I get a lot of questions/comments about my underbetting, which is understandable since it’s one of the more non-standard plays in my arsenal. I think this hand illustrates one of the many advantages of such a play, which is inducing spazziness from hands that otherwise wouldn’t give you action.
Villain … Read full post
I played both the 250 and the 2500 but not the 25K. Go ahead, call me a nit.
My first opponent in the 250 was absolutely awful. He played 63/1 over the course of the match (he open limped his button when he didn’t fold it) and played pretty badly … Read full post
I ended up doing quite well in this one, finishing 5th out of more than 1400 runners. On the whole it was a lot of fun to play so short-handed and I felt I played well, but a monumental error in my final hand left a bad taste in my … Read full post
This guy sat down across from me at one of my HU tables with an 80BB stack and lost it on the second hand of the match. In retrospect my shove might not be great. I thought he would have raised all his strong hands on the flop, but I’m … Read full post
Full Tilt Poker hosted a Tournament of Champions today for everyone who won an FTOPS event in any of the last four series. The only prize was a $10,000 WSOP seat (no details whatsoever on how/whether it can be cashed out) to the winner, and guess who that was?
To … Read full post
Don’t Try to Bluff a Guy Named Psycho
This one’s a little embarrassing. I shoved turn here hoping to get him off a mid-pair, but here’s what happened instead:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 6000/12000 Blinds 1500 Ante (8 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (CO) (t497480)
Button … Read full post
Wow. Thanks to everyone who was watching and following along.
For those who weren’t, here’s the quick version:
With 10 left I was in 8th, which was a tough spot because Bakes was swinging his big stack extremely well. I pretty much couldn’t move. Finally picked up AK and ended … Read full post
A third of the year is officially behind us. Am I 1/3 of the way to achieving my Yearly Resolutions?
Goal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games
I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($2014.50)
BB ($1000)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 7
, 4
Hero bets $20, BB calls $10
Flop: ($40) 6
, 5, 10
(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $28… Read full post
I finished 12th in this, out of 1024, meaning I made it to the Sweet 16. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about hands here because I’ll probably make a video of this for Poker Savvy Plus. But here’s the quick rundown:
Round 1- Guy was … Read full post
Another month, another monthly review of progress towards my Yearly Resolutions.
… Read full postGoal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games
I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at any real job I could get, without impeding too
A lot of players make too much of the idea that when you have a draw that you’re willing to get all in with, you’d prefer to make the final bet yourself. This is true when better hands will fold, but often people make huge shoves that make it pretty … Read full post
Hopefully these new suit characters will solve the problem of people not being able to see suits at work (pun):
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($1799.75)
Hero (SB) ($2339)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 2♦, 4♦
Hero bets $30… Read full post
Some of you are probably aware of this controversy already, but in the Full Tilt Poker lobby, heads up tables are currently displayed in alphabetical order. What this means is that whoever is lucky enough to get Table Acre or other names that occur early in the alphabet have by … Read full post
I was curious who ended up winning the NAPT Venetian which I played last weekend and had to google the name “Tom Marchese”. Not only did I learn that he plays online as kingsofcards, a tough regular whom I avoid at 25/50, but I also found this kind of old … Read full post
This one of his first 4-bets, but this guy was very aggressive with his 3-bets pre-flop, and I had an inkling he was light. My hand isn’t a bad one to jam pre-flop, but I decided just to call and check-shove if I caught any piece. A gutshot, an overcard, … Read full post
I played this guy bawaa heads up on a couple of tables the other day. He played well and it was a wild match, with me taking an early lead, then getting stuck 6-7 buy-ins, then clawing my way back to even. After more than 1000 hands, I was up … Read full post
I posted the other day about a sexy river check-raise that resulted in my opponent abruptly quitting on me, up about a buyin and a half. He found me Sunday and we played two tables of heads up for 4-5 hours. Initially, I was owning him. He was opening 100% … Read full post
One month into 2010, it’s time to review my progress towards my Yearly Resolutions.
… Read full postGoal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games
I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at any real job I could get,
Michael Craig’s The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of (at the time) the highest stakes poker game ever played. In search of a new challenge, banking prodigy Andy Beal challenges the best poker players in the world to play for stakes so … Read full post
When starting a session last night, I noticed that there were two 40/80 games going with several players whose names I did recognize. That’s usually a good sign, so I snatched up the last open seat at each and played a few hands while googling the unfamiliar screen names.
It … Read full post
Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games
This is my bread and butter game, and even if I don’t do anything to improve,
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($7800.50)
BB ($4029.50)
Preflop: Hero is SB with A
, K
Hero bets $60, BB raises to $220, Hero raises to $499, BB calls $279
Flop: ($998) 2, … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($5294)
BB ($4588)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 5
Hero bets $60, BB calls $40
Flop: ($120) 9, 8
, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $77… Read full post
Edit: Fixed the title. Was thinking this was 3/6, not 4/8.
