New article out re:local tournaments; cash game recap

I published a new article on Examiner.com. Here's the link: Tulsa poker tournament strategy, Part 1. It's about my strategy for the first 2 or 3 blind levels in the tournaments I play locally.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I went on a business trip to Virginia a couple weeks ago. I had to write a 200 page software manual in 3 weeks, and I squeaked in under the deadline by about two hours. Needless to say, I was worn out after writing 60 hours a week for three weeks straight, which is a big factor for why I haven't played much poker lately. But now that I'm home and settled in, caught up on my sleep, I made it back out to the poker room.

Now, if you read my blog on a regular basis, you know I prefer LHE over NL. (Even though I make more from NL.) But NL is more like work to me whereas LHE is just plain fun. Yes, you take more beats. No, you can't protect your hand in LHE. No, you can't bluff as often in LHE. But forget all that. If you're at a LHE table where 4 or 5 players are seeing every flop, and you are a fundamentally competent player, there is no reason you can't make money playing LHE. All you have to do is make the proper adjustments. The value of big pairs goes down. The value of suited connectors goes up. So you push hard with draws, and play more cautiously with pairs. The percentages even out over time.

Example #1: Last night I was dealt JJ UTG and raised. 5 players called. The flop came 79Tr. I bet. Player A raised, 1 fold, Player B called. Player C called. 1 fold. I called. The turn was the 3d. I bet. Player A called. Player B called. 1 fold. River 6s. I checked. Player A checked. Player B bet. I folded. Player A folded. I could have made a crying call, but honestly, there's nothing I'm beating on this river. He either has the straight or two pair. If he had a pair of tens and nothing else, he would have checked.

Example #2: I was dealt JdJs UTG+1 and I raised. 6 players called. The flop came QT9hh. I bet. Everyone called. Turn Jh. I bet. Player A called. Player B called. 3 folds. Player C called. I was now confident no one had a flush, but one or more straights could be out there. The river came the 2h. I checked. Player A bet. Player B called. Player C called. I folded. Player A had 2p. Player B had the 6h for a baby flush. Player C had the 8h. I played this one perfectly. All of my bets went in as a favorite, then check-folded when I was beat.

Example #3: I was in the BB with 9hTh. 2 limpers then the CO raised. The BTN called and I 3b. The limpers called then the CO 4b. Everyone called. The flop came KJ4h. I checked. It checked around to the CO, who bet. BTN called, I raised, both limpers folded. Turn was the 9d. I bet. CO called, BTN called. River Qh. I checked. CO bet. BTN called. I raised. CO called, BTN folded. CO showed AA. This one is a variation play I like to make at tables full of call-happy players. I'm building a big pot pre-flop to give me the odds I need to call big bets on the turn with a draw. Of course, if my opponents slow down, I'm going to represent a big pair and try to take the pot away. With a big pot, it doesn't have to work very often to be profitable.

Anyway, I had a great time and took home $140 in profit over a 5-hour session.

By the way, if you have a choice, don't let your house get hit by lightning. We lost 2 tv's, the washer, the microwave, the cable modem and router, both cable boxes, the main circuit breaker and several GFI outlets. On the plus side, my gal says to me, if we have to buy new TV's, lets get the 50". God, I love her.

Good luck at the tables.
M

Unbelievable hand, $1300 pot at $1/$2 NLHE live, snap-call with Jack-high

Here's the situation: I'm at my local casino playing $1/$2 NLHE. I bought in for $300 and had an up and down night, and have $250 in front of me after 4 hours of play. By now it's around 1am. We are seven-handed as the poker room started emptying out around midnight.

A player I'd never seen before sits down in seat 5. I'm in seat 2. He buys in for $300. He is well dressed, but obviously drunk. He has the option to wait until the button passes but he opts to play his first hand UTG. He limps. I'm on the button with AQo. Limps around to me and I make it $12 to go. Small blind calls (he's a certified calling station), and Mr. Drunk reraises to $35. Folds back to me and I move all in for $250. Both players fold.

Next hand I pick up JdTd. A player in MP raised to $8, and I call on the button hoping Mr. Drunk comes along. Mr. Drunk makes it $25 to go. MP folds, I call, and Mr. Station calls on the button. Flop KJTr. Mr. Drunk bets $40. I call. Station calls. Turn Q. Mr. Drunk bets $60. I call. Station folds. River 4. Mr. Drunk bets $60. I call. Mr. Drunk shows 88.

Mr. Drunk goes broke and rebuys for $200.

Next orbit I pick up AsKs on the button. It's limped to me and I make it $15 to go. Station calls. Mr. Drunk calls. Everyone else folds. Flop is 569 with 2 spades. Mr. Drunk bets $50. I shove for $500. Station folds. Mr. Drunk calls. Turn 9. Riv 7. Mr. Drunk turns over Q2, and I scoop.

Mr. Drunk rebuys for $300 more.

I get AA and KK cracked and drop to $640 or so. Meanwhile, Mr. Drunk sucked out on someone while I was away from the table, and doubles up to around the same amount, $640.

