On Friday night, I had my worst session ever. I lost my full starting stack of $40K at the first three tables I joined. Was I a glutton for punishment, or what? I decided to join a fourth table, won a modest $23,400 and finally called it a night.
The most memorable hand of the session was when I was dealt a pair of 6s and a third 6 showed up in the flop. I hammered away at the betting, but one of my opponents was betting as big as I was. On the river, I put down a bet of $10K, and was raised to $20K. I called, and ran into a set of 9s. That hand was worth $110,900 to the set of 9s; I lost just north of $43K on that one hand.
delta: $-96,600
balance: $364,586
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Salvaging a session
It only takes one hand to salvage a session. I got such a hand last Thursday night. I was down almost half my stack when I flopped a straight. I value bet it all the way along, raked in a pot worth $33,400, and called it a night.
delta: $7,508
balance: $461,186
delta: $7,508
balance: $461,186
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Porpoising
I first encountered the term "porpoising" in Michael Crichton's novel "Airframe"; he was referring to the phenomenon of an airplane rising and falling repeatedly, similar to a porpoise leaping in and out of the water. I (or more precisely, my stack :-) experienced this phenomenon in last night's session. I went up about 5 or 6K and then back down again at least three times. Luckily for me, when the next upswing hit, it was bigger than the previous ones, and I had no trouble calling it a night.
My penultimate hand, forbearance early on reaped a big reward for me later. I flopped a full house, and didn't bet a red cent the first two times the action was on me. Luckily enough, one of my opponents caught a flush on the river, and I engaged in a raising war with him until he was all in. That won me a pot worth $32,400. Not a monster by my new standards, but still a decent one.
delta: $15,350
balance: $453,678
My penultimate hand, forbearance early on reaped a big reward for me later. I flopped a full house, and didn't bet a red cent the first two times the action was on me. Luckily enough, one of my opponents caught a flush on the river, and I engaged in a raising war with him until he was all in. That won me a pot worth $32,400. Not a monster by my new standards, but still a decent one.
delta: $15,350
balance: $453,678
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Three memorable hands
It's a truism that we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. The thing about truisms is, they're often true, however trite they may sound. Another truism is that if we can't remember our mistakes, we're condemned to repeat them. Put these two truisms together, apply them to poker, and what you get is a poker truism -- the big hands we lose are much more memorable than the big hands we win.
Three hands from last night are etched on my consciousness. The first two were actually consecutive hands. The third severely crippled me, and I hit the felt shortly thereafter. I don't have to consult the hand histories to remember the important details of any of these hands.
hand 1: I was dealt pocket rockets. I bet them big, all the way down the line. The board paired. My aces up lost to a full house.
hand 2: I was dealt a pair of kings. Since I'd just had a pair of aces the previous hand, I "knew" no one was dealt a pair of aces this hand. I bet my kings big. No aces or pairs showed up on the board. I lost to a pair of aces.
Those two hands hurt, but they didn't cripple me, since no raising wars occurred in the betting. I wasn't so lucky on the next memorable hand.
hand 3: I was dealt a jack of diamonds, and a baby card of some description. Four of the five community cards were diamonds, including the king. Only a queen and ace of diamonds could beat me. On the river, I called a raise of $10K, for a total investment of about $19K of my stack in the pot. Someone else did indeed have the ace of diamonds, and my king high flush lost to the nut flush.
After thinking it over, I realize I wouldn't play any of these hands differently given the chance. I think I made the right decisions on all of them. It's cold comfort, but comfort nonetheless.
delta: $-40,000
balance: $438,328
Three hands from last night are etched on my consciousness. The first two were actually consecutive hands. The third severely crippled me, and I hit the felt shortly thereafter. I don't have to consult the hand histories to remember the important details of any of these hands.
hand 1: I was dealt pocket rockets. I bet them big, all the way down the line. The board paired. My aces up lost to a full house.
hand 2: I was dealt a pair of kings. Since I'd just had a pair of aces the previous hand, I "knew" no one was dealt a pair of aces this hand. I bet my kings big. No aces or pairs showed up on the board. I lost to a pair of aces.
