NL Cash Games

I'm supposed to be working today, but the machine I'm supposed to be working on went down for emergency maintenance. So I've been playing poker for a couple of hours.


I love it when somebody sits down with an amount like $40.10 because t's almost certainly the last of their money. Today I saw a guy sit down with $16.60 or something, then post $1 under the gun! I guess it doesn't occur to these people to wait another hand instead of posting 6% of their bankroll in the worst position at the table.

These people tend to play poorly and desperately (which is likely either because or the cause of their diminished bankroll), so they're great to have at the table. They call too many raises with weak hands and give their money away slowly most of the time. But sometimes they end up calling a raise with some middle unsuited 2-gapper and then the pot gets re-raised. So they end up putting all their chips in preflop with the J8o because they called the initial raise for 1/5 of their chips.

I also like people who buy in for the minimum because they invariably are unable to make good decisions. If I sucked, I'd probably buy in for the minimum also. You get to actually see the turn and river with every flush and straight draw you flop and you get to see a showdown with top pair/no kicker. It's also fun to just keep putting these people all-in before the flop to see what they eventually call you with. You'd be pretty surprised at the stuff they show up with. Ok, enough about short buyins -- let's move on.


I played 2 $.5/$1 NL 5-handed cash games for a couple of hours and it went pretty well -- I ended up winning about $35. I'm still losing a bunch of money with middle pairs. I keep trying to pull off a squeeze play with something like 99 before the flop and it never works. I also sometimes try to get people to fold what I think are big pairs/TP good kicker. I need to learn that some people are just totally unable to get away from those kinds of hands, no matter how bad things look.

For example, yesterday I was holding QQ and got check-raised on a 456 rainbow flop. It's certainly possible that I have the best hand, but a lot of the time I'm beat. And when I'm not beat, most of the time the other guy will have between 8 and 13 outs. It's quite a bad spot to be in. I could reraise (which would put about 1/2 my remaining chips in), but I'm only going to get action when I'm beat or when my opponent has a decent draw. And if the guy just has one pair and no other draw, it's going to have to be 99-JJ for me to get a call (and probably not there either!) Since I'm either slightly ahead or way behind when I get action, I kind of have to fold here.

Here's the hand of the day, which was one of my last from the session. It was one of the other guy's first few hands at the table.

Table 'Billings': $1-$1 No Limit HE (Real)
Seat 0: mikko25cent ($39 in chips)
Seat 3: knullaMej ($99.90 in chips)
Seat 5: Su1cideKing ($20.70 in chips)
Seat 8: Trey zz ($42.80 in chips) (on the button)
Seat 9: Hero ($168.35 in chips)
*** Blind Bet Round *** :
Dealt to Hero: Kd
Dealt to Hero: 10d
Hero : Post Blind ($0.50)
mikko25cent : Post Blind ($1)
*** Pre-Flop *** :
knullaMej : Fold
Su1cideKing : Fold
Trey zz : Call ($1)
Hero : Call ($0.50)
mikko25cent : Check
*** Flop *** : As 6d 3d
Hero : Bet ($2)
mikko25cent : Call ($2)
Trey zz : Fold
*** Turn *** : [ As 6d 3d ] 4d
Hero : Bet ($4)
mikko25cent : Call ($4)
*** River *** : [ As 6d 3d 4d ] 8s
Hero : Bet ($12)
mikko25cent : Raise ($24)
Hero : Raise ($24)
mikko25cent : Call ($8)
mikko25cent : All In
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $81 | Rake: $2
Board: [ As 6d 3d 4d 8s ]
mikko25cent lost $39
knullaMej lost $0
Su1cideKing lost $0
Trey zz lost $1
Hero bet $43, collected $81, net $38 Shows [ Kd 10d ] (a flush, King high)

God these hand histories suck -- they don't even say what the other guy had. He had 25o for the turned gutshot.

I also had a funny one were I won a $170 pot with A-high. It happened like this. The button raised to $3.50. I called in the BB with Ad2d. The flop came 4d6c7d, I check, button bets $4, I make it $14, he calls. Turn comes Js, I bet $25, he moves in for about $50 more. I called and beat his KdTd unimproved.


I also played some 5-Draw and saw yet another totally baffling play. The button limped, SB and BB complete. SB and BB both draw 3, button draws 1. Both blinds check, button checks behind with a 7-HIGH STRAIGHT! He checked with a complete hand behind 2 guys who drew 3 cards each! If you limp on the button with the ole' 4567 (let's give him the benefit of the doubt and give him the best draw he could've had), don't you have to bet when you get there? Especially when both blinds drew 3?

I then watched the same guy limp UTG 4 times in a row with either 22 or 44 and make trips every time. Keep it up buddy!

WSOP Qualifier Tourneys

When I woke up today, I decided to play on Stars to try to win more W$. Things didn't go very well.

In the first $16 double-shootout, I got in preflop with 66 vs. AKo vs. AKo and lost to the A on the turn.

In the second $16 double-shootout, I got in with A3o vs. 88 on the 337 flop for about 3/4 of the chips on the table and lost to the 8 on the turn.

In the $16+R satellite to the $320 WSOP qualifier, I lost with this hand: UTG, who is loose but pretty decent, limps for 200. All fold, I make it 800 from the SB with AdQd, BB folds, UTG calls. Flop comes Jh9cX. I check, UTG bets 600, I make it 2400 leaving myself with about 4200. UTG calls. Turn comes Qh. I'm pretty sure I can't do anything but move in here, so that's what I did. He has the 8hTh and I'm drawing dead. I ended up in 20th and there were only 6 seats paid out.

I also played some $0.50/$1.00 NLH and won a little bit. I actually took a couple of shitty beats in this game but still ended up winning. I got in with AA vs. QJ on a KQx board and the guy hit the J on the turn. Then I got in with 46 vs. AT (no flush draw) on a 467 board and ended up splitting with a 45678 board. The guy with the AT moved in for almost twice the pot on the flop. It wasn't too bad of a move since I had raised a couple of limpers preflop, meaning that the 467 board is unlikely to have helped me. If I can just win one of these pots It'd have been a pretty good win for the day.

I'm thinking about trying to work on my NL cash game skills. They can be kind of boring at times, but I guess multi-tabling can cure that. This is one of the few types of poker games that I haven't made at least some serious effort to become good at. That and triple-draw lowball. NLH cash games aren't too different from deep-stack tournament situations. And I think I play pretty well in those scenarios. Maybe it's something that I'll work on when I have the time.

One other thing I want to do is find a place that spreads 5-Draw. Pokespoker spreads it, but there's rarely a game going that's above $1/$2 and below $10/$20. Since I'd like to move up in the game, I'll have to take it elsewhere for a while. If any readers know where I can find a prolific 5-Draw community, please let me know.


