Saturday, June 30, 2012

10

I considered naming this post "Perfect 10", but decided against it for the simple reason that last night's session wasn't actually perfect. As sessions go, though, it came pretty close. I won the first hand, more than doubled up on hand 7, and had a nice gain on hand 9. I called it a night on hand 10.

I've mentioned before that I'll almost invariably fold any holding which contains either a deuce or a trey. For all practical purposes, the only exceptions to this rule are when I've been dealt a pair of deuces or a pair of treys. What I may not have mentioned before is that my decision to quit a session is often influenced by being dealt a deuce or a trey on the hand following one where I won a nice pot. If I'm substantially in the black, I'm liable to interpret such a holding as a signal from Lady Luck that it's time for me to go. Last night, I was dealt a deuce queen off on hand 10.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 10 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 2 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 1 out of 2 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 4 out of 6 times in other positions (66%)
 - a total of 7 out of 10 (70%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 3 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $57,800
balance: $4,668,513

Friday, June 29, 2012

Too many crossings

On Wednesday night, I crossed the $4,600,000 boundary for the 11th time. Of course, the more times you cross a boundary, the more you're floundering, since every other time you're crossing it on the way down. I haven't had this much trouble leaving a boundary in my rear view mirror since the $900,000 boundary, which I crossed 13 times. Here's hoping 11 is a charm!

Towards the end of the session, I got some nice heads up and three-handed practice in. I did well in those situations - better than I'd done when playing against more players. That bodes well for the mythical time when I'm playing at the final table of a WSOP tournament :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 103 hands and saw flop:
 - 16 out of 21 times while in big blind (76%)
 - 16 out of 22 times while in small blind (72%)
 - 33 out of 60 times in other positions (55%)
 - a total of 65 out of 103 (63%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 13 (61%)
 Pots won without showdown - 21

delta: $11,609
balance: $4,610,713

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Back on the front page

Last night, I had a sweet session. I flirted with achieving my 11th lifetime session delta of over $100,000. I never made it, but had fun trying. My balance is now back on the front page of the sorted list of my ending balances (sorted in descending order).

An interesting footnote to the session is that I had a front row seat to the biggest pot I've ever seen. Here's how it went down:

Table 'Carnegia VIII' 9-max (Play Money) Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: neostreet (108480 in chips)
Seat 2: Seat 2 (156000 in chips)
Seat 3: Seat 3 (42400 in chips)
Seat 4: Seat 4 (40200 in chips)
Seat 5: Seat 5 (27700 in chips)
Seat 6: Seat 6 (140000 in chips)
Seat 7: Seat 7 (81000 in chips)
Seat 8: HSeat 8 (27700 in chips)
Seat 9: Seat 9 (37000 in chips)
Seat 2: posts small blind 100
Seat 3: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to neostreet [2d 3d]
Seat 4: calls 200
Seat 5: calls 200
Seat 6: raises 23400 to 23600
Seat 7: folds
HSeat 8: folds
Seat 9: folds
neostreet: folds
Seat 2: raises 52400 to 76000
Seat 3: folds
Seat 4: folds
Seat 5: folds
Seat 6: raises 52600 to 128600
Seat 2: raises 27400 to 156000 and is all-in
Seat 6: calls 11400 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (16000) returned to Seat 2
*** FLOP *** [Jc Qs Js]
*** TURN *** [Jc Qs Js] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Jc Qs Js Jh] [Ts]
Seat 9 leaves the table
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Seat 2: shows [Kd Ac] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Seat 6: shows [Ah 8h] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Seat 2 collected 280600 from pot

This pot dwarfs the largest one I've ever won ($193,950).

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 150 hands and saw flop:
 - 14 out of 19 times while in big blind (73%)
 - 9 out of 20 times while in small blind (45%)
 - 68 out of 111 times in other positions (61%)
 - a total of 91 out of 150 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 12 of 21 (57%)
 Pots won without showdown - 11

delta: $54,180
balance: $ 4,599,104

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Milestone

Last night, I hit a milestone - I've now played over 20,000 hands of no limit hold'em. Not too shabby, considering that at one time I thought I'd never have the gumption even to try playing this flavor of poker, let alone learning to play it well. As you may know, I cut my teeth on pot limit and thought for the longest time it was the only hold'em flavor for me.

