And we’re done.

Well, then – I’ve just gotten myself completely cleaned out. An extraordinarily “bad run”, as they say. Amazingly bad cards, on top of tilts, on top of bad beats of good cards.

New bankroll – $0.00

So… that’s all she wrote. Well, as I said in the beginning – this was a foolish idea, but a fun one. I’ve learned, quite handily, that I am not a good poker player. I don’t have the personality for it, much as I enjoy it. I just can’t keep the emotion in check and it leads me down some real bad roads.

I may try this again on another site. But I’m gonna take a break for a while.

Thanks to everybody who checked in and good luck at the tables.

Hold On Loosely.

Another winning night. Feeling pretty strong. Not posting record profits, but it still ain’t bad.

New bankroll – $9.35.

I guess what feels the most strong about it is I’m picking my tables and I feel like I’m reading people better. Here’s the big winning hand from tonight:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($2.66)
BB ($0.80)
UTG ($0.40)
Hero (MP) ($0.77)
Button ($0.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q, 7
1 fold, Hero calls $0.02, Button calls $0.02, SB calls $0.01, BB checks

Flop: ($0.08) J, 7, 6 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($0.08) 8 (4 players)
SB bets $0.08, BB calls $0.08, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, BB calls $0.08

River: ($0.48) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.48, BB calls $0.48

Total pot: $1.44 | Rake: $0.09

Results:
BB had 5, 9 (straight, nine high).
Hero had Q, 7 (flush, Queen high).
Outcome: Hero won $1.35

I chose the table initially because it had a low pot average and a high flop average. Which meant cautious betters who want to see showdowns. Or at least, that’s how it’s been working out for me lately. Well, once I got into the game, something had changed up, because it was a super super loose table. I’d say of the first five hands I saw played, at least two players would go all in. It was nuts. One player would go all in on anything. Sadly, he tapped out too fast for me to really go up against him.

Anyway, I figured early on that I would need something pretty strong to actually go at these dudes with, because more likely than not they were going to go all the way with whatever. It wasn’t a bluffing table.

So I get the suited Q7 and I figure that’s good enough to jump in, so it’s worth a shot. The flop strengthens me a little, but I’m still not the most confident guy on a draw, so luckily everybody checks or I woulda been out of there. Knowing how loose a table it is, this makes it pretty clear that nobody’s got strength either, so that’s great.

I get the 8 of clubs and everybody starts raising. Well, usually this is where I pussy out. But thanks to some videos I watched over at pokertrikz.com that funkeefeesh pointed me to, I figured that what a real poker player would do in this situation would be raise. So the SB makes his bet and BB calls it – still not a very confident move, I think. So I go for the raise. The SB folds almost immediately. BB thinks about it for a second – he’s not sure – then he calls.

So I’m sorta sweatin’ bullets now, because if my club doesn’t land, my whole plan is shot to hell. Sure enough it does, so I figure I’ll kick in hard and see if he still wants to play. Thing is, this table is so loose, I pretty much count on the fact that he’s going to see my bet, no matter what. He might have an Ac, but he checks, so I figure that’s a pretty slim chance. The best he has is a straight. And sure enough he does.

So anyway – feeling stronger about my game. Easily as in control of the game as I ever have been. Hopefully, I can keep this up.

More Progress.

Even though time gets shorter and shorter for me to play, I’m still pulling some winning nights. Like tonight, after only about 12 hands. Obviously I need to stay in for longer, but there it is.

New bankroll – $8.63.

Here’s the hand:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (4 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($1.68)
Hero (Button) ($0.77)
SB ($0.11)
BB ($0.59)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, A
1 fold, Hero calls $0.02, SB calls $0.01, BB checks

Flop: ($0.06) K, 7, 7 (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $0.02, Hero raises to $0.04, 1 fold, BB calls $0.02

Turn: ($0.14) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.14, BB calls $0.14

River: ($0.42) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.40, BB calls $0.39 (All-In)

Total pot: $1.20 | Rake: $0.08

Results:
Hero had K, A (two pair, Aces and Kings).
BB had K, J (two pair, Kings and sevens).
Outcome: Hero won $1.12

I feel like I owe this mostly to picking the table. I found a table of loose players who were all doing poorly. Or at least, playing poor-ish hands for the hell of it. It was a matter of waiting for a good hand and betting it. It felt right because he was following me on the hands. Could’ve whipped out a third 7 and I would’ve been toast – as has happened a million times before – but luckily, not so.