We also held another home game tourney last night. I ended up in 6th/7. It kinda sucked. I was doing pretty well and had chipped up to about 30K (started with 20K) in the first two or three levels. Then I ended up getting a ridiculous pot together with 8T vs. A9 on a J9x board and not getting there, which took almost 2/3 of my chips. After that I never really got anything going again. I finally allin-reraised an active player from the BB with KhTh and ran into his AhKs. My dad ended up winning the whole thing, so I'm probably never going to hear the end of it from him.


Now I think I need to clean my house up a little bit -- it's still a disaster from some of the festivities that were there yesterday (my brother's fiancee's bridal shower, my poker game, boozing afterwards with Rik). I seem to be running kind of bad anyway.

Random Tidbits

I played a single $20+2 MTT last night and ended up in a pathetic 42nd/181. I never really had any hands, and I didn't really get action on any of the ones I did have. A couple of funny hands first.

Blinds 50/100, 2 limpers, SB completes, I check in the BB with 79o (no heart). Flop comes 2h2d9h. SB checks, I bet the pot (400), 2nd limper calls leaving himself with only 450. Turn comes Jd, I bet 450. Limper sits there for a while, says "lol", and eventually calls with 2s2c. Thanks for the slow-roll, dick head.

Blinds 75/150, 3 limpers, SB calls, I'm in the BB with QhQd. I move in for about 1450. All fold to the SB, who thinks for a while then calls with ATo. This is just such a terrible play. Against a normal player, there is absolutely no hand you should just limp with from the SB in that scenario and then call a raise for 10 more BBs.

Then at the 150/300 level, I'm in the SB with A9o and the BB is "Away". All fold to the button, who makes a standard raise. Obviously I have to move in here. I do, the button calls with AJo, I get no help, and I'm gone.


I'm also trying to put together another home game tonight since nobody really has work tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes off without a hitch.


In other news, Nordberg is now officially ridiculous. Yesterday he made the WSOPC New Orleans final table in 2nd chip position behind Gavin Smith. This guy is long overdue to become a big name in the poker world, so I wish him good luck today.

Quick Update

I'll do a quick update before I go to bed.

I played the home game tonight and took 3rd for a tiny profit. I was insanely card-dead the entire time. I had 99 twice, AQo once, AJo once and that's it. I folded the AJo preflop when a tight player re-raised me and I won pretty small or medium pots with the other 3. The only thing resembling a sizable pot (that I was involved in) was the following.

8 handed, UTG+1 limps for 200, I limp UTG+2 with Jc7c. A few more limpers come in, both blinds complete. Flop comes 6c4c2s. SB checks, BB bets 800, I make it 2000, all fold, BB calls. Turn comes 6h, BB bets 2500. I think for a while and fold. I'm pretty sure he had at least the 6.

That put me at about 12.5K where I hung for most of the rest of the game. I finally doubled from the BB when I picked up Ac8c against the button's Ah5h when we were three-handed. Then I hung around 28K for a while, finally getting it all in at the 1.2K/2.4K level with 55 against AQo and losing.

It was actually a little boring since I didn't really have any decisions to make. Oh well.

Congrats to Rik for taking one of these down after such a long hiatus! Maybe he'll keep coming back if he wins 7 out of 8 races and picks up AA or AK 8 times every week.

Do I Suck at Omaha High?

I'm pretty sure I don't, but it feels like I do sometimes. I just got my ass handed to me.

I played for about 2 hours and won a total of 3 hands. Literally. Here are some gems from the $1/$1 Omaha game I was in.

This first hand is funny. This guy puts all his money in the pot with the super-idiot straight draw. I always want to ask these people what they plan on doing with the 78 straight on the 9TJQ board.

Table 'Tahoua': $1-$1 Pot Limit OH (Real)
Seat 0: fivewhole101 ($100 in chips)
Seat 1: dumbo.24 ($59.45 in chips)
Seat 4: xmselectrax ($77.50 in chips) (on the button)
Seat 5: Bualoi ($94.60 in chips)
Seat 7: ucrags ($262.45 in chips)
Seat 8: GeeMoney19 ($20.50 in chips)
Seat 9: Hero ($103.50 in chips)
*** Blind Bet Round *** :
Dealt to Hero: Qh
Dealt to Hero: Js
Dealt to Hero: Ad
Dealt to Hero: Jd
Bualoi : Post Blind ($1)
ucrags : Post Blind ($1)
fivewhole101 : Post Blind ($1)
*** Pre-Flop *** :
GeeMoney19 : Call ($1)
Hero : Bet ($5)
fivewhole101 : Fold
dumbo.24 : Fold
xmselectrax : Fold
Bualoi : Fold
ucrags : Fold
GeeMoney19 : Call ($4)
*** Flop *** : 10h 9c Qd
GeeMoney19 : Check
Hero : Bet ($13)
GeeMoney19 : Call ($13)
*** Turn *** : [ 10h 9c Qd ] 9h
GeeMoney19 : Check
Hero : Bet ($2.50)
GeeMoney19 : Call ($2.50)
GeeMoney19 : All In
*** River *** : [ 10h 9c Qd 9h ] 6d
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $42 | Rake: $2
Board: [ 10h 9c Qd 9h 6d ]
fivewhole101 lost $1
dumbo.24 lost $0
xmselectrax lost $0
Bualoi lost $1
ucrags lost $1
GeeMoney19 bet $20.50, collected $42, net $21.50 Shows [ 8s 7c Ah Kh ] (a straight, ten high)
Hero lost $20.50 Shows [ Qh Js Ad Jd ] (two pairs, Queens and nines)


Here's the villian from the last hand pissing away the money he donked from me (and then some). Good raise on the river buddy! I'm sure the guy who woke up on the river and bet huge has something besides the nut flush...

