Poker/reading update

I’m nearing the end of playing 3/6 as my main game as I have done well recently. I think the majority of my action will be at 5/10 over the next month or so and we’ll see how that goes. I have been playing well and the results have actually worked themselves out, which unfortunately doesn’t always happen. We’ll see what I can do with the rest of the summer.

I finished End Of Faith and am a couple chapters into The Ancestor’s Tale, which is very interesting. It’s basically a description of the evolutionary processes that came about to end up with the current species inhabiting Earth. One thing that struck me as pretty fascinating was the many organisms that evolve not by natural selection, but by deliberate human intervention. Unknowingly, people who cultivated things such as bananas, or raised cattle, picked the ones best suited to fit their needs (consumption, obviously) and disregarded the “unfit”, whether a cow or a banana with too many seeds in it. (Yes, wild bananas have seeds in them; if it weren’t for people picking the better ones over thousands of years, the tasty fruit would offer an undesirable crunch)

My other current read, Hawking’s A Brief History Of Time, I’m taking slow and trying to read a little bit every night. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who has an interest in what’s accepted in physics right now. (and although the book is only a revised version of something written a couple decades ago, to my knowledge not very much has gone on in physics since then) If I could get these done by the end of the month I would be happy, but it all depends on what I feel like doing during my down time. I remember someone remarking that while poker players don’t necessarily “work” the amount of hours as normal people (mid-high stakes players anyway), a good amount of their time is spent essentially waiting around to get into the right mindset/mood to play. Some days I just flat out don’t feel like playing and while on the surface I may think of myself as lazy for not doing so, I understand that the repercussions of forcing myself to play will not only be a waste of time but actually cost me money.

Lastly, one resolution I decided today was that I’m going to put some thought into my political views, as I flat out have never taken the time to consider even who I’d rather have as president. If nothing else it will give me something else to argue with people about, as religion is getting a bit tiring.

Back to grinding/new reading list

After taking a break from Atlas Shrugged to read a couple other shorter yet interesting books, I finished it up last week while timing my next book order to arrive at around when I got done. As anyone who reads Rand knows, it’s not light stuff and requires a lot of concentration to really take in everything about what she’s trying to get across. Nonetheless I found her ideology enlightening and fairly congruent with my own. (which is still in development, of course, as my open-minded nature requires)

The four new books I’ve chosen to tackle are:

The Story of Philosophy (Will Durant), The Ancestor’s Tale (Richard Dawkins, End Of Faith (Sam Harris) and A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking)

If I’m able to finish these before the end of the summer, I’ll probably get something by Clive Cussler or Stephen King, as the books I’m reading now are pretty heavy and I should probably take it easy on my brain for a little while, before school starts.

As for poker, I’ve been playing a good amount in the last week or so with great results. I’m mostly playing 2/4 and 3/6 right now, usually 10-tabling. There’s not much stress involved, which is nice. I can sit back and listen to some of my new music, as well as appreciate my new portable amplifier (which has surpassed my expectations, I mean really blown me away at how much better my music sounds) I’ll leave the price tag out of it, by the way.

I think I’m going to continue playing 2/4 and 3/6 almost exclusively for another month, until the big ultimatebet promotion finishes.

If all goes well I should net a few thousand from it, and be ready to tackle the bigger games again.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders finished their season with a first round loss in the NCAA’s to the University of Washington. After winning the doubles point, the Texas Tech #1 and #2 won their singles quickly and it seemed as if the #27 ranked Huskies were going to go home early. The next four matches all went to a third set, Tech leading 3-0 at this point and needing one victory to clinch a second round entrance.

Losing all four third sets was a harsh representative of the Red Raiders’ 2008-2009 season, in which eight of their twelve losses were 4-3.

Tech is losing six seniors this year so I’m excited to help rebuild the team after a disappointing year. The past few days it’s been rainy here in Florida and the forecast doesn’t seem great for the next week or so. I’ve got about a month left in which I am eligible for USTA tournaments, which I’ve been playing occasionally since I can’t play any ITF junior events this year. (since my 19th birthday is in 2009) My last junior tournament will be a national open in Texas next month, and a win would be a nice way to end up, perhaps to avenge my poor showing at the end of last year. Florida tournaments are generally clay court, and as someone who didn’t grow up playing on clay (or even outdoors, no less) I think I’ve improved on the dirt significantly in the past few years.

