"November has tied me to an old dead tree
get word to April to rescue me"
- Tom Waits 'November'
Saturday, October 31, 2009
November
October: The Results
60 hours of online poker...
210 tubo sit 'n go's
21 heads-up matches
7 multi-table tournaments
1247 hands of heads-up and six-max cash games
I put in the hours and the hands
but still,
it was a very slow month...
The bottom line:
+$123,85
It's not much but...
Hey, at least I am not a loser!
210 tubo sit 'n go's
21 heads-up matches
7 multi-table tournaments
1247 hands of heads-up and six-max cash games
I put in the hours and the hands
but still,
it was a very slow month...
The bottom line:
+$123,85
It's not much but...
Hey, at least I am not a loser!
6-Max Strategy Tips
Six great strategy tips on no-limit hold 'em 6-max cash games:
- Open-limping is very fishy...
- Open-bet with a wide range (especially from late position) but avoid playing complete trash.
- Mix-up your 3bet range.
- Winning the blinds should always make you happy.
- Avoid big pots with marginal hands (the valley of unhappiness is never far away)
- Activate your Boom Switch by sending a sufficient amount of $$$ to VagabondBXL on Full Tilt.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Stacked That Dude!
Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 344186
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
MP: $51.25
CO: $39.85
BTN: $20.20
SB: $35.35
Hero (BB): $55.90
UTG: $6.55
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 4
A
2 folds, CO raises to $1.50, BTN calls $1.50, SB calls $1.25, Hero calls $1
Flop: ($6.00) 6 5
3 (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $5, BTN folds, SB calls $5, Hero calls $5
Turn: ($21.00) 8 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks
River: ($21.00) Q (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $10, CO raises to $33.35 all in, SB folds, Hero calls $23.35
Final Pot: $87.70
CO shows K 7
(a flush, King high) 'nice hand, sir'
Hero shows 4 A (a flush, Ace high)
'just stacked that fish...'
Hero wins $84.70
(Rake: $3.00)
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
MP: $51.25
CO: $39.85
BTN: $20.20
SB: $35.35
Hero (BB): $55.90
UTG: $6.55
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 4
A2 folds, CO raises to $1.50, BTN calls $1.50, SB calls $1.25, Hero calls $1
Flop: ($6.00) 6
5 3 (4 players)SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $5, BTN folds, SB calls $5, Hero calls $5
Turn: ($21.00) 8
(3 players)SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks
River: ($21.00) Q
(3 players)SB checks, Hero bets $10, CO raises to $33.35 all in, SB folds, Hero calls $23.35
Final Pot: $87.70
CO shows K
7 (a flush, King high) 'nice hand, sir'Hero shows 4
A (a flush, Ace high)'just stacked that fish...'
Hero wins $84.70
(Rake: $3.00)
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Out Of Luck
A friendly home game of poker on a rainy Saturday night.
Sounds like a plan.
...and it was:
a great game.
But after about 6 hours I ended up right were I started. Break-even.
Although I took down numerous small pots all night long; in the big pots it all went wrong
(over and over again).
An unspeakable run of filthy cards turned my stone cold nuts into a split pot
(twice).
... and a miraculous one-outer got hit on the river
(leaving me hanging on in quiet desperation).
*
To turn my luck around I decided to skip the daily self-inflicted pain of playing 8 Sit 'n Go's.
So I started playing $0.25/$0.50 6max cash games on Full Tilt.
There's a series of great 6max- strategy videos by Jon Ettinger on PokerVT.
After watching the first few, I just had to try out my newly discovered wisdom.
I had a great start...
right until my pocket kings ran into a flopped set of sevens.
Acceptable variance.
No worries, slowly I made my way back up...
*
Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 338683
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
SB: $53.80
BB: $52.25
UTG: $34.05
MP: $14.75
CO: $76.55
Hero (BTN): $48.75
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 2 2
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, SB raises to $6, 1 fold, Hero calls $4.25
The SB is a very loose, aggressive player.
I saw him make this play a few times: 3betting pre-flop and donk-betting about full pot on any flop. The implied odds for deuces against his playing style are great: hit a set and stack that dude or get out quick and quietly.
There's absolutely nothing that can go wrong here.
Flop: ($12.50) 5 3 2 (2 players)
SB bets $10, Hero raises to $42.75 all in, SB calls $32.75
Bing Blang Blaow; I got him right were I wanted.
Happily I shove my remaining stack.
Finally a perfectly executed perfect plan!
