My most profitable sitting of 2007 took place last night when James and I went to Choctaw for our usual Thursday game, and the funny part is most of my money came from two big hands.
The two of us were put at the same table at about 8:45 p.m. when they opened a new $1-2 no-limit game. For the first hour to hour-and-a-half I could not connect with a flop. Actually that isn’t entirely true. I did flop a set twice in that time period and got no action on it.
Finally things started rolling smoothly when I was dealt pocket nines on the button. There were already a few callers and this would be a good pot to have multiple people playing in case I hit a big hand. So I called.
The flop was K-10-4 rainbow. It checked all the way around to me. I decided to not get crazy with the hand and decided to check. I don’t fault a little probe bet here to see where everybody stands, but I elected for the checking routine.
The turn was a beautiful nine, completing the rainbow of suits and not allowing for a flush draw. The big blind led out for a $10 bet into a $14 pot. A player in middle position raised the minimum, making it $20. I didn’t like the minimum raise as it usually stands for a big hand, I just had to decide how big of a hand it was.
I was looking at a board of K-10-4-9. The only two realistic hands that could be beating me in a non-raised pot pre-flop was either a set of tens, which crushes me, or Q-J for the straight, which gives me a decent number of outs. I decided to call the minimum raise and see what happens on the river before getting too attached to my hand. That’s when things got really interesting.
The original bettor then raised all-in for $125 total. That led the raiser to call for his remaining chips, which was a total of $95. To call the bet would have left we with approximately $55. I was in a pickle.
I wasn’t worried about the blind player simply because he was a very loose player and continuously thought top pair with a weak kicker was good enough to play to the end, so two pair must be a monster to him. The player I was really afraid of was the minimum raiser. He had played this hand the same way most people would with Q-J. I now had to decide whether the guy had the straight or if he was losing to my set of nines. After about two minutes of thinking I got the feeling he didn’t want me to call, so I did.
The blind had 9-4 for two pair and the raiser never showed his hand, but he did say he had outs.
The river was a seven and I took down the pot. It was a $360 that gave me enough room to open up my game a bit.
The next big hand came when I got pocket kings in early position. I raised it up to $10. I was then re-raised by a player across from me who was wearing sunglasses at the table, which I’m not a big fan of. He made it $40 to go. It folded back around to me and I re-raised it to $100 flat. He quickly called the re-raise and we saw a flop.
The flop came down 7-4-2. This is a perfect flop for kings. I immediately said that I was all in, considering the other player only had about $125 remaining, and he insta-called. I thought this was bad news for my kings, but sure enough he turned over pocket jacks and didn’t improve.
After that I won a lot of little pots due to getting a lot of respect after showing down some big hands earlier. I stole some pots and got paid on a few hands where I had the best of it. It was a good night for me overall.
I logged a $558 profit for the night, which brings my yearly profit up to $1,900. In 2007 I am eight for eight on casino no-limit winning sessions and ten for ten since my last loss, which funny enough came from WinStar and the ten-winning streak is all Choctaw. I love that casino.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Session 7
In order to walk away with a $90 profit Monday night I broke two rules I set for myself in order to test my ability to turn playing poker into a career. The first rule was re-buying more than once in a single session. The second rule was playing longer than planned because I was in the hole, otherwise being known as stuck.
The first $200 I spent went rather quickly because although I was physically in my seat I was not at the game mentally. I bluffed off and called off my money faster than a three-song lap dance in a Vegas gentleman’s club, metaphorically you understand.
The second $200 went just as fast, but at least I put forth some thought behind my plays. I lost a large sum when my runner-runner flush with 5-3 of hearts ran into the nut flush. He bet on the flop and for some reason I stayed in the hand to see a turn card, which gave me the flush draw and we both checked it to the river. When the heart hit I bet $25 and he raised me the minimum. Since there were so many hearts bigger than mine I just called instead of raising. Calling was obviously dumb, but I figured my hand to be good enough times to validate the call.
The rest of my money lost on a set over set situation when my 10-10 went up against J-J.
Seeing as I was now mentally ready for the game and got the bad luck out of the way I wanted to see if I could recoup some of my losses. I bought in for another $200 and after about 30 minutes at the same table, and winning back about $50 of my $400 on the table, we broke up and went to different tables.
Two hands after sitting down at the new table I was in the big blind with 10-9 offsuit. The under the gun player raised the big blind, which was $2, to $7 total. He received three callers before me, which included the small blind. I was staring at 6-1 odds and decided to see a flop, which it’s a good thing I did. The pot was at $35.
The flop came 10-9-2 with two hearts. The small blind and I both checked. I was looking to trap the under the gun player. He led out with a $20 bet and was immediately raised by the player on his left. This guy went all in for $74 total. This then put $129 in the pot. The two players after this thought for a little bit and decided to fold. I now had a decision before me. I was sitting with approximately $240 in front of me and the under the gun player had about $150 in front of him. I could either just call the re-raise inducing him to call with his overcards or pocket pair or I could re-raise to get it heads up. I got greedy and decided I would take my chances against him in a side pot. Luckily for me he folded. You see, he had pocket jacks and the turn was a jack, so I would have lost.
