Hey all!

I haven't really posted much recently, so I thought I'd make another thread.


I play poker 5 days a week. I play 1/2 and 2/5, more 2/5 lately. I've had lots of practice, feel I play pretty well these days. I'm fortunate enough to be part of a helluva network of players. We all talk hands, strategy, etc.


So lately, I've been running bad intermittently, today really bad. I have built up some thick skin to this, but it's tough.... Here a few hands to ponder today.... I'm not posting them to gripe, just for line check, am I running bad, you know.....


Anyways, hand 1, from memory... Saturday night, Detroit MI:


So, we get Qd-Qx, we are OTB. 2/5 live game, 10 handed. We are probably $500 deep.

2 limpers, we raise it up to $30, SB and EP limper call. We have an active, aggressive image.

Flop 10d-7d-4s. ($90-$95 after rake)


Checks to us, we bet $65, only SB calls (we cover, he has $190 back after calling flop). SB is a player I have a fair amount of hours with. He is a station. He thinks people bluff more than they do, and he hero calls a lot. He is the one who is always frowning and saying "nice hand", and mucking sometimes showing one card for top or 2nd pair. Anyway....

Turn 3c ($225ish)


Dude checks dark.

Now, at this point, I do consider immediately 5-6 as a possibility. However, I feel this guys range is much much wider than the one hand we are totally effed against. I have gotten many calls from him in the past, in similar spots, with top or 2nd pair hands, draws, etc.

I can't see clearly at this point how many chips he has. They are in goofy non standard stacks.

I bet $150, he has $190 and he is all in, we call extra $40.

River 2h. He has 5-6o. We lose. Line check? Should I pot control? This is pretty standard I thought..... It's whatever....




Hand 2: Later in session.

We are about $650-700 deep. We have 9-9, in MP. Table is like animal planet. Loose, whatever.

1 or 2 limpers, there is a whale in the BB. Aggro, volatile spew station. Ego. You know the type....

We raise to $40. Dude in BB only caller. We HU to flop 6-6-2r.

Now, I have been raising, and c betting a fair amount. Last hand we had A-J on JJ9 two clubs, we c bet, he c/R half his stack and folded to our shove (maybe I shouldn't have shoved, it's meh), so anyways, this dude is really trying to gun for us. He has shown proof he is a blaster bluffing away (first inkling was the A-J we had on Jc-9c-Jx, cause i thought if he is C/R he would call shove after he puts in half his stack, and we saw more nonsense from him while waiting to play another hand). I digress.

So, flop 6-6-2r ($85ish). He checks. We bet $60 (we cover). He C/R jams for $475.

I think, cliff notes are "this dude never has 6x, and jams here, he has air and 2x loads, gutters, and ace highs", also thinking "this dude thinks I'm just auto c-betting air here, and he is risking 475 to make me fold", we tank maybe 10-15 seconds. I feel deeply inside I have this guy destroyed, so we call the extra $415.

He visibly squirms, even muttering something illustrating his surprise/unhappiness with being called.


Turn As, river 10s.

Dude rolls over A-3o. Ouch. We do roll our hand as well for some reason. I was kinda shocked how good my read was, huge dog, and just table my hand.


Then, this dude thunder claps about 5 times. He gets up, circles while thunder clapping, then sits back down.


He says something pretty much like (can't recall exact words), "I'm coming for you man! You better get more money, cause I'm gonna take all of it!"

I laugh, and pull out 4 black, and just say "right here bro".

"I am coming for you now man!" "I'm gonna get all those chips too!"

I just LOL again, and tell him "keep doing what you're doin man, it's working!"


I didn't berate him, or tell him what I thought. I was flabbergasted by his outburst and beating his chest and declaring war, after he 3 outers me and get in 100 BB really bad. Ha ha ha, what can you do but laugh? I didn't tilt. I didn't defend blind against his loose opens with rags to get him back. I played poker. If I got a hand to go to war with, fine, but I ain't trying to crack this dude or anything....


Today was tough, as we couldn't make hands, the table was wild wild wild, even after that guy left. There was another guy who sat down and was way crazier than him. So we had to play alot tighter, and just wait for a hand to jam right down the new dudes throat.... but that hand never came. The new blaster went broke after 2 hours, and he left.

We would open good hands occasionally after, but miss flop/give up. Eventually, I did get frustrated. I was stuck $1200, and didn't bring enough with me today. I didn't want to play $300 deep and no re buy, so I left. I usually never get in a game more than $1500. That's about what I had to work with today.


I'm taking the next 2 or 3 days off, gonna play some 1/2 for a little while, and go back to 2/5 again.



I do very well at1/2. 2/5 honestly I have endured some sick beats, in big pots man. I know I've spewed some, but I'm pretty good at not leaking chips (no one is perfect) but I can think right off the top of my head of at least 5 or 6k in suckouts, like nasty nasty ones. This is probably over 400 hours, we way way below ev.

So I keep going back to 1/2, running it over, getting confidence and all that back again, go to 2/5, and I'm kinda having trouble there. I think I am doing the correct things, but like I said, many hands aren't holding.

I think a solid sample live is probably 1000 hours+, and I'm probably around 400 hours. I honestly don't know my hourly rate at 2/5 but it's probably lower than 1/2. I track it, but I don't want to look at it right now. I don't really care until I have a bigger sample. And plus, like I said, getting rivered alot when money is already all in there..... I'm certain I can improve, there's always room to improve, but there is some def run bad in that 400 hours.... anyways.



Any thoughts on any of this post are welcome!


I'm gonna try to post some interesting tidbits, hands, etc from live poker often. I'm gonna try to keep getting better, and I'm hoping you guys can help me learn more....

Friday night in Detroit:


So we have been seated st the 2/5 table for probably 5 or 6 hours now.

Someone opens in EP, probably 3-5 callers, and a regular, we'll just call him "tuna", is in SB, he cuts out a $125 3b (open was 20 or 25). It folds to this guy (another reg, a passive calling guy, he is almost always taking passive role), and he cold calls the $125 from a $200 stack.


Tuna starts asking the dude who cold called, after they are HU, before flop is dealt, "yo why do you only have $200, what happened to the rest of your money?"

"You just came off the must move, I was over there too, and you had 800!"


Then dude tells tuna the must move closed, and he had to go to 1/2 while he waited. Tuna wasn't taking that for an answer. He just about came right out and said he didn't believe him.
They argue, it escalates. Dude then started calling tuna a B****, and then the floor came, and then they stopped when the floor said "if either of you say one more word about this, you are both banned for 24 hours".


A little while later, a quiet dude in the 1 seat chases open ender on 8-9-X with 5-6, turns a 10, and runs right into dudes QJ, which he cbet bluffed flop, and turns gin, and stacks 1 seat. So seat 1 goes to cage, gets him $400, and sits. It's his BB.


Dealer says "it's your big blind sir"

Seat 1 says "I'm not playing."

He has chips in rack, there is a wait list, and he tells us he isn't playing. So, seat 8, seat 9 (me), and seat 10 all are surprised. Seat 8 and I are looking st each other like "oooooo-kay"


Then this quiet, passive dude in 1 seat cranes his head around the dealer and says something like "I'm not playing right now! Is that alright? Does anyone have a problem with that?"

Seat 8 just tells him something like "no one really cares man, we were just surprised, that's all"

Dude in 1 seat is clearly not in the mood. He is long faced, and clearly butt hurt over running head first into a reverse implied odds fiasco. It's whatever.



That settles down.


Then some more bickering between tuna and the dude who called $125 pre from a $200 stack, and folded flop.


