June home game match report

We could only arrange 4 players for last night's home game but decided to go ahead and combine a match with watching European cup football in the background. The home game line up has gone through a lot of changes of late and a recent injection of youth has made our tournaments well attended and increasingly tough to beat. Given the low turn out and the fact that we would all have half an eye on the football, we decided to play a microstakes cash game which would remove time pressure on the blinds.

The Conge and King_Tubby mixed it up early on as KT was in Conge's big blind and not in a mood to roll over. Tubby played like Rooney on the comeback trail: loads of energy at the start, taking an early lead and mixing it up in a lot of plays. The Conge took on the role of Joe Hart: he was playing a cocky game, making dramatic moves when it was called for and bossing the rest of us around. King Tubby took down a fairly large early pot holding KK vs Pokerhontasz' AQ on a Qxxxx board and another highlight was me folding TP (with no kicker) on an AKXX board to Conge's huge turn bet and then tilting afterwards because I was likely bluffed off the winner.

On the whole I thought I played like Steve Gerrard: getting involved in the action when called for and staying predictably solid on set pieces, but also looking a bit old and tired. I snuck through a few standard raises and c-bets from the button but as luck would have it when I hit they folded and when I missed they called it down. King_Tubby's run of good cards ended after a while but that did not stop him from trying to force the action and at one stage it looked like he would run out of steam and not make the full 90 minutes. Pokerhontasz took on the role of James Milner, playing a defensive game but occasionally moving forward only to make a few near misses. In one hand Pokerhontasz rivered trip Queens holding KQ on a xxxQQ board only to lose to Conge's rivered flush which she managed to shrug off fairly swiftly, remaining composed for the TV cameras.

By the end of the match we were all dog tired and with stacks roughly back to where they started we decided to call it a night. King Tubby was the overall winner with about 20 big blinds and I made about 15bb, which demonstrates how close the game was. Our seating arrangement and reduced player pool meant that the money ultimately passed around the table full circle: from Conge to KingTubby in a series of small bluffs which got called down; from KingTubby to Pokerhontasz in a series of big hand match ups; from Pokerhontasz back to The Conge in an assortment of coolers and tight folds and, then from Conge to me because I called down a couple of Conge's big bluffs after he stung me the first time! In a cash game I think you need fresh injections of players from time to time to boost the game and also a few more than 4 players means more good hands turn up more often to create interesting pots. We did the best with what we had and it was nice to have a change of pace, but at the end of the day it's the team with the most goals big blinds that is the winner so well done King Tubby.

Away game report

Our most recent home game took place at King Tubby's house and he kindly laid on a smorgasbord of excellent snacks and dips. Jennoi and her beau, 'TheHunter' descended on the fantastic buffet like 'a hobo on a ham and cheese' (Jesse May) after an afternoon in the pub. The Conge forgoed daytime drinking and turned up recharged and ready to rock.  Pokerhontasz and I were both properly knackered but still glad to be out the house for a change. Once we had finished admiring King Tubby's beautiful poker chip set a deep stack tournament 20min blind structure with flat payout was agreed. This would reward loose play in the early game and an aggressive shove strategy later on: something which would determine the fate of and eventually separate our two most active players: TheConge and TheHunter.

The first hand of the night produced quad tens when TheHunter turned a set and rivered the nuts on an Axx1010 board and this set the tone for his becoming table captain early game. His nemesis Conge made a set of 5s twice and they sparred frequently as TheHunter refused to be bluffed off his hands. It was interesting to see a range of post flop bet sizes from TheConge, whose game has evolved from pot betting any untouched flop and I think TheHunter read too deeply into some of Conge's bets, and felt he had to pay off these suspicious-looking amounts. KingTubby took a dent to his chip stack when he was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a tricky situation holding A2 Vs Conge's A6. On an AxK76 board King Tubby paid off 3 streets of value, convincing himself that the 3rd bet must be a bluff and he was therefore way ahead.  TheHunter continued to play 80% of hands, stabbing and taking down a lot of uncontested pots but ran into Pokerhontasz's underfull on an 5566x board, although I can't remember what he paid off her river bet with.

