Tuesday, December 31, 2013

yaps: lolhs

Last night, I doubled up on hand 3. I didn't quit right then; I play poker largely for entertainment, and quitting after only playing three hands isn't much fun. I ended up giving back all my winnings, and even dipped into the red; a strong finish put me back in the black. Looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of the session, I was inspired to come up with yaps (yet another poker statistic). I call this one lolhs. No, it doesn't stand for Laughing Out Loud High School :-) It stands for Last On the Low High Scale. The Low High Scale is what it sounds like - the scale which ranges from your low balance of the session to your high balance of the session. Last on the Low High Scale is where your final balance of the session falls on the scale, in terms of a percentage. If you end on your high, your lolhs will be 100%; if you end on your low, your lolhs will be 0%. Last night, my low balance was $33,722, my high balance was $103,104, and my final balance was $65,939. The lolhs calculation is as follows:

lolhs = (last - low) / (high - low)

So my lolhs value for last night's session was 32217 /  69382, or .464342.

Happy New Year!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 109 hands and saw flop:
 - 13 out of 17 times while in big blind (76%)
 - 12 out of 17 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 43 out of 75 times in other positions (57%)
 - a total of 68 out of 109 (62%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 20 (40%)
 Pots won without showdown - 9

delta: $15,939
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,846,779
balance: $7,203,732

Monday, December 30, 2013

My deepest cash dive

From the beginning of my quest to gain a million play dollars, I've measured my progress in milestones of $100,000. That amount works well as a negative milestone also. My deepest tournament dive is over a million play dollars, more than 10 milestones. On Friday night, I set a record for my deepest cash game dive to date - over $600,000, more than 6 milestones. The last time I was in the blue wasn't that long ago - November 13th, to be precise. Of the 35 sessions I've played since then, I've lost a whopping 19. It's high time to right the ship!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 84 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 12 times while in big blind (58%)
 - 4 out of 12 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 35 out of 60 times in other positions (58%)
 - a total of 46 out of 84 (54%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 9 (44%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,830,840
balance: $7,187,793

Friday, December 27, 2013

Got there or not there

When a player is on a draw, and makes it (either on the turn or on the river), the common poker phrase is that he or she "got there". When you get there, you expect to win the vast majority of the time. I can't remember ever folding when I've gotten there. The thing is, folding when you've gotten there is sometimes the correct play, and should be in your arsenal. I realize that it's not in mine yet. I sure could have used that weapon last night :-) On the final hand of the session, I was on a straight draw, and got there on the turn. When an opponent bet $29,000, I raised it up to $39,899, and was all in. As it turned out, she'd gotten there on the turn as well, with a better straight. I was actually drawing dead on the river. Her huge river bet should have alerted me to the fact that though I'd "gotten there", in actuality I wasn't anywhere at all :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 75 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 10 times while in big blind (60%)
 - 7 out of 10 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 30 out of 55 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 43 out of 75 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 6 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,880,840
balance: $7,237,793

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Counterfeit straight

On Christmas Eve, I played well enough to win, but ended up losing. Hey, it happens. I hit the felt on hand 5, when an opponent hit a 3 outer on me. I'd made a king high straight on the turn, but the board made the same straight on the river, counterfeiting mine. My opponent had an ace, and therefore had the nut straight. If I'd won that hand, which I had a 93.18% chance of doing after the turn, I would have come out with a profit on the night, but it just wasn't meant to be. I have to admit that I'm in an extended slump. The good thing about slumps is that they always eventually end :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 95 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 15 times while in big blind (53%)
 - 8 out of 14 times while in small blind (57%)
 - 35 out of 66 times in other positions (53%)
 - a total of 51 out of 95 (53%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 16 (43%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $-38,326
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,930,840
balance: $7,287,793

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Not the top three I was looking for

Last night, I had a top three career hand, but I could have done without it. I lost the third most chips I've ever lost on a cash game no limit hold'em hand. It marked the abrupt end of a session that had been successful up to that point. Here are the top ten hands on the unwanted list:

   -102200 Ah Jd pokerstars\logs\2012\0602\hands 121
    -97932 Qd Ad pokerstars\logs\2013\0613\hands  53
    -71323 Kc Td pokerstars\logs\2013\1223\hands 136
    -65982 Ac Ks pokerstars\logs\2013\1126\hands   8
    -65789 Kh Qh pokerstars\logs\2012\0417\hands  21
    -56200 3c 3s pokerstars\logs\2011\1022\hands  85
    -54429 Kc Kd pokerstars\logs\2013\0611\hands  60
    -53470 As Jh pokerstars\logs\2013\0120\hands  49
    -52200 Kd 2h pokerstars\logs\2012\0414\hands  61
    -52000 3h 3c pokerstars\logs\2012\0705\hands 129


It's no surprise that my worst hand, AJo, shows up on this list twice. Thanks to last night's final hand, KTo (king ten offsuit) has rocketed up to number 8 on my worst hands list.

Last night's last hand was another case of the imp of the perverse. I knew I was most probably beaten, but just couldn't stop myself from calling. The longer the session, the more likely it is that the imp will appear. I should have quit before it had the chance. Live and learn!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 136 hands and saw flop:
 - 12 out of 17 times while in big blind (70%)
 - 8 out of 16 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 48 out of 103 times in other positions (46%)
 - a total of 68 out of 136 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 11 (72%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,969,166
balance: $7,326,119

Monday, December 23, 2013

Showdown bonsai

Knowing when to go to showdown is one of the best skills to have in poker. You will never win as much as you'll win at showdown, and you will never lose as much as you'll lose at showdown. It's actually an excellent plan to go to showdown as sparingly as possible. I call this strategy "Showdown bonsai". You must always be asking yourself, "Do I really need to go to showdown on this hand? Or can I simply prune my showdown tree, keeping it small and beautiful?" Last night, I kept my showdown tree small and beautiful. I only went to showdown twice, and won both times.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 49 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 6 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 4 out of 6 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 19 out of 37 times in other positions (51%)
 - a total of 28 out of 49 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $16,014
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,019,166
balance: $7,376,119

Sunday, December 22, 2013

The shocking truth

Sometimes, the truth is really shocking. In researching my type 2 Double Stuf record, I discovered that I've hit the felt way more frequently than I'd thought I had. In 561 sessions for which I have the data, I've hit the felt at least once in 171 of them. That translates to 30%. Ouch! My mental model was that I hit the felt in about 10% of the sessions I play. Of course, not all of the sessions where I hit the felt were losing ones. Here are the Double Stuf stats: of the 561 sessions, there were 81 in which I hit the felt one time, then reupped for the max. Of those 81, 33 were winning sessions. That translates to 40%. Here again, my mental model failed me. I was pretty sure my success rate for this type of session would be over 50%.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 121 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 14 times while in big blind (57%)
 - 8 out of 16 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 46 out of 91 times in other positions (50%)
 - a total of 62 out of 121 (51%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 14 (28%)
 Pots won without showdown - 11

delta: $-22,285
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,003,152
balance: $7,360,105

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Double Stuf poker

You may be thinking there's a typo in the title of this post. If so, you'd be wrong. I'm merely stealing a trademarked name and repurposing it. Not to keep you in the dark, "Double Stuf" is a type of Oreo cookie. More specifically, it's an Oreo cookie with double the normal amount of cream filling. What's Double Stuf poker? I'll explain, grasshopper. It's when you're playing with double the normal amount of chips. Sounds like fun, you say? Not always. There are two ways of going about this. One way is to double your starting stack. The other is to lose your whole starting stack and reup for the max. That second, inferior brand of Double Stuf is what I played last night. Fortunately for me, I was able to make it back into the black. At some point, I'll have to see what my record is in type 2 Double Stuf; my poker intuition tells me it's over 50%.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 104 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 14 times while in big blind (78%)
 - 8 out of 13 times while in small blind (61%)
 - 37 out of 77 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 56 out of 104 (53%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 8 (87%)
 Pots won without showdown - 12

delta: $23,931
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,025,437
balance: $7,382,390

Friday, December 20, 2013

Top 10 somehow

I generally have a pretty good idea whether a session qualifies as unusual in some way. Something just feels special about it. Another way to describe this is that I sense the lack of a recognizable pattern. I can't easily pigeonhole the session. When I get this feeling, I always hope that the session turns out to be the most extreme example of a type I never thought about before. It's always fun to have a #1 session in some category, even if it was a losing session :-) Even hitting the 10 ten in a category is nothing to sneeze at, considering the number of sessions I've played.

