tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300066732024-03-13T03:45:53.221-07:00Soultwister's Poker DenSoultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-30214025430859092742009-01-06T15:18:00.000-08:002009-01-09T10:44:22.557-08:00The Den has movedFurther blogging will continue at<br /><a href="http://web.me.com/soultwister">http://web.me.com/soultwister<br /></a>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-30699640498942575752008-09-28T11:02:00.000-07:002008-09-29T17:11:07.685-07:00Phase 2I upgraded my PC a few days ago, which actually also was quite funny to do (well, not the assembly, but the buying of the parts I needed). I walked into a computer store, across the place I work at myself, and asked them if they had the Q9300 processor. They answered no, so I thanked them for their time and walked outside. So I went into the next store, where they answered 'yes' to my question, and followed by asking me if that was all I needed. So I answered I also needed an asus mainboard but wanted to see their boxes (and made my pick after seeing them choosing the only one with the P45 chipset), 4GB of ram, an LG or Nec DVD burner, a SATA harddisk of 250gb (have enough external drives lying around) and a 550w power supply from Coolermaster or Antec.<br /><br />Somewhere along the line they asked me what I was going to use the PC for, I believe it was when I informed them that the memory they were trying to sell me wasn't much better than the memory which was only 1/3rd of it's price (which was the only thing I bought where I even bothered to inform about the price, which also probably surprised them). I still remember the looks on their faces when I answered 'Poker' to their question. <br /><br />So after finally bothering to put my PC together a few days later and reinstalling everything I decided it would be interesting to start with a complete clean database, and even not import my .dat file from Full Tilt which contains all the notes I have about players. <br /><br />The reason for doing so was something I realized after my trip to Barcelona. I played a few days online and ran/played pretty bad, losing about 6 buyins or something. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I was getting less and less satisfied with my overall game. Further, my notes on players were cluttered with examples about hands that were way too specific, yet failed to describe the kind of players they were.<br /><br />My NL2 winnings were something about 3.5ptBB/100 or something longterm, and that is not something to brag at, especially when I consider myself a decent player who invests a lot of time doing his homework, and who does not play too many tables.<br /><br />I've been doing an extensive review of my old pokertracker database the last few days and came to the conclusion I missed out on quite some important things while playing my normal game, which was something that used to be a large part of my game before: Pure mathematics.<br /><br />Here are a few examples to describe what I mean:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2>billyk38139 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$406.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2>YRRLYZL <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$237.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">CO <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">blinnd <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$336.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$216.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2>ChungBuck87 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$311.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2>Klaus47 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$54.25</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">blinnd raises to $7</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $24</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >blinnd folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $17<br><br>Hero wins $34 ( won +$10 ) <br>blinnd lost -$7.00<br><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />Villain in this spot is a solid regular. He plays 23/19 attempt to steal 36% with 28% attempt to steal from cutoff. His fold to 3bet is 61%, but this is obviously weighted based on position, history etc. His continuation bet % is only 61%.<br /><br />So here, even while it does not look that bad to just call, I do not think I can exploit him that much with his low cbet %, and I may get in a tough spot with an easily dominated hand like KJo. <br /><br />My old standard was to polarize my range here vs players like these with QQ+, AK and suited one-gappers which exclude a T. That part of my range is still the same vs him, but KJo has some great preflop bonuses in this spot: <br /><br />If he opens with 28% of his hands, and even with the history between us which makes me believe he will defend somewhat lighter vs my 3bets, I still only expect him to continue with hands like 99-AA, AJ+, KQ and JQs/JTs. That is 8.1% of the total hands which he could be opening with, and it's about 29% of his total CO opening range. Assuming I will get owned badly if called, or won't put a chip in postflop, when seen as a total bluff this needs to succeed 24/34=70,6% of the time while he will generally fold 71% of that range. Even while that seems miniscule +EV, there are still two people sitting behind me who may wake up with aces.<br /><br />Yet if I add the card removal bonuses for having KJo here, his range shifts. Before he would be continuing with 29% of his total CO range, but if I calculate the odds for him to hold a hand he can continue with when I hold blockers to some of those hands, things shift drastically. <br /><br />So what seems a likely 28% cutoff opening range? Assume something like this, which is actually 28,5%: 22+,A2s+,K8s+,Q8s+,J8s+,T8s+,98s,A7o+,K9o+,Q9o+,J9o+<br /><br />That leads to 13 pocket pairs (78 combinations), A2s+(48 c.), K8s+(20), Q8s+(16), T8s+(8), 98s(4), A7o+(112), K9o+(64), Q9o+(48), J9o+(32).<br /><br />This is not 100% correct off course, since I do not know his complete range, but it's a close estimate. Further, it's much more likely that hands like 56s are in his CO opening range than K9o when I am sitting behind him, but I'll leave it at this range for now. <br /><br />So what this tells us is that he opens 430 different combinations, and he can continue with 29% of that range if I had no blockers, which are about 125 combinations. Me holding KJ gives me some blockers on his hand distribution if I look at what hands he'll continue with, which I described as 99-AA, AJ+, KQ and JQs/JTs. Holding KJ reduces the probability of him holding AJ+ with 8 combinations, KQ with 5, JQs/JTs with 2, 99+ with 6.<br /><br />This sums up that while normally he could continue with 125 of his possible combinations, he can now only continue with 104. Me holding KJ has a significant impact on the chance I get called here, and while it's incorrect to say he will now only continue with 24% of his hands and will fold 76% of the time (since me having two blockers to hands he will continue with also reduces the chance he opened from that spot in the first place) it does have some noticeable impact. <br /><br />This is an extremely marginal situation, but in this spot, combined with his low cbet % and some lunatics sitting behind me who could do something stupid like squeeze with A7o even without knowing how to spell that word, I figured 3betting was better in that spot than calling. <br /></span><br />Hand 2:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2>FIVETHREE53 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$82.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2>zer_cool <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$227.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">CO <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$230.70</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Neffer2 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$76.20</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2>clopper lover <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$110.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">basouli <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$438.75</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $7</span>, Neffer2 calls $7, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">basouli raises to $29</span>, Hero calls $22, <span style="color:#777777;" >Neffer2 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Villain in this hand played quite sporadically. He ran at 40/31 with a 3bet % of 8.8%, and I already made a note about him in earlier observed hands which made me think he was extremely squeezy-happy. So right here, I again have to fix a little mathematical dilemma.<br /><br />I probably open about 25 or 30% from the CO on this table, and this player is going to 3bet tons and is definitely going to use most squeezy opportunities. If I fold almost any hand vs him except a widened value based range, he is going to exploit me tremendously preflop. This is why I need to continue with about half the hands I open from this spot to not be exploitable preflop, either by calling or 4betting for value/as bluff. 9Ts in position is definitely playable, so I call. <br /></span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jd.gif"> (<span class=mi>$66, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">basouli bets $45</span>, Hero calls $45<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">In a normal raised pot I rarely float with just a gutshot and backdoor flushdraw and prefer a bluffraise (though on this board texture, I prefer a float), but in a 3bet pot the stack sizes become a bit too small to raise here. Further, I cannot represent much if I raise since I would not raise a hand like AJ either. His large cbet makes me quite comfortable about my options later on, so I decide to float here.</span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$156, 2 players</span>)<br>basouli checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $63</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >basouli folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Standard after floating flop. vs tighter players I would take the free card, but the chance of him having a made hand is so small that I prefer to take the pot down on the turn, cheaply.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $156<br><br>Hero wins $216 ( won +$79 ) <br>Neffer2 lost -$7.00<br>basouli lost -$74.00<br><br /><br />Hand 3:<br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Big0308 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$541.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">CO <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$401.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">blinnd <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$197.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2>sorry_its_me <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$121.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2>easyway777 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$352.45</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">Big0308 raises to $7</span>, Hero calls $7, <span style="color:darkred;">blinnd raises to $31</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >Big0308 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $66</span>, blinnd calls $35<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A 35/17 fish opened UTG, so I just flatted, since I do not really like raising with AQo in this spot much. It becomes more interesting though when someone who plays 23/19 with a 3bet % of 7.5% decides to squeeze. Yet again this person made some plays earlier which made me think that he pounds on preflop weakness a lot, so I assumed he was quite capable of squeezing here. I do not mind a call, but I figured AQ was ahead of his range, and since I will be playing AA/KK/QQ/AK the same in this preflop situation, I put in a tiny 4bet. Villain obliged by calling.</span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> (<span class=mi>$142, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, blinnd checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I hated this flop kinda, since even while I rarely ever cbet in a 4bet pot OOP on dry boards, I do not expect to get much action. I took the same line with the rest of the hand as I would with KK in this spot. </span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$142, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $69</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >blinnd folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $142<br><br>Hero wins $208 ( won +$73 ) <br>blinnd lost -$66.00<br>Big0308 lost -$7.00<br><br /><br />Hand 4:<br /><br />This is a hand I misplayed terribly, but I do not mind my play if I had something like KJ or A9o, since then I would at least have some blockers.<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2>shxlfxm <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$281.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">doktore4 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$158.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2>2michael8 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$173.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$207.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Bule Gila <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$691.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2>Boodabor <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$219.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8d.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, doktore4 calls $2, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $10</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Bule Gila raises to $28</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >doktore4 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $52</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Bule Gila goes all-in $691.40</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >Hero folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Villain in this hand is quite solid, played 21/16 after 1.2k hands, and had been owning me constantly at this table. Him sitting there would be a reason to actually leave the table, but since I want to get ready for 2/4, I do not mind some tough opposition at times. <br /><br />What was interesting is that the villain in this spot 3bet me, while he generally used to just call my isolation raises in position when a fish was in the pot, even with hands like QQ+.<br /><br />Because of that, I had to assume that he was probably more likely to be making a total bluff, compared to having an actual hand, since I did expect him to just call with all his playable and premium hands in this spot to keep the fish in, especially in position.<br /><br />Sadly, I was wrong, and he told me after the hand that I made a good laydown, claiming he had AA, which translates into him saying he had 99 or something and just leveled me... <br /> </span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $108<br><br>Bule Gila wins $747.40 ( won +$56 ) <br>doktore4 lost -$2.00<br>Hero lost -$52.00<br><br /><br />Hand 5:<br /><br />This has nothing to do with the point I'm trying to get across, but it was an interesting hand vs the same villain as in hand 2, and I am quite happy about the way I played it.<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2>Neffer2 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$233.45</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2>clopper lover <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$171.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">CO <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">basouli <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$269.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2>FIVETHREE53 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$35.70</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2>zer_cool <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$195.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$388.80</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8d.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">basouli raises to $7</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, Hero calls $5<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Again the 40/31 player opens, 52% steal, and I hold crappy-connectors in the big blind. Generally this is a fold, but slightly over 100BB deep vs a bad player who may be tilting a bit after the last hands, I could not find the fold button.</span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$15, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">basouli bets $12</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $32</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">basouli raises to $102</span>, Hero calls $70<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I flop the nuts or cooler, and vs people who don't cbet too bloody often I just lead here. Vs him, a CR is more optimal.<br /><br />After his 3bet on the flop, I consider my options, and I decide that if I get my money in now I will get it in as a decent favorite, but if I just lead the turn when it's safe, I'll probably have better equity overall. So I stick to that plan.<br /></span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$219, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $61</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">basouli goes all-in $160.40</span>, Hero calls $99.40<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$539.80, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">With the history between us, I expect him to shove a turn lead extremely light, and I manage to get the rest of my money in pretty well. Obviously a shove would accomplish the same vs his set, but I do not think he would play a bare Ad or even Kd that different vs me.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $539.80<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8d.gif"> <br>basouli shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9s.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $536.80 ( won +$267.40 ) <br>basouli lost -$269.40<br><br /><br />Overall, even while it does not show that much from these examples, I am going to to focus a bit more on mathematical edges when I can find them, and will probably tighten up quite a bit in spots which are extremely marginal vs non-regulars. Though vs regulars, I will probably still continue to do a bunch of crazy stuff for 2+ buyins when I think it's breakeven+, but that's good for metagame and image anyways.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-37935610010102238752008-09-27T15:11:00.000-07:002008-09-30T16:33:43.462-07:00EPT Barcelona<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7IHDcJ6YI/AAAAAAAAACE/PXkXBs-x5N0/s1600-h/IMAG0024.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7IHDcJ6YI/AAAAAAAAACE/PXkXBs-x5N0/s400/IMAG0024.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250854239068612994" /></a><br /><br />Like the standard has been for me lately, it has been a while between updates again.<br />Only this time I do think I have a somewhat valid excuse, which is having spent 2 weeks in Spain granting myself a well deserved vacation. <br />Should any observant reader notice that the timespan between this entry and my most recent one is more than 2 weeks, please keep it to yourself since I do not need someone to tell me how lazy I am. Which yet again is proven by how little of the entry about my vacation is somewhat interesting to add to my blog, while the largest part of the vacation was spent at the local swimming pool with a nice cold beer.<br /><br />Anyways, back on topic, so somewhere during that vacation me and the buddy who went with me decided to go to Barcelona. I lost the count about how often his father must have told him to not go to the casino/be careful at the casino/don't gamble at all as if he somehow thought the two of us were some gambling degenerates who only wanted to go to Barcelona to visit the casino there.<br /><br />He couldn't be more right, but we did make some pictures with my phone from other random stuff so we could show him we did not spend all of our trip to Barcelona in the casino. One picture even got me in it, and even if it's a silly picture of me sitting in front of a pretty sad looking but tasteful desert, you have to take into account that these are the kind of pictures you want to show to people who think you are a degenerate. It screams "See, I do go outside at times." while it leaves away information like that particular restaurant being only about 500 feet away from the casino. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7M2BA_JyI/AAAAAAAAACM/rvFwBrgwoHs/s1600-h/IMAG0008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7M2BA_JyI/AAAAAAAAACM/rvFwBrgwoHs/s400/IMAG0008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250859443918153506" /></a><br /><br />When we entered the casino, which was very early in the evening, it was already packed. Reason for that being that the European Poker Tour was taking place there, and with the amount of players left in the tournament, the final table would probably be starting that evening. Perfect day to play some cash games vs some EPT busters.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7PBb-o-HI/AAAAAAAAACU/2XbcMvgwGvc/s1600-h/IMAG0020.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7PBb-o-HI/AAAAAAAAACU/2XbcMvgwGvc/s400/IMAG0020.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250861839157885042" /></a><br /><br />Our plan was somewhat disturbed because one of the differences between online and live poker: waiting lists. Online, you get onto a few lists, get a coffee, and get back in time to click sit down on a few tables. Yet live, during the EPT, you have to wait 4 bloody hours before you can claim your seat.<br /><br />So after finally getting my seat at an NL1k euro table, it did not take that long to bust. I found myself within the first half hour after sitting down in a situation where I held two overs + nut flush draw in a multiway pot getting about 3 to 1 pot odds, snapcalled failing to hit my outs vs two pair and some random crap hand I do not even remember, instead of dragging in a nice 2600 euro pot. That's poker, but I am quite happy that I snapcalled there instead of bothering to consider the amount of money involved. <br /><br />After that I decided to watch the 'bubble' before the final table, which is quite an experience to see from the tribune compared to some online broadcast.<br /><br />After the final table had started I noticed Kara Scott, the EPT hostess, from her accent on the Cardrunner's videos, when she interviewed someone in the tribune. So when I saw her in the press area and she was unoccupied, I decided to chat a bit with her.