So, I've been winning. In fact, it seems I can do no wrong. So I have to keep telling myself, "Respect the money." And I'm also have to some self talk now about what's the right play and why I'm making the play. The other night, was not my best play. In fact, I think that while I made some decent plays, I really could have (should have) done better.
Example 1: I raise with AJ off suit. This guy in the ten seat calls. The flop comes out ten high and I bet. He calls. On the turn we both check. On the river I check and he bets $120. Now, as I'm thinking about this, I think that he's bluffing. I think he probably had a straight draw or a flush draw and he missed. And the only way he thinks he can win is by betting to take the pot down. Trouble is, I only have Ace high. That could be a winner if he was on a straight draw. Well, I call. He says, "Good call. I only have one pair." Yes, he was bluffing. Yes he did miss the straight. BUT he also had a small pair of 5's to go along with his nothing, so he was betting with the best hand! Ugh. So what did I do wrong? Well, I played the hand like we were playing $4-$8 limit. I checked the turn and called the river. No, folks, this is nolimit. In no limit, I should have bet the turn or RAISED on the river. OR I could have folded. But a flat call was not the correct play. The trouble is that it's tough for me to raise a $120 bet when I have Ace high. Well, I need to get over that. If I think that my opponent is bluffing, I need to suck it up and take the pot away from them. Good read. Bad play.
Example 2: I have 56 off suit and a player that I really don't like raises to $30 preflop. Of course I call. It's always fun to beat someone that you don't like. Here's the other reason I call. I know that she plays about 90% of the hands she's dealt. Some she raises with and others she limps with, but I have her pegged as a fairly dumb, weak player who likes to see lots of flops. Oh, let me clarify why I say "dumb". She plays poker almost every day, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why she, seemingly, can never figure out what her opponent holds. She's almost always wrong. So, I think she's dumb. Oh, and she's not likeable either. She's usually a bitch to people when they beat her. So, it's fun to beat her. Ok, so I call the $30 raise and so does another player (also a weak player, but this person is nice and likeable, she's also wealthy and a loose player). The flop comes 8,7, and some other meaningless card that I can't remember. There are 2 spades and 1 club on the flop. The player I don't like bets $65. Of course I'm calling here with my openended straight draw. The other weak player also calls. I'm worried about a flush. The turn is a club that doesn't make anybody's hand. The player I don't like bets out $110. I think about this. I have at least the four red cards that make my hand, and maybe the four black ones too. If the other lady calls then she's certainly drawing for a flush and I'm dead. But if the other lady folds, then I'm not worried about the flush. Oh, but it's so much fun to beat someone that you don't like... I call. Ok, folks, calling to beat someone you don't like is not a good reason to call. You should only call when you have a positive expectation that this is a money making hand. Against most other players I would have folded because I'm likely in a negative EV situation. (EV=Expected Value). But this is technically a good call against a person who I feel could have any two cards and may only have AK or QQ because she raised preflop and continued on the flop. In fact, it's probably not AK, because I don't think she'd make the second continuation bet on the turn. So it's probably JJ, QQ, or KK. No, probably not KK. I think JJ or QQ. Anyway, I called and the 9 of spades peels off on the river. That's great! I made my hand. The other weak player had folded on the turn so it's just me and the player I suspect has a big overpair. She checks. And I CHECK! What? What did I just do? I checked! Oh crap... I should have bet. Wrong play, wrong play, wrong play.... bet bet bet! I checked. Of course I won the hand. But I could have gotten another $60-$100 from her by betting the river. But no. Because I was scared she might have been playing the flush the whole way looking for a check-raise on the river, I checked. Gosh. That was stupid. Now who was the dumb player in that hand? Me. Because I didn't get all of the money that I should have gotten from that hand.
All in all I did leave the game $1000 ahead for the night. But there were a few plays that were less than optimal. So, I'm writing this to remind myself that I'm there to make money. I'm not there to prove who the best player is. I'm not there to beat down bitches that I don't like. I'm not there to try to suck out when I have a negative EV hand. I am there to make the best, most sound decisions I can with the information that I have with the end goal of winning all the money on the table.
If I forget that, you have my permission to slap me in the head.