Wednesday night's session didn't qualify as a #1 in any category, but it did make the top 10 in at least one. In fact, it made the top 5. What was the category, you ask? It was the losing sessions in which I've had the largest maximum positive deltas. Here are the top 5:

     54894 pokerstars\logs\2013\0611\hands (280)
     52300 pokerstars\logs\2012\0726\hands (22)
     47900 pokerstars\logs\2012\0106\hands (107)
     44700 pokerstars\logs\2013\0516\hands (13)
     43500 pokerstars\logs\2013\1218\hands (55)

The numbers in parentheses are the hand numbers when the maximum positive deltas were achieved.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 110 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 13 times while in big blind (76%)
 - 7 out of 14 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 40 out of 83 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 57 out of 110 (51%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 13 (46%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $-64,654
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,001,506
balance: $7,358,459

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The wrong price

Poker players are always looking for the right price. That's shorthand for the right price to call. You have the right price to call when the pot odds are better than the inverse of your odds of having the best hand. There's a flip side to this coin, however. When you're ahead in the hand, it's incumbent on you to give your opponents the wrong price. If you don't, they're liable to come along for the ride, and if they do, they could outdraw you. That's what happened to me on just the second hand of last night's session. Since I lost $49,500 on it, I decided to make it my last hand. Here's how it went down: I was dealt cowboys (a pair of kings). I hit a set on the turn, and bet $10,000 into a pot of $28,000. That meant that an opponent calling my bet would be getting nearly 4-1 pot odds. That's just too juicy for a lot of players to pass up, even when they should know better. As it turned out, I was up against an opponent with an open-ended straight draw. He only had a 1 in 5 chance of winning, but hit the low end to make his straight on the river. I actually did two things wrong on this hand:

1. I didn't give him the wrong price to call on the turn (or, perhaps more accurately, a "wrong enough price")
2. I failed to realize the river card put a straight draw into play

I'm sure I set a personal "best" for losing a starting stack in the minimum number of hands :)

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

 delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,066,160
balance: $7,423,113


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The grinder's merit badge

To be a successful poker player in the long run, you really have to be a grinder. What I mean by that is that you must be dogged in the pursuit of your goals, and not let anything set you back or get you down. You must be willing to accept the fact that you will not get rich quickly. With these characteristics in mind, I wondered if there were some way to prove a player is a grinder - a grinder's merit badge, in other words. I think I've found one. As you may know, one of the data sets I generate for each session is a list of the hand deltas, sorted in descending order by absolute value. Looking at this data from last night's session, which was a winning one, I saw something which I knew must be pretty rare for winning sessions - the top value in the list was a negative delta, i.e., an amount I had lost on a hand. I reasoned that only a grinder can have the top value in such a list be negative.

To see how rare such an occurrence is, I ran the numbers. Of the 557 sessions for which I have the requisite data for generating the lists, 381 were winning ones. Of those 381, only 25 meet the criterion.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 73 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 8 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 10 times while in small blind (20%)
 - 34 out of 55 times in other positions (61%)
 - a total of 44 out of 73 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 8 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $11,656
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,116,160
balance: $7,473,113

Monday, December 16, 2013

A patient century

On Saturday night, I hit the felt on hand 23. After reupping, I did some serious grinding. It took a long time, but I finally got into the black on hand 113. That marked the first time I was above water. I call 100 hands a century, appropriating (or more accurately, misappropriating) this term from the British sport of cricket. To wait a century before turning a profit, that takes what I call patience :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 120 hands and saw flop:
 - 12 out of 16 times while in big blind (75%)
 - 6 out of 15 times while in small blind (40%)
 - 47 out of 89 times in other positions (52%)
 - a total of 65 out of 120 (54%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 18 (44%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $27,493
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,104,504
balance: $7,461,457

Saturday, December 14, 2013

A month in the making

Last night, I managed to do something I hadn't done in over a month - namely, win a third session in a row. That sounds like a ridiculously easy task, but I'm here to tell you there are stretches when it's clearly not. I've been in the poker doldrums for a while, and would dearly love to break out of them. The funny thing is, only by being patient will I be able to break out. The more patient I am, the faster I'll break out. It seems counter-intuitive, but that doesn't make it any the less true.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 24 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 3 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 12 out of 18 times in other positions (66%)
 - a total of 17 out of 24 (70%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 5 (80%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $21,288
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,098,299
balance: $7,455,252


Friday, December 13, 2013

Miniature house, pale flush

Sometimes, the most interesting features of a session are the times you managed to do a whole lot of nothing when you might have done a lot more. I didn't realize it at the time, but looking at the data, I see I had two premium hands last night where I made the bare minimum. On hand 30, I made a full house of aces full of jacks on the river, but only made a profit of $2,559. On hand 54, I flopped an ace high flush, but only made a profit of $4,969. That's what I call a miniature house and a pale flush!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 70 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 10 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 7 out of 9 times while in small blind (77%)
 - 33 out of 51 times in other positions (64%)
 - a total of 50 out of 70 (71%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 12 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $34,962
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,077,011
balance: $7,433,964

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Now I know how Tony G felt

Some years ago, there was a poker show on television called "The Big Game". I never saw it when it was being aired, but have since seen some great clips from it on the PokerStars TV website. Some of the most entertaining clips involved epic clashes, both poker and verbal, between Phil Hellmuth and Tony G. They're both well-known for harsh criticism of their opponents, so when they're sitting at the same table, you can expect real fireworks. On one of the shows, Tony G was relentless in his belittling of Hellmuth. He kept repeating, over and over, "I own you!".

Though I would never say that out loud to anyone, that's basically what I was thinking about one of my opponents last night. He and I went to showdown against each other four times, and I won all four. In fact, he was the only opponent I could beat at showdown :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 64 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 9 times while in big blind (88%)
 - 3 out of 9 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 22 out of 46 times in other positions (47%)
 - a total of 33 out of 64 (51%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 10 (40%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $33,508
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,042,049
balance: $7,399,002

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Pockets four

Last night, I went broke with an "always going broke" hand. It was the second time in the session I hit the felt, and the last hand I played. I don't feel bad about it, since my hand was so strong. If I'd won it, I would have had a really nice profit on the night, despite hitting the felt on hand 11. The last hand had 2 notable features:

1. the pot was one of the biggest I can remember, $214,111
2. all four players who went to showdown had been dealt a pocket pair

I'd been dealt pocket threes, and hit a set on the flop. Unfortunately for me, one of my opponents hit a bigger set on the flop (tens). The other two "pocks" were kings and aces; neither of those players improved. If that hand wasn't a cooler, I don't know what is :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 48 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 6 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 5 out of 7 times while in small blind (71%)
 - 22 out of 35 times in other positions (62%)
 - a total of 32 out of 48 (66%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 12 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $-100,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,008,541
balance: $7,365,494

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The call of action

There was a time when I found it easy to quit after a big early score. Not so much anymore. Why is that, I ask myself. I think I know. It's the call of action. It's a siren call; quite difficult to resist, unless your name happens to be Odysseus. The more action you've seen, the more you want to see. I realize I've just reduced poker to its most basic definition - it's a drug, in effect. That makes me a poker addict. I'm not proud of that, but I'm not ashamed, either. It's just a fact.

On Saturday night, on hand 14, I won a pot worth $93,944 with a queen high straight. $47,347 of that was other people's money. Instead of quitting, I ended up playing another 119 hands. Do I wish I'd quit earlier? Believe it or not, no :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 133 hands and saw flop:
 - 19 out of 25 times while in big blind (76%)
 - 17 out of 26 times while in small blind (65%)
 - 39 out of 82 times in other positions (47%)
 - a total of 75 out of 133 (56%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 21 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 19

delta: $11,020
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,108,541
balance: $7,465,494

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Wrong way on a one-way track

When you really love a song, its most powerful lyrics get stored somewhere where you can always access them; they share that characteristic with poignant lines of well-loved poems. The song lyric, or the line of poetry, will spring to mind when a situation arises which subconsciously you recognize as the same situation as the one in the song or poem.

"Runaway Train", by Soul Asylum, is one of my favorite songs. My favorite lyric from it is what I've chosen to title this post. Last night, I hit the felt on the final hand; I was playing my worst hand, yet again. Just as a reminder, my worst hand is ace jack offsuit, or AJo for short. The history of my AJo hands is a true tale of woe. I'm definitely going the wrong way down a one-way track, and I realize that I'll never get back. I now feel the only logical thing to do is fold every AJo hand I'm dealt from here on in. We'll see if I have the strength to do it!

For the record, I lost $9,000 with AJo on last night's final hand. In my poker career, I've lost a whopping $375,808 with AJo. My next worst hand, ATo, is a mere bagatelle in comparison; I've only lost $158,751 with it.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 159 hands and saw flop:
 - 25 out of 40 times while in big blind (62%)
 - 35 out of 43 times while in small blind (81%)
 - 47 out of 76 times in other positions (61%)
 - a total of 107 out of 159 (67%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 19 (42%)
 Pots won without showdown - 37

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,097,521
balance: $7,454,474

Friday, December 6, 2013

A session in the balance

The difference between success and failure in poker can sometimes hinge on a single outcome. Last night, I played for over two hours, and 140 hands; however, it was the result of just one hand, which took less than a minute to play, which sealed my fate. Even though I came out a loser on the night, I know I played well enough to win. Here's what happened:

On hand 26, I was dealt Ks Jh. The flop came Kc Ad Kd, and it was checked all around. The turn was 5s; I bet $500, then got into a raising war with another player I had covered, and ended up going all in. He'd been dealt 3h Kh, and hit a full house on the river. I was a 70.45% favorite after the turn, with an additional 22.73% chance of chopping the pot; that means I lost to a 6.82% dog.

