I'm taking my cash game action to the PLO tables. I've been short-stacking 1-2 and 2-4 with decent success. Ideally I want to read a couple books, watch training videos, and play full stacked PLO at 1-2 as my starting point. I signed up for a new Full Tilt name and now receive rakeback (finally!).
If I play no-limit it will most likely be heads-up. 6-Max is quite tough at 2-4 and 3-6 these days and it's not worth my time to grind it out against many solid players.
PLO is still soft from what I've seen - players commit with very susceptible two pair hands or overcommit with a single overpair to the board, etc. You very rarely see that in mid-stakes NL anymore. In fact set mining isn't even that profitable anymore because these guys are capable of making many good folds.
More to come on my PLO adventures. There are several books I want to order on Amazon so I plan on reading up before I venture any further.
3.30.2010
3.26.2010
Careful Who You Challenge
Yesterday I was playing some 1/2 NL short-stack tables on Full Tilt while watching Syrcause lose to Butler and chatting on AIM. It's a pretty mindless game and I was basically just out to score some more points for satellites.
I accidentally bad beat a guy when we got it all in on a flop of 5s 6s Jc. I had KsQs and he had As4s. I spiked a queen to stack him and he started flipping out in the chat box about me "playing 18/10 weak tight" and then challenged me to a heads-up game (of course). I checked my FTP balance and saw I had a little under $3,000 so I decided to keep it modest and ask if he wanted to play 3/6.
He of course accepted, thinking I was full of it. I instantly sat at 4 tables and asked him to join all four to which he replied, "1 table". Sure.
386 hands later I'd taken $1900 off of him. My heads-up game is strong. I won't lie. I instantly establish a balanced 3-betting range against randoms and then begin to lure them into the meta-game that is light 4-betting and 5-betting. A couple hands of note:
Hand 1: Approximately 60 hands into the session and I had been 3-betting him with a pretty standard range. I opened on the button for $18 and he made it $48 which was his 3-betting size for all raises. I made it $129. He folded and I showed 72o and asked if we were playing prop bets.
Hand 2: Maybe 20 hands after the 72o bluff. He opened for $18 and I made it $52 with JsQs. He called and we saw a flop of 10c Ad 2s. I led for $62 and he called after some deliberation which initally made me think he had a 10 in his hand. Kh on the turn gave me the nuts and I checked. He bet half pot and I called. The river brought another 2 and I checked again. He jammed and I instacalled. He was strong that I thought with ATo, obviously planning to trap me by flatting my c-bet.
Hand 3: This was near the end of the session and he was getting 3-bet a lot by me and was probably steaming. I had around $1900 and he kept topping off and was sitting on 100 bb's. I opened to $18 from the button with JsJc and he made it $48. I made it $129 and asked if we were still playing prop bets. He jammed and I called. He had 88 and I held for another $600 profit.
This is far from a brag post. I use it as a cautionary tale not only to you but as a reminder to myself
He sat out after that and left about 10 minutes later. Just because someone is playing a certain way at a certain time does not mean that is their normal game and you should never move to a totally different game and play them the same way. He thought I was just some guy who sat and waited for the nuts when the reality was I was simply goofing around while watching a basketball game and not playing anything close to my normal game.
I've made this mistake before and I'm sure I will make it again. I'd just like to think I would realize my mistake before I lost three buy-ins.
I accidentally bad beat a guy when we got it all in on a flop of 5s 6s Jc. I had KsQs and he had As4s. I spiked a queen to stack him and he started flipping out in the chat box about me "playing 18/10 weak tight" and then challenged me to a heads-up game (of course). I checked my FTP balance and saw I had a little under $3,000 so I decided to keep it modest and ask if he wanted to play 3/6.
He of course accepted, thinking I was full of it. I instantly sat at 4 tables and asked him to join all four to which he replied, "1 table". Sure.
386 hands later I'd taken $1900 off of him. My heads-up game is strong. I won't lie. I instantly establish a balanced 3-betting range against randoms and then begin to lure them into the meta-game that is light 4-betting and 5-betting. A couple hands of note:
Hand 1: Approximately 60 hands into the session and I had been 3-betting him with a pretty standard range. I opened on the button for $18 and he made it $48 which was his 3-betting size for all raises. I made it $129. He folded and I showed 72o and asked if we were playing prop bets.
