I was planning to start up playing 6max NL50 to build up what I had lost earlier in the week, but that tourney itch that many players get was becoming very distracting this afternoon. When I have a free afternoon without many distractions, I like to play a couple of tourneys to get the blood flowing. Even cash players have to agree that theres nothing better than taking down a huge pot with your tournament life on the line, and nothing more crushing that taking a sick beat in a tournament for all your chips. I fired up a mix of regular tournaments and sattelites and couldnt really get anything going in either.
The final tally of tournaments today came to:
Omaha Super turbo (-15)
Hold'em Super turbo (+70.85+ 9 KOs = +98.85 total)
90-man 24+2 KO (-26 + 2 KOs = -18)
45-man 24+2 (-26)
$2 rebuy (-4)
$10 rebuy satt into 200k (-30)
$75 dollar token satt into 750k (-75)
By far, the most frustrating of the tournaments were the Hold'em super turbo and the 45 man. In the 45 man, I started pretty quick. I doubled with AA early on a weird hand that looked as though I shouldve been a goner on the river. The very next hand, I picked up QQ and took on two opponent, both of whom I was lucky enough to beat. I picked off a couple of resteals to chip up. By abusing my passive table, I pushed my way to chip leader with 15 left, then with 13, then with 11. I got reshoved on and folded a few times which chopped some of my stack off, then lost an all in with A6 to A8 for 155 of my chips, and I somehow found myself in 5th of 8th going into the final table (two players were Ko's on the previous hand). One shorty busted and I was still in fifth when the fateful hand came up. I reshoved A8 from the button against a CO open and got called by the BB who had JJ. I couldnt get lucky and I bubble.
The super turbo was a really strange tournament. I should have been out tons of times, but I "ran like a kenyan," as my friend, Ferocious Kitty, likes to say. Five hands in, I ran AQ into AK and 77 and proceeded to hit two queens on the flop. Ten hands after that, I picked up AQ again and got it in vs. JJ and AA. I turned and rivered a Q to take down that hand as well and build my stack from the 300 starting stack to 1800. That hand put me in the top ten in chips out of the 450 people still left. I chipped up a bit, split a big pot AQ vs. AT all in pre on a KKQTJ board, and then the very next hand I got the same player I just chopped with to put in 1/2 his stack pre with 33 against my AA only to watch him call my bet on the flop with a flopped set bringing my stack down to 900. I then lost A5 to AT for 2/3 of my stack. I now was back at my starting stack with things looking grim. I was lucky enough to double up three times in ten hands (I was ahead or racing every time) and built my stack to 2k.
I got moved to a new table and before I could even get settled, someone shoved their J10 into my QQ and I held to get to 3.6k. Twenty or so hands later, I showed my propensity to run good by restealing on the button with 87dd and got called by the original raiser with A10dd, but I hit an 8 and doubled. A few hands after that, I won a huge hand with QQ to push my stack over 13k and into 2nd in chips of 40. I lost a few chips down to 10k and then won AK vs A10 for 7.5 more. The very next hand I chipped up in a BvB with A4 vs KQ to 23k and I cemented myself as chip leader. I got a little frisky trying resteal over a CO raiser with KT, he flipped up TT and I lost half my stack. Luckily, I doubled ten hands later with AJdd vs KQss to bring me back to 21k and safely in 5th place of 14. Unfortunately, fifteen or so hands later I pick up 99 in the BB. The CO opens to 8400, with blinds at 600/1200. Im not sure if this intentional, but looking at this again it might make sense that he was trying to make it 4800 and misclicked. With 23000 and only 20BB I figured I had to stick it in even if I was healthy in chips in relation to others (5th of 11), I got snap called and my opponent turned over KK and it was gg me. I came in 11th of 777 for 85 bucks plus nine $3 KOs. I know I got lucky to get as far as I did but it would have been nice to at least final table this tourney, if not top three. It would have been a quick way to refuel my bankroll, some day....
