A bucket of cold water

There I was, sitting in my comfortable Adirondack chair by the shores of Lake Poker. The weather was pleasantly warm, and there was a nice breeze coming off the lake. I was sipping a brewski, and all was right with the world. Suddenly, with no warning, I was doused by a large quantity of cold water. So much for my month by the lake!

That's a dramatization of what happened to me on hand 3 on Saturday night. I was dealt 7h Jh, and hit trip sevens on the turn; I went all in on the river. I started the hand with $39,600, and ended it with nothing. I lost to another trip sevens who had a better kicker (a king).

As you'll know, if you're familiar with my poker philosophy, I have no regrets about playing this hand the way I did. I'd play it this way every single time. Sometimes, you're just predestined to lose a hand; that's just how poker rolls.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 98 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 15 times while in big blind (73%)
 - 9 out of 17 times while in small blind (52%)
 - 28 out of 66 times in other positions (42%)
 - a total of 48 out of 98 (48%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 15 (53%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $-31,326
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,655,989
balance: $7,105,397

A month by the lake

When I play poker, I feel like I'm on vacation. Believe it or not, I find it very relaxing. I've found something I'm very good at that I also enjoy very much. It just feels right to be playing. How does the title of this post relate to this? Simply that I want to take a month by the lake. What is this lake? Poker itself. My goal is to play for a whole month by the shore of this beautiful lake without losing a single session.

To give credit where credit is due, "A Month By the Lake" is the name of a novel by H.E. Bates. In 1995, it was made into a movie of the same name which starred Vanessa Redgrave, Uma Thurman, and Edward Fox.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 51 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 7 times while in big blind (42%)
 - 5 out of 7 times while in small blind (71%)
 - 16 out of 37 times in other positions (43%)
 - a total of 24 out of 51 (47%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 5 (80%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $32,784
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,687,315
balance: $7,136,723

A perfect value bet

On the penultimate hand of last night's session, I made a value bet on the river. I knew it was a good one, but not how good until just now, when I looked back over the hand history. It was perfect. How do I have the gall to make such a claim? For the simple reason that my opponent's holding was so bad, there was very little chance he would have called any higher bet on my part. I hit a straight on the river, and bet $1,400 into a pot of $16,300. My opponent, who only had a pair of fours, called. All five cards of the board were over a four. For him to call my bet, he had to somehow believe I didn't even have a pair. I like to think it was the smallness of my river bet which convinced him.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 46 hands and saw flop:
 - 3 out of 4 times while in big blind (75%)
 - 5 out of 6 times while in small blind (83%)
 - 17 out of 36 times in other positions (47%)
 - a total of 25 out of 46 (54%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 6 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $2,708
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,654,531
balance: $7,103,939

Odoriferous bet sizing

A classic skill of live poker is the ability to pick up on the physical signals, aka tells, that other players unconsciously send out. You might think there are no analogues of physical tells in the virtual world of online poker. You'd be wrong, of course :-) One of those analogues is bet sizing. At every decision point in a hand, each player has the option to fold, bet, raise, or call. The decisions a player has made, when considered as a group, can't help but tell a story of some kind. Sometimes, it becomes clear that the story is lie. Last night, on hand 100, the amounts my opponent chose to bet on the turn and the river encouraged me to call him. On the turn, he bet $4,000 into a pot of $5,200. On the river, he bet $4,800 into a pot of $13,200. The turn bet was too big, and the river bet was too small. Why do I say the turn bet was too big? For the simple reason that it told me he didn't have that good a hand. Good hands don't need to be protected by big turn bets; mediocre hands do. If you bet a good hand too big on the turn, you scare people away and don't end up winning as many chips as you could have. Why do I say the river bet was too small? If he really had a hand, or wanted to represent that he did, he should have made a bet of about half the size of the pot. His weak river bet told me he was only able to scare off a bluff. My eights and deuces beat his sevens and deuces to win a pot worth $22,300, and I was done for the night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 101 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 14 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 4 out of 13 times while in small blind (30%)
 - 38 out of 74 times in other positions (51%)
 - a total of 49 out of 101 (48%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 10 (70%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $4,312
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,651,823
balance: $7,101,231

Side pot salvation

I've sung the praises of side pots before, but they're worth singing again. If you have a good hand, and one player has already gone all in, an all in bet from another player shouldn't scare you too much. What are the odds the second all in player has that good a hand, given that yours is a good one, and the likelihood that the hand of the first all in player is decent? I found myself in just this situation on hand 13 last night. I made top two pair on the turn, and a second player went all in. I had the feeling I was best, so I called. The second player turned out to be on a flush draw, and didn't make it. My two pair won a side pot worth $53,564, though I lost the main pot of $26,471 to the first all in player, who had a full house.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 14 hands and saw flop:
 - 2 out of 2 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 2 times while in small blind (100%)
 - 4 out of 10 times in other positions (40%)
 - a total of 8 out of 14 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 3 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $35,625
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,647,511
balance: $7,096,919

Top of the session

Last night, I had a short session. That was due to an appointment I had at 10 PM with the latest episode of a fabulous new mini-series on the Sundance channel called "Top of the Lake". Luckily, I won a pot near the top of the session (hand 4), so I could quit early with a clear conscience :-)

Interestingly, all the statistical percentages came out the same; I'm pretty sure that's never happened before.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 14 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 2 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 1 out of 2 times while in small blind (50%)
 - 5 out of 10 times in other positions (50%)
 - a total of 7 out of 14 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 1 of 2 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $2,677
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,611,886
balance: $7,061,294

Why 20,000 is equal to 40,000

When I first started playing cash games with a maximum starting stake of $40,000, I started getting nervous and antsy whenever my stack descended to $30,000. I actually started feeling frantic whenever my stack descended to $20,000. What a neophyte I was :-) What I didn't know then, but certainly know now, is that in poker, $20,000 is equal to $40,000. Why do I say this? For the simple reason that, when you have a stack of $20,000, you can turn it into $40,000 in a single hand. You just need to wait for a hand you're willing to go all in with, then go all in with it. The worst that can happen is that you hit the felt. The best that can happen is that you double up, or even triple up. Anything in between, you make some kind of profit. Last night, I doubled up on hand 24, when I'd been dealt pocket rockets. The board came 8h Ks 2c 6d 5h, and I beat an opponent who had a pair of kings. That one hand made the session a winner.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 39 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 6 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 2 out of 6 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 9 out of 27 times in other positions (33%)
 - a total of 17 out of 39 (43%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 4 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $15,555
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,609,209
balance: $7,058,617