Hand 2: Maybe 20 hands after the 72o bluff. He opened for $18 and I made it $52 with JsQs. He called and we saw a flop of 10c Ad 2s. I led for $62 and he called after some deliberation which initally made me think he had a 10 in his hand. Kh on the turn gave me the nuts and I checked. He bet half pot and I called. The river brought another 2 and I checked again. He jammed and I instacalled. He was strong that I thought with ATo, obviously planning to trap me by flatting my c-bet.
Hand 3: This was near the end of the session and he was getting 3-bet a lot by me and was probably steaming. I had around $1900 and he kept topping off and was sitting on 100 bb's. I opened to $18 from the button with JsJc and he made it $48. I made it $129 and asked if we were still playing prop bets. He jammed and I called. He had 88 and I held for another $600 profit.
This is far from a brag post. I use it as a cautionary tale not only to you but as a reminder to myself
He sat out after that and left about 10 minutes later. Just because someone is playing a certain way at a certain time does not mean that is their normal game and you should never move to a totally different game and play them the same way. He thought I was just some guy who sat and waited for the nuts when the reality was I was simply goofing around while watching a basketball game and not playing anything close to my normal game.
I've made this mistake before and I'm sure I will make it again. I'd just like to think I would realize my mistake before I lost three buy-ins.
3.23.2010
The Nuts Is Overrated Before the River
I couldn't run good forever.
I'm getting killed in online poker. I'm down 7 buy-ins in the last two days because my customers are hitting every single draw on me.
But, dear readers, your old pal FkCoolers won't give up.
Usually I'll take a day or two off from poker when I run this poorly in order to balance out my life and ensure that some poor results at the tables aren't affecting me overall. If you end up pouring your entire self into anything, and it goes poorly, you're in for a bumpy road.
So my advice is this: balance, balance, balance. Find something you're good at and use it to offset the bad beats to lift your mood. For me it's kicking the crap out of zombies on easy mode playing Left 4 Dead 2.
You'd be surprised at what mowing down an entire hotel full of zombies with an axe can do to shake off 6 outers!
I'm getting killed in online poker. I'm down 7 buy-ins in the last two days because my customers are hitting every single draw on me.
But, dear readers, your old pal FkCoolers won't give up.
Usually I'll take a day or two off from poker when I run this poorly in order to balance out my life and ensure that some poor results at the tables aren't affecting me overall. If you end up pouring your entire self into anything, and it goes poorly, you're in for a bumpy road.
So my advice is this: balance, balance, balance. Find something you're good at and use it to offset the bad beats to lift your mood. For me it's kicking the crap out of zombies on easy mode playing Left 4 Dead 2.
You'd be surprised at what mowing down an entire hotel full of zombies with an axe can do to shake off 6 outers!
3.16.2010
Cash Game 3 Betting
This is a concept that I think a lot of players are catching on to but not a lot of players are necessarily doing correctly.
First, there is far more pre-flop 3-betting online than live so I'll tackle the online game first.
What I usually see are people 3-betting their premium hands and suited connectors. I don't really think this is the way to go. Suited connectors have a lot of value in seeing a flop cheaply and hitting the board in two places or flopping a strong draw. If you 3-bet them you're either going to get folds from weakish hands or you're going to get 4-bet by monsters and be unable to continue. Only your small percentage of passive call station players will go to a flop with you.
I think you should be 3-betting your monsters but also 3-betting your hands that are not strong enough to call a raise like 107s, J9s, 35s, etc. This balances out your range quite nicely and when you do crush the flop you could win a massive pot. And if you miss the flop you're still playing your hand in position and your opponent must guess if this is when you have a premium hand or not.
Live poker is different. From my experience at Foxwoods and Borgata (and a little in Vegas) people in 1/2 and 2/5 games are only 3-betting their premium holdings with very few exceptions. For this reason I would probably elect to flat with almost my whole hand range that I decide to play, including premium hands (but this only applies if I'm closing the action or if the call means the pot is heads up). Granted, you may face tougher decisions on each street but I think you'll also extract more money this way since the 2/5 players love to bet aggressively on the flop and turn with most of their holdings that catch a piece.
At Borgata I saw a player commit about $250 to a hand holding 2nd pair and betting into top pair the whole way. And this isn't that abnormal based on my one week there. You just need the balls to muster up some pretty big calls at the end. Here's a hint: If it's a young Asian, never fold.
