The Weekly Journals of DavidRoss

Week 4

I have decided to post another week of my experiences playing online while I wait for suitable employment to present itself. To be perfectly honest, I am loving this life. I get up with the kids, and make breakfast and lunch for them. As soon as they leave I go back to bed for a few hours. I get up around noon and play paradise 5/10 until 3:00 – 3:30. The kids get home and I do any chores that need attending to. We have someone playing soccer almost every night. I coach a Boys under 10 team and a girls under 8. So far the boys are 2-0 and the girls are 1-0. My daughter is quite a strong player, and I love to watch her play. Once the younger kids are in bed around 9:00 PM I sit down to play again. I usually have to fight with my 15 year old for the computer except on weekends when she is nowhere to be found. Luckily I have an old machine I can use when she is “chatting”. My wife is studying to be a nurse and will write her exams in August. She watches TV down here some nights an disappears to study on others. I’m certainly getting more time with my family than I ever would have working in town somewhere. I got a check from Paradise today, it’s my first cashout since going starting this adventure. It took a week to get to me, which is slow for paradise. I have always got them within 72 hours before, but it was a holiday weekend here in Canada so that may have something to do with it. I haven’t had a losing day since my 1200 blow up 10 days ago.

I started off Sunday continuing the steady play. I posted a $220 win.

Monday was a holiday so I didn’t play during the afternoon. I managed to sneak in an hour just before dinner when the yard work was done and the kids were all off playing at friends. I had a small win a that time, then a wild roller-coaster in the evening. I always sit down with 300 at each table. If I get below 150 I will add 200 to it. On one of my tables I added 200 twice in the first hour.

Hands like this one contributed. I got 99 in the cutoff. 3 limpers to me and I limped along too. Button and both blinds played and 7 see the dream flop of Qh Qd 9d. I’m praying for the flush to get there. There was a bet and 2 calls to me. No need to slowplay now and I raised. 3 folds, a call, and then a raise. The raiser is not a good player, but I can’t imagine he’s bluffing here, he must have a Q. Cold call between us and I decide to just smooth call him. I wanted to trap a few more and raise the more expensive street. I don’t know if that’s right or not. 4 of us see the turn for 3 bets each. Turn is the A of diamonds which is perfect. Two checks to the cold caller and he bets. There’s the flush. I call, again trying to keep some more players in. One call behind me, then a check-raise from the bad player. (He has Q7, I can’t imagine raising here is good). Called in between us and I 3-bet it. One fold and 2 calls. River is a seemingly benign 7. yep. Checked to me and I bet, get raised by the better full house, and we both call. The 3rd guy had Q8. I still think the pot would have been smaller if I had raised every opportunity I had. Oh well. So I’m down around $450 on this table, and hitting everything on the other.

This was the first huge rush I’d had since the previous Monday (Maybe Monday is my night). I got up over 700 at one point. So when the dust settled I had another good night + $551.

Tuesday

Played 3 hours in the afternoon and ended up exactly even. It has occurred to me that the biggest weakness in many of my opponents games is their inability to let a chance to bet go by, even if they have nothing. If it’s checked to them they are going to bet. It makes playing the blinds so much easier because you get so many chances to check-raise and drive out the borderline hands that might outdraw your pair of 8’s. There is too much macho in a lot of these players and taking advantage of them sure helps me win a few pots a night. Tonight I watched American Idol with the kids (I’m betting on Clay). You know there aren’t many shows on TV an entire family can watch, but we like this one. When I finally sat down I proceeded to lose $350 in 30 minutes. I don’t ever recall seeing it go so fast. Two flopped sets that got run down, and several draws that didn’t get there. A big hole to climb out of. But the rush hit shortly there after and I found myself up over $400 at one point before finishing the night up $273. Already up $1,050 for the week.

Here are some hands from tonight. This first one is a questionable play I will admit to making all the time. The dreaded cold call. I do it with medium pairs and suited broadway cards. I know we’re not supposed to, but I seem to have a lot of success with it. I welcome comments. UTG raises. This guy has raised with 64s and J2s in the last hour. But to be honest I probably make this call even if eMark makes the raise. I’m hoping for a bunch of callers, and if I don’t get them at least I have position. I have Jd Td in MP and I call. A month ago I would have expected the calling frenzy to begin behind me. That used to happen a lot. I have found lately that my games have tightened up. I don’t know if people are respecting me more because of all the attention I’m getting from the posts (I get 2 or 3 observers saying hello almost every night now, it’s very cool) or just a coincidence, but I am winning a lot of blinds with EP raises, and now my cold calls aren’t setting off the multiple calls I want either. Strategy changes are required I guess. Anyway, to my chagrin we are heads up. Flop is Ah Jh Tc. Sweet. He checks the flop, which really surprises me. I’m a little afraid of AA now. I bet and he calls. Turn is the Th. He checks again and I bet again. He check-raises me. OK has he made his flush, does he have AA or his he just messing with me? As an aside, I am always amazed at how many times I am bluff-raised heads up at paradise. Maybe I’m too stupid to fold, but I have to have nothing to fold here. I bet I make an extra $100 a day on bluff raises. Of course I probably pay off just as much in real hands. Oh well. I decided to raise once more and see and he just called. Phew. He’d bet his AA here. River brings the 3h, putting 4 hearts on board and he calls my bet. He had KQs for a flopped straight. So I’m interested in comments on the cold call. I am going to be honest I do it all the time with hands like this and QJs or even KJs. Is this a big leak? I can afford to fold on the flop 6 times for every one of those hands I win, and quite often the pots are much bigger if youcan get the 3 more cold callers behind you.

Here’s part of my game that has really improved, hand reading. Until recently I would never have folded top pair on the flop. I get a free play in the BB with Ks Ts. 6 of us see the flop. *** FLOP *** : [ Qd Kh 8h ] I check. I don’t think I can thin the field much by betting out here, so I gamble and hope for a late position bet. Unfortunately there is a bet and 2 calls before it gets back to me. I’m a little worried about KJ now, but I call. Everyone behind me calls too and still 6 see the turn. *** TURN *** : [ Qd Kh 8h ] [ 6c ] I check again to see how it plays out. Same guy bets, and the player next to him raises. One fold to me, and I folded my top pair. I got a comment last week saying I might be too willing to lay down a hand. What do you think? I can’t imagine I’m best here. Turned out the raises had 8 6 so I might have odds to stay. The bettor had AJ and got there with a T on the river.

