Entries Tagged 'Trip Reports' ↓

When we left off I had just doubled up and was getting back into the action with a stack of ~$4k, playing 20/40 NL in a fast-paced live game running 6-handed.

The Waiting Game

The game was playing very aggressive, and very “actiony” - players willing to call raises preflop, reraise preflop, and get involved with less-than-premium holdings after the flop. I’m willing to play relatively tight and wait for high equity hands because of the action at the table.

I tread water for a few hours, losing and winning some small pots. I’m forced to fold postflop a number of times after raising and missing my hand - 88 doesn’t look so hot on a K9T flop when 3 people call your preflop raise.

I didn’t get many hands for a few hours, fortunately I was able to exploit my image a bit. I stole a couple pots on pure bluffs - I could donk the flop into the preflop raiser with backdoors and overcards and get a quick fold because of my nitty image. I also 3-barrelled(bet the flop, turn, and river strongly) a particularly dangerous board (AKxxx, 3 spades) against a good player who was capable of laying down an Ace.

I start to splash around a bit, but raising light is counterproductive when it is hard to take down a pot postflop and multiple players call raises - so I get a snack and settle in.

The Pots Keep Getting Bigger

I’m sitting with $3800 having lost a bit while splashing around. Everyone folds to an aggressive player in the small blind who covers me.

He open-raises to $140, I call with T8. I’m happy seeing a flop in position with different types of hands.

Flop: J 9 7 (Pot: $280)

Jackpot! I flop the nuts on a drawy board against an aggressive player. I’ve been splashing around a little, hopefully I look a bit more “action” than I did a few hours earlier.

He leads for $200, I raise to $700.

I need to build this pot early before an unfavorable turn or river card could kill my action - and raising the flop is the best way to give myself a chance to get my money in. Hopefully he will think I’m semi-bluffing, or trying to take a stand against the big stack. If I can encourage a “pissing contest” type confrontation, so much the better.

He calls in tempo.

Turn: (J 9 7) 7 (Pot: $1680)

The turn isn’t a great card since it could potentially make him a better hand, and gives worse hands like AA a four-out redraw. It doesn’t change my plan, though.

He checks, I bet $900. This will leave about $2000 left to bet in a $3500 pot if he calls the turn, a good sized river shove.

He starts reaching for chips, and asks the dealer for time. He asks me “Do you want the money to go in now, or on the river?”
I reply with my standard response to any question: “Whatever.”

He says “this is for the turn” and puts out a call of my $900, and then says “and this is for the river” and puts about $5k down, betting the river dark, and putting me all-in.

I call instantly, before the dealer gets a chance to burn + turn. My opponent seems a bit taken aback, I guess he put me on a draw and expected me to fold the river if I missed…

The River

The river, unfortunately, is the 9, leaving the board:

River: (J 9 7 7) 9 (Pot: $7600)

My opponent looks dismayed, so in my haste I turn over my cards before waiting to see his, and he mucks facedown! His likely holdings were an overpair, a draw, or a pure bluff - nothing else makes sense.

It’s incredible to have the dealer slide such an enormous pot in my direction, especially after such bad card for my hand hit on the river and it seemed like all might be lost. I was so stoked - it took me three hands to stack all my chips!

I played for awhile until I stopped for dinner, though no eventful hands followed.

Fortunately, I’d made quite a stack, turning a rough start into an awesome day!
The last day I played limit - I may do an Epilogue discussing some of the interesting LHE situations that came up, if there is interest.

I can’t wait to go back, live poker is a great change of pace, and it is exhilarating playing higher stakes than ever before. I hope you enjoyed the recount of my NL adventure!

Day 2, Part 2:

After a shower and some lunch I hopped back into a 20/40 game, this one was running 6handed and was more aggressive than the last table. I lost a couple pots and was down to $2500 but feeling good about my play. It was similar to an online 6max game, there were soft spots but there were also some tough opponents too.

My Biggest Pot Ever

My stack had dwindled to about $2500 after getting KK cracked and folding JJ in a reraised pot on a bad board, when I was dealt 88 2 off the button.

I made it $140 to go, the button and the SB both called, both have me covered.

Flop: 9 82 ($440 pot)

I lead for $300, button folds, and the SB checkraises to $700.
I “think” for a moment, and then go all-in for about $2360 total - he calls quickly with K9.

Turn: (9 82) 4 ($5160 pot)
River: 3

Ouch.  I got my money in as a significant favorite, and that’s all I can ask for - but boy did I want to win that one.  I wasn’t about to let frustration or tilt creep in, so I got back to work.

