Bank roll update 7/11/2006: Tilty

Tilty.

I've been playing very tilty lately, I was up to almost $600 on Full Tilt Poker and I was feeling very confident in myself. I then hit a very bad spot. I was bluffing too much, not playing to the near nuts, and none of my nut draws have been hitting. I checked my poker tracker stats and it indicates that I'm Tight-Aggressive/Aggressive (TAA). I'm thinking that I may be too aggressive post-flop and not waiting for the cards to hit well. I'm going to tighten up a bit and play the $0.10/$0.25 games on FTP, until I can recover my bankroll up to $400 before I can try the $0.25/$0.50 games.

I'm at a state where I look down and see AA's or KK's, and I say, "Well, how much am I going to lose this time?" The most important thing I think is to play as correctly as I can, and not get too passive.

So my goals are to:
1) Play correctly.
2) Play small pot poker with small cards
3) Play big pots when you have the near nuts.
4) Draw to the nuts when you have the correct pot-odds.
5) Don't play fearful, call when you have the odds pre-flop to big raises.
6) Folding to a raise is a small mistake.


Current bank roll
Full Tilt Poker: $367.45 + 1/$26 satellite token
Pokerstars: $117.44
PartyPoker: $0.00
Live: $150.00

Bank Roll Update 6/19: Scared Money.

I had a pretty good run the last week on Full Tilt Poker, I ran it up to $600. I'm pretty happy with the results and I feel pretty comfortable on the 0.25/0.50 NLHE tables and sometimes I take a shot on the 0.50/1.00 NLHE tables. FTP updated their software to create a custom listing of tables and I choose to display at a minimum the 0.25/0.50 NLHE and up to 1/2 NLHE games.

Scared Money
I went up to Black Hawk this saturday night and I played at the Gilpin casino. I went up to play a C-note ($100 buyin/$100 rebuy) tournament at 7PM. I got there a few hours before hand so i played a 2-5 limit hold'em game. I was up $40 in that game after 1.5 hour of playing but I made some big mistakes.

I was gathering up my chips and I looked down to see pocket 77's, I called the $2 raise and then the $5 re-raise. There were 4-5 callers, so I had the correct odds to call. The flop came 45K and I bet out and I got re-raised so I folded and left the table. I should have either folded pre-flop or not raised after the flop. It was a dumb mistake that costed me $10.

C-Note Tournament.

I did okay in the tournament, I wasn't getting any cards so I had to let go some good calling hands pre-flop to a re-raise. I let go KQs in UTC after a re-raise and some other games. I called a all-in with another caller with QTs in the BB because it was only 2BB's to call. I hit a Q on the flop check check and a K hit on the river. The all in tripled up with a pair of Kings. The table was pretty loose aggressive, so I was looking for spots to put some pressure on other people, so I wouldn't get pushed around. I called from the Blind with A8d, The flop came two diamonds, I check raise all in and got a pretty aggressive player to fold. My last hand, some guy in middle position who was very loose aggressive raise 3-4 BB, I knew he was weak and probably just had an Ace or small part and just wanted to pick up the blinds. I went all in with AJs, when he thought about it for a while, i knew I had him and he called with A4s. He sucked out with an 4 on the turn and I was out.

Later

I went back to the limit hold'em table and the game was very loose. Money was just being poured on the table and I wasn't picking up anything. It's more easy to play a tight aggressive style in NLHE, because you can pick up 20-30BB in a pot if you wait for good cards. I didn't open up my game and I was lost. I need to revisit SSHE some time and review how to beat this game.

The main thing is I was 'scared money' I was putting up 30-40% of my live bankroll on the table and I wasn't willing to gamble it all. When you have 5-10% of your bankroll on the table, the risks are smaller. I really want to bet that game up there, but I have a lot of work and reading to do to do that.

Current bank roll
Full Tilt Poker: $601.90 + 1/$26 satellite token
Pokerstars: $117.44
Live: $150.00

Bank Roll Update: 6/15

Super, Thanks for asking.. - Big Gay Al, South Park

My Bank Roll has improved, I've been playing .25/.50 NLHE on FTP and I feel pretty comfortable at that level. On PokerStars, I took a bit of a hit and I'm back down to .05/.10 NLHE. You have to play a bit different on Pokerstars versus FTP. There are four times the players on Pokerstars than Full Tilt Poker, so you have to expect the variance in players to be different as well.

