5th September 2009
At last - things have started to go my way! :)
I played 12 STTs yesterday and cashed in half of those - 2 x 1st, 2 x 2nd and 2 x 3rd for a profit of $24, a daily ROI of 36.36%. Woohoo! Things haven't been perfect by any means though. I am still having a few focus issues, especially in the afternoon with the racing bets to check too. I put the bets on at lunchtime then play poker but most of the time I leave orders that I need to (OK, like to) check have been matched. I can work round that or try hard to overcome it though, and it's not a huge issue really given I am only playing four STTs at a time.
I have made a few mental adjustments too. I read those Chris Ferguson articles, along with some of his other stuff and I think some of it really sank in. I am trying to focus more on making the right decisions at the tables and letting the results look after themselves. I'm not berating myself for bad play but noting it down and making sure I review key hands after the event to make sure I learn from these situations. I am also trying to lighten up and enjoy the game more. It's supposed to be fun and even though I am playing full time it shouldn't ever become a chore. Recently I have half been thinking about making sure I play as many STTs as possible but now I am happy to sacrifice some volume for better performances and hopefully a better bottom line.
In the spirit of mixing play with analysis and learning let's look back at yesterday's events shall we? I started to write this yesterday but ran out of time as it can take so blooming long.
1. Eliminated in 8th
Things got off to a bad start when I lost half my stack on only the fourth hand. Blinds are 10/20 and I raise to 60 UTG+1. I get two callers. The flop comes 2-6-3 rainbow. I bet 120 into a pot of 210 to see where I stand with my overpair. I can't see anyone connecting with the potential straight nor playing 22 or 33 in this manner so the only hands I fear are bigger pairs and 66. One caller and the other folds. The turn is a 7 which doesn't affect the straight to my mind; it was possible on the flop but I still don't think anyone has connected with it. 77 gets added to the list of hands to worry about though. The pot is 450 so I lead out for 250 and get a curious raise to 580 total. An odd sized raise I ponder the significance of. I am behind to 22, 33, 66, 77, AA, KK and QQ as well as curious two-pair hands I can't see featuring here so that's 7 of the pairs beating me. He's called all the way and this is his first aggressive action so did the 7 help him? I call the raise anyway. The river is a 4 meaning if he was playing 55 he now has the straight so that's another pair I need to worry about, along with hands like A5. But who would play such a hand in this manner? It doesn't make sense. Confused, I check. He bets 720 all-in and I have 740 behind. Argh - what to do, what to do. I still have half my starting stack and we're only on the first level. Do I really want to go bust with JJ against a higher pair (which is what I have started to convince myself he has but has played them badly)? No, I don't, so I fold. He flashes me AQo as he drags the pot. I don't tilt as such but that does bother me. About a dozen hands later I lose 6xBB with AKo when I raise pre-flop, get a caller and miss everything and am forced to fold to his action. I couldn't risk bluffing it all away here. The next interesting hand was JJ UTg with a stack of 515 and blinds of 25/50. I shoved and only stole the blinds despite the fact I expected/hoped I'd get a caller. Oh well. And that was it till the end came with A9o against 66. I shove one off the button who calls and the blinds fold. He hits another 6 on the flop to signal my demise. That first JJ hand did the main damage, after that I was always going to struggle. Be interested to hear how others would have played that hand.
2. Won
I'd folded till we were 6-handed then got a nice double up with KK v ATo and again two hands later with AKo v KQo which really set me up nicely. Four-handed I got yet another double up when I checked my option after the SB called. I had 96o so wasn't expecting to do much other than fold on the flop. The flop came Q-5-8 giving me a gutshot draw. He checked and I checked behind. The turn was the dream 7 completing my nicely hidded straight. He bet 300, I raised to 900, he min-raised to 1500 and I shoved for 3400 total. Oddly he called. The river was a 2 and completed the flush draw, which I had been slightly worried about but he only had top two pair that he had badly overplayed giving me a great chip stack, over half the chips in play. I folded through the bursting bubble before losing a chunk of chips in a blind v blind confrontation. The button folded and the SB raised my big blind to 600 (blinds of 100/200) which smacked of a steal so I re-raised to 1500. He shoved over the top for 2440 total and I called the extra 940. It was his 77 against my K8 so he was slightly ahead. Another seven on the flop prevented me from getting anywhere near his hand and I doubled him up levelling the stacks out a bit but making me the short stack with around 3500, 1000 below the average stack. I then turned thief to rebuild a stack putting pressure on the others, sometimes with nothing but often with a hand. I had built my stack up to 6510 and the chip lead before entering a long period of folding trash and getting unplayable situations. This kept me out the way of the other stacks tangling and in doing so I folded my way into heads-up. I was lucky to get some hands along the way but I also feel I played it quite well despite being down 2:1 in chips at the start. I soon overhauled that and built on my own lead steadily but the clincher was my 99 holding up against his K7o with all the money going in pre-flop. He just had me covered by my ATo was enough to see off his Q6o and secure the win for me.
