I never thought about making it to 100 blog entries until recently. I think it is probably not such a big deal, but I wanted it to be something worthwhile. Thanks to everyone who has taken time to read and comment on my blog. The support and freely-given, well-intentioned advice (and criticism) is something that makes leggo a special place, imo.

I was hoping to have some good news as far as my foray into 100nl is concerned. But the experience has been decidedly mixed. First of all, on a hopeful note, 100nl seems like a game I can definitely beat when I am playing my best. In my first few sessions I played focused and intense. People were seemingly donking their stacks to me and it was ultimately a heady experience. I couldn't believe it, quite simply. I was very tenatively rolled for it, and it was a big confidence boost to play so well. Slowly, though, my game devolved, and I found myself adding more tables and grinding instead of playing focused, well thought out poker. Last Thursday I dropped like 3 BI during the day and vowed to move back to 50nl for the remainder of the month to protect my bank roll. Thursday night there just wasn't as much action at 50nl as 100nl, and I found myself at 4 very soft tables. Two of them had utter maniacs, and I was up over 2 BI in about 20 minutes. I thought about just calling it a night, but decided to keep playing because how could I really claim to be serious about poker if I gave up my seat at such incredibly profitable tables? I ended up down 5 BI or so on the day. I think I probably couldn't have avoided 3 BI of losses, but everything else was easily avoidable with some folds in marginal spots.

I still felt ok about everything. The next day I went to Probability's house for a live sweat at 100nl since with my previous 100nl winnings, I was still in shot-taking distance. He commented that I seemed to be playing without much thought post-flop, and echoed his concerns about me moving up to 100nl as a way of "printing money". I felt really bad about how it all had went. I went to work that night, slept on it, and woke up feeling pretty clear in the head and confident in my assessment that I had really blown it. Just considering the following facts really leaves no doubts:

Posts of 100nl hands in Small Stakes Forum: 0
Blog posts of hands played: 1
Review of Sessions: Inconsistent at best
Coffee consumed: Lots
Sweets consumed: Lots
Weekly Exercise routine: Seemingly abandoned.
Daily Meditation: Bi-weekly.

Matt said it is just an example of how powerful out and out greed is. Not a direct quote, but I think he would stand by it. The last four facts really don't have a lot to do with poker directly, but I keep tabs on these habits because they generally indicate where my head is at and how diligent I am being about what I am trying to accomplish with my life.

It is very tempting to make this blog post a big declaration about what I am going to do to change. It always makes me feel better, but to be honest it doesn't do much in terms of spurring me on to work harder. So, I will just leave it at that. I will be playing 50nl for the rest of the month, and while I can easily imagine me being at 100nl by the end of the month, I think it is best for me to focus on becoming a better player, particularly post-flop. If I can't manage to do this work for September and then play consistent in October (for whatever reasons, be they family or work obligations) then I think it would be wise just to give up on poker and find a different way to make some money. I can't go on this way, wasting my time messing about when I know what kind of work needs to be done. I guess that is somewhat of a declaration, even if it is in a more negative sense. I will leave it in all the same.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFj

I found out yesterday that I improperly filed my 2009 taxes and I have to amend them. That isn't the bad part. The bad part is that I found out during the loan application process to buy a house, and it will take 12 weeks to fix it and, presumably, be approved for a loan. We had a potential house picked out and everything, but I suppose there will be more on the market a few months from now. I was much more stressed out about it yesterday than today.

Poker continues to go well. I am playing so much nittier at 100nl than before when I played 25nl and 50nl. It is a lot less stressful. I think, also, I just have fewer opportunities to make mistakes postflop by playing a bit more straightforward. You can play looser than 20/18 profitably, I am sure, but you have to be that much better than your opponents post flop.