Beating Sharapova in straight sets a couple weeks ago was proof that I’m beginning to develop a feel for how to deal with staying balanced and figuring out alternate strategies to the hard-hitting baseline game I’ve become accustomed to on hard court.

However I’m certainly not against never playing on clay again after I leave here, Americans often have a strong distaste for the long grind matches that so many Spanish players have grown up playing.

Training, Grinding

For the past few weeks, I’ve been training pretty hard and playing a good amount of poker in my free time. I actually had to take yesterday off as well as morning practice today, only doing afternoon fitness with my private coach, because of a hand injury that no amount of tape seemed to remedy. There’s a grand prix this weekend, which is an inter-academy tournament which I am looking forward to, but I hope my hand won’t give me problems. I’m definitely hitting very well, my coach has worked on some things with my foundation and footwork; my forehand and serve feel great. Aside from losing to Vaidisova earlier in the week, I’ve been pretty satisfied with how I have been doing.

Poker has been up and down. I’m playing 6max almost exclusively, and I feel like I’m comfortable in almost any lineup at 5/10, which is where I’ve essentially been printing money this year. However, to say that 10/20 has been rough would be an understatement. Here’s a few examples of what I have been experiencing at the seemingly unbeatable limit:

***** Hand History for Game 1248713079 *****
$2000.00 USD NL Texas Hold’em – Saturday, February 07, 09:28:30 ET 2009
Table ALPHA DRIVE (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Seat 4: PRAHLADF ( $5184.88 USD )
Seat 6: ZCJ90 ( $7758.88 USD )
PRAHLADF posts small blind [$10.00 USD].
ZCJ90 posts big blind [$20.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ZCJ90 [ As Ac ]
PRAHLADF raises [$50.00 USD]
ZCJ90 raises [$200.00 USD]
PRAHLADF raises [$600.00 USD]
ZCJ90 raises [$1200.00 USD]
PRAHLADF calls [$760.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4h, 8d, Kh ]
ZCJ90 checks
PRAHLADF bets [$3764.88 USD]
ZCJ90 calls [$3764.88 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Tc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2c ]
PRAHLADF shows [Ks, Th ]
ZCJ90 shows [As, Ac ]
PRAHLADF wins $10369.01 USD from main pot

***** Hand History for Game 1298385351 *****
$2000.00 USD NL Texas Hold’em – Friday, March 06, 04:24:28 ET 2009
Table BUTLER RD (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Seat 3: G0N3INW1ND ( $3970.00 USD )
Seat 4: DOSUN88 ( $3396.50 USD )
Seat 5: SENIOR JOTA ( $5117.00 USD )
Seat 6: HATA19 ( $2000.00 USD )
Seat 2: ZCJ90 ( $4504.50 USD )
DOSUN88 posts small blind [$10.00 USD].
SENIOR JOTA posts big blind [$20.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ZCJ90 [ 9c Td ]
HATA19 folds
ZCJ90 raises [$70.00 USD]
G0N3INW1ND folds
DOSUN88 calls [$60.00 USD]
SENIOR JOTA raises [$250.00 USD]
ZCJ90 calls [$200.00 USD]
DOSUN88 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9h, 4d, Tc ]
SENIOR JOTA checks
ZCJ90 bets [$415.00 USD]
SENIOR JOTA raises [$1200.00 USD]
ZCJ90 raises [$2025.00 USD]
SENIOR JOTA raises [$3647.00 USD]
ZCJ90 calls [$1794.50 USD]
SENIOR JOTA wins $612.50 USD from main pot
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2s ]
ZCJ90 shows [9c, Td ]
SENIOR JOTA shows [Ks, Kc ]
SENIOR JOTA wins $9076.00 USD from main pot

I’m not too worried though, since having such poor results at 10/20 I decided that I was going to be much more selective in terms of the games I play in. While I am most likely one of the biggest winners at 5/10 on UB in the past month or two, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with game selecting at 10/20 for now, until I’m way overrolled for it, like I am for 5/10. I generally don’t like game selecting, because I don’t mind playing tough opponents and getting into difficult matches, because it makes you so much better. I can play anyone I like at 5/10, because the variance isn’t too big with $2000 buyins, and many of the better players who I would avoid are playing 25/50 or higher. I feel like 5/10 has been my niche, so to speak, and I have never had trouble beating the games because I seem to have a pretty good idea as to what level of thinking people are on.

