It's A Fantasy World

So, I've been playing a lot of home games lately. They are pretty big, like 25/50 PLO, 50/100 NLHE. I had a pretty bad experience last year playing at home games, but I feel confidant these games are straight.
I know the guys running the two games I've been going to for over two and a half years now, and I feel like they are good people. One of them actually helped me out a lot last year. I also have to thank him for getting me to play these home games again, cause I've been doing quite well so far.

I've played 127 hours in them since the WSOP. And I've won about $111.7k. That's a pretty damn good hourly rate, and I think it might be a little high, but I can probably sustain something fairly close to that number. That said, these games are so large, I can't have all my own action in them. I usually have somewhere between 25-40% of myself depending on how large the game is in a given night.

Given how stretched my bankroll was at the beginning of the year, it feels nice to have a lot of cash to play with again, and I don't want to jeopardize that with one bad week at these enormous games. I think I may finally be following proper bankroll management. But then again who knows. I always want to play bigger and bigger. It's like a test to see if I'm good enough to keep winning at a higher level.

These games really are insane though. I've seen a guy lose $100k in 5 hours and have a blast. It was like he felt like it was just a game, and I guess if you don't care about the money, it really is just a game. I seen another guy win $100k in a night, and a fair chunk of that came from me. Since I started playing these games, I've had three nights where I've lost $25k or more. That's freaking crazy to me. I know that it's not all my money, but the amount of money flowing back and forth in these games is mind boggling.

And then, you always have to wonder if you are going to get paid. None of these games use cash, who would carry $100k with them? So it's all on markers. I'm still owed $27k from this January at home game I never got paid on. And I probably will never get paid. The good thing is these new games I'm at, I've had no problems like that, and hopefully won't in the future.

These games are so different from casinos. The players are different, we get a lot of rich successful people, and some very famous ones. The environment is different, it's usually in some incredibly nice location, and they offer free alcohol, food, and massages. It makes you feel like a VIP, but the cost is in the rake. It's way way way more than a casino.

Anyways, overall going back has been a good experience for me. I hope it stays that way. I'm looking forward to 2012. If everything goes right in this upcoming year, it could be pretty huge for me. My goal is to make like $200k, but if I get lucky it could be way more than that.

Wish me luck. That's all a gambler can ask for.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

November

November Cash Games Live $18,663.25
Online ($714.00)
Tournaments Live ($2,001.60)
Online
Poker $15,947.65
Staking $0.00
Other Gambling $1,136.25
Month's Expenses ($1,181.68)
Net on month $15,902.22


I was breaking even until the last day of November then I booked a nice win in those home games to have a pretty good month.

WSOP Main Event Final Table!

I got to watch the November nine play out the WSOP final table at the Rio two days ago. It's so exciting watching it live, the energy in the room is insane. A different cheering section breaks into an outroar after every hand.

I can't even begin to explain how much fun it is, especially as a professional poker player. It would be like a baseball player watching the World Series. It's the premier event of the sport.

They are playing down from three handed to a winner today, I'm going to try to watch the rest of it.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

October update

October

Cash Games

Live $40,158.25

Online ($501.24)

Tournaments

Live ($300.00)

Poker $39,357.01

Staking $0.00

Other Gambling ($220.00)

Net on month $39,137.01

I'll put out another blog talking about my numbers in a little while.

September Results

September

Cash Games Live $2,546.25

Online ($34.88)

Tournaments Live $0.00

Poker $2,511.37

Staking ($1,205.00)

Other Gambling ($610.00)

Month's Expenses $0.00

Net on month $696.37

Nothing particularly notable about September, other than I didn't play as much as I wanted to. I was pretty happy to break even, I was losing like 7k going into the last week of the month.

I'll see you across the felt.

Bryce

Hand of the day

Hand of the day - $5/$5 NLHE
Lesson: Understanding how specific cards dynamically alter equities
Difficulty: Moderate
Applicable: Fairly often
History: We know each other fairly well, he is a fairly tight player preflop, and plays pretty well, occasionally spews

Jonathan opens CO to 20 and I have Q7c on the button with $800 effective stacks. I 3bet to $70. The big blind cold calls, Jonathan calls. Flop is AQ7r. Checks to me and I bet 175. Jonathan check/calls. Turn J. He checks I bet 275 and he shoves for a minraise. I call. He has AJ and I lose.

Preflop: I'm facing a cutoff open, and I know he will significantly widen his raising range from this position. He will usually fold to a 3bet, and will occasionally call, making him tight passive in response to a 3bet. I think Q7c flops well enough to 3bet, he will usually be folding and occasionally I might hit a huge hand. Having the big blind cold call makes Jonathan significantly widen his calling range preflop.

Flop: pretty standard value bet not much to think about. If I get check raised, it would be pretty gross. I might have to fold.

Turn: this turn card smashes exactly one hand in his range. AJ. However I think that is a large portion of his c/c range as he might fold ATo and lower preflop, leaving him with only suited aces combos. Even if he has AT this turn hasn't dropped his equity by much because of the added straight draw. I think I should either bet/fold to a raise, or check behind and call a river bet if he checks, and valuebet if he checks. I feel like I played this turn poorly because this is one of the worst turn cards in the deck, yet I bet/called off. I was hoping he might have AK, but that hand would probably 4bet preflop meaning his entire jamming range has me beat on the turn. I also think my turn bet sizing was bad because I struggled really hard with folding two pair for a minraise all in.

Cliff notes, should've folded to turn minraise, should've checked back turn.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

Another Hand

Hand of the day - $5/$10 NLHE at hustler

Lesson: Paying attention to stack sizes in order to maximize profitability. Also understanding that other good players are doing the same thing.
Difficulty: Easy
Applicable: Always
History: None with short stack, other than he plays almost everything. Zach and I obviously have a lot of history.

Rob opens for 35 in EP. I pick up KK on my first hand at the table after a long break. I look around and see these stacks remaining in the hand.
Rob has 2500.
I have 1500.
The short stack to my left has 200.
Zach has 2500

The big blind has 1000.

I decided to flat, thinking that the short stack will jam sometimes and reopen action. When he does, sometimes Rob or someone else will attempt to isolate and I will have the opportunity to win a huge pot.

