A down and up and down again day. Thanks to a couple of good sessions at Cake (finally), the up parts were bigger than the down parts, so I finished up on the day - even after bonuses are taken into account.

Current Bankroll: $2745.90

Played a 3.5 hour session at one table because there were a couple of big fish there, but couldn't get any big hands against them. On my last orbit, I was just thinking how I had gone 250+ hands without a pocket pair bigger than TT.

Then I get this beauty on my very last hand of the night -

Hand #1404012204000476: Chelsea (6-Max) 12204
Seat 1: stickdude (117.75 in chips)
Seat 2: lickbenstein (193.05 in chips)
Seat 3: Dimebag419 (72.00 in chips)
Seat 8: StackedyaSON (116.30 in chips)
Seat 9: doucheb (62.90 in chips)
StackedyaSON: posts small blind $0.50
doucheb: posts big blind $1
Dealt to stickdude [ ]
stickdude: raises to $3.50
lickbenstein: folds
Dimebag419: folds
StackedyaSON: folds
doucheb: folds
stickdude: returns uncalled bet $2.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
stickdude: mucks
stickdude wins $2.50

All in all, finished down about $35. Can't complain too much considering how card dead I was.

Current Bankroll: $2721.70

YEEHAW!!!

For the first time since cashing everything out last year and starting over a couple months after that, my bankroll has finally broken the $3K barrier! I came close to that mark early December before dropping around $700 that month, and I've finally recovered all that loss and then some.

This is the hand that put me over the top -

5 players
Converted at

Stacks:
UTG ($182.60)
CO ($92.25)
Hero ($130.20)
SB ($76.25)
BB ($113.60)

Pre-flop: ($1.5, 5 players) Hero is BTN [7s]
2 folds, Hero raises to $4, SB calls $3.5, 1 fold

Flop: [Td][Ah] ($9, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $9, SB calls $9

Turn: ($27, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $20, SB goes all-in $63.25, Hero calls $43.25

River: ($153.5, 2 players)

Final Pot: $153.50
Hero shows: [7s]

Hero wins $151.5 ( won +$75.25 )
SB lost -$76.25 (he had AQ)

I had pegged villain as a fish pretty much from my first orbit at the table, and I had been patiently waiting for a big hand against him. The poker gods smiled on me, and my wish was finally granted.

All told, I finished up $304 at the tables while clearing $40 of my Cake bonus.

I've already logged 7662 hands this month according to PT. Maybe my goal of playing 12K hands this month was on the low side.

Current Bankroll: $3025.81

We, um, won't speak of yesterday - except to say that I gave back too large a chunk of Saturday's winnings.

Had a couple of fun hands come up this morning, though. Villain in both hands is TomEmanski, who I've seen playing a lot of $100NL and $200NL on Cake, and who I have pegged as a pretty solid player.

I've been trying to 3-bet more in position, and this certainly seemed like a good spot. I know villain likes to isolate limpers, so his range is pretty wide - wide enough that I expect to take it down pre-flop a large percentage of the time. Flopping TPTK certainly makes it easier to fire the CB, of course.

6 players
Converted at

Stacks:
UTG ($98.00)
UTG 1 ($101.40)
CO ($117.76)
Hero ($98.00)
SB ($92.30)
BB ($105.35)

Pre-flop: ($1.5, 6 players) Hero is BTN [Qd]
1 fold, UTG 1 calls $1, CO raises to $4.5, Hero raises to $12, 2 folds, UTG 1 folds, CO calls $7.5

Flop: [6d][Js] ($26.5, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $20, CO folds

Final Pot: $26.50

Hero wins $45.2 ( won $13.2 )
CO lost -$12.00
UTG 1 lost -$1.00



A while after that hand, this one comes up. Since this is the second time we've tangled, and he folded the first time, he was more willing to look me up.

6 players
Converted at

Stacks:
UTG ($101.50)
UTG 1 ($101.20)
CO ($105.76)
Hero ($110.70)
SB ($103.20)
BB ($93.75)

Pre-flop: ($1.5, 6 players) Hero is BTN [Ad]
2 folds, CO raises to $3.5, Hero calls $3.5, 2 folds

Since I 3-bet my last big hand on the button, I just smooth-called this time

Flop: [Kh][4d] ($8.5, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks

That's a pretty safe flop for TPTK, as 6 and 4 are not going to make up an significant part of his raising range.

Turn: ($8.5, 2 players)
CO bets $6, Hero raises to $20, CO calls $14

Again, a safe turn, but now we need to start building a pot.

River: ($48.5, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $35, CO calls $35

World's easiest value bet once we hit top 2.

Final Pot: $118.50
Hero shows: [Ad]

Hero wins $115.5 ( won $57 )
CO lost -$58.50

He called with KQ. In isolation, I think that would be a pretty loose river call - especially from him - but it was all set up by the 3-bet on the AQ hand.

Fun little session tonight - finished up just over 2 BI. I've already posted a couple of the interesting hands, but this one was a doozy - the biggest pot I've won so far this month (and possibly my biggest ever - started a new database at the start of the year) -

5 players
Converted at

Stacks:
UTG ($126.15)
Hero ($143.50)
BTN ($108.55)
SB ($117.15)
BB ($105.35)

Pre-flop: ($1.5, 5 players) Hero is CO [3d]
1 fold, Hero raises to $4, BTN calls $4, 1 fold, BB calls $3

Flop: [Qh][3h] ($12.5, 3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $8, BTN raises to $21, BB calls $21, Hero goes all-in $139.5, BTN folds, BB goes all-in $80.35

Turn: ($236.2, 2 players)

River: ($236.2, 2 players)

Final Pot: $236.20
Hero shows: [3d]

Hero wins $272.35 ( won $128.85 )
BB lost -$105.35
BTN lost -$25.00

Villain called with . It's a nice feeling when the flush draw actually misses in a big pot - for once.

Current Bankroll: $3009.86

Got chewed out after this flop call.

https://cakepoker.com/HandHistory/?Hand ... wsPDw8I%3d

Guess he didn't realize I was actually a 64/36 favorite on that flop.