Oh, one more note. There are times when it is a sound decision to make a call for a suck out with a negative EV hand. Those are the times when I'm looking to put a volatile player on tilt so as to win more money from him/her in the future. That is a play I'll make!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Money Money Money - You Gotta Respect It!
So, I've been running up against a cold deck for about 2 years now. However, ealier this year I started to come out if it. Thank Goodness. But there's something that I learned that I think may have been the key to coming out of the black cloud.
You know when you play no limit texas holdem you can be dealing with lots of money. Even at the low limits! One day I played $1-$2 blinds and left with over $1500. That's a lot of money. And usually playing at $2-$5 blinds it's common to have $1000 sitting right there on the table in front of you at any given moment. So here's what I learned. You become complacent... complacent to money. When you have a thousand, two thousand dollars right there in front of you and there's probably ten thousand dollars on the table in play at any given moment, it's pretty easy to get a little "lost".
I learned a few years ago that you have to play without fear. You can't "need" the money or you'll play scared. But now I'm learning that you can't disrespect the money either. There's a fine line to tow here... an almost invisible line between being fearless and respecting that money. What I have learned this year is to respect the money. And since I've learned that lesson, I've been winning. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Example: A few months ago, I won a tournament in Kinder. I told you about it. My goal was to cash $2000 in that tournament. People were wanting to chop earlier, but I held out and met my goal before I agreed to a chop. What I didn't tell you is the "self-talk" I did during the tournament. In fact, this is probably when I had this little "revelation". I told myself, "You have to respect the money." What that meant is that I can't go around without regard or respect for money because it will all slip through my fingers if I do. "Respect the money." That's what I told myself. And it kept me in line. And I met my goal in that tournament.
Example 2: Since I've been winning it's been easy, right? Wrong. Last night I bought into the $2-$5 game for $400. Within an hour I had $1200 in front of me. And then it started to slip away. My stack dwindled down to about $500 and I said to myself, "Respect the money." That paradigm shift enabled me to leave the game last night with $1200. You see what I realized there is that when you can win or lose A THOUSAND DOLLARS in an hour, you start to get complacent... again. (Of course it also helped that I picked up pocket 5's again and flopped a set again, for the third time in the past two weeks!)
So I have to check myself. Am I becoming complacent? Am I the donkey at the table? Am I making good decisions? What is driving me to make the decisions that I make? That last question requires more insight than I think most players make about themselves.
"A thousand dollars," I said to myself last night, "is more money than some people make in a whole week, and certainly more money that most people make in a day and here I've obtained it in an hour." One hour! One Thousand Dollars! You know how I know when I'm starting to disrespect the money? When I say it's only a hundred dollars or it's only a thousand dollars... as if that's a drop in the bucket!
Well, I'm no millionaire and a thousand dollars is still a very real and very large amount of money to be passing through my hands in an hour's time. So for me, I have to remember to "respect the money" or it won't respect me.
You know when you play no limit texas holdem you can be dealing with lots of money. Even at the low limits! One day I played $1-$2 blinds and left with over $1500. That's a lot of money. And usually playing at $2-$5 blinds it's common to have $1000 sitting right there on the table in front of you at any given moment. So here's what I learned. You become complacent... complacent to money. When you have a thousand, two thousand dollars right there in front of you and there's probably ten thousand dollars on the table in play at any given moment, it's pretty easy to get a little "lost".
I learned a few years ago that you have to play without fear. You can't "need" the money or you'll play scared. But now I'm learning that you can't disrespect the money either. There's a fine line to tow here... an almost invisible line between being fearless and respecting that money. What I have learned this year is to respect the money. And since I've learned that lesson, I've been winning. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Example: A few months ago, I won a tournament in Kinder. I told you about it. My goal was to cash $2000 in that tournament. People were wanting to chop earlier, but I held out and met my goal before I agreed to a chop. What I didn't tell you is the "self-talk" I did during the tournament. In fact, this is probably when I had this little "revelation". I told myself, "You have to respect the money." What that meant is that I can't go around without regard or respect for money because it will all slip through my fingers if I do. "Respect the money." That's what I told myself. And it kept me in line. And I met my goal in that tournament.