The all-in guy flipped over his aces and lost the hand when no help came. I should also add that the other two players who thought about calling before I did both had hearts and a heart came on the river. So I got extremely lucky that three winning hands folded to the re-raise. Thanks so much to the guy who got cute with his aces.
The other big hand came when I had A-10 of diamonds in what would have been my small blind, but the guy on my right bought the button after being absent for his big blind, so I now was first to act after his small and big blind.
I limped to get a pot going in case I hit a big hand. There were four callers and the blind checked it. This put $13 in the pot.
The flop came 10-9-4 with two hearts. This was a very similar flop to the previous hand I discussed. I decided rather quickly that I had the best hand, unless someone got lucky and had a set, so I wanted to disguise my hand on the flop and catch someone betting what they thought was good. The blind and I checked and the girl on my left bet $10. The next three players called. That I didn’t expect. I thought about the situation and decided this was good enough and I wanted to win the hand as fast as possible, so I raised it another $50 on top of the $10. The original female bettor and the guy on her left both moved all in, which I covered with my $60 bet. The next player then called the raise. The guy in the blind asked if I was on a draw or had flopped a set and decided to get out of the way when I replied, “We’ll see.”
The turn was a black two. I immediately led out with a $100 bet, which would have covered the only other guy in the hand who wasn’t all in by about $5. He folded and I flipped up my top pair, top kicker hand.
The river was a nine and the two all-in players folded without showing. I won a massive pot that put me at $700 for the night.
I played another 15 minutes and then got up after five hours of play, which I only planned to play four hours but was stuck less than $100 and thought I could make it up in another hour.
I walked out with $690 for a $90 profit, which puts me up $1,342.75 for the year. After playing for the five hours I made $18 an hour. This is definitely a decent amount. I have played seven times at Choctaw Casino this year and have had seven winning sessions, but some were very small wins.
I am planning one more trip to Oklahoma tomorrow night and a tournament this weekend, which should complete the month for me. I will post my January results once I have completed all my games.
The first $200 I spent went rather quickly because although I was physically in my seat I was not at the game mentally. I bluffed off and called off my money faster than a three-song lap dance in a Vegas gentleman’s club, metaphorically you understand.
The second $200 went just as fast, but at least I put forth some thought behind my plays. I lost a large sum when my runner-runner flush with 5-3 of hearts ran into the nut flush. He bet on the flop and for some reason I stayed in the hand to see a turn card, which gave me the flush draw and we both checked it to the river. When the heart hit I bet $25 and he raised me the minimum. Since there were so many hearts bigger than mine I just called instead of raising. Calling was obviously dumb, but I figured my hand to be good enough times to validate the call.
The rest of my money lost on a set over set situation when my 10-10 went up against J-J.
Seeing as I was now mentally ready for the game and got the bad luck out of the way I wanted to see if I could recoup some of my losses. I bought in for another $200 and after about 30 minutes at the same table, and winning back about $50 of my $400 on the table, we broke up and went to different tables.
Two hands after sitting down at the new table I was in the big blind with 10-9 offsuit. The under the gun player raised the big blind, which was $2, to $7 total. He received three callers before me, which included the small blind. I was staring at 6-1 odds and decided to see a flop, which it’s a good thing I did. The pot was at $35.
The flop came 10-9-2 with two hearts. The small blind and I both checked. I was looking to trap the under the gun player. He led out with a $20 bet and was immediately raised by the player on his left. This guy went all in for $74 total. This then put $129 in the pot. The two players after this thought for a little bit and decided to fold. I now had a decision before me. I was sitting with approximately $240 in front of me and the under the gun player had about $150 in front of him. I could either just call the re-raise inducing him to call with his overcards or pocket pair or I could re-raise to get it heads up. I got greedy and decided I would take my chances against him in a side pot. Luckily for me he folded. You see, he had pocket jacks and the turn was a jack, so I would have lost.
The all-in guy flipped over his aces and lost the hand when no help came. I should also add that the other two players who thought about calling before I did both had hearts and a heart came on the river. So I got extremely lucky that three winning hands folded to the re-raise. Thanks so much to the guy who got cute with his aces.
The other big hand came when I had A-10 of diamonds in what would have been my small blind, but the guy on my right bought the button after being absent for his big blind, so I now was first to act after his small and big blind.
I limped to get a pot going in case I hit a big hand. There were four callers and the blind checked it. This put $13 in the pot.
The flop came 10-9-4 with two hearts. This was a very similar flop to the previous hand I discussed. I decided rather quickly that I had the best hand, unless someone got lucky and had a set, so I wanted to disguise my hand on the flop and catch someone betting what they thought was good. The blind and I checked and the girl on my left bet $10. The next three players called. That I didn’t expect. I thought about the situation and decided this was good enough and I wanted to win the hand as fast as possible, so I raised it another $50 on top of the $10. The original female bettor and the guy on her left both moved all in, which I covered with my $60 bet. The next player then called the raise. The guy in the blind asked if I was on a draw or had flopped a set and decided to get out of the way when I replied, “We’ll see.”
The turn was a black two. I immediately led out with a $100 bet, which would have covered the only other guy in the hand who wasn’t all in by about $5. He folded and I flipped up my top pair, top kicker hand.
