Mind Games

paid off reasonably well, too
PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $5.00 (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 43)
SB: $3.78 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
BB: $9.51 (VPIP: 12.12, PFR: 3.03, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 66)
UTG: $11.79 (VPIP: 30.00, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 42)
Hero (MP): $5.24
CO: $5.10 (VPIP: 16.39, PFR: 13.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 63)

SB posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.07) Hero has 6♠:6♣:

UTG raises to $0.12, Hero calls $0.12, fold, fold, fold, fold

Flop: ($0.31, 2 players) 9♦:6♥:3♦:
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.10, UTG calls $0.10

Turn: ($0.51, 2 players) 6♦:
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($0.51, 2 players) 4♦:
UTG bets $0.32, Hero raises to $1.56, UTG calls $1.24

Hero shows 6♠:6♣: (Four of a Kind, Sixes)
(Pre 53%, Flop 95%, Turn 100%)
UTG mucks K♦:Q♠: (Flush, King High)
(Pre 47%, Flop 5%, Turn 0%)
Hero wins $3.48
Rake paid $0.15

PokerStars has a promo going, where there is a 30% chance of getting a prize drop within your session.
The amount you get depends on how many hands you've played — up to 90 hands for the full 60 BB payout.
But there's a catch — only hands that see the flop count — and that means you must be in the pot on the flop.
If you complete the 90 hands w/o getting a prize, you can try again at a different stake.

So I played two tables of NL 25 zoom with my usual super-tight zoom ranges, and realized it was going to take forever to get 90 flopped hands, so I widened my pre-flop ranges, and saw more flops. As a result, I hit quite a few sets with low pocket pairs I otherwise would have folded.

Anyway, TMALSS I did not get a prize, so I played another session at NL 5, a wee bit wider yet, and still no prize.

Did OK with sets again, for an overall decent couple of sessions, running well above EV:

The statistic that pleases me the most, is Went To Showdown only 40%, but won at showdown 60% — which tells me that I've finally stopped chasing. Well, at least for today. Oh, and PT4's leak tracker says that is *still* way too high.

Oh yeah, what did I say about hitting a lot of sets?

Yes, 40% WTSD is pretty high :f_smile:. But apparently, you had good reasons for it these sessions! Is getting quads not difficult for you?

I have an average WTSD% of 31.87%, and WSD is 51.32%, which produces this in pokertracker:

Originally posted by Stackoffski
Yes, 40% WTSD is pretty high :f_smile:. But apparently, you had good reasons for it these sessions! Is getting quads not difficult for you?

I have an average WTSD% of 31.87%, and WSD is 51.32%, which produces this in pokertracker:

I was indeed surprised to find that 40% is high.
I'm re-evaluating river calls, even though my river call efficiency is rather high.
I'm missing something here

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I was indeed surprised to find that 40% is high.
I'm re-evaluating river calls, even though my river call efficiency is rather high.
I'm missing something here

What are you missing? Is it not the pot-size thing you explained in my blog? I have positive WSD, but negative blue 'won with showdown' line. So winning more pots than losing at showdown, but still losing money there because I win the small pots but lose the big ones.

Originally posted by Stackoffski

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I was indeed surprised to find that 40% is high.
I'm re-evaluating river calls, even though my river call efficiency is rather high.
I'm missing something here

What are you missing? Is it not the pot-size thing you explained in my blog? I have positive WSD, but negative blue 'won with showdown' line. So winning more pots than losing at showdown, but still losing money there because I win the small pots but lose the big ones.

Yeah, good point

always satisfying when you get both halves of a pot

PokerStars, 5 Card Omaha H/L Pot Limit - $0.10/$0.25 - 4 players
Hand delivered by Pokeit

NA: $0.00 (0 bb)
BU: $43.98 (176 bb)
SB: $17.79 (71 bb)
BB (Hero): $25.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with 4♠:7♣:9♥:A♦:3♦:
BTN calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.60) K♥:7♦:5♦: (3 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($0.60) 2♦: (3 players)
Hero bets $0.25, BTN calls $0.25

River: ($1.10) T♥: (3 players)
Hero bets $1.05, BTN calls $1.05

Total pot: $3.20 (Rake: $0.14)

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows 4♠:7♣:9♥:A♦:3♦: (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 7-5-3-2-A)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 60%, Flop: 80%, Turn: 98%, River: 100%)

NA mucks
BU mucks T♦:2♣:3♣:4♣:9♣: (HI: two pair, Tens and Twos; LO: 7-5-4-3-2)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 40%, Flop: 20%, Turn: 2%, River: 0%)

BB (Hero) wins $3.06

BB got a bit excited about their Ax hand here

I actually put them on an overpair, and as such, I considered folding pre, since our stacks don't meet the call-20 criterion. but with the 3rd player in the pot, I thought it could be playable.