3. Eliminated in 5th
I lost 180 chips on the second hand with AQ against 88 then it was the blinds attacking my stack that reduced it to 880 by the time we were at blinds of 50/100. The table was five-handed and it was folded round to the SB who min-raised to 200. I had 77 in the BB - call and take a flop with a view to getting the rest in there unless it comes nasty or get it all in now with fold equity? I went for the latter and the SB called (he had a massive stack so could afford to do so) with KQo. He hit both his hole cards on the flop, another King on the turn for the full house and then to rub it in the 7 came on the river to give me a lower full house. I was drawing dead so to make it appear in the stats as a beaten full house (which it truly was, I know) is just mean really. I don't mind my play here though, just the wrong result at the end of it.
4. Eliminated in 3rd
The blinds had eaten away at my stack to leave me with 970 and blinds of 75/150. Five handed I was second to act pre-flop with K9o and felt I had to shove. I picked up a caller from the SB with AQo and swore. Fortunately I hit a King on the flop and doubled up, crippling the SB at the same time. I then combined stealing and folding to slowly build my stack. I won another good hand with 44 when I rasied UTG and the BB called. I hit a 4 on the flop and bet out for the minimum. The turn blanked so I bet out again for 450 and again the BB called. The river completed a full house for me so I bet again for 1200 into a pot of around 2200 but this time the BB folded. I still won around 1100 chips though. I won a similar amount several hands later against the same player when I rivered a straight with T9s against his AQs. He led out on most streets but check-called the river. I know I got lucky here but he was min-betting so I had the odds most of the time, certainly when you include implied odds. I tightened up, as I could afford to do with a decent stack, waiting for the bubble to burst, which it duly did. When it did pop the stacks were around 3500, 4500 (mine) and 5500 so it was quite even really. I was taking shots and picking up a few small pots and stealing a few blinds. It was a three-stage death for me really when I lost nearly a third of my stack with J7o against Q7o. I flopped second pair on an A-T-J board, turned two pair when a 7 was dealt but lost to a straight when a K came on the river. Two hand later I lost over half of what I had left against the short stack when I had JJ up against his AA. The end came with 99 against T9o. I flopped a set but the board came 8-9-5-7-6 to give him a rivered straight to the Ten and eliminate me. I made the right moves most of the time but they didn't always work out as desired.
5. Eliminated in 3rd
Some mentalist was moving all-in a lot on the first level when he still had around 45xBB left so when he did it on a hand when I had KK I called him. He had A5o and the board came 7-T-7-K-6 to give me a full house and eliminate that muppet early on. There was then nothing to write home about for many orbits unless you'd send a postcard about me stealing a few blinds and folding some blinds away. I was building a steady stack and with blinds at 50/100 I had 2600 - over twice the stack I usually have at this point - when I got dealt 88 on the button. I raised pre-flop to 300 and got a caller from the BB. The flop came 5-4-3 so I led out with my overpair only for the BB to shove over the top of me. I didn't fancy calling 1400 total so I folded away the 600 I had put in the pot so far. I stole all those chips back and more in the next orbit and a bit. My next key hand was AKo against TT when the table was down to 5 players. One off the button I raised pre-flop to 450 (3xBB) with a stack of just over 3000. The BB had just over 2000 before posting and shoved all-in over the top of my raise. It's a move I'd have made with his stack and hand in that situation too but I made the fairly easy call. I was looking to get a lot of chips in and hopefully face two big cards (smaller than my AK, obviously) but TT made it pretty much a coin flip. I needed the river to pair the King before I could take down the pot though. Phew. We were now 4-handed so I switched back to tight waiting for the bubble to burst with a stack that could survive quite well. The plan worked well enough and when the bubble burst stacks were roughly 5000 (me), 2500 and 6000 so I was well in contention. I folded loads more crap hoping the big stack would pressure the short stack but I think I played it too passively and could have stolen more to keep myself in better condition if I am honest about it all. I then lost nearly all my chips against the previously short stack who had just about caught me up. I made a standard raise to 600 (blinds 100/200) on the button for the SB to then shove all-in. I had 88 and quite fancied my chances so I called - a little loose in hindsight but at the time I was thinking that we were probably coin-flipping for 10% of the prize pool (the difference between 2nd and 3rd) and that a win here could see me go into heads up with a cheap lead and perhaps win the whole thing quite comfortably. He flipped ATs so it was indeed a coin flip. He paired the turn and river though so I lost out. I had a few hundred chips left but they went a few hands later when I had no option but to put them in with Q3s and got called by JJ that went on to make quads. Comprehensively beaten there. I didn't play that well 3-handed, I recognise that. Lessons learned for the future I hope.
