Sweat Session

Um, no, I didn't work out although I need to start again. I had a sweat session with LaffyTaffy22 from Poker Dynasty and it went really well. I think he hit on some key areas where my game has improved already since I really haven't played No Limit (NL) in a while. Most of these things may be small but when you're rusty and your confidence is shaky it's good to hear them coming from a really good player.


Within a few hands we changed tables to target some bigger fish which I've been trying to do more frequently as table selecction (and seat selection for that matter) is extremely important nowadays.

My blind stealing attempt percentage has improved. The theory that if your opponent isn't going to 3 bet you when you're stealing means you can use any two cards for it and shut down when he plays back really paid off.

I've never really been a big fan of check raising flops in NL since I tend to c-bet almost every single pot I open raise but Laffy found a few spots to do this and it boosted my stack a bit. We also talked about ramping up my aggression in post-flop spots where I would normally shut down. Another important thing that came up was to not let myself get in marginal situations to reduce some of the variance that happens in this beautiful game. Oh, and I "obviously need to run better" as shown in the hand below. This guy was a huge calling station with stats of 57/8/.5

Here's the Poker Stove analysis on the turn:

Text results appended to pokerstove.txt
44 games 0.032 secs 1,375 games/sec
Board: Qc 5s 3c Th
Dead:
equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 81.818% 81.82% 00.00% 36 0.00 { 5c5d }
Hand 1: 18.182% 18.18% 00.00% 8 0.00 { Tc6c }

Clearly the only time I'm folding here is if my internet connection disconnects me :)







LaffyTaffy, thanks again for helping out a lowly donk like myself and I hope we can do something like this in the future. Good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand.

Why Limit?

I was going to respond to Flamm in the comment section but thought it would be better in a post.

There are a few reasons why I'm going with Limit right now.

It's easier to play when I'm at work. My connection isn't stable the whole time and I'd hate to have 50 BBs invested in a hand and have the connection drop. I don't play at work all the time but right now business is really slow and I can get in a couple hours of play easily.

Most of my mistakes are post-flop and those mistakes lead to losing stacks (100 Big Blinds) in NL. By playing Limit I'm controlling the amount I lose when I make mistakes. I'm also keeping my bankroll alive as I've been on a bad swing for a while. I want to get this back up to a comfortable level.

I've done a few session reviews on 2+2 in the Micro Stakes Limit section and it's a really good way to improve one's game. These session reviews are something I think would work very well in the Mini Masterminds at Poker Dynasty. You get to see what works and what doesn't against different types of villains, and there are a lot more hands that go past a pre-flop raise and a c-bet.

I'm also re-reading Small Stakes Hold Em by Ed Miller. It seems at the levels I am grinding the opponents play too many hands are really straight forward in their playing style. Not many villains know how to value bet strong drawing hands/combo draws and I think I have an advantage there.

Oh, here's the larger scale picture of the macro from the previous post too. Almost for got to add this. Good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand

Sat. Night Home Tourney

Went to a friends house for a semi- regular tournament this past Saturday night. 8 runners showed up for the $30.00 buy in tourney. There were 2 players I had no experience with so my strategy was to play this like a Sit & Go; tight early playing only premium hands with some c-bets thrown in to keep the weak passives/donk bettors honest.

The blinds started at 1/2. First hand I'm in the Big Blind and was running late so I didn't get to play it. Next hand, in the SB I get 77 and raise it up to 7 and get 2 callers. The flop comes Q 9 6 which doesn't help me and I check. Normally this is a spot I c-bet when playing in cash games but I know one of the players likes to bet (usually 1/2 pot or less) with any piece of the flop so I check with the intention of calling. No such luck as it's checked around. The turn brings me a 7. The card is great for my hand but brings a possible straight so I protect my hand by betting 2/3 pot and I take it down. Nice start.

I pretty much sat back from there and waited for opportunities to come up to gain some chips. Most of the hands I played I opened in the CO or button and would take it down with a strong c-bet. The general feel I got was that my aggression was going to pay off in the right spots. Most of the players don't really have a good concept of how to properly bet, or assess their opponent's ranges except NeonBlack whose always dangerous in terms of poker play.