First, there is far more pre-flop 3-betting online than live so I'll tackle the online game first.
What I usually see are people 3-betting their premium hands and suited connectors. I don't really think this is the way to go. Suited connectors have a lot of value in seeing a flop cheaply and hitting the board in two places or flopping a strong draw. If you 3-bet them you're either going to get folds from weakish hands or you're going to get 4-bet by monsters and be unable to continue. Only your small percentage of passive call station players will go to a flop with you.
I think you should be 3-betting your monsters but also 3-betting your hands that are not strong enough to call a raise like 107s, J9s, 35s, etc. This balances out your range quite nicely and when you do crush the flop you could win a massive pot. And if you miss the flop you're still playing your hand in position and your opponent must guess if this is when you have a premium hand or not.
Live poker is different. From my experience at Foxwoods and Borgata (and a little in Vegas) people in 1/2 and 2/5 games are only 3-betting their premium holdings with very few exceptions. For this reason I would probably elect to flat with almost my whole hand range that I decide to play, including premium hands (but this only applies if I'm closing the action or if the call means the pot is heads up). Granted, you may face tougher decisions on each street but I think you'll also extract more money this way since the 2/5 players love to bet aggressively on the flop and turn with most of their holdings that catch a piece.
At Borgata I saw a player commit about $250 to a hand holding 2nd pair and betting into top pair the whole way. And this isn't that abnormal based on my one week there. You just need the balls to muster up some pretty big calls at the end. Here's a hint: If it's a young Asian, never fold.
3.15.2010
Back to the Real World
... Whatever that means.
Atlantic City was a good time. After deducting transportation, meals, and hotel fare I still took home about $3500 playing nothing but 2/5 NL at Borgata.
Borgata charges you time at the 2/5 game to the tune of $5 per half hour instead of raking pots which ends up working out in your favor since each pot would be raked $4.
I thought it could be a good trip when I was dealt black aces in the big blind my very first hand. It folded to the button who made it $25. I made it $75 total and he flatted. The flop was A Q 5 with two hearts and I led for $65. He raised to $190. I shipped and he insta-called and turned over AQ. I turned over my top set and he just kept shaking his head and saying, "that's so sick" as the rest of the board ran out.
A few hands later an older genteman raised to $25 from the hijack and it folded to me in the big blind. I called with 5d4d and we saw a flop of 8c 6c Qh. I checked and he bet $35. I called and the turn was 3s giving me more outs. I checked and he bet $55.
I took some time here. His bet sizing on the turn made me feel like he didn't have a Queen and probably had something like 99-JJ, AJ, AK, etc. I thought I could call here and lead a lot of rivers to take the pot away from him enough times to be profitable and so I called again. The river was 9c making the final board 8c 6c Qh 3s 9c and I felt like this was a great river to bluff. By his reaction to the river card I was certain he hadn't been drawing and in fact probably had nothing in his hand.
"One fifty" I announced and before I finished speaking his cards had hit the muck. A couple hands later he asked if I had 10cJc. Online you can simply ignore the chat box but when I play live I feel like saying 'yes' to any question is probably the right way to go. Saying yes here reaffirms his "good fold" and keeps him thinking I'm a solid player who's running good. The last thing you want to do is tell the other guy you bluffed him off a better hand.
Then I went card dead for about 5 orbits meaning I either had non-playable hands or everyone folded if I raised, which was very infrequent since I mostly had non-playable hands.
The next big hand to come up was this one ...
From early position, a young and very aggressive Asian player with about $700 behind made it $25 and a new player at the table flatted from mid-position. I had 8h9h and about $1300 behind on the button and flatted while both blinds folded.
The flop came out 9s9d6s and the original raiser led for $50. The MP caller folded and I studied the board, leaning forward a little bit. I did this hoping he would think I was trying to see if they were clubs or spades to find out if I had a flush draw. For some reason his bet felt strong to me and he was leaning back in his seat and checking his phone. For some people that could mean they don't have interest in the hand, but not after a lead into 2 players. I was putting him on a pretty big overpair and felt like a smooth call would be cause for concern. If I was going to extract any extra money here I felt like sticking in a large raise to make it look like I was drawing was the way to go.
With $132 in the middle I announced a raise and made it $150 more on top. This got him to sit straight up and start looking at me to get a read. "Why so much?" he asked. "You want to take it down right here, right?"
