A royale with cheese?

You'll probabbly look at the picture first before reading this anyways, but yea.. DEMS A ROYAL FLUSH BITCHES! For some strange reason I decided to play 2/4 Limit hold'em today. I played for about an hour with my buddy Wpalango - who is featured in this screenshot (losing!).














And to those super astute nerds, yea I did edit the picture a bit to include the chat because I thought it looked funny. What ended up happening is I raised the river, he reraised and before I capped I said what I said. He ended up having AK which is seriously dirty. Why couldn't this have been a fucking NL game. Can you say STACKED?

There are two extremely strange things about this royal. They are so strange that no one will believe me but I'll post them anyawys. I've gotten a grand total of 3 royal flushes in my poker playing life.

1. They've all been at a limit table. Considering I've played maybe a total of 1000 hands of limit in my life, that alone is strange enough.
2. They've all been with QTs. And not only have they all been with QTs, they've ALL been with QT of HEARTS!

No joke.

I told you that you wouldn't believe me.

When I got my first royal with QT of hearts, it became my favorite hand. When I got my second royal with it, it continued to be my favorite hand, and I got a boner every time I was dealt it. Now that I've got it a third time with the same fucking hand, I think I'll have to start preparing for the worst if I get it again.

edit - I knew I wrote about this before... clicky here to see past semi-evidence of royals and QhTh

One is the lonliest number

Does this type of shit actually happen to anyone else but me?

















I mean, his play is just wrong on so many levels. First off, we are on the bubble, and he is defending his blind with TWO FOUR SUITED. Then he decides to trap me with his mighty 4 high flush draw, and insta call my overbet all in drawing to 9 outs. At least fucking push the flop rather than call off your entire stack on the bubble as a 35% dog.

Too long, didn't read...

I thought that posting this hand history from a session today would be a good learning exercise in getting to the money when short and blinds are high.

It started off like any other SNG, I folded the first 25 hands and the blinds are now 200/400 and I’m super short on chips (1245) with 6 players remaining. With 3bb in this situation you are going to have to get lucky. That is obvious. But you are not only going to have to get lucky, you have to be willing to put yourself in positions to get lucky. By the way this is going to be a pretty long post, but hopefully will be educational.

All the comments will come after the action, to let you know what I was thinking for each move.

Seat 1: Pista2 (1725 in chips)
Seat 2: pmjk3452 (1670 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (1245 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (1260 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (4975 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2625 in chips)
Pista2: posts the ante 25
pmjk3452: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts small blind 200
spotupj: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [7h 6d]
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: folds
Pista2: folds
pmjk3452: raises 1245 to 1645 and is all-in
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
pmjk3452 collected 1150 from pot
pmjk3452: doesn't show hand

Pretty standard here, yes we have to double sometime, but calling someone’s all in with 7 high will never show a profit unless for some reason you are being offered about 3-1 odds.

Seat 1: Pista2 (1700 in chips)
Seat 2: pmjk3452 (2395 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (1020 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (835 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (4950 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2600 in chips)
Pista2: posts the ante 25
pmjk3452: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts small blind 200
CHOCWHYTE: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [2h 9h]
sterlng: folds
Pista2: calls 400
pmjk3452: folds
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: raises 410 to 810 and is all-in
CHOCWHYTE: calls 410
Pista2: calls 410
*** FLOP *** [5h Ts 6h]
CHOCWHYTE: checks
Pista2: bets 400
CHOCWHYTE: folds
*** TURN *** [5h Ts 6h] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [5h Ts 6h 8c] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
spotupj: shows [Ad 8d] (two pair, Aces and Eights)
Pista2: shows [Ac 5c] (two pair, Aces and Fives)
spotupj collected 2580 from pot

Again standard, the presence of the EP limper makes our push a guaranteed –EV play as not only do we have no folding equity, there is almost no chance that we have the best hand.

Seat 1: Pista2 (865 in chips)
Seat 2: pmjk3452 (2370 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (995 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2580 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (4115 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2575 in chips)
Pista2: posts the ante 25
pmjk3452: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts small blind 200
sterlng: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Qs 9h]
Pista2: folds
pmjk3452: folds
RikkiDee: raises 570 to 970 and is all-in
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: calls 770
sterlng: folds
*** FLOP *** [8d 2c 8s]
*** TURN *** [8d 2c 8s] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [8d 2c 8s 2s] [9d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHOCWHYTE: shows [5c 5s] (two pair, Eights and Fives)
RikkiDee: shows [Qs 9h] (two pair, Nines and Eights)
RikkiDee collected 2490 from pot

Alright so this is basically what we are “waiting” for. When pushing with less than 3bb you have to assume that the BB will pretty much always call your push. So basically it is +EV to push any 2 cards that are favored over a random hand here. Since we are the BB in 2 hands, Q9 has a decent chance of being the best hand we’ll see. Additionally, the longer you wait to push, the more people you’ll have to push through, and the more chances you’ll run into a bigger hand. Obviously I got lucky winning this coinflip and I now have at least a chance to win this.

Seat 1: Pista2 (840 in chips)
Seat 2: pmjk3452 (2345 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2490 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2555 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (3120 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2150 in chips)
Pista2: posts the ante 25
pmjk3452: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts small blind 200
Pista2: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [7h 6d]
pmjk3452: folds
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: calls 200
Pista2: checks
*** FLOP *** [Qs Jd Qc]
sterlng: bets 1200
Pista2: calls 415 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Qs Jd Qc] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [Qs Jd Qc 8d] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
sterlng: shows [9s Tc] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
Pista2: shows [5c Kd] (two pair, Queens and Eights)
sterlng collected 1780 from pot

Obviously both these players suck.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (2320 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2465 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2530 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (3095 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (3090 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts the ante 25
pmjk3452: posts small blind 200
RikkiDee: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Qs 5s]
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: calls 400
pmjk3452: folds
RikkiDee: checks
*** FLOP *** [9h 5d 4s]
RikkiDee: bets 2040 and is all-in
sterlng: folds
RikkiDee collected 1125 from pot
RikkiDee: doesn't show hand