Then, out of no where, seat 10 says, out loud, all can hear him.....


"Man, this is why I got my CCW! I might have to shoot one of you mother blankers!"

*CCW, AKA CPL in Michigan is a permit to conceal carry a handgun, BTW.


Table gets quiet. I am sitting there in disbelief, as is everyone ..


The dealer says something like "ummm, yeah, I don't think you're supposed to say that out load"


That, and all the other bad energy at that table l, just put me in a bad mood. It was like 2 or 3 am, I still had another couple hours in me, but I just picked up and left. Usually, the tables aren't like that. It seemed that night, more than a few of them were playing much bigger stakes than they were comfortable playing, at least I assume that was part of it?



Usually, the game is much more fun, people needle each other in good spirits, and everyone has a good time. I dunno what the deal was with that table though.

Nice story. Yikes! That conceal-carry comment would be enough to get kicked out of a lot of places. I've seen people physically threatened at the table before, and a couple of times people have asked for escorts out to their cars....but I don't think I've been at a table when someone threatened a shooting. Don't blame you for picking up and leaving.

I am pretty sure he was saying that as a really bad joke..... but still, that's not cool at all.

Not cool at all. Once a guy dropped a hand gun in my favorite bar (a shit hole), every time I go there I still feel the bad vibes.

It seems you played very well, no complains, every read you made was perfect. Small dick large mouth, and barking hound won't bite. It must be hard sometimes to play there and be quite normal. I enjoy the stories a lot though

Originally Posted by braveslice

Not cool at all. Once a guy dropped a hand gun in my favorite bar (a shit hole), every time I go there I still feel the bad vibes.

It seems you played very well, no complains, every read you made was perfect. Small dick large mouth, and barking hound won't bite. It must be hard sometimes to play there and be quite normal. I enjoy the stories a lot though

Yeah it's whatever man. I get better and better at just playing A game regardless, but it is frustrating, I'm not gonna lie.


I keep getting smashed up at 2/5. Lol. Sigh. Double sigh.


So, we are gonna go play 1/2 starting Wednesday, again. My plan is, sit there, punish limpers, tilt table a little, switch gears, smash flops, stack people. Heads are gonna be rollin'.

EZ game.

So, here we are. At 1/2 today...


Here's the hand:

We are in SB, we cover both villains. Deepest dude is like $210 deep. 1 limper, LJ raises to $12, BTN 3b to $30, and we look down at QQ. BTN just came off a 2/5 table, and he is somewhat vocal about the fact he isn't doing well. So his 3b range probably wider than average 1/2 player.

So, we flat, LJ flats and we go to the flop, Jd-7d-3h. We Have red QQ. It checks to BTN, he bets $30, I am suspicious of bet size.... I do contemplate a raise here, but if he is weak, he won't call. Plus, we get the added benefit of seeing what LJ is gonna do.

We flat, LJ folds. Turn 10h.

We check, planning on calling whatever.... dude shoves for $150.


I sit and think carefully. It just doesn't seem like he has anything. We played our hand this way to open door for him to bluff post, so I make the call.


BTN calls for a queen right before the river is dealt. The river is not a queen.


BTN verbally announces "Ace-King". We show our hand, and scoop it.


BTN says to me, not sure if he wanted me to hear, "Man you called all that with one pair?"


He leaves. We say nothing.



Line check? Thoughts about this hand? Was I too passive? Results are making me feel like I played it well?

Originally Posted by Beanfacekilla

Hey all!

I haven't really posted much recently, so I thought I'd make another thread.


I play poker 5 days a week. I play 1/2 and 2/5, more 2/5 lately. I've had lots of practice, feel I play pretty well these days. I'm fortunate enough to be part of a helluva network of players. We all talk hands, strategy, etc.


So lately, I've been running bad intermittently, today really bad. I have built up some thick skin to this, but it's tough.... Here a few hands to ponder today.... I'm not posting them to gripe, just for line check, am I running bad, you know.....


Anyways, hand 1, from memory... Saturday night, Detroit MI:


So, we get Qd-Qx, we are OTB. 2/5 live game, 10 handed. We are probably $500 deep.

2 limpers, we raise it up to $30, SB and EP limper call. We have an active, aggressive image.

Flop 10d-7d-4s. ($90-$95 after rake)


Checks to us, we bet $65, only SB calls (we cover, he has $190 back after calling flop). SB is a player I have a fair amount of hours with. He is a station. He thinks people bluff more than they do, and he hero calls a lot. He is the one who is always frowning and saying "nice hand", and mucking sometimes showing one card for top or 2nd pair. Anyway....

Turn 3c ($225ish)


Dude checks dark.

Now, at this point, I do consider immediately 5-6 as a possibility. However, I feel this guys range is much much wider than the one hand we are totally effed against. I have gotten many calls from him in the past, in similar spots, with top or 2nd pair hands, draws, etc.

I can't see clearly at this point how many chips he has. They are in goofy non standard stacks.

I bet $150, he has $190 and he is all in, we call extra $40.

River 2h. He has 5-6o. We lose. Line check? Should I pot control? This is pretty standard I thought..... It's whatever....




Hand 2: Later in session.

We are about $650-700 deep. We have 9-9, in MP. Table is like animal planet. Loose, whatever.

1 or 2 limpers, there is a whale in the BB. Aggro, volatile spew station. Ego. You know the type....

We raise to $40. Dude in BB only caller. We HU to flop 6-6-2r.

Now, I have been raising, and c betting a fair amount. Last hand we had A-J on JJ9 two clubs, we c bet, he c/R half his stack and folded to our shove (maybe I shouldn't have shoved, it's meh), so anyways, this dude is really trying to gun for us. He has shown proof he is a blaster bluffing away (first inkling was the A-J we had on Jc-9c-Jx, cause i thought if he is C/R he would call shove after he puts in half his stack, and we saw more nonsense from him while waiting to play another hand). I digress.

So, flop 6-6-2r ($85ish). He checks. We bet $60 (we cover). He C/R jams for $475.

I think, cliff notes are "this dude never has 6x, and jams here, he has air and 2x loads, gutters, and ace highs", also thinking "this dude thinks I'm just auto c-betting air here, and he is risking 475 to make me fold", we tank maybe 10-15 seconds. I feel deeply inside I have this guy destroyed, so we call the extra $415.

He visibly squirms, even muttering something illustrating his surprise/unhappiness with being called.


Turn As, river 10s.

Dude rolls over A-3o. Ouch. We do roll our hand as well for some reason. I was kinda shocked how good my read was, huge dog, and just table my hand.


Then, this dude thunder claps about 5 times. He gets up, circles while thunder clapping, then sits back down.


He says something pretty much like (can't recall exact words), "I'm coming for you man! You better get more money, cause I'm gonna take all of it!"

I laugh, and pull out 4 black, and just say "right here bro".

"I am coming for you now man!" "I'm gonna get all those chips too!"

I just LOL again, and tell him "keep doing what you're doin man, it's working!"


I didn't berate him, or tell him what I thought. I was flabbergasted by his outburst and beating his chest and declaring war, after he 3 outers me and get in 100 BB really bad. Ha ha ha, what can you do but laugh? I didn't tilt. I didn't defend blind against his loose opens with rags to get him back. I played poker. If I got a hand to go to war with, fine, but I ain't trying to crack this dude or anything....


Today was tough, as we couldn't make hands, the table was wild wild wild, even after that guy left. There was another guy who sat down and was way crazier than him. So we had to play alot tighter, and just wait for a hand to jam right down the new dudes throat.... but that hand never came. The new blaster went broke after 2 hours, and he left.

