Playing Online for a living - Week 6

[davidross]

Well this week will certainly be different. No daytime play until at least Thursday, and I won’t be able to play late at night until around Wednesday.

Sunday.

Our company left this afternoon. We had a great weekend except my brother kicked my butt at golf again. I went several years without ever losing to him. I wasn’t any better than him but he always seemed to choke trying to beat his big brother. We both played to about a 9 handicap then. Now he plays to about a 5 and I’m probably a 15. I think it’s 6 years since I’ve beaten him now. My excuse is he’s a teacher and gets all summer to play and practice. It’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Very little poker today. 2 ½ hours, and a $44 win. I have an interview first thing tomorrow for a contract and the rest of the day in a brainstorming session with a potential full-time employer.


Monday.

Interviewed this morning and I think it went well, but the guy was impossible to read He had a “poker” face. I know I’m asking for more money than my competitors, but I bring a lot more experience to the table. It took me 1 hour exactly to get there which isn’t bad, but longer than I was hoping for. I should hear by the end of the week as they want someone to start next week. The brainstorming session was a disaster. The job doesn’t interest me in the least. It’s a good friend of mine who asked me to come out and meet them but I can’t see myself working there.

Poker was limited to 3 hours again. I’m going in to work for a former client tomorrow. Had a bad night. No cards essentially. - $190 for the session. That’s the problem with the short sessions I think, the long term doesn’t always have a chance to kick in, but maybe it saved me money.

Tuesday

Well, that was the easiest money I ever made. Went in this morning to do a day’s work for a client, and they had no place for me to work and no network connections. Sent me home after an hour and asked me to come back tomorrow. 1 quick hour’s work for the price of about a cup of gasoline (the office is very close).

So I got to play some poker this afternoon. One of my big fears is that the games at paradise will tighten up now that the promotions and the extra play the WSOP seems to bring. I believe that is happening. The games have been very tight this week and it continued this afternoon. Again I was quite card dead and got no action when I did make a hand. For 2 hours I hovered about even, then the rush hit. I don’t know if others experience this, but I can almost feel it coming, and when it hits it’s like I can tell what everyone else has. In 45 minutes I won $480 and got onto the plus side for the week.

2 hands of note.

EP raises (he is solid but having a rough day) and I call cold with Ks Qs on the button. BB calls too.

Flop As Kd 7s

Checked to me and I bet. BB calls and EP raises. Hmmm. AK, AA or KK. Spades are probably my only outs. I call and BB calls.

Turn [As Kd 7s] Jh

EP bets, I call and BB folds.

River [As Kd 7s Jh] 4s.

He bets and I raise. He calls. I then get called a chaser after he shows Ad Kd. Nothing special about the hand, but when he raised the flop I knew he had AK. Not the most difficult read in the world, but I would have folded even if a K had rivered I was that sure of it.

2nd hand from earlier in the session when the mojo wasn’t happening.

UTG limps and I limp too with As Js. I will raise this 75% of the time, but today was spades day. Suited aces J and under are always a tough call for me whether to raise or just call, so I will pick a suit(s) before I start each day and the suit will determine if I raise or just call. Spades was a call today . 3 more callers and the BB. 6 to the flop.

Flop Ac 7d 4c

Checked to me and I bet. 2 calls, then 2 folds and now UTG raises. I think it much more likely he is drawing than he is ahead of me so I 3 bet. Guy to my left folds, but LP calls. Al I can put him on here is clubs. Unless he’s got 77 or 44. UTG calls too.

Turn [Ac 7d 4c] 8c

Yuck. UTG checks and I check too. This is a bonehead move. I have to bet here. Fold to a raise perhaps, but bet here. I was so set in my read that one of them was on clubs that I got blinded. LP bets, UTG calls and I fold.

River [Ac 7d 4c 8c] 8s

Check, bet call. LP had TT (ten of clubs) and lost to UTG with KK (K of clubs). $119 of mine went the wrong way. That’s 4 hours of work lost. I felt sick after that.

