Good Day with Mixed Results

Results: 1.5 hour played; down $17

I multi-tabled a couple $.50/$1 games yesterday afternoon, and I couldn't ever get into a groove. I got drawn out on a couple big hands, then didn't hit my draws on other hands when I needed them. Hopefully I'm a little closer to the bonus; I'm going to try again this afternoon.

Last night I went to my friend's home game and had another good evening. I won the first tournament ($70 profit), came in second on the second tournament ($30 profit), and came in second on a four-person heads up tournament (-$10). While waiting for round two of the heads up tournament, I beat my first opponent again in another heads- up match (+ $10). In all, it was another $100 evening. I wouldn't be too surprised if I'm not invited back for the next game.


Before the game, I went by the book store and picked up Caro's Book of Poker Tells. Since I haven't played live games in a while, I wanted to try to pay more attention to the other players at the table. I didn't have much time to read it, but the few pages I read before playing helped me pick up on a couple tells during the course of the evening. One led to a nice pot, so Im sure the book will be worth the read.

posted by Kent @ 12:35 PM 1 comments

Can I Do This in the Home Game?

Results: 2 hours played; up $56

I played a couple SNG's and a little limit poker during the down time this evening and had a pretty good session.

During one of the tournaments, one of the players started berating one of the others for sucking out on him. It got so bad that the others at the table were telling him to cool it. Usually I get a little ticked off when someone does this and I tilt a bit when playing against them. This time, I was chip leader, so I tightened up more than normal and watched the rest of the table go on tilt. A few minutes later, there were only two of us left and I eventually won.

There's definitely a lesson here. If you get steamed when someone starts talking trash at the table, rest assured that you aren't the only one. The best way to handle it is to tighten up and let the others battle it out. If you pick your spot, you can win some nice pots.

I'm playing in the home game tomorrow night, and I'm a little apprehensive. I'm sure I'll do well if I play my game, but I've been talking so much trash about it this week that some of the others will be gunning for me. I've become much more observant lately (especially in the tournaments), so I should be able to avoid most of the trouble.

Along those lines, I've noticed something recently. Everything I've read says that you really should watch and remember what the other players do on each hand. I guess I never knew what I was looking for until recently. Over the last several games, I've noticed that I have started picking up on the other players' betting patterns. Usually, I can use this to my advantage, but occasionally, they change play style on a hand and I get burned. I'm sure that my play is better because of this.

Also, I've stopped trying to be so exact when counting outs and calculating pot odds and implied odds when playing in the tournaments. I still estimate both (and have the standard outs memorized), but I think that's close enough. If I have to work too hard, it's not fun anymore, and I want to have fun while I'm winning money. Maybe after I've played another 10,000 hands I'll adjust, but this seems to be working for now.

posted by Kent @ 7:45 PM 0 comments

Gotta Play to Clear It

Results: 2.5 hours played; up $8

I double-tabled two tournaments tonight for the first time. In the first, a $3 tournament, I was sucked out in 5th place. In the other one, also $3, I went all in with 2 pair (A's and 7's) and was beat by A's and 9's; I left in 4th place just out of the money.

After a little break for dinner, I started up two more tables (a $3 and $5) and these went a little better. By the time there were five or so players left, I was chip leader on both tables. When it got down to three of us on each table, things got a little hairy. I'm used to multi-tabling full ring games, but it's really fast when you're short-handed. Luckily I had a good run of cards on both tables.

Once there were only two left on each table, my play suffered from the speed of the games. On both tables I lost the chip lead (at almost the same time) and eventually lost the tournaments. I guess I can't complain with 2 second-place finishes, but my goal was to win. At least I'm up for the evening.

I play my home game this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to unleashing my new-found tournament skills on them. We'll see how that goes.

As for the bonus, I'm never going to clear it if I don't play the limit games, but as long as I'm winning at the tournaments, the bonuses are less important.

posted by Kent @ 8:12 PM 1 comments

Quick Update

Results: 3.5 hours played; up $21

I played quite a bit this morning and then more this evening. I double-tabled a SNG and a limit table until the tournaments got down to five players. It was a mixed bag, but one big win made it a positive day.

posted by Kent @ 8:59 PM 0 comments

More SNG Tournament Play

Results: 3 hours played; up $40

I was home sick today with a migraine, and while the pain killers made it bearable, I played some SNG's on Linesmaker Poker. I'm not sure how many I played overall (6-7), but I think I played three $5, two $3, and a couple $10 tournaments. I came in second place on one of the $5 tournaments but was out of the money on the rest. On the last of the $10 tournaments, I was playing well but got sucked out by someone who was going all-in on every hand (and won every one that made it to showdown).