We would open good hands occasionally after, but miss flop/give up. Eventually, I did get frustrated. I was stuck $1200, and didn't bring enough with me today. I didn't want to play $300 deep and no re buy, so I left. I usually never get in a game more than $1500. That's about what I had to work with today.


I'm taking the next 2 or 3 days off, gonna play some 1/2 for a little while, and go back to 2/5 again.



I do very well at1/2. 2/5 honestly I have endured some sick beats, in big pots man. I know I've spewed some, but I'm pretty good at not leaking chips (no one is perfect) but I can think right off the top of my head of at least 5 or 6k in suckouts, like nasty nasty ones. This is probably over 400 hours, we way way below ev.

So I keep going back to 1/2, running it over, getting confidence and all that back again, go to 2/5, and I'm kinda having trouble there. I think I am doing the correct things, but like I said, many hands aren't holding.

I think a solid sample live is probably 1000 hours+, and I'm probably around 400 hours. I honestly don't know my hourly rate at 2/5 but it's probably lower than 1/2. I track it, but I don't want to look at it right now. I don't really care until I have a bigger sample. And plus, like I said, getting rivered alot when money is already all in there..... I'm certain I can improve, there's always room to improve, but there is some def run bad in that 400 hours.... anyways.



Any thoughts on any of this post are welcome!


I'm gonna try to post some interesting tidbits, hands, etc from live poker often. I'm gonna try to keep getting better, and I'm hoping you guys can help me learn more....

First hand not much you could have done. With such a wet board I don't think pot control is really an option. Just some run bad.

Second hand is a tough spot against a player just spewing. Maybe opening bigger than normal against his BB and then on the type of board you got I might have gone with an over bet, you give him less chance of check jamming with air if pot is around $130 on flop, you bet $210. Now he can't really go crazy jamming A 3. But like I said it's a tough spot, you want to get max value against a weak reckless player so in the moment I probably would have done just as you did.

Originally Posted by RidersFan

First hand not much you could have done. With such a wet board I don't think pot control is really an option. Just some run bad.

Second hand is a tough spot against a player just spewing. Maybe opening bigger than normal against his BB and then on the type of board you got I might have gone with an over bet, you give him less chance of check jamming with air if pot is around $130 on flop, you bet $210. Now he can't really go crazy jamming A 3. But like I said it's a tough spot, you want to get max value against a weak reckless player so in the moment I probably would have done just as you did.

Thanks for the input man!

I'm also good at reading and putting people on exact hands ... it becomes a side act at the table sometimes lol I even think security keeps an eye on me.. but if you play enough you just know

Anyways being able to do good reads is only a small aspect of the game. It's an edge nonoftheless but its still not guaranteed. What seperates the men from the boys is simple its how we lose and how we react to all different situations.

You know the situations... gameflow, people tilting, table dynamics, and constantly always adjusting. Even levelling if your experienced enough is a huge advantage. Being able to master uncommon spots is where the real money is as well. They call that centrality.

I think sometimes it doesn't matter how good or bad you play your either up against it or can't do wrong... this is why on those days when even when your just not winning... you need to react quick and just not play and keep that energy for the days where your unstoppable and then play longer and it can really help that winrate.

Originally Posted by Aces2w1n

I'm also good at reading and putting people on exact hands ... it becomes a side act at the table sometimes lol I even think security keeps an eye on me.. but if you play enough you just know

Anyways being able to do good reads is only a small aspect of the game. It's an edge nonoftheless but its still not guaranteed. What seperates the men from the boys is simple its how we lose and how we react to all different situations.

You know the situations... gameflow, people tilting, table dynamics, and constantly always adjusting. Even levelling if your experienced enough is a huge advantage. Being able to master uncommon spots is where the real money is as well. They call that centrality.

I think sometimes it doesn't matter how good or bad you play your either up against it or can't do wrong... this is why on those days when even when your just not winning... you need to react quick and just not play and keep that energy for the days where your unstoppable and then play longer and it can really help that winrate.

Good stuff man. Thanks for the contribution.


So, here's another one from yesterday.... let me try and construct it as best I can.


The main V in this hand is a new face, but he's been there long enough for me to get some reads. He has a bet size tell, he bets small if he is bluffing/semi bluffing, and bets much larger with a made hand.....

We are in BB, we cover all. Dude with bet size tell is in MP. 1 limper, dude raises to $5, 2 callers, we look at 10h-6h. Normally, I 3b here, but I am handcuffed because there are 2 short stacks with less than $100. I've played enough to know these aren't good spots to 3b light.

Anyways, we call, 1 behind us.... my thoughts real time are "alright, let's see a flop, and go from there. Good price, maybe we can cage someone"

Flop Jc-10c-3c. About $25 in pot.

Checks to the dude, he bets $12, folds to us, here's that tell.... So I sit there thinking "this guy has like a club in his hand, no pair, maybe a straight draw, I can value town him with 2nd pair no kicker, right here"

So we C/R to $30, folds to him.... he thinks a little and calls.

Turn Jd. Board Jc-10c-3c-Jd.

I sit there and think a bit, stoked by this turn card, and we bet $60, for value again.....

Dude looks like he wants to fold, almost does, then just snap puts chips in middle.....


River Ks. Pot about 200-205.


Now, at this point my play is to check to him, and let him bluff his missed draws. The Ks is a pretty bad card for me, certainly not betting....


He thinks, tanks, bets $49. We call. He doesn't want to show. Dealer tells him you've been called, showdown, etc. He looks like he doesn't understand.... He shows 8x-9c. We turn hand over, and scoop.


I say to the guy "Man, you don't give up easy! You fight for pots dude, I like that!"


I am somewhat talkative and needle people sometimes, if I think they can take it, and it is in good fun.


He says "why would ever do that?" Referring to me C/R flop and playing hand that way...


"Ahhh, I didn't think you had anything man"



I was just messing with the dude, he didn't look butt hurt.


About 5 or 10 minutes later, he is doing his thing, raising 70%+ of his hands. He is maybe 120-150 deep and other dude to his immediate left covers barely.

Dude raises, other guy who covers calls. I don't recall if any other people were in.


Flop 7-6-3r. Dude I value towned bets bigger, like close to pot, I recognize the tell. The bet was $30, he raised like $17 pre.


Other dude min raises to $60, with like $50 or $60 back. Action is back on dude, he 3b jams on the guy.....


I am watching this, now here is the dude who cut a min raise on the flop, and he has more than half his chips in there, and he is tanking. I'm thinking "this guy just raised him with a naked 7x, and now he in the cage and he doesn't know what to do"

He does call. Dude we value towned has QQ, and hold against other dudes 7-9o.


So, dude with QQ starts beating his chest a little, ego puffing, and the dude with only $16 left after the encounter gets all mad, and starts swearing at him, then they stand up, yelling obscenities, and floor has to intervene.

Guy we value towned is saying "Man I dare you to stand up and walk toward me!" Floor is in between, dealer is in between, cause this is 10 seat vs 1 seat.... Dealer is like "dude I better not get hit"

They both get removed from the institution.


In hindsight, I think my needling of the dude put him on tilt a little. I was the catalyst.


I need to keep my big mouth shut.



Another day at the office.

Just getting to the office for fish Friday! Here's the city from the parking garage.....

I made $7 today. Yay.


In other news, I turned 2nd nuts against some chick on J-10-8-10, had J-10, and blew her off what I think was Q-9 or 8-8. Nice play numb skull!