<br /><br />It did look quite foolish though when she pointed out to me that as a Cardrunners member I should be recognizing the person who was sitting at the table I was standing at, who was Brian Townsend himself. <br /><br />It was quite fun to run into Brian. After introducing myself to him and talking to him a bit, he seemed a genuinely spontaneous and nice guy, as you'd expect him to be from his videos/interviews etc. I did not bother him for long though, but since I was a tourist that day, I did ask for a picture for my blog. That was no problem at all, and Kara was kind enough to also join the picture. Sadly it was a bit out of focus though thanks to taking it with a cellphone.<br /><br />I left the casino somewhere around 2am, even while the action on the final table was getting quite hot and only a few players were left. Me and my buddy, who is just as poker degenerate as yours truly, had the dilemma to either watch an EPT final table from the tribune, or go out to party in Barcelona throughout the rest of the night. And after going out till like 6 or 7am I can definitely vouch that the nightlife of Barcelona is quite a blast.<br /><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7ZDaaFlqI/AAAAAAAAACc/9GPbxY-p_7k/s1600-h/IMAG0029.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7ZDaaFlqI/AAAAAAAAACc/9GPbxY-p_7k/s400/IMAG0029.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250872868212151970" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7ZZgAf_TI/AAAAAAAAACk/HMhD4b6Jk0E/s1600-h/IMAG0023.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SN7ZZgAf_TI/AAAAAAAAACk/HMhD4b6Jk0E/s400/IMAG0023.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250873247672565042" /></a>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-25738810471036107872008-09-01T13:27:00.000-07:002008-09-02T16:13:29.501-07:00August Results<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SLxe0STVD2I/AAAAAAAAAB8/yYyb890rIGM/s1600-h/nl2august.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SLxe0STVD2I/AAAAAAAAAB8/yYyb890rIGM/s400/nl2august.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241168318711533410" /></a><br /><br />Last month I posted my winnings and bragged about it being my first 3k+ month (which actually is incorrect if I include donkaments, but when looking at cash games, it still is. I nearly doubled that this month when I include rakeback. The stats above are from the 30th of July till the 1st of September.<br /><br />But what was more interesting in this sample is the amount of huge adjustments I made to my game, and how much I have progressed as a player in about a month time because of the play at NL200 vs NL100. The winrate isn't that impressive, but that is mostly my own fault. The hands I misplayed this month taught me quite some things about beating the game as did the hands I won, and those I observed. <br /><br />What stands out most to me are the discrepancies between the regulars at NL100 and NL200. <br /><br />At NL100 there are some good/decent/bad regulars who are working hard on increasing their games, generally not playing too many tables. <br /><br />At NL200 the average regular is much better. Their play is much better on average and they are used to countering other regulars in certain ways.<br /><br />But what is almost mind-boggling is that almost any regular which I mark as good or very good are just playing way too many tables, which means that even while they may be better than me, they lose their edge because they turn into hud-bots and adjust in a somewhat predictable matter.<br /><br />One example I could take are solid regulars on the button. They open a wide range, some of them even over 60%, and when they get 3bet by the BB they just look at BB's stats. In my example, it would show something like 22/18 to them with a 7% 3bet. The first conclusion they will make is that I will be 3betting light often enough, and each regular has their own way to adjust.<br /><br />Some of them will start 4betting light, or 4bet bluffing often. The frequency they 4bet with will give you different options to exploit them. One way is to 3bet with a value-based range which does well vs their range in an all-in situation assuming you get enough folds after 5bet shoving, and expand that range based on how often they fold. <br /><br />Another way to adjust is by not 3betting light at all. Most of these players will just be looking at your 3bet % stat, and if it's high enough, they make an automated decision. <br /><br />One key factor from these observations is that this group of regulars will NOT adjust their opening range at all. If they open A3o from the button, and the BB is an aggressive player who defends his blinds quite often vs an aggressive button, they will still not consider folding A3o the next orbit. <br /><br />Here's one example from today about this type of regular:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$487.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$520.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$92.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $6</span>, SB calls $5, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $28</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $56</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >SB folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $200</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >BTN folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $118<br><br>Hero wins $262 ( won +$62 ) <br>BTN lost -$56.00<br>SB lost -$6.00<br><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Now, while this situation looks bloody standard, and this seems like a squeeze spot, the interesting part is how easy some other hands can be played vs this type of opponent:<br /><br />With 1.1k hands on him he plays 23/17, attempt to steal 36% with 48% steal from button. So far, he folds to 3bets 56% of the time and 4bets 19% of the time.<br /><br />If his 4bet % was not so high I would just call here to keep the fish in, and play fit/fold, and I think that would actually be more profitable in this spot. But assume for the moment that the fish in the SB had not called, what hands could I profitably 3bet here?<br /><br />Definitely not a normal value bet range or a very polarized range. So 3betting KQ or air is suicide, so is 3betting any hand if you intend to fold to a 4bet. A better range in a button vs blind situation vs this player would be hands like ATs, AJs, AQ+ and any pocket pair including deuces with the intention to shove over a 4bet. Villain will be folding enough of his 4betting range there for that range to be very profitable vs him.</span><br /><br />Now there are also players with a wide opening range who just fold to 3bets way too often OOP yet do not adjust their opening ranges much. Here are two examples:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$265.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$239.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$197.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$206.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$121.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$220.75</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 raises to $7</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $26</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG+1 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $17<br><br>Hero wins $36 ( won +$10 ) <br>UTG+1 lost -$7.00<br><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This regular is someone I really respect, and I do not want him sitting to my left at all. His postflop skills are very solid, and he will be getting the best of me quite often. But preflop, in position, I can make a lot from him if I adjust well.<br /><br />What do we know about villain? He plays 26/23 after 4.6k hands, attempt to steal 41%, and he opens 26% from his hands from MP. His fold to 3bet % is 80%, 4bet% 7%. Further, he cbets 95% of all flop, which is way too high yet he succeeds because people just don't adjust well to him.<br /><br />So what kind of hands would I 3bet vs him? All kinds of offsuit connectors, small pocket pairs (I cannot setmine profitably vs his range, and floating with unimproved small pairs is something I really hate vs a solid player), suited hands with a few gaps like 58s, the lower suited connectors etc. I still want some postflop possibility because I do expect him to just call a 3bet OOP with hands like AQ and JJ/TT. <br /><br />But what would I flatcall with? All premium hands and hands which play very well in position, like mid-pairs, medium and high suited connectors, and all premium hands. <br /><br />This may sound exploitable but it's not. If villain cbets so bloody often and folds to many 3bets, there's little value in 3betting with premium hands. And villain plays way too many tables to notice I won't 3bet premium hands vs him in position. Should he start to notice, and readjust, I will notice it after a while and respond appropriately. <br /><br /></span><br /> <br />Here's another regular who I play almost the same way against in position:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$234.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$206.35</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$207.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$282.25</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$240.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $6</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $20</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >SB folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $12<br><br>Hero wins $26 ( won +$6 ) <br>SB lost -$6.00<br><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I have 1.7k hands on villain which show him playing 24/18, with an attempt to steal of 45% from the small blind, 83% cbet and a fold to 3bet % of 90%. This player is very positional aware but just fails at adjusting to who is sitting to his left. Opening too many hands from the SB works well for him on average, which is why he does it, but when he's playing 16 tables he will take an incredibly standard line here when 3bet: which is only continueing with JJ+ and AK.<br /><br />If you look at a short sample, the optimal 3betting range vs him is all junk, and optimal calling range all premium hands. There is only one problem with raising all junk, which is that he may start to notice it when I 3bet him almost every hand. Though I still 3bet him almost every time, and the reason I do flat him often with hands like T7s etc instead of 3betting is for the same reason: I do not want him to adjust to me, and those hands I do not mind playing in position, even while when looking at it in a vacuum, 3betting T7s has better EV than calling with it. <br /></span><br /><br />Another thing I notice is that the regulars adjust well to cbets compared to those at NL100. They have balanced their ranges for floating, bluffraising, semi-bluffing, valueraising etc. What this means if you play a straightforward style vs those regulars when you happen to end up OOP vs them, they got an edge.<br /><br />What I am trying to do to counter that is to have a much more balanced checking range. What this means is that I cbet much less than at NL100, but checking does not automatically mean that I'll fold. I may CR some boards as bluff/semi-bluff instead of cbetting them, may check-call for value and to induce bluffs, and may CR turns on drawy board because most regulars are just incapable of checking behind a turn when they hold a draw (they hate to put their cards face up).<br /><br />Here is one example of me balancing my range a bit:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$602.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$209.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$428.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$282.65</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$208.95</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is UTG</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $7</span>, UTG+1 calls $7, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >4 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The button here is a very solid regular if you look at his stats, but not someone I really mind having to my left because he's a bit spewy. So far I got him at 20/16, 8% 3bet, 55% fold to cbet. Playing straightforward vs him is going to absolutely kill my winrate.</span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 bets $13</span>, Hero calls $13<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">As I mentioned earlier, I don't cbet that often. And especially vs a player like this, I balance my checking range in a way to let me exploit his tendencies more than he can gain from positional advantage. <br /><br />Standard play here is off course to make a c-bet. I obviously do not want to give a free card on a board like this, and want to get value from draws.<br /><br />But how will villain respond to a cbet here?<br /><br />He will peel at least once with any heart + overcard combo he has and overpairs, will raise nut flush draw, made flushes and sets and will fold all other holdings like bare overcards. <br /><br />So betting here gets some value out of his range, and getting it allin here on this board will be marginally profitable only.<br /><br />But how will he respond to checking?<br /><br />First of all, I expect him to bet his complete range when checked to because it looks like I am check-folding. I do check-fold on this kind of board vs him with hands like bare overcards all the time, but I would rarely if ever cbet here. <br /><br />So if I bet here he can play his hand correctly vs me, if I check, he won't, because he will never get a free card. If I checkraise, I only get action from hands which will make a relatively small mathematically mistake.<br /></span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$43, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 bets $34</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $104</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 goes all-in $189.80</span>, Hero calls $85.80<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Now we get to the point where it becomes interesting. Villain gets the chance to make a small mistake only if I lead here and he calls, and he gets the chance to fold his air. <br /><br />But how do I expect him to act should I check here again even with a somewhat scary card on the board? <br /><br />I expect this villain to absolutely never check a flushdraw behind, because he just does not want to put his cards face-up. He wants to abuse folding equity, and likes to balance his ranges, and that is fine. So vs villains like him, when it's very likely he is on a draw, giving a free card is no risk at all, since he will never take it. So my best way to get money in on the turn vs him when he could be drawing is by checkraising. <br /><br /></span><br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$422.60, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $422.60<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <br>UTG+1 shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> <br><br>UTG+1 wins $419.60 ( won +$209.80 ) <br>Hero lost -$209.80<br><br /><br />Off course he did suck out, but that's fine. I did manage to put in the bulk of the money with 82% equity, while a more straightforward line would have got me to put my money in with only 58%.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-84444227033017571172008-08-19T10:58:00.000-07:002008-08-19T12:45:33.163-07:00High Variance SessionYesterday's session was absolutely nuts. There are no other words to describe it, and I definitely did not play optimal. It was a session which gave me a lot of food for thought. So much, I decided not to play today but go through the hands.<br /><br />So first of all, let's skip towards the end of the session on one of my tables where someone tried to own me by using the BluffCall strategy. <br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$70.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">CO <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$488.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$135.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$424.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$921.80</span>) <td></tr></table><br>[<span class=mi>UTG+1 posted $2</span>]<br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$5, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 raises to $4</span>, CO calls $4, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $21</span>, UTG+1 calls $17, CO calls $17<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">[UTG+1 posts $2]. Let's stop here. What does this mean? Fireworks!<br /><br />Someone posted his blind out of position after the previous fish busted. This is an incredibly fun situation normally since it will generally lead to the regulars going absolutely insane with isolation raises, resteals, re-resteals and 5bet shoves with 69s. So after seeing I hold the nuts preflop the regulars decide to disappoint me and absolutely fail at creating a large pot before the action gets back to me. <br /><br />So what is the story here from the fish's perspective? He posted $2 out of position without giving any thought to it, and after posting he realizes he wants to protect his $2 with any two cards. He obviously considers his options, which are minraising, open shoving, and checking (there's no open fold button on FTP) and he chooses the first one.<br /><br />CO is a decent regular and he chooses to just call. Vs fish's range, any two cards will be playable, but him not isolating instead is a bit suspicious to me. The range I put him on is actually quite strong, so more like a pocket pair, decent strong aces and not much else. Perhaps some random low suited connectors between 56s and 78s. I think if he had a random connected crap he would just iso-raise here preflop.<br /><br />My raise here is obviously standard, though I do not want to let out what the bottom end of my raising range is here. It's close to any-one-card though. <br /></span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$64, 3 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 bets $64</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $256</span>, UTG+1 calls $115<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Here I have a dilemma. I flop the nuts vs Fish and I do not care what he has. No matter what he holds here, he posted out of position which is a big mistake, he minraised preflop which is another mistake, and me stacking off with TPTK is not a mistake vs his range. So I am going to own him regardless of the results.<br /><br />But CO is still in the hand. If I bet here, Fish calls/monkey shoves and CO calls, I am forced to pay his sets of because I have to assume hands like AQ/AJ are actually in his range here. And we're over two buyins deep. <br /><br />Yet if I check, this hand becomes easier to play. Should I check Fish will see yet another opportunity to protect his $2 which he posted out of position, and will generally lead out with their complete range because my check obviously implies I do not hold an ace. Now if CO raises, I am quite certain he will be doing this with a large part of his range since he should be quite certain Fish is betting out his complete range here, meaning CO's range will be wider than sets and AQ/two pair, so I am more than willing to get it in. <br /><br />CO folds and I complete the stack-a-donk move here, which Fish tries to counter by making a bluffcall. Its an advanced play from the Fish's arsenal, which is done to show sharks that they cannot be bluffed off no hand to inspire fear into them in future hands.<br /><br />All in all he put in $198 to protect the $2 he posted out of position...<br /><br /></span>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$499, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> (<span class=mi>$499, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $422<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br>UTG+1 shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8h.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $496 ( won +$219 ) <br>UTG+1 lost -$200.00<br>CO lost -$21.00<br><br /><br /><br />But before Fish claims the Stupid Play Of The Day Award, I somehow decide to improve my chances on another table:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$118.65</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$244.20</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$483.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$211.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$715.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$400.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 raises to $7</span>, Hero calls $7, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $35</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG+1 folds</span>, Hero calls $28<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Here I see some normal-stack dude open up UTG, and I got a suited-crap hand which is not +EV to play vs his stack size, especially not while there's a big-stack behind me who just can't resist squeezing every bloody time I decide to cold-call someone. <br /><br />Somehow I decide to call here, to trap mr. Big Stack into joining the pot. I know he can't resist squeezing, so my trap succeeds here and he squeezes here as planned so I can call him in-position with suited-crap.<br /></span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$79, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB bets $55</span>, Hero calls $55<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Hitting a pretty good draw here was not part of my plan. I wanted to flop something like a gutshot at best so I could bluffraise and feel good about myself. Yet here I end up IP with a well disguised draw in position vs mr. Big Stack which is the best I could hope for preflop. I mean, put a 5 and a 7 on the flop when I got a 4 and a 6 means the poker gods must be on my side. I cannot raise here though since I do not want to get raised off my draw in this spot. Which was the ony correct play I made during this hand.</span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$189, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $101</span>, SB calls $101<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">So after improving to a pair and OESD I hold somewhere about 30% equity vs a real hand villain may have, like an overpair, but my hand also has a decent bit of showdown value. Because we are this deep, I have a few options here. I can bet hoping to fold out worse or hands with 6 outs at best, or I can check behind and hope to hit one of my million outs. I obviously decided to bet here because no other reason besides that I would get a decent price on calling a shove should he do so, and villain's call screams that he holds an overpair.</span><br /><br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> (<span class=mi>$391, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $292.95</span>, SB calls $292.95<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">In this spot I try to think of a single hand in villain's range my 4 can beat, and I can think of none since it's bloody obvious he was pot controlling and inducing with a high pocket pair at this time. Yet I get a somewhat decent price to bluffshove this river, which I decided to do before considering what on earth I could be representing here. I'm representing a set, that's it. Villain should know by now his JJ/AA beats any of the hands I could be betting here other than flopped or turned sets, and I somehow oblige by throwing 1,5 buyins more at him?