So here some noob limps on the button. Now generally I may be scared of a late game limper as people tend to do that with AA/KK, but this particular opponent ended up being a total fish and limped all game with any 2, so I didn’t expect him to have a monster here. I had the option of pushing preflop, which I may do occasionally but usually I’ll need a better hand, one that would be a favorite against his limping range if he decides to do a dreaded limp-call. The flop is a pretty easy push, and if he has a 9 for some unknown reason then gg, but those 1125 chips in the pot are too valuable to my stack to not take a shot with 2nd pair here.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (2095 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (3165 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2505 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (3070 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2665 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts small blind 200
spotupj: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Kd 8h]
CHOCWHYTE: calls 400
sterlng: folds
pmjk3452: raises 1670 to 2070 and is all-in
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: folds
pmjk3452 collected 1525 from pot
pmjk3452: doesn't show hand

Standard fold, no idea why people are still limping.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (3195 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2940 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2080 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (2645 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2640 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts small blind 200
CHOCWHYTE: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Qd 6h]
sterlng: calls 400
pmjk3452: folds
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: checks
*** FLOP *** [9d 4c 3c]
CHOCWHYTE: bets 400
sterlng: folds
CHOCWHYTE collected 1125 from pot

Standard fold. I’ll probably be pushing something like 55+, ATs+ here with 1 limper in there.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (3170 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2915 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (1855 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (3345 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2215 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
spotupj: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 25
sterlng: posts the ante 25
CHOCWHYTE: posts small blind 200
sterlng: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [7s 8s]
pmjk3452: folds
RikkiDee: raises 2490 to 2890 and is all-in
spotupj: calls 1830 and is all-in
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: folds
*** FLOP *** [3d 9c Ks]
*** TURN *** [3d 9c Ks] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [3d 9c Ks Jc] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RikkiDee: shows [7s 8s] (a pair of Jacks)
spotupj: shows [As Kc] (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
spotupj collected 4385 from pot

Actually looking back on this, it was a pretty marginal push. But generally in situations where there are 5 left and blinds are huge, you really have to take advantage of the fact that no one wants to bust out. Additionally because you are so close to your opponents in chips you basically have to push more often to gain a lead over them. You can definitely push here with non-premium hands but you should basically be sticking to 2 face cards and any pair. I think I probably pushed here because they were soooted connectors than anything else.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (3145 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (1060 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (4385 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (3120 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (1790 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts small blind 300
pmjk3452: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [8d Qh]
RikkiDee: raises 410 to 1010 and is all-in
spotupj: raises 3325 to 4335 and is all-in
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: folds
pmjk3452: folds
*** FLOP *** [2h 8c 2d]
*** TURN *** [2h 8c 2d] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [2h 8c 2d 4s] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RikkiDee: shows [8d Qh] (a full house, Deuces full of Eights)
spotupj: shows [Ah Kd] (three of a kind, Deuces)
RikkiDee collected 3170 from pot

After losing that last all-in I’m down to less than 2bb. So in this situation, I’ll push any hand that figures to be reasonably better than the random hand I’ll get next in the BB. Occasionally I’ll fold here and take my chances in the BB next hand as then if I do manage to win, I’ll have 5 more hands before my next BB, whereas even if I win this hand I have the BB next anyways, taking 600 out immediately. Tough spot really, and I got lucky.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (2495 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (3170 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (3325 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (3070 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (1440 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
pmjk3452: posts small blind 300
RikkiDee: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Jh 7c]
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: folds
pmjk3452: raises 1845 to 2445 and is all-in
RikkiDee: folds
pmjk3452 collected 1450 from pot
pmjk3452: doesn't show hand

This fold here is actually closer to a call than most people would think. This opponent has already shown an aggressive pushing strategy throughout this late game, so his range will be extremely wide here. Additionally I am getting almost 2-1 odds on this pot where there is probably about a 30-40% chance that I have the best hand if he is correctly pushing any 2 cards. But since he would probably fold really terrible hands, I should stick to calling with any pair, any ace K7+ and QTs+.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (3295 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2520 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (3275 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (3020 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (1390 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts small blind 300
spotupj: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Ah 2d]
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: calls 600
pmjk3452: raises 2645 to 3245 and is all-in
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
sterlng: calls 740 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [8h Jc 8c]
*** TURN *** [8h Jc 8c] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [8h Jc 8c Tc] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
sterlng: shows [Td Qs] (two pair, Tens and Eights)
pmjk3452: shows [Kd Qc] (a pair of Eights)
sterlng collected 3830 from pot

Limp call with QT, beauty.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (1905 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2170 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2625 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (2970 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (3830 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts small blind 300
CHOCWHYTE: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [6d 2h]
sterlng: folds
pmjk3452: raises 1255 to 1855 and is all-in
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: folds
pmjk3452 collected 1750 from pot
pmjk3452: doesn't show hand

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (3005 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2120 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2275 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (2320 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (3780 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts small blind 300
sterlng: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Th Kh]
pmjk3452: folds
RikkiDee: raises 1470 to 2070 and is all-in
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: folds
RikkiDee collected 1750 from pot

This should be a standard play by everyone with this hand and these blinds. It’s pretty much profitable to push any 2 here actually, even with a massive calling station in the BB.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (2955 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (3220 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2225 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (1970 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (3130 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts small blind 300
pmjk3452: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [2d Kc]
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: raises 1575 to 2175 and is all-in
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: folds
pmjk3452: folds
spotupj collected 1750 from pot
spotupj: doesn't show hand

Here the situation changes a bit in that I have a much worse hand, more chips and worse position. Unless everyone is super tight, pushing here isn’t a smart move. Given that I’ve pushed fairly frequently, it may be worth it to throw away some of these marginal situations that might gain a spite call from angry station.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (2305 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (3170 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (3325 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (1920 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2780 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
pmjk3452: posts small blind 300
RikkiDee: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Th 5c]
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: raises 1270 to 1870 and is all-in
sterlng: folds
pmjk3452: folds
RikkiDee: folds
CHOCWHYTE collected 1750 from pot

This again is a very close call. Obviously he isn’t pushing only strong hands here, and the pot is offering a very tasty 2-1. Two things make this a fold though. This particular player is very passive, and probably is at least pushing a decent hand. Second, while I’m getting 2-1, if I call and lose I’ll be crippled and lose all my folding equity for future pushes, which is vital.

