Thursday, April 29, 2010

Playing with high rollers

Last night I saw a lot of players come and go at the only table I joined. My stack porpoised up and down, but I never fell into a poker death spiral. Towards the end of the session, several super aggressive players joined. There are pluses and minuses to playing with such players. As long as no one is in a clear-cut bully position (i.e. with a stack disproportionately larger than the other stacks), I think there are more pluses than minuses. The biggest plus is that you can win a lot of chips in a hurry. Aggressive players don't scare off easily, so if you have the nuts, you're basically guaranteed to win a huge pot.

My last hand of the night, I was dealt a pair of kings; I raised pre-flop. I picked up another king on the flop, and kept betting until I went all in on the river. I raked in a pot worth $52,564 (which incidentally got me halfway to my goal again) and called it a night.

delta: $12,564
balance: $502,706

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The bluffing sweet spot

The most memorable hands of last night's session were two times I bluffed successfully, winning the pot without a showdown. These successes made me realize I probably don't bluff often enough. The great thing about a successful bluff is that it increases the odds that the next strong hand you get will be misinterpreted as a bluff when you bet it.

One thing I've learned is that it's a bad move to try to bluff from early position, since you don't have enough information yet. On average, it's also a bad idea to try to bluff from middle position. Both times I bluffed last night, I was in late position. That's the bluffing "sweet spot" where bluffing should become second nature given the proper conditions. One of my prerequisites is that my bluff bet opens the betting in that betting round. If someone else has opened the betting, bluffing is off the table for me.

Thinking about this in terms of luck, it's lucky to be in the bluffing sweet spot when no one has opened the betting; just as lucky, in its way, as being dealt strong cards. I think it's almost as important to take advantage of the bluffing possibilities that arise as it is to take advantage of the strong cards that come your way.

delta: $24,400
balance: $490,142

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Flopping a boat, redux

Last night, I halved my stack chasing a flush draw, then won it all back and more when I flopped a boat. I was doubly lucky; not only did I have a super strong hand, but one of my opponents had a strong hand he couldn't bear to fold. I ended up going all in, and raked in a pot worth just north of $60K. I called it a night without delay.

delta: $20,200
balance: $465,742

Monday, April 26, 2010

Getting the trump out

There was a period about 20 years ago when I played quite a bit of family whist. I was never any good, but the point was to have fun, and I succeeded on that score. My stepmother, who is an excellent player, tried to teach us all some basic strategy. The cardinal lesson she taught us was to "get the trump out". That is, if you won the bidding, and so were the declarer of which suit was the trump suit, it was of the first importance to lead trump as soon as it was legal to do so, and keep leading it until you'd flushed out all the trump cards in the possession of your opponents; in that way, you couldn't get a nasty surprise later. If you neglected to get the trump out, you could end up allowing your opponent to trump you, which of course would be the utmost in folly. Needless to say, I didn't always follow that sound advice, and my stepmother would always be amazed that I could err in that fashion.

I ran into a poker situation on Saturday night which brought back to mind my stepmother's dictum. Actually, it was two almost identical situations, and I had the same bad result each time. I realize now that slow playing a strong hand, while in principle a great strategy, can have dire consequences if it's followed blindly. In particular, there are some strong hands which I now see shouldn't be slow payed in some circumstances. To wit, the old-girlfriend-who-has-broken-up-with-me-so-many-times-but-who-I-still-love-anyway hand, the stealth two pair. Stealth two pairs with a straight or flush draw on the board can't be slow played. I realize this is poker 101 to many, but I had to learn it in the school of hard knocks.

Not just once on Saturday, but twice, I had a stealth two pair of aces and tens. Each time, I slow played the hand, congratulating myself on how masterful I was and drooling over the big pot I was sure to rake in. Each time, I failed to notice that there was a straight draw on the board. Each time, I lost to a straight. To underline how foolish I was, I can even remember thinking the second time I got the hand "This one screwed me before, but it can't screw me again -- I'm golden!"

The second stealth two pair was my last hand of the night; I went all in on it and hit the felt. I think this particular lesson has sunken into my poker synapses now.

delta: $-40,000
balance: $445,542

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Good cards make good decisions easy

Last night I had one of my best sessions. I played at three tables in succession, and came out ahead each time. The main reason was that I was getting some really good cards to work with. However, I also made some great laydowns, so I have to give myself some credit for the good results! The thing is, good cards make good decisions easy.