The short stack flats, Zach raises to 100. Rob folds. Zach's 3bet here is quite small. He is making sure there is room to reopen action if the shortstack shoves, so he can isolate him. By raising to 100, he is applying a huge amount of pressure to my calling range. I don't know if the short stack is going to shove, but I know he isn't folding. If the shorty shoves even around 40% of the time, I can't call with any of my speculative hands preflop, because I would put in $100, then zach would reraise shutting me out. For the exact same reason, I should flat two kings here. I call. The short stack calls.

The flop is 4c 6c 5h.

Zach thinks then checks. I look at the shorty and see him grabbing the rest of his chips. I check to let him fire the rest of his stack and possible trap some money from Zach in the middle. The short stack bets $110 all in and Zach calls. I think it's unlikely for Zach to have hit the board with almost anything he 3bet with given he won't be light preflop. Therefore KK should still have crushing equity against his range. I raise to 500 to shut out equity from a hand like AQ, and to get value if he is getting tricky with an overpair.

Zach shoves. I lose to AA and not much else, so I call hoping he has QQ or less. I think he would play QQ identically to AA, so my call is pretty easy.

The BTN has T9c, Zach has 88 and I make a running full house and win.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

Hand Lesson - Playing Middle Pair against the preflop raiser

I'm gonna start posting some strategy hands on my blog.

Hand of the day

Lesson: Valuebet Sizing

Difficulty: Low
Applicable: Often
History: None

$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em on Cake Poker.

Seville (6-Max) 11475 -- $1/$2 NL Hold'em -- 2011/09/19 - 03:08:03

Seat 3: tele***3 ($249.81 in chips) DEALER

Seat 8: itsa***8 ($147.24 in chips)

Seat 9: Leviathan101 ($200 in chips)

itsa***8: posts small blind $1

Leviathan101: posts big blind $2

Dealt to Leviathan101 [ Ts Ac ]

tele***3: raises to $6

itsa***8: folds

Leviathan101: calls $4

*** FLOP *** [Tc Jd 2d]

Leviathan101: checks

tele***3: checks

*** TURN *** [5s]

Leviathan101: bets $10

tele***3: calls $10

*** RIVER *** [Jh]

Leviathan101: bets $30

tele***3: calls $30

***SHOW DOWN***

Leviathan101: shows [Ts Ac]

tele***3: mucks

Leviathan101 wins $92 with Two Pairs Jacks and Tens

tele***3: mucks [Qh Ad]

Explanation:

Preflop: Facing a button open, you generally should not be folding ATo in the big blind. This hand is very far ahead of his raising range, and will be infrequently dominated allowing you to play for your fairly strongly when you flop top pair. You will sometimes have to consider playing Ace high unimproved on certain flops that are unlikely to have hit either player, such as a 773 flop. I prefer calling to 3betting preflop, because I think a reraise will likely fold out a lot of his dominated holdings like T8o, and A4o. Also we don't know yet how he responds to a 3bet making it more difficult to play correctly after the flop and in response to a 4bet.

Flop: We flop a medium strength holding. On this flop I think I am generally willing to get 1 to 2 bets throughout the course of the hand if nothing changes. If three bets go into this pot, I will likely be beaten. In order to prevent three bets from going into this pot, I will check and call a normal sized bet. If he does something unusual like bet extremely large, I may fold the flop. I will never check raise my hand, because I think that will overplaying my hand, and reducing my hands value to something close to a bluff. There is some merit to raising if you think he has a draw, but at the current point in the hand it is impossible to distinguish his exact holdings.

Turn: When he checks behind the flop, I think his most likely holding is a medium strength showdown hand (like 77) or a marginal draw he would prefer to take a free card to potentially make a strong hand (Like 79). I think he will usually bet his stronger draws and stronger pairs, meaning hands like Jx and KQ, K9 and flush draws. He may check a hand like AQ or AK which has both the qualities of a strong draw, and a medium showdown strength. My bet size is designed to extract a large amount of value on both the turn and good rivers. The current pot size is about $12.5 ($13 minus the rake), I bet $10, a largish bet designed to allow me to get additional value on the turn. I feel like when people check behind the flop with a showdown oriented hand, they are generally insensitive to the bet size. They will both call a large and small bet especially with no history, so bet larger. If I get raised, I'll deal with it when it comes, but I'm probably going to fold.

River: The Jack on the river is obviously a great card for me. It reduces the already low chance he has a Jack and he has less reason to believe I have a value hand. On this river card, I am going to bet large for value. I think if he has a showdown oriented hand, he will likely call a very large bet on the river. That said I don't want to overbet because I don't know how he will respond to an overbet. So I bet almost pot and get called by AQ. If I get raised on the river, I will have to evaluate, but I will likely fold, assuming he checked back a weak jack on the flop.

Bryce
I'll see you across the felt.

WSOP 2011

Been really unmotivated to blog, but I'm forcing myself to get this one out.

To sum it up, I did really well this year at the WSOP. I played 15 events and had 6 cashes, including a 3rd place finish. I cashed for over $200k. I didn't take home that much money, because I sold out a lot of action to my friends and family. I made them some money though, so that felt good.

The long story.

I showed up on June 1st, the night before the first open event, the $1500 Limit Omaha Hi/lo 8 or better event. I left in mid July.

I busted the Omaha 8 event, but made day 2 and made a small cash in the $1000 No limit hold'em 3 days later. I felt good about making an early cash, because last year I went 2 for 22 and wasn't looking to repeat that experience.

These are the results and notable things in each event.

$1500 Limit Omaha 8 or better - busted near end of day 1.

$1000 No limit hold'em - cashed for $2444 midway through day 2.

$1500 No limit hold'em shootout - We had a 10 handed table, and I got a tough table. It included Tom "Durrrr" Dwan, who was actually the worst player. He didn't seem focused. After I busted him, I got heads up versus another good player. We played a big reraised pot where he crippled my chip stack when we both flopped good. I finished 2nd for our table for $0

$1500 HORSE - I got an amazing table draw. Most of my table seemed almost clueless, but I ran really bad and ended up busting quickly. Probably the most frustrating event I played.