Wednesday

The winning streak is over. After 13 straight winning days I lost $433 today. I think Wednesday must be my unlucky day. I dropped $270 in the afternoon session and another $160 tonight. I’m most upset about tonight. I played like a fish, paying off hopeless rivers again and again. I had one of those days, we all have them. I got big slick about a hundred times. I raised with it every chance I got. If I hit, I got raised on the turn, and if I missed I was bet into. When I raised with AA everyone folded. I felt like my cards were face up today. It happens. But There was no need for me to keep calling those turn raises and paying off the river too. I didn’t catch anyone bluffing. If I was going to give advice to new players trying to learn the game I would tell them to approach it in stages. Eventually you will have AA against KK, and KK against AA. You’ll flop sets, and they’ll be flopped against you. Step 1 in becoming a winning player is making sure that on your fair share of winning hands, you win the max, and on your losing hands you lose the least. Doing that properly will make the difference between a loser and a winner. I think I max my wins pretty well. And when I’m running well I do allright with the minimizing losses. But on days like today, I lose it. I can’t believe my big hand has been cracked again, even though the evidence is right there in front of you. And I keep paying off. No one in the world could have won money with my cards today. But I should have lost around $300. That’s $130 I won’t have at the end of the week. I need to do better. For what it’s worth I think the 2nd stage to go through is winning more than your fair share of hands with selective semi-bluffs and strategic raising to force out hands that could beat you later in the hand. Following the WSOP as closely as I can. Looking forward to reading day 3 results tomorrow morning and watching Annika play with the boys. I’m up $613 for the week.

Thursday

Well the afternoon session was everything yesterday was not. I got great cards, and was hardly ever raised. Just call call call. I love that. Up $775 in 3 ½ hours. I won 15% of the hands I played (400 hands), and won 50% of the time I saw the flop. Incredible numbers, Just a pure card rush. Here is a hand I won, but I am not sure I should have been there by the river. What do you think. Decent player raises from MP and I just call from the button with Ah Kh. AKo I would 3 bet, but I don’t mind keeping the blinds in here with the big suiteds. SB folds, but BB 3 bets. MP calls and I just call. In hindsight I probably should have capped here now that they’re both committed. *** FLOP *** : [ Ts 4c Qd ] BB bets and MP raises. If my A or K are good then my call here is fine, but that is pretty unlikely isn’t it? I don’t think I have odds to call for just the J, 6.5 to 1 on an 11-1 shot, but I called anyway. *** TURN *** : [ Ts 4c Qd ] [ Jh ] Beautiful. Bet and a call to me and I raise. They both call. *** RIVER *** : [ Ts 4c Qd Jh ] [ Th ] Uh oh. Two checks to me and I bet. One call only (SB) and I’m good. He had KK. SO my A was good against him, but it’s possible MP had AQ. Still not sure about the flop call. Of course the action I got when the J hit justified it. Hard to calculate that. Yesterday I mentioned a second stage of improving play was to steal some pots you don’t deserve. Here’s one I stole today. UTG (an unpredictable generally weak player) limps. I am in MP with 4h 3h. I would like one more limper, but the table has been passive so I take a flyer and limp along. Button and BB come along. *** FLOP *** : [ 2c 9s 8c ] It gets checked around. *** TURN *** : [ 2c 9s 8c ] [ 5h ] Checked to me, I bet my open ender and they all fold. That’s 2 bb’s right there. Quite often there are times where no one seems to want the pot. Doing that twice a night can certainly add to your profits. When it rains, it pours. I added another $475 tonight to make a $1250 day. Interesting night. No massive rush of cards. I’d win a couple of hands, then nothing playable for several rounds. Then go through the cycle again. Just a slow and steady gain all night. Before I get into any hands I have to brag, my daughter scored 6 goals in her soccer game tonight. We go for ice cream when she scores, I think I need to take out a Baskin and Robbins franchise, it’ll be cheaper. My wife told me today that she can tell if I had a winning night by the time I come to bed. If it’s after 3:00 AM she knows I’ve lost and I stayed up trying to get even. If it’s before, then I quit on time with a win. I think there’s a message in there for me….stop chasing. AT is a tricky hand to play. I’ve given up playing it in the first 3 positions, but in this hand I got it in the BB, 2 limpers and a button raise. This is a hard decision for me. Heads up against an UTG raise I will let this go, but now the pot odds are better, and button raisers can mean so many different hands. So I called. *** FLOP *** : [ 9s Jc 8h ] Very nice for me. I check, EP bets, MP calls, button calls, and I call. I think I should have raised here though and build the pot. The only problem is a Q doesn’t give me the nuts. *** TURN *** : [ 9s Jc 8h ] [ Ac ] Hmm. Now where am I? I check, EP bets, MP folds and button calls. Again I could raise. I don’t think the button has a big Ace or he would have raised, but EP could have QT or 98, so I just call again. *** RIVER *** : [ 9s Jc 8h Ac ] [ 3h ] I check, and it gets checked around. My hand was good. EP had 9c 2c, and button had QQ. So I won a $89 pot, but my position and the uncertainty of my A being good kept the pot much smaller than it could have been. Still don’t know if that’s a good call from the BB or not. A very poorly played Isolation raise. I don’t do this very often, and you’ll see why. An extremely loose raiser raises in EP. My notes have him raising T8s, 33, Q7s etc. Everyone folds to me on the button with 88. I decide I don’t want the blinds playing so I raise. I think it’s a good play, I’m just not used to making it. The BB calls though, as does the raiser. *** FLOP *** : [ 6h Kh 2s ] Checked to me, I bet and they both call. *** TURN *** : [ 6h Kh 2s ] [ Ac ] Checked to me again, and I bailed out and checked. I have to bet here. I have represented a big hand, and this board would scare even QQ I think. With the 3 bet pre-flop they are going to see the turn on almost anything. *** RIVER *** : [ 6h Kh 2s Ac ] [ 5d ] Checked to me again and I checked again. I don’t think it’s worth betting here now, I’ve already showed weakness. BB had Td 6d (You have to love him in your game) and EP had 99. I think I should have won this pot. I don’t believe he calls to showdown, but maybe I’m wrong. Hand reading …Good. When you’re running well you can make these folds. One limper to me in MP and I have Kc Tc. I limp too. Raised on the button, both blinds, EP and I call. 5 see the flop. *** FLOP *** : [ 5h 5c Td ] Checked to EP who bets, and I raise. I think you have to raise here and pay attention to what happens. Button and SB fold, but BB calls 2 cold (alarm bells ringing, there are no draws here. He has a T, a 5 or a pocket pair). The EP calls. *** TURN *** : [ 5h 5c Td ] [ 6h ] BB checks, and EP bets again. I thought as long as they’d let me and I folded. I could not think of a hand EP would play like this that I could beat, plus the BB still worries me. I hate folding top pair good kicker, but I think this is a good fold. On my bad day the day before I called to the rive on a hand like this only to be shown the trips I knew I’d see. On this hand the EP had 66 and turned the full house. BB called him down with AT. I was doomed. $20 saved, and it spends just as well as $20 won. Getting lucky EP raises, and there are 2 cold calls. I am in the BB with Jc 7c and I call. I’m getting 7 to 1 which is enough to make the call for the flush alone. *** FLOP *** : [ 5s 6s Jh ] I bet here. I get called in EP and MP and raised in LP. We all call. *** TURN *** : [ 5s 6s Jh ] [ 4d ] I’m afraid the raise was an attempt at a free card, which could be disastrous for me, my pair is pretty tenuous, so I bet again. Two folds and a call from LP. No spade, no spade. *** RIVER *** : [ 5s 6s Jh 4d ] [ 3h ] I decide to check, because if he’s truly on a spade draw he won’t call, so maybe I can induce a bluff. Sure enough he bets. Only now did I notice I made a straight. I had missed it completely. I raised and he called. He had JJ for a flopped set. Ouch. Better to be lucky than good. I went to bed shortly after this one.

