Monday, June 23, 2008

Week 25 Update: Running HOT!




Last week I posted an update and I berated myself for not getting in enough hands. This week, I managed to get in even less hands, but damn, I sure managed to run hot while doing so, and think I made very few mistakes.





The position stats are the sickest of all:



I had a VPIP of 38% from the button, and PFR of 33% in that spot. This shows that the tables I played at allowed me to exploit the hell out of position.

I will not be posting the hands of my sunday session vs the Sunday-donks though. I recorded the sunday session without sound, and will probably post a video about it with commentary on Cardrunners when I get time to do so. The session was quite interesting because it shows more about adjusting to game-flow and player tendencies compared to standard optimal lines in certain situations. It also shows some spots where I embrace variance with very marginal holdings because it feels very +EV, and spots where I do the opposite and make some folds which could be perceived as bad/nitty. Overall it should provide enough material for quite an interesting video.

Friday, June 20, 2008

No Respect

Today I again found out why it's pretty stupid to tilt off stacks at FTP, since people are just way too bad at the lower limits (if you table select decently) to really pose much of a problem.

This hand for instance may seem spewy but I'm pretty certain I played it fine.

$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
4 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Profiles and Stacks:
CO ($71.20)28.0/4.0[/1.0 (25)
Hero ($149.15)33.9/28.9/3.3 (121)
SB ($156.15)14.5/9.7/4.0 (62)
BB ($457.85)35.4/28.3/2.1 (99)

Pre-flop: ($1.50, 4 players) Hero is BTN

1 fold, Hero raises to $3, SB raises to $10, 1 fold, Hero raises to $24, SB calls $14



At this table I am not really playing that tight. I'm running around 34/29, attempt to steal was around 78%, and even while 9T is a standard open for me here, and a standard fold to a 3-bet, there are a few things to consider here.
I already stepped onto the SB's toes a few times. Not really stepping on them, but more like throwing knives at his toes and hitting. His head was probably about to explode, so the 3-bet here was not that odd. On the other hand, if he makes such a small 3-bet, I'm calling with most of my range. 9To is a bit too weak to call with though, even in position vs a 3bet, so I decided to turn my hand into a bluff since I am quite certain villain's range is huge here because of our history. I decide to 4-bet very small here so he it seems he almost has to call here (even while I want a fold) hoping he sees this as strength and folds his steals.


Flop:
($49, 2 players)
SB bets $49, Hero goes all-in $125.15, SB folds



Again something which may seem spewy. Villain pots here, seems pot commited, and I just have an OESD. This seems a standard fold situation. On the other hand, I really cannot think of any hand villain could be potting here for value after I 4bet him PF, so here it's just about hand ranges. What's the whole story of this hand at the moment?

Villain hates my guts. He does not give me credit pf, even while I only steal 78% of the time, and will often decide to make a light 3-bet in this spot.
Villain saw me making a very small 4-bet, which is something he cannot fold to, because he does not want to let a nit like me outplay him, so he calls.
The flop is likely to miss me, if he bets large here he probably expects me to fold most overcard combo's.

Sorry dude, you made a huge mistake here. Would I make such a gay 4-bet preflop with a hand like AK/AQ? Or rather, do I think you expect me to make those raises with those hands? No bloody chance dude.

So taking that into account, I can only see him donkleading potsize on this flop with a hand which has absolutely no showdown value if called (like an underpair). Sadly, underpairs beat me here, so I shove to fold them out.
.


Final Pot:
$147

Hero wins $221.15 ( won +$72 )
SB lost -$73.00



$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
5 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Profiles and Stacks:
UTG ($464.25)35.4/28.3/2.1 (99)
CO ($71.90)57.9/36.8/8.0 (19)
Hero ($222.90)33.9/28.9/3.3 (121)
SB ($188.00)16.1/12.5/1.0 (56)
BB ($100.25)25.6/4.7/1.0 (43)

Pre-flop: ($1.50, 5 players) Hero is BTN

1 fold, CO raises to $3.50, Hero raises to $12, 2 folds, CO calls $8.50


Flop:
($25.50, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks



Even while I cbet this flop with almost 100% of my range, I do not like to cbet it vs 100% of the villains. Here my image should be something like a total retarded spewmonkey on tilt if villain trusts his stats, and I flop the nuts (TPTK is the nuts when you are a maniac), but sadly, I also hold the ace of hearts here. Which leaves very few hands in villains range to peel one off here, or semibluffraise me with. Because of that, I decided to just check behind here. Another reason to check behind is because my 3-betting range is probably conceived to be pretty huge (even while it isn't, I would only 3-bet him with 74s and better there...).

