Thanksgiving, Birthday and Poker

I was off work on Wednesday so I spent some time with my family during the day and was able to get in about 3 hours of poker that evening. I didn't play terrible but I didn't play all that well. I ended up losing $1.63 playing .15/.30 limit. The biggest pot I won was $3.60 when I flopped the nut flush with A7h. A couple of hands later I won $2.30 against the same opponent with my QTs vs. his Q7s and ended up making a full house on the river. The most I lost on one hand was $1.20 when I was dealt a pair of nines in the SB. There were 3 callers and then the CO raised, I called the raise and so did the others. The flop was 348, I opened with a bet and the CO raised again and I called. The turn was another 8 and I bet again then called another raise. I checked and folded on the river figuring I was beaten by a higher pocket pair. I didn't get to see my opponent's cards, so I will never know, but I am pretty sure I did the right thing. He raised pre-flop only one time before that hand and that was with QQ. It would have been easier to fold my pocket nines if something higher had come on the flop.

I played .15/.30 again Thursday morning and won $3.48. I was dealt some very good cards and hit several flops. I won three pots with full houses. $1.80 was the most I lost on one hand. I was dealt J3o in the BB and checked to see the flop. The flop was 33T and I bet after the SB checked. I bet again on the turn which was a queen. The river was another ten and I bet and re-raised and ended up losing to ATs. I should have only called the first raise.

I played another couple of hours Thursday night and lost $2.49. The session started off pretty nicely when I was dealt a pair of jacks when I posted my BB. The flop was 88x and aces came on both the turn and the river. After my first hand I was up $1.47. Then I lost almost a dollar on the next hand with KJs vs. KQo, when the board came KT2A8.
The bankroll pretty much continued its downward trend the rest of the session. I would win a hand, then lose a couple and hands.

Friday was my birthday and I think Party Poker must have decided to reward with my best session ever. I decided to try out the .25/.50 limit tables because I won't be able to play the beginner tables much longer and thought I should try to ease into the higher limits. I watched several hands and took notes before posting my blind and it seemed like fewer hands were going all the way to showdown so people must have been playing tighter.

The first hand I won was with a full house, nines full and jacks, after being dealt a pair of nines. The flop was J9x and another J came on the river. After winning the $3.70 pot I was almost even. I won three more smaller pots and then was dealt a pair of fives and ended winning $5.50 after making another full house. I won several more pots and was up over $5.00 when I won a huge pot.

I raised from the button with a pair of tens, the flop came JT7 and I raised twice on the flop. The turn and river were both nines and both of my opponents bet and raised in front of me on the turn. I raised on the river and then only called a raise after mine. Both of my opponents had made straights, one flopped a straight and the other made a higher straight on the turn. I won the $16.50 pot with the full house. I probably played that hand a little recklessly on the flop and the turn.

A few hands later I won another $9.15 pot with AKo vs. AA when a queen on the turn made my hand a straight. After winning those two big hands I was up over $22.00 and had almost doubled my buy-in of $25.00. I won a couple of more hands and ended the session up $24.18. I was dealt some very good cards during that session and hit several flops. That made a pretty good birthday present. Thanks Party Poker!

Current BR on Party Poker: $103.95

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PGP (Pretty Good Poker)

I had a pretty good session on Saturday afternoon, but I did not leave the table with most of my winnings. I won 10 out of 121 hands, 8 of them during the first 60 hands. For the first part of the session I was getting really good starting cards and the flops were hitting me really nicely. I even took down a couple of pots from the BB with some really ugly hands. After 60 hands I was up over $8.00 and began to think that I might double my buy-in this session. Things did not go as well during the second half of the session. I would have liked to play longer but after taking a few beats, I could tell I was about to go on tilt and knew that it was time to quit before I broke even. I ended up walking away with $2.50.

Part of my downfall was thinking I could get the better of the loose player to my left who began to hit a bunch of flops and win several pots. I was pretty frustrated by the guy. He would see every flop and if he bet that meant that he had a pretty good hand. I have learned to be very careful of players like that, but I still made some mistakes against him.

I think I played pretty well for most of the session, but it was the mistakes I made that cost me dearly. I was also getting some really good cards during the first half of the session and that really made the decision making process easy. I plan to play a lot of poker during the long weekend. I really hope the upcoming sessions all go as well as the first half of this one did. More importantly, I hope the Cowboys can pull off a Thanksgiving day win against the Broncos.

Total # of hands played on Party Poker: 1642
Current BR on Party Poker: $80.41

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I did not have much good luck at the poker table Friday night. But maybe it can't all be blamed on bad luck, I am sure much of it had to do with bad decisions on my part.