Seat 2: pmjk3452 (1955 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2520 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (3275 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (3020 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (2730 in chips)
pmjk3452: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts small blind 300
spotupj: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Qd 2c]
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: raises 2080 to 2680 and is all-in
pmjk3452: calls 1905 and is all-in
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
*** FLOP *** [8s 5c 2s]
*** TURN *** [8s 5c 2s] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [8s 5c 2s 6h] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
sterlng: shows [Tc Ts] (two pair, Tens and Fives)
pmjk3452: shows [Ac 3c] (a pair of Fives)
sterlng collected 4960 from pot

Good example of someone who can’t push without a hand. This passive calling station has limped all day and now he finally figures out how to raise, so of course he has TT.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (2170 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2625 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (2970 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (5735 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts small blind 400
CHOCWHYTE: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [5d Jh]
sterlng: calls 800
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: checks
*** FLOP *** [5c 5h Qs]
CHOCWHYTE: checks
sterlng: bets 3200
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng collected 2200 from pot
sterlng: shows [Kd Qh] (two pair, Queens and Fives)

The blinds rise again and we are still not in the money. Again the stupid calling station limps, nullifying my potential push and would be trips. Oh well.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (2120 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2175 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (2120 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (7085 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts small blind 400
sterlng: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Td Th]
RikkiDee: raises 1270 to 2070 and is all-in
spotupj: raises 55 to 2125 and is all-in
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jh 8s 6h]
*** TURN *** [Jh 8s 6h] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 8s 6h Ks] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RikkiDee: shows [Td Th] (two pair, Tens and Eights)
spotupj: shows [Tc Ts] (two pair, Tens and Eights)
RikkiDee collected 2770 from pot
spotupj collected 2770 from pot

Here I get super lucky then unlucky in that I pick up a premium hand but get called by the same hand and chop. Oh well at least we still gained some chips from the blinds.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (2770 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2825 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (1670 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (6235 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts small blind 400
RikkiDee: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [4c Qc]
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: calls 400
RikkiDee: checks
*** FLOP *** [3s 8s 5d]
sterlng: bets 2400
RikkiDee: folds
sterlng collected 1800 from pot

Honestly, pushing his limp here is probably marginally +EV. But since he has already shown he will limp/call all-ins with shit hands, I can’t figure that Q4o is going to be a big favorite. Additionally the 2bb stack is going to be BB in 2 hands, so I can afford to be patient.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (1920 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (2775 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (1620 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (7185 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts small blind 400
spotupj: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Tc Qc]
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng: folds
RikkiDee: raises 1070 to 1870 and is all-in
spotupj: folds
RikkiDee collected 1800 from pot
RikkiDee: doesn't show hand

Here is by far the easiest push that exists in SNGs. I have way too good of a hand for this situation as I’m pretty much going to be pushing any 2 cards here into this BB who not only hasn’t called any all-ins yet, but knows that the UTG player is the BB next hand and will probably be all in himself.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (2870 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (1925 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (1570 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (7135 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts small blind 400
CHOCWHYTE: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [8c Qs]
sterlng: raises 1600 to 2400
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: folds
sterlng collected 2200 from pot
sterlng: shows [As Kh] (high card Ace)

Another example of this fish not knowing how to raise properly (ie every hand). By the way I push this from the BB if UTG folds. I push it for 2 reasons. One, for the slight chance that the BB actually folds I can steal the blinds. Two, because the BB is going to be calling here with any 2 cards, Q8o is a solid favorite over that range.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (2820 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (1475 in chips)
Seat 8: CHOCWHYTE (720 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (8485 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
CHOCWHYTE: posts small blind 400
sterlng: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [5h Jc]
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: folds
CHOCWHYTE: calls 270 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [7h As 6h]
*** TURN *** [7h As 6h] [3d]
sterlng said, "GL"
*** RIVER *** [7h As 6h 3d] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHOCWHYTE: shows [Ks 2h] (high card Ace)
sterlng: shows [Kc Ts] (high card Ace - King+Ten kicker)
sterlng said, "GG"
sterlng collected 1540 from pot

J5 sucks here, let the BB bust the SB.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (2770 in chips)
Seat 6: spotupj (1425 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (9305 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
spotupj: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts small blind 400
spotupj: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [3h Ac]
sterlng: raises 1600 to 2400
RikkiDee: folds
spotupj: calls 575 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [5s 6h 8s]
*** TURN *** [5s 6h 8s] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [5s 6h 8s 3c] [Ts]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
spotupj: shows [Ad 8c] (a pair of Eights)
sterlng: shows [8h 8d] (three of a kind, Eights)
sterlng said, "gg"
sterlng collected 3300 from pot

Again, even more evidence to the fact that this guy can’t raise without a really nice hand. I almost pushed here until I remembered that. Plus the BB was basically all in too.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (2320 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (11180 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts small blind 400
sterlng: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Kh 4h]
RikkiDee: raises 1470 to 2270 and is all-in
sterlng: folds
RikkiDee collected 1700 from pot
RikkiDee: doesn't show hand

Heads up now. Luck continues to be something I need, but I also will be pushing almost any 2 cards here, especially with my chip stack. Luck has to come more in the form of him not picking up a decent hand rather than me getting them.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (3170 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (10330 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts small blind 400
RikkiDee: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Qs 9h]
sterlng: calls 400
RikkiDee: raises 2320 to 3120 and is all-in
sterlng: calls 2320
*** FLOP *** [3c Qd Ah]
*** TURN *** [3c Qd Ah] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [3c Qd Ah 2c] [Tc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RikkiDee: shows [Qs 9h] (a pair of Queens)
sterlng: shows [Ts 9c] (a pair of Tens)
RikkiDee collected 6340 from pot