The river was a nine and the two all-in players folded without showing. I won a massive pot that put me at $700 for the night.
I played another 15 minutes and then got up after five hours of play, which I only planned to play four hours but was stuck less than $100 and thought I could make it up in another hour.
I walked out with $690 for a $90 profit, which puts me up $1,342.75 for the year. After playing for the five hours I made $18 an hour. This is definitely a decent amount. I have played seven times at Choctaw Casino this year and have had seven winning sessions, but some were very small wins.
I am planning one more trip to Oklahoma tomorrow night and a tournament this weekend, which should complete the month for me. I will post my January results once I have completed all my games.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
79th Annual Academy Award Nominees
I am too tired and too busy at work to really go into how great of a day today is because of the Academy Award nominations, but just know that I have looked forward to this for a few weeks now and it's just great to see "Little Miss Sunshine" get a few nominations. It is one of the best pictures of 2007 and I highly recommend seeing it.
Here is the press release from www.oscars.org because I don't have time to type out my own release. For a complete list of the nominees go to http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/noms.html.
Nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday, January 23, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and past Oscar® nominee Salma Hayek.
Ganis and Hayek, who was nominated for an Academy Award® in 2002 for her lead performance in “Frida,” announced the nominations in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:30 a.m. live news conference at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Nominations in all categories then were distributed to the over 400 international media representatives in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards Web site, www.oscar.com.
Academy members from the various branches selected the nominees in their corresponding award categories, with the exception of the Animated Feature and Foreign Language Film categories, in which nominations were determined by vote of screening committees composed of members from several branches. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. Ballots were mailed to 5,830 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, for tabulation.
Official screenings for members of all pictures receiving nominations will begin this weekend at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings in some categories also will be held in Hollywood, at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater, as well as in London, New York and San Francisco.
The Academy’s entire active and life membership is eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, and Foreign Language Film categories – members can vote only after attesting that they have seen all of the nominated films in the category.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars®.”
Here is the press release from www.oscars.org because I don't have time to type out my own release. For a complete list of the nominees go to http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/noms.html.
Nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday, January 23, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and past Oscar® nominee Salma Hayek.
Ganis and Hayek, who was nominated for an Academy Award® in 2002 for her lead performance in “Frida,” announced the nominations in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:30 a.m. live news conference at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Nominations in all categories then were distributed to the over 400 international media representatives in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards Web site, www.oscar.com.
Academy members from the various branches selected the nominees in their corresponding award categories, with the exception of the Animated Feature and Foreign Language Film categories, in which nominations were determined by vote of screening committees composed of members from several branches. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. Ballots were mailed to 5,830 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, for tabulation.
Official screenings for members of all pictures receiving nominations will begin this weekend at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings in some categories also will be held in Hollywood, at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater, as well as in London, New York and San Francisco.
The Academy’s entire active and life membership is eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, and Foreign Language Film categories – members can vote only after attesting that they have seen all of the nominated films in the category.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars®.”
Monday, January 22, 2007
Am I Wrong With My Decision?
Now that I have thought about it more thoroughly, I would like to discuss a hand that took place Saturday during my first six-hour session of the year.
I had approximately $585 in front of me at the start of this hand, after buying in for $200. I was in the cutoff seat with A-10 of diamonds. There had been four callers in front of me and I decided to keep this a large field just in case I hit the miracle of all flops with three diamonds, full house, three of a kind or top two pair. The button called and the blinds played. It was a $16 pot with eight of us playing.
The flop came down A-J-4 with two clubs. The blinds checked and the first person to act, we will call her the female villain, bet $10. The person after her called. It folded to me and I figured to have the best hand right now unless somebody flopped a set of fours or two pair with A-4. I raised it to $30, making it $20 more to the first two in the pot. It folded back to the female villain. She called the raise and the player after her folded. The pot was now at $76.
The turn was the 10 of clubs. This was either a really great card for me or crushed me. However here was the good news, the female villain only had about $60 in front of her. She didn’t waste any time in checking. I thought for a brief moment about my options.
I could check and see what comes on the river, but that was not a good plan in my opinion. So that left betting. How much should I bet? If I bet everything she had she was only calling with a flush or the set of fours that we talked about earlier. I wanted to get all of her money if I was winning and I didn’t mind taking a risk if she was on a draw. If I bet half of what she had she would put the rest of it in on any made hand that was two pair or better or any kind of draw. With a pair of aces she would definitely call if not put the rest of it in. I decided betting half was the best plan since I was going to put the whole $60 in no matter what. If she raised me I was going to call and betting half of what she had gave me a better chance of getting all of her money.
I bet $30 again and she immediately went all in. Well, this is what I wanted and if I am beat then so be it, but I am getting 6-1 to call and I still could have the best hand seeing as she could have a pair of aces with a flush draw or even a hand such as A-Q or J-10. I called and she flipped over K-8 of clubs. Come on dealer, give me a boat.
Sure enough, an ace came on the river and she lost. I think I played the hand fine. Going in behind with a four outer wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made, but by the time all her money was in the pot I felt I had invested enough and was priced in for the amount of money she had left and the amount I had in front of me at the time.