Friday

Afternoon I just played a very short 1 ½ hour session. Got nothing in the way of cards, but won a nice pot right at the end of the session to end up down only $25. One hand I found interesting. I have Jh 8h in the BB. 3 limpers and the SB raises. I think he’s a good player, but predictable. I call as do all the limpers. *** FLOP *** : [ 8c Qd 6c ] SB checks. He wouldn’t check with a pair. I bet my middle pair, one fold but 3 calls. *** TURN *** : [ 8c Qd 6c ] [ Kh ] Sb checks. I’m worried he has AK and I check too. This is probably weak. MP bets, LP folds and SB calls. I fold too. *** RIVER *** : [ 8c Qd 6c Kh ] [ 5c ] It gets checked around. SB had AT (I’m rethinking my opinion of him, I hate that play from the SB), and the MP wins with 6s 3s. So I folded a winner, but given the circumstances I don’t think it was terrible. The guy that won the pot is a big time loser so I don’t want to be too results oriented here. Fri Night. An absolute Roller Coaster of an evening. I lost $200 on my first orbit. Two huge hands beaten by flushes on the river, then 2 draws that didn’t get there. I finally got a seat at a second table and within an hour I was down 310 on the first table, and up 315 on the second. I had to go pick my daughter up around 11:30 and came back to two new tables, even for the night. I quickly got up $400, then gave it all back in a card dead hour. Ended up down $7 for the night and $32 for the day. When Slowplaying goes bad. I used to slowplay way too much. I thought I was cured of it. Here I risked a nice raised pre-flop pot by smooth calling. Look what happened. Two limpers to me in LP and I raise with Ac Jc. BB calls as do the two limpers. *** FLOP *** : [ Qc 5c Tc ] Can you say “Nuts”. Two checks and the guy on my right bets into me. I just call. Hehehe. BB calls, EP folds. *** TURN *** : [ Qc 5c Tc ] [ 2h ] Again he bets into me, and again I cleverly smooth call to keep the BB in. He calls too. Yippee, my plan is working. *** RIVER *** : [ Qc 5c Tc 2h ] [ 5h ] Well I don’t like it, but I’m not that worried about it. Check, bet and finally I put the hammer down. BB folds, no wait a minute he raises me. What?? Other guy folds. He couldn’t could he? I would have heard from QQ, TT or 55 by now. A5 maybe. Should I raise? I just call. He has 52 sooted. So raising the flop would have dropped him, raising the turn would have made him pay more for his draw, but do I really want them to fold with a hand like mine. I think his odds were pretty long. WSOP is down to 3 players. I’m trying to follow it on Poker Pages. I can’t imagine playing under that pressure. Wow. Saturday. In honor of the WSOP I played 2 1 table no-limit tournies. I do quite well on the low limit tourneys at paradise, mostly because there seem to be 4 players that have no idea how to play. When I’ve tried the multi table tournaments at Pokerstars I’ve gotten nowhere, but I’ll try the next King of the Zoo again in a couple of weeks. I managed only a 3rd in one of the tournaments. Played 4 hours tonight and posted a $246 win (Including being down $37 on the tournaments). My concentration was good tonight, I made some good river bets, but paid off a couple of hands I shouldn’t have. That puts me up $2,075 for the week, another successful week. I keep waiting for the bubble to burst, but so far so good. This coming week will be a challenge to get the hours in. I have a cousin getting married next Saturday, and all my family from Montreal is coming to stay with us. That will make playing Friday and Saturday tough. I’m glad I’ve had two good weeks to pad the bankroll in case I come up short 15 hours or so this week. This is a humourous hand from tonight. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. UTG open raises. I am next to act and I 3 bet with QQ. MP cold calls 3, and so does the button. Both blinds fold, and utg caps it. We all call. *** FLOP *** : [ 2h 6s Kd ] utg checks. I smell a slowplay and I check behind waiting to see how he reacts to the inevitable bet. It gets checked around. *** TURN *** : [ 2h 6s Kd ] [ Ah ] Yuck. Utg checks again. Now I think he probably does have a smaller pair than me, but there are 2 people behind me to act. I check, and so do both of them. 4 bet pre-flop, 4 players, now checked around twice. *** RIVER *** : [ 2h 6s Kd Ah ] [ 5s ] Checked around again to the button who bets. Everyone calls…lol. Button had 65s, the 2 free cards sure helped him. Utg had TT, and 1st cold caller had ATo. I was ahead after the flop, but I doubt the flop bet would have won it for me, but who knows.