This one was a no brainer for me. I’ve already seen time and time again that he limps with shit and raises with good hands. I knew that even if he did decide to limp call I probably would be ahead, and I was.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (6340 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (7160 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 50
sterlng: posts the ante 50
RikkiDee: posts small blind 400
sterlng: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Ks 8h]
sterlng said, "n1"
RikkiDee: raises 5490 to 6290 and is all-in
sterlng: folds
RikkiDee collected 1700 from pot
RikkiDee: doesn't show hand

Now that I’ve gotten even, I’ll become a bit more selective in my pushes, but this is still a trivially easy push.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (7190 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (6310 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 75
sterlng: posts the ante 75
sterlng: posts small blind 600
RikkiDee: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [6s Th]
sterlng: calls 600
RikkiDee: checks
*** FLOP *** [5d 5h Jh]
RikkiDee: checks
sterlng: bets 4800
RikkiDee: folds
sterlng collected 2550 from pot

Again, he probably is still limping with trash, but I have trash here so I’ll see the free flop and let him take it down. I just think of it as him pushing preflop and winning the pot anyways.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (5915 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (7585 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 75
sterlng: posts the ante 75
RikkiDee: posts small blind 600
sterlng: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Jc 9d]
RikkiDee: raises 4640 to 5840 and is all-in
sterlng: folds
RikkiDee collected 2550 from pot
RikkiDee: doesn't show hand

Still a trivially easy push.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (7190 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (6310 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 75
sterlng: posts the ante 75
sterlng: posts small blind 600
RikkiDee: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Jd Qc]
sterlng: folds
RikkiDee collected 1350 from pot
RikkiDee: doesn't show hand

I’d probably push if he limped, and fold if he pushed.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (7865 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (5635 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 75
sterlng: posts the ante 75
RikkiDee: posts small blind 600
sterlng: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [3s 6d]
RikkiDee: raises 6590 to 7790 and is all-in
sterlng: folds
RikkiDee collected 2550 from pot
RikkiDee: doesn't show hand

Blinds go up again. This is a very marginal push, and I probably should have folded, but since I hadn’t seen him make really any marginal calls with hands like J8o unless he had limped already that I figure that he would fold enough to make this profitable. Usually when I make this type of push because I notice they are folding too much they end up calling that hand with J2, but not this time.

Seat 4: RikkiDee (9140 in chips)
Seat 9: sterlng (4360 in chips)
RikkiDee: posts the ante 75
sterlng: posts the ante 75
sterlng: posts small blind 600
RikkiDee: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [As 6d]
sterlng: calls 600
RikkiDee: raises 7865 to 9065 and is all-in
sterlng: calls 3085 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [5d 9h Qd]
*** TURN *** [5d 9h Qd] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [5d 9h Qd 6c] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RikkiDee: shows [As 6d] (a pair of Sixes)
sterlng: shows [6s Kd] (a pair of Sixes - lower kicker)
RikkiDee collected 8720 from pot

Again he continues with his retarded limp/call strategy. Again A6 is way ahead of his limping range so it’s an easy push.

So yes, I got lucky. But this is by no means an anomaly. Almost every game I play has these exact elements in them. Winning when it gets late and the blinds get big comes down to being able to push marginal edges to chip up on your opponents to gain additional folding equity. The balance comes in occasionally when you are faced with a very marginal push situation that you may want to forego due to the loss of credibility for future pushes. As well never underestimate the willingness of fish to bust on the bubble, so occasionally it is better to just wait it out.

This has nothing to do with Poker

Ok, so I'm a pretty picky eater. If an onion, pickle, green pepper or mushroom touches my burger/pizza/french fry/milkshake I throw it out instantly. And most people think I'm pretty insane for doing this, but hey, why eat something you don't like right?

But this is at least 2x worse than my hatred for non tomato based food accessories...


Easily the stupidest thing I've ever seen.

Heroes in a Half Shell

Alright, back home I am.

I went away for the weekend+1 to visit a friend in Montreal. It has been said that I am “living the dream” in that I have no job and am able to pull in decent monthly cash. And while I am not complaining about my lifestyle (anymore) it unfortunately pales in comparison to my friend’s in Montreal. He moved there with his band and rented a “jamspace” in which they can play as loud and as long as they need to. They have multitudes of gigs and probably are going to become mega-awesome rock stars someday. That my friends; is living the dream.

The weekend consisted of much drinking and women-bashing, and ultimately was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, to even an unmotivated degenerate sloth like me, real life must go on and money must be made. So look for me hitting up the $60 tables this week with force as I am still trying to obtain my monthly goal. Assuming I have a relatively non-“pound me in the ass prison” style week, I should make it.

It’s a funny thing about motivation. I would imagine most poker bloggers start in part to motivate themselves. Lee676’s recent startup attests to this. At first I looked forward to reading it just to compare thoughts and results. But after reading it every day I realize that it has become a source of motivation for myself, simply due to the fact that he and I play an almost identical game, at almost the same playing level. So, thanks lee!

And if you havn’t yet, please do yourself a favor and watch this short Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flash animation. To warn you it has “adult themes” to say the least and should not be watched in the company of co-workers, children, or your grade five teacher. But it destroys the record for unecessarily hilarious moments in a cartoon.

Running bad...

First 20 days of June: Awesome
Last 2 days of my life: Asshole Gay

Dropped almost a grand last night before luckboxing my way to a $16 double shootout win for a $650 WSOP qualifier seat. Makes up for half of the losses...

My losses I figure have been due to a combination of my pathetic attempt to switch from playing sets of SNGs to the continuous non-stop style, and the gay side of variance.

And when you are running bad, every tournament ends up looking something like that thing on the left - the first 5 hands of a SNG I played today... CLICKY 2 C

10-20BB and defending against the stop & go

There are many circumstances that come about while playing SNGs regularly. Obviously once you are below 10BB you are pushing preflop, but it is when you are in that grey area of 10-20BB that is can be troublesome.

