Thursday, July 31, 2008

July 2008 summary

Realised I wont have time tomorrow to do a summary so i'll start it now, and probably amend it a bit over the next few days.

Turned out to be a pretty decent month where I increased my bankroll by another $1,550. And at least I actually won a bit on the tables this month, but didn't make anywhere near as much in bonus $.


The gain of $1,450 for the month was made up of:

Bonuses/VIP: $900
  • William Hill: $50 for 5 hours play bonus
    Cake: $70 reload bonus
  • Ongame: $150
  • Bodog: $170
  • gnuf: $170
  • 24: $200
Rakeback: $100
  • William Hill: $10
  • Cake: $50
  • Fulltilt: $40
Poker winnings / (losses): $450 Profit this time.. much better

For August the goals in order of priority are:
  • Play my 5 hours on William Hill for the $50 bonus
  • Clear my last $20 on cake
  • Maybe find a new site to play on and score some new bonuses - probably everest through PSO
  • Find a good reload bonus on an existing site
  • Cash out of sites i've bonus cleared and won't play on again until a good reload deal
Current bankroll: $10,750 (+360 Aug)

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Frustrating up and down session

The Bodog fish decided to pay me back some of the cash they'd luckboxed off me in the previous session. I was up about 20BBs at one stage on the $4/8 table, until the last two hands where I managed to lose with KJ v J6o and then my AA was dominated by QT. Still .. finished about 10BBs up which wasn't too bad.

I also had a Cake table open at the same time which was $3/6 and I had a superb position on the left of 2 massive fish. What followed was a horrendous session, where I ended up with a WTSD of 20% rather than closer to 40% and of those I won a huge 10%. Quite a few were massive pots where some numb nuts would hit their gutshot or flush draw, or even the board would pair losing me the pot, or in a couple hands splitting the pot when I had a big ace versus my opponent calling down with a small ace. Needless to say that did not end well, with me down almost my buy in of 25BBs. Eventually the two fish quit so I had to leave the table as the other guys were basically TAGs.

I then decided to open a couple $1/2 tables on cake and bodog as they were the only juicy tables running. Bodog decided it was time to smash me and several muppets chasing 2 and 3 outers hit them against me on the river .. and i'm left thinking wtf .. why would you call down with that ... anyways eventually a clawed back up to even there as the fish continued to call down with virtually nothing.

The cake $1/2 table was virtually the opposite of my $3/6 experience, even though the table was not quite as good in terms of my position on the fish. I was up by over 25BBs in the first 5 hands, predominantly from the first hand where I had KK with the betting capped 4 ways, flop of KJx was superb for me, and another J on the turn meant that I had the 2nd nuts to JJ, which I wasn't particularly scared of. Was probably a 20BB pot from that hand alone.

All in all I ended up about $50 in two hours, although i'm sure I would have earned a decent chunk of rakeback as well, so I cant complain too much. It could easily have been a lot better though. Must be due for a hot run again soon!

Current Bankroll: $10,750 (+360 Aug)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Horrible session

Had a terrible half hour session on one table where nothing went right. Playing against a bunch of fish, I rarely received a starting hand worth playing and when I did I'd either clean miss the flop, flop a draw that would miss, or get sucked out on the river. The bigger problem was that it was at the $4/8 level where I was getting crucified.

I had two other $1/2 tables open at the same time, and those were running more like a normal session - I even received AA once on each of the tables, although did lose with KK.

All in all I lost a very rapid 30BBs at $4/8 and won about 25BBs at $1/2 for a net loss of around $200. Luckily at the same time I managed to clear my first $100 worth of bonus on Bodog, so that halved the loss for the session.

The last two hands were the story of the session really.

The first one I have Ac8c in MP and raise preflop. A fish cold calls from the SB and the BB also calls. Flop is 9c6c5d. So i've got a flush draw and gutshot and one over to the board. Bet out the flop, get one caller in the SB. Cbet a blank turn, same guy calls. River is As so I bet out again, and then get called. He flips over A9o for 2 pair... so the muppet called an early position raise with A9o from the sb ... That was also my 4th flush draw in the session, and the 4th that had missed.

Final hand I have QJo UTG. I raise preflop and the only caller is a very short stack in the BB where one and a half more bets will put him all in. Flop comes T76r. He checks so I bet and he raises. For only half a bet I of course call with 2 overs. He then flips over J5o. Excellent, he only has three outs. Turn comes a 4, river a 3 to give him a straight. @#%@%@!

At that point in time i've run out of time to play so quit, even though the table was still quite fishy. Disappointing though, as i'm sure I would have got a chunk of it back.

Current bankroll: $10,700 (+360 Aug)

Monday, July 28, 2008

Continuation betting

Well, got all of 10 minutes of play in, and didnt realy move anywhere, so now's as good a time as any to post my thoughts on continuation betting (cbet). For those who aren't aware a cbet is where you are the preflop raiser, and then if you are the first to enter the pot on the flop, you make another bet to show that your hand is still strong.

Since I play shorthanded I cbet almost all the time even when I clean miss the flop. For example:
  • Flop is heads up = cbet every time in position or out of position (if my opponent bets into me its another story). The rare exception might be if my opponent is a calling station who is not going to fold to my cbet when I have missed the flop and won't raise me off the hand.
  • Flop is 3 ways and either one or both opponents have checked = cbet - unless a) my opponent is tricky and likes to checkraise or b) the board is very scary for my hand. Interestingly if i am in the position of my opponent and am not the preflop raiser and I have hit the flop I will quite often checkraise them.
  • If the flop is multiway, say 4 handed or more and I have completely whiffed the flop I generally won't post a cbet, and will even check behind if I have position and all players have checked to me.

Of course if someone simply calls my cbet and I have whiffed the flop then that can make for a tricky turn. Do I cbet again? Well, reasonably often, yes - because normally the hand will be heads up.

  • If my opponent has a low WTSD%, i'm cbetting the turn every time even with air
  • If i've actually hit my hand i'm cbetting 100% of the time
  • If I have a good draw, I'm cbetting 100% of the time, hoping to either get my opponent to fold or praying that I hit the draw on the river. (of course i'd prefer they fold)
  • If I suspect my opponent is weak in any way, i'm cbetting
  • If the board is very scary, I will give it up on the turn and simply check/fold

If somone reraises my flop cbet, I have to make another decision

  • If I have hit the flop and am actually betting for value, I might simply call the reraise, and then raise them up for value on the turn and river. I may also reraise them if I have a good, but vulnerable hand - eg top pair. I may also reraise if I have a good draw and their are multiple people still in the pot.
  • If I have a draw and the pot odds to chase a draw (unless i've already reraised as above)
  • If I whiffed the flop, I may call the reraise if I have reasonable odds to call - maybe if I hold 2 overs and my opponent is aggressive.
  • Often though i'd just let it go and fold if i've completely whiffed and don't have a viable draw. (particularly if i'm up against a passive opponent who I know if they are betting they have a hand).
  • Same applies if I get reraised on the turn.

If they call my turn cbet and I have air, well that really sux. About the only way i'm winning is if I am holding AK and they have KQ, or if the flop was coordinated such as two suited cards or two cards somewhere near a likely straight (say JT), and no other flush or straight card hit.

I occasionally fire a final cbet here if there is a busted flush or straight draw on the board, however, I may also check and call on that same board. I may also check and fold, depending on the opponent really.

Dunno if I missed anything, but thats basically my thinking process - feel free to critique - its always good to find leaks in my game. A couple posts down you can see some real examples of my cbetting. Let me know if you want me to post any more. Of course they don't always go my way, but when your odds are 3:1 you only need your opponent to fold more than one out of four for it to be profitable.

Over the next few days i'll be looking to find some good bonuses for August. Hopefully one of my sites has a decent reload promo. Let me know if you guys see any!!

