet spot right? No. Turn brings the Ace and I get crippled to almost nothing. Busto shortly after.

Yep, I played 10 tournaments and cashed in only 1. Down $160 on Lollerments for the day. I think over the past week and the half, I'm down about $500 overall on Lollerments. Sigh...Hope cash games will be nicer to me.

So I completed 3500 hands yesterday and the result was a 6 buy-in downswing. Good news though is that I only got in my money bad once when my overpair got hit by a set (after I had 3-betted my QQ from OOP big). Got coolered when my EP AQ raise hit top two on an Ad-Qd-Jd board where my opponent hit his flush. If the flop was Ad-Qd-5d, I think I can get away from the hand. With the Jd, {AJ, QJ} become 2 more hands that I beat and thus commits me to the felt with my top 2. Got sucked-out out when sitting at 1.5 buy-ins deep, I got c/raised all-in on the flop holding KK and my opponent hit his OESD on the turn. Lost another big pot when my opponent insisted on calling pot-sized bets on flop and turn with his flush draw which he hit on the river. Another cooler when my QQ ran into KK. Then got a whole bunch of AK and AQ where I raised preflop and my c-bet got c/raised and I had to fold. Oh well...

I'm quite excited about the FPPs. At my current clip, I should be able to get Platinum Star by the end of the month and if I'm diligent about putting in the hands, I should get an EPT package within a year.

Anyway, I'm going to be playing some MTT Lollerments today. I ran pretty well in Lollerments last Fall where I final tabled at least once a week. Hope that's the case today. +EV me.

Due to some delays at the office, I won't actually be starting work on Monday. And a snap plan to take a weekend trip to Bangkok fell through. That means that I'll have the whole of next week free. I've set a goal to play at least 20K hands of NL cash by the end of the week. 6-tabling, I go through 400-500 hands an hour, so that means that I need to put in about 40-50 hours over the next 6 days or so. Definitely do-able. Wish me +EV.

Some thoughts about NL cash games a few thousand hands in.

1) Ppl get committed to overpairs too easily. Often, a lonely pair of Aces is not good enough to play a big pot.
2) Position, position, position. It's soooo fkn crucial!! A lot of players have no understanding whatsoever about how the playability of their hands is affected by their position.
3) Set-mining. It's teh nutz.
4) 3-betting preflop. I've been 3-betting preflop with a wider range of hands now and I feel really comfortable doing it. A lot of players are really tight and won't 3-bet in position with hands like AK or QQ.
5) Firing the 2nd barrel on the turn. I am still uncomfortable and unsure when doing this is the right move. Really oppponent dependent.
6) Bankroll. Bankroll management is teh nutz too...

I'll keep posting updates about this 20K hands goal. Hopefully, I'll be robusto at the end of it.

Today I put in about 2000 hands of NL cash game and very quickly dropped 3 buy-ins due to 1) set busted by runner runner straight, 2) set busted by 2-pair that turned a higher full house 3) an audacious bluff attempt that almost worked since opponent used up his time bank before calling. Despite quickly losing the 3 buy-ins, I did not tilt at all and kept plugging away and eventually got back to even. However, almost right at the end, I dropped another buy-in when another set got busted by a flush after money went in on the flop. Overall though, despite booking a 1 buy-in loss for the session, I'm very happy at the way I played and controlled my tilt. Just need to keep plugging away and eventually all will be ok....

On another note, since I started playing cash games, I've started accumulating the Stars FPP points very quickly. At the rate I'm going right now, I'll definitely get GoldStar status and am a pretty sure bet for Platinum Star. And the stuff on the FPP store doesn't look to shabby. I'll probably spend the points getting StubHub gift certificates or entries into the Sunday Million.

Later.

For some reason, I actually find the phrase "teh nutz" quite funny.