RK poker

2005-10-05T00:33:00.000-07:00

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no luck

2005-01-30T18:19:00.000-08:00

u need to get lucky to do a well in a tourney, and
i cant get the luck when i need it.

Final or crucial hands of tournaments -
losing Ks v 10s (finished on the bubble of the main draw)
losing js vs aj (finished on the bubble of the weekly tourney)
losing ks vs a-4 (big part of stack on sunday tourney)
lost j8 v 47 in the blinds (finished in the money on the sunday tourney)
losing trip 9s against js on the turn (knocked out of saturday tourney)

The best hand ive won is ak v qs, which is a coin flip, anything
else as an underdog ive lost.

Main draw i played almost flawless poker.

One hand i limp in with aces in first position, hoping
for raise, everyone folds to the blinds.

Flop comes 8-5-4 (2 spades). Both check to me I bet,
small blind raises and big blind calls. I put
the small blind on 2 pair, and the big blind on a
straight. Unforunately running spades came out and
i woulda made a flush, but hellmuth would have been
proud of that lay down. Coz at the showdown I was
spot on. Sometimes it pays to be stupid.

Oh well.

$100 ST

2005-01-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

played $100 st. 2 interesting hands. One I pick
up aces, blinds are 10-20, I raise to $50.
I like to try and double up with aces on a single
table tourney, and this table was so tight, if
I rasie any more Id scare ppl away. Which is dangerous
for the guy with As, after all some guy can limp
in catch 2 pair, and it could be all over.

Now 5 ppl saw the flop including the 2 blinds.
Which came A-Q-J (2 spades). This was going to
be interesting. Blinds checked to me, I bet
50, a couple of ppl folded and then the big
blind re-raised me to $200. Ok If hes got K-J,
hes got me beat, but anything else, im ahead
with my top set. In fact this bet didnt make
much sense to me. Was it that he sensed
weakness or was he betting a draw or was he
protecting a real hand like a straight. I
thought may be 2 pair, and he didnt want me to
catch a cheap flush. The turn came a small spade.
If my initial read was right he would check his
2 pair , coz a scare card came out. And I could
well be on a flush draw. But thne he went all
in for $800. I had $1200, and I had a feeling
I was beat. It seemed like he was protecting
his hand, I mean he was commiting all his chips.

What could he have ? Had he slow played his straight,
and got desperate, did he have a flush? If he had
a flush why did he not check it? Or was he trying
a steal with his two pair, it seemed like his
hand was vulnerable, and on that basis, i called.
He flipped over a small flush, damn, I luckily
had the board pair on the river making a full house.
Inaccurate read, but good outcome.

Down to 3, I raise to 1500 out of my 4500 stack, with
pocket 10s. Blinds are 400-800. Get called in the
big blind, knowing hes prolly called with a 20 hand,
like two picture cards. Coz thats his style. Then
the flop comes 9-4-2, and he goes all in , fk ? Did
i get my read wrong, no, im sure i was right. I called,
sure enough he had q-j, and then on the river, bang
a queen, and i get knocked out. Damn a good read
and i get busted, a dodogy read and i survive , oh well.

Poker meltdown

2005-01-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

I had a poker meltdown last week, playing on tables
I prolly shouldnt have and flushing down a vast portion
of my bankroll. I learnt some lessons, I learnt the value
of patience and the value of analysing myself.

I guess I realised when investing turned to gambling.
Coz if one hand can cripple you then your out of
your depth.

It was a question of money management. May be
I was bored and i needed the action, but gosh
I felt stupid afterwards. I did learn how to play
limit with the best of them, and evaluating the
table strength.

But if you learn something from it, its not a
total waste.

I wonder whether I will be able to build it up, I
dont see why not.

know the value of hands !

2005-01-10T16:44:00.000-08:00

Hands like A-T and A-J are junk hands in a 10
handed game, sure if you can
get them in late position, into an unraised pot, then
they become a lot better, but raising in early position
with these hands is a losing play.

2 important lessons, if your calling a raise , especially
in tournament play, make sure you have a decent hand
or a different hand. The way to lose all your money
is to play junk hands like A-T and A-J, and get into
a dominated situation. The reason is , the guy with A-Q
or A-K has your hand dominated. So even if the ace comes
out u dont know what to do ? Sure you can get lucky
but its not worth it. Raising, with 5-7s is a lot better
play than raising with A-T, at least your hand is different
and u know what a good flop for you is!

