Parx Casino is running a promo for the month of April, where if you accumulate 60 hrs in the month, you will be entered into a 50k free roll tournament. I play there several times a month in the 1-2 NL games and I am going to attempt to meet this goal and hopefully have a decent profit. I have been tracking my live play for the year and have been basically break-even so far. I will update this thread after sessions and welcome any and all comments, opinions, suggestions, and critiques.

630 pm -130am. Total:7 hrs
+$380. Total: +$380

I had a fairly easy session at a weak table. One spot where I noticed I might have been spewing a bit. After a checked down flop multiway, I would pick up backdoor draws (flush or OESD) and have bet them and gotten called and checked and mucked when I missed. Should I be barreling in these spots? I feel like I should have but have been cutting back on my bluffing because I feel like I'm one of the best players and can make enough money without having to bluff a ton.
Hand of the session
I had the MP player covered and he had around $175-$200.
Hero:
Raise to 11 utg+1
5 calls
Flop:
Hero bets $25
MP: raises 25
Fold, fold, fold, hero calls
MP was very aggressive young player who wasn't afraid to mix it up but understood how to play. I just called because I was ahead of 88-1010, 67,54, and thought he could have reraised with any pair and SD combo. I felt if I reraised he could only continue with hands that beat me and maybe 10s or 9s. The min-raise felt like a feeler bet if that makes sense.
Turn:
I didn't think that card changes anything and I checked, planning on probably calling a bet, giving him a chance to bluff if he didn't have anything. He checked which reinforced my thinking that I was good. He would have been trying to get stacks in with a set or 2pair.
River:
I decided I was going to bet for value and I made my bet sizing small enough to get paid by 67 or 87.
hero bets $45, call
Villain shows
Thoughts? I think I may have left some value on the table, but usually try to keep pots smaller with 1pair hands. Also live play is a little different than online because the money usually a lot more important to people and bets in relation to pot size usually need to be smaller in order to get called. 53 hours to go. I appreciate any feedback.

Originally Posted by Madmansam

I had the MP player covered and he had around $175-$200.
Hero:
Raise to 11 utg+1
5 calls
Flop:
Hero bets $25

Really don't like this bet. You have 3 to act behind you, you're bet isn't even 1/2 pot sized, in my live game you'd be lucky to get anyone to fold here. You need to size your bet so that callers are making a mistake to call you. With no FD, I'd make this bet $40. The only hands we are really afraid of are slow played AA-QQ & 65 from BTN but by making our c-bet so small you let anyone float you so if overcards come on the turn, which they probably will, you have no idea where you stand.

Well aren't the over cards still making a mistake if they call? They only have 6 outs which makes them only like around 12% to hit their hand and the pot is giving approximately 3-1. I didn't wanna price out hands I could get value from. Also as far as table dynamics go, so far everyone had folded to my c-bets 100%. I could almost entirely rule out QQ+ and thought a larger bet would never get called by worse. Obviously pocket tens would probably have called.

1030am-530pm Total: 11.5 hrs
some of my hours didnt count fri night because I was at dinner
+120 Total:+500

This was a very up and down session, and not necessarily from bad play. Their was one villain, a twentysomething female, who I tangled with several times and had some trouble with. First hand, I called a raise on the button and flopped a set, and she overbet pot on the flop and shoved turn and i just smooth called and beat her mucked overpair. That is the only history before these hands.
Hand 1 effective stacks roughly $200
Hero:
Above villain limps UTG fold fold Hero raises to $13 only UTG calls
Flop: pot:$29
UTG thinks for a minute and checks, Hero bets $20, UTG raises to $60, call
Turn: Pot:$149
check,check
River: Pot: $214
UTG bets $65, fold

Hand 2 effective stack sizes are $500 villain moved two seats away on my left
Hero:
hero raises to $13 in EP, villain calls in CO, headsup
Flop: Pot: $29
Hero bets $17, call
Turn: Pot:$63
Hero bets $30, CO reraises to $100, call
River: Pot: $263
Hero checks, Co bets $225, fold

I am getting killed with these overpairs facing a raise. I would appreciate some advice. Thanks jillychemung for answering last time. Also fwiw, she said she had me beat both times when i asked her later, and I believed her. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

