Thursday, June 30, 2011

A richer skill mixture

Poker combines skill and luck. Different variants of poker use different mixtures of these two essential components. Having won and lost mountains of chips playing no limit hold'em, it's my belief that there's a much greater percentage of luck in this poker variant than in pot limit hold'em. In no limit, no matter how skilled you are, essentially you'll be at the mercy of luck if you're playing at a table with a lot of reckless players. In pot limit, since there's a cap on the damage the reckless players can do, there's a much greater chance for skill to win out.

I don't enjoy the feeling of being at the mercy of luck. Frankly, it sucks. On the other hand, I love the feeling of knowing my card sense will let me consistently win more than I lose, over the long haul. I have never gone all in pre flop, and never will. For all intents and purposes, there's no skill involved in that. My favorite way to win is by calling a big-betting opponent all the way down.

Last night, the biggest pot I won was worth $36,400; my trip queens beat a two pair of aces and queens. I called it all the way down.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 88 hands and saw flop:
- 14 out of 17 times while in big blind (82%)
- 11 out of 17 times while in small blind (64%)
- 38 out of 54 times in other positions (70%)
- a total of 63 out of 88 (71%)
Pots won at showdown - 10 of 16 (62%)
Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $14,500
balance: $1,507,710

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Gone to pot

Last night, I played fairly well for 70 hands, only to hit the felt on the 71st when I couldn't stop myself from calling an all in bet from a loose player. This player had been going all in frequently, and I finally got a hand I thought I could call with - a pair of queens. Unfortunately, the loose player had pocket rockets, and I lost even after hitting trip queens on the turn; my opponent hit an ace high flush on the river. Whatcha gonna do?

It's official - my no limit hold'em game has gone to pot. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say I never actually had a no limit hold'em game to start with; my lack of such a game has finally caught up with me, though I had a great run for a while. It's time to lick my wounds and retrench; the best way to do this is to return to pot limit hold'em, my first and favorite poker flavor. I'll eventually try my hand at no limit again, but first I need to recoup the $381K I've lost in the last three weeks. That should keep me busy for a while :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 71 hands and saw flop:
- 6 out of 10 times while in big blind (60%)
- 8 out of 10 times while in small blind (80%)
- 24 out of 51 times in other positions (47%)
- a total of 38 out of 71 (53%)
Pots won at showdown - 2 of 7 (28%)
Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $-40,000
balance: $1,493,210

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Calculated frisk

Last night, I had a winning session. I haven't been able to say that very often lately! I would have done even better had I been able to curb my friskiness on an early hand; the thing is, the friskiness was a calculated risk, and I don't regret it. The hand before, a loose player had gone all in preflop with an ace nine offsuit, and had luckily paired his ace on the flop; his lone caller lost with pocket jacks. The same loose player bet $17,400 preflop on the hand in question; I called with an ace jack offsuit. When the flop missed my hand and my opponent made a continuation bet of $33,400, I folded. I knew I couldn't afford to be frisky after that. When my stack got decently north of $40K, I called it a night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 22 hands and saw flop:
- 1 out of 2 times while in big blind (50%)
- 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
- 8 out of 17 times in other positions (47%)
- a total of 11 out of 22 (50%)
Pots won at showdown - 3 of 3 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $17,500
balance: $1,533,210

Monday, June 27, 2011

Ten on the end

Last Friday night, my slide continued. I hit the felt at the first table I joined after about 40 hands. The worst play I made at this table was calling a river bet of $10K, made by the big stack. A flush draw was showing, and all I had was top pair. I believed the big stack was bluffing, but he really did have the flush.

