I have not been running well lately... and what does that force one to do? Evaluate if its run-bad or play-bad... Because run-bad can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It starts with innocently enough with me passing on the following spot.
playing in a 3 table league. UtG is a reg and winning player in the league... Level is 100/200, 10k effective. He opens to 400 . I am in HJ with Ah8h and call. BB calls...
Flop is Kc 2h 4h... He bets $1k into the 1300 pot...
I think and raise to $3k...
BB folds.... UtG JAMS.
Its up to me to call $7k to win $13k. If he has a K and 1 heart then I am about 40% equity with the over and the draw...
(All 27 players are still in)
In the end, I decide not to draw and fold. I learn later he says he had 5h6h... Which is a way wacky shove?? But was still debating my fold for days... But most often, with UtG opener, and this board, shove is AK, right?
Fast forward a week and I an losing small hand after small hand and I have run my starting stack DOWN to about 60% and I open KJs and get two callers... Flop is K high and I check-raise JAM all in... I got called by a flush draw... who went on to win the hand with a 1 card straight... Ugh...
Sunday I am playing online... I am making a deep run in an IGN with $3k up top. with about 80 to the bubble, my Ax gets there over KK. ON THE BUBBLE, my KK shove survives Ax call. Then after the bubble, my Ax again gets there over a KK. With about 30 left, I steal shove with Js9s and double up after getting called with my hand in the cookie jar. 10 left and I am 8th, but still have 18 BB. We are 6 handed and the Button shoves a million chips into my AA... and I get my legs cut out from under me by Qs9s. Almost the same situation I had with the Js9s steal. So I am not allowed to complain here... I got my fair share of breaks... But oh man, when you settle for 10th and a measly $165 when its $3k up top, it still hurts...
ok, back to studying...
Monday, October 14, 2019
Tuesday, July 09, 2019
Long overdue update
The thing about a blog is that it's now a bit dated. But I still think that by recording your thoughts, you get to ruminate over them and further process them. To that end, here are a few updates on poker progress...
First off, I skipped the WSOP this year. I felt like I was not playing well, and my league results reflected this. I didn't finish in the top 10 in either league. I cant say I am overly disappointed as I DETEST re-entry/re-buy MTTs and that seems to be all the rage in Vegas now (I suspect because they can rake over and over again per player. To me, this is the beginning of the end, but that is how it goes). But my important take away was that I still needed to improve my game. Something was amiss.
So, what did I do? I took Japanese I with my daughter. Ok, those are not technically related. I wanted to do this with her and not going to Vegas meant I was home for those 8 weeks in summer and was able to do this with her. I am really glad I took this class because it taught me something. I have NOT been studying poker worth a damn. I mean, I had to pour hours into studying each week just to keep up in class and I thought to myself how much harder I was studying Japanese than I was studying poker... and yet, I somehow thought my poker study was good enough. It was NOT. I now understand how hard I have to study to improve vs. just going through material and hands.
Cue "crossed paths"...
Last year, I played in a WSOP event (we were ITM by now) and I got moved to a table with Mike Sexton and Ryan Laplante. Mike was very serious and I could tell was bemused when people (including me) looked at phones, or talked about things other than poker. As a contrast, Ryan was gregarious and talkative. I found it interesting that you could almost see him processing information at some incredible rate. I started talking with him (I didn't know he was a pro when I landed at the table.) and was very impressed by his poker acumen. Quickly his pro status become quote evident... Then I found out he did coaching. Now I have a coach and I doubted I could afford Ryan, but started following him on Twitter (@protentialmn). He posts these interesting spots which I could compare to what I was learning to see what the thinking gap was. (Over simplifying, I am not playing my value RANGE strong enough.) Anyway, when he opened a training site, I jumped on the change to get in early. The videos are really detailed and broken down into logical chunks. I have watch the first dozen twice already, taking notes and comparing to how I would play without the insight. The gap was intimidating. But that means I came to the right place. These lessons were going to be incredible valuable. If you are also interested, its over at Learn Poker Pro.
Lastly, to complete this set of thoughts, I also gave myself way too much credit for understanding GTO. There is an expression, "Explain to me like I'm 5". Simply stated, walk me through something slowly and don't assume I know anything (much less what I say I know). Then I saw that Andrew Brokos (@thinkingpoker) published his teaching (he is/was a teacher by trade) GTO book. At first I thought it was at too simple of a read... Then I realized that I was picking up all sorts of new information. The book is Playing Optimal Poker, and I highly recommend it for today's game. It lays out not just how GTO works, but how to apply it. Seems easy? Well, I was surprised how much context I was missing in terms of applying GTO to playing a hand.
(In neither case do I post this for any considerations or compensations other than passing on a couple of impressive resources.)
Next up for me is to digest this material and become a better player in this upcoming 2019-2020 season.
