The Quest did not go well this weekend. I've been on a horrible dry spell as far as cards go. It's been a near endless stream of unplayable junk. If I get something marginally playable, either someone will raise and force me to fold before the flop or the flop will miss me completely. On the very rare occasion I get a real hand, it's almost certain it will be the only time in an hour that everyone will fold. On the even rarer times when I hit the flop, it seems some clown, against all odds and any kind of reasonable logic, will call to the river and suck out.
I haven't even tallied the damage yet. I was too depressed and pissed off when I finished my last session. If I stick with the bankroll management plan, I'm definitely back to $0.01/$0.02. Given the way things have been going, that may not be such a bad thing. At least the damage will be less.
Blowing off some steam seemed like a good idea after that session, so I found a really cheap tournament and was going to push all-in on every hand. It's a rather silly thing to do and is not exactly fair to the other participants, who may actually be taking this $1 tournament seriously, but I felt like doing it anyway. But I couldn't. First hand I get 32o. Next hand was something equally as bad. I finally compromised in pushing on any hand where it seemed to actually make some sense. If I would ordinarily make a big raise, I pushed. It worked, for a while.
This was an super-turbo with 3 minute levels. You'd think in a tournament like that the players would pay some attention and take their actions quickly. You, however, would be completely wrong if you thought such a foolish thing.
Anyway, despite the far more frequent pushing all-in, the blinds still caught up very fast and I busted in 5th or 6th. Even worse, the therapy value was very minimal.
I played in Dr. Pauly's PLO tournament on Saturday. Despite the continuation of mostly horrible cards, I somehow managed to hang on to finish 7th. And, no, we didn't start with 7 runners.
Friday was a down night, spent camped in front of the TV.
I'm torn between dropping back a level and hitting it hard, and taking a break for a while. Perhaps I'll just see what kind of mood I'm in tonight.
30 June 2008
26 June 2008
Bad, bad night on The Quest
Last night was the worst night yet on The Quest. If I'd had any sense about me I'd have quit as soon as I realized the cards were even deader than the night before. I got horrible cards, which is all the more frustrating when you're playing 6-max, and even that's shorthanded, and there are a couple aggressive players at the table. You know these other guys are stealing pots right and left, but you've got cards that are unlikely to beat even a bluff.
In all honesty, however, I can't put all the blame on the cards. Bad cards will often result in a down night, but you need some donkey moves or some really bad luck to make it a very down night. Part of the problem was it took me a while to realize I wasn't playing with the normal fish. One of the tables was filled with decent players. What's the line from Rounders? If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. Last night, I was the sucker. I was trying too hard to make my crappy cards work.
The loss of three buy-ins pushes the bankroll down below my established minimum to play $0.02/$0.05. It's only a bit below, so I may risk one more buy-in tonight. If I lose that, it's definitely back to the shallowest part of the pool.
In all honesty, however, I can't put all the blame on the cards. Bad cards will often result in a down night, but you need some donkey moves or some really bad luck to make it a very down night. Part of the problem was it took me a while to realize I wasn't playing with the normal fish. One of the tables was filled with decent players. What's the line from Rounders? If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. Last night, I was the sucker. I was trying too hard to make my crappy cards work.
The loss of three buy-ins pushes the bankroll down below my established minimum to play $0.02/$0.05. It's only a bit below, so I may risk one more buy-in tonight. If I lose that, it's definitely back to the shallowest part of the pool.
25 June 2008
Not a good night
It was not a good night on The Quest. I fell victim to my old demon of seriously overplaying TP with a good kicker. In this case, it was against someone who inexplicably thought Q3s was worth calling a 4BB raise with ("But they were sooted..."), but the blame ultimately falls to me not listening to what his bets were telling me.
The result on another table was also not so good, but I fought back on that one to make it back to almost even. Combined with small positive results on a couple other tables it left me down a wee bit over a buy-in for the night.
Yesterday I got email from PokerPages about some new tournament software they're beta testing. If I remember correctly, a couple years ago I participated in a heads-up challenge that used something available through PokerPages to allow us to play heads-up tournaments for free. I honestly haven't paid any attention to it since then. The email said they were giving away free money as part of the beta test so I took a look.
After installing the software and signing up, they gave me T$1000 to enter tournaments. Allegedly you can get topped back up to T$1000 any time you drop below. I don't know what the deal is going to be long term, but it looks like they're setting up some kind of subscription thing. I gather this is to avoid it being an actual gambling site. They'll just have competitions among their members and award small prizes out of the subscription fees. At least that's my guess. For the beta they gave me a free weekly subscription. Not sure at this point if it will expire at the end of the week or if it will renew.
Last night I played a T$100 tournament. Winner got something like $32 plus a bunch of T$. T$10,000 starting chips, 50/100 blinds at level 1, ten minute levels. Only 55 runners. It looked like it should be easy. That was before I saw my cards. They went from bad to worse to could-it-get-any-uglier. And the play was even slower than on the Stars ring tables where everyone but me is a MMIA thinking they're cool because they can hold up play on 20 tables at once. I made a stab at a bluff that cost me a lot more than it should have. Then I dropped a huge part of my stack when some clown called my all-in with an inside straight draw and caught it on the river. Best hand I saw all night, TT, ran straight into AA and I hit the rail.
I'm sure it's just luck of the draw, but it always leaves a sour taste in my mouth when I go to a new site and come away feeling like I've been abused. I don't know if it's worth my time to go back.
The result on another table was also not so good, but I fought back on that one to make it back to almost even. Combined with small positive results on a couple other tables it left me down a wee bit over a buy-in for the night.
