Well my winning streak rose from the grave like a zombie on crack. Woke up at 8 AM for some reason, so I decided to get some poker in against the addicts. Turned out to be a good idea. I was crushing the tables. Owning them. I had the deck bent over the table, banging it from behind and smacking its ass and it was like "Omg it's so big, I have to get my twin sister to help me handle it" and I'm like "Take it! Take it all basby!!". Hum.. yeah, anyway.

Todays quick morning session went well. I played some $20 and some $40 and ended up on average a bit over 7 buyins in one hour. I know I'm a fantastic poker player and all but I suspect that at least a small portion of that was due to luck. I don't expect to be running at 7 buyins/hr all the time. I'm perfectly happy with more modest numbers like 5, or even 4 buyins per hour. I mean I hit 3 gutshots in three attempts today and I think statistically I'm only supposed to hit 2 out of 3 so I expect it to drop a bit.

Ok, so let's check out the luckboxaments or whatnot. Blinds are 1/2.


You win some...

and a double stack on the button. EP limps, MP raises to $8, I call as does the BB and the limper.

Flop comes

It's actually checked to me. Ok... I'll take a free card.

Turn is the so I've got a flush draw to go woth bottom pair

BB checks and EP bets 18 into the 32 pot, preflop raiser folds. I flat call as does the BB.

River is the

Both players check to me, I fire 70 which is right under the pot size. Both opponents fold.


You win some more...

in the CO with a huge stack. Two limpers to me and I limp behind. Now button raises to 6 (shesh), the BB and all the limpers call so of course I call as well. We're 6 to the flop that comes:



Checked to MP who donkbets 8 into the ~36 pot. Yeah right. I pop it to 44 and original raiser behind me thinks for a while and calls. Everyone else folds.

Turn is the lovely which means that if button has AK he is now officially drawing to one out for a split. I have him either on AK or AA here. I bet 94 which leaves him with like 40 for the river. He thinks and calls.

River is a brick and I put him in. To my surprise he folds. I can only assume he had . Ah well, I'll take it.


Then you suck out and really win a lot...

This one is kind of embarrasing but I have to post it. It's from the beginning of the session so I only have one stack at the table and I sat down a few hands ago.

I got AQo in LP. UTG and UTG+1 limps then UTG+2 miniraises, it's folded to me and I re-raise to 14 (possibly a mistake). UTG and miniraiser calls.

Flop comes 27K rainbow and is checked to me. Well, this is a good spot to rep AK so I fire 42 which is pot sized. UTG calls (crap!) and the miniraise muppet folds.

Turn is a T completing the rainbow, I'm ready to check behind and take my free card when UTG suddenly decides to lead into me for 36. Wtf?! How dare he!? This just pisses me off so I invoke the powers of the dark gods of suckouts and call.

River comes as ordered, a Jack, giving me the nutty-nut-nuts. UTG leads for 20 (yeehaw! good bet!) and I expertly put him in. He instacalls and mucks. Justice is served, the witch is dead. There was much rejoicing.

I could make a speech about implied odds, overcards, nut draws and handranges but there's one sentence the sums it up much more succinctly:

"Who won?"

It's a little after 10 and since my GF is home from work I'm making her breakfast. Speaking of foods, I hope you've all tried my fantastic pizza that I posted about when I started this thread. I'm sure you all thought it couldn't be done, but I've done it, I've improved upon perfection. I found the extra ingredient to add to the salami (or pepperoni), pineapple, bananas and onions. The secret ingredient is... peanuts!! Oh yeah. Try it.


"Hey wait a minute... what about the biggest loss?! You just posted a bunch of hands where you luckboxed your way out of trouble! WHat about the hands you lost?!"

Ok ok, fine! Here's the biggest losing hand of the session, happy!?

You lose some...

I've got KQo in MP and a bit more than a triple stack. Two limpers and I raise to 10, one cold caller and both limpers call.