Table 'Tahoua': $1-$1 Pot Limit OH (Real)
Seat 0: fivewhole101 ($107.60 in chips)
Seat 1: dumbo.24 ($39.45 in chips)
Seat 2: Angeldolly ($91 in chips)
Seat 3: dogrekop ($106.50 in chips)
Seat 4: xmselectrax ($71.50 in chips) (on the button)
Seat 5: Bualoi ($83.10 in chips)
Seat 6: Onnela ($97 in chips)
Seat 7: ucrags ($236.05 in chips)
Seat 8: GeeMoney19 ($78.80 in chips)
Seat 9: Hero ($68 in chips)
*** Blind Bet Round *** :
Dealt to Hero: Qc
Dealt to Hero: 6c
Dealt to Hero: 10c
Dealt to Hero: 10h
Bualoi : Post Blind ($1)
Onnela : Post Blind ($1)
*** Pre-Flop *** :
ucrags : Call ($1)
GeeMoney19 : Call ($1)
Hero : Fold
fivewhole101 : Fold
dumbo.24 : Call ($1)
Angeldolly : Call ($1)
dogrekop : Call ($1)
xmselectrax : Call ($1)
Bualoi : Check
Onnela : Check
*** Flop *** : 9d 5h Ad
Bualoi : Check
Onnela : Check
ucrags : Bet ($8)
GeeMoney19 : Call ($8)
dumbo.24 : Fold
Angeldolly : Fold
dogrekop : Call ($8)
xmselectrax : Fold
Bualoi : Call ($8)
Onnela : Fold
*** Turn *** : [ 9d 5h Ad ] Ks
Bualoi : Check
ucrags : Check
GeeMoney19 : Check
dogrekop : Check
*** River *** : [ 9d 5h Ad Ks ] 2d
Bualoi : Bet ($30)
ucrags : Call ($30)
GeeMoney19 : Raise ($69.80)
GeeMoney19 : All In
dogrekop : Fold
Bualoi : Call ($39.80)
ucrags : Call ($39.80)
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $247.40 | Rake: $2
Board: [ 9d 5h Ad Ks 2d ]
fivewhole101 lost $0
dumbo.24 lost $1
Angeldolly lost $1
dogrekop lost $9
xmselectrax lost $1
Bualoi bet $78.80, collected $247.40, net $168.60 Shows [ 8d 3c Kd 9s ] (a flush, Ace high)
Onnela lost $1
ucrags lost $78.80
GeeMoney19 lost $78.80 Shows [ 4c 6s 2c 3h ] (a straight, five high)
Hero lost $0


Finally, some guy decides to put 40 BBs in preflop against me with a suited A and some random high cards. Sounds good to me! Until he hits the gutshot on the turn and I miss my 16 out re-draw.

Table 'Tahoua': $1-$1 Pot Limit OH (Real)
Seat 0: renegaderob6 ($225 in chips)
Seat 1: Weylain ($82 in chips)
Seat 2: Angeldolly ($103.60 in chips)
Seat 3: dogrekop ($205.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Bualoi ($198.70 in chips)
Seat 6: Onnela ($40 in chips) (on the button)
Seat 7: AA-exL ($9 in chips)
Seat 9: Hero ($55.10 in chips)
*** Blind Bet Round *** :
Dealt to Hero: Qd
Dealt to Hero: Jd
Dealt to Hero: Kh
Dealt to Hero: Ah
AA-exL : Post Blind ($1)
Hero : Post Blind ($1)
*** Pre-Flop *** :
renegaderob6 : Fold
Weylain : Fold
Angeldolly : Call ($1)
dogrekop : Fold
Bualoi : Fold
Onnela : Bet ($5)
AA-exL : Fold
Hero : Raise ($16)
Angeldolly : Fold
Onnela : Raise ($35)
Onnela : All In
Hero : Call ($23)
*** Flop *** : 5h Qc Ad
*** Turn *** : [ 5h Qc Ad ] Jh
*** River *** : [ 5h Qc Ad Jh ] 7c
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $80 | Rake: $2
Board: [ 5h Qc Ad Jh 7c ]
renegaderob6 lost $0
Weylain lost $0
Angeldolly lost $1
dogrekop lost $0
Bualoi lost $0
Onnela bet $40, collected $80, net $40 Shows [ Ks 4c 10d Ac ] (a straight, Ace high)
AA-exL lost $1
Hero lost $40 Shows [ Qd Jd Kh Ah ] (two pairs, Aces and Queens)


How horribly frustrating that was.

I also played some 5-Draw and won a few dollars. I made another straight flush, this time by drawing 1 card to the 6d8d9dTd from the SB. Here are a couple of hands from this session...

I raise in the CO with AAAxx, button folds, SB 3-bets, I cap. He draws 1, I draw 1. He bets, for some reason I don't raise, he shows up with 3h4h5h7hKh. I gotta assume that he drew the Kh, but raising is kind of a shitty way to play it. Maybe I'm thinking "Inside the box" on this, but it seems like he should be trying to keep the BB around for his big draw. Also, he was a frequent bluffer (loved to jam come hands pre-draw and post draw whether he missed or hit), so I'm pretty much going to call him down with whatever I have, even if it's a hand as bad as one decent pair like QQ or KK.

In another hand, there were 2 limpers to my BB, I drew 4 to just the As, made a pair of 3s, and won when it checked around. I still have no idea what they all had.

Finally, I folded 2 pair before the draw for the first time. We were 4-handed. UTG limps, I raise the button with TT33x, SB 3-bets, limper caps, I fold, SB calls. Other guys have Queens up and Kings up. There was another time I should have folded 2 pair before the draw but didn't and ended up losing to natural trips.

I think I'm getting better at this game, but there's always a point between beginner's luck and actual understanding where you overthink and fuck up everything. I think that's where I am now.


It's bed time for me now. I have the home game tomorrow night. Which will be that much more fun because my parents are coming into town and my Dad is going to play. This means that I expect Rik to play also. You hear me Rik?

Analysis of an Overcall

In his most recent blog entry, Matt Matros poses a question to his readers. I will pose the question as given on his site, then my response.

Full Tilt Poker Game #654277261: WSOP Main Event Qualifier (4011295), Table 4 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:18:22 ET - 2006/05/21
Seat 1: MVMadman (1,840)
Seat 2: pennohawk (3,875)
Seat 3: jacksup (3,315)
Seat 4: twopairdad (1,290)
Seat 5: DavidH (1,685)
Seat 6: bert2245 (3,710)
Seat 7: Steve Zolotow (1,865)
Seat 8: All In At 420 (275)
All In At 420 posts the small blind of 20
MVMadman posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jacksup [Th As]
pennohawk folds
jacksup raises to 90
twopairdad folds
DavidH folds
bert2245 calls 90
Steve Zolotow calls 90
All In At 420 folds
MVMadman folds
*** FLOP *** [2s 9c 9s]
jacksup checks
bert2245 bets 40
Steve Zolotow calls 40
jacksup calls 40
*** TURN *** [2s 9c 9s] [Ks]
jacksup checks
bert2245 checks
Steve Zolotow checks
*** RIVER *** [2s 9c 9s Ks] [5s]
jacksup checks
bert2245 checks
Steve Zolotow bets 450
jacksup calls 450
bert2245 calls 450
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Steve Zolotow shows [Jd Ad] (a pair of Nines)
jacksup shows [Th As] (a flush, Ace high)
bert2245 mucks
jacksup wins the pot (1,800) with a flush, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,800 | Rake 0
Board: [2s 9c 9s Ks 5s]
Seat 1: MVMadman (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: pennohawk didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: jacksup showed [Th As] and won (1,800) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: twopairdad didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: DavidH didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: bert2245 mucked [2h 4h] - two pair, Nines and Twos
Seat 7: Steve Zolotow (button) showed [Jd Ad] and lost with a pair of Nines

Before I give any analysis, I'm going to take a poll. What was the EV, to the nearest unit, of bert2245's overcall on the river?


Obviously this call is horrible. Even against two completely random hands, bert2245 only has the best hand about 10% of the time. His EV in this case is (.1015 * 1350) - 450 = -313.

