Okay I'm kind of playing poker again. I started playing because if I didn't play poker, I would have to be studying for finals, and as much as poker drives me crazy well ...

I opened an account at Hollywood Poker (at the suggestion of TerryToma ). After months and months of playing almost exclusively at Stars, it has not been a fun experience. I don't mind the interface now (took a bit of getting used to), but there are sooo many things to hate. Right now their site is "under maintenance", so I can't use PT with it because I can't import any HHs. I can't import HHs because I can't even GET HHs ... not being able to get HHs means not being able to look back at any hands, not being able to post any hands on the forums, not being able to figure out my stats. SO NASTY. I've already tried emailing support to get this problem solved, but it didn't work. So I've been playing there with no PT, no hud, no nothing. Kinda really sucks when you're used to playing with those two tools.

I tried to play $25NL FR when I first got there. Couldn't resize the tables and wasn't used to the interface, so I only played two tables. Didn't go very well, don't think I logged too many hands there. That's about when I stopped playing because I started to hate poker, and that was that. A day or two ago I went back to Hollywood (I have a Bonus to earn there) and decided to load up just one table and watch every single hand. Reads, what are those??? I figured it would be a good idea to sit here and watch every hand, learn the players, and get some reads. Did it at a shorthanded $50NL table and it went okay. I actually kind of enjoyed myself.

Last night I did the same thing on Stars, one table of $50NL, 6 max. Only played for two hours which gave me 133 hands. I ended up running pretty good in the fact that I flopped a couple sets and got paid off really nicely. 3 of the same people stayed at the table the entire time I was there, and the other two spots were revolving doors. Two of these three were complete morons and I didn't leave until they lost all their money ...

Within five minutes of being at the table, I had this hand occur:

PokerStars Game #7124261459: Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/11/22 - 01:18:51 (ET)
Table 'Miranda V' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: courtiebee ($48.50 in chips)
Seat 2: malta67 ($155.65 in chips)
Seat 3: ArfaDaley ($19.10 in chips)
Seat 4: Jarulesmoky ($18.85 in chips)
Seat 5: jvrd ($40.80 in chips)
Seat 6: caddymix024 ($39.50 in chips)
jvrd: posts small blind $0.25
caddymix024: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to courtiebee [Kd Ac]
courtiebee: raises $1.50 to $2
malta67: calls $2
ArfaDaley: folds
Jarulesmoky: folds
jvrd: calls $1.75
caddymix024: folds
*** FLOP *** [Tc Kc 9s]
jvrd: checks
courtiebee: bets $6
malta67: calls $6
jvrd: folds
*** TURN *** [Tc Kc 9s] [6h]
courtiebee: bets $12
malta67: raises $135.65 to $147.65 and is all-in
courtiebee: calls $28.50 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Tc Kc 9s 6h] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
courtiebee: shows [Kd Ac] (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
malta67: shows [Ks 9d] (two pair, Kings and Nines)
malta67 collected $96.50 from pot

Yeahhh. I don't need to hear about how bad that was, haha. I love being stacked with TPTK. A few hands later:

PokerStars Game #7124302387: Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/11/22 - 01:23:06 (ET)
Table 'Miranda V' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: courtiebee ($49.25 in chips)
Seat 2: malta67 ($204.45 in chips)
Seat 3: ArfaDaley ($19.20 in chips)
Seat 4: Jarulesmoky ($22.40 in chips)
Seat 5: jvrd ($35.30 in chips)
Seat 6: caddymix024 ($38.25 in chips)
jvrd: posts small blind $0.25
caddymix024: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to courtiebee [Ac Qd]
courtiebee: raises $1.50 to $2
malta67: calls $2
ArfaDaley: folds
Jarulesmoky: folds
jvrd: folds
caddymix024: folds
*** FLOP *** [7d Ad Tc]
courtiebee: bets $3.50
malta67: calls $3.50
*** TURN *** [7d Ad Tc] [Jc]
courtiebee: bets $7
malta67: raises $191.95 to $198.95 and is all-in
courtiebee: folds
malta67 collected $24.50 from pot

What a bastard. Anyway, he turned out to be a pretty good player (IMO? ), and we didn't end up in anymore big pots together.

Here's the hand that made my night. Winning a 350bb pot is pretty damn cool, I gotta admit ... hadn't happened yet since I started playing cash, so it was an amazing feeling!

PokerStars Game #7124868902: Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/11/22 - 02:31:51 (ET)
Table 'Miranda V' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: courtiebee ($71.40 in chips)
Seat 2: malta67 ($189 in chips)
Seat 3: coolmad ($57.25 in chips)
Seat 4: Jarulesmoky ($34.45 in chips)
Seat 5: jvrd ($97.05 in chips)
Seat 6: Tenven ($50 in chips)
malta67: posts small blind $0.25
coolmad: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to courtiebee [8d 8s]
Jarulesmoky: raises $1.50 to $2
jvrd: calls $2
Tenven: folds
courtiebee: calls $2
malta67: folds
coolmad: folds
*** FLOP *** [3d Kd 8h]
Jarulesmoky: bets $3
jvrd: raises $3 to $6
courtiebee: raises $6 to $12
Jarulesmoky: calls $9
jvrd: calls $6
*** TURN *** [3d Kd 8h] [As]
Jarulesmoky: bets $2
jvrd: raises $2 to $4
courtiebee: raises $16 to $20
Jarulesmoky: raises $0.45 to $20.45 and is all-in
jvrd: calls $16.45
courtiebee: calls $0.45
*** RIVER *** [3d Kd 8h As] [Jc]
jvrd: checks
courtiebee: bets $36.95 and is all-in
jvrd: calls $36.95
*** SHOW DOWN ***
courtiebee: shows [8d 8s] (three of a kind, Eights)
jvrd: mucks hand
courtiebee collected $73.90 from side pot
Jarulesmoky: mucks hand
courtiebee collected $101.10 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $178 Main pot $101.10. Side pot $73.90. | Rake $3
Board [3d Kd 8h As Jc]
Seat 1: courtiebee (button) showed [8d 8s] and won ($175) with three of a kind, Eights
Seat 2: malta67 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: coolmad (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Jarulesmoky mucked [Ks 2s]
Seat 5: jvrd mucked [Ad 6d]
Seat 6: Tenven folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I should have looked at the stacks more closely and raised to $21 on the turn, was annoyed at myself for not doing that. If anyone has any other suggestions for this hand, I welcome them.

So anyway, I think I'll keep playing one table at $50NL until I become really comfortable, then I'll add a table. Playing just one table is boring, but I think it's good for me right now because I need to build some discipline and learn how to think like a cash player. Or maybe I'll play a sum of hands at $50NL and then move to $100NL and play one table there? And then add tables at $100NL? Is it better to learn how to play a lot of tables at smaller stakes before moving up, or is it better to move up first? I've never really known the answer to this.

Just an update. Thanks for reading, leave a comment


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