I’m excited to get my rakeback from last month, I get a payment once a month on the 15th. I’m expecting something like 6-7k, as well as $1300 for getting second in the rake race (my rakeback provider hosts a monthly contest for everyone registered through them).

As this is the first year where I haven’t been in school, I’ve become a little bored of my lack of education for these past seven or eight months. One website I’ve greatly enjoyed lately is TED, which hosts talks about important ideas from people around the world. One of my favorites:

Probabilities This one is pretty much exactly how poker players think, judging things in terms of EV, or “Expected Value”. It’s great to see that someone else shares my view that many people misjudge what their financial priorities should be.

Here’s a list of a bunch of great videos, I’ve probably watched almost all of them: SMP Videos

Lastly, one strategy hand as requested:

***** Hand History for Game 1296599897 *****
$1000.00 USD NL Texas Hold’em – Thursday, March 05, 05:03:35 ET 2009
Table THOUSAND OAKS (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 5: ZCJ90 ( $2192.00 USD )
Seat 6: HITITONETIME ( $1215.51 USD )
Seat 1: JOETFK ( $2142.23 USD )
Seat 2: BOROVICH05 ( $1253.62 USD )
Seat 3: RUBBERSOUL ( $1998.50 USD )
Seat 4: BLACKHOLE_ ( $974.50 USD )
HITITONETIME posts small blind [$5.00 USD].
JOETFK posts big blind [$10.00 USD].
BLACKHOLE_ posts big blind [$5.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ZCJ90 [ 9s 6s ]
BOROVICH05 folds
RUBBERSOUL folds
BLACKHOLE_ raises [$30.00 USD]
ZCJ90 raises [$110.00 USD]

I make a standard 3bet light against a fairly tight regular

HITITONETIME folds
JOETFK folds
BLACKHOLE_ calls [$75.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, 6h, 4s ]
BLACKHOLE_ checks
ZCJ90 checks

I decide to check back the flop where I’d usually bet. I would bet most of the time because it seems like it’s unlikely I am going to get to showdown free against anything I beat (I’d imagine that range would be AKo (which I’d much rather get it in preflop if I were him), AQs and AQo).

** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
BLACKHOLE_ bets [$170.00 USD]
ZCJ90 calls [$170.00 USD]

Standard turn call. He’s of course representing slowplayed sets, big pairs, and perhaps AQ (which I’d check if I were him), but my flop check will often induce air to try to take the pot away now.

** Dealing River ** [ 7s ]
BLACKHOLE_ bets [$425.00 USD]
ZCJ90 calls [$425.00 USD]

The river brings a four-straight to the board. Now there’s an interesting dynamic when good players get to this spot, and basically there are very few (none) hands that he can have with a 5 for a straight, so the only reason I’d fold is if I think he can value bet thinner easily. Of course he’s got to operate under the assumption that I’ll call the river with worse than what he’s value betting (less than the seemingly easy straight to have, I mean you only need one five!) so if he bets AA here I need to be able to call with KK, AQ, and JJ probably, all of which may not even be in my 3betting range.

BLACKHOLE_ shows [Jc, Tc ]
ZCJ90 shows [9s, 6s ]
ZCJ90 wins $1422.00 USD from main pot

His preflop call is too light with only $1000 effective stacks. Playing a pot out of position against another solid aggressive player with JTs just isn’t a good idea when you’re only a hundred big blinds deep. Quite frankly, I’d be much more wary and probably fold if I’m playing against one of the handful of 5/10 regulars who give me a lot of trouble, but I didn’t think blackhole is capable of making a thin value bet on this river, and is probably check/calling a lot of hands that he seems to be representing with this river bet. Essentially all I’m worried about is QQ and of course that isn’t enough to deter me from making a fairly light river call.

Online Poker’s Future

Online poker was once extremely profitable and very easy to make money at playing a pretty ABC style of play. You didn’t have to get tricky, or balance your hand ranges with bluffs, or reraise bluff preflop (3bet light, in poker vernacular). But of course when there is money to be made, people will come to make it. In the last five or six years, the games have toughened up significantly, due to the increasing amount of tough opponents, and the diminishing amount of recreational players. The latter is caused by the difficulties of depositing money onto poker sites, as US regulations have made it a little tricky to do so. Obviously a recreational player isn’t going to jump through hoops just to play some cards.

In 2005, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, was pased by the United States government. This law simply made it illegal to deposit money into online gambling sites by using certain methods, I believe bank wiring was the main method prohibited. However, most people thought that simply playing online poker was illegal, which is not true.

