Taking It Seriously

Todd & I talk about poker every day at work, exchanging stories about our hands from the night before. We win some, we lose some, but neither of us have been making any solid headway. No progress.

We bemoan our bad luck, talk about the hands we should've raised or folded, but for me it always comes back to the same point...it's easy to see now - after the fact - that I made the wrong play, but why can't I recognize that and make the RIGHT play while I'm in the hand? No focus.

I'm finally willing to admit this: I know I'm intelligent enough to be a winning poker player, but I haven't played with enough consistent focus to realize that potential. There have been times when I've done some studying/reading/coaching sessions, but it's been in spurts and usually ends after I've lost a few buy-ins. Sometimes I'll bring the laptop upstairs and play in the spare room without any distractions, but it's so much easier (and more comfortable) to plop down on the couch and fire up a couple tables with the game on in the background. No discipline.

While driving home from work today, I thought to myself, "OK, you're in your late 30's...you work full time...you don't have the time to really dedicate the time needed to become a better player...college kids in their 20's have the time & lack of responsibility, they're the ones that can make the big money playing poker...are you ready to admit that this isn't going to work out for you?"

I didn't like what I had just thought.

If I quit on this, then what dreams/goals do I have to achieve? I don't bowl competitively anymore, I'm pretty much locked into this career I've had for the past 10 years. Forty is around the corner, and who knows what the future will bring? Longer hours at work? Children? Nope, can't stop now. I quit my bowling leagues a few years ago to spend more time on poker..this is it, bro.

Day One of the new routine is over. After I got home from work, I chilled on the couch for a bit, watching TV, checking emails & whatnot. Had dinner, little more TV...then switched over to poker mode. Hopped on Jen's desktop & printed out some poker blog strategy posts I read before from Ed Miller and citizenwind, printed them out & put them in a three-ring binder. I then took the binder & laptop up to the spare room, read & highlighted key points from the blog posts, and then fired up PokerTracker. I scanned my last session hands and focused on three "tough spot" hand histories. Cut & pasted those suckers into a Word file, added notes where I made good/bad decisions, and e-mailed it to Todd for his feedback...like we used to during our group coaching sessions.

Only after all that did I finally start playing some poker. Table selected (looking for high % of players seeing a flop, large avg pot sizes, and no shortstackers to my immediate left), found three decent tables, and started playing. No TV, no Internet Explorer...just poker. I told myself to stay calm, don't tilt, and keep thinking. I acknowledged that even though I had taken all of these steps and even hit the books, it wouldn't guarantee I'd have a winning session.

Fortunately, I did have a winning session:



Nothing spectacular, but a win is a win...and I decided to lock up the win after about an hour...good for the psyche. There were a couple of spots (which I'll review in depth tomorrow) where I actually took a couple of seconds, thought about if the villian's bet made sense, and made two profitable decisions. One was just a turn call in position with 7-7...we checked the river and I was good vs just two overcards. The second was a big check-raise from a fishy player when I flopped TPTK with the nut diamond draw...it seemed an easy enough decision - I'm definitely not folding the hand - but I took the time to check his stats...and sure enough, my man's check-raise flop stat is three outta four.

I figured his raise of half my stack had committed him, so I shoved hoping to get called by something like top pair with the Kd or Ax-Kd...if he actually flopped big (two pair/set/flush) then I'm still drawing live. Unfortunately he tanked & folded, but I still took down a nice pot. Maybe I should've just called & let him shove the turn? I guess we'll talk about that at work in the morning.

Now I just have to do this again tomorrow...and the next day...and the next...nope, that's Christmas Eve. But the trick will be to follow these same steps again on Saturday, or whenever the next time I'm able to study, THEN play some poker.

I Love Me Some Mo

...as in Momentum. The finals of my poker league were last night, with 14 of us freerolling for over $1,000. Oz didn't make the top 15 in the points standings, so he was the only one that had cough up a hundo to play. Someone from the top 15 was a no-show...not one of our regulars, and Luke even texted him earlier in the day, so too bad/so sad for him.

I played poorly in the first hour...very lazy, not paying attention, lots of limping pre-flop and checking/calling post-flop. The lowlight came when a couple people limped in front of me, and I decided to limp with 9s-8s. The blinds came along, and we saw a K-xs-xs flop. Lucky bet close to the pot, I think someone else called, and I called. Turn was a blank, Lucky fired a 2/3 pot bet, and I was the only one to call. I was pretty sure he had K-x. The river missed me but paired the board (sixes?), and Lucky quickly checked.