6. Eliminated in 4th
I won a nice chunk early on with AK (adding 300 to my stack with blinds at 10/20) and that was it for a while. I then spiked another good hand with JJ UTG holding up against 55 UTG+1. I lost my bottle a bit on the turn and river for some reason though and could have made more on this hand. Despite that I went on with a stack of a tad over 2300, nice when blinds are still 25/50. The blinds then started to do their thing as I got round after round of unplayable hands, although I did steal a few along the way. It all went in with 44 UT4 with the game down to 4 players. Blinds were 75/150 and I shoved for 1355 (around 9xBB) UTG with 44 getting a caller in the shape of the SB with A5s. The board was 5-3-2-3-T so the Ace or 6 I had been screaming for after the flop failed to materialise and I was out. We were coinflipping (I was 51.59% to win) and I think it was probably the right move in the circumstances. I had been tight for several orbits and finally got a playable hand with good fold equity. The SB's call was loose given I could easily have had a dominating Ace in that situation but so be it.
7. Eliminated in 6th
My stack had been eroded by the blinds for a couple of levels and was down to 1335 when I was suddenly dealt back to back beauties. I got KK and got a short stack to call all-in for 260 with JTo which was crushed by the set I made on the turn. Next hand I got QQ and got the short stack to commit his 800 all-in pre-flop with 77. I made a set on the flop and busted him, dragging his chips into my stack. I sat back for a while but stupidly lost 450 chips with 85o after a free look at the flop from the BB. The flop of 7-T-9 gave me an open-ended straight draw so with implied odds I called a small bet of 150. The turn was a 5 and an 8 on the river gave me two pair but gave any J or 6 a straight. The turn was checked but I called a river bet of 200 in case my two pair were good and he didn't have a 6 or a J. He had A6o and took the pot. I still had over 2000 and blinds were only 50/100 so I was still in decent order. I got JJ UTG and made my standard pre-flop raise to 300. The BB called but folded to my c-bet on a scary 9-A-K flop. I raised pre-flop with KJs but had to fold to significant action on a flop I missed completely losing 450 chips. Then the blinds had a nibble at my stack before I got a double up from the SB with AKo against QTs. He paired the flop and had flush outs on the river but it came an offsuit Ace and I was still in it with nearly 3000 chips. A steal with KJo went wrong when my SB caller made a bet on the flop I couldn't call as I had nothing anywhere near it and it was too risky to raise him there. I went out a few hands later with the same hand I doubled up with previously - AKo. I made a standard button raise to 450 (75/150) after UTG had limped. UTG then called the extra 300 and we saw a flop of 8-2-5 all one suit. He min-bet so I called with overcards figuring him for the flush draw with at least one high card. The turn was an offsuit Ace so when UTG bet 600 I shoved for 1665 total. He made the very easy call with QJs having flopped a flush. The Ace of the same suit came on the river to taunt me. I didn't put him on a flopped flush I must admit. When the turn came offsuit I still had him on the draw. I got my money in ahead though...
8. Eliminated in 8th
There's little of interest happened before I busted out here really. The game was less than half an hour old so we were still on level 3 (25/50) when I managed to get it all in pre-flop with AKs, and by all I mean my stack of 1265. How? I was in mid-late position and re-raised an early position raiser. He raised to 200 and I re-raised to 500 to see how much he liked his hand. A lot, apparently as he shoved all in for another two grand. I thought and then called figuring I was only really dead to Aces and Kings. He had Aces and busted me convincingly. I'm quite disappointed with how I played this. I don't mind the re-raise - it could have been bigger to be honest but either way he'd have put me all in with Aces. I didn't figure anyone would play Aces quite like that so in hindsight perhaps I shouldn't be too disappointed. Live and learn.
