![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
That which does not kill us.
May. 8th, 2005 04:26 pmIsn't it a Chinese saying that that which does not kill us, makes us stronger? Hogwash, I normally say to this. But here's some lessons from today:
1) Never play in tournaments where the entry fee is of any significance whatsoever.
If you did, then this kind of thing might bother you. Level 2: Hand 12. I am one off the button.
Texas Hold'em No Limit (15/30)
Seat 1: ducato (2160 in chips)
Seat 2: vanderfoz (2440 in chips)
Seat 4: scaz (1130 in chips)
Seat 5: wpr1 (1910 in chips)
Seat 6: Speeder (3180 in chips)
Seat 7: WilsosKid (1590 in chips)
Seat 8: panda (1350 in chips)
Seat 9: KJWARD00 (1260 in chips)
Seat 10: _PJB_ (1480 in chips)
vanderfoz: posts small blind 15
scaz: posts big blind 30
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to _PJB_ [Qh Qd]
wpr1: calls 30
Speeder: calls 30
WilsosKid: folds
panda: calls 30
KJWARD00: raises to 1260 and is all-in
Well, I'm not laying down QQ in this position, if only because most people with AA do not raise all-in any more. Everyone duly folds.
_PJB_: raises to 1480 and is all-in
Returned uncalled bets 220 to _PJB_
_PJB_: shows [Qh Qd]
KJWARD00: shows [9h 9c]
Right on!
----- FLOP ----- [6c 3h 4s]
So far so good.
----- TURN ----- [6c 3h 4s][9d]
Shit.
----- RIVER ----- [6c 3h 4s 9d][5d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
_PJB_: shows [Qh Qd] (A Pair of Queens)
KJWARD00: shows [9h 9c] (Three of a kind, Nines)
KJWARD00 collected 2655 from Main pot.
Very next hand (so, you might be able to work out that I am now 2 off the button)
Table "150_BONUS 567591 - 3" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: ducato (2160 in chips)
Seat 2: vanderfoz (2425 in chips)
Seat 4: scaz (1100 in chips)
Seat 5: wpr1 (1880 in chips)
Seat 6: Speeder (3150 in chips)
Seat 7: WilsosKid (1590 in chips)
Seat 8: panda (1320 in chips)
Seat 9: KJWARD00 (2655 in chips)
Seat 10: _PJB_ (220 in chips)
scaz: posts small blind 15
wpr1: posts big blind 30
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to _PJB_ [6h 7h]
Speeder: folds
WilsosKid: folds
panda: folds
KJWARD00: calls 30
_PJB_: calls 30
ducato: calls 30
vanderfoz: calls 30
scaz: calls 15
wpr1: checks
----- FLOP ----- [9c 8d Ts]
Woohoo!
scaz: checks
wpr1: checks
KJWARD00: checks
_PJB_: bets 190 and is all-in
ducato: raises to 2130 and is all-in
vanderfoz: folds
scaz: folds
wpr1: folds
KJWARD00: folds
Returned uncalled bets 1,940 to ducato
ducato: shows [Qd Js]
Oh.
----- TURN ----- [9c 8d Ts][3d]
----- RIVER ----- [9c 8d Ts 3d][Ad]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
ducato: shows [Qd Js] (A Straight, Queen high)
_PJB_: shows [6h 7h] (A Straight, Ten high)
ducato collected 560 from Main pot
End of tournament. Like I say, lucky that I never play for any money that matters in tournies, else I might have been annoyed. As it was. I was half-pleased to be out of it.
2:) Try not to let things which reallky aren't thatimportant drive you mad.
This is because I have lost a cheque. This is the kind of thing that drives me mental, even though I know that it shouldn't, and that no real harm has been done. It spurred me into a manic clean-up of the flat. I ripped up rubbish, tideied up the CDs, threw stuff away, and went generally manic. I knew that I wouldn't find the cheque, but I felt that something needed to be done about the kibble that had built up. And I'm going to do more of it next weekend, because, well, it did make me feel better.
But it's now 4.45pm, and I haven't even looked at the newspaper yet.
Not a bad morning at the $5-$10. I made a couple of mistakes that I spotted, and that was what I ended down, two big bets after four hours. But I HAD been $260 down, twice. Bad beats outnumbered good beats by four to one in that session I reckon. So, I didn't do badly.
Feeney once said that he felt no different if he went to $1200 up and then back to $100 up, from how he felt if he went $1100 down and back to $100 up. But ask him if he felt better going $100 up and going to $100 down, or going $1500 down and getting back to $100 down. I think there might be a different answer.