Another Slight Win.

Another winning night – though the nights I get to play have been few and far between.

New bankroll – $8.12.

Not much to talk about tonight, but it’s always fun to throw out the biggest win of the night, so here goes:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (4 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($1.43)
BB ($0.52)
UTG ($0.44)
Hero (Button) ($0.89)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, J
BB calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.01, SB bets $0.08, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.18) J, 2, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.18, SB raises to $0.36, Hero calls $0.18

Turn: ($0.90) A (2 players)
Hero bets $0.06, SB raises to $0.16, Hero calls $0.10

River: ($1.22) 9 (2 players)

Total pot: $1.22 | Rake: $0.08

Results:
Hero had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
SB had 7, 7 (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: Hero won $1.14

It was a strong hand from the get go and my opponent had way too much faith in his hand. I think that’s pretty much what this boils down to. It immediately didn’t matter if he had a higher pair than me, so I felt pretty strong in that. When the Ace hit the table, I was a little more worried – hence the $0.06 limp bet. Ah screw it, I can’t rationalize any of it – I just felt like I had it, so I went for it. Simple as that.

A Quick Night.

Very first hand was a winner, then the table turned weird so I got out. Wasn’t much in the mood for playing tonight anyway.

New bankroll – $7.89.

Here’s the hand:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($0.80)
UTG ($0.82)
MP ($0.52)
CO ($1.48)
Button ($0.82)
SB ($1.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, 10
1 fold, MP bets $0.04, CO calls $0.04, Button calls $0.04, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.02

Flop: ($0.17) 3, 7, 5 (4 players)
Hero checks, MP checks, CO checks, Button checks

Turn: ($0.17) 3 (4 players)
Hero checks, MP checks, CO checks, Button checks

River: ($0.17) 2 (4 players)
Hero checks, MP checks, CO checks, Button checks

Total pot: $0.17 | Rake: $0.01

Results:
Button had 6, A (one pair, threes).
Hero had 10, 10 (two pair, tens and threes).
MP had Q, K (one pair, threes).
CO had Q, K (one pair, threes).
Outcome: Hero won $0.16

Nothing special outside of the fact that at least two people had the exact same strong-ish starting hand and I still had them beat from the get go. But no one really laid into the betting, so there you have it. Had anyone really started betting strong, I probably would’ve folded, as I’ve been killed by three of a kind too many times. Really. If anyone had even just bet $0.10, I’d've been out, no question. Funny how that works sometimes.

A few hands after this, one player started betting $0.11 on ever starting hand and two other players started calling him. And after a while, I just figured screw this. I got my win. I’m done for the night.

A Slow and Steady Rise…

Nothing groundbreaking, but I’m not headed in the wrong direction, so that’s refreshing.

New bankroll – $7.81.

More than anything, I just hit on the exact right table tonight. Nobody was a particularly strong player, so sticking to my ABC poker as I tend to do, I came out alright. I watched some of the play at the table and then sat down.

This was my first hand:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($1.23)
CO ($0.86)
Button ($0.70)
SB ($0.46)
Hero (BB) ($0.80)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, 4
1 fold, CO calls $0.02, 1 fold, SB calls $0.01, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.06) 8, 3, K (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: ($0.06) 4 (3 players)
SB bets $0.04, Hero calls $0.04, CO calls $0.04

River: ($0.18) J (3 players)
SB bets $0.06, Hero calls $0.06, CO calls $0.06

Total pot: $0.36 | Rake: $0.02

Results:
SB had 7, 8 (one pair, eights).
Hero had 8, 4 (two pair, eights and fours).
CO had 4, Q (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero won $0.34

Again, nothing amazingly brilliant here. I figured from the first round of checks after the flop that no one was terribly excited about their hands. When the bet came on the river, I figured no one’s hand could’ve improved more than mine did, so I was at least betting against someone with the same hand. Then a Jack comes on the river and the SB bets a little heavier, but nothing amazing and I think, well, if a four improved his hand, what would a Jack? Granted, he could now be holding a Jack and a 4, in which case I’m beat. But betting like that on a pair of 4s doesn’t seem right either.

