I can resume blogging now that I finished my thesis

Had a really rough stretch mid-October

The newbie circle of death
A really good article from another poker site
Consider me a newbie @ 100NL full ring
I was lucky I lost so damn little during my low points, when I was open-limping 72s



Lesson learned at a cheap price

From now on
1) Play fewer tables -- I can't handle more than 6
2) Table select better -- put away my ego and target the fish
3) Play like I care about the money

Blog entries are incomplete without recent hand analyses:

Oct 29 PM
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305858 QTh not the worst stacking off but certainly not optimally played
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305861 86d ......
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305859 AJd can't possibly misplay this one
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305863 64h decent extraction
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305866 QJh turn puke
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305867 99 let's just say opponent is a donkey

Oct 29 late night. Excellent opponent selection on this day.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305308 Q8h the well-discussed weak fold
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305321 QQ Stack-a-donk part I
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305326 Q2d Stack-a-donk part II
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305323 KQc I think ppazz was totally confused by my strong donkbet
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305322 T9d Successful stack-a-donk. Even if he simply missed on river I would still scoop up a 200BB pot.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305857 QQ =( Please fold turn

Oct 30 PM
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305708 97 Based on opponent's play I wasn't scared by the turn 10 at all.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305715 KJ In retrospect it was a bad turn check. Trip Kings are not going anywhere, while I miss significant value from flush draws.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305757 AA Not exactly a fist-pump shove but Aces held
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305775 66 Satisfactory extraction
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/305782 QQ Zero marks for style

I can't lose

Snuck 2 sessions in amidst busy schoolwork. Made 1k or so:



Hands on Thursday. Winning hands are unspectacular at best:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293529 QQ me not good enough to fold set
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293530 JTd stacking a regular
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293531 K6s worth a LOL
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293532 66 when he called turn I put him on big hearts, so I didn't know how I survived river
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293533 AK opponent doesn't want to go all-in against me
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293534 QJd easy bluff

Disasters
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293542 AQ multiway TPTK = total mess
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293537 AK recklessness backfired
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293536 87c hate to admit I was outplayed
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293535 AKc I was only slightly ahead of QsQx, so I should just call and reevaluate turn. Or just fold preflop since opponent was nitty.

Friday. Hard to lose money when I don't stack off much. Hands:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293518 66 overset against a nit regular (lol @ flop minraise)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293519 55 an opponent who will pay me off is more important than having a big hand myself
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293522 AA biggest loss on this day
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293521 KK automatic stacking
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/293520 AA same opponent can't get away with pulling crap twice in a row

A satisfactory session, money-wise, that saw me crack 10k for a moment. Didn't stay because I was a donkey



Bluffs
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290712 99 Didn't think opponent liked those middle cards out there
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/291500 97s Representing the flush amidst other made hands vs a flopturnriver.com regular

LOL
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290724 QQ Limping for set value. Opponent was quite tight, 16/9, and therefore I was surprised he played that hand
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/291498 JJ Reraised pot against a regular, good flop.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/291499 TT Can't really play it wrong

Misplays
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/291501 AK against a familiar nitty nit. Where was the displine that I showed a few days ago?
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/291505 AA Didn't stay over 10k because of this. Too embarrassed, at first, to post this as a public hand
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/291506 QQ Even though it was a bad beat I probably misplayed it on the flop

March to 10k. Not There yet

Big wins are still here. On the flip side I stacked off too much esp. during the night session



Hands

Sunday pm

Good fold(?)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290899 KQh I wanna call so bad, but opponent bet flop multiway and continued aggression, so I really can't see what I beat

Big bluff (an unsuccessful one)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290060 44 better chance of a successful bluff would be 1) bet-3bet AI on flop or 2) c/r flop and AI on turn. By the time he bet so large on turn I should have told myself to pack it in.