$1000 NLHE - busted near end of day 1, was card dead, happens.

$2500 8 game mix - I made day 2 of this event, but I made a few mistakes on day 1 and didn't have a lot of chips. Still this was a really fun event, I think I'll do better in it next year.

$2500 10 game mix - This was even more fun than the 8 game mix. I was doing pretty well, but I lost an enormous PLO pot where I turned a broadway wrap and the nut flush draw and he turned top two pair and we got it all in.

$3000 Pot Limit Omaha - This is my first cash since the early 1k No limit event. It's been 12 days and I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to have a repeat of the previous year. Fortunately I squeak into the money as a short stack and then end up busting not long after. I mincashed for $6077, after getting coolered by Joe Hachem. This is the first time we play this year.

$2500 HA (Half hold'em, Half Pot limit omaha) - I immediately make a solid cash in my next event and feel real good about it. I felt like I had a big edge over the field in this event. A lot of players seemed good at one game or the other but not both. I think PLO is my weaker game, but I still felt good about it. I cashed for $7555.

$2500 Razz - This event was really swingy for me. I met up with some razz specialist before and had fun playing chinese poker with them. They were booking big last longer bets, I turned them down. I ended up out lasting almost all of them! I still busted after going on a frustrating stretch of bricking off near the end of day 1. Razz is a pretty tilting game sometimes.

$2500 2-7 Triple draw lowball - This is my first of 3 top 18 finishes. I felt very good about my play throughout both days, and was pretty patient about waiting for the right spots for the most part. This is a really fun form of poker and I got really good at it over the past year. It paid off big for me in this event, even with a tough field. I ended up busting 17th, but I had a really big draw that bricked off and had I won that pot, I would've probably made the final table. $8075

$1500 PLO8 - This was the event I was looking forward too almost more than any other. I have gotten very very good at PLO8 and I was looking to prove it. We started with 4500 chips, and by the dinner break 6 hours in, I had around 40,000. That's absurd! And will probably never happen again to me. Anyways, I just dominated all my tables for two straight days, and then eventually lost 3 all in pots in a row with only 2 tables left to bust in 18th place. I got my first five digit score for $10,229.

$1000 NLHE - busted another 1k nlhe, nothing really notable to mention, other than I ran kinda bad.

$5000 PLO8 - I got a table draw with quite a few name pros, including Daniel Negreanu. That didn't mean anything to me, cause I was better at this game than all of them combined. This is simply a form of poker that most people rarely play, and experience is huge in this game. I brutalized my table for 10 straight hours on day 1 and finished with a large chip stack. I was well above average for the entire day. In day 2, my chip stack shot up quickly to be chip leader half way through and just held onto it with careful play. I ended the day 3rd in chips. In day 3, I made my first final table at the WSOP in 2 years and enter the final table 7th in chips. I got lucky with aces against aces and won to become chip leader. Just as soon as that happens, Phil Laak coolers me in a huge pot with a lucky flop, turn, and river. I still end up out lasting 6 out players to finish 3rd for $180,180. Huge cash, but I didn't have very much of my own action unfortunately.

$10,000 No limit Hold'em Main Event -

I ran very good day 1 and accumulated over 100k. I took a small hit at the end of the day to finish with around 91k.

Day 2 I was still well over 2x avg stack, and I took advantage of this by playing aggressively on a scared table. I accumulated more chips, but then made a few bad bluffs and go back down to around 85k. I then picked up a pair of kings and because of my aggressive table image, I got my entire stack in against AK. He hit an ace on the flop, and my main event was over.

I might add more stuff later but that sums it up.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

Months Gone By

I'll start with updating all my results for the recent months.

June

Cash Games

Live $1,815.25

Tournaments

Live ($1,927.79)

Poker ($112.54)

Staking ($625.00)

Other Gambling $115.00

Month's Expenses ($945.00)

Net on month ($1,567.54)

July

Cash Games

Live $5,298.00

Tournaments

Live $14,905.61

Poker $20,203.61

Staking ($1,290.00)

Other Gambling ($343.00)

Month's Expenses ($601.17)

Net on month $17,969.44

I sold out a lot of my action at the WSOP this year because I was doing pretty poorly at the start of this year. Unfortunately, I had a big cash so it ended up costing me a lot. Regardless I had a good pair of months and I'm not disappointed.

August

Cash Games

Live $10,048.75

Online $584.76

Tournaments

Live $2,020.00

Online $0.00

Poker $12,653.51

Staking ($150.00)

Other Gambling $2,445.00

Month's Expenses $0.00

Net on month $14,948.51

You might notice there is online poker winnings. I decided to take a chance and put a small amount of money on a small non mainstream site I used to play on called Cake Poker. I only deposited $600, so I don't feel like I'm at much risk of getting it shut down. Hopefully I can run it up there without having to redeposit.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

It's been hectic

I've been really busy, and simply haven't thought about my blog much. I'm gonna try to update everything that's happened in the past 2.5 months sometime this week.

May Update

May

Cash Games

Live $708.00

Tournaments

Live ($862.50)

Poker ($154.50)

Staking $0.00

Other Gambling $4,350.00

Month's Expenses $0.00

Net on month $4,195.50

It's a meh w/e month. I need to get more volume in. Winning so little in live cash is unacceptable.

Rereading old blog posts

I was reading about the hand histories from the PCA two years ago. Man, I feel like I played pretty badly. =/ I would've probably played most of the hands different. Makes me feel like I sucked then. I guess I feel like I play better now.

Playing a big draw

Had a pretty neatish hand today at hustler 5/10.

The game is pretty deepstacked.

Stack sizes approximately and positions:

Small blind --- Mike: 3300

Button -- Zach: 3100

Cutoff --- Me: 1500

Hijack --- Azn Guy: 5000

Two people limp in, including the azn guy in the Hijack. I limp in with Ah 4h right behind him.

Zach raises to 60 on the button. Mike calls, and everyone else calls.
The pot is now $300. Flop is Tc 2h 5h.

Mike leads out for $150. The Azn guy in the middle calls, and I reach my first (and only major) decision in the hand.

