Session #6

I played almost 4.5 hours on Saturday night. I started out with $10.09 and ended up with $11.08. I folded most of my starting hands. I got beat a couple of times when I had good starting hands. The first loss came when I made a Q high straight on the turn and the other guy had a K high straight. Later I won a hand when I made a Q high straight on turn. The second loss was my two pair (Ks over 6s) to a full house (6s full of As). I started out with a KQo and two 6s and a K came on the flop. The turn and river was an A and a 7. So this guy got lucky and made his full house on the turn after being dealt A6o. I would have folded that starting hand.

Of course I had a couple of lucky hands also. On one hand I was dealt A5suited and I decided to play them. I flopped a flush, which I bet on and the other players called. Checking instead of betting might have been a better move. Then I could have come back and raised if anybody bet.

Later in the evening I was dealt a pair of 9s (9d 9s) that I decided to play. Two more diamonds came on the flop (one and Ace). And I decided to stay in. Two more diamond came on the turn and river. But I ended up losing that hand to someone else with a higher straight. I propably should have gotten out after the flop because there were several players still in.

Two hands later I was dealt the same pair of 9s (9d 9s) in the big blind. Several people called and there was one raise. I raised and 5 people called. The flop was 3, 2 & 7. I bet and 3 call and 1 raised. I called and only 1 person behind me called. I figured at that point the pot was too big not to call. On the turn I caught another 9. At that point there are only 3 of us left. The other two started raising and I called each time. So that round gets capped. The river card was a 4. I decided to bet and call any raises and I ended up winning $3.40 with my 3 of a kind. If it hadn't been for this hand, it is likely I would have ended down for the night.

I think I could have played much better. I was down for most of the night and I won a few hands, but then I would give my winnings back a few hands later. I need to make sure I play tight the whole time. I need to be aware of what everyone else is playing and watch them closely.

I did take note of one guy who was playing pretty loosely and winning. He seemed to play just about anything above a ten suited with some low card. I know I saw him win four hands that way.

Maybe I didn't learn anything last week

I played poorly again last night. The night started off well, I started playing tight and I won some big hands early on. In less than a hour I was up to over a dollar, but then a couple of hands later I loosened up my starting hand requirements and I was right back down to what I started with. Before I sat down I decided I would only play for 2 hours, but after 2 hours I still didn't feel like I was up enough, so I thought I would continue for another hour. Same thing 1 hour later. I quit after 4 hours and lost $0.52 for the night. I was up and down the rest of the session after my big wins. I should have stuck with my 2 hour limit and the winnings I had at the time. If I had quit at 2 hours I would have been up exactly $0.20. Not as much as I had earlier, but I could have walked away winning. I thought if I stayed in longer and played only the best cards I could increase that amount. Instead I played when I was tired and too long. I need to make sure I stick to my starting hand standards after I win big pots.

Session #4 on RVP

I played another session last night and I feel much better. I started out the night with $8.70 and ended up with $10.61. Last night was also the longest session I have played (almost 3.5 hours). After doing some reading in Poker for Dummies, I decided I was going to play only a very small number of starting hands. If the cards I was dealt, did not measure up to my predetermined standards I would fold. And that is what I did. I was determined to be patient.

There were a few bad beats early on where I thought I had the winning hand and I played it aggressively only to get beat by someone who got lucky on the flop or river. At first I was, I was pretty mad. How dare they not fold to me when they have junk! Then I let it go and decided to be patient. I was all the way down to about $6.00 when things seemed to turn around. Even when I was down that low, I decided not to panic but would just keep folding the hands that didn't make the cut.

I won the first two hands I played, but they were very small. The first was $0.16 and the second was $.09. I didn't have good starting cards on either of those hands, but I didn't put much money into the pot. On the first one, I was dealt 6d 9h and I checked all the way through and ended up winning with two pair (Queens over sixes). The second one was 78s, everyone before me folded and I decided to call, then the guy behind me checked. We both checked the rest of the way through and I ended up with a pair of eights.

After playing for almost 3.5 hours, I was dealt an Ah and Jh. UTG checked, UTG+1 raised and then I raised. After me 2 players folded and 2 players called. Then UTG raises and the rest of us call. The flop was 8h, Ks and Qh. The BB checked, UTG bet and UTG+1 called. I also called. The guy behind me raised and then the BB raised and the rest of us call him on it. The river was a 4h and I made my flush. The BB and the two players before me checked and I followed suit and checked. Then the player behind me bet and the BB raised. The two player in front of me folded and I raised. The guy behind me called and the BB raised again. I call and the player behind me called. Kc came on the river and the BB checked and I bet. The player to my left calls and the BB called. Then I showed my flush and took down the pot. The total pot was $3.27. It was my biggest pot to date and it finally put me in black for the night. I wish I could have seen what those other guys had the way they kept raising.