Current bankroll: $10,800 (+360 Aug)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

In brief

Well found a minute or so to post today.

Played only about another 10 minutes so not much to add, although it did add another $50 to my bankroll. Firstly I flopped a flush in a 4 way contested pot from the BB with 63o. I bet/raised all the way to the river and no other flush cards hit, although an A hit on the turn which kept in two of my opponents. Also won 2 decent pots with multiway action when I had AJo twice in a row and both times flopped two pair which held up.

That however, was followed quickly by a chump calling my KK raise preflop with QJo. Flop was monotone, and neither of my Ks were that suit. The turn was another off suit K, which i'm betting and my opponent is raising away on the flop and turn. Of course when i'm ahead and some muppet is betting into me they manage to hit their 9 outer on the river to take a 15BB pot. GRRR.

Can't really complain though as if the fish weren't calling me down with only slim chances to win the previous pots would have been a lot smaller too.

Current bankroll: $10,800 (+360 Aug)

Weekend post

Probably not going to get time to post tomorrow, so figured i'd throw in a quick update from the weekend.

Got in about 3 hours which began terribly dropping around 30BBs at $3/6 in the first hour, before gradually clawing it back over the next two to finish all square. Probably made a bit out of rakeback, and earned $30 in bonuses, so am actually a little up for the sessions and happy to recover from such a terrible start.

The first hour was horrible with some smart arse playing like a complete muppet, but managing to hit hands like 73o calling raises amongst others. I ended up leaving the table when he left as he was the biggest fish by far on the table. Fish do win sometimes, so i'll keep a lookout for them next time to grab it all back.

Anyways a few hands:

** Wait [Hold 'em] (3.006.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money

- Bren17 sitting in seat 1 with $47.40
- _ScarfACE_ sitting in seat 2 with $162.52 [Dealer]
- Dancat44 sitting in seat 3 with $89.51
- hero sitting in seat 4 with $147.00
- alby1 sitting in seat 5 with $126.01
- Dinov111 sitting in seat 6 with $342.40

Dancat44 posted the small blind - $1.50
hero posted the big blind - $3.00
** Dealing card to hero: 3 of s, 3 of h (not bad at all. will call a raise in the bb if necessary)
alby1 called - $3.00 (limpers nice for implied odds)
Dinov111 folded
Bren17 called - $3.00 (awesome another limper)
_ScarfACE_ raised - $6.00 (hmm ... well i'll definitely call here with the pot already growing)
Dancat44 called - $6.00 (awesome. i'm almost going to have odds to call a raise on the flop to chase down a 3 on the turn at this rate)
hero called - $6.00 (hopefully no reraise. that would be annoying)
alby1 called - $6.00
Bren17 called - $6.00

** Dealing the flop: 10 of c, 3 of c, 2 of h (kaching. 2 clubs are a little annoying though)
Dancat44 bet - $3.00
hero called - $3.00 (lets try to get an overcall or 3)
alby1 called - $3.00 (awesome)
Bren17 folded (damn)
_ScarfACE_ folded (damn)

** Dealing the turn: 5 of d
Dancat44 bet - $6.00
hero raised - $12.00 (time to get some value, and to make the flush draws pay. dont want to risk alby folding and not getting any more value out of Dancat)
alby1 folded (call woulda been better but oh well)
Dancat44 called - $12.00 (ty)

** Dealing the river: 2 of s (gives me the full house. nice)
Dancat44 checked
hero bet - $6.00
Dancat44 folded (jeez not even a call. maybe he was on the flush draw)
hero mucks:
hero wins $66.00 from the main pot

Continuation betting for beginners .... might write about this later on I think

** Wait [Hold 'em] (3.00/6.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money

- _ScarfACE_ sitting in seat 2 with $154.50
- Dancat44 sitting in seat 3 with $0.00 [Dealer] [Sitting out]
- hero sitting in seat 4 with $190.23
- Dinov111 sitting in seat 6 with $349.60

hero posted the small blind - $1.50 (table is now too short. will quit as soon as BB gets back to me)
Dinov111 posted the big blind - $3.00
** Dealing card to hero: 5 of s, 6 of s
_ScarfACE_ folded
hero raised - $6.00 (worth a steal from the sb)
Dinov111 called - $6.00

** Dealing the flop: K of h, K of c, J of c (whiffed)
hero bet - $3.00 (may as well try to steal the pot with only one opponent and I raised preflop)
Dinov111 folded (thanks)
hero mucks:
hero wins $14.40 from the main pot

Its also exactly a year since my first deposit on Full Tilt. I think though i'll do a proper review at December rather than July. I think though its been a pretty decent year so far. Hopefully the next is just as good.

Current Bankroll: $10,750 (+360 Aug)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Waiting ...

Found a superb $4/8 table on Bodog in my one hour session. Unfortunately the table was full, so I added myself to the waiting list, thinking a spot would open up pretty soon as there were three huge fish on the table, and surely one would go broke soon, or with any luck one of the better players would just leave.

Half an hour later, I'm still at #1 on the waiting list. No one had left. Irritating given I don't have that much time to play. Of course in the mean time i'm playing some fishy tables on GNUF to clear my final $50 sign up bonus there. A few minutes later and one of the fish on Bodog busted out so I got my chance. Didnt have ideal position being on the left of one of the tighter players but the table still looked pretty good to me.

I do use the wait lists all the time to make sure I get onto the fishiest (most profitable) tables , but it is unusual to wait for that long when you're the first in the list.

A few hands after sitting down, the second fish left. Now i'm not all that happy. Played a couple orbits and was quickly down 10BBs when none of my hands hit a flop. Then the third fish left the table, so there was no point staying, so I also quit it after about a total of 15 hands.

Gnuf treated me a little better, however, and I found one juicy $3/6 table which I knew would rack up my last few points for my bonus in no time. Unfortunately again, the fish left after about 15 hands, however I was up by 10BBs in that time. Also made a little on the $1/2 and $2/4 tables there even with some very nasty suck outs going against me as a couple fish almost played any two cards.

All in all pretty much even from play, but gained $50 from clearing the bonus. Would have also made a few $ in rakeback, so not a total waste of time.

Also made my first withdrawal from William Hill of around $700. Not too bad considering my initial deposit there was $200 a few months ago, and i've still left myself enough to play on there to get their monthly $50 bonus.

Current Bankroll: $10,750 (+360 Aug)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Another bonus down

Logged into GNUF and saw that I only needed 20 points to clear the $120 PSO bonus, and another 200 or so points to clear another $50 through their own sign up bonus. So I decided to play there for about 20 minutes.

But boy, did the suckouts come thick and fast. Gut shots, runner runner flushes, single overs. I'll have to grab some of the hand histories to post them tomorrow. At my worst point I was down 25BBs on the $2/4 tables, however, managed to make 20 of them back, before once again dropping another 10 to some very fishy opponents.

I did find my fish from the day before, however, he quit soon after I sat down, so that was disappointing.

Still, I guess overall it was a profitable session as the $120 bonus more than makes up for the losses on the table. I dont think I have too many more points left to get to clear the final $50 either, so that will be an extra boost.

Current bankroll: $10,700 (+360 Aug)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

15 minute session

Found a new fish type - the one that is a bit loose prefop - around 39% VPIP, but then if they get any piece of the board or have A high they call down.

Unluckily for me, in 2 of the 3 contests I had against this guy, his A hit on the river. His A2o was too good for me on the board that read K783A with me obviously betting every street with KQo. When I completely misread another player however, my calling down with A high was not quite as succesful. Not really sure why i did it as I had reraised with AQ and missed the flop so was left with only overs. He bet every street and I called down. He showed down 98 which had hit the flop of 832r, and of course I didnt improve. Why he was raising with 98o in the first place is a bit beyond me, but I figure i'll look for him in future.