What do you think?
I had approximately $585 in front of me at the start of this hand, after buying in for $200. I was in the cutoff seat with A-10 of diamonds. There had been four callers in front of me and I decided to keep this a large field just in case I hit the miracle of all flops with three diamonds, full house, three of a kind or top two pair. The button called and the blinds played. It was a $16 pot with eight of us playing.
The flop came down A-J-4 with two clubs. The blinds checked and the first person to act, we will call her the female villain, bet $10. The person after her called. It folded to me and I figured to have the best hand right now unless somebody flopped a set of fours or two pair with A-4. I raised it to $30, making it $20 more to the first two in the pot. It folded back to the female villain. She called the raise and the player after her folded. The pot was now at $76.
The turn was the 10 of clubs. This was either a really great card for me or crushed me. However here was the good news, the female villain only had about $60 in front of her. She didn’t waste any time in checking. I thought for a brief moment about my options.
I could check and see what comes on the river, but that was not a good plan in my opinion. So that left betting. How much should I bet? If I bet everything she had she was only calling with a flush or the set of fours that we talked about earlier. I wanted to get all of her money if I was winning and I didn’t mind taking a risk if she was on a draw. If I bet half of what she had she would put the rest of it in on any made hand that was two pair or better or any kind of draw. With a pair of aces she would definitely call if not put the rest of it in. I decided betting half was the best plan since I was going to put the whole $60 in no matter what. If she raised me I was going to call and betting half of what she had gave me a better chance of getting all of her money.
I bet $30 again and she immediately went all in. Well, this is what I wanted and if I am beat then so be it, but I am getting 6-1 to call and I still could have the best hand seeing as she could have a pair of aces with a flush draw or even a hand such as A-Q or J-10. I called and she flipped over K-8 of clubs. Come on dealer, give me a boat.
Sure enough, an ace came on the river and she lost. I think I played the hand fine. Going in behind with a four outer wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made, but by the time all her money was in the pot I felt I had invested enough and was priced in for the amount of money she had left and the amount I had in front of me at the time.
What do you think?
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Session 6
The sixth trip to Choctaw for the year resulted in my sixth profit.
James and I drove to Oklahoma on Saturday for a six-hour session. I sat down with $200 and walked out with $653. The $453 profit puts me up for the year at $1,250, putting my bankroll at $2,250. My goal going into the year was to make $1,000 a month and I accomplished that goal in 20 days.
I plan to make two more trips to Choctaw before the end of January, so we will see how that goes. Nothing of great importance took place during the session, so I don't really have much to talk about.
James and I drove to Oklahoma on Saturday for a six-hour session. I sat down with $200 and walked out with $653. The $453 profit puts me up for the year at $1,250, putting my bankroll at $2,250. My goal going into the year was to make $1,000 a month and I accomplished that goal in 20 days.
I plan to make two more trips to Choctaw before the end of January, so we will see how that goes. Nothing of great importance took place during the session, so I don't really have much to talk about.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Session 5
This one wasn’t pretty, but it still goes in the win column.
After buying in with $200 and going through about half of that in a little less than 25 minutes I milked a short stack almost all night. For about two-and-a-half hours of the session I was hanging at approximately $50-80.
I was at a very loose table and if I could have hit anything on the flop in the first half of the session I might have been able to make some money, but instead I was struggling to make anything that came across my path into a winner. I finally got some momentum going when I doubled up with pocket eights.
A live straddle was implemented three to my left, which was pretty normal at my table seeing as we had three guys who frequently straddled, putting me on the button. The guy two to my right raised it up to $15 and said, “I’m raising to protect our hands sir.” It got to me and I looked down at my snowmen. I decided to make this the hand that decided my fate and I said, “I’m going to protect all of our hands. I’m all in.” The all in was for $55 total.
It folded around to the raiser (the guy two to my right) and he thought for awhile and finally said, “Okay, let’s gamble.” He had A-J offsuit and never improved.
That gave me some room to breathe and set up the next hand, which took place maybe 10 hands later. It was raised to $5 pre-flop and there were about two or three callers ahead of me. I decided to see a flop with 9-7 of hearts. By the time the flop was seen there were six of us and $30 in the pot.
The flop was 10-8-2 with two hearts. I flopped a heart draw and open-ended straight draw. It checks two spots and a guy leads out for $22. One guy calls ahead of me and I had $99 in front of me. I decided to just call, wanting as much in the pot from every player possible in case I hit one of my hands. I know this is giving anyone with a better heart draw a chance to crush me but I was willing to take the chance at this point. Nobody else called and there was now $96 in the pot and I had $77 left.
The turn was a black 7. I now have more outs to win the hand. The bettor shoots out $20. The guy in the middle of us calls. I figure now if I hit one of my new found outs, which included a seven or a nine I could win the hand, so of course I am playing the hand until the end.
Having only $77 there is a strong argument for putting it all in right here and letting somebody call me. However, I wanted to make sure I had something better than third pair before putting everything I have in the middle. Sometimes I will gamble in these situations, but at this moment I wanted to see another card for just the $20. I called.