It starts off simple enough, there are usually 5-7 players remaining and you have a legitimate raising hand (77+, ATs+, KQ+) and the action is folded to you. Now you raise, obviously, with the hopes of taking down the blinds. From here on in it only gets ugly.

One of three things will happen.

1. You take down the blinds.
2. You get a caller and see a flop with the preflop aggression on your side.
3. You are faced with a reraise (usually all-in)

Now I’ll admit that at least 70% of the time you will steal the blinds as all players are tightening up at this stage and aren’t going to be calling with marginal hands as often as they would early game. But when you do receive that caller, it gets messy. Take this hand for example.















It is especially difficult when you are called by the blinds when they are short as well, as it is so easy for them to fire all-in as a stop & go. I mean, the fact is they didn’t reraise me preflop so it is pretty likely that I have the best hand preflop, and if I had less than 10BB we’d get our money in pre and see how the SB really feels about their hand. But due to their position, they can move in first with a goodly amount of chips and push me off my hand.

Additionally, at this stage of the game, when you see a flop as the preflop raiser, people tend to “get committed” to the pot anyways and any fold equity you think you have with a continuation bet is usually lost.

When you are faced with a reraise preflop in this situation with a hand like AQs or 99, it again presents you with a difficult decision. The first thing you have to do is consider the pot odds you are being offered. Generally if you are receiving 2-1 or greater odds then you have to call. That is the fundamental reason that moving in with 10BB late game is standard as if you did a standard 3BB raise and then received a reraise all-in, you are always getting 2-1 odds anways so you may as well move in. But there are times when you won’t be getting 2-1 and you’ll be sitting there with a legitimate hand and the uncomfortable decision of calling off your entire stack with more than 10BB remaining.

Generally if I still have 10BB and I have a worse hand than JJ or AK I probably will fold to any reraise as long as it isn’t coming from a total moron who would push with JT or some shit. 10BB is always enough to mount any comeback and while it is true that you probably won’t get a better hand than the AJ you are currently folding, you have to at least respect the fact that someone has announced that they have you beat.

Ok, so all this babbling, is there any solution?

The reason this bothers me so is because SNGs for me have become so entirely mechanical that any sort of non “pushbot” play that I need to make just puts unneeded strain on my already strained multitabling brain. Every time something like this occurs I always wish that I could have just pushed preflop and let the cards play for me. But unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do in these situations. You simply have to play poker and continue making correct decisions. You can't just start pushing with more than 10BB with AQ because on average the only hands that will call you will have you crushed, and you'll end up risking way too much to win too little. Always keep in mind your remaining chip stack if you are faced with bets and reraises, and always try to avoid going broke with 10-20BB with a marginal hand.

One thing to take away from this inconclusive, almost pointless post, is the fact that once the blinds get to a hefty amount, where they are representing at least 1/20th of even the biggest stack, people rarely will call/reraise your preflop raises with trash. I started to notice this between the 50/100 to 100/200 blind levels on Stars. You can steal the blinds with impunity for the most part, and you don’t need a hand like AQ to do it. Obviously that is pretty common knowledge but I get the feeling that a lot of people are vastly underplaying this facet of the game in SNG’s. I see people wait and wait till they are blinded to less than 10BB then push all in. They forget about earlier game blind stealing. It’s important to start doing this once the blinds are representing 10-15% of your stack size.

So hopefully if you can stay ahead of the game by stealing more than your fair share of cheap blinds, you will be able to get away from hands that end up being dominated because you have enough extra blinds to fold to reraises.

Who knows…

Results oriented thinking 101

So I’ve been pretty light on the updates of late, I suppose due to my lack of play. I continue to reset my daily goals for games played and continue to fall behind each day. Truthfully I should be playing everyday, but now and then I find myself taking “days off” for no good reason. I realize I’ve wrote about this lack of motivation infinity times but since I still suffer from it, I need to fix it.

Truth be told, the increased motivation I seek will probably never see the light of day since I’ve suffered from it pretty much my entire conscious life.

I refrained from playing all weekend and only started late Monday night with 2 sets of 8. I fucking smoked those two sets cashing 11/16 with only one third place finish for a sickening profit of $1040. After entering the profit into my daily log, and after cleaning up the ensuing mess in my pants, I considered the pros and cons for playing an additional set. Obviously I was playing well, and obviously I like money, so in theory I should play another. But I had to consider the possibility of me losing. Did the pain that I would endure by losing outweigh the potential pleasure I would receive from winning? Since I was already up $1k, which is the highest daily total since March, the utility I would gain from winning an additional set is much diminished. You know, like receiving your third blow job of the day, it just isn’t as good. My expected win in a set of 8 is about $72. The chance of losing a set is roughly 25%.

In hindsight, after looking at these numbers it becomes obvious to me that I should have quit. But for some reason I pushed myself to play that third set. I really had no true desire to play another set, but something told me to continue playing. Perhaps it was the plethora of posts I’ve created about motivation sinking in somehow. I loaded up 8 more, only to cash in 2 of 8, for a net loss of $213.5. FUCKING EH!

There goes my $1k profit for the day.

There goes the only daily four figure profit since March.

In the end, does it matter at all? In the long run probably not, but in the short run (ie the upcoming week) it probably will affect me somehow. Somehow it will creep into my psyche and make me play worse.

Obviously all this results oriented thinking is completely inefficient and just plain stupid for a so-called “professional”. And obviously it is something I’m still ironing out. But I think even though I ended up losing that third set, I think it was a +EV move to continue playing, and am at least glad I had the temporary balls to do so.

Ramble on

Standard greeting.