Week 5

Sunday.

Starting my 5th week of playing full time. Still no concrete job opportunities so lets hope the good results continue. I think I played as well as I can tonight. I didn’t start until late because I was helping my wife with her resume until pretty late, and when I sat down I quickly lost $200. for the next 3 hours I hovered between -100 and -300. It seemed every hand went like this one. I have Kh Qc in the BB. UTG limps, and the SB completes. I just call. Flop Ks Td 5s SB checks, I bet and they both call. Turn [Ks Td 5s] Qh Again I bet and they both call. River [Ks Td 5s Qh] 9s SB bets, I fold and the UTG calls. SB had the flush and UTG had T9. Every time I made a hand, the board would have flush and straight written all over it. I won only 9% of the hands I played tonight, which usually means a break even night at best. But in the last half hour before quitting, I got hot. Won several big pots and ended up with a $209 win. I’m pleased with the patience I showed, both in waiting for the cards to come, and laying down obvious losers, again and again and again. On to tomorrow.

Monday

Maybe I’m just a slow learner. So many of the concepts I have read about are only now becoming clear to me. There is no doubt that playing as many hands as I have in the past month has improved my game. One of the concepts that has only recently become clear to me is the concept of manipulating pot size and field size. For example, AKo has always been a raise for me no matter what. Lately though, in late position or the blinds, with a large field I just limp along. There is no way to limit the field at this point so the raise doesn’t help there, and although it makes the pot bigger when I hit, it also gives everyone odds to chase their gutshots and bottom pairs. On the other hand, a hand like ATs on the button would have been a call for me after limpers, now I find myself raising it. If the flush comes, I will get chased. You do have to be careful though when you flop top pair only though. I am also much more likely to 3 bet a middle pair hand or AKo in order to try and get heads up, where my hand stands a much better chance of winning unimproved. All these things David and Mason tried to teach me are slowly starting to make sense, and money. Hard to get into a rhythm in the afternoon session. A contractor came by 45 minutes in to the session to talk about some work we need done, then I got 2 calls about possible contracts. One is just a couple of days with someone I’ve worked with before, the other is for 6 months, but at a reduced rate from what I’m used to. I was pretty much even until half an hour before quitting when the rush hit. I ended up +$320 for the session. TT from early position is a hand I’m struggling with . It seems if I’m called, I’m in big trouble unless I flop the set. I always raise it and I’m wondering if I should consider limping with it. I guess it needs to be part o an overall strategy though. If the game is tight and I’m likely to win the blinds with it I’ll keep raising, but those games with lots of callers I need to think about limping more I think. Although the presence of lots of callers makes it worth raising for when you make your set. Hmmm. Tough hand. Evening. The downside of Internet Poker. It requires communications. Sometimes they don’t communicate. I experienced both sides of it yesterday. For those of you who don’t play online, if you lose contact with the poker site, you are considered all-in for that hand. This does leave some room for abuse. Imagine you are holding an overpair and have been leading the betting, and a scare card comes on the turn, and you’re bet into by a habitual bluffer. You’ll have to pay 2 more big bets to get to the showdown. So you turn off your computer. The system will put you all in and you can play for the pot as it is now without paying the last 2 BB’s. I’m not saying it happens a lot, but it does happen. Of course most of the time it is a legitimate disconnect, as happened to me yesterday. In a multiway, raised pot I had 87s in the BB. The flop came 8 high and I bet out. A player in EP timed out and was put all-in. two people called and when a 2 turned I bet again and they both folded. The river brought a Q, and the all-in guy had QT and took th elions share of the pot. I don’t believe he would have still been there except for the all-in. Then later on in the evening I raised pre-flop from LP with Th 9h and got called from the big blind, Flop came Kxx and I bet and got called. Turn didn’t help me and was checked around. A t came on the river, I was bet into and I clicked call. My system just froze. It never came back up. I still don’t know what happened, although I assume I lost that hand. I called my service provider 20 minutes later to hear a message saying they were servicing the network and to expect periodic outages. I lay down on the couch and fell asleep. I woke up 2 hours later and I was still down so I went to bed. Up $70 for the evening and $390 for the day. Interesting hand. I get a free play from the BB with 7h 5s. 3 limpers to me and 4 see the flop. Flop 6s 8d 2s I bet my open ender and get called twice then raised. I call and so does everyone else. Turn [6s 8d 2s] 4h I’ve got the nuts. How do you maximize this? I chose to play it straight forward and bet. Two folds to the flop raiser, who raises again. I 3 bet and he called. River [6s 8d 2s 4h] Qc I bet and get called. He had Ks 8s. I wonder if I could have kept the two others in by check calling on the turn, but my play was probably the best.

Tuesday

Strange day. My body clock is all off since I got all the extra sleep last night. Didn’t go back to bed this morning, I played instead. Only one 5/10 game going so I played some 3/6 too. I won at 3/6 and lost at 5/10. Decided to play a tournament just for some variety. Joined a Pokerstars $20 NL tournament with 180 players. Got no cards. I mean none. I played for 2 hours and the biggest pair I got was 88 and the biggest A I saw was AJ. The AJ hand won me a nice pot and I won a pot with J9 from the BB. That was it. I managed to just hang on for 8 rounds but when the antes forced me to play I got it all in with 22 in the SB against a button raiser with A5. He flopped a 5 and turned a 5. That was it. Back to Paradise after lunch. Again played 3/6 waiting for a seat at 5/10. Won $150 at 3/6 before getting 2 5/10 tables going. I won a $270 pot with a flopped straight against a set and AA, but still managed to lose $280 in 45 minutes. Wow. Twice I raised the river with the 2nd nuts only to be shown the nuts. I saw 5 sets against me in that same time frame. Glad to call it quits for the afternoon. On the plus side I’ve got 2 days of work for next week and an Interview for a 6 month contract. Going to cut into my hours next week. Tuesday night. Tuesday sucked. We lost our first soccer game of the season (boys), when I got home there was a message from my bank. I’ve ben negotiating to change banks for my mortgage. It seems that it doesn’t expire until next year though, I was looking at the wrong statement. It’ll cost me $2,400 to break it now. Then the poker picked up right where I left off in the afternoon. Absolutely card dead, and when I did get a hand, I either won the blinds or got beat. I was down over 400 when midnight came, then poof, Wednesday was another day. One of the regulars who lurks here joined both tables I was playing at (he knows where the fish swim), and asked how I was doing. As I complained about the bad day, the deck hit me in the face. Within an hour I was up for the day. Ended up + 245 for the night, and + 114 for the day. I played a little 8/16 tonight. A table started and the flop % was unbelievably high. One player was the reason. I played about 3 orbits, got involved in two hands with the guy, won around $150. He went broke and immediately the table tightened right up and I left. That is a part of my game that didn’t exist 3 months ago. Recognizing tables where you aren’t a big favorite, and no one will pay you off even if you do hit.