Watch the world series and see how many ppl are playing
hands like A-J or A-T or K-J or K-T, these are the hands
that will lose you money! in a 5 handed game, these are
good hands, but 10 handed, their trouble.

If ive learnt anything from recent tournament play, its:
1. Getting rid of crap like that.
2. Watch out if its a raised pot ! And not calling with
hands that can be dominated, even K-Qs, can get you
in a lot of trouble
3. And how to trap a raiser by limping in. One trick is,
if you have a big hand or small hand in early position
u play it the same. So if you have Ks or As dont raise.
In tournament play, you can choose to re-raise and
trap the raiser with a big hand, and dump the small
hand for minimal damage.

Recently ive done better in tournamnets:
$20 tourney (170ppl) - 3rd
$20 tourney (90ppl) - 2nd
$20 tourney rebuy (130ppl) - 7th
$100 tourney (90ppl) - 5th
$20 rebuy addon (1100ppl) - 55th

Also try and stay aggressive, u need to play enuff hands
if u dont wanna have ur blinds eaten up.

New game !

2005-01-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

Whilst watching a WPT episode, I developed a new
strain of holdem. Its a hybrid of limit and
no limit, and its a game where reading the player
is all important !

Its called "NO FOLDEM HOLDEM"

Its the same as holdem except:
1. The betting structure pre-flop is the same
as in limit (so ur betting is capped at 4 bets
the size of the big blind).

2. Heres the catch, no one can fold their hand
pre-flop !!! Thats right, if you have 2-7,
and the table makes it 4 bets to go pre-flop
you have to call !

3. Betting after the flop however is NO LIMIT !
And you can of course fold your hand.

The thing about this game, is when you make it
4 bets to go with pocket aces say, and the
flop comes 2-2-7, what do you do ?! Everyone
is still in the field, sure you built up
the pot with your aces, however, you could
easily be beat ! Thats the beauty
about "NO-FOLDEM HOLDEM" you can represent
whatever you want, its a game of bluffing
and most imporantly reading your opponent.
Just because your opponent made it 4 bets
to go pre-flop, who says they have anything,
they could be representing whatever
hits the flop ?! Also if the table keeps making
it 4 bets, your going to get blinded out,
so your forced to make a stand at the right
spot !

Anyway i think it might be good, who knows
Ive never played it b4 and i doubt anyone
else has ?

bring on party poker

2004-12-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

So i decided to sign up with party poker, apparently if
you do your credit card transfer during hours it works.
Anyway they were offering some special deal where u
get a 50% bonus up to a $100. So i sign up and then
they say they will credit my account with $25 not a $100.
They said there was another bonus i was eligible for
which entitled me to $25. They were like oh
u can only get one or the other. I wrote them an email and
said what the hell ? surely i want the offer that
gets me the $100 deal ?? Cmon ?! They then agreed
with me, and gave me my $100. At least they're
efficient, ill give them that.

Looking to try and qualify for a satellite for poker
millions qualifier, didnt seem like any action. I
played one $10 sit and go, won that, got decent cards.

Here is the hand summary, ull see that i dont
raise much pre-flop early, see flop cheaply, avoid
raised pots with marginal hands, like in hand one.
Then when its gets short handed raise with anything
and everything. However if im not the raiser, im
much more likely to fold. Never got short stacked, no
all ins.

weekend poker

2004-12-20T20:00:00.000-08:00

Playing saturday, waiting to pick up food from taj tandoor.
About to leave, just one more hand im thinking. $2-$4 NL
In the button, i may as well have a look. POcket Aces !!!
First position raises to $6, guy with a $1000 calls,
I decide to call. Then big blind goes all in for $20.
First position raiser folds, guy with a $1000 calls,
fk it im all in, for $210. The guy with lots of money
calls. First all in has Ks, $1000 guy has A-K.
Nothing comes out, and I double up to $460, thank you
very much, vindaloo tastes a lot sweeter after a monster
pot.

