weekly update #7
28 February 2008
18 Feb - 24 Feb:
3 hands (50nl) --- fish I followed didn't like me sitting next to him and left
$3.15
105.00 ptbb/100
4,289 hands (100nl)
$521.63
6.08 ptbb/100
Pretty good week for me, both in terms of hand totals and results. Since I wanted to participate in btimm's challenge this forced me to get more hands in during the weekend than I was used to. I think I ended up nitting my game up to compensate with the fact that I was 5 tabling vs. fish, and I'm not really pleased with that. In general, I just don't have enough free time available to me right now to put in 5k hand weeks, so I shouldn't be pushing to achieve this volume. One day, sure, but not right now as I attempt to retool my game and ensure that I'm making proper decisions at all times based on table dynamics (c).
Another thing I plan on doing is moving some of my play back to PokerStars in mid-March (need to clear out the remainder of my Absolute bonus $ first... free money what???). The reasoning behind this is the fact that the majority of players on AP are just so horrible that I'm not feeling like I'm getting the requisite experience playing against aggressive players that I need in order to become a winning $200nl+ player. Hopefully the knowledge I've gained in the past few months transfers over and I can continue my winning play across both sites. In preparation of this shift I'll need to revamp my PAHud display for PokerStars, as I've begun using many more stats to aid my play in the past few months. I'm thinking about mimicking the FTP layout used by tannenj (check out his recent 400nl CR vids if you haven't). I really want to get the most out of my PAHud and the fact that I have a very big DB of observed hands for both AP and PStars (ty malfaire) without getting to the point where my screen looks like a warzone (see appleseed's layout and your eyes will bleed -- I cringe just thinking about it).
The Good:
Hand 1
CO's limp/call (playing 48/3) combined with his chk/raise min on the flop led me to believe that he was either on some sort of a combo draw or had made a set of 5's on the flop. Versus the broader portion of his range, which included all sorts of flush and straight draws, I think I need to be re-raising this pot to protect my hand. Too many turn cards can come that would kill my action, and I think there's a good chance that he may be willing to get it all in here with a draw regardless. Turns out I had him completely dominated, which is always fun for me. Thoughts on the flop action?
Hand 2
CO is playing 18/12/2.1 over 200+ hands. Was contemplating c-betting here, as I'd do this with most hands that I am 3betting from the BB when an ace flops, but this villain had a flop AF of 10.0 so I figured I'd try to gain some value by letting him bet into me. His bet was so weak here that I didn't want to go for a chk/raise and blow him off of a hand that he appears to have liked (thinking maybe AK, AJ, or possibly TT/JJ). Opted to re-evaluate on the turn, and as it was relatively safe opted to check it back to him again to see what he would do (sidenote: pot was $42 vs. his remaining $39 so I figured I could get it all in on the river even if he opted to check the turn). Obviously villain obliges and fires the turn and we get it all in with me an 80% fav. Ship it.
Hand 3
UTG+1 is a "regular" who is playing 44/2/0.6 over 4k hands (yeah, gotta love AP). I've been in a ton of hands with this guy and know that he is calling down every street with almost any piece of the flop (WTSD 38%; W$SD 48%). Villain chk/calls my obligatory flop c-bet and I instantly know that he has a weak made hand. The fun thing about this villain is that I've seen him fire near pot out of position with a strong made hand, so I am 100% sure he doesn't have a set and very near 100% sure he doesn't have QT when he checks the turn. The rest of the hand is just pure value. I think that my history and notes on this guy really paid off in this hand as there are some instances where I will check the turn Q in hopes of getting a bluff from villains on the river -- this was clearly not the case in this hand.
The Bad:
Hand 4
Gotta love when the table empties out and you're heads up against the fish that you sat at the table for in the first place. Then you really have to love when he wants to get it all in vs. your set. What you really don't love is when he shows up with a higher set. Oops. I really don't think I can get away from this hand as said fish would be making this same exact play as light as QK, and I'm 90% sure of that. Oh, and for the record, he insta-bailed after this hand. kthxbye
Hand 5
Also gotta love posting hands that make you want to vomit when you look at them post-session. Button was playing 22/18/2.7 with an Att/St. of 38% (note to readers: this is a completely irrelevant stat in this situation, as he is obviously not attempting to steal the blinds). Unfortunately, I misused this stat to conclude that he was 3betting this hand light and put in a 4bet with my TT (fail!). I then decided to call a 5bet shove with my lowly TT (fail x2!). At least the poker gods put me straight by teasing me and then smacking me into oblivion. Note to self, TT is not a good 100BB AI preflop hand. Learn that. LEARN IT!!!!
Hand 6
UTG+1 is playing 32/2/0.5 and CO is playing 60/3/0.4 (wow, just wow) so I feel obligated to raise up PF with AJo. Opting to chk/call this flop vs. such terrible players is mistake #1. Should certainly be content with c-betting this and taking it down, as with such passive players I'm not getting any value out of AT and below or pocket pairs in the long run. Chk/calling the turn is pretty bad too. The worst possible thing to do on the river though is to put out a small value bet and call a reraise by such a passive player. Note to self: don't be such an idiot, you are losing this hand 99.999% of the time. Uglies.
Posted byM0NIKER at 12:09 PM
I really hope you win the BTIMM challenge, Kevin.
PS - can you transfer me $10???
#4 - Std
#5 - Ouch, bad doggy!
#6 - FPS
Good luck again in the BTIMM challenge.
PPS - you can make that transfer on FTP or Stars, it's up to you.
can i get an example of your note-taking on the guy from hand 3?
and really? Stars?
Sure thing Colin. Something that I try to do as often as I can (and trust me, I'm still getting used to/better at this) is taking notes on specific hands where I see someone do something that completely contradicts his normal tendencies. On this particular villain, I had observed several hands in the past where he would fire out bets OOP when he had a strong made hand despite the fact that he was an overall passive player. As I accumulate more specific examples (such as "Bets out full pot with A6 on A65 board" and "Chk/Call all streets w/ A4 on A2723 board") I begin to consolidate them into overarching reads.
I think my current notes on this guy read something like this "Chk/call multiple streets with weak made hands (TPwK). Bets out aggressively when strong (2pr+). Chk/call at least 2 streets with flush draw -- does not aggress." Hope this helps.
And yeah, Stars. Overall it's a much more "solid" site in terms of player knowledge, so while I may take a small hit in my winrate, I think the knowledge and experience that I'll gain at the 100nl/200nl tables there will be beneficial in the long run. Of course I plan on playing at AP too, just because the fishies there are sooooo delicious (gotta go fishin!!).
Hand 1. well played.
Hand 2. well played by giving him rope to hand himself thinking he is value betting.
Hand 3. If you pegged him as a calling station, I would bet between 2/3-3/4 pot on the turn and look to get his whole stack in on the river.
Hand 4. Sucks
Hand 5. At best you are flipping with AK or dominated with JJ-AA.
I would def make this play for value if BTN was tilting though because he'll show up with low mid pairs sometimes or two random overs.
Hand 6. Def c bet the flop vs loose passive players.
Their usually not going to bluff raise you so I think you either get it in on the flop or fold depending on your reads.
I guess you can also b/c flop and then c/f to these type of players because they hardly ever bluff post flop on dry flops.