</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $976.90<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> <br>SB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <br><br>SB wins $973.90 ( won +$489.95 ) <br>Hero lost -$483.95<br>UTG+1 lost -$7.00<br> <br /><br /><br />On the bright side, it seems my stupidity seems contagious, as this hand happened later on the same table vs another player, after I succeeded building up a stack again:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$164.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$556.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$1660.35</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$346.65</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$413.05</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <br/>UTG calls $2, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $11</span>, SB calls $10, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Th.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$26, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $18</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $56</span>, Hero calls $38<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Villain in question played quite taggy, somewhere around 19/15, but my image was quite loose here. On this flop, there was only 1 hand I was really behind to, which is 66. Other than that, I do not see villain not 3betting TT or QQ vs me, nor calling OOP with QT because he's a nit. So what his flop raise means is that he holds 66, a very strong draw which may be close to a favorite over AA, or hands he turns into a bluff. <br /><br />Reraising here is absolutely no option because it extracts no value from his worse hands, and getting it in here means I am actually a large underdog to his range, because 66 is a decent part from it and the rest of the hands he willingly puts his stack in will have sick equity vs aces.<br /></span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$138, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB bets $90</span>, Hero calls $90<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A very nice blank (J9 is not part of his range), villain leads out again and at this time I am much more comfortable about my hand. I do not like to mix it up between raising and calling here, because I expect villain to actually be checking some scarecards to me should be hit as I've seen him do before. Again I just call, and am perfectly fine with paying off 66 as long as I make money vs the rest of his range.</span><br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$318, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB goes all-in $189.65</span>, Hero calls $189.65<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">With another blank arriving, the call here is standard I think. Villain did not show 66 and called me a fish for making such bad calls...</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $697.30<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <br>SB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4h.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $694.30 ( won +$347.65 ) <br>UTG lost -$2.00<br>SB lost -$346.65<br>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-73281997710673818752008-08-18T07:21:00.000-07:002008-08-18T10:47:23.676-07:00Why So Serious?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_eP-TQH6WbX0/R2qd0HlPGGI/AAAAAAAAA_s/J4PsTC0g4gM/s320/Why+So+Serious.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_eP-TQH6WbX0/R2qd0HlPGGI/AAAAAAAAA_s/J4PsTC0g4gM/s320/Why+So+Serious.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$206.35</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$254.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$307.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $7</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $26</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $58</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB goes all-in $307.55</span>, Hero calls $142<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> (<span class=mi>$509.55, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> (<span class=mi>$509.55, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$509.55, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $402<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <br>SB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jd.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $399 ( won +$199 ) <br>SB wins $107.55 ( lost -$200 ) <br><br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$214.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$186.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$99.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$487.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$197.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$246.15</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">UTG raises to $7</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, BTN calls $7, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $28</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG raises to $90</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >BTN folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $246.15</span>, UTG calls $124.75<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$468.90, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$468.90, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$468.90, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $437.50<br>UTG shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $465.90 ( won +$219.75 ) <br>UTG lost -$214.75<br>BTN lost -$7.00<br><br /><br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$100.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$307.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$327.20</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$486.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$193.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$223.50</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 raises to $7</span>, Hero calls $7, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 bets $11.65</span>, Hero calls $11.65<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$40.30, 2 players</span>)<br>UTG+1 checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $24</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 raises to $96</span>, Hero calls $72<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> (<span class=mi>$232.30, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 goes all-in $193.20</span>, Hero calls $193.20<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $618.70<br>UTG+1 shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $615.70 ( won +$307.85 ) <br>UTG+1 lost -$307.85<br><br /><br />Why so serious? It's only money.<br /><br />Either that is the common mindset at NL200, or it's just that absolutely nobody is capable of giving any other player the slightest bit of credit for having a better hand. <br /><br />One huge difference in NL200 compared to NL100 is how players react to 3betting. There are many winning regulars at this limit who open 50-60% or even more from the button but call close to 50% of all 3bets should someone in the blinds decide to 3bet. Further, they even open around 50% from the small blind into any big blind, even if the player in the big blind is solid.<br /><br />The scary part is how they crush the players who play back at them, even while most try to do so in a bad way. For instance, if someone likes to call when they get 3bet from the blinds while they hold the button often, why are people still 3betting with a polarized range? Why do the cbet every single flop in 3bet pots?<br /><br />The common mindset at NL200 seems to be that aggressive regulars already know how to adjust to people who 3bet light out of position, and they are incapable of folding often enough because they think they can outplay them postflop. So if people keep 3betting the wrong hands, and play predictable postflop, they just get crushed in these spots.<br /><br />A hand like this should be a decent example on one way to adjust to them:<br /><br /> <br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$433.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$243.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$254.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$209.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$133.70</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is SB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $7</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $24</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, BTN calls $17<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">So what is the situation so far: I've sat at this table for an orbit or so, but villain is a regular and played often vs me. He knows I am capable of 3betting light from these spots.<br /><br />What do we know about villain with a decent sample size:<br />• He plays 29/23, attempt to steal 33%<br />• He opens 50% from the button first in<br />• He calls 3bets 50% of the time on average, so even more when in-position.<br />• He 4bets 13% of the time <br /><br />How does he play in 3bet pots?<br /><br />So far he folded to 35% of the cbets in total, in 3bet pots I have not seen him fold to a cbet that often. It's a mix of calling and raising generally.<br /><br />Now before making a decision here it's time to plan the hand. First of all, is 3betting or calling better preflop? Even while KQs is a great hand to call with in these spots, the situation changes vs a player who will call with worse, raise with better, and fold some total junk or unplayable hands like A6o.<br /><br />Further, when I 3bet this player from the blinds and we get to see a flop, I will be missing the flop a decent amount of the time. So knowing how he reacts to cbets, I will need to checkfold some flops I miss with my range, cbet/3bet some decent boards, cbet/3bet some semi-bluffs, and check-call some hands. Cbetting every flop is just going to burn money vs him.<br /><br />Another good way to play in this spot is to not 3bet light vs him at all. But even so, I still think KQs is a mandatory 3bet for value here.<br /> <br /></span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$50, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN bets $28</span>, Hero calls $28<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Here my standard line is to cbet. The board is quite drawy, and I can earn tons of value from drawing hands and hands he'll float with to bluff the turn when checked to. So should I bet here, my standard play would be to check any blank turn to this player because I really want to earn two streets of value from his complete range. <br /><br />But like I said earlier, I will be checkfolding a lot of flops vs villain also. If I check here, he'll bet with his complete range, and KQ is just a huge favorite over that range on this board. So I decide to mix it up and started out by checking TP to him on a drawy board, and just calling his bet. <br /><br />In this spot I cbet most of the time, CR a decent bit, and check-call now and then.<br /><br /></span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$106, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, BTN checks<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$106, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $63</span>, BTN calls $63<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Here I messed up. Like I said, I wanted to earn two streets of value vs his complete range. The line I took here only gets value out of second or third pair, since my play makes very little sense. I did manage to extract decent value from his holding, but my bet size here is terrible.<br /><br />A much better betsize would be something that would make him realize 2nd or third pair has little to no showdown value in a spot like this, so villain could consider a bluffshove. Something like 1/3rd pot would make my hand stand out as something like AJ, and a player as aggressive as him and a competent hand reader would not let this spot pass often.<br /></span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $232<br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $229 ( won +$114 ) <br>BTN lost -$115.00<br><br /><br />Another example of not cbetting too often in 3bet pots is this one vs a certain red pro from FTP. With about 2k hands on her, she is an example of someone who really tries to abuse position, and makes a decent profit of it. Her attempt to steal from button is about 89%, and she opens around 38% of her small blinds. <br /><br />How she reacts to 3bets falls under about a different category as the previous villain. She actually folds to 78% of all 3bets, but never 4bets. Meaning that instead of a very polarized range that would be needed should she be folding or 4betting, a wide range is needed to 3bet here: Hands that can be 3bet for value and are not dominated often, and hands that can hit flops decently. In short, hands like 67s are not a fold or call vs her from the blinds, but a good hand to 3bet. AQ is about the cutoff I would be 3betting for value vs her, AJ and KQ would just be a call, since she would not call 3bets with worse hands.<br /><br />In theory any two cards could be 3bet vs her since she folds too often, but that would just wake her up. I want her to keep playing her own game on the 12-20 whatever amount of tables she was playing, and not draw too much attention to myself. If she's going to focus on me a bit more, she's just going to own my soul, which is something I try to avoid.<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$439.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$151.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$930.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$226.35</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$409.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$201.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is SB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $6</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $22</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, BTN calls $16<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Her call here makes her range quite strong, and I have to assume hands like AA/KK/QQ/AK are definitely a decent part of her range. </span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$46, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, BTN checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I do not like to cbet here since I do not think it can extract much value from her range. Further, should she continue with her hand, I'll be seeing hands that crush AQ here quite often. So I decide to check and reevaluate what's going to happen.</span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$46, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $32</span>, BTN calls $32<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$110, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $67</span>, BTN calls $67<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Because she checked behind on the flop, I do not have to worry that much about being behind now. So the turn and river bets are quite standard here hoping to get called by worse.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $244<br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $241 ( won +$120 ) <br>BTN lost -$121.00<br><br /><br />Another interesting example of NL200 vs NL100 is this hand:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$226.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$582.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$205.35</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$202.25</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$306.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$105.95</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is UTG</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $7</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, BTN calls $7, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $11</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $34</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $72</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >BTN folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is an example of how people play at this limit. Villain in question plays 23/19/4, pretty solid player. Since I opened UTG, a raise looks very strong. What this means is that unless I hold AK/KQ/AA or a set, I am forced to fold the rest of my range. <br /><br />But villain knows this too.<br /><br />So here we are in a hand vs a villain who is solid, called preflop, and he makes a raise. <br /><br />Only there are a few things to consider at this spot. Even while my complete range misses this board a decent amount of the time, villains complete range misses this board even more often. <br /><br />The K is a good card for my UTG opening range, but the only hands villain can legitimately represent here are sets, nut flush draws, and perhaps KQ. He won't be raising a non-nut flushdraw or open ended flush draw vs an UTG opener simply because he does not want to get 3bet of his hand. Because villain is solid and knows how to play his decent yet not too strong hands, I have to assume the range he'll raise with on this board will only include a few real hands, but much more air and hands he turns into a bluff. And hands he'll be turning into a bluff will often be beating my Q high no draw.<br /><br />That is why I decided to cbet relatively small to give myself a better price on a 3bet bluff. I would take the same line and betsize with AK/sets etc at times.<br /><br />How is this different from playing vs NL100 regulars? At NL100 most the decent regulars would either call or fold a hand like 99 on this flop, and perhaps bluffraise some total air. At NL200 the regulars are better but play far more tricky, and they know they can fold out better hands with their marginal pairs, but do not want to call me down, so they bluffraise in spots which seem good for it.<br /><br />I also think this hand is a good example on how to analyze the situations. If I am going to cbet/fold or check/fold in these situations instead of recognizing a good spot to rebluff, why would I be opening hands like QTs UTG again?<br /><br /></span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $85<br><br>Hero wins $120 ( won +$41 ) <br>BTN lost -$41.00<br><br /><br />So far I cannot complain about my results at NL200 yet. These are the results so far since the 30th of july:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SKmTnVdJX-I/AAAAAAAAAB0/fpb8ivs7qk4/s1600-h/nl2aug.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SKmTnVdJX-I/AAAAAAAAAB0/fpb8ivs7qk4/s400/nl2aug.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235878345778487266" /></a>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-10753638973616013592008-08-01T15:12:00.001-07:002008-08-01T15:48:51.907-07:00July Results<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SJOKaCVbEoI/AAAAAAAAABs/L69zYrg0dE4/s1600-h/julytable.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SJOKaCVbEoI/AAAAAAAAABs/L69zYrg0dE4/s400/julytable.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229675772215235202" /></a><br /><br />Even while July has been quite a bitch to me for a week or so, she made more than up for it in the end resulting in me having my first 3k+ month: $2334 normal winnings, $2995 if I include rakeback and $3420 if I include the ironman bonus. <br /><br />The most interesting about july has not been the winnings though, but the adjustments I have made to my play. Not all of these will be out in the open on these blog entries, but the hand histories I posted should already point some of those out to observant people.<br /><br />Other events in july that were quite interesting were the sweat sessions. I've done a few sweat sessions with some Cardrunner's members and realized much better afterwards how many different options there were for certain situations. Differences in how to approach certain spots can be so different for each player, even while one option is not always better than the other, but both are still viable. It's just up to me to consider my options better, and decide which one is best based on opponents tendencies.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-73657318779340802712008-08-01T13:23:00.000-07:002008-08-01T15:08:01.034-07:00Two For The Money<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SJOGqGrLJJI/AAAAAAAAABk/VJ4bI4A3jDE/s1600-h/two+for+the+money.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SJOGqGrLJJI/AAAAAAAAABk/VJ4bI4A3jDE/s400/two+for+the+money.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229671650211603602" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Still you talk like this. Who the fuck are you, like this is some kind of game. I was betting a few thousand a Sunday when I called you. You pushed me. Every call. All the time with your talk... I lost $380,000 this weekend... I was going to get married... I had a life..." </span><br /><br />The above lines come from a movie which is included in the category I described in an earlier blog entry, which are movies from the "never bad enough to not be worth watching" genre. <br /><br />The movie, <span style="font-weight:bold;">"Two for the money"</span>, stars Al Pacino as the owner of a Vegas company which resolves around advising sports-betting addicts on what team to pick before a football match takes place. If they are right they get 10% of the addict's winnings. If they are wrong they may lose a customer.<br /><br />The concept about the company's structure was quite interesting to me. Which is gambling with other's people's money and getting paid if you are right. Which translates into having an infinite bankroll to gamble with as long as the supply of gambling degenerates does not lose the trust in the company and steps over to competitors. <br /><br />Most of those aspects can actually be applied to poker. <br /><br />Gambling with other people's money? I probably have to lose over 20k dollars before I have to put in money again which originally did not come from another poker player's paycheck. <br /><br />Losing customers or having customers move over to the competition? Also quite applicable. I generally get in a lot of situations where some preflop action is directly +EV but not the best one: <br /><br />Here is one example from those:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$1/$2 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$480.20</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$134.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$240.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$230.