davidross
07-20-2003, 12:28 PM
I have decided to compromise. I don’t want to make twice a day updates anymore, but I’ve had a number of people say they would like to keep reading the updates, so I think I will make twice a week summaries. I’m making this one on Wednesday morning.
I made a decision for this week anyway to play only Party 3/6, 3 tables at a time. Because they have so many games going at all times of the day I am going to try and play a little more during the day, and get to bed at an earlier hour. This will allow me to function in the morning when my kids get up since my wife is trying to use the morning to study for her comprehensive exam on Aug. 5. That’s a biggie for her. If she fails she has to re-take it on Aug 12th , and we are due to be in Maine on August 9th, so she better pass.(She’s been getting all A’s so I’m not too worried). The only difficulty I’m finding is that it’s not as easy to play 3 tables for a long period of time as it was for me to play 2 tables. I need to get up and take breaks far more often than I did before. I’m trying to play from 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM, then from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM.
We played soccer in a monsoon last night. The boys will remember that game for the rest of their lives. It absolutely teemed right before the game started. I was soaked to the skin, my shoes were full of water. The boys were sliding all over the field. It was great. It was very warm which saved us from having a bunch of sick kids today. We won 2-0.
Now Poker. 3 days, 3 more wins. That’s 13 straight wins at 3/6, for a total of $4,500. $370 on Sunday, $502 on Monday and $580 yesterday. I know it’s going to have to end somewhere, but as long as the quality of play stays as poor as it is, I’ll have to have a dreadful run of cards just to break even. These games were made for me. I can play lots of hands, build pots at the right time and let mathematics do the rest. I’m starting to see more and more 2+2’ers which isn’t a good thing. 3 of us played one table last night, and it played much tighter and more conventional than usual. Because I’m playing 3 tables, I don’t want to have to think too hard about what they think I have. I want straightforward players. To be perfectly honest some of these guys are so bad you can’t put them on a hand at all. My KJo got rivered by a J2 last night played from EP. I couldn’t put anyone on that, and paid his river raise.
Here are some of the adjustments I’ve made for these 3/6 games.
I am raising less pre-flop. At Paradise I would raise hands to try and steal blinds, to limit the field, and for variance as well as to build pots for my big hands. In the Party 3/6 games I am raising only to build a pot. Most of these players decide to play based on their cards, and it doesn’t matter if it costs them 1, 2 or even 4 bets, they are going to play. So I’m not raising ATo or AJo unless I’m first in from LP. I have raised and won the blinds exactly once in 2 weeks from EP. I don’t like raising AJ, being called in 4 places then trying to play a shaky top pair in a big pot.
I am back to playing any pocket pair from anywhere for 1 bet. If I think there will be 5 players or more, I’ll call 2 as well. Sometimes the tables are a little tighter or I’ll be in MP with no callers in front of me, then I’ll drop the smaller pairs. Flopping sets is making a large percentage of my money. These guys stay with any part of the flop, gut shots and bottom pair, and I love having someone drawing dead and paying me off.
I’ll play any suited connectors, 65 and up from anywhere for 1 bet. Same as the pairs, building big pots on the draw, is making me a lot of money. If I have a 4 flush or an open ender, you can quite often get 4 or 5 opponents to put in 2 or more bets on the flop.
I am folding on the flop a lot. I’m not chasing at all. Raise AK pre flop. Flop T73 rainbow. I check and fold to a bet. Too many guys calling your raise with Ax, and now I can’t count on my Ace being any good if it turns or rivers. Flop big or get out.
No slowplaying, unless I’m huge and there is action in front of me. Just bet. Someone will chase.
No tilting when I get sucked out on. It will happen. Again and again. It has to when they chase like they do. Just keep remembering how much you made when your hand held up.
