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