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$3, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, UTG+1 calls $2, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $9</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $30</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG+1 folds</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >BTN folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $21<br><br>Hero wins $42 ( won +$12 ) <br>BTN lost -$9.00<br>UTG+1 lost -$2.00<br><br /><br />So what is interesting about this hand? Not the hand itself, but rather my range for deciding on my preflop options here, and my 3bet sizing: <br /><br />In the above example, there's a 38/10 fish limp-calling, who gets iso-raised by a 23/19 44% attempt to steal regular solid player. In this spot, the regular's range will be huge, and ATs is definitely way ahead of it, but still not that easy to play OOP. The fish's range here is huge here as well.<br /><br />This is a very +EV spot to make a resteal, and I could show the math behind it if people are interested, but this was the only hand I hated from today's session. <br /><br />Why is this? Because the times where this fish will limp, and solid player will isolate will be happening tons of times. The direct equity of making this preflop play is a few dollars, but how is it longterm?<br /><br />The story behind the lines here is that a fish wants to limp into a lot of pots, because he likes to see flops. Curious what K8o can hit? You don't know before the flop! And then there's mr. solid regular who recognizes that, and makes an isolation raise here with tons of trash. He knows he has an edge on the fish and wants to keep other players out. <br /><br />3betting here takes advantage of that, and is directly +EV. But when I 3bet here it will mean the fish will be slightly more unhappy. He wanted to see a cheap flop by limping in and a lot of people raise and reraise behind him. He has to fold, and does not succeed at what he wants. Yet if I just call here the fish will be happy enough to call and see if he can hit two 8's, I will see the flop 3-ways, even while OOP, there still will be one huge fish in the pot to exploit postflop. And a solid reg with a range I am ahead off.<br /><br />The positional disadvantage is bad, but keeping the fish in will still make calling here a +EV spot. When I have random trash in these spots, which will happen quite often with this table lineup, I can still exploit the regular a bit by restealing now and then. But just calling here with a decent part of my range will keep the fish in the pot, which is good in itself, and reduces the chance he becomes unhappy by never seeing a flop at all and moving to other tables, or worse, quiting for the day.<br /><br /><br />The most interesting aspect about the movie was about the person from the quote starting this entry. This world has millions of gambling degenerates who are willing to lose lots of money. Sadly, I am not playing the limits yet where someone ends up crying because he lost 380k dollars to me. I am working on that though. <br /><br />Almost all the money won by the regulars at FTP at these limits comes from recreational players and small gamblers. Gamblers are people who play expecting to lose, while the regulars are people who profit from their presence. <br /><br />For instance, my july database which does not include any datamined hands, but only those from tables I were playing at, shows that the total losses made by 4056 different players is $44k. Which equals the total rake paid.<br />Yet if I change the filter to players who played at least 300 hands at those tables, they did not lose to rake at all. The total profit from those 250 players is about $11k even while over half of them are still fish.<br /><br />In short, over the last month I've seen recreational players and gamblers donate $55k dollars to the poker community. This means that if that group is so eager to give their money away, I really need to stop making fancy plays vs them and save those for regulars who try to exploit me a bit too often. Why should I not play my hands face-up vs opponents who would not even notice it if I handed them a telescope, and why should I not use exploitable bet sizes vs people who can't spot the difference anyways?Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-14966381581478656522008-07-27T12:41:00.000-07:002008-07-28T06:18:09.885-07:00Week 31: MADNESS!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SIz1BY5untI/AAAAAAAAABc/dBEGyMdaxNU/s1600-h/sincityalba.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SIz1BY5untI/AAAAAAAAABc/dBEGyMdaxNU/s400/sincityalba.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227822671683559122" /></a><br /><br />So my last entry I yammered a bit about how cruel July was to me, and all sorts of completely insignificant nonsense like that, but it seems July is actually coming close to becoming quite as hot as all the strippers that borrow her name.<br /><br />Sadly, before I spoil the results, this entry to my blog is only about the current week, so I have to stick to the plan and focus on that, instead of strippers.<br /><br />I made an incredibly smart move this week, which is to purchase Holdem Manager. Now before you go thinking this entry will be just one giant Holdem Manager review, you are dead wrong. Considering the sick amounts of hits this blog gets because of people looking for information about Poker EV (and after today, strippers), I will not be responsible for getting one of the two companies bankrupt yet. <br /><br />At least not tonight.<br /><br />The reason for not doing so tonight should be quite cliché. I have better things to do this evening. Like watching Nicholas Cage movies. <br /><br />Now before an observant reader scrolls down and sees the time of this post and thinks out loud (poker players think out loud, blame Techsmith) 'WTF are you doing blogging on a sunday evening? Don't you have better things to do than post a lousy blog?!?), the answer to that question should be pretty easy to answer: Yep, as answered above which you have not read if you scrolled down to the bottom already, but I'll be glad to clarify: Nicholas Cage movies have the same quality as movies which involve Sean Connery: They are never bad enough to not be worth watching.<br /><br />The real reason for watching movies and posting on my blog on a sunday is actually quite simple: 1 sixpack. My stop-loss is set at 4 Heineken. So I won't let myself play today anymore...<br /><br />To get back on track, July is not as bad as I made her sound. She's just been teasing me a bit. So next time I meet a stripper named July, I'll just think about this week's graph:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SIzlVpE0UdI/AAAAAAAAABM/9-YX7Un3WFY/s1600-h/wk31graph.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SIzlVpE0UdI/AAAAAAAAABM/9-YX7Un3WFY/s400/wk31graph.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227805427436376530" /></a><br /><br />Or this week's table:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SIzlj6idE7I/AAAAAAAAABU/7u6xIa8R8BM/s1600-h/tablewk31.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SIzlj6idE7I/AAAAAAAAABU/7u6xIa8R8BM/s400/tablewk31.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227805672642253746" /></a><br /><br />Even while I have not put in that many hours this week, I think the few I put in were those when I felt I was able to play my A game. Which means not being drunk, distracted, horny, tired or hungry. <br /><br />The most interesting and incredibly well played pots were some of the dozen of situations where I check-folded some bad flop textures, but posting those in this entry would just bore people, so instead, I'll post some random other hands from this week to keep the readers happy:<br /><br />Hand 1:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$103.65</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$145.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$261.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$34.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$105.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$146.40</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is SB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $12.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, UTG+1 calls $9<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Villain in question is a regular at these limits who likes to own the regulars with relentless aggression. I'm a regular too, but dislike to get owned, which changes the metagame between the two of us quite a bit. <br />His VPIP is 40, PFR 31, attempt to steal 45%. Which are stats that <span style="font-weight:bold;">Holdem Manager(TM)</span> shows in the hand replayer without me even asking about them. And when I hold my mouse over his stats in the replayer, it shows that he folds to 3bets 19% of the time, out of 349 hands in july, or rather, out of the 19 times he got 3 bet, which was generally by me.<br /><br />These are my notes on him:<br /><br />Does not fold to any of my 3bets, 4bets often<br />Will check-call flushdraws in 3bet pots<br />representing hands when IP<br />OOP will make some large bluffs but won't do anything crazy on rivers without the goods.<br />leads oesd and continues on turn<br /><br />So knowing this, I know I will not get him to fold often, but TT is way ahead of his range here, and this screams for a value 3bet. <br /><br />Even I heard it, so I did.<br /></span><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$26, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $16</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 raises to $34</span>, Hero calls $18<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Villain raises me slightly over a minraise here, but this board is not that bad for my range vs his range. There's one overcard, and if he hit that overcard, would he really be stupid enough to raise a hand like AJ here vs my range? Definitely not, so the range I put him on is AJ (like never), air (lots), marginal mid-pair (often) and set (sometimes). Which means that vs his range I'm still ahead, but I cannot get value out of any of his range which I beat here by raising.<br /></span><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$94, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, UTG+1 checks<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> (<span class=mi>$94, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 goes all-in $99.40</span>, Hero calls $59.10<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">He checked a blank turn, and bets a second J on the river? I do not think he will be raising a J on the dry flop, not even AJ, which translates into the second J being a blank. Yet what does my hand look like? A marginal pair or perhaps an overpair looking to get to showdown cheap, but definitely not a J. Villain is good enough to realize that, and he'll be 100% correct in this case. So when he shoves this river, he got air or a set. But would he check a set on that turn if he likes money?</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $212.20<br>UTG+1 shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br><br>UTG+1 wins $40.30 ( lost -$105.60 ) <br>Hero wins $209.20 ( won +$103.60 ) <br><br /><br />Hand 2: Same Villain:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$138.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$254.25</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$39.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$104.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$142.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">UTG raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, Hero calls $3.50, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$8.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG bets $6</span>, Hero calls $6<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I absolutely hate raising with a double-gutshot vs a thinking lag. I think hes capable of 3betting AQ etc on these boards should I raise, and my hand is well disguised.</span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Tc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$20.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG bets $14</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $42</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Now here I have a mathematical dilemma. My draw is huge, but this player will still be betting unimproved overcards here quite often or marginal pairs, and some draws himself, because he thinks I could be holding a marginal hand/draw myself.<br /><br />Now vs almost any taggish or standard player I would almost always just call here, because most of the time all my flush and straight outs will be good, and I have a diamond flushdraw on the board I can do something with as well should it hit.<br /><br />But what vs a player who will not bluff the river should I call here, still does not have a made hand here that often, and will just check-call the river with the best of his range and check-fold all his air on any river unless the board does not change like an extra 3?<br /><br />Calling here vs a player like that is directly immense EV, but I expect his range to hold so much air still that I actually decided to make a committing raise on this turn thinking it would probably be even more EV because his range would still hold so much air still.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $48.50<br><br>Hero wins $74.10 ( won +$22.60 ) <br>UTG lost -$23.50<br><br /><br />Hand 3: Another TT:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$82.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$101.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$111.20</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$113.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$138.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Th.gif"> <br/>UTG calls $1, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $4.50</span>, SB calls $4, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $18</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG folds</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >BTN folds</span>, SB calls $13.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />A fish limped, someone with 18/14 yet 40% steal iso raised and a 27/15 coldcalled. The correct decision is about as tough here as choosing between spareribs and tofu.<br /><br />Rest of the hand does not matter since it was pretty standard for both sides, but I stacked some fish atleast.</span>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-59220908341655362212008-07-21T10:40:00.000-07:002008-07-21T15:21:37.828-07:00Size MattersI've been silent since my last update. I vaguely remember me describing in the last entry how good July was for me and how juicy the tables were.<br /><br />My thoughts about the juiciness of July changed a bit because of a downswing peaking at about 15 buyins. Some of the downswing could be credited because of bad luck. Earlier during the month I checked some PokerEV data and it showed I ran about 10 buyins below equity in allin situations, which had a probability of about 16%. So I did run somewhat bad.<br /><br /><br />PokerEV calculates Sklansky Bucks, but it does a lousy job at calculating Galfond Bucks. Galfond Bucks, G-bucks for short, are about the expected value based on villain's hand range and tendencies. For instance, on the deepstack tables I managed to get KK in vs AA about 3 times. Getting the money in 3 times with kings vs aces will have an expected value of -$384, I ran at -$600 (slightly more losses even since generally I had a larger than 200BB effective stack), so I lost $216 worth of sklansky bucks on those tables.<br /><br />G-bucks on the other hand were immensely good in those spots, especially vs people who still jam AK and JJ preflop, so those spots were just coolers.<br /><br />Other than that, I'm really disappointed about my play this month. It's not that I played bad at all, I think I played pretty decent, but I got one huge leak to work on which is the consistency of my plays. I do try to adjust my ranges based on player tendencies well enough, but my bet sizing is way too consistent.<br /><br />For instance, when playing vs a calling station and I got a strong hand I may bet slightly more than vs a more solid player. This may be fine on the flop, but on the turn and river I noticed after some session reviews my bet sizes are just too consistent vs most kind of players.<br /><br />When I am playing vs a solid player who check/calls my cbet on an ace-rag-rag board and I hold AK or a set, it's pretty obvious villain is in a check-call mode vs me. Why not bet pot for all 3 streets in spots where I never will be bluffing anyways? But this counts even more vs fish. When I got a decent idea about their hand range, and want to make a value bet, fish won't be paying attention to my bet sizing. Whether I bet $31 in a $39 pot on the river or bet $39 will have absolutely no difference on whether they call or not with a TP-strength hand. So why do I lose value there?<br /><br />Filtering july's results shows something interesting. If I filter it on the hands where I went to showdown, bet the river, those winnings total at $1,5k worth of winnings in 108 different situations. In the situations where I reach the showdowns and bet the river, I won 73% of the time. I reviewed each of those 108 hands today and realize I probably missed close to $500 worth of value in those spots. Now THAT is a huge leak in my eyes.<br /><br />On the bright side, even while July has been pretty bad for me, it's not as bad as it sounds. I won only $215 in normal winnings, but when I include the ironman bonus and rakeback, it has been good for about $1100 so far, which is not totally hopeless.<br /><br />I just realized this entry was completely without any hand histories, so I will make up for it by posting the most interesting hand of the day. It's not the largest pot I won/lost by far, but I think I could have lost a lot of value here by cbetting (and getting called by the fish and bluffed on river) or doing a delayed cbet which would just lead to a fold:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$46.30</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$98.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$237.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$88.90</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is SB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3</span>, BB calls $2<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Villain will not fold his BB often at all, he's a 43% 0.7% aggression fish, folds 23% of the time to cbets, which explains my smaller open from small blind.</span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> (<span class=mi>$6, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, BB checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I do not like to cbet here. Villain will call with as much as 1 overcard probably, but I could be drawing dead at times aswell. Do I want to check-call the river? No. Will villain check the river down without showdown value should I cbet here and check both turn and river? No. Do I want to bet here and check-call any river? No. Will villain bet this flop without anything? This is the good part: No. So no need to bet for value here and get myself in trouble later on in the hand.<br /></span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$6, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, BB checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />Read flop explanation. A 7 arrived. Will villain bet air/overcards here? Nope. Will he bet a 7? Yep. So this is an easy check again.</span><br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$6, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">BB bets $6</span>, Hero calls $6<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Did the board change? Nope. Can villain call with worse here? Nope. So no value in betting. Calling stations however do like to try to take pot downs when they suddenly realize their hand is probably no good, but me checking thrice gives them the impression I do not have anything.<br /></span><br />Final Pot:</span> $18<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> <br>BB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8s.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $17.10 ( won +$8.10 ) <br>BB lost -$9.00<br>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-77669434614066603042008-07-10T15:22:00.000-07:002008-07-21T14:09:42.530-07:00Back into Action: JulyAfter leaving June behind me, which is something I do not really mind with the bad start I had starting it on a tilty downswing followed by proceeding the rest of the month putting in way too few hands, June has only been good for a few buyins profit for me. <br /><br />July on the other hand has started off quite well for me, and the tables seem quite juicy compared to normal, which may be because of everyone trying to earn enough FPP's this month to clear their Ironman bonus.<br /><br />The most fun hand was vs a Cardrunner's member, who asked me to post the reasoning behind the hand on the CR forums. Atleast, that is my interpretation from his chat, his exact words being "go put thaT ON THE FORUM FISH". Because of that, I were kind enough to oblige, and also decided to post the hand here just in case he happens to miss the specific topic about it:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>4 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Profiles and Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$131.65</span>)<td class=h2>14.5/8.2/7.0 (110) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$100.00</span>)<td class=h2>17.0/15.0/1.3 (100) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>Hero <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$248.45</span>)<td class=h2>34.9/30.2/3.8 (106) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:lightblue;">$50.25</span>)<td class=h2>22.6/12.9/7.0 (62) </tr></table><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Sitting to my direct left is another CR member, and a very solid one. Hes not part of this hand since he was sitting out this hand, and my intentions were to leave the table as soon as he showed some interest in my stack (meaning making my life hell).</span><br /><br />Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 4 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is SB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $3.50</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $12.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, BTN calls $9<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Villain in question has taggish stats, has high attempt to steal (atleast over 30%) seems solid but I do not know him that well. I have not 3bet him light that often, and want to see how he responds. With a hand like A6s I generally fold, but because the other CR member was sitting out, all 3 options were available (since I do not fear getting squeezed by the remaining player). I chose to 3bet here though since A6s is a bit too weak to flat with OOP.</span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$26, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, BTN checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I do not know what kind of hands he'll call me with, but I expect it to be wider than normal because of my own stats (35/30/3.8 with 52% attempt to steal). So here I am somewhat worried about AQ/AJ, but on the other hand, I did hit TP in a 3bet pot. OOP I do not want to bet/fold or bet/call with this hand, so I decide to check. Villain checks behind, which makes it quite unlikely for me that he holds a strong ace here. I do not know if he's capable of checking AQ behind here, but it seems very unlikely to me.