Played online and live last night for a total of 10 hours. Had three hands I wanted to post.

dealt [4h] in the CO.

Tons of limpers. I limp.

FLOP $25
[4c][3c]

SB bets $15.. everyone calls to me. I raise $75 on top. The button calls. Everyone else folds. The button is a tight player. His range is some sort of combo draw, a set of 3s, possiblly two pair but unlikely.

TURN $200
[4c][3c]

I check. He bets $125 with about $200 left. My instincts say he's got the flush. Still I'm not totally convinced and I still have outs. I call.

RIVER $450
[4c][3c]

I check. He bets $150 and leaves himself $50. I'm about to throw my hand in the muck. Everything in my instincts tell me to fold. Hell I don't even need my instincts. It's obvious he has the flush. The only thing I beat is pocket 3s and he has no reason to bet them.

I call anyway after just not being able to throw my set away. I ignored everything my instincts and mind were telling me. One of my worst calls all month. He had [9c]

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The CO raises to $20 I call with [9s] on the button. BB comes along.

FLOP $60
[Jh][4d]

Checks around.


TURN $60
[Jh][4d]

CO bets $35. I call and BB folds.

RIVER $130
[Jh][4d]

He takes out two hundred dollar bills and bet $120. When he was betting out the two hundreds I almost called instantly. I was confident about my hand. Still it's a good idea to think it over... if only to show his bluffs are not that transparent to me.

I called and he mucked.

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MP limps. I rap in the BB with [6s]

FLOP$10
[9c][4h]

We both check.

TURN$10
[9c][4h]

I bet $10. He raises to $30. I call after some hesitation. I've played with the man for about 6 hours and this bet doesn't make sense to me. I opt to call and I probably looked fairly weak in his eyes.

RIVER$70
[9c][4h]

I check. He bets $75. Again my instincts go off. I want to call instantly. But I sit back and think. JT did get there. Still... if he got there why would he bet so much if I looked weak already on the turn? Plus the way he bet was different than when he had hands. I can't explain it. A slight hesitation maybe?

I reluctantly called and he flipped over [8d] and I won.

"Either that was a good read or a very stupid call," says the man.

The guy next to me asks, "Are you a pro?"

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The moral of these hands is I need to trust my instincts. They are locked in. Everytime my instincts say to fold they are correct. I know because I've been calling most of the time anyway I guess since I've proven to myself my instincts are rock-solid, I can now lay down hands with confidence.

I have a question about hand #1 where the guy has [9c]. Do you think his flop call is correct? Hes calling a bet and a pretty big raise. Most peopel think TP and a flush draw is a monster but I personally think it sucks unless hes going to reraise you.

He is behind almost every time. His 9 might be good..might not. Basically hes playing a flush draw. Would he call that bet and raise with [Tc]? I doubt it. I dont think his hand is much stronger unless he reraises you and tried to make you laydown AJ / KJ.

Thoughts?

Heres a somewhat similar live hand I played last time. I had [4d] in the blind. Flop came [Jd][3d]. I led out $15 into a $20 pot and got called on the button.

Turn missed eveything. I decided to check and see what he did. He bet $50. I folded. Its $50 into a $50 pot so Im getting 2-1 but he almost certainly has an ace so all I 9 or 13 outs. I almost called because the guy was bad enough to pay me off if I hit, but folded anyway. I think my call would be better than your villains call because hes going to be facing a monster bet if he misses the turn.

Bluffing is Sexy.
Current mood: lazy

Bluffing is Sexy

Over a period of 6 sessions I hit a downturn of $3k. I started leaking a little bit but I kept it all under control. I found myself getting in variance filled situations and coming out on the losing end.

Two examples:
JJ all in preflop vs AK for my $700 stack. He spikes an ace.
AA all in push against flush/straight draw... the turn was not pretty

I made up for it on Friday and Saturday winning it all back with style. The "dancer" I took out a week or two ago decided to play a big pot with me. I told her I wouldn't softplay her (or anyone else for that matter) but apparently she wanted to try to beat a pro:


I limp with The [3c] in LP behind some other limpers. She makes a pot building raise of $15. Everyone calls.

FLOP$$60
[3d][4c]

She leads for $25. Folded to me I make it $75. She calls.

TURN$210
[3d][4c]
She checks. I bet $100. She min check raises me another $100. I can't figure out what she has. I don't think it's a flush. I call.

RIVER $410
[3d][4c]
She bets $300. I pause for a while trying to figure out what the hell she has. I suppose QQ is possible but wouldn't she be afraid of the flush? hmmm. She stares at me unblinking. At first I thought it was because of my charm and good looks... then I realized she's trying to act strong. My set is probably good.

I call.

She flips over [6s] and I take it down. An interesting way for her to play the hand. She said she didn't think I'd call without a flush. After that she didn't say another word for a few minutes and left the table.

Another friendship ended at the poker table! In all honestly I felt a little remorse on that one, but this is poker and it's my job. She was the one trying to bluff me, afterall. I hope she talks to me again next time I see her, but either way I'll sleep well.


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I've started to pound the regulars lately. When I build a big stack I've found it very profitable to put in raises on any street with nothing. The regulars I play against don't seem to have any cahones and refuse to rely on their gut. The money is too precious and the cards they hold are too important.