I was about to call it a day when I saw a $20 tournament about to start. Yes, I shouldn't have played, but it was going to be my last game of the day win or lose. This time, I decided to sit back and wait for big hands until there were five or less players left then turn up the heat. I won a couple big hands then lost one and was short stack once it got to five players.

Once my M got under 5, I started pushing all-in given any good cards. I lost the first one to someone with a shorter stack, and it left me with under $400 with $150/$300 blinds. I pushed with 67s on the next hand and tripled-up with a straight. I pushed again on the next hand with A2s and doubled-up with the wheel. This gave me a little breathing room.

The two big stacks (almost even) were bullying around the two short stacks at the table, so when the other short stack was in the hand (he was to my right), I generally folded. Eventually, he went all in and lost to a set of aces.

From that point on, I turned it up a notch. Any time I had position, I would raise to 3x to 4x the blind with any two decent cards. On one hand, the chip leader reraised me all-in after I raised with KK. It held up and I was the new chip leader.

From this point, it was pretty much a textbook game. I got sucked out on a few hands, but played pretty well and ended up winning it all -- $100 first place prize. I wish Linesmaker had better hand histories, but I did save the last five hands. Since I like the heads-up section of Dan Harrington's books so well, I'll post those hands with a similar commentary. Please comment as you see fit:

The final two players at a $20 NL ten-player tournament. Blinds are $200/$400

Hand 1
VILLAIN has $9240
HERO has $5160

Preflop: HERO has Q 5 in the small blind

Although he has almost a 2-1 ship lead, I'm not letting up the pressure. At the time, I thought this hand was better than a random hand, so I raised 3x the big blind. In fact, it is a 50.71% favorite against a random hand. Not a bad play in any case as I'd rather be on offense than defense at this point in the tournament. I also have position for the rest of the hand, which is worth a ton.

HERO raises to $1200.
VILLAIN calls.

He didn't show me anything with the call, but we'll see what happens on the flop. Unfortunately, I act first.

Flop ($2400 in pot): 8 A 9

VILLAIN checks.

I normally would bet a probe bet of about 1/3 to 1/2 the pot here, but he's been calling those all tournament long. My other option is to put out a pot-sized bet and keep my fingers crossed. I didn't feel great about my hand, and I shouldn't have -- it only has a 34.47% chance of winning at this point.

I'll just check and hope for the best.

HERO checks.

Turn ($2400 in pot): 3

VILLAIN checks.

This card probably didn't help him, and in case he's just stringing me along, I'm not going to do anything with it; my chances of winning the hand have actually dropped to 29.33%

HERO checks.

River ($2400 in pot): 5

VILLAIN checks.

I don't love this card, but my pair is probably better than his high card (I'm a 54.65% favorite against random cards). If I check, the winning hand could be a coin flip. I could do a probe bet, but he'd just call and we'd be back to the coin flip. I don't feel good enough about the hand to want him to call, so I make a pot-sized bet and hope he'll fold.

HERO raises $2400.
VILLAIN calls.

HERO shows a pair of Fives.
VILLAIN mucks.

HERO wins the pot of $7200 with a pair of Fives.


Hand 2
VILLAIN has $5840
HERO has $8560

Preflop: HERO has 7 Q in the big blind.
VILLAIN raises to $2000.

Although I have a playable hand (49.9%), I'm severely dominated if he has an ace or king or a high pair. It's not worth risking anything over this one.

HERO folds.
VILLAIN wins the pot of $800.


Hand 3
VILLAIN has $6040
HERO has $8360

Preflop: HERO has 7 8 in the small blind.

This is a worse hand than the last one, but I have the advantage of position for the rest of the hand. I feel like he stole the last pot from me, so I'm going to return the favor. If he raises, I'll have to make a decision about how much further I'll go. I'm raising 4x the blind.

HERO raises to $1600.
VILLAIN folds.

HERO wins the pot of $800.


Hand 4
VILLAIN has $5840
HERO has $8560

Preflop: HERO has T 5 in the big blind.

VILLAIN calls $400.