Example 2: Since I've been winning it's been easy, right? Wrong. Last night I bought into the $2-$5 game for $400. Within an hour I had $1200 in front of me. And then it started to slip away. My stack dwindled down to about $500 and I said to myself, "Respect the money." That paradigm shift enabled me to leave the game last night with $1200. You see what I realized there is that when you can win or lose A THOUSAND DOLLARS in an hour, you start to get complacent... again. (Of course it also helped that I picked up pocket 5's again and flopped a set again, for the third time in the past two weeks!)
So I have to check myself. Am I becoming complacent? Am I the donkey at the table? Am I making good decisions? What is driving me to make the decisions that I make? That last question requires more insight than I think most players make about themselves.
"A thousand dollars," I said to myself last night, "is more money than some people make in a whole week, and certainly more money that most people make in a day and here I've obtained it in an hour." One hour! One Thousand Dollars! You know how I know when I'm starting to disrespect the money? When I say it's only a hundred dollars or it's only a thousand dollars... as if that's a drop in the bucket!
Well, I'm no millionaire and a thousand dollars is still a very real and very large amount of money to be passing through my hands in an hour's time. So for me, I have to remember to "respect the money" or it won't respect me.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Hand Analysis and Reading Opponents
It's been a while since I posted anything so I'll get you caught up on my action before we go into 2 hands I want to discuss. First, while Mom and Grandma were in Vegas, I signed up for a Heads'Up Tournament in Lake Charles at the Isle of Capris. I defeated a few opponents to cash in this tournament. It was quite fun and my first live heads'up T. I'm going to look to play in a few more of those in the future. (Oh, one other bonus. I was the only girl and a few of my rather cocky male opponents were crushed by my poker prowess after underestimating me!)
Then I played a small T at Coushatta in Kinder and cashed for $2000. Everybody kept wanting to chop, but my goal was to walk away with $2k so I kept blocking the chop talk until we knocked out enough players to meet my goal. Mission accomplished!
Then we went down to the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and I played a $350 tournament there. The tournament went really well for me. I got lucky and I played great too. After 14 hours of play we chopped the prize pool 17 ways. I walked away with $6500.
Exhausted from all that play and then waiting another 2 hours to get paid, I lost about $1500 over the next two days. But I still managed to come back to Baton Rouge with a bankroll sufficient for me to move up from the $4-$8 limit and into the $2-$5 no limit game.
We played in New Orleans a week or so ago and I lost about $900 in the $1-$2 game, but I played pretty well all in all. So I wasn't too upset about the loss. I felt like I did all that I could. A few times my opponents sucked out to win the big pots. Here's one hand in particular. This one has to do with reading opponents. I had something like A8. On the flop there was an 8 and a K and some other rag card. I checked. The big blind checked and the next guy bet $20. I read him a weak so I called. The BB, who had raised pre-flop figured that his pocket J's were beat with that guy betting and me calling so he folded the best hand here. Now that it was just the two of us and I figured he did have anything, I bet $40 thinking he would fold on the turn. He did not fold, but called instead. That confused me a bit. Another K hit the river and I checked. The guy bet about $65. This really had me wondering if I'd been wrong all along. While I'm thinking about it I'm "shuffling" my hole cards. I notice that he catches this move from the corner of his eye and his eyes move from my eyes to my cards. I'm wondering here, did he think I was folding? I think he wants me to fold. Usually when someone has a big hand they'll look at your "chips" to imagine them in their own stack. But he looked at my cards! He was also leaning over the table and staring me down (something he had not done before when he did have big hands). I decided to stick with my originial analysis that he didn't have anything all along and the K on the river couldn't have helped so I called. He had total air and I won the pot. That's the first time I'd noticed a player looking at my cards...
That takes me to this week. I was playing at the Belle in Baton Rouge in the $2-$5 no limit game. We'd been playing for a while so all the players were familiar with each other. I raised to $20 with 55 in middle position. I got 4 callers. (A nit player, a donkey caller, and two guys that like to see flops). The flop came down Kh Qh 5d. Wooo hooo! I just flopped a set. Now, let's make some money. I don't like the flush/straight draws so I don't want to mess around too much. The first 2 check. I bet $65. The nit calls. One of the "likes to see a flop" guys calls. And the donkey caller, calls. The turn is a 6c. Thank goodness that didn't make anyone's straight or flush. The first two check to me. I decide that I want to bet enough to take the pot down right here. No need to allow those pesky draws to see the river. I bet $300. The nit calls! What the heck? The other two fold. So the easy to beat players are out and the guy who usually has the nuts is in the hand. What's going on here? He was supposed to fold. The river is a Jd. That card doesn't make a flush but it could make a straight. I decide that along with that card being a scare card for me, the pot is big enough (and what can he be calling with?) so I check. He shoves in an intimidating stack of green chips - $500! Now I go into the tank.
