The Weekly Journals of DavidRoss

Week 10

The experiment is all but over. Another horrible night has left me in a very bad position. The bankroll can’t withstand another week of this. I am going to have to find a real paying job very quickly or dip into long term savings. I’ve only had 3 winning days in the last 17 days. My confidence is shattered and I’m doubting everything. I keep waiting for one of those days where the deck hits me in the face instead of kicking me in the ass. I’m blaming Party for this. I decided to take a break from paradise and was up $60 for my first hour when the Party servers crashed…again. So I went over to paradise and got into a good 8/16 game and a 5/10. At the 5/10 the guy on my left was horrible. Truly awful. And he took me for $250 in 2 orbits. AK losing to A3. QQ losing to J4s (remember he’s on my left and calling my raises with these hands), and the coup de grace, my AQs (which made a flush on the turn) losing to T8o when he made a boat on the river. I ended up at 2 good 8/16 games and down over $1200 within 90 minutes. I had won 6% of my first 200 hands, and 17% when I saw the flop. 10% of my showdowns etc. It was awful. Luckily I did go on a run, I was just too far down to get even. In fact once again I should have quit when the 1st 8/16 game broke around 4:00 AM because I was only down $500 then. In the last 2 orbits I played I came 2nd in 3 heads up hands and gave back a couple more c notes. Ended up down $700 at paradise. 8/16 is out for me now. I can’t afford any more days like that.

The one hand that helped save my night and started my comeback. UTG raises and gets 3 cold callers. I’m in the SB with 99 and I call too. BB plays as well and 6 see the flop. Flop is 4 4 8 rainbow. UTG bets and gets called twice, then my buddy Looba raises from the button. He would make this play with an 8 so I 3 bet to see if maybe I can get heads up with him. BB calls all 3 (Spider sense tingling), UTG calls too, 2 folds and Looba calls too. OK there is no way I’m ahead and I’m done with this hand. Turn is a 9. Yippee!! I bet, and all 3 call me. River is a 6, and I bet again. BB raises (Yep there’s the 4 and if I’m lucky its 64 or 84) UTG calls 2 more, Looba folds (JJ he told me later) and I 3 bet it. They both call. BB had A4 and UTG had TT. Biggest pot I’ve ever won $413.

I’ve gotten a lot of supportive words and advice from everyone and I’m reading it all searching for an answer. Again, I’m probably not playing my best, but I’m not playing bad enough to justify these losses. I am getting cold decked like crazy. I had AK against AA 3 times last night and flopped an A or K every time. You can’t put that down heads up. I had KK vs AA and on and on. Rigoletto suggested I’ve gotten too loose pre-flop, but I don’t think that’s it. If anything I’ve tightened up, but I am probably going too far post flop with 2nd best hands. I seem to flop 2nd pair every time. Of course top pair is always out there. Then I laid down a $285 winner (AT) because of the betting and saw KT beat 99 on a board of QJTxx. Timing is everything and right now I’m making the wrong moves every time. I think I’ll concentrate on Party again for a couple of days and see what happens.

Wednesday

And the beat goes on. I tried a suggestion I was given from a poster and played 3 3/6 games at Party this afternoon. The thought being there are lots more bad players in the 3/6 games. I didn’t have any problems following the 3 games so that was good. But my luck was still bad. You can’t get anyone to fold in these games even to 2 or 3 bets on the flop. Everyone wants to see the turn. So if your hand holds up you really get paid, but of course you get run down a lot, and I did. I was up for most of the session, then in the last ½ hour I played, I had a terrible run. KK cracked twice, and a couple of draws that didn’t get there and a small win turned into a $250 loss.

Evening

Again I got off to a better start playing 2 5/10 games at Party. Strangely enough it was free plays from the BB that put me ahead. 75o flopped a straight and T3o flopped trips and turned to a boat . On both hands I got raised on the turn and made a nice profit. Then for 2 hours I just hovered between up $100 and $150. Then the curse hit me again. In half an hour I lost my entire buy in on one table. Because my Party bankroll is so limited (and I can’t replenish it now) I just played down to my all-in (Where I made 2 pair but lost to a bigger 2 pair). Maybe I’m not folding early enough but can you fold this hand? 4 limpers to me on the button with Ac 4c. I limp too. Flop is A J 4 rainbow, no club. Checked to MP who bets. I raise, he re-raises and I just call. We are heads up. He bets the last two streets and I just call. He had AJ. This has happened to me again and again. I just can’t see how I could have saved any money. Fortunately on my other table (Where 2+2’er Jim Easton was on my right) we had the maniac of all maniacs. He was playing loose for the entire session, but all of a sudden he snapped and started raising every time the play was on him. Every street. With nothing. I was fortunate enough to win 4 pots during this run where the pots would be around $200 even heads up. I also lost 1 where I 3 bet him with 77 to isolate and he had 87. He made a runner runner straight to take me down. But I had quad Kings against his unimproved 73s and he still capped the turn and river. That was nice. I ended up ahead $320 on that table to put me up $70 for the evening and down $180 for the day at Party.

After I had busted out of the 2nd table at Party I played 1 5/10 table at Paradise. I must be on their sh**-list because I played 100 hands and won 3. I’m not kidding 3. And the first 2 were really tiny. Luckily I won a big pot at the end of the end of the session to finish down only $150 there. Sigh!! One of these days I’m going to break out, I just hope it’s before I run out of money.