On another couple tables though I made up for my losses to my new fishy friends, so overall all I achieved was to get a bit closer to clearing my GNUF bonus. That should be another $120 cleared this weekend.

Current bankroll: $10,650 (+360 Aug)

Monday, July 21, 2008

A few hands

Played for about half an hour last night, but only had one $2/4 table on GNUF open as I was watching Topgear at the same time. (GNUF works with pokertracker which was giving me enough of a read on the players, so i didnt bother watching the table close enough to take notes. I'm also about 80% of the way through the bonus there).

Anyways i've picked up almost all the hands that I actually bet / raised in that time out of the 35 or so in total. My VPIP was about 20% so I wasn't actually receiving many starting hands, plus I probably play a little tighter when my attention is distracted with something else. There's no point in playing marginal hands when you're not concentrating 100% - they will only lose you money.

The first pot I was actually involved in contesting for:

** I Need You [Hold 'em] (2.00/4.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- luhelena sitting in seat 1 with $738.31 (maybe someone playing down a level with that much cash bought in with. had limped into all 4 flops when i'd been at the table so appears to be playing very loose.
- swenne sitting in seat 2 with $232.03 [Dealer]
- hitking sitting in seat 3 with $194.65
- newhero sitting in seat 4 with $92.26 (the only other real fish at the table PT said VPIP of 55% and I had position on him .. score)
- Hero sitting in seat 5 with $97.00 (only down by blinds at this stage)
- burlvtm sitting in seat 6 with $0.45 [Sitting out]
hitking posted the small blind - $1.00
newhero posted the big blind - $2.00
** Dealing card to Hero: A of s, K of h (sweet)
Hero raised - $4.00 (always an open raise and 3bet from UTG)
luhelena called - $4.00 (keep callin with trash fishy)
swenne folded
hitking called - $4.00 (hmmm he was playing reasonably tight but only had a few hands on him)
newhero folded
** Dealing the flop: 3 of c, A of d, 8 of s (awesome flop for me)
hitking checked
Hero bet - $2.00
luhelena called - $2.00 (okay fishy, keep calling)
hitking folded
** Dealing the turn: J of s
Hero bet - $4.00
luhelena raised - $8.00 (hmmm .. not a good sign, although this player has folded the river after a bet before)
Hero called - $8.00 (i'm not folding top pair heads up. Calling down now)
** Dealing the river: 10 of c
Hero checked
luhelena checked (checked behind? so i probably take the pot?)
Hero shows: A of s, K of h
luhelena shows: 8 of h, J of c (WTF??)
luhelena wins $32.30 from the main pot (ack)

An orbit later

** I Need You [Hold 'em] (2.00/4.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- luhelena sitting in seat 1 with $766.31 (fishy has played every single hand)
- swenne sitting in seat 2 with $249.18 [Dealer]
- hitking sitting in seat 3 with $180.65
- newhero sitting in seat 4 with $68.26 (has also played the last few hands limping in. aggressively bet with only top pair)
- Hero sitting in seat 5 with $78.00
- burlvtm sitting in seat 6 with $66.55
hitking posted the small blind - $1.00
newhero posted the big blind - $2.00
** Dealing card to Hero: K of c, Q of h (nice, i'm raising this up UTG)
Hero raised - $4.00
burlvtm called - $4.00 (hmmm he had been tight so far ... odd to see a cold call)
luhelena called - $4.00 (as expected)
swenne folded
hitking folded
newhero called - $4.00 (as expected)
** Dealing the flop: J of c, 10 of s, 8 of c (oesd for me ... 2 suited kinda sux)
newhero bet - $2.00
Hero called - $2.00 (pot is paying 9:1 ... i am calling this with 2 overs and nut straight draw. Another club would suck though)
burlvtm folded
luhelena called - $2.00
** Dealing the turn: 3 of s (hmm not the best card)
newhero bet - $4.00
Hero called - $4.00 (hmm pot is at 6:1 ... i really hope it doesn't get raised after me)
luhelena called - $4.00 (ty for just calling .. which makes my call even more worthwhile)
** Dealing the river: A of h (well that gives me the nuts)
newhero bet - $4.00 (ty)
Hero raised - $8.00 (I could go for the overcall, but hey, this chump may even call two cold. I always try to win the maximum)
luhelena folded (damn)
newhero raised - $12.00 (woohooo .. wonder if he has the same as me ... maybe trips?)
Hero raised - $16.00 (i have the nuts ... even if i'm chopping i'd never not raise)
newhero called - $16.00
Hero shows: K of c, Q of h
newhero mucks: A of s, 10 of c (ty very much)
Hero wins $64.00 from the main pot (16BBs .. that's made up for the previous loss and more)

Another orbit later

** I Need You [Hold 'em] (2.004.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- luhelena sitting in seat 1 with $773.41 (i dunno how this person isn't losing tons, but has luckboxed quite a bit with a WTSD of 60% and an W$SD of 100%!!!)
- swenne sitting in seat 2 with $246.18
- hitking sitting in seat 3 with $183.70
- newhero sitting in seat 4 with $25.56 (This dude is still leaking chips ... with the other players tight i will probably quit when he's out .. although the fish in seat 1 may still make it a vialbe table)
- Hero sitting in seat 5 with $118.30 [Dealer]
- burlvtm sitting in seat 6 with $50.65
burlvtm posted the small blind - $1.00
luhelena posted the big blind - $2.00
** Dealing card to Hero: A of c, 10 of d (not bad, but a dangerous hand if it gets reraised)
swenne folded
hitking called - $2.00 (open limp .. this guy is tightish but quite passive)
newhero folded
Hero raised - $4.00 (lets try to get this heads up .. or at least knock out the sb)
burlvtm folded (ty)
luhelena called - $4.00 (chump could have anything).
hitking called - $4.00
** Dealing the flop: Q of s, A of h, 3 of c (nice flop)
luhelena checked
hitking bet - $2.00 (hmm wonder if he hit the A or the Q? or maybe trips?)
Hero raised - $4.00 (lets raise it up and see if he reraises with trips. Hopefully also get luhelena out of the pot in case they have a pocket pair that could suck out)
luhelena folded (good)
hitking called - $4.00 (hmm only called. maybe an A or Q .. still could slow play trips?)
** Dealing the turn: 9 of c
hitking checked
Hero bet - $4.00 (bet out ... if i get raised I will have to make a decision. If i get called i'm seeing the showdown no matter what rivers)
hitking folded (that makes life easier)
Hero mucks:
Hero wins $23.95 from the main pot

** I Need You [Hold 'em] (2.004.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- luhelena sitting in seat 1 with $778.61
- swenne sitting in seat 2 with $237.18
- hitking sitting in seat 3 with $186.45 [Dealer]
- newhero sitting in seat 4 with $10.56
- Hero sitting in seat 5 with $128.25
- burlvtm sitting in seat 6 with $53.65
newhero posted the small blind - $1.00
Hero posted the big blind - $2.00
** Dealing card to Hero: A of d, 8 of d
burlvtm folded
luhelena called - $2.00
swenne folded
hitking folded
newhero folded
Hero checked (hmmm check or raise? normally would raise here, but my hand is a bit marginal and i'm still watchin TV. Probably should raise)
** Dealing the flop: 4 of d, 8 of s, 3 of s
Hero bet - $2.00 TPTK .. worth a bet .. although 2 suited
luhelena called - $2.00 (hmm called .. that doesnt mean a lot with this player)
** Dealing the turn: 10 of s
Hero bet - $4.00 (bet out, hoping to take down the pot since a potential Flush draw has hit
luhelena raised - $8.00 (ack thats not good ... but this player has bluffed a bit, so i'm calling any non spade river)
Hero called - $8.00
** Dealing the river: 7 of d (no spade, and less than 8. excellent card for me)
Hero checked (i play this like any weak hand, thinking that he will only call or raise my bet when he has me beaten, but if i am front and i check he may actually bluff)
luhelena checked
Hero shows: A of d, 8 of d
luhelena mucks: J of h, Q of s (nice .. he was trying to hit his gutshot or the one card flush. i possibly would have played it the same way except for the limping in preflop. Actually I probably would have folded to the flop bet)
Hero wins $23.75 from the main pot

