davidross
08-31-2003, 06:24 PM
Back to the grind after 2 weeks of part time playing. I’ve had two requests for my resume this week, so maybe something will develop on the job front, but I’m running so well right now I hope not.
I’ve been on a roll almost since I started at Party, and it seems to be continuing. In 3 days I’m up $2,000 again. Clearly I’m getting good cards, but even more than that I feel like I’m in “the zone” every time I play. My hand reading has been excellent, making good laydowns and putting in raises at the right time. I’ve played at Paradise the last 3 nights in addition to Party. The first night I played 2 5/10 tables (Paradise) and 2 3/6 tables (Party). The 2nd night I only played 1 5/10 and 3 3/6 tables because the other 5/10 games looked dreadful. Last night Paradise crashed and I only played there for about ½ an hour. I’m not sure how much 5/10 I want to play. I’ve gotten real comfortable with 3 games, and 4 is pushing me a little. We’ll see how it goes. I also want to avoid short term fluctuations as much as possible. We’ll see how the paradise bankroll goes.
I want to start a list of my favorite user names online. I’ve always loved my 2+2 buddy Stu Pidasso as a name, and there’s a guy who goes by just Stupid. I like seeing “Stupid shows…”. But so far I think my favorite is Chipwrecked. Very clever.
I see guys checking monsters on the flop all the time at 3/6. It seems so obvious to me, but it does seem to work against the average 3/6 player. Maybe I need to try it. When I see a gut raise 3 limpers from the SB, then check a flop of Qs 6c 3d, my internal voice screams QQ. Then someone bets, gets raised and calls him down all the way. Maybe I need to try some of these “obvious” moves myself.
Flopping a monster part 1. Playing 5/10 the other night against my buddy Looba. Looba limped in EP along with one other (I think, I don’t have the hand history). I raised with KK from MP and I think I got 1 or 2 callers. Flop came K6x two of one suit. Looba bet and I raised. We lost everyone else and he 3 bet me and I 4 bet. Turn was another 6. Looba bet into me again and no longer worried about a flush I raised him again. He 3 bet and I capped it again. I even typed ‘you lose’ to him to taunt him a little. River completed the flush and he bet again. Ha ha, I raised him again and he 3 bet. I can’t remember if I just called or capped one more time, but 66 finally entered my consciousness, and of course that’s what he had. I never did dig out of that hole.
Flopping a monster part 2. Playing 3/6 this time I limped UTG with 33. One poster checks, MP calls, co and button call, and the BB calls. Flop comes 4s 4d 3s. I decide slowplaying this is safe and I check. Poster bets, MP calls and everyone else folds. I smooth call hoping someone catches up. Turn is a Ts completing the flush. I check, Poster bets and MP raises. Yes. I just call the 2, reasoning it will keep the poster in for 1 more bet and I can still get the raise in on the river. River is the Jc. Poster bets again, MP raises again and I 3 bet. They both call. Poster had 99 (Don’t ask me?), and MP had the nut flush. Very nice pot.
A good read. Played this hand against an aggressive regular in the 3/6 games. I limped 2 off the button with Qc Jh. Aggressive Lady raises from the button. I’m the only caller. Flop is 9d 9s Tc. Decision time. I can bet out or check raise or check/call. I think a lot of people play this wrong. Betting or raising here is only there is some chance your opponent will laydown. I see people semi-bluffing heads up all the time and I know when I’m the guy on the button with AK, I’m not folding anything, making the bluff a bad play. I don’t think she’s folding here either so I go the check/call route. She does bet. Turn is the 8s. I check, she bets and I raise. She calls. River is an As. I am pretty sure she has an A in her hand and I know she can’t let this go so I check again and sure enough she bets. I raise again and she calls. She had A8. I actually put her on a bigger Ace. Somehow this never works when you’re running bad, she would have mede the flush then.
Now I’m going to jump on my soapbox. I’m so sick of seeing people type “nice catch” after a suck out and then continuing to berate the player until they leave the table, taking money with them that would have been re-distributed eventually. I’ve seen it so often in the last week. I’ve even caught myself getting on the offender myself afterwards which probably isn’t right either.
The week has finished well. I ended up ahead $980 at Paradise and $1,830 at Party for a win of $2,810. The games have been good at both sites and I’m making some big hands. I’ve had a high number of KK vs AA hands this week. 5 times and I lost every one of them. Just one of those things I guess.
