Pair of 6s FTW!

I love shortstacks...
They are for the most part LULZ
He's actually ahead here...
and I am quite proud my pair of 6s holds up!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5687595

Maybe not too lulz

2nd nuts is hard to laydown...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5663218

a little lulz

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5661212

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5661213

Here's my friend's lulz of the day

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5661204

Super cooler

Sick cooler... but what is he thinking on river???

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5658802

LULZ

I lose this one...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5654799

LULZ of the day

So I think I am going to post one hand every day that made me laugh...
Today I have two

I normally wouldn't play this hand this aggressively, but this villain is really bad...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5650219

Here the same villain smoothcalls the river with the nuts...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5650265

Students

I've decided to do some coaching. I'm going to charge $100 / hr, so if anyone is interested in learning to play heads up pot limit omaha send me a message over skype. My screenname is dsmallidge.

I haven't been posting many losing hands, so I thought I would post one today where I got it in bad. I flop a 5 way wrap and flush draw. He checkraises me. In the past this opponent has done this with sets. My draw is actually a small favorite over a set, so I decide to push. Unfortunately, he has a higher flush draw and an inside draw to a higher straight. Pretty much worst case scenario.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5426681

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Coolers

Couple interesting hands. Not much to say about either one. The first one I would normally be a favorite versus a made straight, but because of his higher flush draw I was a big dog.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5412972

The second hand I thought he was making a move. He's taken this line (raise) on the turn several times after checking the flop and shown down very marginal hands. In retrospect if he is making a move I'm not getting called anyway. It's conceivable that he calls with a flush here, but I'm not sure my raise is +ev

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5412981

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It's never easy

The hardest things you have to deal with as a poker player are the downswings. I'm on a fairly massive one. I feel like I've been beat up for a month straight. Sometimes you run into better players, sometimes you run into better cards, and sometimes you let it go to your head and start playing poorly. I think I'm dealing with a mixture of all three. Yesterday I had an easy mark. Complete calling station, but I just couldn't get any cards... so I tried to make a couple bluffs. Huge mistake, because I have him pegged as a calling station. Even worse, the I lose all three big hands of the session. All three hands I knew I was beat and should have laid down. Lost boat over boat. Lost K hi flush to A hi flush. Lost straight to straight. The straight was especially brutal, because I flopped a 4way wrap and he went runner runner for a bigger straight. I might drop down to lower stakes for a while just to get my head on straight.
That being said I really like this hand. I raise my button. He calls. Flop is 9 5 4 two dimes. I make my standard cbet he minraises. He's been checkraising me about 25% which is really aggressive. It is much too frequent for him to be doing with big hands every time. If he fullpots I probably fold here, but since it is a minraise, my button, and I don't think he has a set I float. The turn is a Qx. He checks. This looks really weak. I could bet here, but I can't be sure I am ahead and I'm pretty sure he has at least the dime draw. The river is another Qx. He leads pot. I really like my call here. I'm pretty sure he's missed his draw and it feels good to be right! I don't run a lot of bluffcatchers, because normally I am betting those types of hand, but it's good to be capable of anything.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5389385

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Pot Control or I'm a Nit...?

I'm not sure if I like my play here or not. I think I might have been a little shellshocked from an earlier session. In the earlier session the villain would minbet his button on the flop after limping. I started calling really light. His cbet on the turn gave his hand away, if he minbet turn he was weak if he halfpot turn he was strong. He was also incredibly passive on my button and semiloose. These reads should have been enough for me to crush him, but... somehow he managed to chip back every time I had him close to busto. It took me 150 hands of utter frustration to finally bust him.
So I think I started this session a little shellshocked. Shellshocked is the term I use when I expect to be outdrawn every hand. I took an early lead in this session until I ran into quads twice. Luckily, I lost only medium size pots each time. I ground back to slightly ahead and took a decent lead when my top two backdoored a flush and I induced him to bluff.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5374609

I think he was frustrated here. I float the flop, because he is 3betting 20% and I think his range is very polarized to high pockets (AA KK QQ). Yahtzi on the turn. I am fairly sure I have him beat at this point. I'm a little scared of QQ on the river, but no way I can fold.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5374611

I really play the next hand exceptionally nitty. He raises from his button and I flop a full house. I checkraise and he calls. This is my standard play from oop when I flop a full house. I would play it the same with 33 here as well. When he calls the flop I am worried he has an 8. Since the turn makes a possible bigger boat I want to pot control this hand, so I just check. If he bets I am definitely calling down, but I'm not too happy about it. After he checks turn I make a better boat on river. I bet and he pays me off with trips with a very weak kicker. It might actually be better to jam the turn, but when you get reraised it is a very tough position to be in.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5374586

