It is what it is…confessions from a Live semi pro

today i will post a road trip / rant about my last outing.

went last night and this is what happend.

Got to the table and bought in and post in CO. I agree with termi that waiting for BB is no good on live game.

Hand 1

I post CO and got dealt Qc 7c.
Six players to the flop. Yes this is live game.

Flop: Kc Jc 2h

UTG bets 6BB and it is folded to me.

{I know villian as very tight passive. His utg pfr is only QQ+. I have seen him limp with JJ and AQs many times. Post flop he normally bets big made hands.}
I call because I believe I will see two cards and should I make the flush he will pay off a small bet.

Turn: 6d
UTG check. I check. No use betting he calls with 90% of his range.

River 4c
UTG checks. I bet 10BB hopping he calls with KQ+. Villian raises 25BB. I know there is no value in reraising as he only calls with the nuts. So I call with the 2nd nuts.

Villian shows Ac2c. He floped a pair and nut draw.

Hand 2:
So I picked up a few small pots and almost recoved after hand 1.

I am BTN and have been dealt AsKs.
UTG raise 10BB.
{UTG looks worried. I put him on JJ. Often live players will make very big pfr with JJ because everybody knows there are 3 ways to play jacks and they all wrong.}
CO is a bad dog (look above for description of dog) and he calls.
I 3bet to 30BB. {UTG has 70BB}
UTG thinks a bit. Almost ships his stack but ends up calling.
CO falls.

Flop: Jc 9c 6h

UTG checks.
I bet 50BB to put him allin.

UTG thinks asks me if I had AA...I say nothing. He thinks more and finally calls.
He shows KhKd and is shocked to see my cards.

I dont get lucky.

Hand 3:
I played good poker and regained upt to about 140BB again.

I am UTG and get dealt AsAh.
I make it 9BB because the table has been a bit wild and I believe I will get called.
It gets folded to BTN {a losing regular} who calls.
SB {another losing regular who likes to bluff a lot}

Flop: Ac Kc 4d

Sb checks.
I bet 15BB hoping to get the sb to bluff.
The BTN thinks a bit and then calls. {he has about 70BB more behind)
SB folds.

Turn: 6h
I bet 30 BB.
BTN thinks cuts out chips as if he wants to ship but calls.

River: 2c
I check.
BTN ships the remaining 40BB.

I think and ask him if he has a flush and he says : "well what do you think I called with?"

I fold my top set and he shows Jc 7c.

After that I went home. I lost with 2nuts and top set. It was not going to be my night.

Just a quick road trip from last night.

Point of the post is to show how bad the dealers and players are. Also how big swings are.

Table is full of regulars. With one noteworthy exception. There is one player calling every raise. I have seen him fold in a limp pot once or twice but he has called every raised pot. Post flop he has played abc.

Story 1:

utg limps
MP {regular horse - see description above} raises to 7BB
CO {meerkat - see description above} 3bets to 22BB playing about 50BB
SB { the dog mentioned above} calls
BB {meerkat} makes small speach and 4 bets to 60BB
MP folds but leaves his cardprotector on the cards to show after the hand
CO calls - {point is that should SB fold the CO and BB will split the pot}
SB calls !

FLOP K 9 3 {rainbow}

SB {dog} shoves.
BB talks and finally folds QQ face up .
MP who folded preflop shows his JJ.
CO shows QQ
SB shows K3o.
yes he called 3bet and then 4bet with k3o and floped 2pair.

In the next 2.5 hours I saw him:
- As first caller, calling a raise with 74o and the flop comming 568 {rainbow}
- Calling an utg raise with Q4o and floping 2 pair vs over pair and holding up.
- Calling a raise with A6o and continue calling bets from preflop raiser on Ace high board and rivering the 6 to beat AK.

after that I thought of his as LUCKY dog.

Story 2

Lucky dog goes for a walk to go play some black jack. Comes back just as he is to be big blind.
Dealer tells him to post BB + SB.
I tell the dealer but he is the BB so he need not post the SB.
Dealer demands he posts BB + SB !

Yes the dealer does not know/understand that if you sitout and miss blinds you dont have to post both BB and SB if you come in on the BB.

Hi mineriva,
nice blog, I am happy to see some more live players here, interesting reads, especially the story about how you came to poker and how it serves you.

Seems like in your area the live games are nothing different like here in Austria, this "limping till helll" strategy gave me also headaches sometimes to find out how the best to adopt ♦

I belive also that live games had, has and will have always more to offer than online, and that the games are way softer. It offers way more fun than playing online and at the live tables noone has a HUD. But ofc you will be barely able to go to play really high games regulary, and no casino gives diect rakeback. The only downside of it, that it is just very hard to maintain a good bb/100 winrate if you play cg, because of the high rake/necessery tipping/food and drink cost/ect. What are your experiences about about winrate, do you track your results somehow?