Bad beat
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290056 33 My 87% flop equity translated into a broken heart and mild tilt

LOL Hands
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290052 K3s Soon after that 33 hand -- this is how to transfer your tilt to you opponent.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290053 32d ROFLMAO

Sunday evening

Big pots
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290236 AT good river allows me to get the most -- otherwise I would have flat-called
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290906 Q9s Yes Pokerstars make my day
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290908 QQ worked out at the end, but during the hand I was worrying about a lot of stuff
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290909 QQ outlasting the drawer

~Barf~
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290914 J9d ROFL for my opponent I guess
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290915 A9h Please somebody tell me aloud "There's no fold equity"
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290916 KQ Stacking off with one pair, although I wasn't too displeased

LOL Hands

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290913 86s raised pot pretty good flop
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/290165 84c Ship Ship

Another session during which I run at those shitty PT numbers. Shitty except PTBB/100:



I ran really hot at the beginning, but cooled off at the end. Luckily, and again, not many postflop squabbles, and not many suckouts against.

Lots of big pots tonight:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289721 AA Seriously I'd fold if I do not hold my lucky charm (Ad)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289720 22 Dream come true flop
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289719 AA On the good side of the confrontation
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289717 99 Set of 8s no good. A somewhat bad suckout in my favor, but I got the rest of my stack in to compensate for bad pot odds.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289718 J9h Set of 8s no good. Same nit who earlier raped my Kings.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289716 J9c Set of 8s no good
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289715 QTc Set of 8s no good (lol theme is getting old)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289713 AKc I was only worried about preflop coldcaller

Cooler (or is it?)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289723 KK against a nit, I kind of saw it coming, but couldn't fold it at the end.

Big Bluff
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/289722 97s Judging from the chat I think opponent got bluffed out.

I made like 3k in 100NL in the past week
Why am I playing 100NL with a 9k bankroll I don't know

Made almost $600 on this day. Early norning session was a huge grind. The evening session was more prolific money-wise.



Morning session: Play wasn't bad. I just couldn't get into a roll. Lost a 200BB pot with an underset. Lost another buy-in+ with a weirdly-played JJ hand. Lost 2 moderate pots to bad beats. You know not everything went smoothly when 64 suited was your winningest hand.

Bad beat

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287503 KK suckout against #1. A 12-outer, so it wasn't that gross.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287504 AQd Once the big-stack got out I decided to felt this. Got an instant call and got hit right between the eyeballs.

Pwned
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287506 JJ At the time I was only afraid of UTG, and I already decided to push if he showed weakness.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287507 66 I was hoping opponent was overplaying top pair good kicker. WRONG.

Big defensive plays
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287508 AA I guess I could take solace on good damage control

Big wins
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287510 22 Reraised pot, dream situation
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287511 64h Should've folded to the UTG raise

Evening session: Almost 9 PTBB/100 hands are nice. Preflop was quite loose, but I didn't get into many post-flop mess. Although there were 2 or 3 spots when I missed quite a bit of value. Let's not overlook these mistakes amidst success.

Big win:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288134 88 Sadly this was the biggest pot for me on this night. And it didn't come without scare.

Bad beat
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288144 AA Disregard the suckout -- the limp reraise still works at this level

Big defensive plays
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288113 KK Don't think KsKd is good 5-handed on a all-heart flop, against a surprising flop lead
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288093 KK Another disaster averted whew good displine on my part
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288166 AQ No point raising when my hand was obvious as hell

Big Bluff
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288064 44 Opponent is a nitty regular. I wasn't calling down trying to catch a set.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288099 AKh Getting an opponent to fold QQ/JJ (that's what he admitted afterwards)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288119 AQs 3 half-pot bets by my opponent didn't convince me he's got a strong hand, so I threw in a river check-raise with my missed spades.

Missed value
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288135 33 I was afraid opponent will check-fold his apparent TP/overpair on turn if I put in another strong bet. It didn't help that the river was a heart.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/288136 52d Significant missed value in this one. My weak-tight self made me think opponent was on a better diamond draw.

Pwning NL100ers, 4th session in a row

Actually I wasn't. The money kept rolling in, but my plays were suboptimal.