Playing suited Aces is trickier. Clearly they are good hands when flopping a flush draw, but they have deceptive value when an A flops. I am much more willing to stay at Party with a weak A then I was at Paradise. Of course the problem at Party is 4 guys will call with 2nd or 3rd pair so it’s less clear whether you’re A is good or not.
As an example, last night I raised 4 players from the SB with AA. 2 of them called, the 3rd raised me all in (Only 1 dollar more) and I was able to 3 bet when it got back to me. So 4 of us paid 3 bets, and the other was all in for $7. Flop was As Qs 3h. I bet and got called by all 3. Turn was 8d. I was bet into and raised with the nuts. Everyone called both bets. River brought the 6s. Crap!! I bet anyway and got called in 2 places. One caller had K3, no spades, the guy who bet into me on the turn had K8, no spades, and the all in guy had TJo. I can’t pretend to understand it. But I’m not complaining.
This happens again and again. I raise pre-flop with AK, and get callers. Flop Axx. I bet and everyone calls. No one folds on the flop, another adjustment. Turn is a K. I bet and some fold. River is a scare card and someone bets into me. I call and they have bottom pair. Over and over again. I guess I’m value calling on the river.
Finally, who’s the fish here. I raise from the button with black Kings. 5 of us see the flop for 2 bets. Flop Ah Th Ts. I can’t think of a much worse flop for me. In this game it’s even worse because you really won’t know where you are. Checked to me and I decide to bet. I don’t consider this chasing, because there is a good chance I’m ahead. But if I’m behind I’m probably staying behind. I get 3 calls. I considered checking, but didn’t want to give the flush draw a free card. Turn was the 4c. Checked to me so I bet again. 3 callers again. River brought the wonderful Kh. EP player bets. One caller and I raise. EP 3 bets. Caller folds and I smirk and cap it. Thank god it wasn’t no-limit. He had Qh Jh for the Royal. OUCH!!!
One other comment on the week so far. Twice more I’ve folded a winner on the river. It doesn’t bother me to fold on the flop, and see my cards come up later. But once I get to the river I need to remember that these players aren’t normal. The first time I had a straight but saw a 4th Heart river. There was a bet and a call in front of me and I mucked. The bettor had rivered a set and the other guy had top pair. The 2nd time I had A3s on the button, and saw the flop come AK9 with one of my suit. There was a bet and a call to me and I called. Turn was a 7 of my suit, bet call and I called again. River was an offsuit J, Bet, call and I mucked. K8 beat K6.
Sunday Morning
4 more days and 4 more wins. 17 straight winning days at Party 3/6. I owe eMark a beer or two for pushing me to switch sites, and I can’t remember which one of you gave me the idea of playing 3 3/6 tables, but I owe you too. Wednesday and Thursday, I was card dead. I am playing around 1,500 hands a day, and each day I won only 7% of my hands. Rivered again and again. And still I won $299 on Wednesday and $231 on Thursday. On both days I was dead even for the afternoon sessions, but pulled out wins in the evening. Then Friday I got better cards and won $434, and Saturday I won another $440. So for the week I’m up $2,860, and my bankroll is healthy again. During the 17 day streak since I started playing 3/6 I’m up $5,900.
Maybe I should stop talking about how good these games are. Two or three times this week I found myself at a table with at least 3 2+2’ers, and those games played more like the paradise games and I didn’t win at the same rate. I haven’t yet left a 3/6 table at Party because the game wasn’t very good. At Paradise I did if often. But I came close a few times on Wednesday and Thursday. If I leave your table without saying goodbye, it’s a sign of respect for your game. I also want to apologize if I don’t answer your comments at a table. I try to line up the windows for 3 tables so I can see my cards on all 3 tables at the same time. In order to do this I sometimes push the screen down low enough that the chat window is completely off the screen. I’m not ignoring you. I would prefer not to talk about posts and 2+2 at the table though. New players are nervous enough without thinking about some secret organization that several of their opponents seem to belong to. I keep wondering what they think when someone says they like my posts and how am I doing this week.