Flop comes 345 with a diamond draw. I have no diamond. Checked to me, I check. Guy behind me minibets, gets called by the first limper and now the second limper check/raises to 16. I fold.

Net loss: 10bb.

Epilogue: Turns out UTG limped with AK of diamonds, he hit on the turn and the cold caller called him down and mucked.

Happy?

During my (and I don't like saying this) poker "career" I have changed a lot of things. Now I think it's time for a drastic change again. In August when I found this Swedish site I was a pretty tight player. Playing against this soft opposition has made me play looser and looser. Not having poker tracker to keep me in check and logging a lot of winning sessions have reinforced this. I would now estimate my vpip on the button to >50%. Even if I would happen to be the best post flop player at the table I doubt that is optimal.

It didn't just happen. I have consciously opened up more and more for two reasons. Because I think my relative edge is big enough to allow me to play more hands profitably, and to improve my post flop game. I think I've added some layers to my post flop game, but also that I have become more and more prone to Fancy Play Syndrome.

So I've decided to make a radical change and create a preflop hand selection chart with only hands that I think are profitable from that position, and erring on the side of caution. Well... for Hold'em that is. When it comes to other games I don't really have enough experience to be sure what is profitable and what isn't. I'll be asking around the different sections for advice on this.

Anyway, here is the prototype hand selection rules (you can assume I will raise or call a raise only with EP hands):

Hold'em
EP - AA-22, AJs+, KQs : 9%
MP - AA-22, Axs, AJo, KQo JTs+ : 15%
LP - AA-22, Axs, ATo, JTo+, 43s+ : 25%

PLO
EP - AA and KK, wraps 5678+ no danglers or high gaps
MP - AA-QQ, wraps 5678+ with one gap,
LP - AA-TT, any wrap with two gaps or less, Axs

PLO8
EP - AAxx, KK, A2 and A3w or A3s
MP - AA-QQ, A2, A3, 23
LP - AA-QQ, A2, A3, 23, Axs, wwwx

7CS
Pairs TT+
3 to a flush or straight
Live Ace if two-flush
Pairs 22+ with the highest doorcard

Doubts on profitability that needs to be explored:

Hold'em:

AJs and KQs in EP - Neither of these hands can stand a raise. They look real pretty and play well in multiway pots, but should maybe be mucked in EP if the game is aggressive?

43s - A profitable hand? The lower the connector the worse reverse implied odds (for flushes), also, 43s will not make as many straights as 54s. It will however make the wheel, which is great for stacking Ace-whores.

PLO:
EP - Are low wraps like 8765 profitable in EP? KK seems OK in passive games but should probably be dumped if there is a lot of raising.

LP - I play a lot of junk near the button, probably need to cut down on it

PLO8:

MP - Should A3 and 23 be played with weak sidecards here?

LP - Are three-to-a-wheel playable from MP as well?

7CS:

This is probably way too tight but I have been getting my teeth kicked in at this game so I'll play rockish until I learn enough to turn a profit.

It's been a few day since I updated, the main reason is that I haven't played any poker at all. I got back yesterday from a lunch-to-lunch committee meeting and was feeling totally brain drained so I didn't play again until today.

We stayed at a decent hotel, had decent food and then got some very bad news. The right wing alliance running the country is cutting down on some governmental funding forcing us to cut 12 million from the budget. That's the budget for educating and creating jobs for unemployed people. Cutting 12 million there is going to have a very bad and sad effect on a lot of peoples life, people who weren't too well off to begin with.

After walking ~7 kilometer (4.5 miles) in the woods with the doggy and having some macaronies and sausage, I couldn't put off poker any longer so I sat down for a standard 2-hr session. Found 2 PLO8 (100) tables, 1 NL (200) table and one FLT (5/10) table. The que system at this site absolutely blows so sometimes it can be hard finding a table.

I figured that this being a saturday and all the donks would be out in force but I was kind of disappointed. It turned out to be a day of small pots. I didn't really hit any good hands but kept afloat, and slowly growing, by stealing pots in position. People were telegraphing their hands making it really easy to take it away on the river.

