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crazy eights Friends

A concept in two parts

Date: Tue, Jul 13, 2010 Internet

Here's a fairly typical hand in an 11/27 that illustrates a couple of concepts that you grasp with experience (or one concept with two parts, I guess).

http://www.holdemmanager.net
NL Holdem $30(BB) Poker Stars Game#46704987178

nETP_XPYMOB ($1,420)
Shpuon ($1,460)
glavgrin ($1,460)
wheel_me62 ($2,440)
ae0066 ($1,200)
FR Vessant ($1,610)
ZJ=myhomeboy ($1,460)
JKoenig99 ($1,025)
rickdahick ($1,425)

nETP_XPYMOB posts (SB) $15
Shpuon posts (BB) $30

Dealt to FR Vessant As Ks

I have AKs. A strong but not made hand.

fold,
wheel_me62 calls $30
ae0066 calls $30

Two fishes have limped and many players are tempted just to limp behind. The fish don't fold they say. Then you miss the flop and you've wasted your raise.

FR Vessant raises to $150
fold,
JKoenig99 calls $150
fold, fold, fold,
wheel_me62 calls $120
ae0066 calls $120

And yes, not only do the limpers call, but another fish does too.

FLOP ($645) 5d 7c 3c

And I whiff the flop and will check/fold.

wheel_me62 checks
ae0066 checks
FR Vessant checks
JKoenig99 bets $330

This bet will very likely take it down. It doesn't really matter what bettor has although he can actually have a pretty wide range.

wheel_me62 folds
ae0066 folds
FR Vessant folds
JKoenig99 wins $645

So that sucked, right?

Well, here's the thing. Look at the pot size on the flop. It's pretty decent and that means that the times I hit, I'm going to find it very easy to get it in. Had I limped, the pot would have been much smaller and I'd possibly need all three streets, giving villain three opportunities to decide his shitty hand was not worth pursuing. Now I can commit villains on the flop and get them in on the turn, and often all the money will just go in on the flop.

And here's the second concept. Often the money will go in whether I hit or not. The other guys will now often be inclined to stack off, where if it had been a limped pot, they could keep it smaller. This is probably more of a benefit in 9mans but it's still useful.

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Tilting again

Date: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 Internet

Luck takes many forms in poker. A lot of people focus on allin EV and think they are unlucky if they run behind par in that, and they are somewhat, but you can be unlucky in lots of other ways. Here's a hand where I got my money in really bad, but I can count myself very very unlucky imo.

I hadn't been at this particular table long, maybe 20 hands.

http://www.holdemmanager.net
NL Holdem $1,000(BB) Full Tilt Game#18921016590

Tally Hooo ($55,426)
Albert Chuns ($63,214)
Dingle Tard ($43,760)
JMAVIS25 ($28,606)
mdfgreat1 ($10,027)
capro22 ($48,277)
basatagirl ($46,448)
pouppyshark ($36,077)

Tally Hooo posts (SB) $500
Albert Chuns posts (BB) $1,000
basatagirl antes $125
pouppyshark antes $125
Tally Hooo antes $125
Albert Chuns antes $125
Dingle Tard antes $125
JMAVIS25 antes $125
mdfgreat1 antes $125
capro22 antes $125

Dealt to basatagirl Qc Qs
fold,
JMAVIS25 calls $1,000
fold,
capro22 calls $1,000
basatagirl raises to $6,500

So I raise two limpers pot. I'm happy to play a big pot with this hand, obv.

pouppyshark calls $6,500

He's newly come to the table, so I haven't seen a single hand from him, but obv. I'm not happy to be called by a player with position.

Tally Hooo raises to $55,301 (AI)

This guy has 3bet on two of the four opportunities he has had, has raised several times and in chat, half the table is calling him a donkey. So I figure he is very often going for the squeeze here and it's impossible for me to lay down queens.

Except that they are queens, so obviously I am not going to win the hand. I don't know why I don't just fold them preflop. I've lost seven of the past 10 times when I've got them all in preflop, 13 of the past 20.

