Losing Left

How many millions of chips, how many hundreds of dollars have been lost to the person sitting to my immediate left? When I started poker I had no idea what position meant. I had no clue of the various advantages gained when acting last. I couldn’t begin to formulate plans for protecting chips from those on my left, simply because I did not realize I needed protection.

I am temporarily assigned to Attu Island right now. My plan for this trip is to look over my last 100 hands played on PokerStars. Specifically I will be looking at hands where I was out of position. Where I am looking to improve is the following areas:

1. Having a small hand and keeping the pot small.
2. Extracting chips with a monster hand.
3. Getting medium strength hands to showdown.
4. Staying away from bluffing at the wrong times.

Hopefully this will improve my game. I’ve been doing better over this period (last 100 hands) and I’d like to know what’s changed.

Tony Plays Too

A new blog starting up in place of another I had been reading:

http://tonyplayspoker.blogspot.com/

Check it out.

Our Cash Game

I arrived back in Sitka to find my old cash game in what I considered to be disarray. When I left three years ago we had two standard formats. Mostly we played .05/.10 blinds, with a $5 minimum and a $20 to $25 maximum. When we really wanted to throw money around, we would play a .10/.25 game with a $10/$50 min/max. The result of our 200+ big blind maximum was obvious to an experienced player. Differences in starting hand values were reduced because of the implied odds that a deep stack no-limit game presents. Playing solid poker, it would be very difficult for a player to get felted in one hand. Players who excelled at decision making post-flop were rewarded consistently.

Currently the games that are run use much shorter stacks. The .25/.50 game allows a buy-in of only $20, or 40 big blinds. The results are obvious. One of the first games I played in saw a very high percentage of all-ins (with calls) in the first 20-30 hands. On the first hand a player raised with pocket eights and had a couple callers. The flop came out something not so coordinated like Jx-7x-4x. It was checked to the better and he made a standard continuation bet. The player in the big blind check-raised, and the original better considered his options. He re-raised all-in and was called and beat by something like a J9o.

How do you lose your whole stack when an overcard falls on the flop in a cash game? With 40 BB, you might not have a choice. There are 75 cents in the pot to start. The raise made it $2 to go and was called by two players; let's say they were in the blinds, making the pot $6. Both blinds check and the original better makes it $5. He gets check-raised to $12. There is $23 in the pot and it only costs $7 to call. In a deep stack game, he might call to see if the turn is an 8, 9 or 10 - he's getting over 3:1 odds for the call. However, now he only has $13 behind if he folds. With $23 bucks in the pot, he's getting the same odds to move all-in and attempt to win $36 with his $13 as he would get with a flat call here. Given a loose-aggressive player on the big blind, he might have something like A7 with three of one suit, or 74 for a beatable two-pair. Given an overly conservative (not to be confused with tight) player, he might lay down 99 or TT here to a re-raise. So it's easy to see why a player would move in with merely pocket eights in this small stack situation.

There is another factor that may have influenced the move. House rules stated that a player can't chip up a short stack unless it falls below the $2 mark. Now a player with $13 behind is forced to try a tournament-style pre-flop move with strong hands. Otherwise his $2 raise commits too much of his stack.

The other game played is a $1/$2 game with a $50 max - only 25 big blinds!!! I refuse to try it because I can't afford to have my aces cracked and end up tabling $100 in a single night.

Giving and Taking

A response to a fellow Railbird's post about hitting top pair after raising pre-flop and betting every street only to be drowned by a river flush card:

I know it's been pounded into my head since I started playing that you can't give free cards.

However I think this is a place where you want to do just that. You only have a pair and you KNOW you won't get rid of a flush draw with any reasonable bet. So check. Then if the turn is safe, fire off the 2/3 pot bet, giving the player his 9 outs only once, thereby reducing his odds of winning by nearly half.

This is a helpful tactic in smallish buy-in loose-passive tournaments. Of course, you're basically losing chips by not betting on every street when you are ahead. But in a tournament you can only rarely win the thing with a single hand; you can always lose it.

In the Mood for Cash

I play terribly at cash games most of the time. The reason is simple: I take too many risks. When I am successful, I make laydowns that I would never think of doing in a tournament because (chances are) I am beat. In a tournament, you’ll never stay above the increasing blinds if you never take a risk. Here’s an example. Unfortunately this guy made an impossible bluff, and I would have had him beat. The decision was correct given the circumstances.