• I have a big draw. I can hit a straight with a 3, the nut flush with a heart, and I can hit top pair with an ace. If Mike has top pair, I have 15 outs to win against his hand. I am 54% favorite against a hand such as Ts9s.
• If Mike has a flush draw, and choose to lead out into the field it will probably be either, 6h 3h, Th Xh, or a hand that has a flush draw and two overcards, like QhJh. Against those hands I'm a 80%/20% favorite against the non paired flush draws and a 49%/51% dog against the ThXh
• If he has a set or two pair, I'm in pretty bad shape. Two pair seems pretty unlikely on this flop, and I'm a 66%/33% underdog to the set.
• I don't think Mike will fold many hands to a raise. That's good when I have him beat and bad when he has a set.
  
• The guy in the middle however will often fold to a raise. That's not good given that he is definitely in bad shape against my hand if he has any kind of draw, or likely in bad shape if Mike has a made hand.
• If I call Zach might call or raise on the button. If Zach has an overpair, I have 15 outs. If I raise, he might fold. More than likely though, he will either call or raise. If he raises, that's bad as my hand is better with more players, and I will never get him to fold. If he calls, the other players might get scared he has an overpair and fold top pair.
• My hand has one very disguised out. The three gives me a straight and it looks like it doesn't improve anyone. I am very likely to get paid on a three. The heart on the other hand will likely kill action unless someone has a set or a flush.

Overall it's close, but I decide to call.

Zach raises to $600. Mike tanks for a bit then calls. The Azn guy in the middle folds.

I could call here, but given I think my hand has really good equity three way, and that neither of them will ever fold, I decide to instead jam it in.

33% is required to break even, and any higher would make raising better than calling. Here are some numbers.

• If Mike has TT, and zach has AA, the equity split is Mike 62%/Zach 3.8%/ I have 34%.
• If Mike has JhTh, Zach has AA, Mike has 14%/Zach has 44%/I have 41%
• If Mike has JhTh, Zach has KK, Mike is 14%/Zach is 36%/I have 49%

Those are going to be the most common scenarios give our take a few percentage points.
Zach might have a set and Mike might have a flush draw which is the worst case scenario at putting me at 29%, but in every other scenario I have over 33% equity, which makes getting it in now really good.

If I was really certain someone had a set, I would instead call and see if the board pairs. However, in this spot I didn't think anyone had a set all that often.

Zach calls my 890 more or w/e it is, then Mike goes all in over the top. Zach calls that too.
We all flip over our hands, Zach has AA, and Mike has KK. Pretty close to the best case scenario.

Mike 6.7%/Zach 48.8%/I have 44.3%

We end up running it twice, I hit a three for a straight the first time, and catch the 3h for a straight flush the second time, and end up scooping a 4.7k pot.

It's nice to run hot.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

April Update

Another losing month, but not pokerwise.

April

Cash Games

Live $5,409.50

Online $994.20

Tournaments

Online $0.00

Live ($157.50)

Poker $6,246.20

Staking ($2,920.00)

Other Gambling ($5,070.00)

Month's Expenses $0.00

Net on month ($1,443.80)

It's pretty absurd how all I do is win money and then give it away in other ways.

Staking has generally been pretty bad for me up to this point, but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. I feel confidant the player I am staking is a winner and is trustworthy. He is running bad, and has made great efforts to improve. I think I'll continue to stake him.

As for the other gambling, it was all in prop bets. Some of them were even money, and some I was a favorite in it. I was never an underdog. The biggest prop I had was where he went all in blind for $1,000 and I look at my first card. If it's a 6 or lower, I fold, otherwise I call. Obviously if he's playing the all the hands he's dealt and I'm folding my worst hands, I'm turning a profit.

I ran it in poker stove, and I'm 51.7%. That doesn't seem like a big favorite, but that means I have a 3.4% edge. That isn't a lot, but casinos operate on a smaller edge than that. I would do it again, if I had the chance, I just hope I don't lose another 5k doing it.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

Sick grinding session + a cool 5/5 hand

Last night I played 14 hours of 5/5 PLO.

I was up 1700 earlier, then went on a ridiculous downswing. I lost all my profit and another 3k. It was followed by an epic comeback over the course of 8 hours where I won back the 3k I lost and booked a $600 win in the game.

I was still down 300 for the day, but after being down over 3k, it felt like a win to me. I really earned it to be basically break even.

I had a pretty cool hand playing 5/5 NLHE there too.
UTG raises to $20. I'm UTG+1 and call with 6h 6d. The button calls, and a youngish kid in the BB calls. Flop is 8h 7h 5s. The BB leads for 50. UTG folds, and I flat. We go heads up to the turn, which is a 3h. He checks, but I notice he doesn't double check his hole cards. I bet 110 trying to get him to fold hands like 8x or TT no heart. He decides to call. River is the Jh. He bets 120, and I tank then call.

Here are my thoughts.

• I think it's hard for him to have the Ah, Kh or Qh, because that would require him to lead out on the flop with one of those cards. What could it be? A8? That's possible, but my instinct tells me he wouldn't call an UTG raise with A8o. What about a hand like AQ? Also possible, but I don't think he would just lead into 3 players as a bluff. He could have a hand like AA, but I assume he would 3bet AA, KK and QQ preflop. So it seems really hard for him to have a big heart like he's representing. I think we can remove most big heart combos from his range.

• JJ with a heart would be possible except the Jh is on the board so that's no longer a concern.

• Could he have the Th or 9h? I think the answer is yes. Calling with T9o or 89o seems more reasonable than A8o. If he flopped top pair with 9h 8x, or an open ended straight draw with T9, he might lead the flop and check call the turn. He could also have 99 or TT with a heart. But he also didn't double check his cards, which leads me to believe it's less likely he has an offsuit hand. I think if he had a pair of red tens or nines, he might not need to check, but otherwise he probably would. It's also possible he just remember his suits, but that's pretty uncommon. I'd say TTh, and 99h are most likely in this catagory.

• But would he bet the river with those hands? He might, but it would be a pretty thin valuebet. The vast majority of people would just check and hope to check down and win. If he did choose to bet it would probably be something like what he bet, which is somewhat concerning.