One of the first few hands I played would have been a winner if I had stayed in the see the turn card. I was dealt a pair of eights and called from middle position. The BB raised and 6 of us called. The flop came 447, the BB bet and I folded, figuring I did not have the correct pot odds to call. The turn was an 8. The BB hand TT and the other player beat him with his 36s after making a straight when a 5 came on the river.

Then I lost more than I should have when I was dealt a pair of queens and an ace came on the flop. I probably should have just checked the flop instead of betting and letting someone else be aggressive on the flop.

Then I lost a little bit more when my pocket aces went up against JTs and the flop came JTK. I stayed aggressive thoughout the hand because my opponent never gave me any indication that I should slow down. AA vs. JTs

Finally, after almost 50 hands I won a pot with two pair after being dealt KQo and getting a king on the flop and a queen on the river.

I lost most of what I had won a few hands later with two pair of aces and jacks to two people with straights. I should have slowed down when the ace came on the river.

The hand that hurt the most was when my pair of sevens when up against a pair of eights. The flop came KK7 giving me a full house. Three peopled checked in front of me and I thought for a while and decided to check also. The player to my left bet and I raised when it came back around to me. The turn card was another king, but I continued to bet. I really did not want to see that third king out there.

After that I managed to win four more hands but I took three pretty big losses at the end of the session and finished down $7.40 for the night. The biggest mistake of the night was when I thought I could take down a pot with a king high flush with my 65s.

I played pretty lousy on Friday night. I made poor decisions and the bankroll really suffered for it.

Total # of hands played on Party Poker: 1521
Current BR: $77.91

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Another winning round.

I played another round of .15/.30 on Tuesday night. I only ended up winning $0.81. I played pretty but I made a couple of mistakes late in the session.

One of my biggest mistakes was thinking a calling station was weak, when he was not. I called with KQo in early position. When the flop came K96, I bet, a few people called then the CS raised. I should have slowed down there, but I reraised, and the CS raised again. I had been watching this guy call pre-flop with almost any hand. He didn't play every hand but he played most of them. When he raised and reraised after the flop, I should have recognized that he had something. I kept betting and calling his raises on the turn and river and my pair of kings lost to his two pair of nines and sixes. I guess that made me the calling station. I lost almost $2.00 with my pair of kings. After losing that hand I made sure to be very careful against him.

About 30 hands later I had managed to win three hands and was up over $4.50 for the night. Then I lost almost $2.00 with three of a kind vs. a jack high flush. I called with a pair of fours and the flop came 5h, 4h & 8d. I raised after one player bet before me and then called the raises behind me. The turn was the nine of clubs and the turn was the jack of hearts. I should have folded my set on the river after the bet and the raise but I held on to them and my opponent flipped over the 8 & 3 of hearts.

Then I lost over $1.00 at the end of the session with the second best kicker. I called the UTG raise with KQo from the BB. The flop was JJ4 with two clubs, I bet again and only the pre-flop raiser (PFR) called. We both checked the turn. I bet the river and called the PFR's raise and he held ATs. I don't think I played that hand very poorly. I don't think he would have folded his hand to a turn bet.

Now for the hands I won. The first hand I won was with a pair of tens with a queen kicker. I had QTs on the button and everyone checked on the flop. The turn was an ace and we all checked again. The river was a ten and the BB finally bet and everyone folded around to me. I pretty much guessed I had the best hand and called the raise and ended up winning $1.37. I don't see how I could have raised this hand, because I was not absolutely positive I had the best hand. The BB had T3o.

One of the biggest pots I won was against the CS I mentioned earlier. I raised pre-flop with a pair of nines and continued to play aggressively throughout the hand getting another nine on the flop. I wound up winning $5.37 with my set of nines against his set of fours. Of course a few hands later I gave some of it back to him in the hand I mentioned earlier.

Then I encouraged my opponents to fold after raising with QQ from from the button and everyone except the CS folded after the flop which came JJ9. I continued to bet throughout the hand and won $3.22 after the CS folded on the river.

Near the end of the session I took down a $6.00 pot after being dealt 64o in the BB. The board was A2345 on the river and everyone started betting and raising hoping for a split pot, but I disappointed them. The 4 & 5 hitting on the turn and river was the best thing for me.

I've noticed that if I get a hand that I can raise with pre-flop and continue to bet or raise throughout the hand that I have a better chance of winning those hands than I do if I have to start calling when the flop misses me or doesn't improve my hand much.

Total # of hands played on Party Poker: 1359
Current BR: $85.31

Blogmad

The Biggest Pot of My Life

I played a couple of sessions over the weekend and won a total of $6.03.