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $23.59 (VPIP: 35.71, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
SB: $25.00 (VPIP: 37.88, PFR: 30.30, 3Bet Preflop: 26.92, Hands: 68)
BB: $25.00
UTG: $23.19
Hero (MP): $25.00
CO: $89.65 (VPIP: 20.45, PFR: 15.91, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 45)

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has 7♣:7♦:

UTG raises to $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, fold, BTN calls $0.50, fold, BB raises to $3.75, fold, Hero calls $3.25, BTN calls $3.25

Flop: ($11.85, 3 players) 4♠:7♥:2♦:
BB bets $3.00, Hero calls $3.00, BTN calls $3.00 <<< Opponent's CBet here lends credence to the overpair theory, but since the board is so dry, I just flatted

Turn: ($20.85, 3 players) 2♣:
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($20.85, 3 players) K♣:
BB bets $18.25 and is all-in, Hero calls $18.25 and is all-in, fold River sorta sucks, but since I less than a pot behind I called, hoping he doesn't have something ugly like KK

BB shows A♣:8♣: (One Pair, Twos) <<< Nope, no KK — and no overpair, either

Hero shows 7♣:7♦: (Full House, Sevens full of Twos)

Hero wins $55.35
Rake paid $2.00

a German-Themed seasonal market in Vancouver
See Vancouver Christmas Market

We rather enjoyed ourselves. The purpose of the trip so that Mrs Vorpal could meet Lynn Johnston. Mr Johnston was a cartoonist, and Mrs V also aspired to do the same, but without success outside our local newspaper. We expected long lineups to meet Ms Johnston, so we got their early, and spent an hour and a half seeing the sights and sampling the wares.

We had some kebabs, and some squid for lunch[1] (to fill in the spaces left by all the sampling).

One noteable sampling was of the Absinthe produced by the Tofino Distillery. We'll be having a glass after supper tonight.
I also tried their whisky, which — apart from being spelled incorrectly — is made from corn, rye and barley, and to my taste wasn't all that good. It win Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits competition, but what do they know?

Ms Johnston was a delightful lady, and Ms Vorpal has permission to visit her studio to get all 40 or so books signed in person.

I'm pretty sure Vorpal himself will be permitted to drive.

[1]

I don't mind playing smallish multi-way pots with a high-only hand
However, after a few raises, the pot is too big to fold even with equity around 25%. When the turn came, I figured I was sunk but the player that had the flush had only 33bb, so I got the rest.
PokerStars - $0.02 PL Hi/Lo (6 max) - Omaha Hi/Lo - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $2.54
SB: $1.31 (VPIP: 60.53, PFR: 31.58, 3Bet Preflop: 18.75, Hands: 39)
BB: $2.51 (VPIP: 41.24, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 97)
UTG: $3.69 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 100.00, 3Bet Preflop: 100.00, Hands: 7)
MP: $0.39 (VPIP: 56.25, PFR: 20.83, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 48)
CO: $0.66 (VPIP: 20.41, PFR: 3.06, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 98)

SB posts SB $0.01, BB posts BB $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.03) Hero has T♥:K♠:A♠:J♠:

UTG raises to $0.04, fold, CO calls $0.04, Hero calls $0.04, SB raises to $0.10, fold, UTG raises to $0.16, CO calls $0.12, Hero calls $0.12, SB raises to $0.22, UTG raises to $1.00, CO calls $0.50 and is all-in, Hero calls $0.84, SB raises to $1.31 and is all-in, UTG calls $0.31, Hero calls $0.31

Flop: ($4.61, 4 players) 6♣:8♣:Q♠:
UTG bets $2.38 and is all-in, Hero calls $1.23 and is all-in

Turn: ($7.07, 4 players) T♣:

River: ($7.07, 4 players) 8♠:

UTG shows 4♦:J♣:T♦:7♠: (Two Pair, Tens and Eights)

Main Pot [$2.66]: (Pre 20%, Flop 8%, Turn 0%)
Side Pot#1 [$1.95]: (Pre 25%, Flop 16%, Turn 9%)
Side Pot#2 [$2.46]: (Pre 58%, Flop 58%, Turn 39%)

Hero shows T♥:K♠:A♠:J♠: (Two Pair, Tens and Eights)

Main Pot [$2.66]: (Pre 18%, Flop 15%, Turn 0%)
Side Pot#1 [$1.95]: (Pre 26%, Flop 35%, Turn 61%)
Side Pot#2 [$2.46]: (Pre 41%, Flop 42%, Turn 61%)

SB shows 5♥:3♥:A♥:9♦: (One Pair, Eights)

Main Pot [$2.66]: (Pre 31%, Flop 18%, Turn 6%)
Side Pot#1 [$1.95]: (Pre 50%, Flop 48%, Turn 30%)