The New York Times published an article in it's Sunday Magazine entitled The Hold-'Em Holdup. Their whole magazine was about debt and this article was about how college kids are playing high stakes poker with borrowed money instead of attending classes. There was even a honor roll kid who stuck up a bank to get some money to paid for his gambling debts. The same can be said for those cheap credit card offer every student receives. I'm sure there are cases of sophomore shopaholics who have done the similar things.

Debt is a big problem in this country, whether it be from the Federal Government's huge deficit to retail 'Check into Cash' stores. American's love their debt.

Poker really should be called Patience.
- Mike 'the Mouth' Matusow on The Circuit.

I think of this as an opportunity. Money and Time Management should be part of any college education . I propose a Poker 101 class for all beginning poker players. The first few sessions would not even talk about the cards.

The first lesson would be about the self-psychology of poker. The importance of Discipline and Patience to your game. The extreme highs and lows of gambling. Going on Tilt. Walking away when you are bested. Knowing when you are addicted and programs like Gambler's Anonymous.

The second lesson would be about Expected Value. You have to expect to lose. The game is about making the correct decisions, even though you might lose that hand. The Fundamental Theory of Poker, making more correct decisions than your opponent.

The third lesson would be about Bank Roll management. Keep your normal money separate from your bank roll. Never risk more than 5% of your bankroll. Never put all your bank roll on the table. Build slowly.

After this base is established, then you can start teaching about the fact that there are cards involved in some way in poker.

Current bank roll
Full Tilt Poker: $473.65 + 1/$26 satellite token
Pokerstars: $103.19
Live: $300.00

Bank roll update 6/1: Tighten Up

We're gonna tighten up. Let's do the tighten up.
You can do it now. So baby get to it.
- Tighten Up, Archie Bell and the Drells

Tighten It Up by Archie Drell and The Drells is such a great song. Most people have heard this song covered in the Titan auto insurance commercial as 'Titan Up'. This original song was recorded in Houston in 1973. If you like early 1970's soul and r&b jammin' music, this is it.

This is what I have been doing in my poker play. Tighting up my game and trying to make it mellow. My bank roll has been getting healthy since as well.

So tighten up.

Current bankroll
Full Tilt Poker: $283.55 + 1/$26 satellite token
Pokerstars: $178.44
Live: $300.00

Denver Poker Tour: Oriental Theater 5/30

The Place
This week we played in the Oriental Theatre itself. The new owner replaced
the theater seating with box seats. Three of these box seats had a poker tables set up in it. The Oriental Theatre hosted three tables and the waiting list had about ten folks on it. I called before hand on the day of the tournament to put my name on the list. The game started at 7PM. As usual two smoking table and a tight non-smoking table.


My Play
I played for about three and a half hours and got out of there at about 10:30. I made it to the final table and was out at about 8th place. I played well during the first levels, but I didn't get any cards. The best hand I had was a pair of Ten's.

This hand got me thinking. I was in mid position and I raised three times the BB. The person on the button raised and the BB went all in. I call and the button called. The flop came JTx, I checked and the button went all in. The turn came X and the river came a K. The button turned over KK's and I lost. He was about a 10% chance to pick up one of those two kings. I was thinking about the hand, perhaps if I went all in on the flop, I could have forced the button (with KK's to fold), it's unlikely, but a show of strength could have forced him out.

The mistake I really made was that I waited until my stack became really short before attempting to make a move. By the time I went all in with 89o, my bet was really weak versus the blinds. I could have pick up a few blinds by raising a few times pre-flop.

Denver Poker Tour: Table Steaks East 5/28

The Place

Table Steaks East is located on South Parker Road just north of the I-225 exit. Look for the Taco Bell on the West side of South Parker Road.

The poker games are played on the patio. There were 5 tables with about 10 people on the waiting list this Sunday night. According to the recent DPT calendar, they play several times a week there including Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Monday night. I've played on the Friday night games before and the Patio can be full of tables. They don't accept phone in sign ups, but the sign up sheet is available in person two hours before the starting time of the game.

My wife and I arrived there a little after 5pm. We played pool and hockey for a hour and half and had a good time drinking some beers. They have a good selection of beer. They have full size pool tables along with standard bar pool tables. They also have darts, some video games, air hockey, and various other bar games. They have a full kitchen and I've had the buffalo burgers there once.

My Play

There were 5 starting tables. I played pretty well and was able to put pressure on other players. I loosen up my game but when I hit the near nuts I was very aggressive and portrait a very tight aggressive image. I didn't get called when I had the near nuts. I hit a straight with a 3 flush on board, trips with a 3 flush on turn. I showed it once to show that I play the nuts, but never got called mid-way in the game.