• What could he be bluffing with? There doesn't seem like much missed. Is it possible he is turning a pair into a bluff? Say like a hand like A8d, which knows it pretty much can't win anymore, but he thinks he might get me to fold? This seems like a strike against calling

• What is my table image? Earlier I folded top pair on a four flush board. Then I did it again. He knew I folded top pair both time, so there is some chance he could be thinking about that and bluffing. Maybe he isn't though, so I probably shouldn't put too much stock in this.

• I am getting good pot odds. His bet of $120 is laying me around 4.5:1 odds. That's pretty good, I only have to win about 18% of the time to make a call correct. I think I'm good often enough to call. So calling is +EV

• Could raising be be better than calling? I only have about $150 more. If I raise, could I get him to fold a better hand? It seems unlikely. Could he call with a worse hand? It seems like it's very hard for him to have a smaller heart unless he has the 5h. Even so, he might not call a raise. There doesn't seem to be much merit to raising, so calling is better.

I call.

He has 7d 8d for flopped two pair. He check called the turn when the heart came in, and decided to bluff river on the four flush.

Poker is so much fun when you figure out exactly what's going on.


Bryce

I'll see you across the felt.

Online Poker is FUBAR

I think the whole thing is pretty ridiculous. It doesn't bother me personally that much. I have less than 7k online right now, so it's not a large part of my bankroll. But I know a friend that has 120k stuck online, and two that have around 30-40k. Those guys pretty much just played online professionally. It really sucks for them. I mean, I can't even imagine what it would be like if they didn't live nearby a casino.

Like let's say they didn't end up going to school. And they were making 100k a year playing poker online. Now, they can't play online. And maybe they live in the middle of nowhere. How could they make money? Get a job? Work at McDonald's for $7/hr? They have no advanced education, not many marketable skills. Seems like they are getting punished for no good reason.

And that doesn't even mention the people who just play poker online casually. What about my dad? He plays $0.05/$0.10 online. Why is that so bad? Frankly I think the government has the wrong perspective of online poker.

That said, this is a justified case. The companies were legitimately using fraud to get around the law. So I'm not saying they are in the wrong. Just that they are too zealous about it.

Whatever, I play live poker. I knew this could happen after the UIGEA got passed as part of the Safe Port Act. Hopefully, the live games will get better. I think there should be a large influx of new players, many of which will be casual players. There will be a lot of good regs too, but overall it might actually soften the games. I kinda doubt it though, but who knows.

I'll see you across the actual felt.

Bryce

Almost a 10k pot at 5/5 PLO

I had this ridiculous hand last night playing 5/5 pot limit omaha at Hustler.

Relevant stack sizes
Limper: $2,300.

Daniel: $5,500

Me: $7,000

It's 4 handed, and the cutoff limps in. Daniel, a good, aggresive regular raises to $25 on the button. I call with KdJdJc2c in the SB. The fish calls, and we take a flop. The flop is Js 6c 7d. I check, the fish checks, and Daniel bets 70. I check raise to 170, and Daniel calls. The turn is the Ac, giving me a Jack high flush draw to go along with my set. I bet 420, and he pots it, making it 1680 to go. I go into the tank, and plan out the rest of the hand in my head.

These are my thoughts.

If he had 66, he wouldn't raise the turn. It's behind all the hands I'm going to come back over the top with.
If he had 77, he would've probably not raised the turn. If he was going to raise somewhere, he would've probably done it on the flop.
If he had AJ, he has blockers to the high sets, but I don't think he's going to try to use that to bluff me off a lower set.
If he has a wrap, like 789T, he would've either raised the flop when he's flipping, or ahead, rather than waiting till the turn.

If he had Aces with a straight draw, like AA45, he would play his hand exactly like this.

More general thoughts,
He probably would never try to bluff me in this spot, I've shown too much strength. That would means he would never expect me to fold. A pot sized bet with Aces makes sense, cause it maximizes value and protects from wraps.

I do have a flush draw. I think it's almost impossible for him to have higher clubs, given I think he has to have aces with a straight draw. If I call and hit my flush on the river, I don't know whether he will call a bet. I would probably bet around $2,500. I expect him to fold to a pot sized bet. The odds I'm getting do not justify a call if my set is not good, and I need to hit a flush.

I do have 1 out I can stack him on. It's not negligible, but it's not a lot of equity either.

I am unsure if I could actually find a fold on the river if I bricked the river. I might change my mind or do something else stupid.

If I think I have the best hand now, I'm better off going all in now.

I folded, and rabbit hunted. I would've hit the three of clubs.

Pretty sick, I would've got there. He didn't show his hand, but he said he had AA89. I don't really have any reason to believe otherwise. I don't think he'll go broke this deep with less than the nuts.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

March Results

March

Cash Games

Live $15,851.00
Online $2,020.68

Tournaments

Live $2,249.50
Online ($306.00)

Poker $19,815.18
Staking $0.00
Other Gambling $1,055.00
Month's Expenses $0.00
Net on month $20,870.18

This was a good month. I manged to win a lot and never played that big. Forcing myself to put a ton of hours in really paid off. Still, I didn't like how much grinding I had to do. I'll probably take it a little slower in the future.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

Weight Loss bet

I started a weight loss bet. I'm really looking forward to it, cause this is the most motivated I've been to get in shape in a long time. I decided to start a blog about it at http://30lbs90days.blogspot.com/

Hopefully it won't just be a log of my failings, I'd really like to lose the weight and keep it off.

Folding Kings Preflop

Last night I folded KK preflop. Let me layout the scenario.

I'm playing 5/5 at a friend's home game. UTG+1 seems very tight and missed an easy valuebet earlier in the night with a set on the river on a AJ7K5 board.
He raised UTG+1 to 20, and gets 3 callers. I'm in the BB, and I look down at two Kings. I make it 115.

He makes it 400 to go in under a second. Everyone else folds. Effective stack are $1,100 to start.

Most people never fold kings, but let's discuss the reasons we would fold, and the reasons we would go all in. We are never flat calling with these stack sizes.