Blew my wad.


I was really mad at myself and I wished I would have bluffed her like a sicko. Sadly, I didn't bluff her. Swung for the fence and missed.

Here's the hand I spoke about in last post....


We are UTG, we cover all involved.

We have Jc-10c. We open to $15, I think it was HU?

Flop J-10-8r. ($30ish)

We bet $22. Lady on my immediate left says nothing, but slides out $40. Dealer rules it a call even though she tried to put the extra $4 in to make a min raise.....

Turn red 10. ($72ish)


We lead again, $23. Lady cuts the raise this time, to $60.


Now, I don't know WTF I was thinking, was I tired after 9 hours of play? Did I have a momentary bout of insanity? I think this lady either has 8-8 or Q-9. So she probably has around $300ish on the turn, maybe a little more.


We cut a raise to $323. She squirms, tanks forever. While she is tanking I am thinking to myself "why did you raise so big dude. You are gonna let this lady fold. This is supposed to be a slam dunk, just call, donk river small, and then raise river huge after she value owns self and commits herself."


She folds. FML.

I guess in real time I was just thinking that 1/2 players never find folds. I watch them just punt off chips regularly. I help this lady find a fold.


So, one big mistake leads to a $7 winning session instead of a better number.


Today is Saturday. I'm not missing a fish fry today. No way. Here we go. Stacks of checks I can't see over today obv.

About 10 minutes ago, somewhere in Detroit.....


We have cultivated an active, aggressive image. The V in this hand who keeps donking, is the one who is most frustrated by my table shenanigans. That is why I played it this way...

We have Ad-9d OTB. 2 or 3L, we raise to $15, 3 callers.

Flop Ah-9s-3h. First dude donks for $30, folds to us, we raise to $75, he calls.

Turn 10s. Dude donks for $50, we raise to $130, he ships for $250, we call. River 5h. Dude shows Ax-Jh. We show and scoop.


It's nice to run good?

And one more.

I made a light call against this guy who is shoving every hand before this gem happened. We are active, probably viewed as tilted (but we aren't). We lost the 58% spot vs dude.


So......

We limp UTG with 3-3. Others limp. 5 or 6w to flop 8d-8h-3d. Blinds check, we lead for $10, our nemesis, and one other dude call. Turn 2d. We bet $10 again, dude raises to $20, other dude cold calls $20, we ship $320 effective, because I think he has a flush and never will fold due to dynamics. He snap calls with Ad-7d drawing dead. Other dude folds. We hit quads for good measure.


It's been a while since I have made a successful offensive overbet. I dunno about this hand, but glad dude didn't find the fold.




Some good old fashioned chip porn.....

We are BB. UTG+1 limps, SB limps. We look down at Ah-3h, raise option to $15 (1/2). Both call. We cover all.


We have active/aggro image. We are probably viewed as loose? UTG+1 strikes me as kind of a wannabe grinder? Somewhat competent. Not super passive and not super tight.


$200 effective ish.

Flop Qh-6h-4s. ($45)

SB checks.
We bet $30, UTG+1 calls, SB folds.

Turn 4h. ($105)

We check, for deception. I do think dude will try to bluff, or will value own himself.

Dude bets $40, we call.

River 6d. Board is Qh-6h-4s-4h-6d. ($185)

We check, dude bets $45.


My thoughts are: in what universe does this guy have a 4 or a 6? Maybe in some parallel universe where people have rocky road ice cream pumping through their veins?


We call.




Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Beanfacekilla

Hey all!

I haven't really posted much recently, so I thought I'd make another thread.


I play poker 5 days a week. I play 1/2 and 2/5, more 2/5 lately. I've had lots of practice, feel I play pretty well these days. I'm fortunate enough to be part of a helluva network of players. We all talk hands, strategy, etc.


So lately, I've been running bad intermittently, today really bad. I have built up some thick skin to this, but it's tough.... Here a few hands to ponder today.... I'm not posting them to gripe, just for line check, am I running bad, you know.....


Anyways, hand 1, from memory... Saturday night, Detroit MI:


So, we get Qd-Qx, we are OTB. 2/5 live game, 10 handed. We are probably $500 deep.

2 limpers, we raise it up to $30, SB and EP limper call. We have an active, aggressive image.

Flop 10d-7d-4s. ($90-$95 after rake)


Checks to us, we bet $65, only SB calls (we cover, he has $190 back after calling flop). SB is a player I have a fair amount of hours with. He is a station. He thinks people bluff more than they do, and he hero calls a lot. He is the one who is always frowning and saying "nice hand", and mucking sometimes showing one card for top or 2nd pair. Anyway....

Turn 3c ($225ish)


Dude checks dark.

Now, at this point, I do consider immediately 5-6 as a possibility. However, I feel this guys range is much much wider than the one hand we are totally effed against. I have gotten many calls from him in the past, in similar spots, with top or 2nd pair hands, draws, etc.

I can't see clearly at this point how many chips he has. They are in goofy non standard stacks.

I bet $150, he has $190 and he is all in, we call extra $40.

River 2h. He has 5-6o. We lose. Line check? Should I pot control? This is pretty standard I thought..... It's whatever....




Hand 2: Later in session.

We are about $650-700 deep. We have 9-9, in MP. Table is like animal planet. Loose, whatever.

1 or 2 limpers, there is a whale in the BB. Aggro, volatile spew station. Ego. You know the type....

We raise to $40. Dude in BB only caller. We HU to flop 6-6-2r.

Now, I have been raising, and c betting a fair amount. Last hand we had A-J on JJ9 two clubs, we c bet, he c/R half his stack and folded to our shove (maybe I shouldn't have shoved, it's meh), so anyways, this dude is really trying to gun for us. He has shown proof he is a blaster bluffing away (first inkling was the A-J we had on Jc-9c-Jx, cause i thought if he is C/R he would call shove after he puts in half his stack, and we saw more nonsense from him while waiting to play another hand). I digress.

So, flop 6-6-2r ($85ish). He checks. We bet $60 (we cover). He C/R jams for $475.

I think, cliff notes are "this dude never has 6x, and jams here, he has air and 2x loads, gutters, and ace highs", also thinking "this dude thinks I'm just auto c-betting air here, and he is risking 475 to make me fold", we tank maybe 10-15 seconds. I feel deeply inside I have this guy destroyed, so we call the extra $415.

He visibly squirms, even muttering something illustrating his surprise/unhappiness with being called.


Turn As, river 10s.

Dude rolls over A-3o. Ouch. We do roll our hand as well for some reason. I was kinda shocked how good my read was, huge dog, and just table my hand.


Then, this dude thunder claps about 5 times. He gets up, circles while thunder clapping, then sits back down.


He says something pretty much like (can't recall exact words), "I'm coming for you man! You better get more money, cause I'm gonna take all of it!"

I laugh, and pull out 4 black, and just say "right here bro".

"I am coming for you now man!" "I'm gonna get all those chips too!"

I just LOL again, and tell him "keep doing what you're doin man, it's working!"


I didn't berate him, or tell him what I thought. I was flabbergasted by his outburst and beating his chest and declaring war, after he 3 outers me and get in 100 BB really bad. Ha ha ha, what can you do but laugh? I didn't tilt. I didn't defend blind against his loose opens with rags to get him back. I played poker. If I got a hand to go to war with, fine, but I ain't trying to crack this dude or anything....


Today was tough, as we couldn't make hands, the table was wild wild wild, even after that guy left. There was another guy who sat down and was way crazier than him. So we had to play alot tighter, and just wait for a hand to jam right down the new dudes throat.... but that hand never came. The new blaster went broke after 2 hours, and he left.

