Best for last

When things are going your way, poker feels like the simplest game in the world. It seems that all you need to do is demonstrate patience, wait for a big hand, win a lot of chips with it, and then quit while you're ahead. Simple, right? That's exactly the way last night's session went down. On the penultimate hand, I flopped a set of eights, got people to put some money in the pot, then put the hammer down on the river. No one ended up calling my $5,000 bet, and I won a pot worth $17,600 - my largest pot of the night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 40 hands and saw flop:
- 2 out of 4 times while in big blind (50%)
- 2 out of 5 times while in small blind (40%)
- 13 out of 31 times in other positions (41%)
- a total of 17 out of 40 (42%)
Pots won at showdown - 1 of 3 (33%)
Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $18,500
balance: $3,487,129

Minimum viable winning session

In the world of software development, one of the current buzz phrases is "minimum viable product". The idea is that in order to be able to launch quickly, the first version of a product should contain the smallest amount of functionality that might actually be useful. Last night, I had what I'm calling a minimum viable winning session - I won a minuscule amount of money, but at least I didn't lose any :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 98 hands and saw flop:
- 8 out of 14 times while in big blind (57%)
- 8 out of 14 times while in small blind (57%)
- 35 out of 70 times in other positions (50%)
- a total of 51 out of 98 (52%)
Pots won at showdown - 8 of 15 (53%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $500
balance: $3,468,629

Back into the blue

Last night, I got back into the blue. In other words, my balance reached a new all-time high. This is the first time I've achieved this in 2012. It took a 46 session side-trip of ups and downs to do it.

On the penultimate hand of the night, I flopped a set of sixes and slow-played them, gradually ratcheting up the pressure. I'm pretty sure I won the largest uncontested side pot of my career; when I went all in on the river, two opponents folded and I won a side pot of $71,400 with no one else showing their cards. I also won the main pot of $22,400, when one opponent who'd gone all in earlier showed a high card ace.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 50 hands and saw flop:
- 8 out of 9 times while in big blind (88%)
- 6 out of 10 times while in small blind (60%)
- 20 out of 31 times in other positions (64%)
- a total of 34 out of 50 (68%)
Pots won at showdown - 4 of 7 (57%)
Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $71,400
balance: $3,468,129

You can't make this stuff up

Faithful readers of this blog know that my favorite type of hand is a flush. Moreover, they know that my favorite type of flush is a club flush. These cognoscenti know that I've had three royal flushes in my poker career, and all of them have been in clubs. What they don't know is that last night, for the first time ever, I won two hands in a row with club flushes; these hands were so good, I won them both without a showdown. You just can't make stuff like this up!

I'm now returned in triumph to the golden ratio; of 633 recorded sessions, I've lost 211 and won double that, 422.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 41 hands and saw flop:
- 5 out of 6 times while in big blind (83%)
- 3 out of 5 times while in small blind (60%)
- 16 out of 30 times in other positions (53%)
- a total of 24 out of 41 (58%)
Pots won at showdown - 1 of 6 (16%)
Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $38,400
balance: $3,396,729

In the catbird seat

Last night, I had another nice session; I doubled up again. This time, it was a flush that took my stack skyward. Not just any flush - the nut flush, since I had the ace. I was doubly lucky on this hand - not only did I flop the nut flush, but one of my opponents flopped a king high flush. He obviously thought his hand was unbeatable, and ended up going all in. I won a pot worth $80,400, and exited stage left.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 26 hands and saw flop:
- 4 out of 4 times while in big blind (100%)
- 3 out of 4 times while in small blind (75%)
- 11 out of 18 times in other positions (61%)
- a total of 18 out of 26 (69%)
Pots won at showdown - 2 of 4 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $40,600
balance: $3,358,329

Lion-hearted kings

Friends and neighbors, it's that time again. You knew this was coming. Once again, it will be my pleasure to impart to you the secret of poker, completely free of charge. The current incarnation of the secret? You must be a lamb at times, a lion at others, and never give your opponents any hint about which one you're being at any particular time.

Last night, one of my opponents was neither a lion nor a lamb; he was a donk. In other words, he was playing much too riskily. I knew I had a good chance of taking a boatload of his chips if I just waited long enough for a strong hand. I didn't have long to wait; on hand 8, I was dealt pocket kings. In a preflop raising war with the donk, I ended up going all in. My two pair of kings and queens won a pot worth $82,200, and I was done for the night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 9 hands and saw flop:
- 0 out of 1 times while in big blind (0%)
- 0 out of 1 times while in small blind (0%)
- 2 out of 7 times in other positions (28%)
- a total of 2 out of 9 (22%)
Pots won at showdown - 1 of 1 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $42,200
balance: $3,317,729

Club flirtations

Man, it's been a long time since I played poker! Eight days, in fact. That inspired me to see where that hiatus stacks up in the all time list; it turns out, it ties for the fifth longest since I started keeping records. It's high time I played again; I'm rarin' to go!

The most memorable feature of last Tuesday's session was that at the beginning of it, I kept getting dealt two clubs - five times in the first ten hands. That's a statistical oddity worthy of remark. Unfortunately, none of them matured into club flushes.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 66 hands and saw flop:
- 6 out of 8 times while in big blind (75%)
- 8 out of 10 times while in small blind (80%)
- 30 out of 48 times in other positions (62%)
- a total of 44 out of 66 (66%)
Pots won at showdown - 7 of 10 (70%)
Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $17,700
balance: $3,275,529