From a young G's perspective
It’s been tough getting back into the poker playing groove – but surprisingly my results haven’t suffered that much. My first two days back I booked over $200 each day, by only playing a total of 12 sit&go’s, which is pretty impressive in itself.
But I just haven’t been feeling it. I haven’t been feeling the need to play. I find myself worrying more and more about potential losses than potential winnings. Too often I rest on my winnings for the day and try to book a win, rather than ride the momentum to book a big win.
I suspect the reason for this is partially due to my money situation, and partially due to my natural risk aversion. Up to this point, I’ve had a decent savings to fall back on in case this whole poker experiment didn’t work out. But with moving to a new city with much higher living expenses and a really expensive holiday season, my cash flow has been noticeably depleting. I’m not desperate yet, but it definitely has been lingering in the back of my mind when playing, which can’t be good.
A quick note about risk aversion in poker.
When I play poker, I find myself imagining the absolute worst case scenario almost every hand. By being the victim of ungodly amounts of bullshit terrible play, I’ve essentially whittled my hand confidence down to the point where I need the immortal nuts to make plays. Every time my top pair top kicker has been rivered by top pair worse kicker that makes two pair, or every time my set has been rivered by a draw getting there, it sheds a layer off my aggression. I remember all those painful beats, and even though I know I make the mathematically correct play in those instances, I still feel the need to slow down if any of my bets are called unless I’m holding the nuts. Needless to say, this is a terrible way to play poker. You have to value bet your hands, and if you get sucked out, so be it. Take the chances and play strong aggressive poker, I know. But it’s just my nature to be afraid of the uncertain. So my recommendation to you is, when calculating risk, fuck it in the ass. Fuck that slutty bitch right up the poop shoot. Risk is your bitch, and don’t let it fuck you.
Too bad it is the complete opposite for me, which is why I feel I’ll never be a superstar poker player. Don’t be like me.
Ok back to the lecture at hand.
So I’ve reached a crossroads. I haven’t been overly thrilled about my results so far. Sure I’ve won some money, but I could have made about the same in a job, without the risk and headache of losing. But of course, the big advantage of poker is the non-gay-bullshit-waking up at 7am-sucking up to a dickless piece of shit boss-forced interaction with useless co-workers-and showering that I’m really in this for. And since poker income and potential job income are pretty much the same, the headaches from losing are not even in the same ballpark as the bullshit that a job entails. But I still worry. I worry that one day I’ll loose more than I can handle. I worry that the risk aversion monster will continue to take over my psyche to reduce my play to shit status. I worry that even if I do continue to scrape by, where is this all going? I can’t play mediocre poker forever can I?
All that speculation is great, but at this point, I can’t imagine myself ever going back to work. And I’m so serious about that it isn’t funny. I’ll admit - I’ve contemplated suicide to avoid work.
I need to take a minute out of this post to just detail a tournament I’ve been playing while I’ve been writing this. About 2 hours ago, I noticed that a 600 FPP tournament was starting in 45 minutes. At the time I had about 570 FPP, and quickly loaded up four tables to get to 600 just in time for the registration. I love these things. With 77 entrants and top 10 going to the next satellite, I love my chances. But this just wasn’t my fucking tournament. Actually it just hasn’t been my fucking day today. Here is a quick rundown of the match, using my new hand converter toy
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Kc, Ac.
UTG calls t20, Hero raises to t60, 2 folds, CO calls t60, Button raises to t100, 2 folds, UTG calls t80, Hero calls t40, CO calls t40.
Flop: (t430) 3c, 7c, Qd (4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, CO checks, Button bets t120, UTG folds, Hero calls t120, CO folds.
Turn: (t670) 4s (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1480 and is all-in, Hero folds
Final Pot: t670
This hand is about 5 hands into the tournament, and by no means am I crippled, but this is pretty much the epitome of how my games have been going. Sure, I played it pretty cautious with 2 overcards and the nut flush draw, and I think I give way too much respect to min-raisers preflop, but I can’t exactly be too confident making a move on the flop with four players seeing that flop after lots of action preflop. So I just call. And then comes the ridiculous overbet all in, what can I do? However, this is just a precursor.
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Kc, Kd.
2 folds, MP1 calls t20, Hero raises to t80, 1 fold, CO calls t80, 2 folds, BB calls t60, MP1 calls t60.
Flop: (t330) 8s, Ac, As (4 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t80, Hero calls t80, CO folds, BB folds.
Turn: (t490) 4s (2 players)
MP1 bets t791 (All-In), Hero folds.