Yesterday I got email from PokerPages about some new tournament software they're beta testing. If I remember correctly, a couple years ago I participated in a heads-up challenge that used something available through PokerPages to allow us to play heads-up tournaments for free. I honestly haven't paid any attention to it since then. The email said they were giving away free money as part of the beta test so I took a look.
After installing the software and signing up, they gave me T$1000 to enter tournaments. Allegedly you can get topped back up to T$1000 any time you drop below. I don't know what the deal is going to be long term, but it looks like they're setting up some kind of subscription thing. I gather this is to avoid it being an actual gambling site. They'll just have competitions among their members and award small prizes out of the subscription fees. At least that's my guess. For the beta they gave me a free weekly subscription. Not sure at this point if it will expire at the end of the week or if it will renew.
Last night I played a T$100 tournament. Winner got something like $32 plus a bunch of T$. T$10,000 starting chips, 50/100 blinds at level 1, ten minute levels. Only 55 runners. It looked like it should be easy. That was before I saw my cards. They went from bad to worse to could-it-get-any-uglier. And the play was even slower than on the Stars ring tables where everyone but me is a MMIA thinking they're cool because they can hold up play on 20 tables at once. I made a stab at a bluff that cost me a lot more than it should have. Then I dropped a huge part of my stack when some clown called my all-in with an inside straight draw and caught it on the river. Best hand I saw all night, TT, ran straight into AA and I hit the rail.
I'm sure it's just luck of the draw, but it always leaves a sour taste in my mouth when I go to a new site and come away feeling like I've been abused. I don't know if it's worth my time to go back.
24 June 2008
New Weekly Total
The time vs bankroll graph has been updated with last week's results. Big move this week, almost $27, mostly due to moving up to $0.02/$0.05 where the prize values have more than doubled.
Last night I played for just a short time, but still added $6.64 to the bankroll.
Things are getting a bit more exciting with the increased pot values. I was a bit concerned that all my time at $0.01/$0.02 might make me afraid of the much bigger pots at the higher levels, but I seem to be adjusting okay. Perhaps all that time playing tournaments has helped in this regard.
Here's the bankroll graph for those using readers.
Last night I played for just a short time, but still added $6.64 to the bankroll.
Things are getting a bit more exciting with the increased pot values. I was a bit concerned that all my time at $0.01/$0.02 might make me afraid of the much bigger pots at the higher levels, but I seem to be adjusting okay. Perhaps all that time playing tournaments has helped in this regard.
Here's the bankroll graph for those using readers.
23 June 2008
Weekend wrap-up
My plan to single table $0.02/$0.05 until I was totally comfortable with the new level went out the window before the day was done. It wasn't even a conscious thing. I sat down Sunday night and opened two tables without even thinking about it. Maybe this means I'm already "comfortable" at the new level. Based on results, I'd have to say that's the case.
Even with two tables open the play was horribly slow. I was getting very bored waiting to do something. This wasn't aided by the dearth of playable cards. My VP$IP was in the mid-teens range. My goal at this level and shorthanded would be closer to 30%, but I'm not playing total trash just to get there.
I was able to capitalize on a couple of the decent hands I got. The evening sessions added almost $8, bringing the total for the day to $12.93. Far and away the best $ day yet on The Quest. If I can keep close to the BB/100 rate I had at the previous level we should see very good progress on the size of the bankroll.
Even with two tables open the play was horribly slow. I was getting very bored waiting to do something. This wasn't aided by the dearth of playable cards. My VP$IP was in the mid-teens range. My goal at this level and shorthanded would be closer to 30%, but I'm not playing total trash just to get there.
I was able to capitalize on a couple of the decent hands I got. The evening sessions added almost $8, bringing the total for the day to $12.93. Far and away the best $ day yet on The Quest. If I can keep close to the BB/100 rate I had at the previous level we should see very good progress on the size of the bankroll.
22 June 2008
Rainy Weekend
Saturday I played Dr. Pauly's PLO tournament for all of eight hands. I Gigli'd on one of those hands where all you can do is shake your head in amazement at the way poor play gets paid off sometimes. I don't claim to be a PLO expert. I wouldn't even claim to be anything more than barely fair at PLO. But I still have to wonder about calling a pot-sized flop re-raise when all you have is bottom pair and an OESD. And then calling a pot-size turn bet that commits three-fourths of your stack with just the OESD and a very weak flush draw that could easily be beat. Sorry, it was one of those hands that I can't let go of. From my perspective, my opponent made absolutely horrible decisions all the way to the river. The only thing he did right was make me put in my last chip when I knew I was beat. Yeah, I'm bitter about it. So what?
On a brighter note, I cheated my Quest plan a bit and started playing $0.02/$0.05 when I was $0.36 shy of having the 20 buy-ins I set as a minimum. My first couple sessions went well, putting me up $5.05 on the day and moving the bankroll over the minimum to flirt with $0.02/$0.05.
Based on first impressions, I'm seeing more serious players at this level, but still enough total fish that a decent player can turn a nice profit. So far my BB/100 is even higher than at $0.01/$0.02, though it's obviously way too early to tell if that will hold. Sadly, play at this level appears to be as slow, if not slower, than at the lower level. I'm going to play just one table at a time until I'm completely confident at this new level, so the slow play may be just next to torture.
On a brighter note, I cheated my Quest plan a bit and started playing $0.02/$0.05 when I was $0.36 shy of having the 20 buy-ins I set as a minimum. My first couple sessions went well, putting me up $5.05 on the day and moving the bankroll over the minimum to flirt with $0.02/$0.05.