All in
1. We have Kings. Kings are the second best hand in the game and it's really hard to get dealt aces.
2. He could be overvaluing QQ, JJ, AK

3. My table image is somewhat wild

4. He hasn't been at the table that long, so I haven't develop super solid reads yet.

Fold

1. Guy is very tight. Doesn't seem like the type of player to run a move even if I have a loose image. He MIGHT widen his 4bet range, but I assume he's more likely to call my 3bets wider.
2. He raised UTG+1
3. He 4bet huge without even thinking

4. He didn't seem worried at all

5. I saw him flat call AK earlier in the night for a single raise.

6. With 700 more behind, he might fold AK, QQ, JJ. He will never fold AA or KK

7. Although, I've been in a lot of pots, I've mostly just showdown big hands.

After tanking, I fold face up and ask if he has aces.
He shows me QQ.

Oops.

Even though I folded the best hand, I think my logic is pretty sound. I think it's a good fold with what I knew at the time. I won't fold KK for 100bb, but that's because a lot of people will it get it in much lighter when they are shorter.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

February Update and answer to last hand

I'll start with my hand from my previous blog update.

After going into the tank on the river, I decided to fold. I didn't she would lead a 6 on the river when the board paired, and I didn't think she could be bluffing with anything except something like 7c 5c. I also thought she was convinced I had a straight, and decided to lead big for value, not expecting me to fold a 6, let alone JT. I showed my fold, and I could see she was shocked. At the table she said she had 67, but afterward she quit the game, she told me she had 55. I'm pretty sure she was telling the truth about the set of fives, I don't think she would play 67 like that.

February

Cash Games

Live $587.00
Online ($5,117.28)

Tournaments

Live ($824.75)
Online $3,134.97

Poker ($2,220.06)

Staking ($2,406.00)

Other Gambling $2,051.00
Month's Expenses $0.00
Net on month ($2,575.06)

Got destroyed this month playing online. I also took pieces of Zach playing online, and he also got destroyed when I had a piece of him.

The only good news is I turned a profit on props and blackjack this month. When I took a trip out to Agua Caliente, I found a double deck with small minimums. I decided to give counting a shot when I wasn't drunk, and actually won about $1,000. Might try again, but I've sworn to only play on double or single deck games where I think I'm a favorite to win. No shoes. No matter what. Also, no drinking while playing either.

Hopefully, I can turn things around. Poker has been incredibly frustrating lately. I do have one pretty sick story though.
On Ultimate Bet, there is a bad beat jackpot. Somehow in the past week it got to over a million.

When it was around 950k, I got into a hand where I had 99 vs JJ, and the flop came out J93r. I bet, and he called. The turn was a 9. I bet again, and he raised, and I gleefully got it all in. He missed and I felted him.

I never wanted to lose a pot so bad in my life.
If he rivered the case Jack, I would've gotten about 330k. Would've erased a year or two worth of run bad. Unfortunately, I had to settle for the pot. I ran about 11k below EV that hand. How funny is that. I won the whole pot and ran below EV.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

Hand from Hustler

This is a pretty sick spot I think.

5/10 at Hustler Casino

A guy limps UTG, I limp in the HJ with JTo. The BTN limps, the SB calls, the BB checks, and we see a 9c7h5d flop.

The BB is an azn lady who has been playing very tight up to this point. She leads out for 45. UTG folds, and I decide to call, hoping to spike an 8 because we're pretty deep stacked. A Queen or King on the turn would give me an additional straight draw, and it's possible a pair of Jacks or Tens could be good. The SB calls behind me.

The turn is the 8c, giving me the nut straight and putting two clubs on the board. SB checks, and she bets 130. I raise to 400, and the SB folds. She calls.

The river is an 8. She tanks for a bit and then decides to bet 700.

What would you do here and why?



I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

Looking back

I felt like writing a little more.

Today I went to Commerce Casino and played 40/80 mix with Mimi Tran and several online poker players who do coaching with major training sites. I beat the game for a smallish win of 1400 and felt good about it. It was fun playing all the different games. We played Omaha 8, Stud 8, 2-7 Tripledraw, Baduci, Badaci, and Hold'em. They are all limit games.

Just now I read one of my old blog posts from Feb 2008.

Wow

I've come a long way. Back then I thought I was good at poker.
I think I'm good at poker now. But I know I'm substantially better now than I was then. I think the people who I played poker with then can attest to that. It's amazing how differently I view the game now. I feel like I've grown so much, and yet there is still so much I need to learn.

Last year I turned a loss attempting to gamble for a living. It was the first full year, I did that. The year before I would've turned a loss if not for that one big win at the WSOP. Maybe I'm not cut out for professionally gambling? Maybe I'll find out this year. In 2009, I might've been barely good enough to win a living earn from poker. In 2010, I definitely was, but I made too many other mistakes, like managing my money, or allowing myself to get cheated.
I want this year to be different.
I want to prove I can win big at poker and I want to prove I've learned from my mistakes, and make better life decisions.

I feel like there should also be more balance in my life. I'm gonna try to do some other stuff, but I don't know exactly what yet. A friend of mine asked if I'd like to start a study group in investing into options. It sounds interesting, and I'd like to check it out. I was a finance major after all, and I've heard a lot about the similarities in investing and poker.

Hopefully, you'll hear some big news coming. Of the good kind.

I'll see you across the felt.

Bryce

January Updates + December results & 2010 results

I'll start with January.

These numbers are pretty bad, but I have a lot of excuses. First, my biggest win of the month, I had to scratch off, because I never got paid. I won $17k that night, and when I get the money, I can backtrack and change it, but until I do, it counts like I never got it. Secondly, the PCA main and hotel at Atlantis are counted in these numbers, but I won those in a $700 satellite in December. I counted it as profit then, so I'm counting it as a loss now. Lastly, I did some drunken gambling in the pit at Atlantis, which was a pretty dumb idea. Altogether, it adds up into this disaster.