First, the appetizer:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $8.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($780)
Hero (BB) ($2215.50)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, 9
SB bets $24, Hero calls $16
Flop… Read full post
…because sometimes, you aren’t bluffing:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($14268.50)
Hero (SB) ($4179.50)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, Q
Hero bets $60, BB calls $40
Flop: ($120) K, J, J (2 players)… Read full post
This is one of the biggest leaks that I’ve helped my students to find, and as these hands illustrate, it’s not something I’m immune to myself. I’m talking about choosing the wrong hands to defend against a possible bluff/semi-bluff when there are still cards to come. It is so much … Read full post
Evidently there was a glitch on Poker Stars heads up Sit-and-Go’s that enabled players to start a new game using the “Rematch” button even if they did not have sufficient funds in their accounts. What you see here is a small stakes grinder who figured this out and hit up … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($1027)
MP ($980)
CO ($1442.40)
Hero (Button) ($1471.25)
SB ($1000)
BB ($1336)
Preflop: Hero is Button with J, J
UTG bets $35, MP calls $35, CO calls $35, Hero raises to $165… Read full post
Given the difficulty I’ve had recently getting heads up action, I’ve put some thought into how the risk of provoking a quit ought to factor into my decisions. It seems there are certain situations, usually winning or losing a big pot, that greatly increase the chances of an opponent quitting. … Read full post
The last two months have been pretty brutal. Certainly part of that was due to whiffing the WSOP and a few failed shots at 40/80, but even my regular games have not been going well. Unlike in past downswings, I don’t feel that I’ve experienced extraordinarily brutal luck. There were … Read full post
May was a solid month, though a bit bittersweet because it started off phenomenally and then took a pretty sour turn. I can’t complain about the bottom line, but let’s see what kind of progress I’m making on my yearly goals.
Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games
Goal 1: … Read full post
There were 61 players remaining in a Poker Stars $650 satellite, and 51 seats to be won. We were already at the point where we’d be getting our buyins back. I was in like 49th or so place with 25K chips at 1250/2500 and had a nice spot for stealing. … Read full post
I was about halfway through last night’s session, and a lot of the 6-max games I was in were kinda bad. I was at the end of a few long waiting lists, but mostly there just weren’t many good games going at the time.
I’d been sitting alone, waiting for … Read full post
I won and lost a lot of money in April. I finished the month with a decent though not spectacular bottom line, but given what I spent on tournament buy-ins (thank you very much, SCOOP), I’m impressed that I was up at all.
Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games… Read full post
I was sitting at two decent HSNL tables yesterday with the same very good player, and happened to stack him at both tables. At 25/50, he cold 4-bet TT and called my 5-bet shove. I had AA. At 10/20, he 3-bet 98s, I flatted with KK, we got it in … Read full post
I didn’t play the $25K, but the $2500 was plenty big enough for me. Emily and I even rearranged Easter brunch plans so that I could play it, which turned out to be a huge disappointment, as I lasted fewer than ten minutes against AJKHoosier1, my first round opponent. Obviously … Read full post
Edit: Fixed title. This is SCOOP, not FTOPS. Was tired and tilted last night when posting this.
I was really looking forward to this event, as I’ve been working on my heads up game of late. I played both the $1500 and the $150 and had reasonable tough first round … Read full post
For the second time this year, I’ve dug myself out of a big old hole. Let’s hope it’s the last (that I need to). Here’s the hand that did it:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($9411)
SB ($5550)
BB ($20776)
UTG … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($1836.25)
Hero (Button) ($2411.75)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 8, A
Hero bets $30, SB calls $20
Flop: ($60) A, 10, 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $44… Read full post
Sorry for the recent lack of posts, I’ve had a lot to catch up on since returning from vacation. But here’s an interesting hand:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($2002.50)
Hero (SB) ($3412.50)
Preflop: Hero is SB with A… Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($1905)
Hero (Button) ($1104.50)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, 2
Hero bets $30, SB calls $20
Flop: ($60) K, 3, K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $44… Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($2955.50)
Button ($4698)
Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, K
Button bets $30, Hero calls $20
Flop: ($60) 6, 7, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $44, Button … Read full post
I was playing a decent but not great player heads up, and the match had been close, with first him then me having the upper hand, until I tried to bluff him off of trips:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($2045.50)… Read full post
February felt like (and was) a pretty awful month, but I did actually win some money. Just not nearly enough to make up for January. After the first week, I was in black and then some, pretty much right where I wanted to be for the month. Then it was … Read full post
On my recent post, “Defining His Range Into Oblivion“, tce left a comment that I felt warranted a new post:
… Read full postThis is a tantalizing post with some really interesting ideas that need more meat. Can you say more? In my experience, trying to blow someone off an Ax
What a donkey. I’m never 3-betting worse for value here, and it’s not a spot where I’m prone to bluff, either.
