Game: NL Hold 'Em 1/2 (50 to 200 buy in)
Location: Chevy Chase Country Club, Wheeling IL
Arrived: 3pm
Left: 8:40pm
Session Length: 5 hours, 40 minutes
Players at the table: For the most part 8 (full ring game) but at times it went down to 5-7 and I adjusted play accordingly.
Total Net Profit/Loss: +$353
Today I played no limit hold 'em 1/2 and bought in for $200. I was playing a good tight aggressive style and wanted to go through some of the key pots throughout the session. The theme of this game was flopping good with suited connectors.
I had KK in a hand in middle pos. and made it $15 to go. The next guy to act behind me makes it $39 and everyone folds back to me and without much hesitation (maybe... MAYBE he had AA but if I'm folding KK here I really have no business playing poker) I shove all in. The guy calls showing only 77. He asked me (somewhat jokingly) if I wanted to run it twice. I laughed and said this is not High Stakes Poker. The KK holds up and I net profit another ~$100 or so.
Another time I had KK in middle pos. and made it $10 to go. A guy with about $200 in front called the $10. A short stack makes it $30 and I ask how much he has in front (about $40 more). I decide to shove (wanting to push the first caller out). The first caller folds and the guy who made it $30 calls with his remaining $40. The board comes TT333 and again the KK holds up. The guy only had A5o, wow talk about impatient!
One hand that won me a lot of money was 76s. I had 76 of diamonds in the small blind with a couple of early callers coming in for $2. The BB made it $12 to go and everyone called. Flop comes 582 (2 diamonds), a perfect flop for me making me a slight favorite to even a set. I checked thinking the guy in the BB has a big pocket pair, the BB makes it $50 to go and the 2 callers folded to me. I shoved all in (I believe the guy only had ~$46 more and he called). The turn came a 6 and the river a 7 giving me two pair for the win. Dejected, the BB left the game and I took down a nice pot.
Another nice suited connector win for me I had 76s. I had 76 of spades this time and called the $2 UTG. There were 3-4 callers behind me and the BB makes it $12 to go. I decide to call as do the rest of the callers. The flop comes 59T (two spades), a great flop for me with a flush draw and inside straight draw. I decide to check and it gets checked around to the BB who goes all in for around $100. Again, I suspect he has a big pair (its an old guy and they generally play pretty conservatively.) I decide to shove here (At this point I have about $350 in front of me) because I want to shut out the rest of the field. In the back of my mind I was a little worried about someone having AX of spades here but the table folds around making heads up between me and the old guy, who has KK. The turn is a blank and the river is a nice Jack of spades giving me the flush and the pot, a nice net profit of around $150.
Now I want to talk about a hand that occured earlier in the session. I had the 87s of clubs in a straddle pot. I called the $4 in middle position as did 1-2 more players and then a guy who had about $300 in front of him made it $29 to go. I thought about it for about a minute and decided to fold. In retrospect I kind of wanted to call but coming off of three straight losing sessions, I really didn't want to lose a lot of money with the hand should the flop come two clubs or an open ended draw (I would have probably check shoved in either case because I like to play Doyle's aggressive style with draws like that heads up). I wanted to preserve my win for the day but it was admittedly a little snug of a play and next time I'll have to play it and take a flop. The guy actually flipped up AA on top of it in this hand making it a somewhat perfect situation for the suited connectors but they could have missed too. I don't know, this was the hand I had to criticize myself for, especially because I had been running pretty good up to this point.
In another hand I had the JJ and made it $10 to go with one caller. Flop comes A46 (two clubs). While Doyle says to always continuation bet 90% of the time if you raise pre-flop I just check here and it gets checked behind. The turn is in an Ace and I fire out $20 which is called. River card is a blank and I checked and it's checked down. The guy had QQ so I actually got kind of lucky here that the board didn't show all under cards.
Another thing I wanted to reflect on (going with the 90% Doyle theory) is that I respected this for the most part and fired after being pre-flop raiser regardless of what came on the flop and was called a couple of times. It really sucks when you miss the flop and get called on your continuation bet (how do you proceed?). I believe both times I check folded; (one time the guy may have had a flush draw) while there is a chance I could have won the pot with a big bet on the turn, there's also a chance I am called or even raised and put in a very difficult spot. I don't like to lose a lot of money without a hand.
In another hand an early raiser made it $12 to go and 1 or 2 more players called. I looked down at AQo and opted to fold. Were it suited, I would have definitely played but I just don't like playing AQo for a raise. I like to be the initial raiser with it. Plus I had to go to the bathroom so it was a good spot to take a break. I don't like seeing what would have happened on these flops sometimes if I had a would be winner which is another thing I have to criticize myself for.
So all in all, this was a very successful session where I was running well and applying my literature well. The three books I swear by are Doyle's Super System 2, Read 'em and Reap, and The Tao of Poker. I plan to reread these as well as check out some more good poker books from the library to continue improving my game. One thing I have to say that I did perhaps better than ever in a poker session is conceal my own tells. I kept the same expression on my face everytime I was in the hand with the two hands over my mouth and looking down. When I needed to stretch or adjust in my chair, I did so when I wasn't in the hand. Keeping this almost robotic method every single time I played a hand made me a difficult read and I need to remember to do this everytime I play cards in a serious game.