I joined a different table after hitting the felt, instead of reupping at the same one. That's what I always used to do, and is the much better plan. I'm not sure why I started reupping at the same table recently, but that strategy very likely contributed to my slump. At the second table, I played a lot more hands. My stack got up over $60K at one point, but it dropped down to just over $30K; I quit for the night when it had rebounded to just over $40K.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 173 hands and saw flop:
- 26 out of 33 times while in big blind (78%)
- 31 out of 37 times while in small blind (83%)
- 80 out of 103 times in other positions (77%)
- a total of 137 out of 173 (79%)
Pots won at showdown - 19 of 36 (52%)
Pots won without showdown - 14

delta: $-38,962
balance: $1,515,710

Friday, June 24, 2011

Showdown hell

Last night, I was in showdown hell. Every time I went to showdown but once, I lost. I wasn't playing super loosely, either. What can I say? It just wasn't my night - again. Even though the result was the same, I think I played better last night than in my other recent freefall sessions.

The poker gods sent me packing for the night in an especially cruel way - I flopped a set, ended up going all in, and lost to not one but two eight high straights! They split the pot, and I was gone.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 75 hands and saw flop:
- 8 out of 10 times while in big blind (80%)
- 7 out of 9 times while in small blind (77%)
- 33 out of 56 times in other positions (58%)
- a total of 48 out of 75 (64%)
Pots won at showdown - 1 of 9 (11%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $80,000
balance: $1,554,672

Thursday, June 23, 2011

A return to shark fins

As you might have guessed from the title of this post, I arrested my freefall last night. I really tightened up my game. The bar chart of my stack size over the course of the session resembles shark fins rising to the right. I had good discipline and good luck - a winning combination!

Rather than go into details of the session, I thought I'd talk about my current philosophy about going all in. It really peeves me when I encounter players who routinely go all in preflop just to win a minuscule amount of chips when everyone folds (or so they hope). I would never make such a play. It's bad on two counts. First, when you have a really good hand, the way to make the most money in those situations over time is not to go all in, which will likely induce everyone to fold, but to bet small enough to get some callers, then increase the size of your bet every succeeding betting round. Second, if anyone else also has a really good hand, you're in danger of being in a coin flip if they call you, or even of being an underdog. In fact, you can practically guarantee that anyone who calls you will have a strong hand. So going all in preflop minimizes the amount of money you can win, and maximizes the amount of money you can lose. What an asinine play! The only play which is more asinine is to be baited by the idiotic behavior of the bettor into calling his bet, which I admit I succumbed to several times in my recent super slump.

As I see it, there are only 2 times ever to go all in:

1. when you're sure you have the best hand
2. when you're short stacked and out of options

I've found that when I'm playing my best poker, I more frequently call someone else's bet to put me all in than I initiate an all in bet myself. Also, at these times the call is easy to make; I know I'm going to win the pot :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 100 hands and saw flop:
- 16 out of 18 times while in big blind (88%)
- 19 out of 23 times while in small blind (82%)
- 48 out of 59 times in other positions (81%)
- a total of 83 out of 100 (83%)
Pots won at showdown - 13 of 19 (68%)
Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $50,600
balance: $1,634,672

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Freefall

Last night, I hit the felt again twice. In my last three sessions, I've lost a whopping $240,000, which is almost double my next biggest three session loss. I'm officially in freefall! The thing about it is, it's actually kind of exhilarating. I know I'm not nearly as bad as these results seem to indicate. I know I'll turn things around. I just don't know when.

I've discovered a third glaring weakness in my game. The first two I've known about for some time, but this third one is the worst of the lot.

neo glaring weakness #1: a tendency to grossly overvalue stealth two pairs
neo glaring weakness #2: a tendency to chase flushes
neo glaring weakness #3: an irrepressible urge to "school" bad players

I hit the felt at the first table last night when a very bad player who kept going all in finally had a hand when he went all in; my two pair of queens and sevens lost to his eight high straight. I just couldn't credit his big river bet.