January

Cash Games

Live ($8,178.25)
Online ($5,727.26)

Tournaments

Live $507.40
Online ($1,265.50)

Poker ($14,663.61)
Staking ($812.50)
Other Gambling ($5,711.50)
Month's Expenses ($6,248.15)
Net on month ($27,435.76)

Unfortunately, my results for last year are equally dismal. After talking to my CPA, I had to backtrack and remove wins I haven't been paid for until I receive money for them. Since I'm currently owed a LOT of money, I basically had to deduce so much income, that I turned a loss on the year. I actually won $80k at the poker table, but wasn't paid that much. Add in losses staking, and other gambling, I'm down on the year. I'm also now pretty certain I was cheated out of nearly $80k at a home game I was playing at. If I had never played there, I would've had a good year. I think I learned my lesson about that game, and maybe home games in general. I'm pretty jaded about home games now.
My thoughts on staking on the past year, were that I took a few very high variance gambles on players who I think are very good. It didn't work out. I think a few other people were simply bad horses. I should be more selective about my staking.

On the gambling, some of that is props where I got destroyed by the cheats at that game. The rest is counting blackjack, which went really poorly for me this year. Combined my loss at attempted counting drunk at Atlantis in January, I think I'm gonna give it up. While it's fun, I simply don't think I can do it well enough, and don't really want to put the effort into doing more. It was fun getting barred from South Point though, it gives me a good story and makes me sound like a sick counter.

December

Cash Games

Live ($4,061.00)
Online $1,571.45

Tournaments

Online $5,656.75

Poker $3,167.20
Staking $140.00
Other Gambling $2,862.50
Month's Expenses $0.00
Net on month $6,169.70

Net on Year ($4,378.75)

Net on Year for Staking ($20,887.24)

Other Gambling ($32,025)

Net on Year for Poker $51,630

Poker Related Expenses $4,799

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce

Day 1 PCA Hands

Busted day 1, thought I played pretty good, but I made a few tight folds. I don't really regret any of my decisions.

I'm in seat 1, 10 handed to start, 9 handed later.

50/100 30k

First hand I sit down, I get AA. UTG raises to 250, I 3bet to 800 in CO, he calls. Flop AQJr, he c/fs to 1200.

30.3k

Open TT UTG to 300, MP2 calls, BTN calls, SB calls. A73r flop. SB checks, I check, MP1 bets 500, BTN raises to 1350, SB folds. I tank for a bit, cause I'm pretty sure BTN has air here, maybe a legit draw like 45. But I didn't think he was balanced here, and he was pretty bluffy. I debated cold 3betting the flop, and cold calling. I decided to fold cause my read wasn't solid enough to risk that. MP calls, and then won the pot on the river with a bet of 500, so the BTN was bluffing.

UTG limps, UTG+1 limps, HJ puts in a 500 chip (but he meant to raise), I limp button with 86o. SB calls, BB checks. Flop is 8d5s3s. Checks to me and I bet 450. The SB c/cs, and UTG+1 c/rs to 2050. I fold, SB folds.

75/150 29.5k

29k

MP (very aggro bluffy kid) raises to 400, Chris Bjorn reraise in HJ to 1100. I cold call TT on the button. MP 4bets to 4100, Chris folds, I tank for a while and fold. At the time I thought, he would have to be value oriented, cause I thought Chris was some random old guy, and I didn't think that MP would 4bet light over his 3bet. I could've been wrong though

27.9k

This hand I think I played kinda badly. I raise 65d to 450 in MP1. MP2 calls, and BTN calls.
Flop is Qh 9d 8d. I decide not to cbet because I felt I would get floated a lot and get in some bad spots on the turn. I also felt MP2 would bet a very wide range here, and I could c/r him and get a lot of folds. MP2 bets 1050. The BTN raises to 2600. I tank for a bit and decide on cold calling. I think here, I should've folded instead. If I had like 76d or T7d, I think cold calling is ok, but given a bet and a raise, I think I'm going to be up against a higher flush draw too often to call with my hand. If I'm up against JT, I can't even hit a 7 anyways, and I can't really play my flush very aggressively. After I call, MP2 decides to 3bet the flop to 6150. BTN folds. At this point, I didn't really think I could fold anymore. I don't think he 3bets a hand like QXd, so having to call 3500 more into a pot that has now gotten to be over 13k, I don't think I can fold my flush draw. Turn is the 9h. I check and MP2 checks back pretty quickly. When he checks behind fast, I felt like he never has JT, and probably never has a full house. I put him on something like AJd, ATd, maybe like QJd, QTd. I felt that on a brick river, I could set him in and get him to fold nearly every time.

The river is the 7d, giving me a straight flush. I think for a bit and I just jam for 17k effective. I thought he had a flush here everytime, and I didn't think he was capable of folding it. Well I was wrong, he folded ATd. Obviously, if he is valuebetting the river, c/shoving is better, but at the time I thought he would be more likely to call a shove then bet/call the river.
This hand was played badly several different ways. Nice to get lucky though

37.5k

Aggro kid raises 400 in CO. I've seen him make some a few spewy bluffs, and he likes to attack a lot of pots. Chris Bjorn calls in the SB, and I call with 86c in the BB. The flop is Q43r. SB checks, I lead 600, planning to 3bet a flop raise. CO flats, and SB folds. The turn is the Jc giving me a flush draw. I lead for 1250, he raises to 3400, and I 3bet to 8250 and he folds.

100/200 41.8k

I raise T7s to 600 on CO. BTN flats. Qd Qs 6d flop. I bet 750. He calls. I think he floats here a reasonable amount. I think I could double him on some cards, but actually don't like my cbet much. I think he just floats too wide. Turn and river are a 3 and 5, so I just c/f opposed to spewing off a lot of chips 3 barreling.

39k

Chris limps in UTG+1 and I iso with K9c to 700 in MP1. The BTN flats, he is a decent online sng/tournament player, but not that strong in my opinion. Chris calls and we see a Qc 2c 3h flop.

Chris checks, I bet 1250, and they both call. Turn Qd. Chris, I check, and the BTN bets 1700. Chris check/calls, I call. I think I should've check raised. His sizing was pretty small, and I thought he would bet larger with trips. River 5. Chris checks, I check, and BTN bets 6200. Chris folds, and I tank fold. I wanted to check/raise the river too. I didn't think I could rep anything though. I thought he was bluffing, but I didn't think I could call, because I thought even all his bluffs could beat king high. His sizing seemed very inconsistent to me, he bet 1/3 pot on the turn in a spot, where you are almost always up against a flush draw or medium strength pocket pair. I think he would've bet larger with Qx, probably something like 2600 or more. On the river, his river bet seemed kind of like a desperation bet, and I think I should've just gone through with my raise, even if I didn't rep anything, because I was so sure he was bluffing. In the end, I folded and he proudly showed off his AJ bluff.