The games have continued to get more difficult and of course poker enthusiasts and professionals everywhere are hoping that the US decides to allow and regulate online poker. The billions this would generate in taxes every year are very attractive, especially at a time when the economy has been poor.

Recently, more rumblings of a possible regulation of online gambling and more specifically online poker have come about, and skeptics around the country have been brought to the happy realization that this is entirely a possibility.

3/6 challenge, the way to find a balance?

Ok well although I haven’t talked about it much, poker has been going terribly and I really am at a loss for figuring out why it’s been going so poorly. I’ve worked hard on my game the past few months and have not had the results to back it up. The only reasoning I can come up with is that I’m not good enough to beat the best of the limits I’m playing, which have been 5/10-50/100. At one point I was playing no lower than 10/25, with some 50/100 shots occasionally as well. A couple bad multitabling sessions at 25/50 took a big hit on my bankroll, and 50/100 losses didn’t help.

Recently I’ve been playing 5/10 and 10/20 exclusively, but with little to no game selection. I don’t like waiting for matches, and I don’t think I’ll ever be the kind of player who consistently denies action from people at whatever stakes I play. If that means I have to play lower, so be it.

Unfortunately that “if” is going to become a reality. I haven’t been doing too hot at 5/10 even, and despite my opinion on most 5/10 regulars that I’ve had the opportunity to play, they will have to wait a month to have another crack at me.

Until Christmas, I won’t play higher than 3/6. I’m guessing almost all my hands will come in at 3/6, maybe with some 2/4 hands in there as well. This is to guarantee a win. I’m tired of losing, but I refuse to wait for easy 5/10 and 10/20 matches.

I believe my outlook on a lot of things is different than others in more than a few ways, one of which I discussed in a post I wrote on 2+2, I’m pretty sure I have a link on this site somewhere. The only person who has a similar outlook is Ayn Rand, author of “Atlas Shrugged”. I’m only 300 pages in and I can already say that if I find another book that I enjoy this much in my lifetime, I would consider my literary endeavors a success.

When I analyze my abilities in something, (which is usually tennis or poker), I’ve always compared myself to people who are near my level. People love to say they are a “very competitive person”, so much so that it’s become pretty cliche. Perhaps I’ve never considered myself successful, and never will because of this mindset, unless I become so good that there are only a handful of people who I’d consider worthy adversaries, in whatever field it may be.

I would not consider anything less than world-class as “competitive”. The fact that I’m not pouring all my effort and energy into one facet of my life is a little frustrating, I never have been good at succeeding in multiple fields because there is usually always one thing I want to excel at more than anything else.

This fall I played more tennis tournaments than I can count, and the results were so far from my expectations that I’m still recovering from the let down. Poker has been the same. I’ve made money, more than most make in a year, yet it’s nowhere near what I expected based on my view of my abilities. The last few weeks I haven’t given quite the 100% no excuses effort that I would expect of myself, and it’s surprising how demoralizing everything that has happened has been. The next month is going to be different.

Finding a balance may have eluded me for now, but maybe it’s what real success is. Either way, I want to find out and nothing else matters until I do.

Eddie Herr Wildcard Tournament

The Wildcard tournament at the academy was this weekend, all the fulltime players played and the winner got a wildcard into main draw of Eddie Herr, and two qualifying wildcard spots are given out as well.

I won my first three matches easily, 6-0 6-1, 6-0 6-0, and 6-1 6-2. My semifinal match was against a good player in the group above me, and although I was up 4-3 serving in the first, and 3-0 serving in the second, I couldn’t pull it off and lost 4 and 4.

Qualifying for Eddie Herr is next weekend, so hopefully I can get through although it’s going to be very difficult. I got a call from Angela Garcia who is in charge of Orange Bowl (the week after Eddie Herr) and they are giving me a wildcard into qualifying.

I’ve been playing a little poker lately, mostly 5/10. Last weekend I played the $5000 tournament on full tilt, and came in 70th out of 500 after about 10 hours of play. It was a two day event, and we were in the last full hour of the night when I busted. 54 players cashed, so it was pretty frustrating, especially when I was the chip leader with about 125 players left. I believe 9th and up all got at least $90000, and first place was $550000.

I’m having two people stay at my apartment for Eddie Herr, they both went to the academy last year but this year they are training in their South American hometowns, in Puerto Rico and Ecuador this year. After Eddie Herr I’m just going to drive down to Key Biscane for Orange bowl and will probably take a couple people with me. I don’t think I am playing Prince Cup the week after, so I’ll be at the academy for one more week before going home for a couple of weeks.