830pm-1230am Total:15.5 hrs
-$374 Total: +126

Session was pretty standard until this hand. $250 effective
Hero:
Hero raises to $11 in bb, lone limper calls, sb folds
limper was 2-5 reg according to floorperson
Flop: Pot:$23
hero bets $17, villain raises to $35, hero raises to $65, call
Turn: Pot:$153
Hero bets $65, villain tanks for min and calls after counting out his stack
River: Pot:$283
hero checks, villain shoves, hero tanks and folds face up, villain mucks and says nice fold, I folded because I feel most 2 pair or set hands try to get the money in before the river because of the two flush draws that could beat them, or kill the action

Upon reviewing the hand, I feel I need to bet more on the turn because I think I basically gave the flush the right price to call. However, the hits the villains range pretty hard imo and didnt want to bet too much into two pair hands. As I right this, it sounds like I am playing pretty much scared money right now. I get really uncomfortable when reraised when I have an overpair. I would appreciate some feedback thanks.

QQ - WA/WB here. I'd check behind here on the flop to control pot size and check behind on the turn also. On the river I'd probably call a 1/2 pot or smaller bet. As played though I think you really lost the minimum.

JJ - Since villain has no history of bluffing I'd have folded to the reraise on the turn. Only hands that beat us or a stone cold bluff are going to float us and then reraise our turn c-bet.

Your bet sizing SUCKS (very common for live players).

Turn: Pot:$153
Hero bets $65

The pot is $153 and you have ~$175 behind. You can just shove here and expect to get calls by lots of hands you beat. Also ffs never fold a set much less face up.

Also same thing here:

Turn: Pot:$63
Hero bets $30

FD board with almost nothing that beats you in villains range. $50 at least. Your opponents are bad, they will call.

River: Pot: $214
UTG bets $65, fold

Here you need to be good less than 20% of the time. You know she's aggro enough to do this without the nuts. I call.


Jilly, I don't think I could disagree any more with your responses. QQ on a JT9 board is so far from WA/WB that they shouldn't be in the same sentence. And aggro villain's often will bluff FDs on a dry paired board. What do you really think she has here that beats us?

On the QQ hand I'd be expecting the villain to have us beat a large amount of time. Live players love to limp/call with connectors and middle PP. The check/raise on the flop tells me that I'm behind with my over-pair and when villain checks the T on the turn I'd have to put her on a FH, hoping I'd bet. Yeah this looks like I'm seeing monsters where there might not be any but from a live player this line is standard for 2P that turns into a FH. Live players are not going to play Ax, Kx, Qx hands this way and small connectors will quickly give up. Without any reads that this villain will make a stone cold bluff, I'm folding to the check/raise.

Estimated equity for the QQ hand on the flop against a hand range with zero bluffs.

Hand 0: 58.544% 56.73% 01.82% 65706 2105.00 { QdQh }
Hand 1: 41.456% 39.64% 01.82% 45914 2105.00 { TT-88, AJs-ATs, KJs+, QJs, J9s+, T9s, 98s, 87s, AJo-ATo, KJo+, QJo, J9o+, T9o, 98o, 87o }

Our equity against the same range on the turn:
Hand 0: 55.498% 54.72% 00.78% 2528 36.00 { QdQh }
Hand 1: 44.502% 43.72% 00.78% 2020 36.00 { TT-88, AJs-ATs, KJs+, QJs, J9s+, T9s, 98s, 87s, AJo-ATo, KJo+, QJo, J9o+, T9o, 98o, 87o }

And finally just to show that folding the river where we need to be good ~18% is really bad:

Hand 0: 38.614% 38.61% 00.00% 39 0.00 { QdQh }
Hand 1: 61.386% 61.39% 00.00% 62 0.00 { TT-88, AJs-ATs, KJs+, QJs, J9s+, T9s, 98s, 87s, AJo-ATo, KJo+, QJo, J9o+, T9o, 98o, 87o }

Originally Posted by Madmansam

Flop: pot:$29
UTG thinks for a minute and checks, Hero bets $20, UTG raises to $60, call
Turn: Pot:$149

Board: Jd Th 9c

Wins Ties Equity
58.46% 3.20% 61.66% ( JJ-99,KQ,QJ,JT,T9,87 )
35.14% 3.20% 38.34% ( QdQh )

Board: Jd Th 9c Td

Wins Ties Equity
76.02% 1.67% 77.69% ( JJ-99,KQ,QJ,JT,T9,87 )
20.64% 1.67% 22.31% ( QdQh )


IMHO Range is a lot tighter after the check raise.

