Its been a while since I had a LAG build a nice big pot for me when I had the nuts...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($13.90)
MP (LAG) ($50.20)
Semillon ($40.65)
Button ($24.65)
SB ($14.45)
BB ($8.95)

Preflop: Semillon is CO with J, A.
UTG calls $0.25, MP (LAG) calls $0.25, Semillon raises to $1.5, 2 folds, BB calls $1.25, UTG folds, MP (LAG) calls $1.25.

Flop: ($4.85) J, A, 6 (3 players)
BB checks, LAG bets $1.25, Semillon raises to $4, BB folds, LAG calls $2.75.

Turn: ($12.85) A (2 players)
LAG bets $3.5, Semillon calls $3.50.

River: ($19.85) 4 (2 players)
LAG bets $7, Semillon raises to $15, LAG calls $8.

Final Pot: $49.85

Results:
LAG has 7s As (three of a kind, aces).
Semillon has Js Ad (full house, aces full of jacks).
Outcome: Semillon wins $49.85.

I am left wondering if I should have raised the turn and pushed the river to try get myself all in, however it did take him a very long time to call that final river raise, I think I got very close to maximum value out of this guy.

Funny how one hand can make up for a couple of hours of average play.

I think JJ, being an uberdonksplooge, missed out on the very obvious fact that you are not American...Ya'd think after me askin you for some colorful foreign vernacular this might not happen buuuut anyways, Us yanks are pretty much hosed online poker-wise, netellers shut down, pretty much every deposit method is now blocked if you have an american bank account, etc. etc...

I think this hand shows clearly the main problem I have with my game:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($25.35)
UTG ($56.05)
MP ($25)
CO ($27.20)
Button ($21.65)
Hero ($24.30)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, A. MP posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG calls $0.25, MP (poster) checks, CO calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero completes, BB raises to $1.75, UTG folds, MP folds, CO calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.50.

Flop: ($5.75) Q, 7, 5 (3 players)
Hero bets $5, BB calls $5, CO folds.

Turn: ($15.75) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $17.55 (All-In), BB calls $17.55.

River: ($50.85) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $50.85

Results:
Hero has Qs Ah (two pair, queens and sevens).
BB has Qc Qd (full house, queens full of sevens).
Outcome: BB wins $50.85.


I did not really think through the hands that my opponent could have, clearly they would have been holding AA-QQ after the large preflop raise and subsequent call of my flop bet.

Note to self, think before you push.

The good news: I cleared my pokerstars signup bonus today, huzzah for a free $50.

The bad news: Bad play on hands like the one I posted above have meant I am back down to a bankroll of $270. The entire problem is getting myself into situations against some of the better, or luckier players on the table where all my chips are in the middle with the second or third best hand.

How do others consider their options before placing or calling a bet? A certain order of operations? I think I really need to just think full stop.

Net for today: -$80
Current Bankroll: $270
Target Bankroll: $1000 for NL50
Working On: Discipline in big pots

Well after tilting away another $50 its back to NL10 for me.

Ill play there until I feel I can stay in control when big pots start to develop. Hope you enjoyed my stack just now tunkpirate! Curse your KQ vs my KJ, I really should not have got involved in the first place.

Current Bankroll: $230
Target Bankroll: $350 for NL25

You were actually on both of my tables

Played two sessions of NL10 this evening, 4 tables at a time. The first session went well and I ended up $30 up after around 2 hours. The second I managed to lose $30 in around one hour and decided to call it quits.

During the first session I once again made two foolish calls in large pots to lose two buyins in total. If I can eliminate these foolish calls/pushes then ill definitely continue to move forward.

I might switch back to FR again and see if it suits me better, my constant preflop raises tend to only get called by really loose players, of which there are very few on stars, or by other good hands by the better players.

So the experiment with returning to FR was a bit of a disaster, even with 4 tables open at NL10 FR, pokerstars was more like pokersnores. At least 60% of the players were multi tabling so the action was very very slow and tight. Returning to NL10 6max I played some half decent poker, but ended up going down $10 over 3 hours.

Feeling a bit disillusioned I decided to register for two $5 SnGs which I promptly placed first and second in. Finally a format where the other players actually want to get involved in some hands! I ended up playing four more tournies, two $5 single table and two $5 two table SNGs, I only failed to land a place once and was running quite hot as well as making a few good laydowns. Summary: 1st x3, 2nd x1, 4th x1.

The play in the $5 tournies is as bad as I have ever seen, even worse than cash games on pacific. Several players will bust themselves going all in with any pair early, most of those who hang around will play tight passive later on while you happily steal their blinds and cbet them into oblivion. There were a few good players who played tight aggressive early before switching up to aggressive positional play later on, but I seem to do well once we get down to 2-3 players left.

For the next week or so I will focus on the SnGs and see how I go, with my bankroll back up to $300, should I be sticking with the $5 tournies, or is $10 within my range?

I didn't end up sticking with SnGs today, played two but busted out of both in 4th and 5th place respectively, one of which was on this hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (6 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB (t3390)
UTG (t2180)
MP (t850)
CO (t2700)
Button (t2810)
SB (t1570)

Preflop:
3 folds, Button raises to t100, 1 fold, BB calls t50.

Flop: (t225) K, T, 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Button bets t200, BB raises to t400, Button calls t200.

Turn: (t1025) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Button bets t300, BB raises to t800, Button calls t500.

River: (t2625) 5 (2 players)
BB bets t800, Button raises to t1510, BB calls t710.

Final Pot: t5645

Results:
BB has 9h Jd (straight, king high).
Button has Qh Qc (three of a kind, queens).
Outcome: BB wins t5645.

I cant imagine I would play this hand any differently a second time around, maybe a fold on the flop after the villain raised...

I did step back into some cash games, first NL10 where I earned back the entry fees from my SnGs, and then back onto NL25 since my bankroll was damn close to $300 once again and I was feeling in control of my game.

Very happy with my play in cash games tonight, only made two calls I am not too happy with, once all in preflop with a short stack, my AK vs his 22, the second with another shorty, my 88 vs his 99. Both were coinflips really, and there just isn't any need to make those calls in the micro limit cash games I feel, restraint keeps the variance down.

My short NL25 session netted $12 profit in around one hour. I was most happy that in the vast majority of situations, I was giving much more thought to my opponents hand range than usual, once I get that area settled down I feel ill be a steady winner at NL25.

Current Bankroll: $300

Another decent evening of poker for me, one or two questionable hands played but fairly satisfied with my play once again. My favorite hand was probably the following:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($10.35)
UTG ($30.50)
MP ($20.10)
CO ($13.20)
Button ($22.05)
Hero ($25.10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 2, 4.
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, BB calls $0.50.

Flop: ($1.50) 2, K, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $1, Hero calls $1.

Turn: ($3.50) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $1.25, Hero raises to $2.5, BB calls $1.25.

River: ($8.50) A (2 players)
Hero bets $7, BB calls $6.10 (All-In).

Final Pot: $21.60

Results:
Hero has 2d 4d (three of a kind, twos).
BB has Kc 7s (two pair, kings and twos).
Outcome: Hero wins $21.60.

Later in the evening I jumped on for another quick NL25 session on pokerstars. Unfortunately I dropped $10, however the play was a mix of crazy loose aggressive big stacks and a handful of rather scared weak/passive short stacks. Pity I wasn't able to stay up late and take advantage of the conditions.

Current Bankroll: $320