Getting out of schtuck is always nice. BUT, there's a kind of hand where I seem to be hitting trouble. Here's an example.
I'm in Mp2 with AT off. A weak player limps in UTG2. What do I do?
I decide to raise to isolate. I am likely to be beating this man, or at least be 50:50 at worst.
I then get a single flat-caller behind me (in CO2), plus the limper.
The flop comes Ace-seven-three two spades (I have no spade). Limper checks. What do I do?
I decide to bet. CO2 raises. Limper folds. What do I do?
I call.
Turn is a raggy card. What do I do?
I bet: CO2 raises. What do I do?
I fold.
So, I'm $35 in the hole on this hand and I could have acted differently on at least four separate occasions. I can be rocky the rock and fold before the flop. Or I can flat-call (although, trust me, this is wrong). But I raise.
I hate the flat-calls behind me in these situations (I'd rather be reraised).
On the flop of Axx I can't see how I can not bet. BUt, do I fold to the raise? That seems a bit wimpy. Could be a four-flush, or a big pair testing me. Do I reraise? That's an option. But I decided to bet again on the turn if a spade doesn't come. By not reraising, I'm not committing the other guy to the pot if he has the 4-flush.
So, I bet the rag turn, and he raises me again. I can't see how I am winning this hand and I suspect I have three outs (the tens), but I'm already in for $35. Do I flat-call the last two big bets for another $20?
$35 here and $35 there adds up. At $2-$4 I would get into a bad habit of flat-calling to the end, and I would lose 95% of the time. Once I stopped doing that, my figures improved. But is $5-$10 different? I suspect not.
My other couple of errors were (a) betting at the end when I missed the possibility that a player would flat-call a raise with 65 suited (the river gave him the straight). I should have checked and called rather than bet for value.
2) Calling a couple of times at the end "for value". BDD reckons that in limit "even a chimp can work out that it's right to call at the end", but $5-$10 seems remarkably similar to $2-$4 in at least this respect. If you bet the river and are raised, or if you are check-raised on the river, you are losing. Not 90% of the time, but 99% of the time. OK, there are SOME (easily identifiable) drunk maniacs whom you always have to call down, but I have yet to meet a player at these levels with the brains or guts to check-raise anything but the nuts or near-to-it when at the river. With top pair I should have walked away, even though both pots were laying me 7-to-1. I was a 99-to-1 outsider (the 1% here being the chance that the opponent had pressed the wrong button by mistake).
1) Never play in tournaments where the entry fee is of any significance whatsoever.
If you did, then this kind of thing might bother you. Level 2: Hand 12. I am one off the button.
Texas Hold'em No Limit (15/30)
Seat 1: ducato (2160 in chips)
Seat 2: vanderfoz (2440 in chips)
Seat 4: scaz (1130 in chips)
Seat 5: wpr1 (1910 in chips)
Seat 6: Speeder (3180 in chips)
Seat 7: WilsosKid (1590 in chips)
Seat 8: panda (1350 in chips)
Seat 9: KJWARD00 (1260 in chips)
Seat 10: _PJB_ (1480 in chips)
vanderfoz: posts small blind 15
scaz: posts big blind 30
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to _PJB_ [Qh Qd]
wpr1: calls 30
Speeder: calls 30
WilsosKid: folds
panda: calls 30
KJWARD00: raises to 1260 and is all-in
Well, I'm not laying down QQ in this position, if only because most people with AA do not raise all-in any more. Everyone duly folds.
_PJB_: raises to 1480 and is all-in
Returned uncalled bets 220 to _PJB_
_PJB_: shows [Qh Qd]
KJWARD00: shows [9h 9c]
Right on!
----- FLOP ----- [6c 3h 4s]
So far so good.
----- TURN ----- [6c 3h 4s][9d]
Shit.
----- RIVER ----- [6c 3h 4s 9d][5d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
_PJB_: shows [Qh Qd] (A Pair of Queens)
KJWARD00: shows [9h 9c] (Three of a kind, Nines)
KJWARD00 collected 2655 from Main pot.
Very next hand (so, you might be able to work out that I am now 2 off the button)
Table "150_BONUS 567591 - 3" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: ducato (2160 in chips)
Seat 2: vanderfoz (2425 in chips)
Seat 4: scaz (1100 in chips)
Seat 5: wpr1 (1880 in chips)
Seat 6: Speeder (3150 in chips)
Seat 7: WilsosKid (1590 in chips)
Seat 8: panda (1320 in chips)
Seat 9: KJWARD00 (2655 in chips)
Seat 10: _PJB_ (220 in chips)
scaz: posts small blind 15
wpr1: posts big blind 30
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to _PJB_ [6h 7h]
Speeder: folds
WilsosKid: folds
panda: folds
KJWARD00: calls 30
_PJB_: calls 30
ducato: calls 30
vanderfoz: calls 30
scaz: calls 15
wpr1: checks
----- FLOP ----- [9c 8d Ts]
Woohoo!
scaz: checks
wpr1: checks
KJWARD00: checks
_PJB_: bets 190 and is all-in
ducato: raises to 2130 and is all-in
vanderfoz: folds
scaz: folds
wpr1: folds
KJWARD00: folds
Returned uncalled bets 1,940 to ducato
ducato: shows [Qd Js]
Oh.
----- TURN ----- [9c 8d Ts][3d]
----- RIVER ----- [9c 8d Ts 3d][Ad]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
ducato: shows [Qd Js] (A Straight, Queen high)
_PJB_: shows [6h 7h] (A Straight, Ten high)
ducato collected 560 from Main pot
End of tournament. Like I say, lucky that I never play for any money that matters in tournies, else I might have been annoyed. As it was. I was half-pleased to be out of it.
2:) Try not to let things which reallky aren't thatimportant drive you mad.
This is because I have lost a cheque. This is the kind of thing that drives me mental, even though I know that it shouldn't, and that no real harm has been done. It spurred me into a manic clean-up of the flat. I ripped up rubbish, tideied up the CDs, threw stuff away, and went generally manic. I knew that I wouldn't find the cheque, but I felt that something needed to be done about the kibble that had built up. And I'm going to do more of it next weekend, because, well, it did make me feel better.
But it's now 4.45pm, and I haven't even looked at the newspaper yet.
Not a bad morning at the $5-$10. I made a couple of mistakes that I spotted, and that was what I ended down, two big bets after four hours. But I HAD been $260 down, twice. Bad beats outnumbered good beats by four to one in that session I reckon. So, I didn't do badly.
Feeney once said that he felt no different if he went to $1200 up and then back to $100 up, from how he felt if he went $1100 down and back to $100 up. But ask him if he felt better going $100 up and going to $100 down, or going $1500 down and getting back to $100 down. I think there might be a different answer.
Getting out of schtuck is always nice. BUT, there's a kind of hand where I seem to be hitting trouble. Here's an example.
I'm in Mp2 with AT off. A weak player limps in UTG2. What do I do?
I decide to raise to isolate. I am likely to be beating this man, or at least be 50:50 at worst.
I then get a single flat-caller behind me (in CO2), plus the limper.
The flop comes Ace-seven-three two spades (I have no spade). Limper checks. What do I do?
I decide to bet. CO2 raises. Limper folds. What do I do?
I call.
Turn is a raggy card. What do I do?
I bet: CO2 raises. What do I do?
I fold.
So, I'm $35 in the hole on this hand and I could have acted differently on at least four separate occasions. I can be rocky the rock and fold before the flop. Or I can flat-call (although, trust me, this is wrong). But I raise.
I hate the flat-calls behind me in these situations (I'd rather be reraised).
On the flop of Axx I can't see how I can not bet. BUt, do I fold to the raise? That seems a bit wimpy. Could be a four-flush, or a big pair testing me. Do I reraise? That's an option. But I decided to bet again on the turn if a spade doesn't come. By not reraising, I'm not committing the other guy to the pot if he has the 4-flush.
So, I bet the rag turn, and he raises me again. I can't see how I am winning this hand and I suspect I have three outs (the tens), but I'm already in for $35. Do I flat-call the last two big bets for another $20?
$35 here and $35 there adds up. At $2-$4 I would get into a bad habit of flat-calling to the end, and I would lose 95% of the time. Once I stopped doing that, my figures improved. But is $5-$10 different? I suspect not.
My other couple of errors were (a) betting at the end when I missed the possibility that a player would flat-call a raise with 65 suited (the river gave him the straight). I should have checked and called rather than bet for value.
2) Calling a couple of times at the end "for value". BDD reckons that in limit "even a chimp can work out that it's right to call at the end", but $5-$10 seems remarkably similar to $2-$4 in at least this respect. If you bet the river and are raised, or if you are check-raised on the river, you are losing. Not 90% of the time, but 99% of the time. OK, there are SOME (easily identifiable) drunk maniacs whom you always have to call down, but I have yet to meet a player at these levels with the brains or guts to check-raise anything but the nuts or near-to-it when at the river. With top pair I should have walked away, even though both pots were laying me 7-to-1. I was a 99-to-1 outsider (the 1% here being the chance that the opponent had pressed the wrong button by mistake).