</span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$26, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN bets $15</span>, Hero calls $15<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Because of his flop check, I expect to be ahead here most of the time unless he holds 99. I still see very little value in betting, and am not certain what to do if I get raised here.</span><br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$56, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $12</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN goes all-in $72.50</span>, Hero calls $60.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Here I assume I have the best hand, unless he has 99 or hit his flush. I think check-calling is best vs his bluffs, but I am not certain if he'll bluff again in this spot. I also do not like to bet/fold here.<br /><br />So I decided to make the head-exploding bet here to at least allow him to do something stupid, since my play makes no sense. When I try to induce a bluff, I obviously have to call here.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $201<br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $199 ( won +$99 ) <br>BTN lost -$100.00<br><br /><br />So, I think my reasoning and play was quite fine in this hand. Because I gave the villain in question some respect I used a bit less straightforward line to keep the pot small and protect myself from bluffs early in the hand, and increased his bluffing range on later streets.<br /><br />But was this respect for villain justified?<br /> <br />- What was villain representing here?<br />- What was villain doing at this table with two CR members sitting to his direct left (other CR member is not in HH because he's sitting out)? Obviously this must mean he is quite sure about his ability to outplay both me and the other CR member even while he will be OOP except when he holds the button.<br />- Why did villain call a 3bet preflop with 79s while only 100BB deep? Again, he must be a great player if he thinks he can play that hand profitably IP in a 3bet pot.<br /><br />Sure buddy, I'll post it and explain my thought process. Now I dare villain in question to explain his.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-3504341968135788512008-06-23T06:49:00.001-07:002008-06-23T07:22:53.271-07:00Week 25 Update: Running HOT!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SF-teeN377I/AAAAAAAAAAk/eEyYaPXEEMk/s1600-h/aarti-chhabria-03.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SF-teeN377I/AAAAAAAAAAk/eEyYaPXEEMk/s400/aarti-chhabria-03.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215077632537259954" /></a><br /><br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SF-uFeUaHQI/AAAAAAAAAAs/qMYLiLOxAAI/s1600-h/equityw25.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SF-uFeUaHQI/AAAAAAAAAAs/qMYLiLOxAAI/s400/equityw25.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215078302579563778" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SF-uom1TylI/AAAAAAAAAA0/AoxH2pHVMPU/s1600-h/equityw252.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SF-uom1TylI/AAAAAAAAAA0/AoxH2pHVMPU/s400/equityw252.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215078906160466514" /></a><br /><br />The position stats are the sickest of all:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SF-vOFSttsI/AAAAAAAAAA8/XHQCTl8XbYc/s1600-h/equityw253.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SF-vOFSttsI/AAAAAAAAAA8/XHQCTl8XbYc/s400/equityw253.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215079549992023746" /></a><br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-67649060910099450002008-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:002008-06-23T08:38:25.114-07:00No RespectToday 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.<br /><br />This hand for instance may seem spewy but I'm pretty certain I played it fine.<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>4 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Profiles and Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$71.20</span>)<td class=h2>28.0/4.0[/1.0 (25) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>Hero <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$149.15</span>)<td class=h2>33.9/28.9/3.3 (121) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$156.15</span>)<td class=h2>14.5/9.7/4.0 (62) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$457.85</span>)<td class=h2>35.4/28.3/2.1 (99) </tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 4 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Tc.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $10</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $24</span>, SB calls $14<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">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. <br />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.</span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$49, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB bets $49</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $125.15</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >SB folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">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?<br /><br />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.<br />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.<br />The flop is likely to miss me, if he bets large here he probably expects me to fold most overcard combo's.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br />.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $147<br><br>Hero wins $221.15 ( won +$72 ) <br>SB lost -$73.00<br><br /><br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Profiles and Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$464.25</span>)<td class=h2>35.4/28.3/2.1 (99) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$71.90</span>)<td class=h2>57.9/36.8/8.0 (19) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>Hero <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$222.90</span>)<td class=h2>33.9/28.9/3.3 (121) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$188.00</span>)<td class=h2>16.1/12.5/1.0 (56) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.25</span>)<td class=h2>25.6/4.7/1.0 (43) </tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">CO raises to $3.50</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $12</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, CO calls $8.50<br><br><span class=h1><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Th.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br>CO checks, Hero checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">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...). </span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">CO bets $25.50</span>, Hero calls $25.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">villain bets pot while I got the nuts, pretty standard.</span><br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> (<span class=mi>$76.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">CO goes all-in $34.40</span>, Hero calls $34.40<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">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.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $145.30<br>CO shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $142.30 ( won +$70.40 ) <br>CO lost -$71.90<br><br /><br /><br />This hand was probably the most interesting:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Profiles and Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$171.00</span>)<td class=h2>18.1/18.1/5.0 (105) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>Hero <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$146.75</span>)<td class=h2>21.5/17.0/2.3 (135) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$97.00</span>)<td class=h2>21.5/15.6/7.0 (135) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$246.75</span>)<td class=h2>29.8/14.5/1.8 (131) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>)<td class=h2>22.2/11.9/0.9 (135) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$105.00</span>)<td class=h2>17.0<br />/14.8/6.0 (88) </tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is UTG+1</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, SB calls $2.50, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span><br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$7, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $5.50</span>, SB calls $5.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">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.<br /></span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> (<span class=mi>$18, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $13</span>, SB calls $13<br><br><span class=h1><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />I never mind hitting top set, so I am not too shy to put a bit more chips in the middle here.</span><br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$44, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $21</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB goes all-in $78.50</span>, Hero calls $57.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />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.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $201<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <br>SB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Tc.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $198 ( won +$98 ) <br>SB lost -$100.00<br><br /><br />Largest pot I lost today:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Profiles and Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$177.00</span>)<td class=h2>23.8/9.5/1.2 (42) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$147.10</span>)<td class=h2>14.5/9.7/4.0 (62) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$200.00</span>)<td class=h2>35.4/28.3/2.1 (99) </tr><tr class=t1><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$213.55</span>)<td class=h2>5.9/5.9/1.0 (17) </tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td><img src="/img/i1.gif" /><td class=h2>Hero <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$105.00</span>)<td class=h2>33.9/28.9/3.3 (121) </tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $12.50</span>, BTN calls $9<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />I obviously gave villain little respect here. He seemed like a total maniac. He played like me a bit. So I 3bet here.</span><br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $16</span>, BTN calls $16<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is a good board to cbet.</span><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> (<span class=mi>$57.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $32</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN goes all-in $171.50</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >Hero folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">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.</span><br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $121.50<br><br>BTN wins $258 ( won +$58 ) <br>Hero lost -$60.50<br>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-40260846457090313832008-06-17T15:20:00.000-07:002008-06-17T16:00:25.498-07:00WTFrog Do You Think I Have?I only put in a short session, playing slightly over an hour and putting in slightly over 400 hands. Yet people absolutely gave me no respect at all and tried to treat me like Holland treated Italy and France earlier. Good strategy, but not failing to take one little detail into consideration: I am Dutch.<br /><br />These were my largest pots for the hour:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9412"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /></param><param name="quality" value="high" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><param name="scale" value="Exactfit"></param><embed src="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9412" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowScriptAccess="always" scale="Exactfit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />• Preflop: Leviathan1 seems a solid aggressive player. I had a quite aggressive image at this table as well and his limp here surprised me a bit. Some fish limped, and he did not make an isolation raise? I had the feeling that if I were going to make an isolation raise myself I'd get slapped in the face by him, so I elected to just limp along in position. Another very aggro player in the BB decides to squeeze here, but his range here should be huge. Even while my hand is not that great, I get decent odds to call and see a flop in position. <br /><br />• Flop: Villain cbets around pot size here. I do expect him to cbet here with his entire range, but I am not sure about what size he'd use OOP. I have no backdoor draws, but there's a somewhat decent chance my bottom pair is still good here. Even if it's not, I decide to float and see what happens on the turn.<br /><br />• Turn: So I hit two pair, could still be behind to a few sets and AK but I have to assume vs a very aggro player that I hold the best hand here almost always. When he shoves, I hardly see him doing so with anything which beats me so the call here is standard.</span><br /><br /><object width="400" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9413"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /></param><param name="quality" value="high" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><param name="scale" value="Exactfit"></param><embed src="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9413" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowScriptAccess="always" scale="Exactfit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">• Preflop: Standard, a minraise here can mean a bunch of things, I do not really care though with a second player in and somewhat nice implied odds. <br /><br />• Flop: I can't wait to check-fold here. <br /><br />• Turn: I love free cards. Villain who is not the PFR, but who runs like 41/8, pots this turn. I have little idea about his range here to be honest. He could have the nuts, top set, air, but I am very eager to get the stacks in. I decide to just call though to try to keep the initial PFR in. <br /><br />• River: I still think I need to raise for value here. I missed out on 0.55 worth of value though. <br /></span><br /><br /><object width="400" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9415"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /></param><param name="quality" value="high" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><param name="scale" value="Exactfit"></param><embed src="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9415" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowScriptAccess="always" scale="Exactfit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />• I just started at this table, and had no clue what the minraise meant. It could be a draw, set, bluff and I'll be OOP for the rest of the hand. I decided to not fool around and just try to get my chips in the middle. Villain actually just had top pair second kicker here and misplayed it in a pretty terrible way. If hands like these are in the range he'll raise and shove this flop with, I need much less strong hands to continue vs him in the future.</span> <br /><br /><object width="400" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9416"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /></param><param name="quality" value="high" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><param name="scale" value="Exactfit"></param><embed src="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9416" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowScriptAccess="always" scale="Exactfit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />• Another hand vs an unknown who seemed a bit aggressive in the small sample so far. I really dislike how I played this hand though. On the flop I had no clue about his range, so I guessed it could be bluffs, sets, draws, TP etc. I decided to just raise for value here because I had no backdoor draws left. If I held a Q of diamonds, I would just have called. But villain made a very small 4-bet here which screams strength. Correct turn play would probably have been to slam my head into the wall, yet fold regardless since this is rarely a bluff. But I'm a fish so decided to get it in.</span><br /><br />Overall I managed to win 3.3 buyins in slightly over an hour, Holland gave Romania the 1-2 Teddy, so nothing to complain about today at all.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-55804095479945705972008-06-16T09:55:00.000-07:002008-06-16T10:26:06.167-07:00Week 24So why have there been no updates since last sunday a week ago? For the same reason people are silent in non-poker related events: I had nothing to talk about.<br /><br />I only managed to put in around 6k hands, running at a measly 2.16ptBB/100. Not really something I can brag about on my blog.<br /><br />One thing I've been wondering about is how I approach my game. I keep making some very high variance plays, probably due to the Fancy Play Syndrome, and a discussion on the Cardrunners forums made me realize the errors of my ways: I should keep the fancy plays for higher limits, bluff much less, and just grind my way up from the toe-itch limits so I can eventually reach the nose-bleed limits.<br /><br />The hand in question was this one: <br /><br /><object width="400" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9311"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /></param><param name="quality" value="high" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><param name="scale" value="Exactfit"></param><embed src="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9311" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowScriptAccess="always" scale="Exactfit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Flop: I made a standard cbet here and got called. One thing was certain when facing this player, which is that he does not have two pair here nor TPTK. Turn: I do not want to two-barrel since I expect to get called by his whole range here. So I decide to check, to either get a free card, or to CR him off his marginal hand. The nice thing about CR'ing here is that even if he shoves, I get the correct odds to call. BUT...the equity of my hand would also have allowed me to just check-call here. There was absolutely no need to CR here vs a fish since the pot odds I received were already great, and if I could earn a few more bucks on the river, check-calling here would already have been very +EV, without the variance.</span><br /><br />That does not mean I will stop bluffing completely though, nor 3-betting light, though 4-betting light is something I only do now vs people who are really asking for it. I am trying to reduce my light 3-betting frequency when out of position, but when I do so, I do with hands that will make me look like a spewmonkey:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9312"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /></param><param name="quality" value="high" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><param name="scale" value="Exactfit"></param><embed src="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9312" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowScriptAccess="always" scale="Exactfit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I obviously did not make a value bet on this river even while it's a standard spot to do so, but I really wanted to show down 72o here. Villain will probably give me MUCH less respect when 3-betting vs him when I do so occasionally with total junk, compared to doing so with 56s/33 etc.</span><br /><br />Semi-bluffing stays insanely profitable though, and it will stay an important part of my game, be it a check-raise with an underpair (semi-bluffing to 2 outs) on dry boards OOP, but people give me no credit anyways when I have relatively loose stats at a table. If people play so bad at NL100, I got no need to really go fancy, since they'll pay off anyways as long as I show I occasionally make some moves (for much smaller pots):<br /><br /><object width="400" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9314"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /></param><param name="quality" value="high" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><param name="scale" value="Exactfit"></param><embed src="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9314" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowScriptAccess="always" scale="Exactfit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="400" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9315"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /></param><param name="quality" value="high" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><param name="scale" value="Exactfit"></param><embed src="http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/flash/replayer.swf?pokerhandid=9315" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowScriptAccess="always" scale="Exactfit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The difference with this hand compared to the earlier 67s hand is that this is a semi-bluff where I can fold to a shove, AND lack the implied odds since I do not know whether hitting two pair is good here.</span>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-57757915286149432192008-06-08T22:45:00.000-07:002008-06-09T00:21:36.419-07:00Sunday, Bloody SundayJust like any sunday the day starts looking for juicy tables full of fish. And there were tons of them. <br /><br />This only leads to one problem. When there are like a hundred tables, and like a million fish, why can't I get one of those tables for myself? Every juicy table I manage to find there are atleast 1 or 2 sharks who just don't allow me to bust the fish by myself. <br /><br />Contrary to the title, I actually did quite decently. Managed to put in around 3k hands, won 2.4 buyins and ended 23rd in a freeroll donkament from my Rakeback site, which sadly only earned me $55. <br /><br />It was one of those days where KK runs into AA from half-stack fish constantly, sets do not hold up over half the time, AA loses a bunch of times after getting most the money in good, and the large bluffs never seem to work. You know what I'm talking about, those days are sundays.<br /><br />There were quite some interesting hands but the most interesting ones were vs other cardrunners members.<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$101.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$316.30</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$112.20</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$101.50</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3d.