Hitting this milestone is almost the only bright spot this month. Through last night, I'm down $125,128 for June. I need to get on my horse if I want to turn a profit!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 86 hands and saw flop:
 - 13 out of 16 times while in big blind (81%)
 - 8 out of 16 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 36 out of 54 times in other positions (66%)
 - a total of 57 out of 86 (66%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 16 (56%)
 Pots won without showdown - 9

delta: $20,346
balance: $4,544,924

Monday, June 25, 2012

The downside of longevity

Last night, I had a long session. The majority of long sessions are losing ones, and last night's was no exception. I finally hit the felt on hand 91. My stack reached its peak of $56,200 early in the session, on hand 26. I couldn't bring myself to quit at that point. My biggest loss came on hand 36, when my stack went from $47,060 all the way down to $23,460, a loss of $23,600. I still couldn't bring myself to quit when I got back briefly into the black on hand 50.

The downside of longevity is that by outlasting players, you end up facing new players. The new players won't play in the same style as the old ones, so you'll have to be constantly adjusting your style. If the old players showed you a lot of respect, you'll have to be extra careful; since the new players haven't seen you play, they won't give you any respect at first. If they're heavy bettors, you can call yourself right out of the game in a vain attempt to preserve the respect your play gained you earlier from now-departed players. That's essentially what happened to me at the tail end of last night's session.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 91 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 13 times while in big blind (69%)
 - 7 out of 13 times while in small blind (53%)
 - 35 out of 65 times in other positions (53%)
 - a total of 51 out of 91 (56%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 16 (43%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $-40,000
balance; $4,524,578

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Escape velocity

Last night, pocket rockets on hand 42 launched my stack skyward. When shortly afterwards I had a burst of 4 pots won in 8 hands, I decided my stack had reached escape velocity, and quit for the night. It was a nice rebound from the night before.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 60 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 8 times while in big blind (87%)
 - 5 out of 8 times while in small blind (62%)
 - 29 out of 44 times in other positions (65%)
 - a total of 41 out of 60 (68%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 7 (57%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $58,644
balance: $4,564,578

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Cold decked

On Thursday night, I hit the felt twice. It took 39 hands to hit it the first time; it only took one to hit it the second. I'm pretty sure that's a personal worst. On that 40th hand, you could say I was cold decked. I'd been dealt a pair of threes, and hit a set on the flop. The board paired on the river. My full house, threes full of deuces lost to another full house, fours full. My opponent had been dealt a pair of fours; he hit his set on the turn.

Here's the thing. This kind of thing is going to happen to you if you play long enough, and it's going to keep happening. You can't let it get to you. I can honestly say that I don't!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 40 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 6 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 3 out of 5 times while in small blind (60%)
 - 16 out of 29 times in other positions (55%)
 - a total of 24 out of 40 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 9 (22%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $-80,000
balance: $4,505,934

Thursday, June 21, 2012

The night of the fours

Last night's session had an unusual feature - an abnormally high percentage of the hands which won big pots contained a four. At different times, I was both a victim and a beneficiary of the fours. Here's how they made their presence felt:

hand 8: Seat 5, dealt a four and a deuce, won a pot worth $15,800 with two pair, fours and deuces

hand 21: Seat 9, dealt a pair of fours, won a pot worth $67,900 with a full house, fours full of eights

hand 25: Seat 9, dealt a pair of fours again, won a pot worth $97,500 with four of a kind, fours. This hand took me to the felt. I'd been dealt a big slick and called Seat 9's all in preflop bet.

hand 38: Seat 6, dealt a four and an eight, won a pot worth $5,200 with two pair, eights and fours

hand 44: I was dealt a pair of fours, and won a pot worth $10,700 with a full house, eights full of fours

hand 49: I was dealt a four and a nine, and won a pot worth $1,600 with a pair of fours

hand 73: I was dealt a five and a four, and won a side pot of $36,000 and half of the main pot of $108,700 with a five high straight; the opponent I split the main pot with had been dealt a king and a four

hand 75: I'd already sat out, so I wasn't in on this hand, but happened to see the result just before I left the table; someone won a decent pot with two pair, tens and fours

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 74 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 10 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 5 out of 11 times while in small blind (45%)
 - 29 out of 53 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 39 out of 74 (52%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 13 (69%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $10,250
balance: $4,585,934

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Flush blindness

Last night, my biggest single hand loss occurred because I failed to notice that the board supported a flush. Inexcusable! Aside from my blindness, I was somewhat fooled by the betting pattern of my opponent. He checked the turn, on which he'd made his flush, then bet big on the river. I had top two pair and thought he was playing games. My stack fell from $26,600 down to $7,800, and once again I was psychologically crippled, even though my stack wasn't. I hit the felt twenty odd hands later. After reupping, I played another 115 hands dead even. I forgot to save the hand stats, so the only one I know is the total number of hands I played: 192.

delta: $-40,000
balance: $4,575,684

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The sniff test

Betting patterns in poker are the stories we poker players try to tell each other. Not all such stories pass the sniff test. Some just don't smell right. Last night, on the penultimate hand of the session, I more than doubled up by following my nose. I'd been dealt a king queen off, and made a pair of kings - top pair - on the flop. An opponent made a strong bet, which I called. I figured he had pocket aces or a king, and my hole cards were plenty good enough to stay in the hand. An inconsequential card hit on the turn, and he made a continuation bet. I called. The river was another king. At that point, he made a large bet of $17,000. That made no sense to me whatsoever. If he didn't have a king, it would be suicidal to bet into someone who did. If he did have a king, his big bet would scare off everyone else except for someone else who also had one, so he'd potentially be losing some value. It smelled like he was desperately trying to induce me to fold. I called. He turned over ace jack offsuit; my three of a kind kings beat his pair of kings, and I raked in a pot worth $70,400.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 47 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 7 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 4 out of 6 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 28 out of 34 times in other positions (82%)
 - a total of 39 out of 47 (82%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 13 (46%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $32,300
balance: $4,615,684

Monday, June 18, 2012

Hammering out a win

On Saturday night, I hammered out a win. That is, on the penultimate hand of the night, I was dealt a hammer, hit trip sevens on the flop, and ended up winning a pot worth $5,000. Seeing that it was the fourth pot I'd won in five hands, I knew it was time to call it quits.

Running some stats on the session, I had a tgotl (total gain over total loss) of 1.55 and an agoal (average gain over average loss) of 4.2. I'm hoping to extend my microscopic winning streak tonight :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 76 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 9 times while in big blind (77%)
 - 6 out of 11 times while in small blind (54%)
 - 39 out of 56 times in other positions (69%)
 - a total of 52 out of 76 (68%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 13 (69%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $22,172
balance: $4,583,384


Saturday, June 16, 2012

Even keel session

Last night, I had an even keel session. I was never in danger of losing a significant amount of money, but by the same token I was never in danger of winning a significant amount. It's not such a bad thing to have this kind of session when you're trying to find your poker bearings. Right now I'm in the poker doldrums, but I sense that the wind will be picking up soon, and then I'll be flying across the poker main!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 66 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 8 times while in big blind (87%)
 - 7 out of 10 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 21 out of 48 times in other positions (43%)
 - a total of 35 out of 66 (53%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 4 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $500
balance: $4,561,212

Friday, June 15, 2012

Top pair foolishness

Last night, I was playing fine until hand 52. For some reason, I convinced myself my top pair could win, even though I had a weak kicker and there were two other players still in the hand. Like an imbecile, I bet $12,000 on the turn. One opponent raised $3,900 to go all in, the other called, and I called too. Not only was my hand beaten by a top pair which had a better kicker, both top pairs were beaten by a two pair which had been made on the turn. I lost $23,000 on the hand, taking my stack down to $9,100. Even though my stack wasn't crippled, I was psychologically crippled, and hit the felt not long afterwards.

Note to self: no big bets on the turn for the time being.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 67 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 9 times while in big blind (55%)
 - 5 out of 10 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 33 out of 48 times in other positions (68%)
 - a total of 43 out of 67 (64%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 13 (38%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $-40,000
balance:  $4,560,712

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Waiting on a lady

The more I play poker, the more convinced I become that it's a waiting game at heart. Contrary to the Rolling Stones song "Waiting on a Friend", you're actually waiting on a lady - Lady Luck. You must bide your time and hope you survive until she shows up. Of course, what I'm talking about here is the best strategy for when the table has 7 - 9 active players; that's the most common situation I find myself in. When there are less players at the table, bluffing comes into play more, and you should change your style so that you're not waiting nearly as much.

