Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A house on the river

Last night, for the second session in a row, I hit the felt before turning my fortunes around. The more times you're able to do that, the less scared you get of going all in. I won a monster pot of $130,100 on hand 68. I'd been dealt 3s 5d, and the flop came 2d 3d 3h. Incredibly, three players got into a raising war at this point. I was thinking to myself, "Last time I checked, there are only four 3s in a deck of cards". I called all the raises until the other three were each all in; at that point, only $1,100 of my chips were not in the middle. One of my opponents turned out to have flopped trip 3s like me, but had a better kicker. Another opponent hit a straight on the turn. The other opponent had no business being in the hand. I got incredibly lucky, and hit a full house on the river. The opponent who'd made a straight commented on how lucky I'd been. I ran the numbers afterwards and it turns out I was a 9.02% dog after the flop. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 69 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 11 times while in big blind (81%)
 - 8 out of 11 times while in small blind (72%)
 - 35 out of 47 times in other positions (74%)
 - a total of 52 out of 69 (75%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 15 (40%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $51,100
balance: $4,710,052

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The green trampoline

There are many different ways of hitting the felt. You can hit it with a whimper. You can hit it with a bang. You can hit it after 200 hands. You can hit it on your first hand. You can hit it on tilt. You can hit it on a bad beat. You can hit it on a bad read. You can hit it in desperation. You can hit it in anger. You can hit it in sorrow. You can hit it in defiance. You can hit it in resignation. Depending on how you hit it, you'll usually have some kind of read on whether reupping will be a good play. Sometimes, you'll feel that the felt is really a great big green trampoline, and that when you put down another $40,000, you'll quickly double up, and more. That's how I felt last night. Why did I feel so optimistic? For the simple reason that it had taken a bad beat to take me down. On hand 4, I was dealt pocket kings, and the flop came 7c Td 5c. When an opponent who had me covered went all in, I didn't hesitate to call. I was an 82% favorite at that point. After a turn of Js, I was an 84% favorite. My opponent hit a straight on the river, though. I always wonder when this happens if the winning player realized how lucky he was.

After I reupped, I had minimal churn. On hand 30, I won my biggest pot of the night; my two pair of aces and sevens raked in $96,900. After 5 more hands, the table up and quit on me, and I called it a night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 35 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 6 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 15 out of 26 times in other positions (57%)
 - a total of 23 out of 35 (65%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 7 (42%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $23,900
balance: $4,658,952

Monday, May 28, 2012

Catching up with a fastball

Last night, I caught up with a fastball. It's risky to swing at fastballs, but when you connect, you tend to hit them out of the park. I'd done well in the middle part of the session, but had given back my gains and was a little underwater when the fastball was pitched. I'd been dealt a suited big slick, and an opponent who had me covered went all in pre-flop. I thought for about 6 seconds, then made the call. I flopped a pair of aces, and they held up. I won a pot worth $71,200, and called it a night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 65 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 9 times while in big blind (55%)
 - 5 out of 9 times while in small blind (55%)
 - 23 out of 47 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 33 out of 65 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 9 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $31,000
balance: $4,635,052

Sunday, May 27, 2012

My third most perfect failure

Perfect success in poker, though virtually unattainable, has a simple definition - namely, on every hand, you either win the pot or put no money in it. If you can achieve that, your churn number is a perfect 1, which means no churn at all. Perfect failure in poker has just as simple a definition, and is far more likely to be achieved. To fail perfectly in poker, all you need to do is fail to win a single pot before hitting the felt. In this case also, your churn number is a perfect 1.

Last night, I hit the felt twice. I managed to win seven pots, but they were all small. My churn number came out to 1.516, which is the third lowest churn of the 40 losing sessions for which I have the requisite data to calculate churn. In other words, this was my third most perfect failure!

I'm not feeling down about it. I didn't play especially well, but I didn't play especially badly either. Some nights are just like that. You have to expect them, accept them, and move on.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 88 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 13 times while in big blind (53%)
 - 8 out of 13 times while in small blind (61%)
 - 30 out of 62 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 45 out of 88 (51%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 11 (36%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $-80,000
balance: $4,604,052

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Fastest $1.5 million

Last night, I had a short and sweet session - only six hands. On hand 3, I won a pot worth $81,200 with a full house, sevens full of nines. Two hands later, I won a pot worth $15,400 without a showdown when no one called my $2,000 river bet. For the record, I had two pair, aces and jacks.