PLayed a bit on sunday, few multis, coming 9th, 22 ppl
left, top 20 cash. Then i have to go to lunch , oh well.
Played a few erratic hands, but even all up for the day.
Which wasnt bad, after pLaying some $5-10 tough going,
when u dont hit and ur up against a maniac.

poker

2004-12-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

havent played poker in a while (72 hours +) so decided
to play a bit late last night. Sat in a $30 tourney,
then saw $100 tourney open up as well, so sat in both.
Played tight, was coming 5th in $100 tourney, when
i didnt raise with some good hands, and prolly cost
me, as my stack dwindled with blinds increasing. Tried
to raise with A-3, someone came over the top and i
had to fold, from then on it was a struggle, ended 5th.
Got some luck in the $30 tourney, got to 3rd position,
when i lost with A-K suited to pocket 2s.
At this point i was down $70 or so for the night,
and thought lets check out the live game. One $2-$4 NL
game going, with biggish pots. Anyway i sat down
and some guy was betting pretty hard and was doing well.
Ok target him ! Picked up A-Q, flop comes A-Q-8. I
bet small, he raises to $10, some other guy calls.
Turn comes a blank, I bet $8, he raises to $20. Hmmm
interesting, who knows what hes got hopefully not trips.
Last card comes and Ace, so sweet, A-Q-8-5-A i have
the nuts!!! I check, he bets $40, i re-raise all in
he calls. He has Q-8, I pick up a $400 pot. He
re cashes in for $200. Shortly after in the big blind
I get 10-5. Flop comes 10-10-5. About 5 callers. I
check, last position guy bets $2, everyone calls. Then
turn comes a 9, Crazy guy bets $10, I call. River
comes a 3 or something. I bet $50, he comes over the top
of me all in, only 10-9 can beat me. I call. He has
like Q-6 or some crap. I take another $200 off him !
So im sitting at $650, and this guy has given me $400
in about 15mins. Play a few more hands, dont get
anything. but a good end to the night :)

weekend poker

2004-12-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

friday night, decided to sit in a $100 tourney, single
table. Usually these tables take forever to fill up online.
Anyway, I played tight, and was often the lowest chip
stack, but came back to get in the final 3, and eventually
finish 2nd. With blinds at 500-1000, i rasied to $2000 with
K-J , the other guy went all in , I called, and he showed
ace 7. So almost even money. I lose the race, and basically
had nothing and lost next hand, but one thing Ive learnt is
that if you got a chance to take down your opponent after
committing that many chips, u gotta call, even if u think
hes got slightly better hand. After all if i give up $2000
there, then hes got 2-1 chip lead on me, and with such
high blinds, I might not get another playable hand. If
u get an opporunity take it down !

Saturday night played in a live game at talandoon.
Lets just leave it at that...

Sunday poker tournament - fked it, got screwed over
by a girl twice in two days, karma. Both times folded
the best hand, despite really being chip committed,
anger coursing through my veins. At least in the
tourney i got outplayed fair and square.

Anyway johnny chan says you need learn from ur losses. I
learnt i needed to play my hands more aggressively,
when i feel i have the best of it. Better to be the
agressor than the caller, best to make a move
by the turn.

Got crapppest cards ever in the 2nd tourney.

Chad got unlucky/may be coulda pushed harder in the
first tourney, and barts hung around, and didnt get
lucky at the right time + ran into a card drought.

Did learn how to play some power poker from Monty
whilst watching him play.

Then i played in a $50 tourney when i got home, I made
a stupid misread, when someone check raised me,
and gave up half my stack. when doing well, and then came
4th. When i prolly coulda limped into 3rd.

Concluded a weekend of stupid/crappy/ghey poker, but
with many valuable lessons learnt.

know yourself

2004-12-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

key to poker is to know the frame of mind that
you are in at the moment. If you dont know how
you are going to play then its difficult to play
well. This might seem weird, but sometimes
I play more aggressive, and more bluffs. Or
Im playing in a frustrated mood, and then
I dont play so well. Tried to make some bluffs,
which were badly timed and seemed to backfire.
Lost about $150, and called it a day, at least
i didnt keep playing to catch up. I think im better
waiting paitently then trying to make too many
elaborate plays with nothing. Oh well Johnny
Chan says its important to lose to learn your
lesson. Lesson i learnt, may be my style is more
the waiting style opposed to kamikaze style.

limit

2004-12-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

look at the name of this game. It is called 'limit'
vs the usual game of 'no limit'. I dont know but
something which is limited sound less like less
fun then something which is no limit !

