Played 4 more $20 HU matches. Lost the first two after getting 2 to1 leads on both. The swings in these things can be discouraging. You have an opponent totally outclassed, you're pounding the shit out of him, you get a 2 to1 lead, and then villain gets lucky on one hand and suddenly he has the 2 to 1 lead on you. This happened both times and both times I pretty much gave up the match, which of course is a stupid thing to do.

The 3rd match started the same as the first 2. After 10 minutes I got the villain down to 700 chips. I put him all in preflop with AJ and he showed AA. Back to even, but this time I didn't give up. Pounded him down over 10 minutes and took the win.

4th match was fun. I won a big pot early on and then this:

I rsed button to 60. Villain calls.
*** Flop *** : Js 7h 2h
Villain checks, I bet 75, Villain calls.

*** Turn *** : [ Js 7h 2h ] 5s
Villain bets 40. I raise to 300. Villain calls.

*** River *** : [ Js 7h 2h 5s ] 3s
Villain bets 40. I raise to 800. Villain folds.
I show him A9o for the bluff.

If your going to play HU sng's your better off playing on Pokerstars, Full Tilt or Ultimatebet. You will pay half the rake with them (only 5% compared to the 10% at Ongame).

I think I'm done with the HU SNG's. I played about 20 $20 matches, of which I won 15, and then I played 10 $50 matches, of which I won 5. In those 10 I played 1 very good player, 2 decent players and 7 donks. The more I play the more it seems to be less a contest of skill and more a contest of who can get lucky on the big hand at the end. Most of the last 10 matches went like this:

I use my "skill" to outplay the opponent for the first 1/2 of the match. I get a 2 to 1 chip lead but can't quite come up with a hand to put the villain away. I finally get my hand, two pair, str8, etc, and villain has an unlikely better hand and doubles up. Now Villain has 2 to 1 lead on me and the pressure of the blinds is on me as well. I flop two pair and get it all in, Villain calls and catches better 2 pair/backdoor flush. And I'm left wondering why I just spent 15 minutes donating $50 to a donk so he can go blow it on some 10-person SNG he's not going to win.

</whining rant>

Glad you guys dig the new avatar. When you're out of slot bonuses you can just read my posts and pretend.

Played some more 6-max. Still not quite sure what I'm doing at this game, but my results at least are improving.

I've been very disclipined about not calling raises in the blinds without dope hands, but I made a loose-ish call here (bad?) and here's what happened:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (5 handed) from (Format: Bet The Pot)

MP ($84.65)
Button ($118.65)
Hero ($97.75)
BB ($124.30)
UTG ($94.75)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
2 folds, Button raises to $4, Hero calls $3.50, 1 fold.

Flop: ($9) , , (2 players)
Hero bets $5, Button calls $5.

Turn: ($19) (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $10, Hero raises to $28,
Button says, "great". Button folds.

Final Pot: $57

Decent spot for a check raise? Raise should have been bigger?

I'm confused. The CR worked. You made a play on a guy who can actually fold a hand which is great. NIHAN.

Only do this on people who can actually fold in this spot though, otherwise big pot OOP on the river is not a place I want to be with nines and top kicker.

Preflop call is so-so, can be profitable if you know how to fold TP.

Decent spot for a check-raise was on flop, though small lead he raises you reraise would work even better.

I'd either lead nearer pot or CR the flop... PF call is pretty meh...

Stars 6max is uber WT.... Have you tried Party or FT?

Had an atrocious day at the tables today. Down $300+ but did manage to clear $100 in bonus. Ridiculous beats, one after another. I was getting ready to post some of them here to complain, but then I played a nice little 6-max session where I won about $150 so I thought I'd post 2 positive hands instead. These are not necessarily hands that I'd played well, just ones that I got lucky on, which after today, felt quite good enough.

The 2nd hand blows my mind. He wasn't tilting and until that hand he seemed pretty solid.

100nl 6-max

SB ($53)
BB ($126.20)
UTG ($74.95)
MP ($103.55)
Hero ($104.10)
Button ($87)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
1 fold, MP raises to $3, Hero raises to $10, 1 fold, SB calls $9.50, 1 fold, MP calls $7.

Flop: ($31) , , (3 players)
SB checks, MP checks, Hero bets $20, SB calls $20, MP folds.

Turn: ($71) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $23, SB calls $23 (All-In).

River: ($117) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $117

SB has 8h Kh (one pair, kings).
Hero has Ad As (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $117.

_____________________________________

100nl 6-max

UTG ($37.90)
MP ($131.60)
CO ($79.45)
Button ($98.50)
Hero ($161.60)
BB ($82)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
2 folds, CO raises to $4, 1 fold, Hero calls $3.50, 1 fold.

Flop: ($9) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $3, Hero calls $3.

Turn: ($15) (2 players)
Hero bets $5, CO raises to $10, Hero raises to $40, CO raises to $70, Hero raises to $189.6, CO calls $2.45 (All-In).

River: ($277.05) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $277.05


Hero has 7s 7c (three of a kind, sevens).
CO has As Qs (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins $277.05.