Happy Accident-2nd Cash win Online

On Sunday accidentally clicked on the $2000 tournament buy-in, using 100,000 almost half my credits....tried to unregister but it was too close to the starting time, so it was not allowed.  3 hours later, finished in 42nd place, with 60 places paid out of 670 or so players.  Not sure how much I won as could not see the prize pool screen, but probably only $5 or $6.  Not a very efficient use of my time.  First prize was $750, which would have been nice.  Basically, as short stack decided to shove with Q9 suited, 3 callers, flopped a queen, ace on river knocked me out.  No real pay increase until final table so I was happy with the results and if my hand had held up could have made a run for the bigger bucks.

Queens

I had forgotten about my love hate relationship with queens until last night.  Playing in the packed Legion tournament (dealing table 2), I played fairly loose at first since it was a "limpfest" on most hands.  Could not catch a flop.  I raised with AQ and got one loose caller.  Flop is good with A/2/K, she bets $500, I raise to $1000, she calls.  Turn pairs the 2, she bets 1000.....I think for a moment and fold face up.  Now down to half my starting chip stack, I pick up A/9 in early position.  I raise, AK calls and another player calls.  Flop is A/9/x with 2 diamonds, I go all-in AK calls and I double up to starting chips.  Good.

Now I pick up Q/Q and raise with A/10 calling.  Flop is Q/5/x and I check.  He bets 200, call.  Turn is another 5, check, bet $200, call.  River is an ace, check, he bets $600, I check raise all-in, he tanks then calls....courtesy double up, thank you.

I get QQ once again, winning a small pot.  Then manage to lose half my stack when an aggressive loose player open shoves with 8/6 and I call with AQ.  He hits his 8.

Later, on the final table I do my usual "card dead on the final table" routine.  Super short stacked and on the bubble I get QQ yet again.  Unfortunately for me another very bad player has 10/10 and only 2000 more than me.  Also, the big blind is one of the loosest player in poker history and is a big stack.  (Blinds at 1,000/2000, I have 4,000, bad player has 6,000).  I go all-in, and like the ignorant player he is (had to be told several times not to take his cards off table...rookie!!!), simply calls with his 10's rather than re-shoving to isolate me.  That prices the big blind in with 8/10 offsuit....at least in his mind getting 5/1 on his money vs. 3/1 if the other player had shoved.  Flop looks good to me, which shows how unlucky you can be......8/8/5.  The 10's are drawing to one out, I am drawing to 2 and I lose with the best starting hand.  A few chips more and I am back in it to win it as the BB would have folded to a bigger raise.  I collect my bubble money, the other player takes 6th place for $79 and I go home as sadder but wiser man.

Couple of side notes:  I shoved once, blind vs. blind on final table, no call.  Two other times, wanted to shove but pre-shoved before me and did not have a calling hand.  Both times I had weak suited aces, one shover showed A/3 suited (I had A/4 suited), the other had A/7, I again had A/4 suited.

Unluckiest play I saw at FT was a shove by a great player with 4/4, called by A/K and A/K.  3 spades on the flop, he had the only spade.  The AK's were drawing to combined 2 outs since A spades or K of spades completes his flush.  They hit the non-spade king on the river.       

Flawed Decisions

Sometimes, you just make the wrong decisions.  Playing in an online qualifier for a year's free VIP membership (let's you play more cash games), we were down to 15 players, and I am in 7th place with 10 players moving to finals when I pick up pocket jacks on the button.  With several limpers, including the massive chip leader, I just call.  The big blind then min-raises, a short stack shoves, the big stack shoves and it is around to me, sandwiched between the original out of position raiser.  It looks like an easy fold to me.  With the 3 players all in, I see the blind with pocket 5's, the first shover with A/7, and the big stack with A/10.  The flop is small and the 5's end up winning, tripling up.  Opportunity missed.

A few hands later I have pocket 9's.  With several bigger stacks playing I limp.  The flop is A/Q/x, and action is checked to me.  I check behind.  The turn is a 4, but puts two clubs out.  When it is checked to me I shove.  The big stack calls with a flush draw and hits it on the river.  Player down.

 I really feel that I misplayed both hands, with the worse play on the last one.  With a preflop shove I probably win, or at least a raise with a shove on the flop.  At the very least, just a small bet on the turn and fold against the big bet when the flush hits.