Had the odds held up, I would have won a pot worth $67,230; instead, I lost $33,740. C'est la guerre!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 140 hands and saw flop:
 - 17 out of 20 times while in big blind (85%)
 - 13 out of 20 times while in small blind (65%)
 - 59 out of 100 times in other positions (59%)
 - a total of 89 out of 140 (63%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 16 (25%)
 Pots won without showdown - 21

delta: $-57,386
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,147,521
balance: $7,504,474

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Back-to-back improbabilities

I've certainly seen my share of improbable events at a poker table. In the vast majority of cases, they're separated by a large number of intervening, ho-hum, all-too-probable events. Once in a very great while, however, the improbable events happen back-to-back. It's akin to lightning striking twice. What can you do but shake your head, and simply marvel at what the poker gods can concoct?

Last night, on hand 30, I was dealt 8c 8h, and flopped a full house. The flop was Jh Jd 8s. I started the hand with $15,000, and ended it with nothing. I lost to an opponent who'd been dealt Js Jc, and had flopped quads. I ran the numbers, and it turns out my hand in combination with that flop beats 96.26 of all possible opponent holdings, and chops the pot with another 0.37 percent. I was extremely unlucky to run into one of the 3.37 percent of hands which could beat mine.

After reupping for the max, I immediately recouped all my losses, with interest. I was dealt As 8s, flopped top two pair, and made a full house on the turn. I ended up going all in on the turn, and two opponents went to showdown with me. I raked in a monster pot worth $155,750, and was done for the night.

By my current definition of poker rebound, that was the fourth best rebound of my career, and likely the first ever to occur on the first hand of a reup.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 32 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 4 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 0 out of 4 times while in small blind (0%)
 - 11 out of 24 times in other positions (45%)
 - a total of 15 out of 32 (46%)
 Pots won at showdown - 1 of 3 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

 delta: $55,750
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,204,907
balance: $7,561,860


Wednesday, December 4, 2013

A quarter turn to the left

In general, when you run the numbers on heads up situations, the answers you get back have more than two significant digits. That's why I was surprised when I ran the numbers on last night's final hand. After the turn, I was a 25 percent dog up against a 75 percent favorite. That is, a 25.00 percent dog up against a 75.00 percent favorite. Not very surprisingly, considering I went all in on the turn, I hit the felt. Combining the street, my chance of winning, and the final outcome, it all came out to a quarter turn to the left :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 73 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 12 times while in big blind (58%)
 - 7 out of 13 times while in small blind (53%)
 - 31 out of 48 times in other positions (64%)
 - a total of 45 out of 73 (61%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 12 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 12

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,149,157
balance: $7,506,110

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Personal best

Last night, at the end of the session, I set an interesting personal best. I achieved my biggest hand delta ever for a hand which didn't end up going to showdown. When there's a lot of money in the pot, most often one or more of your opponents will be priced in to call any river bet you make. The poker term for this is "pot committed". I'd been dealt 3d 6h, and the flop came 9d 3s 6c. I checked, then raised a $5,000 bet to $12,000 and got three callers. The turn was 4d; I bet $10,000 and got one caller. The river was Js; I bet $10,000 again and my opponent folded. I won a pot worth $79,000 without a showdown; $56,000 of this was other people's money.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 67 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 9 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 6 out of 9 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 26 out of 49 times in other positions (53%)
 - a total of 41 out of 67 (61%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 9 (77%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $71,328
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,199,157
balance: $7,556,110

Monday, December 2, 2013

The camouflaged quit signal

Poker is a game of pattern recognition, but the patterns are not always, or even often, obvious. Sometimes they only appear after the fact, when you stare at the data long enough. I've never written about the camouflaged quit signal before, but I've thought about it, off and on, for quite a while. What do I mean by the camouflaged quit signal? For those of you who have ever done any day trading, which I tried my hand at recently, it's the poker equivalent of a particular trend line scenario. Last night's bar chart illustrates it quite well. There's a clear down trend in the first half of the session. That's followed by a period of prosperity above the trend line which lasts about a third of the session. After that, in the final sixth of the session, the trend line is rejoined. The correct play to make, I now believe, is to quit as soon as the trend line is rejoined, since rejoining it bodes continued descent and eventual bankruptcy. The trouble with this advice is that unless you keep a live bar chart up during your session, you're not going to realize when the trend line has been rejoined.

Of course, this theory is somewhat flawed; I came up with it based on a specific scenario whose outcome was already known, so it won't necessarily apply in the general case. I'm sure there are many times when I didn't hit the felt after rejoining a downward trend line. Unfortunately for me, last night wasn't one of them :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 76 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 10 times while in big blind (90%)
 - 6 out of 10 times while in small blind (60%)
 - 28 out of 56 times in other positions (50%)
 - a total of 43 out of 76 (56%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 11 (27%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,127,829
balance: $7,484,782

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Six thumps

As you may know, I often look at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of a session as inspiration for a blog post title. Looking at last night's chart, what springs immediately to mind is "six thumps". Six separate times, my stack took a significant jump upwards. In fact, those six jumps were the top six entries in the sorted list of the absolute values of the hand deltas.

Regular thumps are like regular heartbeats; you're not going to survive without them.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 97 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 13 times while in big blind (84%)
 - 9 out of 14 times while in small blind (64%)
 - 38 out of 70 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 58 out of 97 (59%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 12 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $17,690
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,177,829
balance: $7,534,782

Friday, November 29, 2013

An ugly dozen

Last night, not only did I get kicked off the bus, I got beaten up while walking through the boondocks. After that, all I could do was crawl. In my last twelve cash game no limit hold'em sessions, I've lost a whopping $313,040. That's what I call an ugly dozen! It's not my ugliest, however. In my ugliest, back in 2011, I lost $421,062. At the rate I'm going, I won't hit the 8 million play dollar plateau until well into 2014. That's okay, though; I'm learning some poker humility along the way :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 193 hands and saw flop:
 - 28 out of 31 times while in big blind (90%)
 - 21 out of 31 times while in small blind (67%)
 - 73 out of 131 times in other positions (55%)
 - a total of 122 out of 193 (63%)
 Pots won at showdown - 13 of 31 (41%)
 Pots won without showdown - 16

delta: $-143,125
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,160,139
balance: $7,517,092

Thursday, November 28, 2013

The middle of nowhere

Playing poker can be likened to being on a long bus ride. You want to stay on the bus, and go as far as you can. Sometimes, though, you're forced off the bus, dropped off essentially in the middle of nowhere. How you deal with that situation has a lot to do with how successful a player you're going to be. What do you need to do when you're dropped off in the middle of nowhere? Hard as it might seem, you just need to walk. Use your own two legs and get moving. You won't get there as fast as if you were still on the bus, but with persistence and luck, you'll get there.

Last night, I was dropped off in the middle of nowhere on hand 56. I hit the felt, and was down the amount of my original starting stack, $50,000. I replenished my stack, and started my long walk back to the black. I reached it on hand 96, and quit the next hand.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 97 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 12 times while in big blind (91%)
 - 8 out of 15 times while in small blind (53%)
 - 30 out of 70 times in other positions (42%)
 - a total of 49 out of 97 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 14 (42%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $5,722
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,303,264
balance: $7,660,217

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Worst AKo ever

Back on May 28th of this year, I wrote a post titled "Second worst AKo ever". Last night, I outdid myself; I had my worst AKo ever. I was dealt Ac Ks. When the flop came Qs Ah 9d, I bet $7,500, then went all in when one of the three big stacks at the table raised me to $36,500. I thought he was just trying to bully me. At showdown, he turned over Qh Ad for two pair, and won a pot worth $133,464. I lost a whopping $65,982 on the hand. That turned out to be the third largest single hand loss of my career.