I had another guy tell me off today for my poor play chasing him down with a runner runner flush. Instead of just playing dumb I gave it right back at him. I need to follow my own advice and just shut up. I had to laugh when I checked the hand history though. He had called the flop (872 rainbow), on a gutshot with 54, and I had too with A9s. The 6h turned making his straight but giving me the 4 flush. He also check-raised the turn trapping me for the 2nd bet. I made my flush on the river and got another raise in and he went off his nut.
One of the things I love about this game is how the more you learn, the more you discover how much more there is to learn. I’m constantly improving my understanding of this game and why playing hands out of position is such a bad idea. I had two KQ hands back to back that illustrated it to me.
Hand 1. I open raise KQo from 3 off the button. Only the BB calls. Flop comes 822, two spades. He checks, I bet and he calls. Turn is a 5s. Check, bet and call. River is a Jh. He checks again. I check too and he wins with A4o no spade. A bet might have won it for me here but that’s not the point of this. I lost 2 ½ BB’s on this hand.
The very next hand I get KQ again. I open raise again and both blinds call. Flop this time is KT5 rainbow. Checked to me and I bet and I get 1 caller. Turn is a J, Check bet call. River another Jack, Check Bet Call. He has AT and I win 4 BB’s.
The ability to get or save that last bet has to be worth a lot. So much so that I think I would rather have KQ in LP than AT in EP.
My final word of the week. I wish I could get Paradise’s software and Customer support together with all the bad players at Party. I never had a bit of trouble with a cashout from Paradise and they courier the checks to you for free. Party charges me $25 for a courier and as I discovered just before my vacation, they still don’t get the cashout processed in a week. I requested a cashout for 2500 the Sunday before my vacation. Courier is to take 2-4 business days. When I hadn’t received it by Thursday I called them and was told they had no idea where it was but I could get the Fed-Ex tracking number the next day. I was planning on leaving early Friday morning for Montreal so I didn’t really want to wait around, but I was counting on that money. When Friday arrived I called again and was told they didn’t knoe where the check was, but it hadn’t gone to Fed-ex yet. I went off my nut a little after she told me 5 times “Mr. David, I will get accounting to check and call you back”. I told her to cancel the courier and just mail it. When I checked my account from Maine, I saw that instead of canceling it they had cashed out another 2,500. Only one check was waiting for me when I got home and I started to go nuts again, but the 2nd one arrived on Thursday, but they had still deducted the $25 for courier even though they mailed the check. I’m still fighting over that one.
I should get a full week of play in this week for the first time in 4 weeks.
I’ve been on a roll almost since I started at Party, and it seems to be continuing. In 3 days I’m up $2,000 again. Clearly I’m getting good cards, but even more than that I feel like I’m in “the zone” every time I play. My hand reading has been excellent, making good laydowns and putting in raises at the right time. I’ve played at Paradise the last 3 nights in addition to Party. The first night I played 2 5/10 tables (Paradise) and 2 3/6 tables (Party). The 2nd night I only played 1 5/10 and 3 3/6 tables because the other 5/10 games looked dreadful. Last night Paradise crashed and I only played there for about ½ an hour. I’m not sure how much 5/10 I want to play. I’ve gotten real comfortable with 3 games, and 4 is pushing me a little. We’ll see how it goes. I also want to avoid short term fluctuations as much as possible. We’ll see how the paradise bankroll goes.
I want to start a list of my favorite user names online. I’ve always loved my 2+2 buddy Stu Pidasso as a name, and there’s a guy who goes by just Stupid. I like seeing “Stupid shows…”. But so far I think my favorite is Chipwrecked. Very clever.
I see guys checking monsters on the flop all the time at 3/6. It seems so obvious to me, but it does seem to work against the average 3/6 player. Maybe I need to try it. When I see a gut raise 3 limpers from the SB, then check a flop of Qs 6c 3d, my internal voice screams QQ. Then someone bets, gets raised and calls him down all the way. Maybe I need to try some of these “obvious” moves myself.
Flopping a monster part 1. Playing 5/10 the other night against my buddy Looba. Looba limped in EP along with one other (I think, I don’t have the hand history). I raised with KK from MP and I think I got 1 or 2 callers. Flop came K6x two of one suit. Looba bet and I raised. We lost everyone else and he 3 bet me and I 4 bet. Turn was another 6. Looba bet into me again and no longer worried about a flush I raised him again. He 3 bet and I capped it again. I even typed ‘you lose’ to him to taunt him a little. River completed the flush and he bet again. Ha ha, I raised him again and he 3 bet. I can’t remember if I just called or capped one more time, but 66 finally entered my consciousness, and of course that’s what he had. I never did dig out of that hole.