But jacksup and SteveZ don't have random hands. bert's EV against their actual hands is (x * 1350) - 450, where x is the percentage of times he has both players beat. Let's argue this from two different logical extremes.

1) The problem here is that jacksup can't be bluffing. It's difficult to imagine a scenario where jacksup can't beat a pair of deuces -- he would have had to call with A-high or worse with another player still to act behind him. SteveZ is reputed to be a solid player, so it will be incredibly rare to see jacksup calling here without being able to beat a pair of 2s. And even when he does, SteveZ has to happen to be bluffing at the same time!

I will estimate that the likelihood of both of these events happening added to the likelihood that one or both of jacksup and SteveZ misclicked with worse hands at 1/4 of 1% (which I think is incredibly generous). So bert should expect to win (0.0025 * 1350) = 3.38 by calling 450, making his EV around -447. This is the worst case for bert.

2) One could also argue that the probability that SteveZ is bluffing is particularly high because he's likely to only bet either a K-high flush or better or A-high and worse on this type of board, making this probability something like 75/25 in favor of him bluffing. A bet this large makes it look even more like a bluff. Knowing this, jacksup might call with ANYTHING that beats a bluff, down to hands like A-high. This means that jacksup is calling with any A, K, 9, 5, 2, pair, or spade in his hand, which accounts for about 81% of his possible holdings.

bert's equity against jacksup's range is still only 12.12%. According to these numbers, bert will win the pot about 9% of the time when he calls, making his EV (.09 * 1350) - 450 = -328. This is the absolute best case for bert.


One could reasonably argue both of these extremes or anything in between. Such arguments would likely depend on other factors, like if both jacksup and bert both know that SteveZ is steaming or something. In the absense of other such factors, I think the reality is that it is incredibly unlikely that jacksup will call here with things that can't beat a pair of 2's, even given that SteveZ is probably bluffing here quite often. All things considered, I'd say bert has the best hand something like 0.5% of the time, making his EV (0.005 * 1350) - 450 = -443.


By the way, this hand is from a $1000 buy-in tournament. Wow.

A Terrible 5-Draw Play and a Bad Omaha Play

I was awoken tonight at about 3am and decided to spend a couple hours at the tables. I played a couple of SNGs, some 5-Draw, and some PLO.

In the SNGs I ended up losing with A2o vs. KTs and with JJ vs. QQ.


In 5-Draw I won a little bit, but I was privvy to what I think is the worst play I've ever seen. Or at least very close to it. Here's the hand: UTG limps, CO folds, button raises, SB calls, I call in the BB with KKxxx, UTG raises, button caps, SB folds, I fold. UTG takes 2, button is pat. UTG check-calls with AAA and loses to the button's 88887.

How do you not draw a card to quads here? He almost has to win AT LEAST 2 bets against the limper's AAA here post-draw if he takes a card. I can't think of any reason you'd want to stand pat here other than to induce a check-raise after the draw when your opponent happens to fill up. But this happens so rarely. And UTG obviously has trips when he draws two, so he will probably lead into you after the draw when you draw 1 -- especially with high trips.

You simply have to draw a card here if you want to get any action after the draw from anything less than a full hand. And since your opponent drew 2 he's unlikely to end up with a full hand. And your hand cannot get any better or worse by drawing.

Somebody explain this play to me. I just don't get it.


I'm also playing some $1-$1 Pot Limit Omaha. I'm so freakin' card-dead. I need to go back to bed soon. Ok good, I just won a decent pot by calling a weird bet on the river with the 2nd nut flush. Here's the hand:

UTG limps, I get dealt AsJsKcJc UTG+1. Sometimes I raise in this situation sometimes I don't. I decide to limp. 2 more limpers come in, both blinds check. Flop comes Td5c2s, all check to me. Since I've been really card-dead (thus have not been betting and winning pots) and this is a pretty terrible-looking flop, I decide to take a shot with my overpair and bet $4 (pot was $6). All fold, UTG calls.

At this point I'm basically done with the hand unless I hit a jack for trips or runners for a full hand. My opponent almost has to have 2 pair or 34xx. Of course, he could just be a moron and have only top pair or something, but people that bad are pretty rare. I don't know this guy yet, so I have to assume he has me beat at this point. Turn comes 7c, UTG checks. I decide to check (to avoid a check-raise), since I now would have a decent number of outs against 2 pair and I don't want to face a large raise that I can't call.

River is the 9c, giving me the 3rd nuts. My opponent leads out for the pot, $14. Having a hand close to the nuts is a great way to get yourself into trouble in Omaha. My opponent could easily have 346c8c or T2AcXc or something. That's why I think Pot Limit Omaha is such an interesting game. All the reading ability in the world usually will only help you figure out 2 of your opponents cards. All kinds of sneaky shit can happen with those other 2 cards. Since most people try to "sell" the nuts on the river for cheaper, I decide to look him up and get shown Ts5s4s3c for flopped two pair + open-ender.

This is another classic "play it wrong on every street" hand. Limp UTG with Ts5s4s3c? Horribly wrong. Check-call on the T52 rainbow flop with top two and open-ender? Very wrong again. If you're playing the T534, this is your dream flop and you need to go ape shit with it. Virtually every other hand in existence has at least 5 outs against you and will probably pick up more outs on the turn if you don't improve. Check the turn when some draws show up? Wrong, but not too terrible. Pot-bet the river when you can only get called by a better hand and your hand has decent showdown value? Wrong.


Ok, enough ranting. I really need to sleep now.

PLO Tourney -- Poor Finish

I just ended up taking 6th/42 in that PLO tourney I talked about in my previous post. 5 spots paid.

It was kind of gross. I went to the final table 2nd in chips. Then in 2 pots I lost about 2/3 of my chips by getting a big pot together with the nut straight, having some guy call a big bet on the turn with a flush draw, then paying off a tiny bet on the river when the flush got there.

This play peeves me. If you absolutely can't fold a flush draw on the turn for a pot-sized bet (which seems to be the case with many of my Omaha opponents), you have to try to get some mileage out of your hand when you get there on the river. Obviously you usually don't get called often enough when you make a large bet to make the call worthwhile. But I think you should try for more than 1/4 of the pot. Don't get me wrong -- I'm happy that I get to play against people that are so bad, it just sucks when they get there all the time.

I then lost 1/2 of my remaining chips when I button-raised for 1/2 my stack with Ah2h2c6c. I didn't plan on playing post-flop as people usually set you in or fold in that scenario (as they should). The guy in the SB called then did a stop-and-go on a 3hKdQd flop. Even getting like 3.2:1 I couldn't see how a call could pay off there, so I let it go and left myself with 3.5 BBs. I got the rest of my stack in from the BB with Qd9dTs4c against an uncoordinated KK and lost.