As the blinds began to increase each hand became more pivotal in determining who would make the gravy. Jennoi received a healthy boost to her stack on a Jc6d10h3cboard having flopped the nut flush draw and turned a pair of tens holding ATd. Pokerhontasz raised preflop out of position, but shut down from betting after her continuation bet was called. Jennoi continued to run good but nearly mucked the nuts on a KK2JQ board when TheHunter proudly showed K9 for top set. We had to point out to Jennoi that her pocket jacks were good and she bemusedly raked in all the chips! King Tubby went all in with Q8 on a KcQcAs10s board, only to be called in two spots: TheHunter chipped up significantly in this hand holding AJc which flopped top pair and rivered a straight to beat Tubby' Q8 and Jennoi's AK even though she flopped top two -pair. TheHunter quickly acquired the rest of my chips limp-calling JJ to my 10bb shove holding 55. Pokerhotasz was next out and Jennoi almost crippled TheConge sucking out with J9s to his KK all in as we went 3 handed.

TheConge affected a series of double ups with a series of all in bets that were called by The Hunter and held up to knock him out in 3rd place.  Jennoi gradually blinded out in a short space of time and Conge got it in with 8h2s vs Jennoi's QdTc and the 8h2s runner-runnered an improbable spade flush  on a 4s10s6cAs5s board to lock up the win. This completes a hat trick of wins for TheConge and deservedly so: he is not afraid to mix it up and play a range of hands early doors, and seems to make very thin value bets that still get paid off by worse. He knows when to put the pedal down and shove a wide range of hands, which helps to mitigate the effects of luck in the face of rising blinds. He has also had unspeakably bad luck in all-in pots in our home games so it is nice to see variance turn around and reward solid play.

Cardinal sins of poker

I just committed several massive poker errors and cost myself two buy ins at a higher level. This is 8 buy ins at the lower level so it will take a while to undo. I did not play against better players, I was not cleverly outplayed and outclassed, I read the table well and bet all my good hands for value. So how did I manage to donk off all my chips?

1. I played for too long and was not focused on good decision making. I usually stop after 40 hands but pushed on.
2. I tried to recoup losses before quitting the table so was pushing marginal hands too hard.
3. I continued sitting in an unfavourable position on the table, kidding myself that I could overcome it.
4. I fell in love with top pair and later, an overpair when they were both obviously beaten

I am not angry/tilted or whatever but I do feel very very silly. In theory I am rolled to continue playing at these stakes, but unless I learn some self control there is not much point as I will lose my entire roll in no time.

Play Money Holiday

Whilst off work and recovering from a sedative in hospital I have sensibly avoided cash poker and been playing for play money:) I have always argued that there is no point in playing poker for no stake at all but this is simply not true as it is actually great fun. Some of the highlights so far have included sextupling my play roll in omaha cash during a 9way all in fest; quadrupling through in the second hand of a 6man nlhe sit and go, then trying my hand at 7 card stud and doubling through my starting stack in no time! Now obviously all my run good has arrived at once but the fact is that these games are a great training ground for the lowest limit play anyway.  You have to think long and hard before bluffing in play money because of the insanely wide calling ranges but conversely you can bet the pants off players with your better starting hands and flop hits. These are two of arguably the three most important elements of poker besides choosing good starting hands. Players also tell you more or less straight away with their timing and betting patterns how strong their hand is in a very exaggerated way.  If they insta check you can bet as a bluff, if they dwell you can charge them to draw/pay you off with a worse made hand etc. I met a player today who insta potted all his bluffs for example, which baffled the rest of the table into submission whilst I took note of it until I was in a position to make a play.

Play money has also given me the bug for seven card stud again. I definitely enjoy 7stud more than omaha as you get more reward for selecting tighter starting hands plus glean lots of information on other players' hands as you move through the streets. I only play omaha from time to time in an effort to become a more rounded player but I find that it is a very swingy game better suited to people with more money to burn than I have. I also nearly got pwned heads up in a  nlhe sit and go until I noticed that my opponent was adjusting and not playing a static 'loose passive' game. I was card dead, limping into pots and bluffing at a rate of 0% because I thought I faced a 'calling station' passive opponent, but they suddenly morphed into a stabbing, aggressive pot stealer heads up. This was better play than I have typically faced in dozens of heads up matches and it left me wondering. If this player is able to get heads up in a sit and go, plus make strategic adjustments based on their opponent's game, why weren't they playing for real money? Perhaps they were just ill/tired and off their regular game or maybe it is because for them the true essence and appeal of poker is in beating and outwitting your opponents,  not the strategic and systematic acquisition of cold hard cash? I think I have just (re) discovered or reaffirmed in my mind poker's magical dichotomy which separates (or at least should separate) the thinking players from the social gamers: I am calling it the donkotomy of poker. Game on:)