Still, this guy is a LAG, so he'll have all sorts in his range. This time, surely, we've run into JJ and we make it huge, right?

fold, fold, fold,
basatagirl calls $39,823 (AI)

Tally Hooo shows Ac As

Wrong.

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Sighing all the way to the river

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010 Internet

This is why I gave up playing on Tilt. I mean, wtf. The hand before, I raised QQ pot and flopped an A. Obviously villain's play is awful but as usual, he hits his hand. This happens to me routinely on Tilt. It really doesn't matter what cards I have or what cards they have. When the money goes in, I lose, simple as that.

I don't believe in doomswitches, and when you play low volume, losses feel a lot worse than if you play a lot, but I run so much worse on Tilt than I ever have on Stars. I'm at least 30BI below EV. And yes, I know I wasn't miles ahead on the flop. It's just the overall sickness. This is a deep tourney, 5K stacks, 12-minute blinds. You should play it fairly conservatively because you get plenty of spots to win chips. I have only 4K, so the implied odds aren't there for A9s -- if they ever are! I clearly have a very strong hand, so he has to get lucky. I know, you want the fish to call your raises when you're strong. I do. But I don't want the cunts to beat me every fucking time.

http://www.holdemmanager.net
NL Holdem $100(BB) Full Tilt Game#18888465027

LON64 ($8,861)
lurker31 ($6,110)
grumbles323 ($3,657)
1980pablo ($10,335)
alex0985 ($11,192)
Thunderstruck_5 ($19,490)
marrora ($13,195)
xander77 ($8,125)
basatagirl ($3,915)

LON64 posts (SB) $50
lurker31 posts (BB) $100

Dealt to basatagirl Kd Kh
grumbles323 calls $100
1980pablo calls $100
fold,
Thunderstruck_5 calls $100
fold, fold,
basatagirl raises to $650
fold, fold, fold, fold,
Thunderstruck_5 calls $550
FLOP ($1,650) Ts Tc 7s
Thunderstruck_5 checks
basatagirl bets $1,000
Thunderstruck_5 raises to $4,650
basatagirl calls $2,265 (AI)
TURN ($8,180) Ts Tc 7s Js
RIVER ($8,180) Ts Tc 7s Js Ad
Thunderstruck_5 shows As 9s
(Pre 33%, Flop 41.7%, Turn 90.9%)

basatagirl shows Kd Kh
(Pre 67%, Flop 58.3%, Turn 9.1%)

Thunderstruck_5 wins $8,180

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Fuck Tilt

Date: Sun, Feb 28, 2010 Internet

No really. Fuck Full Tilt. I quit playing there because I ran 40BI below EV in about 200 tourneys and it was getting ridiculous. I'd shove AA, get called by 54s and routinely they'd flop the straight.

So tonight I put some money on Tilt and nine times got 10BB+ in. Six times I was ahead, three behind. Of the six, three 70/30s and three 60/40s, of the three behind, two 60/40s and a coinflip I had the worst of. I didn't win a single one.

Now I know you can lose nine allins straight. And I'm not at all superstitious. But wtf. It's 3/10,000 that I should have that run. I doubled twice in ordinary play, so I did get in more than 10BB and win, but we're talking just preflop shoves.

I don't play high stakes, so this is only like 130 bucks or whatever. But it does feel like I just can't win on Tilt. The play is lol bad, so it's not that I'm not good enough. I mean, if people limpcall with QJ for their 10BB stack, you're not out of your depth. But if they hit the J vs your AQ every time, it doesn't really matter how good you are. SNGs are all about push/fold, and so ultimately are MTTs. You run super card dead for 30-40 hands, then shove when you get something decent, and if you never win one, you go busto.

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You called with what?