PokerStars Game #24347069285: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2009/01/27 21:09:19 ET
Table 'Lilaea V' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Tyler_WinAA ($25.90 in chips)
Seat 2: GoodFight.gf ($7 in chips)
Seat 3: board2 ($32.50 in chips)
Seat 4: legionverde ($25 in chips)
Seat 6: Couzin P ($9.75 in chips)
Seat 7: CgCook38 ($23.90 in chips)
Seat 8: Asterix 76 ($30.05 in chips)
CgCook38: posts small blind $0.10
Asterix 76: posts big blind $0.25
Snurrespratt: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Kd Kh]
aintitkewl joins the table at seat #5
Tyler_WinAA: calls $0.25
GoodFight.gf: folds
board2: folds
legionverde: folds
Couzin P: calls $0.25
CgCook38: raises $1.25 to $1.50
Asterix 76: folds
Tyler_WinAA: calls $1.25
Couzin P: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jd As Jh]
CgCook38: checks
Tyler_WinAA: checks
*** TURN *** [Jd As Jh] [8s]
CgCook38: checks
Tyler_WinAA: checks
*** RIVER *** [Jd As Jh 8s] [4h]
CgCook38: bets $1
Tyler_WinAA: raises $3 to $4
CgCook38: folds
Uncalled bet ($3) returned to Tyler_WinAA
Tyler_WinAA collected $5.25 from pot
Tyler_WinAA: shows [7h 7d] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $5.50 | Rake $0.25
Board [Jd As Jh 8s 4h]
Seat 1: Tyler_WinAA collected ($5.25)
Seat 2: GoodFight.gf folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: board2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: legionverde folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Couzin P (button) folded before Flop
Seat 7: CgCook38 (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 8: Asterix 76 (big blind) folded before Flop

Keeping the Pot Small(ish)

Following is a hand history from the very early stages of a 180-person sit and go. Actually it was twelve hands into it. At this stage I had folded for an entire round around the table, playing only my big blind and folding it straight away on the flop. I limped in on the button with a suited Ace and picked off three small bluff attempts by a player after flopping top pair with no kicker. This hand was two hands later.

PokerStars Game #23561574929: Tournament #131687831, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/01/04 10:18:52 ET
Table '131687831 19' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: CgCook38 (1730 in chips)
Seat 2: pie1972 (1720 in chips)
Seat 3: rend0207 (1130 in chips)
Seat 4: Famn (1070 in chips)
Seat 5: ppybunch (1670 in chips)
Seat 6: eepymike (3780 in chips)
Seat 7: FACOLOR (1400 in chips)
Seat 8: lowatt_sm (1370 in chips)
Seat 9: gprai (1030 in chips)
Famn: posts small blind 10
ppybunch: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Ac Ah]
eepymike: folds
FACOLOR: raises 60 to 80
lowatt_sm: folds
gprai: calls 80While certain times might allude to limping with aces, this is definitely not one of them. I need to raise, and I need to raise significantly.
CgCook38: raises 240 to 320
pie1972: folds
rend0207: folds
Famn: folds
ppybunch: folds
FACOLOR: calls 240 In most cases this would indicate a big hand. Online in a $4 tourney is a different story. He could have any hand and I am worried he might spike 2 pair or a set on me.
gprai: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc 3d Tc]
FACOLOR: checksWhat would you check with here? And should I bet? Either he’s got a great hand like JJ, TT, 33, JT, or he’s got nothing. If he has AJ or AT here, he’ll probably fire out to “see where he’s at”. If he has a pocket pair that didn’t hit, I might give up a little by checking here, as he may hit one of his two outs. If he’s got AK, and a Q comes out, I’m in a lot of trouble. That is still only four outs though.

However, checking has multiple advantages. First, it will disguise the true strength of my hand. Who checks aces after a flop like this? Second, if another club falls, I will be drawing to the nut flush, giving me additional outs against a made hand. Third, I keep the pot small, making it easier to get away if the board pairs on the turn, or if he goes all-in after I don’t see a club on the turn. Lastly, and likely the most important, if he does have a set and I fire a standard continuation bet into the pot of about 500 into the 750 pot and he goes all-in on a check raise, I will be pot committed and possibly way behind.