So I call the whole way and take the pot. I’m happy about that, obviously, but not so much that I’m still following. However, an 8 and a 4 is not something you go betting heavy with, I figure, unless you’re looking to bluff. Let me know in the comments if you think differently.

And this was my last hand:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($1.17)
Button ($0.49)
SB ($0.67)
BB ($0.26)
Hero (UTG) ($1.01)
MP ($1.13)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, K
Hero calls $0.02, 1 fold, CO calls $0.02, Button calls $0.02, SB calls $0.01, BB checks

Flop: ($0.10) Q, 6, 7 (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks, Button checks

Turn: ($0.10) 9 (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks, Button checks

River: ($0.10) A (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks, Button bets $0.02, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.02, 1 fold

Total pot: $0.14 | Rake: $0

Results:
Button had 2, 3 (high card, Ace).
Hero had A, K (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $0.14

AKs is nothing to sneeze at, unless you get that flop and river. Luckily everyone checked just about the whole way through. If they hadn’t, I probably would’ve folded on the river. As it turns out, everything fell my way. A good night.

As usual – if you think I play for crap or if I made a particularly good move, let me know in the comments…

This Won’t Look Good, But…

I’m actually having a pretty good run. After a pretty terrible run since the last time I posted.

New bankroll – $7.77.

But that’s up from a low of $6.99 yesterday. Which really isn’t that much at all, but the idea of making almost a dollar in one day of play was absolutely unbelievable to me when I first started out. So, it’s an accomplishment of sorts.

Forget all of that, though – let’s see how this all happened. A few days ago, I had a couple of sessions that went remarkably poorly. Nothing really to see, just a slow grinding down of my stacks. Can I even call them stacks when they’re this small? It’s more like my lump that sits in front of me on the virtual felt.

But anyway – there were super stupid plays like this:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($3.52)
Button ($2)
Hero (SB) ($0.98)
BB ($0.78)
UTG ($2)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
2 folds, Button bets $0.06, Hero calls $0.05, BB calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.18) 9, 10, A (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, Button bets $0.11, Hero calls $0.11, 1 fold

Turn: ($0.40) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: ($0.40) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.40, Button raises to $1.60, Hero calls $0.41 (All-In)

Total pot: $2.02 | Rake: $0.13

Results:
Button had J, 5 (straight, Jack high).
Hero had A, K (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Button won $1.89

All in? Really? Is that such a good idea? Hey, start off strong, I get that. AK is a good starting hand. But even so, it’s not suited. It’s not like it’s a bulletproof hand. And then the other Ace pops up? Not too shabby. But still, nothing amazing to see. And the button is raising like a madman and what am I thinking? A pair of Aces? This is what I’m check-calling? He knows I’m unsure because I’m acting unsure. And he smells blood in the water.

Then the button checks and I figure things are turning my way. Still, I just check instead of going stronger. For all he knows, I have a QJ. I have the straight. A strong raise here could’ve won this for me. Instead, I follow. And he happily leads.

Then we get to that river and it’s a 7 and I bet $.40, I guess thinking that a strong bet will scare him off. He knows I don’t have a QJ because of my last check. He knows he’s won it. And I follow and go all in.

Super super dumb. But another lesson learned.

And then there were much smarter plays like this:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($1.03)
SB ($0.30)
BB ($2)
Hero (UTG) ($0.83)
MP ($0.57)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A
Hero calls $0.02, MP calls $0.02, Button calls $0.02, SB bets $0.30 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls $0.28, 1 fold, Button calls $0.28

Flop: ($0.94) 9, 5, 3 (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, Button bets $0.04, Hero calls $0.04

Turn: ($1.02) Q (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: ($1.02) 7 (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, Button bets $0.02, Hero calls $0.02

Total pot: $1.06 | Rake: $0.07

Results:
Button had 9, K (one pair, nines).
SB had A, K (high card, Ace).
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $0.99

This one was tough to follow. I call the $.28 to begin with because I’ve got two Aces. When else will you do that? And the SB had played some weak hands. Little did I know he had some strength this time. But again, with out two Aces, I’m not making this bet.

So then I follow the limping Button around for the rest of the hand. I don’t have the best hand in the world, but he’s not really committed to scaring me off, so I figure he’s not sure either. And luckily, it all pans out. Could’ve easily gone another way.