Date: Sun, Feb 14, 2010 Internet

This pretty much says it all. This is a 40-man $11 game.

http://www.holdemmanager.net
NL Holdem $300(BB) Poker Stars Game#39767157607

Funkytus ($6,178)
FR Vessant ($2,555)
RoLLeR7788 ($3,287)
dhdn1980 ($5,665)
neil_rick ($8,525)
llenti13 ($10,270)
WM80 ($9,043)
canaans ($4,040)
Anarchy-X ($10,437)

neil_rick antes $25
llenti13 antes $25
WM80 antes $25
canaans antes $25
Anarchy-X antes $25
Funkytus antes $25
FR Vessant antes $25
RoLLeR7788 antes $25
dhdn1980 antes $25
Funkytus posts (SB) $150
FR Vessant posts (BB) $300

Dealt to FR Vessant 5s 6h
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold,
fold, fold,
Funkytus raises to $600

Has openraised every time the opportunity has presented. He clearly doesn't have a good hand because his raise sizes have mostly matched his hand strength. I can't shove though because I saw him call off 5K of a 7K stack with J9o when someone openshoved at t200.

FR Vessant calls $300
FLOP ($1,425) 3c Td Tc
Funkytus bets $300

Has nothing, obv.

FR Vessant raises to $1,930 (AI)

Good spot for it.

Funkytus calls $1,630

Check his hand.

TURN ($5,285) 3c Td Tc 5c
RIVER ($5,285) 3c Td Tc 5c 9d
Funkytus shows Qh 5h

What. The. Fuck. Not only does this complete fucking clown call off the rest of my stack with Q5s, no pair, no draw, he has me fucking dominated. I was running well earlier this month, but the last week has been a bloodbath for my bankroll. Sigh.

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Fishfood

Date: Wed, Jan 13, 2010 Internet

This was a bit frustrating.

PokerStars Game #38087149596: Tournament #262010133, $30+$3 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2010/01/13 3:51:26 ET
Table '262010133 10' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: 555DAN (6135 in chips)
Seat 2: FR Vessant (3485 in chips)
Seat 3: unclepaullly (4922 in chips)
Seat 4: cobratatus4 (4195 in chips)
Seat 5: NjLiOnS (17988 in chips)
Seat 6: pAtcAsh83 (2890 in chips)
Seat 7: rsend73 (6475 in chips)
Seat 8: 23121969 (9005 in chips)
Seat 9: kouvidg (7302 in chips)
rsend73: posts small blind 50
23121969: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [8d 8c]
kouvidg: calls 100
555DAN: folds
FR Vessant: calls 100

This is a loose limp, but the table has been very passive and I figure often to see a flop for free. I consider raising the limper to try to get heads up, but I'm liable to get called in more than one spot.

unclepaullly: folds
cobratatus4: raises 350 to 450

That's annoying.

NjLiOnS: folds
pAtcAsh83: folds
rsend73: folds
23121969: calls 350

This guy's a terrible fish. He is playing 69/8 and I've seen him call a raise with K5s. I played one hand against him. I had AK and raised his limp. He called. The flop was 987r, he checked, i checked behind. Turn was a K, I bet and he called. River a T, he bet and I paid off the gutshot that he had hit. My call is a bit marginal because he probably does have at least two pair too often, but whatever.

kouvidg: calls 350
FR Vessant: calls 350

I call with the two fish in because if I flop the set I should have a decent chance to make some chips.

*** FLOP *** [4h Ts Ks]

That's a terrible flop obviously.

23121969: checks
kouvidg: checks
FR Vessant: checks
cobratatus4: checks

So raiser most likely has AQ, possibly a middle pair. The other two can have wide ranges, but you'd expect them to donk Kx.

*** TURN *** [4h Ts Ks] [Kd]
23121969: checks
kouvidg: bets 300

This is a very weak bet for a king and the board has enough draws that he is probably just taking a cheap shot.