Periodically, I run some utilities to see how my recent performance stacks up in my all-time history. I love it when I set a new speed record for gaining a specific amount! Of course, that gets harder and harder to do the more sessions I've played. Last night, I set a new speed record for gaining $1.5 million play dollars - 75 sessions, 66 of which were winning ones.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 6 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 2 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 1 out of 1 times while in small blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 3 times in other positions (66%)
 - a total of 5 out of 6 (83%)
 Pots won at showdown - 1 of 2 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $52,000
balance: $4,684,052

Friday, May 25, 2012

Forgoing the flop

Last night, I may have set a record. I saw the flop a mere 29 times in 81 hands, which comes out to only 36% of the time. You don't need to see the flop super often in order to be successful, especially at a table with heavy betting. My biggest pot of the night came fairly early on, when I raked in $37,800 with two pair, aces and fours. I could have quit right then, but felt like playing more; that chip influx bought me a lot of time. Chips are time, in addition to money :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 81 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 11 times while in big blind (36%)
 - 4 out of 11 times while in small blind (36%)
 - 21 out of 59 times in other positions (35%)
 - a total of 29 out of 81 (35%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 8 (87%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $24,700
balance: $4,632,052

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Out with a bang

Friends and neighbors, I have bittersweet news. Last night, my latest winning streak came to an end. As you know, I can't talk about streaks while they're still alive, but the gag order comes off the moment they're over. This last one weighed in at a hefty 22 sessions, good for second place on my all-time list. This is not to say I never hit the felt in all that time; there were several sessions where I hit the felt, reupped, and got my stack back into the black.

Last night, I had a bad feeling about the session. I was pretty card dead, so when I flopped top pair on hand 52, I felt bound to hitch my wagon to it. My pair of jacks with a ten kicker ended up losing to a pair of jacks with a king kicker, and I was out $15,600. Seven hands later, with $7,550 left, I was dealt king queen suited, and called a big pre-flop bet to go all in. My high card king lost to pocket tens, and I was done. Out with a bang!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 59 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 7 times while in big blind (71%)
 - 6 out of 8 times while in small blind (75%)
 - 29 out of 44 times in other positions (65%)
 - a total of 40 out of 59 (67%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 8 (25%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $-40,000
balance: $4,607,352

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Two boosts

Looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's session, two hands stand out. They each followed a long stretch of hands where I was basically treading water. On hand 29, I won a pot worth $38,200 without a showdown. I'd hit trip 10s on the turn, and no one called my $20,000 river bet. On hand 72, I was dealt pocket rockets, and won a pot worth $39,978 with them. One such boost makes for a good session; two makes for a great one.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 77 hands and saw flop:
 - 15 out of 15 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 12 out of 15 times while in small blind (80%)
 - 31 out of 47 times in other positions (65%)
 - a total of 58 out of 77 (75%)
 Pots won at showdown - 10 of 17 (58%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $50,858
balance: $4,647,352

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Set, pot, and session

If you've ever watched tennis, you're familiar with the phrase "Game, set, and match". A sequence of events from last night's session inspired me to come up with the poker analogue "Set, pot, and session". On hand 79, I was dealt a pair of nines. I flopped a set, and they held up. I won my largest pot of the night, worth $38,100 ($23,700 of which was other people's money). I exited stage left the very next hand.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 80 hands and saw flop:
 - 17 out of 20 times while in big blind (85%)
 - 14 out of 20 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 29 out of 40 times in other positions (72%)
 - a total of 60 out of 80 (75%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 18 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 14

delta: $42,600
balance: $4,596,494

Monday, May 21, 2012

Strange Overtone

In the spirit, though not quite the letter, of celebrating songs I like by naming blog posts after them, I offer up this latest instance. The actual title of the song is "Strange Overtones", by David Byrne and Brian Eno. I had to remove the final 's' in order for it to apply to Saturday night's session. In the vast majority of my winning sessions, at least the top three absolute value hand deltas are from hands I won. On Saturday night, the strange overtone was from the top absolute value hand delta, which came from a hand I lost. Here are the top 10 absolute value hand deltas of the session (with the losing ones preceded by a negative sign):

