A lovely night at the $3/6 6 max, as I ended up $240 after 400 hands. It would've been more too, if it wasn't for a costly misclick -- I turned two pair, and then check-folded, instead of check-raising like I intended. Ah well.

This hand illustrates why short handed is so darn good -- throw just a couple bad players into the mix and your table becomes ridiculously profitable. The button here had 90% VP$IP, and would call down with just about anything. You could probably argue against the preflop call here, but I don't really give the post-raise much respect in short handed games, since it's used so frequently, and the button's presence really ups the implied odds.

Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (6 max, 5 handed)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , . MP posts a blind of $3.
1 fold, MP (poster) raises, Button calls, Hero calls, BB calls.

Flop: (8 SB) , , (4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP bets, Button calls, Hero raises, BB folds, MP 3-bets, Button calls, Hero caps, MP calls, Button calls.

Turn: (10 BB) (3 players)
Hero bets, MP raises, Button calls $12 (All-In), Hero calls.

River: (16 BB) (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero bets, MP raises, Hero 3-bets, MP caps, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 24 BB

Results
Hero has (full house, jacks full of nines).
MP has (two pair, queens and jacks).
Button has (two pair, jacks and sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins 24 BB.

Sat down tonight with TW on a $3/6 table, played solid, and left up about $110 to play some short handed, where I was down $150 5 minutes after sitting down. I ended down about $210, for a $100 loss on the day.

Here's a nice one against TW:

Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (8 handed)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
2 folds, MP1 raises, 4 folds, Hero calls.

Flop: (4.33 SB) , , (2 players)
Hero bets, MP1 raises, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.16 BB) (2 players)
Hero bets, MP1 calls.

River: (6.16 BB) (2 players)
Hero bets, MP1 folds.

Final Pot: 7.16 BB

Put in 350 hands or so, ended up $42. Had a real live one at the table who had something against me, perhaps because I raised his blind frequently and usually showed down the best hand. Anyway, every time I raised he would 3-bet -- it was the ultimate protection. I just had to pick a better than average hand, raise it up, and try to hit.

9-high no g00t:

Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (6 max, 5 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
2 folds, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, 1 fold, Hero caps, SB calls.

Flop: (9 SB) , , (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (5.50 BB) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero caps, SB calls.

River: (13.50 BB) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls.

Final Pot: 15.50 BB

Results
SB has (high card, king).
Hero has (one pair, kings).
Outcome: Hero wins 15.50 BB.

Put in a couple of short sessions tonight, for 400 hands total, +$189. I'm really starting to feel comfortable at the 6-max. Of course, that probably means there's a 100BB downswing waiting to push me out of my zone.

Damn I love the SH players:

Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (6 max, 6 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
UTG calls, 1 fold, CO calls, Hero raises, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG calls, CO calls.

Flop: (8.33 SB) , , (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, CO bets, Hero raises, BB calls, UTG calls, CO calls.

Turn: (8.16 BB) (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, CO checks, Hero bets, BB calls, UTG calls, CO calls.

River: (12.16 BB) (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, CO checks, Hero bets, BB calls, UTG folds, CO calls.

Final Pot: 15.16 BB

Results
BB has (two pair, queens and fives).
CO has (one pair, aces).
Hero has (three of a kind, jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins 15.16 BB. [/color]

Quick session tonight at PokerStars, working off their bonus. 171 hands, +$35.50. Definitely fewer of the aggro players that you see on Party, but still some pretty loose people.

Haven't found out yet if I'll be able to get rakeback on Party, but I think I'll stick it out at Empire what with their bonuses coming up.

Sounds like the way it's going you may reach your 5/10 goal before the end of the year! keep up the good work.

Another 300 hands at the $3/6 6max at Empire. I found some decent tables tonight -- my trick of sitting down at an empty table paid off really well. The guys who sit down to play heads up tend to be action junkies, and then they stick around when the table fills up.

One LAG beat me down pretty severely -- my KK went down to his Q5s when he turned a flush draw and bet out/3-bet me, and hit on the river. I was down about $100 at that table, but then when he sat out I staged a huge comeback, and then went up big at my other table too. So, I ended up about $200 or so on the night.

I also had one or two mizorly plays of my own:

Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (6 max, 6 handed)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
1 fold, MP calls, 3 folds, Hero checks.

Flop: (2.33 SB) , , (2 players)
Hero bets, MP raises, Hero calls.

Turn: (3.16 BB) (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets, Hero raises, MP calls.

River: (7.16 BB) (2 players)
Hero bets, MP calls.

Final Pot: 9.16 BB

Results
Hero has (three of a kind, sevens).
MP has (two pair, kings and sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins 9.16 BB.

Well damn, it's been over 3 months since I last played. Didn't really plan that, just got busy with other stuff and poker got left out of the mix. Hopefully now I can get back into the swing of things.

I've got a couple bonuses over at Stars, so I put in 160 hands at a $3/6 SH table, went on a nice little tear and ended up $86. Not a bad way to get started again.

Fortunately, people didn't learn how to play while I was away:

PokerStars 3/6 Hold'em (6 handed)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
4 folds, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (2 SB) , , (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls.

Turn: (2 BB) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

River: (2 BB) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB calls.

Final Pot: 6 BB

Results:
SB has (one pair, kings).
Hero has (two pair, sevens and threes).
Outcome: Hero wins 6 BB.

Sadly this post will bump "A day at the Grind" off the front journal page. So many fond memories of $3/6 donkfests with that silly bastard TW.

That's what SB gets for being a slowplaying jackass. Welcome back, Norton!