FR Vessant: raises 2735 to 3035 and is all-in

So I shove what I expect to be best hand often, with plenty of fold equity if villain happens to have Tx.

cobratatus4: folds
23121969: calls 3035

Unfuckingbelievably, this guy actually had a K. You wouldn't credit it. This is a guy who has bet everything he's hit hard and got paid. This one time he decides to slowplay. Of course it's contrary. This is an awful board to slowplay on, so ofc the fish chooses to do it.

kouvidg: folds
*** RIVER *** [4h Ts Ks Kd] [Td]
FR Vessant said, "ugh"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
23121969: shows [Kh Qs] (a full house, Kings full of Tens)
FR Vessant: shows [8d 8c] (two pair, Kings and Tens)

Oh well. No regrets. My MTT record is very poor, but I do think I play okay. Usually, the fish has 77 in this spot and rivers another 7. It makes a pleasant change actually to be behind! Pity I didn't bink the 8 to punish him.

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LOL donkaments

Date: Sun, Jan 10, 2010 Internet

I have registered to play in the WBCOOP PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! You too can Play Poker Online at PokerStars.com and take part in the WBCOOP which is open to all Bloggers by registering on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 673766

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AKs on a wettish board

Date: Fri, Jan 8, 2010 Internet

Here's my bustout hand from the 33 deepstack I played the other night. I played pretty well in this tourney, and notably only had one bit of luck (got it in with AA vs a set of jacks and rivered another ace!).

Villain in this hand had been at my table earlier, and was playing a sort of semitag game. He seemed to have a clue.

So that I can discuss his play as well as mine, I'll tell you straight up that he has 65s.

Poker Stars $30+$3 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t500/t1000 Blinds + t100 - 7 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/464293
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG+1): t30171 M = 13.71
MP: t8713 M = 3.96
CO: t108150 M = 49.16
BTN: t105323 M = 47.87
SB: t159768 M = 72.62
BB: t115550 M = 52.52
UTG: t127325 M = 57.88

Pre Flop: (t2200) Hero is UTG+1 with As Ks
1 fold, Hero raises to t3000, 3 folds, SB calls t2500, 1 fold

Not sure why I raised 3x because 2.5x is standard, but it could just have been laziness/tiredness.

When he calls, what do I think he has? I guess I'm putting him on broadways and pairs. I didn't know he was bad enough to call with SCs.

Why is that bad imo? I only have 27BB behind, so the implied odds aren't there. If you do flop a huge hand and stack me, you are only getting 12/1, and you won't do that very often. Playing draws OOP is difficult. We're a bit deep to CR allin, so if he hits a decent draw, he's going to often be flatting the flop and then hoping I have missed so he gets odds to draw. When I haven't missed or I barrel, he's usually taking two bad bets to try to hit it.

I suppose that if he hits a pair he can checkcall and then if I check my whiffed hands behind on the turn, he can hope for a cheap showdown. But if a high card comes on the river, at least on dry boards he's going to be unsure if I bet whether he is just valuetowning himself if he calls.

Say you have an 863r flop, he checks, you bet, he calls. His hand is pretty face up. He has to have a pair, probably lower than 88. The turn is, say, a J or a 2, he checks I check behind. Now the river is a Q. He checks again. If I bet here, can he call with his pair of 6s? I mean, people do, but you have to put your opponent on AK/AT/A9/KT if you do. Do I bluff with them more often than I actually have AQ/KQ, a cute QJ/JT/Q9s? Most people do not, in my experience, bluff here, so no, I think you have to fold your 65s.

Also, on flops that really aren't good for me, I can check behind and see a free turn. So he also doesn't necessarily get value for his pair on a lot of flops.

Flop: (t7700) Kd Tc 6d (2 players)

So I hit the flop. This is a terrible flop for handreading, but obv. a good one for a shorty who wants to make value from his AKs.

SB checks, Hero bets t4000, SB calls t4000

I bet fairly small in the hope of inducing action from Kx and to keep the draws in so I can bet again on the turn. I actually bet far too small and should have made it more like 6000 so that I'm not overbetting the turn so much.

On safe turns, I am always going to be shoving. His range for calling the flop is imo weak Kx/Tx/maybe 6x/flush draws/any broadways. He's not going to fold AQ/AJ/QJ for instance. Probably won't fold Q9/J9 even. And he may well call with any pairs that he had preflop.

So basically he is going to be calling with pretty much his entire preflop range. I didn't expect hands as weak as 65s to be in there, so I wouldn't expect to see 87s either. 98s is barely possible, T9s obviously is Tx and will mostly call.