No Wait – A Lesson Not Yet Learned…

Why? Because I hit the Rush Poker tables again anyway. And I lost every penny of $9. Then, I won about five dollars back. So a totally losing proposition no matter how you look at it.

New bankroll – $10.15.

Not pretty at all. I had some really great hands, but plenty of stupid ones, too. You ever sit there and say to yourself ‘This guy has a three of a kind. Don’t bet. Even though you have two aces and two kings, he has three 10s. Don’t bet.’ But then you bet anyway and sure enough he has three 10s? That’s me. That’s why I lose. That’s the “leak” in my game, as they say. When I call it a leak, that makes me feel better because it’s nicer than saying I’m an idiot.

But I am an idiot. A poker idiot.

Here’s how I’ve decided to run the Rush Poker tables should I ever come back – I don’t bet. Ever. I don’t play a single hand that isn’t a blind. And only then I don’t pursue anything unless it’s a brilliant hand. How many suited aces and kings and double queens, etc., did I have today? A ton. How many did I play aggressively? A bunch. How much did I win? -$4.05. That. Sucks.

So anyway, enough complaining out of me. Really going to stay away from the Rush tables for a while, until I build this bankroll back up some. It’s a brilliant way to get the FTPs, but also far too brilliant a way to lose all my money.

A Lesson Learned.

I think I need to stay the hell away from Rush Poker. It’s a losing proposition for me, every time. Went in with $2 and in the span of 40 hands, was down $2.

New bankroll – $14.20.

Ended with a hand that started with a pair of Aces for me, then I immediately got two Kings and thought I owned the world. Until my opponent turned up with a full house on the turn. And I bet the farm on that. Dumb.

So here I am, ready to climb my way back out of the hole.

Another Winning Night and Thinking About Outs.

It seems I am ever so slowly clawing my way out of this pit of despair, y’all. And I’m feeling a little crappy about going on about fish and all that from the last post. First of all I sound pretty pretentious trying to talk like some seasoned poker vet. I couldn’t be anything less. But also I play just as fishy as the next guy. Well, I guess not as fishy as every next guy, because…

The new bankroll is – $16.20.

Nothing so great was happening at my table – I had a couple of folks with some big stacks for the micro stakes tables and, as I figured, they had a good idea what they were doing. None of that clumsy stealing blinds every hand crap. So they were playing solid poker and I was kind of watching them and trying to pick up some stuff.

Then a player joined the table who gave me my biggest win of the night. I think it’s pretty clear he thought he’d steal some chips with this bet. Here’s the hand:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($3.23)
Hero (Button) ($0.92)
SB ($1.38)
BB ($0.71)
UTG ($1.23)
MP ($2.90)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, K
UTG calls $0.02, 1 fold, CO bets $0.09, Hero calls $0.09, 1 fold, BB raises to $0.71 (All-In), 2 folds, Hero calls $0.62

Flop: ($1.54) J, 8, 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($1.54) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($1.54) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $1.54 | Rake: $0.10

Results:
Hero had K, K (one pair, Kings).
BB had Q, K (high card, King).
Outcome: Hero won $1.44

So the UTG throws out a normal bet, the CO raises and I call him and I figure the BB decides if he bets .71, nobody will follow him. An easy .20. He has a fairly strong hand going in – not an all in hand, I think, but a strong hand – so he goes for it. But if I were in his shoes – making that kind of bully play without even a high pair is… well, as you see here, it’s incredibly risky.

Granted, he’s only an Ace or a 9 away from taking the pot. From being the smart one. But it seems that I have way more outs than he does from the get go, no? The only way he can win, knowing what my hand is, is with QQ, an A, a 9, or three diamonds. So how many outs is that? I don’t know exactly how to figure for needing two of the same card – he only has 20 outs if just one of the 20 cards gives him his hand, right? I’m not sure, but I think this gives him about 6 or 7 outs. Whereas I start out with a winning hand that can only be improved if there’s a K or any pair except the Ace or the Queen. So unless my calculations are incorrect – and I can assure you they probably are – I have 24 possible scenarios where my hand is improved.

Anyway, pretty clear what he was hoping to do here and unfortunately, he picked the wrong hand. A tough lesson I learned more than once.

As always, readers – please leave your comments about this. Any poker science you want to drop, drop it.