Based on first impressions, I'm seeing more serious players at this level, but still enough total fish that a decent player can turn a nice profit. So far my BB/100 is even higher than at $0.01/$0.02, though it's obviously way too early to tell if that will hold. Sadly, play at this level appears to be as slow, if not slower, than at the lower level. I'm going to play just one table at a time until I'm completely confident at this new level, so the slow play may be just next to torture.
18 June 2008
Mid-week update
The Quest proceeds on schedule, or maybe a bit ahead. Two or three more average nights and I should hit the 20 buy-ins I want before flirting with $0.02/$0.05.
I was tempted to jump the gun and have a go at it last night. When I checked the available tables I noticed the "see the flop" percents still looked juicy, but considerably less so that at $0.01/$0.02. Big shock, eh? It's not at all unusual to find a few tables at $0.01/$0.02 in the 60%-70% range. At $0.02/$0.05 the best I saw was 50%. I decided to stick with the plan and stayed with $0.01/$0.02.
On one table I doubled my buy-in, mostly due to players who couldn't let go of top-pair, no kicker. On the other table I mostly took smaller pots and slowly added to my stack. Both tables got off to a decent start, which I find much more comfortable than losing early and having to fight my way back to even.
Monday night was another slightly better than average night. I finished the evening up just shy of $3. Two more nights like the last two and I'm moving out of the shallowest part of the pool. Get the life preservers ready.
I was tempted to jump the gun and have a go at it last night. When I checked the available tables I noticed the "see the flop" percents still looked juicy, but considerably less so that at $0.01/$0.02. Big shock, eh? It's not at all unusual to find a few tables at $0.01/$0.02 in the 60%-70% range. At $0.02/$0.05 the best I saw was 50%. I decided to stick with the plan and stayed with $0.01/$0.02.
On one table I doubled my buy-in, mostly due to players who couldn't let go of top-pair, no kicker. On the other table I mostly took smaller pots and slowly added to my stack. Both tables got off to a decent start, which I find much more comfortable than losing early and having to fight my way back to even.
Monday night was another slightly better than average night. I finished the evening up just shy of $3. Two more nights like the last two and I'm moving out of the shallowest part of the pool. Get the life preservers ready.
16 June 2008
The Weekend
Friday night I got in the mood for Kat's Donkament by having a couple margaritas at dinner. The real kind, on the rocks, not those watered-down slushy things. Then I fixed a big gin & tonic when I got home. In the proper mood, let the donkery begin!
As is my habit, I did an immediate rebuy. If losing chips, might as well lose as many as possible. Very first hand I get QJs and figure that's good enough to join a 4-way all-in. Naturally, it was Julius Goat with the massive 92s who took down the pot with a full house. Rebuy!
And that was my last rebuy of the night. Next hand I catch QQ in another 4-way all-in. I was accused of playing unfair by going all-in with an actual hand, but so it goes around the virtual poker table. Three hands later I caught KK in another 4-way push-fest. Five hands into the tournament and I'm sitting on a 10k stack.
I don't think I've ever been the really big stack in one of these things, at least not in the very early stages when everybody is pushing on any drop of paint. Turns out there's a side benefit I'd not realized before. When your stack is way the biggest and you come in second place, you sometimes take away almost as much, if not more, than the winner. Good to know should you ever find yourself in this situation.
My cards rather dried up for a while. Sitting on such a big stack there seemed little point (other than the sheer fun of it) in pushing with nothing, so I did a lot of folding. Until Kat did an I'm-bored push and I sucked out a straight at the river. My stack was up to 18k.
A total nonsense hand, 63s, that I played cheap flopped the nut straight, eventually turning into a flush, growing the stack to 22k. JJ vs 88 took me to 26k. Another mid pair vs junk brought me to 29k as those remaining joined the final table.
My stack eventually grew to 44k before my AA fell to K2o. I should have seen it coming. I really hate it when I fall in love with those first two cards and can't give them up. And having it happen against the second biggest stack only adds to the injury. In one hand I went from chip leader to seriously short stack.
I hung in though, building my stack little by little, eventually moving back into second place with a river suckout against the big stack. Many hands later I bubbled on a straight over straight hand.
It may sound odd to speak of being proud of your play in a donkament, but I was quite pleased with the way I recovered from the big hit. Going from about M=6 back to second biggest stack and well in the hunt is not bad. Would have been nicer if I'd made the money, but so it goes.
The Quest was up and down and back up again over the weekend. Had a decent session at lunch on Friday. Then made the mistake of playing after the Donkament and had two disastrous tables. Play later in the day on Saturday got me almost back to even.
Sunday I played just one session, but it was great fun. Within the first few hands on two different tables I ran into lotto players while holding AA, and both held. On one of the tables I later ran into another of the one-card-too-late plays. I started with KK, had a few limpers ahead, so I put in a decent raise to thin the field. Two callers. Flop is something like Q73. I bet a bit more than half the pot and get one caller. The turn gives me a set of kings. Somewhat to my surprise the other player pushes all-in. I've got the nuts so, of course, I call. He turns over 77. My set holds and I leave the table with more than four times my buy-in. I finish the day up over $7, bringing the bankroll to $89.65. If things continue as they have I should be ready to start flirting with $0.02/$0.05 by next week this time.
As is my habit, I did an immediate rebuy. If losing chips, might as well lose as many as possible. Very first hand I get QJs and figure that's good enough to join a 4-way all-in. Naturally, it was Julius Goat with the massive 92s who took down the pot with a full house. Rebuy!
And that was my last rebuy of the night. Next hand I catch QQ in another 4-way all-in. I was accused of playing unfair by going all-in with an actual hand, but so it goes around the virtual poker table. Three hands later I caught KK in another 4-way push-fest. Five hands into the tournament and I'm sitting on a 10k stack.
