A Session for the Ages?

Results: 1 hour played; up $3.50

Well this evening's sessions wasn't one for the ages, but at least it was positive. There weren't very many memorable hands. On one, I flopped a flush and slowplayed it perfectly; this was probably my biggest win. On another, I made my ace-high straight on the turn and was beaten by a flush on the river. Otherwise, it was a pretty boring session, and I didn't really play very many hands.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

posted by Kent @ 8:00 PM 1 comments

Starting to Doubt Myself

Results: 1 hour played; down $11

I'm really beginning to rethink if Bet365 is where I need to be playing. I'm down about $55 since starting here (including tournament winnings) and I've played 200 raked hands for a $20 bonus. Maybe this is within the normal bankroll swings, but it doesn't feel right to me.

I'm going to play three more 1-hour sessions and reevaluate. If I'm up or even, I'll play three more. If I'm down, I'll make sure that I've played another 100 raked hands and pull up stakes.
If it's not fun, there's no reason to continue.

posted by Kent @ 9:44 PM 1 comments

Busted Out in the Money

Results: 3 hours played; up $6.50 (freeroll tournament)

I finished the tournament 190/10,000 for $6.50. I thought I had the hand I wanted to double up with, but it wasn't to be. I was dealt AhQh on the button and raised 2 limpers for 1/4 of my stack with one caller (BB). The flop was KcAdKh, it was checked to me, and I raised 1/2 my stack; the other player called. The turn was 7s and I went all in; the other player called and showed pocket kings. He slow-played perfectly; I took the bait and ran with it.

In any case, this was a real learning experience for me. For the first hour or so, I waited for premium hands and either went all in or pushed out a large bet (1/5 of my stack). There were many callers. Also, for the first two tables, 1/2 of the players were link-dead (they didn't show up). Any time I was in position, I stole their blinds. This got me up to the top 50 in chips.

The second hour was similar, except when I had the opportunity to put a short stack all-in, I took it with any playable hand. As my stack increaded, I started bullying the mid-stack players; if they wanted to play with me, they'd have to go all in. I got up to the top 30 in chips.

When we got within 30 spots of the bubble, the play really tightened up, so I took the opportunity to steal blinds when possible. I topped out at the top 20 in chips, then lost a couple of the hands where I was being aggressive. I coasted for a bit waiting for a hand to double up, and chose the wrong one.

I don't know it the three hours was worth $6.50, but I'll definately do this again. You get a whole lot of poker with no risk, and the winner took home $960.

I'm going to take a little break then play some ring games for a bit.

posted by Kent @ 2:52 PM 5 comments

A Few Sit-n-Go's

Results: 2.5 hour played; up $4.75

Even though I should be working on clearing the bonus, I've been playing more sit-n-go tournaments. Now that I feel like I know what I'm doing, I started enjoying them more. Last night I came in 2nd in a $.75 buy-in tournament, and this morning I came in third in a $2.50 buy-in tournament. I've signed up for the $5,000 freeroll tournament this afternoon, but with 10,000 players, it's going to be tough. If I bust out, I'm going over to the ring games to clear some hands.

I usually don't like to share my bad beat stories, but here's my last hand from the last tournament. If I had won the hand, I would have been in position to win the tournament. My stack was almost tied with the chip-leader's before the hand, and the short stach was really short.

I had 6J in the big blind, and the chip-leader called from the small blind. The flop came 668 and he bet. I put in a pot-sized raise (hoping for a fold or a bad call), and he went all in. When I called, he showed AK and needed some improvement. At this point, I was feeling pretty good, but he got runner-runner aces for a boat to put me out. You win some you lose some.

The tournament starts in forty minutes, so I'm going to get something to eat and drink before the game starts. Wish me luck!

posted by Kent @ 11:00 AM 0 comments

Site Administration Tip

I read an article on Doubleas site about using BlogRolling to help with the management of links on your blog. Since it looked easier than having to edit the template every time I add a link, I started using it for the blog links on this site. If you haven't used it yet, I'd suggest taking a look at their site.

posted by Kent @ 8:39 PM 0 comments

Back in the Action

Results: 2 hours played; up $9

I finally was able to play some poker last night and again this morning. Last night I played three 10-player $2.50 no limit tournaments on Bet65. The results were 2nd, 3rd, and 5th for the three games for a profit of $4. This morning I played for an hour of .25/.50 limit poker and was up $5. I doubt if I had any hands count towards the bonus, but it's been so long since I played limit poker, I thought I'd ease back into it.

I should get in a substantial amount of play this weekend, so I'll post more over the next two days.