Next blog post is my 100th, so I will have to do something special for that, I guess.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

So I have been flirting with 100nl for a while now, playing a table or two when the games were good and such. But when I lost a big pot, no matter how EV the play was, it would really upset me and affect my play. So I decided just to move to 100nl and take an aggressive shot. If I drop a couple of buy ins I can drop to 50nl and grind them back up. I never wanted to be a multitabling nit, but I thought playing four tables and nitting it up would be a step towards reducing variance. So far it has worked out well. I am playing something like 20/18 and just feeling really at ease. I think I can tighten up a little more, tbh. I am asking myself whether I can fold instead of whether I can continue or open. I am coming up to 100 blog posts, so I will write a more epic one then.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

These are my results since I stopped drinking coffee. I did have one cup last week when I only got 4 hours sleep and had the kids for most of the day. It was a disappointment, to be honest, and I can't say I was any more alert.

Today I played some 50 and 100nl. I decided to play just 30 minutes at a time and focus on my mental analyses of ranges. I typically ran over to something like 45 minutes, but I think this is a huge step in the right direction to prepare myself to transition to full time 100nl by the end of the month. Here are some hands:

____________________________

Hand 1

____________________________


This is the first hand I played with villain. I am generally suspicious of someone that doesn't buy in full and throws a lot of aggression my way in their first hand or two.

SB ($52.05)
BB ($31.40)
UTG ($10.30)
CO ($59.55)
Hero ($50.50)

Dealt to Hero K A

fold, CO raises to $2, Hero raises to $6.50, fold, BB calls $6, fold

FLOP ($15.25) 9 2 T

BB bets $7, Hero calls $7

Just seems like an odd line to take. Overcall 3bet pre and donk out for half pot on the flop. I put him on Tx and complete air. With two overs and two backdoor draws, I feel priced in to call.

TURN ($29.25) 9 2 T 7

BB bets $17.90 (AI), Hero calls $17.90

When I pick up some equity on the turn, I feel fine about getting it in with what I think are 15 outs against the made hands that do this.

RIVER ($65.05) 9 2 T 7 J

BB shows K J
(Pre 24%, Flop 27.6%, Turn 20.5%)

Hero shows K A
(Pre 76%, Flop 72.4%, Turn 79.5%)

BB wins $61.55


_______________________________

Hand 2

_______________________________



SB ($50.65)
BB ($50)
UTG ($3.70)
UTG+1 ($101)
Hero ($83.40)
BTN ($51)

Dealt to Hero A 8

UTG calls $0.50, fold, Hero raises to $2.50, fold, SB raises to $8, fold, UTG calls $3.20 (AI), Hero calls $5.50

This should be an easy fold preflop as the SB has been relatively quiet and the limper is so short.

FLOP ($20.20) Q 4 Q

SB checks, Hero checks

I could have arguably taken a shot when checked to here, but I just think villain is c/c with most of his range here that doesn't bet (like 99-JJ, QQ, AQ, maybe even AK)

TURN ($20.20) Q 4 Q A

SB checks, Hero checks

When villain doesn't bet the turn, I figure he does not have an Ace (which puzzles me) and is more likely to fold his underpairs if I bet now. I opt to check and call a river bet from JJ or worse.

RIVER ($20.20) Q 4 Q A 9

SB bets $10.10, Hero calls $10.10

SB shows K A
(Pre 53%, Flop 62.9%, Turn 96.8%)

UTG shows A T
(Pre 23%, Flop 17.0%, Turn 1.6%)

Hero shows A 8
(Pre 24%, Flop 20.1%, Turn 1.6%)

Guess I was wrong there...

SB wins $38.40


______________________________

Hand 3

______________________________


Btn is relatively new to the table and playing something like 20/4 over 20ish hands.

SB ($188)
BB ($65.75)
Hero ($50.75)
CO ($50.75)
BTN ($41.90)

Dealt to Hero K K

Hero raises to $1.75, fold, BTN calls $1.75, fold, BB calls $1.25

FLOP ($5.50) 9 9 T

BB checks, Hero bets $4, BTN raises to $8, BB folds, Hero raises to $17.50, BTN calls $9.50

If there was a flush draw on the board, I think I would have tried harder to get it in by 3betting bigger. I think I should have 3bet bigger or just flatted his raise and c/r all in on the turn. Villain reps very little here other than 9x.