9. Eliminated in 2nd
Not much of interest until I doubled up on the fourth level with KQs against AJo. My stack of 1295 was drip-fed into the pot with a pre-flop raise, just under a half pot bet when I paired my King on the flop and the rest in on the turn. He had paired his Jack on the flop also but the rets of the board was no help to him and I won a nice pot. I lost half my stack a couple of orbits later calling an all-in raise (1310 with blinds at 75/150) from the SB. I had AKo he had JTo of the same suits so his flush outs were counterfeited too. He hit a Jack on the flop and turn with the river pairing the board to give him a full house. Grrr. Right move, wrong result again. I won all the chips back 3 hands later though with 77 against AT when the board missed us both. I shoved in middle position five-handed with a stack of 1280 and get a caller from the button with ATo. He was the big stack so could afford the call. My pocket pair held up and I was back in the game nicely. On the bubble I stole a few blinds and pinched some pots with solid c-betting to build my stack further. I lost some of this to the rising blinds as the short stacks started to fight back but when the bubble burst I still had a reasonable stack of 3210 with blinds at 100/200 and was second in chips, around 500 ahead of the short stack. Again I played a little too passive three-handed and could have tried stealing with some of the small Aces I was dealt rather than lose the blinds but the big stack was being fairly aggressive and making a lot of pre-flop raises (as he should). I could have re-raised him on a re-steal but didn't, I need to consider that move more in the future at this stage of the game. I folded my way into second though and got an immediate double up heads-up with 77 against KJo. He raised from the SB, I shoved over the top and he called. My sevens held up again to reduce the chip deficit significantly. Over the next few hands I dragged it back to parity and kept it round there for a while before being forced to fold some trash out of the blinds and slipping back a bit. I lost 1200 with A4o with the blinds at 200/400/a25 when the BB re-raised all-in and I felt too weak to call him when I could fold and still have 10xBB in my stack. I lost another load of blinds when I had hands that couldn't take action and as he was being quite aggressive I folded rather than get it all in with J3o or K7o. The end came with K8o when I felt I had to take a stand only to run into AQs. His high card was enough to win the thing. Again possibly too passive heads-up when I could perhaps have taken the initiative more and tried to shove some hands I folded instead. That's something I can work on though. Phil Shaw's book on sit'n'go strategies references some optimal heads up play tables from The Mathematics of Poker by Chen and Ankenman which I have on my 'to read' pile but it looks quite heavy going. I should try to work my way through it sometime though as that may be useful in the future.
10. Eliminated in 6th
I maintained my stack by winning smallish pots with KQs and AKs at the 50/100 level but each pot was only worth around 4xBB profit so I wasn't building a big stack by any means. The blinds rose and began to eat my chips away so when I got AKo in late position with blinds at 100/200 it seemed natural to shove all-in for 1255. I sucked the SB into calling with a dominated hand of AJo but he flopped a flush draw that completed on the turn and I was out. Once again, right move but the wrong result. Not much I can do about those.
11. Won
I got a treble up with pocket Aces when the blinds were 50/100 to make things interesting. I got the same hand 6 hands later and made a standard 3xBB raise to 300 on the button. The BB called. The flop was Q-8-J, the BB checked so I bet out again for 400 into a 650 pot. Again the BB called. The turn was another J - he checked and I checked behind as I was now behind to any Jack. It also put three to a flush on the board. I could (should?) have bet out to see where I stood but I am rubbish in situations like this and never know whether I should bet out or check. Every time I do bet out I seem to get called/raised by hands that have me crushed and every time I check it seems I am ahead - I can never get it right. The river was a brick and I called his bet of 500 (pot was 1450). Again I could have raised but didn't for the same reasons as I checked behind on the turn. Did the turn help him and he was trying to check-raise me after I bet the flop after his check? If so then he bets out on the river, if I raise he's going to re-raise, probably all-in and I am put to a tricky decision. I called and won when he showed 97o - yes, 9-7 offsuit. He had a flush draw that missed on the river but he only had a gutshot on the flop so what was he doing calling my bet? Giving me chips, sure, but what else? I won a similar sized pot and burst the bubble a few hands later with ATo against A8s. He paired his 8 on the flop but I hit a Ten on the turn to give me the pot and ensure I finished in the money. I had the chip lead too with a stack of 6000 facing stacks of 4250 and 3250. I played better 3-handed in this one stealing a fair amount pre-flop to make sure I maintained my chip