Made a small profit last night when I couldn't sleep and decided to get some hands in. Donked off a stack though by check/raising all-in with 53s and bottom pair against QQ, not my proudest moment. Guy had just sat down and re-raised my open-raise first hand (I folded), the hand after I raise again and he 3-bets me again. Obviously I think he's full of it but it just turns out he was dealt KK and QQ on his first two hands.

Other than that I only played two big pots in the Hold'em gaames.

Hand #1
I have AK and open raise it. One of the blinds calls. I've got a bit over the buyin, he has me covered.

Flop comes AK5 with a spade draw, he check/calls my pot bet. Turn is a brick and he check/calls my pot bet. River is yet another brick, he thinks for a few seconds and pushes. Does he have 55 or a busted flush draw? I figure a monster would have woken up on the turn, but you never know. After a while I decide to call, he shows J9s for the busted flush draw.

Hand #2
UTG makes a small raise and picks up a somwhat shortstacked caller. I'm in the BB with KK and re-pop it, both call.

Flop is J high. I am first to act, shorty has only aa little more than a pot bet left, preflop raiser has twice that. Hmm. I push. Preflop raiser calls with KJs, shorty gets out, my hand holds up.

I posted another hand I played in the NL forum here: http://livepokerforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24626
I have a set on a very scary board and with deep stacks, trying to figure out whether to valuebet the river or not.


I lost money playing 5CD for the first time since I started playing it "seriosuly". It was just an awful run of cards. Everytime I had a two-pair, someone else would either start with a better two pair or improve to one by drawing to their pair.

Not spectacular in any way but to examplify...

I open with JJKT3 in LP. BB calls and draws 2, I draw 3 and check behind having picked up K84 for a final hand of JJK84. He shows JJK92. Duh! First of all I think keeping a kicker with JJ or higher is a mistake, but it felt ironic in an Alanis sort of way that he started out with a slightly worse hand than me (which he shgouldn't be calling with), played it badly just to improve to a slightly better one.

Couldn't get a seat at the 7CS table which was running for once, which might have been a good thing since I was a bit tired and I'm not even good at that when I am alert, but the table looked really juicy. It was rare to see more than 2 players FOLD on 3:d street in an 8-handed game.

So far this month my hourly is around $100 which is way more than I can expect, but I am not complaining... much.

One hour session. Started out by blowing a stack in Hold'em immediatly.

I have T7o in the BB, UTG miniraises I call. Flop comes J7x so I have middle pair no kicker. I lead out smallish, he miniraises. Hmpf. Is that two overcards or something making a gay bluff? I re-raise properly. He calls. Crap. I check turn intending to fold, but he bets like 2bb, ffs... ok, I call. Same thing on river, I check, he bets the same again. I call, he has AA, I make a note.

The hand after I have KQ in the SB, CO open raises 3x. I consider re-raising or folding but settle for a call. Flop comes K73, I lead out, he just calls. Turn is the Q giving me top two, I check, he bets, I check/raise and he pushes for some change. I call and he has 77, I don't boat up. Not a good start.

I have one shorthanded NL $100 Hold'em table open, one full ring PLO8 $100 and one Pot Limit 5CD $300. With only two betting rounds the 5CD plays smaller than games with more betting rounds obviously.

Still, I haven't played 5CD over the $100 level so it feels a bit spooky to be stealing blinds with a $9 raise, or as I did once, re-popping to $25 preflop with nothing against a frequent stealer. The game played pretty tight and a bit passive so I was stealing a lot, if you call it stealing to raise in position with small pairs and draws. Also pulled some successful bluffs after the draw so without having any real big hands against second best hands, I won something like $80 playing it.

The PLO8 table was what made the day. After a few hands I pick up AA4x and limp it UTG. A guy on my left who (I realise later) is pretty much raising every pot preflop raises pot, he picks up like 4 or 5 callers (since nobody believes him I guess). Back to me and I re-pot it. He calls and some shorty calls all-in. Flop comes with two spades and a low draw, I push, he calls with A77x with the spade draw and the A7 low draw. My hand holds up and I more than double up.

There was another maniac at the table and between the two of them, they built my stack up to over 6 buyins at one time. That felt nice considering I think of PLO8 as one of my weakest games, if not THE weakest. I made a bad(?) play though when I called the #1 maniac on the turn in a big pot. I had top two and the flush draw, with no low draw, and the turn completed a gut shot wheel.. I just didn't want to thing he called a pot sized bet on a A58 flop with 34 so I figured he was pushing the nut low. Even so, at best I am being freerolled. Turn was a brick and I check/called a "small" valuebet (like $60 but the pot was over $400) and he showed 347T. Bastard. I quit right after, booking a ~$400 profit in total, not bad for one hours work. Bankroll approaching $4k now

Played for an hour and a half before going to the football game yesterday. My home team was playing Häcken, the favoprites to win the series (not my favorites).