TURN ($40.50) 9 9 T 6

Hero bets $31.50 (AI), BTN calls $22.65 (AI)

RIVER ($85.80) 9 9 T 6 K

BTN shows J J
(Pre 18%, Flop 11.6%, Turn 4.5%)

Hero shows K K
(Pre 82%, Flop 88.4%, Turn 95.5%)

Hero wins $82.80

______________________________

Hand 4

______________________________

This is very early on in the session.

Hero ($105)
BB ($101)
CO ($135)
BTN ($201)

Dealt to Hero K K

CO raises to $3, fold, Hero raises to $10, fold, CO calls $7

FLOP ($21) 5 8 2

Hero bets $17, CO calls $17

I think it is important to note to myself how I get a little gun shy with bet sizing at 100nl. I should be betting much closer to pot for an easier shove on the turn, and that is in fact my standard. I could 3bet pre a little bit bigger as well.

TURN ($55) 5 8 2 6

Hero bets $78.05 (AI), CO calls $78.05

RIVER ($211) 5 8 2 6 2

Hero shows K K
(Pre 81%, Flop 87.0%, Turn 4.5%)

CO shows 6 6
(Pre 19%, Flop 13.0%, Turn 95.5%)

CO wins $208


______________________________

Hand 5

______________________________

Same villain as previous hand, and I played it just two minutes later.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1(BB) Replayer
SB ($100)
Hero ($107)
UTG ($102)
CO ($97)
BTN ($125)

Dealt to Hero K K

UTG raises to $3, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $10.50, UTG calls $7.50

FLOP ($21.50) 5 8 Q

Hero bets $18.50, UTG raises to $37, Hero raises to $96.95 (AI), UTG calls $54.70 (AI)

Still a little gun shy on the bet sizing. I had intended to get it all in on the turn but didn't have to worry.

TURN ($204) 5 8 Q 3

RIVER ($204) 5 8 Q 3 2

Hero shows K K
(Pre 72%, Flop 80.6%, Turn 88.6%)

UTG shows A Q
(Pre 28%, Flop 19.4%, Turn 11.4%)

Hero wins $201

______________________________

Hand 6

______________________________


Villain is 23/21/8, playing very aggressively. Steals more from the SB (71%) than the BTN (38%) I have been giving up...

Hit an (inevitable?) downswing since my last post about how great my results were. Last friday I played pretty loose and had a very swingy sometimes erratic session to the tune of a 4 BI loss. After playing so cool and confident the week before I was heavily discouraged but realized that this was exactly what I was trying to work on, so I pulled it all together and put in two very solid sessions, still managing to lose another 4.5 BI running horribly. I even played a little 100nl because I saw a soft table and felt like I was in the emotional zone to pwn.

Had a session at Probability's pad last night where I recorded my play and we reviewed it together. Happily, the mistakes I am making are more and more detailed in nature and have to do with getting caught up in generalized thinking and maxims rather than a thoughtful analyses of my opponents' ranges and deciding on the best course of action. I realize that this is the poker wall I am hitting and think I just need to spend the rest of this month working on that (along with responding to adversity). I am generally pleased with my responses in the small stakes forum, and need to apply that to real time game decisions. I know I won't be able to work on it playing 4 tables, which for me, currently, constitutes "grinding," and I don't think is conducive to creating new behavior and thought patterns. Later this week, I will have some hands to post.

Aside from poker, I have been reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma," by Michael Pollan and recently watched the movie "Food Inc." It has given me a lot to think about in terms of what I choose to eat, and would recommend them to anyone trying to improve their eating habits. Seems like most of the foods that are bad for you are also bad for the planet, the farming community, the livestock, the food processing laborers, and pretty much everyone involved. I think a fundamental change in perspective and the way we evaluate the consequences of our food choices is probably the most potent weapon in saying "no" to junk food which is just outright designed and marketed to be habit forming. A lot of the newer research has concluded that the effect of junk food on your brain is similar to addictive drugs in terms of the chemicals released and neural pathways created. You basically need to see these products for what they are to really change your behavior. I don't think we can go on much longer with our current food system to be perfectly honest. Corn is pretty much taking over the United States. Sounds pretty flippant, but it is actually frighteningly true.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

