Becoming a professional poker player

Becoming a professional poker player
One of the perks of writing a poker column is the many opportunities it gives you to discuss the subject with people of disparate opinions. With my e-mail address displayed in the footer of every column I publish, people often write to ask questions. One of the most common has to do with what it takes to go pro...

Keeping records

Keeping records
Many poker players, especially recreational ones, have no idea where they stand in terms of overall winnings or losses. And if you're a recreational player with all the money you will ever need, that's fine. But for everyone else, it's a good idea to keep track...

Gamble responsibly

Gamble responsibly
Gambling addiction is real and if you or someone you know suffers from it, they need your help. I encourage you to contact Gambler's Anonymous to find out what you can do...

Morning tournament - more cash game woes

Seems I can run bad in tournaments just as well as cash games.

Started with 8k chips. I played a total of 7 hands. The first five levels I was card dead. I limped once with 88 and called a raise on the button vs UTG raiser w/AQs. Stacks were too deep at the time to reraise or shove. Whiffed both times. I won one pot with a donk bet in a limped pot 3-handed.

Got blinded down to 6k by the time this hand came up, and the blinds had increased to 300/600/50. HJ limped, BTN shoves for 4500, I'm in the BB and have 66. It's the second best hand I've been dealt so far, as I've mostly been getting K5o and 93o trash. I decide to gamble and reraise all in for 6100. HJ calls. HJ shows 55. BTN shows QJ. Board runs out KT839, giving BTN a straight. I win a small side pot.

The very next hand I'm in the SB holding A9o. It folds around to the guy who had 55 last hand, and he limps. It folds to me and I go all in for around 2300. BB folds. The limper calls. He shows T2o. Board runs out KJ482. I finished 18th out of around 50 players.

They have a cash game running and I go take a look at it to see if it's worth joining. There's a chronic bluffer in the game. A chronic gambler in the game. One solid reg and the rest I've never seen or played with before. I decide to take a 1-buyin shot and sit down with $100. First hand I'm in the CO with KQcc. 4 limpers and I raise to $12. 3 callers. Flop AT5cc. The chronic bluffer is 2nd to act and donks for $27. 1 fold, I call, SB folds. Feels like 2nd pair with a gutshot or a naked flush draw. Turn is the Ks. Bluffer goes all in. I call. River blanks and I table my hand. My kings are good.

I go an hour limp-folding, occassionally limp-calling and then folding the flop with middle pairs. Then I pick up AQs on the button with a stack of $132. 6 limpers and I make it $12 to go. 5 callers. Flop AKx. With $70 in the pot, I wanted to make it clear I wasn't folding. I bet $60. 2 callers, both 60+ yr old men. (Neither of them play great, but they're not stupid either.) Turn J. 1 check, then player to my right donks for $50. I go into the tank. AJ? Really? AJ or AK, that's about it. Can this really be happening again? With $250 + the $50 bet in the pot I'm getting 6 to 1 on a call. I have TPTK with a gutshot. I make a crying call. The other villain folds. River blanks. Check-check river. Sure enough, my opponent tables AJ. Another effing 3-outer. Yeah, that's what I was afraid of, I tell him. Nice hand.

I rebuy for $100, which was probably not the best idea in retrospect. I admit I was tilting. I picked up JTdd on the button and raised small, hoping to flop something good and have a pot to go after. 6 players called. Flop came 976d. 2nd player to act (the chronic gambler) came out firing $30 into the $60 pot. I know he has an 8, probably with a pair. This is a clear fold. But do I fold? No, of course not. I'm on tilt. I call. The BB also calls. Turn is the Ad, giving me a flush draw to go with my gutshot. BB (the solid reg) checks. Gambler bets $40. I tank-call, hoping the BB flat-calls. Implied odds don't matter much as I'm only leaving myself $20 behind. The river is the 3h. BB checks. Gambler checks. No value in betting and no fold equity--the BB is a solid reg and he has a hand. I check. BB shows 99 for a set. I am not surprised at all.

I go all in pf with 88 a few hands later for $18, get 2 callers (both the gambler and the AJ player). Board runs out KJTxx, the AJ player shows me K9o. This time I wisely quit.

M

Longer session, fewer playable hands, more bad beats

All in on the turn with top 2 pair, called by top pair, King kicker. River: K.

3-bet pf with AA. Original raiser calls. Flop J56ss. Checks to me. I bet $50 into a $65 pot. He shoves, I call off my remaining $50, hoping to see KK/QQ. He has JJ.