My last hand played for the session:

** I Need You [Hold 'em] (2.004.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- luhelena sitting in seat 1 with $767.36
- hitking sitting in seat 3 with $186.45
- newhero sitting in seat 4 with $10.56
- Hero sitting in seat 5 with $141.00 [Dealer]
- burlvtm sitting in seat 6 with $50.65
burlvtm posted the small blind - $1.00
luhelena posted the big blind - $2.00
** Dealing card to Hero: A of h, K of d (nice again!)
hitking called - $2.00 (he open limps .. again .. chump)
newhero folded
Hero raised - $4.00 (lets try to narrow the field)
burlvtm called - $4.00 (hmm disappointing)
luhelena called - $4.00 (as expected)
hitking called - $4.00
** Dealing the flop: Q of s, 2 of d, 3 of s (arr crap .. that flop sux)
burlvtm checked
luhelena bet - $2.00 (hmm maybe a queen? but the last few hands he has had air on flop bets so I could be in front. Betting into 3 players though is a sign of strength)
hitking folded
Hero called - $2.00 (the next player has been pretty passive, so this is worth a peel i think as I probably won't get raised)
burlvtm folded (nice .. now heads up. I'm almost tempted to call down to the river with a pot this size already)
** Dealing the turn: 9 of c (not a spade .. but doesn't help me much. i wonder if he's on the spade draw)
luhelena bet - $4.00 (hmm he raised the turn earlier on a draw. Pot is big. i'll have a look. I think i still have 6 outs .. but maybe 4. Although i could actually be in front)
Hero called - $4.00
** Dealing the river: A of d (Sweet! top pair, top kicker. Flush draw missed. He could have nothing still. I'm fairly sure i'm in front with that river)
luhelena bet - $4.00
Hero raised - $8.00 (lets make a value bet here. will be a little sick if he reraises)
luhelena folded (nice - i guess he did have air all along or the flush draw)
Hero mucks:
Hero wins $38.20 from the main pot

So all in all, I made about 15BBs there, and played a little later for another 10BBs at $1/2.

Current bankroll: $10,650 (+360 Aug)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Fantastic table that paid off

Didn't actually get too much time to play on the weekend, although did manage to get in almost 2 hours on Saturday. Turned out to be a pretty good couple hours though, as I managed to find two very fish tables.

Firstly on Cake I got on a table which had 4 players that i'd flagged as being reasonably fishy and one unknown. One player turned out to be a bit of a maniac, however, he had a style that i'd never seen before. He would limp into almost every pot, and then raise and sometimes reraise every flop, most turns and the occasional river as well no matter what 2 cards he actually held. It quickly became obvious to try to isolate him and then call down with any reasonable holding such as middle pair, and value bet constantly with any medium/strongish holding, such as top pair or better. He sucked out on a few guys early, and at the $3/6 level that gave him about a $200 stack.

I figured with his style it was only a matter of time before he went broke, so I may as well take as much as possible. Since he only limped preflop, I was getting to see heaps of flops cheaply, so every time one hit, I was able to win a decent amount, and every time I missed, he would win a smallish pot. I didn't have ideal position on the maniac, but since he didn't knock me out of hands preflop with raises it didn't matter as much as it normally would.

On one hand that he 3 bet the turn, raised the river and called my reraise he showed down 63o with no pair and no draw versus my set of jacks. This guy was almost like going to the ATM. By the time he quit and the table broke up I was up around 40BBs.

I also managed to find a nice fishy table on Bodog where there were 4 to 5 players to every flop. Although there was the odd suck out when I was betting strongly, a heap of my hands held up, including AA with 4 players still in the pot and calling my raises on the river. The other guys in the hand showed down bottom pair, or air going for backdoor draws. Made about 25BBs there in pretty quick time, and also made plenty of notes on players that I'd love to play against in future.

Sorry I dont have any hand histories from either cake or bodog, as I cant easily get them into pokertracker the only time I have hands is if i copy and paste them there and then from the active hand history. Generally I played my normal LAG/TAG style, although bluffed less and value bet some more marginal hands due to the calling station nature of my opponents and the specific maniac on Cake.

Current Bankroll: $10,550 (+360 Aug)

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Clearing through the fish

Well, i've been off work, and put in about 8 hours in total over the last couple days, and it has been somewhat painful, although at least still in a positive direction. The first day I hit the $10k mark which I thought was a great result for me, as I still haven't been playing quite a year, and really havent taken too many risks along the way.

Had one huge fish on Bodog complain about me raising all the time, as he continued to limp into pot after pot only to get raised by me in position. Problem was, he managed to suck out way more than his fair share, which was really getting annoying. For some reason he thought that 22 was good in a raised pot in a flop of KJTr, where I was holding AK. 2 on the river though sunk me quick. Every time he had an A he would call down, and about three contests in a row where I was in front of him, he managed to pair his A on the river to take the pot. For example I had KQo on a board of K52 - obiously him with A7o is worth peeling for in this case. Turn of a 2, is still obviously worth calling a raise. River A ... sux. He also managed to hit a flush with Q5o v my KK where the board hit a 4th flush card on the river for his 5 to be good enough to beat me.

Fortunately towards the end of the session he was no longer sucking out quite so often, so for example when I bet every street with KJ on a board that read K99, turn 9, river 4 and he called me down with A2o I made a few BBs back.

At ongame I was on a table with 3 fish with stats around 60/2/0.3/60 ... and of those 60% going to showdown each of them was winning over 50%. The 3 other players on the table including me were just getting slaughtered. My actual winrate at Ongame where i'm clearing the mansion bonus (well have now cleared) was reading at a horrendous -8bb/100 over the first 1,000 hands. I've now got it back to more like -4bb/100 as the tables have remained pretty fishy, and the suckouts aren't coming all that often.

I did let fly a bit in the chat box, before deciding I was way better off keeping quiet and hoping he'd keep playing at the table. In hindsight though I think he was enjoying the banter.

I also played in one of the Cake gold card tournaments, and was actually doing okay in the top 40 of around 1,300 runners when I had to go see the doctor. Bit annoyed that I had to throw it away, although my stack was only a quarter the size of the largest stack, I was definitely still in it. Got about $30 or so from that, so I guess its better than nothing.

With respect to bonuses, I cleared the Mansion bonus, so that should be around $100. Will find out in a couple days. Hopefully also have some decent rakeback/cashback from bodog and cake as well. I think i'm also about 1/3 of the way through my GNUF bonus as well, although i'm having a bit of trouble putting some more $ on that site at the moment.

Current Bankroll: $10,100

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

$10,000 - a new milestone for me!

Just a quick post. Played a good 4 hours today on tables ranging from $1/2 to $4/8. Only problem was that Aussie daytime is generally rubbish for peak poker times, so there was lots of starting on tables then the table disappearing and having to find a new one.

Bodog went down for maintenance just when tables were looking good which was also disappointing.

However, I have finally hit the $10,000 milestone. I also signed up to gnuf through PSO to get some more bonus $, and i'm part way to another $120 there.

Nothing else to exciting in play today. I must admit, I hadn't actually considered that I'd ever make this much in my first year. I worked out that my first deposit was on the 26th of July 2007, so I am very happy with my results thus far.