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $12.50</span>, BTN calls $9<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Villain in question is a CR member, is very solid and observant. He probably also knows who I am, yet that didn't stop him from attacking the blinds almost every time he was on the CO or button. I do not mind that, except when I am the BB. I expect him to know I will 3bet him often because of that, so I chose to do so at first with a polarized range to see if he'll start 4-betting me or calling in position.<br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, BTN checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Not a bad flop, but not one I can cbet. Villain will probably be raising me here with tons of hands, regardless of if he actually hit it. So I decided to just check, call a flop bet and check raise all-in on most turns. Villain checked behind though which tells me he has a hand with showdown value. <br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $17</span>, BTN calls $17<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Now I got a pair + flushdraw, and I do not expect him to bluffraise me here. If he was going to bluff, he was going to do so on the flop. So I just lead out.<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$59.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $72</span>, BTN calls $70.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />On the river, what will villain be thinking? I checked the flop on a drawy board, so I never have an overpair. Both the turn and river are 'blanks' so if he was ahead on the flop he must still be. Also, he must realize I know he has a hand with showdown value, so something worse than AQ, probably a lower pair. I decided my best play would be to just shove, since that line screams bluff.<br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $200.50<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3d.gif"> <br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $199 ( won +$97.50 ) <br>BTN lost -$100.00<br><br /><br /><br />Hand 2 vs same villain. This hand is more interesting because villain knows exactly what kind of hand I have and makes a great play vs the wrong opponent:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$112.25</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$114.30</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$299.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$101.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$189.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Th.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, Hero calls $2.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />TT is a monster vs villain's range, but I do not like to 3-bet it at this time because of the last hand. Villain will probably not fold to a 3bet, and may start 4-betting me to put me in a tough spot, especially after seeing me 3bet him with 63s earlier. <br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$7.50, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN bets $5</span>, Hero calls $5<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />My hand is generally ahead on that board but vs this player I am not checkraising there. It's a good board to CR with hands like sets, marginal pairs which include a gutshot and perhaps some random hands without much equity here, like KQ. But I do not think doing so with hands like TT and JJ is optimal play vs this villain. It will be tough OOP vs him, but that's no reason to turn my hand into a bluff. So I just check-called.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17.50, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, BTN checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />I check here hoping to keep the pot small and villain checks behind. I think he never holds an overpair if he checks here, and obviously also never a set. That means my hand must still be good.<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $14</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $45</span>, Hero calls $31<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />I make a value bet on the blank river and villain decides to make my life hell by making a substantial raise here. But what is villain representing here after checking the turn?<br />How does my hand look to villain? I called him OOP preflop, which can mean multiple things except a strong overpair. I check-called the flop, which implies I either have a weak pair or a draw. So when I bet the river here, how strong could my hand possibly be? <br />Villain's river raise here is not bad because he knows the strength of my hand, but he should realize his line makes no sense vs players who will be thinking about their hands as well. So after raising here the only hands he can represent here are dueces or bluffs.<br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $107.50<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Th.gif"> <br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $104.50 ( won +$51 ) <br>BTN lost -$53.50<br><br /><br />Hand 3, this one is vs another cardrunners member:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$135.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$99.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$81.50</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, Hero calls $3.50, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />This villain is also quite aggressive preflop, and instead of stealing my blinds constantly, this one keeps stealing my button, which is even worse. vs most aggro players I would 3-bet here with a hand like this, but villain knows who I am, knows I could be 3betting him light, and could possibly do something annoying like 4-betting me here. So I elect to just call. It's my button after all.<br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$8.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 bets $6</span>, Hero calls $6<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />I totally miss the flop, it's a dry one, and vs a solid player I do not really like bluffraising here. If I raise I am representing 33, 44 or the nut flush draw. I would also be raising KQ here, but villain probably does not know that. But it's still my button, so I call.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$20.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 bets $15</span>, Hero calls $15<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Another K arrives making it less likely for villain to hold a K here. But he also knows that I could be floating the flop with some random junk so decides to 2-barrel me. Standard play here is to fold, but villain may still have total air, so I call again. Even while I do not have anything yet, I still have the button and I'm not giving it up yet...<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$50.50, 2 players</span>)<br>UTG+1 checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $36</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG+1 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Villain checks, and because he's solid, I know he will be inducing bluffs from me here with hands like JJ/QQ/AA perhaps even TT. I do not expect him to fold many made hands to a river bet. So I make a small enough bet here to get a fold out of hands like 22 or ace high, but large enough so 88 and 99 will probably also fold.<br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $50.50<br><br>Hero wins $84 ( won +$23.50 ) <br>UTG+1 lost -$24.50<br>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-65792339033968832272008-06-07T14:10:00.001-07:002008-06-07T15:23:11.418-07:006 TablingI've been 6-tabling for the last few days, and it really is addicting. The first thing is that when I have little time to play I can easily put in quite some hands, and the second thing is that I can play slightly more straightforward. <br /><br />It actually is quite more relaxing as well since the variance seems lower. Today I managed to get AK allin vs KK, and get into a 3-way allin with a set vs overplayed aces and an OESD and lost both of them within a 2 minute timeframe. Oddly it didn't seem to bother me at all since I were running over the other tables quite well.<br /><br />And because I'm slightly less prone to make donkey moves because I am occupied on more tables, I can exploit the other people who like to make donkey moves vs me. I simply lack the time to make too many stupid mistakes.<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$312.05</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$165.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$131.45</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$128.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$130.90</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $10</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, Hero calls $6.50<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$21, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $14</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $33</span>, Hero calls $19<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> (<span class=mi>$87, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB goes all-in $85.90</span>, Hero calls $85.90<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$258.80, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $258.80<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <br>SB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $255.80 ( won +$126.90 ) <br>SB lost -$128.90<br><br /><br />Preflop call was quite standard for me. Villain liked to 3bet light and uses pretty bad 3bet sizing OOP.<br /><br />Also cutting down on 4-bet bluffing preflop and making too many large bluffs postflop seems to lower my variance a bit, though I do like to make a somewhat spewy bluff at times when I think it's neutral EV but great for my image:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$49.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$128.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$74.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$23.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$168.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$17.90</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is UTG+1</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $11.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, Hero calls $8<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$24, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB bets $16</span>, Hero calls $16<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> (<span class=mi>$56, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB bets $36</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $101.10</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >SB folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $128<br><br>Hero wins $190.10 ( won +$61.50 ) <br>SB lost -$63.50<br><br /><br />Another reason to like 6-tabling is that when running pretty good (slightly over 12ptBB/100 in the last few days) that translates to $135 per hour excluding rakeback. Even with half that winrate, which should be sustainable, it's nothing to complain about.<br /><br />I did not really tighten up that much preflop though, still running around 23/18 with an attempt to steal of around 35%. I did notice though that my postflop game has been simplified a bit, and most plays I make which differ from standard ABC poker is just because of known opponent tendencies, but not much else.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-30315724345577917682008-06-05T15:25:00.000-07:002008-06-07T14:31:07.889-07:00Tilty BusinessThe last few days I've again managed to run quite bad. I do not like to post bad beats much, since I do not believe in them (every hand which has some equity no matter how small is supposed to suck out now and then) but the last days were again quite bad in this order. I lost over 10 buyins just in June (though I did manage to put around 10k hands in so far).<br /><br />Examples are getting AA vs KK/QQ cracked a few times all in preflop for large amounts, or having a possibly tilting image at the table (losing 2 huge pots in a single orbit) and managing to get AK vs AQ in preflop and again get sucked out.<br /><br />But the problem is even after quitting a bit and playing a bit later, I often made some very high variance plays. For instance, check-raising a gutshot vs a regular who I see around quite often in a 4 bet pot 150BB deep and getting called by top set. These plays are not that terrible in themselves, since I want regulars to know I can do some crazy stuff so they put their money in lighter, but the frequency of doing total donkey moves was a bit to high. Check-raising total air or a gutshot allin like 0.5% of the time in a certain spot is fine for your image and in the long run is probably +EV, but when running bad I make such moves way too often.<br /><br />One bad psychological disadvantage of running bad is the effect on your bankroll. When you manage to get AA allin preflop vs KK for $250, even while you lost 250BB's, the difference for your bankroll is $500 compared to when your hand would have held up. Get AK AI vs AQ 3 times in a row for 100BB and lose all 3, the losses are $300, but it seems mentally as if you are $600 down compared to hands 'holding up'. <br /><br />Today I decided to 6-table a bit to keep myself from overthinking situations and playing a bit tighter than usual, and I noticed a well kept secret which the best winning players in poker try to keep for themselves:<br /><br />People suck at poker.<br /><br />Seriously, I was playing on 6 tables while the loosest table was somewhere about 32% vpip, and while most players had somewhat decent stats, most players at NL100 just play terrible. So why should I bother to spew chips around making fancy moves too often when people just lack fundamental preflop and postflop skills?<br /><br />My profit does not come from large multistreet bluffs or great hero calls/folds. My profit comes mostly because I do not forget to make that 18BB valuebet on the river in a 43BB pot with middle pair when I think villain holds an underpair most of the time or second pair worse kicker while many other players fail to extract value vs me in that same spot. It comes from inducing tons of bluffs from other people by taking a bit more passive line with marginal TP hands or marginal overpairs, instead of overplaying them, while when the situation is reversed, many people deny me the mandatory river bluff in some situations because they try to protect their marginal hands too much. <br /><br />Same counts for overplaying hands, which I do quite often as well when tilting, and the general reason for completely misplaying a hand in such a situation is probably because of the mindset tilt gives. Look at the following hand for instance, villain ran pretty bad, and probably was thinking 'My hand must be good this time. Finally a board without overcards, let's get it in!' instead of 'How do I extract most value from villain's overcard holdings or bluffs and keeping my losses vs overpairs small?'<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$129.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$115.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$104.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$38.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$101.65</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $12.50</span>, BTN calls $9<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $17</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN goes all-in $91.50</span>, Hero calls $72.15<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$206.15, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$206.15, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $203.80<br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Th.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Tc.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <br><br>BTN wins $2.35 ( lost -$101.65 ) <br>Hero wins $200.80 ( won +$99.15 ) <br><br /><br />Villain held a strong hand here, but shoving this flop only causes overcard holdings to fold and only gets called by better. Villain complained for 5 minutes about what a cooler that flop was, instead of realizing he misplayed his hand here. <br /><br />Another hand from yesterday was also quite interesting. It was a spot where I could be vs a fullhouse, but I expected villain to never fold a J here if I made a somewhat silly play. I also expected a J to be much more likely for villain to hold than a fullhouse, because of the flop play. I cbet there because people without a J or fullhouse could simply not continue when I bet into a million callers, which pretty much locks down villain's hand as a single set or a J. So I raised to 444 on the river, which kinda means I represent a fullhouse 4's full of jacks, and villain is smart enough to give me absolutely no credit for a fullhouse here and call me with weak trips:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2>AO1715 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$133.70</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">inyoung <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$56.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2>BRONCOAA <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$37.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$612.35</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">coimbra83 <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$159.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Schefflowski <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, inyoung calls $1, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $4.50</span>, coimbra83 calls $4, Schefflowski calls $3.50, inyoung calls $3.50<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jh.gif"> (<span class=mi>$18, 4 players</span>)<br>coimbra83 checks, Schefflowski checks, inyoung checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $10</span>, coimbra83 calls $10, <span style="color:#777777;" >Schefflowski folds</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >inyoung folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$38, 2 players</span>)<br>coimbra83 checks, Hero checks<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$38, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">coimbra83 bets $17</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $444</span>, coimbra83 calls $127.60<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $327.20<br>coimbra83 shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $623.60 ( won +$165.10 ) <br>coimbra83 lost -$159.10<br>Schefflowski lost -$4.50<br>inyoung lost -$4.50<br><br /><br />If other people make bad plays like shoving or calling in these spots, why should I bother?Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-31920843926088943582008-06-02T11:10:00.000-07:002008-06-02T11:46:09.128-07:00Butchering Hands for DummiesSunday was pretty terrible both in luck and me making some pretty stupid plays. Started the session with a nice KK vs AA for 150BB, where I held the KK, and from there on it went downwards for a bit. <br /><br />There was one hand where I butchered it quite a bit, which was a hand where I floated the flop with nothing but backdoor draws in a 3bet pot 170BB deep, and bet the turn large when checked to while holding 15 outs instead of taking a free card, getting myself committed to call the shove. <br /><br />After that it was time to get some revenge though. These were the most interesting hands:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>4 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$137.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$110.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$163.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$79.15</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 4 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, BTN calls $3.50, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$8.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $6</span>, BTN calls $6<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Villain in question played quite odd. He did seem to float me quite a bit and loved representing hands, but there was little consistency in his game. He was hard to figure out. He also called raises with almost any suited K or Q, and played way too many hands preflop. On the flop, I made a standard cbet and villain <span style="font-style:italic;">instacalled</span> my cbet. This is generally a weak hand which is not folding, but rarely a king. I do not know this opponent well enough to know if this timing tell is the same for him, but I decide to keep in mind that I probably hold the best hand, and need to extract value from his bluffing range.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> (<span class=mi>$20.50, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN bets $20.50</span>, Hero calls $20.50<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$61.50, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN bets $45</span>, Hero calls $45<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />This probably looked quite odd for villain since I checkcalled two streets with just a pair of 9's, but he gave his hand away on the flop.<br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $151.50<br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $149.50 ( won +$74.50 ) <br>BTN lost -$75.00<br><br /><br />This hand was vs another CR member:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$98.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$119.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$169.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$81.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$116.75</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">UTG raises to $3.50</span>, UTG+1 calls $3.50, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $16</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, UTG calls $12.50, UTG+1 calls $12.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />UTG+1 is a Cardrunners member, and is very solid. He knows who I am, and he will recognize this as a good spot to squeeze. Obviously very thrilled to hold a strong hand here, since he'll give me less credit. The other person, well, he's just dead money anyways.<br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> (<span class=mi>$49.50, 3 players</span>)<br>UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $31</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG folds</span>, UTG+1 calls $31<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />If I did not hold an ace here I'd probably cbet here a decent amount of the time, especially with hands that have no chance on winning if called. So I may check KK here, but will be betting 67s etc. Villain knows this probably, so I bet.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$111.50, 2 players</span>)<br>UTG+1 checks, Hero checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />If I were bluffing the flop I would rarely continue on the turn in a 3bet pot. So decided to check behind, hoping to get some value from JJ or so on the river.<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$111.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG+1 goes all-in $72.55</span>, Hero calls $53<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />I do not like villain's play here. TT could be best but he's never getting called by worse, so it seems he's turning TT into a bluff hoping I fold QQ or so. But vs my squeezing range, TT does pretty good so if he knows me well a check-call would have been a better play by him.