CO shows A♣:K♦:2♣:9♠: (Flush, Ace High)

Main Pot [$2.66]: (Pre 31%, Flop 60%, Turn 94%)

Hero wins $4.27
Rake paid $0.23
CO wins $2.57

ITM already though, with my first Freeroll cash since Nov 13

Pacific Poker - 4000/8000 Ante 800 NL (8 max) - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 1,096 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: -, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 3)
UTG+1: 2,867 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 19)
MP: 3,810 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 134)
CO: 510 (VPIP: 37.78, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 46)
BTN: 546 (VPIP: 33.87, PFR: 27.27, 3Bet Preflop: 22.22, Hands: 64)
Hero (SB): 8,892
BB: 25,688 (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 17.39, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 28)

5 players post ante of 510, CO posts ante 510 and is all-in, BTN posts ante 546 and is all-in, Hero posts SB 4,000, BB posts BB 8,000

Pre Flop: (pot: 17,056) Hero has A♦:9♣:

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 8,092 and is all-in, BB calls 92

Flop: (21,240, 4 players) T♦:6♦:T♥:

Turn: (21,240, 4 players) K♦:

River: (21,240, 4 players) 5♦:

CO shows J♥:4♥: (One Pair, Tens)

Main Pot [3,570]: (Pre 20%, Flop 10%, Turn 0%)

BTN shows A♥:Q♥: (One Pair, Tens)

Main Pot [3,570]: (Pre 40%, Flop 25%, Turn 16%)
Side Pot#1 [216]: (Pre 49%, Flop 25%, Turn 16%)

Hero shows A♦:9♣: (Flush, Ace High)

Main Pot [3,570]: (Pre 16%, Flop 15%, Turn 31%)
Side Pot#1 [216]: (Pre 20%, Flop 16%, Turn 31%)
Side Pot#2 [17,454]: (Pre 59%, Flop 28%, Turn 38%)

BB shows 7♦:6♣: (Flush, King High)

Main Pot [3,570]: (Pre 24%, Flop 50%, Turn 53%)
Side Pot#1 [216]: (Pre 31%, Flop 58%, Turn 53%)
Side Pot#2 [17,454]: (Pre 41%, Flop 72%, Turn 63%)

Hero wins 3,570
Hero wins 216
Hero wins 17,454

Suckout city, to make up for a horrid Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
First, the Good News:
The NL 25 Session Giraffe:

Two Consecutive Hands:
Hand #1: Timestamp 2025/11/28 23:26:32

Hand #2: Timestamp 2025/11/28 23:27:53

Now, the Bad News:
FL Omaha Hi/Lo Session Giraffe

Only one Notable Hand:

Summary:
 NL 25 Win 49.78 in 32 hands for BB/100 of 622
 Omaha Hi/Lo Lose 4.37 in 144 hands for -76 BB/100

1101 out of 1110, with 1099 paid
I could fold, and hope 11 people bust out, or call, and take my chances

Pacific Poker - 300/600 Ante 70 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP+1: 464 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 49)
MP+2: 43,588 (VPIP: 39.76, PFR: 18.92, 3Bet Preflop: 15.38, Hands: 87)
CO: 578 (VPIP: 7.07, PFR: 4.26, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 99)
Hero (BTN): 98
SB: 9,221 (VPIP: 4.26, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 49)
BB: 15,791 (VPIP: 21.43, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 44)
UTG: 2,790 (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 7.35, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 74)
UTG+1: 4,226 (VPIP: 18.11, PFR: 8.85, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 130)
MP: 3,168 (VPIP: 13.22, PFR: 13.89, 3Bet Preflop: 21.05, Hands: 124)

9 players post ante of 70, SB posts SB 300, BB posts BB 600

Pre Flop: (pot: 1,530) Hero has T♦:T♠:

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 28 and is all-in, fold

Flop: (1,258, 2 players) 8♣:9♥:4♦:

Turn: (1,258, 2 players) 8♦:

River: (1,258, 2 players) T♥:

Hero shows T♦:T♠: (Full House, Tens full of Eights)
(Pre 71%, Flop 80%, Turn 89%)
BB shows Q♦:9♣: (Two Pair, Nines and Eights)
(Pre 29%, Flop 20%, Turn 11%)
BB wins 544
Hero wins 714

Hung in there for the second ladder:

The player with 22 was a big stack, so I had the side pot, but it was nice to get both
This is in the Sunday Battle Royal Freebie

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Nice River

for my "mixed games" I'm trying out a newer version of the old fpdb

There is a problem:

This hand:
PokerStars, Omaha H/L Pot Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 5 players
Hand delivered by Pokeit