Turn: ($98.00) T (2 players - 1 is all in)
River: ($98.00) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $98.00
SB shows T T (three of a kind, Tens)
... ouch ... (silence) ...
Hero shows 2 2 (three of a kind, Twos)
SB wins $95.00
(Rake: $3.00)
*
So,
I study and I play.
Then I study more and play some more.
After that I study and I ...
Somehow it doesn't pay off.
Got all the moves
but no $$$
People keep telling me about the long run.
Overcoming variance and win steady over a considerable amount of hands and time.
How considerable?
How long?
Might run out of luck long before the long run.
(or out of hope)
Should I turn to religion?
Slaughter a cow, dance down the street dressed in feathers, howl to the moon or burn incense for the Great Buddah?
... Sell my soul to the Devil maybe?
For a nice deposit bonus and Special Soul Points (for free gear) I might consider it. Should be Ev+
Sounds like a plan.
...and it was:
a great game.
But after about 6 hours I ended up right were I started. Break-even.
Although I took down numerous small pots all night long; in the big pots it all went wrong
(over and over again).
An unspeakable run of filthy cards turned my stone cold nuts into a split pot
(twice).
... and a miraculous one-outer got hit on the river
(leaving me hanging on in quiet desperation).
*
To turn my luck around I decided to skip the daily self-inflicted pain of playing 8 Sit 'n Go's.
So I started playing $0.25/$0.50 6max cash games on Full Tilt.
There's a series of great 6max- strategy videos by Jon Ettinger on PokerVT.
After watching the first few, I just had to try out my newly discovered wisdom.
I had a great start...
right until my pocket kings ran into a flopped set of sevens.
Acceptable variance.
No worries, slowly I made my way back up...
*
Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 338683
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
SB: $53.80
BB: $52.25
UTG: $34.05
MP: $14.75
CO: $76.55
Hero (BTN): $48.75
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 2
23 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, SB raises to $6, 1 fold, Hero calls $4.25
The SB is a very loose, aggressive player.
I saw him make this play a few times: 3betting pre-flop and donk-betting about full pot on any flop. The implied odds for deuces against his playing style are great: hit a set and stack that dude or get out quick and quietly.
There's absolutely nothing that can go wrong here.
Flop: ($12.50) 5
3 2 (2 players)SB bets $10, Hero raises to $42.75 all in, SB calls $32.75
Bing Blang Blaow; I got him right were I wanted.
Happily I shove my remaining stack.
Finally a perfectly executed perfect plan!
Turn: ($98.00) T
(2 players - 1 is all in)River: ($98.00) 7
(2 players - 1 is all in)Final Pot: $98.00
SB shows T
T (three of a kind, Tens)... ouch ... (silence) ...
Hero shows 2
2 (three of a kind, Twos)SB wins $95.00
(Rake: $3.00)
*
So,
I study and I play.
Then I study more and play some more.
After that I study and I ...
Somehow it doesn't pay off.
Got all the moves
but no $$$
People keep telling me about the long run.
Overcoming variance and win steady over a considerable amount of hands and time.
How considerable?
How long?
Might run out of luck long before the long run.
(or out of hope)
Should I turn to religion?
Slaughter a cow, dance down the street dressed in feathers, howl to the moon or burn incense for the Great Buddah?
... Sell my soul to the Devil maybe?
For a nice deposit bonus and Special Soul Points (for free gear) I might consider it. Should be Ev+
Monday, October 19, 2009
Deep Run In The Double Deuce
Last night I signed up for The $200K Guaranteed Double Deuce multi-table tournament at Full Tilt Poker.
It became a long journey, deep into the autumn night...
The tourney starts at 22h22 (Brussels time).
So, with 10718 participants and a deep-stacked blind-structure the final table doesn't take place before sunrise.
While the night unfolds, players get knocked out, the blinds rise. The hour is getting late...
Somehow the dream of final tabling hits.
Filthy richness is just the turn of a few cards away.
First place pays about $30K.
Pretty good value for a $22 investement.
Alas, the dream got shredded to pieces in my 305th hand of the night:
I shoved pocket sixes on the button, got called and lost it all...
Busted out in 298th place (after 5 hours of play) and won about $50.
It pushes this months tournament winning slightly out of the red. But that's about it...
No escape to sunny beaches just yet.
Next time all I need is 'one time'...
The $200K Double Deuce runs every Sunday at 16h22 ET (Full Tilt Poker). The buy-in is $22. Or even less as satellites with buy-ins of next-to-nothing run all week... Check it out at Full Tilt Poker.
