Adventures in No Limit Land

ednesday I play my first NL cash game on Party Poker using the Short Stack strategy from Ed Miller's Getting Started in Hold'em. I bought in for $5.00 at a $25 NL table and sat and waited for some premium cards to play. My goal was to either bust out or double up.

After I posted my second BB I was dealt 92o. I checked after 4 players and the SB limped in. The flop was 92A with two diamonds. I bet $1.70 and only UTG called. I checked after a third diamond showed up on the turn and my opponent raised to $4.00, putting me all-in if I called. I very nearly called but decided to fold because I wasn't ready to bust out so soon. My opponent showed his A9 and I was left with $3.50 to play with. A few hands later I raised to $1.50 with QQ and had one called. I pushed the remainder of my stack ($1.90) in on the flop of T23. My opponent called and my queens held up against his JTo and I won $6.80.

I finally doubled up when I got very lucky in the BB and flop three of a kind with Q9s. I checked after two players and the SB limped in, then bet $0.75 on the flop of QQT. The two limpers folded but the SB called. I bet again on the turn thinking now the SB would fold, but he called. Finally I pushed my remain $2.05 in on the river, he called again and I won the $10.10 pot. I folded the rest of my hands after that and sat out when the BB came around the next time. I didn't really want to push my luck any further at the NL tables.

Then I decided to see what was going on at the $0.05/0.10 Limit Hold'em tables on PokerStars. I did well there also Wednesday night. I won $1.35 overall. Late in the session I was dealt aces and won $1.21 after making aces full of kings on the river.

Thursday night's NL session did not go nearly as well. I bought in again for $5.00 at a $25 NL table on Party Poker with the intention of busting out our doubling up. It wasn't very long before I realized the second best option. I was dealt JJ under the gun, I raised to $1.00 and everyone folded around to the CO who reraised to $3.75. I pushed in my remaining $2.95 and he quickly called. He showed KK and I was done. I bought in at another $25 NL table, but I wasn't able to do much. I lost $5.65 in total last night. I plan to play a lot more NL this weekend. Hopefully things will go more like my first session than my last one.

Tags: Online Poker, Poker, Texas Hold'em, $100 Free at Party Poker

Dusting Off The Cobwebs

t's been a while. I didn't realize until today how long it's been since my last post. I have still been playing $0.05/0.10 Limit Hold'em on PokerStars. So far I have won just over $31 total since I started playing there in March. My plan is to see where I am after playing 10,000 hands and move up to the $.10/.20 Limit game.

Things got off to a great start Sunday morning after being dealt pocket aces on my first hand and winning a $1.05 pot. Then I hit running aces on the turn and river with AKo to suck out against a two pair of queens and tens. My final hand during the session was KK and I won the blinds when no one called my early position raise. I left up $1.08.

Sunday afternoon's session also went very well. I won several hands and finished up $1.88. The biggest pot I won was $1.59 with a full house.

PokerStars 0.05/0.10 Hold'em (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.comFlopTurnRiver.com (Format: Plain Text)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Ts, Th.
2 folds, MP1 calls, Hero raises, 4 folds, MP1 calls.

Flop: (5.40 SB) 4h, 7h, 4c (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets, MP1 raises, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.70 BB) Tc (2 players)
MP1 bets, Hero raises, MP1 calls.

River: (8.70 BB) 7s (2 players)
MP1 bets, Hero raises, MP1 3-bets, Hero caps, MP1 calls.

Final Pot: 16.70 BB

Results below:
MP1 has 7d 8h (full house, sevens full of fours).
Hero has Ts Th (full house, tens full of sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins 16.70 BB.

A few hands later I took a big loss to a tight passive player to my left. I was dealt AJs and had top top pair top kicker after the flop of A39. I bet and the tight player raised, I reraised thinking maybe I still had him beat. He then just went into call down mode and turn over AK at the show down. I guess I should have known something was up when he reraised on the flop. I had seen him just call on the flop with AK a few hands earlier.

Monday night I won $1.07 after being dealt several very good starting hands and hitting some flops.

Tonight, I plan to give Ed Miller's Small Stack No Limit Strategy a test with a $30.00 bonus that Party Poker awarded me yesterday. I have been wanting to learn to play some No Limit and this bonus will give me a risk free opportunity. I will report back here with my findings.

Tags: Online Poker, Poker, Texas Hold'em, $100 Free at Party Poker