CgCook38: checks
*** TURN *** [Jc 3d Tc] [6c]There’s my club, and I have no intention of setting my hand down. If he checks to me I’m putting enough chips in to commit myself to the hand. If he’s got JJ, TT, or 33 I am still going to win 23% of the time (Thank You Cardplayer). That jumps to 36% if he’s got JT. Any other “big” hand that he has I have destroyed, with him only having between one and two outs to win.
FACOLOR: bets 1080 and is all-inAnd look at that, he put my money in for me - easy call, even when I am behind.
CgCook38: calls 1080
*** RIVER *** [Jc 3d Tc 6c] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FACOLOR: shows [Th Ts] (three of a kind, Tens)
CgCook38: shows [Ac Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
CgCook38 collected 2910 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2910 Rake 0
Board [Jc 3d Tc 6c Qc]
Seat 1: CgCook38 showed [Ac Ah] and won (2910) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: pie1972 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: rend0207 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Famn (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: ppybunch (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: eepymike folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: FACOLOR showed [Th Ts] and lost with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 8: lowatt_sm folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: gprai folded before Flop

This was a great result for me. I like keeping pots small when I am in position. I was 14% to win this hand on the flop, and it would have been foolish to commit myself to the hand with no knowledge of my opponent's holding. If I didn’t hit and ace or club on the turn, his all-in bet would have forced me off the hand. Otherwise I would likely check behind him to see the river. This is why I never-ever go for the check raise out of position with a re-raiser behind me. It’s way too dangerous to give free cards out of position.

My Goals for 2009

Alright. It’s a new year coming up. All my friends are doing it. It’s time for me to put some poker playing goals for the New Year on paper. So here’s a rough draft.

1. Play better poker. This is a great place to start. Obviously the point of putting down goals is to improve something. And I am one to believe that goals should actually be possible. And if it is possible for me to play better poker, I should be able to measure this. So I need to update 2008’s goals rather quickly. Here’s the entire list from the old year: 1. make a spreadsheet to track all poker playing for next year.
Really, this is such a stupid goal to start with. I can see already that all of my other goals will be a spin-off of this one. I should have just made “Playing Better Poker” the name of the blog. So here are my goals for playing better poker:

a. Track every single bit of poker activity. I’ve already been doing this (sort of) lately. The fact is, I am not tracking the losses. I should be tracking how well I am doing in what types of games. In the last month I have been killing the 18 and 27 person sit n’ go tourneys on PokerStars. However I can’t seem to win at any limit poker cash game. Also, I can run deep in any multi-table tourney on PokerStars, whereas Full Tilt gives me problems. These stats should be plain for me to see when I sign in.

b. Assign time and loss limits. Mike Caro talks about the dangers of playing to get through a losing streak in Brunson’s Super System II. I am a living example of someone who loses all sensitivity to losing online. I can easily drop $100 in my bankroll without blinking. I need to structure my play around this by placing limits on how many tourneys I can play and how much money I can lose relative to my bankroll in a day.

c. Log my major mistakes. I play amazing poker in stretches. Eventually after playing a boat load of winning sessions I stop paying attention to what blunders I have made. When I am losing, these missteps are blaring. During a win streak I will need to step back and break down major hands of tournaments, which may mean reviewing long strings of hand histories.

d. Log my brilliant plays. I’ve made some moves in poker where my intuition was at high tide. Quite a few of these end up emailed to my dad or uncle, and so are archived somewhere in a mass pile in my Gmail account. I can learn a lot from focusing on what signs my brain picked up on before I made the correct decision in extremely close calls. These could help me from chasing down hands I can’t win while maximizing the bets that I can win.

e. Blog more, Railbird more, talk to my poker friends more. Actually, I probably do the last two enough. All I ever talk about is poker, even to people that feign interest. Railbirds.com has become my favorite poker site. The group I am involved with on that site has really brought out a better poker player in me. I have an increased sense of accountability and confidence since joining them. Blogging is a great way for me to reflect on my play and to try and improve.

f. Bring more mental focus to tournaments. This may not be measurable. In the Sunday Warm-up last week I had three weeks to prep myself for the event. The result was a tournament where I lost focus once. I can improve on that focus, and bring it to every tournament I play in. The only problem I see with this approach is the incredible let down experienced after being knocked out of such a tournament. I was still letting out huge sighs on Tuesday. There is a happy median somewhere, and the answer may be to plan out larger tournaments farther in advance while continuing to play the $1 and $3 sit n’ go variety “on a whim” so to speak.

2. Win more money. This doesn’t always go hand in hand with playing better poker. I’ve won money as a very bad poker player before. Here’s what I am looking at: In 2008 I cashed out $300 playing online poker. This year (to date) I’ve scored $570. For 2009 I plan on cashing out $1,200. I am riding a large wave of confidence into the New Year, and I look forward to proving to myself that I am not a fluke. So $100/month does not seem unattainable.

So that’s it – a mere two goals (sort of) for the New Year. I can’t wait to get started!