Was pretty much treading water for over an hour until this absolute gem happened. NL $100 Hold'em 5-max.

I've got AA in the big blind. MP opens for 3x or so and superdonk calls. I doubled up superdonk early when I raised 55 out of the BB in a limped pot, flop came 6 high and all spades, he pushed (less than pot size) and I called and lost to his 63s.

Ok, so I re-raise to $11 or so. Both call.

Flop comes AT2 rainbow. Damnit. I don't like this flop. Why? Well what the hell are they gonna have to pay me off with? 3 of 4 aces are accounted for, no flush draw and only gut shot draws to straights. Basically a lower set is it. I figure I'll bet really small and hope donk-boy decides to bluff at it, he raised ever street earlier with TPNK and once with bottom pair, so I fire like $5...

Ok now MP miniraises... and superdonk flat calls the miniraise. What the.. Ok, I make a small mini-reraise to $18 or so. MP calls, donk pushes and I push... MP calls. Turn and river brings a K and a flush so by the river both a backdoor flush and a gutshot straight is possible, so I am a bit nervous.

MP flips over AJo. Ok, not that well played. I wouldn't recommend stacking off with top pair 3:d kicker here. Ah well...

Donk shows....


Wait for it...






Wait for it...










Can you guess it?










Yes, you're correct, good guess. He had . Bottom pair no kicker, going up against a raise and re-raise preflop with 62o and stacking off with bottom pair. Thanks for keeping my winning streak alive.


Unfortunately IFK's winning streak died. They completely out played Häcken in the first half but failed to capitalize. Our Gardar Gunnlaugsson had 3 really qualified opportunities and botched them all horribly (he was subbed in the second half) and at least two more opportunities that should have been converted grazed the bar or were cleared on the goal line. In all we had well over 10 chances and our own goalie didn't have to make a single save.

Second half was a bit more even but we were still the better team and pressing them back. 20 minutes in and out of the blue, they score on the counter attack. This really rattles our team and for a period there's barely any organised football going on. We manage to get a grip again after tewn minutes or so and our left winger delivers the ball to our target player, who feeds it forward to our brazilian striker who has just come on. He's clear on goal and makes no mistake, waiting for the keeper to go to the gorund and then calmly chipping it into the bacl of the net.

Then we fuck up again. Häcken intercept the ball on our half and feeds it out on the right flank. Their winger keeps bringing it forward while our defenders are scrambling to mark their forwards who are rushing tpwards goal. Winger however foregoes the opportunity to pass and cuts into the penelty box and tries for a goal out of a poor angle. Ball is struck straight at our goalie, so not a good attempt. But wait, out goalie is moving in the other direction, flails our with his arms and somehow manages to steer the ball into our goal. Major fuckup. If he had just stood still and not moved the ball would have bounced off him.

Now follows some awful nervewrecking minutes where we're trying to score an equaliser. Our central defender, very strong and good in the air, is moved forward. There are 4 minutes of injury time added. In the 93:s minute we get a corner. Ball swerves to the far post. Our previous defender and now forward rises above the defense and gets his head on the ball. Powerful header right under the bar and in to the net. We've equalised with 30 seconds of the added time.

Our keeper manages to get some dignity back by saving a rather tricky shot in the very last second and we at least get one point from this game, although the game should have been killed in the first half if we had any sort of quality in the penalty area.

Why would this happen to me...


Yeah you guessed it. I just booked a losing session.



I flop a set with 33 on A83 rainbow flop and double stacks against A7s and AJ who are both willing to go to the felt here. A7s backdoors a flush but I manage to get away losing less than a full stack at least.

Two shorties limp with A2 and AT and call my huge QQ raise like I thought they would. Flop brings one of two Aces that are left...

I raise with 33 and some retard decides to slowplay KK. I flop my set, we are all-in by the turn. River is a K.

Blah blah blah etc etc etc...


However... I outwitted them all!! I figured the site was about to buttfuck me. In fact, when I couldn't log on earlier today, and now when I logged on it started updating, I immediatly suspected that they had installed some stop-stoneburg-from-running-good plugin. Cunts. Anyway, being sly as a fox I tricked them all!! Since I had met my monthly goal yesterday I decided to just play with the surplus winnings today, which forced me to sit at the $20 tables!! HAHAHAH!!! Total loss <$50!!

I've played three sessions since that horrible nightmare of a session where I dropped almost $50. First one was just a quickie where I picked up some change, and after that I've managed to put in one three hour session (!) and a one hour session.

