Seeing as it's you

[peterbirks]

I bought myself a new pair of spectacles yesterday. Nice Mr Optician said that my eyes were healthy, but that over the past four years my eyesight had deteriorated from -0.75 in the right eye and -1.0 in the left to -1.75 in both. The perils of age. At this point he noted exactly what I had been thinking — if I had gone through the misery of laser surgery, my eyesiight would now be -0.75 in one eye and -1.0 in the other, meaning that I would need exactly the same glasses as I had had before the surgery.

There's one downside to the new glasses. With the old ones, I can keep them on when working on the computer (although I have to take them off for reading). With the new ones, the "Kestrel Extra-Strength" means that I can't wear them for the computer. However, I'm not really comfortable with no glasses for the computer (not for online poker, in anny case), so I'm using the old glasses when working on the computer, no glasses for reading, and the new glasses for anything long-distance (watching TV, driving, station train indicators, etc). Bahh, complicated.

++++++++++++


A storming day yesterday (except on Full Tilt, natch). And this morning it actually looked as if my luck had changed on the nemesis site as well.





FullTiltPoker Game $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: Mitsu_Fantes ($120.70)
Seat 2: bhjvb ($106.30)
Seat 3: gurikin ($89.25)
Seat 4: Villain ($47.95)
Seat 5: warrior angel ($98.50)
Seat 6: McSparky ($126.60)
Seat 7: Burger Frase ($96.30)
Seat 8: Hero ($93.25)
Seat 9: ManaIda ($102.95)
McSparky posts the small blind of $0.50
Burger Frase posts the big blind of $1
5 seconds left to act
Villain posts $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [6♠ 6♣]
Hero raises to $3

all fold to

Villain calls $2
warrior angel folds
McSparky folds
Burger Frase calls $2

*** FLOP *** [K♠ 4◊ 6♡]

I flopped a set. Has the world gone mad?

Burger Frase checks
Hero bets $6
Villain calls $6
Burger Frase folds

*** TURN *** [K♠ 4◊ 6♡] [8♡]

Hero bets $18
Villain raises to $36
Hero raises to $54
Villain calls $2.95, and is all in
Hero shows [6♠ 6♣]
Villain shows [K♡ 2♡]

*** RIVER *** [K♠ 4◊ 6♡ 8♡] [3♣]

Hero shows three of a kind, Sixes
Villain shows a pair of Kings
Hero wins the pot ($96.40) with three of a kind, Sixes
Villain is sitting out

++++++++++++++


However, Full Tilt is a capricious mistress. The next hand, the very next hand, at another table (where I had just sat down), I got Jh2h in the big blind and it was passed round to the small blind, who completed. Flop came Kh7h3h. By the river, he turned over Ah9h. Flopped flush vs flopped flush in the blinds. Man this site sure does fucking hate me :-).

Is just completing in the SB with A9 suited a standard play in No Limit when it's been passed round? I know that I'd probably raise $3 with it.


Managed to get back to $25 down for the short session, but what the fuck do I have to book a win here? Sacrifice a goat? Figures for $100 buy-in now minus $237 over 10,700 hands. At least it's less than the $520 rake :-)

The site has me in despair.

________________________

Comments

leave the goats alone!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Peter,

I think murdering innocent livestock will have little effect on your results, don't do it...

The current poor results are almost certain to be mainly down to running poorly over a small sample. Against an aggressive player the jack-high flush needs to be felted every time obviously, you aren't trying to become Mystic Meg!

Something worth noting from the previous post and hand analysis was the consensus that your bet/raise sizes in some spots might be a bit small. I'm not saying it's a bad idea to actually think, then type in, but I usually hit the 'bet pot' button on Full Tilt which (even if you occasionally alter the amount) avoids this kind of error.

I find the AQ hand you folded versus the aggro player to be quite interesting. That flop min-raise can accomplish a few things for him. Since you merely called the bet, he might put you on a weak ace or an underpair, or you could be trapping with AK. When you just called the turn bet he knows you are weak. I think you definitely have to call on the river - not only are you getting great value on you money (which may be intentional on his part) but it will pay for itself in information for future hands if you lose. Maybe you'll have been shown A4, A8 or, yuck AJ or air, still it's a spot where you certainly have to pay to see 'em.

FWIW against players who I think are awake but tend towards the tighter end of the spectrum I will sometimes make these type of small bets as a bluff - it's pretty cheap and it looks very strong! If you get called fine, that enables you to value bet thinner and is part of the strategy of 'merging your range', getting more out of medium-strength hands and otherwise rocky opponents who are well aware of the concept of the zero value bet.

Keep plugging away and you will beat your nemesis, I've no doubt about it.

James.

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

I'm using the old glasses when working on the computer, no glasses for reading, and the new glasses for anything long-distance

Have you considered bi- or varifocals? Dad swears by them.

[peterbirks.livejournal.com]

Optincian said that bi-focals wren't quite right, because I can read the screen without glasses. I only use my "old" glasses at home because I have a three-screen layout, so I have to sit further away from the screen to see everything. At work, I just take off my glasses.

But the varifocal system might well have to come into play in a couple of years.

PJ