I played last night a little drunk after a company outing (Gordon Biersch, some pretty good beer). I played pretty well, but lost a couple coinflips early so I started out down around 2 stacks. I ended up playing way too late to break even, but there were some donators with big stacks at my table. I ended up about even with them, but a couple other big hands put me up about $52. The problem is that I played about 4 hours to get there and didn't get in bed till 3:30am. Now i feel like ass.

On the bright side, i'm playing basketball around 6 so I get to leave work a little early. I've made it 2 weeks in a row (twice a week) so hopefully I can start getting up and down the court a little better and my touch will return. I also need to work out some more, i'm not pushing people around inside as well as I would like.


My new mantra: "Poker works on the laws of Karma", if I keep making the right play, the money will follow.

yesterdays winnings: $52
total bankroll $292

9max 25nl Bodog vs Unknown(he's not been a maniac in the 10 hands i've seen)

1 limper
I get QQ in MP I raise to $1.2
3 callers
flop 782 two diamonds($5.25)
checked to me I bet $5
mp+2 calls (all in)for $1.26
folded to BB who raises to $10

I fold

MP+2 has 67
BB has 22


_____________________________________

UTG+1 minraises to .50 (he has done so a couple times)
3 callers
I have AK on button I reraise to 3.50
UTG+1 calls, CO calls
Flop A 8 9 (2 spades, I have none)($12)

UTG+1 minbets
CO calls
I reraise to $10
UTG+1 goes all in ($9 to me) CO calls(covered by UTG+1)

can I fold this ever getting 5:1?

__________________________________________
$40 effective stacks
UTG+2 has around a full stack

3 limpers
I limp on button with 5c8c
flop 3 4 6 (2 diamonds)($1.35)

UTG+2 bets .50
MP calls
I raise to $2

both call

turn 7h ($5.35) 2 flush draws out
checked to me I bet $4.5
UTG+2 pushes for $18 more
MP calls
I push for $17 more
MP calls with 44
UTG+2 has 5s6s

they don't improve

1: good fold

2: no you can not fold getting 5:1...i would expect to see another AK down to like AT.

3: my thoughts on the hand...you've got position, you're hand is not made yet...why raise? you've got a pretty stong draw to the nuts AND position. get there and let them hang themselves when they cant get away from the pot. putting in the raise to $2 gives UTG+2 the option of 3-betting you and i really dont think your hand can withstand a raise...the bet is so small...think of it as a check and your raise as a bet...how much do you really like your hand against a check/raise here? JMHO.

3) I do this alot with position against weakness to
a) buy a free card
b)take down the pot
c) disguise my hand -not usually significant
d)build a pot
e)improve my image -not usually significant


It does backfire if I get 3 bet(I fold if its not a minraise) or someone makes a strong donk bet on the turn, but the games are generally pretty passive and people like trapping too much. Also I would almost never take a free card there if checked to in that situation, A bet will take it down right away a good amount of the time.

I feel much more comfortable controlling the hand than check calling with draws in position. Generally, I am a aggressive player and try to attack weakness when possible. However, I can definitely see the argument in playing it that way.

i dont not like the play, but i think that it has to be opponent specific. if i've ever seen anyone check/raise, i'm not gonna make the bet/raise with a draw. if they're generally weak (weak bets, lots of calling) then yea, i'll raise a draw like that.

just wanted to make sure you're not stuck in "raise or fold" mode b/c it can cost you a ton of $ at the lower limits.

Tonight was rough. I started out dropping 3-4 buyins.

2x turned set over set(1 additional)
3 flush over flush
and could never get paid off even though I had a ton of overpairs and a good amount of sets

I kept playing aggressive and worked my way back to a loss of 1 buyin before I ran into a couple donators and took $50 off one guy. As bad as I ran, I made some good laydowns (and some nice check-behinds with 2 pair hands against sets). I did make one questionable call for 100bb's for what i thought would be a coinflip(ended up having the guy dominated and he was extremely pissed I called 87 vs 76 on a 986 flop in a minreraised pot).

I was very pleased to finish up $50 over about 4 hours.

total bankroll $390 over 25 hrs.


This might be a little too transparent(but it still worked)

9 max 25nl
utg (2.14) limps
I get KK in MP
I raise to 1.05 to keep betting open(figuring small stack will push)
2 callers
UTG pushes
I raise to $6


And it probably came back to bite me later
UTG raises to 1.4
2 callers
I raise to $6 OTB with QQ
3 callers
pot $24
flop K92 2 diamonds

checks to MP+2 who open pushes for $13
I fold?

I raise with draws pretty frequently against weak or even moderate bets when I have position too.

The main reasons I do it:

Take down the pot right now, this happens very frequently in low stakes games!
Put chips in the pot to make it worth winning should you hitting the draw a necessity in low stakes games. Who wants to win 80 cents with a flush? I don't mind winning 80 cents with nothing.
You are almost always going to be looking at a "free" river when they check to you on the turn.
Should you hit your draw on the turn, your flush or straight is harder to read, and you have options on whether to fire twice, check the made hand, etc.
In more aggressive games it is often cheaper to raise a draw on the flop than to call a flop and turn bet, especially at the 100NL and above levels.
Should you be playing semi-aware opponents they are more likely to pay off your sets that you are playing the same way.