A good example was one of the unknowns is in middle position. UTG opens to 4, and he min. raises to 8. All fold except the opener who is getting great odds here with any two cards. Flop comes Axx with a flush draw out there. Unknown openly groans and starts shaking his head. I knew right away he had KK. So UTG leads for a bet and Unknown calls. Turn comes a deuce and UTG leads again. Unknown shoves and loses when UTG shows A2. He's not happy but if he raises more pre-flop he gets him to fold.

So I noticed that the UTG guy will be susceptible to some light 3-betting since I'll have absolute position on him. I get to do it to him twice. One time he outright folds pre-flop. Next time he calls and checks the flop. I had like QT off , miss the flop completely and give him a stiff c-bet. He tanks for a few minutes and stares at me saying "I know you have AK. I don't think I can call though." Thanks. You just told me you have maybe mid pair with a weak kicker. If you call here I'm double barelling you 'cuz I know you're folding that weak sauce. Too bad he folded.

Nothing else really happened except when we got to the bubble. 3 places pay. 3rd place gets their buy in back and 2nd gets double that. I have a nice stack after earlier knocking out NeonBlack, who was getting pretty low on chips. He shoves in early position and I'm on the Button w/ 77 again. I know he needs chips and will shove a huge range here so call, as the blinds were on life supprot and hanging on for dear life. He shows KQ spades and I send him to the pool table when he doesn't improve.

The chip leader has a giant stack so my play now is to avoid him for the most part and punish the shorties. Thanks to Ryan's Sit & Go videos and my Mini Mastermind group at Poker Dynasty for improving my bubble play a lot. I knock one of them out and am in the money. I get it to Heads Up and start shoving any 2.

The blinds are now 20/40 and I have right around 11 or 12 BBs so I'm not folding much. I get no action when I shove. We go back and forth for a few hands until he finally open shoves. I know he doesn't have a pocket pair, as he LOVES to trap people with big hands. I figure I'm a 60/40 with my T9 os and call. He shows A7 os. Just about what I figured he have. I hit a T on the flop to take the lead. If this holds up I'll be in great position to win my third tourney here. ( I've won twice and placed in the money 4 out of 5 times ). Sadly an ace hits the river. I'm sure I a case could be made for folding the hand since my M was right at 11 and my calling range should be really tight. I went with my read here so I'm not worried too much about it.

I did stack him in the cash game that followed, although he only bought in for 10BBs. What is that weak sauce buy in after winnig the lion's share o fthe money? LOL. We played 1/2 NL. I bought in for 30 BB and was one of the biggest stacks on the table. Most everyone else bought in for 10- 20BBs I had 88 UTG+1 and raise it to 6, get one caller (10BBs). I hit my set and lead/ call his shove for the win. The cash game didn't last too long though and I made a little bit more so all in all it was a good night.

Good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand....

A Little Poker, A Few Bikes......

Being a ninja, in the poker sense of the word, is the reason I joined Poker Dynasty. I feel that with the resources available to me here there is no reason I can't be successful. One of the best features is the Mini Mastermind. You meet with a group of like-minded people and discuss poker theory, go over hand histories, and/or, watch a member play a table explaining why he does what he does, all the while receiveing positive feedback on what he's doing correctly and what he may need to do to improve his game to reach the next level. It's starting to improve my game a lot and if you're interested in doing the same please click the link above and tell them whodatdare sent you. You won't be sorry you did.

The shot above was taken at Barber's Motorsports Museum in Leeds, AL, and is the "world's largest collection of vintage motorcycles and Lotus racing cars"( taken fromtheir site). It is 5 floors filled with motorcycles from around the world. The oldest one I found in my brief tour ( because this was a Christams party with free food and booze, and I llike free stuff!) was a Harley Davidson from 1908.

The racetrack here is considered to be one of the top 3 in the world. Rumor has it when Mr. Barber first built the track he had some world class racers test the track for him and give them their assessment. They said it was definitely a great track and was one of the the top 15 in the world. Mr Barber had the whole thing ripped up and redone.

This shot above was taken from the 3rd floor. You can only see 9 of the 15 bikes in this column. There are columns on each corner of a glass elevator. The second bike form the top inthis column is, you guessed it a Ninja!

This one really caught my eye because of the color and then I realized it had Michael Jordan's logo on it. He apprently loves racing and co-owns a team . If you click on this link goto gallery and pick a track for some awesome pics.

Hope you like these shots. I even talked a little poker too. That hasn't happened here in a while ;-)

Good luck on the felt and may the good cards hityour hand.