I am now trying to be as objective as I can when evaluating the potential long term for these games. After 6 weeks at Paradise 5/10 I thought I had experienced an average run of cards, and clearly that wasn’t so. I guess that’s a hazard of running well. So now I’m on a hot streak, and again it seems like I’m not getting exceptional cards, so I can probably maintain this. Right!! One thing I like about the 3/6 games is the lower risk of a huge loss. I won’t win $1,000 at these limits as I did several times at 5/10, but I’m also not going to lose $800. In fact it seems like I’m not going to lose at all. Amazingly during this hot streak my biggest win is $584. When I sit down now it’s like punching a clock at a regular job. I’m expecting to put in the hours and earn some money. Even after 3 weeks of this I’m still surprised how poor some of the play is. The only really difficult decisions seem to be on the flop. I find myself wanting to chase more than I should because I know these guys are usually bad and may not have anything. You almost always have odds to chase gutshots, so bottom pair starts to seem worth chasing with also. I have to keep reminding myself that’s going to make me like the guys I keep taking money from. No chasing.
I discovered how to check my playing stats this week so I can evaluate my day. The numbers are considerable different than they were at Paradise. When I had a good day at paradise I typically played 25% of the hands, won 10 or 11%, 33% when I saw the flop and 50-60% of my showdowns. Break even days seemed to see me win 8 or 9% of my hands and 7% or less was a losing day. At Party I haven’t won 10% yet. I seem to be at 8% on good days and 7% on the average days. I guess that’s a result of how many players go to showdown. And it shows how these games are an example of winning big pots, not lots of pots.
An unforeseen problem with playing 3 tables is accidentally making the wrong play on the wrong table. Sometimes you get involved in hands on all 3 tables (in fact I quite often fold marginal hands that I would have played just because I’m in a hand on another table). When it’s my turn to play on a certain table, that window pops on top of my screen. If you were about to click something else, you can make a wrong play. Playing 2 tables I can keep the buttons far enough away from each other that this is impossible, but I can’t do it with 3 tables. SO the other night I tried to fold AA on the turn with an A on the board. Thank god there was no action in front of me so I got the reminder, “It is free to check, are you sure you want to fold?”. I yelled at the screen “Noooo” so that my wife jumped up from the couch. Lat night I raised T7o by mistake after 2 limpers. The flop came K89 giving me an open ender soI bet the flop and everyone folded. Lol.
Don’t you have dreams about hands like this?
I limp in EP with 99. I get raised in LP and the BB calls all-in. 2 of us see the flop of A 9 7. I hope he has an A. If I suspect he has an A, I like to bet, If I don’t think he has one, I’ll check. This time I bet and he raised. Yessss. I smooth called, planning to check-raise the turn. Turn is another A. Oh this is sweet. Another change of plans. I smell 3 bets and I bet again. He raises and I 3 bet. This is the moment of truth. If he has AA or A9 or A7, I’ll get capped. He just calls. Yesss. River is the case 9. Better and better. Now he thinks he’s splitting at least. I bet, he raises, I 3 bet and he caps…could he really have AA? Nope. He had AQ and I won a doozie for a heads up 3/6 pot. $110.
Money saved spends as well as money earned.
I posted in the cutoff and found 33. One limper to me and I called. BB raised and we both called. Flop is J43, two spades. BB checks, limper checks, and I checked too. I can’t explain why, but it’s in the hand history. I guess I was slowplaying, but it seems like a strange time to try it. Presumably the BB has AK and will call a flop bet but maybe not a turn bet. I should bet here. Maybe this is another hand where I hit the wrong button. Turn is an A though and it looks like my slowplay worked. BB bets, EP raises, and I 3 bet. They both call. River is a 6, no flush. BB checks, EP bets and I raise again. They both call. BB had AKs as I suspected, EP had AA. Doh!!! I can guarantee if our hands are reversed he’s going to lose more than I did. Perspective. I just count that as $12 saved and go to the next hand.