Wow. My post from last week has generated a lot of discussion. I guess that’s good, but I’m exhausted from explaining myself and answering posts. What a night. Just when I thought things were tightening up. I played 3 ½ hours, saw 32% of the flops and won 16% of the hands I played. And for most of the session I was down. I got great starters and kept coming 2nd. Then a series of snapped bluffs got me going and I ended up $470 for a $950 day.

One of the things I think I do well is to win hands that nobody seems to want without being one of those obvious “bet if checked to me” bluffers. I try to pick spots (always unraised pots) where the flop misses me but gives me some outs. Here is a hand I chickened out on that I probably should have continued the bluff.

I open limped 4 off the button with Qh Js. This hand came up as a criticism of my play in the posts today. I use a chart put together by Abdul that some of you I’m sure have seen. It has QJ and KJ as playable 3 off the button. I have stretched that a bit here. One LP call and both blinds play.

Flop Ks 5d 9s

Two checks to me. I have a gutshot. But I think a K would have bet, and the LP player is not likely to have limped with a K, he is the kind of guy to raise with it so I bet here hoping to win it right now. LP folds, but SB calls. BB folds.

Turn [Ks 5d 9s] 7d

Checked to me. Decision time. When do you carry on with your bluff and when do you bail. I bailed.

River [Ks 5d 9s 7d] 6h

Checked around again and I lost to A5. No telling if he would have laid down to a turn bet, but I think I should have tried.

Here is a flop play I question.

Two limpers and a raise from the cutoff. I call in the BB with Jh 9c. I know most of you will think that’s too loose but J9o is my low limit in a multi way pot. Heads up against an EP raiser I fold this.

Flop Js 8h 9h.

I hate slowplaying flopped 2 pairs so I bet out. The position of the raiser in the cut off though would have given me a better chance to thin the field with a check-raise. I got 2 folds anyway and just a call from the button.

Turn [Js 8h 9h] 2s

I bet again and he raised me. QT seems unlikely, as do JJ and 99. 88 perhaps, but he could easily put me on something like JT or just a naked T, so I put him on an overpair and 3 bet. He just called.

River [Js 8h 9h 2s] Kc

I bet out, hoping it wasn’t KK he had. He called and showed AA after I won. I think I got an extra bet by playing it as I did, but I’m not sure it was optimal in general.

Wednesday

Not a great day. I did get a full day of paid work in. that’s the good news. The bad news is I didn’t get the contract I interviewed for on Monday. They went with the less expensive alternative. Tonight the poker was awful. I played 800 hands and won 6% of them. There were hardly any bad beats, just hour after hour of fold fold fold. Raise, fold. And so on. I ended up down $440. It could have been much worse. This one hand saved me somewhat. The table had 2 bona fide maniacs, and one real loose aggressive all sitting side by side, across from me. Unfortunately I never got the hands you need to take advantage. Except this one.

I limp utg with Kc Kh. With those 3 sitting in LP there is virtually no chance of it getting past them without a raise. 2 limps and sure enough maniac1 raises. LA cold calls, and M2 calls from the SB. BB folds and I 3 bet. 2 folds and M1 calls. Now LA caps it. M2 calls, so do I and M1. 4 to the flop.

Flop 6c 7d 6s

SB checks and I bet. M1 calls and LA raises. M2 calls. It’s virtually impossible to put these guys on hands. Maybe someone has a 6, probably not. I 3 bet. M1 calls 2 more, and LA caps it. M2 calls 2 more and I call. M1 calls too. Hmm. I may be behind.

Turn [6c 7d 6s] Kd

OK. Now I don’t care. I bet, M1 calls, LA raises (I guess he does have a 6, but he capped preflop??), M2 calls 2 again (I love these guys), I 3 bet. M1 folds. LA caps it again (could he have 66?), M2 calls 2 more and I call.

River [6c 7d 6s Kd] 2c

Checked to me, and I bet(I actually thought about check-raising here but decided to bet out), both of them called. LA had Ad 6d. His post flop play is ok, I don’t like his cold call or 4 bet though pre-flop. M2 had Ks 7s, again probably ok post-flop and just a little loose pre-flop. Pot was $332.

