Not a great evening, but in terms of my new objectives, not a bad one. I played the 20k gtd last night and spent about $60. I played reasonably well and could have done better if my AJ had beaten an A4, sigh. I really wish I knew what to do with the "marginal" hands when the blinds are high and you have a short/medium stack size. It seems I am always making weak decisions with these hands that cost me long term. I could have pushed with 2 hands yesterday 77 and 66 and tripled up both times as I was against AK and AJ both times respectively. But Im still learning. There are times when I like pushing with these hands- specifically against a steal from the cutoff,button or SB when im in the BB, but are there other occasions where the medium pairs are pushworthy (bearing in mind you have a functional stack)?
I played few hands in the rebuy period, doubling up with QQ v 99 and getting some more chips when I flopped the nuts from the SB with 64 on a flop of 664. As there were 2 spades out I led at the pot and got a lot of chips when the river brought the 8s completing the straight and flush draws. After that card dead for a while, got caught bluffing at a pot and got snapped off. Then had a nice hand where I flopped a gutshot str8 draw with 2 connecting overs and a backdoor flush draw. Im holding 10Jc and the flop came 783 with 1 club. After both blinds check I bet and get min-raised by the SB. As the blinds were still low and the BB also calls I let the turn peel off revealing a lovely 9c. They both check, I bet, SB raises….then I make the mistake of inst-all-in. I have the (shocking) tendency to do this when I have a monster and he must have got the vibe. He laid down 2 pair and the BB laid down A SET OF 8’s!!!!!!!!
Congratulations to that chap- I know I couldn’t do it. But tell me, is that a winning play long term?? I’m definitely in the minority of players that would call a gutshot str8 draw on the flop so I question his lay-down. Pretty damn sure its –EV against the range of hands I could be pushing with there.
Later on I turn into some sort of weak/passive twat who bleeds off tons of whips limping with small pp’s and AJ in EP, only to see a large raise round the back and be forced to fold. Why do I even play them there? Raise or fold. It makes the decision easier later. I then went card-dead for a while and saw 2 limpers on my BB. I had already decided preflop that I was pushing with any 2. Blinds were 800/400 and about to go to up. My stack was 6k. I found KJ and with the 2 limpers and the SB completing I pushed and got called by A10. Shame really, as nearly every other player on that table would have folded that hand, but the guy was good and he knew I was frisky. No help for me, 3 aces for him and im out. 93rd or something and not a bad stint, just needed some cards when the crunch arrived. Still, cant wait for aces all day long.
I played a $15 SnG and came a pathetic 3rd after going for gold and getting my case chips in with K5 v K10. I had the odds if I wasn’t dominated and put him on a weak ace. But why do I always seem to get into shit CALLING!!!!
I played a little cash last night and had a poor session. The juicy tables I just couldn’t get on. So I went for a couple of passive ones and made the mistake of sitting next to one of the best cash players at this level I have ever played against. The guy is awesome, lays down great cards when he knows you have monsters, changes gears seamlessly and always gets his monsters paid off hansomely. So bright spark here decided to sit next to him and take advantage of when he loosened up. I got the better of him when he overplayed aces out of position against me on a board of 77J when I had 87s. Could have made more but did the insta-all-in when the pot got huge and he recognised the move and folded. But then I suffered with this hand. I have 1010 on the button. An EP laggy player limps UTG+1 on a 6 handed table. I raise to $2. He re-raises to $5 to play. THIS IS WHERE I SHOULD FOLD!!!!!
I call and these are the problem flops. The flop hits you just hard enough to get you to play on. Flop comes 78J. He bets, and I want to see where I am as I think he could easily have AK and have missed the flop. Good player, he calls. Can you guess what he has yet? Im struggling, as with that sort of coordinated board why would he let the turn come off softly. I reason he has to have an absolute monster, ie top trips or AA. I pray for a 10 as I know ill get paid. The little beauty duly arrives, and gives me the straight. He bets on the turn, $10, which indicates to me that now he is worried about letting me catch up. Now I know this chap is good, but he has a tendency to marry his hand and I know he is a calling station on the river. So instead of raising on the turn- WHY WHY WHY- the pot was already $70 and we both only had about another $50 back I flat call trying to trap him for all his chips on the river. River arrives, J. Now this does 2 things, scares the shit out of me for minute, as I think he has quads. Then I think he probably doesn’t have them. I actually contemplate asking the rest of the table if they folded a J hehe. He checks, now conventionally I "know" I should check here…he will fold losing hands and raise with monsters with a board like that. So dickhead here decides that he must have KK/QQ/AA and will have to call for pot odds. Pot = $80 so I bet $25. He thinks for a while, then goes all-in. Now I have no idea where I am. Im either massively infront, or he has the house. But I think he would surely value bet his house on the river right??, right???
I call, and the guy has Quad Jacks, nh sir. Lost interest after that and dropped another buy-in before the platelets started working and I stopped bleeding $ all over the shop.
Ended up broken and bruised, but still intact (kinda). Im now operating with about £95. Positively, I have designed a spreadsheet- WHICH I USED!!! and also logged my results quickly. I will be dropping down the buy-in to .10/.20 short-handed for a bit till im back up to the required level. As a secondary though, I will only be playing the rebuy tournaments in future if I have a bankroll in excess of 20* greater than 3*the rebuy amount. IE $18 rebuy, I will need $18*3= $56. 20*56= $1120. Obviously wont be playing for a while, but when I do it will be without chains and ill be able to go for 1st with a vengeance. Only exception to this is if I have a superb session on cash, buy into a $25 SnG and come 1st or 2nd. Got to have incentives right ;)
So, in truth a poor night, but a single poor night wont destroy me. Im looking at the weeks/ months/ years bottom line from now on. Im out on the piss tonight and and seeing the missus on Saturday. On Sunday I might play the Luton £5 re-buy comp in the afternoon and some cash/small stakes tournies in the evening.
Gl all.