Mind Games

5-Card Draw
Following a discussion in the thread https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=1974766#post1974766 I decided to get a little frisky.

I know I don't defend my blinds enough (75 % fold to steal in BB) and so theoretically I'm spewing coinage from that position.

Mind you, my hand is at FL $0.25/$0.50 and the one referred to is FL $10/$20 but I'm in the BB and BTN is known to open wide on the button (40% ) and I am known to be squeaky tight.

Moooooooooooraaawwwr.
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.25/$0.50 - 5 players

CO: $11.56
Button: $4.21
SB: $5.44
BB: $9.55 (Hero)
UTG: $5.79

Dealing Hands: ($0.35) K♥: T♣: 2♦: 7♥: 7♠: (5 players)
2 folds, Button raises to $0.50, SB folds, Hero raises to $0.75, Button calls $0.25

First Draw: ($1.60) (2 players)
Hero discards 3, Button discards 3,
7♥: 7♠: || J♦: K♠: T♦:
Hero bets $0.50, Button folds

Hero collected $1.53

(Rake: $0.07)

I think that the 3Bet pre is essential.
It establishes that I have a premium pair (at least it does when I D3) and sets up the CBet.

I'm not going to make this an everyday thing, but I'll look for places for stuff like this.

Which raises the question:
What would be a sensible defend range in BB vs a raise from an unknown BTN?

Cheers,
VS

I hope so. :censored:

S RahzhdeestVOHM! = Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas buddy, I hope you and yours have a pleasant and stress-free time.

@Anykey444:
С Рождеством Христовым Вас и всей Вашей семьи
(Merry Christmas to you an all your family as rendered by Google Translate)

@Gadget51
Ah yes, pleasant and stress free would be very very nice indeed.

I wish the Gadget Clan a prosperous 2015, even though from your last blog post it sounds like both of us are facing a rather bleak one. Things change -- we hope!

All the best,
VS

Great thanks!

BTW Russian Christmas is on December 25 but according to ancient (46 BC) Julian Calendar , so in 2 weeks.

Originally posted by Anykey444
Great thanks!

BTW Russian Christmas is on December 25 but according to ancient (46 BC) Julian Calendar , so in 2 weeks.

It is amazing what you can learn on a poker forum!

Thanks for that -- I hope I win a trivia contest some day just because I knew that!

Have a prosperous 2015!
VS

Christmas is over and done with for another year.

We had 11 people for dinner Christmas Day.
Well that's not entirely true -- we had turkey and shared it amongst the 11 of us.

Mrs Vorpal cracked a rib coughing a month or so ago, so was in no condition to do all the shopping, prepping, cooking and serving, so my son's gf and my eldest daughter stepped up to the challenge.

They did a magnificent job. Some things weren't quite the same. Mrs Vorpal's scatterbrained husband did not purchase savoury, so the stuffing tasted "not the same". (I swear it wasn't on the list).

Everyone had enough to eat, we made the fairies dance on the Christmas pudding to the delight of my youngest granddaughter and nobody got plastered and swung from the chandelier.

On Christmas eve I nearly ruined the whole feast when I decided to tighten the kitchen sink faucet.
I tightened it a bit too much, and the spout became difficult to turn from sink to sink.

No problem -- I'll just adjust the tension. That worked, the spout now swung easily sink to sink, however it now sprayed water from the base, leaving none to actually get in the sink.

Fortunately, you don't need a lot of water in a kitchen when you're preparing a meal for 11. <== Not!

We struggled along coping with the spray until someone noticed that it was dripping into the basement.
By now it's Christmas Day and the hardware stores are all closed.

But I took it all apart again, only this time I put it back together properly.

Surprisingly, it is still working sans spray.

I promise that for the new year I'll learn how things work before taking them apart.

Peace,
VS

I promise that for the new year I'll learn how things work before taking them apart.

Funny you should say that. When I was a kid all I wanted for Christmas was a pocket watch. My father being the good man he was got me one. The first thing I did when I got it was to take it apart to see how it worked. It never ticked again.

A very happy and prosperous New Year to you and your family my friend. Thank you for always being there to answer my questions for me no matter how many times you have heard them before.
May 2015 find you healthy, wealthy and wise.

Yeah, I took all sorts of things apart when I was a kid.

In Grade 6 had a collection of several different ball-point pens.
I disassembled them all and laid them out on my desk neatly so that I could compare each mechanism to the others to see how they all worked.

The teacher noticed I was not paying the slightest attention, and came and watched me in silence for (I assume) several minutes, as did the rest of the class.

After a time, he said, "Vorpal, if you had a brain you'd take it out and play with it".

I was so proud to think he considered me capable of it.

Nowadays, though, he'd be fired for demeaning a student.

<sigh>

Faucet still not leaking...♠_biggrin:

Cheers,
VS

5-Card Draw
I have re-examined my strategy in light of my downswing at limits > FL $0.10/$0.20

I think my losses stem from two things:
 Playing too tight pre-draw, esp in CO, BU and SB
 Calling too often post draw
 Checking post draw when I should be raising
 Inability to count above two

To combat the too-tight pre-draw problem, I've taken my standard opening range and now open one rank lower, if I have blockers.
I'm worried though, that I may be going overboard, although so far the results are showing otherwise.

Example
Feral Cow Poker
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.25/$0.50 - 6 players

BB: $5.23
UTG: $14.18
UTG+1: $10.45 (Hero)
CO: $3.50
Button: $3.10
SB: $10.12

Dealing Hands: ($0.35) K♣: J♣: A♠: 7♥: J♠: (6 players)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.50, 3 folds, BB calls $0.25

First Draw: ($1.10) (2 players)
BB discards 3, Hero discards 3,
J♣: J♠: || 3♦: 6♥: 5♦:
BB checks, Hero bets $0.50, BB folds

Hero collected $1.05

(Rake: $0.05)

I think in this spot I MUST bet, not that BB would likely call with worse, but it is quite possible that BB might fold better.
Of course, a fold to a re-raise is mandatory.