You might not credit me when I say I'm not discouraged in the least by this freefall, but it's actually the truth.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 169 hands and saw flop:
- 25 out of 30 times while in big blind (83%)
- 20 out of 31 times while in small blind (64%)
- 77 out of 108 times in other positions (71%)
- a total of 122 out of 169 (72%)
Pots won at showdown - 13 of 35 (37%)
Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $-80,000
balance: $1,584,072

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Coin flips considered harmful

The title of this post is a snowclone (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowclone) of "Go To Statement Considered Harmful", a famous article by Edsger W. Dijkstra, a renowned computer scientist. In poker parlance, a coin flip is a situation where you have roughly a 50% chance of winning (and therefore, a 50% chance of losing). Clearly, that's a bad situation to be in, especially when you have all your chips in the middle.

Last night, I played very patiently for 50 or so hands, only to lose both patience and mountains of chips in the last 4 hands of the session. I went all in twice in those last 4 hands, and lost it all both times. What caused such irrational behavior? I was baited by the asinine style of an extremely reckless player. It was very clear he was willing to risk his whole stack on any kind of a hand. The problem when you recognize such a player is that it's incredibly tempting to try to teach him a lesson, and get a big boost to your stack in the process.

The first time I hit the felt, my suited ace jack lost to his pair of sevens. The second time, my pair of tens (which matured to trip tens) lost to his jack nine offsuit (which matured to a jack high straight). That second hand, there was actually a third player who also went to showdown, who lost with an ace four offsuit (which matured to a pair of aces). I did some calculations afterward and discovered that I would have been a 71% favorite had I been heads up against either one, but had actually been a 49% dog since I was up against both of them at once. That's a classic coin flip, and I lost it.

I realize it was very foolish of me to be baited like that. The only quirky silver lining to the session is that I set a new record for most chips lost in back-to-back sessions - $160,000! I'm padding my already impressive loss portfolio :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 55 hands and saw flop:
- 3 out of 6 times while in big blind (50%)
- 2 out of 8 times while in small blind (25%)
- 26 out of 41 times in other positions (63%)
- a total of 31 out of 55 (56%)
Pots won at showdown - 2 of 8 (25%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $-80,000
balance: $1,664,072

Monday, June 20, 2011

Sixteened

Last Thursday night, I hit the felt on hand 9 when I was sixteened. That is to say, I lost to a 16.32% underdog after the turn. I reupped at the same table, went up about $15K a third of the way through the session, then had a long slide back to my starting amount of $40K. At that point, I started to lose patience, and invested way too much on a pair of aces with a weak kicker which I eventually had to fold. At this point there was a big stack who was bullying the table, and I got sick of it. When I got a semi-decent hand of king jack suited, I went all in with it preflop, only to see the big stack turn over ace king offsuit. His big slick held up, and I'd hit the felt once again.

Tonight I promise to be more patient!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 83 hands and saw flop:
- 5 out of 11 times while in big blind (45%)
- 4 out of 12 times while in small blind (33%)
- 28 out of 60 times in other positions (46%)
- a total of 37 out of 83 (44%)
Pots won at showdown - 5 of 14 (35%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $-80,000
balance: $1,744,072

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Situational risk-taking

I didn't play poker last night since I was watching the Bruins win their first Stanley Cup in 39 years. As happy as I was for the Bruins, I did feel a bit sorry for Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo. I didn't see the first period, so I missed the first Bruins goal; I did see the other ones, though. Both the second and third goals could be described as "soft"; on the second, Luongo actually caused the puck to go into his own net (involuntarily, of course). It reminded me of the time I panicked when the PokerStars software put me all in due to an unluckily-timed click on my part, and how I both undid and redid the all in in my frenzy to undo it.

My plan to fool myself into playing tighter by pretending I'd already lost one starting stack worked pretty well. I hereby dub this strategy "The Phantom Felting". I'll try it again tonight.

The poker wisdom I'd like to impart in this post is about how different situations call for different risk assessments, and therefore may very well call for different decisions. On one hand, I'd flopped bottom pair, which I'd normally fold; however, since the player who was leading the betting was short-stacked, I felt it was worth hanging around in the hand, since there was a cap on the amount of money I'd lose. As luck would have it, I made trip threes on the river and won the pot. The short stack hit the felt, and bitched that the river card was a fluke. I didn't try to enlighten him!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 122 hands and saw flop:
- 15 out of 26 times while in big blind (57%)
- 14 out of 24 times while in small blind (58%)
- 43 out of 72 times in other positions (59%)
- a total of 72 out of 122 (59%)
Pots won at showdown - 8 of 12 (66%)
Pots won without showdown - 9

delta: $25,500
balance: $1,824,072

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Flush chaser

Last night, I hit the felt at the first table I joined after a mere six hands. I disobeyed one of my cardinal rules and went all in on a flush draw. Just call me a flush chaser! Some people chase skirts; others chase ambulances. I chase flushes, at least when I'm in a frisky poker mood.

When I reupped for the max at the same table, my sole goal was to win back, by playing patiently (and not chasing flushes :-), what I'd lost so quickly. I was able to achieve that goal, but it took another 80 odd hands to do it.

Tonight, my goal is to pick up my patient play where I left off; I'm going to pretend that I've already lost $40K, and that all I'm trying to do is win it back. We'll see how well I can fool myself!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 89 hands and saw flop:
- 10 out of 14 times while in big blind (71%)
- 10 out of 15 times while in small blind (66%)
- 32 out of 60 times in other positions (53%)
- a total of 52 out of 89 (58%)
Pots won at showdown - 6 of 13 (46%)
Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $4,300
balance: $1,798,572

Monday, June 13, 2011

Seventeened

On Saturday night, I hit the felt twice. Both times, I had more than my starting stack amount of $40K at the start of the hand where I went bust. I definitely bet too aggressively on the first hand. I'd flopped a pair of kings, had a good kicker, and the other two cards in the flop were small. I ended up going all in, and my kings lost to pocket aces.

The second time I hit the felt was not my fault. I flopped a straight, went all in with it, and lost to a full house made by running fours on the turn and river. Afterwards, I used one of my homegrown poker odds calculators to determine that I'd been beaten by a 17% underdog. That hurts!

I'm not discouraged, though. Going all in with the straight was the right play. My balance is in a bit of a holding pattern right now, but I'm sure I'll get it up to 2 million before the end of the summer.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 65 hands and saw flop:
- 5 out of 11 times while in big blind (45%)
- 8 out of 12 times while in small blind (66%)
- 27 out of 42 times in other positions (64%)
- a total of 40 out of 65 (61%)
Pots won at showdown - 5 of 11 (45%)
Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $-80,000
balance: $1,794,272

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Two slim fatties

Regular readers of this blog know that I enjoy coining poker neologisms. Anyone who's in the business of coining neologisms will end up at some point "inventing" something someone else has already invented. The philosophical question for the day is: did the latecomer to the coinage have an original thought or not? This question has no definitive answer. It's akin to the famous question, "If a tree falls in the forest with nobody within earshot, does it make a sound?". I think one can argue such questions equally convincingly from both sides.

My putative poker neologism is "fatty". What I mean by a fatty is a full house. Of course, "fatty" is well-known existing slang for a bunch of other, non-poker-related things. The most common one I'm aware of is a very thick marijuana cigarette. I think the analogy is apt, poker-wise. A full house is a very thick poker hand; it's stuffed to bursting with relevant cards. In fact, though a full house is less rare than a four of a kind, it feels "fatter" to me than a four of a kind. Why? It's simple - the fifth card in a four of a kind can be anything, whereas every single card in a full house matters. Of course, the same could be said of a straight or a flush, but the extra rarity of a full house trumps the "fatness" of those other hands.

Last night, I had two slim fatties. What the hell does he mean by that, I hear you asking yourselves. The answer is simple - twice, I won small pots with full houses. On the first one, my deuces full of eights won a pot worth a whopping $4,200; on the second one, my threes full of eights won a pot worth all of $2,800.

