Oned

Last night, something happened to me at the poker table that had never happened before. I was oned. I've been eighteened before, more than once; I've been seventeened before. I've been sixteened. I've been nined. I've been eighted. I've even been sevened. Never in my life, however, had I ever been oned before last night. I take it as a token of esteem and affection, straight from the the poker gods to me. The rarity of the occurence is so great, it really doesn't matter that I was on the wrong side of it. It's as big an honor to have played the losing part as it would have been to play the winning one. Here's what happened:

I was dealt 7c 6s, and the flop came 7s 7d 6h. In other words, I flopped a fatty. I ran my homegrown "percent at flop" utility to calculate how big a favorite this made me. Here are the numbers:

  wins      1052114 (98.31)
    fh      1005596
    4k        46518
  losses      10800 ( 1.01)
    fh        10668
    4k           66
    sf           66
  ties         7276 ( 0.68)
    fh         7276
  total     1070190
    fh      1023540
    4k        46584
    sf           66

My opponent had been dealt Tc 7h. The turn was the ten of spades, which gave him a better full house than mine. I was drawing dead at that point, but didn't know it. He went all in on the river. I called, and promptly hit the felt.

Only players who truly love poker will ever have a hand like this happen to them. Why? The answer is actually quite simple. You have to play a ton of hands to have something like this happen to you. No one could play that many hands without truly loving poker.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 97 hands and saw flop:
 - 18 out of 23 times while in big blind (78%)
 - 17 out of 22 times while in small blind (77%)
 - 36 out of 52 times in other positions (69%)
 - a total of 71 out of 97 (73%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 23 (34%)
 Pots won without showdown - 19

delta: $-40,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,815,971
balance: $7,172,924

Fear factor

If there's one thing I've proven to myself after nearly five years of playing online poker, it's that I don't play scared. I'm not afraid to put all my chips in the middle. That's why how I played a particular hand last night came as a real shock to me. I played scared on that hand. I'd been dealt a pair of sevens, and hit trip sevens on the flop. They were the top set, since the other two cards were lower than a seven. I bet the flop pretty big, about $6,000. One of my opponents went all in for over $40,000 after I acted. That scared me enough to fold, without even stopping to think. It was a knee-jerk reaction, and was stupid. If I'd thought about it at all, I would have realized I was still best. I got to see the holding of the all-in player at the showdown; all he had was an ace seven offsuit, which gave him aces up. The only possible saving grace for me was that the board may have supported a straight, but I honestly don't remember. Let me check the archives...

As it turns out, the board did support a straight, but I can't let myself off the hook. I remember being afraid of a bigger set, which was completely nonsensical! In fact, my memory was that my opponent had gone all in on the turn; that's what I originally wrote in the first version of this post. The only reason for me to fear a bigger set, as my self-esteem demanded, was if the all in had come after the turn card, which was an ace, was revealed. Memory is a notoriously tricky thing! I didn't remember what had actually happened, but what I would like to have happened. I didn't want to admit to myself that sometimes the fear factor kicks in and influences my play.

Thankfully, no real damage was done, and I didn't play scared on any other hands. Still, it was a good lesson; I need to be wary of knee-jerk reactions.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 52 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 7 times while in big blind (85%)
 - 4 out of 6 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 27 out of 39 times in other positions (69%)
 - a total of 37 out of 52 (71%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 6 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $35,341
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,855,971
balance: $7,212,924

Broken crowns

When you join a table which has a loose cannon, it doesn't take long to find him out. Last night, I knew within the first ten hands that one of my opponents was a real risk-taker. When I was dealt pocket kings on hand 12, and the loosie went all in pre-flop, it didn't take me long to call. He turned over pocket threes, making me a big favorite. Unfortunately, he hit a set of threes on the flop and they held up; I was left with broken crowns. When you make the correct play and it doesn't pan out, there's no sense crying about it. I reupped for the max and set out to win back the chips I'd lost. I succeeded in that quest, and even finished up with a tidy little profit.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 102 hands and saw flop:
 - 25 out of 25 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 14 out of 26 times while in small blind (53%)
 - 29 out of 51 times in other positions (56%)
 - a total of 68 out of 102 (66%)
 Pots won at showdown - 13 of 27 (48%)
 Pots won without showdown - 11

delta: $9,298
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,820,630
balance: $7,177,583

Four bagger

When you're trying to break out of a slump, small achievements loom larger than they otherwise would. Last night, I had such an achievement, winning my fourth session in a row. It sure felt big to me :-) My night got jump started on hand 9 when an opponent went all in on the turn. I'd just hit two pair, and called. My two pair held up, and I won a pot worth $74,200. That big cash influx allowed me to be really choosy about what hands I was going to play from that point on. That's a great position to be in, and I made the most of it.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 63 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 8 times while in big blind (62%)
 - 3 out of 9 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 19 out of 46 times in other positions (41%)
 - a total of 27 out of 63 (42%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 9 (55%)
 Pots won without showdown - 1

delta: $52,983
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,811,332
balance: $7,168,285

An aqueous hand

Last night, I more than doubled up on the penultimate hand of the night. I call it an aqueous hand, not because it was watery, but because it was a full house of aces full of queens. It's always a good feeling when you have a full house, and an opponent goes all in. You know you can't lose! In truth, you're as safe as houses :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 63 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 10 times while in big blind (80%)
 - 5 out of 11 times while in small blind (45%)
 - 22 out of 42 times in other positions (52%)
 - a total of 35 out of 63 (55%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 8 (62%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $43,600
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,758,349
balance: $7,115,302

The outside edge of a lobster claw

Just as no two snowflakes are alike, and no two fingerprints are alike, no two bar charts of your stack size over the course of a session are alike. Looking at last night's, it reminds me of the outside edge of a lobster claw; it starts off with a small pinch inwards, is widest in the the middle of the session, and curves up nicely towards the end. When my stack went north of $50,000 on the penultimate hand of the session, I knew it was time to call it a night.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 53 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 9 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 7 out of 8 times while in small blind (87%)
 - 22 out of 36 times in other positions (61%)
 - a total of 38 out of 53 (71%)
 Pots won at showdown - 6 of 8 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $11,989
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,714,749
balance: $7,071,702

Saved by my fave

Last night, I was hoping to have a short session. In general, the shorter the session, the better the result. I desperately needed something to stop my slump. I was saved by my fave :-) In other words, my favorite type of hand came to my rescue. As you may know, my favorite type of hand is a flush. On hand 16, I more than doubled up when I made a king high flush on the turn. I don't know yet if my fortune has really turned around, but I'm really hoping it has.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 17 hands and saw flop:
 - 1 out of 2 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 0 out of 2 times while in small blind (0%)
 - 4 out of 13 times in other positions (30%)
 - a total of 5 out of 17 (29%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $37,883
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,702,760
balance: $7,059,713