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Easy Game

I like this hand and my thought process a lot. I flop bottom set + a blocker to middle set on a A 6 3 board. This guy 3bets 20% of the time, so I don't think there is any way he can have AA when he repots the flop, and since I have a 6 as well it makes it less likely for him to have 66, so I'm fairly confident he has a hand like 7 5 4 or 5 4 2, which is why I repot the flop. The turn comes 9. He checks and I shove. He calls. Yahtzi! It's interesting to note that the odds don't change a ton between the flop 61% and the turn 67.6%. Also, the villain is getting the correct odds to call both streets.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5341390

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Finally

I've been very frustrated the last two weeks, but today I finally found myself in a really good spot. I was playing a guy that I used to play 6max against. This was probably close to a year ago and I thought he was really bad, however, he started to show signs of improvement. I started out the session and won a few small pots and a decent pot with the 2nd nut flush. I didn't know much about his HU style, so I was being aggressive to see how he would react.
The hand I'm going to discuss happened about 20 hands in to the session. This was the first time he 3bet me and then he followed it up with 1/2 pot. I think 1/2 pot cbets are really weak. I have bottom pair + gutshot + flush draw. I think he probably only has an overpair. I'm only really worried about overpair with flush draw. So I decide to shove. He comes over the top and there is no way I am folding, even if he has overs and better flush draw I am still getting the right odds to call at this point.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5338426

If you look at the % notice I am only a small dog preflop to an overpair. After the flop I become a 63% favorite, which is a pretty big edge in omaha. Against a 'better' opponent I would be worried about hands like JT98 or something similar, but from what I knew of this guy I felt pretty safe shipping it in. He rebought for another $300 and I ground him down to nothing over the course of another 200 hands. It was the best spot I've been in for weeks.

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O8

So I've started to learn PLO8. Today was fairly disastrous. I felt like I had huge edges but I dropped 6bi to a shortstacker. UGH! He had no idea of hand values and made so many hero calls when I had the nut low and he had very weak high hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5334546

Apparently pokerhand.org doesn't support O8. It treats it like an Omaha HI hand so you don't get the proper odds. According to hold'em manager I have 65% equity in this hand.

The opponent was way out of line aggro. I think this is a standard raise pre from my button. I flop a 4way wrap. If this was omaha hi I would be worried about higher wraps, but in O8 I am less worried, because I would make a better low against most higher wraps. I also have a pair of sixes might seem insignificant, but gives me an advantage against hands like A 2 3 x that are drawing to a better low. My opponent donkleads pot. He's way out of line aggro, so I think my shove here is good. I am surprised by his shove, but definitely have the right odds to call. Turns out I have 65% ev and am well ahead.

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EV

Ran 30 buyins below ev last month... pretty sick. Also why I haven't posted. One of my biggest weaknesses is that I am too easily frustrated. Obviously something I need to work on. I accidentally sat down on a HUPLO H/L table this morning and proceeded to double up a complete idiot x2. Normally I don't play H/L, but I decided this guy was really bad, and I was smarting a bit. I was playing very aggressive 3betting a ton. I have pretty much the absolute best hand in H/L when he decides to 3bet me. I think the hand plays itself from here. Can't believe he calls with KKxx.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5322527

Might take a break and try to learn a bit of H/L today. There is actually a surprising ammount of H/L action on the Cereus network, and it looks really soft.

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Frustrating

One of my major weaknesses is that I can get really pissed off when I play. I especially get mad when I lose to inferior players. Right now I am in one of those moods, because I just dropped 1 1 / 2 buyins to a horrible player. The player is a calling station. In my opinion he is horrible, but somehow he is up on me lifetime in 200 hands. Three memorable hands from this session. I'm not going to talk them through. I think I played them all well. Just frustrating to lose these hands when I think I am making value bets. Against this type of player I always bet pot, because I almost never bluff since they always call.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5300487

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5300493

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5300496

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I'm a fish

On this hand I'm oop. I make a pretty standard call pre. I flop top two with a gutshot and clubs. I'm a favorite against most hands. I actually don't like the way I played this hand. I'm willing to get all my money in on the flop, so I checkraise hoping he has the straight and no draw. I'm actually a little unlucky here, because he has two of my outs and the 4c gives him a boat. I think donklead flop would have been better. I think he would raise and I could ship it allin. When he calls the flop I know he's not going anywhere. Therefore a bet has very little fold equity, and my chances of winning have decreased significantly. If the river doesn't help it is an easy fold and I save myself $20. The turn is an easy call. Any time you are 33% or better in Heads up PLO you are getting the right odds to call. Plus he had $20 behind that I'm pretty sure he's not folding to anything but a club on the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5290579

After the hand he calls me a fish... LOL

Bluff

Background info... I've taken two $75 buyins off this guy already. He rebought for another $75 and doubled up when I ran the second nut straight into his nut straight. At the beginning of the session he was paying me off light on the river, but has tightened up and started to fold. I have only shown down premium hands on the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5281824

I think my play up until the turn is pretty standard. On the turn I definitely put him on the higher straight. I could fold here, but decide I have good bluff value. I'm pretty sure I can bluff any card that pairs the board or any diamond. If I don't hit a dime or if the board doesn't pair I am laying this down. The dime comes and I jam and he folds.