Current Bankroll: $10,000 (+360 Aug)

Monday, July 14, 2008

Current strategy

Thought i'd better share my overall plan of attack, and then at least I can come back to it and check if i'm doing as planned.

First and foremost, my goal is to have a good rakeback or equivalent cashback VIP deal on all major networks. (and i'm always looking for a potentially better deal on each one.

So far I have a rakeback or cashback VIP deal on the following networks:
  • Fulltilt
  • Ipoker
  • Microgaming/Prima
  • Cryptologic
  • Cake
  • Bodog

If I have a good deal already on a network or the network is too small for me to bother with then I dont mind just hitting up a poker site with a sign up bonus such as through PSO (refer the link on the right).

I've done the pure bonus on:

  • Pokerstars
  • Ongame (hollywood & pokerroom .. hmm i should try to find a VIP deal at ongame ...)

I'm still looking for rakeback deals with higher returns on each network, but if I can't find one i'll simply pick a new sign up bonus offer. Given that i've signed up for a fair few sites now, often I receive a deposit reload bonus offer, which generally boosts the rakeback return quite substantially. It seems pretty rare these days that I don't have a site to play on with a significant overall return of rake paid (sometimes in excess of 100%).

Anyways thats it really...short and simple strategy.

So for the moment i'm playing Bodog for cashback and the first deposit bonus, william hill for the 5 hours played monthly bonus and Cake for rakeback and a reload bonus. Playing a bit of fulltilt for rakeback when there are no juicy tables on the other networks.

As far as actual play goes, I only had about 20 minutes to play, and couldnt' find any decent tables above $1/2 so ended up playing a bit of William Hill for the monthly 5 hour bonus, and a bit of bodog $1/2 where the fish bit me hard when I had two gutshots hit against me as well as a flopped flush with my opponent showing down 82s which he cold called a raise with. Given I didnt have long to play though I didn't really lose much.

Current Bankroll: $9,900 (+360 Aug)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The importance of taking notes

I have occasionally taken notes on tables where poker tracker works, but really haven’t made anywhere near enough so I am probably missing some player weaknesses that I should be exploiting. My main experience in note taking is on cake poker, where pokertracker is not really supported, so I need to rely on my own reads of my opponents rather than the automated heads up display. Interestingly enough, I probably have my highest win rate on Cake, so I guess taking notes really is worthwhile.

Now that I’m also playing on Bodog, where I don’t have the software to import statistics into pokertracker, I’m finding that it is extremely useful to take notes on my opponents. Problem is though, since I’m not used to it, I can only really have one table open to concentrate on the game and take notes as well. I figure over time I should be able to increase my table numbers, but for now I’m just getting used to the note taking side, and watching and remembering all plays by my opponents.

At the moment a players note might read something like:

ol utg 73s, ol button
callr 64o BB
cb F, no cb T
cd 3rd pair F

which would translate to:

open limped under the gun with 73s. open limped on the button
Called raise with 64o in the BB
Continuation bet the flop, but gave up on the turn.
Called to river with 3rd pair on flop

So this would be a reasonably loose and passive opponent (possibly a calling station), that I would love to have position on. I’d be interested to know if anyone out there has some other shorthand they use for note taking, or if there is any kind of standard out there for representing the various plays.

How did the weekend’s play go? Well I managed to get in a little under 2 hours of play in total. Played on a super loose and maniacal $3/6 table on Cake and had a terrible, terrible run of cards.

My VPIP was 8% over about 90 hands. I just received nothing at all preflop, and the few times I did get something, I won about 50% of the time. All in all dropped about 20BBs in about half an hour. I even had one guy three betting me with 64o and bluffing to the river v my AA flopping a set, but since I was rarely playing a hand, the blinds were gradually eating me alive.

Bodog however turned it around after a very slow start where the $1/2 fish took me for 25BBs when I could not hit a flop. I then found some players on the $4/8 table that I had some good notes on, and took some more notes. There were at least 3 fish on the table, and it was just a case of value betting my made hands, and folding when I missed. My opponents were calling me down constantly with dominated hands, or hands where I had flopped the nuts or near to it. I did suck out a couple, however, they were hands like where I had QQ preflop, but villain had 44. Flop came JT4 all clubs which matched my Qc. The flop was bet into me which I raised. Turn was a blank which got bet into me and I raised again, but got reraised. Made a crying call and a club hit on the river. His set of 4s was no good and I took down a big pot.

Another hand of note when I had QQ again, I was up against 2 runners who called my preflop bet. Flop was T98r so I’ve obviously bet out and got called again by both. Turn was a J. I bet out and get called. River an A so again I bet out hoping not to see KQ. My opponents showed 77 for the bottom end of the straight and AJo for top pair, giving me another nice pot.

Of course there were a few suckouts along the way, but I took down over 50BBs all up for the sessions.

Current Bankroll: $9,900 (+360 Aug)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

The fish do the hunting

Found some fantastic $4/8 tables in a half hour session yesterday. Unfortunately it resulted in me quickly dropping 40BBs before recovering 15BBs by sessions end.

The tables were great, with 3-5 players seeing most flops, and often just limping in. Plus I had perfect position on one of them sitting on the left of a massive fish. That being said I managed to get caned by:
  • having 5 flush draws on the flop and missing all but one, where the one was a rare hand with only 2 runners and the 2nd runner folded on the turn
  • opponents hitting flush draws v my 2 pair having cold called raises with 92s and 85s
  • my 2 pair hitting on the turn which hit someone's gutshot with 56o
  • my AK raised preflop and flopping a K not holding up against the call from the big blind holding 62o
  • Running KK into AA from a limping fish

The few hands I seemed to win were when I had someone dominated and flopped top pair. AJ held up against J7o and KQ held up against K8o. At the same time my JT managed to lose to T9 on a flop of T98 when the turn produced another 9, and my AK also lost to AT when the flop was AT3r.

I know these tables should be very profitable, so I will continue to seek them out.

Overall a supremely disappointing session though, apart from recovering a bit towards the end. Surely the card will run better next time. I know I played well and didnt tilt at all so I am still confident of tearing them apart next time.

Current Bankroll: $9,650 (+360 Aug)

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Viruses :(

Well .. was hoping to get in a good hour on the tables last night, but instead scored myself a pop up virus that I had to try to get rid of before I could do anything. Two hours later and I thought it was clean, but turning on my machine this morning and its come back ... ARGH

I first did a virus scan, which only picked up a heap of tracking cookies which it deleted. Still infected. I then downloaded spybot, ran that, and that detected a few problems which it fixed. Still infected. Downloaded a malware remover, which did do some fixing, however, was being blocked by spybot which was actually protecting the virus. However, I thought it was clean, and the pop ups seemed to be gone. Played a bit of poker, then fast forward to this morning and the popups are back. Time to run a deep malware scan, which I will get the results on later.

For my 20 minute poker session, I managed to actually run okay. Found some super fishy tables on bodog, as well as one on cake and made around 12bbs mostly on $1/2 but a few on $4/8. I've also finished my 24poker $1,000 sign up bonus with my last $50 being credited, so i'm now on the VIP deal there instead.

I do actually need to find another bonus to clear now, as i'm finding often with Bodog there aren't enough tables running that suit me (ie full 6max tables and fishy). That, and the fact you can only open 3 tables at a time means that I want to multitable another site at the same time.

Anyways, hopefully my virus is gone by tonight. Will do some more rebooting and scanning before I play again to make sure its properly fixed.

Current bankroll: $9,850 (+360 Aug)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Taking on the maniac

A short half hour but annoying session nonetheless. Although in the end I came out basically even.