Before I forget, my good friend Deliver4nce has a great blog that is a honest representation of what its like to grind it out while still being a college student. He's got a great writing style and is definitely an up and comer in the poker world. Plus, he's an all around baller, so check it out, either by clicking on the link above or looking in the blogs I read list (listed as On Every Street).
Good luck everyone!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Dissecting a Disaster Pt. 1
So as you likely read yesterday, I had a rough match two nights ago against a good HU reg. The match was very back and forth and ended with me being down 7-8 buy ins. I thought it would be a good exercise, and an interesting read, for me to review some of the big hands from the match. Ill do some analysis on the hands and I love to hear some feedback from some readers to see what people think. Today, I am using hands from one of the tables in my match, later I will likely do hands from the other table.
Some background on the match: my opponent was a competent thinking HU reg at the NL100 level. I didnt know it at the time, but he later told me that he was a member of deucescracked and has watched a bunch of HU videos and played many hours on the virtual felt. At the beginning of the match, he was very aggressive, especially pre flop. I started playing back at him and was able to get him to stack off lightly angainst some of my better hands. As I saw how lightly he was putting money into the pot, I lessened the threshhold for which I would put in money. This cause some big pots with mediocre hands for both of us. We both got super deep (3-4 hundred BBs) and were 3betting a ton. After my opponent realized that I had seriously loosened up, he then tightened his ranges for 3betting and calling 3bets, especially out of position. I on the other hand, didnt adjust at all and was still never giving him credit. He would then value bet the crap out of me and call me down when he knew I was bluffing. All of this will be evident from the hands. So here we go:
I get there on the river: My opponent was 3betting a ton, so I dont think calling here in position is terrible. On the flop, he leads into me for 3/4 pot and his range is still very very wide. I think raising here is the best play because it gets a fold from a bunch of hands and even if he shoves (his only option if he has a hand), I still have a bunch of equity. If I call on the flop, and a blank comes on the turn, what do I do if he bets big? I dont like flatting or shoving there since I dont have as much equity. Raising and calling if shoved on allows me to bypass this conundrum and I have a bunch of outs if and Im currently behind. Plus, I obv get there on the river.
A preflop rarity: This is a bit later in the match and my opponent is still pretty aggro. I think this is a pretty standard spot and we end up getting it in against the exact same hand.
I get sucked out on: This hand plays out very similarly to the first. I have a big draw, with overs so if he does have a hand I still have some equity. I end up getting it in against one of the best possible hands to be facing but he ends up getting his perfect card.
I get lucky: At this point in the match he had hit some hands and cut my lead. I open T9o and get three bet. As Ive mentioned he has been doing this pretty light and a bunch. Calling here is pretty thin, but we're ridiculously deep so im looking for a good flop. I end up flopping a gutshot and he leads into me which doesnt mean too much, its a flop that doesnt hit much and he cbets pretty often. I decide to float and hope to take it away on a later street. I end up hitting gin on the turn and decide to call his turn bet. He leads into me on the river and I think I'm gonna be taking all of his chips. I shove and unfortunately he folds. The replayer doesnt show it but he ended up tanking pretty long and wrote "So you have T9 huh?" in the chat box. I think he probably had something like AJ or better and made a very nice fold.
I get NO credit: I pick up 99 OTB and get 3bet. I am not 100% sure what the right play is here. 99 is a pretty strong hand HU but I havent really been 4 betting much so I really only expect to get called by better hands or ones I'm racing with (maybe not true). I flop a set on a draw heavy board so I raise his cbet to price out flush or straight draws. He ends up calling which kind of confused me, but I wasnt slowing down. He checks to me on the turn and I feel compelled to bet again, to make sure he doesnt get a free card. He shoves on me and I call, pretty sure Im ahead but assuming I am up against a pretty good hand. I was incorrect and he had J10, for a pair and a gutshot. I guess I had been pretty aggro to get shoved on there. A blank falls on the river and I take all his chips.