Wednesday

Lot’s of non-poker action today. I have an interview set up for Monday for a 6 month contract, and I got a call about a full time position that they want me to start Monday. Yuck. I’m having too much fun playing poker. A month ago I would have jumped at the chance to do either, and now I’m not really considering the full time job. Poker wise I started off real slow again. For the 4th straight session I got killed right off the bat. I never really dug out of it and ended up down $140. At night again I dropped $150 in the first hour before leaving that table. Then finally seemed to get in a groove. I won steadily for the next 3 hours and ended the day + $300. Almost a 600 dollar swing. I made a couple of very good calls tonight. The first was against an unknown player which makes it really hard to decide. I raised an EP limper with Ac Jc. Everyone folded back to him. Flop was 662. He checked I bet and he called. Turn was a T, no flush draw. He checked, I bet and he raised. In the 30 seconds I have I checked my notes to see I had nothing on him. I tried to put him on a hand he could play like this and it was either a bluff or he had a 6. I decided to pay off a 6. He bet the river too which was an 8 and I called. He showed a Js 5s for a complete bluff, and pretty bad starting standards. The second call was against a known bluffer which made it much easier to call. He had raised 86s and J9o already in this session. He raised from the button first in and I 3 bet with A4o. I bet the flop which was Q 9 3, and he raised. I called. Turn was a J, check bet call, and the river was another 3. He bet again and I called. He had 86o. So two big pots with unimproved A’s. Maybe I was just lucky, but I like to think it was good reads on opponents or situations. I did something I’ve never done before tonight, I folded TT on the button pre-flop. There was a raise from a solid player and a 3 bet from a new player beside him. I folded reluctantly. Flop came Q high and they both checked. Turn was checked as well, and when a K rivered the 3-bettor bet and took it without a showdown. Good laydown? Probably. I believe playing to your opponents is the real challenge in poker. Heres a huge pot I won, that I probably played very poorly if I had strong opponents. In my opinion it’s pretty easy to tell I have a monster on the turn. Yet I got paid off by 2 players with relatively weak hands. I have 99 in the BB. UTG (2+2’er Utah) raises, gets called on his left, button and in the SB. I complete. Flop Ad 9s 6h SB checks and I check too. Utah bets, EP folds and button raises. SB calls, and against a strong field I would raise right here. But I smooth call, and Utah calls too. Turn [Ad 9s 6h] 4d. Again I check, the button bets and the SB calls. Now I raise. Utah recognizes the hand and folds (good 2+2’er read), but I get called by both the others.(remember this when you see their hands). River brings another 4 filling me up, I bet and they both call. Button had TT, and SB had……………A2o. How could they pay me off? Oh well, I guess the moral is find these guys and play against them. Finally a BB hand that I wondered about. Button raises (TT guy from before) and I call with T8o. Flop is K98 rainbow. I checked my bottom pair, he bet and I called. In situations like this I usually go into check-call mode with top pair, because I don’t want worse hands to fold, but with bottom pair I think I have to raise here. Anyway the turn was another 9, which I think is good for me, but again I check call. River is a 7 and he bets again. I think the river bet probably means I’m beat but I call anyway and he shows 77 and hit his 2 outer. Is this just bad luck or should I have driven him out earlier? I think the real crime would have been letting him hit an overcard on the river because I didn’t raise that flop. Oh well. Up $1,012 for the week.

Thursday.

I only played 45 minutes this afternoon. Getting the house ready for company this weekend. But I played a real interesting hand against 2+2’er Rigoletto. Yesterday I posted a hand I played one way because of the low caliber of opposition. This one I played specifically because I know how good he is, and how capable he is of making a laydown. UTG limps. Rigoletto (Who is up around 1,000 already) limps too. (That’s an important consideration in the way I played the hand). 1 MP call and the SB completes. I check the BB with Ac 9s. Flop Qc 8c 3c. Checked to UTG who bets. Rigoletto raises. Folded to me. Here’s my thought process. He doesn’t raise with the flush here. Even if he has it, he knows it’s not the nut because I have the A. He limped preflop so I don’t put him on AQ. SO I think he’s got a weak Q (QJ maybe with the Jc, or the Kc with anything). I 3 bet. If he has the hand I think he does, I believe he can lay it down, if not here, then on the turn. UTG folds and he raises me again. OK maybe he’s stronger than I think, or maybe he wants the free card for the turn. In either case I can’t believe he can raise my turn bet without the nut flush. Turn [Qc 8c 3c] 6h I bet out continuing the semi bluff. I still think he’s capable of laying it down here if I can convince him I’ve got the nuts. He thinks a long time (I thought he was thinking about foding, he was actually thinking about raising). He calls. River [Qc 8c 3c 6h As] Hmm. I hadn’t decided if I would continue the bluff on the river. I think I would have had to, because there’s no way I was winning unless he folded, but now I have a showdownable hand. I check, he checks and my A’s were good. He had KK (Kc too). In a million years I wouldn’t have put him on that. I’ve never limped behind a limper in EP with KK or AA. I don’t like the play but I’m willing to listen to the merits of it. I was up $99 for my 45 minutes. Evening. I’m not feeling very well tonight. I thought it was allergies, but now I’m reconsidering. Christ what a lousy time to get sick. My house is about to fill up with visitors. My daughter scored 2 more goals (first 5 minutes of the game) in her soccer game tonight. I quickly put her in goal and on defence for the rest of the game. She’s not very good at either of those positions so it will do her some good. I don’t know what it is about her, she’s not the fastest, not the strongest kicker, but what a nose for the net. I played for 4 hours tonight at two crazy tables. The insults were flying, tempers were frayed. It was a great game. I won another $485 to make it $584 for the day and $1595 for the week. I am almost certain I will be offered a job next week, and I really don’t wan tot take it. I am loving this life right now and it would make for a great summer. But I think with 4 kids and a wife not working it would be pretty irresponsible to turn down guaranteed income, when I can still play 20-25 hours a week anyway. Here’s a hand I goofed on. First 2 in limp and I limped too with Ac Tc. 2 more limpers and the BB play. Flop 9h 8s 7d 3 checks to me so I bet my open ender with an A overcard (I don’t think I can count on the T being good). 2 folds and 3 calls. Turn [9h 8s 7d] 3h Again checked to me and I bet. Mistake number 1. I know I should check here. This bet will not win me the pot so It’s not a valid semi-bluff. I have nothing but a prayer right now. Raised by the last guy before the button. One fold and a 3 bet on my right. I immediately worried that I might be drawing only for a split. I folded. Bet you can guess the rest. River [9h 8s 7d 3h] Jh 7c 3c and 9c 8c were the two hands. Wild how all 3 of us were on clubs.