It used to be a raise from the BB meant a huge hand. Lately it seems to me that people make the play with anything. This guy gets my vote for the worst played hand in history.

I limp in EP with 8d 8c. CO calls, SB calls and BB raises. I have no notes on him. We all call.

Flop 3c 4c 2s

SB checks, BB bets and I raise. Only the BB calls me.

Turn [3c 4c 2s] 4d

Now he bets out. Uh oh, I’m thinking a bigger pair than mine. I call anyway.

River [3c 4c 2s 4d] 8s.

Ahh. He bets, I raise and he calls. He shows KJo. What did he think I had??

Thursday

Afternoon starts out even worse than last night. I won 1 hand in the first 120, and had some big hands beat. Dropped $350 in the first 1/2 hour. The site went down for a reboot and when I rejoined I started getting some cards. Got back to even for the session before going stone cold again for an hour. Gave it all back again to end up down $350. I am up less than a hundred for the week now. I had such a rush of cards on Tuesday night, I guess I’m paying for it now, but the cold run has lasted much longer. King of the Zoo II tonight. Watch out, I’m due.

Evening

KOTZ 2 went much as my week has. Boy I love playing in these things. But man do I have a lot to learn about no-limit. It can’t be coincidence that the same faces end up near the top each time. My limit mindset doesn’t do well here. I lasted until the break, but went out on the first hand after the break in 27th I think. Just like last month KK was my demise. I limped in EP with it hoping to get my meager 700 all-in against someone but everyone folded to the BB. On the flop of Q 6 4 the BB bet 100 so I just called. Turn brought an 8 and he bet again and I pushed all-in. He had 75 and I was toast. The hand that cost me half my stack was AJo on the button for a limp. Board was J high and an EP let me off the hook by only making a small bet with a set of 7’s. Other than that I didn’t play a hand that went past the flop. I must brush up on NL before the next one.

Back to paradise and the nose dive continued. I’m getting sick of rebuying. At one point I looked and my balance was lower than I started the week. Ugh. Then I finally started hitting some flops, and I went on a nice run for the rest of the session. Ended the evening up 595 and the day up 245. For the week up $587. I’ll need a couple of good days to avoid this being my worst week.

When you’re running bad here is what happens.

I’m in the BB with Q4o and my mouse is hovering on the fold button. 2 limpers plus the SB and I get a free play.

Flop 4d 4s 4h

I don’t even notice at first, I’m playing my other table and I had this hand ready for the muck in my mind. I check and so does everyone else. Drat.

Turn [4d 4s 4h] Ah

I check again, and it gets checked around.

River [4d 4s 4h Ah] Qc

Damn. It’s tough to get action when you have all the cards. I bet this time and everyone folds. Grrr. I didn’t show.

Finally a card reading mistake that cost me $20.

I lost the hand history so it’s going to be from memory. Big multiway pot. I have 77 in EP and the flop comes 7 4 2 rainbow. One of the blinds bets into me and I smooth call. 2+2 lurker Looba calls right behind me. There is a raise on the button, the blind calls and now I raise. Looba calls again, button caps it. 4 of us to the turn. Turn is a J. I bet out. Looba calls and the button raises again. Blind calls 2 and it’s back to me. At this point I’ve forgotten about Looba and the blind. As far as I’m concerned it’s me and the button and it’s starting to look like the most lucrative hand in hold’em, set over set. I 3 bet, and he caps. The blind and Looba both keep calling cold. River brings an A and I can’t bet fast enough. Looba raises!! I quickly check the board again. AA or JJ beat me, but there is no way given the betting that he has either of those. Button calls, and the blind finally folds. I raise (I’m sure you’re more observant than me. I missed it completely), and Looba raises again. Poor button has to keep calling here probably realizing he’s lost, and I call too. Of course he had 53 (suited I think but it’s all a blur now). I couldn’t have avoided losing the huge pot, but the last $20 was stupid, and it’s those little things that add up by the end of the week. Grrrrr.


Friday

No doubt the craziest day of poker I’ve ever played. After being so card dead yesterday I got lot’s of big hands this afternoon. And they kept getting cracked. Hand after hand I would raise pre-flop, bet the flop and turn and get raised on the turn. Most of the time I would call down to see a flopped set or even quads(twice). I had to rebuy once on each table and ended the afternoon down $350.

