10/20 NL Shot

So I fired up SpadeEye this afternoon and scanned both Party and Full Tilt as I usually do before I play. Between the two sites, from 2/4 through to 5/10, there were maybe only 7 fish total (35+ VPIP with a low preflop raise), a very low number indeed (and this was despite me having 80% coverage on Party and about 65% on Full Tilt). So I joined 5 or so wait lists and spent the first fifteen minutes playing just one table, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for other seats to free up. Eventually, I got a bit impatient so I decided to scan the 10/20 tables to see if there were any fish lurking. I didn’t really expect to see anything as I had never actually datamined 10/20, so any stats that I did have would have to have come from some mid-stake player taking a shot. As it turned out, lo and behold, there it was, a fishy-looking player playing 61/27/1. At this point, I opened up the table and had a look; a seat was free two to his left. If I wanted, I could have position on him. Frankly though, I didn’t know whether to take the seat or not. On the one hand, this was by far the weakest player in my scans thus far. On the other, I would have to play 10/20, a level that I had never played before and one that I was not at all rolled for. So I sat there wondering what to do and of course the seat gets taken by another player. In some ways, I was relieved at this outcome as the choice was out of my hands now; after all, I couldn’t take the seat if I wanted to! But a part of me knew that this was a golden chance to take a shot at 10/20. So I joined the wait list and watched the table carefully, trying to learn as much as I could about all the players at the table before a seat re-opened. A seat did eventually open and it actually turned out to be the same one. A sign, perhaps?

Anyway, here’s my first hand, and my very first hand at 10/20 ever, dealt A3c in the big blind.

Party Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


Hero (BB): $2,000

UTG: $2,961.50

MP: $1,227

CO: $5,561

BTN: $2,542.22

SB: $5,950

Pre-Flop: A 3 dealt to Hero (BB)

3 folds, BTN raises to $70, SB calls $60, Hero calls $50

Flop: ($210) 2 5 6 (3 Players)

SB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $207, SB folds, Hero raises to $650, BTN raises to $2,472.22 and is All-In, Hero calls $1,280 and is All-In

Turn: ($4,070) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


River: ($4,070) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Results: $4,070 Pot ($545.22 Rake)
Hero showed A 3 and LOST (-$2,000 NET)
BTN showed 7 7and WON $3,524.78 (+$1,524.78 NET)

Stacked first hand…what a start!

I contemplate leaving but play on as it becomes pretty apparent that this is a very weak table for 10/20. The player seated directly to my left is playing something like 52/28/3 while the player two to my left is playing 32/9/1. The three weaker players are seeing just about every flop so I figure that all I need to do is to hit a big hand and get paid off. Then, after about 20 minutes, this hand comes up…

Party Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


Hero (MP): $2,000

CO: $2,763

BTN: $1,897.08

SB: $5,531

BB: $4,615.22

UTG: $6,305

Pre-Flop: 5 6 dealt to Hero (MP)

UTG folds, Hero raises to $70, CO calls $70, 2 folds, BB calls $50

Flop: ($220) 6 6 3 (3 Players)

BB checks, Hero bets $160, CO calls $160, BB calls $160

Turn: ($700) J (3 Players)

BB checks, Hero bets $525, CO calls $525, BB calls $525

River: ($2,275) 5 (3 Players)
BB bets $600, Hero raises to $1,245 and is All-In, CO calls $1,245, BB folds

Results: $5,365 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 5 6 and WON $5,362 (+$3,362 NET)
CO showed K 6and LOST (-$2,000 NET)

Ship the $5,400 pot!!! Yes, I know, I got very lucky, but man, 5K! Are you for real!? I remember when I first started playing poker I used to get a real thrill from winning pots, from making big bluffs, from being all-in. It’s natural that these feelings should grow duller as you play more but today I felt them again and I have to say that I loved it. I think it really reminded me of why I began playing this game and why I still play it.

Anyway, here’s how I finished up for the day. Not bad for 70 minutes work!

Sweet Justice? (AKA Biggest Day Ever!!!)

What a difference a day makes! After running poorly all week, I managed to notch up my biggest ever day today: $5,400 in three and a half hours.

I also managed to run hot to the tune of $2000 today which means I’m now ‘only’ $5,000 down in equity for the month (equivalent to losing 10 races in a row at 2/4 and 3/6 if played 50/50 each, as I do). Hopefully, I can continue running well and reclaim that lost equity in the very near future.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to share (aka show off) a sick hand that I played yesterday. I’ve generally avoided posting hands because, quite simply, I doubt anyone really reads them. I know I personally don’t bother reading anyone else’s hands because they are usually just bad beats or super standard. But I think there’s enough in this hand that you might find it either 1) interesting or 2) instructive.

I think this hand is particularly cool because 1) I completely owned my opponent and 2) it’s the culmination of a whole bunch of concepts that I’ve learnt from CardRunners. When people say you make your subscription cost back many times over, this is what they mean!

Party Poker, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


CO: $430.50

BTN: $1,331.32

SB: $600

Hero (BB): $627

UTG: $95

MP: $706.80

Pre-Flop: J 5 dealt to Hero (BB)

4 folds, SB raises to $18, Hero raises to $54, SB raises to $123, Hero calls $72

The SB is a regular with standard 23/18/2.6 stats. In the 15 minutes I've been at this table I've 3-bet him twice already and he's folded both times. I decide here to keep up the pressure and 3-bet him again. After all...

