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.





Wednesday, 30 April 2014

When I hand read well/When I hand read poorly

Hello.

Just played some Zoom, played a really good session until the last hand (had to quit as I was gutted).

I can't help but think that I wouldn't have made that kind of mistake when I was playing regularly, but before I explain let's look at a hand I played well tonight so that it's not all zoom and gloom.


PokerStars Zoom Hand #115533679195:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2014/04/30 21:54:02 WET [2014/04/30 16:54:02 ET]
Table 'Whirlpool' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: simdiggity ($29.16 in chips)
Seat 2: player_musa ($15.43 in chips)
Seat 3: angelAA315 ($30.43 in chips)
Seat 4: kajos_126 ($78.16 in chips)
Seat 5: robgomes ($28.61 in chips)
Seat 6: BmwSport888 ($80.72 in chips)
Seat 7: crazyfrancis ($26 in chips)
Seat 8: Me ($29.76 in chips)
Seat 9: syglaej ($12.50 in chips)
player_musa: posts small blind $0.10
angelAA315: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Me [Js Qh]
kajos_126: folds
robgomes: folds
BmwSport888: folds
crazyfrancis: folds
Me: raises $0.50 to $0.75
syglaej: folds
simdiggity: calls $0.75
player_musa: folds
angelAA315: folds
*** FLOP *** [6s Qs 6c]
Me: bets $1
simdiggity: calls $1

I don't think it's that thin despite my poor kicker, as most combinations of perhaps 77 through JJ might call a c-bet, and even worse sometimes. I don't know much about my opponent, although over a small sample he seems somewhat competent.

*** TURN *** [6s Qs 6c] [Kc]
Me: checks
simdiggity: bets $1.50
Me: calls $1.50

His line doesn't seem that likely. There are very few feasible hands that can value bet here, like KQ or quads really. Plus something about his bet timing seemed off: In other words I had one of those gut feelings that he was trying it on.

*** RIVER *** [6s Qs 6c Kc] [4c]
Me: checks
simdiggity: bets $3
Me: calls $3
*** SHOW DOWN ***
simdiggity: shows [8s 8d] (two pair, Eights and Sixes)
Me: shows [Js Qh] (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
Me collected $12.27 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12.85 | Rake $0.58
Board [6s Qs 6c Kc 4c]
Seat 1: simdiggity (button) showed [8s 8d] and lost with two pair, Eights and Sixes
Seat 2: player_musa (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: angelAA315 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: kajos_126 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: robgomes folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: BmwSport888 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: crazyfrancis folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Me showed [Js Qh] and won ($12.27) with two pair, Queens and Sixes
Seat 9: syglaej folded before Flop (didn't bet)

For the rest of the session I felt that I played so well, and then to misread the board (well, make a terrible call)...

PokerStars Zoom Hand #115534863338:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2014/04/30 22:19:19 WET [2014/04/30 17:19:19 ET]
Table 'Whirlpool' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: ercan008 ($49.61 in chips)
Seat 2: Badger4515 ($25.71 in chips)
Seat 3: Me ($29.60 in chips)
Seat 4: space311 ($23.05 in chips)
Seat 5: CrunkPIMP ($35.89 in chips)
Seat 6: Vedmegatko ($25.71 in chips)
Seat 7: tigriskem ($59.13 in chips)
Seat 8: jr_stroke ($98.36 in chips)
Seat 9: lepa308 ($31.06 in chips)
Badger4515: posts small blind $0.10
Me: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Me [Ac As]
space311: folds
CrunkPIMP: folds
Vedmegatko: folds
tigriskem: folds
jr_stroke: folds
lepa308: folds
ercan008: raises $0.50 to $0.75
Badger4515: folds
Me: raises $2 to $2.75
ercan008: calls $2
*** FLOP *** [7c 6s 5h]
Me: bets $3
ercan008: calls $3
*** TURN *** [7c 6s 5h] [7d]
Me: checks

My opponent is a semi - lag over a small sample and seemed to like playing turns so far. So the check was designed to allow him to bet - and I think he probably would have with his air and draws, so when he checks back I should assume he's got 'something'.

ercan008: checks
*** RIVER *** [7c 6s 5h 7d] [9h]
Me: bets $5.50

My plan to induce the turn fails, so I tried to seek thin river value. Unfortunately I misread the board and didn't see that it was a gut-shot four-straight. When he shipped I just figured it extremely unlikely that he's got 99 (and I ruled out any flop set due to his turn play) and I snap called. Of course the extra 6 combinations of 88 that I didn't consider would probably have swayed me into choosing the correct play - which I'm sure was to fold. 

Even if the straight wasn't possible, I still think it would have been right to fold. Perhaps I was over-confident after the earlier read, but river raises tend to be even more dangerous than turn ones. I can't remember the last time I caught a river raise bluff.

ercan008: raises $38.36 to $43.86 and is all-in
Me: calls $18.35 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($20.01) returned to ercan008
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ercan008: shows [8d 8c] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Me: shows [Ac As] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
ercan008 collected $57.30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $59.30 | Rake $2
Board [7c 6s 5h 7d 9h]
Seat 1: ercan008 (button) showed [8d 8c] and won ($57.30) with a straight, Five to Nine
Seat 2: Badger4515 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Me (big blind) showed [Ac As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 4: space311 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: CrunkPIMP folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Vedmegatko folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: tigriskem folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: jr_stroke folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: lepa308 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

So I played a great session, but then one hand that has probably wiped out every cent of profit I've made since my return. 

Perhaps if I played more I could eradicate that sort of mistake from my game and become the solid reg that I once was. And maybe if I ever get enough free time to devote to poker again I'll try to regain that standard. 

For now though, I don't have enough time because of my career. But I won't stop playing and I'll share my mistakes - and I'll try not to get too upset about it!

GL

1 comment:

  1. Hi Andrew,
    Thank you for your post.
    Sorry it has taken so long to respond - you've probably gathered that I don't log in very often any more.
    I'm certainly not against posting advertising on here, but I simply don't receive a lot of traffic, so I don't think I'd generate enough hits/clicks to make it worth it. I quite like it that those people that do occasionally visit here can see that I'm unbiased - I have no affiliation with any organisation and I'm merely trying to make money from the game through playing competitively.
    Perhaps I'd think differently if I was managing to get a few hundred visits daily!
    Simon

    ReplyDelete