A mistake ridden hand: This might be one of the worst hands I played all night. I raised with 89ss and get 3bet. If I had been deeper, calling would be fine, but he only has 100bbs. Im sure I didnt have the odds there, even if he was 3betting wide. The flop comes with an J85 rainbow. He leads into me again and I have a pair on a pretty dry board. When he leads into me I have a decision to make: raise or call. I think raising has its merits since I could take the pot down right there if he has air and fold if I get shoved on. Calling also has benefits, it allows me to reevaluate on the turn without putting a big portion of my stack in, but it doesnt give me any information about the strength of his hand. A virtual blank on the turn and he leads into me again. This should have been a warning sign to me; he cbets alot but doesnt seem to two-barrel much. At this moment I did something that has been plaguing me for months now. I say to myself, "he hasnt been 2barreling me much so he should be strong...but wait, he hasnt been 2barreling me much so this would be a perfect time to be bluffing with a 2barrel." I end up leveling myself and making a play I originally hated. I shove and get called by TPTK and cant suck out.
Two barrels are strong you idiot!: I open Q8o and call a 3bet in position. Two factors led me to call, a) We're deep over 200bbs, if I get a big flop, I can win a bunch of chips b)he's been three betting a ton so Q high may be good. I hit top pair and get led into. I'm not sure what to do in this spot again, but I probably should raise here to get a fold from hands from outs (two overs, straight and flush draws). Instead, I call to get value from worse hands. The turn comes a relative blank and he leads out again. I probably should have known something was up based on his previous strength when 2barreling, but I do probably the worst play possible and shove. I really only get called by better and get folds from worse. Plus do I really wanna play a 200bbs pot with only a pair of 8s Q kicker? I think not.
Cant fold to an overbet: I 3bet from the BB with 99, which is super standard. He calls which doesnt really narrow his range down much since we are super deep. The flop comes out all low cards which I'm loving. I lead out for 3/4 pot and get called. One of the worst cards in the deck comes out on the turn, putting a 4 straight on the board, now any ace has a straight. So I check and so does my opponent. The river comes a 6, which to me seems like a good card since it completes the straight. I check and he bets pot, now this is a strange spot. I have invested some money in the pot and the only way he has me beat is if he has a 7, which isnt a likely card in his range unless he has exactly 76 or 77. I think hes trying to push me off and I call, to see his A7. I guess he was floating on the flop and got lucky on the turn, we've all been there.
I call a river bluff: I 3bet with JJ and get called, which could be alot of hands. I get a great flop of all undercards and make my standard cbet. The turn comes the Qc which is defintely not a good card for me. Not only is it an overcard to my pair but it also completes a flush draw for him if he had two clubs. I check, which looking back on it, I dont think is a good play. I give up the initiative in the hand and Im not really trapping since my hand isnt really a monster. My opponent bets into me and because I still have a pretty strong hand, and a good flush draw I decide to call. The river completes the flush for me and I check again. I actually was just trying to see a showdown which is pretty weak tight, but I didnt wanna have to call a really big bet on the river. He does bet out, 69 into a $104 pot. I dont think I can fold with the 3rd nuts here, plus he had been betting bigger with his strong hands and betting smaller on bluffs so I called and saw that he was on pure air.
My value bets get called down light: This is a pretty standard hand where I just valuebet my overpair. But I put it in to exemplify how little credit I was getting. He calls my 3bet and every street thereafter with T2. Yes T2, he just has a pair of 2s on every street but he must think I had nothing. One thing about this hand I really regret is the size of the river bet, I make it 68 into 114. I really think I could have made it 85 and gotten a call. Blah
Again, I cant get away from top pair: I call a 3bet with A6 which I think is fine since he has a pretty wide range. I call a cbet on a A88 flop which again I think is standard. On a blank turn, he checks and I decide to check back for deception. The river comes a K which should be a good card for me: if he has a better A, we now chop and if he has a K, he now has a pair. I think I probably should have bet, but he ends up betting for me 41 into 47. I knew this was probably strong, because of my previoius read but I think my hand is too strong to fold, especially since I chop with AQ and AJ. He ends up showing AK, which takes the pot. I think he played his hand really well and AK was definitely not a hand I put him on because of his check on the turn. I probably call a bet on the turn but I think he definitely played the hand well.
