Balance

As the stakes increase, the opponents get better. Great players are great hand readers. They are also good at deception. A great player thinks, "What range of hands am I representing?" Based off of my opponents perceived range, I have been thinking about different ways to maximize the value of my hands by maintaining balance. When someone makes a bet into me, its often either a bluff or a strong made hand. This type of player is easier to play against than someone who balances their range. I want my opponents to believe that I could conceivably have a weak, marginal, or very strong hand in any given situation. This makes things difficult for great hand readers.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $6 BB (5 handed)

MP ($359)
Button ($1898.25)
SB ($594)
BB ($952)
Hero ($639)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Ac, Kd.
Hero raises to $21, 2 folds, SB calls $18, 1 fold.
SB is an excellent player with a very solid style.
Flop: ($48) 6c, 6h, Ah (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.
By betting this flop, Im getting value from AJ, AQ, and some flush draws. However, against this particular opponent, Id estimate that he isnt cold calling with those hands very often. AQ most likely three bets and AJ probably calls here about 60% of the time while three betting the other 40%. As I stated before, villain is very solid, so I didnt give much merit to a flush draw because I don't think he's playing too many suited connectors out of position against a MP open raise. If I were to bet here, I would be representing TP or air. However, once I check, I'm representing a decent hand with showdown value. My perceived range is something like 99-KK.
Turn: ($48) 3d (2 players)
SB bets $30, Hero calls $30.
As with most poker decisions, I have three options: fold, call, or raise. Folding obviously has no merit. Most players will lead out on the turn after checking the flop behind. Many players interpret the flop check as, "Okay, you can have it." I could raise him here, but I'm trying to represent a decent hand that I simply want to get to showdown - call.
River: ($108) 7h (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $60, SB raises to $202, Hero calls $142.
Once he checks to me, I make a small bet attempting to make it look like a thin VB with TT-KK. Considering the range that Im representing, I thought that this would be a good time for villain to c/r, even before he did it to me. He tanked and c/r. I thought for 3 seconds and called.
Final Pot: $512
Results in white below:
Hero has Ac Kd (two pair, aces and sixes). SB has Ts Td (two pair, tens and sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins $512.
I have fun playing against good players because it allows me to manipulate them. In poker, it is my goal to win the battle of mistakes. I want to make less mistakes than my opponents. However, I am willing to make a potential small mistake by not protecting against a flush draw or getting full value from AQ in order to possibly induce an even larger mistake on my opponent's behalf.

Learning from mistakes

Played 4.5k hands this weekend. It was alot of fun to just sit down and play poker for an extended period of time on consecutive days. Ive been mobbed with career stuff lately, so it was a nice relief. Went out both Friday and Saturday night - good times. I did some reflection on my play. I need to really make an effort to keep logging hands. Time management will be essential.


Full Tilt Poker, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players

CO: $435
Hero (BTN): $663
SB: $603
BB: $600
UTG: $111

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, CO raises to $12, Hero raises to $45, 2 folds, CO calls $33

Flop: ($99) Q A 7 (2 Players)
CO checks, Hero bets $66, CO calls $66

Turn: ($231) 3 (2 Players)
CO bets $72, Hero calls $72

River: ($375) 7 (2 Players)
CO bets $78, Hero calls $78

Results: $531 Pot ($3 Rake)
CO showed Q Q (a full house, Queens full of Sevens) and WON $528 (+$267 NET)
Hero mucked A K (two pair, Aces and Sevens) and LOST (-$261 NET)

Looking back on this hand, I played it incorrectly. Villain is a TAG reg, so he's a thinking opponent. After he calls my 3b, I cant expect to get value from anything Im ahead of (maybe AJ occasionally). I need to check behind on this flop so I can try to rep an underpair and get value from AJ on turn and river, also something like mid pr or KK/JJ might look me up for at least for one street. And there is always the outside chance that he'll attempt to bluff me.

As the stakes increase, minor things like this make a difference. Since my mathematical edge decreases with each stake increase, I need to capitalize on minor edges.

Poker Story

My first experience with online poker was in July of 2006. My best friend at the time had intoduced me to MTTs. He hooked me up with a couple of books and websites, and I soaked in as much information as I could. I first started playing on a site called BetZip. For $20 a month, you could play in as many MTTs as possible, but with little reward, obviously. In August I expanded to Party and Paradise. I was one tabling SNGs and MTTs. I won about $1k in total from SNGs and a late night cash game binge on PP which netted me $600. I used Neteller to disperse some funds across other sites such as Stars and FTP. I continued my focus on MTTs.

After Christmas of 2006, I joined CR and PXF. I'm a visual learner, so I really benefitted from these sites, especially CR. Within a month, I took down the $10r on Stars for $13k. I had marginal success with MTTs and SNGs for the next few months. Up until March of 2007, poker was a hobby. However, that all changed when doctors told me that my wrestling career was over. My mother always told me that when one door closes, another door opens. Poker was my new D1 sport.

In July I decided it was time for a change upon discovering a post on CR's low limit forum titled, "Low Limit Grinders Community." The community improved my game by leaps and bounds. In August I was invited by Peten2toms to join UF2B. The group has padded my win rate from NL100 to NL600.

In late August I applied for Verneer's coaching. He claimed that he was accepting one student. I felt that I didnt really have a chance but the worst that could happen was a simple denial. I also thought that I didnt really need coaching because of my group, but at the same time, I figured it couldnt hurt. Verneer helped me battle through a month and a half long break even period at NL100. He reassured me that I would be fine and helped maintain my confidence. Eventually, I was adequately rolled for NL200 and never looked back. I blew through the limit fairly quickly and found myself playing NL400.

I received some very good coaching at the mid-stakes and I quickly moved my roll to the $30k mark. Everything was going well for me but I figured the inevitable downswing was lurking nearby. The new year brought what I was anitcipating. A sharp 11 BI downswing. These are very standard, but it has been my first experience with one. My month and a half long breakeven stint at NL100 helped prepare me for this. The only reason I was break even was because of all the terrible players that donk around at that stake.

Ive taken some time of from the game to regroup and I am ready log a good sample now that I an settled in at school. Running bad sucks, but its a nice change of pace bc it humbles you and causes you to reanalyze your game.

New year, new computer, new results

Winter break has concluded but it was a nice break. Always nice to spend time with family and friends. I am now back at Duke and have just finished my second day of classes. I won a laptop through Cardrunners' promotional giveaway and received it on January 2nd. Since then Ive been losing. Even though losing sucks, its good to get a taste of humble pie every now and then.

The more I play, the more I realize how important it is to have a terrible short term memory. In sports it is also important to have a bad short term memory. A pitcher who gives up a home run must quickly eliminate any negative emotions or thoughts to optimally pitch against the next batter. In a tournament, a wrestler must forget about a loss almost as quickly as it can happen. Most tournaments are double elimination. Once you lose, you are placed in the consolation bracket and are essentially wrestling for third place. It is easier to take first place than it is to take third in a tournament. A quarterback must also possess the ability to forget things quickly. After an interception, he is still the leader of the offense and cannot dwell on a previous bad play. A good quarterback stays focused on the task at hand. This easily correlates to poker. The hand histories are stored in a database for review. There is no need to dwell on an error or bad beat while at the table, because we have all the time in the world to dwell on it during our session review.