The play started very aggressive and I just sat back and waited for them to beat up on each other.

I lasted for 3 hours and was up to about 1500 in chips. I made it to the 100/200 level. I had A2s and raised three times the blind to try to steal the blinds and the BB went all in. By his aggressive bet, I though he was weak so I called. He had KK, and I hit a Ace on the river, but he made a straight. One mistake I made is that I could have raised 2XBB and bailed when he reraised.

I didn't have any high pair (JJ, KK, QQ, AA) all night, but I was happy with my play.

Denver Poker Tour: Oriental Theatre 5/23

The Place

The Oriental Theater is located in Northwest Denver at 4335 W. 44th Ave near Tennyson. The Tennyson district is an up and coming neighborhood. There are lots of shops and new development along Tennyson. The Elitchs Gardens development site, which was an old amusement park is located at 38th and Tennyson. Elitchs moved downtown and that area was re-developed. This caused a lot of satellite development around that area. The Oriental is just one of the re-development projects in this area.

The Oriental started hosting Denver Poker Tour a few months ago and judging by the number of tables (3) and the number of people on the waiting list (11). It looks like it gaining popularity. The place has a small bar with beer and liquor. Usually the game is in the theater itself, but last night we played in the lobby. The Oriental theatre was hosting a Dylan Birthday Tribute for the Denver Public School Foundation Music programs. So we got the hear the sound check all night. The noise and the bands were not too bad.

Apparently when they host the poker tables in the theatre, they will play movies on the big screen. One night they played Rounders. They are considering hosting the regional DPT events at this theater. It's a good location and I'm considering making it my weekly game. I'm going to play there again to see what it's like to play inside the theatre.

My Play

Awful awful awful. Tight Passive. I think my cash game play leaked into my tourament play and I didn't play as many hands or raised when I should have. The table was very weak, and I was playing very tight and passive. I managed to play for 3 hours and get down to the final two tables, but I was just awful. I needed to open up my game and play more marginal hands (eg J7s, 9To) in late position when people were limping in. I also didn't see any pairs or aces all night.

Two hands I think I should have played better are:

I was in late position and woke up with J7s. I thought about it for a bit and folded. The flop game J73 and everyone just checked around to the river. I think a pair of nines won. I should opened my game especially early on to build my chip stack.

The final hand I played awfully. I was really disgusted with myself. It was late into the second to the final table and we were down to 6 players. The BB was down to 1/2 BB so she was all in. I was in MP and I had 44's. I limped in and the SB called. Right there I should have raised.

The flop came 237 with two spades and I bet out 2BB. The SB called. At this point I put him on either two over cards or he hit a two or three. He would have raised with the 7 and I think the spades scared him.

The turn was a blank and it was checked around.

The river came a spade and he fired at the pot, I didn't think he had the flush, but was trying to steal the pot. I reraised with my remaining chip (<1BB). He mentioned that I probably hit the flush. He turned over 23 with two pair and took down the pot.

My mistakes were that I should have raised to isolate preflop.. Even gone all in with the pair of fours, just to pick up the pot. The only calling hands for the SB would have been two overcards or a high pair. I was attempting to trap and got retraped. At that point just picking up the blind would have been a good option for me.

Bankroll Update 5/23/06: Taking a shot.

I've updated my basic bankroll strategy. I was getting sick of grinding it out on micro limits and I wasn't seeing any big movement in my bankroll. I knew that if I played like a rock, waited for cards, bluffed very rarely I could beat the higher low-limits games.

So this weekend I've adopted the following strategy. I would start on a low limit game with 40 BB. Once I've made a enough for the next level's minimum buy in, I would move up and take a shot at a higher limit.

On Full Tilt Poker, I started with a $4 buyin on the 0.05/0.10 NLHE. I played very patiently and was up to $16. I tried the next limit 0.10/0.25 NLHE with a buyin of $10 and quit when I was over $30. I eventually had enough for the $0.50/$1.00 NLHE on FTP with a buyin of $40 and I left this game ahead. I won my biggest online pot of over $40.

I really had fun with this strategy. I didn't quite succeed at Pokerstars, because I got drawn out(AQ vs AT flop AKx with a T on the river). But I'm sure I can increase my BR there. I especially like the fact that I can take a shot at the higher limits and still maintain my bankroll.

Current bankroll
Full Tilt Poker: $246.75 + 1/$26 satellite token
Pokerstars: $95.84
Live: $300.00