I'm enjoying the single rebuy and add-on tournaments a lot lately. They aren't turbo structured so there is a lot of room for making moves during these tournaments. I think the optimal strategy is to use your rebuy immediately and play it like a freezeout for the first hour.
Last night I played 2 of these and a lot of players are calling off massive amounts of chips with a single pair in their hand - me likey.
It's a very advantageous format for people used to deep stacked cash games. If you've played fairly well or not run into any crippling beats or coolers you should be able to add-on and have at 40+ bb's behind.
I'm completely done with all turbo tournaments. I had managed to final table a couple of these and took that to mean I'm "good" at them. No. The blinds and antes skyrocket so much that it's merely luck.
I've done well with avoiding the turbos unless I decide to play SnG's which is a different animal. Not much going on with cash games lately. I haven't had enough time to study up on PLO to feel like it's profitable for me to sit down and play.
And the Hold Em games on Full Tilt are too rockish to hold my interest. I enjoy tournaments a lot and am actually starting to learn how to take the bad beats in stride (I have a short temper).
I think a lot of it has to do with using my girlfriend's laptop while traveling. I won't think twice about breaking my own mouse or keyboard in a moment of weakness but I respect other people's things too much to ever get that angry. So... helpful by proxy I suppose.
Plus I'm in a hotel so I can't exactly start yelling swears at 2 AM. I mean... I could, but then I'd find myself driving down the street looking for Vacancy signs. And that's no fun.
5.17.2010
4.23.2010
Low Volume
I haven't been playing or think about poker much lately. My regular job has me traveling from Boston to Princeton, NJ every week. I leave on Monday mornings and go back to my girlfriend on Saturday mornings. It will taper off but for now it is what it is.
Last night I took 4th in a smallish $10 rebuy for $1400 which was nice. I was cripped when my AcQc lost to Ad6h all-in preflop. I busted when I ran KJo into A8o and didn't catch. FTOPS is going on now and I plan on playing a few events. Would be nice to bink one and get a gold jersy.
I've also been playing, and having much success, in the 145 Man Rush Poker tournaments.
Cash games have been break even for the most part with profit coming from rakeback but I'm starting to get the desire to focus on tournaments again. I think that desire will always be there until I can manage a solid 5 digit or 6 digit score because I know I'm capable of multiple ones. I've gotten close three times now by final table bubbling some large events.
Last night I took 4th in a smallish $10 rebuy for $1400 which was nice. I was cripped when my AcQc lost to Ad6h all-in preflop. I busted when I ran KJo into A8o and didn't catch. FTOPS is going on now and I plan on playing a few events. Would be nice to bink one and get a gold jersy.
I've also been playing, and having much success, in the 145 Man Rush Poker tournaments.
Cash games have been break even for the most part with profit coming from rakeback but I'm starting to get the desire to focus on tournaments again. I think that desire will always be there until I can manage a solid 5 digit or 6 digit score because I know I'm capable of multiple ones. I've gotten close three times now by final table bubbling some large events.
4.07.2010
Change of Plans
I've decided to start off on the 40 bb short-stacked PLO tables on Full Tilt and so far it's working out pretty well.
The beauty of these tables are that with a single 3-bet and call you're all in on the flop and so difficult decisions on later streets are taken out of the equation.
This makes hands like AAxx and KKxx far easier to play than when you're sitting there with 180 bb's and facing a big decision.
As I get more confidence in my PLO game I'll move to 100 BB tables where position is the most important thing in the world, but being able to calculate your outs/odds quickly is a close second. It should be obvious what types of hands to play in PLO ... very coordinated and suited hands plus your hands like AA67, etc.
QQxx and JJxx are almost worthless. AKxx isn't far behind.
Yesterday I won 5 buy-ins and this morning I lost 3.5 - I've been told this is very standard.
The beauty of these tables are that with a single 3-bet and call you're all in on the flop and so difficult decisions on later streets are taken out of the equation.
This makes hands like AAxx and KKxx far easier to play than when you're sitting there with 180 bb's and facing a big decision.
As I get more confidence in my PLO game I'll move to 100 BB tables where position is the most important thing in the world, but being able to calculate your outs/odds quickly is a close second. It should be obvious what types of hands to play in PLO ... very coordinated and suited hands plus your hands like AA67, etc.
QQxx and JJxx are almost worthless. AKxx isn't far behind.
Yesterday I won 5 buy-ins and this morning I lost 3.5 - I've been told this is very standard.
3.30.2010
PLOwnage
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.
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.
3.26.2010
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.
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