Sophomore Poker, Week 1

[jasonHoldEm]

Week one was very short (only two days of play) due to a variety of holiday commitments. I started the project with $50 playing at .50/1 with a goal of making 150 BB’s (that’s $150 for the mathematically challenged) before I moved up to 1/2.

My first day of play was on Christmas, and Santa gave me one of my best sessions ever. I certainly had more than my fair share of luck, but at the same time I feel I played my hands very well and was able to extract the maximum with them. I actually overshot my 150 BB goal because I was having so much fun...in a little over 5 hours I walked away with $212, clearing the .50/1 in a single day and getting a good start on the 1/2 level at the same time.

Each time I move up a level I'm also increasing the number of BB's I'm going to win at the new level before moving on, so at 1/2 I'm going to earn 200 BB's before I move on to 2/4. On Friday I moved up to the 1/2 tables, with a 30 BB head start from my monster session on Christmas I only had around 170 BB’s to go to reach my goal. Sadly, I wasn’t able to beat this level in a single day, but I did put in a solid session and picked up around 40 BB’s putting me a little above a third of the way completed with 1/2.

I had a friend visit over the weekend and my schedule at work this week has been pretty crazy so Friday was the last time I was able to play. I’m actually somewhat happy about that because my success on Christmas actually made the session on Friday seem disappointing (even though it was a very good session itself...just not a monster). Overconfidence is a dangerous thing, and I know it is weakness of mine, especially at the limits I’ve beaten in the past. A few days off has allowed me to put things in perspective and probably prevented me from going on "positive tilt".

I just have two hands for review, both are probably a little too aggressive for the limits they were played at, but I’m interested to hear what you guys think.

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Hand 1
.50/1 Table is playing a little tight.

Action is folded to MP player who limps in. This player is your typical any ace to the river player. If an ace hits he’ll get in there and bet/raise (regardless of his kicker of course) if he makes top pair with his kicker he usually will play it aggressively as well, otherwise he’ll fold to a bet on the river. It's then folded to a poster in the CO who checks, the button folds. I’m in the SB with 8 /images/graemlins/club.gif 8 /images/graemlins/spade.gif and I raise, BB folds, MP calls, CO calls.

FLOP: J /images/graemlins/heart.gif, 9 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 4 /images/graemlins/heart.gif

I bet, MP calls, CO folds

TURN: T /images/graemlins/club.gif

I bet, MP calls

RIVER: 8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

I bet, MP raises, I call.

He has AQ for runner, runner. I definately could have saved a river bet... /images/graemlins/blush.gif

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Hand 2
1/2 – Table is typical

I open limp UTG+1 with J /images/graemlins/heart.gif T /images/graemlins/heart.gif, 4 callers, SB folds, BB checks

FLOP: 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 9/images/graemlins/club.gif, Q/images/graemlins/heart.gif

BB checks, I bet, 3 callers, button raises, BB folds, I three-bet, 1 fold, 2 cold-calls, and the button caps, all still in the hand call.

TURN: 6 /images/graemlins/heart.gif

I bet, 2 callers, button raises, I three-bet, 2 fold, button calls

RIVER: A /images/graemlins/heart.gif

I check, button bets, I raise, button calls

Button had AQ and my second nut is good.

Peace,
Jason

[Bozeman]

(board 4h, 9, Qh, 6h, poster has jth)

"I bet, 2 callers, button raises, I three-bet, 2 fold, button calls"

I don't know about 1/2 limit, but I think you should usually make more by calling here. At least one of the callers who would fold to the 3bet will call a single raise, and you would likely get another bet from the button on the river (except if A falls for him, like it did).

Craig

[Schneids]

Your description of the challenge at your site has inspired me -- I'm gonna try doing the same thing /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ChipWrecked]

[jasonHoldEm]

Right now I'm playing three at a time until I get through 2/4 (which was my regular limit when I started this whole thing). I'll most likely drop to two for 3/6 and probably just one for 5/10 and above. My expereince is limited above 3/6, but from what I've seen this is where you need to start paying closer attention to your opponents.

J

[trillig]

Howdy, looks like you ran into 2 calling stations, one in your favor, the other....

I was at a B&M playing for 5+ hours today and your 2nd hand I saw same a couple times, unfortunately I was not IN the hands.

Hopefully the CS's stay around! 8)

My day did not go well and nasty bad beat for a last hand.

Check it out at: brianspoker.blogspot.com

Good luck!

Expect some bruises along the way.... to be expected...

-Brian