Boca Results

Well I lost last Tuesday in singles against a pretty tough player. He was very quick and consistent and I just didn’t come up with what I needed to that day.

Doubles went better, my partner and I made quarterfinals. We had a couple close 3 set matches, but pulled them off.

Poker has been going poorly lately, the games have been great but I have just had some awful luck at 25/50 and 50/100, and for that matter even 10/25 and 5/10.

Here’s an example of how good the games are:

Hand #57641377-1449 at Waterbury (No Limit Hold’em)
Started at 06/Nov/08 17:25:36

shipitdisway is at seat 0 with $41860.
zcj90 is at seat 1 with $13746.
perfectswing is at seat 2 with $25747.50.
RedBull77 is at seat 3 with $11189.
RECKLESSTURD is at seat 4 with $8400.
gandi9 is at seat 5 with $13297.
The button is at seat 1.

perfectswing posts the small blind of $50.
RedBull77 posts the big blind of $100.

shipitdisway: — —
zcj90: Ah Qc
perfectswing: — —
RedBull77: — —
RECKLESSTURD: — —
gandi9: — —

Pre-flop:

RECKLESSTURD folds. gandi9 raises to $350.
shipitdisway folds. zcj90 re-raises to $1200.
perfectswing folds. RedBull77 folds. gandi9 calls.

Flop (board: 9c Qs Ad):

gandi9 checks. zcj90 bets $1450. gandi9 calls.

Turn (board: 9c Qs Ad Qd):

gandi9 checks. zcj90 bets $3750. gandi9 goes all-in
for $10647. zcj90 calls.

River (board: 9c Qs Ad Qd As):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

gandi9 shows Js Td.
gandi9 has Js Qs Ad Qd As: two pair, aces and queens.
zcj90 shows Ah Qc.
zcj90 has Ah Qc Qs Ad As: full house, aces full of queens.

Hand #57641377-1449 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $26744.
zcj90 wins $26741 with full house, aces full of queens.
—————————————————————-

And here’s an example of what my life has been like this week:

Hand #57644019-2749 at Holden (No Limit Hold’em)
Started at 06/Nov/08 00:39:32

Foil_Shizzle is at seat 0 with $10000.
shipitdisway is at seat 1 with $10150.
zcj90 is at seat 2 with $26181.
G0n3InW1Nd is at seat 3 with $10000.
perfectswing is at seat 4 with $21444.
Fingolfin is at seat 5 with $20930.
The button is at seat 4.

Fingolfin posts the small blind of $50.
Foil_Shizzle posts the big blind of $100.

Foil_Shizzle: — —
shipitdisway: — —
zcj90: Ad Kc
G0n3InW1Nd: — —
perfectswing: — —
Fingolfin: — —

Pre-flop:

shipitdisway folds. zcj90 raises to $350.
G0n3InW1Nd folds. perfectswing folds. Fingolfin
folds. Foil_Shizzle re-raises to $1200. zcj90
re-raises to $2550. Foil_Shizzle goes all-in for
$10000. zcj90 calls.

Flop (board: Qc 9s 4c):

(no action in this round)

Turn (board: Qc 9s 4c 8s):

(no action in this round)

River (board: Qc 9s 4c 8s 3s):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Foil_Shizzle shows Td Ts.
Foil_Shizzle has Td Ts Qc 9s 8s: a pair of tens.
zcj90 mucks cards.
(zcj90 has Ad Kc.)

Hand #57644019-2749 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $20050.
Foil_Shizzle wins $20047 with a pair of tens.
—————————————————————-

Hand #57639739-6901 at Ephesus (No Limit Hold’em)
Started at 06/Nov/08 17:25:46

B2Bullets is at seat 0 with $6346.75.
zcj90 is at seat 1 with $8974.25.
The button is at seat 0.

B2Bullets posts the small blind of $25.
zcj90 posts the big blind of $50.

B2Bullets: — —
zcj90: Ah Ad

Pre-flop:

B2Bullets raises to $150. zcj90 re-raises to $500.
B2Bullets re-raises to $1450. zcj90 goes all-in for
$8974.25. B2Bullets goes all-in for $6346.75. zcj90
is returned $2627.50 (uncalled).