Friday

Very little poker today. Preparing for company took up most of the day, and I’m stillnot feeling well. Played for 1 ½ hours in the afternoon. Again down big early (around $200) but fought back to post a $24 win. My eldest daughter was in the school production of Oliver tonight. My Mom arrived this afternoon and she came with us. The show was fantastic. There is a lot of talent in our young people. Played for only 2 hours tonight and again (for about the 6th session out of 7) I lost big on the first orbit. This time I couldn’t recover. Lost $221 for the day. Going to a wedding tomorrow so I don’t think I’ll be playing. This could bring an end to my brief professional career. I have two interviews on Monday and 2 days of contract work on Tuesday and Wednesday so I sure won’t be able to put in the hours next week. And I suspect I will accept one of the jobs (I hate having to be responsible) and will probably start the week after that. I’ll keep a log next week too just in case. Thanks for all the nice comments I’ve received, and I love when people say hi at the tables. Good luck to everyone. For anyone keeping track I am up almost exactly $9,000 for the 5 weeks.

Week 6

Well this week will certainly be different. No daytime play until at least Thursday, and I won’t be able to play late at night until around Wednesday. Sunday. Our company left this afternoon. We had a great weekend except my brother kicked my butt at golf again. I went several years without ever losing to him. I wasn’t any better than him but he always seemed to choke trying to beat his big brother. We both played to about a 9 handicap then. Now he plays to about a 5 and I’m probably a 15. I think it’s 6 years since I’ve beaten him now. My excuse is he’s a teacher and gets all summer to play and practice. It’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Very little poker today. 2 ½ hours, and a $44 win. I have an interview first thing tomorrow for a contract and the rest of the day in a brainstorming session with a potential full-time employer.

Monday.

Interviewed this morning and I think it went well, but the guy was impossible to read He had a “poker” face. I know I’m asking for more money than my competitors, but I bring a lot more experience to the table. It took me 1 hour exactly to get there which isn’t bad, but longer than I was hoping for. I should hear by the end of the week as they want someone to start next week. The brainstorming session was a disaster. The job doesn’t interest me in the least. It’s a good friend of mine who asked me to come out and meet them but I can’t see myself working there. Poker was limited to 3 hours again. I’m going in to work for a former client tomorrow. Had a bad night. No cards essentially. - $190 for the session. That’s the problem with the short sessions I think, the long term doesn’t always have a chance to kick in, but maybe it saved me money.