One thing I've noticed that I'm getting really good at, and which is becoming second nature with me, is disguising my strong hands by slow playing them. That's a basic poker tenet, so I'm not claiming anything original. It's definitely the best way to extract the most chips from the opposition.

delta: $72,000
balance: $485,542

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Catch-up post

I have an excuse for not posting in a while -- I'm house-sitting for 2 weeks. As excuses go, I realize it's pretty thin, but work with me, people!

Last Wednesday night's session, though a losing one, contained one highly memorable hand -- my first ever royal flush. For that matter, it was my first ever straight flush. You'd think I'd remember the suit, but all I remember is that it was black. I'm 75% sure it was spades, meaning if so that my hand contained "the prettiest card in the deck" (to quote Norman Chad again).

delta: $-8,344
balance: $357,142

On Monday, my biggest pot was worth $30,000; I had an ace high straight.

delta: $12,200
balance: $369,342

On Tuesday, my second biggest pot was worth $22,200; I had an ace high straight again. My biggest pot was worth $30,600; I had a six high straight.

delta: $21,900
balance: $391,242

Tonight, I won the first two hands I played, and hung up my cleats right there and then. On the first hand, I won $11,800 with two pair, queens and tens. On the second, I won $21,600 with a ten high straight.

delta: $22,300
balance: $413,542

P.S. I'm glad to be all caught up with the blog again, and glad to be over $400K again.
P.P.S. You gotta love them straights!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Chasing pavements

I like to listen to songs I've downloaded from iTunes while I play poker. Many of my favorites I first became aware of by hearing them played on my favorite radio station, WXRV. Funnily enough, I didn't notice the coincidental connection of WXRV to poker until just now -- the nickname of the station is "The River" :-)

There's a great young British singer named Adele who wrote a wonderful song called "Chasing Pavements". It's about a relationship which has gone bad and the conflicted feelings that gives rise to. Since poker is made up of "streets", I naturally think of poker when I hear this song. Here's the first part of the chorus:

Should I give up,
Or should I just keep chasin' pavements?
Even if it leads nowhere

This is the central dilemma of the poker player in any given hand -- should he give up (fold the hand) or keep chasing pavements (pay to see more streets (cards))? Last night, the first half of the session, I paid too much to see more streets, and it led me nowhere but down. I eventually had to go all in with a pair of jacks; that's where my session turned around. I won that pot, which was worth $30,900. I hung around, and finally got a premium hand. I flopped a straight, slow played it, and raked in another big pot. I don't know exactly how big, since I can't find the history; I must have forgotten to save it in my excitement at having a winning session!

delta: $21,000
balance: $365,486

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Still south

On Sunday, I had another losing session. I decided it wasn't my night when just over half my starting stack was gone, and closed up shop. I won twice as many hands (4) without a showdown as I did with a showdown; my showdown percentage was a pitiful 15% (2 of 13).

My best hand of the night came early on; I won a pot worth $8,000 with a king high flush.

delta: $-20,100
balance: $344,486

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Massive loss

On Friday night, I had my worst session ever. I lost my full starting stack of $40K at the first three tables I joined. Was I a glutton for punishment, or what? I decided to join a fourth table, won a modest $23,400 and finally called it a night.

The most memorable hand of the session was when I was dealt a pair of 6s and a third 6 showed up in the flop. I hammered away at the betting, but one of my opponents was betting as big as I was. On the river, I put down a bet of $10K, and was raised to $20K. I called, and ran into a set of 9s. That hand was worth $110,900 to the set of 9s; I lost just north of $43K on that one hand.

delta: $-96,600
balance: $364,586

Salvaging a session

It only takes one hand to salvage a session. I got such a hand last Thursday night. I was down almost half my stack when I flopped a straight. I value bet it all the way along, raked in a pot worth $33,400, and called it a night.

delta: $7,508
balance: $461,186

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Porpoising

I first encountered the term "porpoising" in Michael Crichton's novel "Airframe"; he was referring to the phenomenon of an airplane rising and falling repeatedly, similar to a porpoise leaping in and out of the water. I (or more precisely, my stack :-) experienced this phenomenon in last night's session. I went up about 5 or 6K and then back down again at least three times. Luckily for me, when the next upswing hit, it was bigger than the previous ones, and I had no trouble calling it a night.