I've found putting big bets out is exciting. Not in a gambling way... but in putting the decision to my opponents. I want them to know that if they do decide to call, their entire stack will be at risk for the rest of the hand. Most of these players are deepstacked. We're talking anywhere from $700-$1500 at risk at any time. (at the 2/5 game.) There's an incredible feeling of power and satisfaction dominating your opponents so ruthlessly.

Saturday night, after I bluffed my way into big pot after big pot, I recalled reading super system. "Take it Doyle." "Take it Doyle."

This is something I couldn't do as skillfully if I were playing online rather than live. I can apply pressure online, but my instincts aren't nearly as pronounced. I'd have a much harder time putting my opponents on a hand and wouldn't know exactly when to pounce. The great thing is this is just the start to my live poker career. I can only imagine my instincts will become better and better with each passing session.

Because of the recent success of this strategy, I'm considering buying in deepstacked to start. Not yet though. I still have some bankroll considerations and I want to improve my game even more.

Currently listening :
Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 8: Chopin
By Fryderyk Chopin
Release date: By 25 October, 1990

That's a great story kg. She's probably all mad at you and blaming you still. (Of course not remembering that she was trying to bluff you out of a pot ... not the "friendliest" thing to do. * g *

I was at a tournament a couple of months ago. On the very first hand it came down to a husband and wife (and not necessarily a solid relationship) competing for the pot. She shoved all-in with a set ... he thought for a bit ... (obviously uncomfortable), and called with his K-High flush. She was PISSED.

Him: Well what am I supposed to do?
Her: You're supposed to lay it down.

LOL

Friday May 11th 6am

mood: full

I am on a tear. I'm demolishing the games with good, aggressive play. I've had decent players tell me they can not get any read on me whatsoever. I've have a very tight image and I use it to steal from the regs relentlessly. It seems no one wants to go to showdown with me.

Hilarious Hand:

Decent, tight guy who probably plays online makes it $25 to go from MP. He gets two callers. I look down at [Qh]. I decide that I don't feel like playing this hand out of position and there's already $75 in the pot. There's a reasonable chance I have the best hand, anyway. I'm getting uber respect at the table at this point. I'm stealing pot after pot and have only showdown monsters.

So I raise to $125 total.... it's $100 back to the preflop raiser. I have about $1k in front of me and he has maybe 5 or $600. He thinks awhile... looks at me.. "you have aces?" I probably looked bored. Frankly, I really didn't care what he had at this point. I figure he's either going to lay down or push and it made no difference to me. After a good 2 minutes I figured he must have QQ and is in some quandary.

Finally, he folds, but he accidently exposes the cards to another player still in the hand, while mucking. The dealer flips them over for everyone to see: KK. Yep. He folded pocket kings to me preflop. hehehe.

The other two players folded. The shortstack looked like he wanted to call but after the kings folded, he probably thought he'd look foolish if he did. I don't show my hands very often but I showed that [Qh]. That was not a good laydown.

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MVP and I joke about the "iceman live hands." It's a little bit of an exaggeration but it seems he posts hands like: "I flop the nuts.. two players raise... what should I do?"

I had a hand like that today.

I call a $15 raise with [9h] in MP.

FLOP $60
[Td][8s]

SB checks. Preflop raiser bets $40. I decide to raise quickly. I had just lost my stack on the previous hand after a bad call. I wanted to look tilty. I made it $120 total. To my amazement, the SB pushes for close to $500.. then the PFR calls! I push whatever I had left.

They show JT and AJ respectively and I held. That's my first "Iceman" of the year.

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Even though I was doing well from a certain seat I was playing, I decided to move a spot behind a wild, aggressive player. (Much to the chagrin of the other players who thought I should never leave such a lucky seat.) This player would overbet often with what he thought were strong hands... however they always ended up being TPTK type hands instead of sets. I was hoping to trap him for all his money.

The first hand I get at my new seat [Jd]

The key to this hand was the fact that the opponent made a big laydown to an allin. I thought he might be tilting. He certainly didn't look happy.

He raises to $15 from EP. It could mean anything. I decide to reraise to $50. I wanted to build the pot while making it heads up. I achieved my goal as everyone else folded and he called.

FLOP$ $100
[2s][4h]

He checks. I bet $75. He calls.

TURN$ 250
[2s][4h]

Not exactly the card I was looking for. Still, I decide to go ahead and bet it. I bet $125. I'm looking for value. He calls.

RIVER$500
[2s][4h]

That seems like a good card to me. He checks with about $500 left. I decide I must look for value. He was kind of tricky and might have been going for a checkraise but like doyle says, "You worry about that when you come to that bridge."

I bet $200. Again looking for value. He thought for a while... put in the $200 and mucked to my Jacks. I was very happy with my play on that hand and my decision to sit behind him.

The tourist next to me looks up and says, " That's an aggressive way to play just jacks. The player who was sitting here before you would have played them the right way." I'm assuming the right way means passively. The player before me was an old regular who didn't get involved in pots without the nuts.

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On another note, yesterday there was an old man playing while his wife was giving him a massage. He just said bitter thing after bitter thing and was really annoying me. He kept giving the floor problems about seat changes and bitching about his hands and the table. I remember him telling his wife about how poorly an opponent played TPTK by slowplaying the flop against him. It made the old man put in chips into the pot with second pair.

I hope I never become like that. An old fool with nothing better to do than give everyone else a headache. On his deathbed (which will be coming soon no doubt) I imagine he'll feel some remorse about living the way he did. I'm not saying I'm perfect either. But I do try to improve everyday.