lead. Unfortunately I lost 3700 with JJ after I raised to 450 (3xBB) from the button and the SB shoved for 3695 total. I called as I would be a coin-flip with overcards and only really behind to QQ+. He held AQo and hit his Queen on the river. Oooh! I then went steal crazy to rebuild my short stack getting another double up via a shove with ATo in the SB when the button folded. I paired the flop and turn to crush his A4s and won back the chips I had lost with JJ earlier. As chip leader once more I got busy stealing and pressurising the other stacks into making tricky decisions. I lost all these chips and more back to the same guy with A9s against his ATo. He had hit two pair on the flop, I had paired my Ace. He just called my bet there. The turn seemed like a good card for me as it paired my 9 but it put three to a flush on the board. I bet 600 into a pot of 1000 and he shoved for 4015 total. I put him a flush draw so called him down. He was on a flush draw - which hit on the river incidentally - but I was already beaten by his higher two pair anyway. Losing that one hurt and there was now less than 1000 between me and the short stack. Two hands later I put the short stack out when my A9o had his A5o dominated. He raised all-in pre-flop from the SB and I made the (loose?) call. I rivered a flush to make sure I won the hand. I was down 2:1 in chips for heads-up. I got aggressive and over the next 10 hands managed to chip up another 1000 chips or so. I doubled up with A2o against J8o when we both paired the flop (him the J, me the Ace, obviously). The end came two hands later when he shoved his short stack in with Q7o only to run into my KTs and my high card held up. Winner! I fought back nicely from losing big chunks of chips several times three-handed when it just wouldn't go my way - JJ v AQo, for example. The A9 v AT hand was frustrating but that's poker. I didn't give up and gave myself a chance to win it with aggressive play.
12. Eliminated in 2nd
I lost 360 (blinds 10/20) early on with AA. I raised to 60 in late position and got two callers, including the BB. The middle position caller bet 100 on the 6-9-7 two suited flop after the BB checked so I raised to 300 with my overpair trying to shut down any straight or flush draws. The BB folded and the original raiser shoved all in for 1380 total. Did I want to call an extra 1000 with AA on a draw-heavy board and risk early elimination? Folding leaves me with more than two-thirds of my stack to play with so I did indeed fold. Nothing then for a while till I doubled up with AQo against 88. The button raised my BB to 300 (50/100) so I shoved all-in for 1000. He made the call - I paired the flop and turn to double up. I doubled up again (after folding for several orbits) with AQ against AJo when my better kicker made all the difference. I won another big pot with KK a few orbits later. I was on the button and called an all-in raise before me. Blinds were 100/200 and the all-in was for 2765 so a big bet. He turned over AQo and I was drawing very thin when the flop came A-A-8. The turn was a dream though - one of the two remaining Kings to give me a full house. I only needed to dodge the last remaining Ace and the other 8s on the river, which I did and soared into the chip lead. Four-handed next hand I raised UTG with KTs and got raised all-in by the short-stacked BB. I called the extra 700 or so chips and faced AKo. His Ace held up but I still had the chip lead. I played passively again surrendering my chip lead waiting for the bubble to burst. When it did I was fortunate enough to fold my way into second with 3rd being eliminated just three hands later. I then doubled up a few hands later with KTo heads up against A6o when I shoved all-in pre-flop for 4000 (10xBB) and rivered a straight. I built on this advantage till I had a chip lead of over 2:1 then doubled him up with A2o against KK. I raised his pre-flop limp all-in on a steal but he made the very easy call. His hand easily held up to put him slightly ahead. I scrapped back into the lead with some aggressive play before losing 6550 with K7o against KJo. My pre-flop aggression getting me in trouble again. I held on for a few more hands but the end came with my 96o being crushed by his A6s. I tried. I was aggressive and played quite well heads-up but I mis-timed some of my plays is all.
I have to admit it takes quite a while to do these analyses. I need to find a way to speed them up but think they are worth it as I learn a lot more when I write things down. Maybe I should focus on those STTs where I finished outside the money with a quick look at 3rd places in case I should have done better rather than go through each event in full. I could perhaps pick fewer key hands too. I'll see how it goes in the future. It would be a shame to drop this 'feature' as I do think it is useful and helps me learn more about my play and where I am going wrong, as well as what I am doing right. That way I can reinforce the good behaviour and change the bad. It gives you lot a few chances to critique my play too I guess. But it probably took me two hours or more to write up these 12 events so that's getting on for as long as it took to play them!
Quote Reply
Originally Posted by mathare
