Vi's Poker Blog

I've been a member of FTR for about two years, and during that time I have spent a tremendous amount of time playing and thinking about poker. This is actually my third poker blog, and i'm hoping this one mirrors the first more than my most recent. I have had modest financial success from poker, but i'd like to someday play at the 5000NL tables -- something i used to fantasize about when i was 16 and watching those games.

When i first joined FTR late in 2006, i was a losing small stakes player. It would've been cool if i had become a great poker player the moment i joined, but it didn't happen. It actually took about 6 months after i joined FTR for me to take the first major step in becoming a better poker player, which was starting my first poker blog. Shortly after i started writing, i found out about and joined Cardrunners. Doing this made studying much more productive and entertaining, and very quickly my game improved. Over the course of the summer i switched to 6Max and went from playing 50/100NL to taking shots at 400NL. To this day i've never managed to keep my foot in the door at the entrance to midstakes, and after a couple failed shots and playing/running bad i was back at 100NL by the beginning of 2008. Not surprisingly, around February of this year my enthusiam for poker dropped off sharply and i stopped playing.

Because i had taken a break from poker i needed a new method for paying my bills, so i returned to working full time. After a couple months of this i was starting to miss poker, and so around the middle of May i returned to playing. I quickly rebuilt my roll and by the end of June i was in a position to take another shot at 400NL. Unfortunately this shot didn't work out either. But the story won't end here.

I consider myself a very competent poker player and i'm confident i'm intellectually capable of understanding the concepts and ideas necessary to succeed in much bigger games than i'm playing today. My shortcoming has always been my work ethic. Last year a long running blog, as well as a passion for poker, helped keep me motivated. The only goal of this blog is to stay focused on playing and improving.

I expect the content of this blog to generally consist of hand histories, session summaries, and thorough explanations of random poker concepts. Also definitely some shout outs to all the ballers who are helping me become a better poker player!

FIRST

and gl!

thanks jack Smile

Today i played 2k hands, finished up 2 buy ins. Felt like i did a remarkably good job bet sizing and paying attention to table flow today. I shipped $90 to a fish on a horrible river call, but otherwise the tables were very good and the fish made many more mistakes than i did!

Here's an interesting hand from my second session. Button is the table fish and CO is Superluck, a TAGgy regular. No weird history.

What i would usually have done in a similar situation is call the flop raise and fold to a turn bet. Reviewing the hand afterwards, i think this is a spot where checking the flop would be best as my hand doesn't like to see a raise from CO, whose raising range is tighter than normal with the fish in the pot. Still proud of my flop fold!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($225.80)
BB ($235.35)
Hero ($227.65)
MP ($200)
CO ($256.40)
Button ($132.05)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q

, Q

.
Hero raises to $8, 1 fold, CO calls $8, Button calls $8, 2 folds.

Flop: ($27) J

, 7

, T

(3 players)
Hero bets $18, CO raises to $36, Button folds, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $63

sick fold. I wish you the best. Definitely impressed with your past posts and believe you have what it takes to get to 5knl very soon.

Good luck!

Also, some hands...

I'm disgusted by my turn shove on this hand. At the time i figured that because i was holding the Jc i would have 15-20% equity against sets and worse flushes, and therefore a shove couldn't be that bad. However, i don't have enough hands on my opponent to be able to accurately determine his bluffing frequency, which means i can't accurately estimate my fold equity. Also, i am drawing dead versus Qxcc/Kxcc which make up a significant portion of the flushes in my opponents' range.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($215.55)
Button ($592)
SB ($186.30)
Hero ($215.65)
UTG ($347.25)
MP ($257.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J

, J

.
1 fold, MP raises to $8, 3 folds, Hero calls $6.

Flop: ($17) 5

, 8

, 6

(2 players)
Hero bets $12, MP raises to $38, Hero calls $26.

Turn: ($93) A

(2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $64, Hero raises to $169.65, MP calls $105.65.

River: ($432.30) A

(2 players)

Final Pot: $432.30

This hand came after i butchered the hand above. I was thinking about the earlier hand and beating myself up a little about it (something you definitely should not do during a session!). When a bad player makes a small lead and then 3bets, it's almost always a strong hand, but i forgot that before i shoved on him. Anyways after this hand i was really steamed at myself.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($207.10)
SB ($230.95)
BB ($199.90)
UTG ($206)
MP ($123.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A

, T

.
1 fold, MP calls $2, Hero raises to $10, 2 folds, MP calls $8.

Flop: ($23) 5

, 8

, 9

(2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($23) T

(2 players)
MP bets $4, Hero raises to $22, MP raises to $40, Hero raises to $194, MP calls $73.05 (All-In).