Wow, that's really seeing monsters under the bed imo. Think you have to at least include 88 and 98 in that range.

I agree with you both actually. WV I think you were right on in the fact I need to work on my bet sizing. And jilly, I agree with you on how tight peoples ranges become when they raise you. When I got raised on the flop I felt that I was behind, and the check on the turn appeared to be a trap. I know it sounds paranoid but a lot of live players are basically raising only super strong hands.

Originally Posted by Madmansam

I agree with you both actually. WV I think you were right on in the fact I need to work on my bet sizing. And jilly, I agree with you on how tight peoples ranges become when they raise you. When I got raised on the flop I felt that I was behind, and the check on the turn appeared to be a trap. I know it sounds paranoid but a lot of live players are basically raising only super strong hands.

Even against THE TIGHTEST POSSIBLE flop range, (sets, 2pair, made straights) you have almost 40% equity on the flop. With the $$s we've already committed we're basically breaking even by shoving the fop even if they never fold and always have the above hands. Add QJ to her flop shove calling range and it's very profitable. Think she ever folds 2pair? Even more so.

Basically the only mistake you could make in that hand was to do what you did. Folding to the flop raise would have been better than calling and then folding to that little bet on the river.

Thanks WV. I didn't realize how much equity I had against made hands on the flop. I have been playing pretty passively without the nuts, probably because the money matters a bit more than online 10nl. I do have a decent although not overly big bankroll, but do need to stop playing scared with overpairs.

Originally Posted by Madmansam

limper was 2-5 reg according to floorperson

Made me lol.

While that may sound funny, while we were playing a floor person came over and asked him by name why he wasn't playing 2-5. I think we can assume that he's a slightly better player if he plays 2-5 often enough to get recognized in the 5 months parx poker room has been open.

1245pm-6pm Total: 20 hrs
-265. Total: -139

I lost a buyin when my overpair lost when the nut flush draw got there. I played the hand better and got the money in good. I had a few situations where I flopped over pairs to the board and I feel I played them fairly well. Other than that fairly standard session. I hope to play this Sunday next.

Total hours: 38
Total income: -$517

I have had a few tough beats, a few misplayed hands and a few coin flips that haven't gone my way but I feel like I am getting my game back to where I feel confident and in control. Here is a fun hand I had.

Hero:
Limps UTG, 4 more limp, BUT raises to $10, Hero calls, MP raises to $20, BUT calls, Hero calls

FLOP: pot:70ish
MP shoves for $86, BUT shoves for $105, Hero calls $105
MP shows , BUT shows
TURN:
RIVER:
MP wins main pot, Hero wins side pot

Originally Posted by Madmansam

Total hours: 38
Total income: -$517

I have had a few tough beats, a few misplayed hands and a few coin flips that haven't gone my way but I feel like I am getting my game back to where I feel confident and in control. Here is a fun hand I had.

Hero:
Limps UTG, 4 more limp, BUT raises to $10, Hero calls, MP raises to $20, BUT calls, Hero calls

FLOP: pot:70ish
MP shoves for $86, BUT shoves for $105, Hero calls $105
MP shows , BUT shows
TURN:
RIVER:
MP wins main pot, Hero wins side pot

such a sick cooler for all involved... and of course the guy with 4% chance to scoop it on that flop takes it down!

Total hours:53
Total income:-717

Ok, my last two sessions were very good save a few hands. One was a bad read by me, and one really unlucky hand, and one coin flip. I got an aggressive player to shove a gutshot on the turn by smooth calling the flop with middle set. He rivered it for a $360 pot. Next two hands are questionable.

Hand 1
Villain was a very aggressive young player,caller was loose passive but weak and could be moved off hands very easily

Villain raises to 10 in EP, call, i call on BUT with
Flop:
Villain bets 10,call,call
Very small bet sizing very suspicious so I call
Turn:
Check check hero bets 35 call call
River:
Villain bets 100 fold hero? What range of hands do you put him on here? I'd really like some feedback here.

Hand 2
Right after I got stacked next hand
Old man who was super tight raises in EP 10 I call with
Flop:
Villain bets 35 into 23 hero? I'd like some advice here 200 effective stacks.

Well I made it. I'm at 61.54 hours , down a lot of money Whatever. Heres one last fun hand I played last night.