We would open good hands occasionally after, but miss flop/give up. Eventually, I did get frustrated. I was stuck $1200, and didn't bring enough with me today. I didn't want to play $300 deep and no re buy, so I left. I usually never get in a game more than $1500. That's about what I had to work with today.


I'm taking the next 2 or 3 days off, gonna play some 1/2 for a little while, and go back to 2/5 again.



I do very well at1/2. 2/5 honestly I have endured some sick beats, in big pots man. I know I've spewed some, but I'm pretty good at not leaking chips (no one is perfect) but I can think right off the top of my head of at least 5 or 6k in suckouts, like nasty nasty ones. This is probably over 400 hours, we way way below ev.

So I keep going back to 1/2, running it over, getting confidence and all that back again, go to 2/5, and I'm kinda having trouble there. I think I am doing the correct things, but like I said, many hands aren't holding.

I think a solid sample live is probably 1000 hours+, and I'm probably around 400 hours. I honestly don't know my hourly rate at 2/5 but it's probably lower than 1/2. I track it, but I don't want to look at it right now. I don't really care until I have a bigger sample. And plus, like I said, getting rivered alot when money is already all in there..... I'm certain I can improve, there's always room to improve, but there is some def run bad in that 400 hours.... anyways.



Any thoughts on any of this post are welcome!


I'm gonna try to post some interesting tidbits, hands, etc from live poker often. I'm gonna try to keep getting better, and I'm hoping you guys can help me learn more....

Hey Beanfacekilla,

I am by no means a poker superstar. I'm even probably a lesser player than you. I do see a couple of things I had to change to do better in cash games, that I noticed in the hands you are playing that might help.

The first thing is that there is a big gap between 1/2 and 2/5 when it comes to loos aggressive play. I noticed no matter where I have played, Philly, New Jersey, St. Louis, Los Angeles, or even Colorado, when you play 2/5 you are gonna deal generally with players that are more willing to gamble with mediocre hands.

Second, the hands you are highlighting were both top pair hands. I think thats where I get in trouble the most. I'll play a hand top pair knowing I have the person beat on the flop, but in reality, top pair is a weak hand and is easily beatable at the river.

Third, in my opinion, it's 3 times easier to lose your ass in 2/5 where people at 1/2 are more scared to lose their money, people at 2/5 seem to want to show that they don't have fear. Its a mindset that seems to go with the table. I'm not even sure it translates in higher stakes.

Last, when there a sudden need to put a lot of money in the pot, your reads have to be spot on. And your reads seems to be good, but like with the hand where the river dance clapper caught an A, you were right on the read, but In my opinion, that should also tell you what he might have, in this case an Ace something....second, he's been pushing hands, so when he bet $475, having only at the time top pair was pretty risky with 2 cards left to see and your pair only being 9s.....With that being said, I probably would have played that hand the way you did.....and lose of course

That's my 2 1/2 cents.

Originally Posted by Beanfacekilla

We are BB. UTG+1 limps, SB limps. We look down at Ah-3h, raise option to $15 (1/2). Both call. We cover all.


We have active/aggro image. We are probably viewed as loose? UTG+1 strikes me as kind of a wannabe grinder? Somewhat competent. Not super passive and not super tight.


$200 effective ish.

Flop Qh-6h-4s. ($45)

SB checks.
We bet $30, UTG+1 calls, SB folds.

Turn 4h. ($105)

We check, for deception. I do think dude will try to bluff, or will value own himself.

Dude bets $40, we call.

River 6d. Board is Qh-6h-4s-4h-6d. ($185)

We check, dude bets $45.


My thoughts are: in what universe does this guy have a 4 or a 6? Maybe in some parallel universe where people have rocky road ice cream pumping through their veins?


We call.




Thoughts?

I think you call there only because theres a significant amount in the pot already giving you decent pot odds, otherwise, you are probably beat. He probably has a hand similar to yours. Suited cards, Q and low card, or K and low card, or connectors with the 4. Maybe even the flush as well, especially since he bet so low considering. Not good at all for your range, but not as bad when you rivered the flush.

Tough call, but I think you make it, unless he makes a pot sized bet, and even then you still might have the best hand.

I would have called, and take my lumps if he has the 4 or 6.

Originally Posted by Beanfacekilla

And one more.

I made a light call against this guy who is shoving every hand before this gem happened. We are active, probably viewed as tilted (but we aren't). We lost the 58% spot vs dude.


So......

We limp UTG with 3-3. Others limp. 5 or 6w to flop 8d-8h-3d. Blinds check, we lead for $10, our nemesis, and one other dude call. Turn 2d. We bet $10 again, dude raises to $20, other dude cold calls $20, we ship $320 effective, because I think he has a flush and never will fold due to dynamics. He snap calls with Ad-7d drawing dead. Other dude folds. We hit quads for good measure.


It's been a while since I have made a successful offensive overbet. I dunno about this hand, but glad dude didn't find the fold.




Some good old fashioned chip porn.....

Now that......my friend......looks delicious!

Originally Posted by Comix

Hey Beanfacekilla,

I am by no means a poker superstar. I'm even probably a lesser player than you. I do see a couple of things I had to change to do better in cash games, that I noticed in the hands you are playing that might help.

The first thing is that there is a big gap between 1/2 and 2/5 when it comes to loos aggressive play. I noticed no matter where I have played, Philly, New Jersey, St. Louis, Los Angeles, or even Colorado, when you play 2/5 you are gonna deal generally with players that are more willing to gamble with mediocre hands.

Second, the hands you are highlighting were both top pair hands. I think thats where I get in trouble the most. I'll play a hand top pair knowing I have the person beat on the flop, but in reality, top pair is a weak hand and is easily beatable at the river.

Third, in my opinion, it's 3 times easier to lose your ass in 2/5 where people at 1/2 are more scared to lose their money, people at 2/5 seem to want to show that they don't have fear. Its a mindset that seems to go with the table. I'm not even sure it translates in higher stakes.

Last, when there a sudden need to put a lot of money in the pot, your reads have to be spot on. And your reads seems to be good, but like with the hand where the river dance clapper caught an A, you were right on the read, but In my opinion, that should also tell you what he might have, in this case an Ace something....second, he's been pushing hands, so when he bet $475, having only at the time top pair was pretty risky with 2 cards left to see and your pair only being 9s.....With that being said, I probably would have played that hand the way you did.....and lose of course

That's my 2 1/2 cents.

Yo thanks man for the input! I like your thoughts about the differences between the 2 games. I was thinking the same thing as well. Maybe 2/5 is just higher variance, and I don't even have a good sample yet.....


For the time being, I'm just gonna grind 1/2 for a few weeks. I can make a very good wage there, and I'm content.

But I obv want to break through to higher stakes.... I don't want to be stuck at 1/2 forever....


I hope I can figure it out, and move forward.

Originally Posted by Beanfacekilla

Yo thanks man for the input! I like your thoughts about the differences between the 2 games. I was thinking the same thing as well. Maybe 2/5 is just higher variance, and I don't even have a good sample yet.....


For the time being, I'm just gonna grind 1/2 for a few weeks. I can make a very good wage there, and I'm content.

But I obv want to break through to higher stakes.... I don't want to be stuck at 1/2 forever....


I hope I can figure it out, and move forward.

That's the goal!

I definitely want to sit at those 30/60 tables with a large bankroll crushing peoples poker dreams.