Hi mancikaa,

yes the "liping till hell" is very common as described above. To compensate I play a "peddle the nuts" strategy. I will not limp big off suited hands but with medium pairs I will often over limp. ie. after more than 2 limpers I will not raise 88 not even on the button. The point is that a set pays off big time whiles there is not enough foldequity to raise and isolate the limpers.

Over all the games are softer but because they are so slow it is basically impossible to always have a winning session. This in turn makes it emotionally very taxing. I use to keep track of my winrate using "statsking" which I got from twoplustwo. The problem became going to play and comming home after midnight and getting up the next morning at 6h00 for work just did not give me the gap to keep it up. So I stoped keeping a detailed account of my winnings. What I find more effective is to keep my poker roll in chips. I keep about 2~4BI in my car and the rest in the safe. When I need money for expenses i take it out of my car. When I have 10BI in the car I put 5BI in the safe for holiday. Looking at the safe is a very easy and long term way of seeing that I am winning.

About rakeback. The casino where I play mostly has a bad beat jackpot but also every 3 months or so has a 100 000ZAR freeroll for the 100 players with the most hours. Giving the top 20 extra chips. Personally I am not crazy about the system because the extra chips IMHO does not compensate for the extra time but at least it is something.

Drinks are free. Well you are allowed 2 drinks per session but some times I ask for a third. I mostly drink coke so I have never been denied.

I never tip. Sounds bad but think about it...You are at work so is the dealer why should you tip? I dont tip the mail man at the office why tip the dealer if the casino is your second office?

I usually spot when another old bloke starts blogging but I missed this! I will read it all later. ♦

srry for being so quite been working and also went on a short holiday.

Played mostly Zoom :

Started 5nl moved up to 10Nl and now entering 25NL. Playing 3 tables mostly

need I say more

Ok a post of self reflection.

About 15 years ago I played a game called Diablo. I played and replayed it a few times. I was hooked. The only thing that got my goat was the level cap of 50.

Then came hell-fire which never really got me.

Finally it happened. After 3 years of waiting Diablo II was released. I was already working and could afford a good internet connection (by those standards) and so I became a regular on the server always looking for those soj’s (Stone of Jordan). I remember playing many night until early morning. I was one of the first to move with the Lord of Destruction. I was a die hard fan.

Now today more than a decade later we finally find Diablo III. Earlier this week I saw the ad on tv and now it has happened. Thing is my video game days are over. The only time I play these days is when Tyrone starts a network game of Sacred.

So today after work I saw the poster in a store. I walked in and picked up the CD. I was there. I had the money. I have waited so long. Was it to long…… I left without buying it.

I would not mind playing a bit but then again why? Upon reflection what did I get out of DII? It was fun playing but that it. Instant gratification but soon forgotten gains.

Maybe I will buy it but after so long waiting there is no rush. Maybe I am just getting old.

Hi there. Great posts! After reading I think I am really missing something by not playing live Unfortunately the only way I can play poker at the moment is online. May be one day I will, I would love to.

Diablo That brought back memories!! lol.

How is it like when people tilt on live games? It always seemed to me that the stress levels might be kept low because of how slow the games are, and also because it is obvious to your brain you are not playing against a machine (they are real people)...

"How is it like when people tilt on live games?"

Well it depends on the size of the other player and how far security is from the table

Originally posted by mineriva
"How is it like when people tilt on live games?"

Well it depends on the size of the other player and how far security is from the table

Lol. I better not try it then. I can be fast at running though... ♦

Just had to post this hand played today:

This was my thoughts.

UTG makes a min-raise and gets called by UTG+1. Normally this is a insta-3bet but then I notice the stats. UTG has NEVER open raised UTG and UTG + 1 plays 7/2 with 0% 3bet.

I look a bit more and see we have a trigger happy CO behind me with a 16.5% 3bet! So I devised this plan. I will flat call. If trigger happy CO does 3bet then UTG and UTG +1 will be forced to define their hand.

Specifically if either of them thereafter 4bet/shove I plan to fold KK!. If either of them just flats or folds then I will 4 bet/shove expecting to be called by a lower pocket pair. If on the other hand the CO does not 3bet then I will be IP and could over-set someone.

Then CO flats and BTN 3bets. BTN is complete unknown. UTG flats and I put him on TT-QQ. I just knew the 4bet/shove is bad and getting better than 3:1 potodds and more than 13:1 implieds I decided to flat.

Flop comes 6-high and UTG leads out very very small. I know I am good against TT-QQ but I decide to flat to see what CO and BTN does. Thing is CO could have set here and BTN could have AA. Both flat behind. Now I know someone is slowplaying what they believe to be a monster. I KNOW I AM BEHIND.

Turn is the money card. I hit my set. I know someone is slowplaying so no need to slowplay. I make a nice value bet and get the raise I was expected.

The rest is history......

Ohhh...ps to any youngster coach who wants to comment be this fair warning:
"it is better to keep quite and let other think you a fool than...."