Had 4 tables running - 2 @ $1/2 and 1 @ $2/4 at 24 and 1 at $1/2 on bodog. The 2 $4/8 tables that were running at the time on bodog didn't look fishy enough so I passed on them. All the tables I was on again had at least 2 fish and no TAGs with optimum statistics, so I was pretty happy with my table selection.

Anyways, on 3 of the tables I was running reasonably well, up probably 4 or 5 BBs, but on the 4th against a maniac, I managed to end up down 15BBs.

I guess I need to understand that variance will be high against maniacs, and I appeared to be on the bad side of variance in this session. He was capping the betting preflop with hands like 86s, and when up against my JJ he would of course hit his trips on the river to sink me, or in another hand when I had 2 pair on the flop with AT, he managed to hit his gutshot straight with his 98 turning a 6 and rivering a 7, with me obviously betting the whole way. He also bet, raised and reraised his nut flush draw and managed to hit it on the river when I held the top pair and one of the flush cards.

Of course with him playing all this crap I was always happy to cap the betting with hands as weak as AJ or KQ preflop. Unfortunately the suck outs came a little too often for my liking.

Overall ended fairly even, and am probably quite close to clearing another $50 on 24, so I can't really complain. Just a bit annoying that the maniac guy ended up with stats looking like 75 (vpip)/40 (pfr) / AF 5 / wtsd 50 / W$SD 65 .... which is a lot hotter than i've managed to run for a while.

Current Bankroll: $9,750 (+360 Aug)

Monday, July 7, 2008

Misclicks ....

I don't actually misclick all that often, and my most common one is more from me not paying enough attention ... ie I steal raise believing i'm first in, but in fact someone has already raised before and I am 3 betting. Sometimes it still actually works, but can also get me into a bit of trouble ...

However, the other day I did have a nasty one. I was on the button with JTs but was about to stop playing, so I was trying to uncheck the autopost blinds box. That box is on the right hand side of the table, but for some reason when the action came to me at the same time, it folded me, which is doubly weird because the fold button is actually on the left, and the autopost box is actually closer to the raise button.

Of course my would have been flush flopped, and at the showdown, the small blind turned over KK which would have been drawing virtually dead to my flush, and the big blind flipped over a flopped two pair, which didn't improve by the river. It also happened to be on the $4/8 table, so would have been a good $50 - $100 pot. Annoying to say the least, although if I had played the hand, I probably wouldn't have flopped the flush.

For my almost half hour session last night though, I had 4 $1/2 tables open on 24poker (all with at least 2 fish), in an attempt to clear my last $100 in bonus cash which I realised doesnt expire for another 4 days. Probably got 200 hands in so must be close to clearing the next $50, and after quickly going 20BBs down with the fish showing down some rude two pair suck out on the river hands, I clawed it back and ended 20BBs up when I managed to actually score some great starting hands that didn't get sucked out on (AA twice, my other pocket pairs flopped trips twice as well as AQ holding up). Its good to know that these guys are going to chase every time and call down all my value bets. In the long run, even though the suckouts are frustrating, these players are my bread and butter.

Current bankroll: $9,750 (+360 Aug)

Sunday, July 6, 2008

How to win 20BBs in 2 hands ...

Put in about 2.5 hours on the weekend in total which is probably about average for me over a weekend.

One short session friday night, where the fish were killing me, and I lost 20BBs to basically one fish who was managing to hit every gutshot, flush draw and 2 or 3 outers when I had them dominated. Luckily it was only at the $1/2 tables on 24. Would have been very frustrating but my chat with 24poker customer service lead them to releasing another $100 in bonus $, so I actually ended at $9,500 with my bankroll. Still annoying nonetheless.

My second session, however, gave me the title for this post. Saturday morning played about 1.5 hours, and the very first hand of the session I looked at KK in the big blind. It was raised before me, and another player called before I reraised. Flop was AK7r ... absolutely brilliant! Anyways with a bit of raising and calling I took down about a 15BB pot to put me 10BBs up in one hand.

Very next hand, I get AhKh in the SB and raise preflop with 3 callers. Sweet ... flop Jh7h2c. Drawing to the nuts here and have 2 overs which may also be live. I raise .. wouldnt mind taking the pot down here .. but 3 guys call. Turn is a blank, but I decide to bet into the 3 runners. I'd prefer not to be reraised here though .. maybe I shouldnt raise at that point. Only gets called and the river is a sweet heart. My bet gets folded by 2 players and raised by the last. Kaching. He had two pair in the end, so another big pot for me. It was looking like a good session.

My heater continued on another table where I was doing my William Hill bonus. At one point early on I had KQ and the flop was KcKdJc which I bet and got a caller all the way to the river. The turn was a Q giving me the nuts, and boy was I happy to be called down.

Ended up making about 50BBs at the $1/2 level and 15BBs on $4/8 in that 1.5 hours (although that includes $30 in time played bonuses from WH).

My last session, I had a good run on one table, but a fish on another was cleaning me out. His VPIP of 65% and AF of 0.5 meant that he was pretty fishy, but when his 2 pair hit his two outer to the full house against my flopped nut straight with the flush draw also on the river in a 15BB pot, that really was the story of the session. Broke even overall though for the session so can't really complain.

I think my 24poker sign up bonus is about to expire, so will wait and see what VIP deal they offer me to determine if I play there some more. Gotta say it has been a good experience on that site ..even though i've nearly been chat banned a few times ....

I also had a quick look at my William Hill stats for the year, and jeez that has been a huge heater!! I am running over a ridiculous 7PTBB/100 for the last 4,000 hands. Guess i can't complain there :)

Hmm .. might have to post my bonus/rakeback theories in the next post. This one is already pretty long. Hopefully will also jump onto some higher stakes tables shortly too. There's just no point though with the William Hill bonus or the 24bonus. Bodog, however, is another story, and if i see a $4/8 fishy table running there I will be straight on!

Current Bankroll: $9,700 (+360 Aug)

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Rakeback on non rakeback sites

Only time for a quick post, but hopefully a useful one.

Just got an email from rtr saying that Littlewoods is likely to join Pacific Poker network this year ... which means that by having an account on Littlewoods with rakeback, hopefully that rakeback will also be transferred over.

Since Pacific don't actually pay rakeback, this looks like a pretty good way to get over there with rakeback. Hopefully it all works out. Now that I think about it, I probably should post my overall rakeback/bonus strategy sooner or later.

Since one of my strategies is to have a long term rakeback account on every site, this is a huge bonus to me, so anyone else interested, and without an account on littlewoods, i'd suggest signing up there ... even through my RTR link on the right which i'd appreciate ... :) ... also try to clear the ipod bonus this month as well for a little extra bonus that they have running at the moment.

Will do an update tomorrow from the weekend .. so far travelling okay after a terrible start and the fish killing me, I turned it around and slaughtered a few fish.

cheers

Thursday, July 3, 2008

The bodog fish pay off this time

Had another of my huge 20 minute sessions, but found some more fishy (ie brilliant) tables on Bodog ranging in stakes from $1/2 to $4/8. $4/8 is the largest stakes i've played more than 5 hands on so far.

My notes on one table read for every player except one "open limp utg" followed normally by an example of what they open limped with, which was usually some very loose / dominated hand. Sweet. There was only one LAG on the table, who was often fairly aggressive post flop, but would often fold to any resistance.

I dont think I ever got actually raised off my BB which is a refreshing change, although I was of course playing my usual LAG/TAG style and stealing blinds and reraising with all my good hands. I only got sucked out on a couple times early, and after that my hands were holding up quite well ... some players seemed to think K5o was a good hand and were betting into me when i'm holding AK/KQ on a K high board. Nice. Only really made 20BBs but that's pretty decent for such a short session I think.