A small comment on this type of tournament.  It is usually smarter to play for a seat than to try to "win" as the top 10 all earn the same.  This however can backfire when you throw away the best probable hand preflop.  Sometimes better to get knocked out early rather than play timidly.    

Who Says I Never Win Money Online?

Variance

I appreciate the comment about playing loose in the loose game, and to some extent that is true.  However, you must play tighter than most of the loose players and expect more variance.  What is variance?  It is simply the swings in your bankroll that you experience.  In a high variance game, like any loose game, you will see the very loose players amass vast amounts of chips while they happily crack aces with their crap hands and hit two pair playing any two suited cards, or make a really bad flush that holds up.

But, on the other side of the coin, these players will also suffer some real reversals of fortune, losing the big stacks they so easily accumulated.  On other days, they will buy in repeatedly trying to capture that magical day when all of their crap was successful.  They experience high variance, both from day to day and within a single session.

My goal by playing tight is to have very little variance.  I am happy to buy in for $100, play for 5 hours, have a "nice" meal and cash out for $150.  It may only be a $10 an hour win rate, but heck, that is better than minimum wage.  The best poker books say that you shouldn't expect to win much more that one or two big blinds per hour.

Great link below:
http://www.cardschat.com/poker-variance.php

Have I finally figured out the cash game?

Wow, I could get used to this.  Last night I won $120 in the 2/20 game.  My secret?  If I told you it would no longer be a secret would it?  O.K. since you are pressuring me, here it is:  I play super squeaky tight.  When I say tight, this is what I mean.  Folding 99% of hands in early position.  This includes connectors, suited or not, weak aces (described as anything worse than AJ...and that hand must be suited), I am raising with big pairs or AK, limping with small pairs which I will fold to big raises (more than $5).  Late position am open to more hands including suited connectors, weak aces if there are tons of limpers.....otherwise they are probably folds.  Also, folding nearly all small blinds, even with the whole table limping.  I did not see a single hand that I would have won from small blind,  and the $3 and hour you spend does add up.  Also, folded nearly all straddles, even from the big blind with reasonable hands.  Again, lots of straddles, so saved quite a bit.  My attitude is well known about straddles and even got up once to prevent "La Thief" from doing it to my big blind.  Ha-Ha!  If I have a "real" hand with a straddle on, will always raise $20.

Some examples of hands that I limped with...and folded post flop:  AK, QQ....both from the blinds with a lot of limpers.  These are hands that I want to see a flop cheap and either dump or pump according to the board.  Saved me a lot of money.

My aces were snapped once.....short stack with 5/5 insisted on calling his last $18 on small flop with a gutshot....which he hit.

My biggest pot was A/9 suited in late position, calling a small (frequent) raiser who had A/2 suited.  Flop was A/9/2 and he insisted on raising and re-raising me on every street.  I got my whole stack in good and doubled up.

Bottom line is this:  Extreme tight play is working for me where nothing else has.  My variance is way down and have had profitable days the last three sessions.  The old adage:  play loose in a tight game, and tight in a loose game is very true.  And, by nature, the 2/20 at the Moose is as loose a game as I have ever seen.  Lots of gamblers, donks, aggression, dumb calls, calling stations, chasers, ATC's, etc.  The only way to beat that is to only enter pots under great conditions:  last to play, very strong cards, good reads.

Close, but no cigar

Playing this morning in the Moose tournament started really well, winning 3 of the first 4 hands dealt.  Chipped up nicely, knocking two players out when I was dealt back to back aces.  Also got lucky against a weak ace who called my BB raise with KK when he spiked an ace, but I runnered a straight.

Final table, bad early seat draw and average chip stack.  Because there were tons of alternates, the blinds were big on the FT, starting at 500/1000.  With only 3,000 and blinds at 1/2000 and in the big blind, I have A/8 suited.  Another player, on the button, shoves his last 3000 with A/5 offsuit.  The big stack at the table calls with A/3 and we are 3 way all-in.  The A/5 catches a 5 on the river and I am out in 7th place.  Really bad luck as there was a 7 on the flop with 2 big cards, and my kicker plays if small cards and/or an ace hits, otherwise we are looking at chop chop 3 ways.

Anyway, too bad cause with as many players in the tourney, they would have paid at least 4 places, so just missed the money.