So my bet is a mistake. Given that he's not folding anything, I should bet more! I want to get value from my hand. Yes, I can already be beat some of the time. If he has 66/TT/KT or the unlikely KK, I'm fucked. But he has a vast range of hands I crush. This guy was fairly aggro so I was sort of hoping that he might give more action with KQ/KJ and even other broadway draws. QJ has 14 outs against AT/99 for instance, and he can have combo draws that I'm ahead of but not a ton, so he might raise that and only really be badly behind the top of my range. Still, betting so small was a mistake.

Not because I would have folded out 6x. If he's calling 4K with it, he'll call 6K with it. He has to think I whiffed the flop or not be thinking at all. I think his call is bad because this is as bad a flop to hit a pair on as you could wish for. On many turns, I am likely to shove AQ/AJ/QJs when checked to. I have a lot of outs against Tx and worse and can hope to fold out a lot of hands that beat me, including 65s! If I check behind on the turn, you still face a lot of bad cards on the river and cannot really call another bet.

Turn: (t15700) 6h (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t23071 all in, SB calls t23071

Why shove the turn? Didn't I just say that I would shove AQ? Well, on many turns I probably would, but not so much on this one. The paired board just makes it more likely for Tx/99-88 to call.

The reason I shove is pretty simple. Say he has QJo. If I bet 9K here and he calls, the pot is 33K and I have 14K behind. The river comes Ac. He puts me in. Can I fold? Getting better than 3/1 with 14BB I don't think so. Make it a 9 and it's even harder. Can I fold when a diamond comes? Very tough because it's such an obvious card to bluff on. I'm not likely to have a diamond draw after all. So I think I get stacked when his draws come in.

Whenever you are guaranteed to get stacked on the downside, you might as well ensure you get doubled on the upside. So I shove to force draws to double me when they miss. If they fold, I'm cool with that. I take down a nice pot and on that board, tbh, there aren't a ton of hands you're getting three streets with with TPTK.

The thing is, he had a superwide range on the flop and the 6 doesn't change much for most of it. He has a big stack and here I'm overbetting the pot, which doesn't look like it wants a call. He's not ever folding a K. Now, he probably doesn't have KQ/KJ but he can have K9, maybe a suited K8. He may call with some Tx. If they're not calling here, it's hard to imagine they will give me value on most rivers. But the key for me is to make draws pay me when they miss. I surrender the value from hands that might call a bet here but won't call a shove, but in this spot, I am more concerned about getting fully compensated for the times I'm stacked than I am about making a bit of value. I'm short and I won't be any closer to winning for being 9K better off the times he misses.

I don't know that I'm necessarily right but that's how I felt about it. If I was a little bit deeper, I think I would have simply checked the turn behind and called bets in a smaller pot on most rivers. I don't like doing that because this is a super bad board to give a free card on but it does prevent me getting stacked against 6x, which would be more of a concern if I was deeper. If I was deeper still, I'd be making a bet to give draws bad odds because I can then get away from checkshoves. When shorter, I can't, because most $33 villains with KQ/KJ and even JJ are dumb enough to think oooh, I has two pair, shove it over, not realising that I am just never calling with anything they actually beat, and I will have to call off my stack to punish them.

I'm not sure my analysis was all that good, but that's how I'm thinking about it. I was tired and stoned when I played the hand, but I felt like I was playing well. The flop bet is definitely too small, and my thinking was the wrong way round there, but I like the turn shove. I'd have liked it a lot more if he'd had K9!

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crazy eights - 2009-09-24

Date: Thu, Sep 24, 2009 Internet

How is poker going?