I don't think I've ever been the really big stack in one of these things, at least not in the very early stages when everybody is pushing on any drop of paint. Turns out there's a side benefit I'd not realized before. When your stack is way the biggest and you come in second place, you sometimes take away almost as much, if not more, than the winner. Good to know should you ever find yourself in this situation.
My cards rather dried up for a while. Sitting on such a big stack there seemed little point (other than the sheer fun of it) in pushing with nothing, so I did a lot of folding. Until Kat did an I'm-bored push and I sucked out a straight at the river. My stack was up to 18k.
A total nonsense hand, 63s, that I played cheap flopped the nut straight, eventually turning into a flush, growing the stack to 22k. JJ vs 88 took me to 26k. Another mid pair vs junk brought me to 29k as those remaining joined the final table.
My stack eventually grew to 44k before my AA fell to K2o. I should have seen it coming. I really hate it when I fall in love with those first two cards and can't give them up. And having it happen against the second biggest stack only adds to the injury. In one hand I went from chip leader to seriously short stack.
I hung in though, building my stack little by little, eventually moving back into second place with a river suckout against the big stack. Many hands later I bubbled on a straight over straight hand.
It may sound odd to speak of being proud of your play in a donkament, but I was quite pleased with the way I recovered from the big hit. Going from about M=6 back to second biggest stack and well in the hunt is not bad. Would have been nicer if I'd made the money, but so it goes.
The Quest was up and down and back up again over the weekend. Had a decent session at lunch on Friday. Then made the mistake of playing after the Donkament and had two disastrous tables. Play later in the day on Saturday got me almost back to even.
Sunday I played just one session, but it was great fun. Within the first few hands on two different tables I ran into lotto players while holding AA, and both held. On one of the tables I later ran into another of the one-card-too-late plays. I started with KK, had a few limpers ahead, so I put in a decent raise to thin the field. Two callers. Flop is something like Q73. I bet a bit more than half the pot and get one caller. The turn gives me a set of kings. Somewhat to my surprise the other player pushes all-in. I've got the nuts so, of course, I call. He turns over 77. My set holds and I leave the table with more than four times my buy-in. I finish the day up over $7, bringing the bankroll to $89.65. If things continue as they have I should be ready to start flirting with $0.02/$0.05 by next week this time.
13 June 2008
Quest Update
Down night on The Quest last night. Played an early session where I dropped a buy-in on one table and won a bit on another.
Today I played for a little while at lunch and made up for what I lost last night. Most of it was the result of one hand where I called an all-in from a shorter stack. I had pocket queens, which ended as an overpair. It wasn't that strong to be calling such a big bet, but this was one of those hands where I just didn't believe the other guy. It felt like he was trying to push me out, which meant he had nothing or at best something that was vulnerable, like top pair on the ten high board. He had nothing.
Tonight is Kat's Donkament at Full Tilt. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it, but I'm going to try.
Saturday is Dr. Pauly's PLO tourney at PokerStars. It kicks off at something like 16:20 EDT.
Today I played for a little while at lunch and made up for what I lost last night. Most of it was the result of one hand where I called an all-in from a shorter stack. I had pocket queens, which ended as an overpair. It wasn't that strong to be calling such a big bet, but this was one of those hands where I just didn't believe the other guy. It felt like he was trying to push me out, which meant he had nothing or at best something that was vulnerable, like top pair on the ten high board. He had nothing.
Tonight is Kat's Donkament at Full Tilt. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it, but I'm going to try.
Saturday is Dr. Pauly's PLO tourney at PokerStars. It kicks off at something like 16:20 EDT.
12 June 2008
Decent, short night
I've been feeling under the weather this week and haven't played much. Monday I was still stinging from the weekend and decided it was best to take some time off. Tuesday I was really dragging. I slept my way through an evening of partially watched TV on the sofa. I think I started to watch three different shows and have no idea how any of them turned out.
Wednesday I got home a bit earlier than usual and sat down to play before dinner. I hit a quick double up and decided to bank my winnings and go get some food. My intention was to play a bit later on, but that never happened.
The double up hand was rather interesting. I get pocket sixes. The BB and I see the flop of 699. Chips coming my way, I can just feel it. The BB puts in a normal sized bet and I call. The turn is another 9. Great. My flopped boat can now be counterfeited and I can be drawing totally dead if he's got the case 9. Again the BB bets an amount that's not all that scary and I call. As if things weren't already interesting enough, the river brings the last 6, giving me quads. The BB pushes all-in. As I push the "call" button I'm wishing Stars had a bad beat jackpot. The way my luck has been running it's almost a sure thing the BB has quad nines. But, no! He turns over AQo and I scoop a nice pot.
If I'm really back to my winning ways I should be ready to move up fairly soon. Only time will tell if the bad run is over.
Wednesday I got home a bit earlier than usual and sat down to play before dinner. I hit a quick double up and decided to bank my winnings and go get some food. My intention was to play a bit later on, but that never happened.
The double up hand was rather interesting. I get pocket sixes. The BB and I see the flop of 699. Chips coming my way, I can just feel it. The BB puts in a normal sized bet and I call. The turn is another 9. Great. My flopped boat can now be counterfeited and I can be drawing totally dead if he's got the case 9. Again the BB bets an amount that's not all that scary and I call. As if things weren't already interesting enough, the river brings the last 6, giving me quads. The BB pushes all-in. As I push the "call" button I'm wishing Stars had a bad beat jackpot. The way my luck has been running it's almost a sure thing the BB has quad nines. But, no! He turns over AQo and I scoop a nice pot.
