Arsenal and Man Utd are 0-0 at the end of 90 mins in the FA Cup Final, but my tales are of poker. Have just had my first dabble in 6-max NL cash games and I didn''t like it. Managed to lose my £100 buy-in in an hour. Had one of those annoying sessions when, on the few occasions I got dealt decent cards, I either won the blinds, or had very little help on the flop when no-one else hit. I don't think I connected with a flop at all in the hour - no help whatsoever. Quite frustrating.
Last night was better. Went down to 4th Street Poker and managed to come second in the second freezeout of the evening, despite not really getting any decent cards in the tournament, especially once it got to the final table. The guy that eventually won adopted an ultra-aggressive stance (raised most hands all-in). Under the game conditions (high blinds relative to stacks) this was the right ploy. Unfortunately for me I suffered the coldest cards I can remember in quite a while. Every hand was 63, 53, 74, etc. I managed to scramble on when my 98 doubled through (and also hit a runner-runner straight in another hand), but my luck eventually ran out and second it was, and £54 tucked away in my back pocket, making a profit of £24 for the evening (£12 if you include beer).
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The Bad Play and the Bad Players
Got a phone call out of the blue last week from Ladbrokes about their Poker Cruise qualifiers. Seeing as I qualified for it last year, they offered me a free place in Monday's $130 qualifier. This got me inordinarily excited (shows how lacking in thrills my life is), but I managed to completely douse the fervour by playing like a loon. KK and AJ early on helped me accumulate some chips, but then I managed to spunk away most of my stack when trying to push someone off a Kxx flop with 77 in the hole. God knows why I came to the conclusion that this guy must be bluffing, as I had no real evidence apart from the fact it was checked round to him. He, of course, had a King and I (rightly) missed my two outs. There is no more annoying feeling in poker - the knowledge that you completely messed up a hand through amateur play.
No-limit ring games are going OK. Had a good session on Monday night when I took my £100 buy-in up to £250. Managed to get a great table (a ten seater that was just filling up). Loved it when I noticed that most of the other players hadn't sat down with much money (a couple even with the minimum of £20). Nothing screams fish like this does (you've got to buy in for the max available if you want to get best value for your good hands). Had a great little battle with one player. I annoyed him by going all in with AQ on a board of KJxx. He called with his King and I hit my Ten. Couple of hands later he got me back a bit when he spiked trip fives on the river with his 52!. I did him eventually though for all his money. Another muppet was incapable of laying down top pair, crap kicker, even when facing all-in bets on the river.
Did notice a leak of mine though - I'm playing too many speculative hands out of position. Think I get a bit wound up in the whole 'you could flop a monster and break a player' mentality. At one point I dribbled away £60 without winning anything back. Also had no luck with pocket pairs recently - can't remember the last time I flopped a set.
No-limit ring games are going OK. Had a good session on Monday night when I took my £100 buy-in up to £250. Managed to get a great table (a ten seater that was just filling up). Loved it when I noticed that most of the other players hadn't sat down with much money (a couple even with the minimum of £20). Nothing screams fish like this does (you've got to buy in for the max available if you want to get best value for your good hands). Had a great little battle with one player. I annoyed him by going all in with AQ on a board of KJxx. He called with his King and I hit my Ten. Couple of hands later he got me back a bit when he spiked trip fives on the river with his 52!. I did him eventually though for all his money. Another muppet was incapable of laying down top pair, crap kicker, even when facing all-in bets on the river.
Did notice a leak of mine though - I'm playing too many speculative hands out of position. Think I get a bit wound up in the whole 'you could flop a monster and break a player' mentality. At one point I dribbled away £60 without winning anything back. Also had no luck with pocket pairs recently - can't remember the last time I flopped a set.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
KQ - the killer
The last few Fridays I've been playing live poker down at a new night just off Baker Street - Fourth Street Poker. Nice little tournaments (under 20 entrants) and a young, friendly clientele make for a fun evening out.
Last Friday I started quite well, I got my starting stack of 800 up to 2300 in the rebuy period (thanks in part to getting dealt QQ twice) and yet still managed to have to use a rebuy as I lost them all. The major damage was done when I had a J-high flush lose to a K-high flush (with the Ace on the board). Managed to get some chips somehow and made it to the final table, but cards went cold and I had no opportunities to snatch chips and I went out in 8th. My last hand was KQ, which is my traditional hand for exiting live tournaments with.
Over the weekend I decided to give no-limit cash games another go. My first foray into the field last month was a nightmare - I played twice and lost my £100 buy-in both times. The mistake I made was treating it like the early stages of an internet MTT. The objective in the early stages of these tournaments is to try and get all your chips in the middle with big hands and hope they hold up, as there are many players who will go all-in with less than premium hands. I did the same in the cash games with QQ and KK, only to run into KK and AA respectively. I failed to understand that no-limit cash games are all about trying to accumulate chips through your betting and play, rather than by going to showdowns and your good cards holding up. (It's also about successfully trapping someone with a big pair by hitting two pair or a straight, but I haven't had a chance to do this yet).
I played four sessions of no-limit cash games and won about £50 in each one - 4 winning sessions wiping out the losses from my first dabble. I feel more confident about the game now and will try and make this my staple for earning the bonuses on the Crypto cash tables as I've been finding limit poker a bit boring recently.
Last Friday I started quite well, I got my starting stack of 800 up to 2300 in the rebuy period (thanks in part to getting dealt QQ twice) and yet still managed to have to use a rebuy as I lost them all. The major damage was done when I had a J-high flush lose to a K-high flush (with the Ace on the board). Managed to get some chips somehow and made it to the final table, but cards went cold and I had no opportunities to snatch chips and I went out in 8th. My last hand was KQ, which is my traditional hand for exiting live tournaments with.
Over the weekend I decided to give no-limit cash games another go. My first foray into the field last month was a nightmare - I played twice and lost my £100 buy-in both times. The mistake I made was treating it like the early stages of an internet MTT. The objective in the early stages of these tournaments is to try and get all your chips in the middle with big hands and hope they hold up, as there are many players who will go all-in with less than premium hands. I did the same in the cash games with QQ and KK, only to run into KK and AA respectively. I failed to understand that no-limit cash games are all about trying to accumulate chips through your betting and play, rather than by going to showdowns and your good cards holding up. (It's also about successfully trapping someone with a big pair by hitting two pair or a straight, but I haven't had a chance to do this yet).
I played four sessions of no-limit cash games and won about £50 in each one - 4 winning sessions wiping out the losses from my first dabble. I feel more confident about the game now and will try and make this my staple for earning the bonuses on the Crypto cash tables as I've been finding limit poker a bit boring recently.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)