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

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

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

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

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

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

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