The Weekly Journals of DavidRoss

Week 13

Well the winning streak has reached 20 days. That’s 20 consecutive days playing 3 3/6 tables at Party without a losing day. I have had some losing sessions, but by the end of the day I have been up every time. Did I mention this has lasted 20 days? Did I mention I love these games?

I started with a great day on Sunday. For the first time since I discovered how to find my stats, I won 10% of my hands for an entire session and it showed in my biggest 1 day win at 3/6, $628. Monday however was a different story. 7% wins only, in both the afternoon and evening sessions. I lost $100 in the afternoon but managed to win $138 in th evening for a $38 win. And yesterday I had my first truly horrible session, down $400 at one point and pretty sure the streak was over. I had a lot of tables fold and at one point I had played on 7 different tables and lost on all of them. Then I went on a rush and finished the afternoon down only $180. In the first 35 hands of the evening session I won 9 of them, 5 in a row on one table and suddenly I was up for the day again. A very solid evening left me up $331 for the day.

So that’s close to $1,000 for the first 3 days of the week. I’m beating these games for a phenomenal amount right now in BB’s per hour. Beyond all expectations. I thought these games would give me a more stable earning with less risk of big losses. Obviously it’s too soon to tell what the long term expectation will be, but it raises some interesting questions. How much is it worth to play against weaker players? I guess If I played long enough to get win rates per hour at both 3/6 and 5/10 I could solve it mathematically, but there are intangibles too. With my bankroll a little bit low right now and a vacation coming up it’s worth a lot to me not to fear a huge short term loss. The 3rd table is what makes the 3/6 games a better proposition for me right now, and I don’t feel comfortable playing 3 5/10 games yet. The 3/6 games are much less complicated than the 5/10 games. The Multi-way pots make it much less likely that I’m being played at and decision making is easier. Someone suggested 2 3/6 tables and one 5/10 table, but for right now I don’t want to change anything.

An interesting development in the job hunt. My Brother in law e-mailed me a job he found on Monster.com (A big job search website) for a customer service rep, for a company selling on-line gaming software. I suspect the position is junior to my experience, but they are looking for exactly the skills I have so I sent off an application. Maybe I could get the software developers to put in some extra coding that gives any user with the name davidross an extra few AA hands.

The biggest challenge in these 3/6 games, as far as I’m concerned is determining when to value bet the river. I guess I should re-phrase that, since it’s probably the most important part of any game, but the decisions are certainly different in 3/6. There is no such thing as a brick on the river. I 3 bet pre-flop with KK last night, and got cold called on my left. I bet every street and the final board was Q J 8 5 3. I got raised on the river and called. He showed me J 3. Suited he pointed out when someone (not me) questioned his starting standards. Add to that the fact that I have been bluff raised more on the river in the last 3 weeks than in the previous year at Paradise and you can’t fold if raised on the river. So they love to bluff, they love to slowplay, they play any 2 cards and some of them play very passively. I’ve seen AA call every street (pre-flop too) and just showdown. It is a challenge deciding what to do on the river, and there is certainly no formula you can follow. Mostly I just bet and pray.

I mentioned in a post last week that I am still paying off too often when it’s clear I am beat. I see bad players do this all the time and I think it’s the last major gap I need to fill in my game. I need to acquire the discipline to fold top pair or even an overpair when it becomes clear you are beat. It’s so easy to see when you’re not in the hand, but for some reason when it’s me that it’s happening to, I take it personally and seem to say, “I used to have the best hand, and I don’t deserve to lose this hand, and I’m not folding”. Sounds pretty stupid when I phrase it like that. Maybe thinking about it that way will help. Of course it’s much easier to do when you’re winning.

You’re going to love this one. I was at a table that broke suddenly. That seems to happen a lot at Party. A great reluctance to play shorthanded. 2 seats will open up, and within 2 hands everyone else sits out or leaves. Anyway, I was playing my hands on the other tables when my table popped up with just 2 of us playing. I was the BB/Button and had K4. He was the SB and had called the bet. I typed a message to him saying “last hand, let’s just check it down” and I called. He didn’t answer and the flop came K T 7. He checked so I figured he agreed and I checked too. Turn was a 4 and now he bet!! The stinker, wanted my 3 bucks that bad. So of course I raised. River was a Q and he bet again. I raised again and he called. HH showed him with Q9. I felt pretty good after that one.