Anyway ive been trying to quickly learn some limit,
holde as i didnt do well in melbourne and I dont think
im that good at it.

PLayed last night for a bit down $5. Decided
to play a single table tourney in the morning, won that.
Good confidence booster ahead of tonites limit qualifying
event for Melbourne.

Limit is a game that just bleeds you dry if you
call too many bets. And if you always fold b4 the river
after calling early, then u can never win, it can
be quite frustrating. But making good reads is still
important, i guess no one mistake can knock you out.

POker

2004-12-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

nothing very interesting. One hand, i played some
guy who was looking to go all in, raised to $11,
and i put him all in for $90 with my aces. He
folded. In hindsight although he was prone to going
all in, i should have re-raised him and then seen
whether he would have gone over the top instead
of puttin him all in straight away. And leaving
him no room.

One hand I had K-Qs os, i called $2 then it got
raised to $4 i called, flop came Ks-10-7s. I checked
the raiser bet $9, loose guy called $9, then
back to me. I folded. They both checked the turn,
the river came another K, and the loose guy bet
$18 and the raiser folded. May be the raiser had A-Q
or A-J. I dunno should i have called the flop, sometimes i dont
know what to do with k-q?? I prolly had the best hand.
unless someone had a pocket pair or A-K.

Ended up about $55.

poker

2004-12-06T21:39:00.000-08:00

played a couple a hands b4 netball. Second hand, pick
up jacks in the small blind. Person in late position
raises to $6. I obviously call, I could raise, but
then why represent a stronger hand then i need to,
plus he could have a higher pocket pair. Now
the flop comes 3-6d-Jd. I couldnt have hit the flop
better. Now im not sure whether i should check, or
bet here, after all if i check, and he checks, then
ill miss an opportunity to get some money in the pot,
and i wont have any info on his hand. So i bet $4,
small bet. He raises to $10, I call. At this point i
think that he has an over pair and hes put me on a
flush draw. So im hoping that the flush doesnt come,
and he keeps betting his over pair. Now the turn
comes another small diamond. Grayte, I figure oh well Ill
bet it here, and I guess ill represent a flush. I
might pick up the pot here, but oh well, otherwise
it looks like a trap too much. I bet $10,
after a while he calls. Now the turn comes a 3, ive made
Js over 3s, 2nd best hand. Im hoping hes got something
decent to call me. So i bet $25 hoping he calls. At
this point he raises to $50, i cant work out what
this bet means? Does he have a full house as well or
may be a flush or he puts me on nothing and is raising me?
I re-raise up to $75, i guess I could have raised more
but i really didt know what he was holding. He calls,
I win a $200 pot. He said he had A-K of diamonds, of course!
He re-raised the flush draw, slow played the turn, and
then got caught out at the end when the board paired.
If i knew he had that hand, I coulda re-raised more on
the river. Oh well, even if you have the best hand,
a good read can win you more money. Picked up aces
twice in four hands later, but couldnt do anything
with them, oh well. Won a $120, and got to my goal
of 4 figs , weeee !

poker

2004-12-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

played a bit on sunday, internet connection was
so ghey. Lost 30 in a ring game, and 30 in
a tourney. Kept feezing on me and i couldnt bet.
Had A-K, flop comes Q-j-10, connection freezes,
i manage to hit call, a couple a times, some
guy catches runner runner flush, get A-Q, then
get set to away, some guy bets and i automatically
fold, arghh, all crap. Oh well didnt play badly
and didnt play too long.

Saturday

2004-12-04T01:20:00.000-08:00

Stayed patient after friday, and it payed off!

Wasnt getting good cards, and often getting re-raised,
and having to lay down cards pre-flop, but i knew
id get a chance.

$1-$2 NL
Got aces at one stage in the big blind. Now this is
a good spot to get aces, coz u hope a lot of people
raise in front of you and u can come over the top.
Except everyone folded to the button who just
called for $1. Then the small blind folded, ghey !
Now what to do, Do i limp in, hope he catches top
pair and i try and trap him, its easy also to
get trapped urself. So i decide to raise to $3,
if hes got a shitty hand he might dump it, mediocre
call, good may be raise. He raises to $5. This
is best case scenario. Now i know hes got a decent
hand, and hes obvioulsy limped in, and didnt
want to scare the blinds away. Now i could call here,
but sometimes, if ppl think they have a good
hand pre-flop, and u have the best hand, its worth
getting all their money in now, when your a favourite &
if you think he will call. So i decide to go all in
for $65 dollars. He calls, he shows A-K, pretty much
all over baby. And i double up.