Last night, after an early lift, my stack descended slowly and steadily down to half its starting amount when my patience was finally rewarded. My king high straight won a pot worth $38,600, and I was done for the night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 108 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 15 times while in big blind (53%)
 - 8 out of 13 times while in small blind (61%)
 - 49 out of 80 times in other positions (61%)
 - a total of 65 out of 108 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 10 of 16 (62%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $2,050
balance: $4,600,712

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Failure to see a turn signal

The turn is very often a pivotal street in hold'em. Players frequently make big moves at the pot on the turn. That's one kind of turn signal. There's another kind; last night, I hit the felt because I failed to see it. It's the most basic poker signal of all - what the community cards will support. Any player who hopes to succeed reads this signal religiously each and every street. I realize why I failed to do that on my final hand last night, and will redouble my efforts to prevent such failures in the future.

There were actually two separate, contributing factors to my failure:

1. I was overly concerned with ensuring that I had the top pair
2. I was trying to teach an obnoxious player a lesson

After the turn, I was actually drawing dead, since my opponent had hit a flush. I was first to act. Failing to notice that the board would support a flush, I went all in, and he happily called. The lesson turned out to be for me :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 58 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 10 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 9 out of 11 times while in small blind (81%)
 - 23 out of 37 times in other positions (62%)
 - a total of 42 out of 58 (72%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 12 (16%)
 Pots won without showdown - 9

delta: $-40,000
balance: $4,598,662


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Throwing good money after good

Everyone knows about throwing good money after bad. In poker, though, sometimes you end up throwing good money after good. The end result may be the same, but the motivation is entirely different. When you throw good money after bad, your initial investment was unsound, and you compound that error by continuing to back a loser. When you throw good money after good, however, your initial investment was actually sound. It's much harder to fold in that situation.

Last night, on hand 6, I flopped a king high straight. I bet $400 on the flop, and got 4 callers. I bet $1000 on the turn, and got 3 callers. On the river, disaster struck; the board paired, giving one of my opponents a full house. This opponent went all in; I called, along with one other player. The full house raked in a pot worth $107,400; I lost $34,500 on the hand and was crippled. I don't regret making the river call; I only regret not betting my hand bigger, which might have pushed that opponent off his hand before he got to the river. I got burned by being too cute, trying to maximize my profit by value betting.

Back to the drawing board.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 101 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 16 times while in big blind (62%)
 - 9 out of 16 times while in small blind (56%)
 - 40 out of 69 times in other positions (57%)
 - a total of 59 out of 101 (58%)
 Pots won at showdown - 12 of 20 (60%)
 Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $-31,354
balance: $4,638,662

Monday, June 11, 2012

PEAL

It's fun condensing poker wisdom into short, easy-to-remember acronyms. For your consideration, I submit my latest: PEAL. PEAL stands for three things which are essential to poker success: patience, evaluative ability, and luck. These elements aren't equally weighted, however; the first two each have twice the weight of the third. That is, if you have poker success, you can attribute 40% of it to patience, 40% to evaluative ability, and 20% to luck.

On Saturday night, all three came into play. Patience, since it was a long session. Evaluative ability, since the largest amount I lost on any one hand all night was $4,600. Luck, since on the biggest pot I won, I hit a flush on the turn when an opponent had flopped a stealth two pair. In general, it doesn't do you much good to hit a big hand if one of your opponents doesn't hit nearly as big a one at the same time.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 126 hands and saw flop:
 - 12 out of 15 times while in big blind (80%)
 - 14 out of 16 times while in small blind (87%)
 - 65 out of 95 times in other positions (68%)
 - a total of 91 out of 126 (72%)
 Pots won at showdown - 12 of 23 (52%)
 Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $72,914
balance: $4,670,016

Saturday, June 9, 2012

7 million play dollars lost

There's a great joke which has as its coda the following remark and rejoinder:

"I've never been so insulted in my life!"
"Well, you should get out more!"

The poker equivalent to this might be:

"I've never lost so much money in my life!"
"Well, you should play more!"