One last comment. Similar to what I found at Paradise, the afternoon games seem tighter and tougher than the evening games. I want to play more in the daytime, but I’m making all my money at night. Oh well, we go where the money is.

I was in the middle of my $400 loss yesterday afternoon when I got this hand. 2 limpers to me in MP and I raise with KK. 2 cold callers and the BB too. 6 of us see the flop.

Flop 6s 8s 9h.

Not exactly what I wanted to see. 2 checks and a bet on my right. That’s what I wanted. Now I raise to clear them all out. Ha. One of them folded. 5 to the turn. I’ll put the bettor on a 9, someone on Spades and someone with a 7. Not very many good cards for me.

Turn [6s 8s 9h] Th

That can’t be good. Checked to me. I checked. I was tired of doing all the betting and just getting raised. It gets checked around.

River [6s 8s 9h Th] 8h

Checked around again and I’m good. T3, A9 (the flop bettor), Qs 5s, Ks 2s were the other hands. This is an example of how hard it is to read hands in these games, and as much as I wish I had bet (I probably missed 6 BB’s on this hand, that’s ½ an hour of work for me…lol just kidding) I think if I played that hand against 4 players 100 times, I would lose more than I won.

Friday

I’m making a midweek entry here because we’re going away for the weekend to my Aunt’s cottage. I will have access to play in the evenings, but no access to my notes so I thought I’d make a short entry now. I knew this day was coming but it hurts just the same. The streak has ended after 21 days. And in a brutal fashion. Wednesday saw a big afternoon win of $400 and an evening loss of $160 leaving me $240 to the good, and Thursday had a nice $240 win in the afternoon. But Thursday evening might have been the most unusual night I’ve ever had. Ultimately I dropped $430 for the evening leaving me $190 down for the day. I got as good a run of starting hands as I can ever remember. 900 hands I got AA 6 times, KK 6 times and big Aces over and over again. I seemed to hit every flop, and I lost, and I lost and I lost. This hand was from early in th evening and I think it was a harbinger of things to come.

I got AA in MP and there was 1 limper in front of me. I raised, got 1 cold caller in the cut off, both blinds called and the limper called. Flop is A J J. Now the only question was how to make the most out of this one. SB bet, and the EP called. I smooth called, certain I would be bet into on the turn. Just 3 of us to the turn. Turn brought the 3rd J. SB checked, EP bet, and now I think he’s got an A or a J. If he’s got the J I’m screwed, and if he’s got the A I’d like to keep the SB in for another bet. So I just call. SB raises. Anyone got the balls to lay down AA here? I didn’t. SO we both called. River was a 2 and we both called again. He had it of course, KJ, and the SB had A3.

So I’m up $1,070 for the 5 days, slightly ahead of the $200/day goal, but facing a limited number of hours for Saturday. I need a good day today.

I played some 5/10 last night after yet another couple of big hands got cracked by crazy chases. IN my first 2 orbits I got AA, KK, JJ and AK 3 times. And I ended up even. That’s when I went to bed. The 5/10 game in the early morning seemed pretty good. I got lots of action on those big hands. I’ll have to look into playing there some more.

I’m playing JJ and TT differently than I used to. If I’m first in I’ll raise them, but otherwise I’m playing them like middle pairs. There are so many 4 way pots that I hate getting into with those hands, so I’m limping behind limpers and playing for a set. Even if I’m an overpair to the flop, naked K’s and A’s play to the river making it improbable that they hold up.

The other thing I’ve noticed is how often the blinds raise in these games. Sometimes they’re legit, but usually thet’re not. They are just hurting themselves, but they are hurting some of the hands I like to limp in LP with too. I’m thinking of dropping the K9o and Q9o that I would normally play from the button for 1 bet once I notice one of these guys in my BB. I’m wondering what hands I could add though, if any?

In this hand I have KQ in late MP. 1 limper in front of me and I limp too. Button calls and SB raises (another blind raise) . BB folds and 4 see the flop for 2 bets.

Flop Qh 9h Ad

Yikes. SB bets out and EP limper calls. EP would raise with an A here so now I have to decide if BB has me beat. I raise. Button cold calls, and the other two call. I’m actually most worried about the button now. He would play a weak A like this. Or a flush draw.