I think I’ll do the twice a week update again next week. Let me know if you like this format.
I made a decision for this week anyway to play only Party 3/6, 3 tables at a time. Because they have so many games going at all times of the day I am going to try and play a little more during the day, and get to bed at an earlier hour. This will allow me to function in the morning when my kids get up since my wife is trying to use the morning to study for her comprehensive exam on Aug. 5. That’s a biggie for her. If she fails she has to re-take it on Aug 12th , and we are due to be in Maine on August 9th, so she better pass.(She’s been getting all A’s so I’m not too worried). The only difficulty I’m finding is that it’s not as easy to play 3 tables for a long period of time as it was for me to play 2 tables. I need to get up and take breaks far more often than I did before. I’m trying to play from 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM, then from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM.
We played soccer in a monsoon last night. The boys will remember that game for the rest of their lives. It absolutely teemed right before the game started. I was soaked to the skin, my shoes were full of water. The boys were sliding all over the field. It was great. It was very warm which saved us from having a bunch of sick kids today. We won 2-0.
Now Poker. 3 days, 3 more wins. That’s 13 straight wins at 3/6, for a total of $4,500. $370 on Sunday, $502 on Monday and $580 yesterday. I know it’s going to have to end somewhere, but as long as the quality of play stays as poor as it is, I’ll have to have a dreadful run of cards just to break even. These games were made for me. I can play lots of hands, build pots at the right time and let mathematics do the rest. I’m starting to see more and more 2+2’ers which isn’t a good thing. 3 of us played one table last night, and it played much tighter and more conventional than usual. Because I’m playing 3 tables, I don’t want to have to think too hard about what they think I have. I want straightforward players. To be perfectly honest some of these guys are so bad you can’t put them on a hand at all. My KJo got rivered by a J2 last night played from EP. I couldn’t put anyone on that, and paid his river raise.
Here are some of the adjustments I’ve made for these 3/6 games.
I am raising less pre-flop. At Paradise I would raise hands to try and steal blinds, to limit the field, and for variance as well as to build pots for my big hands. In the Party 3/6 games I am raising only to build a pot. Most of these players decide to play based on their cards, and it doesn’t matter if it costs them 1, 2 or even 4 bets, they are going to play. So I’m not raising ATo or AJo unless I’m first in from LP. I have raised and won the blinds exactly once in 2 weeks from EP. I don’t like raising AJ, being called in 4 places then trying to play a shaky top pair in a big pot.
I am back to playing any pocket pair from anywhere for 1 bet. If I think there will be 5 players or more, I’ll call 2 as well. Sometimes the tables are a little tighter or I’ll be in MP with no callers in front of me, then I’ll drop the smaller pairs. Flopping sets is making a large percentage of my money. These guys stay with any part of the flop, gut shots and bottom pair, and I love having someone drawing dead and paying me off.
I’ll play any suited connectors, 65 and up from anywhere for 1 bet. Same as the pairs, building big pots on the draw, is making me a lot of money. If I have a 4 flush or an open ender, you can quite often get 4 or 5 opponents to put in 2 or more bets on the flop.
I am folding on the flop a lot. I’m not chasing at all. Raise AK pre flop. Flop T73 rainbow. I check and fold to a bet. Too many guys calling your raise with Ax, and now I can’t count on my Ace being any good if it turns or rivers. Flop big or get out.
No slowplaying, unless I’m huge and there is action in front of me. Just bet. Someone will chase.
No tilting when I get sucked out on. It will happen. Again and again. It has to when they chase like they do. Just keep remembering how much you made when your hand held up.
Playing suited Aces is trickier. Clearly they are good hands when flopping a flush draw, but they have deceptive value when an A flops. I am much more willing to stay at Party with a weak A then I was at Paradise. Of course the problem at Party is 4 guys will call with 2nd or 3rd pair so it’s less clear whether you’re A is good or not.