These freakin' people were calling raises with hands like Ac8d7d3d, KsQcQhQd and other assorted trash. I hate losing to people who play that poorly...

Oh well, time to do some work.

Not Playing Enough...

I haven't played a whole lot of poker in the last week or so. I've been pretty busy with some stuff for school -- a situation that probably won't get any better any time soon.

I'm shooting for full-time funding instead of the part-time pay I normally get while I'm in school. This means that I have to work particularly hard during this quarter to impress my advisor. I'm doing a pretty good job at it and I'm pretty happy with the research I'm working on, so I can't really complain. It is a lot of work though, so the work and the class I'm taking are keeping me mostly away from poker for the time being.

I have played a little bit though. I played my weekly home game on Thursday, played cash games for a couple of hours on Friday evening, and even played a couple of tournaments today.

In the home game this week we played NLH, and I won. I was picking up quite a few hands. Here are some examples:

On the 1st hand, UTG raises to 300. There are 2 callers, I make it 1500 from the BB with AKo. Only UTG calls. Flop comes QJT (i.e., "gin"). I check, UTG checks. Turn comes a brick. I bet 2000, UTG folds.

Again during the 1st level. UTG does a straddle-bet for 200 (we each had around 30K in chips). If anyone doesn't know what this is, it's basically when the man UTG min-raises without looking at his cards. Sometimes cardrooms allow the straddle bet to be live (meaning that he can raise when it gets back to him) during cash game play. This being a tourney, it is basically a 3rd dead blind. Everyone folds, I call on the button with 33, all 3 blinds complete. Flop comes 3d6dTc. SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets 500, I make it 1200, SB folds, BB folds, UTG calls. Turn comes an offsuit 2. UTG leads out for 1500, I make it 5K, UTG thinks for a while and says something to the effect of "I think this is just a pissing contest." This tells me that he thinks I'm on some kind of steal and that he doesn't have to be that strong to call. He calls. River is an offsuit 7 for a 36T27 board. He checks, I bet 8500, he calls and doesn't show. This gave me an early chip lead.

During a later level we were 4-handed. UTG limps, I limp on the button with Kd4d, both blinds complete. Flop comes K45. I get in against the BB's 45o and take him out.

The final hand was actually pretty bizzarre (sp?); allow me to relate it to you. Blinds were 1.5K and 3K. The button/SB makes it 9K. I re-raise to 35K with A9o. My opponent had started the hand with about 60K in chips, so this pretty much committed me to the hand. He calls. Flop comes something like 368 rainbow. As I'm finishing up gathering the 25K or so in chips to set him all in he says "I call." This kinda wierded me out, and I had to think about the play for a minute. I was pretty sure he would have moved in before the flop with any better ace or any pair JJ and lower. I also didn't think he would have called my re-raise with anything that would have paired anything on that flop. So it looked like he either had QQ+ or some random broadway hand like KJ. I ended up moving in, getting called, and winning unimproved against the other guy's QTo.


I also played some cash games on Friday and ended up losing $40 or so. I was playing a table of $1/$2 Draw and a $3/$6 Hold'em ring game. I started out winning like $40 in the Draw game, but I ended up running bad for a while and losing it all back. It was pretty sick when I was running bad: People would always make trips when I had two pair and two pair when I had one pair. It also seemed like every time I would pick up a come hand in a multiway pot, somebody would bet into me post-draw every time I missed and check-fold when I hit.

Then there was the monster pot where some guy jumped two bets before the draw with a J-high open-ender to beat my pat 5-high straight. For some reason, the guy in front of me (who had made trips on the draw) bet into me after I stood pat. I wasn't really sure whether I should raise or just call here. I was pretty sure the guy behind me would have 3-bet me with 2 pair to try to get the pot shorthanded, so it seemed pretty obvious that he was on the come. I ended up raising and getting 3-bet by him and losing to his higher straight.


I also played in a $20 NLH tourney today on PokesPoker. I doubled early with 99 vs. AKo, picked up a bunch more chips with AA vs. QQ vs. A9o. I then lose about 1/3 of my chips when some guy rivers a gutshot on me and fails to bet it. Finally, I lost all my chips on the following hand: with blinds of 75/150, EP min-raises to 300. I make it 1100 in MP with AhKs. All fold, EP calls. Flop comes 2h3h4h, which really isn't a bad flop for my hand. EP checks, I move in for a little less than the pot, he calls with 6h6s. Turn is the 5h and I lose with a straight flush. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Finally, I am currently playing a small $20 PLO tourney on PokesPoker. I don't seem to be going anywhere in it, and the prizepool is tiny anyway. In any case, I'll post again if anything of note happens.

Ramlbing about Gear Changes

I just got done playing a few hands of $3/$6 5-max Limit Hold'em. Apparently there are no 6-handed games on pokerroom, only 5-handed.

These games really play a lot differently than the $3/$6 ring games I've been playing recently. These people just keep ramming money into the pot with any kind of hand. I watched the same guy try to bluff bet or raise every river he got to. It's funny because once you get caught bluffing like that, you really should start bluffing less and value betting more. Until your opponents catch onto it, then you bluff more and value bet less. But this guy was doing the opposite.

Speaking of bluffing and such, today I'm hopefully going to re-read the section in Theory of Poker about game theory and bluffing in an effort to improve my 5-Draw skills. Although I've been increasing my bluffing frequency, I'm still almost certain that I'm not doing it enough because I'm still not really getting caught.

Also I played a series of 4 heads up matches for $2 each against my freind Rik last night when I was drunk. I only remember playing 3 and winning 2, but he claimed that we played 4 and we went 2-2. I think he just didn't want to give me the $2 he would owe me.

Enough rambling -- I think I'm going to do some school work and watch TV.

Addendum to the Last Post -- Real Equity

In the comments for the last post, I claimed that I was going to evaluate how well my opponent will do by calling my all-in with A5o vs. the range {44+, A7s+, A8o+, KJs+, KJo+} and getting 1.86:1 pot odds. Let's suppose that the chip counts before the hand begins are as follows: SB - 55K, BB (me) - 21825, Button (A5o guy) - 73175. This is pretty close to exact for my chip count, and reasonably accurate for the other two guys.

We will use the independent chip modelling method to determine the value of tournament chips. Here is the pokerstove output of A5o vs. the range descibed above.

equity (%) win (%) tie (%)
Hand 1: 35.5566 % 32.82% 02.74% { A5o }
Hand 2: 64.4434 % 61.71% 02.74% { 44+, A7s+, KJs+, A8o+, KJo+ }

This means that 32.82% of the time, Button wins and eliminates the BB. The stack counts after the hand will then be: SB - 53575, BB (me) - 0, Button (A5o guy) - 96425. The handy ICM calculator in the link above tells us that the SB's stack is now worth $27.14 and the Button's stack is now worth $32.86.