Thursday

Finally a good day in the davidross household. First off I got the cheque from the one day of work I did a few weeks ago. So I’m ahead for the day no matter what. I decided to give the 3/6 games at Party another try and again played 3 tables. There are truly some horrible players, and in the long run I have to be able to beat these games. The connection to Party was horrible though and a true test of my patience. Disconnections happened at least once every 5 minutes to everyone making the games very slow. I would say we saw less than half the hands we normally would. I played a long afternoon session between settling childrens arguments and scheduling their weekend plans and get togethers. And for the first two hours the misery continued. I had to rebuy on one table putting my entire Party bankroll in play, and it was down to around $350 at one point. Then an interesting thing happened. My wife came and sat with me. She had been alerted by the kids telling her that daddy was swearing and yelling at the computer, and that he was losing all our money playing poker. I guess I need to be more careful when they are around. And I think the losing streak is getting to me. She told me to change my attitude and promised me a night of “mind blowing” sex if I could win $700. And guess what. I started to win. Party has this annoying cheer and fireworks that goes off when you win a hand. And as it started to play more often for me I think I developed a Pavlovian response to hearing it. I get sexually aroused every time it plays now. I made a great rally and came from $250 down to a win of $157 for 5 hours of play. I saw a glimmer of hope.

2 hands that I don’t know how to play any different.

I open raise with Kc Ks in MP. I get 2 callers plus the BB. Flop comes Ad 9s 7s…of course. I contemplated check/folding the way things have been going, but I bet. Only one caller. Turn is Ts. I now have some extra outs…maybe. So I check, and he bets. Without the spade I think I bet once more because I’d like to see the showdown. I just call. River is the 6c, I check he bets and I reluctantly call. Should I lay it down here? He had Ac Tc.

2nd hand. I have A7o in the SB and there is 1 limper to me and I call. The BB raises. Crap, here I go again. To be honest I should probably fold here. But I called. Now of course the flop contains an Ace. A J 2 to be exact. I check and he bets. MP folds and I call. I don’t know what else I can do here. I just keep getting cold decked. There is some chance he has a big pair and I can’t see folding here. Turn is a 4, check l, and the river brings a 7…did I just turn the tables and suck out on someone else? I bet, he calls and my A7 beats his AQ. Maybe the worm has turned.

Evening

I went to paradise again and promised myself I’d stay at the 5/10 tables. The law of averages was enforced and after my 2% win rate the night before I won 21% of my first 150 hands, winning 100% of my showdowns and 50% of the hands where I saw the flop. I also very quickly reached my $700 goal. I think my wife has become my poker Muse. She went to bed telling me to wake her when I came up. Like I needed to be reminded. Actually for 2 hours I just broke even and even lost a bit to fall below my $700 goal, leaving me an interesting ethical dilemma…nah I wouldn’t have told her, before going on another rush to finish with a $900 paradise win and a $1050 overall day. Lets hope it’s the start of a new streak.

I still had some big losses, but they’re not nearly as hard to take when you’re actually making some hands. In fact I don’t think my hand selection was any different. But when I flopped top pair, they held up, and when I bet out with middle pair, everyone folded. For two weeks I was always second best. And I had the confidence to run some bluffs, and I ran some beauties last night. But of course that’s the difference between running good and running bad.

Very early in the paradise session this hand came up. It is a perfect example of the difference between running good and running bad. I open raised with AQo. The button 3 bet me and we were heads up. Flop came T high rainbow. I checked and he bet. I hate AQ in this situation, AK I will see the showdown almost every time, but a normal player isn’t 3 betting with less than AQ. But I didn’t know this guy at all, and there are a lot of players at paradise who like to make plays from the button. I decided to go to the showdown. Turn and river were small cards, there were some straight possibilities but I wasn’t too concerned with them. He bet each street and I called, including the river. He turned over QJs and I won a nice sized pot.

I had several monster vs monster hands too. I lost AK to AA twice, once an A flopped and once a K. I lost QQ to KK and I had KQs vs KK when a K and a Q flopped I pushed real hard and again lost a biggie. Imagine my bottom line without those hands. But I beat AA with KQ when a K flopped and a Q turned, and I flopped several sets for big pots too. I flopped 2 pair 7 times and 5 of them held up. In the last week none of them had held up. And then there are those harder to play hands. I had 8d 5d in the BB and got a free play against an UTG limp, and the SB. Flop was 9 5 3, with one diamond. BB checked and I bet. They both folded. I either wouldn’t have had the nerve to bet, or I would have bet and got raised last week, so I don’t know if this is a good play or not.

So off I went to bed, and she was true to her word ;-). I’ve found a new motivation.

Friday

Another day started off well, my cheque from Paradise arrived. I certainly have no complaints about that service. They courier cheques to me within 48 hours everytime. Very good service. I played 3 3/6 tables at Party again this afternoon. They seem to have fixed their connection problems as the pace of play for 3 tables was very quick. I had another very good session winning $520 in 4 hours. My wife informed me yesterdays offer still stands so with a little luck it could be another good night for davidross..wink wink.

A couple of observations. It’s not possible to pay proper attention at 3 games so I’m limited to playing ABC poker. Maybe that’s good for me. No slowplaying and very little semi-bluffing. To be very honest that’s probably the best way to play many of these tables. I got very good cards and played almost perfectly I think. One hand where I erred went like this. I got a free play with K8o in the BB. 3 limpers I think. Flop comes K J 6 with 2 hearts. I don’t have a heart. I checked. I don’t like leading with a weak top pair, especially on tables where no one will fold anyway, and someone with KT for example will not raise. So I check and hope for a bet from the button. I will fold to an EP bet usually. In this case the bet came from the middle of the 3 players. I was paying attention to another table when my turn to play came up. The button had folded and the play was on me and I raised. I like this play a lot if the bet came from the button, but in my experience, the guy betting with people to act behind him has top pair more often than not. I was called by the MP only. I bet the turn which was a 2 or 3 and he called. Another small card rivered and I bet again. I think I should have checked here since most of the K’s I could beat were now 2 pair. On the other hand a J might call me down. Anyway he called and showed KT. I think had I been able to analyze this a little longer before acting I would probably have folded to the flop bet.