UTG: $6.10 (305 bb)
CO: $0.42 (21 bb)
BU (Hero): $2.17 (109 bb)
SB: $0.16 (8 bb)
BB: $1.75 (88 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BTN with 2♦ 2♥ A♥ 4♥
UTG raises to $0.04, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.04, 2 players fold

Flop: ($0.11) 4♠ 8♠ 8♥ (2 players)
UTG bets $0.11, Hero calls $0.11

Turn: ($0.33) 3♥ (2 players)
UTG bets $0.32, Hero calls $0.32

River: ($0.97) 6♠ (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.94, UTG folds

Total pot: $0.97 (Rake: $0.03)
BU (Hero) wins $0.94

However, the new improved fpdb-3 reports the hand thus (amount are x100 to avoid decimal places):
  category  committed  winnings  totalProfit  rake 
 omahahilo        141        94          -47     3 

It says Hero committed 141 to the pot, however, as far as I can tell:
pre-flop: Hero commits 4
flop: Pot on entry: 11; Hero commits 11 for a total of 15
turn: Pot on entry: 33; Hero commits 32 for a total of 47
river: Pot on entry: 97: Hero commits 0 since the bet of 94 was returned
Final:
Hero collects 94 from pot (97 - 3)
profit should be: 94 - 47 = 47

I've downloaded the source code, but at present how to fix this is a bit beyond me.
On the plus side, I've been using fpdb pretty much as long as I've been playing poker, and this is the first time I've ever been able to run it from the source code.

losing one's ability to think is the most terrifying consequence of aging

Well, at least for me it is.

I did a cognitive test today for the purpose of establishing a baseline of comparison for future tests. I scored 29/30
I've no idea what those numbers mean, nor do I know what caused me to lose the point.

The only reason I had it done, because by the time they did a cognition test for my Mum, she was already pretty far gone.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I did a cognitive test today for the purpose of establishing a baseline of comparison for future tests. I scored 29/30
I've no idea what those numbers mean, nor do I know what caused me to lose the point.

Considering that 9/10 is usually considered a very good score on most tests, I would assume that this is an excellent result.

How could it be any other way, when you stay sharp with all those card games?

What was the test like, btw? Was it kind of like a standard IQ test?

Originally posted by Harrier88
How could it be any other way, when you stay sharp with all those card games?
Not to mention daily sudoku, chess puzzle and programming.

Originally posted by Harrier88
What was the test like, btw? Was it kind of like a standard IQ test?

They asked basic questions, like "Where are you?" etc. It was so hard not to be smart-ass. But I did a couple of times. For example when she asked me to repeat back to her the sentence, "The red car turned the corner", she led with a long "ummmm" beforehand, as she was selecting a sentence from a list. I repeated back to her, "Ummmm, the red car turned the corner"

The test I did was almost identical to this one: Mini Mental State Exam (pdf)

the ones that got away
11th of 75, 50 places paid
PokerStars - 1500/3000 Ante 300 NL (8 max) - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 44,589 (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
BTN: 19,166 (VPIP: 21.43, PFR: 7.69, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
SB: 36,291 (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 8)
BB: 6,460 (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 16)
UTG: 27,225 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 8)
UTG+1: 35,654 (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 3)
Hero (MP): 82,446
MP+1: 98,160 (VPIP: 42.86, PFR: 42.86, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)

8 players post ante of 300, SB posts SB 1,500, BB posts BB 3,000

Pre Flop: (pot: 6,900) Hero has 3♣:3♠:

fold, UTG+1 calls 3,000, Hero calls 3,000, fold, fold, BTN raises to 18,866 and is all-in, fold, BB calls 3,160 and is all-in, UTG+1 calls 15,866, fold

Flop: (50,792, 3 players) J♣:3♥:3♦:

Turn: (50,792, 3 players) 4♥:

River: (50,792, 3 players) A♥:

UTG+1 shows A♣:2♣: (Two Pair, Aces and Threes)

Main Pot [25,380]: (Pre 27%, Flop 19%, Turn 18%)
Side Pot#1 [25,412]: (Pre 33%, Flop 19%, Turn 18%)

BTN shows Q♠:Q♣: (Two Pair, Queens and Threes)

Main Pot [25,380]: (Pre 54%, Flop 77%, Turn 78%)
Side Pot#1 [25,412]: (Pre 67%, Flop 81%, Turn 83%)

BB shows 6♠:4♠: (Two Pair, Fours and Threes)

Main Pot [25,380]: (Pre 19%, Flop 4%, Turn 5%)

UTG+1 wins 50,792

I got to play Santa again
On the way home afterwards, Mrs Santa, errr Vorpal and I did a drive-through to get a burger
The guy at the payment window, said, "Hey! It's really you!", and the girl at the pickup window gave us each a cookie. Once asked if she was getting anything for Christmas, to which I replied, "Were you a good girl all year?" When she said, "Of course", I responded with, "Well where's the fun in that?"