Here's the thing. You have to go with your reads. There's no sense second-guessing yourself afterwards. I'm proud that I didn't back down.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 82 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 12 times while in big blind (91%)
 - 8 out of 10 times while in small blind (80%)
 - 31 out of 60 times in other positions (51%)
 - a total of 50 out of 82 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 14 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $-84,635
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,297,542
balance: $7,654,495

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Nell mezzo del cammin

I've only read bits and pieces of Dante's Inferno, but some lines have remained with me. Some, indeed, because my father has often quoted favorite passages of his, in the original Italian. Here are two lines that I can remember from my own perusal:

E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

This translates roughly to "And from there we emerged to rebehold the stars."  It's the final line of the Inferno. Come to think of it, the two lines that I remember are the first and last lines :-) Here's the first:

Nell mezzo del cammin di nostra vita

In Allen Mandelbaum's translation: "When I had journeyed half of our life's way". Whenever I'm driving, glance down at the gas gauge, and note that I have half a tank, this line comes to mind. The most recent full tank of gas has journeyed half of its life's way on these occasions. When I first had this thought, I was about 35, so the line applied to both the gas tank and my own life. Now that I'm 54, though, and have journeyed past the halfway point of my life, I can't apply it to myself.

Literally, "nell mezzo del cammin" means "in the middle of the road". In cash game poker, being in the middle of the road isn't such a bad place to be. On Saturday night, I was nell mezzo del cammin in three ways:

1. my seeing the flop percentage was 57
2. my pots won at showdown percentage was 50
3. my underwater percentage was 54

This all added up to a modest, but appreciated, gain.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 56 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 10 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 7 out of 10 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 15 out of 36 times in other positions (41%)
 - a total of 32 out of 56 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 8 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $10,020
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,382,177
balance: $7,739,130

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Worst to first

A poker table is like a big washing machine. You'll get tumbled around, but so will everybody else. As time goes on, you're guaranteed not to stay in the same place. You'll be pushed to the bottom at times, and pulled to the top at others. You shouldn't feel too bad when you're at the bottom, and also you shouldn't feel too elated when you're at the top. Bear in mind, I'm talking about when you're at a table with opponents who are your equals skill-wise. When you're at a table with opponents who are more skillful, you'd better resign yourself to being at the bottom of the washing machine.

Last night, I had a lengthy sojourn as the short stack at the table. On hand 41, I won a huge pot worth $126,967 with a pair of queens. That made me the big stack, enabling me to complete an improbable journey from worst to first.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 42 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 6 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 2 out of 5 times while in small blind (40%)
 - 16 out of 31 times in other positions (51%)
 - a total of 21 out of 42 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 3 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $86,561
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,372,157
balance: $7,729,110

Friday, November 22, 2013

A Broadway flop

If you're in the theater business, you never want to flop on Broadway. If you're in the poker business, though, you never turn up your nose at a Broadway flop. Lash night, I had a losing session, but it ended on a high note. On hand 150, I flopped Broadway (an ace high straight), went all in with it on the river, got called, and won a pot worth $72,878.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 151 hands and saw flop:
 - 25 out of 27 times while in big blind (92%)
 - 24 out of 30 times while in small blind (80%)
 - 54 out of 94 times in other positions (57%)
 - a total of 103 out of 151 (68%)
 Pots won at showdown - 11 of 25 (44%)
 Pots won without showdown - 19

delta: $-29,333
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,285,596
balance: $7,642,549

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Hijacked attention

Last night, a truly odd thing happened at the end of the session. My attention was hijacked, and so completely, I forgot I'd even been playing poker! Of course, this wouldn't have happened if the session had been engaging in any way. It was boring me to tears. Over the years, I've gravitated to focusing more and more attention on other activities than on playing poker while I'm playing. So I guess you could say an episode of hijacked attention was inevitable, but it still felt really strange. What was so engaging that it made me forget I was playing poker? The answer is a bit ironic - poker :-) I was watching a PokerStars TV video of the most recent Sunday Million final table.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 52 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 6 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 4 out of 6 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 16 out of 40 times in other positions (40%)
 - a total of 24 out of 52 (46%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 4 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $-19,778
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,314,929
balance: $7,671,882

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Lazarus wins again

20 years or so ago, I was a big fan of watching candlepin bowling on T.V. on Saturday mornings. The show was called "Candlepins for Cash", and was hosted by a sportscaster named Don Gillis. Don did a wonderful job of explaining the intricacies of this very regional brand of bowling. It's much harder to get a strike in candlepin bowling than in ten-pin, since the pins are thinner and the ball is smaller and lighter. I'll never forget seeing a bowler named Paul Berger bowl a 500 triple on the show. That's an average of 166.67 pins per string, an incredibly high standard in candlepin bowling.

Don had some great bowling terminology; much of it was devoted to describing the configuration of the remaining pins after the first ball had been bowled. A very common "leave", as it's called, was the one pin, two pin, four pin, and seven pin; Don called this "four horsemen, left side". Its mirror image, the one pin, three pin, six pin, and ten pin, was also common; Don called that one "four horsemen, right side". When you had four horsemen, your goal with the second ball was to hit the pocket between the one and the two (left side) or the one and the three (right side); you hoped the two would take out the four and the seven (left side), or that the three would take out the six and the ten (right side).

Believe it or not, the four horsemen was one of the easier leaves. A tougher one was one that Don called the diamond. The classic diamond is the one pin, two pin, three pin, and five pin; you can also have a "diamond left" consisting of the two pin, four pin, five pin, and eight pin, and a "diamond right" consisting of the three pin, five pin, six pin, and nine pin. With the diamond leaves, you still had to aim for the pocket between the lead pin and a pin immediately to its left or right; if you could convert 50% of your diamond leaves into spares, that was doing well. One of the phrases I heard Don say many times was "Diamond wins again", when someone failed to convert.

It took me three paragraphs to come to the point, but I'm finally here. In honor of Don's "Diamond wins again", I've titled this post "Lazarus wins again". That's actually shorthand for "The Lazarus line wins again". When your stack falls below the Lazarus line, and you subsequently hit the felt, the Lazarus line has won again. Last night, my stack fell below the Lazarus line on hand 122. Eight hands later, all my chips were gone.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 130 hands and saw flop:
 - 13 out of 17 times while in big blind (76%)
 - 8 out of 17 times while in small blind (47%)
 - 51 out of 96 times in other positions (53%)
 - a total of 72 out of 130 (55%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 14 (42%)
 Pots won without showdown - 11

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,334,707
balance: $7,691,660

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Sweet sixteen

By my unofficial count, this is my most frequent blog post title. What can I say? I like it, and I only use it when it's apt. On Sunday night, I won 8 pots in 50 hands, for a winning rate of .16, or sweet sixteen. My biggest pot of the night came courtesy of pocket aces. The board ran out Ts Jh Kc 3d 8h, and my pair of aces won a pot worth $41,068, beating a pair of sixes.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 50 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 7 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 4 out of 7 times while in small blind (57%)
 - 25 out of 36 times in other positions (69%)
 - a total of 36 out of 50 (72%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 9 (55%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $29,459
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,384,707
balance: $7,741,660

Sunday, November 17, 2013

The sortabs runtot combo

I use a lot of home-grown utilities to help me analyze my poker results. One of them is sortabs. I use sortabs to sort the hand deltas from a single session in descending order by absolute value. Another utility I use is runtot, which calculates the running total of a set of numbers. Very often, I use the output of one utility as the input for another. One example is the sortabs runtot combo. First, I run sortabs on the hand deltas; next, I run runtot on the sortabs output. What does this tell me? Believe it or not, it tells me how well I was playing in losing sessions, relative to other losing sessions. The further down the sortabs runtot list the first negative balance hits, the better I was playing, albeit in a losing cause. Last night, I didn't hit the first negative balance until observation 22. For comparison purposes, on Thursay night, I hit the first negative balance on observation 1.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 102 hands and saw flop:
 - 14 out of 14 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 7 out of 13 times while in small blind (53%)
 - 37 out of 75 times in other positions (49%)
 - a total of 58 out of 102 (56%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 12 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $-24,981
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,355,248
balance: $7,712,201

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Big air

In the X games, big air means lots of daylight between you and your snowboard / skateboard / skis / motorcycle / bicycle and the slope / half-pipe / hill / dirt / trail. In poker, big air means lots of daylight between what you're representing your hand to be and what it actually is. To me, big air only makes sense in tournaments; I see no reason for it in cash games. Last night, I was the beneficiary of someone who thought he'd try big air in a cash game. I'd been dealt Ad 3d, and the flop came 8c As 7d. Big air bet $3,000, and I called. The turn was 8d. Big air bet $4,000 and I called. The river was 6c. Big air checked, and I checked behind. Big air turned over 3h 6h, and I won a pot worth $30,750. I realized how unusual the hand had been, and decided to honor its oddness by calling it a night the next hand.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 27 hands and saw flop:
 - 0 out of 2 times while in big blind (0%)
 - 1 out of 4 times while in small blind (25%)
 - 10 out of 21 times in other positions (47%)
 - a total of 11 out of 27 (40%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 3 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $57,050
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,380,229
balance: $7,737,182

