I'm at my inlaw's place right now, have been here for the past 6 days. Brought my laptop with me so I've been able to surf and even get in some games!
It was strange, before I left I felt like I couldn't really win at all, and hadn't been putting in much volume. Since I've been here I've been on a bit of a tear and brought the BR back up to around $560.
I think the only thing I've done is just tighten up my game... by that I don't just mean playing less hands, I mean playing a better selection of hands in better positions. Hell, I folded AK from UTG today after a 3 bet from UTG+2 got raised by the button. I don't want to play AK in a 3 way pot out of position against other deep stacks. I cut my losses at the 3bb raise I put in and just dumped it. I would have won the hand I believe, but I would have been put in a bad spot had I missed the flop, so I decided to just dump it instead.
I ended up starting this post about 1.5 hours ago, but decided to jump into a session instead. It started out as a mistake, as I quickly dropped 2 BI's. I decided I would just grind it back and try to show myself that in the long run I can be a winner at this level. I don't have HEM or PT installed on this lappy so I can't show any graphs, but I can't wait to get home and see how my stats look from when I was here, especially what my vpip/pfr/3bet/steal stats look like. I think I tried to play alot better position poker, and I was really aggressive with my 3 betting with hands that can play well after the flop rather than just 3 betting for the sake of 3 betting. Suited connectors/1 gappers, suited broadway, KQ type hands were all being used to 3 bet or isolate limpers. Its amazing how many people will limp/call 5bb pre flop and just fold to any bet on the flop.
I ended up playing ~1230 hands, and came away as a $10.63 winner (~212 bb). I still averaged out to 17bb/100, a pretty good feat considering how it started.
I really only got involved in about 4 pots that were > 100bb. The first was very early in the session where I donked off a stack to a guy I clearly knew I was losing to. I really do need to just learn to fold more often early in a session until I'm in a rhythm. He called a min raise from MP, I 3 bet from the button with jacks, original raiser folds and he comes back over top of me. I should have just folded at that point knowing hes not doing that without a big hand. Of course, like a donkey I stack off on the 2-4-9 flop to kings.
Another I had a guy dump about 85 BB to me where I bet the entire way with AJ against A5 on a J2A46 board.
The other 2 were interesting, I'll try to post the HH conversion
Full Tilt, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
UTG+1: $1.38 (27.6 bb)
UTG+2: $1.28 (25.6 bb)
MP1: $5.34 (106.8 bb)
MP2: $10.09 (201.8 bb)
MP3: $4.99 (99.8 bb)
Hero (CO): $10.13 (202.6 bb)
BTN: $5.32 (106.4 bb)
SB: $5.29 (105.8 bb)
BB: $5 (100 bb)
Preflop: Hero is CO with Q
Q
Q5 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, BTN folds, SB calls $0.13, BB folds
Flop: ($0.35) 9
5 9 (2 players)
5 9 (2 players)SB checks, Hero bets $0.20, SB calls $0.20
Turn: ($0.75) 6
(2 players)
(2 players)SB checks, Hero bets $0.40, SB raises to $1.20, Hero calls $0.80
River: ($3.15) 8 (2 players)
(2 players)SB bets $2.85, Hero calls $2.85
Results: $8.85 pot ($0.59 rake)
Final Board: 9 5 9 6 8
5 9 6 8Hero showed Q Q and won $8.26 ($3.86 net)
Q and won $8.26 ($3.86 net)SB showed J A and lost (-$4.40 net)
A and lost (-$4.40 net)I think I pretty much butchered this hand starting on the turn. I really can't beat anything but air at that point. On the river its even worse, as I'm losing to most hands that villain shows up with there. Ahh well, I guess it pays to be terrible sometimes?
Full Tilt, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
CO: $3.04 (60.8 bb)
BTN: $5.07 (101.4 bb)
SB: $10.62 (212.4 bb)
Hero (BB): $5 (100 bb)
UTG+1: $5.10 (102 bb)
UTG+2: $4.66 (93.2 bb)
MP1: $1.78 (35.6 bb)
MP2: $2.38 (47.6 bb)
MP3: $1.93 (38.6 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 7 A
A7 folds, SB raises to $0.15, Hero raises to $0.45, SB raises to $1.25, Hero raises to $2.35, SB calls $1.10
Flop: ($4.70) 5 A 6 (2 players)
A 6 (2 players)SB bets $4.70, Hero calls $2.65 and is all-in
Turn: ($12.05) 7 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
(2 players, 1 is all-in)River: ($12.05) Q (2 players, 1 is all-in)
(2 players, 1 is all-in)Results: $12.05 pot ($0.66 rake)
Final Board: 5 A 6 7 Q
A 6 7 QSB showed J 9 and won $2.05 (-$5.00 net)
9 and won $2.05 (-$5.00 net)Hero showed 7 A and won $9.34 ($4.34 net)
A and won $9.34 ($4.34 net)I played this pretty terribly as well. I should have either shoved or folded pre after his 4 bet. As played (although I'm not sure why he calls the 5 bet), I probably should have gotten away from it on the flop. With half my stack already in, I'm not sure how much better of a flop I can get in a 5 bet flop, which was the main reasoning behind my call. Luckily I was ahead anyways and didn't need the turn card.
Anyways, its starting to get late/early, and I should get to bed. My lovely fiancee will kill me if she knows I was up this late, lol. I'm glad my night ended the way it did though. The BR is sitting nicely now. I actually had it at 462 earlier in the week, then logged in on the 23rd in the evening and lost 4 bi's pretty quickly. Thankfully I've gained most of that back, and I can't wait to get back home to get some stats and see if there were any obvious leaks in my game that I can fix. The leaks I'm worried about at this point should be simple ones considering the stakes, but the quicker I find em the better. I'm really trying to get a fundamentally sound game before I move up. Hopefully in the new year I can start playing around at 0.05/0.10 again! Wahoo!!
Cheers and happy holidays!!!