Tuesday

Well, that was the easiest money I ever made. Went in this morning to do a day’s work for a client, and they had no place for me to work and no network connections. Sent me home after an hour and asked me to come back tomorrow. 1 quick hour’s work for the price of about a cup of gasoline (the office is very close). So I got to play some poker this afternoon. One of my big fears is that the games at paradise will tighten up now that the promotions and the extra play the WSOP seems to bring. I believe that is happening. The games have been very tight this week and it continued this afternoon. Again I was quite card dead and got no action when I did make a hand. For 2 hours I hovered about even, then the rush hit. I don’t know if others experience this, but I can almost feel it coming, and when it hits it’s like I can tell what everyone else has. In 45 minutes I won $480 and got onto the plus side for the week. 2 hands of note. EP raises (he is solid but having a rough day) and I call cold with Ks Qs on the button. BB calls too. Flop As Kd 7s Checked to me and I bet. BB calls and EP raises. Hmmm. AK, AA or KK. Spades are probably my only outs. I call and BB calls. Turn [As Kd 7s] Jh EP bets, I call and BB folds. River [As Kd 7s Jh] 4s. He bets and I raise. He calls. I then get called a chaser after he shows Ad Kd. Nothing special about the hand, but when he raised the flop I knew he had AK. Not the most difficult read in the world, but I would have folded even if a K had rivered I was that sure of it. 2nd hand from earlier in the session when the mojo wasn’t happening. UTG limps and I limp too with As Js. I will raise this 75% of the time, but today was spades day. Suited aces J and under are always a tough call for me whether to raise or just call, so I will pick a suit(s) before I start each day and the suit will determine if I raise or just call. Spades was a call today . 3 more callers and the BB. 6 to the flop. Flop Ac 7d 4c Checked to me and I bet. 2 calls, then 2 folds and now UTG raises. I think it much more likely he is drawing than he is ahead of me so I 3 bet. Guy to my left folds, but LP calls. Al I can put him on here is clubs. Unless he’s got 77 or 44. UTG calls too. Turn [Ac 7d 4c] 8c Yuck. UTG checks and I check too. This is a bonehead move. I have to bet here. Fold to a raise perhaps, but bet here. I was so set in my read that one of them was on clubs that I got blinded. LP bets, UTG calls and I fold. River [Ac 7d 4c 8c] 8s Check, bet call. LP had TT (ten of clubs) and lost to UTG with KK (K of clubs). $119 of mine went the wrong way. That’s 4 hours of work lost. I felt sick after that. Wow. My post from last week has generated a lot of discussion. I guess that’s good, but I’m exhausted from explaining myself and answering posts. What a night. Just when I thought things were tightening up. I played 3 ½ hours, saw 32% of the flops and won 16% of the hands I played. And for most of the session I was down. I got great starters and kept coming 2nd. Then a series of snapped bluffs got me going and I ended up $470 for a $950 day. One of the things I think I do well is to win hands that nobody seems to want without being one of those obvious “bet if checked to me” bluffers. I try to pick spots (always unraised pots) where the flop misses me but gives me some outs. Here is a hand I chickened out on that I probably should have continued the bluff. I open limped 4 off the button with Qh Js. This hand came up as a criticism of my play in the posts today. I use a chart put together by Abdul that some of you I’m sure have seen. It has QJ and KJ as playable 3 off the button. I have stretched that a bit here. One LP call and both blinds play. Flop Ks 5d 9s Two checks to me. I have a gutshot. But I think a K would have bet, and the LP player is not likely to have limped with a K, he is the kind of guy to raise with it so I bet here hoping to win it right now. LP folds, but SB calls. BB folds. Turn [Ks 5d 9s] 7d Checked to me. Decision time. When do you carry on with your bluff and when do you bail. I bailed. River [Ks 5d 9s 7d] 6h Checked around again and I lost to A5. No telling if he would have laid down to a turn bet, but I think I should have tried. Here is a flop play I question. Two limpers and a raise from the cutoff. I call in the BB with Jh 9c. I know most of you will think that’s too loose but J9o is my low limit in a multi way pot. Heads up against an EP raiser I fold this. Flop Js 8h 9h. I hate slowplaying flopped 2 pairs so I bet out. The position of the raiser in the cut off though would have given me a better chance to thin the field with a check-raise. I got 2 folds anyway and just a call from the button. Turn [Js 8h 9h] 2s I bet again and he raised me. QT seems unlikely, as do JJ and 99. 88 perhaps, but he could easily put me on something like JT or just a naked T, so I put him on an overpair and 3 bet. He just called. River [Js 8h 9h 2s] Kc I bet out, hoping it wasn’t KK he had. He called and showed AA after I won. I think I got an extra bet by playing it as I did, but I’m not sure it was optimal in general.

Wednesday

Not a great day. I did get a full day of paid work in. that’s the good news. The bad news is I didn’t get the contract I interviewed for on Monday. They went with the less expensive alternative. Tonight the poker was awful. I played 800 hands and won 6% of them. There were hardly any bad beats, just hour after hour of fold fold fold. Raise, fold. And so on. I ended up down $440. It could have been much worse. This one hand saved me somewhat. The table had 2 bona fide maniacs, and one real loose aggressive all sitting side by side, across from me. Unfortunately I never got the hands you need to take advantage. Except this one. I limp utg with Kc Kh. With those 3 sitting in LP there is virtually no chance of it getting past them without a raise. 2 limps and sure enough maniac1 raises. LA cold calls, and M2 calls from the SB. BB folds and I 3 bet. 2 folds and M1 calls. Now LA caps it. M2 calls, so do I and M1. 4 to the flop. Flop 6c 7d 6s SB checks and I bet. M1 calls and LA raises. M2 calls. It’s virtually impossible to put these guys on hands. Maybe someone has a 6, probably not. I 3 bet. M1 calls 2 more, and LA caps it. M2 calls 2 more and I call. M1 calls too. Hmm. I may be behind. Turn [6c 7d 6s] Kd OK. Now I don’t care. I bet, M1 calls, LA raises (I guess he does have a 6, but he capped preflop??), M2 calls 2 again (I love these guys), I 3 bet. M1 folds. LA caps it again (could he have 66?), M2 calls 2 more and I call. River [6c 7d 6s Kd] 2c Checked to me, and I bet(I actually thought about check-raising here but decided to bet out), both of them called. LA had Ad 6d. His post flop play is ok, I don’t like his cold call or 4 bet though pre-flop. M2 had Ks 7s, again probably ok post-flop and just a little loose pre-flop. Pot was $332. It used to be a raise from the BB meant a huge hand. Lately it seems to me that people make the play with anything. This guy gets my vote for the worst played hand in history. I limp in EP with 8d 8c. CO calls, SB calls and BB raises. I have no notes on him. We all call. Flop 3c 4c 2s SB checks, BB bets and I raise. Only the BB calls me. Turn [3c 4c 2s] 4d Now he bets out. Uh oh, I’m thinking a bigger pair than mine. I call anyway. River [3c 4c 2s 4d] 8s. Ahh. He bets, I raise and he calls. He shows KJo. What did he think I had??