I thought for a while, playing with my chips while I thought: a) could I get Lucky off his King and b) how much would it take? I decided not to give up on the hand and bet 3/4 pot...he quickly called and I said "You win," as he was asking me if I had a King. Indeed, he showed K-2 and I was pretty disappointed with myself for spewing a third of my chips. Lucky and a couple others agreed that I took too long to bet; I was mad at myself for not being more aggressive earlier in the hand. Could've raised pre-flop and probably taken it down with a continuation bet (Lucky probably folds pre-flop). Could've raised his c-bet and probably taken it down on the turn with a decent bet. My river bet looked exactly like someone bluffing a busted flush draw...I know better than that.

Luckily I managed to not suck the rest of the hour, got Calling Station Pops to give me some chips when I was dealt Queens, and made it to break close to my 10k starting stack. I resolved to play better poker from that point on. Pay attention. Play smart. Apply pressure.

Early in the second hour I played a hand with pocket threes much better than I would've in the first hour. I started by raising pre-flop, and was called by just Oz in the big blind. The flop was a scary Qd-Jd-8d (neither three was a diamond), and we both checked. The turn brought a non-diamond 7, and Oz checked again. I thought about what he could have. He probably would've bet by now if he had the Ad or Kd, a Queen, T-9, 8-8, or Q-J. I decided that I could probably bet him off his hand, so I bet a little over half pot, and he called. After a very non-scary 5x hit the river, Oz checked again. No way he's checking a big hand there, so I made another half pot bet...and he folded fairly quickly. I was very happy with my aggression and hand-reading on that one...pretty sure I got him to fold something marginally better than my threes.

I managed to make the final table, but card-deadness and escalating blinds kept me at about 10k and one of the shorter stacks. I quickly doubled up when my A-J won a race against Evil Vinny's pocket eights. Blinds were now up to 500/1k, so there wasn't much room to make plays...it was going to be a shove-fest from here on out. But most of the others at the final table tightened way up; they were hoping to hang on and make the top 4 ($500/300/200/75). I took advantage of this and open-shoved many, many times...and didn't get a single call. I broke the money bubble when I busted the short stack to my left...he had let his top-3 stack dwindle down to 1 1/2 big blinds by employing the "hang on and make the money" strategy of Fold/Fold/Fold. Didn't work.

Evil Vinny (who's actually the total opposite of evil, probably the most soft-spoken, kindest guy of the bunch) knocked out Lucky in 4th and Billy in 3rd place, so he had a huge lead on me when we started heads-up. We took turns raising each other's big blinds until he raised my 7k blind to 21k. I peeked at an Ace and shoved for just 18k more...he thought for a couple minutes before folding. Must've had something like 7-6 where he couldn't stomach losing the chip lead if I had him killed. Sure enough, I peeked at my other card before mucking: I had Ah-Qh. That was my shot at taking the lead.

The Not So Evil One had a slight lead when I shoved 50k with the sexy 6-9 (blinds were 4k/8k), and he called with pocket sevens. I didn't flop any draws and blanked the turn and river...but was now $300 richer. Glad it was Vinny I lost to...he was gracious as usual (win or lose), and probably one of the top 3 players in the league. He was the first to win both the points title and the finals, so good job Vinny!

I'm satisfied with the recent positive cashflow to my poker bankroll, despite losing about $100 at NL100 online this weekend. I don't think I played badly online, outside of one hand where I cost myself about $40-50 by not betting the river in a big hand against a fish with over $1,100 (at NL100?!?!). I'm pretty sure if I bet that much with A-K on a A-K-x-x-x board, he would've called with his A-T. But I checked hoping he'd shove, and he just checked back instead. Short stack who shoved the turn with a set of nines took down the $110 pot, blech. I need to break my habit of trying to induce bluffs/bets by worse hands, and need to mix it up with more value betting.

But I'm glad that I got my head on straight after the first hour of the league finals...I realized that I need to play more focused than I have over the past week. I was paying much more attention during my 500 hand stretch than I have since, must get back to that discipline.

Which reminds me, I gotta get my ass back to the gym...tomorrow after work!

Super Sunday, Terrible Call

Played in the $125+25 qualifier for Mohegan's $2500 tourney...60 entries, we were down to 2 tables, and I had a slightly above-average $22k stack...blinds $600/1200, I had already opened a few pots in this level, and raised MP to $4000 with Ah-Qh...the most aggressive player at the table was in the SB, thought for a min, and shoved for $16k more...back to me, I thought for a minute or so...I saw him push earlier over a check-raise on the flop with just middle pair & gutshot, so I put him on a pretty wide range...I have K-Q and A-J crushed, racing against most pairs, and worried about A-K/queens/kings/aces.

Since only the final 3 would win a seat, I decided to gamble & called...he showed aces, and I was dead by the turn...got knocked out the next hand.