My poker results have been extremely good. I have been working on trying to improve how I handle adversity, be it a bad beat or my own bad play. Last night was typical of so many of my sessions except in how I handled it. I started off jumping up 2 BI playing with some big donks. I consider just calling it a night and booking a win. (I try not to get too caught up in that as I know being a winning poker player is measured over a long period of time. All the same, it seems like booking a winning session, no matter how short, has done a lot to improve my overall outlook on poker recently, so maybe it is positive EV for the moment.) I did not quit. I continue to play and to lose almost all of it back. Normally that is when I quit. It was getting late, but I decided I had to pull myself together, take a few deep breaths, and play my A game since there were some big donks at the tables. And I did. I think the skill of noticing when I am playing marginally and turning it around is going to be a key component of my success as a poker player, so when I have been playing less than my best, I have forced myself to continue playing and try and turn it around.

Seems like I have been calling a lot of bluffs lately, so I wanted to post some of those hands.

-------------------
Hand 1
-------------------

Only four hands at the table with villain where he limped twice. He does not have a full stack, seems to be a donk.

SB ($60.70)
BB ($50.95)
UTG ($38.62)
UTG+1 ($128)
Hero ($50)
BTN ($50.20)

Dealt to Hero A Q

UTG calls $0.50, fold, Hero raises to $2.50, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls $2

FLOP ($5.75) 3 4 5

UTG bets $0.50, Hero calls $0.50

I decide to just call his weak donk out because I feel like my hand is pretty vulnerable on this board and I wouldn't be able to call a 3bet. He is giving me a great price.

TURN ($6.75) 3 4 5 Q

UTG bets $1.50, Hero raises to $5.50, UTG calls $4

With a made hand, it is an easy raise. I feel like he is trying to price himself in to hit a draw of some sort but will not fold too my raise.

RIVER ($17.75) 3 4 5 Q K

UTG bets $17.75, Hero calls $17.75

Instant psb by him on the river. I just don't think he has a lot of Kings in his range, and it is effectively a blank.

UTG shows 7 J
(Pre 36%, Flop 31.7%, Turn 9.1%)

Hero shows A Q
(Pre 64%, Flop 68.3%, Turn 90.9%)

Hero wins $50.10


------------------
Hand 2
------------------

This is only my 3rd hand with villain.

Hero ($129)
BB ($51.40)
UTG ($52.05)
UTG+1 ($116)
CO ($53.60)
BTN ($50.20)

Dealt to Hero K J

UTG calls $0.50, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $3, fold, UTG calls $2.50

FLOP ($6.50) T J 3

Hero bets $4, UTG raises to $8, Hero calls $4

I think he has a draw here most of the time, and he is representing 33, JJ, or TT, maybe JT. I think he doesn't limp anything but 33 preflop.

TURN ($22.50) T J 3 6

Hero checks, UTG bets $11, Hero calls $11

With a half pot bet, I don't think he has a big value hand. I debate raising, but I don't absolutely know he calls with an oesd or flush draw, so i just call and give him room to bluff.

RIVER ($44.50) T J 3 6 4

Hero checks, UTG bets $30.05 (AI), Hero calls $30.05

Pretty much a blank, and I snap called this even as I was involved with a hand at another table.

Hero shows K J
(Pre 44%, Flop 82.4%, Turn 72.7%)

UTG shows 8 A
(Pre 56%, Flop 17.6%, Turn 27.3%)

Hero wins $101


------------------
Hand 3
------------------

Just 53 hands on villain here, but he is playing 35/8 and seems to be playing fairly aggressively post flop for having such a wide preflop range.

SB ($50.80)
Hero ($51.50)
UTG ($48.95)
UTG+1 ($112)
CO ($105)
BTN ($85.31)

Dealt to Hero Q Q

fold, fold, fold, BTN calls $0.50, fold, Hero raises to $3, BTN calls $2.50

FLOP ($6.25) 8 8 J

Hero bets $4.50, BTN raises to $9, Hero calls $4.50

Makes no sense, tbh. There is no flush draw, and I think he tries to get more value than a minraise out of an 8. I think he probably has a J or some kind of underpair he is turning into a bluff. Maybe 9Ts with a backdoor flush draw, but that is only 4 combos of hands.