Most of the time I stay silent but this time I simply said, "I wouldn't mind." This really got him thinking. He kept telling me he thought I had a big flush draw. Finally he says, "You're on a flush draw and you're in bad shape. I go all in."
"I call."
"Ok, let me see your draw."
"I called you."
Somewhat sheepishly he turned over AsKh and then I flipped over my hand. The Turn brought a 6 to kill any hopes he might have had and I dragged another large pot.
If I had simply called his bet on the flop I'd have extracted nothing more from him. By sticking in a somewhat big raise but leaving enough room for him to shove thinking he has fold equity I opened the door for him to use his own aggro play to hang himself. I was surprised by his holding, though. Once he shoved I really felt like he did have a large pocket pair but his shove wasn't terrible. I can't really call about $500 more with a naked flush draw especially when he reps a large pocket pair on a paired board. After the hand he even said he liked my raise because he didn't expect it from a made hand and thought he could get me off of any flush draw except a straight flush draw. Can't really disagree there, either.
This post has gotten pretty long and I've only covered the first day of poker. I'll chop up the trip recap into another post or two. Last Tuesday it was 65 degrees in AC and so I didn't play any poker. Instead I chose to see the whole boardwalk and act like a tourist. Thursday, my last night there, had some decent stories and that will be coming up next.
Atlantic City was a good time. After deducting transportation, meals, and hotel fare I still took home about $3500 playing nothing but 2/5 NL at Borgata.
Borgata charges you time at the 2/5 game to the tune of $5 per half hour instead of raking pots which ends up working out in your favor since each pot would be raked $4.
I thought it could be a good trip when I was dealt black aces in the big blind my very first hand. It folded to the button who made it $25. I made it $75 total and he flatted. The flop was A Q 5 with two hearts and I led for $65. He raised to $190. I shipped and he insta-called and turned over AQ. I turned over my top set and he just kept shaking his head and saying, "that's so sick" as the rest of the board ran out.
A few hands later an older genteman raised to $25 from the hijack and it folded to me in the big blind. I called with 5d4d and we saw a flop of 8c 6c Qh. I checked and he bet $35. I called and the turn was 3s giving me more outs. I checked and he bet $55.
I took some time here. His bet sizing on the turn made me feel like he didn't have a Queen and probably had something like 99-JJ, AJ, AK, etc. I thought I could call here and lead a lot of rivers to take the pot away from him enough times to be profitable and so I called again. The river was 9c making the final board 8c 6c Qh 3s 9c and I felt like this was a great river to bluff. By his reaction to the river card I was certain he hadn't been drawing and in fact probably had nothing in his hand.
"One fifty" I announced and before I finished speaking his cards had hit the muck. A couple hands later he asked if I had 10cJc. Online you can simply ignore the chat box but when I play live I feel like saying 'yes' to any question is probably the right way to go. Saying yes here reaffirms his "good fold" and keeps him thinking I'm a solid player who's running good. The last thing you want to do is tell the other guy you bluffed him off a better hand.
Then I went card dead for about 5 orbits meaning I either had non-playable hands or everyone folded if I raised, which was very infrequent since I mostly had non-playable hands.
The next big hand to come up was this one ...
From early position, a young and very aggressive Asian player with about $700 behind made it $25 and a new player at the table flatted from mid-position. I had 8h9h and about $1300 behind on the button and flatted while both blinds folded.
The flop came out 9s9d6s and the original raiser led for $50. The MP caller folded and I studied the board, leaning forward a little bit. I did this hoping he would think I was trying to see if they were clubs or spades to find out if I had a flush draw. For some reason his bet felt strong to me and he was leaning back in his seat and checking his phone. For some people that could mean they don't have interest in the hand, but not after a lead into 2 players. I was putting him on a pretty big overpair and felt like a smooth call would be cause for concern. If I was going to extract any extra money here I felt like sticking in a large raise to make it look like I was drawing was the way to go.
With $132 in the middle I announced a raise and made it $150 more on top. This got him to sit straight up and start looking at me to get a read. "Why so much?" he asked. "You want to take it down right here, right?"
Most of the time I stay silent but this time I simply said, "I wouldn't mind." This really got him thinking. He kept telling me he thought I had a big flush draw. Finally he says, "You're on a flush draw and you're in bad shape. I go all in."
"I call."
"Ok, let me see your draw."
"I called you."