Originally Posted by Comix

That's the goal!

I definitely want to sit at those 30/60 tables with a large bankroll crushing peoples poker dreams.

Lol. Taking souls

Man, I wish I could do this every week!


My first 5 days back, all 1/2....

We ran pretty good on the day we made $819, other days meh. We steal alot. Raising and 3b and just blasting away.....


I don't think this WR is sustainable, but imma try!

However, back to reality....


Here is my graph, since last April, 2016. This is only 1/2, at every location I've ever played at. I filtered out other stakes.


I began working with a coach in April of last year.... I've had some tough times. Playing poker isn't sunshine and rainbows, let me tell you.... But I have become quite competent by now. I can read hands much better, more discipline, tilt is very rare.


Please, be gentle.... I feel like I am opening my soul posting my chart on here.



So, my primary location is the one on the top, with the most hours, for 1/2 anyhow.... I think it should be easy to figure out why I prefer that location..... But if you can't figure it out:

Spoiler alert!

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The 2nd highest hours, is the place where short stacks live, and sleep. It is also filled with wannabe grinders trying to grind out $$$. I just can't make a good rate there, so I don't go there anymore.

The other locations were some I traveled to, and don't frequent often. Top location is pretty much only place I play 1/2.....


Edit I am gonna update stats and wins/losses as long as I continue to play 1/2 only for next month or two..... let's see how well I can do. I am shooting for $30/hour. That's my goal. I hope to achieve it by making good decisions.....

There is one more hand I wanted to post, from today's session..... I should have wrote it earlier, memory was better then....

Here we go.....


We are SB. Stack is $280.


We are dealt J-J. It folds to a guy who seems to be LAG-ish, raises really really speculative hands, and calls 3b too often. He does seem competent, but he also seems like POW.


Our image is active, aggro, probably viewed as LAG.


So, dude raises to $15, BTN flats, we 3b to $55, original raiser calls in MP (covers slightly), all others fold.


Flop 9-8-6hh. ($125ish)

We bet $50. Dude calls, but he does think for maybe 10 Mississippi's first.

I don't know what he has for sure, but I think he would def raise sets, 2p+, and I don't know if he is capable of flatting KK+ pre, I doubt he would flat that.

So I'm thinking like 7-7, 10-10, FDs, Q-J, pretty wide range. I am about 95% sure (instinct, which has proven to guide me well) we have the best hand here, and we shipping turn if it isn't a gross card.


So, turn 3c. 6-8-9hh....3c.... ($225ish)

We jam, $175. Dude tanks. "That's a good sign" I think to myself. I really think he is just gonna be confused and have no idea what I have and call.....


He announces "call". Chips go in.


River Qs. We table our J-J, he mucks fairly quickly, an unknown hand.



I have thought about this hand some, I feel like it might be a little thin to try and get so much value with this particular hand, in this particular spot..... but then I thought my image is what gets me paid here, so I'm torn and I don't know if I like this hand or not.....


This guy avoided me the rest of the day. He would see flops against anyone, but not me dude. I guess that's kinda cool. He is better than the other players, for sure. So, TBH, I didn't go out of my way to get into pots with him either. EZ game.

I think you have played most of these hands perfectly,
Yeah blowing the female off her hand was heavy handed and I'm not in love with calling with the T6s oop multi way, probs long term small leak .
You are just running bad and naturally questioning your play. I'm in the worse downswing I've ever experienced and your thinking is quite natural...
On the last hand the turn jam is fine on a board with that many pair combo draws you won't get paid much on the river after his draws miss.
I'd recommend Ed Millers books to you which have a 2-5 live focus.

Originally Posted by Figaroo2

I think you have played most of these hands perfectly,
Yeah blowing the female off her hand was heavy handed and I'm not in love with calling with the T6s oop multi way, probs long term small leak .
You are just running bad and naturally questioning your play. I'm in the worse downswing I've ever experienced and your thinking is quite natural...
On the last hand the turn jam is fine on a board with that many pair combo draws you won't get paid much on the river after his draws miss.

Yeah 10-6 lol. Loose AF. Ha ha.


You've been running bad too? It's soul crushing sometimes lol. Feel free to vent or discuss it or whatever here man.

I'm glad you popped in here bro. Thanks for the input.

Re your laggish guy, I mentioned Ed Millers books because his advice for playing against loose players is so clear and straightforward.
If you play too many hands you have a lot of marginal/weak hands on the flop. Players deal with this is two ways, either they fold too much or they bluff too much. Once you identify the player type you adjust to relentlessly barrel the guys who fold too much and call down the guys who bluff too much. I know you know this but others might not and this is really where the money is in this game.
So yesterday I'm playing against loose bluff too much guy. He is utg and limps in, it folds to me on the button with Jh8h and I make it x4 only the limper calls. The flop is 2h 4h 6x. He checks I bet 2/3 pot with my FD and 2 overs a perfect equity when called hand, he calls. Turn is 6x he checks I bet 2/3 pot he calls. River is 8d he checks and I consider thin value but somthing rankles as I expect him to bluff his whiffs and I check behind. He flips over 53 for a flopped straight.....this is how I currently run.
So yeah running about 28bi under Ev this year and totally understand the slight vent side to the start of your thread.
In fact I have now turned off the all in Ev line in my HM2, it serves absolutely no purpose to look at it other than to make you feel even worse, you cannot effect it so now I'm just ignoring it. What it did show me is that I was running well over EV for over 600k of hands and now its payback time.

Originally Posted by Figaroo2

Re your laggish guy, I mentioned Ed Millers books because his advice for playing against loose players is so clear and straightforward.
If you play too many hands you have a lot of marginal/weak hands on the flop. Players deal with this is two ways, either they fold too much or they bluff too much. Once you identify the player type you adjust to relentlessly barrel the guys who fold too much and call down the guys who bluff too much. I know you know this but others might not.
So yesterday I'm playing against loose bluff too much guy. He is utg and limps in, it folds to me on the button with Jh8h and I make it x4 only the limper calls. The flop is 2h 4h 6x. He checks I bet 2/3 pot with my FD and 2 overs a perfect equity when called hand, he calls. Turn is 8x he checks I bet 2/3 pot he calls. River is Ax he checks and I consider thin value but put him on a lot of Ax like A2-6 for pair/gut shots and check behind. He flips over 53 for a flopped straight.....this is how I currently run.
So yeah running about 28bi under Ev this year and totally understand the slight vent side to the start of your thread.
In fact I have now turned off the all in Ev line in my HM2, it serves absolutely no purpose to look at it other than to make you feel even worse, you cannot effect it so now I'm just ignoring it. What it did show me is that I was running well over EV for over 600k of hands and now its payback time.

5-3 ha ha ha. He just smashes it. And he def missed value as well. He could have donked river, he could have C/R flop or turn maybe.

Yeah, I think about payback time as well, or vice versa. For example, if we running bad and losing alot, and it continues, and continues, I like to think I get back pay. Like I have a good idea of my winrate, so I will eventually get some back pay to make things right as rain, if I put my time in.

That's what I do so I stay motivated (one of the many things I do).

So, I used to frequent one casino here in the D, and I switched to another primary location.

When I was still showing up to the old place, I kept seeing this old dude. The reason why he drew my attention is because he reminds me of my wife's late Grandpa.


So, this cat is trying to grind. I see him in there, working. Over the last year or so, I have started talking to him somewhat, here and there. I still don't even know his name.... It's whatever I don't know alot of people's names.


So I tell him a few months ago "yo man, you need to come over to X to play 1/2. The games are deeper, people hate money, blah blah."

