All good things must come to an end

And boy did this one end badly.

As you may know, I had been running really hot as of late and had put together a nice little upswing to begin my poker exploits in St. Louis this year. As was expected, I would eventually have to stop running good and things would even out.

Well, not only did they even out, they did a complete 180. After two long sessions over the weekend, I lost over half of what I had won in the two sessions prior. I did not play good poker in the slightest. I made some really stupid calls and shoves that I knew I was wrong in doing, but just clicked the button anyway. I think the difference between when I run good and bad is that sometimes I make calls/shoves that are definitely -EV, like they might be good 20% of the time, but when Im running good, my opponent shows up with that 20%. This hand is a classic example. There is literally no reason why I should be shoving that flop, I only get called by better and if I'm lucky maybe a draw Im flipping against. When Im running good, my opponent shows up with the draw and I hold, or he shows up with 8s or something. But when playing long sessions, these things accumulate and I lose a bunch of big pots.

This hand doesnt really need explanation, it is just plain atrocious. I dont even know what Im doing here.



Alot of my big losses come from hands like these where I just do not go with what is logical and kinda just say "Fuck it".

Unfortunately, this semester looks like its going to be a lot of work so I'm likely not going to be able to play as much poker as I hoped, but dont worry, Ill definitely get a bunch of hands in. I was hoping to really have this semester/year to take poker from a hobby to a serious investment. Doing things like getting a coach, starting to seriously watch DC videos and start participating much more in strat forums were things on my list this semester, but its not looking very likely at this point. But its only week 1 of classes, we'll see how things go.

Heres a graph of my last week


Good luck everyone!

PS I just remembered that I have to detail the prop bet I'm taking part in. The basics are that a guy on 2+2 bet that he could play 525,000 hands of 1/2 NL 6max in one month. Not only that but he would have to end with a win rate of at least 1.6bb/100 or .8PTBB/100. I didnt know whether or not this would be impossible or just really difficult so I saw the responses to his proposal and it seems as though most people didnt think he could do it. I have been lurking on 2+2 and seen all of there prop bet threads so I decided to throw my hat in the ring on this one. I put up 600 on 3-1 odds (if he doesnt complete the challenge, I win 200) and have been keeping track of him daily. You can follow his progress here. He is currently behind on # of hands but has a sufficient win rate. I hate rooting against people, but in this instance, BOO Hodge BOOO!

PPS This was pretty cool, though I got NO value

Hmmm, maybe I should live here full time

Another day at the tables, another big win. Last night I logged on to Ft to play a little. I found a donk sitting at a 6max 1/2 table so I got on the waiting list. While waiting, I sat down at some .5/1 HU tables to pass the time. I dont think Im plying unbelievably well, but I am just dominating. Last night, I made almost 6 buy ins at HU alone. Couple of big hands:

Pick off a double barrel- I call a three bet in position and see an ugly flop for my 7s. When he bets out, I just dont believe him. I think its alot more likely he has an ace. The turn doesnt change anything if I go with my read. It makes K's less likely, but he definitely could have a Q. On the river, if he fires again, I think I let it go, but he checks so I check and take down a pot.

Suck, resuck- I 3bet with my 8s and get called. The flop is pretty good for me giving me second pair and an OESD. I bet out for value and get called, I pretty much put him on a one pair type hand or a fellow OESD draw. When the turn is an 8, Im in a weird spot. I have a good hand but straights obviously beat me. I dont really think straights are often in his range however. Hands like 107, 109 and 95 could possibly be in his range, but they represent a really small portion. I really dont know what my play should be here tho. Betting out leaves me in a spot that could get bluffraised often, but checking lets him try to scare me off as well. I opt for a check raise all in which may be a terrible idea since I only get called by worse, but I do have outs if he does have a 5 or T. He ends up showing up with 55, which surprised me since he just has a gutshot and 4th pair. I end up pairing up on the river and taking the juicy pot home.