I think I spent the next 5 minutes going over the hand. I really thought I had the best hand. What just happened? He's looking at me to see what I'm going to do. I look at him and ask, "Ace-ten?" He looks away. What's that mean? Is he looking away because I called his hand? Is he looking away because his hand is much weaker than a straight? "Ace ten of hearts? really?," I say. No reaction from him. I'm shuffling my cards and he looks at them. What? Did he just look at my cards? Is he looking for me to fold? Ok, did he slow play pocket K's or Q's? No, I don't think so. I think he would have reraised with one of those two hands either pre-flop or on the flop. Did he turn a set of 6's? No, I don't think he called $65 on the flop with a medium pair to hunt out a set on the turn. Ace ten of hearts? really? No. I don't think he called THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS on the turn with a draw - no matter how big. It would have been foolish to call a pot sized bet on the turn with a gut shot/flush/royal draw. But some people can't away from royal draws. By this time, I'm really contemplating folding here. If I call and lose I'll have about $120 left to take home and go home a $780 loser on the night. I'm holding my cards up and the players to my left and right can see them at this point. But I'm still working my way through this hand. This guy hasn't been able to look at me ever since I asked him it he had Ace ten. Ace ten of hearts is the only hand that makes sense here. Wait a minute. KQ also makes sense. In fact, KQ makes more sense. I just don't think he would have called the $300 on the turn. I say to Mom, "I think we're going home after this hand, win or lose." By now, I am comfortable with my decision no matter what he has. My voice is almost a whisper, "I call". He turns to look at me. The dealer says, "What? You call?" I say, "Yes, I call". He turns up KsQs. YES! I turn up my pocket 5's and take down the $2000 pot.
It turns out that it was a huge decision for me. But the thing that had me calling the most, was something I saw in his face. Something I can't describe. There was just something there when I first asked him if he had Ace-Ten. Maybe a micro-expression. Maybe it was something that my subconscious understood better than my conscious mind, but something told me to call and to be ok with it either way. So really, even though my brain said, "fold he's got to have the nuts." Another part of me said, "call." Since I was having an inner struggle I took the time to go through the hand in my mind and to make a conscious decision that Ace ten didn't actually make that much sense... not with HIM. Another donkey caller - yes, but not HIM.
In the end, I was ok with it. If he turned up AhTh, then that would be that. But I was about 90% certain I had the winner after taking the time to work through the hand before calling.
That's it for now. Time to get ready to go win some more money!
Then I played a small T at Coushatta in Kinder and cashed for $2000. Everybody kept wanting to chop, but my goal was to walk away with $2k so I kept blocking the chop talk until we knocked out enough players to meet my goal. Mission accomplished!
Then we went down to the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and I played a $350 tournament there. The tournament went really well for me. I got lucky and I played great too. After 14 hours of play we chopped the prize pool 17 ways. I walked away with $6500.
Exhausted from all that play and then waiting another 2 hours to get paid, I lost about $1500 over the next two days. But I still managed to come back to Baton Rouge with a bankroll sufficient for me to move up from the $4-$8 limit and into the $2-$5 no limit game.
We played in New Orleans a week or so ago and I lost about $900 in the $1-$2 game, but I played pretty well all in all. So I wasn't too upset about the loss. I felt like I did all that I could. A few times my opponents sucked out to win the big pots. Here's one hand in particular. This one has to do with reading opponents. I had something like A8. On the flop there was an 8 and a K and some other rag card. I checked. The big blind checked and the next guy bet $20. I read him a weak so I called. The BB, who had raised pre-flop figured that his pocket J's were beat with that guy betting and me calling so he folded the best hand here. Now that it was just the two of us and I figured he did have anything, I bet $40 thinking he would fold on the turn. He did not fold, but called instead. That confused me a bit. Another K hit the river and I checked. The guy bet about $65. This really had me wondering if I'd been wrong all along. While I'm thinking about it I'm "shuffling" my hole cards. I notice that he catches this move from the corner of his eye and his eyes move from my eyes to my cards. I'm wondering here, did he think I was folding? I think he wants me to fold. Usually when someone has a big hand they'll look at your "chips" to imagine them in their own stack. But he looked at my cards! He was also leaning over the table and staring me down (something he had not done before when he did have big hands). I decided to stick with my originial analysis that he didn't have anything all along and the K on the river couldn't have helped so I called. He had total air and I won the pot. That's the first time I'd noticed a player looking at my cards...