Leaks

1) VPIP = 19. Kind of high. Higher than my usual 16-17. Especially when I am 8-tabling, 2 more than how many I usually play. Too much cold-call preflop with suited crap
2) AF -- horrible. I don't care about PF AF, but the 3 post-flop numbers of 2.1 / 1.1 / 1.1 are all cut by ~1 from my usual numbers. I almost felt like a calling station
3) Getting complacent. For what -- flopping straights and hitting my draws? Leading to me making carefree, spewtard, expensive postflop mistakes (vide supra)



Hands

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287346 A9h I didn't get his weak turn raise. Is that for value? Didn't seem like it. I decided that like me, he was drawing, and accepted his somewhat cheap showdown.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287349 QTd Aces cracked
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287351 QTs River setup
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287353 55 My only productive set of the session, against a full-o-sheit opponent
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287355 A7h Looking back at my play makes me want to puke
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287359 AKd Satisfactory extraction
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287361 88 Stupid flop shove against somebody who, despite his user name, hasn't played much til now, made large bets and seemed eager for action
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/287362 K3d I played like my chips were on fire

NL100 full ring heater

My poker hiatus lasts for all of 2 weeks. My excuse was I had to play enough poker to maintain my Goldstar status. So I resumed playing Sept 27th.

In addition to +5.8 PTBB over 4k hands in NL100 6max, I achieved surreal success in full ring. This despite all those horrible PT numbers -- PFR%, AF and all that stuff. Is NL100 that soft? I find people rather nitty and predictable preflop and not very good postflop.



Doesn't hurt when my opponents play like idiots on so many occasions:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286556 QJd value-shoving a rivered flush
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286551 T7d another flush, another value shove
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286542 44 correctly played set on my part.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286541 AA Instant call with a gutshot nice yo
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/282646 33 Nice flop call you donk

2 well played hands
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286554 33 I was able to get him pot-committed before he sensed trouble
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286388 JJ Normally I don't felt a weak overpair like this, but when they couldn't come over the top of my flop raise I knew I had the best hand -- they were on TP or draws

Difficult to misplay these
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286384 AA Reraised pot, top set vs TPTK
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/282645 QQ Reraised pot, overset
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/282644 KK 4-bet pot, more of the same
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286387 Q7d spew-tard preflop, no more problem after flopping flush.

Misplays (Lost pot, missed value, suckout, etc)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/282647 Q4c Me too weak-tight to shove over block-bet. Yikes.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286395 KK I was putting opponent on some Queen only. Hence a pointless turn check-raise and missed value on river.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286545 T8s I knew that flop cold call was scary. But I didn't care enough. Bad bad bad.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/286540 AA I knew opponent was short, but on the other hand I wasn't beating anything other than random bluffs.

Bunch'a old hands that never saw the light of day

72 Pulling crap near the end of a session
A3 Heads-up, fast-playing a flopped boat
88 Sucks to be pirindolo (the shortie in SB)
A6h Semibluffing off my entire stack -- should've called those min-bets and hit before jamming, especially against this donkey
A4h Turned wheel didn't hold up T_T
97d I hate this guy. More on him next hand which happened later.
J9d Even bigger pot, bigger suckout (who can blame him for jamming, though)
A8 3-barrel bluffing, Blind vs Blind
TT I thought opponent made this play based on the folding equity that he imposed. Look at the board -- giving him more hope each street -- until the showdown.
AKd Barging through an overpair
AJd Reraised pot, TP+FD vs resistance. Hmm......
44 Lovely set
KQh Didn't really deserve this one

Some NL50 hands
KQ Thank you opponent for not raising PF with AK and going broke with top pair.
22 Shouldn't have slow-played this one -- if he had no 9 he ain't going broke.
AQ This is what I should save my bluffing money for
KK Fuck him for catching trips after calling that massive preflop reraise, but at the end he got what he deserved
KK LOL @ minraiser
99 Lucky turn "call out of disbelief"
JJ Setted against =(
AA Fake-misclick worked, kind of. I mean, he called that massive overbet to pull a 2-out suckout with not much money behind.
QJs Superstraight
AA Black Aces hold up? That's nice
JJ Undersetting against QQ