I really don't like my cards. Against a random two card hand, this one is a 44.94% underdog. I could raise here and try to push him off the pot, but my other option is to check and see the flop for free. I can then decide how to proceed.

HERO checks.

Flop ($800 in pot): 8 7 7

This flop didn't help me at all, but the chances are that it didn't help him either. I have a couple options here. I could check, but if he bets, I wouldn't know what it meant. Otherwise I could bet, but what should I bet. If I make a pot-sized bet and he folds, I'm happy, but if he calls, I haven't defined his hand and I'll end up spending more down the road. The best option is a probe bet of 1/3 to 1/2 the pot to see what he does.

HERO bets $400.
VILLAIN raises to $800.

Ok, he likes his hand, but he told me a little more than just that with this bet. He didn't bet enough to push me off the pot, so he probably wants me to call. I'm folding here.

HERO folds.

HERO wins the pot of $1600.


Hand 5
VILLAIN has $6440
HERO has $7960

Preflop: HERO has T 9 in the small blind.

If these were suited, I'd feel pretty good about them, but since I have position on later rounds, I think it's good enough for a raise. As it turns out, it's a 49.82% underdog, but that doesn't take position into account. At this point in the tournament, position is huge. I'll raise here my standard raise of 3x to 4x the blind.

HERO raises to $1600.
VILLAIN calls.

Flop ($3200 in pot): 4 9 Q

VILLAIN checks.

Ok, he's either saying that the flop didn't hit him (likely) or he's going to check-raise me. I haven't seen him check-raise at all, but that doesn't mean that he can't given the right situation. Without knowing what he has, I'm a 71% favorite here, so I'm raising, but how much? If he has a higher card (or cards), I don't want him to draw out on me, so I should make a pot-sized bet of $3200. However, he only has $4840 left, so I decide to bet large enough to put him all in.

HERO bets $5600.
VILLAIN calls and is all in.

VILLAIN shows: 5 3 (high card, Queen)
HERO shows: T 9 (a pair of Nines)

At this point he's a 1.86% underdog to make his flush on the next two cards, but it wasn't a terrible move for him to call. If I was bluffing, he would have won a nice pot. In fact, I'm only a 60% favorite after seeing his cards.

Turn: 5
River: 6

HERO wins the pot of $13680 with a pair of Nines.

Maybe I'll post one of my losing games the next time, but they won't be as interesting (unless I come in 2nd place). Linesmaker only saves the last five hands no matter who is in them. I guess I could try to save them all as I play, but that seems like a whole lot of work.

posted by Kent @ 6:22 PM 0 comments

Building the Bankroll

Results: 2 hour played; up $8

I played an hour of $.50/$1 limit poker this evening and was up $2. There wasn't anything special about the session, but I was up so that's something.

Then I played a $3 SNG. There was a guy at the table who went all-in over and over and was tilting the whole table. He was sitting to my left, and every time I would raise, he'd come over the top. I kept thinking that I was setting him up for a big score, but I never got the opportunity. He pushed out everyone at the table (including me), and I took second place.

I'll keep working on the limit tables; I really need to clear that bonus.

posted by Kent @ 8:14 PM 0 comments

More Linesmaker Poker Play

Results: 9 hours played; down $18

It's been a while since I posted anything, so I figured I was due for an update. I've been playing more SNG's on Linesmaker Poker recently than the limit tables over the last week. Last weekend, I lost about $85 on a handful of tournaments (including a $20 multi-table tournament), so since then, I've been grinding it back. I've found that if I play on the weekend nights, I can regularly win, but on the weeknights, I lose. The fish must come out on the weekends.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to clear this bonus very fast if I keep playing these tournaments, so I'm going to switch back to limit poker for the bulk of my play. The limit tables on Linesmaker are pretty easy (at least at my limits), so it shouldn't take too long. Also, as I've said before, the bonuses are really nice on this site. If you haven't signed up yet, be sure and do so.

Speaking of affliates, I went through a couple of the affiliate reports for the sites I have listed here and saw that I've already had a few signups under me. If you want to try one of these off-the-wall sites that I play, I appreciate you using my links. I was surprised at how many people read this thing regularly, and even more surprised when I saw who was coming in via Google search results. If you do a Google search for one of these poker sites, my link is the second one on the list!

The strangest search so far was "how much is four yards of dirt". I guess Google knows how much I was getting buried a few weeks back.