Very strange hand: I raise, and 4bet with AKo. The flop comes out pretty wet, so I decide to check it back. The turn isnt great either so I check it back again. I river a K which completes a flush and he fires 44 into 54. I have a good hand but its definitely not great so I call and he shows K8. So he called a 4bet out of position with K8. I dont really like his play to say the least, especially since I think Ive 4bet two other times in our match out of ever 500 hands. Eh, weird hand and weird line by both of us.
The back breaker: This hand was the last of my whole session. I 3bet with AQo and get called. I flop top pair on a dry board (Q95 rainbow) and lead out. My opponent calls. The turn brings the T and I lead again. My opponent raises and I am stuck in a quandary. I have a strong hand against a player that often doesnt give me credit, but we're super deep and I only have one pair. He raises pot, I think, I end up shoving and get snapped off with KJ. Again he hits the perfect card after floating me, very frustrating. This hand was tough to take and caused me to quit him not much later. What do you think I should have done on the turn?
Hope you guys enjoyed! Part 2 will come soon!
Some background on the match: my opponent was a competent thinking HU reg at the NL100 level. I didnt know it at the time, but he later told me that he was a member of deucescracked and has watched a bunch of HU videos and played many hours on the virtual felt. At the beginning of the match, he was very aggressive, especially pre flop. I started playing back at him and was able to get him to stack off lightly angainst some of my better hands. As I saw how lightly he was putting money into the pot, I lessened the threshhold for which I would put in money. This cause some big pots with mediocre hands for both of us. We both got super deep (3-4 hundred BBs) and were 3betting a ton. After my opponent realized that I had seriously loosened up, he then tightened his ranges for 3betting and calling 3bets, especially out of position. I on the other hand, didnt adjust at all and was still never giving him credit. He would then value bet the crap out of me and call me down when he knew I was bluffing. All of this will be evident from the hands. So here we go:
I get there on the river: My opponent was 3betting a ton, so I dont think calling here in position is terrible. On the flop, he leads into me for 3/4 pot and his range is still very very wide. I think raising here is the best play because it gets a fold from a bunch of hands and even if he shoves (his only option if he has a hand), I still have a bunch of equity. If I call on the flop, and a blank comes on the turn, what do I do if he bets big? I dont like flatting or shoving there since I dont have as much equity. Raising and calling if shoved on allows me to bypass this conundrum and I have a bunch of outs if and Im currently behind. Plus, I obv get there on the river.
A preflop rarity: This is a bit later in the match and my opponent is still pretty aggro. I think this is a pretty standard spot and we end up getting it in against the exact same hand.
I get sucked out on: This hand plays out very similarly to the first. I have a big draw, with overs so if he does have a hand I still have some equity. I end up getting it in against one of the best possible hands to be facing but he ends up getting his perfect card.
I get lucky: At this point in the match he had hit some hands and cut my lead. I open T9o and get three bet. As Ive mentioned he has been doing this pretty light and a bunch. Calling here is pretty thin, but we're ridiculously deep so im looking for a good flop. I end up flopping a gutshot and he leads into me which doesnt mean too much, its a flop that doesnt hit much and he cbets pretty often. I decide to float and hope to take it away on a later street. I end up hitting gin on the turn and decide to call his turn bet. He leads into me on the river and I think I'm gonna be taking all of his chips. I shove and unfortunately he folds. The replayer doesnt show it but he ended up tanking pretty long and wrote "So you have T9 huh?" in the chat box. I think he probably had something like AJ or better and made a very nice fold.