As an example, last night I raised 4 players from the SB with AA. 2 of them called, the 3rd raised me all in (Only 1 dollar more) and I was able to 3 bet when it got back to me. So 4 of us paid 3 bets, and the other was all in for $7. Flop was As Qs 3h. I bet and got called by all 3. Turn was 8d. I was bet into and raised with the nuts. Everyone called both bets. River brought the 6s. Crap!! I bet anyway and got called in 2 places. One caller had K3, no spades, the guy who bet into me on the turn had K8, no spades, and the all in guy had TJo. I can’t pretend to understand it. But I’m not complaining.
This happens again and again. I raise pre-flop with AK, and get callers. Flop Axx. I bet and everyone calls. No one folds on the flop, another adjustment. Turn is a K. I bet and some fold. River is a scare card and someone bets into me. I call and they have bottom pair. Over and over again. I guess I’m value calling on the river.
Finally, who’s the fish here. I raise from the button with black Kings. 5 of us see the flop for 2 bets. Flop Ah Th Ts. I can’t think of a much worse flop for me. In this game it’s even worse because you really won’t know where you are. Checked to me and I decide to bet. I don’t consider this chasing, because there is a good chance I’m ahead. But if I’m behind I’m probably staying behind. I get 3 calls. I considered checking, but didn’t want to give the flush draw a free card. Turn was the 4c. Checked to me so I bet again. 3 callers again. River brought the wonderful Kh. EP player bets. One caller and I raise. EP 3 bets. Caller folds and I smirk and cap it. Thank god it wasn’t no-limit. He had Qh Jh for the Royal. OUCH!!!
One other comment on the week so far. Twice more I’ve folded a winner on the river. It doesn’t bother me to fold on the flop, and see my cards come up later. But once I get to the river I need to remember that these players aren’t normal. The first time I had a straight but saw a 4th Heart river. There was a bet and a call in front of me and I mucked. The bettor had rivered a set and the other guy had top pair. The 2nd time I had A3s on the button, and saw the flop come AK9 with one of my suit. There was a bet and a call to me and I called. Turn was a 7 of my suit, bet call and I called again. River was an offsuit J, Bet, call and I mucked. K8 beat K6.
Sunday Morning
4 more days and 4 more wins. 17 straight winning days at Party 3/6. I owe eMark a beer or two for pushing me to switch sites, and I can’t remember which one of you gave me the idea of playing 3 3/6 tables, but I owe you too. Wednesday and Thursday, I was card dead. I am playing around 1,500 hands a day, and each day I won only 7% of my hands. Rivered again and again. And still I won $299 on Wednesday and $231 on Thursday. On both days I was dead even for the afternoon sessions, but pulled out wins in the evening. Then Friday I got better cards and won $434, and Saturday I won another $440. So for the week I’m up $2,860, and my bankroll is healthy again. During the 17 day streak since I started playing 3/6 I’m up $5,900.
Maybe I should stop talking about how good these games are. Two or three times this week I found myself at a table with at least 3 2+2’ers, and those games played more like the paradise games and I didn’t win at the same rate. I haven’t yet left a 3/6 table at Party because the game wasn’t very good. At Paradise I did if often. But I came close a few times on Wednesday and Thursday. If I leave your table without saying goodbye, it’s a sign of respect for your game. I also want to apologize if I don’t answer your comments at a table. I try to line up the windows for 3 tables so I can see my cards on all 3 tables at the same time. In order to do this I sometimes push the screen down low enough that the chat window is completely off the screen. I’m not ignoring you. I would prefer not to talk about posts and 2+2 at the table though. New players are nervous enough without thinking about some secret organization that several of their opponents seem to belong to. I keep wondering what they think when someone says they like my posts and how am I doing this week.