Tagpoker competition entry

Tagpoker competition entry

I knocked up this silly animation for Tagpoker.co.uk $500 free bankroll/coaching competition. The aim is to advertise the site in a 'wacky' manner. I made it just after watching a Tagpoker leakfinder vid and thought it would be funny to do a tilt based skit on donkey plays.  I used the free version of Goanimate to make the basic animation and then edited the footage using windows movie maker, camstudio and videodub.The music is a backing track I knocked up to use when teaching guitar although I wanted to have 'Loser' by Beck but I was scared of getting copyright spanked once it was up on Youtube. The competition runs until September so it will be interesting to see how many hits it gets. It still makes me laugh, partially because the animation and text-to-voice are so stilted. I highly recommend playing about on Goanimate because it is very satisfying creating a character and have them say funny stuff, especially out of context swearing. I also recommend Tagpoker.co.uk for no-nonsense poker strategy. It is mostly heads up based videos but this will sharpen your game like you would not believe.

Losing my rhythm

I am sick at the moment and finding lots of time to fill whilst sat around the house. Naturally online poker can do this very well but it is not really a profitable exercise.  I am losing my rhythm, finding myself stranded across the beat unable to make sense of the pulse of the game. I am misreading strength as weakness and misreading weakness as strength and often folding better hands. The more you play with donkeys the more you start to play like one since they make such odd size bets at random times and routinely play any two cards. I have been trying to nit up and play solid hands, but the high proportion of rocks in the cash games makes this unprofitable. Your aim is to stack a donk but this can take time and I am firing at all the wrong times and not punishing tight players enough to keep afloat. I want to be able to move into multitabling but I see potential pitfalls that many bad reg players suffer from. You can limp into too many pots because it is easier to think 'i can flop a flush with A5s if I limp, so I call' than it is to note your position, who is behind, who might pay you off if you hit, and what would happen if you repeated the move 100 times? I am already having problems limping in the small blind too often multiway and errors like this compound when you multitable. You also lose the ability to spot timing tells which have become very useful to me. So many players routinely quick check polarised hand strength and have a long think about marginal situations, making your post flop decisions easy in heads up pots. Of course if I am being truly honest with myself the main reason I want to multitable is that I have just discovered how to tile the tables together into a neat pattern on the screen and it looks very cool indeed.

My first proper brag post

This is my first real 'check me out and chill' post because I have made my first $100 in pure profit! I nearly reached the landmark around one year ago but donked off 10 buy ins and then withdrew all my starting capital. I came very close to the threshold a week ago but had some mental problems crossing the finish line as it were and lost a few buy ins trying too hard. This felt like the start of a tilt-induced downswing so I took a few days off to reflect and since then it has all come together with a cash game mini-heater and freeroll final table finish tipping me over the edge. To make the magic $100 I landed 6th place out of 3000 runners in a freeroll through a combination of insanely good luck, bad calls and suckouts:)

I have already started playing some cash games at the next level 2/4 (or 4nl if you want to use forum speak) but these are mostly 6max which is a format I am not as successful in as full ring.  In a recent foray into 2/4 I played a $5 pot and it would not take many of those going the wrong way to send me into screaming monkey tilt! I have also dabbled in 2-tabling 1/2 (2nl) but the problem I see with this strategy is that it is tricky to table select well and there are a lot of regular 2nl multitabling players, many of whom play across the microstakes. I am not sure if I want to sit in a big pool of rocks waiting to be coolered in overpair vs set confrontations. I really enjoy the challenge of heads up play but took a break from turbo HUSNGs because I kept losing to weak-tight players and I had to take a step back and admit that my heads up game is a little too spewy. I would rather work on my heads up game in a regular speed format which on my site is more than double the buy in of the turbos, so I need to wait until I am suitably bankrolled before I can regularly play in these games.

The good thing is there is a high proportion of donks across the stakes on my site so as long as I keep my bankroll management tight and keep working to improve my game, I stand a very good chance of climbing up the ranks. I often open up tables at the higher stakes and it is great to see weak players I have notes on entering $24 tournaments or playing 5c/10c cash games for example. Even better still I have seen $5/$10 cash game players limping in then min betting AK across all 3 streets. That is the kind of action I am used to seeing at 2nl! Oh boy...