I get NO credit: I pick up 99 OTB and get 3bet. I am not 100% sure what the right play is here. 99 is a pretty strong hand HU but I havent really been 4 betting much so I really only expect to get called by better hands or ones I'm racing with (maybe not true). I flop a set on a draw heavy board so I raise his cbet to price out flush or straight draws. He ends up calling which kind of confused me, but I wasnt slowing down. He checks to me on the turn and I feel compelled to bet again, to make sure he doesnt get a free card. He shoves on me and I call, pretty sure Im ahead but assuming I am up against a pretty good hand. I was incorrect and he had J10, for a pair and a gutshot. I guess I had been pretty aggro to get shoved on there. A blank falls on the river and I take all his chips.
A mistake ridden hand: This might be one of the worst hands I played all night. I raised with 89ss and get 3bet. If I had been deeper, calling would be fine, but he only has 100bbs. Im sure I didnt have the odds there, even if he was 3betting wide. The flop comes with an J85 rainbow. He leads into me again and I have a pair on a pretty dry board. When he leads into me I have a decision to make: raise or call. I think raising has its merits since I could take the pot down right there if he has air and fold if I get shoved on. Calling also has benefits, it allows me to reevaluate on the turn without putting a big portion of my stack in, but it doesnt give me any information about the strength of his hand. A virtual blank on the turn and he leads into me again. This should have been a warning sign to me; he cbets alot but doesnt seem to two-barrel much. At this moment I did something that has been plaguing me for months now. I say to myself, "he hasnt been 2barreling me much so he should be strong...but wait, he hasnt been 2barreling me much so this would be a perfect time to be bluffing with a 2barrel." I end up leveling myself and making a play I originally hated. I shove and get called by TPTK and cant suck out.
Two barrels are strong you idiot!: I open Q8o and call a 3bet in position. Two factors led me to call, a) We're deep over 200bbs, if I get a big flop, I can win a bunch of chips b)he's been three betting a ton so Q high may be good. I hit top pair and get led into. I'm not sure what to do in this spot again, but I probably should raise here to get a fold from hands from outs (two overs, straight and flush draws). Instead, I call to get value from worse hands. The turn comes a relative blank and he leads out again. I probably should have known something was up based on his previous strength when 2barreling, but I do probably the worst play possible and shove. I really only get called by better and get folds from worse. Plus do I really wanna play a 200bbs pot with only a pair of 8s Q kicker? I think not.
Cant fold to an overbet: I 3bet from the BB with 99, which is super standard. He calls which doesnt really narrow his range down much since we are super deep. The flop comes out all low cards which I'm loving. I lead out for 3/4 pot and get called. One of the worst cards in the deck comes out on the turn, putting a 4 straight on the board, now any ace has a straight. So I check and so does my opponent. The river comes a 6, which to me seems like a good card since it completes the straight. I check and he bets pot, now this is a strange spot. I have invested some money in the pot and the only way he has me beat is if he has a 7, which isnt a likely card in his range unless he has exactly 76 or 77. I think hes trying to push me off and I call, to see his A7. I guess he was floating on the flop and got lucky on the turn, we've all been there.
I call a river bluff: I 3bet with JJ and get called, which could be alot of hands. I get a great flop of all undercards and make my standard cbet. The turn comes the Qc which is defintely not a good card for me. Not only is it an overcard to my pair but it also completes a flush draw for him if he had two clubs. I check, which looking back on it, I dont think is a good play. I give up the initiative in the hand and Im not really trapping since my hand isnt really a monster. My opponent bets into me and because I still have a pretty strong hand, and a good flush draw I decide to call. The river completes the flush for me and I check again. I actually was just trying to see a showdown which is pretty weak tight, but I didnt wanna have to call a really big bet on the river. He does bet out, 69 into a $104 pot. I dont think I can fold with the 3rd nuts here, plus he had been betting bigger with his strong hands and betting smaller on bluffs so I called and saw that he was on pure air.