Move to $2-$4 NL table.
Start off slow again as well, getting little.
Evenutally picked up Qs, someone
raised to $8 b4 me, i call, someone else calls.
Flop comes q-7-5. Now he bets $10, i reckon hes
prolly got an over pair may be A-K. I call,
the other guys folds. Now the turn comes a 3.
I still have the best hand. If he bets again,
im sure he has an over pair, he bets $20.
Ok, hes got Ks or As, i decide i could call, and
gamble the last card is not an A or K, to give
him trips, or raise him right here. I move all in.
He calls. River is a 10. He shows Kings, my trip
Qs win , $360 pot yeh baby.

A shorter stack bets $8 pre-flop, i have a pair
of 5s in position. So i decide to gamble and call.
Flop comes 5-J-8. Now he bets $5, which is intersting.
This is one of those bets that looks like its trying
to keep me in the pot. Coz he doesnt seem to worried
about any card that i could catch on the turn
that would beat him, so he must have a strong hand.
I call. Now the turn comes a Q. He bets $10.
I decide to raise him to $20 here to see what he does.
He calls. Prolly got Kings or Aces. Final card comes
a J. 5-j-8-q-j. Now i doubt very much he raised with
J-Q, or even Qs, coz that $5 bet smells of strenght,
and Qs arent strength when you your opponent could
be holding an A or a K. He moves all in on the river, I call.
He flips overs aces, and my 5s over Js
pick up a $150 pot.

Came 2nd in a $20 tourney. Played well early and got
good cards, then got unlucky late on heads up.
Losing Ks to 8s, and 9s to 7-5. Got the chip lead
heads up tho, but got unlucky again, with A-4, agaisnt
K-3, and cya later.

Ended up $300 for the day.

Friday poker

2004-12-04T01:08:00.000-08:00

Played a few hands b4 dinner. I tried to make
some re-raises with marginal hands, and ended
up getting caught out. Representing trips
and running into trips myself. One interesting
hand, I had K-3 suited late position.

Flop comes A-3-3. 2 people check. I also check.
Turn comes another club, i have 4 clubs and
trips. So everyone checks and i bet $4.
Early position guy who was in the blind raises
to $15, i decide to call thinking surely my
trips are good. This guy has been loose
and aggressive. I call. River comes a blank,
and he best $35. I decide to call, figuiring
i ve got a good kicker with my 3. He flips
over A-3, grayte. I dont know how i could have
gotten away from that hand, oh well.

Made some good raises with small suited connectors,
and won some pots hitting str8ts against high
pairs. Raising $8 with 2-4 suited. But
ended down a $100 courtesy of some aggressive
play back firing. Oh well, one important tip
is to pick who u bluff against. I wasnt running
well against this guy, and i tried to bet into him
when i knew he was strong. I think i got frustrated
with him earlier, which was bad play. Target ppl
who dont call after betting on the river
and get re-raised.

LIve up to date poker info

2004-12-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

poker pulse

see how many ppl are plaing

Sooky la la

2004-12-02T16:02:00.000-08:00

Whoever posted that dont be a baby post, was
quite right, anyway enough sooky la la ,
back to poker.

2 big hands from last night on the $2-4 NL table.
I get Q-10 diamonds. Try to limp in with a
$2 bet, but someone raises it to $6, so i pay
and we see the flop 3 handed.