Next orbit I'm dealt Qs6s on the button. Mr. Drunk is in, so I'm in. The pot is $12 and we're off to the flop which comes 2QQ. The blinds check and Mr. Drunk bets $20. It folds to me and I call. Both blinds fold. The turn is a 3. Mr. Drunk bets $95. I pause for just 2 seconds and call. The river is another 3. Mr. Drunk looks at me and shrugs (actually shrugs!) and pushes out two stacks of red, $200. I put my head down, shuffle my chips, announce "all in". Mr. Drunk snap-calls, and turns over J2o. The pot came to $1302 total, and with that one pot, I'm even for my last five sessions.

Mr. Drunk decides $800 is enough of a loss and quits. Those of us who were left pushed the blinds around for half an hour before packing it in, during which time I was the target of their envy--and I don't blame them one bit. Snap-call with Jack-high. It's a message from the poker gods, that's what it is. "Sorry about all those bad beats last week, son. Here's a little gift for you to make up for it."

Thank you, poker gods. Thank you very much.
M

Getting love (and money) from my opponents

I have been running hot tonight in 25c/50c LHE RUSH so I put in a longer session than usual, much to my opponents' dismay. One in particular has nothing but love for me. Fairly standard, imo. But correct me if I'm wrong.


Full Tilt, $0.25/$0.50 Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

Preflop: Hero is MP with A 7

UTG folds, Hero raises, 2 folds, SB 3-bets, BB folds, Hero calls


Flop: (7 SB) 7 3 6 (2 players)

SB bets, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero calls


Turn: (6.5 BB) A (2 players)

SB bets, Hero raises, SB folds

SB : you fish again
SB : lolidiot
SB : hope you will have a deadly accident

Results: 8.5 BB pot (0.4 BB rake)

Final Board: 7 3 6 A
Hero mucked A 7 and won 8.1 BB (4.1 BB net)

SB mucked and lost (-4 BB net)

Results-oriented thinking is bad?

Look, I'm a reasonably intelligent guy, and I know I should have this concept understood by now, but I guess I just don't get the distinction. What is the difference between making +EV plays and "results-oriented thinking"?

Let me explain.

I was having a conversation with a fellow poker player about a hand I played in a live game--and his opinion was that I suffer from results-oriented thinking. Here's what happened. It's a $1/$2 NLHE game, 8 players at the table. I'm sitting in the 9 seat next to the dealer. Across from me in Seat 6 is a 20-something maniac with about $900 in front of him. Two hands before this one he 4-bet 74o. His opponent flat called with AA (why he didn't 5b preflop, I will never know) and then shoved the flop which came 4Q7r, and the maniac takes his $400 stack. The guy with AA chose not to rebuy, so we're playing 8-handed.

Anyways, I'm in the CO with $160 total. Maniac raises UTG+1 to $12. It folds to me and I look down at JJ, one of my least favorite hands. Basically, there's 3 ways to play it and every one of them is wrong. I decide to flat and see a flop before I play for stacks. Everyone else folds and we see a flop heads up which comes T84ss. Maniac insta-bets $45 into a $27 pot. If I call, the pot will bloat to $117 and I'll have $103 left, and I'll be committed if an undercard falls on the turn. Taking my time, I look him over to see how comfortable he looks, and to me, he looks comfortable. My read is he's caling if I shove. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean I'm beat, but he hadn't overbet the pot before so I had no idea if it meant anything. He could have an overpair to my jacks, or 77-TT, or Tx, or a complete air ball. I just wasn't sure, and since I was taking so long I decided to see the turn and if it was a blank (No A, K, Q, or T), I'd get it in. Turn falls an offsuit 9 and he shoves. I don't think the 9 helped him at all--if I was ahead before I'm still ahead now. I'm open ended now so if I'm behind at least I'm not drawing dead. Not sure where I am in the hand I call. He has AT for TPTK; the river bricks and I scoop.

Maybe this is going to sound defensive, but if I had been dealt QQ+ or AK, I would have played for stacks from the get-go. But with 22-JJ, AJs or AQ in this spot, I'm certainly not folding but I want to see a flop before I play for stacks. With these lesser hands, there's just so many things that can go wrong.

Is this results-oriented thinking? I guess, yeah, you could say so. But with a medium-strength hand is that so bad? Honestly, we make results-oriented decisions all the time. Like folding 72o preflop. How is results-oriented thinking and making +EV plays any different? Can one of you savvy pros explain this to me?