About like this:

PokerStars Game #33250242541: Tournament #198265724, $10+$1 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/09/24 22:34:48 ET
Table '198265724 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: arstug (1480 in chips)
Seat 2: VoxTurtle (1510 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (1410 in chips)
Seat 4: bouchaco (1670 in chips)
Seat 5: badboyjayuk (1580 in chips)
Seat 6: rawdog7575 (1410 in chips)
Seat 7: WiredSet (1520 in chips)
Seat 8: KrazyCraig84 (1480 in chips)
Seat 9: MAGNUM8454 (1440 in chips)
KrazyCraig84: posts small blind 10
MAGNUM8454: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kc Kd]
arstug: folds
VoxTurtle: folds
FR Vessant: raises 60 to 80
bouchaco: folds
badboyjayuk: calls 80
rawdog7575: folds
WiredSet: calls 80
KrazyCraig84: folds
MAGNUM8454: folds
*** FLOP *** [8c 7c 6d]
FR Vessant: bets 200
badboyjayuk: calls 200
WiredSet: calls 200
*** TURN *** [8c 7c 6d] [7s]
FR Vessant: bets 1130 and is all-in
badboyjayuk: folds
WiredSet: calls 1130
*** RIVER *** [8c 7c 6d 7s] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Kc Kd] (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
WiredSet: shows [7h 2h] (three of a kind, Sevens)
WiredSet collected 3130 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3130 | Rake 0
Board [8c 7c 6d 7s 9c]
Seat 1: arstug folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: VoxTurtle folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: FR Vessant showed [Kc Kd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Sevens
Seat 4: bouchaco folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: badboyjayuk folded on the Turn
Seat 6: rawdog7575 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: WiredSet (button) showed [7h 2h] and won (3130) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 8: KrazyCraig84 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: MAGNUM8454 (big blind) folded before Flop

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My email to Pokerstars support, subject "Doomswitch"

Date: Mon, Aug 3, 2009 Internet

Hi

Could you turn it off now? I appreciate your sense of humour but this is just sick:

PokerStars Game #31222081385: Tournament #183600842, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (150/300) - 2009/08/03 23:00:31 ET
Table '183600842 34' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (6290 in chips)
Seat 3: RVRchsngDONK (21317 in chips)
Seat 4: gallory8 (7260 in chips)
Seat 5: Perrin57 (16222 in chips)
Seat 6: Chuckzeduck (9645 in chips)
Seat 7: Rick007 (6825 in chips)
Seat 8: stormswa (8665 in chips)
Seat 9: yurntrbl (1950 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
RVRchsngDONK: posts the ante 25
gallory8: posts the ante 25
Perrin57: posts the ante 25
Chuckzeduck: posts the ante 25
Rick007: posts the ante 25
stormswa: posts the ante 25
yurntrbl: posts the ante 25
yurntrbl: posts small blind 150
FR Vessant: posts big blind 300
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [4h 4c]
RVRchsngDONK: folds
gallory8: folds
Perrin57: folds
Chuckzeduck: folds
Rick007: folds
stormswa: folds
yurntrbl: raises 1625 to 1925 and is all-in
FR Vessant: calls 1625
*** FLOP *** [Tc Td Ts]
*** TURN *** [Tc Td Ts] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Td Ts Th] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
yurntrbl: shows [3s As] (four of a kind, Tens)
FR Vessant: shows [4h 4c] (four of a kind, Tens - lower kicker)
yurntrbl collected 4050 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4050 | Rake 0
Board [Tc Td Ts Th 2h]
Seat 2: FR Vessant (big blind) showed [4h 4c] and lost with four of a kind, Tens
Seat 3: RVRchsngDONK folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: gallory8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Perrin57 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Chuckzeduck folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Rick007 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: stormswa (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: yurntrbl (small blind) showed [3s As] and won (4050) with four of a kind, Tens

Thanks

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Doomed to stay at the 11s

Date: Sun, Aug 2, 2009 Internet

Why do I always run so badly when I move up? I just don't understand it. I fired up a 22 this morning. Just one, because I'm working. Mostly I folded, then I picked up TT at t50, raised to 3x and got two callers. The flop was 442, so I led out. One of the fishes raised and because I was committed, I got it in. He has JJ. Next up, I have 88. There's a limper, a shortstacked fish raises and I call. I didn't notice the fish was short, or I would have likely shoved over. The flop comes 9xx, the limper checks, and the fish bets out small. I know he has nothing and shove over. The other fish snapcalls with A9. How come they always have it? Every fucking time! The guy limps A9 from early position, calls a raise and flops top fucking pair. So I have a few chips left and get up to 400. I pick up KK in the small blind. Sadly they all fold to me, and I raise but the fishy big blind decides this is the one time he will not defend his blind. FML.

