Good play sometimes = small losses

Played 427 hands of 100nl tonight losing $32.30. I have noticed a difference in the quality of play, but there are still plenty of terrible players out there to make this a worthwhile jump.

PF play has become more aggressive with many 3-bets PF. The strange thing about it was that it happened quite frequently against me early in my session. I don't have a lot of hands recorded at 100nl since back in the summer. This generally would mean an entirely different player pool would be at this level as most of the others would have moved up, busted or dropped down in levels. So with a small amount of hands recorded, players shouldn't reraise me lightly without a a fairly good to premium hand. But, I was getting reraised liked I was playing ATC (any two cards).

Generally, this would indicate to narrow your opening ranges, but I was already playing fairly tight with my PF play. So I reversed my thought process and widened my PF ranges for opening and 3-betting. This had a two-fold effect on my game for the remainder of the session, at least I hoped it would! 1) Players knew I wasn't going to be pushed around, and slowed down their play...2) I hoped to catch a premium hand and play it as fast as possible PF.

I chopped at pot where I had another player dominated in the only hand I get all-in on the evening. He was playing recklessly, overbetting the pot, getting other players to fold.



FullTiltPoker Game #5246157670: Table Skoglund (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:20:13 ET - 2008/02/13
Seat 1: vietfuture69 ($113.95)
Seat 3: birdiemachine ($97.50)
Seat 4: Fallen Monkey ($20.80)
Seat 5: Jennnyy19 ($180.20)
Seat 6: jordan748 ($155.15)
veca86 sits down
vietfuture69 posts the small blind of $0.50
birdiemachine posts the big blind of $1
veca86 adds $50
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to birdiemachine [As Js]
Fallen Monkey folds
Jennnyy19 folds
jordan748 raises to $4
vietfuture69 calls $3.50
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine raises to $15
Fallen Monkey: he should never have stayed that long
jordan748 folds
vietfuture69 calls $11
*** FLOP *** [8s 8d Jd]
vietfuture69 bets $98.95, and is all in
birdiemachine calls $82.50, and is all in
vietfuture69 shows [Qs Jh]
birdiemachine shows [As Js]
Uncalled bet of $16.45 returned to vietfuture69
*** TURN *** [8s 8d Jd] [4d]
*** RIVER *** [8s 8d Jd 4d] [8c] .....YUCK!
Fallen Monkey: he had to know he was fighting kings
vietfuture69 shows a full house, Eights full of Jacks
birdiemachine shows a full house, Eights full of Jacks
vietfuture69 ties for the pot ($98) with a full house, Eights full of Jacks
birdiemachine ties for the pot ($98) with a full house, Eights full of Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $199 Rake $3
Board: [8s 8d Jd 4d 8c]
Seat 1: vietfuture69 (small blind) showed [Qs Jh] and won ($98) with a full house, Eights full of Jacks
Seat 3: birdiemachine (big blind) showed [As Js] and won ($98) with a full house, Eights full of Jacks
Seat 4: Fallen Monkey didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Jennnyy19 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: jordan748 (button) folded before the Flop


Add this to my session tonight and I'm a good winner. Typical variance that you must expect. The only thing we should worry about is making (+EV) decisions which will make us money long-term...not everything will work, but good decisions over and over eventually profit over poor play.

I made a few good decisions tonight that I believe saved me or made me money because of either the action in the hand, or the style of play the opposition used. 1st hand example...


FullTiltPoker Game #5246106984: Table Arbordale (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:16:30 ET - 2008/02/13
Seat 1: cameast ($100)
Seat 2: birdiemachine ($100)
Seat 3: Alpha_Kitty ($124.80)
Seat 4: gnomeontilt ($101)
Seat 5: michael98092 ($40.15)
Seat 6: poopoolatte ($102.35), is sitting out
michael98092 posts the small blind of $0.50
cameast posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to birdiemachine [Qc Ah]
birdiemachine raises to $3.50
Alpha_Kitty calls $3.50
gnomeontilt folds
michael98092 folds
cameast folds
*** FLOP *** [2h Ad 6s]
birdiemachine bets $6
michael98092: Alpha, would you care to take this to a heads up game?
Alpha_Kitty has 15 seconds left to act
Alpha_Kitty calls $6
*** TURN *** [2h Ad 6s] [3s]
Alpha_Kitty: sure
birdiemachine checks.....I feel like I'm behind, but I want to make a play on river to find out for sure.
Alpha_Kitty has 15 seconds left to act
Alpha_Kitty: find the table
Alpha_Kitty bets $15
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine calls $15
*** RIVER *** [2h Ad 6s 3s] [7c]
birdiemachine bets $26 ....I lead out for 60% of the pot...hopefully representing 45...maybe two-pair
Alpha_Kitty has 15 seconds left to act
Alpha_Kitty raises to $100.30, and is all in ....They move in and I can't call...saving the $50 I had left in my stack. Many times in the past, I would build a big pot on an early street and get myself committed to the pot. Only to lose to a better hand. This play is also player dependant as I knew I was up against a quality player that wouldnt overvalue AJ, A10..about the only hands I beat.
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine folds
Uncalled bet of $74.30 returned to Alpha_Kitty
Alpha_Kitty mucks
Alpha_Kitty wins the pot ($99.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $102.50 Rake $3
Board: [2h Ad 6s 3s 7c]
Seat 1: cameast (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: birdiemachine folded on the River
Seat 3: Alpha_Kitty collected ($99.50), mucked
Seat 4: gnomeontilt (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: michael98092 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: poopoolatte is sitting out


2nd hand...this one makes money!


FullTiltPoker Game #5246604767: Table Belmont (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:53:42 ET - 2008/02/13
Seat 1: birdiemachine ($93.50)
Seat 2: wagz34 ($222.75)
Seat 3: s-dubya ($128.90)
Seat 4: bigtooler1 ($96.95)
Seat 5: LegalRobbery ($106.85)
Seat 6: Masterplan666 ($100)
LegalRobbery posts the small blind of $0.50
Masterplan666 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to birdiemachine [Jh Jc]
birdiemachine raises to $3.50...standard PF raise
wagz34 has 15 seconds left to act
wagz34 folds
s-dubya folds
bigtooler1 folds
LegalRobbery raises to $11 ....Standard 3-bet, but this player was playing rather nitty with 12/8/3 numbers. So, I put him on a very narrow range of QQ+...possibly KK+...I'm dominated, but I have the implied odds to call.
Masterplan666 folds
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine calls $7.50
*** FLOP *** [6c 5h As]
LegalRobbery has 15 seconds left to act
LegalRobbery bets $15
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine raises to $41 ...Normally this would be an auto-fold, but I got thinking what if they do have KK or QQ...they must hate this flop. Also with the nitty play, they normally slow play this monster flop with a mini bet or even a check. So I decide to test the waters and see if I can steal this pot. I represent AK which would take this exact line and win the pot. I'm done with the hand if I get called or raised.
LegalRobbery has 15 seconds left to act
LegalRobbery adds $19.15
LegalRobbery folds
Uncalled bet of $26 returned to birdiemachine
birdiemachine mucks
birdiemachine wins the pot ($50.35)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $53 Rake $2.65
Board: [6c 5h As]
Seat 1: birdiemachine collected ($50.35), mucked
Seat 2: wagz34 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: s-dubya didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: bigtooler1 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: LegalRobbery (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Masterplan666 (big blind) folded before the Flop

Bankroll stands at....$5596.55