The river was a non-heart Jack, giving me my straight. It was checked around to me and I immediately went all in for $57. The first guy called me and he had rivered two pair with J-10. The other guy said he folded 10-8, which means he flopped two pair.
I ended the night with $251 putting my bankroll at $1,799.75. After 15 days of the month, a normal pay period for most, I have made $800. I am on par to reach my goal of $1,000 a month.
After buying in with $200 and going through about half of that in a little less than 25 minutes I milked a short stack almost all night. For about two-and-a-half hours of the session I was hanging at approximately $50-80.
I was at a very loose table and if I could have hit anything on the flop in the first half of the session I might have been able to make some money, but instead I was struggling to make anything that came across my path into a winner. I finally got some momentum going when I doubled up with pocket eights.
A live straddle was implemented three to my left, which was pretty normal at my table seeing as we had three guys who frequently straddled, putting me on the button. The guy two to my right raised it up to $15 and said, “I’m raising to protect our hands sir.” It got to me and I looked down at my snowmen. I decided to make this the hand that decided my fate and I said, “I’m going to protect all of our hands. I’m all in.” The all in was for $55 total.
It folded around to the raiser (the guy two to my right) and he thought for awhile and finally said, “Okay, let’s gamble.” He had A-J offsuit and never improved.
That gave me some room to breathe and set up the next hand, which took place maybe 10 hands later. It was raised to $5 pre-flop and there were about two or three callers ahead of me. I decided to see a flop with 9-7 of hearts. By the time the flop was seen there were six of us and $30 in the pot.
The flop was 10-8-2 with two hearts. I flopped a heart draw and open-ended straight draw. It checks two spots and a guy leads out for $22. One guy calls ahead of me and I had $99 in front of me. I decided to just call, wanting as much in the pot from every player possible in case I hit one of my hands. I know this is giving anyone with a better heart draw a chance to crush me but I was willing to take the chance at this point. Nobody else called and there was now $96 in the pot and I had $77 left.
The turn was a black 7. I now have more outs to win the hand. The bettor shoots out $20. The guy in the middle of us calls. I figure now if I hit one of my new found outs, which included a seven or a nine I could win the hand, so of course I am playing the hand until the end.
Having only $77 there is a strong argument for putting it all in right here and letting somebody call me. However, I wanted to make sure I had something better than third pair before putting everything I have in the middle. Sometimes I will gamble in these situations, but at this moment I wanted to see another card for just the $20. I called.
The river was a non-heart Jack, giving me my straight. It was checked around to me and I immediately went all in for $57. The first guy called me and he had rivered two pair with J-10. The other guy said he folded 10-8, which means he flopped two pair.
I ended the night with $251 putting my bankroll at $1,799.75. After 15 days of the month, a normal pay period for most, I have made $800. I am on par to reach my goal of $1,000 a month.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Session 4
James and I made our second Thursday night trip to Choctaw Casino last night and both came away winners.
I sat down with my initial $200 and in about an hour I was adding on another $140. After that add-on, which put me at about $175 I was again on the ropes with only about $110 when the glorious hand came along that changed everything.
I was three after the big blind but a younger guy (probably my age), who said he only straddled when he had enough one-dollar chips to do it with, had initiated a live straddle. He wouldn’t break a five-dollar chip to straddle. Fair enough.
The first person to act, the person on my right who was a regular named Tommy that I had never seen before but everyone else knew him well, raised it up to $20. I look down and see a beautiful pair of Aces. In about 15 seconds I come up with this mentality. I had seen Tommy bet on the river with nothing before this hand, but I had also seen his raising hands and they weren’t anything to scoff. He had a fair concept of the game but was one of those guys who never blamed a loss for his mistakes. It was always someone else’s fault.
I felt somewhat confident that he had a decent hand and might be intrigued by the move I was about to make. So what I did was pushed all my chips in for a $90 raise. It folded around back to him and he began to think out loud. He asked (not necessarily to me) why I would do that and said he thought it was going to be a race situation. Sweet! Finally he called and flipped over pocket fours. I won that hand and was now sitting on $220 (after rake and tip).
About 20 minutes later I received pocket eights and raked in a $400 pot when I rivered quads against a guy who didn’t show his hand. The flop was very ugly for me when it was 8-9-10 all diamonds. I led out with a bet and he called. The turn was nothing. I bet again and he called. The river was my final 8. I led out again and he called. It was a nice score that put me at a little more than $600.
Nothing of great importance happened after that. The last five hands I played for the night, in about a 15-hand period, were all winners when I either turned or rivered a straight or flush on each hand. The sad part was the pots were never more than $70, with a portion of that being my own money.
I walked out with $716, a $376 profit, putting my bankroll at $1,748.75.
So far so good.
I sat down with my initial $200 and in about an hour I was adding on another $140. After that add-on, which put me at about $175 I was again on the ropes with only about $110 when the glorious hand came along that changed everything.
I was three after the big blind but a younger guy (probably my age), who said he only straddled when he had enough one-dollar chips to do it with, had initiated a live straddle. He wouldn’t break a five-dollar chip to straddle. Fair enough.