Friday, November 15, 2013

Second worst cash game beating

Due to the differing natures of tournament poker and cash game poker, I know I'll never lose as much money in a single session of cash game poker as I've lost in a single session of tournament poker. The ugly (yet strangely beautiful) truth is that I've lost over one million dollars in a single session of tournament poker. But hey, it's just (play) money, right? However, significant losses are still possible in single sessions of cash game poker. $50,000 here, $50,000 there, pretty soon it starts to add up :-) Last night, I had the second worst cash game beating of my career. I hit the felt not once, not twice, but thrice. I joined an action table with several huge stacks; that's a recipe for either feast or famine. I hit the felt the first time when my flush ran into an uberflush. I hit it the second time when my pair of jacks lost to an ace high flush. I hit it the third and final time when my two pair of kings and sevens lost to a king high flush. Even I knew enough not to reup a third time.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 37 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 4 times while in big blind (25%)
 - 1 out of 4 times while in small blind (25%)
 - 17 out of 29 times in other positions (58%)
 - a total of 19 out of 37 (51%)
 Pots won at showdown - 1 of 4 (25%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $-150,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,323,179
balance: $7,680,132

Thursday, November 14, 2013

The best of its type

It's always a nice feeling to discover you've just achieved something in poker you never achieved before. The longer your career, the less likely this is to happen; consequently, the more delighted you are when it does. Last night, I had my best K8o (king eight offsuit) ever. I won a pot worth $97,048 with thee of a kind, kings ($62,899 of which was other people's money). My next best K8o came on July 26, 2012, when I won a pot worth $88,300 with a full house, kings full of eights ($52,300 of which was other people's money). Needless to say, I called it a night the very next hand.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 57 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 9 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 3 out of 8 times while in small blind (37%)
 - 20 out of 40 times in other positions (50%)
 - a total of 29 out of 57 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 6 (83%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $47,048
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,473,179
balance: $7,830,132

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Twotoyée

Over two thirds of my life ago, I learned French in school. Not much of what I learned remains accessible to me, not very surprisingly. One of the few things which does is that there are two ways to say "you" in French. One is formal (vous) and the other is informal (tu). You're only supposed to use the informal you with your loved ones or close friends. It would be a social gaffe to use the informal you with your French teacher, for instance. The French even came up with a word for this gaffe. It's a verb, actually - tutoyer. If you inappropriately use the informal you, the object of your misplaced affection has been tutoyée.

Let me introduce a homonym of this word into the poker world. You saw it here first! :-) When the poker gods want to give you a gentle nudge towards the poker exit, they will often twotoyer you. This is what I call it when they deal you a deuce as one of your hole cards. I have a rule of thumb never to play a hand where one of my hole cards is a deuce; the only exception is when both are deuces. Being dealt a deuce and any other card is almost like being dealt only one card instead of two. I'm certainly not the first person to observe this.

Last night, on hand 82, I was dealt 2h Ks. I knew that was my exit cue, and took it.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 82 hands and saw flop:
 - 12 out of 13 times while in big blind (92%)
 - 7 out of 13 times while in small blind (53%)
 - 29 out of 56 times in other positions (51%)
 - a total of 48 out of 82 (58%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 6 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $-35,322
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,426,131
balance: $7,783,084

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Getting it in good

The title of this post is an old poker expression. In a nutshell, what it means is that there's no shame in going all in and losing if your hand is a premium one. That's what happened to me on hand 51 on Saturday night. I got it in good with pocket kings. Three of us went to showdown. After the flop, I was a 51% favorite to win the hand; one of my opponents was a 29% dog, and the other was a 16% dog. There was a 4% chance that my two opponents would chop the pot. My first opponent hit a straight on the turn, and I hit the felt. I never feel bad about reupping in a situation like that; I'm secure in the knowledge that I made the correct play. Coincidentally, I played another 51 hands, and ended the night with a nice profit. That's three 51s in one session; very curious!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 102 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 15 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 13 out of 16 times while in small blind (81%)
 - 33 out of 71 times in other positions (46%)
 - a total of 56 out of 102 (54%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 16 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $13,749
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,461,453
balance: $7,818,406

Saturday, November 9, 2013

The Lazarus line in big blinds

I've talked about the Lazarus line on this blog before. As a refresher, it's the amount below which you cannot allow your stack to fall if you expect to avoid hitting the felt. When I first came up with the idea, I had a pretty conservative idea of where the line fell; as I recall, I thought it should be somewhere around 22% of your starting stack size. As my play matured and my skill level increased, I realized that number was too high, and adjusted it downward somewhat; I forget the exact umber I picked, but it was somewhere around the 15% mark. Now that I'm older, and poker-wiser, I realize that I was calibrating the Lazarus line all wrong. It shouldn't be a percentage at all, but a pure number - the number of big blinds below which you cannot allow your stack to fall. Of course, there's a way to translate back and forth between dollar amounts and big blinds, but by expressing the Lazarus line in big blinds, it drives home more forcefully the dire predicament you're in if your stack falls below it. The new Lazarus line is ...  drumroll, please ... 10 big blinds.

Last night, at the end of hand 96, my stack fell below my new definition of the Lazarus line. I was playing at a $250 / $500 table, so I needed to keep my stack above $5,000. It hit $4,944 at the end of hand 96. After that, I went on a tear. Not only did I not hit the felt, I brought my stack back up to within shouting distance of the black, though I never got there. I knew I'd made a good escape, and quit in order to consolidate it.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 141 hands and saw flop:
 - 13 out of 20 times while in big blind (65%)
 - 8 out of 21 times while in small blind (38%)
 - 48 out of 100 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 69 out of 141 (48%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 15 (46%)
 Pots won without showdown - 12

delta: $-8,293
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,447,704
balance: $7,804,657

Friday, November 8, 2013

The lonesome one

When I play cash game no limit hold'em at a nine player table, I aim for my winning rate to be at least the land of the ones. The more big stacks there are at the table, however, the harder that is to achieve. In cases where there are multiple big stacks, the land of the ones may be too much to hope for; a more reasonable goal is the lonesome one. To review, the land of the ones is when you win 1 of every 9 hands, for a winning rate of .111111...  The lonesome one is when you win 1 of every 10 hands, for a winning rate of .100000.

I just checked the archives, and discovered that I've played eight sessions where I hit the lonesome one on the nose. Of those eight, six were winning (including last night's) and two were losing. There's no better proof that patience pays in poker.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 40 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 6 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 4 out of 5 times while in small blind (80%)
 - 14 out of 29 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 23 out of 40 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 6 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $6,428
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,455,997
balance: $7,812,950

Thursday, November 7, 2013

The poker player who came in from the cold

One of the best espionage novels of all time is "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", by John le Carré. I've always liked the title. Since it's been so long since I played poker, and I'm going to play tonight, I feel like I'm coming in out of the cold. How long was the hiatus? Almost, but not quite, a career high. The longest I've been out in the cold before is 13 days. This time, it was 12; the last time I played was October 25th. I don't remember much about the session, other than the fact that I won.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 76 hands and saw flop:
 - 12 out of 14 times while in big blind (85%)
 - 14 out of 15 times while in small blind (93%)
 - 23 out of 47 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 49 out of 76 (64%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 12 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $31,127
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,449,569
balance: $7,806,522

Friday, October 25, 2013

My slimmest win

On Tuesday night, I set a new personal best of the dubious variety. I won the smallest percentage of a big blind of any of my winning sessions. Let's call it my slimmest win :-) I was at a $250 / $500 table, and won $427, or 85.4% of a big blind. My previous slimmest win happened on May 28th, when I was at a $100 / $200 table, and won $192. That represented 96% of a big blind. One of the few nice things about slim wins is that they keep your win streak going (if you happen to be in one, that is).

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 72 hands and saw flop:
 - 12 out of 14 times while in big blind (85%)
 - 6 out of 13 times while in small blind (46%)
 - 24 out of 45 times in other positions (53%)
 - a total of 42 out of 72 (58%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 17 (41%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $427
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,418,442
balance: $7,775,395

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

We three threes

I don't have a whole lot of statistical data on how superstitious poker players are; in fact, the sample size of my empirical data is just one player (myself :-). However, that doesn't stop me from having an opinion. My strong suspicion is that poker players as a class are no less superstitious than the general population, which is saying a good deal.

How else to explain the fact that pocket threes are one of my favorite hands? I've mentioned sine wave hands before, and pocket threes are a perfect example of a sine wave hand. You're not always going to win with them, and you're not always going to lose with them. In fact, if you're like me, your aggregate career delta with them will be constantly oscillating between a profit and a loss. What's to like about a track record like that?

What's to like is the profit potential in a hand such as pocket threes. You're hoping all of the following come true:

1. you hit a set of threes on the flop
2. there are no straight or flush draws
3. you don't run into a bigger set

The first requirement is the hardest to come by; once it's met, the second requirement is easier to come by, and the third is the easiest of all. What this all adds up to is the possibility of making a real killing. As with any set, the strength of your hand is very well disguised.