My computer broke the fuck down early on the weekend so I was much handicapped as far as anything computery goes. I was simply playing a game of MVP Baseball 2005 when it just shut off completely. The power wasn’t out and everything else was still powered up. Being the lazy fuck I am I didn’t bother even trying to decipher what the problem was, and just continue my daily interneting on my girlfriend’s computer. A few days later I finally took it apart and fiddled around with it, eventually realizing that the power supply was busted up. So now I’m up and running again. I couldn’t help but laugh at the Future Shop employee who sold me the power supply pushing for their computer support people to install it for me, as installing a power supply is about as easy as taking a shit. But I understand why they offer, as most dumbass noobs don’t have a clue how to install a power supply. And this always makes me wonder how much I’m getting ripped off any time I take a car into get repaired. I mean, its all mechanical parts, just like a computer, how hard could putting in a new radiator or something actually be. Really? $500? For real?

Anyways, wtf was all that? This is a poker blog damn it.

Other than the forced weekend hiatus, I’ve actually put a decent amount of hours in at the tables this week. Sure it’s only Tuesday night right now, but I’m averaging 25games/day which is pretty amazing for me. My hot streak continues to burn, and I am again starting to wonder if I am actually good and not just lucky riding the high tubular waves of variance. I havn’t pulled in any dominant four-figure+ type days like I pulled back in March, but I’ve definitely had a nice steady grind, with an extremely strong and extremely unsustainable 43% ROI over 112 games this month. I’ve passed the 3k mark for this month already and as long as I continue to play my expected 10% ROI game I should easily pass 5k for the month and be playing the 109s at the end.

I have been playing at all hours of the day and night, trying to be aware of the changing styles of my opponents and adjusting efficiently. Although it is just anecdotal evidence, it seems that players who play from the hours of noon-6pm are relatively passive. Not to say that they are tight, as you’ll still get some strange calls. But they generally won’t be reraising your preflop raises, or check raising you with air. I find that it is easier to exploit these players when the blinds get significant as they generally tend to wait for premium hands and for other players to bust out. While they are waiting I end up taking my percentages of EV here and there, and chip up to a reasonable stack.

Players who play from 6pm-midnight are a real different breed. They are much more aggressive and tricky. They have no problem calling off all their chips with garbage hands in hopes to double up. They also are quite aggressive when it comes to blind stealing as well, and have no problem pushing any 2 cards when the blinds get big enough. Again, this is all just anecdotal, and I would love it if there could be some kind of data collected to prove this.

Obviously adjustments need to be made against both types of player sets. I’m actually having more difficulty adjusting to the more aggressive players as I can’t get away with some of the pushes I am used to being +EV. Things like pushing K8s from the button on the bubble with 8bb against a super lag in the BB are just not profitable if they have the ability to call you with JTo. So I’m learning. I think I’ve made some solid adjustments sofar and continue to do so.

As far as other multitabling players go, I actually find that I play against them more often in the evening. I think a lot of multitablers have this notion that the juiciest, most +EV time to play is at night between 8pm and midnight. And intuitively that makes sense if you assume that those are the hours in which most “recreational” players are playing. So what happens is you get about 5-6 “recreational” players and 3-4 multitablers at each table, so your overall EV isn’t all that great.

Any good poker player is basically just good at adjusting to the skill and aggression level of their opponents. So hopefully by being consciously aware of the changing dynamics of players during different hours of the day, I can more readily define the edges of EV that I’m pushing against, and adjust according.

I’m not sure if that will make sense to anyone but me.

I’ll leave you with a great hand I played today against a great player.

Seat 1: TallPaul22 (1170 in chips)
Seat 2: Salisbury (2515 in chips)
Seat 3: Clockwork (1365 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: LUCKY_TIGER (1290 in chips)
Seat 5: gfchad (1255 in chips)
Seat 6: fizzedout (1465 in chips)
Seat 7: MehnDaMassah (1400 in chips)
Seat 8: MegaFossil (1585 in chips)
Seat 9: RikkiDee (1455 in chips)
MegaFossil: posts small blind 25
RikkiDee: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [9h Jc]
TallPaul22: calls 50
Salisbury: folds
Clockwork: folds
LUCKY_TIGER: folds
gfchad: folds
fizzedout: folds
MehnDaMassah: folds
MegaFossil: folds
RikkiDee: checks
*** FLOP *** [9s Qh Qd]
RikkiDee: checks
TallPaul22: bets 100
RikkiDee: raises 200 to 300
TallPaul22: calls 200
*** TURN *** [9s Qh Qd] [7s]
RikkiDee: bets 1105 and is all-in
TallPaul22: calls 820 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [9s Qh Qd 7s] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RikkiDee: shows [9h Jc] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
TallPaul22: shows [As Js] (two pair, Queens and Jacks - Ace kicker)

Great call sir.

What addiction?

I’ve been on quite a heater the past few days in the SNG universe. For the month I’m already up 2k, and as per usual I still haven’t been playing as much as I should be.

I can remember back when I first started playing online, that I couldn’t wait to get home from school/work to play. I’d play all night and day, and any hour or minute in between. This is a common theme for me with things I enjoy. Once I get hooked on something I become obsessive and can’t stop doing it. Generally if something is good enough to hook me like this (usually video games) I can’t stop without external interference – usually in the form of my girlfriend, friends or family members scheduling an intervention to get me to stop. I always thought poker would be the next in line of things I needed to be physically removed from.

But it hasn’t happened that way. I have really slowed down this year compared to last. It’s most likely due to the fact that I’m not doing it strictly for entertainment anymore. But I don’t think that is all there is too it. Sometimes I really find myself just simply not having fun. Whether it because I’m cold decked, getting sucked out on or just not winning, poker for me can actually suck at times. And it is the combination of this propensity to suck and the added negative impact of losing money which keeps me from playing excessively, like I would any other activity I enjoy. I need to trick myself into playing by doing something else really boring for an hour, then I compare poker’s relative entertainment value and it starts to look viable. And it truly is that bad sometimes for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t imagine a better lifestyle. Poker has provided me with my dream – the dream of any sloth – doing nothing and getting paid for it. And it is my inner-sloth that leads me to avoiding poker, as even that is too much “work”, especially when I’m up for the day/week/month.