Limp-reraise all in preflop with AA. 3 players call. Board QT9xQ. The two hands I saw were J9o and QTo.

Dunno how long this will continue. Will seriously consider time off if this happens again tomorrow night.

M

Short session... losing to runner runner 2x

I'm back to running like Negreanu on HSP.

Buy in for $100. I'm on the button with KQs. HJ raises to $12. Flop AQ3ss. HJ bets $20. Turn K. HJ bets $37. Feels like AQ/AK to me. I fold. He says he had AK and I believe him.

I have $52 left when this hand comes up. I have AKcc UTG and I limp. I'm hoping to reraise aipf. MP raises to $7. 2 callers before it gets back to me. I go all in for $52. MP thinks about it and calls, everyone else folds. MP shows KdJd. Flop comes 9d 6d 3d. FML.

Rebuy for $100. I start this hand with $82. After 6 limpers I find 33 on the button. I limp along. SB calls, BB checks. Flop comes A38dd. BB bets $7. MP calls, I call. Turn 8d, giving me a boat and putting a poss flush on board. BB bets $7. MP calls. I count my stack, which is $73. I decide to call and try to get value from MP who may have a baby flush...BB I put on an ace or an 8, likely with a diamond. I call the $7 turn bet. River Ts. BB bets $15. MP calls. I raise all in for $66. MP folds out of turn. BB calls. I turn over my boat. BB turns over T8 for a rivered boat. FML.

I rebuy for $100 more. When this hand started, I had $98 of it left, and am in the SB. 6 players limp and I raise to $16 w/QdQh. 3 callers. Flop AhTh8d. I tank-check. It checks around. Turn is the 6d. I bet $27 into the $64 pot. 1 fold, MP calls, BTN folds. River 2d. I tank-check. MP tanks and bets $30. He either has the runner runner flush or he's bluffing a missed draw. I don't give him credit for an ace (he would have bet the flop), and I don't think he'd bet a pair of tens. With $150 in the pot and slightly tilting, I call. He shows KdTd.

I take my remaining $27 in chips to the cashier and leave. I lost $273 in less than 2 hours.

Getting tired of nights like this.

M

Struggle continues

Another loss and frankly, there was nothing interesting about it worth recounting here. I didn't make any big mistakes. I just either couldn't hit or couldn't get paid off. I got coolered in a big pot where I made a flush and my opponent made the nut flush. But w/e...I had straight and flush draws, the pot was 3-way, and I made my flush on the river. Not gonna cry over it.

Going to take tomorrow off from poker completely and get back to work on Friday.

M

Two steps forward, one step back

Got two wins under my belt and then last night took a bunch of beats. Nothing that interesting to note, it's all pretty standard, so I'll abbreviate it.

I had J8s in the BB, UTG+2 raises to $7, 4 callers so I call. Flop J87, I check, UTG+2 bets $20, I raise to $60, he calls. Turn T. I go all in for $40 more, he calls. He has KQ for an oesd. River A.

It's a bad beat so I rebuy.

I get back to even with AQ, flop top pair, and get 3 streets of value.
Got $60 profit with Q3s, flop top pair, it checks around. I turned trips, got 2 streets of value.

Then I get A4cc on the button, called pfr. Flop brings a flush draw on a T-hi board. I call the 1/2 pot flop bet. Everyone else folds so we're heads-up. Villain is short stacked with about $60 left. There's ~$45 in the pot. Turn brings my flush, and I decide to check behind and try to get value from a pair of tens on the river. The river brings another T. He leads for $26. I raised to $76. He calls and shows 5's full. He had bottom set and got there. Oops.

Just a few hands later I raise 5x w/AA. Player on my left makes it $32 to go. I go all in. He calls with JJ. Flop QJ4. Player on my right says he folded A4o. My one-outer doesn't come and I'm done.

Feel like I played well, though I did cost myself and extra $35 with the nut flush hand. I could have just called, and did consider it when the board paired, but decided it was unlikely he'd filled up. Not a big mistake, imo, but a mistake nevertheless.