Today I will be adding a feature to the Hand Histories, "Biggest Donk of The Day". If it is popular I'll bring it back in future posts... let's start it off with the ugly one though:

Biggest Loss of The Day

This was also coincidentally that LAST hand of the day. Me having unchecked the auto-post box an all. Fortunately, I hadn't reloaded since I was about to quit anyway.

PLO8 - 100


The 3 players that are first to act limp, I limp as #4 with and a stack of only 68. 3 more limpers and the BB playes, so half the population of Indonesia see the flop.



So I got the nut flush draw (and a relly bad low draw).

Jerkface BB who I hate bets pot (8) and shorty muppet with 10 goes all-in (which does not re-open the betting). Jerkface is an idiot who will bet and call all sorts of junk and get lucky. I think for a while and decide to call.

Shorty muppet #2 goes all-in behind me for 28. Loose/passive moron flat calls and it's back to Jerkface who also flat calls. Well pot odds are hella sweet so I call again.

Turn is the so now I also have the nut gutshot draw. Jerkface bets 130 and I'm thinking until I realise duh, I only have 39 left, easy call. Loose/passive moron behind me pushes and Jerkface calls.

Well river bricks and Jerkface wins the high with his brilliantly played betting his straight draw with no low OOP into 8 players with a flush draw out. The other guy had the A333 for low.

Loss: 68


Biggest Win of The Day

PLO8 - 100

I've got A25Ks in MP with a full stack. Three limpers and I pot it, all limpers call so the pot is 32.

Flop comes A89 with a flush draw I don't have.

Checked to me, I pot it and get a caller. Turn is a T, he checks, I push, he folds for a net profit of 58.

Not very exiting and possible badly played by me but there you go.


On to the newest and funnest feature...

Biggest Donk of The Day

This is also from the PLO8 tables

I've got a bit over a double stack, Donk has a full stack.

I'm in LP with A237s and the Donk is immediatly on my left. 3 limpers, including the Donk, and I raise the pot and get 5(!) callers.

Flop comes 763 rainbow so I've got the nut low and top-and-bottom pair. One limper checks, next bets 3 into the 40+ pot. I swear to god if I could just stick my hand through the monitor and poke out the eye of people who do that...

Anyway, Donk calls and I pot it to 51. Everyone folds except the Donk who calls. Turn is another 6, he checks, I put him in and he calls.

Of course he has

River is an 8 and he gets half the pot with his straight after calling off half his stack on the flop with a GUT SHOT and MIDDLE PAIR drawing to AT MOST half the pot with a MADE LOW OUT. My hat off to you sir, may you always be seated to my left and may your bank account never run dry.


Ps. I really miss vanilla coke. It was tried here but I think I was the only one who bought it. I have almost stopped drinking coke and stuff but sometimes I really miss that... this is one of those times.

Well I do consider myself something of an altruist, Oatmeal, always glad to help cure sobriety wherever it is encountered.

Just played a mini-session of one hour. Won 2 buyins and some change. One PLO8 table, two Pot Limit Texas tables and one 7CS. Still haven't showered though so I am starting to smell a bit. Girlfriend just brought home a friend and they want to use this computer so I'll be brief.

Biggest Loss of The Day

This comes from 7CS 5/10

I've got
Selve brings it in with the
Mico calls with the
I raise and b-18 calls with the and Selve calls as well. Now Mico limp/raises and I decide to re-raise to force the dead money out. Of course everyone calls so 4 people to 4:th street which looks like this:

Mico: XX
Hero:
b-18: XX
Selve XX

Mico bets, I raise, b-18 drops out but Selve and Mico calls.

5:t street:

Mico: XX
Hero:
Selve XX

Mico checks, I bet, Selve calls and Mico FOLDS (proving he was BS-ing all along which is what I thought).

6:th street

Hero:
Selve XX

I bet he calls.