The first person to act, the person on my right who was a regular named Tommy that I had never seen before but everyone else knew him well, raised it up to $20. I look down and see a beautiful pair of Aces. In about 15 seconds I come up with this mentality. I had seen Tommy bet on the river with nothing before this hand, but I had also seen his raising hands and they weren’t anything to scoff. He had a fair concept of the game but was one of those guys who never blamed a loss for his mistakes. It was always someone else’s fault.
I felt somewhat confident that he had a decent hand and might be intrigued by the move I was about to make. So what I did was pushed all my chips in for a $90 raise. It folded around back to him and he began to think out loud. He asked (not necessarily to me) why I would do that and said he thought it was going to be a race situation. Sweet! Finally he called and flipped over pocket fours. I won that hand and was now sitting on $220 (after rake and tip).
About 20 minutes later I received pocket eights and raked in a $400 pot when I rivered quads against a guy who didn’t show his hand. The flop was very ugly for me when it was 8-9-10 all diamonds. I led out with a bet and he called. The turn was nothing. I bet again and he called. The river was my final 8. I led out again and he called. It was a nice score that put me at a little more than $600.
Nothing of great importance happened after that. The last five hands I played for the night, in about a 15-hand period, were all winners when I either turned or rivered a straight or flush on each hand. The sad part was the pots were never more than $70, with a portion of that being my own money.
I walked out with $716, a $376 profit, putting my bankroll at $1,748.75.
So far so good.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Session 3
Made my third trip to Choctaw last night, and I am happy to say I made another mark in the win column.
I peaked at $500, after buying in for $200 into the $1-2 no-limit game, but walked out with $416. I lost a big hand a little more than two hours into my session but was able to get a lot of it back on a full house about three hands before I left.
With A-Q offsuit I raised it from middle position to $8, which was a standard raise (I love Choctaw for that). The person on my immediate left raised it to $16. It folded around to me and I called the extra bet. The flop came down A-6-4. I immediately led out with $25 into the $35 pot. My opponent raised the minimum, making it $50 to go. I didn’t hesitate to call the $25. The reason for no hesitation was a lot of players will raise the minimum to get a free card on the turn when they are on a draw of some sorts or have something they think might be second best and are trying to get a free card on the turn.
The turn was a 2 and I obliged to try and give him a free card because I wasn’t certain where I was in the hand. He led out for $50. Without hesitation I called.
This is where I faltered in my opinion. At this point I should feel pretty good that I am beat by either A-K or better. He had shown aggression throughout and was representing a good hand. If I had thought the hand through a little more I most likely would have realized that I was drawing to one of the three Queens. At that point I should either fold (which is the best option in this situation) or raise thinking I might get him to lay his hand down if it is just A-K. However, this player was a guy who would not lay down hands, as you will find out soon enough.
The river was a Jack and we both checked. I flipped over my hand and he showed his A-K. I think I lost an extra $50 more than I should have. My calls up to the turn were okay, but that last call on my part was a mistake.
I doubled up at the end of the night when I called a pre-flop raise with A-10 after another person called the raise. The raise was from the same gentleman who re-raised with the A-K from the hand I described earlier and my call was a little bit revenge, a little bit calculated, only because he was playing a lot of hands and he could very likely have two face cards or a middle pair. The flop came down 10-5-10. I checked. He led out for $20. The limper in late position called. I raised it to $50. The original raiser called. The limper folded. This then left me with $134 left.
The turn was a 7. I thought long and hard about how to get all my money in the pot. At this point there was approximately $150 in the pot. I didn’t want to push everything I had on the turn and get him out of the hand. I was willing to gamble if he was on some kind of straight draw or had a pair that he just wouldn’t let go of. I decided $70 was the right price. He called the bet.
The river was another 7. This card actually hurts me because if he did have a 10 then I am splitting the pot and if he has anything else other than a pair higher than 10 he most likely isn’t calling my all in. I showed my disgust with the last card, which was actually genuine anger and not acting, and pushed my remaining $64 in. He thought for a few seconds and called. I showed and he looked at his hand and mucked. It just happened I saw what he had and it was Q-Q. Go me.
A significant loss in a $20 tournament and some bad sessions online this weekend cost me about $60, but with this $216 profit from last night my bankroll is steadily growing. It now sits at $1,372.75.
I peaked at $500, after buying in for $200 into the $1-2 no-limit game, but walked out with $416. I lost a big hand a little more than two hours into my session but was able to get a lot of it back on a full house about three hands before I left.
With A-Q offsuit I raised it from middle position to $8, which was a standard raise (I love Choctaw for that). The person on my immediate left raised it to $16. It folded around to me and I called the extra bet. The flop came down A-6-4. I immediately led out with $25 into the $35 pot. My opponent raised the minimum, making it $50 to go. I didn’t hesitate to call the $25. The reason for no hesitation was a lot of players will raise the minimum to get a free card on the turn when they are on a draw of some sorts or have something they think might be second best and are trying to get a free card on the turn.
The turn was a 2 and I obliged to try and give him a free card because I wasn’t certain where I was in the hand. He led out for $50. Without hesitation I called.