Turn [Qh 9h Ad] Ac

BB bets out. EP folds and it’s on me. The 2nd A makes it less likely he has one, but if he does I’m now drawing dead, and the button is still to act behind me. The brave play I guess is to raise and fold to a re-raise, but I chickened out and folded. That turn bet is nearly always a strong hand. Heads up I call him down I think. Button just called. Now I’m not so sure he’s got a weak A.

River [Qh 9h Ad Ac] 3d. SB bets out and the button raises. Phew I think. SB calls. SB had 77, and wins when Button shows KT. Aaack.

Again this is the offshoot of my not taking to many chances in these games. But it still hurts to get outplayed like that.

Just back from the cottage and it’s Monday afternoon. Quick Poker update. Friday was another tough day. After the $400 loss of Thursday night, I picked right up where I left off and dropped another $200 in a short session Friday afternoon. My daughter was working at a camp and needed a ride home. Normally I would have sent my wife to get her, but I was running so bad I decided to take a break. I think I need to do more of that when I’m running bad rather than pushing to get even. As much as I think I’m still playing my best, I’m probably not. I made the same suggestion to SoBeDude last night when he was running awful. I couldn’t get back to even though on Friday night. In fact I started out dropping another $250, making a $850 slide since Wednesday at dinner time. I did make a comeback and got back to be down only $189 for Friday before I was through. Saturday we headed up to the cottage and I played a 4 hour session after everyone had gone to bed. Got back on track with a $180 win. That means a win of $1,020 for the week. Seems terrible after the 2 prior weeks, but not the end of the world.

Obviously Tells aren’t as reliable online as they are live, but there are tells in online poker. The long pause before betting on the river almost always is a big made hand. He wants you to think he’s thinking, but it’s almost always followed by a bet. The guy that raises pre-flop then checks the flop heads up, almost always has flopped a set. The masochist in me paid off on Saturday on one of these even though I was 90% positive what had happened. I raised first in from LP with AKo. I was 3 bet from the SB and we saw the flop heads up. Flop was K J x. He checked. The alarm bells started ringing in my head. I was almost positive he had JJ. I checked too. I probably should have bet and checked the turn. He bet the turn and river and I called both . He had JJ. The other tell is the change in cadence. Quite often heads up you feel a rhythm to the betting. Flop bet, turn bet, river..pause. That usually means he’s not comfortable with his hand. Some of these I have found extremely reliable.

I have found the games a little tougher this week. A lot more 2+2’ers at the table. I don’t jump around like I used to at Paradise because there is no indicator to tell me which tables are loosest. I do have a few preferred opponents that make the games good all by themselves, so I can look for them. One of the problems is it can be a lot of fun playing at a table with a lot of 2+2’ers. Good conversation and challenging play. I have to remind myself I’m trying to make a living. I certainly have my big days when I’m surrounded by bad players, not 2+2’ers. More on that next week.

Week 14

Well my last full week before vacation, so I’m hoping for a big one. Got off to a very good start on Sunday night. We were still at my Aunt’s cottage and I played for 4 hours and posted a nice $677 win. It was a very enjoyable evening as I played with a number of 2+2’ers as well and the conversation was lively too. We drove home Monday afternoon so I didn’t play until Monday night. Had a difficult night, played 4 hours again won $120. Tuesday I managed to get in some afternoon play and only broke even. Quite card dead, only played 21% of the hands which is real low for me. In the evening I played a long 6 hour session and again struggled. Ended the day up $104.

Tuesday night was the first playoff game for my boys soccer team and we had a great game. The playoff schedule is pre-determined before the season starts and in an unfortunate draw we had to play the 2nd place team in the first round (We finished 3rd). The 4th place team had to play the 1st place team as well (there are 10 teams in the league), so the 2nd round is going to have some mismatches. We had a very good game against this team in the regular season in the final minute on a penalty kick after we had a goal disallowed moments earlier, so I knew it would be a good game. We scored first but they got 2 before half time. They had a boy on their team who could run like the wind and scored on 2 long runs. I made some changes and put a faster player back on defence for the 2nd half. In the 2nd half my son scored the tying goal and we went into overtime. Neither team scored and we went to penalty kicks. You’ve never seen so many nervous Mom’s in one place. They scored on their first 3 shots and one of our boys missed. Their 4th kicker shot right at our goalie and he saved it. My son scored to tie it up. Their last kicker was the kid who scored their 2 goals, but our goalie made a great save, and my last player (who has our strongest leg) scored to win it. It was so much fun. Unfortunately I will be away for the semi final (which we should win against the 8th or 10th place team, and the final (which we don’t have a prayer in). If money were no problem I’d probably fly back from Boston for the final, but that’s not happening now. Anyone want to loan me the use of their private jet?