So I started seeing him over at the spot.



I finally got a chance to talk to him a bit Sunday night on the way out.


I say something like "Man I'm glad to see you over here! How do you like the games?"


His face lights up, he starts smiling, and says something like "Man, all I have to do is wait for a hand like trips, top pair, and they just put their money in with anything!"

We talked a little more about strategy somewhat. He was telling me some of the things he does in sessions, when he leaves, etc. He also told me he is indeed trying to grind some loot out. He is happy he started coming over there obv.


I Like to think I helped this old cat get some more joy out of life. He is printing money now I think.... I usually don't tell anyone about the spot. I don't want it getting over run by short stacks and wannabe grinders. I made an exception for the dude though. I'm glad I did.

Update...

I went to the poker room last night, and quickly found myself stuck about 650 or so, at a 1/2 game.

I usually buy $500 in chips, $300 red, and $200 green. I keep green in pocket to add on.


So, the last of my $500, was about $250 or $225. We start this hand.


So this loose guy is opening 50% of his hands. I've seen his showdowns. He is really really out of line. We already 3b him earlier, ended up losing a medium pot to him, we called him with 2nd pair, and we thought we were good. He had 2nd pair too. He had us out kicked. Sigh. Maybe that one was a little thin. After 3b pre, and cbet, we called $71 more when he shoved. We were wrong. Torched $71 there..... it probably is relevant to mention this guy opened K-8o in UTG+2 (10 seats), and called a 3b from me, to play pot OOP.


Anyways, like 2 or 3 hands after this, we get As-10s in HJ or LJ.

Anyway, dude opens to $10 or $12, 1c, we call (wanted to 3b, but he calls all 3b so far, from others besides me as well, so let's just see a flop IP against this f***). We go to the flop 4w, and we are last to act.

So, we have As-10s, and flop is A-Q-10r. SB donks for $20, loose PFR calls, folds to us, we raise to $65, only SB calls. This guy pretty bad. I swear I read his hand right then for A-K or A-J. That's what I thought he had, and we shoving $150 or $160 on the turn (clean turn card of course).

Turn card 6h (two hearts now). SB checks again (covers by alot).

We shove $150-$160, SB tanks, I am thinking in my head as this guy tanks "This guy has A-J exactly. Please call."


He finally one chip calls after about 60-90 seconds.

The dealer flips a Q for the river. A-Q-10-6-Q.


I know before I even turn my cards over, before he turns his over. We roll, this guy rolls A-Jo. He wins.


I have some mental game flaws. Not gonna lie. But when these suck outs happen, man I don't like it. Like I was already stuck, this was the hand, this dude put his money in drawing pretty thin, gets there, etc. He didn't even put me to the test, he just plays his hand like a total fish and wins. He donks flop, calls raise, blah blah blah. Sigh.

That's the cliffnotes of my thoughts right after the hand occurs. I don't really care that much most of the time. I just keep playing. For some reason, that hand stung yesterday.

These thoughts and frustration isn't always there, not really a big thing for me. But, when the day isn't going well, it seems like we just showed up to build pots for people to hit 8 high flushes and like 17th nut straights, yeah, sometimes I get grouchy for a minute.

I went, bought $500 more from cage. I went for a short walk, gathered my thoughts, put my game face on, and went back to work. I played for at least 4 or 5 hours after that.

I was stuck as much as $675 or so, and ended up leaving at -$406.




Sometimes, I wonder if I'm playing well, bad, whatever. I am pretty aware of my image. I am able to adjust to the different players. I pay very close attention to the action at table. I know who is playing what, and how they play it. I am attentive.


But I raise a wide wide range most of the time. I don't care if they call, or fold, I just look at it like I will be fine to navigate post flop. I am fine usually. I can read hands well, seem to know when to cbet bluff, against whom, etc. But I'm not some wizard who knows all cards they have obv. If I go to showdown, I usually have the best hand.


I find I get paid off much more frequently (like with As-10s hand, yeah, we don't really get that call if we are nut peddlers prob). I feel like I need to stay active, or no one pays off.


Not to mention my table was so loose yesterday. Some people just keep calling and folding postflop. I did put alot of pressure on some specific players, who liked to limp, and then folded most of the time post flop.



However, I stayed until after 3am, and I couldn't get it done last night. Aside from that light call for $71 with 2nd pair when I thought the loose aggro guy was bluffing, I don't really think much happened that is worthy of noting.


My style of play is prone to bigger swings, so I should just roll with it. I know that. Not that big of a deal. I just went there yesterday really motivated. I was a bit frustrated when I left.


Today I am busy taking my Dad to minor surgery. Didn't sleep yet since last night's session. So yeah, poker not gonna happen today. I play Weds-Sun every week usually. So, day off today. I wanted to go in there and run up a $2k stack today, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.


Fish Fry-Day! It's like a weekly poker holiday. Oh my goodness are the games fishy. Wouldn't miss it, like ever dude.




So, I dunno why I got frustrated today. I was just reading "The Mental Game of Poker" again, parts of it anyways. I thought I better update my thread, so I can be held accountable for my mental game flaws. I'm hoping it will help me improve if I take note of every time I get frustrated, or angry, or have anything other than joy that my opponent is willing to call my shove with a big dog.



For the last year, I have been trying to change my thought patterns, and not tilt, and stay on A-game. I have done a 180 from 1 year ago. I'm not there yet though. I shouldn't be getting tilted or angry at a losing a 110 BB stack at 1/2 with a big favorite on the turn.


I still played after 4 or 5 hours. I gave it my best shot, I didn't go on tilt, or make any stupid mistakes. I just played. I tried to play my game, get into good spots, but sometimes, we just can't make it happen.


I did try to make it happen though. I didn't just go home after that river Q. I could have went home, not even listen to radio in car. If I get whacked real bad sometimes I just deive home in silence and think. I could just take the loss and not even fight. I fought. I made some of the money back, that's gotta count for something right?



Anyways. Week 2 of 1/2, -$406 on first day. Let's turn this around. Got 4 more days, cause I'm gonna play either Monday or Tuesday to make up for being off today.


Friday. Towers of checks. A-game. I can do this.

it always stings when your two pair gets counterfitted. I hate when I play the low pocket pairs like 44 and the board runs out somthing like 77595 and then they scoop with ace kicker after i value bet them on the flop and turn. I think you played the A10 well, i only like the shove if you have a read that he calls too often which it seems you did.

Wow that second guy really sounds like an idiot, like did he not understand that he made a terrible play and gt read into infinity, and then got super lucky. There should be a style of poker where the winning hand at the moment of shoving should just auto win, I think that'd be very interesting.

Originally Posted by mbrenneman0

it always stings when your two pair gets counterfitted. I hate when I play the low pocket pairs like 44 and the board runs out somthing like 77595 and then they scoop with ace kicker after i value bet them on the flop and turn. I think you played the A10 well, i only like the shove if you have a read that he calls too often which it seems you did.

Yeah most of them call too much. But he might not have called, but because of the way I play, people think I bluff alot.

It's whatever.

Originally Posted by crimsonblur

Wow that second guy really sounds like an idiot, like did he not understand that he made a terrible play and gt read into infinity, and then got super lucky. There should be a style of poker where the winning hand at the moment of shoving should just auto win, I think that'd be very interesting.

I've thought about that as well. However, if that was how poker was, these fish would never win. Then they wouldn't play.

i think some rooms have an option to run it twice

Originally Posted by mbrenneman0

i think some rooms have an option to run it twice

Yeah that's only available at charity rooms, for twice the rake. I prob still run it only once though even if I had the option.