TURN ($24.25) 8 8 J A

Hero checks, BTN bets $24.25, Hero raises to $39.50 (AI), BTN calls $15.25

I figure he either luckboxed an A or is full of it. Once I decide I am calling, I can't leave myself $15 on the river with a $75 pot. I don't think he is folding a J here anyway.

RIVER ($103) 8 8 J A J

BTN shows 7 7
(Pre 19%, Flop 8.0%, Turn 4.5%)

Hero shows Q Q
(Pre 81%, Flop 92.0%, Turn 95.5%)

Hero wins $99.75


----------------------
Hand 4
----------------------

Again, not a lot of reads on villain since it is a relatively small sample size, but he has been involved in 8 or so of the dozen hands I have seen since joining the table.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.50(BB) Replayer
SB ($41.83)
BB ($87)
Hero ($52.60)
BTN ($74.20)

Dealt to Hero Q Q

Hero raises to $1.75, fold, fold, BB calls $1.25

FLOP ($3.75) T T J

BB checks, Hero bets $3, BB calls $3

TURN ($9.75) T T J 7

BB bets $3.50, Hero raises to $11, BB calls $7.50

Looks like he is trying to buy a cheap river and hit his draw. He doesn't seem like the type of player to fold a draw, any draw, at this point. I think I could have made it a little more than $11, tbh.

RIVER ($31.75) T T J 7 6

BB bets $21.50, Hero calls $21.50

This was a super quick river donk out. He didn't even have a chance to process the river card, imo. I think he donks bigger on the turn and 3bets my raise with a made flush or 89, so I am treating this as a blank

BB shows 8 K
(Pre 28%, Flop 15.8%, Turn 31.8%)

Hero shows Q Q
(Pre 72%, Flop 84.2%, Turn 68.2%)

Hero wins $72.25


---------------------
Hand 5
---------------------

Villain is 69/20/3.1...

Here is the first hand I played against villain, I didn't have any reads or a decent sample size for preflop stats.

SB ($9.50)
BB ($68.45)
UTG ($49.65)
UTG+1 ($46.47)
CO ($127)
Hero ($54.70)

Dealt to Hero 8 K

fold, UTG+1 raises to $1, CO calls $1, Hero calls $1, fold, BB calls $0.50

Preflop raiser is pretty bad. He has a fairly tight opening range, but he prices me in and I thought the BB would call too.

FLOP ($4.25) 6 9 2

BB checks, UTG+1 checks, CO checks, Hero bets $3, BB raises to $8.50, UTG+1 folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $19.50, BB raises to $62.75, Hero calls $34.20 (AI)

When he check raises, I tell myself it is fine to stack off here and he could be doing this with worse. Probability said if I think he has air ever, I could flat the raise and get it in on the turn.

TURN ($111) 6 9 2 9

RIVER ($111) 6 9 2 9 J

BB shows 2 T
(Pre 34%, Flop 2.8%, Turn 9.1%)

Hero shows 8 K
(Pre 66%, Flop 97.2%, Turn 90.9%)

Hero wins $108

I was pretty surprised to see what he took this line with, tbh. A few orbits later, I had this hand against him:

Hero ($98.90)
BB ($78.75)
UTG ($43.50)
CO ($47.22)
BTN ($122)

Dealt to Hero K 7

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $1.50, BB calls $1

At this time, villain was playing 32/19, and so I think this is an easy fold preflop. I don't think we are deep enough or I have a big enough edge to play this properly most of the time. It also goes against my focus on playing stronger ranges.

FLOP ($3) T 3 6

Hero bets $2, BB calls $2

If I have any fold equity, I think it is on the flop. I would love to take this down with K high.

TURN ($7) T 3 6 7

Hero checks, BB bets $3, Hero calls $3

I think I could bet the turn, but once my hand is made, I decide to c/c for value based on villain's previous hand. He played such a marginal hand so aggressively, that I think he bets when checked too with almost all of his air and any draws in his range, and will continue to play aggressively on the river, probably especially if a heart falls. So I decide to c/c twice. Idk, maybe he calls my bet (which would have been bigger) here and I can c/c the river. But because of how marginal his hand was previously, I think he is just thinking about trying to get me to fold with his air as well as weak made hands and draws. He isn't polarizing his range for aggression post flop or anything like that.