Wednesday had a little of everything. I played in the afternoon for 3 hours and won around $100. In the evening I was playing at Party and was up a very small amount when the servers crashed. I waited a short period of time and decided to go and play at Paradise. I got into a 5/10 game and a 8/16 game, but quickly left the 8/16 game as it was very tight. I played 2 5/10 games for about an hour and made $80. I took a snack break and saw that Party was back up so I switched back. Played at 3 tables with no-one I knew for a short while anyway and made money right away. These games are so much softer without 2+2’ers in them. As the eve on more familiar players joined the table but I managed a very nice $693 win for the day. That puts me at just under $1600 for the week at Party plus the $80 at paradise. Hope it keeps up. I have my sons Birthday next Tuesday, so I won’t be able to play then. I have to demolish my back deck we leave on vacation (we’re having a mudroom put on the back while we’re on vacation) so that will cut into my playing time too. We leave on Friday for Montreal and drive to Maine on Saturday. I still haven’t got a laptop so I don’t know if I will play on vacation or not.

The biggest 3/6 pot I’ve ever been a part of happened last night. Try to put them on hands, and tell me if I should have backed off at some point.

6 limpers to me in the BB and I check 99. Flop comes 9d 8c 4s. 7 players and I don’t feel the need to slowplay. I bet out and get called by the first 3, then raised by the 4th player. Two folds back to me. This was the first tough decision. I’d love to keep people drawing dead, but it’s a pretty big pot already so I 3 bet. UTG called 2, one fold and MP cold call. LP caps it. We all call. I’m putting LP on 2 pair or a smaller set, the other 2 would seem to be drawing to straights. Turn is the 4c. Perfect. I bet out, both call and the LP raises. For about half a second I worry about 44, but I 3 bet. UTG calls 2 again (he must have 67 or T7 maybe even in clubs) and the MP finally folds. LP caps it again. (It has to be 88 right?). We both call. River is the 5h. Beautiful, the 76 straight came in. I bet, UTG calls, and LP raises again. At what point are you convinced he has quads? I made the 3 bet anyway and UTG called 2 cold again. LP caps it and I called. So did UTG. The pot is $220. Review this and see if you can put them on hands. Anyone back off if you were me? Results in 2 paragraphs.

I am playing much tighter lately. It’s not by any design, but there are 2 factors. I seem to have dropped a few of the marginal hands that were probably break even at best and reduced my variance again. The games have been tighter and tougher also. SO with more pre-flop raising, I’m folding more, and with fewer limpers, I can’t play medium suited connectors in LP. All combined I seem to be seeing 24% or less of the flops lately instead of the 27-30 I was seeing just a few weeks ago. Without and noticeable change in my results either.

Back to the $220 pot. I won. UTG had the shocking 88. I never would have guessed that. He flopped the 2nd nuts, turned into the 3rd nuts on the turn and river and never once raised. SO that leaves the big question, what the fu** did the LP have. JJ. Yep. I owe him a big fat check I think. Have I mentioned I love these games?

I am very pleased with my play lately. I think I’m advancing to another level of understanding this game. I won’t pretend to be a great player, but I still have hope of getting there. The concept of position is becoming clearer and clearer to me. I know I always paid lip service to it before, but truly I didn’t understand it’s importance as I’m starting to. I have never folded AT from the BB to a raise before. I would always play it for the one extra bet. But it really started to sink in that even if I flop the best hand, I’ll rarely get full value for it from a good player. I won’t make that last bet. But if I’m beat I will have to pay the extra bet. That really skews the odds away from playing that hand and I’ve dropped it. I’m sure this is obvious to most of you, but it’s really just sinking in to me now.

