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...
- When I'm aggressive and CB, I get a lot of folds on the flop and take down small pots
- 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.
- Fault: sometimes I fire too much, and try a second or third barrel in bad spots on bad boards.
- Fault: sometimes I hit a big hand, bet river, then insta-call without reading. This is side effect of two tables.
- I'm better playing one table at a time and concentrating
- Online is good for practicing control and patience.
- 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.
- 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.
- Don't play as tricky.
- Floating = good. But, on the turn and river, don't get too attached...
- Re-raise LAGs more to pick up pots.
- 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:
"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.
Uh, yeah, good catch. It was definitely BB, losing 250 buy-ins would be completely crazy!
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