I'll be thinking about this one for a while...I could easily have folded & still had an average stack...first thing I thought when he shoved was "everyone gets knocked out with A-Q." But then I also thought it's most likely we're racing or I'm ahead, and felt it was a good spot to try & put myself up near the chip lead. So much for that.

Good news is my buddy Luke also played in the tourney, and he won one of the seats to the big dance. Now the pressure is on me to qualify, since this was all my stinkin' idea to begin with!

And the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Poker Tournament Goes to...

My weekly poker league ended last night, as 16 of us played in the finals. There was just over $1,800 in the pot, with 5 spots paid ($800/500/300/200/160). I experienced the full range of starting hands and tough situations, coin flips and bad beats (both given and received).

After playing 3-handed for about half an hour with blinds so high that none of us had more than 10 big blinds left, we decided to each take $500 and play it out for the extra hundo and coveted championship trophy (minus the hockey sticks).

I got to heads-up against Andy, crippled him when my A-6 outdrew his Q-Q, and took it down shortly after. Obviously the suckout was the main reason I won, but there were two hands earlier in the night that I'm especially proud of. Both ended up being big pots, and I won them both, enabling me to make it to the final 3 and get lucky for the win...

With blinds at 100-200, I opened from the cutoff with 9-5. I hadn't seen many good cards or played many hands, and I needed to start growing my stack, so I figured my raise could get some respect from the button & blinds. Roy and Mike did fold, but Bill thought for a few seconds and called. Luckily, the flop came a raggedy 9-high with 2 suits...but Bill bet out 900, leaving him with only 1,200 behind.

This would normally be a tough spot for me, but over the course of the league, I had seen Bill bet a good portion of his stack...only to have someone else come over the top and get him to fold. As soon as he made the bet, I pushed in my stack and waited. I had Bill covered, and he started agonizing over his dilemma. He asked, "So you have Jacks? Queens?" I knew at that moment Bill had pocket tens...I had to get him to fold.

He asked if I'd show my cards if he folded, and I told him I could show him one. That was a huge mistake on my part; if I indeed had a big pair, showing him just one card wouldn't prove anything. Showing one card indicated that I probably hit a pair on the flop, meaning his overpair was way ahead. So as he kept looking at me, I camly told him twice that I "have a hand," and tried to act as 'normal' as possible. I must've projected just enough perceived strength; after another minute or so of waffling, Bill finally mucked his cards, and I flashed the nine. "Did you have tens?" He nodded quite painfully. Whewwwwwwwwww.

At the next level, Mark min-raised the 400 blind to 800. I peeked down at an ace...squeeeeeze...another ace! Of course I'm looking for action, so I made a smallish re-raise to 2,000. Hoping to isolate and get heads-up with Mark, that's just what happened, and we saw another raggedy flop, this time Queen-high. Mark checked, and I asked him how much he had left: the count was 2,700. "Okay, I bet 2,700." I tried to say it with a twinge of doubt in my voice, hoping to raise some suspicion on his part. My read on Mark is that he usually doesn't believe that others have him beat, so I wanted to induce a heroic call. First I started fidgeting a little, putting my hand over my mouth, trying to look uncomfortable. Finally, after another 30 seconds of waiting on Mark, I went for the final false tell...I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms on top of my remote control cradle (a.k.a. my belly). I'm not sure if was due to my perceived weakness, but Mark made the call with just A-K, and he was drawing dead after the turn.

Now who knows if all my acting and posturing actually factored in my opponents' decision-making, but the bottom line was I accomplished the two biggest goals when playing poker: getting a better hand to fold, and getting a worse hand to call.

Nobody Believes Me

I know nobody likes to read blogs full of poker rants, but nobody reads this blog, so awaaaaaay we go!

Background- I was chipleader with seven to go in tonight's bounty tournament at the lounge, and the only hand I had played to this point at the final table was a limp of pocket deuces which became flopped quads...let the beatings commence.

- blinds were 300/600, I raised to 1800 with 8h-7h...it's folded to the big blind (let's call him Villain #1), who thought for a bit, said "Oh well," and went all in for 1700 more. I grudgingly called, and he showed T-9 offsuit? This was someone I thought to be a good player (at least from what he's told me in the past), but I guess he's never heard of such phrases as hand ranges and zero fold equity. The board blanked out, and his ten was good. "I thought you were trying to bully me...I thought you had suited connectors or a small pair." Yeah, I'm targeting the big blind from UTG, and there's no way I could have any ace, king, queen, jack, or pair nines and higher...UGH.

- next hand, everyone limped to the small blind, and Villain #1 folded, which totally tilted me...willing to get it all in pre-flop with T-9 knowing I'll call him 100% of the time, and now with double the amount of chips he folds the small blind getting a bazillion-to-one odds? I knocked the table from the big blind with 9-2. Flop was 9-7-4 rainbow, I led out for 1000, and Villain #2 pushed all in for 1900 more. I had seen this kid raise and call down bets earlier toinght with second & third pair, so I'm either way ahead or outkicked and way behind. I called, he showed K-9, and the board blanked out.