One hand is shown below..
And a big FU to my ability to convert hands using bodog .. it just aint goin to copy and paste well into blogger .... so apologies if it looks a bit messy

Limit $4/8
Ante/Small blind $ 2.00 benandgerry
Big blind/Bring in $ 4.00 tibbado
Dealt to Hero Ks 10s
nocards819 Fold $ 0.00
dmsy800 Raise $ 8.00 (the one aggro player on the table, had been raising reasonably light)
tibbado Fold$ 0.00
Hero Raise $ 10.00 (i reraise probably a little light, but I would like to play this hand heads up by getting the big blind to fold)
benandgerry Call $ 8.00 (call is disappointing ... but a 3 bet would have been worse. this guy has been a pretty big fish)
dmsy800 Call $ 4.00 (good his hand isnt big enough to 3 bet .. although now i'm out of position against 2 opponents. i'm going to need to hit the flop hard.)

Betting round completed Last active pot = $34.50

Card dealt to table 3s 2s 5s (bingo)
Hero Bet $ 4.00 (have to bet out here, as it could easily get checked through. Even if i'd missed i'd probably bet here hoping to steal the pot since i was the preflop raiser. You can probably guess I very very rarely slow play.)
benandgerry Call $ 4.00 (good)
dmsy800 Call $ 4.00 (even better! although I dont really want another spade as someone could be drawing to the As)

Betting round completed Last active pot = $46.00

Card dealt to table Ad (pretty good card for me, as it gives someone with a 4 a straight .. also pairs a big ace which is also a bonus)
Hero Bet $ 8.00 (obviously bet out hoping to get called by anyone who has just hit a decent piece of the board)
benandgerry Call $ 8.00 (bingo)
dmsy800 Call $ 8.00 (awesome!)

Betting round completed Last active pot = $70.00

Card dealt to table 3h (that is NOT a good card for me .. pairing the board is almost the only way I can lose this pot. However, I am still thinking anyone who had trips before might have put in a raise on the flop or turn to charge anyone on the flush draw ... although the fish probably doesnt play with that much thought, the LAG would)
Hero Bet $ 8.00 (i'm still betting for value from either a big ace or that missed flush draw .. will be a little sick if i get reraised)
benandgerry Call $ 8.00 (only a call .. nice)
dmsy800 Fold $ 0.00 (guess he was chasing the flush)

Betting round completed Last active pot = $86.00
Hero wins Show card: FlushKs 10s 5s 3s 2s
benandgerry Muck card Ah 2h (hmm he was probably in a tough spot there ... gutshot to the straight, although he would have lost to any spade. He was probably hoping I had a big Ace, particularly when he's hit 2 pair on the turn. Still .. he called a reraise from the BB with a relatively weak holding so was asking for trouble)

Although that hand is really not all that representative (and is my second flopped flush this week!!) because I won a lot of pots with a smaller hands. However, its always nice to flop the 2nd nuts into two opponents!

Current bankroll: $9,450 (+360 Aug)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Frustrating fish...

Got in a good hour last night, although there weren't good enough tables running for me to have 3 or 4 open at a time.

Was quite an irritating session, as I was often in front, only to get rivered by a gutshot or some other random 3,4 or 5 outer that was chased from the flop. Of course the two times I had an open ended straight draw/flushdraw giving me around 15 outs completely missed, and the one time muppet bets into me when I raised preflop with TT he hits his runner runner straight with JTo. For some reason my big pairs were delivering me pain .. even when one of my pair cards matched one of my opponents cards. Lost around $150 although a lot of that ended up being on a $4/8 table, where I endured a couple nasty suckots and ended up down around 15BBs there alone.

I did sign up to Bodog though through rakebackstat - refer my link on the right. And i've already cleared $50 in bonus cash there. And boy were the tables there fishy. Most flops were being seen by 3 or 4 players, and often dominated hands were being played by my opponents. Unfortunately for me, they were hitting their second pair quite often. Like Q2o calling my preflop raise with KK, only to hit the 2 on the flop and a Q on the turn .... and the runner runner straight I mentioned earlier. Pretty sure i'll play a fair bit on there, at least whilst i'm bonus clearing. It seems to work quite well - you have 30 days to clear as much bonus as you can, and at the end of the 30 days they pay you what you have cleared. You dont need to clear the whole amount even.

I guess my night can be summed up in the following hands:

** I Need You [Hold 'em] (2.00/4.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- Hero sitting in seat 1 with $127.30
- solost sitting in seat 3 with $109.00
- Novice101 sitting in seat 4 with $52.27
- doekoe76 sitting in seat 5 with $93.70 [Sitting out]
- Nilo123 sitting in seat 6 with $91.55 [Dealer]
Hero posted the small blind - $1.00
solost posted the big blind - $2.00**
Dealing card to Hero: A of h, A of d (nice!)
Novice101 folded
Nilo123 raised - $4.00 (bonus!)
Hero raised - $6.00
solost folded
Nilo123 called - $6.00
** Dealing the flop: 10 of s, K of h, 10 of h (not a bad flop. if he has a T i'm toast, but if he has a K he's goin to be payin me off quite nicely. FD is there but I have Ah)
Hero bet - $2.00
Nilo123 called - $2.00 (hopefully he has something like AK, maybe KQ. QJ is a possibility which would be bad for me.
** Dealing the turn: 4 of h (hmm FD has hit giving me a draw to the nut Flush)
Hero bet - $4.00
Nilo123 called - $4.00 (guess he doesnt have the flush)
** Dealing the river: Q of c (nice card .. that hits his QJ but doesnt beat me as it doesnt give a straight)
Hero bet - $4.00
Nilo123 called - $4.00
Hero shows: A of h, A of d
Nilo123 shows: J of c, A of c
Nilo123 wins $32.30 from the main pot (ummm ... he has called a pure gutshot, with a FD on the board?? and then hit on the river .. omfg)

I Need You [Hold 'em] (2.00/4.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- Hero sitting in seat 1 with $52.95
- schimmi23 sitting in seat 2 with $202.65
- LVASIANGRLS sitting in seat 3 with $169.90 [Dealer]
- Novice101 sitting in seat 4 with $72.67
- doekoe76 sitting in seat 5 with $96.65
- Nilo123 sitting in seat 6 with $77.30
Novice101 posted the small blind - $1.00
doekoe76 posted the big blind - $2.00
** Dealing card to Hero: K of h, K of s (kaching)
Nilo123 called - $2.00 (limping fish)
Hero raised - $4.00
schimmi23 folded
LVASIANGRLS called - $4.00 (calling 2 cold ... fish)
Novice101 called - $4.00 (hmm another call .. small pair maybe? suited connector?)
doekoe76 folded
Nilo123 called - $4.00 (probably more callers than i'd really like)
** Dealing the flop: Q of h, 10 of s, 8 of d (not bad .. although a little too connected for my liking)
Novice101 checked
Nilo123 checked
Hero bet - $2.00
LVASIANGRLS raised - $4.00 (thanks, i need the field to be a bit smaller)
Novice101 called - $4.00 (hmm calling 2 .. must have hit a decent piece of the flop .. straight draw?)
Nilo123 folded
Hero raised - $6.00 (they are going to have to pay to draw out on me
LVASIANGRLS called - $6.00
Novice101 called - $6.00
** Dealing the turn: 7 of d (gives a 9 an OESD)
Novice101 checked
Hero bet - $4.00 (they are still going to need to pay to draw. Hoping they simply have a Q)
LVASIANGRLS called - $4.00
Novice101 called - $4.00
** Dealing the river: 2 of d (hmm backdoor flush draw has hit)
Novice101 checked
Hero bet - $4.00
LVASIANGRLS called - $4.00
Novice101 raised - $8.00 (couldnt be .... could it)
Hero called - $8.00
LVASIANGRLS folded
Novice101 shows: 6 of d, J of d (ummm called 2 cold preflop with this?? then called 2 cold on the flop with only a gutshot ... OMFG ... $#^$#^#!)
Hero mucks: K of h, K of s
Novice101 wins $65.00 from the main pot

Current bankroll: $9,300

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Down / Up start to July

Got in a half hour session, which started quite badly when I missed 3 flush draws and a straight draw in multiway pots. Couple of them were quite large so it was disappointing to say the least!