So why do I like pocket threes over other pocket pairs? They just give me a good feeling; I can't really explain it. Last night, this good feeling was justified; on hand 144, I won a pot worth $106,188 with a set of threes, $53,469 of which was other people's money.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 145 hands and saw flop:
 - 16 out of 19 times while in big blind (84%)
 - 8 out of 20 times while in small blind (40%)
 - 50 out of 106 times in other positions (47%)
 - a total of 74 out of 145 (51%)
 Pots won at showdown - 11 of 19 (57%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $29,224
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,418,015
balance: $7,774,968

Monday, October 21, 2013

My preferred betting style

Given my druthers, I prefer to let others do the betting in the first three betting rounds. If someone else makes a big enough bet in those rounds, I just like to call. Of course, that doesn't apply in the final round. The benefit of just calling in the earlier rounds is that none of your opponents will have much of a clue about how strong your hand is. If someone else has been leading the betting, they'll likely continue to lead it in the final round. That's when your strong hands can really pay off. You can double the bet, with a good likelihood of getting called. Since you didn't bet earlier, something doesn't feel quite right about your river raise; there's a good chance (in your opponent's mind) that you're trying to steal the pot.

Last night, on hand 99, I won my biggest pot of the session using just this style. I was dealt pocket jacks, and flopped a set. Here are the betting actions I took:

pre-flop: called a raise to $2,250
flop: checked, then called a $2,500 bet
turn: checked, then called a $6,000 bet
river: checked, then raised a $13,000 bet to $26,000

My full house of jacks full of sevens won a pot worth $81,500, and I was done for the night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 100 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 12 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 9 out of 14 times while in small blind (64%)
 - 41 out of 74 times in other positions (55%)
 - a total of 60 out of 100 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 15 (53%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $43,313
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,388,791
balance: $7,745,744

Sunday, October 20, 2013

When the stars align

There's only so much you can do as a poker player to influence outcomes. The truly spectacular hands will have very little to do with you, and almost everything to do with a remarkable confluence of external conditions of which you are the happy beneficiary. This was the case for me on Friday night, on hand 78. I was dealt a pair of sevens, and flopped a set. Here are the actions I made on the ensuing betting round:

1. I bet $1,000
2. I reraised to $3,000
3. I reraised to $5,000
4. I reraised to $56,419 to go all in

It's clear there was some skill involved here; if I'd gone all in to start the betting, some of my opponents would have dropped out. As it was, all four put themselves all in during this betting round. What's more, all four ended up hitting the felt. I won the main pot and three side pots for a total haul of $173,164, $121,394 of which was o.p.m. I can't recall ever seeing four players hit the felt on one hand before. Needless to say, it was sweet! However, the reason it happened was not that I have mad poker skills. The reason it happened was that the stars were all in alignment for me; not only did I flop a monster, my opponents all had big hands of their own. I can't take any credit for that, but I can certainly take my good fortune to the bank :-)

The cherry on top is that I'm now back into the blue.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 85 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 11 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 6 out of 11 times while in small blind (54%)
 - 43 out of 63 times in other positions (68%)
 - a total of 60 out of 85 (70%)
 Pots won at showdown - 11 of 22 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $129,469
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,345,478
balance: $7,702,431

Friday, October 18, 2013

The art of the call in

With a blog post title like this one, you might think I've mastered the art of the call in, and am about to impart its arcane secrets to you. Not so. I'm merely asserting that there's an art to it; I haven't mastered it yet. First things first. What's a call in? That's my slang for calling a bet when you don't have enough chips to cover it, which means you're putting yourself all in. You need to have a better hand to call in than you do to go all in. See my "Call ins considered harmful" post from June 7 of this year to find out why.

Last night, I made two call ins. In terms of results, they pretty much cancelled each other out. On the first one, my two pair of jacks and nines lost to a jack high flush, and I lost $34,049 to hit the felt. On the second one, my nine high flush won me $35,432 in o.p.m. (other people's money).

I think it takes more skill to call in than to go all in, which is why I prefer calling in. I honestly can't remember the last time I went all in.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 122 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 15 times while in big blind (73%)
 - 9 out of 16 times while in small blind (56%)
 - 44 out of 91 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 64 out of 122 (52%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 15 (40%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $-46,093
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,216,009
balance: $7,572,962

Thursday, October 17, 2013

1000 posts ago

I've written over 1,000 posts to this blog. I didn't try to commemorate the 1,000th post, mainly because I couldn't quite figure out which one it was :-) Blogger shows me different numbers depending on where I'm looking. Suffice it to say, though, that whatever the exact number of posts is, it's a shitload. 1,000 posts ago, I was homing in on my 50th post. At the time, I thought 50 posts was a big deal. Now I know that 50 posts is a blip, a rounding error. Get back to me when you've written 10,000 posts, I tell myself.

Here's the thing. I love poker. I can't foresee a time when I won't love poker. I love everything about it, including writing about it. Writing about poker is a labor of love, which means it's not really a labor at all. I enjoy writing about poker just as much as I enjoy playing it. The only way I could love poker more than I do right now is if somehow I could make a living either playing it or writing about it. Here's to the next 1,000 posts!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 46 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 6 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 1 out of 5 times while in small blind (20%)
 - 23 out of 35 times in other positions (65%)
 - a total of 30 out of 46 (65%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 9 (55%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $52,616
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,262,102
balance: $7,619,055

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The sweet 1 6

As I've said before, a poker player can make a good living in the land of the ones. That is, winning one of every nine hands at a table with nine seats, for a winning rate of .111111. Winning at a higher rate is even better. Last night, I nearly achieved the sweet 1 6; that is, I won nearly one of every six hands. Interestingly, the sweet 1 6 translates to a winning rate of .166666.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 43 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 6 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 3 out of 6 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 15 out of 31 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 21 out of 43 (48%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 4 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $25,595
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,209,486
balance: $7,566,439

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

LCHUD

Today I modified one of my poker utilities in order to be able to calculate my LCHUD. What the frack is that, you may well ask. It's yet another neo neo. LCHUD stands for Lifetime Cash game Heads Up Delta. Up until this moment, I've played 38,559 hands of cash game no limit hold'em. Of those hands, only 654 were heads up. When I ran the utility to total the hand deltas of those heads up hands, I discovered that my LCHUD is positive, although just barely; it's currently $748. Looking at the bar chart of my LCHUD over the course of my career, I see that it approximates a sine wave. I'm happy with that, as I don't think it's reasonable to expect much better. I'll be interested to see what my LTHUD (Lifetime Tournament Heads Up Delta) is, and whether its bar chart also approximates a sine wave; however, that's an exercise for another day.

Last night, I played reasonably well, but a cooler left me in the red. On hand 55, I flopped a queen high straight, but lost the huge main pot of $150,000 when an opponent made a full house on the river. As you might expect, winning the side pot of $13,628 didn't excite me very much. I was a 67% favorite after the flop, but it wasn't meant to be. What was very unusual about last night's session was that fully 83 of the 169 hands I played were heads up. My CHUD (Cash game Heads Up Delta) for last night's session was positive - a whopping $142 :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 169 hands and saw flop:
 - 55 out of 58 times while in big blind (94%)
 - 41 out of 57 times while in small blind (71%)
 - 25 out of 54 times in other positions (46%)
 - a total of 121 out of 169 (71%)
 Pots won at showdown - 18 of 32 (56%)
 Pots won without showdown - 40

delta: $-42,820
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,183,891
balance: $7,540,844

Monday, October 14, 2013

Heads up heaven

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I miss heads up play. I miss it badly. When you play tournaments, and have a reasonable amount of success, you get to play heads up a lot. When you play cash games, you almost never get to play heads up. There's no way to knock people out, since they can just reup at their discretion. Even if they don't reup, sooner or later they leave the table, leaving their seat open for someone else. It's basically a fluke if you ever find yourself playing heads up in a cash game.

Last night, I got to play heads up for a good number of hands in the final third of the session. My opponent was going all in way too often, and I knew I had a great chance to chip up against him if I picked my spots properly. On hand 55, he went all in when I'd been dealt a pair of nines. I called, and won a pot worth $24,164 with a full house, nines full of fours. On hand 66, he went all in when I'd been dealt ace eight offsuit. I called, and won a pot worth $43,018 with two pair, aces and fours. He only played two more hands against me before leaving the table.

There's definitely a different rhythm to heads up play. It's totally a feel thing. When you're on, you feel invincible. Not a bad feeling :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 74 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 18 times while in big blind (55%)
 - 9 out of 17 times while in small blind (52%)
 - 20 out of 39 times in other positions (51%)
 - a total of 39 out of 74 (52%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 7 (57%)
 Pots won without showdown - 17

delta: $37,279
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,226,711
balance: $7,583,664

Sunday, October 13, 2013

6max cash a tough nut to crack

I like to think my poker skills favor me to win in many different poker scenarios. There's one scenario, however, which my results prove I haven't mastered. It's 6max cash. That's when you're playing a cash game at a table with only 6 seats. In 1,055 cash game sessions I've played, only 22 of them have been 6max; all the rest have been at 9 player tables. In those 22 6max cash sessions, I've lost a total of $478,995, the bulk of that at the $500/$1000 stakes level. That's an eye-popping number, given my success in other poker flavors.

