Welcome

Hello all, welcome to my online poker blog.

I've been playing on and off for a decade after being introduced by a friend.

I played regularly for a few years during the poker boom and had a decent record at the micros, particularly Rush and Zoom No Limit Hold'em games (here's one of my graphs).

Around 2012 I began a new career which involved immersing myself completely in study in my spare time, so I had little to no time for poker. However recently this burden has eased and so I have been gradually dipping back in.

I'm an amateur player who still hopes to some day beat the rake.





Thursday 4 July 2013

Hands of the Day

Thought I might start sharing more hand histories because:
1/ I don't care what anyone thinks about my play any more
2/ It will very probably make my blog more interesting reading!

Number #1 : Making a nitty fold

PokerStars Zoom Hand #100973187172:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2013/07/04 21:43:19 WET [2013/07/04 16:43:19 ET]
Table 'Arp' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Little_Watz ($43 in chips)
Seat 2: BeppoSon ($58.71 in chips)
Seat 3: Harry_Lion ($52.68 in chips)
Seat 4: kadianika ($37.81 in chips)
Seat 5: tanfoglio107 ($50 in chips)
Seat 6: Misteriouz66 ($60.98 in chips)
Seat 7: Yi1688 ($43.87 in chips)
Seat 8: FrancoViola ($59.14 in chips)
Seat 9: BankoBet ($55.62 in chips)
BeppoSon: posts small blind $0.25
Harry_Lion: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BankoBet [Qs Jd]
kadianika: calls $0.50
tanfoglio107: folds
Misteriouz66: folds
Yi1688: folds
FrancoViola: folds
BankoBet: raises $1.50 to $2
Little_Watz: folds
BeppoSon: folds
Harry_Lion: folds
kadianika: calls $1.50
*** FLOP *** [7s 7d Qc]
kadianika: bets $4.50
BankoBet: calls $4.50

This is the decision I wanted to show, and weak/tight/nitty as it sounds I think I should have folded immediately here. My opponent has demonstrated very passive tendencies so far and while passive-pre-flop/aggro-monkey-post-flop players do exist they are definitely in the minority. The pot sized bet tells me he likes his hand and it's likely to cost me much more than four fiddy to see a showdown with top pair third best kicker.

*** TURN *** [7s 7d Qc] [5c]
kadianika: bets $5
BankoBet: folds
Uncalled bet ($5) returned to kadianika
kadianika collected $13.13 from pot
kadianika: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $13.75 | Rake $0.62
Board [7s 7d Qc 5c]
Seat 1: Little_Watz (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: BeppoSon (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Harry_Lion (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: kadianika collected ($13.13)
Seat 5: tanfoglio107 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Misteriouz66 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Yi1688 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: FrancoViola folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: BankoBet folded on the Turn

Number #2 : Second nut draw against passive aggression

PokerStars Zoom Hand #100973585458:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2013/07/04 21:50:56 WET [2013/07/04 16:50:56 ET]
Table 'Arp' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: dída ($39.62 in chips)
Seat 2: hahaChina ($22.25 in chips)
Seat 3: ieatRollz ($50.08 in chips)
Seat 4: Ogel1 ($49.75 in chips)
Seat 5: BankoBet ($50 in chips)
Seat 6: mirjam91 ($37.35 in chips)
Seat 7: kadianika ($47.95 in chips)
Seat 8: Vermont VII ($60.04 in chips)
Seat 9: bschwarz56 ($18.48 in chips)
hahaChina: posts small blind $0.25
ieatRollz: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BankoBet [Jd Jh]
Ogel1: raises $1.50 to $2
BankoBet: calls $2

I don't call with many hands in early position to early position raises but JJ is one of them. Actually on this subject, I think my early/middle position strategy facing a raise is seriously flawed. I play a very face up range and at 50NL it might not matter but if I ever move higher then it surely will. 

mirjam91: folds
kadianika: calls $2
Vermont VII: folds
bschwarz56: folds
dída: folds
hahaChina: folds
ieatRollz: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ah Qh 3h]
Ogel1: checks
BankoBet: checks

I think I should bet here.

kadianika: bets $3.50
Ogel1: folds
BankoBet: calls $3.50

Opponent is loose passive over a very small sample but this situation is why I think it was better to bet first. Do I call and draw to the second nuts? Check raise bluffing a passive player is not generally good strategy. Still, I don't think it's a huge mistake - after all I was getting ~33% from the pot with some implied odds if I hit. 