Saturday Afternoon
I played almost three and a half hours on Saturday. I played pretty well the whole session. The most I lost on any one hand was $1.20 with a queen high flush very early in the session. Then I was able to win that back and much more after being dealt a pair of eights on the button. I limped in with my eights behind three others, then the SB called and the BB checked. The flop was T8J and I was planning to raise but the CO beat me to it so I called and then there was another raise followed by a reraise by the CO. I called and the turn was the 4 of clubs. The CO bet and I raised and then called a reraise by the CO. The river was another ten and I ended up winning the $10.87 pot. It turns out the CO had flopped a straight with his 97s. Another played rivered the Ace high flush and the fourth player was dealt pocket queens and ended up with two pair. If he had raised with his pocket queens I would have folded my eights.

I played another 100 hands and only won two more, both with full houses. I won $3.92 after being dealt a pair of queens in the BB. I raised and three people called. The flop was 99T, give me two pair. I continued to bet through the river after a 7 and 9 came up. Finally one of my opponents raised on the river, I called and beat out her nines full of tens.

The last pot I won was only $0.98 after my opponent was forced to go all-in on the flop. I called with a pair of sixes in early position. I bet after the flop came 552 and only one person called. The turn and river were both dueces.

After that my run of cards was over and the rest of the session was spent either folding pre-flop or on the flop after missing. I ended up walking away with $2.44 in winnings.

Sunday Afternoon
I played about 150 more hands on Sunday afternoon. I played pretty well and did not make any huge mistakes. Again the most I lost on one hand was $1.20. I open raised with AJo from early position, one player called behind me and another reraised. I called the reraise to see the flop. The flop was 8AT giving me top pair. I bet on the flop and again on the turn and river, both of which were nines. My opponent flipped up AQs and took down the $3.22 pot. I don't think I played that hand horribly.

I was dealt some pretty good cards and hit several flops. Twice I was dealt pocket Kings and won both of those hands with three of a kind. Twice I got the card I needed to make a straight on the river. The first one was a gut-shot straight and the pot was split between me and another player. The second, was an open-ended straight draw. I didn't really have the odds to call either the turn or the river, but I got lucky.

The biggest pot I won yesterday was $3.00 at the end of the session. I raised from early position with a pair of Queens. The flop was 63T rainbow and I raised after the BB bet. I bet on the turn and river as well and won the hand with two pair, queens and sixes. My opponent held ATo.

Overall I won 14 hands and $3.59 during that session. I made a few mistakes but got lucky and I was dealt some very good cards and hit several of the flops.

Total # of hands played on Party Poker: 1202
Current BR on Party Poker: $84.50

Almost a Break Even Weekend

I played two sessions over the weekend and lost a penny.

Friday Night
I played 3 hours of .15/.30 on Friday evening and ended up winning $1.22. I think I played pretty well and made good decisions. I didn't get myself into too much trouble. I just waited patiently to be dealt some premium hands and played them aggressively. The most I lost on any one hand was sixty cents. I was down $5.04 when I was finally dealt a pair of aces and ended up winning the $2.97 pot with two pair, Aces and Queens. Then two hands later I won $3.77 when my hole cards, ATo, were paired on the turn and the river. After those two hands I was only down a quarter. At the end of the session, I was dealt QQ and flopped a third Queen and ended up winning $3.85.

Sunday Afternoon
On Sunday I played 2 more hours and lost $1.23. I made almost as many good decisions as I did bad ones. Several times I would be up close to $2.00 and then be back down to even a few hands later after staying in hands too long. Sunday was pretty much a rollercoaster ride for the bankroll. A few hands in I won a $3.15 pot after being dealt JJ and seeing it turn into a flush. Then I made the mistake and called a check-raise on the turn. I should have gotten out then.

After winning a $2.60 pot with a king high straight the bankroll took a huge nose dive after a string of unfortunate events. Over the course of the next 40ish hands I lost $5.44. Most of it on an open-ended straight draw that hit on the river, but was just not quite good enough. I should have checked and folded that one on the river, especially since the card that made my straight could have made someone else a flush. A few hands later I took another fall when my two pair was beat out my a full house on the river. Checking on the river and calling might have been a better idea.

After losing over $4.00 for the day, I was able to win almost $6.00 with a king high flush late in the session. I was extremely fortunate that one of my opponents wasn't holding the Ace to beat me. After winning that hand I was a little bit better than even for the day and then the bankroll took 3 more little hits on 3 gut-shot straight draws that missed at the end of the session. I don't think I played those last three hands poorly. If I had gotten the cards I needed on those hands I would have gone on to win each of those hands.