Flop comes Ad-10-5d. I check, middle guy
checks, last guy bets $15. Thats a resonable
bet, and he definately trying to weed
out flush drawers. Which is me ! Anyway
lets put him on A-K/Q/J - i dont think
hes got A-10, so hes got top pair and
a high kicker. What does that give me ?
Ive got middle pair, and a flush draw,
so if my hand analysis of him is right,
I have 14 outs(ways to improve my hand) over
his top pair. 14 outs = 9 diamonds + 3qs
+ 2 10s. As they will give me two pair,
(lets hope hes not playing A-Q). The
chance of hitting a 14 outer over the
turn and the river, is just a bit better than
50%. Alright so odds are in my favour of
me beating him. Now if i wanted i could re-raise
him, but I decide Ill just call. The other
guy also calls the bet, and i figure he
prolly has one of the A-x hands, so im
getting even better value for money. The
turn comes a small blank. We both check
and he bets another $15. Now this bet is
too small for the $65 or so pot. I know
there is around 1 in 3 chance of me
improving so paying $15 to see the last
card makes sense, also i figure the other
guy will call. Now the pot has over $100,
and the river comes another small blank :(
I check , the other guy checks, last guy
bets $70 all in. I fold, and the middle guy
calls. The bettor shows A-K , the callers,
shows A-9, bettor out kicks the other guy
and wins a big pot. The bettor took a risk
not betting more on the turn, and the caller
was an idiot not to put the bettor on a higher
kicker. I put in the minimum amount of money
to win a big pot, but got a little unlucky.

Hand 2 - I have Jd-10d - in middle position.
Pay $4 to see a flop, with 2 other callers.

Flop comes 9h-Qd-6h. First position and I
check, the last person bets $5. This is
a smallish bet, which means he has a draw, or
he is just trying to weed us out now,
with a small bet, hoping none of us have
hit anything. First position calls,
im not sure what he has, and I decide to
call my open ended straight draw. Usually
i dont like calling a str8t draw, with
a possible flush draw out there, coz
even if u hit ur str8t if someone hits
their flush u end up 2nd best. But i
sorta believe no one is drawing to the
flush. The turn comes a King of diamond.
= 9h-Qd-6h-Kd. One thing about online
poker is, if you hit a big hand like this,
its hard to give away a tell, as long
as you hit the check no one knows that your
running around in your underwear in your bedroom.
Ive hit the K high straight, which is the best
hand, and the ive also got an open ended
royal flush draw happening.
First guy checks, i check (slow play!) and
as predicted the last guy bets. However he
bets $15. So this seems to me like he might
have a hand. Perhaps he is betting K-Q,
or he had trips and he is betting them
harder or that flush draw. Now the first
guy calls the $15 bet. I decide ok, i can
smooth call this bet, but if the board pairs
or that flush comes, i could easily be behind.
Since im ahead now, im going to make a big raise
and win the pot here, or at least make them pay.
I raise to $50. The bettor after a while calls,
and the first position guy folds. I then
put the first position guy on a medium pair,
or a flush draw, and the previous bettor
on trips or 2 pair, coz hes drawing to a full house.
The last card comes a small heart. Grayte, if
hes drawing to a flush, im behind, but ive
put him on 2 pair or trips, coz its pretty risky
making the call on the turn with just a draw.
I decide to bet $4, and see what he does,
if he just calls, im pretty sure my hands is best.
He raises to $50. At this point i reckon he thinks
i was betting a draw, and believes his trips or
something is best, i could have re-raised, but
i thought may be ill just call. I call, he
had 2 pair ks and 9s, i have the straight,
hooray. $230 pot, i finish up a $100,
and call it a night.

Drawing to a straight can be very profitable,
especially with no flushes out. Often you
will find that ppl dont put you on the str8t,
and can collect a big pot off someone with
2 pair. One hand had over $320 in the pot,
which was the classic str8t v 2 pair.

Hmmm

2004-12-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

So i saw this comment , in regard to free lessons,
which was most likely sarcastic. Anyway its one
thing to not want to improve, but I dont know
about about giving the author shit. Im not saying
im really good, but i see ppl make mistakes
which i have made as well, and was offering to
help. Afterall mistakes cost money. Why not
share my bad plays, which will save you money,
after all i lost all mondays winnings back.

Anyway i dont think im posting here anymore, u
can all learn the hard way.

here are my last few hands...

Example - I raise $3 with A-Q (os,Q=diamond)
4 callers, im in late position.
Flop comes A 7 4 all diamonds. I have
top pair, and 2nd high flush. Everyone checks
to me, I bet $5. One caller. Now i think may
be has the king of diamonds. Turn comes blank,
I bet $6, he calls again. After all I may
as well pay for the draw if he is drawing.
Last card comes 2 diamond, he bets $25. Grayte,
I have made the 2nd highest flush. I decide
to call, may be he was slow playing a smaller
flush. Anyway he had k-6 diamonds, and was
slow playing the nut flush the whole time.
I guess if i put him on the lone k of diamonds,
the bets on the flop and turn were right,
but perhaps not on the call. I think the
bets were ok, but not the size. Smaller bets
in this example would have got the right info.