Did I mention I am playing NL shorthanded now? It's 5-max, and yes, the players suck. The three hour session had a few hands worth of notice. No HH's so I'm recreating them from memory.

I've got [5c] and complete in the SB, Flop comes 235 with one club. I lead out pot size, BB folds and CO calls. Turn is the so I have the ignorant straight and a redraw to the nut flush. I bet 2/3 of pot and he calls again, river is a brick and I put him in. He calls with A3o. Damnit. I have him crushed on the flop with him drawing to two outs for a win and 4 for a split, on the turn I am free-rolling with 9 outs to win for me and zero for him, but the poker gods decide to reward him for open-limping A3o in LP.

Shorty miniraises UTG, picks up a shorty caller and I re-pop from the BB with KK leaving them both with less than half their stacks left. Flop brings the dreaded Ace, I put them in anyway since it's like 1/4 of the pot and I can't bring myself to check/fold here, UTG calls with A8o and drags it.

Tables are good.

Really. Although it sucks to lose with KK against A8o or see people hit their stupid outs when they're calling down with junk, you know you're at the right place at the right time and the Sklansky bucks are ticking in. I ended up winning almost $400, which is really good by my standards. Usually by showing the best hand, but often with plays and moves too. If you can just spot the weakness and bring yourself to pounce on it, bluffs will contribute to your winnings not just be advertisement.

MP makes a silly 3x raise, SB calls and I call in the BB. Flop comes 992 and is checked around. Turn is a T, SB checks and so do I. Now MP bets 2x the blinds. SB thinks for a while and raises to 6x the blinds. Now I am SURE MP has nothing good, and SB also knows this and is most likely trying to bluff here. So I make a big raise with my KJo and they both fold. Not in any way a standard play by me but when you just KNOW they can't call, and you're running and playing well, you have the balls to make these moves that will pad your winnings as well as provide meta game value.

Yesterday I played the one hour session and turned a nice ~$150 profit, basically by playing three hands, two of which I won.

#1
I have QQ otb, MP miniraises and I re-raise to $10, MP calls. Flop comes QJ7, he checks, I bet, he check/raises, I push, he calls. He flips AJ for middle pair top kicker and the backdoor straight draw anbd a massive 2% equity. Well played sir.

#2
I have KK in the SB. Folded to me and I decide to limp, which I will do about 0.0003% of the time here. Thing is, there's a trend of raising from the BB when the SB completes and I'm hoping for that to happen here. Jackpot! BB raises to 3x. I repop it to $10 and he calls immediatly. Flop is JJ9, I check, he bets, I check/raise all-in and he calls. He flips over AQ. River is an Ace. Duh.

I think I played it perfectly and after he bet the flop he didn't have much left so the call isn't that bad.

#3
I have AQs in LP and re-raise UTG's miniraise. Flop comes Axx with my flush draw, he check/calls my pot bet. Turn is a brick, he check/calls again. River is yet another brick and now he pushes for like 1/2 pot. Snuh? What the hell is this? My first thought is that it is a missed flush draw but I have the A and Q of the suit so that's a bit unlikely. Doesn't look like a set... fuck it I call. He flips 99 and I drag. I don't know why the retards play it like this. I guess the river bet is along the reasoning "I'm gonna call so I might as well push myself".

Anyway, this month has been the best of the year so far. Up over $2k, hopefully I won't fuck that up. Did have some blood in my stool just now though so I guess I could drop dead which would be a bit of a bad beat, other than that everything is excellent. We hosted the Green party national congress this weekend, which is why I haven't been able to get the hours in, so right now I'm only at 20 hours of the 50 I projected for this month. Got to get back to the grind.

Here are the three biggest pots I won today. I think they're a bit interesting because they show three specific errors that a lot of the players make on this site and at these tables.

#1
Folded to me on the button, I have [8c] and a $100 stack, Villain has me covered. I raise to 3x (my standard), villain calls from the SB and BB folds.

Flop comes .

He checks, I bet $4 and he check/raises me to $12. Hmm. For some reason I think he's full of it, I think he has a 7, of course he could have a set, overpair or made straight but I've got outs, right? I push. He calls, I go "Uh oh...". Turn and river are an Ace and a King and I am somewhat surprised when the pot slides my way. He had 78 and my kicker is good.


#2
I've got AA utg and raise to $3, two callers then the SB re-raises to $7. Oki... I 4-bet to $17, the tourists get out but SB now makes it $30. He started with $70. I flat call, flop comes 395 rainbow, he open pushes I call. 77 is no good muppet.


#3
I'm in the SB with [4h], MP poster checks and aggro button makes it $4. I think for a while and call. I don't love calling OOP with SC's but he has a double stack and I have him covered. My image is bluffy and I have been bullying the table a bit. BB comes along too.

