Of the many great questions of our time, this is perhaps the greatest: why can't all poker players be as bad and transparent as the ones playing 25 NL 6-max on PartyPoker?
I mean, I'm just crushing them. Destroying them. When I'm on my game, I can't lose to these guys. They can otudraw me and cold deck me, but they can't outplay me. It's sick. I'm talking trash like Reggie Miller and wagging my tongue like Michael Jordan. You should see me right now - it's fucking disgusting.
OK, back to reality. I really am playing out of my mind tonight. The woes of the weekend are behind me and my focus is renewed. Here are several perfect examples of what I'm doing right today:
- I raised at a table where I had a tight image with two LAggish players acting after me. They both folded (one of them had already limped in, so that was surprising). On the next hand I picked up AA and raised again, same amount. This time one of the guys called me from the SB.
He led into me for the full pot on a ten-high, scattered, rainbow board. I sensed opportunity, took my time, and flat called. The turn was another low card. He led out for the pot again and I raised; he three-bet all in and I called. Aces held against his ace ten and I doubled up my full stack.
- Different table; two people had just joined and posted blinds outside of the BB. I raised from the button with AJ, making it 1.50 to go. Only one of the two new players called, everyone else folded. The flop was jack high - something like JT5. He checked, I bet 2/3 of the pot, and then he min-raised me. I sensed that he was checking if his jack was good, but since there was a flush draw and straight draw on board I couldn't take chances, so I re-raised to 8.00. He called. The turn was a safe card and when he checked, I potted it to put him all in. He called that as well with KJ, and my hand held again. And those were my two big pots of the night - AA and TPTK with AJ, both unimproved.
But before you accuse me of just leaping into the deep end with rampant aggression, check out these two opposite examples with the same hands:
- I raised with AA from the button and a sort of bad, passive player who had limped in called my raise. On a jack-high flop he min-bet and I raised to 2/3 pot, which he called. The turn was a king - and by the way, the board was very scattered; no other broadways, and the king did not complete a draw. He checked, I bet 1/2 the pot, and he check-raised to $14 - interestingly, a few dollars short of his full stack. I typed in the chat "You just outdrew me - you have KJ" and folded. He gave me the old "LOL - how did u know that?" routine. And I don't think he was dishonest. I'm very happy with that fold.
- Different table, a player I had no read on raised 4xBB in late position and I called from the SB with AdJh. Another player called as well. The flop was AQT with two diamonds, giving me top pair second kicker, a gutshot straight draw, and a backdoor nut flush draw. I wasn't sure where I stood though so I checked it, as did the middle player. Then the pre-flop raiser bet 2/3 of the pot. I had no idea if it was a c-bet, no idea what he had; I didn't feel a fold was a good option and I hated a raise, so I called. Middle player called also, and was by this point short-stacked.
The turn brought a low blank, not a diamond, so my draw options dwindled somewhat. I checked, the middle player checked, and the original raiser bet $7 into the $9 pot. Now I thought long and hard and folded it. The middle player went all in for just a couple bucks more, and ended up losing with Ax against the other guy's AK.
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Sure, the circumstances on these hands were different from each other, and some might say most of these plays are basically standard. But I still feel I was playing great tonight, folding when I needed to and not paying off too much, while still turning a good profit on my best hands (which were few and far between). I showed a profit of over a buyin for my 90 minute session, so I'd call that a decent night. Now if I can just get back up to 50 NL again and do this well...
Soon, my precious.
I mean, I'm just crushing them. Destroying them. When I'm on my game, I can't lose to these guys. They can otudraw me and cold deck me, but they can't outplay me. It's sick. I'm talking trash like Reggie Miller and wagging my tongue like Michael Jordan. You should see me right now - it's fucking disgusting.
OK, back to reality. I really am playing out of my mind tonight. The woes of the weekend are behind me and my focus is renewed. Here are several perfect examples of what I'm doing right today:
- I raised at a table where I had a tight image with two LAggish players acting after me. They both folded (one of them had already limped in, so that was surprising). On the next hand I picked up AA and raised again, same amount. This time one of the guys called me from the SB.
He led into me for the full pot on a ten-high, scattered, rainbow board. I sensed opportunity, took my time, and flat called. The turn was another low card. He led out for the pot again and I raised; he three-bet all in and I called. Aces held against his ace ten and I doubled up my full stack.
- Different table; two people had just joined and posted blinds outside of the BB. I raised from the button with AJ, making it 1.50 to go. Only one of the two new players called, everyone else folded. The flop was jack high - something like JT5. He checked, I bet 2/3 of the pot, and then he min-raised me. I sensed that he was checking if his jack was good, but since there was a flush draw and straight draw on board I couldn't take chances, so I re-raised to 8.00. He called. The turn was a safe card and when he checked, I potted it to put him all in. He called that as well with KJ, and my hand held again. And those were my two big pots of the night - AA and TPTK with AJ, both unimproved.
But before you accuse me of just leaping into the deep end with rampant aggression, check out these two opposite examples with the same hands:
- I raised with AA from the button and a sort of bad, passive player who had limped in called my raise. On a jack-high flop he min-bet and I raised to 2/3 pot, which he called. The turn was a king - and by the way, the board was very scattered; no other broadways, and the king did not complete a draw. He checked, I bet 1/2 the pot, and he check-raised to $14 - interestingly, a few dollars short of his full stack. I typed in the chat "You just outdrew me - you have KJ" and folded. He gave me the old "LOL - how did u know that?" routine. And I don't think he was dishonest. I'm very happy with that fold.
- Different table, a player I had no read on raised 4xBB in late position and I called from the SB with AdJh. Another player called as well. The flop was AQT with two diamonds, giving me top pair second kicker, a gutshot straight draw, and a backdoor nut flush draw. I wasn't sure where I stood though so I checked it, as did the middle player. Then the pre-flop raiser bet 2/3 of the pot. I had no idea if it was a c-bet, no idea what he had; I didn't feel a fold was a good option and I hated a raise, so I called. Middle player called also, and was by this point short-stacked.
The turn brought a low blank, not a diamond, so my draw options dwindled somewhat. I checked, the middle player checked, and the original raiser bet $7 into the $9 pot. Now I thought long and hard and folded it. The middle player went all in for just a couple bucks more, and ended up losing with Ax against the other guy's AK.
--
Sure, the circumstances on these hands were different from each other, and some might say most of these plays are basically standard. But I still feel I was playing great tonight, folding when I needed to and not paying off too much, while still turning a good profit on my best hands (which were few and far between). I showed a profit of over a buyin for my 90 minute session, so I'd call that a decent night. Now if I can just get back up to 50 NL again and do this well...
Soon, my precious.
on June 15, 2007, 8:29 am
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