My value bets get called down light: This is a pretty standard hand where I just valuebet my overpair. But I put it in to exemplify how little credit I was getting. He calls my 3bet and every street thereafter with T2. Yes T2, he just has a pair of 2s on every street but he must think I had nothing. One thing about this hand I really regret is the size of the river bet, I make it 68 into 114. I really think I could have made it 85 and gotten a call. Blah
Again, I cant get away from top pair: I call a 3bet with A6 which I think is fine since he has a pretty wide range. I call a cbet on a A88 flop which again I think is standard. On a blank turn, he checks and I decide to check back for deception. The river comes a K which should be a good card for me: if he has a better A, we now chop and if he has a K, he now has a pair. I think I probably should have bet, but he ends up betting for me 41 into 47. I knew this was probably strong, because of my previoius read but I think my hand is too strong to fold, especially since I chop with AQ and AJ. He ends up showing AK, which takes the pot. I think he played his hand really well and AK was definitely not a hand I put him on because of his check on the turn. I probably call a bet on the turn but I think he definitely played the hand well.
Very strange hand: I raise, and 4bet with AKo. The flop comes out pretty wet, so I decide to check it back. The turn isnt great either so I check it back again. I river a K which completes a flush and he fires 44 into 54. I have a good hand but its definitely not great so I call and he shows K8. So he called a 4bet out of position with K8. I dont really like his play to say the least, especially since I think Ive 4bet two other times in our match out of ever 500 hands. Eh, weird hand and weird line by both of us.
The back breaker: This hand was the last of my whole session. I 3bet with AQo and get called. I flop top pair on a dry board (Q95 rainbow) and lead out. My opponent calls. The turn brings the T and I lead again. My opponent raises and I am stuck in a quandary. I have a strong hand against a player that often doesnt give me credit, but we're super deep and I only have one pair. He raises pot, I think, I end up shoving and get snapped off with KJ. Again he hits the perfect card after floating me, very frustrating. This hand was tough to take and caused me to quit him not much later. What do you think I should have done on the turn?
Hope you guys enjoyed! Part 2 will come soon!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Intro: Who I am and why I'm here
I've finally done it; I have done what I've thought about doing for probably two years now. I am now officially part of the blogosphere. It seems fitting that I am getting in on this fad years after it became popular and is now being surpassed by new and better things (ie. twitter), since thats basically the way I am with other trends: I see people doing something that looks cool, I hem and haw about whether or not I should do it for months if not years and I eventually decide to go with it after people have started forgetting about it. Indecisiveness FTW
So, I guess I should introduce myself to all those readers that dont already know me. Its pretty simple: I'm a steel-town girl on a saturday night looking for the fight of her life. Wait...no. My name is Dave, I'm going to be a junior at Washington University in St. Louis studying psychology. When I'm not at school I live in a suburb of Boston, where I've lived for most of my life. I am a avid sports fan and cant get enough of the celts, sawx and pats. Right now, I am really into poker. I devote a lot of my time to playing, watching and reading about poker, which has probably overtaken sports as my main interest of late.
The next thing you're probably wondering (right now you=me since I'm probably going to be the only person reading this for a while) is "What's this blog all about?" There's a pretty simple answer: poker. This blog will mainly function as a medium for me to talk about hands, discuss strategy and update all of the loyal readers about how my progress is going into my foray into the world of online poker. Hopefully, writing my thoughts down about pker will allow me to think about my play more objectively and abstractly, which will possibly improve my ability as a player. The blog also functions as a place where I can whine about bad beats, brag about big days and berate other players for being the donkeys they are.
My journey through poker is like that of many others: it involves multiple deposits, big ups and downs and a bunch of tilt.
I started playing poker, like many others, just after the Moneymaker boom of 2003. I saw the episodes of WSOP coverage on ESPN and was pretty hooked. Like 90% of America, I thought I obtained a pretty good understanding of the game from just watching the big hands of the '03 WSOP. My friends and I started playing pretty regularly 3-handed, with no chips, we would just write our stack size down on a sticky note and talley as we went along. After playing this way for a couple of weeks, I learned of a tournament being set up by a fellow classmate of mine. The buy in was 10 dollars, 27 people entered and we crammed into the living room and kitchen of the host. I ended up running well and getting lucky and chopped first place for a little less than $110.