Luckily for me, I won a bunch of larger pots with hands which were far inferior to those two fatties!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 103 hands and saw flop:
- 14 out of 20 times while in big blind (70%)
- 14 out of 20 times while in small blind (70%)
- 41 out of 63 times in other positions (65%)
- a total of 69 out of 103 (66%)
Pots won at showdown - 8 of 15 (53%)
Pots won without showdown - 13

delta: $23,800
balance: $1,874,272

Friday, June 10, 2011

Second best rebound ever

Last night, an ISP outage prevented me from either blogging or playing poker. There was nothing for it but to go to bed! It's amazing how out of sorts one can feel in this day and age when expecting to be able to access the internet and not being able to.

On Wednesday night, I had another excellent session. So excellent, when considered in combination with Tuesday night's session, that I was inspired to tweak my rebound definition. Tonight I modified my rebound calculating utility to use the new definition and ran it on my historical data. First, the revised definition:

- all contiguous losing sessions are aggregated into "super loss" sessions
- likewise, all contiguous winning sessions are aggregated into "super gain" sessions
- each "super gain" session is considered to be a rebound from its immediately preceding "super loss" session
- the amount of a rebound is the lesser of the amount lost in the "super loss" session and the amount gained in the "super gain" session

Using this definition, Tuesday and Wednesday's rebound ranked my second best ever! Here are my top 10 rebounds under the new definition:

Fri Jul 16 01:00:00 2010 153177
Wed Jun 08 01:00:00 2011 133000
Thu Aug 05 01:00:00 2010 120000
Wed Apr 27 01:00:00 2011 106230
Sat Jun 19 01:00:00 2010 94250
Fri Apr 08 01:00:00 2011 93750
Tue May 10 01:00:00 2011 86950
Wed Jul 07 01:00:00 2010 84279
Fri Oct 01 01:00:00 2010 81200
Tue May 31 01:00:00 2011 80000

Coincidentally, my stack hit a new all time high on Wednesday night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 49 hands and saw flop:
- 4 out of 7 times while in big blind (57%)
- 3 out of 9 times while in small blind (33%)
- 17 out of 33 times in other positions (51%)
- a total of 24 out of 49 (48%)
Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $78,900
balance: $1,850,472

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Mr. Set or Better

Lady Luck smiled on me last night. Of the 11 hands I was dealt which had paired hole cards, fully 4 of them matured into a set or a full house. Hence, the title of this post. There aren't too many ways to screw up great hands like that! On the last of the paired hole card hands, my full house of jacks full of deuces won a pot worth $107,700. I called it a night forthwith.

I'm starting to realize that the anatomy of a winning no limit hold'em session is very similar to the anatomy of a winning pot limit Omaha session - bide your time waiting for a full house, then go all in if and when you get one.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 148 hands and saw flop:
- 24 out of 28 times while in big blind (85%)
- 23 out of 30 times while in small blind (76%)
- 60 out of 90 times in other positions (66%)
- a total of 107 out of 148 (72%)
Pots won at showdown - 19 of 30 (63%)
Pots won without showdown - 15

delta: $82,405
balance: $1,771,572

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Selective amnesia

My memory of last night's session is that my stack descended to the felt on a fairly smooth trajectory. Looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of the night, though, I can clearly see that my memory is faulty. My stack took a huge hit about a quarter of the way through the session, and I can't remember why. It's likely a case of selective amnesia; my pride was hurt, so by not remembering the details, I'm protecting my ego. However, that won't do; I need to study the details so that I can avoid making the same type of mistake in the future. So let me delve into the hand history ...

Ah yes, I remember now. I was dealt a king queen offsuit, and the flop came Kc 4h 5c. I believed I had the best hand, called a big all in reraise before the turn, and lost a pot worth $76,500 ($31,300 of it my money) to a set of fours. I should have had the discipline to fold when the big reraise was made.

I realize that I'm playing too loose these days, and really need to tighten up. Thinking back over past vicissitudes, I can see a pattern - when I'm running really hot, I start thinking I'm Superman, loosen up too much, and get my head handed to me on a platter.

It turns out that the last two sessions are the second worst back to back losses in my poker career. Strangely enough, that cheers me up; I like setting (or nearly setting) records, even negative ones!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 68 hands and saw flop:
- 9 out of 13 times while in big blind (69%)
- 10 out of 13 times while in small blind (76%)
- 23 out of 42 times in other positions (54%)
- a total of 42 out of 68 (61%)
Pots won at showdown - 5 of 9 (55%)
Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $-40,000
balance: $1,689,167

Monday, June 6, 2011

Running a red light

On Saturday night, I had my biggest ever loss on a single hand when I "ran a red light". I'd been playing very well, and had built my stack up to over $92K, when the infraction occurred. I'd made an ace high flush on the river, but didn't bother to check whether the board supported a full house. It did, since the river card had paired the board in addition to completing my flush. I got into a raising war with another player until he was all in. He turned over a full house, and I lost $81,452 just like that.

I was in a bit of a daze after that huge loss. I hit the felt very soon afterwards, then reupped for the max at the same table. After a small number of hands, the table ended up quitting on me; at that point I was down another $13K, for a cumulative total of $53K lost on the night so far. I then made the bad decision to join another table; I compounded the error by picking a table with some very big stacks at it, hoping to hit a home run and recoup all my losses. As could have been predicted, I ended up hitting the felt again; I knew enough to finally call it a night at that point. It was my fourth largest session loss ever.

River cards which look like they give you the nuts are very dangerous; you have to keep your wits about it you and assess things carefully. My mistake was believing my hand was unbeatable, without verifying whether that was so or not. But that wasn't my only mistake. Even without checking whether my hand could be beaten, the resistance my opponent was putting up should have given me pause. The resistance should have forced me to do the hand verification, after which I should have simply called instead of reraising.

I've quoted this gem from Ben Franklin before, but it's so good it bears repeating: "Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other".

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 108 hands and saw flop:
- 13 out of 17 times while in big blind (76%)
- 11 out of 17 times while in small blind (64%)
- 54 out of 74 times in other positions (72%)
- a total of 78 out of 108 (72%)
Pots won at showdown - 15 of 30 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $-93,000
balance: $1,729,167

Saturday, June 4, 2011

An eternal golden braid

Though I never read Douglas Hofstadter's book "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid", I love its title. Most especially I love its subtitle. There's something magical about the concept of three intertwined entities, whose whole is much more than the sum of their individual parts. Let me propose to you another eternal golden braid! This one is composed in equal parts of mathematics, music, and poker.

Many thinkers have made a link between mathematics and music. Ability in one is often a strong indicator of ability in the other. There's a clear and undeniable link between mathematics and poker; without a solid understanding of permutations, combinations, and probability, you can't hope to go very far as a poker player. The third link, between poker and music, is less obvious; however, I think it's every bit as strong.

There's an undeniable beauty in art, thought it eludes easy categorization or definition. My belief is that mathematics, music, and poker are all art forms, and thus share the same basic nature, however different the expression of that nature appears.

To be a great artist, you have to remove yourself as much as possible from the equation. You have to be all eyes and ears, with as little ego as is humanly possible. You must observe, and repeat to the world what you've observed. You shouldn't try to translate anything. Your act of repeating to the world what you've observed will necessarily be a translation, but it shouldn't be a conscious one.