Another concept coming clearer to me is reverse domination. I raise pre-flop with AK and get called by some dominated fish with A7. Flop comes J73 and he bets. Typically I raise back and try to see 2 more cards, but who’s the dominated fish now? I’m drawing to 3 K’s. And this is so common in these 3/6 games that I’m folding those AK’s on the flop a lot now. Of course when the fish isn’t a fish (like a 2+2’er) I’m not so quick to drop.

A few people have told me I need to change my user name, and I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I still can’t come up with a good reason to do it. I actually tried when I started playing at Party, but wasn’t able to because the account already existed. I just can’t think of a really good reason why it hurts me. All the readers of these posts know a lot about how I play, but does it give them a big edge over me? I don’t see how. I limp in EP with small pairs and suited connectors too much. The correct counter measure would be to raise me a lot. But I also limp with AA and KK so that will get tricky. I’m not stupid so if the same player keeps raising me frequently I will make counter measures. I recognize good players without know they are 2+2’ers. Several guys have PM’d me their Party Names and I had already pegged them as good players. If I start playing under a new name I will be recognized as a good player fairly quickly even if it’s not as Davidross. I really don’t think It will affect my results to play under a different name.

Well I’m officially running good. I just completed my biggest single week of the 14 I’ve played. During a lot of the last 4 weeks at Party, I’ve felt like I’m winning with average cards. There is no doubt the deck hit me in the face for 2 straight days. I seemed to hit every flop and my big pairs all held up. I won $597 on Thursday, and followed it up with an $820 win on Friday in only 4 hours of play. I only played 2 hours on Saturday and won another $103. So for the week I’m up $3,114. Just what the doctor ordered before going on vacation.

I have noticed a side effect of playing 3 tables. I sleep a lot more now. I have always been someone who didn’t require a lot of sleep. 6 hours a night is plenty for me. When I was working full time I would go to bed at 1:00 and get up at 7:00. Lately I can’t get up in the mornings. I think the extra concentration required for 3 tables is knocking me out.

Girls soccer went well again on Thursday. It looked like my daughter would go without a goal for the first time this year. But with just a couple of minutes left in the game she scored twice and we won 3-0.

Why these games are so good:

I raise in LP with ATo. Button and both blinds call. To illustrate my point I’ll tell you BB has 32o. Flop comes Ac 9c 5h. I bet and two fold but the BB stays on his gutshot. $27 in the pot and it costs him $3. Nothing wrong with this call, he’ll get paid if he hits. Turn is the Jd. I bet and he calls again. This is bad. Really bad and I see these guys making these plays all the time. River is the 6c, and now he bets to represent the flush. I can’t imagine laying down anything except KQo here so I think this is a little weak too, but maybe not bad if he thinks I could lay down something like TT thinking he had an A> So I called and won $12 extra.

Why my opponents think the games are good. I have to be fair. I played this terribly and got very lucky. I have QTo in the cut off. 2 limpers and I limp too. Button and both blinds play. Flop comes Q 8 8. Good news bad news. I’m glad to see the Q, and you can nearly always tell if there is an 8 out there by the betting on the turn. At this limit the 8 will check or smooth call the flop and raise the turn around 90% of the time. It’s why I bet my trips hard on the flop especially against good players. Checked to me and I bet. SB calls and LP calls. Bingo, someone has an 8, I’m almost certain. Other one might have a Q or a pocket pair. That’s my read. Turn is a T. Yuck. I was ready to check the turn behind the slowplayer, but now I have a better 2 pair. Maybe I was wrong about the 8 I try to convince myself. SB bets out on the turn. “DANGER Will Robinson”!! LP raises. YIKES!! Head for the hills right. Wrong. I called. I’m only getting around 4 to 1 here on a 4 outer unless I think I’m ahead. So I convinced myself against my actual reads that I was ahead. Can you spell Fish? I called and it got 3 bet and capped behind me and I called a gain. This call is slightly less bad, because the odds got better, but it’s still bad. Of course in typical fish fashion the Q rivered and I got to cap it against Q 8 who thought he was chopping. He never said but I think the other guy made a straight on the turn.

I won’t be posting anything for at least 3 weeks now, but I will post something when I get back at the end of August. I’ll let you know if I managed to play via cell-phone.

Enjoy your August.