Will make another run at it tonight.
M

Another win...another early exit

Continued my mission to rebuild my bankroll tonight. I showed up at the River Spirit casino at 10:00 and got my seat 15 minutes later. I immediately doubled up with TPTK vs a maniac and 2 overpairs vs TPGK hands. Then I picked up JJ in the BB and raised to $17 vs 6 limpers. 2 players called. Flop J65 with two diamonds. I bet $25 into the $60 pot. 1 caller. Turn was the Ah. I take a moment to decide on my bet size, wanting to get value from A-hi that peeled the flop. I decided on $40. Villain min-raises to $80. I count my stack...if I call, I have roughly $80 left. I count out $40 in chips, pause, and go all in. Villain calls and shows AK, drawing dead. This hand took me up to $430, a profit of $330. Once again, sticking to my rules, I rack up and leave. I've only been at the table 45 minutes.

Man, I'd like to stay at these juicy tables. Can't wait to hit my goal so I can stick around longer.
M

Squeezing out a win live

As I mentioned in my previous post, my BR had dipped to around $400. I had very specific goals going in. Buy in for $100. One rebuy allowed if coolered or I take a bad beat for my first BI. I MUST quit if I win $200.

When I arrived, there were 4 tables of $1/$2 NLHE going, with one seat open. Had two solid regs on my left, and a maniac two seats to my right. The maniac had $500 in front of him, the regs had $500 and $300. I bought in for $100.

I folded mostly (limp-folded some) and then picked up pocket 10's in the BB. Solid reg #2 raised UTG+1 to $12. One player called, and I called. Flop 532 (I don't remember if there was a flush draw). I checked. Reg bet $20, LP player called. I thought about it, but not for very long. I folded. I've played enough hours with the reg to know his range oop is super-strong, and lacking a set or draw on board, I didn't like my hand anymore and let it go. Reg #2 showed KK and scooped. I felt like I was beat and folded. The turn was an 8. The river was a T. I would have hit a set on the river to win. While I would have tripled up, I made a good read and a good decision. This was a confidence boost to say the least.

Maniac's tendecies were pretty obvious to read. He would go all in with air, and value bet made hands. He called a raise pf, flop comes 887, checks to him and he shoves for $400 into a ~$40 pot. The original raiser calls. Maniac shows Q6o. Original raiser shows JJ.

So when he raised pf, I look down at AK and I have 35BB left from my original 50. I shove. He over-shoves, everyone folds, and we're off to the flop. Maniac shows KK. Ugh. Cooler. The case King flops and I'm basically dead. I rebuy for $100.

Later on, I open-raise pf with AKo. Maniac reraises. I flat call. Flop 445. Maniac shoves for $240 and has me covered (I started with ~$170). I probably have the best hand or am chopping, but he could have a small pair like 22 or 33, though 67 or QJ is more likely. I decide I'm going to have more and better opportunities vs this player, so I let it go. I don't know if it was a bluff-brag or that he thought he was showing the best hand, but he mucked AKo face-up. So, we were chopping. That's fine, I don't mind my fold. I just hope he sticks around.

My stack drops to around $130. Once again, he raised to $17 pf. Before the action gets back to me, another payer calls, I look down at QQ and I hope they're feeling frisky. I reraise to $60. He shoves, everyone folds, and I call. Board runs out 4Q57Jddd. Maniac shows down Ad8h. This hand brings me back to even plus a bit of profit.

Okay, so time to analyze my situation. I have $240 on the table and my BR is $400. Not the best situation, so I'm thinking about quitting. I consider my opponents at the table. The maniac is begging to go broke. There are two other weak players at my table. I decide to stick around for another 30 minutes, quit if I hit $300 or drop to $100.

I limp 87o in MP. Button raises small. Three players call so I call behind. Flop 469. Everyone checks to the button, who bets the pot. It's a big bet, and smells like weakness to me. It folds to me and I call 15% of my stack. Everyone else folds, which was disappointing. The turn is a J. Check-check. River 5. Bingo, the nuts. I bet $70 into the $110 pot. Button pays me off.

This hand took me up to $325, and I immediately racked up. I decide to play any premium hands I'm dealt while waiting for the blinds to circle back to me. In the space of those 5 hands, I'm dealt AA twice, 3-bet preflop, and took it down on the flop. I quit with $210 profit.

It's nice to book a win after five straight losses. It really sucks to have to quit because you have 67% of your bankroll on the table. But I felt it was the right decision. I'll go back tonight and execute the same plan. Lose $100 or win $200, then quit. 1 rebuy allowed if I lose the 1st BI via cooler or bad beat. How long will I stick with it? Probably until I get back above $1500. Hope it doesn't take too long.

M