This pretty much sums it up though. Here's my bustout hand:

PokerStars Game #31179674313: Tournament #184216436, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2009/08/02 20:50:43 ET
Table '184216436 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (415 in chips)
Seat 2: decorounder (2210 in chips)
Seat 3: meeks16 (3415 in chips)
Seat 4: geomed (2060 in chips)
Seat 5: O'Brien_6 (3380 in chips)
Seat 6: zapedy (1340 in chips)
Seat 9: jeffery b3 (680 in chips)
jeffery b3: posts small blind 25
FR Vessant: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [8c 5d]
decorounder: folds
meeks16: folds
geomed: folds
O'Brien_6: folds
zapedy: folds
jeffery b3: calls 25

He's very short obv. so I doubt I have much fold equity.

FR Vessant: checks
*** FLOP *** [5c 6c 3h]

That should be an okay flop.

jeffery b3: bets 200

I expected him to bet his whole range here, so I am not folding. I probably have the best hand.

FR Vessant: raises 165 to 365 and is all-in
jeffery b3: calls 165

And I do. He has 32. I mean, fucksake, how can I not beat these clowns? If you want to play that shit, shove it man.

But yeah, you probably spotted that he has a draw to the straight, so that's fucking it for me.

*** TURN *** [5c 6c 3h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [5c 6c 3h 6s] [2s]

And there it is. Like clockwork.

I mean, no fucking kidding, I am doomed never to move up past the 11s. I simply cannot win at a higher level. I can't get to the long run, and I suspect that even if I did, they'd still be hitting every single draw, every single flop, everything against me.

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Fuck fucking poker

Date: Sat, Aug 1, 2009 Internet

STTs suck. Early in this one, I had QQ cracked by a guy who shoved when I 3bet a UTG raiser. He had AKs and probably should have folded. So I had basically no chips and clawed my way back. I got to the bubble with 2Kish chips, and lost some when I raised with JJ and a huge fish called and openshoved an A high flop. He probably didn't even have the ace, but you can't risk it. Then I got blinded down a bit, so a few hands later.

PokerStars Game #31116131795: Tournament #183786853, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2009/08/01 7:11:44 ET
Table '183786853 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: kinkykay-de (3881 in chips)
Seat 2: FR Vessant (1225 in chips)
Seat 4: Bluesmansav (6548 in chips)
Seat 5: SezzGecko (1846 in chips)
kinkykay-de: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
Bluesmansav: posts the ante 25
SezzGecko: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts small blind 100
Bluesmansav: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kh 9s]
SezzGecko: folds
kinkykay-de: calls 200

This is our fish, who loves to limp, to call raises, and to make dim stabby bluffs at the flop.
FR Vessant: raises 1000 to 1200 and is all-in

I have been playing tight, so I figure I have a ton of FE.

Bluesmansav: folds
kinkykay-de: calls 1000

Wrong.

The fish has called me with K7s. I mean, wtf. You can't think you're ahead with that. I think the one thing I never get over in STTs, even though I am pretty cool with the truth that it's all about luck now, is these tards who just gamble. Yeah, I know it's all gambling, but intentionally putting your money in behind is awful.

*** FLOP *** [8c 6s 9h]

When I saw the flop, I knew I would be busted. Yes, I have top pair. But what does that matter? He has a draw and it's going to come in.

*** TURN *** [8c 6s 9h] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [8c 6s 9h Jh] [5d]

See? If I played 200 games a day, I'd be over it, because I'd see it all the time. So yeah, maybe play more than 50 this month, Zenners?

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bleh

Date: Sat, Aug 1, 2009 Internet

How am I ever going to move up in stakes if I run so badly?