2.74% of the time, there will be a chop between the BB and Button and the stacks (and stack values) after the hand will be: SB - 53575 ($22.48), BB - 22550 ($10.60), Button - 73875 ($26.92).

61.71% of the time, the BB wins the pot and the stacks (and values) are now: SB - 53575 ($21.07), BB - 45075 ($18.48), Button - 51350 ($20.44).

If the Button folds, the stacks (and values) will be: SB - 53575 ($21.90), BB - 28250 ($12.76), Button - 68175 ($23.34).

We are now able to calculate the "actual" difference in value between calling and folding in this spot. By folding, his equity is $23.34.

By calling, his equity is (0.3282)($32.86) + (0.0274)($26.92) + (0.6171)($20.44) = $10.78 + $0.74 + $12.61 = $24.13.

So I guess he makes $0.79 by calling there, which kind of surprises me. I really thought he was losing a lot of equity by calling in this situation.

Kudos again, brother! I now have to admit that the call was good.

Comments on the Home Game

I have been busy with school and work as of late. As a result, not much poker has been played. I did, however, play my home game tonight. And I also played about 200 hands of 5-Draw today.

In the home game, I got 3rd. Very disappointing. I was playing well and had the chip lead until the following pot came up when we were 3-handed:

Blinds are 1K/2K/200. With about 65K in chips, I raise to 6K UTG (button) with A6o. SB calls. Flop comes Q62 rainbow. SB bets 7K, I call. Turn comes another Q. SB checks, I bet 10K, SB moves in for another 10K. I have played against the SB many time (he is my twin brother) and I have a pretty good line on his play. I think his play looks like {66-TT, 67, 68, A6, K6, KQ, JQ, TQ, 9Q}. I'm actually crushed against this range as about a 4:1 dog.

But my pot odds are much better than than that. The only way I can fold is if I were somehow unable to put any weaker 6's in his hand. He mixes it up too much to limit his range this way, so I'm stuck calling. He has 88, I miss my 5 outs, and I double him up.

I then wait around for a while, picking up horrible hands any time the blinds don't fold to me. Then with blinds at 1200/2400/225, my brother raises to 5K from the button, trying to make it look like it's something other than a cowardly min-raise. I pick up A9o, move in for about 14.2K more, get called by A5o, then lose to a final board of 23824. I was a little irritated at his call because I had been waiting fairly patiently to pick up a hand, then got called by A5o when he was only getting about 1.86:1 for the call. I promised him I would determine for him whether it was a good call or not. Let's look at it.

I'll put my range at {A8o+, A5s+, 44+, KJ+}. You could argue that it's a little tighter or a little looser, but that's about right. I ran this through pokerstove, and his equity is 34.96% against this range. In order to make this call correct, he needs at least 1/2.86 = 35.71% equity in the pot. Actually, it's not quite so bad considering he only loses about 375 chips on average against my range. I guess he likes to gamble :)

Also, I was trying to explain to a couple of players in the game (hey, they're my friends) why you should almost always raise or re-raise with AA, KK before the flop. They were both complaining about super-pairs due to the following hands:

Blinds at 300/600/50, 6-handed. UTG limps, CO limps, I limp in the SB with 4h6h, BB checks. Flop comes 5hThQc. All check. Turn is the 3d. I check my super-draw, BB bets 2500, UTG calls, CO folds. I tank, trying to figure out whether I should put in a big raise or just call. I settle on calling because I think UTG will probaby call me anyway. Turn is the 2c, giving me the nuts. I bet 8K, BB folds, UTG calls with AA.

On the very next hand, CO raises to 2500, then the BB (the guy who just had AA and has NEVER raised a pot preflop the two times I've played with him) re-raises to 8K. Now, the CO should pretty easily fold anything but AA and KK here. But he "went with his gut", and moved in for about 15K more. BB calls with KK, CO has AdTd, the flop has an A, and the KK is cracked.

Obviously, this guy just got really unlucky in the KK hand, but he totally fucked up with the AA. I should never have even gotten near the flop or turn with the 46s. Besides that, he really needs to turn the heat up on the flop if somehow 3 other people actually see the flop. He does neither and pays a heavy price.

Blinds at 400/800/75, 5-handed. UTG raises to 3500. Button (my brother) calls, BB hems, haws, gets raising chips out, but finally flat calls. I immediately put him on the range {AA,KK}. Flop comes 468 rainbow. BB checks, UTG checks, button checks. Turn 7. BB makes a decent-sized bet, UTG folds, button moves all-in (and has BB covered). BB thinks for a while then calls with KK and is drawing dead against the button's 55.

These guys complain that they can't get a big pair to hold up, but they always slow-play them!!! This is basically the opposite of the way you actually want to play. Instead of flat-calling preflop with all your hands in order to mix it up, you should raise with tons of hands to mix it up instead. These people really don't understand how far some aggression can get you in NLH.

One thing I will never understand is why people think that 1 pair is a good slow-playing hand in a 7 card game. It's not that strong. And if you play AA and KK the right way (i.e., fast preflop and on the flop) in NLH, you can usually have a pretty good idea of whether you're beat or not by the turn and can have a much easier time getting away from it. Because let's face it, if somebody's still with you on the turn and you've been playing a hand fast, the ONLY things you can actually beat are top pair with a good kicker or a decent draw.

STOP SLOW-PLAYING BIG PAIRS POSTFLOP, PEOPLE!!!

One other funnny thing happened to me in the 5-Draw game tonight also. It was 4-handed, UTG raises, I 3-bet from the button with KKJJA, blinds fold, then the raiser folds getting 6.5:1. Can somebody explain this to me please? I mean even if I show him two big pair, isn't he getting the right price to draw even to something like shorts (a small pair) with no kicker? Some people just decide to totally buck logic in this game, which I guess is why its fun to play.

Oh yes -- congrats on the win tonight, brother. Savor the flavor...

Some Random 5-Draw and Holdem Thoughts

I played for a couple of hours this morning and won a little bit. I was playing 1 table of $3/$6 holdem and 1 table of $1/$2 5-Draw.

The holdem table started out really badly. In my first BB, I had AKs. The CO limped (and is a fairly weak/passive player that I've played with a few times), I raised, he called. I flopped a king and eventually lost to his set of Ks. It's pretty funny that he slow-played me until the river, cause he almost surely could have won more with it against my TPTK. I then lost a pot with AA vs. AJs when the other guy rivered a 3rd jack. Then I went against JJ with my AK an a KJxxx board and lost a good amount. I was down about $100 and things were looking grim. I was picking up decent starting hands but they weren't going anywhere. And when they did go somewhere somebody always seemed to have a set on me. Then I ended up flopping a set on a K-high board with 44 in a 3-way pot and getting called down in 2 spots (both with KQ). Then I actually won with KK, AA and QQ. I booked a small $30 win and decided to quit while I was ahead.