- down to 3200 from over 10 grand a few minutes ago...still at the 300/600 level, I peered down at Ad on the button and shoved, pretending to look at the other card (5h) but not really...big blind (AKA Villain #3) said, "I don't have anything, but I'm going to call." He flipped over Q-8 (might've been sooooooted, don't remember), and guttered a straight on the turn. I had him outchipped, so that left me with 800...I tortured myself by folding until the 800 big blind came around, with my J-5 going down in flames to Villain #1's J-6 small blind special. I walked away from the table, and VN1 grunted, "You owe me your bounty." If I could've just checked my blood pressure at that exact moment...

- I moved over to the three-handed cash game & bought in for my last $35 (max is $40)...more pain please! $1-1 blinds, I raised to $4 UTG with Ad-2d, dealer folded, both blinds called. We all checked the Qx-Qs-6s flop. Turn was 7x, checked to me, I bet $6, called by big blind. River brought a third small spade, checked to me, I bet $10. Villain Numero Quatro looked into my soul for about 10 seconds and made the call on a paired, suited board with A-T.

Double you. Tee. Effffff.

The Blunder Of It All

Got out of work early today, so the wifey & I drove to Foxwoods for a cash giveaway (Jen won the guaranteed minimum of $25, no new car for us). Against my better judgement, I decided to play a little $1/2 NL. Bought in for $200, and watched the middle-aged doofus of a guy to my right check/call all the way with pocket fives on a T-T-9-x-x board, and win. Also saw him call a flop bet, then push his chips in front of his cards - but not across the betting line - on the turn before the guy in front of him could act. It was obviously an attempt to get the other guy to check and see the river for free, so I set my sights on this angle-shooting loser(ASL).

A couple of hands later, ASL raised to $8 pre-flop, and I looked down at A-Q (I feel Hurricane Mikey, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Ivey all cringing as they read this, lol). I popped it up to $23, hoping to get heads-up, which is exactly what happened...nice.

The flop was a beauty: A-Q-9, rainbow.

ASL checked, and after thinking for a couple seconds, I decided to check my two pair as well. This was a huge mistake, since he'd probably call a bet with a lot of worse hands, and I'm only losing to A-A/Q-Q (not likely since I have A-Q) or 9-9.

The turn brought an eight, putting a second heart on the board. ASL checked again, and NOW I decided to bet the $30 I should've bet on the flop. ASL instantly said, "All in," without touching his chips.

I thought for a minute...does he have J-T for a straight? Maybe. Does he have a flush draw? This is a possibility, since he made such a huge raise (he had more chips than me, and I started the hand with about $230). I usually read over-raises as some sort of semi-bluff/drawing hand...plus he didn't move in his chips, which I also read as a sign of weakness. He could also have A-8 for a worse two pair than me, so I decided to call.

Or he could have pocket eights for a set. And of course ASL slow rolled me, showing just an eight, then sliding the top card over to show the other one underneath.

After he hit his two-outter, I missed my four-outter on the river and had to payyy the man heees money.

My usual routine after losing is to go for a long walk around the casino and think about why I lost. Of course the first thing I thought was I should've bet the flop and been happy to take down a $50 pot. But maybe he calls anyway and I still lose my stack, making for an even more lividing exit from the poker room. But I'll never know since I didn't make the correct play in the first place.

So what's worse: playing a hand wrong and losing; or playing a hand right, getting unlucky, losing, and going on tilt? I know the answer is to play every hand correctly, but for some odd reason I don't feel as bad about this hand since it was my mistake to not bet the flop.

The rest of my day at the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation went just fine, as I had dinner with our friends Dennis & Kathy at California Pizza Kitchen. Jen was on a "hot streak" at the slots, and is notoriously never hungry when in a casino, so it was just the three of us. Food was good as usual, I had penne in a pesto cream sauce with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes...yum! We yapped for a while, trading old Vegas and bowling stories. I got to tell them my tale of woe from the poker table, and they were kind enough to listen and give me some much-needed sympathy. I was definitely in a better mood when we left CPK.

I also managed to hit a couple of four-of-a-kinds on video poker, slashing my losses in half. Jen ended up losing too, but we stayed well within our budget for the day.

I just finished my nightly online poker session, and made an unimpressive $15...but at least it wasn't another three-digit loss. The fact that I'm not too upset over the last 24 hours worth of poker badness is a good sign...I'm controlling the tilt factor, which I think is a needed trait if I wish to make consistent money playing cards.

We'll see what tomorrow has in store for me...