For the first time in my life I’m disappointed that the Canadian dollar is doing so well against the US greenback. When I was a kid the two currencies were on par. I have vacationed in Maine my entire life, and in the 60’s and early 70’s we could use Canadian money everywhere. In the mid 70’s when we had the French separation issues, and our government began running up massive debt, the dollars began to drift apart and vending machines had to be changed so they wouldn’t accept Canadian coins anymore (they are the exact same size, but now made of different alloys so machines can detect the Canadian coins). So every summer when I had to pay for my cottage in US dollars I would complain about the exchange rate. Now finally I am earning money in US dollars and in the last 3 months the Canadian dollar has come back 17 cents. In February I got 1.50 for every $1 US. I cashed out to buy my TV and home entertainment system. Now I’m getting 1.33 only. My timing sucks.

The extra concentration required for 3 tables took it’s toll. 4 hours was about all I could handle of that. I’ll have to see if I can stretch it out little by little. With the kids home from school now I’d like to adjust the schedule to not play so late at might and be able to get aup a little earlier in the morning.

Evening. A disappointing session. I managed to win $120 at Paradise, but I was up $400 at one point earlier. I got off to a terrific start again, but went card dead for the last 2 hours. Hardly played a hand, and lost with every one I played. QQ got beat 3 times, twice on river Aces which makes it even more expensive, and AK lost to a cold calling AJ twice.

An interesting hand. I have been accused of being “weak tight” before and this hand won’t change the mind of those who share that belief. I’m not sure if I a) shouldn’t have played at all b) Needed to play it more aggressively or c) needed to call it down.

I have Kh 7h on the button and I open raise. SB raises. He’s on my immediate left and we have tangled a few times. His raising standards are much lower than my own, including very weak Aces. Now the BB times out and go’s all in. Flop is Kc 8h 4s. SB bets and I just call. Turn was 2h and I called his bet. River brought the Ad and I folded. He turned over QQ. Aaargh. All in boy had K3 and took a small part of my pot. I needed to raise the flop at least. He may still have raised me back, he’s that aggressive, but with a bigger pot I would probably have called it down.

I am now up $700 going into the last day of this abbreviated week.

Saturday

Played a short 2 ½ hour afternoon session. 3 3/6 tables at Party again and these games are so juicy. There are some truly terrible players here. That puts some dead money in more often than not. I managed another $240 win.

Then I took my 3 younger kids and one of my daughters’ friends to go see “Finding Nemo”. What a terrific movie. If you haven’t seen it, find a kid and take him/her. Money well spent.

This one could have cost me a lot more. In a 6 way raised pot I called in the BB with Ts 2s. I think 11-1 is enough for a suited hand but I admit it’s loose. You hope for a flop like the one I got Td Th 7d. While I’m trying to figure out whether to play fast or slow the SB bets. I just call, and it gets raised behind me. 2 folds and a call, and the SB 3 bets. It would appear the other T is out here with a flush draw and maybe the overpair that raised originally. I call and so do the other 2. Turn is the Ac, SB bets, I call and my left raises all-in. Everyone calls. River is the 9d and the SB bets again. I fold, and the pre-flop raiser raises. SB calls. SB had 77 for a flopped boat, all-in had Jd 5d for the flush and the PFR had AA for the turned full house. I was a distant fourth. Wow.

This is an example of the play I keep running into in the 3/6 games. I open raised UTG with ATo. I stopped playing AT UTG quite some time ago, and have started playing it again because of the tight nature of the paradise 5/10 games. It’s a mistake to play it in these 3/6 games and I will drop it. I get cold called on my left, and 3 bet 2 to my left. MP calls 3 cold, so does the button, SB and BB call as well. I reluctantly put $3 more in and 7 of us see the flop for 3 bets each. Flop is 5 5 2 rainbow. Checked to the 3 bettor who bets. MP calls, button folds and both blinds call. I fold. I don’t think chasing in these games at any time is worth it. Miss the flop get out, so I don’t regret the fold. One more caller behind me and 5 see the turn. Turn is Ac (2nd club). 3 bettor leads again and gets raised by the MP. I’m feeling very good about my fold now. The river is a 9h and MP bets and 3 bettor calls. MP has QcTc pulling the semi bluff on the turn and the 3 bettor wins with…..Ad 8d. Aaargh. That’s what you’re up against in 3/6. I had another similar hand with K9 in the BB and a flop of AKx. I checked and folded to a bet and a call, and I would have been good. But again, in these games I think I’m better waiting for top pair hands and not chasing middle or bottom pair in bad position.

Right idea, wrong time. I played Ad 4d after 1 limper from MP. 2 more LP calls and both blinds played too. Flop was 6h 5h 4s. It gets checked around. Turn is the 7d and it’s checked to me and I take a stab at the pot. The SB is the only one who calls me. Then the river brings the 8s and the SB checks and I bet again in case he can’t read the board. He calls, and turns over Js 9s. ZOINKS!! What did he call the turn for, and why didn’t he bet or raise the river?? Oh well.

Evening

This was an instant replay of last night. I sat down and started winning right away. I was up around $450 in the first 2 hours, but then I hit a real bad stretch and gave half of it back. Finished up $220. I’m making some big hands, twice winning set over set, but my big pairs aren’t holding up at all. But considering the way my week started, I’m very happy to post a $1,000 win. I’m up $375 at Paradise, and $800 at Party.

The 10 week summary is almost exactly where I was after week 6, up $9000. Now the question is how often can I expect a bad run like what I just went through? Can I go months before it happens again or will this happen fairly often. The job front shows nothing promising, I have a possible contract out of province, and there is still a full time opportunity possible, but nothing that looks at all certain right now. I need another good week to give me some cushion bankroll wise. I will continue to play Party 3/6 during the day, now I need to decide which site to play in the evenings.

A topic I’ve been meaning to mention for a while is raising from the blinds. I’m seeing a lot of what I consider foolish raising from the blinds lately. In multiway pots I’m seeing people raise Ax offsuit or KJo. Usually I would be happy to see people make bad plays, except when I’ve limped with a hand that wants to see the flop cheaply. I’m starting to add this to notes I’m keeping so I can be more careful of the limps. On this hand I thought it had happened again. I got 66 in MP and open limped. The button called and the BB raised. I thought this was another one of those bad raises and I decided to 3 bet. I do this all the time with AA and KK (Although at Party I don’t need to, you never win blinds only there), so I thought I’d represent that here. The button folded and the BB called. Flop came 3s Ts 8h and the BB bet out. I raised and he called. Turn was a 9d and he bet again. Uh oh, maybe he really had it this time. I just called. River is the beautiful 6s. He bets, I raise and he calls. My hand is good. I went to the hand history to see if he had AA or KK and surprise surprise, he had Ad Kd. I was good the whole time.