Hero:
Few limpers, hero raises to 13$ in CO, 5 callers

Flop: pot is $73 after rake
BB bets $25, folded to hero who calls, fold, fold
Turn: pot is $123
BB bets $40, call
River is pot is $203
Villain bets $100, hero tanks, cries, thinks some more, cries some more and calls
Villain shows :q4h: :j4s:

Any input on this hand? I didn't raise the flop because their where so many callers that would tend to slow play a flush. I considered raising the turn but thought I would fold out a lot of worse hands and only get called by a flush. I knew he wasn't betting the river for value without the :j4: and doubted he would bluff the river but was getting 3-1 and called like a donkey. O well.

Originally Posted by Madmansam

Well I made it. I'm at 61.54 hours , down a lot of money Whatever. Heres one last fun hand I played last night.

Hero:
Few limpers, hero raises to 13$ in CO, 5 callers

Flop: pot is $73 after rake
BB bets $25, folded to hero who calls, fold, fold
Turn: pot is $123
BB bets $40, call
River is pot is $203
Villain bets $100, hero tanks, cries, thinks some more, cries some more and calls
Villain shows :q4h: :j4s:

Any input on this hand? I didn't raise the flop because their where so many callers that would tend to slow play a flush. I considered raising the turn but thought I would fold out a lot of worse hands and only get called by a flush. I knew he wasn't betting the river for value without the :j4: and doubted he would bluff the river but was getting 3-1 and called like a donkey. O well.

How much money was left behind? You're just lucky this is lolive poker because he should have just shoved.

We started with about $350 effective. He had just come to the $300 maxbuyin table about 20 min before the hand. If he shoved, I was 100% folding. I know that's very exploitable but he was never shoving with or worse. Honestly, I don't think he's ever betting $100 with less than the nuts.

Hand 1 I call, all draws have missed and he can't have Kxhh so his line is really weird, maybe Kxcc to check back the turn...

Hand 2 just jam

Originally Posted by Pascal LeFiscal

Hand 1 I call, all draws have missed and he can't have Kxhh so his line is really weird, maybe Kxcc to check back the turn...

Hand 2 just jam

I actually ended up jamming both hands. Hand 1 I thought he had some kind of middle pair like jj-99. He tanked for a while and called with AK. That wasn't good. Hand 2 I shoved and he called with AA. His hand held up, although I ran it through poker stove and my hand was 52% against AA which I thought was 75% of his range. I think there was a small chance he had KK, but some of these guys literally only raise AA.

I went on Friday night April 29th. The additional 7 hours didn't make a difference but I recovered a large part of my losses. I finished up $582 for the night. I feel that for my last few sessions I have been playing better, save for a few poorly timed bluffs. Last night my reads seemed to be pretty strong. I called two 1/2 pot bets on the turn and river with A-high and was good. Then later called three big bets with second pair and was good again. I think on the whole this month was a very good learning experience for me concerning live poker. It's a very different game than online. Much nittier, almost zero thin value bets, few aggressively played draws, pretty much just weak loose passive players everywhere. Well, I will update on how I do in the tournament. I would still appreciate advice on the hands I've played and maybe some basic tournament advice. Thanks.

Congrats indeed, and good luck!

loved reading your semi-blog, some interesting hands and looks like you learned some also, so all good, keep it up

The tournament has come and gone and alas and alack, I am no richer. Out of the field of 538 I finished mid to upper 400s. I had probably an above average stack. 17,000ish thanks to an AK>A8 double up. I got moved to a new table. First hand, I fold and watch as it's limped 5 ways. Next hand, blinds 200-400, 50 ante

Hero:
EP limper, hero limps, CO limps, SB completes, BB checks

Flop: Pot:2,450
Blinds check, EP bets 1,000, hero raises to 3,500, fold, fold, fold, EP all in for 25,00, hero calls
EP: shows
Turn:

Good game lol.

The best is yet to come. I moved into a 1-2NL cash game. 2nd hand.

Hero has $297 in SB
Hero:

Limped 3 ways, I complete, BB checks

Flop: pot:$10
Hero checks, BB bets $10, fold, MP call, fold, hero raises to $37, BB folds, MP all in for $173, hero calls
MP shows
You know the rest.

Twice in four hands. But it didn't tilt me or bother me. Played pretty well the rest of the day. Well I guess this concludes the April cash thread. However, I did hear talk of an August $100k free roll...