Flopping a monster part 2. Playing 3/6 this time I limped UTG with 33. One poster checks, MP calls, co and button call, and the BB calls. Flop comes 4s 4d 3s. I decide slowplaying this is safe and I check. Poster bets, MP calls and everyone else folds. I smooth call hoping someone catches up. Turn is a Ts completing the flush. I check, Poster bets and MP raises. Yes. I just call the 2, reasoning it will keep the poster in for 1 more bet and I can still get the raise in on the river. River is the Jc. Poster bets again, MP raises again and I 3 bet. They both call. Poster had 99 (Don’t ask me?), and MP had the nut flush. Very nice pot.
A good read. Played this hand against an aggressive regular in the 3/6 games. I limped 2 off the button with Qc Jh. Aggressive Lady raises from the button. I’m the only caller. Flop is 9d 9s Tc. Decision time. I can bet out or check raise or check/call. I think a lot of people play this wrong. Betting or raising here is only there is some chance your opponent will laydown. I see people semi-bluffing heads up all the time and I know when I’m the guy on the button with AK, I’m not folding anything, making the bluff a bad play. I don’t think she’s folding here either so I go the check/call route. She does bet. Turn is the 8s. I check, she bets and I raise. She calls. River is an As. I am pretty sure she has an A in her hand and I know she can’t let this go so I check again and sure enough she bets. I raise again and she calls. She had A8. I actually put her on a bigger Ace. Somehow this never works when you’re running bad, she would have mede the flush then.
Now I’m going to jump on my soapbox. I’m so sick of seeing people type “nice catch” after a suck out and then continuing to berate the player until they leave the table, taking money with them that would have been re-distributed eventually. I’ve seen it so often in the last week. I’ve even caught myself getting on the offender myself afterwards which probably isn’t right either.
The week has finished well. I ended up ahead $980 at Paradise and $1,830 at Party for a win of $2,810. The games have been good at both sites and I’m making some big hands. I’ve had a high number of KK vs AA hands this week. 5 times and I lost every one of them. Just one of those things I guess.
I had another guy tell me off today for my poor play chasing him down with a runner runner flush. Instead of just playing dumb I gave it right back at him. I need to follow my own advice and just shut up. I had to laugh when I checked the hand history though. He had called the flop (872 rainbow), on a gutshot with 54, and I had too with A9s. The 6h turned making his straight but giving me the 4 flush. He also check-raised the turn trapping me for the 2nd bet. I made my flush on the river and got another raise in and he went off his nut.
One of the things I love about this game is how the more you learn, the more you discover how much more there is to learn. I’m constantly improving my understanding of this game and why playing hands out of position is such a bad idea. I had two KQ hands back to back that illustrated it to me.
Hand 1. I open raise KQo from 3 off the button. Only the BB calls. Flop comes 822, two spades. He checks, I bet and he calls. Turn is a 5s. Check, bet and call. River is a Jh. He checks again. I check too and he wins with A4o no spade. A bet might have won it for me here but that’s not the point of this. I lost 2 ½ BB’s on this hand.
The very next hand I get KQ again. I open raise again and both blinds call. Flop this time is KT5 rainbow. Checked to me and I bet and I get 1 caller. Turn is a J, Check bet call. River another Jack, Check Bet Call. He has AT and I win 4 BB’s.
The ability to get or save that last bet has to be worth a lot. So much so that I think I would rather have KQ in LP than AT in EP.
My final word of the week. I wish I could get Paradise’s software and Customer support together with all the bad players at Party. I never had a bit of trouble with a cashout from Paradise and they courier the checks to you for free. Party charges me $25 for a courier and as I discovered just before my vacation, they still don’t get the cashout processed in a week. I requested a cashout for 2500 the Sunday before my vacation. Courier is to take 2-4 business days. When I hadn’t received it by Thursday I called them and was told they had no idea where it was but I could get the Fed-Ex tracking number the next day. I was planning on leaving early Friday morning for Montreal so I didn’t really want to wait around, but I was counting on that money. When Friday arrived I called again and was told they didn’t knoe where the check was, but it hadn’t gone to Fed-ex yet. I went off my nut a little after she told me 5 times “Mr. David, I will get accounting to check and call you back”. I told her to cancel the courier and just mail it. When I checked my account from Maine, I saw that instead of canceling it they had cashed out another 2,500. Only one check was waiting for me when I got home and I started to go nuts again, but the 2nd one arrived on Thursday, but they had still deducted the $25 for courier even though they mailed the check. I’m still fighting over that one.
I should get a full week of play in this week for the first time in 4 weeks.