That being said, I’m always on the lookout for creative/new ways to enjoy my poker experience, because at its essence, I enjoy the game of poker thoroughly. I’ve expended more mental energy learning this game than any schooling or video game in my life. I enjoy taking things I’ve realized, applying them and seeing payoffs.

I came across a post at 2+2 detailing a challenge one poster had about playing 100 games at each SNG level, and tracking results. This co-insides with a discussion I had with a friend who commonly plays the $15 SNG games on stars. We came to the conclusion that a different skill set is needed to beat the $15 games compared to the $60 games. People are much more willing to put their tournament at risk with less than marginal hands, even on the bubble, so it would be more efficient to push less and wait for the donks to knock each other out. It’s an interesting hypothesis, one that makes intuitive sense. But if there is one thing I’ve learned about intuition and playing SNGs is that your intuition when you first start playing is dead wrong. It is generally –EV to sit around and wait for others to knock each other out, hence the whole pushbot phenomenon that dominates the games today. The reason pushbotting dominates is because when new players sit down they think they are playing smart by folding and trying to sneak into the money and avoiding going broke, when really in the long run they are giving up heaps of EV.

All that said, I think with the weekend starting, my poker boredom at an all time high and my curiosity with this experiment peaking, I think I’ll try it out. I may drop it down to 50 games at each level as 100 games are going to take hella-long. I’ll probably 10 table the first few levels until I get back to the $60 games, and maybe if my balls have dropped by then I’ll jump up to the $110 games for a little tester.

A toast to new adventures in Poker


Thanks old indian man, you can sit down now.

I take it back

I found an even worse Sharkscope profile. I'll just post a screenshot of it here rather than making you do the work to find it.












How is it possible to be such a consistent loser and continue to play? Oh well, thanks for the $$

I figure its better to talk about this here than in game. But today I was actually playing against this fish and somehow his sharkscope profile was brought up in game and the table was just loving it. But Union Jax was actually a pretty good sport about it. He admitted he sucked and usually played drunk. Which means he has a gambling problem and an alcohol problem, gg sir.

What is also funny is that in the SNG that we were playing, he ended up winning vs yours truly. Maybe he's turning things around??

Everyday I'm hustlin'

I just remembered how good a movie Nurse Betty was. I know, if you havn’t seen it you assume it was the sequel to Bridget Jones or some shit, but it is actually violent and hilarious.

Uhh.. artificial segway…

Sometimes you can make money by doing no betting whatsoever. I’ll set the upcoming hand up with a hand that occurred 3 hands previous to it. Same opponent.

doc56: posts small blind 10
RikkiDee: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Qs Th]
doc56: calls 10
RikkiDee: checks
*** FLOP *** [9d Qc 9h]
doc56: bets 120
RikkiDee: folds
doc56 collected 40 from pot

Alright, that is the heavily edited version, but what is important is that “doc56” is a moron. This is the 2nd hand of the SNG and he limps from the SB and then overbets the 9Q9 flop. I insta-muck the top pair here because who knows what kind of idiot I’m up against, take your 40 chips.

Ok so 3 hands later this happens, remember, same opponent.

Seat 3: doc56 (1480 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (1470 in chips)
TheKidJNel15: posts small blind 10
wpr101: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Kh Ac]
doc56: raises 60 to 80
RikkiDee: calls 80
TheKidJNel15: folds
wpr101: folds
*** FLOP *** [6c Ad 4s]
doc56: bets 80
RikkiDee: calls 80
*** TURN *** [6c Ad 4s] [4c]
doc56: bets 280
RikkiDee: calls 280
*** RIVER *** [6c Ad 4s 4c] [As]
doc56: bets 1040 and is all-in
RikkiDee: calls 1030 and is all-in

Ok so here I smooth-call preflop with AK in position, something I’m becoming a big fan of. I also have additional information here in that this opponent has the tendency to overbet. With what, I don’t know, but anyone who overbets the pot is generally a fish. Ok so the flop comes a non threatening 6A4, and because it isn’t threatening I won’t be reraising yet. The only action I’ll ever get from a reraise is if he has a worse ace, which certainly is possible, but if he has no ace he folds (usually). Now because I didn’t reraise preflop I havn’t really informed him as to how strong my hand is, so I continue the slowplay to hopefully induce future overbets. He complies with my wish on the turn and the river. However, once the board reads AA446 and him pushing in on the river, one has to assume we are chopping this pot, so I call and he flips over…

*** SHOW DOWN ***
doc56: shows [2h 6h] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
RikkiDee: shows [Kh Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Fours)
RikkiDee collected 2970 from pot
RikkiDee said, "thx"

So my hunch was dead on. More evidence to support the whole “watching your opponents” thing.

Did you notice that little, “RikkiDee said, ‘thx’”? at the end there? Yea, I do that. But it is something I’ve really started to think about. There have been so many times in the past that I’ve pushed late game with something like QT and got called by K2o and still won and let them know that I wasn’t pleased with their call by saying something like “great call dumbass”. My motivation to berate them usually was along the lines of “I want to push with impunity late game and if I make them feel bad about calling maybe they’ll tighten up”. But what I think it ends up doing in the long run is just makes them a better player by tightening up. I mean, honestly, I want them to call with K2, as long as I know they will. That way I can adjust my pushes so I’ll be going in with the best of it. Additionally, if they continue calling all their chips off with K2 they’ll continue to be bad players, so the next time I play them they still suck.

This all goes back to the “tapping on the glass” phenomenon. It is important to let fish do whatever they want and not let them know they suck. The more they learn the less you make. Everyone knows this, yet I still feel the need to make fun of them like the “thx” in that AK hand I just posted. That little “thx” could possibly affect them, who knows? Maybe next time they get 62s they’ll actually fold it!

I really need to stop being so short sighted in my table chatter. Sure berating fish may make me feel good now, but when they come back next game improved and ready to outplay me it’s not going to feel so good. I realize this attitude is pretty much standard etc, but its something that I need to constantly remind myself of.

Additional poker stars whoring

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 8765436

Goals, moving up, stagnation and the etc..