-19700
19000
18400
17000
14500
-8800
-8500
6300
-5400
5400

The $-19,700 loss came on hand 90, when I'd been dealt cowboys (a pair of kings) and they ended up losing to a full house, nines full of queens. I was a 95% favorite after the turn, but the full house hit on the river. Whatcha gonna do?

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 97 hands and saw flop:
 - 12 out of 15 times while in big blind (80%)
 - 8 out of 14 times while in small blind (57%)
 - 36 out of 68 times in other positions (52%)
 - a total of 56 out of 97 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 10 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 11

delta: $9,100
balance: $4,553,894

Saturday, May 19, 2012

False churn

Statistics are wonderful things, but it's important to realize their limitations. Essentially what they are is shorthand, and sometimes the shorthand can be extremely deceiving, if not just plain wrong. By my recent definition of churn, last night's session should have been full of it; the number came out to 163, way way up there in the churn stratosphere. The problem was, I wasn't churning at all; I had a steady descent to the felt, then a double up (after I reupped) to get back into the black.A truly churnful session would have seen my stack going up and down like a yoyo all night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 57 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 7 times while in big blind (42%)
 - 5 out of 8 times while in small blind (62%)
 - 26 out of 42 times in other positions (61%)
 - a total of 34 out of 57 (59%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 9 (22%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $800
balance: $4,544,794

Friday, May 18, 2012

Measuring churn

I've mentioned the concept of churn before, in the context of consecutive sessions. The concept also applies on a more micro level; a single session can exhibit churn, when you look at the individual hand deltas within it. I've struggled off and on to come up with a formula for measuring churn. I came up with one a while ago, but only now have started to believe that it has some merit. Here's the formula:

churn = (the sum of the absolute values of the individual hand deltas) /  (the sum of the individual hand deltas)

Of course, the denominator is what I've been calling the session delta. Since you need the full hand history of the session in order to be able to calculate churn, I can't calculate it for the sessions which predate my use of the automatic history saving feature of the PokerStars client software.

Last night, I had a big churn number: 157850 / 6150, or 25.67. Any number over 10 indicates a significant amount of churn.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 110 hands and saw flop:
 - 22 out of 23 times while in big blind (95%)
 - 16 out of 22 times while in small blind (72%)
 - 46 out of 65 times in other positions (70%)
 - a total of 84 out of 110 (76%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 28 (32%)
 Pots won without showdown - 13

delta: $6,150
balance: $4,543,994


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Punctuated equilibrium

The bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's session (I use this phrase so much, perhaps I should abbreviate it to BCOMSSOTCOLNS :-) illustrated punctuated equilibrium. That is, it stayed remarkably consistent for the most part, except for two big jumps. On the first jump, my king high straight won a pot worth $39,600. On the second, my three of a kind, kings won a pot worth $31,200. I've now hit a new all-time gold distance low of -50 in no limit hold'em.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 53 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 7 times while in big blind (71%)
 - 2 out of 7 times while in small blind (28%)
 - 17 out of 39 times in other positions (43%)
 - a total of 24 out of 53 (45%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 4 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $39,900
balance: $4,537,844

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Cruise control

Last night, I won the first hand I played. I love it when that happens! With extra chips on board, you can afford to be a little more speculative if you want. Funnily enough, you can also afford to be more picky if you want, too. If you're too picky when you're underwater, you risk missing out on some good hands. When you're not underwater, you can wait extra long for the next good hand. You just put your game on cruise control.