66 was my hand last night and I rivered a huge pot with it when I called a raiser and cold caller from the BB with it. Flop came 8c 4c 4d and I bet out. I was raised and cold called again and I just called. Turn was 8h. I checked, the raiser bet and was called again. I thought there was still a chance I was ahead. I thought the cold caller might be on clubs or overcards, and the raiser could easily have AK. I called once more. River brought my 6c. I checked and it was bet and raised behind me. I 3 bet, and they both called. The raiser did have AA and couldn’t let it go, and the cold caller had Kc Tc for the rivered straight.

Week 11

Sunday

What a great way to start the week. I played a short 1 hour session at Party around lunch time while my older daughter was at her riding lesson. Played 3 3/6 tables again and I won $380 in the hour. It was an unreal hour. Killed me to have to stop and go pick her up. Sunday night I decided to play Party 5/10 for a change and in my first orbit I lost $180. That wasn’t so much fun. I played until midnight at Party and lost $40 so I made a bit of a comeback. Again I don’t notice much difference between the 5/10 at Paradise and the game at Party. I had to go get my daughter from a friends and when I came back I went over to Paradise. Played for 2 ½ hours and went on another rush. Up $668 making it a $1,005 win for the day. Strange session, at one point I lost JJ, QQ KK and AA in the span of 10 minutes, but made sets with 55, 66 and 33 and won big pots. Got AKs 3 times and made the flush each time.

Monday

Played a 5 hour session at Party. Again these 3/6 games are very soft. After getting stuck early, I managed to play solid poker and post a nice $200 win. Lots of “experts” on these tables, telling everyone how badly they are playing. I used to waste energy trying to get them to shut up, but now I just stay quiet. My win would have been better except for yet another “mathematical catastrophe” I allowed myself to be part of. I really need to think longer before acting.

I have QQ utg and I raise. I get cold called once in LP and the BB calls too.

Flop is Ac Qc 7c.

BB bets, I raise and LP 2 bets. BB calls and I cap it (even if the flush is out there I have lots of outs). They both call.

Turn [Ac Qc 7c] 4s

I bet, LP raises and BB calls. Now I’m a little worried and just call. “No club, No club”

River [Ac Qc 7c 4s] Tc

Crap. BB checks, I check, LP bets, BB calls, and I have a brain lock and fold. There is over $100 in a 3/6 pot and I lay down a set. LP had 77, no club, and BB had A4 no club. I sat there stunned for about a minute. That’s 3 hours work at least handed away. Then to make it worse I started calling everyone down in stupid situations and wasted more bets. Thank goodness these games are as soft as they are, I was able to still post a win.

Evening

Tough Night. I played 4 ½ hours at Paradise on 3 different tables (2 at a time) and I had to rebuy on every one. I actually think I played very well, I just got cold decked all night. If I raised with AQ, the guy on my left had AK, and an A would flop. I got a free play with K8 in the BB against a limping SB, the flop came 8 high, he bet I raised and he called. I bet the turn he called, I checked the river and he had A8. I had QQ against KK and KK against AA. I lost AA to 44 (4 on flop) and AA to TT (T on flop) etc etc. I was down over 600 until a minor rush late in the session brought me back some. The games were actually pretty good just not my night for cards. I ended up down $390 for a loss on the day of $180.

A few observations;

1) Other players bad play will make me far more money than my fancy or brilliant plays.
2) The guy that leads with a bet on the turn after not betting previously, has a big hand.
3) Folding costs me nothing pre-flop. If it’s a close decision, I can’t go far wrong by folding. (I need to tape this to the computer)

Tuesday

Afternoon. Another huge day at Party. 3 tables again at the 3/6 limit and I won $470 in 4 hours. Obviously I’m getting good cards, but again the players here really pay you off when you hit. Here’s a good example.

2 limpers to me in the cut off and I limp with Ad Js. SB calls and BB checks.

Flop is As Th 3d.

SB bets and then 2 people fold. MP raises and it’s on me. I 3 bet. I don’t want to just call here, I’m more worried about 2 pair than a bigger ace. They both just call.

Turn [As Th 3d] Qs

I bet, SB calls and MP raises all-in. We both call. (I couldn’t raise because of the all-in, I really wanted to build a side pot to salvage something if he did have me beat.)

River [As Th 3d Qs] 8s

Again I bet and SB called.

SB had A7o and MP had A9o. That’s a pretty big pot for Aces with a J kicker.

Evening

Another bad night at Paradise. Really bad to start. For one thing the games were terrible. Tight with small pots. And I was cold-decked again. I made a flush against quads, flopped a straight only to see runner runner flush beat me. I got into a big hole early and with the tables being so tight saw little chance of getting back. I changed tables several times, but never made much headway. I was down $800 around 1:00 AM and ready for bed. My daughter was still up and put on a movie and the games were getting better as they often do at this time so I evaluated my play (I wasn’t playing poorly, just bad cards) and decided to keep playing. It paid off. I went on a nice run to end up down only $390 for the night and giving me a $70 win for the day. That puts me up $900 for the week.

I know I need to beat tight games as well as loose games if I want to be successful at this, and I guess we all find it easier to beat the loose games. Put very simply when the table gets real tight (15% seeing the flop last night for a while) I am the loosest player at the table, and I’m going to lose. These guys are limping in with AK and when I raise with AQ in late position I get nailed. In the loose games I’m one of the tighter players and my cards on the whole are better than my opponents so I’m going to be ahead more than behind. There that’s the simple explanation. I need to stay out of those tight games, or tighten right up.