(I'll try and post more updates)
First off, I skipped the WSOP this year. I felt like I was not playing well, and my league results reflected this. I didn't finish in the top 10 in either league. I cant say I am overly disappointed as I DETEST re-entry/re-buy MTTs and that seems to be all the rage in Vegas now (I suspect because they can rake over and over again per player. To me, this is the beginning of the end, but that is how it goes). But my important take away was that I still needed to improve my game. Something was amiss.
So, what did I do? I took Japanese I with my daughter. Ok, those are not technically related. I wanted to do this with her and not going to Vegas meant I was home for those 8 weeks in summer and was able to do this with her. I am really glad I took this class because it taught me something. I have NOT been studying poker worth a damn. I mean, I had to pour hours into studying each week just to keep up in class and I thought to myself how much harder I was studying Japanese than I was studying poker... and yet, I somehow thought my poker study was good enough. It was NOT. I now understand how hard I have to study to improve vs. just going through material and hands.
Cue "crossed paths"...
Last year, I played in a WSOP event (we were ITM by now) and I got moved to a table with Mike Sexton and Ryan Laplante. Mike was very serious and I could tell was bemused when people (including me) looked at phones, or talked about things other than poker. As a contrast, Ryan was gregarious and talkative. I found it interesting that you could almost see him processing information at some incredible rate. I started talking with him (I didn't know he was a pro when I landed at the table.) and was very impressed by his poker acumen. Quickly his pro status become quote evident... Then I found out he did coaching. Now I have a coach and I doubted I could afford Ryan, but started following him on Twitter (@protentialmn). He posts these interesting spots which I could compare to what I was learning to see what the thinking gap was. (Over simplifying, I am not playing my value RANGE strong enough.) Anyway, when he opened a training site, I jumped on the change to get in early. The videos are really detailed and broken down into logical chunks. I have watch the first dozen twice already, taking notes and comparing to how I would play without the insight. The gap was intimidating. But that means I came to the right place. These lessons were going to be incredible valuable. If you are also interested, its over at Learn Poker Pro.
Lastly, to complete this set of thoughts, I also gave myself way too much credit for understanding GTO. There is an expression, "Explain to me like I'm 5". Simply stated, walk me through something slowly and don't assume I know anything (much less what I say I know). Then I saw that Andrew Brokos (@thinkingpoker) published his teaching (he is/was a teacher by trade) GTO book. At first I thought it was at too simple of a read... Then I realized that I was picking up all sorts of new information. The book is Playing Optimal Poker, and I highly recommend it for today's game. It lays out not just how GTO works, but how to apply it. Seems easy? Well, I was surprised how much context I was missing in terms of applying GTO to playing a hand.
(In neither case do I post this for any considerations or compensations other than passing on a couple of impressive resources.)
Next up for me is to digest this material and become a better player in this upcoming 2019-2020 season.
(I'll try and post more updates)
Monday, January 28, 2019
$250 MTT revisited
$250 MTT, (123 runners at the start)
early levels strategy: Plan to stay away from EP and big pots with pairs.
AQo, called button 3bet. checked gutter. did not bluff turn.
min raise AJo intending to not call 3 bet... cbet vs BB
JTo call raise OOP, check-fold.
in the BB with 77, folded when button 3 bet MP.
KJs button with UTG limp, raise. flop st8... (no action)
min raise A7s, will fold to 3bet. flop A, EP check calls. pot turn on two flush board draw board. EP folds.
min raise AJs UTG intending to fold to 3bet. BB calls. cbet and call... turn str8 with nut flush draw. I bet he folds.
88 cutoff, raised by hijack... 3 bet to 825 in cutoff. villain folds.
BREAK (20K, I am 100th/295 runners)
UTG 3x raise, fold A6s
66 raise 2.5x utg+1, 3 callers. MEANT to cbet dryish flop, but missclick checked, folded to bet and calls.
folded to me in cutoff and I fold 5dTd. I must be card dead as I considered playing it.
125/250/25 @ 18880... just not getting hands.... so KJo in BB looks better than it is... utg+1 min raise. so, I 3 bet to 1500.
I then c-bet 9high board and take it down.
next hand, QJo in SB and folded to button who raises. this time call, which is debatable and BB comes too. I check middle pair on flop, might be able to call bet? checks through, then ACE. UGH, so BET and hope to take it down here. Who has Ace here,right??? Villain folds.
9Ts in hijack, open raise. BB calls. flop 2 hearts, so cbet.
I fold 98o in the BB to some std open.
back to card dead... 22 on button vs utg raise. folded. could have 3 bet here, but was worried about stack size, namely mine. But I really should have considered it longer. If it was MP, I like it better.
BREAK 250/500/50 @ $21k - I am 169th/339 (pay 90)
44 in cutoff, open raise. folded to 3x 3bet. Was larger sizing and I have small pair. ugh.
55 in BB w/30BB. I call min raise, then bet out T high flop (with clear range advantage). villain folds.
again fold A6s vs open? (turns out fold was way good)
JTo in utg+1 (folded)
I have KJs in SB... 25BB... But choose to fold to opener.