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LAGRO

If I have a weakness it is definitely against LAGRO (Loose Aggressive) opponents. In order to beat them I have to run well. Not necessarily better than normal, but I need to hit enough hands to keep them calling. Against passive players I can run horrible and still win. Which I did today... ran 3bi below ev against one guy and still took his entire stack.
The hand I'm going over today is from a match against a very lagro opponent. His 3bet pre % was around 80. Early in the match I made a couple hero calls with the bitch end of the straight and went up almost 3 buyins. Then he went on a little heater where he busted a couple of my sets and nut flush, however, I only dropped about a buyin back to him. I also layed down top two when he donkbets, I repot, and he comes over the top.
He starts typing in chat about how boring / tight / bad I am. At this point I think he is a little tilty. My adjustment against lagro players is to minraise my button. So on this hand I minraise. He repots which is his standard line. I smoothcall. I flop bottom set plus the flush draw. He donkleads 2 / 3 pot, which is his standard line. I smoothcall. I'm looking to checkraise any 9 or less nonheart on the turn. He leads turn and I checkraise. He pushes. I insta call. I know I'm good, or at the very least I'll have some heart outs. I'm thinking he has some sort of combo flush / straight draw, but even better he has top two + gutter.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5279753

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A hand / day

I've decided to try to post an interesting hand each day and talk through my thought process.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5276175

In this hand I am the BB. I make a semi-loose call here preflop. I think it is OK to fold this hand. My opponent is fairly straight-forward, and I feel like I can outplay him after the flop. I flop top and bottom + an inside straight draw + the Q high flush draw and lead out. I've been leading strong hands and mostly been getting folds. He reraises pot. Immediately, I put him on 8s. He is not the type of player that is going to shove air or a draw here. Against a set of 8s I have fairly decent equity - not quite 50%. I decide to smoothcall here, although I don't think shoving is horrible either. The advantage to the smoothcall is I can fold the turn if another 8 or a 7 hits. The turn bricks and he bets 34 into 48. I think I have 2 Qs 7 dimes that don't pair the board 3 nondime 5s to win. That's 12 / 42 unknowns (assuming he has 8s) which makes me about 2 / 7 to win but I'm getting 34 : 82 on my money. 2 out of 7 times I win 82 which is 164. 5 out of 7 times I lose 34 which is 170. My play is actually slightly - ev, but it's very close. On the bright side, he was in for 200 and a few hands later he stacked off with top two + flush draw vs. my top set.

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Sigh of Relief

I've felt kind of down about my game lately.
I've had mixed results over the last 10 days
In February I had a streak of 20 winning days,
but the last ten days have been fairly swingy.
I've been a little tilty, but I don't think I've played horrible.
Instead, I think I've been playing more aggressive competition.
Let's face it. It's easy to beat a passive calling station.
They are like a puppet on the strings. All you do is bet when you have a hand and they pay you off. Passive players are great, because they let you draw cheap and the calling stations pay you off when you hit.
Aggressive players, however, will cause you to make tough decisions.
Aggressive players make it expensive to draw and the smart ones don't pay you off when you hit.
I think I'm going to table select a little better, and quit players that frustrate me.

February

Had a crappy Saturday. Played 1k hands against a very aggro player. I thought I had an edge, but one of my adjustments to his style of play was to minraise my button, since he threebet so often, however, he said he was going to quit me if I kept minraising. So I potted my button, which didn't quite give me as much room to work with after the flop. There were a lot of times I wanted to get it in on the flop, but the turn sucked and I still had a full buyin behind since we were playing deep. This put me in some tough situations and (in retrospect) I think I made some bad folds. Dropped almost 1k to him, but won 700 from the typical donks. Didn't feel much like playing today, but managed a 300 win putting me even on the weekend. Up 10k this month which is a pretty good month for me.

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Ugh

Played so bad yesterday, but ran over ev and ended up on the day
I swear every time I make a cashout or get my rakeback I have a horrible day
I'll probably start posting some hands and talking through some of my decisions
Played a guy that 3bet over 50% pre
That was fun
I even got him to 4table me for about 10 mins before he realized he was a huge dog

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I run so sick

My heater continues 1.5 bi over ev today

Played some horrible players

And played horribly myself at times

But overall feel pretty good about my play

Sick of hit n runs, BUT

I think I beat most of the shortstacks I play

In fact I usually feel more comfortable playing them

Until I get a handle on someone's game

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HUPLO

Hey
Not going to share my poker SNs
But I've been playing poker for a living for the past 4.5 years
It has been full of ups and downs
I've busted my online account numerous times
Won an 11k pot
Practiced horrible bankroll management
Ran 50 BIs below expected value
Almost quit several times
But I think I have finally settled as a midstakes heads up pot limit omaha grinder
I'm currently on a sick heater
Running about 40bi over EV

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