The biggest pot I won last night was worth $16,000, when I had a ten high straight. That turned out to be my high water mark. I quit when I came near it again, fourteen hands later. I was never underwater.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 23 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 4 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 3 out of 3 times while in small blind (100%)
 - 11 out of 16 times in other positions (68%)
 - a total of 16 out of 23 (69%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 8 (62%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $14,000
balance: $4,497,944

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Revealing showdowns

It's only human to interpret an opponent's bet as representing the strength of hand which would have caused you to bet a like amount, had it been yours. However, this tendency must be corrected for when an opponent reveals, through a showdown, just how meager a hand he's willing to bet big. The only hand I remember distinctly from last night's session was one where I'd been dealt pocket queens, but was forced off them by heavy betting from two opponents. They went to showdown against each other; one of them turned up an ace and a four, and won the pot with two pair, eights and fours. Since I would never have bet his hand that way, it was hard for me to imagine just how much risk this player was willing to bear. This is another case where I would have been happier playing against better players! Nonetheless, I made a nice profit.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 31 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 4 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 15 out of 24 times in other positions (62%)
 - a total of 19 out of 31 (61%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 6 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $11,946
balance: $4,483,944

Monday, May 14, 2012

Late surge

On Saturday night, the table I joined was very aggressive. On over a quarter of the hands, someone went all in. I had to be patient. My stack got almost all the way down to $10K before I had a late surge. When I'd won five of the last ten hands, I called it a night since I knew I'd seen the best of my luck.

My biggest pot was worth $22,700, when I'd been dealt pocket rockets and they held up. That hand was the start of the surge.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 62 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 10 times while in big blind (70%)
 - 4 out of 9 times while in small blind (44%)
 - 35 out of 43 times in other positions (81%)
 - a total of 46 out of 62 (74%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 10 (80%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $10,400
balance: $4,471,998

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Contradeltas

The title of this post borrows from an investing concept I'm passingly familiar with. Fidelity Investments has a well-known mutual fund named Contrafund whose goal is to make contrarian investments; that is, investments which run in the opposite direction the market is current moving. I decided it would be interesting to apply a similar concept to poker session deltas. Up to now, I've only concerned myself with the overall delta of each session; a win was a win, and a loss was a loss. However, now I'm realizing that some wins are essentially losses, and some losses are essentially wins. One way to distinguish between a winning win and a losing win, or between a losing loss and a winning loss, is to use contradeltas. You heard this term here first, folks, and I'm not charging a red cent for it :-) A contradelta is the sum of the deltas going in the opposite direction of your session delta. In a winning session, the contradelta is the sum of all your losing deltas; in a losing session, the contradelta is the sum of all your winning deltas.

Last night, I had a winning session, but it was essentially a losing win. My contradelta was a whopping $-96,783. I only have the data necessary for calculating contradeltas for 162 of the 689 sessions I've recorded, so I don't know where this contradelta stacks up all time. In the 162 I have the data for, 124 were winning sessions; of these 124, last night's contradelta clocks in at number 14. That is to say, there are only 13 sessions in which I've lost more chips in my losing deltas while still managing to have a winning session.

Contradeltas can make you feel better about a loss, but I don't think they can actually make you feel worse about a win; a win is a win, after all!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 100 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 14 times while in big blind (42%)
 - 7 out of 14 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 39 out of 72 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 52 out of 100 (52%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 17 (29%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $9,901
balance: $4,461,598

Friday, May 11, 2012

A simple prescription

Here's my latest advice on how to succeed at poker, a simple prescription with just two rules to remember:

1. never go all in
2. when you break rule 1, make sure that you win

Last night, I followed this to perfection. I never went all in, except for the two times that I did :-) As you may have guessed, I won both times.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 124 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 17 times while in big blind (64%)
 - 14 out of 20 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 55 out of 87 times in other positions (63%)
 - a total of 80 out of 124 (64%)
 Pots won at showdown - 14 of 22 (63%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $22,306
balance: $4,451,697

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Once in a chartreuse moon

Counting last night's, I've recorded 687 sessions. As I've said before, you just can't expect to see too many more best sessions ever when you've recorded that many. Last night I came so close! My best session was on April 27th, 2011, when I had a gain of $126,326. Last night I had my second best, with a gain of $123,950. Huge sessions like that are so infrequent I was inspired to come up with a expression for how rare they are; thus, the title of this post.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 58 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 8 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 5 out of 6 times while in small blind (83%)
 - 26 out of 44 times in other positions (59%)
 - a total of 35 out of 58 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 10 of 13 (76%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $123,950
balance: $4,429,391