A few minutes later I was dealt a pair of nines. A couple of guys players in front of me called and two more check (they sat out the hand before so they had to post to play this hand). The guy to my right folded. I raised and 5 people call. Kc Jc Qh came on the turn. I knew that didn't help me so I checked and the other 5 checked. So it appeared the flop didn't help anyone else either. The turn was a 6h and I checked again. Three people check behind me and the the fourth guy bet. I decided to call and so did 2 more. The river was a 8d and I checked again. Then one of the guys (xrayted) who had checked all the way through bet, which I thought was odd. I thought for a while and checked his betting history to see what he did on each round. I decided he didn't have a good hand so I called. The bettor from the last round folded and so did the guy after me. When the cards where revealed xrayted had a pair of fours and I won the pot of $1.13 with my pair of nines.

I think I played this session pretty well. I lost quite a bit early on due to some bad beats, but I didn't panic and decided to play only the cards I had decided to play before I sat down. I might have played a little too tight, but I think I need to until I can get this bankroll to grow. I need to remember each time I play that I am in this for the long run.

3rd session on RVP

I think I learned a big lesson last night. I should have quit when I was ahead. I started out with $9.29 and after about an hour of playing I was up to $10.91. I was so excited about being ahead. I had put off playing for so long because part of me was afraid I was going to lose and end up with less than I started with. I really wanted to end the night on a positive note. Up to that point I don't think I played poorly. I won with good hands. I didn't bluff and I took time to make the right decision.

There was one hand early in last night's session that I did not play well. I was dealt a pair of Ks, I raised and several people folded. Another K came on the flop and I raised again, some people called. Nothing on the turn or river helped me. The pot was up over a dollar. I think I bet again and the guy to my left raised on both the turn and the river. When the cards were revealed he had a full house. He must have made it on the turn and I didn't catch it, because I saw the size of the pot and overestimated the strength of my hand.

There was also a hand where I got very lucky. I had been folding alot of bad hands before the flop and then I was dealt a pair of 3s. I was afraid I was becoming predictable so I called from an early position know that several people behind me would fold. On the flop, came a pair of 6s. Not a great hand but I stayed in the hand. Nothing came on the turn and then a 3 came on the river. I had a full house and I won the pot. I'm sure the guy I beat felt the same way I felt when I got beat earlier. Rotten. I don't want to get in the habit of doing that though. I don't want to get lucky and win a huge hand with sorry starting hands. I want to play very good starting hands.

Anyway, back to how our story ends. After I managed to win over $1.50 for the session, I guess I got a little cocky and started playing poorly. Pretty soon I was below what I started out with and not happy at all. I felt like a real idiot. I played poorly. I didn't pay close enough attention to what the new players come in were doing and I lost some big hands. In a matter of only a few minutes I had lost all my winning plus some. I went on to play about an hour, hoping I would get good cards and end the night on postive note, but I had to give in as much as it hurt and cut my losses. I ended the night with $8.70.

Last night I learned, not to play too long, I spent 2.25 hours playing and I could have easily quit when I was ahead. I learned that I should play extra close attention to new players. Everytime someone new comes in I have to establish a reputation for tight play for that new player. Maybe losing last night wasn't such a bad thing after all. It was bound to happen sooner or later. If it had happened later, it might have been an even more costly lesson. I have got to learn to control how to respond to winning and not get carried away and becoming blind to the situation.

Yahoo vs. Royal Vegas Poker

I haven't played any poker since Friday night. I just now finished my posting my notes from the Friday night session. Learning how this blogging stuff works took some getting used to. I thought I'd post my thoughts about the differences between playing for free on yahoo vs. playing for real money on Royal Vegas Poker.

Speed of play
The speed of play is much faster on RVP than yahoo. RVP doesn't give you much time at all to see what the other players had after the river. Yahoo gives you plenty of time to see the winning and losing cards. Yahoo also give you more time to make decisions compared to RVP. The player on Yahoo also take more time to make decisions so you have plenty of time to think about what you want to do when it is your turn. I think Yahoo allows each player to take as much as 30 seconds before folding your cards. I believe on RVP you only have 20 seconds to act. Another thing that increases the speed of play on RVP is the advanced action buttons.