If I'm really back to my winning ways I should be ready to move up fairly soon. Only time will tell if the bad run is over.
09 June 2008
The Quest takes a small stumble
Friday night I donked it up in Kat's Donkament rebuy on Full Tilt. I think I only rebought twice, though I was doing doubles, so with the add-on I was in for $7+$1. I should write these up sooner as the details are already quite foggy. Oh, hey, whaddaya know, there's a tournament summary file here on my hard drive. It seems I bubbled. How did that happen?
Saturday I again played in Dr. Pauly's PLO tourney at Stars. I don't recall too many of the specifics, but I do recall I bubbled in that as well.
The Questing on Saturday was fairly successful, finishing the day up $4.09. Sunday, however, The Quest took a stumble. It felt a lot worse than it actually was, being one of those days when absolutely nothing went right. I got precious few solid starters and the few I got almost always missed. It was one of those nights when toward the end you just know the inside straight your opponent has been drawing for is going to hit on the river, despite the fact that you've been betting the whole way to deny him odds by a wide margin. It was a night of many "Sklansky wins" since my opponents made mistake after mistake, and still my chips ended up in front of them instead of theirs in front of me. Variance is a bitch. I finished the day down $4.45. I suppose it seems worse since I've been having so many good days of late.
I also noticed, thanks to PokerTracker, that several of the tables I was playing turned into tables that would have seemed tight at $2/$4 limit full ring bonus clearing tables let alone at 6-max $0.01/$0.02 NL. I don't think shopping for better tables would have helped on Sunday, but I may have to start paying a bit more attention to that. When I'm the "loose" player at the table, there's something seriously wrong.
Saturday I again played in Dr. Pauly's PLO tourney at Stars. I don't recall too many of the specifics, but I do recall I bubbled in that as well.
The Questing on Saturday was fairly successful, finishing the day up $4.09. Sunday, however, The Quest took a stumble. It felt a lot worse than it actually was, being one of those days when absolutely nothing went right. I got precious few solid starters and the few I got almost always missed. It was one of those nights when toward the end you just know the inside straight your opponent has been drawing for is going to hit on the river, despite the fact that you've been betting the whole way to deny him odds by a wide margin. It was a night of many "Sklansky wins" since my opponents made mistake after mistake, and still my chips ended up in front of them instead of theirs in front of me. Variance is a bitch. I finished the day down $4.45. I suppose it seems worse since I've been having so many good days of late.
I also noticed, thanks to PokerTracker, that several of the tables I was playing turned into tables that would have seemed tight at $2/$4 limit full ring bonus clearing tables let alone at 6-max $0.01/$0.02 NL. I don't think shopping for better tables would have helped on Sunday, but I may have to start paying a bit more attention to that. When I'm the "loose" player at the table, there's something seriously wrong.
06 June 2008
Another good night on The Quest
Last night proved to be my second biggest night so far on The Quest. On my very first hand I was dealt AA and ran into someone who just didn't want to believe I could get a premium hand on the my first deal. The flop was all low junk and I couldn't believe he'd have called my pre-flop raise holding two of those type of cards. So when he pushed in all his chips it didn't take long for me to call. First pot of the night and I double up.
Sadly, I should have walked away from the table right then because that was my high point, though I still finished up almost $2 at that table.
The other table took a bit more work as I slowly built my stack. This was one of those tables with mostly passive players and I was able to steal a lot of pots.
Then, right before I left the table, I got into one of those hands where the other player was one card too late in his actions. I was dealt pocket nines, put in a small raise, and got one caller. The flop was J33. Check, check. Turn was a 2. I bet half the pot, he called. This was his mistake. The river brought my third 9. I bet about half the pot and he immediately pushed all-in. Pocket jacks or pocket threes were the only hands that had me beat, so it didn't take much thought to make the call. He turns over 22. Caught his boat on the turn but gave me a cheap shot at making my hand. I suppose it wasn't really that bad a move on his part since I only had four outs (not that he knew that), but it still ended up being one of those huge overbets that can reasonably be called only by someone who has you beat. Like me.
Finished the night up $6.29. The bankroll is now up to $82.80. $0.02/$0.05 is getting close.
Sadly, I should have walked away from the table right then because that was my high point, though I still finished up almost $2 at that table.
The other table took a bit more work as I slowly built my stack. This was one of those tables with mostly passive players and I was able to steal a lot of pots.
Then, right before I left the table, I got into one of those hands where the other player was one card too late in his actions. I was dealt pocket nines, put in a small raise, and got one caller. The flop was J33. Check, check. Turn was a 2. I bet half the pot, he called. This was his mistake. The river brought my third 9. I bet about half the pot and he immediately pushed all-in. Pocket jacks or pocket threes were the only hands that had me beat, so it didn't take much thought to make the call. He turns over 22. Caught his boat on the turn but gave me a cheap shot at making my hand. I suppose it wasn't really that bad a move on his part since I only had four outs (not that he knew that), but it still ended up being one of those huge overbets that can reasonably be called only by someone who has you beat. Like me.
Finished the night up $6.29. The bankroll is now up to $82.80. $0.02/$0.05 is getting close.
05 June 2008
Big night on The Quest
Tonight was the best night yet for The Quest. Early in the evening I two-tabled for about half an hour, finishing up $1.49.
After dinner I fired up three tables. That got a bit hectic. With that experience, I seriously doubt there's any way anyone could expect to play a dozen or more tables without knowing you'll be delaying action on more than a few of them on pretty much every hand. IOW, I was right on the money referring to these clowns as Massively Multi-tabling Inconsiderate Asshats.
