Before i get started id just like to mention that Phil Ivey is 3rd in chips of 64 heading into Day 7 of the Main event with twice the avj stack. Antonio Esfandiari is also in the top 10. Safe to say that I cannot wait to watch the coverage of this tournament and am excited to see Ivey take this sucker down.
Now, to other news. I got to work super early today and watched a couple Deuces Cracked videos. Obviously that gave me the itch to play some cards and so I opened up full tilt to see a nice 407 dollars in my roll. Ive been feeling pretty good about my play recently and really like the way ive been thinking about the game. i decided to take another shot at 25nl.
I have 20 buy ins for 25nl. That means that the risk of busto is pretty high. I think i am able to counter this by keeping a couple concepts in mind. First, a stop loss measure. If i lose 50 dollars, 2 buy ins, I will stop playing 25nl for the given session. I will drop back down to 10nl deep or sngs. Secondly, I will approach the game playing a somewhat more TAG style than the looser style i use in 10nl until i become comfortable with both the table and stake. This is not to say that I will stop bluffing/floating/calling light necessarily but i will tighten up especially when jumping onto a table. Finally i will put more effort into table selecting, a skill that i am very poor at. I would like to learn how to table select better and then implement it in the future.
The other issue about 25nl is that i am sitting with 100bbs instead of the 200 which i have been sitting with at 10nl. This makes getting it all in easier but conversely makes it harder to get away from marginal hands an easier to get stacked. I think that tightening up a little will help me avoid gross spots where i make a crying call and get stacked in a spot where i could have gotten away 200bbs deep.
The session started off pretty slow, i was playing 2 25nl tables, a 10nl table and a 3 dollar KO. I had a quick boost and got my 10nl table up to 350bbs where it stayed for the rest of the sesh and eventually lost the KO which became a third 25nl table. At 25nl i started pretty slow, hovering at about 80/90bbs until this hand happened:
I could have easily gotten stacks in with a turn bet but didnt want to be drawing thin vs a made flush. I decided to fire a blocker bet on the river, I figured if he has a low flush he might just call and i can save myself some money becuase i really wanted to see a showdown. I didnt think he was raising my river bet with anything less than a A or K flush or a boat.
Here i flat vs a player who had 4bet me before with a hand that i wouldnt mind playing a multiway pot with assuming a couple hearts flop. On the flop i think villains range is pretty wide, missed overs and hands like K10 Q10 J10. I had seen him open these hands before. I was confused by his turn check raise but it ultimately is what made me call the river bet. I read it as a protective bet or a bluff. I should have picked up that it was a good semibluff. Villain picks up the flush on the river and i should really fold this river, if not the turn. I think i played this hand pretty poorly.
This hand is standard. I just want to point out a situation where Full Tilt tries to 2 out me, fails, and then miraculously doesnt 1 out me for the new biggest pot of my life! I can run good sometimes.
I think that this hand was also pretty standard. During the hand I was quite scared of a river checkraise repping a hand like K10 and am not sure what i would have done should he have jammed. I think this hand pretty much played itself though.
This final hand was against a maniac who hated folding and had a 67% showdown percentage. I call in position with the intention of winning a nice size pot post flop should i hit well. Now, on the flop im not sure if he misclicked or what happened but im not sure if im ever beat here. However, I dont really want to continue against AK AQ AJ KQ etc so i jam to end the hand right here and pick up a nice pot.
All in all it was a pretty rollercoaster day as i was down as low as 370 after the A10hh debacle but ended the day all the way above 430. I very nice second effort if i do say so myself, finishing up a buy in, and im excited to give it another shot in the future.
If you readers have any comments about any of the hands i played please please post them in the comments section. I would love to hear any thoughts/criticism/praise!
Hand 1: Bet more on the flop, valuebetting is so key to beating the micros, I think we should make this 2.75 if not more. On the turn, I still like a bet of like 6-7, which sets up stacks well to get it in on any river. If we get shoved on, I think we still have to call with the 2nd nut draw. As played, on the river, a bigger bet is in order. The river is a big helper card since it allows us to beat some two pair hands and makes a set less likely. I like betting 8-9 and calling a shove.
ReplyDeleteHand 2: This is a pretty strange hand. Preflop I dont mind a flat as long as you know that an A isnt the nuts (which I know you do). On the flop, I like a raise. I think there a bunch of cards on the turn we dont wanna see, so by raising, we're getting more money in while ahead. If we get 3bet, and without a read, I likely let it go. As played, I think I get it in. His line is so weird, and it usually is not strong. Why would he bet out with a strong hand on the flop, and c/r on the turn. If he is strong 4's is the only thing that makes much sense. Otherwise, I think he is trying to push you off and 3betting is best.
Hand 3: Standard
hand 4: I bet way more on the flop. Valuebet, valuebet valuebet! More on the turn and I just shove the river as played, but you dont have an awkward stacksize if you bet more earlier.
Hand 5: Weird spot with his 2x pot bet on the flop, but I like your line. If youre beat, its just a cooler.
Keep up the good work!