In a previous post, I mentioned a new affiliate program that I joined. It seemed great because they give you an immediate $50 once you link their site on your web page. Unfortunately, they won't send you a check until you've reached $175 in bonuses. It's not as exciting as it first seemed, but $50 is $50. Here's a link to the site if you're interested. If you have a lot of traffic on your page, it might be worthwhile.

For those who are keeping score, since my beating last weekend, I've won 3 out of 5 $5 SNG's and came in 2nd and 4th on the other two. I don't know how many I lost last Saturday afternoon though...

posted by Kent @ 8:39 PM 0 comments

Two More Sit and Go's

Results: 2 hours played; up $16

I decided to play another couple sit and go's this evening. The first was a $3 tournament and I didn't do so well. I was the early chip leader, but had four bad hands in a row in the middle of the tournament and busted out in 5th place.

The second was a $5 tournament. I really started out in a zone. Normally, I only play premium hands early, but I started this one out in the big blind so I played the first two by default. Out of the first five hands, I won four. Out of the next three, I won two more (a blind steal and a split pot). Eventually I won eight out of the first eleven hands. On the eighth hand, I raised preflop with the hammer on the button and took down a nice pot when I flopped a pair and made two pair on the turn. Of course, that was the one hand of the evening where I showed everyone my cards: "HAMMER!".

When we got to four players, the other three were playing decent poker, so the game dragged on a bit. Eventually the others fell one by one, and I won my 3rd sit and go in four attempts this weekend. Again, thank you Dan Harrington!

posted by Kent @ 7:21 PM 1 comments

Two for Two

Results: 3.5 hour played; up $19

What a day! This morning I planted my vegetable garden and moved the last of four yards of dirt into the back yard. Since I didn't really want to move all of the dirt by hand, I rented one of the Bobcat mini track loaders. It really helped, but it was still a lot of work. The compact loader (that you ride) would have been easier, but the larger one wouldn't fit through my gate:



I took a short break this afternoon to play in a freeroll on Bet365. There were about 12,000 players for the $1,000 guaranteed prize (the top 235 payed if I remember). I left in 623rd place when I went all in with pocket K's after a K hit on the flop. Some donk called with ATo (no pair on the flop) and drew a flush on the river.

Once I was finished in the yard, I played some $.25/$.50 for about an hour and lost $5. The game wasn't memorable, but I really wanted to play $.50/$1 when I sat down. Next time I should wait for the table I really want.

Then I decided to play another sit and go. This time it was a $5 tournament. The results were much like last night. When there were five of us left, I put three of the others all in with two pair, but one of them drew into a set on the river. This put me at low stack with three left. It didn't really matter though; in the end, I took home the gold.

I might play a little more this evening if I can stay awake. As I said, it's been quite a day!

posted by Kent @ 4:37 PM 0 comments

Thank You Dan Harrington!

Results: 1.5 hours played; up $12

Tonight, I played my first sit and go tournament since reading Dan Harrington's books, and I have to say my play is drastically better.

It was a cheapie $3 single table, but I felt like I owned the game. Early on, I noticed that the other players liked to limp in or post a min raise. Only me and one other player were entering with healthy 3x BB raises, and for the most part, the limpers would all fold. When someone would make a mistake and call, they usually folded to a continuation bet on the flop. By the time that half the table was gone, I was chip leader by a comfortable margin and never really had a monster hand.

Once the blinds got up to $200/$400, I started playing a little more aggressively. This got me in trouble three different times when I put the short stack all-in with a low pair and lost. Luckily, my blind stealing and aggressive betting won it back in short order.

It really started getting interesting when there were only two of us left. I was still leading in chips, and he raised big; I had AKs, so I put him all in. His QT held up when a Q hit on the flop. At that point, he had 5x my stack, and I thought I was finished. His passiveness payed off though, because I kept pushing him off pots with aggressive betting. Every time I'd climb back into the lead, he'd win a big pot and take the lead again. Eventually by betting got the best of him and he called a bet that put him all-in when he thought I was bluffing; my pocket J's held to win.

I know it's early to think that I'm the next Daniel Negreanu, but my play style, especially short-handed and heads up, is markedly better. I'll try a few more from time to time, but I really want to get back to the home game I've been playing!

If you play no limit tournaments and haven't read Dan Harrington, you're not winning as much as you could.

posted by Kent @ 7:49 PM 0 comments

New Favorite Boss Media Poker Room

Results: 2 hours played; up $8; Cleared $20 of new player bonus and got a $28 deposit bonus

It's official. As of this evening, I have a new favorite among the Boss Media poker rooms that I've played: Linesmaker Poker. They are offering an $80 sign-up bonus for new players that clears incrementally after 100/300/400 raked hands. You also get a 15% deposit bonus that you can use immediately. The play was similar to the other Boss Media sites, so this should be gravy for decent limit players.


I deposited $185 (all that was left in my Neteller account), and they added the additional 15%. With that, I bought $200 in chips to make the math easier and multi-tabled a $.25/$.50 and a $.50/$1 table. After a little over an hour of play, I was up a dollar overall, but I noticed that my balance had gone up by $20; I'd already cleared the first part of the bonus!

We'll see over the next few days how the tables look over different parts of the week, but it's promising so far. If you're looking for a good kickstart to your poker bankroll, look no further than Linesmaker Poker. Use my links and you'll have a friend for life!

Also, if you're into posting affiliate links on your website, I'm working on something that should be very exciting. I'll post more about it when the details are more solid, but if it pans out, it's the best thing I've seen in a long time. In the mean time, shoot me a note and I'll spill the beans if you can't wait.

posted by Kent @ 8:50 PM 0 comments

Another Poker Bonus Cleared

Results: many hours played; down $75; $30 bonus cleared

It's been a while since I've posted, but I've been playing quite a bit. I'm a little ashamed of a couple sessions, so I hoped to spare the gory details. Since Drewspop asked, I'll post them anyway.

During the week last week, I played a couple short sessions at the $.25/$.50 or $.50/$1 tables for a small gain. On Saturday evening, I really wanted to put in a long session to get back into the groove. Unfortunately, there weren't any of the lower limit tables available. Instead of turning on the TV or just spending a quiet evening with my wife (or any of another million things I should have done), I noticed that there was a seat available at a $2/$4 table, and it looked looser than I expected.

WARNING: Do not read any further if you have heart conditions or have recently stopped taking antidepressants. If you decide to continue, do not not drive heavy machinery for at least an hour.

Since I had played the $4/$8 tables on vacation, I was pretty sure that I could handle this one without much trouble. I never even thought about the bankroll requirements of playing at this level. As a refresher, your minimum bankroll for no limit poker should be 300BB; my total bankroll was 125BB and only 78BB on this site at this limit.

As you would expect, the cards just wouldn't fall for me. If I'd had a decent run of cards, it wouldn't have been so bad, but every time I made 2nd nut flush, someone else had the nuts. If I made nut flush, someone would hit a full house. When I hit a full house (J's/T's), someone else had a higher boat (K's/T's). Over the course of a 2 hour session, I had a few smallish wins but lost my whole buy-in ($100). I should have stopped after $50, but I was on serious tilt at the end of the session.

This week, I went back to the basics of $.50/$1 poker and climbed back out of the hole a bit. I was at a pretty loose table last night and was up aout $10 when I lost power to the computer. When it came back up and I reconnected, I saw that the final $30 bonus had cleared, and my bank on the site was at $298.50 (much better than it was on Saturday). Since I cleared my bonus, I thought that I might as well win another $1.50 to make the withdrawal an even $300.

WARNING: The bloodletting continues below. Read at your own risk.

I went back to the same table I was at before (the software had held my seat), and began working on the last $1.50. Over the course of the next 2.5 hours, I never won a hand! The table was full of donkeys, and every time I had a decent hand, they outdrew me. I had AA, KK, and QQ all busted.

In the most memorable hand, I had AKs and re-raised preflop; one of the blinds capped and there were several who stayed in the hand. The flop was AKQ. Yep, one of the pre-flop limpers called three raises with JT off-suit.

I finally decided it was time for bed and left the table down $24.

Since the bonuses cleared, I went ahead and requested a withdrawal. Total balance - $459 (up $74 on Total Poker).

A couple learnings from the losing sessions:

• No matter how tempting, I won't play above my bankroll again. If I can't find a table at my limits, I won't play.
• My buy-ins are usually 50BB. If I lose 1/2 of my buy-in at any table, it's time to take a break to avoid tilt.
  
• Once I've cleared a bonus, it's time to move on right then.

posted by Kent @ 6:20 PM 3 comments