The truth behind this humor is that you'll never be able to win a massive amount of money without losing a massive amount of money along the way. Since I started keeping records, I've lost $6,984,707 play dollars playing poker - 7 million play dollars, for all practical purposes. The bright side to this tale of woe is that I've won $11,493,067 play dollars along the way. I'm not as good a poker player as I think I am, but damn, I'm pretty good!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 72 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 9 times while in big blind (55%)
 - 7 out of 10 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 29 out of 53 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 41 out of 72 (56%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 8 (62%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $21,300
balance: $4,597,102

Friday, June 8, 2012

Down with a flush

Last night, I went down with a flush. I hit the felt on a hand where I'd made a king high flush on the turn. If you're going to go down in flames, that's a mighty fine hand to do it with. I have no regrets about sticking with that hand to the end. It was just my luck that the same turn card which gave me a flush gave one of my opponents a full house. Only 7.33% of all possible opponent holdings could have beaten me, and I happened to run into one.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 40 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 8 times while in big blind (87%)
 - 6 out of 8 times while in small blind (75%)
 - 15 out of 24 times in other positions (62%)
 - a total of 28 out of 40 (70%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 8 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $-40,000
balance: $4,575,802

Thursday, June 7, 2012

yaps: dph

It's time for yaps (yet another poker statistic). I'm calling this one dph; it stands for decisions per hand. If you have the full hand histories, it's easy to calculate; you just total up the number of decisions in the session, and divide by the number of hands in the session. Each time it's your turn to act, that's a decision point. Every time you're at a decision point, you must make one of five possible decisions: check, bet, call, raise, or fold. Note that there will never be a decision point where all five decisions are possible; for example, you don't have the option to check or bet if someone who acted before you has bet or raised. Likewise, you don't have the option to call or raise if the table has checked around to you.

Since I turned on the PokerStars feature to save every hand history automatically, I've played 184 sessions. In those 184 sessions, I've played 13,454 hands. In those 13,454 hands, I've made 37,826 decisions. My current lifetime dph is therefore 37826 / 13454, or 2.81. Last night, I played 113 hands, and made 304 decisions, so my dph for last night's session was 2.69. At some point I'll crunch the numbers to see if there's any meaningful statistical difference between my winning session dph and my losing session dph.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 113 hands and saw flop:
 - 15 out of 17 times while in big blind (88%)
 - 12 out of 19 times while in small blind (63%)
 - 49 out of 77 times in other positions (63%)
 - a total of 76 out of 113 (67%)
 Pots won at showdown - 11 of 21 (52%)
 Pots won without showdown - 12

delta: $30,200
balance: $4,615,802


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The fatty that almost wasn't

When you're in the middle of a losing streak, it's a natural tendency to play a bit tighter than you normally would. It would be a mistake to change your style of play too radically, though, since that very style is what got you where you are in the first place. Last night, I almost folded a hand preflop that in my normal style of play I would very rarely fold. I was dealt king seven offsuit, called the big blind of $200, and then was faced with a decision when an opponent made an $800 raise. I thought for about seven or eight seconds, which is actually a long time in online poker, and finally made the call. I came close to folding, but something made me call instead; I'm not sure what it was. I was glad I did; I hit trip 7s on the flop. They turned into a fatty (a full house) on the river, and I raked in a decent sized pot of $23,800. I quit soon afterwards, to make sure I preserved the profit and ended my losing streak.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 17 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 3 times while in big blind (33%)
 - 0 out of 2 times while in small blind (0%)
 - 8 out of 12 times in other positions (66%)
 - a total of 9 out of 17 (52%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $20,000
balance: $4,585,602


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

13th worst four bagger

It's official; I'm in a slump. Last night, I hit the felt again, at the end of a long session. That makes four losing sessions in a row. I've lost $144,450 in that stretch, which is my 13th worst cumulative four session delta. Once again, I had the chance to quit early with a nice profit, but opted to play on. Tonight I'm going to retrench a little, and set my sights lower. If I manage to go over $50K, I'll probably call it a night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 130 hands and saw flop:
 - 22 out of 27 times while in big blind (81%)
 - 20 out of 29 times while in small blind (68%)
 - 51 out of 74 times in other positions (68%)
 - a total of 93 out of 130 (71%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 18 (44%)
 Pots won without showdown - 16

delta: $-40,000
balance: $4,565,602


Monday, June 4, 2012

Entertainment value

Last night, I won my biggest pot of the night on hand 12. I hit a straight on the river, and raked in $39,800. If I were solely focused on growing my balance, I would have quit right then. The thing is, I play poker for several reasons, and an important one is to be entertained. It's just not entertaining to play twelve hands and quit. The hand which hurt the most was hand 59; I hit a queen high flush on the river, only to lose to a king high flush. I'm not pleased to have lost three sessions in a row, but I'm not discouraged either. I expect to turn things around tonight.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 105 hands and saw flop:
 - 13 out of 16 times while in big blind (81%)
 - 17 out of 17 times while in small blind (100%)
 - 47 out of 72 times in other positions (65%)
 - a total of 77 out of 105 (73%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 10 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 9