At this point, I thought I was god's gift to poker, aside from one other kid in town that was obviously good (and is now a high stakes MTT reg) I figured I was clearly the best player and could dominate any home game you could throw at me. That year I played sparingly in home games on weekends and such probably making a few bucks here and there, but generally playing like an absolute donk. That summer, I played somewhat more often and eventually found a different group of kids that played poker more regularly. My new and some old poker friends got together pretty regularly as the summer went on and started playing multiple times a week during my senior year of high school. Playing more and more got me progressively more hooked to poker; I loved the different aspects of poker, the reading, bluffing and mainly the ability to win money by playing a game.
By the time senior year of high school was wrapping up, I had become totally engrossed in the game. I started participating in forums, duscussing hands with friends and started tivo-ing all the poker I could get my hands on. But from what I can now tell, I was still pretty bad at poker.That summer my poker crew started playing nightly and some of my friends got into the world of online poker. I watched in awe as my friends would play in 20-30 dollar SnGs and win or lose much more than I made the whole week playing poker in home games. Since my parents werent big on the whole "giving my information out on the internet" thing, I didnt think I should risk the grounding by creating an account. But once I was 1000 miles away at college, what could they do? So I created an account on Full Tilt.
Through freshman year of college I still had the poker itch and it was only made worse by the fact that someone on my floor had made 2000 bucks playing HU SnGs (which he promptly lost 1 week later, he wasnt very good but he was rich enough to afford it). I made my first deposit on Full Tilt and played tournaments and SnGs donkishly until i lost my whole roll. I then made another deposit, and then another. All the while, I continued to read forums and watch WSOP coverage. I finally did something of note when I won a 181-man 10 dollar tournament for $436. This was a huge deal for me since I was basically stagnant at $200. I then built that money up some, then tried HU NL and lost a big chunk of my roll (this will become a theme). I took out $200 and tried building up my profit, which I did until that summer. I played more that summer and into sophomore year. I played a bunch of HU SnGs but wasnt really profiting all that much. I also found that losing HU SnGs to donks tilted me to no end so after tilting off a portion of my roll on SnGs outside my bankroll I decided to switch to cash exclusively. I played 10NL and became a winner there, beat 25NL and beat 50NL with a couple of tourney scores along the way bringing my BR up to 4k and beyond. Along the way, I signed up for DeucesCracked to help my cash game and it undeniably was a huge factor in my ability to move up.
This brings me to now. The past few weeks I have been playing some 6max 100NL, HU 50NL and 100NL. Which up until last night were going well. Last night I proceeded to play some HU 100NL and played an epicly long buyin that resulted in me dropping 11 buy ins (that hurts to type). I tilted some and definitely didnt play well. Im now back down to around 3k and will try to grind back up playing 6max 50NL and maybe some HU 50NL and will try to watch some DC videos to keep my game on.
Wow this got long quick. Hope everyone enjoyed reading and keep raking in those pots!
Dave
So, I guess I should introduce myself to all those readers that dont already know me. Its pretty simple: I'm a steel-town girl on a saturday night looking for the fight of her life. Wait...no. My name is Dave, I'm going to be a junior at Washington University in St. Louis studying psychology. When I'm not at school I live in a suburb of Boston, where I've lived for most of my life. I am a avid sports fan and cant get enough of the celts, sawx and pats. Right now, I am really into poker. I devote a lot of my time to playing, watching and reading about poker, which has probably overtaken sports as my main interest of late.
