Just an Update
Well, I started out today with $110.71 in PP, and so far I'm finishing with...$110.71. I stuck with the $10 S&G's for four tournaments, winning the 2nd one, and not placing in the money on the other three. I had noticed my final opponent calling some all-in bets earlier with things like qj, so I had been pushing in one on one with any pair, and any ace, at least when I was out chipped,which was most of the time. At first he had me by at least 2 to one, if not 3 to one, but I fought back nicely, & for a while we were more or less even, though I only had him out-chipped occasionally. It occurs to me now that when he called earlier with qj he had the other guy out-chipped by quite alot, so maybe I was underestimating what he was willing to call me with. When I've been correct in such an assessment I've been pretty successful in the past, but I think I was underestimating him, because I can't recall another all-in pot until the end, unless it was early on when I was substantially behind.
In any case, I think my strategy was more or less correct anyway, because I was behind, and the blinds were getting pretty big, 5 0r 600 I think.
Well, I was only a little bit behind when I pushed with the a2 of hearts. He called me and turned over aces! I sucked out on him though, when the 3, 4, and 5 hit the board! I was thinking it was over, since I forgot he had a slight chip lead, but the blinds put him all-in on the next hand, and I got a bigger pair than him on the next hand, so it was over. So on the day I would be down $20 of not for a pretty major suck-out. Usually I finish in the money more than one out of 4 tourneys, so I figured I might be a little off, hence the move back down to the $5 tourneys. In that one I was getting a bit short, (7 or 800, six or seven handed with the BB up to 150) when I got p0ocket queens in the small blind, and attempted to trap the big blind, who happened to be the big stack at the time. He raised preflop, and I moved in, and he called with big slick. He rivered a king, and that was it. I'm pretty confident that if I'd moved in initially he wouldv'e called with that, so I don't regret my trapping attempt at all. Even if he'd gotten lucky with some lesser holding I figure attempting to double through here was correct anyway, given my chip troubles.
A bigger concern of mine is that I actually felt pressure to win so I could have something positive to post! This seems absurd, since I doubt I will have any readers at least for a bit. The state of my PP account is pressure enough, thanks. I haven't noticed if I played better or worse. I think I ws getting better cards yesterday. I definitely had the chip lead more often yesterday, in fact, there were probably 3 or four tournaments where I had about 40% or more of the chips with 5 or so players remaining. I don't remember ever having such a dominant chip position that consistently before. Usually I find myself outlasting the guy that finishes fourth, and either doubling up or busting out after that. Looking back, I think that the dominating nature of my run yesterday was a big part of what made me start this blog, though I had forgotten that last night.
.....It is now several hours later--I have only played a little bit more poker. I jumped into a 3/6 limit game on Bodog, where I really only had two significant hands.
First had in, I pick up kx of hearts, the guy in front of me raises preflop, I call the raise as do 3 or 4 others, and the flop is 9tx with two hearts. It's about 6-handed, and the pre-flop raiser bets. I call UTG, as 2 or three more players are behind me, and I want them to pay me if my flush hits. the turn is another ten, and the pre-flop raiser bets. I figure that there is at least a fair chance the raiser has an overpair or overcards, so I take this opportunity to semi-bluff, representing trip tens. The preflop raiser calls, as does one other behind me. The river is a blank. Since I've gone this far, I fire the last bet, but, as I expect, both still call. The preflop raiser turns over j9, for nines & tens, and takes down the pot. Given the fact that I had minimal information about any of the players, my play was out of line, and I cost myself an extra $12. This is no way to start off on a table, particularly when I started out with only $149 on the site.
A few blinds and pre-flop calls later I'm already about $50 in the hole. I keep getting kx suited preflop, but raises in front of me are keeping me out of the action. I think I did a fairly good job of avoiding tilting after my self-inflicted rocky start, but I was still in danger of getting ground into powder by the blinds, with my short roll.
A bit later I called a preflop raise with j8hearts in the big blind and flopped either 9tk of hearts or 9qk of hearts. It bugs me that I don't remember which, since in one case I have two outs to the straight flush, in case I'm up against the nut flush, and in the other case I have only one. On the other hand, someone with a queen kicker could have me beat in the one case, but in the other only one flush could have me beat. I have a strong hand, but I'm feeling kind of snakebit, and have a feeling that I'm about to run into the nuts.
I decide I'm going for the check raise anyway, being up front & what not, and especially since there was a pre-flop raise. I think the pot was four way at this point. In any case, the flop was raised before it came back around to me. I made it three, and then one of the others capped it.
The turn was a blank, a card low enough not to tempt anyone who mightve been fool enough to be calling 4 bets (or capping) with a straight draw. I was not about to give any ace of hearts a free card, so I bet out. Nobody raised me, but everyone called. I figure I'd be raising if I had the nut flush, but there was also a good chance that I was the only one who knew that nobody had a straight flush, thanks to my jack. I would still throw in one more raise with a suited ace, however, and figure I was good until I got raised.