PokerStars Game #31114065461: Tournament #181767859, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/08/01 5:05:49 ET
Table '181767859 35' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: LatzFatz (2980 in chips)
Seat 2: mandymoo77 (2990 in chips)
Seat 3: BIGTONE53 (6140 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (2960 in chips)
Seat 5: arameer (2860 in chips)
Seat 6: Munstah (1640 in chips)
Seat 7: I_win_Hands (3000 in chips)
Seat 8: Daf12 (3000 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: aannaa1 (2980 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 10
arameer: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [7c 8c]
Munstah: folds
I_win_Hands: folds
Daf12: folds
aannaa1: folds
LatzFatz: folds
mandymoo77: calls 20
BIGTONE53: folds
FR Vessant: calls 10

Easy complete.

arameer: raises 80 to 100

Seems bad so I'm going to call and hope to outflop him.

mandymoo77: folds
FR Vessant: calls 80
*** FLOP *** [Jc Tc 5h]

Should be a good flop for my hand.

FR Vessant: checks
arameer: bets 220
FR Vessant: raises 400 to 620

I hope to fold him out here.

arameer: raises 400 to 1020
FR Vessant: raises 1840 to 2860 and is all-in

With 13 outs against top pair, I am going to gamble here.

arameer: calls 1740 and is all-in

He has Ac9c. Fuck my luck.

Get this though:

Uncalled bet (100) returned to FR Vessant
*** TURN *** [Jc Tc 5h] [4c]

It's enough to make you cry.

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On coaching

Date: Sun, Jul 19, 2009 Internet

Some guy on 2p2 asked me for coaching. He was angling for free help by buttering me up, but I don't have time, so I said I'd do it for money (not much money -- 30/hr if you want to learn how to crush) and he asked what would be the best way to gain from coaching and how you should do it. So I said this:

There are three indispensable skills if you want to win using a 2p2-type strategy: 1/ Hand selection 2/ Not ****ing up postflop and 3/ most importantly, late game.

In 1, you have to know which hands to play in which spots, which hands you'll threebet, which hands you'll shove over limpers, which hands you'll resteal with against which players. Some of this you can figure out for yourself, some you can be taught, some you just get a feel for as you play.

In 2, there are different approaches, but the most important thing is not to make the bigger mistakes your opponents make: not to stack off light with top pair, not to go broke in unraised pots with hands that are easily beaten, not to chase draws; and more positively, to bet strong hands hard, to apply aggression correctly and to understand bet sizing and have some idea of what your opponents are trying to do. An appreciation of range-based thinking and play is essential, because this is the foundation of good poker.

In 3, you need to know when to push and when to fold. This involves understanding ICM above all, and working through spots in a program like SNG Wizard, which is an essential purchase for anyone who wants to improve at STTs. I don't have a lot of time to study ICM, which is one reason I don't play turbos too much (regular speeds are more forgiving of patchy late-game knowledge), but there are good and bad ways to use it imo.

If you get anyone to help you with your game, you need them first of all to understand what you know. To do that, they need either to sweat you or to go through a HH in a replayer. They can do this without your presence, but tbh talking to a player about why they played their hands a particular way lets you know whether they get it or not. You know what I mean? Someone might do something differently from the way I would, and I'll ask them why. If you understand the game, your answer will make sense to me, if you don't, the flaw in your understanding becomes apparent. Most people have glaring leaks because they just dont' understand areas of the game, or spots that they are in. This is true of everyone bar the very best: I'm a moderate player and I definitely don't know it all.

I'll be honest with you. Coaching has a value in STTs, but it's limited, because a lot of the knowledge you need is gained through experience and work that you have to do for yourself. So it's valuable to have someone talk through some games with you, and explain broadly where you're going wrong/what you're doing right, but they can't teach you push/fold -- you have to study that for yourself. Having said that, if you are very much a learner, either being sweated or going through a HH in a replayer will work -- using Skype and Teamviewer or similar. I think the second is best because there's no time pressure and you can explain your thought process.

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