I’ve played so straightforward in the 3/6 games with a lot of success. Here’s what happens at paradise when I try to generate some extra money from a hand.

I have Ks Jd in the cutoff. 2 limpers to me and I limp too. Small blind plays and the BB checks.

Flop Jh Jc 4s

4 checks to me so I check too. I know a bet might look suspicious and get some play, but there aren’t many hands that can be helped by this flop.

Turn Jh Jc 4s Th

Again checked to me and I bet. 3 folds and one call.

River [Jh Jc 4s Th] Qh

Now he bets. Uh oh. I raise thinking he might be betting his Q, and he just calls. He has AK for a straight. DOH!!

Wednesday

If only we knew ahead of time. I could have played for about 20 minutes yesterday and had the same end result as I got from 8 hours of play. My afternoon session was dead even for 2 hours and 45 minutes, then I got a major rush and in 15 minutes won $250. In the evening I won $50 on the first hand, and that’s where I finished the night 5 hours later, up $50.

The afternoon session at Party was the same as it has been, with lots of bad players. Today however they ran me down a lot more than they had been. I can’t complain, it’s been a very lucrative week in those 3/6 games. I’m considering playing them in the evenings too for a while. One guy limped UTG with 72o and beat my KK when both a 7 and a 2 flopped. Another guy called my AT raise with KT, and when an A and a Ten flopped I liked my chances, but he called all my bets and when a Q and J came he beat me. Still, I’ve taken $2,200 out of that game in just one week, I have nothing to complain about.

The evening session at Paradise was a grind. I made quad Tens and a straight flush early in the session, but won very few other pots. In fact I won only 8% for the 600 hands I played on the night, but I did win big pots. I’m very pleased with the evolution of my game, I’m picking my spots a lot better and passing on marginal situations. I bbelieve it’s reducing my variance. I’m also playing much more aggressively when I’m in a hand. I think I probably lose a little more when I’m beat, but win much more when I’m good.

It’s been a good week so far, $1,200 for the 4 days. I hope it continues, I need to build a bankroll before my vacation in August as I won’t be able to play for 2 weeks. There is no phone service in the cottage we rent so I can’t even connect at night to try. Job prospects are slim and none right now.

Thursday

Another great afternoon at Party. I’m on a huge rush right now. I know the games are soft, but I’m clearly winning at a much higher than normal rate. Thank goodness since I’m in a rut at Paradise. I won $420 in 4 hours at Party.

I did some investigating and found out I can get a kit for my cell phone to hook it up to a laptop and it will act as a high speed modem. The kit will cost $100 and I’m pretty sure I can borrow a laptop for my vacation. I would love to play a little while we’re away and try to defray some of the costs. The only sticky point is going to be airtime. There is a promotion on right now giving me low-cost air time for data transfer only, but I think it only applies to within Canada. I’m afraid the roaming charges will make it too expensive to try.

Aggression. I guess we all know how much better it is to be the aggressor and here’s a hand that demonstrated it. I had Qc Tc and limped in first from EP. At paradise I would raise or fold first in, but these games I am less likely to to be raised and I could get a lot of limpers. As it was I only got 1 caller and both blinds. Flop was an ugly A J 5 rainbow, one club. It was checked around. Turn was another 5 checked to me and I made a play for the pot by betting my gutshot and I got called. Yuck. River was a 6 and I bet again, and he folded. I don’t do this very often, and I guess that makes it more effective when I do. Who knows I might have been best anyway.

A well disguised hand. This will put a guy on tilt. UTG limps, LP calls and the button calls, and I get a free play with the monster 3s 2h.

Flop 4h 5d Qh

Utg bets, LP folds and button calls. I just called.

Turn [4h 5d Qh] Qs

UTG bets again, button calls again and I call too.

River [4h 5d Qh Qs] Ad

Yes. I hate to miss a bet by having it checked around, but I think this is the perfect spot for a check-raise. UTG bets again, button calls again and I raise. UTG re-raises and button calls. Now I’m worried. 44 and 55 pop into my head. I don’t think AQ or Q5 or Q3 are likely, and I know I’m beating the button. I probably should have capped it but I wussed out. I was good, UTG had KQ and button had 99. I love the button.

Numerology. This was weird. Simultaneously I got these 3 hands. Table 1, 66 and saw a flop of 99x. Table 2, 99 saw a flop of 66x. Table 3 69, I didn’t see the flop. I told my wife it must be a sign…and she told me to go back to work.

Evening. Another grind at Paradise. 5 hours, 600 hands and a $95 win. I double checked my results spreadsheet and this is the first time since March (When I was playing 2/4) that I’ve had 2 straight sessions with a swing less than $100. Again I don’t think I got my fair share of cards, so I’m happy with any win. I won 8% of the hands I saw, and only 28% when I saw the flop. I saw 25% of the flops. I won 50% of my showdowns. I like to see 11% wins, 33% when I see the flop, and 55% of the showdowns. A lot of the weak players have gone from the Paradise 5/10 games. There is no doubt the games are tougher than they were a couple of months ago. I was resisting switching my 5/10 play to Party because of the bankroll, but my Party bankroll is almost as big as my Paradise one now. I will probably finish this week the same way, afternoons at Party and evenings at Paradise, but I may switch next week to Party exclusively for a while.

Another thing I’ve noticed is how tight my games have become. I changed tables around 5 times last night because the flop % for the table got under 20%. Within 15 minutes the table I left would be up to 25-30%. It can’t be my play driving it down because as I’ve said I’m playing around 25%, so I wonder if people are playing tighter because of me. My profile has been raised because of these posts, and there is no doubt some people have mistaken the fact that I’m playing full time with the assumption that I’m a very strong player, but I didn’t think the people playing in those games would fall into that group. It’s probably just a fluke, but I’m a little concerned about that. My game can’t withstand the tables tightening up.

I had another brutal start last night and spent the entire evening digging out of the hole. I don’t think it’s a homeresque tilt start but you tell me. All these were within 20 hands of starting.