<br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $217.50<br>UTG+1 shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Tc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <br><br>UTG+1 wins $19.55 ( lost -$100 ) <br>Hero wins $214.50 ( won +$114.50 ) <br>UTG lost -$16.00<br><br /><br />Hand 3:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$137.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$73.30</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$126.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$153.80</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Tc.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, BB calls $2.50<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$7.50, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $6</span>, BB calls $6<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />New table, I do not know villain well but he insta-checked the flop to me and instacalled my cbet. After this he leads the turn for around half-pot. The hands that seem the most likely for him to hold here are hands like 89, which hit the flop and improve on the turn. I do not expect a pair + open ended straight draw to fold to a raise here that often if he's bad enough, so decide to make a small raise allowing me to have enough money left to make a reasonable river bluff. <br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$19.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">BB bets $10</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $33</span>, BB calls $23<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> (<span class=mi>$85.50, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $57.50</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >BB folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $85.50<br><br>Hero wins $140 ( won +$40 ) <br>BB lost -$42.50<br><br /><br />For the rest I did pretty well and when one table broke up I was playing heads-up vs the last one who refused to leave. He played pretty weak, and I had quite an edge on him. Took me 5 minutes to get his stack, though he started with only 70BB. All in all I ended the day 1.8 buyins down, which is not bad considering I lost a few pots of over 150BB's at the start of the session.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-52408816041616247542008-06-01T08:16:00.000-07:002008-06-01T09:27:06.040-07:00I Love Full TiltHaven't played a single hand last week since monday, generally because of lack of time or being a bit too tired to play after work. Spewing off chips while not playing my A game is something I try to prevent. Yesterday on the other hand I decided to put in a short session. It was 1am, I would probably be playing my C game, but it was saturday, which means my C game is +EV at the tables.<br /><br />Some interesting hands:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$145.45</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$85.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$120.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$127.05</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$105.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$41.60</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is UTG</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Tc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >4 folds</span>, BB calls $2.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />UTG with T9s, pretty standard open. Well, not really, but table seemed weak.<br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$7.50, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $5</span>, BB calls $5<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />BB insta-checked to me, making it pretty obvious he does not have a K or has a weak K, but he's probably not going to fold to a cbet here. This asks for a multistreet bluff or checking and giving up. I do have some backdoor outs, so I chose the first option. After betting, villain called nearly instantly. Seems very unlikely he holds a K here.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17.50, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $11</span>, BB calls $11<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Villain thought for a bit, probably like 2 seconds or so, and checked again. I picked up a backdoor draw, and think this is a mandatory 2 barrel. I could check behind here, but since I'm quite sure he does not hold a king, I prefer the second barrel. <br /> <br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$39.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">BB goes all-in $22.10</span>, Hero calls $22.10<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $83.70<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Tc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9c.gif"> <br>BB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $80.70 ( won +$39.10 ) <br>BB lost -$41.60<br><br /><br />Hand 2:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$138.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$43.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$120.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$90.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$103.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$130.05</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ts.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">UTG raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, Hero calls $3.50, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Villain plays like 33/30, and his UTG range will be pretty huge. Other notes about villain is that he loves to two-barrel regardless of board texture. Easy preflop call with this hand vs him, since I could get two streets of value out of him with top pair should I hit.<br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$8.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG bets $8</span>, Hero calls $8<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />VS his total range I flop a monster, but it's not one I want to build a huge pot with yet. I assume any spade, T or J will be good for my hand so I elect to just call here.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$24.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">UTG bets $16</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $45</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />He loves to two-barrel, and here I expect any spade, T, J or 8 will be good for my hand, but since he still does not need to hold a hand here that often I think a semi-bluff here is fine. <br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $56.50<br><br>Hero wins $82.70 ( won +$26.20 ) <br>UTG lost -$27.50<br><br /><br />Hand 3:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$130.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$116.45</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$101.35</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$119.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$146.95</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, BB calls $2.50<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> (<span class=mi>$7.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">BB bets $2</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $10.50</span>, BB calls $8.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Villain in question is a total nutcase, running somewhere around 71/31. Him leading into me here makes it very unlikely he actually holds something, since he's the type to slowplay when he holds something. Further, it's not polite to donklead into me, and I probably hold the best hand and I'll do the backdoor-flush-draw-own if not. So pretty standard raise and two-barrel most non-spade turns.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$28.50, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $21</span>, BB calls $21<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />My hand improved, and I think villain is on a draw here, so I still want to charge flush draws and make a second bet.<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> (<span class=mi>$70.50, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, Hero checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />He called $21 with a gutshot OOP, wtf? Added him to buddy list.<br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $70.50<br>BB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5d.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $67.50 ( won +$32.50 ) <br>BB lost -$35.00<br><br /><br />Hand 4:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$112.65</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$146.25</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$117.45</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$97.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$121.15</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, SB calls $3, BB calls $2.50<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$10.50, 3 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">BB bets $10.50</span>, Hero calls $10.50, <span style="color:#777777;" >SB folds</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />BB is again a total nutcase, running somewhere around 81/40. I flop the nuts here in my mind, even though he could have a 5 here. If he does I'll find out on later streets. There's no value in raising here obviously.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> (<span class=mi>$31.50, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, Hero checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />The K is a nice card to two-barrel and get him to fold worse hands than mine and stay in with better. Obviously not a good thing to do, and he could be trying to CR-own me. I decide to check behind and evaluate river.<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$31.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">BB bets $25</span>, Hero calls $25<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />He bets quite large, so he's representing a strong hand here. I induced the bluff though so think I have to call here. <br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $81.50<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br>BB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $78.50 ( won +$39.50 ) <br>SB lost -$3.50<br>BB lost -$39.00<br>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-71320015398740763902008-05-26T12:14:00.000-07:002008-05-26T13:03:52.161-07:00Results:So my vacation is over, and only managed to play for about 42 hours during those two weeks. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SDsUO7QBqJI/AAAAAAAAAAU/-QfW707eGNA/s1600-h/pt3vacation.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SDsUO7QBqJI/AAAAAAAAAAU/-QfW707eGNA/s400/pt3vacation.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204776041012373650" /></a><br /><br />Add rakeback to this and it comes down to around $2300 in 42.4 hours. I'm quite happy about both the hourly rate and how I approached it. Even while I played for way less hours than I could have put in, I never played when I was not in the right mood, and generally stopped sessions as soon as I noticed I was not playing my A game, even if I were sitting at juicy tables. My hourly rate could be a lot higher by playing more tables, but I have little interest in becoming a grinder, so I'll stick to 4 tables at the moment.<br /><br />Oddly I won more per hour at NL50 than at NL100. The rakeback makes NL100 slightly better, but the players at NL50 are in general way less good than at NL100, which explains the difference.<br /><br />My plans for now are quite simple. I will only be withdrawing rakeback which should be a nice supplement to my normal job, and will keep building my roll to get towards the higher limits. Bankroll management and tilt control are the key to this, and I think just withdrawing rakeback is a nice way to do so. The winnings or losses per day/week/month etc don't really matter, since I'll still be making money thanks to the rakeback I'll be withdrawing, and the limit I play at effects that. The bankroll itself should not be treated as money, but more as an investment capital.<br />Should I have to move down I earn less, and when I move up I make much more. I do however hope to move up to NL200 and higher relatively soon, but I do think that thanks to Cardrunners I'm capable to beat those limits should my bankroll be sufficient to play there.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-23100779162641000892008-05-26T11:45:00.000-07:002008-05-26T12:14:20.566-07:00Sunday - Being a Crazy NitLast day of my vacation, so decided to grind it up a bit to end the vacation with nice result. One thing I noticed a lot during my vacation is how the games have changed at NL100. Everyone seems to know nowadays that a reraise does not always mean a strong hand. And it seems that every time there's a raise and a call everyone and their mother squeezes with any two cards. People are 4-betting with all kinds of trash hands and polarizing their ranges.<br /><br />Some people try to exploit that by being a Nit. Never getting into marginal spots, only playing strong hands and never getting out of line. Only while that seems a good play, everybody who's somewhat decent uses a HUD nowadays which means those 15/11 players just don't get any action. They still beat this game for marginal winnings in general, so something like 2-3ptBB/100.<br /><br />I decided to experiment a bit on sunday. I was not going to 3-bet light that often, never was going to squeeze or 4-bet bluff, never were going to call a 3-bet with a marginal hand, but I was going to play in such a way that my table image, at least the stats people got on me in their HUD's were still going to be somewhat crazy.<br /><br />So I played like a total nit other than a few minor adjustments:<br />- Nits don't steal enough preflop, generally around 20% or less. I kept my attempt to steal as high as possible and on some tables I raised every single button when folded around to me. My attempt to steal was 52% for the day.<br />- Nits play too tight. I ran around 24/21 for the day, which quite disguises that I'm trying to be a Nit.<br />- Nits don't do crazy stuff. That's good, I didn't either. Other than some random large river bluffs when having a decent read about opponent's hand strength.<br />- Nits don't defend their blinds enough. I didn't either, I played extremely tight from small blind, never stealing or restealing, same for the big blind. Yet if the SB even so much as glanced at my BB fireworks were going to show at the table. I think I 3-bet every single hand in the BB if the SB opened a bit too often into me. Play me out of position? Pay for it!<br /><br />So my stats were going to be all in the red for people who trust their HUD stats, and my table image should be somewhat of a total nutcase, even while I played an extremely standard postflop game with only a few bluffs tossed in. I valuebet thinner, in one pot even with ace-high getting called by a worse ace-high, which was quite funny:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$67.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$92.80</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">CO <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$131.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$102.45</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$10.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$198.45</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">CO raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $12.50</span>, CO calls $9<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, CO checks<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, CO checks<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.50, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $16</span>, CO calls $16<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $57.50<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br>CO shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ah.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2h.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $54.65 ( won +$26.15 ) <br>CO lost -$28.50<br><br /><br />This was pretty standard vs that opponent though. The villain in question is a pretty moody player, hates to fold, and cbetting that board with AK is something you only do vs that player when you dislike money. But on the river it was pretty obvious villain either held nothing or dueces. As played, I expected my river bet to get called by a worse ace-high or even a king. Villain in question is also prone to tilt, so I cannot let such an opportunity pass.<br /><br />Another fun hand was vs a player who played quite solid, but I think he thought I was a total nutcase. It was pretty obvious that he either had AK or AQ in this spot, perhaps AJ, and was slowplaying vs me to extract more value. So I decided to pot the turn and overbet the river, not really expected villain to fold much:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$108.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$105.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$115.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$63.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$217.10</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$113.05</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is SB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4h.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >4 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, BB calls $2.50<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> (<span class=mi>$7, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $5</span>, BB calls $5<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $17.50</span>, BB calls $17.50<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$52, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $101</span>, BB calls $87.05<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $226.10<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4h.gif"> <br>BB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $237.05 ( won +$110.05 ) <br>BB lost -$113.05<br><br /><br />I managed to drag in over 3 buyins in 1.5 hours or so and quit for the day. I think I'll experiment with the Crazy Nit style a bit more often.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-27753433719809404062008-05-25T00:44:00.000-07:002008-06-02T11:52:50.407-07:00Early WeekendFriday and saturday were pretty much a disaster. Started friday losing 3 buyins over two sessions, and made some quite stupid plays. Decided I wasn't playing my A game so spent my time doing more useful things, like watching the latest "Rambo" movie for new ideas on how to deal with fish. <br /><br />Anyways, saturday I was quite happy about my game and put tons of hands in, probably somewhere around 3k. Many large pots where I went in as favorite kept moving in the wrong direction but the other hands I played slowly made up for it.<br /><br />There was one interesting hand on friday though vs another Cardrunners member:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$155.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$113.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$101.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$49.05</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$237.60</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7d.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, SB calls $3, BB calls $2.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Got a monster so standard open...not really, but I expect my steals from the CO to succeed more often than from button with solid player in BB. My steal attempt was around 49% so perhaps this was a fold preflop.<br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$10.50, 3 players</span>)<br>SB checks, BB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $7.50</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >SB folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BB raises to $28</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $94.50</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BB goes all-in $234.10</span>, Hero calls $3.50<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />I think villain would be CR'ing me here with pretty much anything he holds, be it a gutshot, overcards with A of hearts, some total air, small PP etc. This board looks to miss me quite often, so I would do so to in his spot. But because this is such a good spot to bluffraise, I think a bet/3bet is in order here and I should have quite some folding equity left here. There is another reason to shove here instead of call like I would do vs more taggy players with a disguised draw: I think his checkraise size here seems to be too large for a set, so I put him on air or a draw much more than a genuine hand he wants to get it in with.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$342.60, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$342.60, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $206.50<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/5c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7d.gif"> <br>BB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $203.50 ( won +$102 ) <br>BB wins $136.10 ( lost -$101.5 ) <br>SB lost -$3.50<br><br /><br />Anyways, saturday started out well. This was the largest pot for me from the day:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$200.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$328.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$154.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$198.35</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$108.50</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.50, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is UTG</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Th.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.50</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, SB calls $3, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span><br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />UTG with TJo, but it's only 5-handed and but pretty much everyone has a large stack. I had a normal TAG image so far, and think my UTG opens should get decent respect. Because of stack sizes, I thought this was a decent enough hand to open with and hope to get the blinds or steal the button.<br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> (<span class=mi>$8, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB bets $8</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $21</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">SB raises to $34</span>, Hero calls $13<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />SB donkleads into me. I do not know what it means, but with an open ended straight draw I made a semi-bluff here to either get him to fold some random junk or fold. Also don't mind building the pot a bit in case I hit. Villain made a very small 3bet here which made me think he probably had a set here. My hand is well disguised, there's enough money left behind so obviously called here with these odds.