The evening was more of the same. Found myself at two really tight tables, didn’t play many hands but when I did I got rivered again and again. I have tried not to spout too many bad beat stories here, but this is an example of how the whole day went.

I got a free play in the BB against 6 others with Jh Th.

Flop Qh 9h 8c. I’ve flopped the nuts, plus I have an open ended straight flush draw as well. I bet the flop, get 2 callers then a raise. Folded to me and I 3 bet. 1 fold, one call, then a cap. 3 of us see the turn.

Turn [Qh 9h 8c] 7s

I bet, call, raise. Hmm am I chopping? I still have a free roll on the flush if so, and I raise again. EP finally folds and now the LP calls.

River [Qh 9h 8c 7s] 9c

Oh crap. Here we go again. I check, he bets and I call (anyone save the $10 here?). He of course has 88.

After losing 2 more hands on the river when a 2nd deuce hit (AK vs A2, board of Kxx22, and QQ vs K2), I took a break. I was now down another $150 or 500 for the day. I made a dubious decision to play some 8/16. The games looked good (a couple of known loose players in the game, and although I was on a bad roll I thought I was still playing well.) But in reality I had gotten gun shy. I missed some good value bets when scary cards rivered. Even when nothing rivered I began to see ghosts and checked down winning hands. The calibre of player is better at 8/16 and I can’t afford to do that. Anyway, the losing continued. I had to rebuy again ($400 at these stakes, and as midnight approached I was down over $1,000 for the day and seriously considering packing it in. I don’t ever remember feeling so uncomfortable at the table. Every time I got a good hand I dreaded playing it. But there were two really bad players with big stacks in front of them and I wanted some of that. Ironically enough it was a river suckout of my own that got me back on track. I flopped a set of J’s on a KJ9 board and got 4 way action capped on the flop and 3 bet on the turn. A 9 rivered and I beat the QT that had flopped the straight. Then the flood gates opened. Strangely enough I only won on 1 table and continued losing on the other. But I won over $1,100 on that one table. I flopped 2 more sets of J’s, and my AK’s hit and held up. After grinding it out all day I posted a $100 win. But coming back from $1000 down felt good. That leaves me up only $700 for the week, but what a strange week.

Saturday

For the first time this week everything went well. I got good cards and I took advantage of them. I played 1 5/10 table and 1 8/16 table. The 5/10 shifted from tight to loose, with one horrible player who bluffed almost all of his money to me. The 8/16 was loose all night with lot’s of capped flops including hands like ATo and QTo. I love games like that. I played very few hands, but all my big pairs held up, I won my fair shre of drawing hands and I made all the right moves on the river. Ended up ahead $870 for the night, saving my week with a $1560 win for the week.

It was an unusual week, I played fewer hours because of the interviews and the day of work, and I really struggled for a few days. I’m proud that I hung in as well as I did, and minimized the losses, and I rode the good runs very well. Now if only I could beat some of those Zoo dwellers in their tournament.

I don't know if I'll keep up the day to day recaps. I'm running out of things to say that won't be repeats. I am still surprised at my success here. In a nutshell this game is very simple. Play better than your opponents and over the long run you will win. There always seems to be a number of players in the games I play who are very bad. That's a good start. Then there are a larger number of good players, who don't make the value bet on the end, when I was prepared to call, saving me money. They also play quite tight post flop allowing a more adventurous player to steal a pot or two an hour. I think this is th ekind of player I was for a long time. Then there are the very good, and even expert players. I don;t think I see many experts at 5/10. Maybe I just don't notice them they are that good, but more likely they are playing higher limits. Most of the 2+2'ers fall into the very good category. We seem to play each other pretty straight up. Raises are respected. I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't be tryingt obluff more as these are the guys most likely to fold to a raise, but I don't think I'm going to make much money in the long run from them, so it's probably better to hope tho break even against them. I guess the big question is are there enough bad players to keep th egames profitable. I hope so because I'm back to no immediate job prospects.

Until next week.