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($2030)
Hero (SB) ($4011.75)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, Q
Button … Read full post
Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
Hero (SB): $2,434.50
BB: $3,954.50
Pre-Flop: T
K dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $30, BB raises to $100, Hero raises to $255, BB calls $155
Flop: ($510) 3 A
2… Read full post
I think this has been out for a few days, but I just noticed that Poker Stars has posted a tentative schedule for a yet-to-be-named tournament series in April. I love the format of offering a low-, medium-, and high-stakes option for every tournament and am frankly staggered that they … Read full post
This guy was decent in some ways but pretty insanely loose and aggressive. I don’t think he ever folded to a 3-bet pre-flop (I probably should have made my raise size bigger), and there was a lot of 4-betting going on. For the most part, I just hung back, made … Read full post
It’s embarrassing how, after three years of playing poker very seriously, I’m still affected so dramatically by short-term results. For two weeks, I was getting brutalized, doubting my instincts, and not playing my best. Then I have one big day and I’m back to making good reads and following through … Read full post
What a month. It started out well enough, and after about a week and a half I was well on my way to a very solid January. Then all hell broke loose, and I lost heavily for the rest of the month, finishing it well in the red. I … Read full post
Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games
This is my bread and butter game, and even if I don’t do anything to improve, just maintaining my current winrate and putting in hours will be very valuable to me. Of course I do want to get better, but my general focus … Read full post
Having already posted an analysis of last year’s resolutions (One, Two, and Three), I’ll turn now to some year-end miscellany:
Largest Pot Won
Though I played as high as 50/100 last year, my biggest win was in a recent 10/20 heads up game. It’s … Read full post
At the beginning of last year, I set some poker resolutions and goals for myself. It’s time now to see how I’ve fared during the course of 2008.
Resolution 1: Focus on Short-Handed NLHE Cash Games
I pretty well kicked the tournament habit, but my focus wasn’t exclusively on short-handed … Read full post
Absolutely murdered this guy at 10/20 heads up this afternoon. He was decent but overly loose and aggressive and did not adapt well to playing super-deep. As you’ll see, we had a very aggressive pre-flop dynamic going on, but it occurred almost exclusively on my button. The deeper we got, … Read full post
In light of my recent article on Creative Bet Sizing, here are two river check-raise overbets I made against the same player. The situations are similar: I have an unlikely monster hand and my opponent has a well-defined strong-but-not-too-strong hand. By “well-defined”, I mean that he probably realizes that … Read full post
I spent the better part of last week in Sedona, Arizona, which is a beautiful part of the American Southwest featuring tremendous red rock structures. Unfortunately, someone decided that these red rock formations have somehow created spiritual vortexes (and yes that is the correct pluralization, not vortices, I checked):
… Read full post“In
Sorry at the airport on laptop so no easy access to HH but playing 10/20 HU guy opens for 60 on the button, I make it 211 with AKo, he makes it 533, I shove for a little over 2K, he CALLS with 42s. Naturally I am drawing dead when … Read full post
A triple barrel bluff will by definition involve at least three bets. Especially when dealing with a player who can read hands well, sizing these bets will often be the difference between success and failure.
As I discussed in a previous post, your objective on early streets may actually … Read full post
Villain was decent but way too aggressive. His strategy would have been decent for a 100BB game but we were playing 200+BB stacks and he was stacking off too light and risking too much on his bluffs.
Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand … Read full post
Yesterday was a long day. It was the first tournament of the BDL’s fifth season, and though I’m no longer the director, I still very much wanted and needed to be there. So I woke up around 6AM, spent the next twelve hours on my feet helping to run a … Read full post
I played a one hour heads up session at 5/10 NL today and had occasion to execute two triple barrel bluffs (against different opponents). I’m not on my main computer, so I don’t have the hand histories, but I’ll recreate them as best I can. The first one was against … Read full post
2+2 forums mainstay and Poker Savvy Plus Guest Pro Shaundeeb (no relation to Freddy) won yesterday’s $500 heads up FTOPS tournament. He dusted his opponent in the Final Four in a single hand (sorry converter can’t seem to handle a HU tournament):
Full Tilt Poker Game #7600724839: FTOPS Event #9 … Read full post
I went pretty deep in the $500 heads up matches, finishing in the top 64. Here’s a blow-by-blow:
Round 1
My first two opponents were ridiculously soft. I polished the first off in minutes, then waited over an hour for round two.
Round 2
I was so busy playing other … Read full post
I just happened to notice this post on fellow Poker Savvy Plus pro Dani “Ansky” Stern’s blog. He posted the details on PokerHand, but I find it annoying to click a link just to see the action, so here’s my summary:
Dani’s playing 10/20 heads up no limit … Read full post