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A grand canyon

The bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's session features a grand canyon in the middle. I came perilously close to hitting the felt. I was forced to go all in twice while living in the canyon, and was lucky enough to win both times. After that, my stack quickly returned to within shouting distance of its starting amount of $40,000. On hand 103, I finally got back into the black. I achieved the dubious distinction of having my smallest positive session delta ever in no limit hold'em - a minuscule two big blinds worth!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 130 hands and saw flop:
 - 17 out of 22 times while in big blind (77%)
 - 21 out of 25 times while in small blind (84%)
 - 59 out of 83 times in other positions (71%)
 - a total of 97 out of 130 (74%)
 Pots won at showdown - 16 of 29 (55%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $400
balance: $4,305,441

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

All your chips are belong to me

If you have a nodding acquaintance with internet memes (as I do), you might recognize the title of this post as an instance of the snowclone "All your ______ are belong to me". It's grammatically incorrect of course, but nonetheless rhetorically powerful. It's a statement I could have made (but didn't, of course) to one of my opponents at the end of last night's session; in back to back hands, I relieved him of all $59,699 of his chips. On the first hand, my two pair of aces and fours beat his two pair of tens and eights to win a pot worth $71,052. On the second, my king high flush beat his pair of eights to win a pot worth $49,546. I needed that boost to get back into the black, since I'd hit the felt on hand 56 and was card dead for long stretches of the session.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 120 hands and saw flop:
 - 20 out of 22 times while in big blind (90%)
 - 15 out of 23 times while in small blind (65%)
 - 45 out of 75 times in other positions (60%)
 - a total of 80 out of 120 (66%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 21 (42%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $20,425
balance: $4,305,041

Monday, May 7, 2012

Turn-worthy

On an episode of the classic sitcom "Seinfeld", Elaine (the Julia Louis-Dreyfus character) added a memorable adjective to the modern sexual lexicon: "Sponge-worthy". It referred to whether or not Elaine thought a potential sex partner merited her using a contraceptive sponge instead of some other form of contraception. Since she only had a limited supply of sponges - the maker had ceased manufacturing them - she had to make sure she didn't waste them on unworthy partners. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I've come up with a copycat poker adjective: turn-worthy. A hand is turn-worthy if it's worth paying to see the turn for. Last night, I won two nice pots with turn-worthy hands; on both of them, I'd flopped middle pair. On the first one, I hit trips on the turn; on the second, I hit a stealth two pair on the turn. They turned out to be the only hands I won, and the only ones I needed to win.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 19 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 3 times while in big blind (33%)
 - 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 4 out of 13 times in other positions (30%)
 - a total of 7 out of 19 (36%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $30,600
balance: $4,284,616

Sunday, May 6, 2012

40 below

When I talk about the golden ratio, most often I'm looking at my full poker history, regardless of poker flavor. Sometimes, though, I like to look at a subset of the history, for example restricting it to a particular poker flavor. Recently, I mentioned the formula for a statistic I call golden distance. Last night, I tied my all-time low for golden distance in no limit hold'em: -40. No limit hold'em is by far the flavor with which I've had the most success; I'm closing in on 3 million play dollars won playing it. I'll never go back to pot limit!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 100 hands and saw flop:
 - 14 out of 17 times while in big blind (82%)
 - 13 out of 18 times while in small blind (72%)
 - 41 out of 65 times in other positions (63%)
 - a total of 68 out of 100 (68%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 18 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 15

delta: $10,100
balance: $4,254,016




Saturday, May 5, 2012

All you need is two

Looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's session, two hands stand out. On one, I won $20,600, $11,000 of which was other people's money, and on the other, I won $34,200, $17,200 of which was other people's money. Interestingly, I didn't go all in once last night. This session showed me yet again how important patience is, and how few hands you need to win in order to come out with a profit. My new theory, for the length of session I typically play, can be stated succinctly as "All you need is two." What I mean by that is that you only need to win two hands where you have a substantial gain; you may win other hands, or you may not, but as long as you have two substantial gainers, and are being patient, you should come out ahead. The more you can take this philosophy to heart, the easier it is to be patient!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 56 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 11 times while in big blind (72%)
 - 8 out of 11 times while in small blind (72%)
 - 23 out of 34 times in other positions (67%)
 - a total of 39 out of 56 (69%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 10 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $10,000
balance: $4,243,916

