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Everything's Going Wrong - 01.27.08: Last two weeks have been simply horrible considering the lack of working on this website and playing poker. Everything's gone wrong. First, I became sick and that lasted for good 4-5 days. Then, I was supposed to move to UK but there were problems on their end so I had to rent a place for my stuff and myself and I'm going to stay here for a few weeks now. It sucks too, since I'm not going to unpack and I've literally got only TV, laptop and my bed here. And I was still sick in the middle of moving here.
Well, like that wasn't enough, my internet connection hasn't been working for the past 10 days or something... I've had to visit friends and libraries in order to get access to internet. And I wasn't going to update this website from someone else's computer. What a mess.
Yesterday I finally got back online and played 14 hours of poker in a row, ending up winning 3 buy-ins which is an OK result. I started out losing 3 buy-ins during the first hour of play, then took a 15 minute break and won 6 buy-ins. There was one player on absolute tilt who played about 6 hours in the same table with me and ended up losing like 10 buy-ins. And he got lucky.
I'll have a lot of pages uploaded on this website in following days and there'll be some serious poker played, too.
Good luck at the tables!
Frustrated with Poker - 01.12.08: I haven't been so disappointed with poker in a long, long time. Quite frankly, I'm simply getting *owned* by players that I used to beat. And guess what, this happens on lower limits than what my "usual" limits are.
I've never really given as much credit to starting hands and pre-flop play tactics in general as I do now. I've always thought players overvalue them (well, I still do), but at the same time it seems like I've undervalued them. I'm definitely impressed by how these players have learned to create a significant amount of aggression to their pre-flop game and still keep it under control. They still have a lot to work on when it comes to later stages, but so far these pre-flop experts have been destroying me - probably because we have to play these hands first and the money goes in faster.
I have yet published my article about poker player's mentality, but here's a great example of one. I don't want to give it up to those players who outplay me aggression wise. I always thought I'd be the "ultimate aggressor" of poker games but have been outplayed in that sense. What I'm going to do now, and what I believe is the right thing to do, is swallow my pride and adjust to their game, letting them play aggressively.
Off to adjusting my poker game...
Playing Bad! - 01.08.08: I've been playing bad poker today. Just crazy bad. Luckily I only lost 3 buy-ins at $10/$20 games. Can't believe I went ahead and continued playing while I knew either concentration or patience wasn't there. Well, tomorrow is a new day, I played so bad that I don't think I should post any hands for today.
Like I said in the post two days ago, there's great traffic right now at Full Tilt Poker. It's awesome, and once I sleep for a few hours I'll be back playing with better concentration.
The Grand Opening - 01.06.08: It's time to kick-off this blog once & for all. I'm now playing again after a peaceful Christmas so there'll be stuff to write about. I'm planning to write about interesting hands, why I made the decisions I made and why I think others did what the did. Also, just about anything going on in the poker world.
First of all, Full Tilt Poker has done a great job keeping those $10/$20 & $25/$50 games alive - when I started my break 2 months ago, the games were actually "lame", rarely there and full of short stackers. However, there seems to be decent traffic right now, I really hope this lasts. If it doesn't, I'll have to make PokerStars my #1 online poker room because they've got some great traffic, although I don't like the software nearly as much.
My first "real" game after the break was $5/$10 No Limit Hold'em in 2 6-max. tables. It felt great to come back, and I actually won a 3-way pot early - here's how the hand went down:
A random player limps UTG (I know nothing about him), all others before me fold and I pick up JJ on cut-off. There's a player on my left (button) who I have played with a lot and my notes say he's very aggressive on the button. I almost just called, because the button guy likes to raise so many hands, and I could picture him raising especially in a pot like this.
It was very close - if I had QQ+ I would have just called, because a)I don't like to re-raise with JJ when I'm out of position, and b) if he only checks, well that sucks for JJ. So I rather be the aggressor myself.
I raise the pot, button & UTG both call.
Flop: 4d 5d Qs
I'd rather have nothing than JJ in this spot. The flop is so dry, I know a lot of players like to bet at this flop (it's a good play). Interestingly though, UTG checks. The Button is a good player, I know he's got what it takes to fire all streets, so checking basically means I'd have to call him down, raise his bet at some point or fold. I decide to continue being aggressive because this way Button will get along with weak(er) hands.
That's because he knows I'm usually betting when the flop texture is what it is now. Now, I bet about 4/5 of the pot, Button calls and (a surprise) UTG calls, too. I just can't put UTG on anything strong - he could be slowplaying a bigger hand but somehow I doubt it (there's a flush draw, too, and by just check-calling he's not too afraid of that).
I love this turn: 9h. Seriously, it's one of the best cards out there. UTG thinks about 10 seconds and decides to check, and I'm thinking I'll just bet here, too and see what happens. Honestly, this is a weird hand and I might as well have the worst hand, so by betting I want to find out what's going on. I bet 7/10 of the pot, Button thinks about it for a long time and makes a min-raise! UTG folds.
At the same time, I hate & love this situation. It's a tough spot & it's a challenge. I've got a lot of notes on this guy, though, and they indicate he's clearly capable of doing something like this with a draw or even complete air. If I call, well, I really don't want to see an overcard or a diamond. I'm not in love with this move, but I think it's better to go all-in since I doubt he would play AQ or KQ like this considering he's very aggressive pre-flop. QJ is a possibility but I doubt it.
So, I shove, he thinks for about 5 seconds and calls - with Ad9d! I was surprised to see this, but then again even he knows this is a hand you shouldn't re-raise with pre-flop. Honestly, I thought he would but seems like he didn't. I hate his min-raise on the turn though, he should have either called or shoved.
We go all-in, I'm about 68-32 favorite and he doesn't hit.
That was most of my thought process during the hand. Afterwards, well, he's changed his style a lot so I guess I was somewhat lucky to get it in with being a probable winner. He's definitely not as aggressive on the button anymore (which explains why he didn't raise me on the flop). He's a bit trickier (explains min-raise on turn). All in all, I don't think he has improved his game and is rather playing more passive, and in this case, worse poker.
Getting back to poker games was nice, although I ended up even for the session. My notes on some of the regulars are way out of date, it's actually quite amazing how some have changed their styles or improved as players just over 2 months of time. I feel like beating these games is a whole new challenge - but an exciting one!
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