Flop (board: 4s 5s 7d):

(no action in this round)

Turn (board: 4s 5s 7d 3h):

(no action in this round)

River (board: 4s 5s 7d 3h Jh):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

zcj90 shows Ah Ad.
zcj90 has Ah Ad 5s 7d Jh: a pair of aces.
B2Bullets shows Jd Js.
B2Bullets has Jd Js 5s 7d Jh: three jacks.

Hand #57639739-6901 Summary:

$.50 is raked from a pot of $12693.50.
B2Bullets wins $12693 with three jacks.
—————————————————————-

I’m going to move some money around so I have four or five different sites to play on. This way I’ll get more heads up action rather than waiting at one or two sites and ending up playing 6max which I don’t think I’m as good at. This weekend I played an absolute ton with poor results, and so I’m going to step down to 5/10 and 10/20 and just grind for a while. I’ll be at the academy for a while and will have an extra monitor to play on as well as a reliable internet.

Boca Raton

I’m leaving today for a tournament in Boca Raton, Florida. Instead of taking a flight, I’m driving down to my grandparents’ house and spending the night there and finishing the drive tomorrow morning. It’s a tough tournament but it’s so close that I can’t afford to skip it.

I was hitting well yesterday, played a match against some girl who’s training here for the time being; I would guess she’s ranked at least top 100 or so. I won the first set 6-1 basically just hitting a lot of topspin, which girls have a very tough time dealing with. In the second set she started going for shots a little more to avoid letting me go on the offense, and it worked better. I still didn’t get broken and took one game off her serve to win 6-4.

The last few days have been okay poker-wise, I haven’t really played much. Yesterday I got home after practice, which was an hour longer because I hit with my coach Jorge, and I just didn’t feel like playing because I was too tired. I’m pretty disciplined in the sense that I know when I wouldn’t be playing my best, so I don’t play. Maybe that’s just me looking for any excuse to avoid putting in the hours.

When I get back from Boca I’m going to start going to sleep a lot earlier, something like 8 or 8:30. I usually wake up at 5:40 so that should be more than sufficient to keep my energy level high after practice from like, 12-7 or so. (the general time when I play)

I’ve been doing OK as of late but I just want to be putting in more hands and when I feel too tired to play, I end up wasting the rest of the day. (well, reading isn’t exactly wasting time but xbox and TV are)

South Carolina Qualies

I played in the qualifying for a grade 2 in South Carolina this weekend and lost in the finals. However I’ve got a good chance of getting in as a lucky loser, so I’m not too worried. I played a tough player in my final round today, and I was a little off. He hit pretty hard and I couldn’t ever get anything working for me. I had a lot of break points but couldn’t close anything.

Poker has been up and down, I’ve had a couple good sessions lately at 25/50 although for the most part I have been just grinding at lower stakes. Here’s a fun hand I played today.

feint:  — —
zcj90:  Jh Jd

Pre-flop:

zcj90 raises to $150.   feint re-raises to $550.
zcj90 calls.

Flop (board: 5c 6h 9s):

feint bets $800.   zcj90 calls.

Turn (board: 5c 6h 9s 6s):

feint checks.   zcj90 bets $1450.   feint calls.

River (board: 5c 6h 9s 6s 5h):

feint checks.   zcj90 goes all-in for $22477.   feint
goes all-in for $4292.   zcj90 is returned $18185
(uncalled).

Showdown:

zcj90 shows Jh Jd.
zcj90 has Jh Jd 6h 9s 6s: two pair, jacks and sixes.
feint shows Qs As.
feint has As 5c 6h 6s 5h: two pair, sixes and fives.

Hand #57647497-7716 Summary:

$.50 is raked from a pot of $14184.
zcj90 wins $14183.50 with two pair, jacks and sixes.

I’ll make a longer post tomorrow hopefully, I’ve been pretty busy lately and have neglected to update this site.

Training

I’ve been practicing back at the academy the last couple days and am happy with how I’m hitting. I’ve begun to appreciate always having people to hit with. Not that I’ve taken all this for granted, but after travelling so long by myself and having to constantly look for someone to hit with, it’s absolutely great to just be able to wake up and go practice for three or four hours.

I have been playing great since I got back. After a bad match in Oklahoma, I found out this guy made the quarterfinals and lost 7-6 in the third (14-12 in the tiebreak) so I guess I’m supposed to feel a little better about it. I’ve won all my practice matches, today winning three sets against players ranked 450, 750, and 200, with scores of 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 respectively.

