[Closed] Well Played... My Canadian Poker Saga

You sound like me, but good at poker! Good luck. I'll be following your progress.

@jbpatzer: Quite the compliment coming from a mathematics prof. I agree that the hardest part about poker right now is finding a way to balance it into my life while still keeping the family happy. Considering the 2 year old and the 8 month old are running and crawling around screaming until bathtime I can't really play much before their bedtimes and at bedtime the wife is usually lonely and bored so I can usually only squeeze an hour or 2 in for learning and playing.

I'll post a chart every few days since I don't get sizable sessions. I played a bit today, mostly $5 +1 10man jackpots, $2.40 12man jackpots and $2.40 6man turbos. I was happy with my overall play and was really trying to focus on my push/fold play and checking everything in SNG wizard to make sure my plays were sound. I was happy to see very few mistakes so loosening up my HU pushing range is about the only adjustment I'll be making for that stage. I'm thinking flop and turn play in the early and mid stages could use a tune up so I'll probably review that pretty hard this first week.

I also had a chance to play some NL5 6man cash today. Horrible results. Down half a BI between 2 tables with approx 200 hands each. Leakbuster told me to cut down on my check/call and bet/call lines so I tried to do that (playing 6max I just don't believe people hit TPTK on every board). I think the biggest pot I won was about $1 which is pretty sick. I don't feel like I played badly, I think I just got hit with an ice cold deck. Stats for the session are solid, the only thing out of line is my steal range which was about 40-60%, which went mostly uncontested anyway so I don't see that being a huge problem.

Off to do some more session review followed by a few vids and maybe 2 or 3 wind down SNGs.

UTG's stats are:
85/10/33/0
0.3/0/0/20

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.02(BB) Replayer
SB ($4.96)
BB ($2)
UTG ($1.31)
Hero ($5.13)
CO ($1.23)
BTN ($1.45)

Dealt to Hero A♠ J♥

UTG calls $0.02, Hero raises to $0.08, fold, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls $0.06

FLOP ($0.19) A♦ 7♣ 2♣

UTG checks, Hero bets $0.13, UTG calls $0.13

TURN ($0.45) A♦ 7♣ 2♣ T♣

UTG checks, Hero bets $0.30, UTG raises to $0.60, Hero folds

UTG wins $0.98

This is really the only notable hand from the session. With the way he played and with such a low AF I think this is a proper fold. Any advice here?

Fish check/minraise = nutz. Played well I would say.

You can also check back for pot control and reevaluate on the river.

@pokerprons: I don't like the checkback on the turn for several reasons. It's too passive to check TPGK on the turn in every 3 flush spot. Also, if he has like A :club:x hands I'm giving him his flush for free. And with a bet on the turn and river I can get his whole stack on nonscary rivercards with him even holding like KT hands, with the check behind I can really only ever get $0.45. Maybe if his AF was higher the check behind may induce a river bluff but with it only being 0.3 I don't expect him to fire on many rivers that he doesn't hit.

That being said I did play another session last night that went considerably better than during the day. 2 tabled $0.01/$0.02 tables and 2 tabled $5 +1 10man jackpots. I think 4 tables optimizes my balance of speed and profit. Once I get back into the groove I may go to 6 or 8 but for now 4 works. Current BR is $135 and with any luck I'll get to play a couple MTTs today.

Originally posted by Washdogg
@pokerprons: I don't like the checkback on the turn for several reasons. It's too passive to check TPGK on the turn in every 3 flush spot. Also, if he has like A :club:x hands I'm giving him his flush for free. And with a bet on the turn and river I can get his whole stack on nonscary rivercards with him even holding like KT hands, with the check behind I can really only ever get $0.45. Maybe if his AF was higher the check behind may induce a river bluff but with it only being 0.3 I don't expect him to fire on many rivers that he doesn't hit.

I don't think your goal should be to get it all-in with this hand, that's why I said the check back is an option. It's hard to get it all-in in a non-3-bet pot. Some times you need to keep the pot small, unless you have reads on this guy of course. And his low AF is even better, because he is less likely to bluff the river and you can even put in a value bet if a safe card comes off. That's just my opinion, but hey, i'm just a micro stakes fish

Anyway best of luck to you at the tables.