Thanks,
M

____________________________________________________________________________________________ April 10,2011 Your friend is saying you suffer from "results oriented thinking" because you're unwilling to take the higher variance play when it's been established you're a likely favorite vs his range in those spots. From my perspective it looks like there are 2 ways you can go about playing this guy. You either 3/4/5bet him preflop with your "defensive" range knowing that he 4bets with 47o and that hands like AJ are a favorite. This has the problem of being +EV but a big variance play as he isn't exactly that far behind with 2 random unders and he's gonna suck out. A lot. Ideally your play is to call, see a flop, and then get it in. Hopefully in a spot where you're a bigger favorite than you would've been preflop. As long as you don't call to much/to often preflop and then subsequently fold (essentially bleeding cash to this guy) the flop route is a better route. I'll try to use an example Ok so random hands. Let's say you have AJo and he has 47o. If you shove preflop and he calls, you're a 2-1 (66% equity of the pot) favorite. You however decide to see a flop. The flop comes J42. You shove he calls and now you're a 4-1 favorite (80% equity of the pot) as long as you don't call preflop and fold on the flop to often to this guy (thereby negating that 14% difference in equity) you're better off seeing the flop first. At least that's how I see it ThePenguinElitist April 10,2011 From what I understand results oriented thinking and +ev plays are two separate things. There is every decision you make which is either +ev, -ev, or neutral ev. Then there is the result and trying to decide whether your decision was +ev or not. So you start with the ev of decision and then see the result and have to decide whether your decision was correct. Results orientated means your thoughts are clouded by the results of the hand. I hope that makes sense. 00bradical April 10,2011 Results oriented thinking just means you don't want to lose. You're passing up a +EV play because you don't have a big advantage and you'd like to wait until you have a bigger edge over this guy who's clearly going to give you more opportunities later ThePenguinElitist April 10,2011 the AA hand is results oriented thinking. put simply, flatting AA there against the maniacs 4 bet allows the guy with AA to win far more money - hugely + EV. or to put it another way, the guy with 74o won the hand (results oriented thinking) but didnt make a + EV play tankelton

How bad can I run in SNGs? Pretty @X$!% bad

LHE SNG
1st orbit, 1st hand I played:

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J A
2 folds, Hero raises, 3 folds, BTN 3-bets, SB calls, BB calls, Hero calls

Flop: (12 SB) A 3 8 (4 players)
SB bets, BB folds, Hero raises, BTN calls, SB calls

Turn: (9 BB) J (3 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, BTN calls, SB calls

River: (15 BB) 4 (3 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, BTN 3-bets, SB calls, Hero calls

Results: 24 BB pot
Final Board: A 3 8 J 4
BTN showed 4 4 and won 24 BB (16.5 BB net)
SB mucked 5 A and lost (-7.5 BB net)
Hero mucked J A and lost (-7.5 BB net)

Got knocked out of this one holding AA, lost to rivered 2 pair by a guy holding 74o.

***

LHE SNG#2
Folded mostly. Raise preflop, 4 callers, miss, check/fold, mostly.
This is the one I got knocked out on:

Preflop: Hero is BB with 2 2
UTG+2 raises, MP1 calls, 2 folds, CO calls, BTN folds, SB calls, Hero calls

Flop: (10 SB) 7 2 K (5 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+2 bets, MP1 raises, 2 folds, Hero 3-bets, UTG+2 caps, MP1 calls, Hero calls

Turn: (11 BB) 3 (3 players)
Hero bets, UTG+2 raises, MP1 folds, Hero 3-bets, UTG+2 caps, Hero calls

River: (19 BB) J (2 players)
Hero bets and is all-in, UTG+2 calls

Results: 22 BB pot
Final Board: 7 2 K 3 J
UTG+2 showed K Tand won 22 BB (13.5 BB net)
Hero mucked 2 2 and lost (-8.5 BB net)

***

Hope you're running better than I am.

M

My first royal flush of 2011

Soooooo pretty...

M

ATs in 3-way pot

In a session I played yesterday, I believe, I had this hand come up. I think I played it well, but not necessarily optimally. So I'm soliciting opinions.

Here's what we know about the opponents. Nothing. Yeah, you got it. Nada. The game is 25c/50c LHE RUSH on FT. I have no HUD running and no notes on either player. Take a gander and tell me what you think.

Full Tilt, $0.25/$0.50 Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

Poker Tools by CardRunners - Hand Details

Preflop: Hero is CO with T A
UTG folds, MP raises, Hero 3-bets, BTN caps, 2 folds, MP calls, Hero calls

Flop: (13.4 SB) T 6 7 (3 players)
MP bets, Hero raises, BTN 3-bets, MP calls, Hero calls

Turn: (11.2 BB) A (3 players)
MP bets, Hero calls, BTN raises, MP calls, Hero calls

River: (17.2 BB) K (3 players)
MP checks, Hero checks, BTN bets, MP calls, Hero calls


Here's my reasoning behind my play. I'm 3-betting preflop to knock out the button and the blinds and take it heads up. The button caps and we go to the flop 3-ways. Having no history with either player I'm not trying to nail down a read yet, but generally putting MP on big cards and BTN on AQ+ and pairs.

Flop is great for me, so naturally I raise only to get 3-bet by the BTN. When the MP calls, I'm putting him on a JT/QT type hand, possibly with backdoor straight/flush draws. Button's range hasn't changed. Inclined to believe he has a pair, but not necessarily beating me. Not a disaster but proceeding cautiously. Trouble card on the turn. A. Now I either have the best hand or a 4-outer. It's not exactly a WA/WB situation, because my opponents could have up to 12 outs each. In this case, I've decided to just call down.

Okay, you know my side of things. Tell me what you would have done.

M