The last 2 weeks have been the worst run of cards I've even been on in my poker career, so it felt really great to run hot for a quick session this afternoon and take down a few buyins. I usually aim to get in about 2k hands per day, but I've declared myself done for today just because it would be great for my confidence to book a solid win and I would be pretty crushed if I kept playing and swonged back down.

Of course it's always easier to think this when you're hitting flops, but I feel I played well today. Dropping down from 8 tables to 4 may very well have decreased my pure hourly winrate, but I think losing/breakeven stretches will be severely reduced, which is great for my emotional state as I have a really hard time dealing with swings. And in the longterm, it might actually increase my earn as 4-tabling facilitates moving up through the limits much more than 8-tabling does. I know there are some sickos out there that can 9-table 5/10+ effectively, but I don't think I will ever be one of them. That's fine with me, as long as I can eventually move up from 1/2.

This was a kind of interesting spot that I was pretty unsure about at the time, but in thinking about it afterwards I'm pretty sure I played it optimally.

Poker Stars, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: $200
Hero (BB): $222.30
UTG: $199.95
MP: $124
CO: $571.20
BTN: $290.50

Pre-Flop: K 3 dealt to Hero (BB)
3 folds, BTN calls $2, SB calls $1, Hero checks

Flop: ($6) 6 4 K (3 Players)
SB bets $6, Hero calls $6, BTN folds

Turn: ($18) 3 (2 Players)
SB bets $14, Hero raises to $42, SB raises to $80, Hero folds

Results: $102 Pot ($3 Rake)
SB mucked and WON $99 (+$49 NET)

Villain was basically unknown, but he was 20/17 after 2 or so orbits so probably not a complete retard. I was a little hesitant about the turn raise, because it looks quite strong and there doesn't seem to be a lot he can call me with. However, I think the combined chances that he will pay off with worse or is double barreling a draw make a turn raise worth it. I think the muck to his 3bet is also pretty clear given his sizing, I think calling down there will get me shown 66 or 44 the majority of the time.

Here's one that was kind of fun:

Poker Stars, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: $40
CO: $217.30
BTN: $104.45
SB: $251.25
Hero (BB): $264.10

Pre-Flop: 6 6 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, BTN calls $2, SB raises to $10, Hero calls $8, BTN calls $8

Flop: ($30) J 2 5 (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($30) 8 (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($30) K (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $8, BTN calls $8, SB folds

Results: $46 Pot ($2 Rake)
BTN mucked Q T and LOST (-$18 NET)
Hero showed 6 6 (a flush, King high) and WON $44 (+$26 NET)

SB is a nitty TAG and BTN is a donk. This is the sort of spot that I tend to just check down when I'm playing too many tables, but when I'm focusing on the game, it because obvious that there's value in a river bet. SB is pretty straightforward anyway, but I feel that with a fish still in the pot, he is checking 3x with a hand that beats me absolutely never.

I'm somewhat curious what is the most I could have gotten away with betting there. I think anything more than 1/2-pot is never getting called by worse, but what if I had bet $12? I'll be playing around with these dumb "micro-value" spots in the future against opponents who aren't capable enough to exploit it, I think I'll find that I've been missing out on a not insignificant amount of value by checking down these types of hands.

My big winning hands today were both very standard coolers; AA>QQ aipf and flush>flush. Nothing really to talk about there, just nice to see some of the setups go my way for once.



I know I said I'd take the rest of the day off, but I'll probably keep working up the LAPT steps while browsing online. Me and a buddy who's also starting to make it in poker are hoping to hit up the San Jose event in May. I've never been to a live tournament beyond a few tiny $200 jobs at Canterbury, so hopefully this works out better than my run for the Monte Carlo seat did.