Turn:
($25.50, 2 players)
CO bets $25.50, Hero calls $25.50



villain bets pot while I got the nuts, pretty standard.

River:
($76.50, 2 players)
CO goes all-in $34.40, Hero calls $34.40



Villain shoves here for half-pot remaining stack sizes as a bluff. Even when I am on complete monkey tilt I pick better spots to bluff. This shows again how little credit people give you when you got somewhat maniac-donkey-total-drunk statistics at a table.

Final Pot:
$145.30
CO shows:
Hero shows:

Hero wins $142.30 ( won +$70.40 )
CO lost -$71.90



This hand was probably the most interesting:

$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Profiles and Stacks:
UTG ($171.00)18.1/18.1/5.0 (105)
Hero ($146.75)21.5/17.0/2.3 (135)
CO ($97.00)21.5/15.6/7.0 (135)
BTN ($246.75)29.8/14.5/1.8 (131)
SB ($100.00)22.2/11.9/0.9 (135)
BB ($105.00)17.0
/14.8/6.0 (88)

Pre-flop: ($1.50, 6 players) Hero is UTG+1

1 fold, Hero raises to $3, 2 folds, SB calls $2.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($7, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $5.50, SB calls $5.50



My table image here is a bit more normal, but I got enough history with villain to know he gives me very little credit. This is not the best board ever, but still a standard cbet situation.


Turn:
($18, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $13, SB calls $13



I never mind hitting top set, so I am not too shy to put a bit more chips in the middle here.


River:
($44, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $21, SB goes all-in $78.50, Hero calls $57.50




This is where the hand becomes interesting. I know villain gives me little credit on the flop, yet would always raise a flop cbet with a set or straight. He would raise there but would not raise a draw, except his best ones. But if he calls my turn bet, I know he never holds a hand like 67, and 56 he would have played different as well. So if he holds a 6 on this river, it must be because of him holding 66, which also makes no sense since he would fold that to a turn bet. This translates to top set being the nuts here even with 4 to a straight being on the board. I almost bet something like $36 here, trying to get looked up by TP or underpair hands, but was not really certain villain always held a made hand here in this spot, so decided to bet smaller and make it look like a blocking bet. When I make bets like these, I never do so with intention to fold, and here I also got no reason to.


Final Pot:
$201
Hero shows:
SB shows:

Hero wins $198 ( won +$98 )
SB lost -$100.00


Largest pot I lost today:

$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
5 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Profiles and Stacks:
UTG ($177.00)23.8/9.5/1.2 (42)
CO ($147.10)14.5/9.7/4.0 (62)
BTN ($200.00)35.4/28.3/2.1 (99)
SB ($213.55)5.9/5.9/1.0 (17)
Hero ($105.00)33.9/28.9/3.3 (121)

Pre-flop: ($1.50, 5 players) Hero is BB

2 folds, BTN raises to $3.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $12.50, BTN calls $9




I obviously gave villain little respect here. He seemed like a total maniac. He played like me a bit. So I 3bet here.


Flop:
($25.50, 2 players)
Hero bets $16, BTN calls $16



This is a good board to cbet.

Turn:
($57.50, 2 players)
Hero bets $32, BTN goes all-in $171.50, Hero folds



I do not mind the second K arriving on the turn, since it makes it much less likely that villain holds a K here himself. The best part about this spot is that I do not need to bet too much. Even if I just bet half-pot here or something, I can still easily shove the river here should I have a K. Because of that, I get a nice discount on a second bluff, and take it.

Final Pot:
$121.50

BTN wins $258 ( won +$58 )
Hero lost -$60.50