I open raise 3 off the button with ATo. Cold called in the cutoff. Heads up the flop is AJ4. Bet call. Turn is a 7, Bet, raise, I call. River a 7. Check, bet call, he has AQ. Great start.

I open raise with AK in EP. Cold called on the button and the BB. Flop is AT6. I bet, button calls and BB folds. Turn is a J I bet he calls. River is a K, I bet he raises I call, he had AQ.

I played from small blind with 33 against 4 others. Flop A34. I bet, got called and raised, then I 3 bet. Caller folded, raiser called. Turn was a 9. I bet he called. River a 2. I bet got raised and called. He had A5s.
Etc etc.

Then the good. A semi bluff that worked out. I think this is the true definition of the semi-bluff. I thought I might take the pot down with the raise, but I didn’t, then I hit anyway. I have AC 4c and limped in LP behind another limper. Button and BB saw the flop too. Flop is 8s 5s 3c. EP bets and I called with my gutshot/ backdoor flush/ single overcard combination. Turn is the Tc. EP bets again and I thought this was a perfect spot for the semi-bluff. Presumably he had an 8 and the turn raise would represent a big hand. But the button ruined that plan by calling the raise. The EP guy called too. River was the beautiful Jc. EP bet out, I raised again, and the button called again?? I guess my hand was well disguised now. EP raised again and I raised again. Button finally folded and EP called. EP had KJ ??

Friday

9th straight winning session at Party 3/6. I’m seriously questioning why I’m playing anything else right now. This was a small win only $70 for 5 hours. It was a real grind actually and I was quite exhausted by the end of it, but a win is a win.

You know it’s going to be a tough session when…very first hand I played.

I have 33 posting in the cutoff. There is one limper, and I check. A raise from the BB and we both called.

Flop 4s 3s Jd

Checked to me and I decide the board is benign enough and I’m going to slowplay (Remember I promised not to do this anymore). I check too.

Turn [4s 3s Jd] As

BB bets, EP raises and I smile thinking my little plan worked to perfection and I 3 bet. They both call.

River [4s 3s Jd As] 6c

BB checks, EP bets and I raise. They both call.

BB had AKs and paid 2 bets on the river to see if his A was good (Did I mention I love these games). EP had AA (Limped pre-flop, did’t re-raise). I guess I should be happy I didn’t lose more.

DO you like this play?

2 limpers to me on the button with Kd Td and I limp along (I thought about raising but these guys play so many weak Aces that I don’t think I can represent an Ace if it flops). BB plays too.

Flop Ad Tc 6h

Checked twice then bet in front of me. I raised. Here is my thinking.

1) I may be best. Not likely in this game but possible.
2) I will probably knock out QJ, which would kill me if my K came. I might even knock out a weak A if I do happen to be ahead here.
3) I will probably get to see the river now for ½ price.

It worked and I got two folds, and the bettor called.

Turn [Ad Tc 6h] Ks

Well now it really worked out. Checked to me, I bet, he called

River [Ad Tc 6h Ks] 4d

Check, Bet, Call. He has A9 and I won a nice pot. Without being results oriented though, who likes the play. Would you fold or just call?

Evening

We went out to dinner as a family and rented a movie, so I didn’t get down to Poker until almost midnight. I had a felling all day that I was going to have a big night at paradise. I started hitting almost as soon as I sat down and within 30 minutes I was up $350. Then I flopped a set of 8’s in a huge 5 way raised pot. The board was 2389 and when a T rivered one of the blinds bet out and beat me with 67. I didn’t win another pot for an hour. I didn’t win another big pot all night. I ended up down $320 3hours later. I got AA in the BB twice, and it was folded to me each time. What made it doubly frustrating was there was one very bad player playing the same two tables as me and he lost his entire buy in on both tables, but none of it to me. Reviewing my play again I think I played good solid poker, and these games are still beatable, I just need some hands to hold up.

So I am now up $1,450 for the week. Still ahead of my goal, but not by much.

Saturday

Another afternoon session at Party. Played around 3 hours and won $340. Again, nothing fancy. Play good cards including any pair and suited connectors. Play very tight post-flop, I raise fold a lot more here than ever before. And it’s amazing how patience pays off here. I find it’s just a slow steady win usually. That’s my 10th straight win and I think I will try playing there in the evening too this week and see how it goes. I want to keep playing some 5/10 because when the deck hits me in the face, as it will do once in a while, I can make a lot more at 5/10. As of this moment my Party bankroll is now larger than my Paradise bankroll and I guess I could give the Party 5/10 a chance too. I think I will use what’s left in the Paradise account for vacation and use the Party money as my stake. Paradise will get one last try tonight.


Time for a break from Paradise. Another card dead session and I lost $436 in a 4 hour session. AA twice, won $20 once and lost a big pot on the river to a straight. Lost KK 3 times, lost QQ twice. Never once flopped top pair with a big Ace. Made 3 sets, wonthe blinds twice and lost to a bigger set the 3rd time. And so on. Again the game seemed beatable, there were two bad players and the usual group of average players. I’m trying to be as honest as I can, because the competitor in me wants to keep playing this game and beat it, because I’m sure I can. But the good poker player in me says I make money off people playing in games they shouldn’t be in and I’m starting to suspect I might be one of them. Even if I’m not overmatched, there are softer games available and I need to take advantage of them. So to summarize the week Paradise -$727 Party + $2,107. To be honest a real disappointing finish. If I just go to bed Friday and Saturday night I’m up over 2,000 for the week.

So after 11 weeks I’m pretty safe in saying I can probably make $50,000 a year in US dollars, tax free. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and honestly pretty close to what I can take home with a full time job after taxes, but considerably below what I made as a contract worker. I have fewer job prospects right now though than I did when I started this adventure so I will continue to play. I am going to take a break from the weekly report for a while. I don’t have anything new to say. I still love being home everyday, but the emotional swings are tremendous. After a good day I walk on air, and after nights like last night I feel sick and depressed. I am (or was) as easy going as anyone I know. Living day to day like this certainly changes a lot of things. I’m also not sure I want my kids seeing me in front of a computer all day playing games for much longer.