I am now trying to be as objective as I can when evaluating the potential long term for these games. After 6 weeks at Paradise 5/10 I thought I had experienced an average run of cards, and clearly that wasn’t so. I guess that’s a hazard of running well. So now I’m on a hot streak, and again it seems like I’m not getting exceptional cards, so I can probably maintain this. Right!! One thing I like about the 3/6 games is the lower risk of a huge loss. I won’t win $1,000 at these limits as I did several times at 5/10, but I’m also not going to lose $800. In fact it seems like I’m not going to lose at all. Amazingly during this hot streak my biggest win is $584. When I sit down now it’s like punching a clock at a regular job. I’m expecting to put in the hours and earn some money. Even after 3 weeks of this I’m still surprised how poor some of the play is. The only really difficult decisions seem to be on the flop. I find myself wanting to chase more than I should because I know these guys are usually bad and may not have anything. You almost always have odds to chase gutshots, so bottom pair starts to seem worth chasing with also. I have to keep reminding myself that’s going to make me like the guys I keep taking money from. No chasing.
I discovered how to check my playing stats this week so I can evaluate my day. The numbers are considerable different than they were at Paradise. When I had a good day at paradise I typically played 25% of the hands, won 10 or 11%, 33% when I saw the flop and 50-60% of my showdowns. Break even days seemed to see me win 8 or 9% of my hands and 7% or less was a losing day. At Party I haven’t won 10% yet. I seem to be at 8% on good days and 7% on the average days. I guess that’s a result of how many players go to showdown. And it shows how these games are an example of winning big pots, not lots of pots.
An unforeseen problem with playing 3 tables is accidentally making the wrong play on the wrong table. Sometimes you get involved in hands on all 3 tables (in fact I quite often fold marginal hands that I would have played just because I’m in a hand on another table). When it’s my turn to play on a certain table, that window pops on top of my screen. If you were about to click something else, you can make a wrong play. Playing 2 tables I can keep the buttons far enough away from each other that this is impossible, but I can’t do it with 3 tables. SO the other night I tried to fold AA on the turn with an A on the board. Thank god there was no action in front of me so I got the reminder, “It is free to check, are you sure you want to fold?”. I yelled at the screen “Noooo” so that my wife jumped up from the couch. Lat night I raised T7o by mistake after 2 limpers. The flop came K89 giving me an open ender soI bet the flop and everyone folded. Lol.
Don’t you have dreams about hands like this?
I limp in EP with 99. I get raised in LP and the BB calls all-in. 2 of us see the flop of A 9 7. I hope he has an A. If I suspect he has an A, I like to bet, If I don’t think he has one, I’ll check. This time I bet and he raised. Yessss. I smooth called, planning to check-raise the turn. Turn is another A. Oh this is sweet. Another change of plans. I smell 3 bets and I bet again. He raises and I 3 bet. This is the moment of truth. If he has AA or A9 or A7, I’ll get capped. He just calls. Yesss. River is the case 9. Better and better. Now he thinks he’s splitting at least. I bet, he raises, I 3 bet and he caps…could he really have AA? Nope. He had AQ and I won a doozie for a heads up 3/6 pot. $110.
Money saved spends as well as money earned.
I posted in the cutoff and found 33. One limper to me and I called. BB raised and we both called. Flop is J43, two spades. BB checks, limper checks, and I checked too. I can’t explain why, but it’s in the hand history. I guess I was slowplaying, but it seems like a strange time to try it. Presumably the BB has AK and will call a flop bet but maybe not a turn bet. I should bet here. Maybe this is another hand where I hit the wrong button. Turn is an A though and it looks like my slowplay worked. BB bets, EP raises, and I 3 bet. They both call. River is a 6, no flush. BB checks, EP bets and I raise again. They both call. BB had AKs as I suspected, EP had AA. Doh!!! I can guarantee if our hands are reversed he’s going to lose more than I did. Perspective. I just count that as $12 saved and go to the next hand.
I think I’ll do the twice a week update again next week. Let me know if you like this format.