Final Pot: t1281
The table up to this point had been incredibly loose and aggressive, which is pretty standard for FPP tourneys I guess. And when you get kings or aces at a super loose table, it can only mean one of two things, a double up or a bustout. In this case I managed to “dodge” a bustout, which was pretty easy given the board I was up against. I mean, with 4 callers of my raise preflop, should I just fold when the flop comes with aces? Not to mention the turn flush arriving, lets just move on. I went on to fold literally 30 straight hands when this hand came along, needless to say it looked like aces to me.
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5s, 5h.
3 folds, Hero raises to t200, 2 folds, SB calls t175, BB calls t150.
Flop: (t600) 3c, 2h, As (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks.
Turn: (t600) 3d (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets t500 (All-In), SB calls t500, BB folds.
River: (t1600) Qd (2 players, 1 all-in)
Final Pot: t1600
Hero has 5s 5h (two pair, fives and threes).
SB has 3s 3h (four of a kind, threes).
Outcome: SB wins t1600.
If I raise preflop without an ace, and I get two callers, and an ace comes on the flop, I’m basically 99% percent done with the hand. But if they check to me twice, I have to assume I have the best hand, or someone is slow playing a real fucking monster. So yea, it was a monster, but how often are you against trips or quads in this situation? Either way, it just sucks. Those are the only 3 hands I played, and lost all three. Glad I got excited about playing.
Ahem, back to the lecture at hand?
Can’t even remember what I was saying, lets look… Oh yea, work and poker. Needless to say I am still undecided about my future, but at the moment, as much as I hate to admit it, I think I’ll need a job sooner rather than later. But if poker picks up, or I somehow manage to grow a set of balls and play, then perhaps things may change.
But I just haven’t been feeling it. I haven’t been feeling the need to play. I find myself worrying more and more about potential losses than potential winnings. Too often I rest on my winnings for the day and try to book a win, rather than ride the momentum to book a big win.
I suspect the reason for this is partially due to my money situation, and partially due to my natural risk aversion. Up to this point, I’ve had a decent savings to fall back on in case this whole poker experiment didn’t work out. But with moving to a new city with much higher living expenses and a really expensive holiday season, my cash flow has been noticeably depleting. I’m not desperate yet, but it definitely has been lingering in the back of my mind when playing, which can’t be good.
A quick note about risk aversion in poker.
When I play poker, I find myself imagining the absolute worst case scenario almost every hand. By being the victim of ungodly amounts of bullshit terrible play, I’ve essentially whittled my hand confidence down to the point where I need the immortal nuts to make plays. Every time my top pair top kicker has been rivered by top pair worse kicker that makes two pair, or every time my set has been rivered by a draw getting there, it sheds a layer off my aggression. I remember all those painful beats, and even though I know I make the mathematically correct play in those instances, I still feel the need to slow down if any of my bets are called unless I’m holding the nuts. Needless to say, this is a terrible way to play poker. You have to value bet your hands, and if you get sucked out, so be it. Take the chances and play strong aggressive poker, I know. But it’s just my nature to be afraid of the uncertain. So my recommendation to you is, when calculating risk, fuck it in the ass. Fuck that slutty bitch right up the poop shoot. Risk is your bitch, and don’t let it fuck you.
Too bad it is the complete opposite for me, which is why I feel I’ll never be a superstar poker player. Don’t be like me.
Ok back to the lecture at hand.
So I’ve reached a crossroads. I haven’t been overly thrilled about my results so far. Sure I’ve won some money, but I could have made about the same in a job, without the risk and headache of losing. But of course, the big advantage of poker is the non-gay-bullshit-waking up at 7am-sucking up to a dickless piece of shit boss-forced interaction with useless co-workers-and showering that I’m really in this for. And since poker income and potential job income are pretty much the same, the headaches from losing are not even in the same ballpark as the bullshit that a job entails. But I still worry. I worry that one day I’ll loose more than I can handle. I worry that the risk aversion monster will continue to take over my psyche to reduce my play to shit status. I worry that even if I do continue to scrape by, where is this all going? I can’t play mediocre poker forever can I?
All that speculation is great, but at this point, I can’t imagine myself ever going back to work. And I’m so serious about that it isn’t funny. I’ll admit - I’ve contemplated suicide to avoid work.
I need to take a minute out of this post to just detail a tournament I’ve been playing while I’ve been writing this. About 2 hours ago, I noticed that a 600 FPP tournament was starting in 45 minutes. At the time I had about 570 FPP, and quickly loaded up four tables to get to 600 just in time for the registration. I love these things. With 77 entrants and top 10 going to the next satellite, I love my chances. But this just wasn’t my fucking tournament. Actually it just hasn’t been my fucking day today. Here is a quick rundown of the match, using my new hand converter toy
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Kc, Ac.
UTG calls t20, Hero raises to t60, 2 folds, CO calls t60, Button raises to t100, 2 folds, UTG calls t80, Hero calls t40, CO calls t40.