As far as a random donkey play, some guy chewed me out for capping preflop with AQs. There were 4 or 5 limpers, and I raised with the AsQs in the cutoff. The UTG limper raised me. Normally this is indicative of a super-pair (AA or KK), but this guy had been limping a lot and I had been raising him a lot and I thought he might be starting to get frustrated. All the limpers called, then I capped it. The UTG limp-raiser had the 5h6h, and I actually had the best hand preflop. The final result really isn't important, what's important is that AQs is the type of hand that plays really well when you're in position and in a large multiway pot.

Here's the way I see it with AQs -- the more multiway, the later my position, and the more bets I can put in preflop, the better. Not only that, but it has an effect in hands other than the current one. If you only cap preflop with AA, KK, QQ and AK, people will start to realize it and it will make their decisions easier. This is not ideal, so I like to 4-bet some other hands as well. Especially in a great situation like this -- becuase a lot of your opponents can't tell the difference between this pot and a heads up pot or some other totally different situation. They just think: "this is the idiot who caps a limp-raiser with AQ." One of the idiot limpers said something like "nice cap preflop buddy." I really love that somebody can have that poor of an understanding of the game, yet he lectures other people about how to play. He was probably just pissed about the fact that he had to put in 4 bets preflop with his J9o.

I also won a little bit playing the ole' $1/$2 5-Draw this morning. I then played some 5-Draw tonight also and won a little bit. I must be running really good in this game, cause it seems ridiculously easy. You have people in these games who will limp in any position with any pair, and who will limp with any 1 card draw (to a pat hand). Tonight, I saw a guy call a raise in a multiway pot and draw 4 cards! Seriously! I also saw a guy raise on the button, get called by both blinds, then draw 5 cards. Suppose you really want to steal a pot like this but you get caught. Don't you at least have to try to represent something by drawing 2, 1 or maybe even staying pat and betting after the draw (unless, of course, you end up with something that can actually win at showdown)? Drawing 5 here is horrible. Unless you're really trying to mind-fuck your opponents or something, which I don't think was the case since this guy left shortly after.

Another thing is that I still need is to learn how to bluff after the draw. I've only done it a few times, and I've been successful every time. Obviously, I'm probably not doing it enough if I'm never getting called.

I'm going to bed now. Hopefully I'll play more 5-Draw tomorrow.

5 Card Draw = Fun

I just played a mini-session of $1/$2 5 card draw. Here was my first hand out of the BB.

Table 'Essen': $1-$2 Limit 5D (Real)
Seat 0: Hero ($60 in chips)
Seat 2: wottawa1103 ($18 in chips)
Seat 3: Predsgm ($15 in chips)
Seat 6: BSBEME ($48.30 in chips) (on the button)
Seat 8: Jensap ($12.60 in chips)
*** Blind Bet Round *** :
Dealt to Hero: Ks
Dealt to Hero: 10d
Dealt to Hero: As
Dealt to Hero: Js
Dealt to Hero: 10s
Jensap : Post Blind ($0.50)
Hero : Post Blind ($1)
*** First betting round *** :
Dealt to Hero: Qs
wottawa1103 : Fold
Predsgm : Fold
BSBEME : Call ($1)
Jensap : Call ($0.50)
Hero : Check
*** Second betting round *** :
Jensap : Check
Hero : Bet ($2)
BSBEME : Fold
Jensap : Fold
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $4.90 | Rake: $0.10
Board: [ ]
Hero bet $3, collected $4.90, net $1.90
wottawa1103 lost $0
Predsgm lost $0
BSBEME lost $1
Jensap lost $1

As a side note, I really have no idea what I'm doing in this game. I really need to start reading more about it, as this seems like it could be a profitable and fun game. There seem to be a few people who are decent, but the rest are just complete dopes. There was a guy in the game I just played who insisted on jamming the pot before the draw with any come hand. Needless to say, you probably shouldn't be limp-raising people with a Q-high gutshot or capping in a 3-way pot with a 2 paints and a 4-flush. These hand histories kinda suck, but the other guy in the pot had 2 small pair I think.

Table 'Essen': $1-$2 Limit 5D (Real)
Seat 0: Hero ($57.90 in chips) (on the button)
Seat 2: wottawa1103 ($35.10 in chips)
Seat 3: Predsgm ($7.10 in chips)
Seat 6: BSBEME ($40.80 in chips)
Seat 8: Jensap ($9.10 in chips)
*** Blind Bet Round *** :
Dealt to Hero: As
Dealt to Hero: 3h
Dealt to Hero: Jh
Dealt to Hero: Ad
Dealt to Hero: 5c
wottawa1103 : Post Blind ($0.50)
Predsgm : Post Blind ($1)
*** First betting round *** :
Dealt to Hero: 7c
Dealt to Hero: 7h
BSBEME : Bet ($2)
Jensap : Fold
Hero : Call ($2)
wottawa1103 : Raise ($2.50)
Predsgm : Fold
BSBEME : Raise ($2)
Hero : Call ($2)
wottawa1103 : Call ($1)
*** Second betting round *** :
wottawa1103 : Check
BSBEME : Bet ($2)
Hero : Call ($2)
wottawa1103 : Call ($2)
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $18 | Rake: $1
Board: [ ]
Hero bet $6, collected $18, net $12 Shows [ As Jh Ad 7c 7h ] (two pairs, Aces and sevens)
wottawa1103 lost $6
Predsgm lost $1
BSBEME lost $6 Shows [ 4s Qs Ks 3s 3d ] (a pair of threes)
Jensap lost $0

Then there're the other people who won't bet before the draw without Aces or better and won't bet after the draw without Aces up or better, no matter what the situation. Some guy just limped from the SB with QQ and checked into me after the draw. Maybe this is a bluff-inducing play or something. It just seems like he should raise before the draw, then check-call post draw to try to catch my bluffs. Surely putting even money in on a raise pre-draw against a single opponent (who has a random hand) is a winning proposition. But what the hell do I know.

All I know is this -- 5-draw is the only form of poker that made me money today. Screw you, Hold'em.

It Continues...

I played the home game last night and got 2nd in the NLH tourney. I lost all my chips with JT vs. AT on a T-high flop. I think it's virtually impossible to not get all your money in heads up with top pair and only 20 BBs in your stack.

I also went to the casino today and played some live $3/$6 with a full kill for about 7 hours. I got killed. I pretty much felt like I had no idea what I was doing.

I picked up AA and KK 5 times and won with them exactly 0 times. I had AA lose to 23o, 95s, and TT and had KK lose to J4s and 8To. I flopped 2 sets. The first time, I open-raised from the CO with 99 in a kill pot, only the killer called, and he check-folded the flop when I flopped the set. The second time, I flopped a set of 10s in a large multiway pot and ended up losing to the lady who called $6 more out of the BB preflop with K4s then turned a flush. I was unfortunate enough to make the 3rd nuts on the river when the board brought a 4th diamond (but no board pair) so I had to call down. This same lady also rivered me in a pretty big kill pot with her A9 vs. my AJ on a AQ3T9 board.