Ran into a sick heater during today's session. Didn't cash in any MTTs but I thoroughly destroyed the SNGs I played. Even when I got the chips in the middle with a 3 outer I would still end up taking the pot down. I also seemed to get someone shipping their stack in on the flop when I had a set or 2 pair. It felt tremendous. I also feel like I was playing very well and the review I did really confirmed it. Working with the ICM lately has really paid off. I really feel like people just fold waaaay too much in the late stages. Especially in the jackpot tourneys. Maybe it's the low limits but I think the fact that they can try to fold their way to a jackpot finish makes them call far tighter. There were times in almost every SNG where I would shove 4 or 5 hands in a row and get respected every time. By the 6th time I'd have already stole enough to cover the loss when a KK calls my 87.

I also watched the AAxx PLO8 video that was recently published which I feel actually helped me understand the entire game better. I'm planning on running a 6max PLO8 cash in my night minisession if I can find a decent one on Titan. My first goal in terms of BR is to hit $800 so I can cash out $600 and deposit it on FT as there is more action available there, more players and better MTTs. Eventually I would like to redo that goal again to move to Stars. I think it's a good idea to have a BR on all 3 sites to collect more bonuses and just to make sure that I have a handle on all the big tourneys that come up such as the WCOOP and SCOOP on Stars, FTOPS on FT and ECOOP on Titan which really did favors for my BR every time I've played more than 1 event.

I'm wondering if most of the PS community spreads their game out across different sites or if you try to focus on one. Comment and let me know what your thoughts are on this because I've always felt like spreading your roll out is a good idea.

Well it's time to smash a mini-session and see if I can't grind out 2 more wins for a jackpot and work on my PLO8 game. After that I'll watch a vid to wind down then call it a night. BR going into the session is $254. Let's see what we can do with it.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.02(BB) IPoker
SB ($1.34)
BB ($9.50)
UTG ($4.61)
Hero ($5.50)
BTN ($1.92)

Dealt to Hero 8♦ 9♥

fold, Hero raises to $0.08, fold, SB calls $0.07, fold

FLOP ($0.18) 5♣ 2♥ 8♥

SB bets $0.02, Hero raises to $0.12, SB calls $0.10

TURN ($0.42) 5♣ 2♥ 8♥ Q♦

SB bets $0.14, Hero raises to $0.30, SB raises to $1.14 (AI), Hero folds

SB wins $0.96

Villain is unknown. This hand just confuses me because I'm pretty well positive that I'm beat but I'm just not sure what to put him on here. I don't think he's capable of really making a pure bluff here. Usually I find that the flop minbet is a fishy block bet used to stop me from cbetting him off of his draw or bottom pair. I don't see him ever bet/calling this size with a hand that has me beat. When I raise him I don't really see him calling with a low pair so I'm pretty sure he has a flush draw here.On the turn he makes another smallish bet that I raise and he shoves which is either him pairing his Q or him semibluffing in what I see as an absolutely horrid spot. This hand just confused me a bit so I thought I would put it up for discussion.

So my night minisession went fairly well. I 2 tabled $0.01/$0.02 6max holdem, 1 tabled $0.01/$0.02 FR PLO8, 1 tabled a $24 6man jackpot and 1 tabled a $5+1 10man jackpot. Came 3rd in the $24 so broke even, won the $5 for $25 and my 3rd consecutive win, broke about even on my holdem tables due to a bluff that backfired on me perhaps made because I was tired so I stopped shortly thereafter. And on the PLO table I finished up $9 thanks to 2 scoops and some nice tight play. I feel like I'm getting a better feel for the game and it's always fun due to the extra action going on.

Hey! You are Canadian, I'm Canadian. You are in Ontario, I'm in the GTA. You are a father, I'm a father. You are good at poker, I'm... well we have some similarities!

I sent a friend request.

Accepted. Craziness. I'm actually close to the GTA myself. I actually used to work in Mississauga and Oakville in the day and downtown T.O. at night.

Rape sessions these past couple days. I've been playing pretty bad in cash games. I can't seem to find the fold button, which is actually something I'm usually quite good with. SNGs haven't been any better, while I feel like I haven't been playing terribly.