I decided to rebuy for $2k, since the players were calling preflop reraises very loosely, playing “deepstack” poker.   I felt I had a decent chance to double up if I picked up JJ+ or AK, since I would get a near-guaranteed call if I reraised preflop, building a pot big enough to commit with one pair on the flop.

Getting Back In The Action

After a couple orbits I get lucky and pick up QQ in the SB.  An aggressive player opens for $200 one off the button(CO), and the button, a somewhat fishy player, coldcalls. I make it $500 to go - a small reraise, but effective since my opponents will put money in with dominated hands. They both call, which is great for me - now I just need a decent flop.

Flop:4 7 9 (Pot: $1540)

This flop is safe enough that I can commit happily. I go allin for my remaining $1200 (I had just lost a pot and was a bit shorter), the CO folds, and the button calls with QJ.

Turn: (4 7 9 ) 3 (Pot: $3940)
River:( 4 7 9 3) T

My Queens hold up! I’m close to where I was before I lost the set hand, but still down a bit. I’m determined to succeed, and while the game is profitable there are some tough opponents. I hunker down, excitedly awaiting my next hand. I’m back in the action! It’s all going to come down to the next few hours…

I arrived in California midday Thursday, a friend picked me up at the airport and we drove up to the casino for a weekend of poker.

Day 1:

I jumped into a juicy 10/20NL game with a $2000 stack - the games were very good, hopefully it would be a profitable weekend.

There were only 2 notable hands from day 1:

• I raised AK under the gun(UTG) and got reraised by a tight player who was next to act (UTG+1). Live plays very differently than online, it is generally more passive, so I folded - he flashed KK.

• I raised 75 and 3barreled a K63 2 club board against what turned out to be a fish, who called me down with a king.

This was mostly tilt, I was frustrated from folding for 4 hours and this particular player had not folded to my cbet yet on the flop in 6 different hands.

After some thought I realized that 4 hours = ~150 hands, which is less than I play in one hour online. I redoubled my efforts to play a patient game after my moment of weakness.

After a 6hr session I was down a bit, about $1200. I called it a night early because I was tired from my flight, determined to play my A game for the rest of the weekend.

Day 2:

I woke up early on Friday, and went downstairs to play some cards. The waiting list for the 10/20nl was very long, but there was a 20/40 game running 3handed so I bought in for $2000 there to minimize my risk until I could determine if the game was good.

The game was very good. I added on for $2k more and ordered some food, planning to play a long session. The table filled up and soon pots were 6way unraised - a juicy table to be sure!

Things started out rough. I got AA and KK cracked in the first couple hours, but I managed to get away from my hand both times and only lost medium-sized pots.

Making Use of My Image

I turned things around in two hands that complement each other.

Hand 1:

I raise AK to $140, unknown player calls in the big blind(BB).

Flop: K 4 2 ($300)

I have a tight image at the table. With almost $4000 behind, I’m not happy getting my stack into this $300 pot on such a dry board. Furthermore, the only legitimate calling hands are Kx, so I opt to take a somewhat unorthodox line.

BB checks, I check.

Turn: (K 4 2 ) T ($300)
BB checks, I bet $200, BB calls.

River: (K 4 2 T) 2 ($700)
BB checks, I bet $450, BB calls.

I show my hand and BB mucks, I scoop the $1600 pot.

I gave my opponent a chance to bluff, and when he didn’t I value-bet. It’s possible I missed some value from KQ/KJ, but I don’t know his hand so it is possible he called down with just a T that could not have called the flop.

Such an unorthodox line later protects me.

Hand 2:

A somewhat aggressive player raises in middle position(MP) to $120, I reraise KK in the BB to $400, he calls.

The flop is: A T 4 (pot: $820)
I check, MP bets $500, I call.

Turn: (A T 4) 8
I check, MP checks.

River: (A T 4 8) Q
I check, MP checks.

I flip my KK and villain mucks, ship the $1820 pot.

I was fortunate that my opponent did not have the guts to fire a second barrel, but he had seen me take unorthodox lines and check the flop to trap with strong hands before, so he could not be certain whether I was giving up or trapping him, which likely bought me my free showdown.

One aggressive player at the table commented on the hand, saying “i’m going to have to 2-barrel you!”
I would not be able to take such a vulnerable line again at this table today, but could potentially set some traps with my now-weakish image.

After a few more hours of play I was ready for a shower and some lunch, so I took my leave of the table.
Stay tuned for part 2, where I run into some real tough spots in an aggressive, shorthanded 20/40 NL game during my afternoon session! I manage to lose my biggest pot, ever!