The next thing you're probably wondering (right now you=me since I'm probably going to be the only person reading this for a while) is "What's this blog all about?" There's a pretty simple answer: poker. This blog will mainly function as a medium for me to talk about hands, discuss strategy and update all of the loyal readers about how my progress is going into my foray into the world of online poker. Hopefully, writing my thoughts down about pker will allow me to think about my play more objectively and abstractly, which will possibly improve my ability as a player. The blog also functions as a place where I can whine about bad beats, brag about big days and berate other players for being the donkeys they are.
My journey through poker is like that of many others: it involves multiple deposits, big ups and downs and a bunch of tilt.
I started playing poker, like many others, just after the Moneymaker boom of 2003. I saw the episodes of WSOP coverage on ESPN and was pretty hooked. Like 90% of America, I thought I obtained a pretty good understanding of the game from just watching the big hands of the '03 WSOP. My friends and I started playing pretty regularly 3-handed, with no chips, we would just write our stack size down on a sticky note and talley as we went along. After playing this way for a couple of weeks, I learned of a tournament being set up by a fellow classmate of mine. The buy in was 10 dollars, 27 people entered and we crammed into the living room and kitchen of the host. I ended up running well and getting lucky and chopped first place for a little less than $110.
At this point, I thought I was god's gift to poker, aside from one other kid in town that was obviously good (and is now a high stakes MTT reg) I figured I was clearly the best player and could dominate any home game you could throw at me. That year I played sparingly in home games on weekends and such probably making a few bucks here and there, but generally playing like an absolute donk. That summer, I played somewhat more often and eventually found a different group of kids that played poker more regularly. My new and some old poker friends got together pretty regularly as the summer went on and started playing multiple times a week during my senior year of high school. Playing more and more got me progressively more hooked to poker; I loved the different aspects of poker, the reading, bluffing and mainly the ability to win money by playing a game.
By the time senior year of high school was wrapping up, I had become totally engrossed in the game. I started participating in forums, duscussing hands with friends and started tivo-ing all the poker I could get my hands on. But from what I can now tell, I was still pretty bad at poker.That summer my poker crew started playing nightly and some of my friends got into the world of online poker. I watched in awe as my friends would play in 20-30 dollar SnGs and win or lose much more than I made the whole week playing poker in home games. Since my parents werent big on the whole "giving my information out on the internet" thing, I didnt think I should risk the grounding by creating an account. But once I was 1000 miles away at college, what could they do? So I created an account on Full Tilt.
Through freshman year of college I still had the poker itch and it was only made worse by the fact that someone on my floor had made 2000 bucks playing HU SnGs (which he promptly lost 1 week later, he wasnt very good but he was rich enough to afford it). I made my first deposit on Full Tilt and played tournaments and SnGs donkishly until i lost my whole roll. I then made another deposit, and then another. All the while, I continued to read forums and watch WSOP coverage. I finally did something of note when I won a 181-man 10 dollar tournament for $436. This was a huge deal for me since I was basically stagnant at $200. I then built that money up some, then tried HU NL and lost a big chunk of my roll (this will become a theme). I took out $200 and tried building up my profit, which I did until that summer. I played more that summer and into sophomore year. I played a bunch of HU SnGs but wasnt really profiting all that much. I also found that losing HU SnGs to donks tilted me to no end so after tilting off a portion of my roll on SnGs outside my bankroll I decided to switch to cash exclusively. I played 10NL and became a winner there, beat 25NL and beat 50NL with a couple of tourney scores along the way bringing my BR up to 4k and beyond. Along the way, I signed up for DeucesCracked to help my cash game and it undeniably was a huge factor in my ability to move up.
This brings me to now. The past few weeks I have been playing some 6max 100NL, HU 50NL and 100NL. Which up until last night were going well. Last night I proceeded to play some HU 100NL and played an epicly long buyin that resulted in me dropping 11 buy ins (that hurts to type). I tilted some and definitely didnt play well. Im now back down to around 3k and will try to grind back up playing 6max 50NL and maybe some HU 50NL and will try to watch some DC videos to keep my game on.
Wow this got long quick. Hope everyone enjoyed reading and keep raking in those pots!
Dave
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