Open KJo in hijack, but button flats, BB calls. T88 and decide not to C-bet. checks through??? Turn is a 9 and now I have a draw. I call a bet. bingo on river. he bets, I shove just over pot. too much? Villain folds.
A5s cutoff open 2x. folds through.
A9o in SB, Hero 3-bet button raise. button folds.
AJs utg+2, I open 2.2x, 3bet by BB...again fold... I really took note here... was I just shutting down? Should I at least CALL here with position??? I think I should have, YES.
I raised A5s from hijack. SB called. Flop 9JQ rainbow. I c-bet despite knowing almost any hand will call with something. Turn gave 4 to str8 (T) and I eventually folded to a large river bet.
Now 19 BB...deep also made a note that the cutoff raised my BB for second time...
BREAK 177th/238. $21k, $37 is avg. 800/1600/160, pay 99
K9s in SB with just 11 BB... folds to button who shoves... I re-shove as I cant fold this good of a hand to a button shove. Villain hits flop and holds.
finish 193rd/486
I played way too conservative when I got under 40BB?
early levels strategy: Plan to stay away from EP and big pots with pairs.
AQo, called button 3bet. checked gutter. did not bluff turn.
min raise AJo intending to not call 3 bet... cbet vs BB
JTo call raise OOP, check-fold.
in the BB with 77, folded when button 3 bet MP.
KJs button with UTG limp, raise. flop st8... (no action)
min raise A7s, will fold to 3bet. flop A, EP check calls. pot turn on two flush board draw board. EP folds.
min raise AJs UTG intending to fold to 3bet. BB calls. cbet and call... turn str8 with nut flush draw. I bet he folds.
88 cutoff, raised by hijack... 3 bet to 825 in cutoff. villain folds.
BREAK (20K, I am 100th/295 runners)
UTG 3x raise, fold A6s
66 raise 2.5x utg+1, 3 callers. MEANT to cbet dryish flop, but missclick checked, folded to bet and calls.
folded to me in cutoff and I fold 5dTd. I must be card dead as I considered playing it.
125/250/25 @ 18880... just not getting hands.... so KJo in BB looks better than it is... utg+1 min raise. so, I 3 bet to 1500.
I then c-bet 9high board and take it down.
next hand, QJo in SB and folded to button who raises. this time call, which is debatable and BB comes too. I check middle pair on flop, might be able to call bet? checks through, then ACE. UGH, so BET and hope to take it down here. Who has Ace here,right??? Villain folds.
9Ts in hijack, open raise. BB calls. flop 2 hearts, so cbet.
I fold 98o in the BB to some std open.
back to card dead... 22 on button vs utg raise. folded. could have 3 bet here, but was worried about stack size, namely mine. But I really should have considered it longer. If it was MP, I like it better.
BREAK 250/500/50 @ $21k - I am 169th/339 (pay 90)
44 in cutoff, open raise. folded to 3x 3bet. Was larger sizing and I have small pair. ugh.
55 in BB w/30BB. I call min raise, then bet out T high flop (with clear range advantage). villain folds.
again fold A6s vs open? (turns out fold was way good)
JTo in utg+1 (folded)
I have KJs in SB... 25BB... But choose to fold to opener.
Open KJo in hijack, but button flats, BB calls. T88 and decide not to C-bet. checks through??? Turn is a 9 and now I have a draw. I call a bet. bingo on river. he bets, I shove just over pot. too much? Villain folds.
A5s cutoff open 2x. folds through.
A9o in SB, Hero 3-bet button raise. button folds.
AJs utg+2, I open 2.2x, 3bet by BB...again fold... I really took note here... was I just shutting down? Should I at least CALL here with position??? I think I should have, YES.
I raised A5s from hijack. SB called. Flop 9JQ rainbow. I c-bet despite knowing almost any hand will call with something. Turn gave 4 to str8 (T) and I eventually folded to a large river bet.
Now 19 BB...deep also made a note that the cutoff raised my BB for second time...
BREAK 177th/238. $21k, $37 is avg. 800/1600/160, pay 99
K9s in SB with just 11 BB... folds to button who shoves... I re-shove as I cant fold this good of a hand to a button shove. Villain hits flop and holds.
finish 193rd/486
I played way too conservative when I got under 40BB?
Monday, January 07, 2019
Frustrated in the New Year's $250 MTT
I played a big $250 online MTT that racked up over 400 runners... Never had I folded so many hands in my life. I recorded the entire thing with notes, thinking there would be some great hands to go through... Instead I paid $250 to fold cards for 3 hours. So, how bad was it? (In 3 hours, never a pair higher than 88 and not a single AK)
I am going to do some processing on Wednesday and review with the coach and see if there was any escape. I dont see it. I think I played as close to mistake free as ever and have zero (-$250) to show for it.
I am going to do some processing on Wednesday and review with the coach and see if there was any escape. I dont see it. I think I played as close to mistake free as ever and have zero (-$250) to show for it.
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