Originally Posted by Beanfacekilla

Update...

I still played after 4 or 5 hours. I gave it my best shot, I didn't go on tilt, or make any stupid mistakes. I just played. I tried to play my game, get into good spots, but sometimes, we just can't make it happen.

I did try to make it happen though. I didn't just go home after that river Q. I could have went home, not even listen to radio in car. If I get whacked real bad sometimes I just drive home in silence and think. I could just take the loss and not even fight. I fought. I made some of the money back, that's gotta count for something right?

Hell yeah that counts for something! Sounds like a pretty good response all things considered. Super-tilting situation and you took it and stuck to your game (even if it got to you internally). If that's as bad as it gets when you tilt that's pretty far up the ladder. Hopefully it doesn't stretch from session to session..even though it's understood its totally in line with variance to have multiple bad running sessions in a row that's when the real test happens.

Regarding driving home in silence..yeah that's relatable..I used to listen to talk radio on the way home and if I had a particularly bad session I'd find myself getting irrationally angry at whatever people were saying on the radio and have to shut it down.

Originally Posted by ccres

Hell yeah that counts for something! Sounds like a pretty good response all things considered. Super-tilting situation and you took it and stuck to your game (even if it got to you internally). If that's as bad as it gets when you tilt that's pretty far up the ladder. Hopefully it doesn't stretch from session to session..even though it's understood its totally in line with variance to have multiple bad running sessions in a row that's when the real test happens.

Regarding driving home in silence..yeah that's relatable..I used to listen to talk radio on the way home and if I had a particularly bad session I'd find myself getting irrationally angry at whatever people were saying on the radio and have to shut it down.

I thought someone might be able to relate to the radio comment....

We have AKo, just a few minutes ago. We open UTG to $15, 1c, dude in SB, kinda LAG, 3b to $45, we 4b to $140, he calls. He has been 3b somewhat often. I'm not calling IP and folding flop, so that's why I 4b

HU to flop, Q-10-4r. Checks to me, he makes a comment about how bad the flop is. I think to myself "This guy just flopped top set". He clearly reacted to flop.

Turn 9s. He shoves for around $150. We snap fold. He has this expression like "awww", but he doesn't show. I am 99% sure I was exactly right. He asked me if I had KK or AA pre, and then said "or ace king" right before he called. We said nothing. Stone poker face.


Sigh.

Probably fishing for your hand tbh with that comment.

He's quite wide you think, so we could probably shove on flop if we think our A or K are active... we made SPR so small so we prolly should've shoved flop and really exploited his 3betting aggression.


Opponent if he has AK as well would fold and we win because of position... he could easily have jacks as well or 99 or 88.

AJ is even possible and since we checked flop... do we only check when we whiff esp with such a small SPR.... if the SPR was big then I agree checking is best because chances are he's setting up for a check-raise but his range in such a small SPR is crippled and AK really plays stronger now.


So summary.

1. Do we check on flop giving up our strength?
2. Does our opponent shove with ATC in this spot? He probably could which is a scary thought.
3. How wide does he 3bet... will justify our shove on flop

I just watched two floor men get into a physical altercation with a 1/2 player.


This new guy sits at a table. He reaches for a rack or something, in close vicinity to this lady's purse. She is a smart ass sort of. She makes a comment like "don't touch my purse".

So the dude gets all loud, starts mouthing off. Floor intervenes.

The floor is staring there explaining to the guy, he just gets a warning, he just need to settle down and let it go. The guy starts making comments regarding race, the lady is white, etc.


Floor just tells him again, "I'm giving you a warning. That's all. If you continue, you can leave."


Guy says "F*** you" to floor. Then he gathers his things, and goes to cage. "You don't even have to make me, I'll just leave. I should slap your blank blank"

Floor goes over, gets on the phone. Dude comes from cage, walks behind counter, and starts pushing floor, tries to punch him, then the other floor guy grabs him and tries to pull him off. Then he starts fighting with that guy. He is trying to punch him, he can't connect. Floor is doing his best to calm the situation down.

I run over there, I didn't really think it through. When I get there, then I don't know what to do. I don't want to jump in and fight this guy. Others come over as well. Some big dude bears hugs him, and pushes him out of the poker room.


He tries to come back, security is there now, about 6 or 7 dudes come over as well. He runs off.


I don't know if they caught him.


Silly.

Originally Posted by Aces2w1n

Probably fishing for your hand tbh with that comment.

He's quite wide you think, so we could probably shove on flop if we think our A or K are active... we made SPR so small so we prolly should've shoved flop and really exploited his 3betting aggression.


Opponent if he has AK as well would fold and we win because of position... he could easily have jacks as well or 99 or 88.

AJ is even possible and since we checked flop... do we only check when we whiff esp with such a small SPR.... if the SPR was big then I agree checking is best because chances are he's setting up for a check-raise but his range in such a small SPR is crippled and AK really plays stronger now.


So summary.

1. Do we check on flop giving up our strength?
2. Does our opponent shove with ATC in this spot? He probably could which is a scary thought.
3. How wide does he 3bet... will justify our shove on flop

I don't know for sure how wide he was. Physical tells told me he liked his hand. I don't know if I was right or not.


If we bet flop, I don't think we are called very often with worse. So, I just checked back, hoping for A, K, or J.


I did think about jamming. I just thought he would snap call and that's bad.

Just got it in 3w with SD/FD. We bricked of course. It was about 100 BB x3.


Sigh. Maybe next time.

The last guy called off his chips with red aces, and he was a dog vs us other two in the hand. He went runner runner FH.

Man this game is pretty good. I'm coming up now! We gonna stack up more checks soon obv.




We are only up slightly. But that 1/2 stack still looks kinda sexy

Remembering what Negreanu said that what you win or lose per day has no meaning. Only your average hourly win rate matters over long period. So if your hourly is 30$ you make in six hours 180 dollars, regardless what you win or lose on that day. You are get paid by hour, not by winnings. So I would guess that adding more play days because you lost is a bit against ideology of mental poker balance.

We are still working. Table is actually pretty good still. It's the only table running ATM.


Weeeeee!

Re the 4bet AK hand. I have talked about this spot before with one of my coaches. It is usually mathamatically correct to shove AK on the flop if you 4bet and get called and you are oop and first to act. 100bb effective but hopefully you must have been deeper.
I take it you were calling it off if he 5bet shoved. If not then 4betting in this case to 110 saves you 30 if you are going to fold.
Bearing in mind your live read and being in position the check fold looks good.

Originally Posted by Figaroo2

Re the 4bet AK hand. I have talked about this spot before with one of my coaches. It is usually mathamatically correct to shove AK on the flop if you 4bet and get called and you are oop and first to act. 100bb effective but hopefully you must have been deeper.
I take it you were calling it off if he 5bet shoved. If not then 4betting in this case to 110 saves you 30 if you are going to fold.
Bearing in mind your live read and being in position the check fold looks good.

Thanks bro.


So, recap from sesh.... was cruising along, craziest, most loose table I've sat on in a while.


I was up 200, down 200, up 200, down 200, etc. Ran my bottom set into dudes rag FH with 9-4, and we lost about 300.


Total for sesh -$359. My 1/2 challenge is taking a turn to the other side.


I played a 12 hour session, and lost. I am a little frustrated RN.


So, I think we are about +$750 for last 6 days of play? I will have to look at chart. Don't feel like it RN. The info is ITT. It's whatever.

Edit, last 7 days of play.