That takes me to this week. I was playing at the Belle in Baton Rouge in the $2-$5 no limit game. We'd been playing for a while so all the players were familiar with each other. I raised to $20 with 55 in middle position. I got 4 callers. (A nit player, a donkey caller, and two guys that like to see flops). The flop came down Kh Qh 5d. Wooo hooo! I just flopped a set. Now, let's make some money. I don't like the flush/straight draws so I don't want to mess around too much. The first 2 check. I bet $65. The nit calls. One of the "likes to see a flop" guys calls. And the donkey caller, calls. The turn is a 6c. Thank goodness that didn't make anyone's straight or flush. The first two check to me. I decide that I want to bet enough to take the pot down right here. No need to allow those pesky draws to see the river. I bet $300. The nit calls! What the heck? The other two fold. So the easy to beat players are out and the guy who usually has the nuts is in the hand. What's going on here? He was supposed to fold. The river is a Jd. That card doesn't make a flush but it could make a straight. I decide that along with that card being a scare card for me, the pot is big enough (and what can he be calling with?) so I check. He shoves in an intimidating stack of green chips - $500! Now I go into the tank.
I think I spent the next 5 minutes going over the hand. I really thought I had the best hand. What just happened? He's looking at me to see what I'm going to do. I look at him and ask, "Ace-ten?" He looks away. What's that mean? Is he looking away because I called his hand? Is he looking away because his hand is much weaker than a straight? "Ace ten of hearts? really?," I say. No reaction from him. I'm shuffling my cards and he looks at them. What? Did he just look at my cards? Is he looking for me to fold? Ok, did he slow play pocket K's or Q's? No, I don't think so. I think he would have reraised with one of those two hands either pre-flop or on the flop. Did he turn a set of 6's? No, I don't think he called $65 on the flop with a medium pair to hunt out a set on the turn. Ace ten of hearts? really? No. I don't think he called THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS on the turn with a draw - no matter how big. It would have been foolish to call a pot sized bet on the turn with a gut shot/flush/royal draw. But some people can't away from royal draws. By this time, I'm really contemplating folding here. If I call and lose I'll have about $120 left to take home and go home a $780 loser on the night. I'm holding my cards up and the players to my left and right can see them at this point. But I'm still working my way through this hand. This guy hasn't been able to look at me ever since I asked him it he had Ace ten. Ace ten of hearts is the only hand that makes sense here. Wait a minute. KQ also makes sense. In fact, KQ makes more sense. I just don't think he would have called the $300 on the turn. I say to Mom, "I think we're going home after this hand, win or lose." By now, I am comfortable with my decision no matter what he has. My voice is almost a whisper, "I call". He turns to look at me. The dealer says, "What? You call?" I say, "Yes, I call". He turns up KsQs. YES! I turn up my pocket 5's and take down the $2000 pot.
It turns out that it was a huge decision for me. But the thing that had me calling the most, was something I saw in his face. Something I can't describe. There was just something there when I first asked him if he had Ace-Ten. Maybe a micro-expression. Maybe it was something that my subconscious understood better than my conscious mind, but something told me to call and to be ok with it either way. So really, even though my brain said, "fold he's got to have the nuts." Another part of me said, "call." Since I was having an inner struggle I took the time to go through the hand in my mind and to make a conscious decision that Ace ten didn't actually make that much sense... not with HIM. Another donkey caller - yes, but not HIM.
In the end, I was ok with it. If he turned up AhTh, then that would be that. But I was about 90% certain I had the winner after taking the time to work through the hand before calling.
That's it for now. Time to get ready to go win some more money!
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