This is where I faltered in my opinion. At this point I should feel pretty good that I am beat by either A-K or better. He had shown aggression throughout and was representing a good hand. If I had thought the hand through a little more I most likely would have realized that I was drawing to one of the three Queens. At that point I should either fold (which is the best option in this situation) or raise thinking I might get him to lay his hand down if it is just A-K. However, this player was a guy who would not lay down hands, as you will find out soon enough.
The river was a Jack and we both checked. I flipped over my hand and he showed his A-K. I think I lost an extra $50 more than I should have. My calls up to the turn were okay, but that last call on my part was a mistake.
I doubled up at the end of the night when I called a pre-flop raise with A-10 after another person called the raise. The raise was from the same gentleman who re-raised with the A-K from the hand I described earlier and my call was a little bit revenge, a little bit calculated, only because he was playing a lot of hands and he could very likely have two face cards or a middle pair. The flop came down 10-5-10. I checked. He led out for $20. The limper in late position called. I raised it to $50. The original raiser called. The limper folded. This then left me with $134 left.
The turn was a 7. I thought long and hard about how to get all my money in the pot. At this point there was approximately $150 in the pot. I didn’t want to push everything I had on the turn and get him out of the hand. I was willing to gamble if he was on some kind of straight draw or had a pair that he just wouldn’t let go of. I decided $70 was the right price. He called the bet.
The river was another 7. This card actually hurts me because if he did have a 10 then I am splitting the pot and if he has anything else other than a pair higher than 10 he most likely isn’t calling my all in. I showed my disgust with the last card, which was actually genuine anger and not acting, and pushed my remaining $64 in. He thought for a few seconds and called. I showed and he looked at his hand and mucked. It just happened I saw what he had and it was Q-Q. Go me.
A significant loss in a $20 tournament and some bad sessions online this weekend cost me about $60, but with this $216 profit from last night my bankroll is steadily growing. It now sits at $1,372.75.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Session 2
My second trip to Choctaw was better than my first, but there are still a lot of growing pains to get through before I can ever consider this type of thing a job.
I not once ever dipped below my original $200 buy-in. The first hand I voluntarily played won me $100 and I never looked back. I finished the night with a profit of $178, which sounds good for four hours of work but had I not played stupid my final hand I would have finished with a profit of $228.
Two mistakes took place last night. The first cost me $100 when I turned three of a kind and raised too little to get the flush draw out. The final heart came on the river and he bet a small enough amount, relative to the pot, that I paid him off with his 3-5 of hearts. I got greedy and could have won a $55 pot, but instead raised too small of an amount and lost $100. Not good poker strategy in my opinion.
The second mistake was my final hand. I was two after the big blind at a seven-handed table. I was dealt A-K offsuit and everyone was very aware that I was leaving after this hand. I had announced my departure before the cards were dealt and even had a rack in my hand as the cards were being passed around.
I raised it up to $8 and a guy behind me and the small blind, who had made the flush with 3-5 earlier in the night, called. The flop came out J-8-2 rainbow. The small blind checked and I made a continuation bet of $18, with $26 in the pot. The player behind me folded and the small blind called.
There is now $62 in the pot. The turn was a 6. Keep in mind I still have nothing at this point. The small blind almost immediately led out with a $25 bet. Without hesitating I called. Please don’t ask what I was thinking right here because I don’t even know.
The river was the worst card possible. An ace came down on the felt. The small blind again bet $25. Without hesitating again, although knowing I was not winning this hand, I called.
You may be wondering why I didn’t think I was winning with top pair, King kicker and if I was drawing for this type of card on the river why I didn’t try to win more money out of him since I should be drawing to a hand I think will win. Well, that is why I am not a professional player. Despite hitting one of the six outs I needed to give me something worthwhile, I still knew it was no good. The only reason I got stubborn past the flop was because it was my last hand of the night. I have now learned my lesson that poker is one long session, not individual short sessions. These blog entries probably should be Session 1A, 1B, 1C and so on.
The small blind flipped over pocket deuces for a set on the flop. I told him good hand, because it was, and began placing my chips in the rack. I misplayed the hand because it was my last of the night. Had I shut down after the call on the flop and folded when I knew I was beat I would have saved myself $50.
The win for the night gives me a $223 profit for the year. I made $44.50 an hour last night and am averaging $27.88 an hour thus far for the year. That's better than minimum wage. This bumps my original bankroll of $1,000 up a little higher now, but not enough to move up in levels yet.
I not once ever dipped below my original $200 buy-in. The first hand I voluntarily played won me $100 and I never looked back. I finished the night with a profit of $178, which sounds good for four hours of work but had I not played stupid my final hand I would have finished with a profit of $228.
Two mistakes took place last night. The first cost me $100 when I turned three of a kind and raised too little to get the flush draw out. The final heart came on the river and he bet a small enough amount, relative to the pot, that I paid him off with his 3-5 of hearts. I got greedy and could have won a $55 pot, but instead raised too small of an amount and lost $100. Not good poker strategy in my opinion.
The second mistake was my final hand. I was two after the big blind at a seven-handed table. I was dealt A-K offsuit and everyone was very aware that I was leaving after this hand. I had announced my departure before the cards were dealt and even had a rack in my hand as the cards were being passed around.