Last night, I was forced to play at a 6max table, since there were no 9max tables available at my new favorite stakes level ($250/$500). Perhaps not coincidentally, I had a losing session, ending my five session winning streak. I have to admit that 6max cash is a tough nut to crack. I prefer 9max, since it's easier to win. I'm not sure why, but have a couple of theories. One theory is that the 6max tables attract a higher caliber of player. Of course, that theory still begs the question of why. Another theory is that there are only so many poker fish to go around, and there's statistically less chance of meeting them at a 6max table since poker fish tend to gravitate to the 9max tables. Of course, that theory also still begs the question of why.

Of course, just by bringing fish into the discussion, I've opened up another kettle of fish (pun intended). Would I rather play against fish, or against sharks? The answer, I have to admit, is that I'd much rather play against fish. I can hear your objections. "How can that be satisfying?", you ask. "Wouldn't you rather challenge yourself by playing against the best?" I hear you enquire. "How will you ever improve if all you do is play against mediocre players?", you wonder. Those are all valid objections. The only answer I have is that it's much more relaxing to play against fish, and poker should be a relaxing avocation :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 118 hands and saw flop:
 - 20 out of 24 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 14 out of 24 times while in small blind (58%)
 - 46 out of 70 times in other positions (65%)
 - a total of 80 out of 118 (67%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 12 (41%)
 Pots won without showdown - 18

delta: $-29,254
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,189,432
balance: $7,546,385

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Kick-started

Last night, my session was kick-started on hand 43, when I won a pot worth $75,764 with three of a kind, fives. I beat another three of kind, fives, since I had a better kicker. My opponent put me all in on the river, and I looked him up. I knew he might have a fatty, but had a feeling he didn't. My poker radar isn't always in perfect working order, but it certainly was last night.

I have a theory why I'm doing better (so far) at these higher stakes tables. Since I'm used to lower stakes, I'm a bit intimidated by the higher stakes; the result is that I'm playing a lot more cautiously than my opponents are, and it's paying off. Typically, the hands I play are stronger, so I end up winning a higher percentage of the showdowns. As long as I can continue to stay intimidated, I'll do fine :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 93 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 11 times while in big blind (81%)
 - 11 out of 13 times while in small blind (84%)
 - 37 out of 69 times in other positions (53%)
 - a total of 57 out of 93 (61%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 11 (72%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $51,370
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,218,686
balance: $7,575,639

Friday, October 11, 2013

Four months in the wilderness

Last night, for the first time in four months, I returned my balance to the 7.5 million play dollar plateau. It was four months in the wilderness. As you may know, I like my balance to keep growing, with no end in sight. I don't like it when there are two many sessions in between the ones where I set a new all-time high. I'm still $142,187 away from getting into the blue again. When I do, I will surely have set a new record for sessions in the wilderness. My longest sojourn is currently 138 sessions, between May 20th, 2009 and March 17th, 2010; however, my current one, which started on May 19th, is at 136 sessions and counting. It's good to have these lengthy journeys every so often; they definitely keep me humble!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 60 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 8 times while in big blind (62%)
 - 4 out of 8 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 22 out of 44 times in other positions (50%)
 - a total of 31 out of 60 (51%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 6 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $47,578
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,167,316
balance: $7,524,269

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Two pair here, two pair there

Last night, I made a killing with two pairs. This can only happen when your opponents are playing pretty loosely. On hand 27, my two pair of aces and kings beat a busted flush pair of aces to win a pot worth $23,000. On hand 95, my two pair of aces and tens beat a two pair of kings and tens to win a pot worth $66,764. On hand 105, my two pair of kings and eights beat a pair of kings with an ace kicker to win a pot worth $51,250. I have to say, so far I'm loving these $250/$500 tables!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 121 hands and saw flop:
 - 18 out of 19 times while in big blind (94%)
 - 13 out of 20 times while in small blind (65%)
 - 39 out of 82 times in other positions (47%)
 - a total of 70 out of 121 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 15 (40%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $58,711
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,119,738
balance: $7,476,691

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Do repeak yourself

In software engineering, which is my daytime job, there's a principle known as DRY. It stands for "Don't Repeat Yourself". The basic idea is that you don't want to duplicate code anywhere, if you can help it. If code is duplicated, instances of the duplicated code can easily get out of synch with each other. Duplicated code takes up more space, both in memory and on disk, and is much harder to maintain.

In poker, I've come up with an adage which uses the same acronym. What it stands for is quite different, however - "Do repeak yourself". What do I mean by this? Patience, grasshopper :-)

It's a given that your stack will have peaks and valleys over the course of a session. Not only that, it's also a given that your stack will fall more often than it rises, unless you're in the unusual situation of being heads up. What this all adds up to is that the peaks really matter. When you achieve a new peak, you need to decide whether to quit the session right then or play on. There's a lot to be said for both choices.

I never like to quit on an early peak. The main reason is that I play poker partially for entertainment, and quitting early deprives me of it. However, if I ever bring my stack back to an earlier peak, I'm much more likely to quit. That's what happened last night. At the end of hand 31, my stack hit a new peak of $64,761. From there, it started a steady descent. When hand 73 brought it back up to $63,653, I knew I had "repeaked", and that it was time to quit.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 74 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 9 times while in big blind (77%)
 - 3 out of 11 times while in small blind (27%)
 - 27 out of 54 times in other positions (50%)
 - a total of 37 out of 74 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 9 (55%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $13,653
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,061,027
balance: $7,417,980

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Pulling up stakes

The title of this post is a pun. Last night, I couldn't find any $100/$200 9 player tables at all. First, as I reported some time ago, PokerStars got rid of the $100/$200 9 player tables having an initial stake maximum of $40,000. I was essentially forced to play the $100/$200 9 player tables having an initial stake maximum of $20,000. Now, even these tables appear to be gone. I decided to try a $250/$500 9 player table, since there were plenty of those with open seats. The initial stake maximum at these tables is a healthy $50,000. So I pulled up stakes in two ways:

1. I abandoned what had been my home territory
2. I moved to a territory where the stakes are actually higher (in other words, the stakes themselves were pulled up)

My session was both short and sweet. I'm hoping this new territory will continue to be profitable.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 12 hands and saw flop:
 - 0 out of 1 times while in big blind (0%)
 - 1 out of 1 times while in small blind (100%)
 - 6 out of 10 times in other positions (60%)
 - a total of 7 out of 12 (58%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 3 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $53,739
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,047,374
balance: $7,404,327

Monday, October 7, 2013

Double cruelty

You know it's not your night when the poker gods serve you up a double helping of cruelty in a very short span of time. Last Friday night, on hand 69, I hit a flush on the river, but lost a pot worth $5,921 to an uberflush. Just two hands later, I flopped top two pair, but lost a pot worth $4,775 to a full house made on the river. I'd been a 95% favorite to win after the turn. If I'd had any sense, I would have quit right then, and saved myself $6,598.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 128 hands and saw flop:
 - 16 out of 18 times while in big blind (88%)
 - 10 out of 16 times while in small blind (62%)
 - 55 out of 94 times in other positions (58%)
 - a total of 81 out of 128 (63%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 21 (42%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $-20,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,993,635
balance: $7,350,588

Friday, October 4, 2013

Fast 100

Last night, I played over 100 hands in an hour and 15 minutes. I don't actually remember any of the hands. In a way, that's good; the most memorable hands are generally the ones where you lost a lot of money. For instance, I still remember the hand from Wednesday night's session when I got crippled just before hitting the felt the first time. I'd hit trip sevens on the turn, but an opponent hit a straight on the river. He went all in with it, and I just couldn't lay down my trips. Nothing that dramatic happened last night, thankfully.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 105 hands and saw flop:
 - 19 out of 21 times while in big blind (90%)
 - 11 out of 20 times while in small blind (55%)
 - 31 out of 64 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 61 out of 105 (58%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 11 (45%)
 Pots won without showdown - 14

delta: $-7,768
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,013,635
balance: $7,370,588

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Asymptotic perfection

Sometimes, if you fail artistically enough, it doesn't feel so bad. That was the case last night. I only won 4 of 80 hands, so it was near perfect futility. What made it artistic, however, was the shape of the bar chart of my stack size over the course of the session. After a precipitous plunge, when I hit the felt for the first time, the slope of the descent got shallower and shallower, until it took fully 15 hands to use up my last $2,279.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 80 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 10 times while in big blind (70%)
 - 7 out of 10 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 33 out of 60 times in other positions (55%)
 - a total of 47 out of 80 (58%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 9 (22%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $-40,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,021,403
balance: $7,378,356