So my friends spend about 40 hours a day reminding me that I'm the pussiest of pussies by not playing as much as I should. And on one hand they are right, but on the other hand, fuck you.

Ok so here are the stone cold facts.

I've been playing strictly SNGs for 6 months now, with the occassional MTT thrown in for shits n' giggles. I havn't had a losing month yet, and have sustained a +12% ROI at all levels of play (except $6.50 games wtf?). Law of ROI states that the more you play the more you win, so if I follow the law I should make more if I play more...

But I don't. I pussy out on a daily basis. Take this week for instance. Here are my daily results:

Monday: $223.50
Tuesday: $580.50
Wednesday: -$211.50
Thursday: $630.00
Total: $1222.50

Ok so not too bad right? Looks good? Well now lets look at how many games I played to obtain these results.

Monday: 7
Tuesday: 6
Wednesday: 6
Thursday: 6
Total: 25

Pretty pathetic isn't it? If I apply my law of ROI (patent pending btw) if I continued playing at this rate for 25/games a day I would have made $4890.00 in one week! DAMN BITCH!

Well obviously these results are a little on the high side of expectation, the point is clear, I need to play more. I mean, I'm not doing anything anyways, why not make some guaranteed money?

Additionally I need to continue rising in limits. I can't just become stagnant and content to live at the $60s for the rest of my life just because I'm getting by there. I know that I can undoubedly beat the $109s at a very similar ROI rate as the $60s, and therefore make mo money (mo problems?).

So even though I am pretty terrible at creating and maintaining goals set, I think one needs to be established; to reach the $109s by the end of the month. I feel im sufficiently skillled (skill in SNGs? lawl!) to take them on, just insufficiently bankrolled. Back before I was playing at the $60s I told myself to get to $5k bankroll before playing there, which I did. Now $5k (essentially 100 buy-ins) is in my mind the bare minimum to play at the $60s, but I have survived well with that idea. So just to be safe, I'll make my bankroll goal for the $109s $12k. There is no reason why I can't obtain this by the end of the month (current bankroll is $8k), it's just matter of will, motivation and a healthy dose of anti variance potion.

Hands that make you lol

Getting back into the poker lifestyle... doing pretty good. Just finished a set of 6 scoring 4 firsts.

Just some quick hands that made me laugh from the workday.

SB Sitting out, lets try and steal the blinds from the cutoff, I promise I'll give up the pot to resistance...

Seat 1: Dubness 1 (1230 in chips)
Seat 3: McDuff (1715 in chips)
Seat 4: folster1214 (1390 in chips)
Seat 5: bagar79 (998 in chips)
Seat 6: RikkiDee (2550 in chips)
Seat 7: cigar817 (3187 in chips)
Seat 9: danskemann (2430 in chips) is sitting out
danskemann: posts small blind 75
Dubness 1: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [5c 6s]
McDuff: folds
folster1214: folds
bagar79: folds
RikkiDee: raises 300 to 450
cigar817: calls 450
danskemann: folds
Dubness 1: folds
*** FLOP *** [3d 7h Js]
RikkiDee: bets 600
cigar817: calls 600
*** TURN *** [3d 7h Js] [4c]
RikkiDee: checks
cigar817: bets 900
RikkiDee: raises 600 to 1500 and is all-in
cigar817: calls 600
*** RIVER *** [3d 7h Js 4c] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RikkiDee: shows [5c 6s] (a straight, Three to Seven)
cigar817: shows [Qs Kd] (a pair of Threes)
RikkiDee collected 5325 from pot

Yea I got lucky but King high?? LAWL!!!!!!111ONEONE

Ok next... standard push.. great call sir

Seat 2: Dubness 1 (2040 in chips)
Seat 3: 13_Blazen_13 (6190 in chips)
Seat 4: RikkiDee (2368 in chips)
Seat 6: humla (1069 in chips)
Seat 7: FLcounter (1833 in chips)
Dubness 1: posts the ante 25
13_Blazen_13: posts the ante 25
RikkiDee: posts the ante 25
humla: posts the ante 25
FLcounter: posts the ante 25
Dubness 1: posts small blind 200
13_Blazen_13: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Th Qh]
RikkiDee: raises 1943 to 2343 and is all-in
humla: folds
FLcounter: calls 1808 and is all-in
Dubness 1: folds
13_Blazen_13: folds
*** FLOP *** [Kd 5d 4s]
*** TURN *** [Kd 5d 4s] [Ah]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 5d 4s Ah] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RikkiDee: shows [Th Qh] (high card Ace)
FLcounter: shows [9c Jc] (high card Ace - lower kicker)
RikkiDee collected 4341 from pot

Q HIGH FTW~~~~

This next hand I thought he was all in and I thought I'd call for lol factor and good pot odds, but after I called and noticed I could bet, I - being the astute multitabler that I am - figured that he must not be all in...

Seat 1: HE Chas (1490 in chips)
Seat 2: RikkiDee (1255 in chips)
Seat 4: tinasprince (1445 in chips)
Seat 5: halruaa (1755 in chips)
Seat 6: hAAj_fkp (1645 in chips)
Seat 7: Yooky (3050 in chips)
Seat 8: smallstraigh (1105 in chips)
Seat 9: bradster38 (1755 in chips)
HE Chas: posts small blind 50
RikkiDee: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [2h 8s]
tinasprince: folds
halruaa: folds
hAAj_fkp: raises 170 to 270
Yooky: folds
smallstraigh: folds
bradster38: folds
HE Chas: folds
RikkiDee: calls 170
*** FLOP *** [7d 5c 8c]
RikkiDee: bets 985 and is all-in
hAAj_fkp: folds
RikkiDee collected 590 from pot
RikkiDee: shows [2h 8s] (a pair of Eights)

Gotta show that.. I DEFEND MY BLINDS BITCHES!!

And thats how you go 4/6 first places

Oh one last thing, for more lol'ing check out Sharkscope to see the absolutely worst player in the history of Sit&Go's - "TADFBI". Don't forget the caps! Who loses 10k playing SNG's?