Total # of hands played on Party Poker: 933
Current BR on Party Poker: $78.47

MTT excitement

I played in one of the $1+$0 MTTs last night on Royal Vegas. Out of 233 entrants I placed 75th and only the top 20 places paid. I played very tight, waiting to get a premium pair. I called with a couple of small pairs early but folded them when the missed the flop. Finally with 1195 of 1500 chips left and the blinds at 25/50 I was dealt AA in the SB. I was really hoping to get to the flop with out going all-in, but the guy would not stop reraising me. He flipped over KK and my Aces survived. After that I was up to 2790 in chips.

** $1 NL Freezeout:Table 5 [Multi Table Hold 'em] (50.00100.00 No Limit - MTT) Real Money
- psv12121 sitting in seat 2 with $6380.00 [Dealer]
- MrBigStuff25 sitting in seat 3 with $1195.00
- thurlbailey sitting in seat 4 with $6140.00
- sunbabe1235 sitting in seat 5 with $320.00
- The_Bishop sitting in seat 6 with $40.00
- Virevapp sitting in seat 7 with $3015.00 [Sitting out]
- benman27ca sitting in seat 8 with $7090.00
- terr_emup sitting in seat 9 with $520.00
- mld59 sitting in seat 10 with $3935.00
MrBigStuff25 posted the small blind - $25.00
thurlbailey posted the big blind - $50.00

** Dealing card to MrBigStuff25: Ace of Clubs, Ace of Spades
sunbabe1235 folded
The_Bishop folded
Virevapp folded
benman27ca called - $50.00
terr_emup folded
mld59 raised - $250.00
psv12121 called - $250.00
MrBigStuff25 raised - $450.00
thurlbailey folded
benman27ca folded
mld59 raised - $650.00
psv12121 folded
MrBigStuff25 raised - $850.00
mld59 raised - $1050.00
MrBigStuff25 went all-in - $370.00
mld59 called - $1220.00
mld59 shows: King of Spades, King of Diamonds

** Dealing the flop: Jack of Spades, 5 of Spades, Queen of Clubs
** Dealing the turn: 6 of Clubs
** Dealing the river: 4 of Diamonds
MrBigStuff25 wins $2790.00 from the main pot

Later on, I lost 1000 chips with AK vs. T2s when the dude paired his 2 on the flop. After that I was left with 865 chips. I went all-in on the next hand with AJo after a player in front of me raised to 750. He showed 96s and won the hand when a 6 hit on the flop. Oh well, I will try again next time. Maybe I will try to be a little bit more aggressive and loosen up and try to build a good sized chip stack.

Current BR on Royal Vegas: $7.39

A session with a calling station

I played another session on Royal Vegas last night and lost $2.12. I think I might be done playing the .05/.10 limit tables on Royal Vegas. I have found some $1.00 buy-in MTTs on Royal Vegas that I am going to try. They look like they are pretty small and the payouts look pretty good.

I started off the session doing very well. I got some really good cards at the beginning and was up over $1.00 very quickly. I won the first hand I played, which was T9o from the BB. The flop was A87. I bet on the flop after getting 2 cards closer to a straight I checked the turn on the turn which was another 7. Then when I missed the straight on the river I took a chance and bet and my opponents folded. A few hands later I was dealt AKo in the SB and I reraised. The flop was J76, I bet and my opponents folded. Then I won threes hands in a row. The first with AQs preflop. The second was with KQo and the third with AKo after everyone folded to my UTG raise.

Then I ran into trouble against a calling station (CS) and most of my winnings were wiped out in a couple of hands. Again I raised preflop with AKo from early position and only the CS called. The flop was 964, I bet and he called. The flop was another 4, I bet, the CS raised and I called. I bet again on the river when a 3 hit, the CS again raised and I called. The CS flipped over A4o. At the time I didn't really have a good read on him to know that he was a CS, but as I watched him during the rest of the session I felt I had figured him out. Then I lost another hand to him a few hands later and knew that I needed to watch him closely. He would call preflop with any two cards and if he missed preflop, he would usually call down to the river. If he hit something, he would bet or raise and he usually ended up winning the hand. He won several hands playing that way, but his chip stack was shrinking. When I left the table he had lost about $5.00.

About halfway through the session I was down about $1.00 after losing one more hand to the CS. Then I was dealt QTs and called. Another Queen on the flop gave me top pair. I put in a bet on the flop and the turn and then again when a third Queen came on the river. After that I only won two more small pots during the session and folded most of my remaining hands either preflop or after the flop after missing the flop.

At the end of the session I lost two more hands. The first with AJo and the second with AA to the CS when he made two pair on the river with 86o. Hopefully I have learned my lesson about playing against calling stations and will win a lot more money than I lose the next time I run into one.

Total # of hands played on Royal Vegas: 5909
Current BR on Royal Vegas: $8.38