What a nightmare it was. I also had a streak of about 3 or 4 big blinds in a row where I flopped top pair out of the blind and ended up losing the pot. In one, I flopped top pair with K8o on a 853 flop, check-raised when the button bet and had all 4 of the other people in the pot cold-call 2 bets. Of course when I flopped 2 pair out of the BB shortly after with 95o on the A95 board, everyone folded.

I another kill pot I misread my hand and check-raised a guy with 9s7s on a QsTsTc6h board (I somehow thought I had a double-gutshot to go with my flush draw). I missed, check-folded to the offsuit river K and was shown AcKc. I guess you could say he made a great call on the turn since he had the best hand and all, but pretty much the only things I do this with (when I haven't misread my hand of course) are my super draws and at least trips. So he made a good call against my specific hand but a horrendous call against my range. Bleh.

Another fun one is when I limped UTG with ATo, bet the A35 flop and got called in 2 spots by the button and the big blind. I made 2 pair on the turn and again got called in 2 spots. The river was a 2. The big blind checks, I check, the button bets, the BB check-raises, I fold, button calls with A9o and loses to the ole' A4.

Then some guy got pretty lucky to split 2 pots with me, the first time when he jumped 2 bets on the flop with A6 vs. my A9 on the A55 board and splitting with a river K. The second time, he called me down with 33 vs. my 88 on a J444J board and we ended with a split.

This same guy is part of the play of the day. There are about 5 limpers to our Hero's BB, he raises, all call. Flop comes A29 no hearts. Hero bets, button calls. Turn comes a brick. Hero check-calls. River also bricks, Hero check-calls with Jh6h (no pair, J-high) and beats the button's 45o.

This is the type of brilliance that took all my money today. I need to get drunk. Now.

Diminished Bankroll, Rakeback

Sorry, I know It's been a while since my last post since I haven't been playing too much. I decided during this time to to take a bunch of money out of my bankroll in order to pay for some credit card debt my wife racked up right before we got married last August.

I decided to leave myself with exactly 500BBs to play my normal level game ($3/$6) and I decided to create a "live bankroll" of 100BBs (also at $3/$6) for when I go to the casino, while liquidating the rest. There are a couple of reasons that this decision was actually pretty easy to make.

For starters, I hate getting a huge bill from Disney Visa that has $100 in finanace charges tacked onto it every month. It feels like constant ass rape, which it most definitely is considering that I didn't even personally spend the money. The wife also stresses about this particular bill, so I want to make her life a little better by helping her out with it. Also, with me taking a bunch of money out of poker, the wife has agreed that it would be ok to put more money back into poker if I ever went broke. This means that playing low enough to "absolutely not go broke" no longer needs to be my philosophy. I can accept some risk of losing it all because I will be able to get more money for the bankroll if the need arises.

I also decided that I need to spend more time going to the casino and playing live. For starters, it's a nice change of scenery. Also, the games are more loose, easy, and fun than the $3/$6 games online. I love playing against people who limp UTG with 94o, and you only rarely find people that do this in the online games these days.

I also found a way to get 42% (!!!) rakeback on the pokerroom network this weekend. This is huge. Needless to say, I'll be doing most of my playing there for a while. I would estimate that this rakeback will equate to a little over 1BB/100 in my $3/$6 game, which is too good to pass up even for the better game selection and better software available at other sites. I used to get 25% rakeback on the Party network back when the Party network existed. I was playing $1/$2 and $2/$4 at the time, and about 1/4 to 1/3 of my overall profit came from rakeback alone. Rakeback is really, really sweet. Especially this much rakeback.

I have been playing a little bit on this new site and I've been doing ok. They spread 5 card draw, and draw games are the only reasonable poker game that I really have no idea how to play. I beleive I am going to try to learn how to play this game, probably at the $1/$2 level. I've played a little bit and won, but that doesn't mean that I know anything yet. My basic philosophy is to not play shorts (pairs 1010 and smaller) unless it's a free play out of the BB or it's a multiway pot, I'm in the SB and can play cheap, and the BB is passive preflop. Also I try not to play straight and flush draws unless I'm getting the right price, which is rare in a 5-handed draw game. These things should sound obvious, but it's amazing how many times you see someone jump two bets with a flush draw or a pair of 7's. So I've been playing a little bit of 5-draw and it's going pretty well. Hopefully that continues.

I have also been playing some $3/$6 ring games and doing well in those. I definitely need to continue to spend at least some of my time playing ring games, since the style of play you need is so much different compared to 6-Max. You just can't run the table over in a ring game -- somebody has a hand much more often in a ring game pot.

Here's a hand from the $3/$6 realm that you should enjoy. I don't have the whole hand history thing figured out for this site yet so I'll just relate it as I remember it:

10-handed table, I'm UTG with ThTd, UTG+1 posts both blinds (he missed them and couldn't wait 2 more hands apparently). I raise, UTG+1 calls, 2 more cold-callers, BB calls. Flop comes 9hTcAc, I bet, UTG+1 calls, CO cold-caller calls. Turn comes the Ts, giving me quads. I bet, both players call. River comes Jd. I bet, UTG+1 calls again, CO raises, I 3-bet, UTG+1 calls 2 more bets, CO calls. I scoop with quads against UTG+1's AKo and CO's Q8o.

There are some things we can learn from both of these guys. First, AKo cost himself a bunch of money by not either re-raising preflop or raising the flop. Both of these are likely to get a heads-up pot, and he can then just call me down in a heads up pot when he figures out that he's beat. Instead he gets himself a big multiway pot with AKo, which is bad. He also lets in some weak draws by never raising me postflop, which is bad bacause they cost him money down the road when that draw gets there and gets him raised on the river. Here's a public service announcement -- ONE PAIR IS NOT A HAND YOU WANT TO PLAY IN A MULTIWAY POT, even if it is TPTK, even if you have AK, and especially on a drawing board like 9hTcAc. This guy made the wrong decision at literally every single point in the hand, except when he just called my first bet on the river. Then again, what else should I expect from a guy who posts $4.50 UTG+1.

Also, Q8o teaches us some things. Obviously cold-calling an UTG raise (or any raise for that matter) preflop with Q8o is bad, but is it ok to call the flop and turn with the gutshot? If I somehow found myself with Q8o facing a flop bet in this guy's situation, I would definitely call (or possibly raise, depending on how much control I had over the other two guys in the pot). So I call the flop bet, but I miss my gutshot on the turn. Not I'm facing a turn bet and I'm getting 9.5:1 with my gutshot. There are times when I would say that this is an ok (marginal, but ok) spot to call. When there is a flush draw, a pair on board, a coordinated board, and I'm not drawing to the nuts is defintely not "the right time."


I might play online a little today, but besides that I have the home game tonight and hopefully the casino tomorrow. Stay lucky!