I did some searches this afternoon and found a new link to my page, so I'm adding one back to Hometown Poker. Thanks Drewspop!

posted by Kent @ 11:17 AM 1 comments

A Couple Interesting Home Games

Results: 8 hours played; up $115 (doesn't count towards bankroll)

While the computer was down two weekends ago, I played a home game to keep me sharp. It was a ten player, $10 buy-in no limit hold 'em tournament; after the first one was finished, we played a second six-handed $10 tournament. They were interesting games, but I lost both.

On the first hand of the first tournament, I was dealt AKs in middle position. Everyone limped to me ($100 bb), and I raised $500. A few hands to my left, someone went all in, and I called. He had pocket 10's. By the river, I would win with a 10 for a straight, any heart for a flush, or an A or K for top pair (16 outs or 1.88 to 1), but I never improved.

In the second tournament, I made it to third place, but only the top two payed. The guy who came in first place misplayed a couple hands to let the short stack stay in the game, and he ended up coming in second place. It was a fun evening, but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth even though I only lost $20.

Last night, I played in another home game. We had six players, and played 3 $10 buy-in no limit tournaments with one rebuy allowed during the first hour. I won all three tournaments for a total of $135.

I won the the first one (no rebuy) playing pretty conservatively. After winning the first tournament, I played very loose in the second tournament and eventually had to rebuy. At times, my aggressive play hacked off the other players. I called a fairly large bet with 87s pre-flop (the bet felt like a bluff), and ended up beating two pair with a flush; the loser was pissed at my call. In the third tournament, I played pretty much by the book, but the cards just kept falling for me.

Over the course of the two evenings, was involved in some play that I thought I should share. Most of this is common sense, but each could be the difference between winning and losing a close tournament. Maybe these will help someone else:

• If someone goes all in, check down unless you have the nuts
There were four of us in the hand, and the short stack went all in. After one check, the chip leader raised (fairly large) and one of the others folded. The short-stack won the hand and the folding player folded the winning hand (he would have drawn a flush). Unless you have the nuts, you're better off having as many players as possible draw against the single player to get him out of the tournament.


• The goal of the tournament is to get each of the other players to lose all of their money
The short stack was in the hand with one other player who bet enough to put the short stack in with 90% of his chips. He said, "I'll leave you a few." The short stack lost the hand but lived to come in second place in the tournament. This seems so obvious, but you absolutely must put someone all in when you get the chance (see the next point). If you think you have a good enough hand to win a big bet, make it a little bigger and get make the other player decide if his hand is worth losing the tournament over.


• When you're big stack, put the small stack all-in at every opportunity
In my second tournament last night, there were two of us left in, and I had a huge chip lead over the other player (I had thousands and he had a couple hundred). I made him go all-in on every hand he wanted to play; he beat me (and doubled up) four hands in a row, but I won the fifth. No matter what he draws pre-flop, he's not going to win every showdown. If you dominate enough, use your chips to push him out.


• If two players go all in or nearly all in, get out of their way and let one lose
There were three of us left late in the tournament, and I was chip-leader by a large margin and big blind with pocket nines. The dealer went all in, and the small blind called (he barely covered). I thought about calling as well with a chance to almost win the tournament with the one hand, but decided to get out of their way. One showed AA and the other pocket tens. The flop came J95 giving me the winning set, but the turn was an ace. Had I stayed in, I would have been short stacked to the winner and probably would have come in second to him in the tournament. Since one of these guys was going to be out or nearly so, it was a much better play to sit out with almost any hand pre-flop.

If all goes well, I'll play some online poker this evening. Maybe my luck from last night will hold up.

posted by Kent @ 9:10 AM 3 comments

The Computer is Working Again

This hasn't been a good month for my online poker, but at least the bankroll is stable.

The power supply in my computer was fried, so I ordered a new one online. I found a 500 watt ps (with a huge quiet fan) on Pricewatch for $42. I installed it the weekend it was delivered and it lasted exactly three hours and went out. The replacement came in today, so hopefully it will last a little longer.

I'm only going to run the computer for about an hour and then give it a chance to cool down before I try a long session. Maybe I'll finally get to play poker this weekend.

I played a home game (tournament) two weekends back; I'll post the details for it tomorrow.

posted by Kent @ 6:08 PM 1 comments

My Computer Died

Results: 2.5 hour played; down $30

My computer died last week, so there's no poker until the new power supply comes in. I could play on my Wife's computer, but it's in high demand right now. No hurry; the games will still be there when I get back. The good news is that I've had a lot of time to read up on the game.

I did play one session last week before the computer died, and it was similar to the previous session. I posted a few hands on Two Plus Two, but although the consensus was that I wasn't aggressive enough post-flop, being more aggressive would have probably just cost me more money on those hands. I might have won more on others, but my run is probably as much bad cards as bad play.

I'm going to play a home game on Saturday, and I'm sure that it will be quite fishy. Maybe I'll make up for some of these losses.

The power supply is supposed to be in tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be back to the routine by the weekend.

posted by Kent @ 4:09 PM 2 comments