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$76, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB bets $76</span>, Hero calls $76<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />I hit the nuts, and my hand is still underrepresented. I either have an overpair here or AQ. With the pot size, and thinking villain had a set, I almost shoved but decided against it. What if villain was overplaying AQ here?<br /><br />I decided to just flat and get the rest in on the river. Would suck if the board paired, but I was still going to get the rest in should it happen. No need to give villain a chance to make a hero laydown now.<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> (<span class=mi>$228, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB goes all-in $84.85</span>, Hero calls $84.85<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $397.70<br>SB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Th.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Js.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $394.70 ( won +$196.35 ) <br>SB lost -$198.35<br><br /><br />And the most fun hand so far. UTG posted out of position, CO limps behind, I obviously raise, and CO does the 'limp-reraise' trick, which is something I never understood. Obviously I'm weary about aces, the CO should know me well enough to know I do not need much as cards to take advantage of dead money in the pot, but if he got aces that's fine. I got kings!<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$24.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG+1 <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$128.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">CO <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$174.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$103.55</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$99.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$146.90</span>) <td></tr></table><br>[<span class=mi>UTG posted $1</span>]<br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$2.50, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br/>UTG checks, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, CO calls $1, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <i>CO says "<b>ok jag</b>"</i>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $6</span>, UTG calls $5, <i>UTG+1 says "<b>jag</b>"</i>, <i>UTG+1 says "<b>lol</b>"</i>, <span style="color:darkred;">CO raises to $24.50</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $65</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG folds</span>, <i>CO says "<b>jag off</b>"</i>, CO calls $40.50<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$136.50, 2 players</span>)<br><i>UTG+1 says "<b>dont loose all my monmey</b>"</i>, <i>UTG+1 says "<b>please</b>"</i>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $81.90</span>, CO calls $81.90, <i>UTG+1 says "<b>omg</b>"</i><br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$300.30, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$300.30, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $300.30<br>CO shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $297.30 ( won +$150.4 ) <br>CO lost -$146.90<br>UTG lost -$6.00<br>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-50458144474383164652008-05-19T00:48:00.000-07:002008-05-19T02:19:54.489-07:00Some Boring HandsJust a few more hands from the last few days. Let's start with the one I misplayed the most:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$105.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$126.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$132.45</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$116.70</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$322.65</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$33.20</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.5, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is UTG+1</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">UTG raises to $3.5</span>, Hero calls $3.5, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $15.5</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >UTG folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $39</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN goes all-in $116.7</span>, Hero calls $77.7<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/2s.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$238.4, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$238.4, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$238.4, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $238.40<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <br><br>BTN wins $235.4 ( won +$118.7 ) <br>UTG lost -$3.50<br>Hero lost -$116.70<br><br /><br />Villain in question is a regular Nit. Playing like 13.6/11.5. The UTG raiser is playing around 19/14. I can raise AK here obviously, but it's less profitable vs his tight range since he'll just 4-bet or fold, and should I get 4bet by him, I actually have to fold in this spot.<br /><br />An alternative option here was to just call and play the hand postflop, and possibly induce a squeeze from someone behind me. Especially the SB was pretty squeeze happy but overall people were pretty aggressive behind me, so I elected to take that option.<br /><br />Only I got raised by the only real Nit at the table, who plays so bloody straightforward that he always has a hand in this spot. But I second guessed myself, assumed his range could be wider here because of me coldcalling and got it in.<br /><br />Not a bad result at all, since we were just flipping with some dead money in the pot, but his range just crushed me here.<br /><br />Another one:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$225.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$127.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$83.95</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$99.85</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$313.20</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.5, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is CO</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.5</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, SB calls $3, <span style="color:darkred;">BB raises to $17</span>, Hero calls $13.5, <span style="color:#777777;" >SB folds</span><br><br><span class=mi> <br /><br />Villain is playing around 25/25, me around 24/21 with an attempt to steal of around 41%. This seems a spot in which I can both 4bet or take a flop, and I almost 4-bet here because villain could just be squeezing here. But even while villain is pretty aggressive, this is the first time he actually 3-bet me from the blinds. In position I mix it up here. <br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$37.5, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, Hero checks<br><br><span class=mi> <br /><br />Villain let's me know here that he has a hand or absolutely nothing, since if he isn't cbetting a K-rag board as a bluff, what boards will he cbet? It's also pretty obvious I got a good hand, or I would not have called him preflop. If I bet here I probably get 1 street of value out of a hand like QQ/JJ, 0 out of bluffs. Checking behind gives him a chance to bluff the turn and under represents my hand.<br /><br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> (<span class=mi>$37.5, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $20</span>, BB calls $20<br><br><span class=mi> <br /><br />His second check here makes me think a hand like QQ/JJ is the most likely, just hoping to get to a cheap showdown. I think he would lead TT or worse here, and a lot of air, so I make a bet here which I expect to get called by QQ/JJ.<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$77.5, 2 players</span>)<br>BB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $44</span>, BB calls $44<br><br><span class=mi><br /><br />Him calling the turn bet pretty much narrowed his range down to QQ/JJ so I made another bet not too large to get some value here.<br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $165.50<br>BB shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kd.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $162.5 ( won +$81.5 ) <br>BB lost -$81.00<br>SB lost -$3.50<br><br /><br />And hand number 3:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$102.70</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$66.60</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$165.30</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$14.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.5, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $3.5</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $12.5</span>, BTN calls $9<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />First hand at this table. Always nice to get AK vs a button open in very first hand. I do not know anything about the player though, but this is a 3bet 100% of the time.<br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/8c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$25.5, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $17</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $50</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $87.5</span>, <i>BTN says "<b>oops</b>"</i>, BTN calls $37.5<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Even while this hand plays itself, since I'm definitely not folding TPTK with backdoor flush draw vs an unknown in a 3bet pot for 100BB's, one thing is interesting here. Even while it's an unknown, the bet size he uses to raise me with is for many people quite a tell. Round numbers are often draws/bluffs, while the more odd numbers are more like value bets. Another tell was that he raised this nearly instantly. If I were sitting in this spot with AQ, I would snapcall here too.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6s.gif"> (<span class=mi>$200.5, 2 players</span>)<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$200.5, 2 players</span>)<br><i>BTN says "<b>lol!!!</b>"</i><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $200.50<br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jc.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $197.5 ( won +$97.5 ) <br>BTN lost -$100.00<br><br /><br />High card 4 on turn:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>6 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$114.75</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">UTG+1 <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$96.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BTN <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$305.05</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$117.40</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$232.75</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.5, 6 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">UTG raises to $3.5</span>, UTG+1 calls $3.5, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >3 folds</span>, Hero calls $2.5<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />UTG is a pretty solid TAG, UTG+1 is a total nutcase, so I call here to see if I can spot a 4 on the flop. <br /><br />Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$11, 3 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />No 4, but this flop misses most A high holdings which UTG can have, and his opening range also includes many lower pocketpairs. So standard play here is to checkraise since my 4's are never good if called. Villain takes the sensible route, probably because of the nutcase behind him, and does not cbet here.<br /><br />Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jc.gif"> (<span class=mi>$11, 3 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $8</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, UTG+1 calls $8<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />Checkraise failed, and my hand has absolutely 0 showdown value here, so I choose to take a stab here. Villain surprisingly calls, but with my image (running 24/21 here) it's possible he sees through it and realizes a pocket pair higher than the 6 could be good here, or even ace high. Plan is to bet any river after he calls.<br /><br />River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$27, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, UTG+1 checks<br><br><span class=h1><br /><br />A pretty annoying spot here. If I bet here ace high will fold and so will any pocketpair, and I will only get called by better hands. If I check here, all those hands will check behind. I do not think villain will ever be betting the river with less than a jack, which is extremely unlikely for him to have here. Nothing I can do here except checking. And villain played this hand perfectly.<br /><br />Final Pot:</span> $27<br>UTG+1 shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4d.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $25.65 ( won +$14.15 ) <br>UTG lost -$3.50<br>UTG+1 lost -$11.50<br>Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30006673.post-90466286680033686842008-05-18T23:05:00.000-07:002008-05-19T02:09:49.364-07:00Something Clicked...After my last update's smooth graph I hadn't bothered to post any updates, so I'll start by giving the full coverage of what happened in between then and now:<br /><br />Managed to work my roll up to around $6k, moved up to NL200, ran bad (3.5k below equity in allin situations in 4 days time), went on monkey tilt and lost around 75% of my roll within a week. Obviously had some leaks in my bankroll management.<br /><br />Well, with the boring part out of the way, why did I return to make useless posts in the Den? One reason is that I am free from work for two weeks now so have enough free time on my hands to practice how it would be to be playing professional poker. So far I cannot complain about the results after this week, even while it is a small sample:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SDEdWb39aVI/AAAAAAAAAAM/gmZJDf7Nf5w/s1600-h/ptvac1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBceBncG8Mo/SDEdWb39aVI/AAAAAAAAAAM/gmZJDf7Nf5w/s400/ptvac1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201971315866429778" /></a><br /><br />The only beat here is that I managed to put in less hands than I would in a normal week, but that is because I have been scheduling my days like as if I were really a professional poker player. Which involves watching movies throughout the night, sleeping out late, practicing the guitar, trying to build my own linux distribution etc. In between all that, I still manage to put like 1 or 2 hours per day into actually playing at the tables, which seems reasonable, and more hours watching Cardrunners videos and analyzing hand histories.<br /><br />So there's the real reason for returning to the Den. I need a place to put the hands that were interesting, but not interesting enough to discuss on the forums.<br /><br />What has changed in my game compared to my old game? I think spending a lot of time watching videos on Cardrunners made something 'click' for me, which is the way I approached the hand. I always used to be worried about consistency in my game, like 'if I held XX here I would bet xx, so now I'll bet xx with this bluff aswell.' Or I would be 3-betting a loose cutoff opener on the button with hands like A8s, 56s, even J7s etc, while those are hands which actually have the ability to hit flops somewhat. Why not use those hands to play a pot in position of someone with a huge opening range? <br /><br />Poker is all about range vs range, and balancing your ranges to maximally exploit your opponent's tendencies. I used to 2-barrel and 3-barrel bluff more often in the past, but right now I think I found a good balance. Which is pretty much accomplished by using a good, balanced range vs specific opponents, and adjusting constantly based on previous occurrences/ image etc. <br /><br />Don't understand a word of what I were saying there? That's great! If everyone understood that, the lower limits would be playing like 5/10. <br /> <br />Some spots still ask for an old fashioned 3 barrel bluff though, like this one yesterday:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>5 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1><td class=h2>UTG <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$47.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>CO <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$104.90</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$102.15</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">SB <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$98.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>BB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$238.15</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.5, 5 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BTN</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/6d.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/7c.gif"> <br/><span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >2 folds</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $3.5</span>, SB calls $3, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span><br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/As.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/3h.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Jh.gif"> (<span class=mi>$8, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">SB bets $1</span>, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero raises to $11</span>, SB calls $10<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ks.gif"> (<span class=mi>$30, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $23</span>, SB calls $23<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/9d.gif"> (<span class=mi>$76, 2 players</span>)<br>SB checks, <span style="color:darkred;">Hero goes all-in $64.65</span>, <span style="color:#777777;" >SB folds</span><br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $76<br><br>Hero wins $137.65 ( won +$35.5 ) <br>SB lost -$37.50<br><br /><br />Villain's flop play here pretty much said he either had a flush draw or a weak ace, perhaps a jack. The K on the turn could have helped him, but for the rest it seemed a mandatory 2-barrel. On the river, I could think of no hands my 7 high could beat, and if I followed up my play here and shoved the river I would represent 2 pair at the least. Villain is quite the calling station though so there are a decent amount of aces he would probably look me up with, like AQ (does not seem likely thanks to flop play) or perhaps AT, and any two pair, so this was an easy shove. Another optional way to play this hand vs him was to just fold to his $1 bet on the flop...<br /><br />Another play I like to use more is a more advanced play, explained by Raptor from Cardrunners. It's called the 'head-explosion bet'. It's a value bet which is sized to cause your opponents to think "omg, I am so stupid!" and their heads literally explode, or if they are lucky, will just cause them to tilt a bit. Which makes it easier to get the rest of their money later on.<br /><br />I should have some examples from NL50 where I bet like $8 into a $89 pot to get called by queen-high, but I don't feel like spending the rest of the day looking for it, so I'll just this one from a few hours ago to demonstrate it:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br /> .mi { font-style: italic; font-size : 10px; color: black; }<br /> .fi { font-style: italic; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h1 { font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .h2 { font-variant: small-caps; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .hero { font-weight: bold; font-size : 11px; color: black; }<br /> .t1 { font-size : 11px; color: black; background-color: #aaaaaa; border:solid 1px black; }<br /> </style><span class=h1>$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem</span><br>3 players<br>Converted at <b><a href="http://weaktight.com/">weaktight.com</a></b><br><br><br><span class=h1>Stacks:</span><table border=0 class=t1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=2 ><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">BTN <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$100.00</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1><td class=h2>SB <td class=h2> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$101.50</span>) <td></tr><tr class=t1 style="font-weight:bold"><td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold">Hero <td class=h2 style="font-weight:bold"> <td>(<span style="color:darkblue;">$231.65</span>) <td></tr></table><br><span class=h1>Pre-flop:</span> (<span class=mi>$1.5, 3 players</span>) <span class=h1>Hero is BB</span><br/><img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br/><span style="color:darkred;">BTN raises to $3.5</span>, <span class=fi style="color:#777777;" >1 fold</span>, Hero calls $2.5<br><br><span class=h1>Flop:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qs.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4c.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ad.gif"> (<span class=mi>$7.5, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, <span style="color:darkred;">BTN bets $5</span>, Hero calls $5<br><br><span class=h1>Turn:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Ac.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17.5, 2 players</span>)<br>Hero checks, BTN checks<br><br><span class=h1>River:</span> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/4h.gif"> (<span class=mi>$17.5, 2 players</span>)<br><span style="color:darkred;">Hero bets $6</span>, BTN calls $6<br><br><span class=h1>Final Pot:</span> $29.50<br>Hero shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qh.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Kh.gif"> <br>BTN shows: <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Qd.gif"> <img border=1 src="http://weaktight.com/img/d5/Td.gif"> <br><br>Hero wins $28.5 ( won +$14 ) <br>BTN lost -$14.50<br><br /><br />Preflop: Table just turned 3-handed and a 15/12 typical TAG opens the button. KQs can be raised for value here, but his range should be pretty wide now we are 3 handed, and it will hit quite some boards which he'll cbet.<br /><br />Flop: Pretty easy spot. He has an ace or he doesn't. I got a hand, so no need to turn it into a bluff.<br /><br />Turn: Great card, less likely for villain to have an ace now, and he would never be checking an ace here unless he dislikes money. He also did the 'think for a bit to keep you from betting the river' move and actually clicked the time button, so KK also seems unlikely.<br /><br />River: Nice blank, so I got the nuts here in my mind, so I need to extract some value. The best possible hand he can have here are jacks, which would probably fold to a 2/3rd pot bet, and some medium pocket pairs would probably fold aswell. So I made a toned down version of the head-explosion bet, but would have bet like $2 here if I expected villain to hold something weaker like K high here. In the past I would probably have bet something like $11 here, which gets called less and does not have the same tilt-inducing factor.Soultwisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783756988766061716noreply@blogger.com0