7:th street


Selve: XXX

I check, he bets, I call. He has:

and drags.

So the jackass called all that action with an effing pair of deuces and NOTHING and managed to hit trips on 6:th. This is a pretty perfect example of what a standard 7CS hand looks like to me. I think this qualifies as Donk Play of The Day as well.


Biggest Win of The Day

Pot Limit Texas Hold'em 0.5/1 blinds.

I've got a bit over a double buyin, villain has a bit more than half a buyin.

I've got in MP. One limper and I raise to 4.50, Villain on the button cold calls and limper calls as well.

Flop comes

Limper checks to me, I pot it for 15 and villain is the only caller.

Turn is the giving me the nuts. Villain has 30 left, I decide to underbet it 12 to suck him in. He calls. River is the and I put him in. He calls with [7r]. Well. You have an 8-high flush. And you have a straight. That doesn't equal a straight flush though. Dunno what the hell this guy was thinking. Maybe THIS was the Donk play of the day?

Time to surrender the comp to my GF. Cya later.

I put in a second session because I need the hours. My target is 40 hours this month and with ten days to go I've only managed 23.5 after tonights session. Money is also way off target since I've been runnig at a measly $12/hr so far. I've budgeted for an average of 2-buyins/hr so I need to shape up a bit.

Decided to do some 5-max Hold'em when I couldn't find any other good tables. So two 5-max, one PLO8 and one PL Hold'em FR. Managed to dig myself a hole almost 3 buyins deep with some very poor play, mainly at the shorthanded tables. Couldn't catch a hand for the first hour. Last hour I managed to catch some cards and make enough moves to claw myself up to a small profit, like $10.

The Biggest Loss of The Day

I misplayed a lot of hands worse than this one so I was kind of happy this turned out to be the biggest money-loser, the other ones were way more embarrasing.

NL 5-Max (1/2 blinds)

I've got black 99 in the BB. Two limpers and the SB completes. I raise to 12 and one of the limpers calls. He's short with only 128, I have him covered.

Flop comes Q46 with a flush draw. I pot, he calls. Turn is a brick. I figure he has either the flush or some janky Queen like QK-QT. He only has one pot size bet left in his stack so I put him in, he calls with QJo. If he had a bigger stack I would have gotten away but mjeh.


The Biggest Win of The Day

This one is a beauty!

NL 5-Max (1/2 blinds)

It's 4-handed right now. I'm in the SB with

UTG who is new to the table limps with 165 behind, I complete and BB checks.

Flop comes Q54 and is checked around.

Turn is an Ace. I bet 6 (pot), BB calls and now UTG miniraises to 12. Hmm...

30 in the pot, 6 to call and he has ~150 left. Immediate odds are 1:5 (1:6 assuming BB calls) and implied odds (not counting BB) is 6:180 or 1:30. That's plenty to chase a gutshot I call of course.

River is the purty giving me the stone cold nuts. I check, BB checks, UTG bets 12 (that's a bit small...) and I pooooosh. He thinks forever and then calls with AT. Schwing! He says "nh" and leaves. Nice Hand indeed.

You will get two replies to one post:

1. Coincidence. I was just thinking "I wish some good players would post some hand analysis in my journal damnit" and then I clicked on this area and saw you had posted here.

2. I'm a bit surprised because I'd figure you to interpret it differently, but you may have skimmed or I may have communicated poorly. Let me clarify:

I'm not using a predetermined chart. I decided to make that chart as a tool to curb my looseness who was getting out of control. I was playing >50% on the button and probably >20% UTG just because I figured I had a big edge post flop. But even if that is true I think there's a line and that I crossed it.

Since I play several tables (with overlap) without PT there's a need for a somehwat robotic "default" game, but generally I try to adapt to the "table" and more importantly to individual weak spots as fast as I can spot them. Which will sometimes mean playing practically any two if I have position on a fish.

It would be good to get some more constructive feedback from you.