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