It became a long journey, deep into the autumn night...
The tourney starts at 22h22 (Brussels time).
So, with 10718 participants and a deep-stacked blind-structure the final table doesn't take place before sunrise.
While the night unfolds, players get knocked out, the blinds rise. The hour is getting late...
Somehow the dream of final tabling hits.
Filthy richness is just the turn of a few cards away.
First place pays about $30K.
Pretty good value for a $22 investement.
Alas, the dream got shredded to pieces in my 305th hand of the night:
I shoved pocket sixes on the button, got called and lost it all...
Busted out in 298th place (after 5 hours of play) and won about $50.
It pushes this months tournament winning slightly out of the red. But that's about it...
No escape to sunny beaches just yet.
Next time all I need is 'one time'...
The $200K Double Deuce runs every Sunday at 16h22 ET (Full Tilt Poker). The buy-in is $22. Or even less as satellites with buy-ins of next-to-nothing run all week... Check it out at Full Tilt Poker.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
When It All Goes South, Travel North
Here we go again... (the graph shows my combined tournament result for October 'till today)
Yesterday I lost another 8 sit 'n go's in a row
(-$200 in about 1 hour)...
Well, at least my confidence is not (completely) falling apart anymore as it used to be after a few bad sessions....
I played over 4000 sit 'n go's, read dozens of books and watched hours of PokerVT training videos. My game is solid. Rock solid. Derek said so. (lol, but just a little...). Even tilt becomes less of a problem. I counter it with strong logical thinking and reason. Like during my horrible session last night; I got sucked out on 6 (yes, six!) times in a row. Instead of tilting and blowing of another 44 bucks on my last 2 games, I stayed cool. Really cool. Gus Hansen cool. All I had to do was concentrate really hard an do whatever possible to win my last 2 games. Then I could even still make a profit for the night.
Alas, things turned out differently. But I had the right mindset (at least).
Sadly emotions tend to catch up eventually.
Like 15 minutes later while washing dishes, for example.
Completely falling apart with my hands drenched in soap and hot water...
I understand coin flips, I can accept bad beats, even the -$200 loss is not a big deal.
What really freaks me out is losing. The pain of losing repeatedly. Over and over again.
The fear that I will never be able to shake of 'failure' as my middle name... Alway stay mediocre.
There must be someway out of here !
(said the joker to the thief etc.)
At least I can be unhappy about this during working hours.
My only talent: underachieving during a boring day job.
Anyway, to lift up my spirits I'll make a 240 km round trip to the Dutch city of Tilburg tomorrow...
I don't like the drive. In fact, I hate it. Road trips are only cool in American movies. Nothing poetic about being stuck in traffic on the ring around Antwerp.
But returning home with some premium quality Dutch marihuana might make it all worthwhile...
By the way, boys and girls, don't forget to sign up for any of the great Filthy Rich Fish poker promotions.... They are really great value!
Yesterday I lost another 8 sit 'n go's in a row
(-$200 in about 1 hour)...
Well, at least my confidence is not (completely) falling apart anymore as it used to be after a few bad sessions....
I played over 4000 sit 'n go's, read dozens of books and watched hours of PokerVT training videos. My game is solid. Rock solid. Derek said so. (lol, but just a little...). Even tilt becomes less of a problem. I counter it with strong logical thinking and reason. Like during my horrible session last night; I got sucked out on 6 (yes, six!) times in a row. Instead of tilting and blowing of another 44 bucks on my last 2 games, I stayed cool. Really cool. Gus Hansen cool. All I had to do was concentrate really hard an do whatever possible to win my last 2 games. Then I could even still make a profit for the night.
Alas, things turned out differently. But I had the right mindset (at least).
Sadly emotions tend to catch up eventually.
Like 15 minutes later while washing dishes, for example.
Completely falling apart with my hands drenched in soap and hot water...
I understand coin flips, I can accept bad beats, even the -$200 loss is not a big deal.
What really freaks me out is losing. The pain of losing repeatedly. Over and over again.
The fear that I will never be able to shake of 'failure' as my middle name... Alway stay mediocre.
There must be someway out of here !
(said the joker to the thief etc.)
At least I can be unhappy about this during working hours.
My only talent: underachieving during a boring day job.
Anyway, to lift up my spirits I'll make a 240 km round trip to the Dutch city of Tilburg tomorrow...