delta: $-24,450
balance: $4,605,602

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Largest ever one hand loss

Last night, I had a great session, even though I ended up hitting the felt. A cooler did me in. I had the distinction of setting the record for my largest ever one hand loss - a whopping $102,200 - on the last hand of the night. The thing is, I don't feel bad about losing this money, since I played the hand exactly the way I wanted to. In one of the poker books I've read, the philosophy is put forth that there are just some hands which you're destined to lose, since you won't be able to stop yourself from backing them all the way down the line. The idea is that this is perfectly fine, since you should be able to back strong hands this strongly. I agree!

Here's how the cooler went down:

Table 'Adorea IV' 9-max (Play Money) Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Seat 1 (60600 in chips)
Seat 2: Seat 2 (99400 in chips)
Seat 3: Seat 3 (19500 in chips)
Seat 4: Seat 4 (199000 in chips)
Seat 5: Seat 5 (62476 in chips)
Seat 6: neostreet (102200 in chips)
Seat 7: Seat 7 (7362 in chips)
Seat 9: Seat 9 492 (7200 in chips)
Seat 2: posts small blind 100
Seat 3: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to neostreet [Ah Jd]
Seat 4: calls 200
Seat 5: calls 200
neostreet: calls 200
Seat 7: calls 200
Seat 9 492: calls 200
Seat 1 has timed out
Seat 1: folds
Seat 2: calls 100
Seat 3: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc As 6h]
Seat 2: checks
Seat 3: checks
Seat 4: bets 700
Seat 5: raises 1700 to 2400
neostreet: calls 2400
Seat 7: folds
Seat 9 492: folds
Seat 2 is disconnected
Seat 2 has timed out while disconnected
Seat 2: folds
Seat 3: folds
Seat 4: raises 1700 to 4100
Seat 5: calls 1700
neostreet: raises 1700 to 5800
Seat 4: raises 9600 to 15400
Seat 5: folds
neostreet: raises 9600 to 25000
Seat 4: raises 173800 to 198800 and is all-in
neostreet: calls 77000 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (96800) returned to Seat 4
*** TURN *** [Jc As 6h] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [Jc As 6h Ks] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Seat 4: shows [Ad Ac] (three of a kind, Aces)
neostreet: shows [Ah Jd] (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
Seat 4 collected 209500 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 209500 | Rake 0
Board [Jc As 6h Ks 5h]
Seat 1: Seat 1 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Seat 2 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Seat 3 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Seat 4 showed [Ad Ac] and won (209500) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 5: Seat 5 folded on the Flop
Seat 6: neostreet showed [Ah Jd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Jacks
Seat 7: Seat 7 folded on the Flop
Seat 9: Seat 9 492 folded on the Flop

With the combination of my hole cards and the flop, I was a 94.21% favorite to win the hand against any unknown holding. However, against the specific holding of my opponent, I  had only 1 chance in 990 of winning; the only way I could have won was if running jacks had materialized on both the turn and the river.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 121 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 18 times while in big blind (61%)
 - 12 out of 17 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 50 out of 86 times in other positions (58%)
 - a total of 73 out of 121 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 13 of 20 (65%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $-40,000
balance: $4,630,052

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Fingerfehlter

On Wednesday night, I suffered a "fingerfehlter" - that is, a fingerfehler which led to my hitting the felt. As I've mentioned before, I do a fair amount of web surfing while I'm playing online poker. On occasion, when it's my turn to act, I click the "Call" button by mistake when I'm merely trying to bring the PokerStars client to the foreground, in order to evaluate my current situation. In cases where I would normally have folded, I'm then put in the position of having to make additional poker decisions. In that strange circumstance, I sometimes make a really strange decision! In this case, I decided to go all in when the turn had given me an open-ended straight draw. One of my cardinal rules in poker is never to go all in on a draw.

The way I look at it, though, I'd received enough luck the previous session to merit several future fingerfehlters. Let's hope I can stop at one, and be ahead of the game!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 51 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 5 times while in big blind (80%)
 - 5 out of 7 times while in small blind (71%)
 - 19 out of 39 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 28 out of 51 (54%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 10 (30%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $-40,000
balance: $4,670,052