River: ($330.05) T

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $249.10

Here's a hand i like how i played. Button is a big fish, spewy aggro and a station. I think my CiB on the turn is optimal versus this player as it allows him the opportunity to either call with a draw, thinking he has excellent odds, or to bluff, as there is still some money behind.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP ($453.95)
Hero ($226.70)
Button ($226.35)
SB ($41.50)
BB ($33.30)
UTG ($136.75)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8

, 8

.
2 folds, Hero raises to $6, Button calls $6, 2 folds.

Flop: ($15) J

, 3

, 8

(2 players)
Hero bets $10, Button calls $10.

Turn: ($35) 8

(2 players)
Hero bets $22, Button raises to $58, Hero raises to $94, Button calls $36.

River: ($223) 6

(2 players)
Hero bets $116.7 (All-In), Button calls $116.35 (All-In).

Final Pot: $455.70

on the JJ hand i think we could find a fold after he raises you on flop.

when we lead we prefer opp to become passive and call us down. we bet bet bet depending on how texture evolves.

so when he raises its sets/ big draws/2pair/overpair. imo he wud call with weak draws like non nut ones. i dont think theres enough air in his range here to get it in on this flop bcoz its very wet board.

i think we can lead/fold here. also i think leading is fine since opp's wont be c/b'ing this board unless they hit/protecting. overall its a tough hand to play. im interested tho to hear arguements for leading and checking since checking gives us more info on opp's hand. if we check then we c/c flop and tend to be calling another street or leading river so it does suck. leading may well be best tho hard to quantify.

btw why no 3bet preflop?

2k hands, finished up 2 buy ins. No major spews, ran well.

Interesting hand, mostly because it's a 3bet pot 200bb deep. SB is an unknown, only 50 hands with him running nitty. He had already 3bet a couple times at the table though.

I decided not to raise the flop at the time because i felt that getting all in on the flop would be marginal and that a raise would commit me to the pot. After reviewing the hand, i like a very small flop raise (to $75 or so) as it would better define my opponents range and charge any potential drawing hands. I also just stoved SB's 3bet range and with AK i'm about a 15% favorite, so when i raise my hand is actually a bluffcatcher if he 3bets! If SB had just called my flop raise and checked on the turn i'd have bet/folded for $100.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($239.10)
UTG ($103.80)
MP ($209.45)
Hero ($400.30)
SB ($470.30)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K

, A

.
2 folds, Hero raises to $6, SB raises to $22, 1 fold, Hero calls $16.

Flop: ($46) 8

, 4

, K

(2 players)
SB bets $32, Hero calls $32.

Turn: ($110) 9

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $66, SB folds.

Final Pot: $110

2k hands, down 10.5 buy ins. Ugh. I don't feel too disappointed about poker today, as i managed to make some difficult folds when i might have otherwise tilt called/jammed. I imagine i ran below expectation today lol.

Here are my screw ups from 08/12/2008:

My flop 3bet is clearly much worse than calling the c/r, as my opponents' range is very polarized and the board is very dry. I'll need to shorten my sessions if i see more of these easily avoidable spews.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($128.90)
SB ($198)
BB ($200)
UTG ($231.40)
MP ($197)
Hero ($200)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K

, K

.
1 fold, MP raises to $8, Hero raises to $24, 3 folds, MP calls $16.

Flop: ($51) 9

, A

, 2

(2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $26, MP raises to $88, Hero raises to $176

By felting my pair of 3's, i am essentially bluffing versus his calling range. While felting is probably not a major mistake as the effective SPR in the hand is 2, i need 66% fold equity if i never win the hand when called. I probably don't have that much FE, as CO was a station.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($45.70)
Button ($185.75)
SB ($196.45)
BB ($104.80)
Hero ($209.85)
MP ($130.80)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 3

, 3

.
Hero raises to $8, 1 fold, CO calls $8, 3 folds.

Flop: ($19) 4

, 2

, 9

(2 players)
Hero bets $42

Given the board texture, knowing my opponent isn't that aggressive, and my perception of his range, not continuation betting on this board was a mistake. BTN would definitely 4bet QQ+ so there are very few made hands in his range he is going to raise my cbet with, as he won't felt hands like TT on this flop.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($200)
MP ($212.60)
CO ($203)
Button ($237)
Hero ($198)
BB ($204.65)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7

, 7

.
3 folds, Button raises to $6, Hero raises to $22, 1 fold, Button calls $16.

Flop: ($46) 8

, 4

, 5

(2 players)
Hero checks

Using Pokerstove to determine BB's range i found i actually only have about 30% equity on the turn, a lot worse than i thought during the hand. Also, considering that BB hadn't check/raised a flop over 100 hands, calling the flop and folding to a turn bet would be a better line than calling the flop and jamming on a blank turn.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($197)
BB ($200)
UTG ($207.35)
MP ($156.10)
Hero ($218.15)
Button ($200)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K

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