Thanks to everyone for all the comments to my posts, and we’ll see you all in the forums.

Week 12

I have decided to compromise. I don’t want to make twice a day updates anymore, but I’ve had a number of people say they would like to keep reading the updates, so I think I will make twice a week summaries. I’m making this one on Wednesday morning.

I made a decision for this week anyway to play only Party 3/6, 3 tables at a time. Because they have so many games going at all times of the day I am going to try and play a little more during the day, and get to bed at an earlier hour. This will allow me to function in the morning when my kids get up since my wife is trying to use the morning to study for her comprehensive exam on Aug. 5. That’s a biggie for her. If she fails she has to re-take it on Aug 12th , and we are due to be in Maine on August 9th, so she better pass.(She’s been getting all A’s so I’m not too worried). The only difficulty I’m finding is that it’s not as easy to play 3 tables for a long period of time as it was for me to play 2 tables. I need to get up and take breaks far more often than I did before. I’m trying to play from 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM, then from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM.

We played soccer in a monsoon last night. The boys will remember that game for the rest of their lives. It absolutely teemed right before the game started. I was soaked to the skin, my shoes were full of water. The boys were sliding all over the field. It was great. It was very warm which saved us from having a bunch of sick kids today. We won 2-0.

Now Poker. 3 days, 3 more wins. That’s 13 straight wins at 3/6, for a total of $4,500. $370 on Sunday, $502 on Monday and $580 yesterday. I know it’s going to have to end somewhere, but as long as the quality of play stays as poor as it is, I’ll have to have a dreadful run of cards just to break even. These games were made for me. I can play lots of hands, build pots at the right time and let mathematics do the rest. I’m starting to see more and more 2+2’ers which isn’t a good thing. 3 of us played one table last night, and it played much tighter and more conventional than usual. Because I’m playing 3 tables, I don’t want to have to think too hard about what they think I have. I want straightforward players. To be perfectly honest some of these guys are so bad you can’t put them on a hand at all. My KJo got rivered by a J2 last night played from EP. I couldn’t put anyone on that, and paid his river raise.

Here are some of the adjustments I’ve made for these 3/6 games.

I am raising less pre-flop. At Paradise I would raise hands to try and steal blinds, to limit the field, and for variance as well as to build pots for my big hands. In the Party 3/6 games I am raising only to build a pot. Most of these players decide to play based on their cards, and it doesn’t matter if it costs them 1, 2 or even 4 bets, they are going to play. So I’m not raising ATo or AJo unless I’m first in from LP. I have raised and won the blinds exactly once in 2 weeks from EP. I don’t like raising AJ, being called in 4 places then trying to play a shaky top pair in a big pot.

I am back to playing any pocket pair from anywhere for 1 bet. If I think there will be 5 players or more, I’ll call 2 as well. Sometimes the tables are a little tighter or I’ll be in MP with no callers in front of me, then I’ll drop the smaller pairs. Flopping sets is making a large percentage of my money. These guys stay with any part of the flop, gut shots and bottom pair, and I love having someone drawing dead and paying me off.

I’ll play any suited connectors, 65 and up from anywhere for 1 bet. Same as the pairs, building big pots on the draw, is making me a lot of money. If I have a 4 flush or an open ender, you can quite often get 4 or 5 opponents to put in 2 or more bets on the flop.

I am folding on the flop a lot. I’m not chasing at all. Raise AK pre flop. Flop T73 rainbow. I check and fold to a bet. Too many guys calling your raise with Ax, and now I can’t count on my Ace being any good if it turns or rivers. Flop big or get out.

No slowplaying, unless I’m huge and there is action in front of me. Just bet. Someone will chase.

No tilting when I get sucked out on. It will happen. Again and again. It has to when they chase like they do. Just keep remembering how much you made when your hand held up.

Playing suited Aces is trickier. Clearly they are good hands when flopping a flush draw, but they have deceptive value when an A flops. I am much more willing to stay at Party with a weak A then I was at Paradise. Of course the problem at Party is 4 guys will call with 2nd or 3rd pair so it’s less clear whether you’re A is good or not.

As an example, last night I raised 4 players from the SB with AA. 2 of them called, the 3rd raised me all in (Only 1 dollar more) and I was able to 3 bet when it got back to me. So 4 of us paid 3 bets, and the other was all in for $7. Flop was As Qs 3h. I bet and got called by all 3. Turn was 8d. I was bet into and raised with the nuts. Everyone called both bets. River brought the 6s. Crap!! I bet anyway and got called in 2 places. One caller had K3, no spades, the guy who bet into me on the turn had K8, no spades, and the all in guy had TJo. I can’t pretend to understand it. But I’m not complaining.

This happens again and again. I raise pre-flop with AK, and get callers. Flop Axx. I bet and everyone calls. No one folds on the flop, another adjustment. Turn is a K. I bet and some fold. River is a scare card and someone bets into me. I call and they have bottom pair. Over and over again. I guess I’m value calling on the river.

Finally, who’s the fish here. I raise from the button with black Kings. 5 of us see the flop for 2 bets. Flop Ah Th Ts. I can’t think of a much worse flop for me. In this game it’s even worse because you really won’t know where you are. Checked to me and I decide to bet. I don’t consider this chasing, because there is a good chance I’m ahead. But if I’m behind I’m probably staying behind. I get 3 calls. I considered checking, but didn’t want to give the flush draw a free card. Turn was the 4c. Checked to me so I bet again. 3 callers again. River brought the wonderful Kh. EP player bets. One caller and I raise. EP 3 bets. Caller folds and I smirk and cap it. Thank god it wasn’t no-limit. He had Qh Jh for the Royal. OUCH!!!