I’m playing a local tournament here at the academy this week, and it should be some good practice. The top seed is ranked like 150 ITF, and there are a couple other players in the top 500 so it’s definitely an exceptional local tournament. The results don’t really matter at all, but I need to play as many matches as possible before going to South Carolina next week for a grade 2. I won my first match today and if I win tomorrow I play a pretty tough kid with a ranking of like 250 or so. I beat him 6-1 in practice this week so I definitely have a good chance against him.

I’ve been playing a little poker in the last few days, breaking even for the most part, but up something like 10k so far today. I’ve had a couple good matches on FTP and I’m looking forward to playing more 10/20 there. I haven’t really had much action on UB, the player base is smaller and the games have been really dead this week. I’m hoping this picks up because UB has been my favorite site for a while. I also like to be constantly playing while I’m at my computer, I generally don’t have 8-10 hours to play so I don’t like to be waiting half the time for matches. Thus, my awful game selection. 🙂

Some hands from the past few days:

FullTiltPoker Game #8547567284: Table Ballad (heads up) – $10/$20 – No Limit Hold’em – 14:23:37 ET – 2008/10/18
Seat 1: KillerIntent ($4,330.95)
Seat 2: zcj90 ($2,755)
KillerIntent posts the small blind of $10
zcj90 posts the big blind of $20
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zcj90 [9d 7d]
KillerIntent raises to $60
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 raises to $200
KillerIntent has 15 seconds left to act
KillerIntent calls $140
*** FLOP *** [9c 5s 3c]
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 checks
KillerIntent bets $264
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 calls $264
*** TURN *** [9c 5s 3c] [3s]
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 checks
KillerIntent has 15 seconds left to act
KillerIntent bets $674
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 calls $674
*** RIVER *** [9c 5s 3c 3s] [Td]
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 checks
KillerIntent has 15 seconds left to act
KillerIntent bets $1,241
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 has requested TIME
zcj90 calls $1,241
*** SHOW DOWN ***
KillerIntent shows [Kc Qs] a pair of Threes
zcj90 shows [9d 7d] two pair, Nines and Threes
zcj90 wins the pot ($4,757.50) with two pair, Nines and Threes
KillerIntent adds $48.05
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $4,758 | Rake $0.50
Board: [9c 5s 3c 3s Td]
Seat 1: KillerIntent (small blind) showed [Kc Qs] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 2: zcj90 (big blind) showed [9d 7d] and won ($4,757.50) with two pair, Nines and Threes

The river was a little iffy but it didn’t make sense not to just shove with 1600 effective stacks into a 2k pot. Decided to snap it off.

FullTiltPoker Game #8547906183: Table Ovum (heads up) – $10/$20 – No Limit Hold’em – 14:48:30 ET – 2008/10/18
Seat 1: zcj90 ($2,319.50)
Seat 2: FSobotka ($2,080)
zcj90 posts the small blind of $10
FSobotka posts the big blind of $20
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zcj90 [6h 6s]
zcj90 raises to $60
FSobotka raises to $220
zcj90 calls $160
*** FLOP *** [9c 6c 5h]
FSobotka checks
zcj90 checks
*** TURN *** [9c 6c 5h] [Js]
FSobotka bets $350
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 has requested TIME
zcj90 raises to $2,099.50, and is all in
FSobotka calls $1,510, and is all in
zcj90 shows [6h 6s]
FSobotka shows [Jd 6d]
Uncalled bet of $239.50 returned to zcj90
*** RIVER *** [9c 6c 5h Js] [Qs]
zcj90 shows three of a kind, Sixes
FSobotka shows two pair, Jacks and Sixes
zcj90 wins the pot ($4,159.50) with three of a kind, Sixes
FSobotka adds $2,000
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $4,160 | Rake $0.50
Board: [9c 6c 5h Js Qs]
Seat 1: zcj90 (small blind) showed [6h 6s] and won ($4,159.50) with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 2: FSobotka (big blind) showed [Jd 6d] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Sixes

I’ve gotten in a couple of these spots where I could just flat and let him bluff the river, but I think that I’m getting looked up soooooo much here just because the standard would be to flat with the top of my range. The flop check and turn bet looks pretty strong too, and given that he doesn’t need much to call I’d rather ship it in than let him see a river.