Players
The players on RVP are much more knowledgeable than the people I played against on Yahoo. I tried to play on Yahoo as if I were playing for real money so I could learn, but I ran into a lot of people that did not play that way. Because they were playing with play money they could afford to play loosely and get lucky. Also if they didn't like the amount of play money they had, they could go play blackjack or video poker, then come back with a positive score. I did this once on Yahoo when I was down to about $-600 of play money. At the time, I thought the reason I was down that low was because I was not getting any good cards. After doing some reading, I realized it was because I was playing bad cards. After playing video poker for about 2 minutes I was back up to $1100 of play money. At that point I started playing very tight and folding most of the time. After playing 30 sessions that way on Yahoo my score was up to almost $3000 of play money.

Also I have not seen any chatting by the players on RVP, meaning people are focusing on the cards more. They should be more focused on the game, they are playing for real money.

Software
I like the way RVP tells you what kind of hand you have above the cards on the board. I don't care for the way the winning had is displayed. The results are displayed in the chat box to the right of the board. On Yahoo the results are displayed underneath the cards on the board, making it easy to find. I haven't found the chat option on RVP that I like yet. The full detail option gives a lot of information.

I am now playing for real money

I started playing for real money last night at Royal Vegas Poker. The $10 sign up bonus posted to my account yesterday and I played a few raked hands at a .25/.50 limit table to comply with the requirements. When I left I was down to $8.63. I tried to find some .5/.10 limit tables to play on with play money, but there weren't any. So I played a few hands at a 100/200 fixed limit table with play money and quickly lost all of that. The play on the play money tables did not seem to be realistic and I don't think I was learning anything by playing there (about poker or the software).

So I decided to take the plunge and play for real money. I looked for some .02/.04 fixed limit tables but there weren't any to be found (I guess Royal Vegas Poker does not offer them that low anymore). The lowest stakes I could find was .05/.10 fixed limit tables.

According to the history I started playing the first game at 11:14p and the last game I played in started at 12:05a. I started that session with $8.63 and ended with $9.29. The session consisted of 31 hands in that time. I won 4 hands.

My strategy is to play tight and aggressive. I don't want to gamble this money away quickly. I will only bet and raise the best cards and fold everything else. I might bluff very rarely, but only after I have won some hands with good cards.

Playing on Royal Vegas

After playing Limit Hold'em on games.yahoo.com for a couple of weeks and reading up on poker strategy on several poker web sites, I decided to actually download some poker software and play for play money. I decided to downloaded the software from royalvegaspoker.com after reading The Beginner's Bankroll Strategy Guide on poker-strategy.org ( http://www.poker-strategy.org/default.aspx?PageContentID=16&tabid=103). Royal Vegas gives new players a $10 bonus that can be used to start building a bankroll. I haven't started playing for real money, I am still playing with play money. I want to learn as much as I can, if I decide to play with real money.

I played on two different tables on Royal Vegas. The first one was a .50/1.00 pot limit table and I didn't stay there very long at all (only 5 hands before I noticed I was not playing a fixed-limit table).

The second table I played at was a $10/$20 fixed-limit table. I started out with $500 of play money and played a few hands. When I left, after about 30 minutes of playing, I was up to $775 of play money. I won one hand with two pair (Aces over 10s). The pot was up to $570. When the hand started I had $490 in chip and when the hand ended I had $910.

I only played one other hand to the river. I was dealt Ac 10ds, I called, everyoned else called. The flop was 2s 10c 4s. 2 people check in front of me and I bet, everyone else calls. Qs on the turn, I bet again, everyone calls. The river was 2c, so now I have 2 pair (10s over dueces), I bet again. 3 people call and 4 people fold. I did not win. The winner (karokekid) showed Ad 2h, so he ended up with three dueces and won the pot of $410 dollars. Maybe if I had been more aggressive (raised with the pair of tens), I would have taken the pot.

Tonight I learned that I am definately not ready to start playing for real money. Play on Royal Vegas was much faster than what I am used to on yahoo. I had a hard time keeping up with what everyone else was doing. There was absolutely no time to try and figure out how to read people. I will play with play money some more on Royal Vegas over the next few days to see if I can grow accustomed to the pace. The software seemed very busy to me, there was so much to look at to try and get information.