CardRunners Lesson One: 3-betting in position is basically unexploitable (I think I have to thank raptor for illustrating the joys of 3-betting J-rag suited)

Unfortunately, I get 4-bet. You can't see it in the hand history obviously, but this was an INSTANT 4-bet.

CardRunners Lesson Two: An instant re-raise is almost always AK, because a player holding anything else has a decision. AA needs to decide whether to re-raise or to slowplay. JJ/AQs has to decide where it's at. A bluff needs to decide whether to re-bluff. Only AK knows for sure that it wants to get it all-in preflop.

So obviously I move to click the fold button, disappointed that I couldn't make it a hat-trick of successful 3-bets against this reg. But then I remember something from Stinger's last NL video.

CardRunners Lesson Three: Flatting a 4-bet in position looks ridiculously strong to a thinking opponent and they will often just check/fold the flop if they miss.

I'd literally never pulled this move before (float a 4-bet? who does that!) but I decided that if ever there were a time when the game conditions were perfect for it, this was it. So I went ahead and flatted the 4-bet and hoped to dodge an ace or king on the flop so I could take the pot away.

Flop: ($252) 7 5 4 (2 Players)

SB checks, Hero bets $85, SB raises to $474 and is All-In, Hero calls $389

The flop comes down and no ace or king is in sight. Just as I had hoped, the SB checks and I move to bet. Then I realise a slight complication: I've actually outflopped him!

If I had completely whiffed this flop, I think I'd bet about $135 to make it seem like I had a hand and had no intention of folding. As it was, I decided to bet really small, only $85.

CardRunners Lesson Four: Making small 'gay' bets (insert Stinger's disclaimer here) in position in re-raised pots is a good way to induce a spazzy bluff from your opponent (raptor again).

So my bet gets the desired reaction and my opponent ships for almost $400 more. I won't lie; I had second thoughts about my read ("Man...I'm going to look so stupid if he has AA...") and nearly chickened out. But then I remembered one of the very first things I learnt on CardRunners.

CardRunners Lesson Five: If you induce a bet, you must call it (Taylor).

So I call...

Turn: ($1,200) 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


River: ($1,200) T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Results: $1,200 Pot ($3.50 Rake)
SB showed A Q and LOST (-$600 NET)
Hero showed J 5 and WON $1,196.50 (+$596.50 NET)

I know my read ended up being slightly off (I admit I would've gotten owned on a queen high flop) and I was pretty lucky to dodge all those outs on the river, but I still think that this was one of the best hands I've ever played. Of the many pots you win, there aren't many that you can say you truly earned, earned in a spot where most other players wouldn't have. For me, this was one of those few pots and, for that reason, it was super satisfying.

OH FFS...

Today

This Week

So tilted right now...

...

Did I walk under a ladder today or something???

Winter Holidays, Part I

It’s been a pretty fun couple of weeks since we got back from Celia’s. The very next day (Saturday) we had Fraser’s 21st birthday party (hippy themed…).

Fraser with his cake

Jon and Brendan looking quite hip

On Tuesday night we had some farewell drinks for Warren who’s going overseas again (this time on exchange to Sweden).

Me schooling Warren at pool

Celia, Alicia and Jason

Kath and Pete

On Wednesday, Antony, Pete and I went to the casino to play some live 1/2 NL. There’s an $80 cap on the buy-in so it’s a total crapshoot but since Antony wanted to check out the casino (he’d never been) I went along anyway. Pete and I ended up being on the same table while Antony was put on another 1/2 table by himself. Nothing too eventful happened (nothing really can with 40bb’s) but I did play one ‘big’ pot where I tripled up. A woman limped utg, I limped utg+1 (with KQo), Pete raised to $6 (way too small Pete!), 2 or 3 people flatted, the woman called, and I called. The flop came QT3 with 2 diamonds and the woman led out for $6 into the $30-36 pot. I had intended to lead this flop into Pete to see if my hand was good and since this woman’s own lead accomplished basically nothing towards that end I raised it up myself to $20, expecting Pete to push KK+/AQ and fold everything else. I was pretty shocked when he just called (with only $60 behind). Another man called behind and the woman folded. The turn brought an offsuit deuce and I shoved the rest in, putting Pete on a weak made hand like QJ or JJ and the man on a draw. I was pretty sure that if either had KQ beat on the flop they would’ve shipped the rest in. They both ended up calling which made me gulp but fortunately they turned over just AJd and 89d respectively. The river bricked another deuce and I’ve been berating Pete for his lack of a flop shove ever since :). Antony ended up making $200 in the three hours we were there so that was a pretty great result for him, especially considering it was his first time playing live.

On Thursday night I went out to dinner with my parents and Lisa to the Rocks Teppanyaki for my 21st birthday dinner. The Rocks Teppanyaki has been one of my favourite restaurants since I was about 10 years old so it was really nice to go back there.


Sashimi entrée

Assorted seafood

Lobster

The chef nuking our beef

On Friday, a bunch of us decided to find our inner Asian and go karaoke-ing (verb?). I’d never been before so I didn’t know what to expect but it turned out to be pretty fun (despite me not knowing the words to like half the songs while everyone else did!) and I’d definitely go again (though with more control over the song remote next time!).

Alicia, Celia, Antony and Jason doing a double duet

(to be continued…)