150-300 33k

BTN opens to 850. I flat T8c in the BB. Td8s7s flop. I c/r his 1100 bet to 3000. He folds

I raise TT to 800 in HJ, SB calls. Flop KJ7r. He leads for 300. I know he isn't a donk, so I assume he's trying to induce me to raise. I decide to make a fairly light peel. Turn is a Tc putting out a backdoor flush draw. He bets 300 again. Given that I think he's trying to induce me, I now raise to 1600. He calls. River is a 4. He bets 300 again, so I raise to 5500 and he calls with K7d.

46.6k

I raise 44 to 800. Two callers in position, and I c/f the 953hh Th turn.

150/300/25 ante 45k

44k
I raise A8o to 800 in HJ. BB calls. She is a weak player. AJ8r flop. She check/calls 1200. Turn 2. she c/f to me 2150 bet.

46k

UTG+1 raises to 800, Chris Bjorn 3bets on the button to 2600. I 4bet KK to 6950, UTG+1 jams for 21k. Chris folds, and I grudgingly call. He has Aces, I lose.

24k

UTG opens to 800, I 3bet A7o to 2150. He calls. Flop T23dd. I have Ad. He checks, I bet 1825 and he folds.

200/400/50 27k

26.4k

Lady opens UTG+1 raises to 1200, I flat AQc on the button. The BB calls. 9c 5d 2c flop. BB leads for 2300, and she instaraises to 7300 with 15k behind. I tank for a while, and I decide to fold. I think that I have no folding equity vs overpairs, and I think that my best chance is hoping she has JJ and I have two overs. If she has AA then I have none. Additionally the BB isn't a drooler, so his lead out range there will include some bluffs, but will also include flush draws and possible sets. When he has a flush draw, he has some of my outs, and when he has a set, my pair outs are no good. Overall, I think it's a really borderline fold. I could've jammed this, but I don't think the pot was large enough to justify getting it in vs an overpair there.

25.5k

I open A5o in HJ to 1025, BTN 3bets to 2600, I 4bet to 6475 and he folds.

27.5k
MP2 opens to 900, Chris Bjorn 3bets to 2600 in CO, and I 4bet QQ to 6250 on BTN and everyone folds.

31k
I raise A3h in HJ to 1025. BTN flats. 8c 2h 3c. I check/call 1200. Turn Th. I c/c 2800. River Tc. I check and tank call 5300. He has 99.
This hand was a little tricky for me. Not sure if this was a good call on the river or not. I'm basically relying on the fact that he was barreling and is bluffing now. I definitely thought he would be capable of barreling off in this spot because my hand looks so weak, but that doesn't mean he can't just have it. I think there are a lot of hands he might potentially bet flop and turn with, but I feel like I'm making a lot of assumptions. Maybe I should c/r the turn? I don't really feel like I rep any value hands, so that seems bad. Not sure the best way to play this hand.

20k
I open QJo in HJ to 1050. BTN 3bets to 2100. He has been 3betting me very wide, but here he accidently made it 2050 instead of 2500. I call. Qd 8h 3h flop. I check and he checks back. Turn is 5s. I check, he bets 3100 and I jam for 17k, and he insta mucks.

I think for a bit and I feel like he would go for both thin value, and bluff with his air. I also think that he might level himself into a call if I go for a check/jam so shove for value against weak Queens, JJ, TT, 99, and some 8x hands.

300/600/50 24k

I raise A2s in MP2 to 1600. BB calls Flop Ac Kc 7d. He check/calls 2350. Turn 5. We both check. River 6. He bets 4200. I made the call on the river and he had A6. This was a really borderline spot, and part of why I called is because he has been caught bluffing a lot. However, I didn't actually think his bluffing range in this spot would be that large. I think it was a bad call in retrospect.

400/800/100

16k

I raise A6d 1600 and a short stack jams from the BTN for 5175. I call, she has AK and I lose.

8k
CO opens to 1900, SB flats, and I jam A9o. CO calls with AQ and I bink a 9.

20k
I open A8s to 1600. Short stack lady calls, flop is 9s 6d 3s. I bet 2150, she jams for 8k more, I snap and she has KJs. I hold with ace high.

35k

HJ opens to 2100. I 3bet 28c to 5425. He calls. J92r flop, and he c/cs 7500. Turn Qh, river 5h, and we check down. He wins with T9s.

This hand is particularly notable because after this hand is when I learned my villian was Chris Bjorn. I would've checked back flop if I knew who he was. I think the hand plays out like this otherwise. Turn Qh brings a backdoor flush draw. He would probably lead, and I would either fold or float depending on his sizing. If he checks, I would check back. River 5h. I think he would be forced to c/f the river here, seeing how I could easily have a flush or a queen. In the actual hand, I bet the flop mostly because I thought he would be super fit or fold, but knowing who it is now, I would think he can peel and c/r a little lighter, leading me to take a free shot at improving my pair.

500/1000/100 24k

23k
I open A5s UTG to 2000. Chris Bjorn calls in BB. 763r flop, he check/calls my 2300. Turn 6, c/c river 9. He bets 7000, I fold.

14k

Chris opens to 2100 in CO, I get AA and jam. He folds.

20k

I raise 65h to 2k UTG. Chris calls in the BB. Ac 9h 2d, he c/cs 2300. Turn Qh, he c/fs to 3600.

Pretty loose open, but my UTG raises were getting a lot of respect.

20.3k Bustout hand

Chris Bjorn raises in CO to 2300. I jam KJh, and he semi tanks with Ak. I brick he wins.

I think I ran bad overall, but misplaying that 28c cost me a lot of chips. I also had one guy on my left who was 3betting me a lot, and he just caught me holding a hand like KJo, QJo, KQo almost everytime. I picked up some really premium hands, but almost never got action.

Oh well, run hotter next time.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce