(Casino $100NL) Losing whole stack on second hand. Hard road to come back?
In this topic, I'm going to recall 3 key hands at a 4 hour casino session that defined my first serious casino session. I'm wondering whether or not my plays are bad or is it just natural variance.
I've been playing poker for about 6-7 years, mostly in $20 home games and free university games and free online poker and I've read quite a few books. Dan Harrington's holdem workbooks, Phil Gordon's blue and green, and theory of poker by Sklansky are among my favourites (I won them as season champion at university poker society). I'm currently 21 years old and I got a $4000 bankroll dedicated to poker which I'm going to try to build up as a semi serious hobby. I am interested in your opinions about how my sessions went, and I hope this to be the first of many topics to come about casino sessions.
Casino table structure
- 9 players per table
- Minimum buy-in: $80, Maximum buy-in: $100
- SB/BB: $1-$2
- Rake: 10% per pot capped at $8
- Hourly Time Charge Fee: $5
Buy in: $100, -$5 -$2 = $93
HAND ONE:
Waited for BB, watched the table play about 6-7 hands. Identified the button in the next hand as a LAgg player who's played the last 4 out of 7 hands and won 3 of them. His stack is just under $180 (I think).
SB: (Me - K10 rainbow) - posted $1
BB: $2
Fold, Fold
3rd player behind me: Raise to $6
Call, Call, Call, Button Calls
Me($86): calls $5 more for value
BB: calls $4 for value
Pot: $42
Flop: K 3 6 rainbow
Me: check
Everyone: check behind
Turn: Q
Me($71): Bet $15
Everyone folds to button. Button raise to $30
Me($56): Calls $15 more - questionable play
Pot: $102
River: 8
Me($56): Check - questionable play.
Button: Bet $45
Me: (I'm thinking I can't call here, either fold or all in, I chose the latter - questionable play).
What do you guys think about this so far? Mistakes in not being able to put down top pair? Or is it simply because maximum buyin is too small for comfortable play?
RESULTS
Button: K 3 for two pairs wins the pot.
Me: Reload for $100 more and curse under my breath for losing $100 in only the second hand. Feeling really unsatisfied at myself at this moment. I'm thinking that I've made a few below average plays.
The most interesting thing about this hand IS NOT the play imo, but rather the psychological damage dealt in losing $100 in less than 3 minutes in only your second hand of play. How would you have dealed with it?
Hand Two
It was some agonizing and draining 2.5 hours playing whilst down, I've won a few pots by bluffing and a few more for having the nuts and unfortunately not having many takers, had my QQ hold up against 33 as he tried to move in on me and also having a fish call my QQ bets (again) and finally deciding to fold on turn. I also lost a few by folding a couple of bluff when running into legitimate hands. I'm now at about $190 to just below $200 in chips (my highest point was $245 before folding my bluff) and I'm probably second-third highest in chip stack on my table. (P.S. the button player in hand 1 gone broke with his massive stack, reloaded and gone broke again)
A few players have left, and I think we're on 6-7 players.
SB: $1
BB: $2
UTG: fold
UTG+1: calls $2
Me: AQ suited diamonds, raise to $10
LP: Calls $10
Button (had about $90 more or less in chips): Calls $10
SB: folds
BB: folds
UTG+1: folds.
Pot: (I didn't calculate at the time, I roughly estimated it to be around $30, but now at hindsight, the pot was $35)
Flop: Q 8 2 (rainbow again, 1 diamond)
Me(<$175): bet $15
LP: folds
Button(I'm guessing around $60-$70 left): calls $15
Pot: $65.
Turn: 9 clubs
Me: Bet $30
Button: All in
Me: Called
Hmmm? What's going on here? I think I'm priced in and had to call. I think there's no way I could have known about anything on the turn. Do I lead out to bet or check? I always tended to go aggressive and bet, checking imo is too passive and would lead to too many pots stolen off of you. Your thoughts?
RESULTS
Button: pocket 9s. I'm drawing dead.
River: some random non consequential card.
Now I'm back down to around $100ish and I'm feeling really sh*tty. Comments?
Hand Three
Another one hour have passed and I'm not gonna tell you which player I am. I am hoping that you'll analyse this hand as we go along.
New table of 9 players with big stacks amongst the players.
SB: $1
BB: $2
a few folds, a few calls (seriously, why just call $2?)
Mid Position TAgg player - call him X.
X has been playing tight for the last 10-15 hands, only played once in late position with a raise and folded BBs to aggressive late position raises. Chip Count: just below $90.
random person 1 behind X
random person 2 behind X
Button - Solid player - call him Y.
Y has been playing about a third of the hands in the last 10-15 hands. Has just won a big hand and lost a big hand from second best hand. Regardless, he has been LAgg compared to the other players on the table. Chip Count: around $350 and playing well.
Anyways,
X bets $10, random 1 folds, random 2 calls, Y raises to $25. X calls, random 2 folds.
Pot: around $70
X: stack around $70
Y: stack around $325.
Flop: K K 2
X: All in.
Y: After long contemplation, folds.
Comments? Predictions on what the players had, how they should have played? Analysis?
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Make up your mind before reading further.
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****SPOILERS RESULTS SPOILERS RESULTS SPOILERS RESULTS****
I am X. I took down the pot. Flipped over 78 suited diamonds for a stone cold bluff and to the amazement of everyone on the table. Y was saying that I'm very lucky because he was thinking of calling since my stack was so low.
I was representing AK or high pocket pair with a call of $15 more on top of the $10 preflop. My rationale was that Y either had a mid strength hand and is just playing the button and trying to be aggressive to push the other players out (kinda unlikely after seeing his reaction after flop) OR had something like a AQ or AJ or low pocket pairs.
If the former, he would have folded quicker since not only would he be afraid of the K, pairs, he would also be afraid of a high ace. Since he took so long, it led me to believe that he had a decent hand, i.e. scenario 2.
Therefore, he must have had something like AJ, AQ, A10, 77, 88, 99, 10 10. He would have reasoned that it is possible that I may have had a K and chose not to slow play it due to so much money on the table OR that I may have had a QQ or JJ and chose to put it all on the line, which would have beaten his AJ or AQ or lower pocket pairs anyways.
My chip stack is too low in comparison to the pot, therefore if I wanted to win this hand, I must bluff at it now showing strength. Any lesser bet - such as half the pot, would have had more probability in inducing a call if the opponent had a decent hand, which would leave the other player trapped to call any subsequent bets. If I run into a K, I lose.
Anyways, what are your thoughts?
P.S. I left the table after that because I was quite worn out, just before another time charge. I had $140, making this a losing session of -$60.