I posted another such hand from the Department of Looseness over in https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=330509&goto=firstnew

Best wishes for a peaceful, prosperous 2015,
VS

Way Ahead, Way Behind
5-Card Draw
The Way Behind
Although I had some rather stunning downswings in March and June, it was an OK year overall.
On the 28th of December I hit a record high bankroll, and have not had a losing session since, so yay me.

The Way Ahead
Higher stakes. I have taken a few serious shots at FL $0.50/$1 and FL $1/$2 with less than stellar results. Even FL $0.25/$0.50 has been tough.
Other players have noticed that since late 2013, even FL $0.25/$0.50 has become distinctly tougher.

So now I'm taking a bit more detailed approach to each hand. I'm also looking for less obvious opportunities to bluff and semi-bluff, and better spots to work in, while trying to avoid the pitfalls.[1]
My winrate over the last 10K hands has finally gone over 1 over all, but that includes a whack o' hands at FL $0.10/$0.20 which is still reasonably soft.

NLHE
The Way Behind
2014 was probably the lowest volume NLHE year I've ever had. I spent (ie, wasted) a lot of time playing freerolls in "other" games. I dropped a modest amount at NLHE cash, primarily at NL 5 but I did play a few hands of NL 10 as well -- no joy there.

The Way Ahead
I received an invitation to sign up with PKR with other people's money (always nice), and if I make a deposit I get to clear a 125% FDB. Previously these have not gone well, but with a few years extra discipline perhaps I can actually clear an entire bonus.

I wish everyone the best of luck in 2015 and remember not to tilt!
VS

[1]
From the department of tight folds...

Good luck this year mate.

Now your busy periods over I suggest you take a holiday!

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
[1]
From the department of tight folds...

Spoiler

Converted by a herd of feral cows
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

Button: $7.61
SB: $5.58
BB: $2.43
UTG: $4.29 (Hero)
UTG+1: $5.64
CO: $1.48

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) 6♦: A♥: J♣: J♥: A♦: (6 players)
Hero raises to $0.20, 3 folds, SB raises to $0.30, BB calls $0.20, Hero folds

First Draw: ($0.80) (2 players)
SB stands, BB discards 3, SB bets $0.20, BB calls $0.20

SB showed Q♠: 7♠: K♠: T♠: 5♠:, a flush, King high
BB mucked 9♣: 9♥: 9♦: 8♣: 3♦:
SB won $1.15
(Rake: $0.05)

I'd have thought, given that there's always going to be another bet or two going in post flop, you have the odds to call and draw to your four outs, then make your tight fold postdraw...

Originally posted by jbpatzer
I'd have thought, given that there's always going to be another bet or two going in post flop, you have the odds to call and draw to your four outs, then make your tight fold postdraw...

Hi, jb,
All the best in 2015.

The both of them were players that had only ever defended prior to that by calling SB especially was squeaky-tight
I judged that at least one had trips.

As for odds...
At the point I need to call, there are 8 small bets in the pot, so I'm getting 8:1 to call with a 12:1 draw.
Even if I hit, can I expect 4 more BB from a player who is playing very, very tightly?

vs other players, I might even cap here, but with these guys, this seemed right at the time.

Cheers,
VS

Real Life
I had to get my hearing tested yesterday night at work.

The test revealed that I have hearing loss, but only at higher frequencies.

I tried explaining to Mrs Vorpal that this could explain why I don't hear her when she tells me stuff.

I said, "Perhaps I could hear you better if you spoke less frequently".

She wasn't buying it however.

I even asked the audiologist why it is that I sometimes don't hear her. He replied, "There is yet no accurate test for selective hearing".

Peace,
VS

5-Card Draw
When to value bet, when to bluff-catch?

Feral Cow Poker
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

Button: $2.41
SB: $5.25 (Hero)
BB: $1.37
UTG: $1.58
UTG+1: $5.48
CO: $2.81

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) A♦: J♠: 2♣: 9♦: A♣: (6 players)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $0.20, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.15, BB calls $0.10

First Draw: ($0.60) (3 players)
Hero discards 3, BB discards 2, UTG+1 discards 3,
A♦: A♣: || 2♥: 2♦: 9♣:
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks

Hero showed A♦: 2♥: 2♦: 9♣: A♣:, two pair, Aces and Deuces
BB showed 3♦: 8♠: 8♦: K♠: 8♣:, three of a kind, Eights
UTG+1 mucked 5♥: 7♥: A♥: T♣: A♠:
BB won $0.57
(Rake: $0.03)

Against a v tight UTG, I would fold this, but this reg can open KK and even QQ UTG.
When he D3, I know his hand, and unfortunately, I have the worst improved hand there is.

But nobody really has a bluffing hand except BB, who can rep trips or a drawn two pair, but isn't likely to do either in a multi-way pot.

So the questions:
 What does the bottom pair have to be before a bet here makes sense?
 Should BB have bet?

Cheers,
VS

Woot!
Due to my surpassing skill :coolface:, I won $5.00 in today's PokerStars' January Challenge all-in tournament (167th place)
I've entered every one this month, and this is the 1st time I've won anything.

In fact, as near as I can tell it is the first time I've made it past the 1st round.

I can retire now...
VS

167/16000 is absolutely awesome. Enjoy your $5. Wp Stars.

yes make it count! (or at least have fun with it!)