My penultimate hand, forbearance early on reaped a big reward for me later. I flopped a full house, and didn't bet a red cent the first two times the action was on me. Luckily enough, one of my opponents caught a flush on the river, and I engaged in a raising war with him until he was all in. That won me a pot worth $32,400. Not a monster by my new standards, but still a decent one.

delta: $15,350
balance: $453,678

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Three memorable hands

It's a truism that we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. The thing about truisms is, they're often true, however trite they may sound. Another truism is that if we can't remember our mistakes, we're condemned to repeat them. Put these two truisms together, apply them to poker, and what you get is a poker truism -- the big hands we lose are much more memorable than the big hands we win.

Three hands from last night are etched on my consciousness. The first two were actually consecutive hands. The third severely crippled me, and I hit the felt shortly thereafter. I don't have to consult the hand histories to remember the important details of any of these hands.

hand 1: I was dealt pocket rockets. I bet them big, all the way down the line. The board paired. My aces up lost to a full house.

hand 2: I was dealt a pair of kings. Since I'd just had a pair of aces the previous hand, I "knew" no one was dealt a pair of aces this hand. I bet my kings big. No aces or pairs showed up on the board. I lost to a pair of aces.

Those two hands hurt, but they didn't cripple me, since no raising wars occurred in the betting. I wasn't so lucky on the next memorable hand.

hand 3: I was dealt a jack of diamonds, and a baby card of some description. Four of the five community cards were diamonds, including the king. Only a queen and ace of diamonds could beat me. On the river, I called a raise of $10K, for a total investment of about $19K of my stack in the pot. Someone else did indeed have the ace of diamonds, and my king high flush lost to the nut flush.

After thinking it over, I realize I wouldn't play any of these hands differently given the chance. I think I made the right decisions on all of them. It's cold comfort, but comfort nonetheless.

delta: $-40,000
balance: $438,328

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Snake-bitten

Last night I felt like I was snake-bitten. I was generally making good decisions, but didn't have much to show for them. I should have known it wasn't my night when the first three pots I "won" were split pots.

My last hand of the night, I was dealt pocket queens; none of the community cards were overcards, and the board didn't pair. I went all in, and lost to pocket aces. What are you gonna do?

delta: $-40,000
balance: $478,328

Greed

I deviated from both my recently recognized patterns lately. First, in last Thursday's session, I avoided hitting the felt at the first table I joined, but wasn't able to call it a night when I was up about 50K. Second, I played last night without bothering to post what had happened on Thursday. I recognize a new pattern in both broken patterns -- greed. I'm letting the desire for reaching my long-term goal affect my decision-making, which is a sure way to fail. I'm 'fessing up here, in the hopes that I can nip this greed thing in the bud!

One positive from Thursday's session was that after my stack hit a low of 7,500, I battled back to achieve a respectable stack before calling it a night. That part of the session wasn't greed-influenced, at least.

delta: $-9,255
balance: $518,328

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Pattern recognition

In case I didn't mention it before, I'm a computer programmer by trade. I think some of the qualities which make me a good programmer also make me a good poker player. The preeminent skill which applies to both is pattern recognition. You can save so much time and aggravation if you can just simply recognize when you've seen something before. In that case, instead of expending a lot of energy, you can just go straight to the solution / decision. I guarantee the next time I see a flop which has a pair and a third card which matches one of my hole cards, I'll treat it like poison, since I've been led down the garden path and betrayed by it one too many times.

Once you get in the habit of recognizing patterns, you tend to recognize more of them; it's self-reinforcing and self-perpetuating. For example, I've noticed a new pattern in my sessions and another one in my blogging. The new pattern in my sessions is that I lose my full starting stack, $40K, at the first table I join, then generally win it all back (plus sometimes much more) at the second table. The new pattern in my blogging is that I blog about a session the next night, instead of the same night.

At my second table last night, there was one super aggressive player. Such players are just begging to be taken out. I eventually did just that, when I achieved a full house and went all in. I raked in a monster pot of $129,400. That put me up over the $500K mark again to end the month of March. Time for a new goal: $800K by the end of this month. Might as well stay super ambitious!

delta: $49,200
balance: $527,583