RIVER ($13) T 3 6 7 T

Hero checks, BB bets $7.50, Hero calls $7.50

The ten on the river makes it less likely he has a ten and more likely he has a busted flush draw or some other bluff.

BB shows Q K
(Pre 70%, Flop 54.7%, Turn 6.8%)

Hero shows K 7
(Pre 30%, Flop 45.3%, Turn 93.2%)

Hero wins $26.10



Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

It is taking forever to upload photos, so I will bypass the Yosemite TR until I can get that to work out.

My last two sessions playing have been a little on the meh side.

Here is a hand I played HU at the end of my session Tuesday night. I think I should have folded the flop. We had only been playing HU for four hands or so, but had a fairly aggressive dynamic. Preflop is fine since I am IP and we are deep. On the flop, I am pretty much hoping for AK or other unpaired overs. (Villain 3bets 13% when playing 4 handed, so this isn't necessarily overly optimistic, but I don't think he bets that entire range.) 88 is not the greatest hand to call with as I have so little equity vs. his entire range. When reviewing this hand the next day, my HEM had assigned me a whale icon based on my stats when playing HU after 350 hands or so.


SB ($97.91)
Hero ($95.18)

Dealt to Hero 8 8

Hero raises to $1.70, SB raises to $4.90, Hero calls $3.20

FLOP ($10) J 2 T

SB bets $6, Hero calls $6

TURN ($22) J 2 T 8
SB bets $5, Hero raises to $20.50, SB calls $15.50

RIVER ($63) J 2 T 8 4

SB checks, Hero bets $63.68 (AI), SB calls $63.68

SB shows K J
(Pre 46%, Flop 89.6%, Turn 0.0%)

Hero shows 8 8
(Pre 54%, Flop 10.4%, Turn 100.0%)

Hero wins $189

I kind of like when villain tanks, calls, and immediately leaves the table. But I think that is being pretty results oriented.

Here is the worst hand I played yesterday. Villain is 53/6

SB ($18.75)
BB ($77.67)
Hero ($52)
UTG+1 ($20.50)
CO ($44.65)
BTN ($25)

Dealt to Hero 6 6

Hero raises to $1.75, fold, fold, fold, SB calls $1.50, fold

FLOP ($4) J K 6

SB bets $1, Hero raises to $4, SB calls $3

TURN ($12) J K 6 J

SB bets $1, Hero calls $1

I really felt like he had a single spade and was trying to buy a cheap river, and after filling up, I decided I would just call and shove any river. I was rooting for another spade to fall. However, it would be waaaayyy smarter to get my money in now as villain will call with a draw.

RIVER ($14) J K 6 J K

SB checks, Hero bets $45.25 (AI), SB calls $12 (AI)

Here I follow through with my plan to shove any river on the worst river card possible. Obviously villain only calls with a K or a J now. I think he is bad enough to call with Ace high once in a while, but the money should have gone in on the turn for sure.

Hero shows 6 6
(Pre 53%, Flop 68.1%, Turn 90.9%)

SB shows Q K
(Pre 47%, Flop 31.9%, Turn 9.1%)

SB wins $35.60


Today I really feelt like playing poker, but I didn't feel like playing because I feelt calm and sharp and was going to crush. I feltl like playing because I have been winning and I want to continue winning. I am learning that there is a distinct difference and how to tell one from the other. I think I will play one table and concentrate on playing a stronger range, and just quit if I am not playing well.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

Having a guest staying with us is really cutting into my poker time. I am ok with that for another week, but I know that the end of July and the beginnning of August will be a definite boot camp if I hope to be playing well enough to make it at 100nl. I played a short session a few days ago and really liked how I played with the exception of one hand which I will go into detail on after this short update.