During an aggressive streak, I again raise to $4,
this time with pocket 4s, i get re-raised up
to $8. 2 handed. Flop comes K-10-6. He bets
$5 ive put him on a high pocket pair. Only one
way to find out how high. I raise to $10, if he has
qs or js it would be hard to call this bet. If he
has As or Ks he might re-reraise or call. Next
card comes K he bets another $5, i re-raise again,
this time he "reluctantly" seems to call. This
points to him having aces, coz if an ace comes on
the river he would the nut full house. Last card comes
a 10. He checks, the board reads K-10-6-K-10. I
have nothing, i cant even beat the board, I bet
$33, he has to fold knowing a k or 10 would give a
full house, and his aces are no good. So thats
how u can use the board to your advantage, when
he has a big hand. Its hard to get someone to
release a big hand early, so wait until the end,
when there are enough scare cards.

Classic error - I call pre-flop with A-x suited.
5 handed, flop comes 10-10-10. Alarm bells should
be ringing at this point. Anyone with a pocket
pair has a full house, u have to match the board
to make a full house of your own. 5 handed, often
someone has one of the high cards. Everyone checks,
and then an A comes on the turn. Ok ive made
the best full house. Some guy bets, and i call.
Then a 6 comes on the river, and he moves all in.
Now i should have stopped and thought, but i didnt.
I put him on A , I have an A, we both have the
nut full house, seems to make sense to call. The bet
on the river was 9x bigger than the turn bet.
If he only has an A, why would he make such a bet,
to steal the pot or he actually has a 10 (possibly A-A).
Coz if he only has an A, and i smooth call the turn,
I could have the 10, and his bet would be very risky.
So at this point the correct play was to fold my A, and
give him the pot, I called, he flipped over a 10, and
I lost with the 2nd best hand.

Slow playing yourself into trouble. I call with A-Q.
Flop comes A 9 5 rainbow. There are a lot of callers,
and im playing a bit scared at this point. I decide
Ill check the flop, if no one bets, I know i have
the best hand. Im kinda scared of trips. Next card
comes an 8, and some guy bets, im 95% sure im ahead
of him, and I call. The river comes an 8 and he bets
pretty hard. If i thought i had the best hand on the
turn, id still have the best hand on the river.
I call, he has Q-8, catches running 8s to beat me.
First of all, it was a slight mistake not to bet
the flop, and weed out all those other hands. But it
was clever because I induced the weaker hand to
bet, which was the plan. The big mistake was not
raising on the turn, when i had the better hand.
He would have most likely had to fold, and I woulda
won right there. Tho perhaps I was unlucky, coz
i had his hand dominated, and if a Q came on the river,
i woulda had him. Also i put him on 2nd pair, and
not the 8. But sometimes it "pays" not to be too
tricky.

summer began today

2004-11-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

hooray , summer !

i was waiting in winter for this, and now its here,
and i feel so unprepared. Oh well, ill wing it.

Poker like cluedo ?

2004-11-29T19:39:00.000-08:00

In the current poker craze, you can keep up
with ppl or drop off. So "if" u wanna improve,
its not that difficult, perhaps u dont understand
the game ?

Poker is a thinking game at the end of the day, its
more about skill than luck in the long term.

Surprisingly its a lot like cluedo. The betting is
like asking questions in cluedo, except here its
about the person's hand. Each bet helps to narrow
down the person's hand selection. With poker, once
you know what they're holding, and u know what
your holding, you'll be very hard pressed to lose.
Sometimes in cluedo you can get lucky like in poker,
but at the end of the day the person with the best
deductive skills are most likely to win.

So if your good at cluedo or other such games, then
there is no reason for you not to be equally good at
poker.

Im happy to give free lessons to anyone who wants,
but my point is you could be a lot better at poker,
but you probably dont understand the game yet,
thats all...