The turn was another blank, so nobody's improved to beat me. I think my biggest scare card would be anything that paired the board, particularly a king, since I figure there is a good chance
a big two-pair is out there, given my three callers. I bet out again, by now minimally concerned about the suited ace. The action on the flop led me to believe that these guys wouldn't get cute & wait to raise me on the river with that kind of strength. I got two callers. After my cards were turned up, the player after me showed 64 of hearts. The last guy, who I believe raised preflop and on the flop (& the 64 capped) didn't show. I think the 64s played it right by hoping he had me beat and calling, since he could already be beat, and probably wanted the others in. In any case, raising may not have eliminated anyone drawing to a boat. I think I may have made a mistake by not going for a check-raise, since I'm pretty sure the player directly behind me (64) capped the flop. I may have been able to collect three more big bets that way. I didn't want to give a free card, but the chances of that may have been minimal, though I have seen people cap with only a draw to the nut flush occasionally, slowing on the turn when a blank hit. I also figured since I had check-raised the flop, the other players may have been wary of a repeat on the turn.
The pot was $99, and after I won another small hand a little later, the table broke up, leaving me up about $30. This was probably for the best, since I really don't think I had much business being there with my rather fragile bankroll. I had depleated it a bit the day before on a 5/ten table, only recovering a fraction of my losses on a much softer 2/4 table, before I went on my PP S&G streak.
After two days of blogging I have noticed a couple of things.
First, my memory is pretty good when I go without hand histories, but there are still holes. I like to think I am remembeing most of the important things. It stands to reason that we remember the things that we focus on during a hand more than other things. There are probably some players out there that would remember EVERYTHING, however, or at least be alot close to it than me.
Second, while writing about these hands seems to be helping me to pick up on things within my thought processes that I might not otherwise notice, I am a lazy blogger. In some cases I have e-mailed hand histories to myself, but I would rather go from memory.
Meanwhile, the 10% rule has been kicking my ass when it comes to customizing my blog. So far all I have tried to do is get a Brooklyn Jedi vanity shot of myself onto the page, but that hasn't worked out yet. I took a photo with my webcam & saved it, but I haven't been able to get it onto the blog.
I've also noticed that my thought processes have been getting rather defensive, since my so far non-existant readers will probably consider me to be a king-hell degenerate gambler. As long as they don't try to enroll me in a 12 step program. Maybe I'll edit that stuff out. In any case, I won't repeat how much I'm down right here. Make you judgemental pricks look for it. If you don't find it I edited it out. Of course then I should edit this part out too. This blog shit is turning into alot of work, damnit!
In any case, I think my strategy was more or less correct anyway, because I was behind, and the blinds were getting pretty big, 5 0r 600 I think.
Well, I was only a little bit behind when I pushed with the a2 of hearts. He called me and turned over aces! I sucked out on him though, when the 3, 4, and 5 hit the board! I was thinking it was over, since I forgot he had a slight chip lead, but the blinds put him all-in on the next hand, and I got a bigger pair than him on the next hand, so it was over. So on the day I would be down $20 of not for a pretty major suck-out. Usually I finish in the money more than one out of 4 tourneys, so I figured I might be a little off, hence the move back down to the $5 tourneys. In that one I was getting a bit short, (7 or 800, six or seven handed with the BB up to 150) when I got p0ocket queens in the small blind, and attempted to trap the big blind, who happened to be the big stack at the time. He raised preflop, and I moved in, and he called with big slick. He rivered a king, and that was it. I'm pretty confident that if I'd moved in initially he wouldv'e called with that, so I don't regret my trapping attempt at all. Even if he'd gotten lucky with some lesser holding I figure attempting to double through here was correct anyway, given my chip troubles.
A bigger concern of mine is that I actually felt pressure to win so I could have something positive to post! This seems absurd, since I doubt I will have any readers at least for a bit. The state of my PP account is pressure enough, thanks. I haven't noticed if I played better or worse. I think I ws getting better cards yesterday. I definitely had the chip lead more often yesterday, in fact, there were probably 3 or four tournaments where I had about 40% or more of the chips with 5 or so players remaining. I don't remember ever having such a dominant chip position that consistently before. Usually I find myself outlasting the guy that finishes fourth, and either doubling up or busting out after that. Looking back, I think that the dominating nature of my run yesterday was a big part of what made me start this blog, though I had forgotten that last night.
.....It is now several hours later--I have only played a little bit more poker. I jumped into a 3/6 limit game on Bodog, where I really only had two significant hands.