I am feeling much better and seem to be 100% over my food poisoning. I am keeping my healthier eating habits for the most part and it feels good to be out riding my bike again 4 mornings per week. Everything is so much better when I get that exercise in. I have been keeping to the same two of routes along a paved trail that runs behind my house and timing myself to see how I am doing. It is really a good indicator of where my head and body are at for the day. Some days I really push myself the whole 40 minutes, some days I phone it in on the way back. Some days it seems hard just to get going. I think there is something to learn there about playing poker and my performance. Maybe I will write more on this as I get more into it.

I will be in Yosemite with the family and our guest Sunday/Monday. We will stay in a hotel outside the park and just drive in. I used to go every year when I was little, but it has been a good 15 years since I have been there. Obviously looking forward to introducing my kids to such a beautiful place. Maybe I will try and post some pics for a TR.

Here is the hand and my analysis of where I went wrong and why:


SB ($22.57)
BB ($52)
Hero ($91.64)
CO ($20.82)
BTN ($64.47)

Dealt to Hero 9 K

Both the blinds are pretty much donks, the short stack in the SB in particular. The player in CO is pretty bluffy and I think hitting a K is the nuts against him because he will be playing worse hands very aggro. Otherwise, normally I just fold this in MP.

Hero raises to $1.75, fold, BTN calls $1.75, fold, fold

FLOP ($4.25) 9 8 J

BTN is 21/12, here is what I put his preflop calling range as:

{TT-22,AQs-A8s,KTs+,QTs+,JTs,T9s,98s,87s,76s,AQo-ATo,KJo+,QJo} and I have 51% equity against him.

Hero bets $3, BTN calls $3

When he calls, I am putting him on pair+draw type hands and Tx. I think he raises sets and straights. I am debating right now if he raises bottom two pair, maybe, but I am showing a lot of strength betting into him oop on such a connected board. The equity difference is minimal at any rate, so I will leave it in:

{TT,77,AQs-A9s,KTs+,QJs,JTs,T9s,98s,87s,76s,AJo,KJo+,QJo} and my equity drops to 39%

TURN ($10.25) 9 8 J 2

Hero bets $6, BTN calls $6

When I bet the turn, I pretty much fold out things that I am ahead of and leave combo draws from suited diamond hands with a gutshot and top pair hands.

{TT,AdQd,AdJd,AdTd,Ad9d,KdQd,KJs,KdTd,QdJd,JdTd,Td9d,98s,87s,7d6d,AJo,KJo} and my equity is 22%. On the flop, I knew this would happen, and I would have to fire 3 barrels on this board to push him off hands that beat me.

RIVER ($22.25) 9 8 J 2 J

Probably the nut worst card looking back on it. Top pair is no longer folding, and all the suited diamonds are calling a reasonable bet. My range is uncapped, and I can have a full house here, but let's face it, villain is looking at the strength of his hand right now and not at my range. He folds or checks through everything I beat.

Hero bets $17.50, BTN calls $17.50

I wondered why I bet afterwards and this is what I think. Postflop, I develop a plan on the flop and stick with it without evaluating villain's range specifically or how the run out of the board affects it. In a similar hand in the forums, I advocated c/f the flop, but dougiedan and maximus said we were giving up too much equity and a bet was warranted. In the end I agree with them, and I think my work above supports that decision on the flop. I think betting 1 or 3 streets is appropriate, too as betting the turn with so little equity against what calls me without firing a 3rd barrel to fold out better is burning money. But if I evaluated more specifically the reasoning behind this in regards to his range, then I would not be firing this third barrel because it strengthens his range on the turn so much. This is definitely a check/fold as he is not bluffing on this board with worse than second pair.

BTN shows J A
(Pre 66%, Flop 78.3%, Turn 88.6%)

Hero shows 9 K
(Pre 34%, Flop 21.7%, Turn 11.4%)

BTN wins $53.90

In the end it was a winning session which helps me feel a little better, but again, the fact that I am consoling myself with that means I am not focusing on the most important thing, which is my level of play.

Here is a hand where I think I played well vs. someone with not terrible preflop stats (20/15) but obviously has some postflop leaks.