FullTiltPoker Game #8548655266: Table Vega (heads up) – $10/$20 – No Limit Hold’em – 15:42:02 ET – 2008/10/18
Seat 1: zcj90 ($3,463)
Seat 2: myohmyAA ($1,920)
zcj90 posts the small blind of $10
myohmyAA posts the big blind of $20
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zcj90 [4c 5s]
zcj90 raises to $60
myohmyAA calls $40
*** FLOP *** [6h 7d 5d]
myohmyAA bets $90
zcj90 raises to $275
myohmyAA has 15 seconds left to act
myohmyAA calls $185
*** TURN *** [6h 7d 5d] [5h]
myohmyAA has 15 seconds left to act
myohmyAA bets $670
zcj90 has 15 seconds left to act
zcj90 has requested TIME
zcj90 raises to $3,128, and is all in
myohmyAA has 15 seconds left to act
myohmyAA calls $915, and is all in
zcj90 shows [4c 5s]
myohmyAA shows [7h Ac]
Uncalled bet of $1,543 returned to zcj90
*** RIVER *** [6h 7d 5d 5h] [9s]
zcj90 shows three of a kind, Fives
myohmyAA shows two pair, Sevens and Fives
zcj90 wins the pot ($3,839.50) with three of a kind, Fives
myohmyAA is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3,840 | Rake $0.50
Board: [6h 7d 5d 5h 9s]
Seat 1: zcj90 (small blind) showed [4c 5s] and won ($3,839.50) with three of a kind, Fives
Seat 2: myohmyAA (big blind) showed [7h Ac] and lost with two pair, Sevens and Fives

This guy had been leading a ton of flops (known as donking by most) and I had been raising a ton of his leads. You just really can’t get away with leading frequently because you have to play out position for the rest of the hand and it’s really difficult to do especially if the guy in position has a clue. So he was pretty much confused as hell whenever I raised his lead, and ended up just taking a stand when I turn trips.

PokerStars Game #21301359009: Tournament #113517573, $100+$9 Hold’em No Limit – Level X (300/600) – 2008/10/18 16:28:49 ET
Table ‘113517573 26’ 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: WanabeGus (3316 in chips)
Seat 2: zcj90 (7279 in chips)
Seat 3: Brasstal (26822 in chips)
Seat 4: Hosea1044 (8435 in chips)
Seat 5: ONEyouENVY (7975 in chips)
Seat 6: VADIX (23330 in chips)
Seat 7: wpr101 (19128 in chips)
Seat 8: bastet2004 (15449 in chips)
Seat 9: adamyor125 (13377 in chips)
WanabeGus: posts the ante 50
zcj90: posts the ante 50
Brasstal: posts the ante 50
Hosea1044: posts the ante 50
ONEyouENVY: posts the ante 50
VADIX: posts the ante 50
wpr101: posts the ante 50
bastet2004: posts the ante 50
adamyor125: posts the ante 50
WanabeGus: posts small blind 300
zcj90: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zcj90 [Tc As]
Brasstal: raises 655 to 1255
Hosea1044: folds
ONEyouENVY: folds
VADIX: folds
wpr101: folds
bastet2004: folds
adamyor125: folds
WanabeGus: folds
zcj90: calls 655
*** FLOP *** [Qs Jh 4h]
zcj90: checks
Brasstal: bets 600
zcj90: calls 600
*** TURN *** [Qs Jh 4h] [Ks]
zcj90: checks
Brasstal: bets 1200
zcj90: raises 4174 to 5374 and is all-in
Brasstal: calls 4174
*** RIVER *** [Qs Jh 4h Ks] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
zcj90: shows [Tc As] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Brasstal: shows [Jc Kh] (a full house, Kings full of Jacks)
Brasstal collected 15208 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 15208 | Rake 0
Board [Qs Jh 4h Ks Kd]
Seat 1: WanabeGus (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: zcj90 (big blind) showed [Tc As] and lost with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 3: Brasstal showed [Jc Kh] and won (15208) with a full house, Kings full of Jacks
Seat 4: Hosea1044 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: ONEyouENVY folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: VADIX folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 7: wpr101 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: bastet2004 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 9: adamyor125 (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)

I’ve been playing some tournaments lately, mainly the $109 rebuys on stars, and have ran terribly and only cashed in like 1 of 10 tournaments or something. A ton of pretty horrific beats, AA<AQ and KK<88 are two that I remember, for pretty huge stacks close to the bubble. Oh well, I’d much rather have terrible tournament luck rather than cash, where losing a couple flips is similar to maybe the 2nd or 3rd place pay in most of these tournaments.