Sunday, December 30, 2012

A tale of two slicks

Last night, I was dealt a big slick twice. The first one came on the very first hand. I paired my ace on the flop and my king on the river, but ended up losing $14,200 to an ace high flush. The next time was on hand 35; I paired my king on the flop, went all in on the turn, and raked in a pot worth $45,900 without a showdown. That was a welcome outcome, as I'd hit the felt on hand 24; the huge pot got me almost back into the black. I played much tighter the rest of the night, and ended up with a healthy profit.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 60 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 8 times while in big blind (87%)
 - 2 out of 6 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 24 out of 46 times in other positions (52%)
 - a total of 33 out of 60 (55%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 8 (62%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $21,053
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $3,924,375
balance: $6,373,783

Friday, December 28, 2012

Dancing

I can remember a time when I swore I'd never go all in on a two pair. That was a simpler time :-) Last night, I went all in on a single pair - not once, but twice. Both times, the pair was kings, and both times, I hit the felt. Those hands were the bookends of my session. What induced me to go all in? The best I can describe it, it was because I felt like dancing. Not ballroom dancing, but the "Saddle up, and let's go dancing" kind :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 36 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 3 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 4 out of 5 times while in small blind (80%)
 - 13 out of 28 times in other positions (46%)
 - a total of 20 out of 36 (55%)
 Pots won at showdown - 0 of 5 (0%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $-80,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $3,903,322
balance: $6,352,730

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Grind game

Football fans know it's very important to have a ground game. In poker, it's very important to have a grind game. What I mean by this is the ability to claw your way back to the black when you're pretty deeply in the red. To do this requires a combination of stubbornness, skill, and creativity. Last night, I had a good grind game, and needed to; on hand 4, I lost $14,500 when my pair of queens lost to a king high straight, and on hand 28 I lost $12,000 when my king high flush lost to an ace high flush. My stack hit its low of $13,904 at the end of hand 32. From then on, it rose steadily until the point where I could quit with a small profit.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 75 hands and saw flop:
 - 12 out of 14 times while in big blind (85%)
 - 9 out of 17 times while in small blind (52%)
 - 22 out of 44 times in other positions (50%)
 - a total of 43 out of 75 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 12 of 18 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $1,463
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $3,983,322
balance: $6,432,730

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

River pain

One of the most important skills in poker is knowing when your hand is beaten. This can be a painful realization, especially when it happens late in the hand. The later it happens, the more painful it is. The most painful time is on the river. No matter when you know your hand is beaten, however, you must throw it away. Last night, on hand 61, I was dealt pocket rockets. I bet and raised early on in the hand, and called a big turn bet. The river card was another ace, giving me a set. Unfortunately, it also put four cards to an ace high straight on the board. I made a minor error and bet a smallish amount ($2,000) on the river instead of just checking. When an opponent raised me with the rest of his chips, I knew he had the king (the missing card in the straight) and had to throw away my hand. I lost $22,000, which dropped me back to just slightly over my starting stack amount. The thing is, I played the hand just the way I should have, with the exception of my smallish river bet. When you know you've played a hand correctly, it takes some of the sting out of losing.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 75 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 13 times while in big blind (84%)
 - 10 out of 14 times while in small blind (71%)
 - 25 out of 48 times in other positions (52%)
 - a total of 46 out of 75 (61%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 12 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $2,165
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $3,981,859
balance: $6,431,267

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Shipwreck

Last night, I had a shipwreck. That might sound like a bad thing, but it honestly wasn't. I ran into a hand I just couldn't lay down. I ended up with a full house, which came in last of the three hands which went to showdown. I was dealt 5d Kd. The community cards were 5h 2d 2c Jc 2s. My hand was a full house of deuces full of fives; it lost to four of a kind, deuces. The other losing hand was a full house of deuces full of queens. I hit the felt on this hand. I did much better after reupping, and won back slightly over half the chips I'd lost.

Why did I call this hand a shipwreck? Since I love to pun :-) My hand which lost was a full house, which is also called a boat. The boat went down, resulting in a shipwreck. I played the hand the way I wanted to, and have no regrets.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 141 hands and saw flop:
 - 29 out of 34 times while in big blind (85%)
 - 21 out of 32 times while in small blind (65%)
 - 44 out of 75 times in other positions (58%)
 - a total of 94 out of 141 (66%)
 Pots won at showdown - 15 of 20 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 18

delta: $-19,627
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $3,979,694
balance: $6,429,102

Monday, December 24, 2012

Hallebluejah

The title of this post is an abbreviated way of saying "Hallelujah - I'm in the blue again!" As you may know, what I mean by being in the blue is that my balance has reached a new all-time high. Previously, I've generally lumped the balances of all the poker flavors I've played into a single balance; however, I realize it makes a lot of sense to keep them separate. The poker flavor I now consider to be my best is no limit hold'em, played in the cash game format. Accordingly, I'm going to keep separate track of this particular balance, in addition to my overall balance. For four of my last five sessions, I've been in the blue in cash game no limit hold'em.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 95 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 13 times while in big blind (69%)
 - 6 out of 12 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 32 out of 70 times in other positions (45%)
 - a total of 47 out of 95 (49%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 12 (58%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $15,021
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $3,999,321
balance: $6,448,729

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Best 24

Last night, in a short 24 hand session, everything went right. For the twelfth time in my poker career, I won more than $100,000 in a cash game. The shortest session of the other eleven was 40 hands. This was definitely the best 24 hand session of my career. Not once, but twice, I flopped a straight. The second time, I ended up winning a side pot and a main pot which added up to $122,900. $81,300 of that was o.p.m. (other people's money). I called it a night right away.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 24 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 3 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 3 out of 5 times while in small blind (60%)
 - 7 out of 16 times in other positions (43%)
 - a total of 12 out of 24 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 6 (83%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $108,153
balance: $6,433,708

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Out of synch

Last night, I was out of synch. I wasn't playing dreadfully, but neither was I playing particularly well. There's a very fine line between success and failure in poker, and I just couldn't get on the right side of that line all night. The only hand where I wasn't underwater was the first one. At the end of the session, I had a streak of 33 straight hands without winning a pot. I'm not sure that's a personal worst, but it sure felt like one!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 100 hands and saw flop:
 - 15 out of 16 times while in big blind (93%)
 - 13 out of 18 times while in small blind (72%)
 - 30 out of 66 times in other positions (45%)
 - a total of 58 out of 100 (58%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 17 (23%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $-79,880
balance $6,325,555

Friday, December 21, 2012

Above water percentage

I've talked about underwater percentage a fair bit in this blog. It's certainly nice to turn a profit after being underwater most of the night. You're underwater when your stack falls below its starting amount. It's just as nice, and much less stressful, to turn a profit while staying above water the majority of the time. Last night, I may have set a new personal best for above water percentage. I played 106 hands, and was above water for 104 of them, for an above water percentage of 98%. I won early, often, and late in the session.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 106 hands and saw flop:
 - 19 out of 23 times while in big blind (82%)
 - 14 out of 26 times while in small blind (53%)
 - 42 out of 57 times in other positions (73%)
 - a total of 75 out of 106 (70%)
 Pots won at showdown - 13 of 21 (61%)
 Pots won without showdown - 17

delta: $12,443
balance: $6,405,435

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The beauty of side pots

One of the beautiful things about poker is that it provides an endless amount of things to talk about. I've been writing this blog for over 3 years and have never once mentioned the beauty of side pots. I intend to remedy that right now. Side pots are beautiful because they provide some insurance against losing the main pot. If you happen to win both the side pot and the main pot, so much the better. Side pots come into existence when a short stack goes all in and is raised, or when a short stack uses the last of his chips in an attempt to call the full amount of another player's bet. The main pot is capped when the shortest stack has used all his chips; each player still in the hand matches what the shortest stack has put in, and any overage is put into a side pot. Of course, there can be multiple side pots; the first side pot is capped when the next to shortest stack has used all his chips, etc. Some of the biggest hands I've won in my career have had a main pot and multiple side pots.

Last night, on hand 17, the short stack went all in preflop and got 3 callers, including myself. I'd been dealt a suited king queen, and knew that even if the shorty had me beat, he had no chips left to bet with; I knew I stood a good chance to win a bunch of chips from the side pot. That was what ended up happening; as a bonus, I won the main pot also. I just took a look at the numbers and discovered that I would still have made a profit had I lost the main pot.

In sessions played since my tournament fling, I'm inching my way back to the golden ratio: 9 losing sessions and 14 winning sessions.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 18 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 2 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 1 out of 2 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 6 out of 14 times in other positions (42%)
 - a total of 8 out of 18 (44%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 3 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $49,159
balance: $6,392,992

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Action table

Last night, the table I joined turned out to be an action table. Players were willing to bet big with really marginal hands. They'd hit the felt, then reup for the max without batting an eyelid. I turned out to be one of the action players, though I like to think my standards were higher than the norm :-) I hit the felt on hand 20 when I was dealt an ace jack offsuit; I hit top pair on the flop, and called an all-in bet by an opponent acting before me. My two pair of jacks and tens lost to a two pair of queens and tens; the winner had been dealt pocket queens. Was I discouraged? No way! I reupped for the max, and quickly ran into some serious good luck. On hand 30, my pocket aces won two side pots and a main pot for a total haul of $135,476, and I was done for the night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 31 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 5 times while in big blind (80%)
 - 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 7 out of 23 times in other positions (30%)
 - a total of 13 out of 31 (41%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 4 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $68,545
balance: $6,343,833

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Heavenly sevens

Pocks (pocket pairs) are an awesome starting hand; you rarely want to fold them before the flop. The only time you should consider doing so is when the price is just too high. Of course, it's a judgment call what constitutes too high a price. What you hope for with pocks is to flop a set, of course. One of the great things about flopping a set is that you generally have a huge lead on your opponents; if the board pairs, you end up with a full house, a virtually unbeatable hand.

Last night, on hand 33, I was dealt pocket sevens, and flopped a set. I got into a brief raising war with a very aggressive player, who quickly went all in. I called, the board paired on the turn, and I won a pot worth $48,340 with a full house, sevens full of kings. Dodge City.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 34 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 6 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 5 out of 9 times while in small blind (55%)
 - 8 out of 19 times in other positions (42%)
 - a total of 19 out of 34 (55%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 5 (40%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $13,239
balance: $6,275,288

Monday, December 17, 2012

Feeling the outliers

It's easy to spot outliers when you're looking at a bar chart. They're the bars which are head and shoulders above (or below) their neighbors. However, most often you'll only have access to such a chart sometime after your session ends. It's a good poker skill to be able to feel the outliers as they happen.This can be very easy to do, such as when you double up or hit the felt, but it can also be quite difficult, such as during those sessions where no hand delta comes anywhere near even half of your starting stack amount.

Last Thursday night, through 83 hands, the largest amount I'd won on a single hand was $2,247, and the largest amount I'd lost on a single hand was $3,200. On hand 84, I won a pot worth $13,100 for a hand delta of $8,300, and immediately felt that this was an outlier. Since my general trend had been downward, I decided to call it a night right then.

delta: $-15,342
balance: $6,262,049

Thursday, December 13, 2012

I'm back!

I've been on hiatus from this blog due to personal circumstances, but am finally able to return. I haven't gone cold turkey in terms of poker in the interim, however; a fair number of nights, I played some SkillBet sessions. I'm psyched to be back!

It's been so long since my last PokerStars session (nearly 2 weeks) that I have no memory of it, so I'll just report the stats.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 7 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 1 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 0 out of 1 times while in small blind (0%)
 - 4 out of 5 times in other positions (80%)
 - a total of 5 out of 7 (71%)
 Pots won at showdown - 0 of 1 (0%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $19,800
balance: $6,277,391

Friday, November 30, 2012

Hot air balloon ride

Last night, I lost my starting stack of $40,000 in slow motion; the process took 108 hands in all. You could say my stack took a hot air balloon ride down to the felt :-). The largest amount I lost on a single hand was $7,200. The largest amount I won on a single hand was $2,366. Nights like that are inevitable; there's nothing you can do to avoid them, and there's precious little you can do once they've started (short of quitting early). The best thing to do is be philosophical about them.

In my SkillBet match, there was a lot of drama in the final four hands. At the start of hand 27, I was within striking distance of  my opponent, down $15.15. At the end of the hand, he was seemingly out of reach - I was down $45.15 to him, and there were only three hands left. Hand 28 was a wash. I beat him pretty soundly on hands 29 and 30, coming all the way back to being down $12.00. Unfortunately, I was out of hands.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 108 hands and saw flop:
 - 33 out of 37 times while in big blind (89%)
 - 22 out of 36 times while in small blind (61%)
 - 19 out of 35 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 74 out of 108 (68%)
 Pots won at showdown - 11 of 26 (42%)
 Pots won without showdown - 21

delta: $-40,000
balance: $6,257,591

Thursday, November 29, 2012

An unintended SkillBet lesson

Last night, I again played a match of SkillBet after a short PokerStars session. In the session, I won a nice pot on hand 8 and decided to call it a night two hands later. I was amazed that my opponent stayed in the hand to the end, seeing that he'd been dealt a pair of kings and an ace showed up in the flop. I'd been dealt a suited ace jack, and my aces held up.

The unintended SkillBet lesson came about due to the fact that their software doesn't bring their window up to top when an action is required by the user; I'd joined a table, and was web surfing while waiting for an opponent to join. When I eventually decided to look back at the table, I discovered that an opponent had joined some time before, and SkillBet had been auto-folding every hand for me; over ten hands of the thirty had already gone by. The interesting thing was that I wasn't that far behind; the poker lesson is that very often, nothing is the right thing to do :-) I ended up winning the match by playing more conservatively than my opponent.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 10 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 1 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 1 out of 1 times while in small blind (100%)
 - 5 out of 8 times in other positions (62%)
 - a total of 7 out of 10 (70%)
 Pots won at showdown - 1 of 2 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $8,069
balance: $6,297,591

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Bozo or Pennywise?

I seem to be getting hooked on SkillBet; I'll know I've really got it bad if I ever switch the order up, and play on SkillBet before playing on PokerStars. The title of tonight's post refers to my SkillBet match last night, so I'll just be brief on my PokerStars session. It was another short one; on hand 17, I won a pot worth $73,522 with a full house, fives full of eights, and got out of Dodge.

Even though I don't think SkillBet is real poker, it's immensely fun to play. There's something really empowering about looking at what your opponent is doing when you're already out of the hand; you feel a bit like a god. This partial omniscience can reveal some poker truths to you in surprising ways. Let me give you an example from last night's match.

First, however, I need to fill in a bit of back story. Part of what makes the SkillBet site so entertaining is the graphics; they have a wide assortment of avatars, including the one they pick for each human player. The avatars they use for their poker bots are all over the map, even going so far as to include animals; last night, one of the poker bots had a dog avatar. Comically, they picked a bikini clad female for my avator, since they assumed from my first name (which is a somewhat unusual one in this country) that I'm female. Even though I corrected my gender in my profile, the SkillBet software didn't change my avatar. I have to say, I have a nice set of tatas!

Enough preamble - on to my point. Last night, one of the poker bots had a clown avatar. On one of the hands, I made a small preflop raise and everyone, including the clown, meekly folded. I then peeked at my human opponent's table to see how he was faring. Apparently, he hadn't made a preflop bet, since both he and the clown were still in the hand, and the flop had been dealt. Now, instead of being a lamb, the clown was a real lion, betting out. I'd gotten Bozo the clown with my preflop bet, but my opponent was getting Pennywise, the evil clown from Stephen King's "It". I loved it! I did better than my opponent on that hand, but unfortunately lost the 30 hand match.

It was a great illustration of how aggression in poker can turn on a dime; that part of the SkillBet experience is 100% poker.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 18 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 3 times while in big blind (33%)
 - 3 out of 3 times while in small blind (100%)
 - 7 out of 12 times in other positions (58%)
 - a total of 11 out of 18 (61%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 6 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $33,522
balance: $6,289,522

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Donkey credentials

Showdowns are very revealing. Not only can they show you how good an opponent is, they can also show you how bad he is. Last night, on hand 7, a showdown revealed to me just how bad two of my opponents were; they had full donkey credentials. Donkey number one, who was dealt ace three offsuit, went all in pre-flop with them. Donkey number two, who was dealt queen deuce offsuit, called. Donkey number one ended up winning with his ace high. Four hands later, I was dealt a big slick, and donkey number one went all in again. Donkey number two again called. I couldn't resist calling. As it turned out, this time, donkey number two actually had a hand; he had pocket queens. He hit a set on the flop, and bet a mere $2,000. I called, and paired my king on the turn. This time, he bet $6,800 and I raised him to $13,600; he called. I raised because I couldn't credit him for anything better than a pair of queens. He went all in for his remaining $3,336 on the river, and I called. My stack got crippled; I lost $38,900 on the hand, and hit the felt two hands later. I don't feel bad, though; I think I made the correct play, with the knowledge I had at the time.

Once again, I played a SkillBet match after my PokerStars session; I finally won another one.

delta: $-40,000
balance: $6,256,000

Monday, November 26, 2012

Why SkillBet is not real poker

Last night, I had another short and sweet session. On hand 8, I won a pot worth $32,100 with four of a kind, jacks. The funny thing was, even though I flopped trip jacks, I never bet the entire hand; I simply called. An opponent who'd made a full house on the river went all in, and since I'd made quad jacks on the river, I thought I might just look him up :-)

The shortness of the session left me time to play around some more on SkillBet. I've figured out why it's not real poker; the explanation is a variation on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Since the SkillBet software allows you to keep track of what your human opponent is doing in real time, including how much better or worse than you he fared on each hand, your poker decisions are necessarily different than they would be if you knew nothing of how your opponent was faring. For instance, if you're slightly ahead of him, it might be a good strategy to automatically fold all marginal hands, since the odds are that they won't win; your opponent, since he's behind, will be pressured to play those hands in the hope that he can catch up with you. In effect, he'll be forced to play hands he wouldn't play normally. Conversely, when you're behind and there are only a few hands left to play, your best strategy is to play very aggressively, hoping you get some callers and catch a lucky card. The knowledge of where you stand against your opponent can therefore make you play differently from your norm in two distinct ways:

1. you muck hands you might ordinarily play
2. you play hands you would definitely muck ordinarily

So what SkillBet measures is not precisely poker skill; more accurately, what it measures is how well you play poker knowing way more than you should about your opponent's play. I find it enjoyable, but it ain't poker.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 9 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 1 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 0 out of 1 times while in small blind (0%)
 - 3 out of 7 times in other positions (42%)
 - a total of 4 out of 9 (44%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $16,301
balance: $6,296,000

Sunday, November 25, 2012

SkillBet sampler

Last night, my PokerStars session was short and sweet. On hand 17, I won a pot worth $51,300 with a full house, jacks full of tens. I exited stage left on the following hand. As is my custom, I'd been reading Card Player magazine online when not involved in the hands. An advertisement I saw there for another poker site had caught my eye, and I decided to check it out.

The site is called SkillBet, and it purports to supply a version of poker in which luck plays almost no role. You play against 5 poker bots, while at the the same time, at an adjacent table, another human (your actual opponent) plays against the same five bots. You each get dealt the exact same hand, and the community cards are the same at both tables. Everything's the same at the two tables except for the decisions the two human players make. You each play 30 hands (the same 30 hands), and at the end of them, whoever did better against the bots wins. Both humans could lose money, but whoever lost less money would be the winner.

Thankfully, they have a practice version where you can play with free tokens. I gave it a try. I played four different opponents; I won the first battle, but lost the remaining three. It was fun, but it didn't quite feel like real poker to me. I might play it now and again just for fun.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 18 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 2 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 1 out of 3 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 5 out of 13 times in other positions (38%)
 - a total of 7 out of 18 (38%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 4 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $30,603
balance: $6,279,699

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Near miss

Last night, there was one particularly aggressive player at the table. He was going all in way too often. It was clear that if he continued to do it, he'd flame out quickly. When I was dealt pocket queens and he went all in again, I called. He turned over king nine suited. I was a 68% favorite before the flop, an 86% favorite after the flop, and an 84% favorite after the turn; unfortunately, the board provided a straight, so it was a chop. If I'd won that hand, I would have gained over $26,000 in chips, and would have called it a night right away. I had to settle for a much smaller gain, but stayed true to my new philosophy; I called it a night when a $12,808 pot put me back in the black after 17 hands in the red.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 77 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 11 times while in big blind (63%)
 - 6 out of 12 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 13 out of 54 times in other positions (24%)
 - a total of 26 out of 77 (33%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 9 (55%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $2,559
balance: $6,249,096

Friday, November 23, 2012

Niner niner

Several months ago I read the screenplay of the 1980 movie "Airplane" on my Kindle. I thought the movie was hilarious when I first saw it, and still think so. The humor is innovative on many levels; the movie loves to play with our expectations, constantly surprising us by parodying and breaking cinematic conventions. One convention it breaks is the one where the audience is supposed to accept the performance of each actor at face value, without taking knowledge of their real lives into account. The famous basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays the part of airline pilot Roger Murdock, but his real life keeps intruding on the fiction, to the point where it's clear he's not an airline pilot at all, and has to fake knowledge of how to fly the plane. Here's an excerpt from the script:

                        MURDOCK
         Listen, kid, I've been hearing that crap
         ever since I was at UCLA. Tell your old
         man to drag Unseld and Lanier up and down
         the court for forty-eight minutes.
              (into mike)
         Ah...Denver Control, this is Flight two-
         zero-niner continuing on a heading two-
         niner-niner...niner, ah...niner...niner.

The movie riffs on the fact that in air traffic control communications, the word "niner" is always substituted for the number nine.

Last night was a "niner niner" festival at the table I joined. On hand 1, an opponent was dealt pocket nines and won a pot worth $81,100 with them. On hand 9, I was dealt pocket nines and hit a set of nines on the flop; an opponent put me all in and I called, winning a pot worth $76,300. On hand 10, I was dealt pocket nines again, but folded on the flop when I didn't hit another set. I called it a night at that point.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 10 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 2 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 0 out of 1 times while in small blind (0%)
 - 2 out of 7 times in other positions (28%)
 - a total of 3 out of 10 (30%)
 Pots won at showdown - 1 of 1 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $34,150
balance: $6,246,537

Thursday, November 22, 2012

It's time to begin

The title of this post is from the start of the chorus of a song I love named "It's Time", by Imagine Dragons. It's a song I often listen to while playing poker. What do I mean by "It's time to begin"? Simply that it's again time for me to reboot my poker thinking and reexamine my goals. I need to adjust my poker philosophy, and come up with a new set of goals. This will periodically be the case throughout my poker career.

I realize that my poker goals have drifted, and are no longer very clear. I took a walk on the wild side with sit and go tournaments, and that experience spoiled me a bit; I got used to increasing my stack in huge chunks, which is not the norm for cash games. Since quitting the sit and gos, I've played 10 cash tournament sessions, and have lost six of them. That's standing the golden ratio on its head. That trend has to stop. My immediate goal is to get back to the golden ratio, counting just the sessions I've played since the sit and gos. An adjunct goal is to recalibrate my thinking to appreciate sessions where I've won what my current thinking is telling me is a measly amount of chips. If I'd had that recalibration in place on Tuesday night, I would have quit playing when I went up $7,899, which would have represented nearly a 20% return on my initial investment of $40,000. Instead, I continued playing, and ended up hitting the felt.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 79 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 15 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 9 out of 16 times while in small blind (56%)
 - 18 out of 48 times in other positions (37%)
 - a total of 37 out of 79 (46%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 10 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $-40,000
balance: $6,212,387

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Three on a match

Last night's session was very short, and not at all sweet. I hit the felt on hand 14, when I made a bad decision. I'd flopped top and bottom pair. A player acting before me went virtually all-in (he only left himself $137 behind). To call, I'd have to put myself all in. If it had immediately been my turn to act, a call here would certainly have been defensible; however, another player acted before me, and he called the first player's $37,800 bet. Loud klaxons should have gone off in my head at this point; you really need to have the nuts to call in this situation, since you have to beat not one but two players. The old superstition about three on a match has its poker analogue; you really don't want to be the third one going in to a huge pot. A fold would have been the correct play here. However, I called. As it turned out, I was a 72% favorite after the flop, but the first player, who'd flopped middle and bottom pair, hit a full house on the turn, and that was all she wrote.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 14 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 2 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 2 times while in small blind (100%)
 - 4 out of 10 times in other positions (40%)
 - a total of 8 out of 14 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 0 of 2 (0%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $-40,000
balance: $6,252,387

Monday, November 19, 2012

Three silly personal bests

Last night, I set three silly personal bests: most hands played in one session, most flops seen in one session, and most pots won in one session. The reason they're silly is they really have no bearing on whether or not I made a profit (I didn't). One reason my seeing the flop percentage was so high was there was a quite a stretch when the table was shorthanded. I may have actually set a fourth silly record, for most pots won without a showdown in one session, but I'm not sure (and it surely doesn't matter :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 262 hands and saw flop:
 - 50 out of 59 times while in big blind (84%)
 - 40 out of 61 times while in small blind (65%)
 - 69 out of 142 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 159 out of 262 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 24 of 54 (44%)
 Pots won without showdown - 32

delta: $-53,425
balance: $6,292,387

Sunday, November 18, 2012

My favorite card

It might seem a little absurd for me to say that I have a favorite card in the standard 52 card deck, but it's true. It might seem even a little more absurd for me to tell you that I only learned what my favorite card is last night. However, that statement also happens to be true. Not to keep you in suspense any longer, my favorite card is the seven of clubs.

You may already have known that clubs is my favorite suit, so it shouldn't be a total shock that my favorite card is a club. But why the seven? For the simple reason that last night, a seven of clubs on the river filled an inside straight flush draw for me. When that seven of clubs hit, it was love at first sight!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 42 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 5 times while in big blind (80%)
 - 2 out of 6 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 13 out of 31 times in other positions (41%)
 - a total of 19 out of 42 (45%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 4 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $40,930
balance: $6,345,812

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Another cash game marathon

Now that I'm a veteran of both cash games and tournaments, I can make legitimate comparisons between them. It's pretty unusual for a tournament to last more than 100 hands, but that's nothing for a cash game. Last night, I had my second longest session ever, in terms of hands played - 240. I also won the most pots I've ever won in a single session - 46. Unfortunately for me, I hit the felt fairly early on in the session, and was never able to battle back to the black. One consolation was that at the time I finally quit playing, I was the chip leader at the table, having seen many different players come and go.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 240 hands and saw flop:
 - 35 out of 52 times while in big blind (67%)
 - 32 out of 54 times while in small blind (59%)
 - 76 out of 134 times in other positions (56%)
 - a total of 143 out of 240 (59%)
 Pots won at showdown - 22 of 39 (56%)
 Pots won without showdown - 24

delta: $-22,243
balance: $6,304,882

Friday, November 16, 2012

A rare career first

Last night, for the first time in over four years of play, I was dealt pocket rockets on back to back hands. This is a rare sequence of events, to put it mildly. I only ever remember it happening to an opponent once before, so that makes it just twice I've seen it happen in my whole career. How did I make out? Swimmingly! On the first of the two hands, I won a pot worth $62,921; on the second one, I won a pot worth $126,842. I got out of Dodge right after that.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 74 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 9 times while in big blind (55%)
 - 5 out of 10 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 24 out of 55 times in other positions (43%)
 - a total of 34 out of 74 (45%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 9 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $86,242
balance: $6,327,125

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Eighteened again

Last night, I played quite well, despite the fact that I ended up hitting the felt. On the third to last hand of the night, I had a great chance to double up. I'd flopped a stealth two pair, and called an all-in turn bet from an opponent whose stack was almost as big as mine. He turned over pocket queens, and was an eighteen percent dog. Wouldn't you know, the river was another queen, giving him a set and winning him a pot worth $82,100. I was crippled, with just $1,269 left.

To paraphrase a song lyric, "I wish I weren't eighteened again"!

delta: $-40,000
balance: $6,240,883

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

50,000 hands

On Monday night, I hit a poker milestone - the number of hands I've played on PokerStars reached 50,000. In actuality, I hit this milestone some unknown time ago, since I didn't start keeping stats until some months after I started playing, and didn't start keeping the hands played per session stat until another year and a half after that. I can attest that the more hands you play, the more likely you are to achieve your full potential.

Last night, I was underwater for 93 of the 96 hands I played, for an underwater percentage of 96.9. It's good practice when you're forced to grind it out like that every now and then!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 96 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 14 times while in big blind (78%)
 - 7 out of 17 times while in small blind (41%)
 - 34 out of 65 times in other positions (52%)
 - a total of 52 out of 96 (54%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 12 (41%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $450
balance: $6,280,883

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Cake

Now that I've switched back to cash games after more than three months of playing tournaments, I can finally admit to myself that tournaments, although fun, are pretty stressful. Playing cash games is like cake in comparison. One's skill level makes a much bigger difference in cash games, over the long run. I'm actually pretty amazed that I was able to play tournaments as long as I did and still come out with a profit.

I have to say, I feel like I've been reunited with a long lost friend. I won't be able to make money as fast playing cash games, but I won't be able to lose it as fast either, and I'll have less stress and just as much fun. Who could argue with that? :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 61 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 9 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 3 out of 9 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 16 out of 43 times in other positions (37%)
 - a total of 25 out of 61 (40%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 9 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $21,612
balance: $6,280,433

Monday, November 12, 2012

SADLOP

Last night, my return to cash games wasn't enough to pull me out of my slump. I actually played quite well, until I succumbed to a SADLOP -  a sudden and dramatic loss of patience. I had no forewarning this was to occur, so I would classify SADLOPs as a subspecies of the imp of the perverse. A good way to remember the acronym is that it's very SAD when a huge chunk gets LOPped off the top of your stack :-) In this case, it was the whole stack. I actually have a pretty good idea why this occurred - I was up against a donk, and thought he was bluffing. It's never a good idea to stake your whole stack on a bluff read.

delta: $-40,000
balance: $6,258,821


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Worst baker's dozen

Last night, I entered three tournaments, and failed to make the money in any of them. Adding these three to the last ten tournaments I'd entered before last night makes a baker's dozen of near perfect futility - in those thirteen tournaments, I only managed one money finish, a second place. I ran the numbers and discovered that this set a personal worst for thirteen consecutive tournaments.

I'm no dummy; it's clear I need to take a break from tournament poker for a while. I'm in a major downswing. Accordingly, tonight and for the foreseeable future, I'm going to go back to playing no limit hold'em cash games.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6        35     4        0
 80000      1000           6        38     3        0
 80000      1000           6        33     5        0


delta: $-243,000
tournament balance: $1,168,090
balance: $6,298,821

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Stopping the bitch

Memorable quotes are powerful. The proof of their power is the very fact that you remember them, years, or even decades, later. When I was trying to think of a title for this post, I knew I wanted it to relate to the fact that I finally stopped my losing streak. It was a bitch of a streak. That sparked the memory - years ago, Cedric Maxwell, a great Celtics player, said that the Celtics were not going to let Bernard King, a great Knicks player, score at will on them - Maxwell said they were going to "stop the bitch". His choice of words struck me forcefully at the time I read it, and it strikes me equally forcefully now. In one breath, he was praising King, and at the same time claiming that the Celtics would shut him down - and incidentally implying that this would largely be due to his (Maxwell's) defensive efforts.

Last night, I stopped the bitch. After tying a personal record streak of nine straight tournaments out of the money, I finally got back into the money again.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6         7     6        0
 80000      1000           6       101     2   168000


delta: $6,000
tournament balance: $1,411,090
balance: $6,541,821

Friday, November 9, 2012

You were never shovelier

Given my druthers, I would never shove pre-flop in a tournament. As a reminder, shoving is poker slang for going all in. The reason I'd avoid it if I could is that it's just plain risky. Of course, not shoving pre-flop is a luxury that is often denied you; more often than not, you will have to shove pre-flop at one or more crucial points in the tournament in order to stay alive. This will generally be when you're short stacked; if you don't want to get eaten up by the blinds, which are always growing, you need to grow your stack back pronto when it falls below a certain number of big blinds.

This means that you need to be able to recognize "shovely" hands: hands which are lovely enough to shove with. If you wait too long, even though it doesn't qualify as shoving per se, you'll end up having to call for all your chips with inferior hands. There's a real art in sensing how long to wait; there's a healthy dose of luck involved, too.

Last night, my losing streak continued, as I lost two more tournaments. The most memorable, and painful, hand of the night came in the first tournament, when I'd been dealt a big slick. A short stack shoved, and I called. The shorty turned over rockets, and I was a huge underdog. I lost $525 on that hand.

I just realized I've never explained a really important point about sit and gos. The amount of chips every player starts with has no relation to the buy in. Everyone starts with $1,000 in chips. Losing $525 is a huge loss, effectively representing a loss of over $40,000 when the tournament has an $80,000 buy in.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6        46     5        0
 80000      1000           6        45     4        0


delta: $-162,000
tournament balance: $1,405,090
balance: $6,535,821

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Here and there

With last night's two out of the money finishes, I've now lost nearly half a million play dollars in my last three sessions. To paraphrase Everett Dirksen, "A half million here, a half million there, pretty soon, you're talking real play money" :-) I'm not worried, though; I just missed the money in three out of the six tournaments in that stretch.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6        56     3        0
 80000      1000           6        32     3        0


delta: $-162,000
tournament balance: $1,567,090
balance: $6,697,821

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Shipfest

I first learned of the poker expression "Ship it" from an article in Card Player magazine (which I read online); here's the relevant passage:

1. Ship It: This expression usually comes from the mouth of a person who just won a large pot. The common reason for its unpleasantness is that the player who lost the hand usually interprets it as rude. One of our Facebook users described it as the most tilting thing one can hear at a poker table.

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/12016-a-ranking-of-the-ten-most-overused-poker-terms-and-expressions

I've never used the expression myself (except sometimes in my head :-) With this background, the title of this post should become clear. The second (and final) tournament I played last night was a shipfest, since a huge stack of chips was shipped from player to player in fairly rapid procession. I was sitting in seat 2. On hand 2, Seat 1 shipped $990 my way. On hand 7, I shipped $820 of it to Seat 6. On hand 9, Seat 6 shipped $500 of it to Seat 3. It was pretty comical that nobody could hold onto it. The moral of the story is that when a huge stack is shipped your way, it behooves you to play a lot tighter from that point on, to try to protect it.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6        16     5        0
 80000      1000           6        30     5        0


delta: $-162,000
tournament balance: $1,729,090
balance: $6,859,821

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

My oldest poker weakness

Last night, on the final hand of the night, I fell prey to my oldest poker weakness once again. That weakness, of course, is overvaluing a stealth two pair. The question is, am I ever going to be able to correct this weakness? To be honest, I don't think so. As Hercule Poirot might say, it's not in my character to correct it. Or to be more precise, it's in my character to have it. Without it, I wouldn't be the poker player that I am. It's an integral part of my poker personality. Who knows what would happen, if, like the husband in Hawthorne's "The Birthmark", I tried to eradicate the flaw? When it was gone, what would become of the rest of my game? I firmly believe it's best for me to keep it, strange as that might seem.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6        47     3        0
 80000      1000           6        17     5        0


delta: $-162,000
tournament balance: $1,891,090
balance: $7,021,821

Monday, November 5, 2012

Waking a sleeping dog

Last night, I entered just one tournament, and played quite well, coming in second. I regret the way I played one heads up hand, however. I made the mistake of waking a sleeping dog. Here's how it went down:

Table '639013346 1' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: (1160 in chips)
Seat 2: neostreet (4840 in chips)
neostreet: posts small blind 100
Seat 1: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to neostreet [3d Ah]
neostreet: raises 200 to 400
Seat 1: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [Td 8d 7s]
Seat 1: checks
neostreet: checks
*** TURN *** [Td 8d 7s] [2h]
Seat 1: checks
neostreet: checks
*** RIVER *** [Td 8d 7s 2h] [Ad]
Seat 1: checks
neostreet: bets 200
Seat 1: raises 560 to 760 and is all-in
neostreet: calls 560
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Seat 1: shows [6c 9h] (a straight, Six to Ten)
neostreet: shows [3d Ah] (a pair of Aces)
Seat 1 collected 2320 from pot


My pair of aces was a pretty weak holding, considering I had to go all the way to the river to get them. There's no way I should have made a river bet, since any call or raise would likely mean my aces were no good. There's just too much downside to betting in this situation, and precious little upside. The only upside would be if my opponent had a holding weaker than aces, but somehow believed that I was bluffing, and called. That scenario strains credulity.

As is often the case in poker, a bad decision begot another bad decision. Instead of folding when my opponent went all in, I called. I guess I just couldn't credit that he'd had the patience to sandbag me this way, when I'd started the hand with over four times as many chips as him. If that's an indication of the skill level of the typical $80,000 buy in player, I definitely need to raise my game! (By the way, I'm always trying to raise my game, regardless of the skill level of my opponents :-) Things went south in a hurry for me after that. On the final hand, I flopped an ace high flush, only to lose to a full house. C'est la vie!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6        84     2   168000


delta: $87,000
tournament balance: $2,053,090
balance: $7,183,821

Sunday, November 4, 2012

A decent start

Last night, I got off to a decent start at my new buy in level; I didn't win any tournaments, but came in second twice. On my final hand of the night, I got twenty-threed on the river, when a flush beat my turned set of sixes.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6        52     2   168000
 80000      1000           6        19     5        0
 80000      1000           6        80     2   168000
 80000      1000           6        41     3        0


delta: $12,000
tournament balance: $1,966,090
balance: $7,096,821

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Moving up

Last night, I surpassed the seven million dollar mark in play money. I've won nearly two million playing sit and gos in the last 3 1/2 months, predominantly at the $50,000 buy in level. The time is right to play for higher stakes. I've decided to move up to the $80,000 buy in tournaments. For fun, I took a look at the amounts I would have won had I played exclusively at specific buy ins, with the same results of 66 firsts and 67 seconds out of 350 tournaments played; here they are:

 $50,000 buy in: $2,125,000
 $80,000 buy in: $3,498,000
$150,000 buy in: $6,777,500
$200,000 buy in: $9,095,000

Of course, there's no guarantee that the competition isn't stronger at the higher buy in levels; but by the same token, there's also no guarantee that it isn't weaker! On to pastures new.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        95     1   195000


delta: $144,200
tournament balance: $1,954,090
balance: $7,084,821

Friday, November 2, 2012

Once more into the blue, dear friends

I've said before that winning never gets old. That goes at least quadruple for getting into the blue. It's undeniably a rush to see your balance reach a height it's never reached before. It validates all the hard work you've put into your game. I'm psyched!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        73     1   195000


delta: $144,200
tournament balance: $1,809,890
balance: $6,940,621

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Ridonkuluck

Last night's first tournament inspired another neo neo (neostreet neologism). Ridonkuluck is when someone you suspect of being a donkey is the beneficiary of a ridiculous amount of luck. On the final hand of the tournament, I was dealt a pair of fives, and called an all in preflop raise to go all in myself. I made a set on the turn, but hit the felt when my opponent made a flush on the river. He'd been dealt a pair of fours. I had an 84% chance of winning after the flop, and an 82% chance of winning after the turn. Getting beaten by an 18% underdog by itself isn't enough to say my opponent benefited from ridonkuluck; what is enough is the fact that it was the second hand in a row where he made a flush after being dealt a pair. For that to happen, four of the five board cards have to match suit with each other, and with one of his hole cards, two hands in a row. Ridonkulous! :-)

It didn't sit right with me to quit after being eighteened, so I played one more tournament.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        30     3        0
 50000       800           6        96     1   195000


delta: $93,400
tournament balance: $1,665,690
balance: $6,796,421

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The spectrum of poker patience

Having played online poker for over four years, I've discovered that the spectrum of poker patience is very wide. For all practical purposes, it's as wide as the spectrum of poker skill. Last night, I played patiently, but just not patiently enough at a crucial time. Looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of the tournament, it's clear why I decided to call a big (given the size of my stack at the time) postflop raise - I'd been card dead for a while, and had finally been dealt a decentish hand. However, simply looking at the hand in question on its own merits, it's clear I shouldn't have called that raise. This pinpoints a vital poker skill - you need to be able to stare down your own imminent demise. If the odds tell you you're not going to win a hand, don't play it, even if your stack is minuscule. As long as you have a chip and a chair, you're still alive!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        24     4        0


delta: $-50,800
tournament balance: $1,572,290
balance: $6,703,021

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

The power of scarcity

Since I now author two blogs, I have less time to play poker. I'm going to try to turn this situation to advantage by harnessing the power of scarcity. I find that I tend to play better when I know I won't be able to play for as long as I'd like to. When I feel like I have all the time in the world, my play tends to get a bit sloppy. On Sunday night, I only had time to play one tournament, but I made the most of it, coming in first. I think I'll aim for one tournament per work night for the foreseeable future.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        49     1   195000


delta: $144,200
tournament balance: $1,623,090
balance: $6,753,821

Sunday, October 28, 2012

The bottom of the top

When you play in 6 player tournaments, you want to be in the top half all the time. The trouble is, you want even more than that. You want to be above the bottom third of the top half, i.e. above third place. So, not only do you want to avoid the bottom of the tournament, you also want to avoid the bottom of the top. If you make the bottom of the top, you've certainly achieved something, but you haven't made the money. Last night, I made the bottom of the top in 3 of the 5 tournaments I entered. That tells me I was playing well, just not quite well enough :-)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        86     2   105000
 50000       800           6        10     6        0
 50000       800           6        33     3        0
 50000       800           6        38     3        0
 50000       800           6        75     3        0


delta: $-149,000
tournament balance: $1,478,890
balance: $6,609,621

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The difference between a wash and a bath

Last night, I played six tournaments. The most memorable hand of the night ended up being the difference between a wash and a bath. In tournament 4, I made it to heads up with less than a third of the chips. In a short time, I got to a commanding chip lead of $5,110 to $890. The hand that was my undoing was hand 68; here's how it went down:

Table '634554122 1' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: (2680 in chips)
Seat 4: neostreet (3320 in chips)
Seat 2: posts small blind 100
neostreet: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to neostreet [3s Qs]
Seat 2: calls 100
neostreet: raises 200 to 400
Seat 2: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [4h Qd 3d]
neostreet: checks
Seat 2: bets 400
neostreet: raises 400 to 800
Seat 2: raises 1480 to 2280 and is all-in
neostreet: calls 1480
*** TURN *** [4h Qd 3d] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [4h Qd 3d 8d] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
neostreet: shows [3s Qs] (two pair, Queens and Threes)
Seat 2: shows [6d Qc] (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
Seat 2 collected 5360 from pot


I was a 64% favorite to win after the flop, but it wasn't to be. Since my opponent had gone all in, I would have won the tournament if I'd won that hand. If I'd won that tournament, my session delta would have been $-4,800, essentially a wash. Since I lost it, my session delta turned out to be $-94,800, which is more like taking a bath :-)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        32     5        0
 50000       800           6        87     2   105000
 50000       800           6        37     4        0
 50000       800           6        69     2   105000
 50000       800           6        38     4        0
 50000       800           6        12     6        0


delta: $-94,800
tournament balance: $1,627,890
balance: $6,758,621

Friday, October 26, 2012

5 rubouts

Last night, I played two tournaments, and rubbed out five opponents. In the first tournament, I rubbed out the 6th, 5th, and 4th place finishers; I'm pretty sure I've never done that before. In the second tournament, I rubbed out the 4th and 2nd place finishers. Considering there are only 10 rubouts in 2 tournaments, I think being responsible for half of them is pretty impressive. It shows a willingness to gamble, which is definitely a requirement for tournament success.

I'm very happy to say that with last night's results, I'm back in the blue!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6       108     2   105000
 50000       800           6        81     1   195000


delta: $198,400
tournament balance: $1,722,690
balance: $6,853,421

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Two all in rules of thumb broken

Last night, in the first tournament I entered, I hit the felt when I broke not one but two all in rules of thumb. Here are the rules I broke, to my detriment:

1. never go all in on a draw
2. never go all in when more than one opponent has gone all in before you

I was dealt the ace and seven of spades, and the flop came 3s 5c 8s. It's very tempting to go all in in this situation, but also very risky. When two players have already gone all in before you, it's downright suicidal. Live and learn!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        14     6        0
 50000       800           6        30     4        0


delta: $-101,600
tournament balance: $1,524,290
balance: $6,655,021

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

An overly cautious foe

Last night, I only played one tournament again. Once again, I came in first. I had to go all in seven separate times, but was more than willing to do so. The player who had the chip lead for most of the tournament was playing way too cautiously. If he'd shown just a bit of gumption when we were three handed, I think he could have won easily. I'm not complaining!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        99     1   195000


delta: $144,200
tournament balance: $1,625,890
balance: $6,756,621

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The golden 1 / 6

Last night, I played one tournament, and won it. I have to say, winning never gets old! Here are my current place stats:

place    count(*)    count(*) / 328
1    60    0.1829
2    63    0.1921
3    65    0.1982
4    55    0.1677
5    52    0.1585
6    33    0.1006


This data inspires me to come up with yet another golden rule (yagr). This one is the golden 1 / 6 rule. Briefly stated, you will have tournament success if the number of times you come in first is at least double the number of times you come in sixth. I haven't quite reached this goal, but I'm within shouting distance.

One curious thing about the golden rules I've come up with is how often a factor of two comes into play. I can think of three off the top of my head:

1. the golden ratio (twice as many winning sessions as losing sessions)
2. the golden tgotl (twice as much money won as money lost)
3. the golden 1 / 6 (twice as many first place finishes as sixth place finishes)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        78     1   195000


delta: $144,200
tournament balance: $1,481,690
balance: $6,612,421

Monday, October 22, 2012

X ray vision

Sometimes, I feel like I have X ray vision at the poker table. Sometimes I can "see" what cards my opponents have by the way they're betting. You'd think that would be helpful, right? As it turns out, it's only as helpful as your knowledge of poker odds is good :-) In the second tournament I entered last night, I got to heads up, but only lasted a single heads up hand. My X ray vision correctly told me what my opponent had, but my gut feel for the odds of the situation was way off. Here's what went down:

Table '632163287 1' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 4: neostreet (1185 in chips)
Seat 5: (4815 in chips)
Seat 5: posts small blind 100
neostreet: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to neostreet [Qh Kc]
Seat 5: calls 100
neostreet: raises 200 to 400
Seat 5: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [7c 9h 3c]
neostreet: bets 200
Seat 5: raises 800 to 1000
neostreet: calls 585 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (215) returned to Seat 5
*** TURN *** [7c 9h 3c] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [7c 9h 3c 8d] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
neostreet: shows [Qh Kc] (high card King)
Seat 5: shows [5d As] (high card Ace)
Seat 5 collected 2370 from pot
neostreet finished the tournament in 2nd place and received 105000.00.
Seat 5 wins the tournament and receives 195000.00 - congratulations!


My X ray vision told me that my opponent had an ace and a low card. I knew that if he paired his low card and I paired either of my cards, I had him beat. I really liked the fact that I had two overcards to the board. I thought odds-wise I was just a small dog, and that it was worth it to call. As it turns out, I was a big dog, and never should have called. It would certainly behoove me to start committing the odds of certain hand matchups to memory.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        49     4        0
 50000       800           6        54     2   105000


delta: $3,400
tournament balance: $1,337,490
balance: $6,468,221

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Another tournament milestone

Last night, I set another tournament milestone - I went over the $20 million play dollar mark in money invested in tournaments (i.e., the sum of all the buy ins and entry fees). Here are the exact figures to date:

play money invested:  $20,141,080
winnings:             $21,475,170
profit:                $1,334,090
return on investment:       6.62%


I've now played in 325 sit and gos. As long as I continue to do well in them, I don't see myself going back to the cash games.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        96     1   195000
 50000       800           6        54     3        0
 50000       800           6        38     3        0
 50000       800           6        11     5        0
 50000       800           6        29     5        0
 50000       800           6        36     2   105000


delta: $-4,800
tournament balance: $1,334,090
balance: $6,464,821

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The One

Online poker players, like members of other online communities, use a lot of specialized shorthand to communicate with each other. Anyone who plays online poker long enough is bound to be exposed to enough of it to pick it up, even if they never chat with anyone; they'll see enough chat going on among their opponents to pick up the lingo. Here's a summary of the most common shorthand used by online poker players; some of it is generic internet shorthand which we as internet citizens also use:

nh - nice hand
ty - thank you
yw -you're welcome
vnh - very nice hand
lol - laughing out loud
brb - be right back

Shorthand also comes into play in how we address each other in the chat box. Almost invariably, user handles are shortened to the likeliest abbreviation. As you might suspect, people generally address me as "neo"; they almost never address me by my full handle of "neostreet". The fact that I'm known as "neo" has a nice side effect - it calls to mind the hero of the classic science fiction movie "The Matrix" (and its sequels). I can't swear that some part of me didn't have this in the back of my mind when I picked my handle four years ago. I have to say, when you come out on top in a sit and go, you definitely feel like you're "The One"! :-)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        14     5        0
 50000       800           6        42     1   195000


delta: $93,400
tournament balance: $1,338,890
balance: $6,469,621


Friday, October 19, 2012

Three kings went south

Last night, in the second tournament I entered, I ran into some bad luck on a hand where I'd been dealt cowboys (a pair of kings). I hit a set of kings on the turn, at which point I went all in. I got one caller, who was an 18% underdog but hit his flush to cripple my stack. I started the hand with $840, and ended it with just $75. You could say my three kings went south! I was dealt a pair of queens on the very next hand, but they lost to a pair of aces, and I finished that tournament in 5th place. The good news is, I made the money in the other two tournaments I entered.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        65     1   195000
 50000       800           6        19     5        0
 50000       800           6        68     2   105000


delta: $147,600
tournament balance: $1,245,490
balance: $6,376,221

Thursday, October 18, 2012

A probe bluff gone horribly wrong

Lately, I've been dusting off an old and reliable poker tool, the probe bet. I first learned about it in "Harrington on Hold 'em, Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1" by Dan Harrington. Actually, I've come up with a variation on the probe bet which I'll call the probe bluff. The basic idea of the probe bluff is that when you have cocktail napkins (a colorful name for two worthless cards) and the flop has scare cards in it, it's worth a small bet just to see if you can steal the pot. You say to yourself, "I have such a shit hand, these are the definitely the last chips I'm putting into this pot. If everyone folds, good on me, but if anyone raises, I'll just fold. I'm totally prepared to fold; I just want to see if this probe bluff will take the pot."

The danger with probe bluffs is that if nobody raises you but at least one opponent calls, then you'll get to see another card. That other card can put you in a world of hurt. You almost shouldn't even look at it; by rights, you should honor your probe bluff philosophy by just folding on that street. Last night, in the first tournament I entered, I lost $800 on the penultimate hand because I didn't honor my probe bluff philosophy. I probe bluffed the flop, then liked the card I saw on the turn and decided to stay in the hand. Bad dog! :-)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        53     4        0
 50000       800           6        67     2   105000
 50000       800           6        57     4        0


delta: $-47,400
tournament balance: $1,097,890
balance: $6,228,621

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Three handed marathon

Last night, in the third tournament I entered, I had the longest three handed stretch of my tournament poker career - 59 hands. Unfortunately, I came out on the short end, finishing in third. When the stretch began, the blinds were at $50 and $100; when I hit the felt, they were up to $200 and $400, with $25 antes. I know this marathon was unusual, and was happy to be a part of it. I feel that only three very skilled players could achieve this.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        55     4        0
 50000       800           6         3     6        0
 50000       800           6        95     3        0


delta: $-152,400
tournament balance; $1,145,290
balance: $6,276,021

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The imp of the perverse

I've mentioned the imp of the perverse in this space before. In a poker context, it's when you make a call you know you shouldn't make. It's hard to explain why this happens, but sometimes it just does. In the third tournament I entered last night, the imp struck when I'd made it to the final three, and was the chip leader. A player who'd been playing very tight all tournament went all in on the turn; I'd flopped a stealth two pair and we'd both checked the flop. I thought for a bit, knew he had some kind of a hand, but couldn't stop myself from calling. He turned over a pair of deuces, which gave him a set; my stealth two was deuces and threes, so I knew I was in for a world of hurt. The river card was icing on the cake, giving him a full house he didn't need to beat me. I lost $2,240, and hit the felt on the next hand. Live and learn!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        84     2   105000
 50000       800           6        46     1   195000
 50000       800           6        53     3        0


delta: $147,600
tournament balance: $1,297,690
balance: $6,428,421

Monday, October 15, 2012

Twenty-fived

Last night, in the second tournament I entered, I got twenty-fived on hand 45. That is, I was a 75% favorite after the turn, but lost to the 25% underdog on the river. My opponent was holding out for a gutshot straight or a flush, and hit his flush. The good news for me was that I didn't get taken to the felt, though I did lose a whopping $2,100 on the hand. I managed to take out the third place finisher several hands later, and wound up in second place after an 18 hand heads up battle.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        29     5        0
 50000       800           6        67     2   105000 


delta:  $3,400
tournament balance: $1,150,090
balance: $6,280,821

Sunday, October 14, 2012

House money

I love it when I win the first tournament of the night I enter. That means I can play for the rest of the night with house money. Lately I've been gravitating to three tournaments a night. If you win one of the three, you realize a $42,600 profit. Of course, if you stop after winning the first tournament, you come out with a $144,200 profit. But where's the fun in quitting so early? Whenever I win the first one, I figure, rightly or wrongly, that I'm "in the sweetness", and that it would be foolish not to see how far the sweetness will go.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        52     1   195000
 50000       800           6        36     4        0
 50000       800           6        37     4        0


delta: $42,600
tournament balance: $1,146,690
balance: $6,277,421

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Blue percentages

It's been a while since I've been in the blue. The last time was on September 16. I've kind of been in a holding pattern since then. I got curious to see how my tournament blue percentage compared to my cash game blue percentage. Note that I aggregate by session date, so that each date has a single delta associated with it, regardless of how many tournaments I played on that date. Here are the current percentages:

cash games

number of dates:               760
number of times in the blue:   172
blue percentage:             22.63

tournaments

number of dates:                66
number of times in the blue:    12
blue percentage:             18.18

It's a decent percentage, but I'd like to increase it.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        70     3        0
 50000       800           6        29     5        0
 50000       800           6        18     6        0


delta: $-152,400
tournament balance: $1,104,090
balance: $6,234,821



Friday, October 12, 2012

Career best heads up comeback

Last night, in the second tournament I entered, I had the best heads up comeback of my career. At the start of hand 88, I was down to $235 in chips, facing my opponent's seemingly insurmountable $5,765 stack. Eleven hands later, nine of which I won, I emerged the victor. The right side of the bar chart of my stack size over the course of the tournament resembles the left side of the Empire State building :-)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        36     3        0
 50000       800           6        98     1   195000


delta: $93,400
tournament balance: $1,256,490
balance: $6,387,221

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Unbenign nines

Friends and neighbors, another streak has come to an end. After 37 straight nights of playing poker, I missed a night last night. That ties my record for the longest such streak. Believe it or not, I already feel like I haven't played in a while, and am really looking forward to playing tonight!

I entered two tournaments on Tuesday night. In the first one, I was playing well, but hitched my wagon to a pair of nines on hand 40. I went all in with them preflop; my opponent turned over a big slick, paired his ace on the flop, and that was all she wrote. I made the money in the second tournament.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        40     4        0
 50000       800           6        60     2   105000


delta: $3,400
tournament balance: $1,163,090
balance: $6,293,821

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

One shove too many

Last night, there was a player who was shoving (i.e., going all in) too often. I got fed up with it and decided to call his third or fourth shove. As I suspected, he didn't have a premium hand; truth be told, neither did I. With my 10 3 offsuit, I was a 40.36% dog to his king 2 offsuit. The good news was that I'd started the hand with $1,380 in chips to his $370; that mismatch definitely figured into my decision to call. The better news was that Lady Luck smiled on me, as I paired my 3 and he paired his 2. I went on to win the tournament, and called it a night.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        74     1   195000


delta: $144,200
tournament delta: $1,159,690
delta: $6,290,421

Monday, October 8, 2012

Flushed away

Last night, in the second tournament I entered, I had to deal with one too many flushes; you could say I got flushed away :-) On the first hand, I was dealt a big slick, then flopped a pair of aces, but lost $540 when an opponent hit a flush on the river. I battled back gamely, but ran into another flush on hand 30 which took me to the felt. On that hand, the flush was hit on the turn, and my opponent boiled a frog by not betting too big on that street. I'd been dealt pocket queens, and hit a set of queens on the very street which gave my opponent his flush.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        73     3        0
 50000       800           6        30     5        0
 50000       800           6        18     5        0


delta: $-152,400
tournament balance: $1,015,490
balance: $6,146,221

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Heads up microthon

Recently I've bragged a bit about heads up marathons. In the third tournament I entered last night, I had nothing to brag about; I only lasted one heads up hand. I call that a heads up microthon :-) Here's how it went down:

Table '624883831 1' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: neostreet (1510 in chips)
Seat 4: (4490 in chips)
neostreet: posts small blind 75
Seat 4: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to neostreet [Ac 4h]
neostreet: raises 150 to 300
Seat 4: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [As 8h 2d]
Seat 4: checks
neostreet: bets 150
Seat 4: raises 3150 to 3300
neostreet: calls 1060 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (2090) returned to Seat 4
*** TURN *** [As 8h 2d] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [As 8h 2d 6h] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Seat 4: shows [9c Ad] (a pair of Aces)
neostreet: shows [Ac 4h] (a pair of Aces - lower kicker)
Seat 4 collected 3020 from pot
neostreet finished the tournament in 2nd place and received 105000.00.
Seat 4 wins the tournament and receives 195000.00 - congratulations!

I have no regrets about calling to go all in, however. A pair of aces on the flop is a huge hand heads up.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        37     1   195000
 50000       800           6        51     3        0
 50000       800           6        40     2   105000


delta: $147,600
tournament balance: $1,167,890
balance: $6,298,621

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Rockets crashed and burned

I haven't done the research yet, but feel certain I've had a better net result over my poker career with pocket threes than I've had with pocket rockets (aces). This may seem strange at first blush, but it's really not. For one thing, I'd rarely be tempted to go all in with pocket threes, but I've gone all in with aces many times. One such time was in the fourth tournament I entered last night. I was up against two opponents and lost to both, so you could say my rockets both crashed and burned. I was a 62.44% favorite, but one opponent made a straight to win our side pot, and the other made a full house to win the main pot. Man, did that hurt!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        24     5        0
 50000       800           6        52     3        0
 50000       800           6        40     3        0
 50000       800           6         9     6        0
 50000       800           6        79     2   105000
 50000       800           6        47     4        0


delta: $-199,800
tournament balance: $1,020,290
balance: $6,151,021