Saturday, February 20, 2010

Update

First, my notes from the little bit of online play I did:

I won the first night, ~80BB (.01/.02).  This was single table, 6-max.  Lost the second, two-tabling 0.01/0.02, down about 250 BB.

What I learned...

  1. When I'm aggressive and CB, I get a lot of folds on the flop and take down small pots
  2. When people fight back, they've usually got something.  Slowing down is a good thing.  Small pots should make up for the occasional larger pot that I give up on.
  3. Fault: sometimes I fire too much, and try a second or third barrel in bad spots on bad boards.
  4. Fault: sometimes I hit a big hand, bet river, then insta-call without reading.  This is side effect of two tables.
  5. I'm better playing one table at a time and concentrating
  6. Online is good for practicing control and patience.
Tomorrow Night (last Tuesday's .5/1 game):
  1. Fire more first bets on the flop.  I'll get more folds than I expect, especially in the Tuesday game where I am considered quite tight.
  2. Raise in late position more with any hand that can be a favorite or could get some folds.  Vary the size of my raises to attack weakness.
  3. Don't play as tricky.  
  4. Floating = good.  But, on the turn and river, don't get too attached...
  5. Re-raise LAGs more to pick up pots.
  6. TAKE THE TIME every time I get bet/raised on the turn and river.  Hand range FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE HAND.
* * * * *

$1 game -- lost $18

Very first hand on a 10-handed table, EP-MP.  I had Ah3h, limped, raise to $4, I called and guy to my left called.  On flop of AJ5 rainbow, check, check, pfr $5, I make it $18.  Next guy folds, and pfr thinks for a LONG time and calls.  I don't know much about him but he looks pretty solid and I know he is week.  I'm thinking his most likely hand is QQ or KK.  Turn come blank, and I push for $38 or something like that.  He again, thinks a long time (during which time I realize he has an ace) and finally calls.  Oops -- I rebuy after he shows A9o.

In hindsight, I think this was a little reckless because I didn't know him and he didn't know me.  He just through that weak CB out there and I attacked it thinking I had the best hand.  Usually my table image is so tight that I get folds from mid-kicker aces in that spot all the time.  Also, I should have considered my stack a little longer and considered the size of the pot -- once he calls the flop, it makes it much more likely that he has an ace and is committed to calling the river too.  I don't mind my play too much, but it was a bit dangerous.

I also regret not talking more to encourage the fold.  He was right on the fence and I might have been able to push him over (tough to say -- at first I thought he was likely to just fold).

Later on, I tripled up with QQ three-way against two AJs...

At one point, I think I made a bad play by folding AJo to a raise (reasonably tightish player raised, but I think a call was warranted there).  These might be some of the places that I've been playing a little too tight, especially if I've got position and should be able to read players pretty well after the flop.

I basically never bluffed since hands were often 3+ way.  I played very few flops and hit even fewer.  Somewhere in there is my primary weakness in the game -- I think a combination of loose play and decent stakes makes me clam up and not fire as much as I should be.

I need to work on playing against LAGs.  Improving though, and opened with some stranger hands...  I just need to fire more on the flop, float more, take a card off more, etc.  While watching that I don't get too aggressive.

* * * * *

Today, tried playing 10-handed .02/.05 on Stars.  The thought was that a single table would help me read better and avoid getting too hectic, and the long-handed table would be closer to the Tuesday game.

I'd say the experience was similar, although the average player is MUCH tighter online.  I just don't think I can find the similar game.  I should probably play one table of similar stakes but short-handed to work on my aggression and reading ability.

Overall, I was down about $8.50, but it all came to one hand.  I was in LP, MP raises to $0.20 (he'd be relatively active), I cold-called with AQo, big blind, a super-tight player, calls.  I considered the three-bet, but opted not to.

Flop comes Q83 rainbow, and I like my hand.  BB checks, PFR bets .45 into 0.65ish, I re-raise to 1.20 to define my hand.  BB cold calls(?), PFR calls.  Turn is an offsuit ace giving me top two.  Checks to me, I bet 2.50, and only BB calls.  That's really odd to me because he is super tight (never raising pre-flop, playing < 10% of hands).  River is a blank and he checks to me.  Now, the question is, do I shove my last $6 in for value, or check?  Well, I shoved.  Think for a second -- was that a good play?

My mistake here was not ranging back to the beginning of the hand.  I shoved because I thought he could have two pair.  But, a really tight player calling a huge bet cold on a Q83 flop is not two pair.  There's no two pair he could logically hold!  No, he had a set of 3s (of course).  These are exactly the hands I need to improve on!!!

So, I'll play another session tomorrow, short-handed.  I may also try two-tabling the 10-handed tables, but I think short-handed is the priority.  I'll work on my aggression, and I WILL RANGE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE HAND!  Yes, in that hand I probably was going to lose half my stack, but the river bet is a pretty huge mistake.

2 comments:

The Poker Meister said...

"Lost the second, two-tabling 0.01/0.02, down about 250 buy-ins." - PLEASE tell me you mean BBs, not buy-ins. I can't imagine losing $500 in a single session on a single table. I think you mean BBs.

Sean said...

Uh, yeah, good catch. It was definitely BB, losing 250 buy-ins would be completely crazy!