Anyway, I took a very small loss on one of the tables and very nice profits on the other two. Most of the winnings came from two hands. The first was when somebody apparently just couldn't believe I had his queens beat, despite a pre-flop raise and a large flop re-raise. On a turn card that helped no one, he pushed in what he had left, about half the pot. The way the cards had fallen I found it very hard to believe he'd gotten any help from the board, so I called. My aces held and I made a nice $2.13 profit on the hand.
The other big hand was a three-way all-in in which my AKs prevailed over A4o and KQo for a $3.68 profit.
After that little run I decided to bank my profits and call it a night, up $9.49. A few more nights like this and I'll be flirting with the big action at $0.02/$0.05!
After dinner I fired up three tables. That got a bit hectic. With that experience, I seriously doubt there's any way anyone could expect to play a dozen or more tables without knowing you'll be delaying action on more than a few of them on pretty much every hand. IOW, I was right on the money referring to these clowns as Massively Multi-tabling Inconsiderate Asshats.
Anyway, I took a very small loss on one of the tables and very nice profits on the other two. Most of the winnings came from two hands. The first was when somebody apparently just couldn't believe I had his queens beat, despite a pre-flop raise and a large flop re-raise. On a turn card that helped no one, he pushed in what he had left, about half the pot. The way the cards had fallen I found it very hard to believe he'd gotten any help from the board, so I called. My aces held and I made a nice $2.13 profit on the hand.
The other big hand was a three-way all-in in which my AKs prevailed over A4o and KQo for a $3.68 profit.
After that little run I decided to bank my profits and call it a night, up $9.49. A few more nights like this and I'll be flirting with the big action at $0.02/$0.05!
04 June 2008
Bodogery
Smokkee's Bodog blogger tournament was last night. I was settled in for the evening in time to play this time. Not that it mattered much.
The cards were not especially kind. I got AA and KK once each, but both whiffed, taking down very small pots. There were a few other decent starters, but all I really managed to do was keep my head above water. After two hours my stack was still roughly the size it was to start with. Smokkee busted me out when I took A9 up against his QQ. I finished 19th of 42. Very lackluster performance.
I was a bit tired by the time that was over so I didn't do any Questing. I'm hoping to put in a few hours tonight.
The cards were not especially kind. I got AA and KK once each, but both whiffed, taking down very small pots. There were a few other decent starters, but all I really managed to do was keep my head above water. After two hours my stack was still roughly the size it was to start with. Smokkee busted me out when I took A9 up against his QQ. I finished 19th of 42. Very lackluster performance.
I was a bit tired by the time that was over so I didn't do any Questing. I'm hoping to put in a few hours tonight.
02 June 2008
Too many posts
This marks the 200th post for Patchwork. I'm not going to bother with any kind of retrospective because, frankly, I doubt I've said enough of significance in these 200 entries to fill a paragraph. It is rather remarkable, though, that what started as something strictly to get me into "blogger-only" tournaments has managed to last to the 200th entry. It's a good thing I find myself entertaining.
Some comments about the blog in general would probably be in order. In retrospect, I'm not so sure the name "Patchwork" combined with my poker moniker, Patchmaster, was such a great idea. Well over half the hits on the blog are from people looking for information about Scott's Patchmaster lawn seed or some "patch work" game that must be available online somewhere. I'd probably make more money selling grass seed online than I ever could from poker.
The number of people coming here not by mistake has increased since I joined Poker Weblog$. I hope that trend continues. It would be nice to know I'm not simply confusing half my readers.
I'm also quite surprised at some of the other Google searches that turn up Patchwork blog entries near the top of the results. My ranting about the horrible internet connection I had while living in a hotel for six months when I first moved to Orlando has made me #1 if you search for "guest-tek sucks", a fact I'm sure endears me to the hearts of Guest-Tek hotel services management.
The number of readers from countries other than my own also surprises me. I noticed this when I first started the blog, but back then I think these were mostly bored people just paging through the random blog circle at Blogspot. More recently these readers seem to be coming here on purpose. Well, at least those who aren't looking to spruce up their lawns.
I also should give some thanks to the fine folks at Blogger and Blogspot. I've never fully wrapped my head around how all this stuff works, but it does work, quite well most of the time, and I've been able to use it without understanding it. That says quite a lot about what a great job they've done. I can sit here and blather on about poker or bad hotel wireless internet or whatever else strikes my fancy and not worry my bloated head about how or why my words actually get read by other people.
Often while writing my blog entries I've thought I had some appreciation for how Allan Havey must have felt on Night After Night performing to his "audience of one". On the other hand, Allan knew at least one person was listening. When the occasional comment comes in I'm always shocked and amazed. People read this crap?
For those following The Quest, I've decided to alter my bankroll management rules to maybe kick this thing up a few notches. Until I hit the $25 buy-in level, I'm going to move up to the next level when I have 30 buy-ins at that level. I will allow myself to test the waters at the next level once I've accumulated 20 buy-ins for that level. Since I'm playing $2 buy-ins right now, I'll start flirting with $5 buy-ins when the bankroll hits $100 and officially move up when the bankroll hits $150.
I've adjusted the speedometer to reflect these new rules.
Tonight was a decent night on The Quest. I didn't play much last week and had been basically even on the week until tonight.
There was one amusing incident. It's not like it's the first time I've seen this, but it still kind of cracks me up when people whine about how you sucked out at the river when the reality is that they played their hand poorly and you actually had them beat before they even made a move.
In this case I caught bottom pair and four cards to a J-high flush on the flop. SB checks. I bet half the pot to build it a bit in case I hit the flush and to see if I can get any information. One fold, two calls.
The turn brings a J, giving me jacks up and still the flush draw. Now the SB decides to bet half the pot. He actually had top pair kings on the flop but was either afraid to bet them or maybe thought he was being crafty. With only a 7 kicker, I'd have bet them on the flop when the pot was smaller and got some info on where I stood. If I got resistance, I'd get out cheap with my weak kicker. If he'd done that, I'd have likely folded and he'd have probably won a small pot.
So he bets half the pot into my two pair at the turn. I come over the top with triple his bet. Other guy folds and it's back to the SB. He makes a min raise. This is another move that baffles me. If this was a table full of sharks I might be a little afraid of this bet because it looks like he wants me to call. But this is not a table of sharks and this bet just looks confused and weak. It's possible he's got a set, but there are two flush draws on the board. That's a very risky way to be playing a set. If I've got a set, I'm putting it all in the middle right here. I decide to just call and see what happens.
The river brings my flush, not to mention a Broadway straight possibility. Now the SB gets brave and pushes it all in, a bet slightly larger than the pot. I think for about two seconds and call. If he's got the ace or queen flush, good for him. Of course, he's got top pair, kings, and I rake in a very nice pot. And, the reason I launched into this story, then came his comment, "last card."
The SB was one move too late this whole hand. If he'd done on the flop what he did on the turn, he'd have won a small pot, but at least it would have been a win. If he'd done on the turn what he did on the river, there's a real good chance I'd have folded. Instead, he waited until the board showed two obvious possibilities he was beat, not to mention several set possibilities which were quite strong given the way I'd been betting. Maybe he figured me for a set and thought a big bet on that river would scare me away, though his comment leads me to believe otherwise. Anyway, his weak play early on got him into big trouble at the river.
I don't mean to just make fun of how poorly this hand was played. The more I got into describing it the more I realized it was classic mistake after classic mistake. I doubt any regular readers will learn anything from this, but maybe a new player may someday stumble on it and pick up a tip or two.
Well, that's it for the 200th entry. Hopefully I'll still be interested in doing this for another 200 entries.
Some comments about the blog in general would probably be in order. In retrospect, I'm not so sure the name "Patchwork" combined with my poker moniker, Patchmaster, was such a great idea. Well over half the hits on the blog are from people looking for information about Scott's Patchmaster lawn seed or some "patch work" game that must be available online somewhere. I'd probably make more money selling grass seed online than I ever could from poker.
The number of people coming here not by mistake has increased since I joined Poker Weblog$. I hope that trend continues. It would be nice to know I'm not simply confusing half my readers.
I'm also quite surprised at some of the other Google searches that turn up Patchwork blog entries near the top of the results. My ranting about the horrible internet connection I had while living in a hotel for six months when I first moved to Orlando has made me #1 if you search for "guest-tek sucks", a fact I'm sure endears me to the hearts of Guest-Tek hotel services management.
The number of readers from countries other than my own also surprises me. I noticed this when I first started the blog, but back then I think these were mostly bored people just paging through the random blog circle at Blogspot. More recently these readers seem to be coming here on purpose. Well, at least those who aren't looking to spruce up their lawns.
I also should give some thanks to the fine folks at Blogger and Blogspot. I've never fully wrapped my head around how all this stuff works, but it does work, quite well most of the time, and I've been able to use it without understanding it. That says quite a lot about what a great job they've done. I can sit here and blather on about poker or bad hotel wireless internet or whatever else strikes my fancy and not worry my bloated head about how or why my words actually get read by other people.
Often while writing my blog entries I've thought I had some appreciation for how Allan Havey must have felt on Night After Night performing to his "audience of one". On the other hand, Allan knew at least one person was listening. When the occasional comment comes in I'm always shocked and amazed. People read this crap?
For those following The Quest, I've decided to alter my bankroll management rules to maybe kick this thing up a few notches. Until I hit the $25 buy-in level, I'm going to move up to the next level when I have 30 buy-ins at that level. I will allow myself to test the waters at the next level once I've accumulated 20 buy-ins for that level. Since I'm playing $2 buy-ins right now, I'll start flirting with $5 buy-ins when the bankroll hits $100 and officially move up when the bankroll hits $150.
I've adjusted the speedometer to reflect these new rules.
Tonight was a decent night on The Quest. I didn't play much last week and had been basically even on the week until tonight.
There was one amusing incident. It's not like it's the first time I've seen this, but it still kind of cracks me up when people whine about how you sucked out at the river when the reality is that they played their hand poorly and you actually had them beat before they even made a move.
In this case I caught bottom pair and four cards to a J-high flush on the flop. SB checks. I bet half the pot to build it a bit in case I hit the flush and to see if I can get any information. One fold, two calls.
The turn brings a J, giving me jacks up and still the flush draw. Now the SB decides to bet half the pot. He actually had top pair kings on the flop but was either afraid to bet them or maybe thought he was being crafty. With only a 7 kicker, I'd have bet them on the flop when the pot was smaller and got some info on where I stood. If I got resistance, I'd get out cheap with my weak kicker. If he'd done that, I'd have likely folded and he'd have probably won a small pot.
So he bets half the pot into my two pair at the turn. I come over the top with triple his bet. Other guy folds and it's back to the SB. He makes a min raise. This is another move that baffles me. If this was a table full of sharks I might be a little afraid of this bet because it looks like he wants me to call. But this is not a table of sharks and this bet just looks confused and weak. It's possible he's got a set, but there are two flush draws on the board. That's a very risky way to be playing a set. If I've got a set, I'm putting it all in the middle right here. I decide to just call and see what happens.
The river brings my flush, not to mention a Broadway straight possibility. Now the SB gets brave and pushes it all in, a bet slightly larger than the pot. I think for about two seconds and call. If he's got the ace or queen flush, good for him. Of course, he's got top pair, kings, and I rake in a very nice pot. And, the reason I launched into this story, then came his comment, "last card."
The SB was one move too late this whole hand. If he'd done on the flop what he did on the turn, he'd have won a small pot, but at least it would have been a win. If he'd done on the turn what he did on the river, there's a real good chance I'd have folded. Instead, he waited until the board showed two obvious possibilities he was beat, not to mention several set possibilities which were quite strong given the way I'd been betting. Maybe he figured me for a set and thought a big bet on that river would scare me away, though his comment leads me to believe otherwise. Anyway, his weak play early on got him into big trouble at the river.
I don't mean to just make fun of how poorly this hand was played. The more I got into describing it the more I realized it was classic mistake after classic mistake. I doubt any regular readers will learn anything from this, but maybe a new player may someday stumble on it and pick up a tip or two.
Well, that's it for the 200th entry. Hopefully I'll still be interested in doing this for another 200 entries.
Lost Weekend
No, I'm not referring to the TV show. I've never seen it and have no interest in it.
I usually try to recap my weekend play on Monday. As I was going over in my head the poker happenings of the last three days I realized most of it has faded away. I recall playing Kat's Friday night Donkament, and vaguely recall not rebuying 32 times like usual, but I have almost no recollection of the tournament at all. According to the tournament summary I found somewhere on my hard drive, I finished in 7th. I'll have to take the summary's word for it because I'm drawing a complete blank.
I do recall about seven hands from Dr. Pauly's PLO tournament on Saturday. Well, I recall two of the seven hands. In the first I tangled with Pauly. Don't recall what I had. Something worth playing but that missed the flop. I got the impression he was trying to either double up early or bust so I hung on longer than I should have and ended up donking off a third of my stack. In the first hand. Six hands later I get it all in with my AAxx vs AKKx vs QQxx. Flop brings a K and I go home far from repeating last week's performance.
Having exited the PLO tournament so early I signed up for one of the WSOP freerolls Stars is running every hour. This was the first time I found one that started less than 45 minutes from now and that still had seats available. All I remember about this one was getting it all in with JJ vs AK vs AQ. Flop is KQJ, making me 80% to win. Turn is a blank, making me better than 90% to win. Naturally, the river is a T, giving each of the other two Broadway and they split my stack. I know I played it right, but that just doesn't seem to make up for the huge sucking sound that came at the river.
While waiting for Pauly's PLO tournament I joined The Quest for a bit. Suckout city. I guess I've been fortunate of late to have avoided a long string of bad beats, but that's what I hit on Saturday.
I briefly considered going back to The Quest after my tournament losses, but I knew I was on the verge of megatilt, so I fixed some dinner and watched TV instead. I was still feeling a bit tiltish on Sunday so I didn't play at all.
So it's been a slow week for The Quest. I have been two-tabling of late, not that it has obviously improved my win rate. On Saturday it just increased the loss. But even two-tabling I didn't spend many hours Questing this week.
I've been reading some things that make me think my bankroll management plan for the lowest levels may be overly conservative. Rather than sticking with the plan of having 50 buy-ins before moving up, I may cut back to 25 or 30. When I hit $25 buy-ins I'll probably want 50 of those in the bankroll, but at $5 and under I think I can probably sneak by with less.
I usually try to recap my weekend play on Monday. As I was going over in my head the poker happenings of the last three days I realized most of it has faded away. I recall playing Kat's Friday night Donkament, and vaguely recall not rebuying 32 times like usual, but I have almost no recollection of the tournament at all. According to the tournament summary I found somewhere on my hard drive, I finished in 7th. I'll have to take the summary's word for it because I'm drawing a complete blank.
I do recall about seven hands from Dr. Pauly's PLO tournament on Saturday. Well, I recall two of the seven hands. In the first I tangled with Pauly. Don't recall what I had. Something worth playing but that missed the flop. I got the impression he was trying to either double up early or bust so I hung on longer than I should have and ended up donking off a third of my stack. In the first hand. Six hands later I get it all in with my AAxx vs AKKx vs QQxx. Flop brings a K and I go home far from repeating last week's performance.
Having exited the PLO tournament so early I signed up for one of the WSOP freerolls Stars is running every hour. This was the first time I found one that started less than 45 minutes from now and that still had seats available. All I remember about this one was getting it all in with JJ vs AK vs AQ. Flop is KQJ, making me 80% to win. Turn is a blank, making me better than 90% to win. Naturally, the river is a T, giving each of the other two Broadway and they split my stack. I know I played it right, but that just doesn't seem to make up for the huge sucking sound that came at the river.
While waiting for Pauly's PLO tournament I joined The Quest for a bit. Suckout city. I guess I've been fortunate of late to have avoided a long string of bad beats, but that's what I hit on Saturday.
I briefly considered going back to The Quest after my tournament losses, but I knew I was on the verge of megatilt, so I fixed some dinner and watched TV instead. I was still feeling a bit tiltish on Sunday so I didn't play at all.
So it's been a slow week for The Quest. I have been two-tabling of late, not that it has obviously improved my win rate. On Saturday it just increased the loss. But even two-tabling I didn't spend many hours Questing this week.
I've been reading some things that make me think my bankroll management plan for the lowest levels may be overly conservative. Rather than sticking with the plan of having 50 buy-ins before moving up, I may cut back to 25 or 30. When I hit $25 buy-ins I'll probably want 50 of those in the bankroll, but at $5 and under I think I can probably sneak by with less.
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