SB ($18.07)
BB ($50)
UTG ($90.12)
UTG+1 ($22.32)
CO ($51.25)
Hero ($66.19)

Dealt to Hero A A

fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, fold, Hero raises to $2.50, fold, BB calls $2, UTG+1 calls $2

FLOP ($7.75) 8 4 4

BB bets $4.50, UTG+1 folds, Hero calls $4.50

TURN ($16.75) 8 4 4 7

BB bets $10.50, Hero calls $10.50

RIVER ($37.75) 8 4 4 7 2

BB checks, Hero bets $48.69 (AI), BB calls $32.50 (AI)

Hero shows A A
(Pre 80%, Flop 90.0%, Turn 86.4%)

BB shows 6 6
(Pre 20%, Flop 10.0%, Turn 13.6%)

Hero wins $99.25

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ

Poker wise, I haven't had a lot going on. I had a small vacation and was away from my computer for a good week. I have just started answering hands in the forums, and things seem a lot clearer to me, so I am happy I had a break. The small stakes forum doesn't seem so hard as it seemed two months ago. I am actually surprised at how few hands get posted, and can't wait to get to 100nl so I can just light it on fire. I think a lot of how I am feeling analytically comes from an absence of the stress of playing. I am not saying anything genius in the forums, don't get me wrong, but answering hands is more like an exercise in analytics rather than a referendum on how good I am as a poker player (which is kind of what I turned it into for myself in the past, I just realized). I don't plan on playing much in July because:

a) I went on a fairly rapid 6 BI downswing while playing fairly well and I am starting to feel underrolled for 50nl, and
b) we have a French teenager staying with us for the next 3 weeks and we have to show him around and help him learn to speak English a little more proficiently.

As far as the downswing is concerned, I think i can chalk up a half a buy in to tilt. At first I thought that wasn't bad, but after thinking about it, if I am going to dump 1 BI for every 11 I lose while playing correctly, then poker just doesn't seem like a viable option for me financially. At work, when my manager and I do inventory and look at waste and how it affects our cost of sales percentage, we are dealing with fractions of percentage points, sometimes whole percentage points. I think most businesses are probably on the same level. Anywhere where you have ten percent waste you are just bleeding profits. So I just decided to cool off a little and gain some perspective, think more about the game and decision making process and not money. When I start playing again, I will let you know if it worked.

As far as the 14 year old is concerned, I met him when he was 6 in Paris, and I taught him English in exchange for a place to stay. He is very polite and understanding with my kids (who will not let him alone). He is a little bit shy, but less and less so. It is his first time leaving France or going anyplace without his family, so this is a big deal for him. Also, I have a free place to stay in Paris (I am dying to go back) and I plan on shipping my kids off to his family for a few weeks every year when they are old enough.

So I went camping with the family while everyone else was in Vegas. Camping was nice, but everything is so much more difficult with two little kids, it is really tempting just to stay at home where we are all set up to deal with their needs. My kids had a great time, though, and I guess that is why we went and will continue to go camping. I got a pretty nasty case of food poisoning.

My wife: "I don't think we should eat this salami, it doesn't look right."

Me: "The salami is fine."

The salami was not fine. I spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the night making sure I was not far from the bathrooms at the campsite. I spent a small amount of time reflecting on the act of puking. I have not done it a lot in my life. In fact, I have had a long dry spell since the fifth grade when I got a hold of some bad fried chicken and potato salad. Last weekend, mid-puke, it struck me that "blowing chunks" was fairly precise in terms of describing the act itself. Also, once I had made my mind up that puking was definitely in my future, once I had kind of accepted it, I pretty much just had to assume the position in front of the porcelain goddess and my body took care of the rest. It is one of those odd physiological functions that just seizes control of your body. Very visceral, almost primal. I think there are people out there who spend a lot of time trying to bring this condition onto themselves because they want to lose control or feel an emotional release. I wonder if anorexia has this type of dynamic, or if it is something else altogether. Anyway, those were my thoughts on puking.

I felt much better the next day, and resumed my normal eating habits, but the day after that, it was very clear that I had to take it easy for a while because I have been semi-nauseous to some degree ever since. I think I will be losing a ton of weight for the next few weeks as I can only really stomach plain bread and rice and salad. The idea of eating something richer makes me queasy. If you want to win some money on a weight loss challenge, food poisoning is the way to go, imo.

That's all for now.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