Gradually scored it back though, as I had 4 tables open the whole time and had position on a fish on every single table. Was kinda handy as I only had to close one table when it tightened up, but found a replacement almost straight away.

Received another $50 bonus from 24poker. Only $150 to go there, which won't take long. Not sure if I will keep playing there under my VIP deal. I may do so, as its still reasonably soft. Maybe it will be a longer term option for me .... I'm also at least halfway to the next $50 release so the month is at least starting in the black.

I'm now very likely to go on the bodog deal. Looks like I can clear around $500 in bonus cash there in maybe 15 hours play or even less. (assuming the maths I do in my head is accurate ....).

Oh I can also confirm I did get $200 from the Littlewoods rake race which is handy, but I already included that in June's figures.

Anyways a couple of hands for interest:

This one I knew I was in trouble, but I think i'd play it the same way in future ... Medium and small aces can often suck!

** Inarijärvi [Hold 'em] (1.00/2.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- hatemycards sitting in seat 1 with $111.62
- _Zappa_ sitting in seat 2 with $63.22 [Dealer]
- Hero sitting in seat 3 with $50.00
- vainothebig sitting in seat 4 with $35.81
- simarcel sitting in seat 5 with $52.12
- pseudocode sitting in seat 6 with $51.62
Hero posted the small blind - $0.50
vainothebig posted the big blind - $1.00
** Dealing card to Hero: 9 of d, A of d (not bad ...)
simarcel called - $1.00
pseudocode folded
hatemycards raised - $2.00
_Zappa_ folded
Hero called - $2.00 (hmm limper followed by a raiser. Limper was passive though so as long as he doesn't reraise i'm in okay shape)
vainothebig raised - $3.00 (dammit)
simarcel called - $3.00 (good .. i need some implied odds if I hit)
hatemycards raised - $4.00 (double dammit ... AA-TT? AK?)
Hero called - $4.00 (hmmm not so sure about calling 2 cold here .. but it will be 4 ways)
vainothebig called - $4.00
simarcel called - $4.00
** Dealing the flop: 3 of d, 4 of c, A of h
Hero checked (hmm now in front of KK-TT .. but AA is ugly as well as AK. Also have a backdoor flushdraw which isnt worth too much)
vainothebig bet - $1.00 (as expected)
simarcel folded
hatemycards folded
Hero called - $1.00 (wow 2 folds before me in a big pot (17sbs)... I have top pair / bdfd. Hoping he has KK-TT so I will play it like way ahead/way behind and check/call down ... i wonder if that is the correct thinking?)
** Dealing the turn: 7 of h (blank but now no flush draw for me)
Hero checked
vainothebig bet - $2.00
Hero called - $2.00 (not folding in a $20 pot for $2 with top pair... still hoping he has that big pair)
** Dealing the river: 5 of d (blank .. no way he has the 2 with that preflop betting)
Hero checked
vainothebig bet - $2.00
Hero called - $2.00 (still not folding in a $24 pot for $2 with top pair... still hoping he has that big pair)
vainothebig shows: A of s, K of s (dammit)
Hero mucks: 9 of d, A of d
vainothebig wins $24.70 from the main pot

Inducing a bluff ... I think I win quite a bit like this, but at the same time I probably miss a few value bets.

** Ticket to Ride [Hold 'em] (2.00/4.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- Ullestad sitting in seat 1 with $660.61 [Dealer]
- plutanium sitting in seat 2 with $124.33
- Hero sitting in seat 3 with $84.20
- Dille82 sitting in seat 5 with $299.65- rorschakh sitting in seat 6 with $18.35
plutanium posted the small blind - $1.00
Hero posted the big blind - $2.00*
* Dealing card to Hero: 10 of c, 4 of d (yuk)
Dille82 folded
rorschakh folded
Ullestad called - $2.00 (hmm open limping? small pair? small suited connector? whatever he's got that's a dumb way to play opening from the button)
plutanium folded
Hero checked
** Dealing the flop: 10 of d, J of d, 3 of d (nice .. mid pair and its heads up)
Hero bet - $2.00 (bet my pair - i dont want him to hit a bigger pair or 2 pair. Would not be unhappy if he folds)
Ullestad called - $2.00 (hmm .. okay .. maybe he has something ... 2 diamonds? no he'd probably raise, maybe 98? he'd probably raise with a J I think)
** Dealing the turn: J of h (okay doesn't really change the hand)
Hero bet - $4.00 (hopefully he folds to this bet)
Ullestad called - $4.00 (dammit!!)
** Dealing the river: 8 of d (hmm flush card has hit ... not really a good sign)
Hero checked (I have a mid strength hand, so dont really want to fold to a raise if i bet out. Maybe he will bluff at the board with the flush card?)
Ullestad bet - $4.00 (wouldn't have minded him checking behind here, but i'm not folding 2nd pair where he has shown no strength in the hand. I'm hoping he actually hit that 8 and has a worse pair ... praying he didnt have Q9)
Hero called - $4.00
Ullestad shows: K of h, Q of s (didnt expect him to have such a strong starting hand given he limped from the button. Too bad for him!)
Hero shows: 10 of c, 4 of d
Hero wins $23.75 from the main pot

Continuation betting ... I like to continuation bet most flops unless its a multiway pot and I have whiffed. I think I also continuation bet something like 80% on the turn - 40% of the time I have a hand, 20% I have a draw, and 20% I have air!

** Ingenvinus [Hold 'em] (2.004.00 Fixed - $ Cash Game) Real Money
- stoffeol sitting in seat 1 with $139.66
- rorschakh sitting in seat 2 with $60.00
- Hero sitting in seat 3 with $97.00 [Dealer]
- CES sitting in seat 4 with $85.65
- geomix3 sitting in seat 5 with $835.29
- plutanium sitting in seat 6 with $46.41
CES posted the small blind - $1.00
geomix3 posted the big blind - $2.00
** Dealing card to Hero: J of s, 8 of s (not real strong but in my steal range from the button if folded to me)
plutanium folded
stoffeol folded
rorschakh folded
Hero raised - $4.00 (steal!)
CES folded
geomix3 called - $4.00 (dammit!)
** Dealing the flop: 6 of c, 7 of h, A of d (whiffed)
geomix3 checked (okay good .. he's either weak or goin for a check raise)
Hero bet - $2.00 (i'm hoping to steal the pot here)
geomix3 called - $2.00 (double dammit! but at least he didn't check raise ... although he is a bit of a passive fish ....)
** Dealing the turn: J of h (okay that has significantly improved my hand but I could be behind)
geomix3 checked
Hero bet - $4.00 (i'd probably bet here even if the turn missed me, hoping he folds)
geomix3 called - $4.00 (hmm thats not really a good sign .... does he have an A? a 6? a 7? 2 hearts? 45? 89? T9?)
** Dealing the river: 6 of s (whats the bet he has a 6? or an A?)
geomix3 checked
Hero checked (hmm he checked which is pretty weak again .. should I value bet here, or just check behind. If I got raised here i'd probably call it, so maybe I will just check behind to make sure I see the showdown. Against a TAG I think i'd value bet, but against this passive fish i'm a bit concerned .. maybe I am thinking wrong!)
geomix3 shows: 4 of s, 8 of h (hmm he chased a gutshot with no other draw. *makes note to always try to find this guy to play against*)
Hero shows: J of s, 8 of s
Hero wins $19.95 from the main pot

Current bankroll: $9,350