Poker movie

2004-11-29T19:32:00.000-08:00

possible thread in the movie - 2 uni students try to
beat online poker, by developing a bot to beat party
poker. The bot ends up cracking into their credit
card account, and gambles all their money away,
and they're down 20,000.

Monday night

2004-11-29T17:01:00.000-08:00

Ive started playing at the higher level no-limit ring
games now. Just for the excitiment value, and usually
because it means I concentrate, and play the best I
can as the pot size is close to the amount i cash in
for. However I dont play for very long, say about
3 or so rounds, ie = 30 hands.

This means playing super tight, but without being
too scared if I do play a pot. Usually the other
players have between $500 and $1000, and I cash in for
$150.

The important things I learn when playing at this level,
is to value my hands properly. If im in the big blind,
and I get raised, even if its a so so hand, once it
gets raised beyond $15, or if there arent many callers,
I fold. Hands like A-J, A-10 often get laid down, unless
in late late position. Often if you limp in, one of
the blinds will raise to $20 or more, which means you
have to fold and uve wasted $5.

I picked up A-K after a while and raised to $15. 4
callers. Ppl should respect the guy who raises, and
folds every other hand, anyway. Flop comes Ac-jc-9.
I bet $25, 2 ppl fold, one person calls. Hmmm, either
hes got A-x , 2 clubs, may be a straight draw, but
doesnt seem like he would call with that, or hes
trying to steal the pot from me on the turn. May
be A-J, but i doubt it coz you would raise. A 9
comes on the turn. Possible scare card. I think
ive got the best cards, but i check to see what
he will do. At this point im more worried if he
checks, either he has a draw or he has trapping
me. But instead he bets $45. I call straight away,
i doubt hes got a 9, and definately looks like a
steal. River comes a red king, giving me 2 pair.
I check again, knowing I will call whatever he bets.
He actually folds, so i didnt get to see his cards.
Pick up a $100 profit in the pot, play a couple more
hands, end up $80 and run away with my one hand's winnings.

$20 tournament.
Ive been doing well in the $20 and $30 tourney,
so i thought oh well, i won some money in the ring
game why not have a shot.

3 ppl seem to be friends on the table, this is
already going to be interesting. A lot of defensive
play going on, lot of checking on the flop, I figure
if i bet and they raise I might be in trouble, but
if not i can probably play aggressive and win some
pots. Pick up trip 8s, dont win a lot, bummer.
Interesting hand was when i pick up. 6-8 suited
in the small blind. Been raised to $100 pre-flop,
i decide to call, 5 handed.
Flop A-6-8 . sweet! I bet it out ($300), after all,
someone has an ace, and I only have bottom 2
pair. Two callers, hmmmm. Next card is a 3, ok,
im definately ahead, on the A-x ppl as im sure
they dont have two pair. I put them all in.
One guy folds, the other guy calls, hes got A-j,
no j on the river, cya later.

Tho misplayed the K-4-2 hand, I had K-10, someone
bet $100, i raised to $300, and then he went all
in. I was sure he had two pair, but i thought oh well
ill call. If i hit a 10, or get a running higher
pair etc. ill win. Really it was a long shot,
and i doubled him up.

Another hand, Blinds were 100-200, i had
2-4 suited in BB, the small blind raises to 400, i call.
Flop 3-5-5, ive hit opened ended st draw. He bets
$200, i reckon hes got over cards, so I raise
he calls. Hmmmm, turn comes a 2. He checks,
I think may be Im ahead, I bet again and he calls.
Last card is nothing, we both check, he had aces,
oh well, I probably shouldnt have bet on the turn.

I got short stacked a bit later, and the flop
came, A-Q-7, both had blinds, we both check
the flop. I bet 300 out of my 1200, with 3-5.
He calls, grayte. He checks the river, ive only
got 5 high, I bet another 300, and he folds,
phew, turning point. If i lose this pot im too
low. Even if you are short stacked its good
to stay positive.

Got to heads up, and stayed agressive, won another
heads up duel, and win a $100 ! Nice when you
flop a straight against two pair.

So won $80 in ring and $80 in tourney in less
than 2 hours. Efficient.

POker Poker POKER

2004-11-29T16:57:00.000-08:00

Alright , ive decided to take a leaf out of elfrage's
book and start recording more of my results, see where
im doing well and not so well etc. Plus minimalise poker
talk from my blog.