Operation Learn to Read

So for those of you who know, I post alot, but don't have much to show for my learnings. I'm a big fan of SNGs, and a big fan of winning money, and just enjoy the challenge of playing poker. Recently, however, a heavy downswing, some tilting, and some playing out of roll killed my BR dead, and I'm back to the .10/.20 limit game playing supertight and trying to build a solid roll so I can return to the world of SNGs, where my heart lies.

Anyway, my big problem is that I don't play very heavily based on reads and don't pick up on particular betting patterns very well. I play my cards, the odds that you hit something, and position, which can be winning poker, but not expert poker, and not the level I want to take my game to.

So starting today, I'm going to be posting a table by table read on every player I sit down with, and my winnings from that table, and occasional hands that I show down behind with, along with my read on the player and why I made the calls. (for admin purposes I'll limit to 4 posts or so and just edit, erasing old ones and such)

The reads will go around to my left starting with 1, and ending with 9, and contain the following:

Loose/Tight/Very Loose/Very Tight
Passive/Aggressive
Can he laydown a hand postflop, if so, to what?
Will call down with ?
Will raise ?

The goals:

$200 BR by summer break.
5 SNG wins in a row by summer break
5 ITM finishes in MTTs in a row by end of summer
$1k By 2006
Learn to read.

Are you kidding me? Make it 4k at least!

Sounds like a good goal, though. Very disciplined.

I think that a $4K bank roll by '06 is more probable than 5 ITM finishes in a row in MTTs, but maybe I just suck at NL tournies.

In addition to indivual players, I think it would also be useful to try and make a read on the table as a whole.

Also add, "Make an honest effort to evaluate every hand history posted in the forum."

-'rilla

May do, may not, 'rilla. I certainly look most of them over. Johnny, I don't really go for the whole table read deal. I think it's good for table selection, but when I'm raising to narrow the field, I need to know what people are folding to. However, certainly, I'm going to try to look into how the table is reacting to my play as a whole, and trying to use that.

Anyway, game on.

Hand Histories is crashing on Absolute (not their fault, my computer has been sucking it up hardcore), so this is done off memory.

10/20c table:

Seat 1:
Semi-loose preflop, about 35%. Always calls from blinds. Aggressive when has something, doesn't fold much.
Seat 2:
Loose, plays about 75% of hands. Tighter postflop, fold if no hit, raise if hit hard. May call down 2 flop bets on a draw.
Seat 3:
Tight, camping. Aggressive post flop.
Seat 4:
Reloads with like a dollar, check your odds here. Limp anything preflop mostly folding to a raise though.
Seat 5a:
Likes his Ax. Semi-loose, about 30%.
Seat 5b:
(showed up after 5a left) Loose and will bluff damn near anything. Likes making position bluffs. Will call down after failing a bluff and may try to steal again later.
Seat 6:
Weak/tight. Slowplay trips.
Seat 7:
Looseish (35% or so). Semi-passive, only bets with decent hands or better.


Highlight of the day, flopping 2nd nuts with 88 on SB. Flop comes 668. Turn T, river 1. Seat 3, 5, and myself get into a raising war and cap every street, and on the river one seat 5 shows T8o and seat 3 shows 64o.

Consider it homework.

It could only help you.

-'rilla