Get a little lucky, when my opponent plays too passively- This is the 7th hand of what would turn out to be an epically good HU match. I 3bet 56suited, and get called. I sometimes like to 3bet SC's because they widen my 3betting range and can obviously hit pretty well when my opponent does call. I flop a pair, and try to take it down right there. He ends up calling and I hit a 2nd pair on the turn. I employ a move Ive been using a bunch lately, which is to check and make my opponent commit himself with a bet than shoving over the top. Luckily it works and his KJ doesnt catch up

I miss value: Basically this hand plays pretty standard till the turn, where I try to go for the same move I did in the last hand. My opponent doesnt fall for it and when an A on the river comes, I lose a lot of the value I could have gotten if I bet on the turn. I do get him to call a value bet, but Im kicking myslef for not getting his stack

The very next hand: I call a 3bet and a cbet with just a pair of 4s. I hit a set on the turn and get him to commit a bunch of money with probably nothing and he folds when I shove over his bet.

The very next hand #2: Im not gonna show the HH cause its boring but I get it in with JJ vs AQ and lose.

Sometimes I play good: Were both 200BB deep, I 3bet 75hh and get called. I flop a gutshot and a FD and cbet, which gets called. The turn completes my flush (and straight ftw) and I check hoping to build a pot. He bets out and I call. The river is a 9s, and I check hoping to induce. He obliges and I shove when he promptly folds. Darn, tho I do get 1.5 buy ins

I get trixy: I pick up KK and flat a 3bet on the button because he has shown himself to be more aggro than passive. The flop is pretty dry and I end up getting it in against him with the nut flush draw and an over, and I win.

Final hand: At this point, I had taken a bunch from him and I think he was getting kinda tilted. I didnt think he had much on the flop so I raised his cbet and he called. He left himself with almost nothing left on the turn and we get it in. With him having a pair of 7s. Weeeeee. He promptly quit me right after.

I also picked up a buy in at 1/2 6max. Overall on the night, +769!!!

Good luck everyone

Its good to be back

I'm baaaaaaack! College has begun again! My junior year has started, and I had my first classes today. Its exciting to be back with my school friends and Im looking forward to a great year.

Today my monitor arrived at my apartment and I decided to fire up some tables to get back in the swing of things. I havent played a serious session in weeks so it was good to play again.

To say the session went well is an understatement. I played well and ran well, and wasnt sucked out on when I got my money in good. I never lost a full stack on a single hand, which is obviously not sustainably, but it means I'm flipping good and not getting my money in bad.

There were only a few interesting hands:

My biggest pot of the day- I flop the world and let my opponent do the betting for me. I definitely could have bet the turn, but I figured if any more money was going in, it would be his stack (his stack was about equal to the pot) and I could get it on the river.

I dont believe you sir- Preflop, I isolate a limper, as I am known to do and completely whiff the flop. I cbet and he calls. At this point I dont really think he's super strong but I dont really know what he has. Could be a draw, could be a pair, could be air. The turn pairs my 9 and I check. Looking back, Im not really sure I like my check. What do I do if he fires 3/4 pot? Fold? Cause I cant really just call. Putting out a smallish bet may be good, but Im not sure and all comments are appreciated. When he bets more that pot on the turn, Im thrown for a loop, but dont really see him having a hand that beats me. He's playing his hand like a draw or a hand that doesnt wanna see a river aka a bluff or weak pair. Since I have both of those beat, I just stick the money in and see that I am up against air.

Mmmmm, suckouts- This hand isnt that interesting and I dont think I played it particularly well (didnt notice his stack size at the time), but I suck out hard. Nice to see me do so once in a while.

Overall, I finished the session up just under 5 buy ins. A good day for my first session back. Here is the graph and stats from my day.




Good luck everyone!

PS I have 600 dollars on a prop bet I saw on 2+2, Ill detail it more fully next time I blog

A very blah couple of weeks

The last few weeks, I havent really had much motivation to play or write. Ive played some short sessions, some profitable but one went very badly. It ended with me down 4 buy ins, mainly due to me playing badly and getting played back at with nothing and getting called when I was bluffing. It was just one of those quintessential sessions where everything went wrong. My GF is coming to town in a couple of days so I likely wont be playing much. I think Ive been really burnt out from work and the hot days outside. Hopefully, once I go back to school (Aug 22nd) I'll get back into the swing of things in terms of grinding. Ill def be playing a bunch so look forward to that.

Good luck everyone!