Those two hands hurt, but they didn't cripple me, since no raising wars occurred in the betting. I wasn't so lucky on the next memorable hand.
hand 3: I was dealt a jack of diamonds, and a baby card of some description. Four of the five community cards were diamonds, including the king. Only a queen and ace of diamonds could beat me. On the river, I called a raise of $10K, for a total investment of about $19K of my stack in the pot. Someone else did indeed have the ace of diamonds, and my king high flush lost to the nut flush.
After thinking it over, I realize I wouldn't play any of these hands differently given the chance. I think I made the right decisions on all of them. It's cold comfort, but comfort nonetheless.
delta: $-40,000
balance: $438,328
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Snake-bitten
Last night I felt like I was snake-bitten. I was generally making good decisions, but didn't have much to show for them. I should have known it wasn't my night when the first three pots I "won" were split pots.
My last hand of the night, I was dealt pocket queens; none of the community cards were overcards, and the board didn't pair. I went all in, and lost to pocket aces. What are you gonna do?
delta: $-40,000
balance: $478,328
My last hand of the night, I was dealt pocket queens; none of the community cards were overcards, and the board didn't pair. I went all in, and lost to pocket aces. What are you gonna do?
delta: $-40,000
balance: $478,328
Greed
I deviated from both my recently recognized patterns lately. First, in last Thursday's session, I avoided hitting the felt at the first table I joined, but wasn't able to call it a night when I was up about 50K. Second, I played last night without bothering to post what had happened on Thursday. I recognize a new pattern in both broken patterns -- greed. I'm letting the desire for reaching my long-term goal affect my decision-making, which is a sure way to fail. I'm 'fessing up here, in the hopes that I can nip this greed thing in the bud!
One positive from Thursday's session was that after my stack hit a low of 7,500, I battled back to achieve a respectable stack before calling it a night. That part of the session wasn't greed-influenced, at least.
delta: $-9,255
balance: $518,328
One positive from Thursday's session was that after my stack hit a low of 7,500, I battled back to achieve a respectable stack before calling it a night. That part of the session wasn't greed-influenced, at least.
delta: $-9,255
balance: $518,328
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Pattern recognition
In case I didn't mention it before, I'm a computer programmer by trade. I think some of the qualities which make me a good programmer also make me a good poker player. The preeminent skill which applies to both is pattern recognition. You can save so much time and aggravation if you can just simply recognize when you've seen something before. In that case, instead of expending a lot of energy, you can just go straight to the solution / decision. I guarantee the next time I see a flop which has a pair and a third card which matches one of my hole cards, I'll treat it like poison, since I've been led down the garden path and betrayed by it one too many times.
Once you get in the habit of recognizing patterns, you tend to recognize more of them; it's self-reinforcing and self-perpetuating. For example, I've noticed a new pattern in my sessions and another one in my blogging. The new pattern in my sessions is that I lose my full starting stack, $40K, at the first table I join, then generally win it all back (plus sometimes much more) at the second table. The new pattern in my blogging is that I blog about a session the next night, instead of the same night.
At my second table last night, there was one super aggressive player. Such players are just begging to be taken out. I eventually did just that, when I achieved a full house and went all in. I raked in a monster pot of $129,400. That put me up over the $500K mark again to end the month of March. Time for a new goal: $800K by the end of this month. Might as well stay super ambitious!
delta: $49,200
balance: $527,583
Once you get in the habit of recognizing patterns, you tend to recognize more of them; it's self-reinforcing and self-perpetuating. For example, I've noticed a new pattern in my sessions and another one in my blogging. The new pattern in my sessions is that I lose my full starting stack, $40K, at the first table I join, then generally win it all back (plus sometimes much more) at the second table. The new pattern in my blogging is that I blog about a session the next night, instead of the same night.
At my second table last night, there was one super aggressive player. Such players are just begging to be taken out. I eventually did just that, when I achieved a full house and went all in. I raked in a monster pot of $129,400. That put me up over the $500K mark again to end the month of March. Time for a new goal: $800K by the end of this month. Might as well stay super ambitious!
delta: $49,200
balance: $527,583
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