Do I sound like a philosopher? I hope so, for philosophers are artists, too! I know I'm happiest whenever I'm fully engaged in something, to the point where I can actually forget myself for the time being. Stephen King wrote about this type of engagement through the voice of the narrator of his wonderful book "Misery"; this is an author who when in full engagement with writing "falls through the hole in the page". In other words, the world he's living in temporarily falls away, and he's actually living in the world he's writing about. It's abundantly clear to me that King was actually writing about his own experiences as an artist.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 82 hands and saw flop:
- 8 out of 13 times while in big blind (61%)
- 5 out of 11 times while in small blind (45%)
- 41 out of 58 times in other positions (70%)
- a total of 54 out of 82 (65%)
Pots won at showdown - 5 of 17 (29%)
Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $4,000
balance: $1,822,167

Friday, June 3, 2011

More big stack practice

Last night, I doubled up on hand 9, and couldn't tear myself away from the table. I decided to get some more big stack practice in. I acquitted myself pretty well. The one hand where I took a big hit was mostly excusable, since I had trips and ran into a full house. All the other losses were of the small, "cost of doing business" variety. For an extended period in the middle of the session, I was up against just two opponents; that's a situation I've done well in before, and I did so again.

One poker basic which it doesn't hurt to repeat here is that the lower the number of opponents you have, the lower your requirements for a starting hand can be. What's great about three handed play is that it rewards good post flop decision-making; I know enough about my poker abilities to realize I'm better at post flop decisions than pre flop ones.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 120 hands and saw flop:
- 23 out of 27 times while in big blind (85%)
- 23 out of 27 times while in small blind (85%)
- 54 out of 66 times in other positions (81%)
- a total of 100 out of 120 (83%)
Pots won at showdown - 15 of 30 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 17

delta: $10,050
balance: $1,818,167

Thursday, June 2, 2011

High end plussed

Last night, my mini winning streak came to a crashing halt. What made hitting the felt extra tough to take was that I lost the last hand to an insufferable prick who'd been trying to bait people all night long. He'd been bragging and congratulating himself all night, and denigrating everyone else. When he won the hand that took me to the felt, his comment was "Buh Buh Buh BANG!!!!!". My reply was: "did anyone ever mention you're kind of an a s s h o l e ?"

On the hand in question, I got high end plussed. Here's what I mean by that: when the board has four cards to a straight which are all in a row, there's one way to fill the low end of the straight, but there are actually two ways to fill the high end. The common way to fill the high end is by holding a card which is one higher than the highest board card which is part of the draw. A much rarer way to fill the high end is by holding the card just mentioned and also holding a card which is one higher than that card. The high end plus straight doesn't use the lowest board card which is part of the straight draw, and beats the normal high end straight. I went all in on the turn, when I made a normal high end straight.

I wrote a utility tonight to determine the odds at the turn that my opponent had a hand which could beat mine. The answer: 3.64%. That, folks, is a bad beat. There's absolutely nothing you can do about situations like that. They'll happen to you periodically. I don't feel bad about going all in; I'd do the same thing in that situation every time.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 117 hands and saw flop:
- 11 out of 12 times while in big blind (91%)
- 7 out of 17 times while in small blind (41%)
- 43 out of 88 times in other positions (48%)
- a total of 61 out of 117 (52%)
Pots won at showdown - 11 of 18 (61%)
Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $-40,000
balance: $1,808,117

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

These are the good old days

The title of this post comes from Carly Simon's classic song "Anticipation". It's how I feel about how I'm playing poker right now. I have a hunch (and you know how us poker players love our hunches :-) that I'm playing the best I'll ever play. That doesn't mean I don't think I'll ever play this well again, it only means I don't think I'll ever be able to play better. That's not so bad. Of course, I'd love to be wrong!

Looking at the bar chart of my stack over time, it's clear that I went into overdrive when I switched to no limit. That's ironic, because I was scared about trying no limit for the longest time. Now it feels like the most comfortable pair of old shoes you can imagine.

Last night, I made another odd crossing; the two million milestone is coming up fast.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 48 hands and saw flop:
- 5 out of 7 times while in big blind (71%)
- 6 out of 7 times while in small blind (85%)
- 22 out of 34 times in other positions (64%)
- a total of 33 out of 48 (68%)
Pots won at showdown - 8 of 12 (66%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $65,200
balance: $1,848,117