I don't like the drive. In fact, I hate it. Road trips are only cool in American movies. Nothing poetic about being stuck in traffic on the ring around Antwerp.
But returning home with some premium quality Dutch marihuana might make it all worthwhile...
By the way, boys and girls, don't forget to sign up for any of the great Filthy Rich Fish poker promotions.... They are really great value!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Laziness & Deception
After a few tough weeks at work I found myself at the good side of variance this morning.
For completely random reasons I got my old job back.
Finally away from this new environment where I have suffered for the last 3 weeks!
This old job I have done for more years than I wish to remember.
But a least I had the time do develop a serious edge here.
This is, by far, my greatest professional achievement ever.
I am a master in the fine arts of laziness and deception.
Spending as little time on performing professional tasks as possible
while keeping my superiors happy with a steady flow of rock-solid stats and data about my performance...
That's what being an employee is all about!
It's Monday afternoon and I can't quite decide if I am going to watch the latest episode of The Simpsons or some training videos on PokerVT...
If all Mondays could just be like this,
life would be almost bearable...
For completely random reasons I got my old job back.
Finally away from this new environment where I have suffered for the last 3 weeks!
This old job I have done for more years than I wish to remember.
But a least I had the time do develop a serious edge here.
This is, by far, my greatest professional achievement ever.
I am a master in the fine arts of laziness and deception.
Spending as little time on performing professional tasks as possible
while keeping my superiors happy with a steady flow of rock-solid stats and data about my performance...
That's what being an employee is all about!
It's Monday afternoon and I can't quite decide if I am going to watch the latest episode of The Simpsons or some training videos on PokerVT...
If all Mondays could just be like this,
life would be almost bearable...
Saturday, October 10, 2009
A Roller Coaster Weekend
Full Tilt Poker $22 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 8 players - View hand 320142
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
Made a very stressful visit to the valley of unhappiness:
didn't cash for 23 games straight...
2 heads-up matches, 3 multi-table tournaments and 18 sit 'n go's: lost them all (in just a few hours)...
Serious downswing alert!
Then this hand came around:
UTG: t1850 M = 24.67
Hero (UTG+1): t1440 M = 19.20
MP1: t1395 M = 18.60
MP2: t4450 M = 59.33
CO: t1115 M = 14.87
BTN: t1020 M = 13.60
SB: t730 M = 9.73
BB: t1500 M = 20
Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is UTG+1 with K A
UTG calls t50, Hero raises to t200, 1 fold, MP2 calls t200, CO raises to t1115 all in, BTN calls t1020 all in, 3 folds, Hero raises to t1440 all in, MP2 calls t1240
Flop: (t5140) 8 A 4
Turn: (t5140) J
River: (t5140) T
Final Pot: t5140
Hero shows K A (a flush, Ace high)
MP2 shows T T (a flush, Ace high)
CO shows Q 7 (a flush, Ace high)
(Funny 22 big blinds shove from the CO.
Thank you for donating...
Please, come again!)
BTN shows 9 9 (a pair of Nines)
Hero wins t650
Hero wins t285
Hero wins t4205
Bing Blang Blaow!
After this hand I became first in my next 4 sit 'n go's (out of 5).
Back up in the profit zone...
ROI at 7% for October so far.
Winning coin flips and avoiding the valley of unhappiness at all times;
those are my goals for the remainder of the weekend.
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
Made a very stressful visit to the valley of unhappiness:
didn't cash for 23 games straight...
2 heads-up matches, 3 multi-table tournaments and 18 sit 'n go's: lost them all (in just a few hours)...
Serious downswing alert!
Then this hand came around:
UTG: t1850 M = 24.67
Hero (UTG+1): t1440 M = 19.20
MP1: t1395 M = 18.60
MP2: t4450 M = 59.33
CO: t1115 M = 14.87
BTN: t1020 M = 13.60
SB: t730 M = 9.73
BB: t1500 M = 20
Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is UTG+1 with K
AUTG calls t50, Hero raises to t200, 1 fold, MP2 calls t200, CO raises to t1115 all in, BTN calls t1020 all in, 3 folds, Hero raises to t1440 all in, MP2 calls t1240
Flop: (t5140) 8
A 4Turn: (t5140) J
River: (t5140) T
Final Pot: t5140
Hero shows K
A (a flush, Ace high)MP2 shows T
T (a flush, Ace high)CO shows Q
7 (a flush, Ace high)(Funny 22 big blinds shove from the CO.
Thank you for donating...
Please, come again!)