Friday, May 4, 2012

The texture of the flop

In his two awesome books on tournament hold'em, Dan Harrington brings up the concept of the texture of the flop on several occasions. In a nutshell, the texture of the flop is an indicator of what kinds of hands your opponents may have hit, particularly hands that would be big favorites to beat yours. For example, it's never a good sign to see a pair in the flop, unless you happened to hit trips yourself. That's a bad texture, because the odds are excellent that one of your opponents hit trips or a two pair. I've seen players fold when there's a pair in the flop, even when no one has opened the betting; my guess is that they've been burned too many times in the past by this dangerous texture.

Last night, I hit the felt when I didn't give credence to a texture which made it possible that someone had hit an ace high straight on the flop; one contributing factor to my disbelief was that I'd hit a great hand myself, top two pair. You just don't expect someone else to have hit the flop harder when you've hit it so hard yourself. I wasn't discouraged, though; I reupped for the max, and ended the night with a profit when I won a monster pot worth $103,700 with three of a kind, kings. That's the first pot over $100,000 I've had in quite a while.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 70 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 11 times while in big blind (63%)
 - 5 out of 10 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 25 out of 49 times in other positions (51%)
 - a total of 37 out of 70 (52%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 6 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $23,500
balance: $4,233,916

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Popcorn session

Last night, I continued my patient ways. I saw the flop a mere 40% of the time. That's my lowest percentage in recent memory, and quite possibly my lowest of all time. I'm calling last night's session a popcorn session for the simple reason that most of the pots I won were bunched up near the end, analogous to popcorn kernels popping in bunches at the end of a microwave cycle. That was a somewhat unusual feature of the session; another unusual feature was that my largest delta was more than four times as big as its nearest competitor; on that hand, I won a pot worth $30,600 with an ace high flush.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 60 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 8 times while in big blind (75%)
 - 4 out of 9 times while in small blind (44%)
 - 14 out of 43 times in other positions (32%)
 - a total of 24 out of 60 (40%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 8 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $17,000
balance: $4,210,416

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Patience as a habit

Last night, I made a nice profit largely due to the fact that I was being patient. This wasn't completely a conscious choice; patience has started to become a poker habit for me. How can you make patience become a poker habit for you? One trick I've discovered which helps a lot is to be multi-tasking as you're playing; I typically do a lot of web surfing. When you're concentrating on something else, and all of a sudden the PokerStars client thrusts itself forward at you, demanding your attention and a decision, it's much easier to identify weak hands right away. It's probably akin to wine tasters or food tasters who cleanse their palates in between tastings.

Looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's session, two hands stand out:

hand 18: I won a pot worth $16,600 without a showdown; I flopped a two pair of kings and queens, and scared everyone away with my turn bet of $8,000.

hand 22: I won a pot worth $15,700 with a seven high straight.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 50 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 8 times while in big blind (75%)
 - 8 out of 9 times while in small blind (88%)
 - 19 out of 33 times in other positions (57%)
 - a total of 33 out of 50 (66%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 7 (57%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $15,200
balance: $4,193,416


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Canines and quinines

Last night, I won my biggest pot of the night with a canine. That is, a king and a nine. For some reason, I get a hankering to play hands when I see that my top hole card is a face card and my bottom hole card is a nine. A couple of sessions ago, I won three hands in a row where I'd been dealt a quinine (a queen and a nine).

I kept my seeing the flop percentage under 60 again last night. I'll try for three in a row tonight.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 42 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 5 times while in big blind (80%)
 - 5 out of 6 times while in small blind (83%)
 - 15 out of 31 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 24 out of 42 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 6 (83%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $7,100
balance: $4,178,216