*** TURN *** [Ah Qh 3h] [4d]
BankoBet: checks
kadianika: bets $6.50
BankoBet: folds

Falling implied odds versus a range that's looking stronger by the second lead me to ditch my draw. 

Uncalled bet ($6.50) returned to kadianika
kadianika collected $13.13 from pot
kadianika: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $13.75 | Rake $0.62
Board [Ah Qh 3h 4d]
Seat 1: dída (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: hahaChina (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: ieatRollz (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Ogel1 folded on the Flop
Seat 5: BankoBet folded on the Turn
Seat 6: mirjam91 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: kadianika collected ($13.13)
Seat 8: Vermont VII folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: bschwarz56 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Number #3 : Another nitty fold

PokerStars Zoom Hand #100972232620:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2013/07/04 21:25:52 WET [2013/07/04 16:25:52 ET]
Table 'Arp' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: vladibeest ($40.80 in chips)
Seat 2: JoooooooooJ ($57.52 in chips)
Seat 3: iLikeSnow ($46.25 in chips)
Seat 4: BankoBet ($50 in chips)
Seat 5: Cisko555 ($59.71 in chips)
Seat 6: Bossi22 ($51.61 in chips)
Seat 7: ozazello ($52.13 in chips)
Seat 8: mlnrrbrt ($101.98 in chips)
Seat 9: Kayvorle1 ($21.83 in chips)
JoooooooooJ: posts small blind $0.25
iLikeSnow: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BankoBet [Qh Ah]
BankoBet: raises $1 to $1.50
Cisko555: folds
Bossi22: folds
ozazello: folds
mlnrrbrt: calls $1.50
Kayvorle1: folds
vladibeest: calls $1.50
JoooooooooJ: folds
iLikeSnow: folds
*** FLOP *** [9c 3c Qd]
BankoBet: bets $3
mlnrrbrt: calls $3
vladibeest: folds
*** TURN *** [9c 3c Qd] [4c]

Villain is a semi-loose but solid regular. 

BankoBet: checks
mlnrrbrt: bets $5.50

This is the interesting bit. Against a fairly tight flop calling range - and assuming TT and JJ are checking back this turn pretty often - my equity makes a call here around break even (if I've done the maths right). So assuming check folding and check calling are even, is it profitable to turn AQ into a bluff? {Either by c-betting again or check raising}. I will need to do some working out to answer this question and I don't have time right now. Perhaps someone else can answer and post a comment below. 

BankoBet: folds
Uncalled bet ($5.50) returned to mlnrrbrt
mlnrrbrt collected $10.74 from pot
mlnrrbrt: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $11.25 | Rake $0.51
Board [9c 3c Qd 4c]
Seat 1: vladibeest (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: JoooooooooJ (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: iLikeSnow (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: BankoBet folded on the Turn
Seat 5: Cisko555 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Bossi22 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: ozazello folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: mlnrrbrt collected ($10.74)
Seat 9: Kayvorle1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

There were a few other hands that I mis-played and one or two that I played well too but I think that's enough for one night. 

Some of these decisions might seem completely trivial, but I'm not a great player and I find range dissection interesting. I love the way that in poker a hand can be bet for value on one street and then as a bluff on the next. That's where poker's beauty lies in my humble opinion. 

GL! 

No comments:

Post a Comment