First had in, I pick up kx of hearts, the guy in front of me raises preflop, I call the raise as do 3 or 4 others, and the flop is 9tx with two hearts. It's about 6-handed, and the pre-flop raiser bets. I call UTG, as 2 or three more players are behind me, and I want them to pay me if my flush hits. the turn is another ten, and the pre-flop raiser bets. I figure that there is at least a fair chance the raiser has an overpair or overcards, so I take this opportunity to semi-bluff, representing trip tens. The preflop raiser calls, as does one other behind me. The river is a blank. Since I've gone this far, I fire the last bet, but, as I expect, both still call. The preflop raiser turns over j9, for nines & tens, and takes down the pot. Given the fact that I had minimal information about any of the players, my play was out of line, and I cost myself an extra $12. This is no way to start off on a table, particularly when I started out with only $149 on the site.
A few blinds and pre-flop calls later I'm already about $50 in the hole. I keep getting kx suited preflop, but raises in front of me are keeping me out of the action. I think I did a fairly good job of avoiding tilting after my self-inflicted rocky start, but I was still in danger of getting ground into powder by the blinds, with my short roll.
A bit later I called a preflop raise with j8hearts in the big blind and flopped either 9tk of hearts or 9qk of hearts. It bugs me that I don't remember which, since in one case I have two outs to the straight flush, in case I'm up against the nut flush, and in the other case I have only one. On the other hand, someone with a queen kicker could have me beat in the one case, but in the other only one flush could have me beat. I have a strong hand, but I'm feeling kind of snakebit, and have a feeling that I'm about to run into the nuts.
I decide I'm going for the check raise anyway, being up front & what not, and especially since there was a pre-flop raise. I think the pot was four way at this point. In any case, the flop was raised before it came back around to me. I made it three, and then one of the others capped it.
The turn was a blank, a card low enough not to tempt anyone who mightve been fool enough to be calling 4 bets (or capping) with a straight draw. I was not about to give any ace of hearts a free card, so I bet out. Nobody raised me, but everyone called. I figure I'd be raising if I had the nut flush, but there was also a good chance that I was the only one who knew that nobody had a straight flush, thanks to my jack. I would still throw in one more raise with a suited ace, however, and figure I was good until I got raised.
The turn was another blank, so nobody's improved to beat me. I think my biggest scare card would be anything that paired the board, particularly a king, since I figure there is a good chance
a big two-pair is out there, given my three callers. I bet out again, by now minimally concerned about the suited ace. The action on the flop led me to believe that these guys wouldn't get cute & wait to raise me on the river with that kind of strength. I got two callers. After my cards were turned up, the player after me showed 64 of hearts. The last guy, who I believe raised preflop and on the flop (& the 64 capped) didn't show. I think the 64s played it right by hoping he had me beat and calling, since he could already be beat, and probably wanted the others in. In any case, raising may not have eliminated anyone drawing to a boat. I think I may have made a mistake by not going for a check-raise, since I'm pretty sure the player directly behind me (64) capped the flop. I may have been able to collect three more big bets that way. I didn't want to give a free card, but the chances of that may have been minimal, though I have seen people cap with only a draw to the nut flush occasionally, slowing on the turn when a blank hit. I also figured since I had check-raised the flop, the other players may have been wary of a repeat on the turn.
The pot was $99, and after I won another small hand a little later, the table broke up, leaving me up about $30. This was probably for the best, since I really don't think I had much business being there with my rather fragile bankroll. I had depleated it a bit the day before on a 5/ten table, only recovering a fraction of my losses on a much softer 2/4 table, before I went on my PP S&G streak.
After two days of blogging I have noticed a couple of things.
First, my memory is pretty good when I go without hand histories, but there are still holes. I like to think I am remembeing most of the important things. It stands to reason that we remember the things that we focus on during a hand more than other things. There are probably some players out there that would remember EVERYTHING, however, or at least be alot close to it than me.
Second, while writing about these hands seems to be helping me to pick up on things within my thought processes that I might not otherwise notice, I am a lazy blogger. In some cases I have e-mailed hand histories to myself, but I would rather go from memory.
Meanwhile, the 10% rule has been kicking my ass when it comes to customizing my blog. So far all I have tried to do is get a Brooklyn Jedi vanity shot of myself onto the page, but that hasn't worked out yet. I took a photo with my webcam & saved it, but I haven't been able to get it onto the blog.
I've also noticed that my thought processes have been getting rather defensive, since my so far non-existant readers will probably consider me to be a king-hell degenerate gambler. As long as they don't try to enroll me in a 12 step program. Maybe I'll edit that stuff out. In any case, I won't repeat how much I'm down right here. Make you judgemental pricks look for it. If you don't find it I edited it out. Of course then I should edit this part out too. This blog shit is turning into alot of work, damnit!
posted by roQQ | 2:11 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home