Last night I did however play 2 MTTs, a $3 $2k GTD SPEED R/A. I never actually even had to rebuy and mincashed for $25. I did fold a little too much near the bubble to sneak into the money but I felt like a $25 mincash was better than risking bubble. Also, I ran pretty cold near the bubble so I didn't really have anything to get it in with. There were 2 spots that I feel I made a good push based solely on stack sizes. One I had 68s with about 16k chips blinds at 1200/2400 and antes so about 5-6k in the pot already, I was in the hijack and there was a midstack in the CO and SB, a guy in between mid and short stack on the BU and a shortstack in the BB who should call with anything but will occasionally fold and HU I can't be much worse than 35% worst case scenario. Turns out he snap calls with 57o and hits the rail. Second scenario was almost identical with me holding J5 and everyone folding including the shorty in the BB. 19th isn't too bad.

The other tourney was a $1 PLO. I tried to play tight and get my money in with good draws and no less than top 2. I doubled up quite early with a flopped top 2 plus a nut flush draw where the other guy got it in with a trash flush draw and top pair. That seemed to be a common theme. I got quite big early and kept my lead by playing tight and ended up taking it down for a monster $20.45. Weeeeee right?

Overall I'm happy with my tournament play but my cash game play is horrible right now. Should watch some vids tonight to get myself back into shape. BR has plummeted to $180 thanks to my donkey play.

Poker has been bending me over lately. Really.... look:

It started to tilt me until today when I got a solid MTT session in. I played a $10+1 18 man and took 2nd for $54, played a $5+1 jackpot 10man and took 3rd for $10, a $3 + .30 PLH MTT and took 8th for $40 and a $5.50 rebuy MTT with no rebuys and took 32nd for $50. To top it all off I played a 2k points 10man SNG and took it down for 20k points which can be cashed in for $150. Pretty solid session. I feel like I'm playing really solid but really feel like I'm struggling with my mid to late MTT game and find myself squandering the lead I build up early. If there's anyone reading this that specializes in MTTs and feels they're strong in the mid to late stages I'm desperate for help.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Just shipped my 4th $2.40 12 man jackpot SNG for $12 each plus the $2k jackpot. That's always a nice way to end a doomswitched week. I'm also playing a $5+1 10man jackpot where a top 2 finish gets me a $200 consolation prize.

I haven't blogged in forever. Dunno why. Been crushing things since the 2k jackpot but my poor BR management is killing me, I've cashed out like 3k so far (granted it was for rent, live poker, a new laptop, car insurance and a Vegas trip. So not completely -EV.) Downswing lately, but I plan on upswinging soon so variance will have to smc soon. Also I'm not playing, reviewing or studying as much as I should lately mostly because I've started working again. It sucks knowing that I'm going to work to make $100 for the day but being up $300 playing poker isn't improbable so I feel like I'm being completely inefficient with my time. But working should give me extra money so I can stop sucking money from the BR.

That's all. lol.

graph graph graph

Started playing again after a pretty long break since May. Been running so bad in SNGs that my cash game is pretty much just offsetting my SNG donking. I feel rusty and I think I need to start posting more hands. Here's really the only noteworthy hand. I feel really good about the way I played it but at the same time I feel kinda donkish since the guy was pretty much an unknown. I had maybe 50 hands on him and he seemed to be openraising pretty much 100% even though his stats said 50. I have a theory that my memory is better than factual numbers :P. Anyways, was I way out of line here or does his betsizing on the turn and esp the river scream 'BLUFF'? I find it hard to believe he bets an A or the straight that big. He could maybe have a set or 2 pair here but button raisers aren't allowed to be dealt good hands right? I was thinking T9ish here.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1(BB) IPoker
Hero ($118)
BB ($100)
UTG ($103)
UTG+1 ($98.50)
CO ($67.75)
BTN ($134)

Dealt to Hero 8♣ K♣

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $3, Hero calls $2.50, fold

FLOP ($7) Q♣ A♦ K♠

Hero checks, BTN bets $5.25, Hero calls $5.25

TURN ($17.50) Q♣ A♦ K♠ 7♥

Hero checks, BTN bets $15, Hero calls $15

RIVER ($47.50) Q♣ A♦ K♠ 7♥ 4♣

Hero checks, BTN bets $38, Hero calls $38

Hero shows 8♣ K♣
(Pre 65%, Flop 96.2%, Turn 100.0%)

BTN shows 5♣ 3♣
(Pre 35%, Flop 3.8%, Turn 0.0%)

Hero wins $120