[Aviston]

First, a bit about me. I, fortunately or unfortunately, hail from the state of Michigan where everyone plays cards and almost everyone plays cards badly. A few months ago I introduced a couple of friends to the game of low blinds, No Limit Hold 'Em (I had been playing it off and on for fun for the past few years). Suddenly, it seemed like everyone I knew either played HE or knew an HE player, and I found myself able to play in multiple home games a week. Right from the start it seemed like I was better than 99% of the people I was playing with. This isn't an ego-rant in any way; I'm definitely aware that beating a home game doesn't make you a good poker player. In the last 3 months, I've managed to walk away losing money only twice. Considering my results, I decided a few weeks ago that perhaps I might take this a bit more seriously.

So off I went to the bookstore to invest some money. I scoured the net as a forum leech soaking up what I could. I subscribed fully to the 300 BB theory of a bankroll and began building it from my home poker winnings. Since I live 2 hours from the nearest casino, I figured the only place I could really put in solid hours was online. After a couple of weeks, I had made about $340 in home poker winnings. I decided to keep $100 to continue playing home poker with. I have never really spent my own money to play poker; my original buy in a few months ago was with spare change around the house (and I'm still playing on the winnings). Anyway, this left me with $240 to hand to ultimatebet.com where I could begin my online poker career.

I had to wait the weekend until my account was fully operational, so I took the time to play as much as possible with the 'play chips' to get used to the interface. I also spent quite a bit of time deciding which style of Hold 'Em I should play. My small bankroll didn't look to be enough to play my typical .25/.50 blind No Limit, so I decided to compromise: I'd play NL small entry fee tournaments and take a stab at playing micro-limit ring games. Unfortunately, the scary thing for me was that I had never, ever, ever played a limit game of Hold 'Em. I figured I was in for a world of hurt. My bankroll didn't quite support the .50/1 game, so I decided to play .25/.50 which would give me some much needed leeway (an extra $90 over the 300 BB's).

So here we go, my account finally became fully live yesterday (Monday) and I jumped into the game with both feet. The first hour I played felt like it might be the best hour I'll ever get playing limit Hold 'Em. Although I played pretty decently (I think), I have to admit that the cards were just falling my way. I had pocket aces twice, along with kings, queens, and jacks once a piece. The game was really passive preflop which allowed me to check in from the BB numerous times with rags. On 3 occasions, the flop clobbered me with two pair and I was able to take down sizeable pots. At the end of the hour, I was 20 BB's up. All good things must come to an end, however, and they sure did on the second hour of play. I didn't get many good starting hands, and I definitely made a few playing errors that cost me some bets. I decided to call it a day after the second hour while I was 13 BB's to the sky.

So, now we move on to today. I woke up, grabbed some coffee and decided it was time to continue my poker trek. If the first hour of play yesterday was everything I had ever hoped for, the opposite could be said for the first hour today. Let's just say that I got absolutely owned. In the first 50 or 60 hands I didn't win a single pot. I folded preflop just about every hand with a myriad of rotten cards. I limped in with small pocket pairs in late position 3 times and caught my set on the flop everytime. Unfortunately, I managed to lose every single pot even armed with my trips. It was horrible; I'm sure I'll have nightmares about it for weeks to come. I took a break and found that I had lost 26 BB's in a single hour, which meant that I was now 13 BB's down. After lunch, I sucked it up, and played for another hour. Although I didn't win any BB's by the end of the hour, I didn't lose any either. I ended the hour exactly in the same spot as I had began it: 13 BB's down. So that's where I'm at now, it's been quite a learning experience already, and I'm looking forward to the rest of my online career.

Here's a quick hand that happened during the second hour of play today. It didn't feel right the way I played it, and so I humbly ask you guys to show me the light and give me some tips on how to play it better:

Ultimate Bet 0.25/0.50 Hold'em (9 handed)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
UTG calls, Hero calls, MP1 folds, MP2 calls, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB checks.

Flop: (4.40 SB) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(4 players)</font>
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets, MP2 raises, BB folds, UTG folds, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.20 BB) 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, MP2 bets, Hero calls.

River: (6.20 BB) 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, MP2 bets, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 8.20 BB

I played this marginal hand with the intention of either a) flopping two pair or a flush draw, or b) folding after the flop. I won't play this generally if an ace flops and there is any action as I figure to be outkicked most of the time. I admit I was baffled as to what MP2 had in his hand when he raised me on the flop. He was new to the table so I had no idea of what type of player he was. I couldn't figure him for an overpair since he didn't raise preflop. He could of limped in with a small pocket pair (including an 8 or 6, giving him the set). He could've had overcards, such as K-J or Q-J. I didn't think he'd have middle pair, since I couldn't imagine him raising the flop with such a hand. Anyway, since I was overly confused, I merely decided to check-call all the way to the river. I played this extremely passively, I know, but it seemed like a good plan at the time [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].