Flop comes [7s][Th]

I check, BB checks, Villain bets pot ($12).

I considered check/raising but...

- I think he has an Ace here, and with my image I don't think I can get him off it
- I don't want to build a big pot OOP against another big stack with a draw
- I have a player behind me who might come along and sweeten my odds
- My image means I am likely to get paid off if I hit

... so I check/call. BB gets out.

Turn is the making my flush. Most players check/raise here but I think that is a horrible idea for several reasons...

- I can't afford giving a free card to something like [Qh]
- I make my hand very transparant, making it easy for him to play perfectly
- With the flush arriving he is likely to check behind to call a river bet instead

... so I lead $21. Which is a bit low, considering the pot is $36. I should probably have bet a bit more. Still, he is getting nowhere near correct odds to draw. He calls. River is an off suit deuce. I valuebet $44, he calls and mucks. He says he had AJ, which I believe.


The errors include:
1. Overplaying draws/drawing oop
2. Overplaying pocket pairs
3. Unable to lay down "good" hands like two-pair, trips, straights even though it is clear they are beaten


It was only a hort session but I made $250/hr which is a new record for me so I am quite satisfied. ~$2.5k so far this month, a record also I think.

i like your points regarding mistakes... I especially like hand 1. in that regard..
Congratulations on the hefty win and a record..

Cheers. Month aint over yet though and I am aiming for 20k SEK which would be ~3k USD. Almost there.

Three sessions since I last updated this journal. I've had a few near-loss sessions. One session I flopped a flush with 98s after raising preflop, getting re-raised and calling in a 3-way pot. Somehow I managed to get away from it against a guy who flopped the nuts with AQs. Yikes. Should have been stacked there but got away with half my stack intact.

Then I had some bad luck where I lost 3 hands in a row.

- 99 vs A2s on an A93 flop. I bet all the way and he backdoors a flush.
- KK vs AQ all-in preflop, I raised and he pushed, he rivers an Ace
- I'm short and push with KQ against a loose raiser, he calls with KJ and hits a jack.

Still managed to make a profit.

The last session I played I was down maybe $50 when it was drawing to a close, then I got a triple stack into the pot with a set against an overpair and ended on a positive note. Still, I've felt like I've had several brushes with defeat and it is only a matter of time until this run ends. I've played 17 sessions this month and booked 16 wins. I'm gonna hit the tables now and see what happens. Got about $100 to go for my goal.

Made closer to $400 in a 3 hour session, cruising past double the goal for the month. I'm rewarding myself with a break, taking the rest of the month off. Two days that is.

Started by playing some SnG's and a PLO8 table since there weren't many Hold'em tables available. Placed 2:nd twice and 3:d once for a nice little run, mainly due to my newly discovered and quite awesome coinflip skills. Think I won 6 out of 8 coinflips or something.

Not many notable hands in the Hold'em games. I bought in for $100 at a $200 table and got whittled down and finally busted. The normal $100 games weren't too eventful either but I at least recovered the losses from the $200 table and made some profit.

The real fun stuff happened at the PLO8 tables where I busted a bunch of shortstack retards and built my stack up to more than a quadruple buyin. Bigges pot is posted here: http://livepokerforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24958

PLO8 is a real hit or miss game for me. Either I break even/make a small profit/loss or I go bananas and break everyone. I think a common denominator for when I crush the table is that I am raising and re-raising more preflop. However, that might also be true for my bustout sessions...

May has been an excellent month.

Birthday - Got lots of cool gifts
School - Took 5 courses, aced them all
Poker - New record winning month >$3k
Misc - Just got 25 pounds of books that I had ordered

Now I am going to take a glorious poop and start reading some of my new books.

Bad start to june. Played a full 3 hours and managed a $12 loss or so. Yuck. Would have netted a small profit but wasted like $18 on an MTT where I busted pathetically with 92s.

Folded all around the table. Button open limps, I am in the SB with 92s. I have a played a total of THREE hands in the hour and fifteen minutes the tournament has lasted. Three hands. Twice I showed down winners, once I folded. So I raise to 4x leaving one PSB. BB folds and button of course calls with his A8o. Flop brings me a pair and backdoor flushdraw, but also an Ace. Of course he's not gonna fold his A8 so I bust out. Bleh.

Also had a lovely hand in the cash games where we are THREE people all-in preflop.

Basically a new shorty guy opens to $4, loose/weak player calls and I flat push. BOTH call. Matchup was:

Me: [Kh]
Weak/loose: [Jc]
Shorty: [5c]

Yes, he raised and called a push with Q5o. Of course I end up with the third best hand when the board comes QQJxx. That kind of sucked just a tad.

Frankly I'm surprised I didn't lose at least a couple of buyins today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.