One other comment on the week so far. Twice more I’ve folded a winner on the river. It doesn’t bother me to fold on the flop, and see my cards come up later. But once I get to the river I need to remember that these players aren’t normal. The first time I had a straight but saw a 4th Heart river. There was a bet and a call in front of me and I mucked. The bettor had rivered a set and the other guy had top pair. The 2nd time I had A3s on the button, and saw the flop come AK9 with one of my suit. There was a bet and a call to me and I called. Turn was a 7 of my suit, bet call and I called again. River was an offsuit J, Bet, call and I mucked. K8 beat K6.

Sunday Morning

4 more days and 4 more wins. 17 straight winning days at Party 3/6. I owe eMark a beer or two for pushing me to switch sites, and I can’t remember which one of you gave me the idea of playing 3 3/6 tables, but I owe you too. Wednesday and Thursday, I was card dead. I am playing around 1,500 hands a day, and each day I won only 7% of my hands. Rivered again and again. And still I won $299 on Wednesday and $231 on Thursday. On both days I was dead even for the afternoon sessions, but pulled out wins in the evening. Then Friday I got better cards and won $434, and Saturday I won another $440. So for the week I’m up $2,860, and my bankroll is healthy again. During the 17 day streak since I started playing 3/6 I’m up $5,900.

Maybe I should stop talking about how good these games are. Two or three times this week I found myself at a table with at least 3 2+2’ers, and those games played more like the paradise games and I didn’t win at the same rate. I haven’t yet left a 3/6 table at Party because the game wasn’t very good. At Paradise I did if often. But I came close a few times on Wednesday and Thursday. If I leave your table without saying goodbye, it’s a sign of respect for your game. I also want to apologize if I don’t answer your comments at a table. I try to line up the windows for 3 tables so I can see my cards on all 3 tables at the same time. In order to do this I sometimes push the screen down low enough that the chat window is completely off the screen. I’m not ignoring you. I would prefer not to talk about posts and 2+2 at the table though. New players are nervous enough without thinking about some secret organization that several of their opponents seem to belong to. I keep wondering what they think when someone says they like my posts and how am I doing this week.

I am now trying to be as objective as I can when evaluating the potential long term for these games. After 6 weeks at Paradise 5/10 I thought I had experienced an average run of cards, and clearly that wasn’t so. I guess that’s a hazard of running well. So now I’m on a hot streak, and again it seems like I’m not getting exceptional cards, so I can probably maintain this. Right!! One thing I like about the 3/6 games is the lower risk of a huge loss. I won’t win $1,000 at these limits as I did several times at 5/10, but I’m also not going to lose $800. In fact it seems like I’m not going to lose at all. Amazingly during this hot streak my biggest win is $584. When I sit down now it’s like punching a clock at a regular job. I’m expecting to put in the hours and earn some money. Even after 3 weeks of this I’m still surprised how poor some of the play is. The only really difficult decisions seem to be on the flop. I find myself wanting to chase more than I should because I know these guys are usually bad and may not have anything. You almost always have odds to chase gutshots, so bottom pair starts to seem worth chasing with also. I have to keep reminding myself that’s going to make me like the guys I keep taking money from. No chasing.

I discovered how to check my playing stats this week so I can evaluate my day. The numbers are considerable different than they were at Paradise. When I had a good day at paradise I typically played 25% of the hands, won 10 or 11%, 33% when I saw the flop and 50-60% of my showdowns. Break even days seemed to see me win 8 or 9% of my hands and 7% or less was a losing day. At Party I haven’t won 10% yet. I seem to be at 8% on good days and 7% on the average days. I guess that’s a result of how many players go to showdown. And it shows how these games are an example of winning big pots, not lots of pots.

An unforeseen problem with playing 3 tables is accidentally making the wrong play on the wrong table. Sometimes you get involved in hands on all 3 tables (in fact I quite often fold marginal hands that I would have played just because I’m in a hand on another table). When it’s my turn to play on a certain table, that window pops on top of my screen. If you were about to click something else, you can make a wrong play. Playing 2 tables I can keep the buttons far enough away from each other that this is impossible, but I can’t do it with 3 tables. SO the other night I tried to fold AA on the turn with an A on the board. Thank god there was no action in front of me so I got the reminder, “It is free to check, are you sure you want to fold?”. I yelled at the screen “Noooo” so that my wife jumped up from the couch. Lat night I raised T7o by mistake after 2 limpers. The flop came K89 giving me an open ender soI bet the flop and everyone folded. Lol.

Don’t you have dreams about hands like this?

I limp in EP with 99. I get raised in LP and the BB calls all-in. 2 of us see the flop of A 9 7. I hope he has an A. If I suspect he has an A, I like to bet, If I don’t think he has one, I’ll check. This time I bet and he raised. Yessss. I smooth called, planning to check-raise the turn. Turn is another A. Oh this is sweet. Another change of plans. I smell 3 bets and I bet again. He raises and I 3 bet. This is the moment of truth. If he has AA or A9 or A7, I’ll get capped. He just calls. Yesss. River is the case 9. Better and better. Now he thinks he’s splitting at least. I bet, he raises, I 3 bet and he caps…could he really have AA? Nope. He had AQ and I won a doozie for a heads up 3/6 pot. $110.

Money saved spends as well as money earned.

I posted in the cutoff and found 33. One limper to me and I called. BB raised and we both called. Flop is J43, two spades. BB checks, limper checks, and I checked too. I can’t explain why, but it’s in the hand history. I guess I was slowplaying, but it seems like a strange time to try it. Presumably the BB has AK and will call a flop bet but maybe not a turn bet. I should bet here. Maybe this is another hand where I hit the wrong button. Turn is an A though and it looks like my slowplay worked. BB bets, EP raises, and I 3 bet. They both call. River is a 6, no flush. BB checks, EP bets and I raise again. They both call. BB had AKs as I suspected, EP had AA. Doh!!! I can guarantee if our hands are reversed he’s going to lose more than I did. Perspective. I just count that as $12 saved and go to the next hand.

I think I’ll do the twice a week update again next week. Let me know if you like this format.