BTN shows 9
9 (a pair of Nines)Hero wins t650
Hero wins t285
Hero wins t4205
Bing Blang Blaow!
After this hand I became first in my next 4 sit 'n go's (out of 5).
Back up in the profit zone...
ROI at 7% for October so far.
Winning coin flips and avoiding the valley of unhappiness at all times;
those are my goals for the remainder of the weekend.
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Profound Pain Of A Poker Player
The last 90 minutes of my life in 4 pictures...
Now all I really need are a porcupine (preferably one with a damned Full Tilt logo tattooed on its butt) and a baseball bat...
(All pics from Full Tilt $24 Turbo Sit 'n Go's when shoved and called)
Maybe I need to read a book about winning coin flips...
Having the villain crushed, dominated, by the balls and what not is only fun pre-flop...
Now all I really need are a porcupine (preferably one with a damned Full Tilt logo tattooed on its butt) and a baseball bat...
A Dirty Hand
Full Tilt Poker $20 + $1 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 319086
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BB: t1730 M = 57.67
Hero (BTN/SB): t1270 M = 42.33
Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with A 3
Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40
Standard opening.
I have an Ace on the button. The blinds are low. 3x is an easy choice.
We are only 17 hands into the match here. The villain is being kind of loose-passive pre-flop.
After the flop he does a lot of funky stuff that I haven't figured out yet (min-betting, over-betting, calling a river bet with 5-high...)
Somewhat fishy.
Flop: (t120) Q A 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB raises to t160, Hero calls t80
Happy with my hand here.
Top pair and outs to improve.
Villain's min-raise doesn't alarm me. He has been doing that stuff all the time with all sorts of hands. I have no idea of his holding here. A queen? A five? A diamond draw? Any two cards? Somehow I feel an ace is unlikely... Random players like to slow-play top-pair hands a lot.
Turn: (t440) 4 (2 players)
BB bets t440, Hero raises to t1050 all in, BB calls t610
Here I go nuts every time.
Top pair and about 10 clean outs (I should discount my straight outs a bit for the times I hit the straight to loose against a flush ).
River: (t2540) J (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: t2540
BB shows T A (a pair of Aces)
Ouch, did I butcher this hand?
I felt pretty confident in my hand but it turns out I've been behind the whole time....
Even on the turn I was still only about a 30% favorite to win the hand...
Hero shows A 3 (a pair of Aces)
Dirty... very dirty.... I bothers me a lot to lose with a weak ace (kinda fishy, isn't it?) but I don't see any way to play this hand differently.
Can't fold pre-flop,
can't fold on the flop
and the turn is way to beautiful to consider anything besides shoving...
BB wins t2540
Sad conclusion: I'll go broke here every time...
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BB: t1730 M = 57.67
Hero (BTN/SB): t1270 M = 42.33
Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with A
3Hero raises to t60, BB calls t40
Standard opening.
I have an Ace on the button. The blinds are low. 3x is an easy choice.
We are only 17 hands into the match here. The villain is being kind of loose-passive pre-flop.
After the flop he does a lot of funky stuff that I haven't figured out yet (min-betting, over-betting, calling a river bet with 5-high...)
Somewhat fishy.
Flop: (t120) Q
A 5 (2 players)BB checks, Hero bets t80, BB raises to t160, Hero calls t80
Happy with my hand here.
Top pair and outs to improve.
Villain's min-raise doesn't alarm me. He has been doing that stuff all the time with all sorts of hands. I have no idea of his holding here. A queen? A five? A diamond draw? Any two cards? Somehow I feel an ace is unlikely... Random players like to slow-play top-pair hands a lot.
Turn: (t440) 4
(2 players)BB bets t440, Hero raises to t1050 all in, BB calls t610
Here I go nuts every time.
Top pair and about 10 clean outs (I should discount my straight outs a bit for the times I hit the straight to loose against a flush ).
River: (t2540) J
(2 players - 1 is all in)Final Pot: t2540
BB shows T
A (a pair of Aces)Ouch, did I butcher this hand?
I felt pretty confident in my hand but it turns out I've been behind the whole time....
Even on the turn I was still only about a 30% favorite to win the hand...
Hero shows A
3 (a pair of Aces)Dirty... very dirty.... I bothers me a lot to lose with a weak ace (kinda fishy, isn't it?) but I don't see any way to play this hand differently.
Can't fold pre-flop,
can't fold on the flop
and the turn is way to beautiful to consider anything besides shoving...
BB wins t2540
Sad conclusion: I'll go broke here every time...
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