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BU$25.22:///////;SB$23.95:///////;BB$29.44:///////;UTG1$21.83:///////;UTG2$21.62:///////;MP1$23.10:///////;MP2 (Hero)$24.17:///////;MP3$23.56:///////;CO$39.89:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K:s, K:c.
UTG1 raises to $0.50, UTG2 calls $0.50, MP1 folds, Hero calls $0.50, MP3 folds, CO calls $0.50, BU raises to $2.25, 2 folds, UTG1 calls $1.75, UTG2 folds, Hero calls $1.75, CO calls $1.75.

Flop: ($9.85) 5:h, 6:c, 4:c (4 players)
UTG1 bets $1.00, Hero calls $1.00, CO calls $1.00, BU calls $1.00.

Turn: ($13.85) K:h (4 players)
UTG1 checks, Hero bets $9.00, CO folds, BU raises to $21.97(All-In), UTG1 folds, Hero calls $11.92.

River: ($56.74) 7:d (2 players)

Final Pot: $56.74.

FR is weird.

As if to justify my plan I got this hand:

Unknown open raise utg and gets called by nit (0.6% 3b) and I see btn has 8.3% overall 3bet with 14% 3bet on btn. As explained above I flat and ship to btn 3b expecting to be called by smaller PP. He calls and shows 88 ♠_cool:

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.05/$0.1 No-Limit Hold'em (7 handed)

Known players:
[tg]SB$10.00:///////;BB$7.27:///////;MP1$9.70:///////;MP2$7.14:///////;MP3$14.04:///////;CO (Hero)$6.33:///////;BU$6.97:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q:h, Q:s.
MP1 raises to $0.30, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $0.30, Hero calls $0.30, 5 folds, Hero raises to $6.33.

Flop: ($7.08) K:s, 4:c, 5:d (1 players)
gets uncalled bet back.

Turn: ($7.08) 7:d (1 players)
gets uncalled bet back.

River: ($7.08) Q:c (1 players)
gets uncalled bet back.

Final Pot: $0.75.

This happend the night before last at my local casino:

EP open raise and gets 2 callers behind.

Flop EP bets and both players call.

Turn EP bets and MP calls. {In hindsight we know EP had a set of Queens and MP had a set of 8). BTN is a lady who tanks a bit and moves her cards over the line.

The dealer burns and turns the River showing the Tc. The lady, whose hand was still on her cards, pulls back her cards and says to the dealer: "hey I wanted to call...." {in hindsight we know she was calling with a gutshot and the Ten completed her straight}

Big argument and pitboss is called. Finally, read after 20 min, the pitboss allows her to call the turn. She is happy. Then the pitboss tells the dealer to put the Tc back in the deck and suffle. {To the non-live players: this is the standard rule when the river is exposed due to dealer error} Suddenly the lady starts complaining again. She insists that the Tc stays on the river. Pitboss tells her that is the rulles. She again change her mind and now no longer wants to call.

YES she only wanted to call the turn if she knew what the river was.

She left soon after complaining how the players were "stealing her money"

lol, brilliant

Originally posted by jbpatzer
Live players are weird.

FMP

Originally posted by mineriva

So I picked up a few small pots and almost recoved after hand 1.

I am BTN and have been dealt AsKs.
UTG raise 10BB.
{UTG looks worried. I put him on JJ. Often live players will make very big pfr with JJ because everybody knows there are 3 ways to play jacks and they all wrong.}
CO is a bad dog (look above for description of dog) and he calls.
I 3bet to 30BB. {UTG has 70BB}
UTG thinks a bit. Almost ships his stack but ends up calling.
CO falls.
Flop: Jc 9c 6h

UTG checks.
I bet 50BB to put him allin.

kinda wierd line if you put him on JJ

I like your blog though, just read pretty much the whole thing

yes brad preflop I did put him on jacks but when he checks the flop I no longer put him on jaces but rather TT, QQ. Point is the size of the preflop raise was not looking for action. Live players often hate losing with big pairs so much that they spew. On the flop with top set he donk/shoves because I know he puts me on KK+. I thought that my bet will fold out TT.

As played we was not happy to call the flop shove with KK because he feared AA.

Ok finally cleared by reload bonus from stars. Withdraw my deposit $200 plus $100 bonus plus $300 profit.

So where to now? I never like staying in one place long. Regardless of winrate.

I was thinking going to microgaming with the Blaze/fast poker. Then as if they could read my mind PS sent me an email with $50 at Ladbrokers. Only problem is the registration process. I am trying/in the process of getting a tracked account. We will see how it goes. I am also playing with the idea of trying unibet.

In the mean time I started playing NL50 CAP. As an old SSS player I believe this could be a good place for me. I had very good results in the past with it playing a lot of NL50 and I would like to do the same. The big difference is going to be this is short handed.

Will keep you updated.

Really like your blog, but how big is nl400 ZAR in dollars, i don't know the value of that valuta