Downswinging

Hey all,

I know it's been a while and I promised to update weekly but I've been getting owned so all I want to do is play when I have free time. I'm really tired now so I'll try to give an update. First, the life stuff. I'm taking my Series 7 on June 2nd. I'm really excited about it and I'm almost done reading through the study materials for the first pass through, which means next week I'll start taking practice exams for about a month straight. I'm gonna take 13 tests twice in 5 weeks. Other news, my blackberry is now awesome because it has new twitter and skype apps, as well as this kickass MLB app where I can listen to every single radio broadcast streaming and it's really clear quality. I've been studying while listening to the cubs and it's amazing.

So...poker. As you may know I've been playing a lot of 2/4 6max since I got a loan from my friend but it's been going pretty poorly. So far this month I'm down 15 buyins in 11.5k hands at 6max, and up a little bit at HU over about 8k hands. It's hard for me to say where I'm losing my money...I'm around 1.2k below EV so that's a little bit of it, but outside of that it just seems like every hand is running out poorly, I'm not getting good spots to bluff, and I'm running into the top portion of people's ranges quite often. If I had to pinpoint one thing that is holding back my results I'd say it's playing too many tables--having not played much 6max in the past year or so before the past 3 months I think playing 9+ tables is really thinning my focus and making me lose my edge in some pretty key spots where I'm not thinking so clearly on autopilot.

I've been spreading HU tables on AP, Stars and FTP the past few days and I feel a little more comfortable than I have most of the month. To be honest though I'm not sure that's really the issue because I always feel good at the start of my 6max sessions and I usually table select pretty well so I think I can chalk up a lot of this month so far to variance. It's coming at an awful time though, because in exactly 2 months I leave for Vegas and I need to pay for the whole trip on my poker winnings. Since I really need to pull my act together, I expect to just play HU for the rest of the month and only open up some 6max if I'm not getting enough action. I'm probably also gonna play a few of the FTOPS events since the schedule is pretty attractive, but I won't be selling action, just gonna play the smaller events that I can afford. Anyways, as promised, here are some HHs:


Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 649322
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $834.30
UTG: $404.20
CO: $319.00
Hero (BTN): $799.50
SB: $402.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN with T 7
2 folds, Hero raises to $10, 1 fold, BB calls $6

Flop: ($22.00) 8 9 J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $16, BB raises to $64, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $192, BB requests TIME, BB raises to $824.30 all in, Hero calls $597.50 all in

Turn: ($1601.00) 4 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($1601.00) 9 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $1601.00

BB shows Q T (a straight, Queen high)
Hero shows T 7 (a straight, Jack high)

BB wins $1598.00
(Rake: $3.00)


That hand was a fun start to me sitting 2/4 deep....


Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 649324
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $1129.45
MP: $432.00
CO: $536.00
BTN: $498.50
Hero (SB): $494.00
BB: $400.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is SB with J J
UTG raises to $12, 1 fold, CO calls $12, 1 fold, Hero raises to $52, 2 folds, CO calls $40

Flop: ($120.00) 6 6 T (2 players)
Hero bets $52, CO calls $52

Turn: ($224.00) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $118, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $390 all in, CO calls $272

River: ($1004.00) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $1004.00

CO shows T T (a full house, Tens full of Sixes)
Hero shows J J (two pair, Jacks and Sixes)

CO wins $1001.00
(Rake: $3.00)


This hand is an example of the kind of errors I make when I'm playing too many tables...I think I probably chose one of the worst options on the turn here with JJ. Villain isn't crazy or anything, just a standardish reg i think 24/20 preflop. On the turn here there's probably some value to get from ATs/T9s/9s9x/8s8x/AsQx/etc so I could definitely go for a half pot bet and fold to a jam. If I do check, I think I should probably peel here with a reasonable bet left in my stack since I have a pretty strong bluffcatcher here against his ace highs and gutters like 89s. Either way, there's probably like 2 combos that he bet/calls that are losing to JJ so this was just awful.


Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em $0.75 Ante - 5 players - View hand 649331
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $717.35
BTN: $564.05
SB: $822.50
Hero (BB): $431.40
UTG: $825.05

Pre Flop: ($9.75) Hero is BB with Q Q
2 folds, BTN raises to $16, 1 fold, Hero raises to $48, BTN calls $32

Flop: ($101.75) 4 2 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $52, BTN calls $52

Turn: ($205.75) T (2 players)
Hero bets $105, BTN raises to $210, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $330.65 all in, BTN calls $120.65

River: ($867.05) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $867.05

BTN shows 2 2 (three of a kind, Twos)
Hero shows Q Q (a pair of Queens)

BTN wins $864.05
(Rake: $3.00)


Here's just another example of what I do when I'm playign too many tables and not paying attention. Villain's a fish, 46/21 or something like that, his turn minraising range is nutted as hell so I dunno wtf I'm doing shipping another $225 into this pot. Just fold the turn bro.



Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 649337
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $400.00
BB: $400.00
UTG: $957.60
Hero (MP): $650.90
CO: $923.00
BTN: $388.10

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is MP with K K
1 fold, Hero raises to $14, CO calls $14, 3 folds

Flop: ($34.00) 7 5 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $25, CO calls $25

Turn: ($84.00) A (2 players)
Hero bets $60, CO raises to $160, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $100

River: ($404.00) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO requests TIME, CO bets $246, Hero calls $246

Final Pot: $896.00

Hero shows K K (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
CO shows J Q (two pair, Sevens and Fives)

Hero wins $893.00
(Rake: $3.00)


I felt bad after seeing all the hands I played bad so I had to pull up something like this. Villain is some reg, we don't have much history. His turn range is 100% FOS and 0% value, so gg him.


Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 649338
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $459.00
UTG: $716.20
MP: $454.00
CO: $480.00
BTN: $491.40
Hero (SB): $408.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is SB with 7 7
3 folds, BTN raises to $12, Hero calls $10, BB calls $8

Flop: ($36.00) 4 7 Q (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($36.00) 5 (3 players)
Hero bets $26, BB folds, BTN raises to $52, Hero raises to $144, BTN calls $92

River: ($324.00) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN requests TIME, BTN bets $335.40 all in, Hero calls $252 all in

Final Pot: $828.00

BTN shows 5 5 (three of a kind, Fives)
Hero shows 7 7 (three of a kind, Sevens)

Hero wins $825.00
(Rake: $3.00)


This was another hand I thought I played well. His turn minraise is really fucking strong and I see no reason to flat and check/raise the river, so I go for a 3bet to a size that I think he might create some flatting range with draws and sets/two pairs. On a blank river, I figure that when I check he'll be stupid enough to "value" shove something like Q5s or 555 since it doesn't look like I have him beat, and on top of that I get to give him a chance to bluff jam something like A5cc or whatever the shit he takes this line with. I'm not necessarily convinced this line is better than shoving myself since he might check back 75s but I think it at least illustrates my point that he doesn't have the self control to check back a set or something of similar absolute strength.



Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 649340
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $400.00
UTG: $308.60
MP: $938.40
CO: $400.00
BTN: $721.50
Hero (SB): $402.00

CO posts a big blind ($4)

Pre Flop: ($10.00) Hero is SB with A K
2 folds, CO checks, BTN calls $4, Hero raises to $20, 1 fold, CO calls $16, 1 fold

Flop: ($48.00) 6 Q Q (2 players)
Hero bets $28, CO raises to $56, Hero calls $28

Turn: ($160.00) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $100, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $100

River: ($360.00) A (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $224 all in, Hero calls $224

Final Pot: $808.00

CO shows 8 7 (a pair of Queens)
Hero shows A K (two pair, Aces and Queens)

Hero wins $805.00
(Rake: $3.00)


Too bad I had to hit the ace on the river or else this would've looked cooler when I called anyways. This was his first hand at the table, so no reads, obv 8 high I knew it =D.


Absolute Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players - View hand 649341
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $1012.91
Hero (BTN/SB): $1208.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 Q
Hero raises to $12, BB raises to $36, Hero raises to $84, BB calls $48

Flop: ($168.00) 5 A 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80, BB calls $80

Turn: ($328.00) 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $244, BB calls $244

River: ($816.00) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $800 all in, BB calls $604.91 all in

Final Pot: $2025.82

BB mucks A 7
Hero shows 4 Q (Flush, ace high)

Hero wins $2025.32
(Rake: $0.50)



And to end my long string of HHs, I won my biggest pot ever today against a huuuuuge fish cake. I just looked up our session stats and for 200 hands he was 3betting 44.1% and I had a 4bet range of 17.6% (I was 4betting 40.7% of his 3bets) and he only 5bet me twice, every single other time he took a flop and was playing fit/fold so that was pretty epic. Once we got 250bb deep I was 4betting everything he 3bet and I could call, and he never figured out how to adjust before I binked a flush =D.

Anyways good night guys, hope you're running better than me