Somewhat sheepishly he turned over AsKh and then I flipped over my hand. The Turn brought a 6 to kill any hopes he might have had and I dragged another large pot.
If I had simply called his bet on the flop I'd have extracted nothing more from him. By sticking in a somewhat big raise but leaving enough room for him to shove thinking he has fold equity I opened the door for him to use his own aggro play to hang himself. I was surprised by his holding, though. Once he shoved I really felt like he did have a large pocket pair but his shove wasn't terrible. I can't really call about $500 more with a naked flush draw especially when he reps a large pocket pair on a paired board. After the hand he even said he liked my raise because he didn't expect it from a made hand and thought he could get me off of any flush draw except a straight flush draw. Can't really disagree there, either.
This post has gotten pretty long and I've only covered the first day of poker. I'll chop up the trip recap into another post or two. Last Tuesday it was 65 degrees in AC and so I didn't play any poker. Instead I chose to see the whole boardwalk and act like a tourist. Thursday, my last night there, had some decent stories and that will be coming up next.
3.02.2010
Miscellaneous
I leave for Atlantic City on Sunday morning and will be staying there five nights. I ended up booking the Waterfront Premium Suite at Harrah's and plan on asking if I can upgrade to the corner penthouse-style suite when it's time to check-in. Right now there is still availability so I'm hoping I can get the upgrade at a discounted price.
I asked about comp for the current stay. They told me I need to get a Harrah's card and then all my comp points whilst gaming can be used for future stays. Well... no shit.
I once again asked if there is any discount for my current trip if I play X amount of hours each day. After the woman began repeating herself I just gave up. Atlantic City is no Vegas. This much I know already.
Speaking of Vegas ... my girlfriend and I might be going out there at the end of the month. One of her friends wants to have her birthday there. She's trying to get everyone to stay at Treasure Island but I have other plans. I haven't been out there since a few of the newer places were built and I can't decide between Vdara, Palazzo, and Wynn/Encore. The reviews for THEHotel at Mandalay Bay look good, too. So many options ... anyone out there have opinions?
I digress.
I've been playing a fair bit of online poker lately and am sad to say I still can't kick Rush Poker. I played $100 NL for 600 hands this morning and made 2.5 buy-ins. Nothing fancy, really. I flopped a set versus top pair top kicker to win one buy-in and had a bigger flush than my opponent for the second buy-in. The tables seemed a bit more loose which I think was a direct result of playing early in the morning against more Scandinavian and Russian players. The Germans seem to have turned into competent poker players. For a while they were the dead money at the table. Now it's the French, Romanians, Bulgarians, Hungarians and the like.
I also managed to satellite into the PokerStars Sunday Million and the Full Tilt $750,000 Guaranteed. I'm not sure if I'll play or take the $T on both sites. Actually, I take that back. I'm playing. The possibility of a six figure score or 20 more donkaments ... yeah, about that ...
I asked about comp for the current stay. They told me I need to get a Harrah's card and then all my comp points whilst gaming can be used for future stays. Well... no shit.
I once again asked if there is any discount for my current trip if I play X amount of hours each day. After the woman began repeating herself I just gave up. Atlantic City is no Vegas. This much I know already.
Speaking of Vegas ... my girlfriend and I might be going out there at the end of the month. One of her friends wants to have her birthday there. She's trying to get everyone to stay at Treasure Island but I have other plans. I haven't been out there since a few of the newer places were built and I can't decide between Vdara, Palazzo, and Wynn/Encore. The reviews for THEHotel at Mandalay Bay look good, too. So many options ... anyone out there have opinions?
I digress.
I've been playing a fair bit of online poker lately and am sad to say I still can't kick Rush Poker. I played $100 NL for 600 hands this morning and made 2.5 buy-ins. Nothing fancy, really. I flopped a set versus top pair top kicker to win one buy-in and had a bigger flush than my opponent for the second buy-in. The tables seemed a bit more loose which I think was a direct result of playing early in the morning against more Scandinavian and Russian players. The Germans seem to have turned into competent poker players. For a while they were the dead money at the table. Now it's the French, Romanians, Bulgarians, Hungarians and the like.
I also managed to satellite into the PokerStars Sunday Million and the Full Tilt $750,000 Guaranteed. I'm not sure if I'll play or take the $T on both sites. Actually, I take that back. I'm playing. The possibility of a six figure score or 20 more donkaments ... yeah, about that ...
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