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

The land of the aught nines

I've mentioned the land of the ones several times before in this blog. That's where you are when you win one out of every nine hands, which is your expected result at a nine player table, everything else being equal. Of course, everything else is never equal, but that's a story for another day. I've never mentioned the land of the aught nines before, so now I will. The land of the anythings is how I describe an endlessly repeating decimal number. The land of the ones is .111111... The land of the twos is .222222... So you won't be surprised to discover that the land of the aught nines is .090909... That's where you are when you win one out of every eleven hands. That's all I managed to do last night, but that's all I needed to do, since I still came out with a nice profit.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 22 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 3 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 9 out of 16 times in other positions (56%)
 - a total of 14 out of 22 (63%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 3 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $13,501
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,061,403
balance: $7,418,356

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

You were never shovelier

A "shovely" hand is a lovely hand which is good enough to shove with, in my poker lingo. Shoving is slang for going all in. I can't remember the last time I shoved. Note that calling an opponent's bet with the rest of your chips doesn't qualify as shoving; I'm sure I've done that much more recently. In tournament play, shoves happen much more frequently than they do in cash games, due to the escalating blinds. Last night, on the penultimate hand of the session, an opponent shoved after the flop. I'd been dealt pocket rockets and had hit trips on the flop, so of course I called. The opponent turned over 9 8 offsuit for a lowly pair of nines, and I won a pot worth $41,100. I don't understand how anyone could shove this light in a cash game; all he'd flopped was second pair. Nevertheless, that didn't stop me from accepting the gift. I liked it so much, it inspired me to come up with an additional meaning for "shovely". When we're talking about a hand an opponent has gone all in with, the worse a hand it is, the shovelier it is in my eyes. To that 9 8 offsuit, I say, "You were never shovelier" :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 36 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 5 times while in big blind (60%)
 - 2 out of 5 times while in small blind (40%)
 - 11 out of 26 times in other positions (42%)
 - a total of 16 out of 36 (44%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 5 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $24,732
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,047,902
balance: $7,404,855

Monday, September 30, 2013

Other people's money

Every now and then I like to take a look at a percentage I call opm; it's short for "other people's money". It can only be calculated on hands where you won. opm is the percentage of your winnings which came from your opponents. The opm percentage has an upper bound of (num_players - 1) / (num_players); at a 9 player table, the upper bound is therefore 8 / 9, or .888888...

In practice, it's quite difficult to achieve an opm percentage of 80 or better, especially if there's a lot of betting going on. The more action there is, the more likely people are to drop out before showdown, which brings down the opm.

Last night, on the penultimate hand of the night, I won a pot worth $22,900 with a king high straight. Fully $18,100 of this was other people's money, so the opm percentage came out to 79.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 29 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 3 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 3 out of 4 times while in small blind (75%)
 - 16 out of 22 times in other positions (72%)
 - a total of 21 out of 29 (72%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 5 (60%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $21,254
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,023,170
balance: $7,380,123

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Sixteened

The most I've ever lost on a hand when I was dealt pocket rockets is $51,200. Last night, on the next to last hand of the session, I was dealt pocket rockets, and lost $20,000. I was left with only $209, and lost it on the next hand. What made my $20,000 loss hurt even more than it normally would was that there were two pots, a main pot and a side pot, and statistically I'd had a great chance of either winning the side pot or chopping it. The opponent who won the side pot had only had a sixteen percent chance of winning it. When you're sixteened, it isn't sweet at all.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 76 hands and saw flop:
 - 10 out of 12 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 9 out of 11 times while in small blind (81%)
 - 37 out of 53 times in other positions (69%)
 - a total of 56 out of 76 (73%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 15 (53%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $-20,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,001,916
balance: $7,358,869

Saturday, September 28, 2013

26 million play dollars lost

I recently achieved another milestone. At the end of Wednesday night's session, I topped 26 million play dollars lost. That's a staggering amount. Good thing for me I've won more than 33 million! Looking only at cash game no limit hold'em numbers, my losses and gains are much more modest -  7.7 million and 12.7 million, respectively. I'm looking forward to taking the crazy wild ride of sit and gos again when I manage to build my balance up to 8 million.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 33 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 4 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 3 out of 4 times while in small blind (75%)
 - 16 out of 25 times in other positions (64%)
 - a total of 21 out of 33 (63%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 5 (60%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $-7,713
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,021,916
balance: $7,378,869

Friday, September 27, 2013

Sine wave hands

When you're looking at your career hand statistics, it quickly becomes clear that there are three types of hands - the ones you predominantly win with, the ones you predominantly lose with, and the ones that oscillate between winning for you and losing for you. It's a good idea to stay away from the hands you predominantly lose with,  if you can. That's not as easy as it sounds. My career worst hand is AJo (ace jack offsuit); I've lost a whopping $364,228 with it. However, I'm always glad to see it looking back up at me. I call the hands that can't make up their mind whether they want to help me or hurt me sine wave hands. You want to be careful with sine wave hands, but you shouldn't stay away from them; they can make you a ton of money. One of my favorite sine wave hands is pocket threes. Right now, I'm in the hole with this hand career-wise to the tune of $-50,897, but it was worse than that before hand 26 of last night's session. On that hand, I was dealt pocket threes, hit a set on the flop, hit a full house of threes full of kings on the river, and won a pot worth $36,900.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 28 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 4 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 1 out of 3 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 15 out of 21 times in other positions (71%)
 - a total of 18 out of 28 (64%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 6 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $31,378
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,029,629
balance: $7,386,582

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Quads over house over house

Play enough poker, and you'll see some crazy things happen at a poker table. Freaky things. Entertaining things. Some of the most entertaining hands I've ever seen had nothing to do with me; I was just an interested onlooker. That was certainly the case last night on hand 150. I folded before the flop, but stuck around to watch; I was dumbfounded when three premium hands were shown down. My impression at the time was that I'd just witnessed a set over set over set, but reviewing the hand today, I discovered it was even more impressive than that. It was a quads over house over house. To add to the strangeness, there were two pots, a side pot and a main pot, and they went to different players. The quads won the main pot, and the better full house won the side pot. To top off the strangeness, the better full house basically broke even on the hand - he spent $19,000, and the side pot was worth $18,756. You just can't make this stuff up.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 187 hands and saw flop:
 - 33 out of 42 times while in big blind (78%)
 - 33 out of 45 times while in small blind (73%)
 - 71 out of 100 times in other positions (71%)
 - a total of 137 out of 187 (73%)
 Pots won at showdown - 24 of 44 (54%)
 Pots won without showdown - 17

delta: $-10,568
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,998,251
balance: $7,355,204

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

500 miles

Lord I'm one,
Lord I'm two,
Lord I'm three,
Lord I'm four,
Lord I'm 500 miles from my home.


These are the lyrics to one of the choruses in the classic folk song "500 Miles". The reason I'm quoting them is that last night marked my 500th cash game no limit hold'em session since I turned on the PokerStars feature which auto-saves the hand histories. 500 is a pretty big number, session-wise. I feel like I've come a long way in those 500 sessions. I am indeed a long way from where I started. The journey has certainly been worth it!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 120 hands and saw flop:
 - 22 out of 26 times while in big blind (84%)
 - 17 out of 27 times while in small blind (62%)
 - 47 out of 67 times in other positions (70%)
 - a total of 86 out of 120 (71%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 23 (30%)
 Pots won without showdown - 16

delta: $-5,469
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,008,819
balance: $7,365,772

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Kings catching up with queens

For some time now, I've known that I've won more money in my poker career with pocket queens than I have with pocket kings. It's not because I've been dealt pocket queens significantly more often than I've been dealt pocket kings; the reason is that I've lost more money when the kings were beaten than I've lost when the queens were beaten. Last night, thanks to winning a pot worth $26,700 with a set of kings, my kings are catching up with my queens. Here are my current top 10 career hands:

AA     1266719    1799900    -533181    123     54      0    177  1.06
QQ      611366    1006779    -395413     87     78      2    167  1.00
KK      583198    1145390    -562192    100     64      0    164  0.98
AKo     468462    1221539    -753077    148    178      0    326  0.97
77      286602     466535    -179933     52    108      1    161  0.96
TT      284109     487418    -203309     61     89      3    153  0.91
JJ      279724     568329    -288605     77     88      1    166  0.99
ATs     259359     426756    -167397     47     73      3    123  1.10
66      236775     398577    -161802     41    114      3    158  0.94
AQo     211299     726342    -515043    129    173      3    305  0.91


From left to right, the columns are hand, net money won, money won, money lost, hands won, hands lost, break even hands, total hands, and frequency factor.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 25 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 3 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 13 out of 19 times in other positions (68%)
 - a total of 18 out of 25 (72%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 5 (60%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $29,081
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,014,288
balance: $7,371,241