Flop: (t430) 3c, 7c, Qd (4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, CO checks, Button bets t120, UTG folds, Hero calls t120, CO folds.
Turn: (t670) 4s (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1480 and is all-in, Hero folds
Final Pot: t670
This hand is about 5 hands into the tournament, and by no means am I crippled, but this is pretty much the epitome of how my games have been going. Sure, I played it pretty cautious with 2 overcards and the nut flush draw, and I think I give way too much respect to min-raisers preflop, but I can’t exactly be too confident making a move on the flop with four players seeing that flop after lots of action preflop. So I just call. And then comes the ridiculous overbet all in, what can I do? However, this is just a precursor.
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Kc, Kd.
2 folds, MP1 calls t20, Hero raises to t80, 1 fold, CO calls t80, 2 folds, BB calls t60, MP1 calls t60.
Flop: (t330) 8s, Ac, As (4 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t80, Hero calls t80, CO folds, BB folds.
Turn: (t490) 4s (2 players)
MP1 bets t791 (All-In), Hero folds.
Final Pot: t1281
The table up to this point had been incredibly loose and aggressive, which is pretty standard for FPP tourneys I guess. And when you get kings or aces at a super loose table, it can only mean one of two things, a double up or a bustout. In this case I managed to “dodge” a bustout, which was pretty easy given the board I was up against. I mean, with 4 callers of my raise preflop, should I just fold when the flop comes with aces? Not to mention the turn flush arriving, lets just move on. I went on to fold literally 30 straight hands when this hand came along, needless to say it looked like aces to me.
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5s, 5h.
3 folds, Hero raises to t200, 2 folds, SB calls t175, BB calls t150.
Flop: (t600) 3c, 2h, As (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks.
Turn: (t600) 3d (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets t500 (All-In), SB calls t500, BB folds.
River: (t1600) Qd (2 players, 1 all-in)
Final Pot: t1600
Hero has 5s 5h (two pair, fives and threes).
SB has 3s 3h (four of a kind, threes).
Outcome: SB wins t1600.
If I raise preflop without an ace, and I get two callers, and an ace comes on the flop, I’m basically 99% percent done with the hand. But if they check to me twice, I have to assume I have the best hand, or someone is slow playing a real fucking monster. So yea, it was a monster, but how often are you against trips or quads in this situation? Either way, it just sucks. Those are the only 3 hands I played, and lost all three. Glad I got excited about playing.
Ahem, back to the lecture at hand?
Can’t even remember what I was saying, lets look… Oh yea, work and poker. Needless to say I am still undecided about my future, but at the moment, as much as I hate to admit it, I think I’ll need a job sooner rather than later. But if poker picks up, or I somehow manage to grow a set of balls and play, then perhaps things may change.
posted by RikkiDee at 10:47 PM
6 Comments:
If I have pocket aces and someone reraises me preflop, I'm pushing right then and there. I might even do it with KK. There are situations in a tourney where I wouldn't do this, but 95% of the cases I'm going. Most of the time I expect to take the pot right there. The rest of the time I'm willing to play the odds.
And someone on PA online registered with your name. If that's you, say 'hi' to 'Alan' if you see me.
There are certain times where I would refrain from reraising all in with aces in a tournament. If my opponent is strong and aggressive, I'll slow play the aces if I am heads up with him. Then I'll reraise his continuation bet. Some players can actually lay down their hand to a third reraise preflop, as they would be scared of aces.
With kings however, I'll push every time. No need to slow play and see an ace on the flop.
By the way, what is PA online? I've registered at so many sites in my life, I have trouble remembering sometimes.
Never mind, I tracked PA online through my referers. And no, I don't play under the handle "Deesnutz" online hehe. I play under RikkiDee.
Jobs are for lame people...you are not lame ... grow thoses balls. You know you can do it!
Poker Academy Online. It's the online part of poker training software. I figured you would pick up ther reference if you played there. I guess it isn't you.
I don't think that's a bad way to play aces. Personally, I don't like giving people the card. The danger is that the flop puts him ahead and when you reraise his continuation bet you are putting money into the pot when you are behind. This situation is especially dangerous with an aggressive player whose past bets can mask the flopped monster. The chance of that happening isn't great, but you lose a lot when it does (or at least I tend to). I prefer to get my money in when I'm ahead and use fold equity to try to take the pot.
Although allowing your opponent a free flop is in theory dangerous, I figure the chances of him out drawing you compared to the extra bet you gain is worth the risk. That is, if he can fold preflop. If I've seen an opponent call a re-reraise all in with less than QQ I'll push with aces. But occassionally, some of these LAG's can actually fold AQ preflop.
Certainly there isn't a blanket solution, but I figure if the blinds are big enough, I'm going all the way with aces and kings, out draw me if you must.
Sure does suck when they flop a monster and you call their bet though hehe.
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