More Like It

Well, this is more like it.  Playing the "Morning Moose" today I tripled up on the second hand when my queen high flush knocked out two players, one with a jack high flush, the other with 2 pair.  I like to believe that I am really dangerous when I chip up early, but that is not really true.  I still try to play my own game, loosening up only slightly.  When our table broke I began giving chips back, but got lucky with an all-in of A/6 suited vs. A/K suited when I spiked the 6.  I was destined to get lucky once more when down to 4 players on the final table I knocked out 2 with my 7/7 vs. A/Q & J/J.  Managed to hit a 7 for my second flopped set of the tournament.  With the chip lead heads up we agreed to chop for $240 each!!!

Playing for just a short time on the cash table I added another $30 to my winnings.  My best outing for a week, glad to quit ahead.

Idiot!!!!

O.K., so I am on a major "cooler", as opposed to a "heater".  I can accept that fact.  But what I cannot accept is that I am a certifiable imbecile.  Playing in the Steve Stark tournament this afternoon I was on cruise control.  Getting some decent cards, playing them pretty well, chipping up.  Reaching the final table with a great chip stack, we got down to 5 players, 2 with short stacks, and two bigger stacks than mine.  Then, this hand came up.

Under the gun, with blinds at 1,000/2000, I limp with K/10.  The small blind completes, the big blind, the chip leader, checks.  The flop is J//8/x, with 2 diamonds.  It is checked to me, and I bet 2000.  Small blind, 2nd chip leader calls.  The turn is a 10, and for some unexplainable reason I believe that I now have a straight.  When is is checked to me, I go all in.  The opponent quickly calls after looking at the board for a minute.

She tables the Q/9 for the straight and I am looking for a queen on the river for the king high straight.  Nope, I am gone in 5th place instead of cruising into the money (paid 3 places).  Idiot!!!!  

Worst Table In The World

Nightmare table last night at the Moose.  Dirt Farmer raising early & often, usually with garbage.  Joe calling every big raise with his garbage.  Lucky players to my right and left, who both were raising very light.  Here are some beat examples:

Dirt raises with ???, I have pocket 10's including the 10 diamonds, Joe calls.  Flop is 8/9/J diamonds.  I have open ended straight flush draw with only one possible overpair (not including pocket pairs).  Dirt bets $7, I raise to $27, Joe calls, Dirt folds.  Turn is another diamond, Joe wins with king of diamonds.

I have 8/Q in big blind, lucky donk (horrible player), limps in with 8/5 offsuit 2 UTG (great choice).  Flop is 8 high, I bet $5, he raises to $15, I call.   Turn pairs 3's, I check, he bets $20, I call.  River is a 5, which puts 3 spades, possible straight out, I check, he says, "I really should value bet now", but checks (dipshit comment).  He wins with his two pair.

Same player, I am small blind, he raises big, $16 UTG, it is folded to me, I reraise $20 with AQ suited, he calls.  flop is something like 4/5/6, I bet $20, he calls.  Turn is a jack, I bet $20, he calls.  River is a 3, I bet my last chips (around $20), he calls.  Turns over the winning hand....A/5 offsuit....pair of 5's.  I declare "seat open" and leave.

Desperately wanted to re-buy, but as I was already stuck over my daily limit (3 rebuys), I left.  I welcome these players and will destroy them with any average luck on my part.  Overall, just a toxic table with too many weak raisers who caught lucky and too many calling stations.    

Bad Tournament Luck (Not Mine, Particularly)

Friday night was a blood bath of bad luck.  I dealt table #2 and "Mike", one of the good guy players had accumulated a good chip stack.  Another player, who I will not name, not nearly as universally popular or nice, raised big with AK offsuit.  Mike reraised all in with JJ.  The flop was small, so far so good, but with 2 clubs.  Turn again a brick, but another club.  The all-in villain had the king of clubs.  So, naturally, the river was a club.  Dumb luck prevails.  I had folded AK offsuit the hand before to mr. lucky's all in raise with 7/7.

Making the final table, Mike raised in late position with K/Q, and calls a very short stack all-in with K/4 suited.  He hits his 4 to double up.  The next hand, Mike raises with AK and calls the all-in who has K/J.  Two jacks hit the flop.

The very next hand, Mike goes all-in with Q/Q and is called by Q/10, who rivers a straight.  Three sick beats in a row, plus the earlier one.