I raised it up to $8 and a guy behind me and the small blind, who had made the flush with 3-5 earlier in the night, called. The flop came out J-8-2 rainbow. The small blind checked and I made a continuation bet of $18, with $26 in the pot. The player behind me folded and the small blind called.
There is now $62 in the pot. The turn was a 6. Keep in mind I still have nothing at this point. The small blind almost immediately led out with a $25 bet. Without hesitating I called. Please don’t ask what I was thinking right here because I don’t even know.
The river was the worst card possible. An ace came down on the felt. The small blind again bet $25. Without hesitating again, although knowing I was not winning this hand, I called.
You may be wondering why I didn’t think I was winning with top pair, King kicker and if I was drawing for this type of card on the river why I didn’t try to win more money out of him since I should be drawing to a hand I think will win. Well, that is why I am not a professional player. Despite hitting one of the six outs I needed to give me something worthwhile, I still knew it was no good. The only reason I got stubborn past the flop was because it was my last hand of the night. I have now learned my lesson that poker is one long session, not individual short sessions. These blog entries probably should be Session 1A, 1B, 1C and so on.
The small blind flipped over pocket deuces for a set on the flop. I told him good hand, because it was, and began placing my chips in the rack. I misplayed the hand because it was my last of the night. Had I shut down after the call on the flop and folded when I knew I was beat I would have saved myself $50.
The win for the night gives me a $223 profit for the year. I made $44.50 an hour last night and am averaging $27.88 an hour thus far for the year. That's better than minimum wage. This bumps my original bankroll of $1,000 up a little higher now, but not enough to move up in levels yet.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Session 1
The year is 2007. It is a glorious year in that I have made the jump from a dedicated casual poker player to a semi-professional poker player. I am starting with a $1,000 bankroll and seeing what I can do with it.
Last year I was a profitable player, but I mainly played tournaments. Of the few cash games I played, about half were online, which is not my most profitable arena, and the other half were in brick-and-mortar casinos, which is one of my better games.
James and I will be making several trips to Choctaw this year and seeing what we can do with our ability and knowledge of the game. Who knows, maybe this will be my springboard to becoming a professional poker player; sleeping in until noon every day, working only the days I want to work, not answering to a boss, taking off for personal time if necessary, not paying taxes. It's nice work if you can get it.
My first session of 2007 was on January 1. It was a whip getting up to Choctaw, thanks to James sleeping in and his incessant need for plain and dry burgers, but we made it. I had to add-on another $160 from my initial $200 buy-in, but I ended the day with a $45 profit. After playing four hours that came out to be an $11.25 per hour session. Not great, but a good start to the year.
Nothing of great importance happened during the session. I got off to a rocky start and quickly found myself needing to double up or add-on. Once I was down to $36, after losing $30 to an all in player who caught a two outer on the river, I opted for the add-on.
Once I did reload I got some things moving. After about another hour I found myself to be second in chips at the table, right behind James. A rivered full house gave me the double-up I needed to get a big stack going and then a profitable A-K hand helped when I hit an ace on the flop and the guy followed me along down to the end, with me raising pre-flop and then betting the flop and turn. I decided to check the river because he was known to play some weak aces and he might have stumbled upon two pair and was praying for a check-raise on the end. I just flipped my hand over and he didn't show what he had. I am assuming either a weak ace (like mentioned before) that didn't pair the kicker or a second-best pair.
My bankroll now sits at $1,045 after two days of the year. If I retired now I could say I went out a winner, but that wouldn't be much fun. Stay tuned until the next session.
Last year I was a profitable player, but I mainly played tournaments. Of the few cash games I played, about half were online, which is not my most profitable arena, and the other half were in brick-and-mortar casinos, which is one of my better games.
James and I will be making several trips to Choctaw this year and seeing what we can do with our ability and knowledge of the game. Who knows, maybe this will be my springboard to becoming a professional poker player; sleeping in until noon every day, working only the days I want to work, not answering to a boss, taking off for personal time if necessary, not paying taxes. It's nice work if you can get it.
My first session of 2007 was on January 1. It was a whip getting up to Choctaw, thanks to James sleeping in and his incessant need for plain and dry burgers, but we made it. I had to add-on another $160 from my initial $200 buy-in, but I ended the day with a $45 profit. After playing four hours that came out to be an $11.25 per hour session. Not great, but a good start to the year.
Nothing of great importance happened during the session. I got off to a rocky start and quickly found myself needing to double up or add-on. Once I was down to $36, after losing $30 to an all in player who caught a two outer on the river, I opted for the add-on.
Once I did reload I got some things moving. After about another hour I found myself to be second in chips at the table, right behind James. A rivered full house gave me the double-up I needed to get a big stack going and then a profitable A-K hand helped when I hit an ace on the flop and the guy followed me along down to the end, with me raising pre-flop and then betting the flop and turn. I decided to check the river because he was known to play some weak aces and he might have stumbled upon two pair and was praying for a check-raise on the end. I just flipped my hand over and he didn't show what he had. I am assuming either a weak ace (like mentioned before) that didn't pair the kicker or a second-best pair.
My bankroll now sits at $1,045 after two days of the year. If I retired now I could say I went out a winner, but that wouldn't be much fun. Stay tuned until the next session.
Monday, January 01, 2007
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