Thursday

Afternoon starts out even worse than last night. I won 1 hand in the first 120, and had some big hands beat. Dropped $350 in the first 1/2 hour. The site went down for a reboot and when I rejoined I started getting some cards. Got back to even for the session before going stone cold again for an hour. Gave it all back again to end up down $350. I am up less than a hundred for the week now. I had such a rush of cards on Tuesday night, I guess I’m paying for it now, but the cold run has lasted much longer. King of the Zoo II tonight. Watch out, I’m due. Evening KOTZ 2 went much as my week has. Boy I love playing in these things. But man do I have a lot to learn about no-limit. It can’t be coincidence that the same faces end up near the top each time. My limit mindset doesn’t do well here. I lasted until the break, but went out on the first hand after the break in 27th I think. Just like last month KK was my demise. I limped in EP with it hoping to get my meager 700 all-in against someone but everyone folded to the BB. On the flop of Q 6 4 the BB bet 100 so I just called. Turn brought an 8 and he bet again and I pushed all-in. He had 75 and I was toast. The hand that cost me half my stack was AJo on the button for a limp. Board was J high and an EP let me off the hook by only making a small bet with a set of 7’s. Other than that I didn’t play a hand that went past the flop. I must brush up on NL before the next one. Back to paradise and the nose dive continued. I’m getting sick of rebuying. At one point I looked and my balance was lower than I started the week. Ugh. Then I finally started hitting some flops, and I went on a nice run for the rest of the session. Ended the evening up 595 and the day up 245. For the week up $587. I’ll need a couple of good days to avoid this being my worst week. When you’re running bad here is what happens. I’m in the BB with Q4o and my mouse is hovering on the fold button. 2 limpers plus the SB and I get a free play. Flop 4d 4s 4h I don’t even notice at first, I’m playing my other table and I had this hand ready for the muck in my mind. I check and so does everyone else. Drat. Turn [4d 4s 4h] Ah I check again, and it gets checked around. River [4d 4s 4h Ah] Qc Damn. It’s tough to get action when you have all the cards. I bet this time and everyone folds. Grrr. I didn’t show. Finally a card reading mistake that cost me $20. I lost the hand history so it’s going to be from memory. Big multiway pot. I have 77 in EP and the flop comes 7 4 2 rainbow. One of the blinds bets into me and I smooth call. 2+2 lurker Looba calls right behind me. There is a raise on the button, the blind calls and now I raise. Looba calls again, button caps it. 4 of us to the turn. Turn is a J. I bet out. Looba calls and the button raises again. Blind calls 2 and it’s back to me. At this point I’ve forgotten about Looba and the blind. As far as I’m concerned it’s me and the button and it’s starting to look like the most lucrative hand in hold’em, set over set. I 3 bet, and he caps. The blind and Looba both keep calling cold. River brings an A and I can’t bet fast enough. Looba raises!! I quickly check the board again. AA or JJ beat me, but there is no way given the betting that he has either of those. Button calls, and the blind finally folds. I raise (I’m sure you’re more observant than me. I missed it completely), and Looba raises again. Poor button has to keep calling here probably realizing he’s lost, and I call too. Of course he had 53 (suited I think but it’s all a blur now). I couldn’t have avoided losing the huge pot, but the last $20 was stupid, and it’s those little things that add up by the end of the week. Grrrrr.

Friday

No doubt the craziest day of poker I’ve ever played. After being so card dead yesterday I got lot’s of big hands this afternoon. And they kept getting cracked. Hand after hand I would raise pre-flop, bet the flop and turn and get raised on the turn. Most of the time I would call down to see a flopped set or even quads(twice). I had to rebuy once on each table and ended the afternoon down $350. The evening was more of the same. Found myself at two really tight tables, didn’t play many hands but when I did I got rivered again and again. I have tried not to spout too many bad beat stories here, but this is an example of how the whole day went. I got a free play in the BB against 6 others with Jh Th. Flop Qh 9h 8c. I’ve flopped the nuts, plus I have an open ended straight flush draw as well. I bet the flop, get 2 callers then a raise. Folded to me and I 3 bet. 1 fold, one call, then a cap. 3 of us see the turn. Turn [Qh 9h 8c] 7s I bet, call, raise. Hmm am I chopping? I still have a free roll on the flush if so, and I raise again. EP finally folds and now the LP calls. River [Qh 9h 8c 7s] 9c Oh crap. Here we go again. I check, he bets and I call (anyone save the $10 here?). He of course has 88. After losing 2 more hands on the river when a 2nd deuce hit (AK vs A2, board of Kxx22, and QQ vs K2), I took a break. I was now down another $150 or 500 for the day. I made a dubious decision to play some 8/16. The games looked good (a couple of known loose players in the game, and although I was on a bad roll I thought I was still playing well.) But in reality I had gotten gun shy. I missed some good value bets when scary cards rivered. Even when nothing rivered I began to see ghosts and checked down winning hands. The calibre of player is better at 8/16 and I can’t afford to do that. Anyway, the losing continued. I had to rebuy again ($400 at these stakes, and as midnight approached I was down over $1,000 for the day and seriously considering packing it in. I don’t ever remember feeling so uncomfortable at the table. Every time I got a good hand I dreaded playing it. But there were two really bad players with big stacks in front of them and I wanted some of that. Ironically enough it was a river suckout of my own that got me back on track. I flopped a set of J’s on a KJ9 board and got 4 way action capped on the flop and 3 bet on the turn. A 9 rivered and I beat the QT that had flopped the straight. Then the flood gates opened. Strangely enough I only won on 1 table and continued losing on the other. But I won over $1,100 on that one table. I flopped 2 more sets of J’s, and my AK’s hit and held up. After grinding it out all day I posted a $100 win. But coming back from $1000 down felt good. That leaves me up only $700 for the week, but what a strange week.

Saturday

For the first time this week everything went well. I got good cards and I took advantage of them. I played 1 5/10 table and 1 8/16 table. The 5/10 shifted from tight to loose, with one horrible player who bluffed almost all of his money to me. The 8/16 was loose all night with lot’s of capped flops including hands like ATo and QTo. I love games like that. I played very few hands, but all my big pairs held up, I won my fair shre of drawing hands and I made all the right moves on the river. Ended up ahead $870 for the night, saving my week with a $1560 win for the week. It was an unusual week, I played fewer hours because of the interviews and the day of work, and I really struggled for a few days. I’m proud that I hung in as well as I did, and minimized the losses, and I rode the good runs very well. Now if only I could beat some of those Zoo dwellers in their tournament. I don't know if I'll keep up the day to day recaps. I'm running out of things to say that won't be repeats. I am still surprised at my success here. In a nutshell this game is very simple. Play better than your opponents and over the long run you will win. There always seems to be a number of players in the games I play who are very bad. That's a good start. Then there are a larger number of good players, who don't make the value bet on the end, when I was prepared to call, saving me money. They also play quite tight post flop allowing a more adventurous player to steal a pot or two an hour. I think this is th ekind of player I was for a long time. Then there are the very good, and even expert players. I don;t think I see many experts at 5/10. Maybe I just don't notice them they are that good, but more likely they are playing higher limits. Most of the 2+2'ers fall into the very good category. We seem to play each other pretty straight up. Raises are respected. I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't be tryingt obluff more as these are the guys most likely to fold to a raise, but I don't think I'm going to make much money in the long run from them, so it's probably better to hope tho break even against them. I guess the big question is are there enough bad players to keep th egames profitable. I hope so because I'm back to no immediate job prospects.