t8suited's blog

We knew the weather was going to be bad this weekend, but everything from accommodation to sightseeing trips was booked in advance, so we had no choice but to go.

Our B&B inn was located in Ucluelet, a small town 1/2 hour drive from Tofino. Our original plan was to do kayaking right after we arrived on Friday, but the weather was too miserable, so we decided to postpone and hope that the conditions would be better Sunday morning.

We went for some seafood dinner, and some SNG pokah (both online and against each other) in the evening.

Saturday was the whale-watching and hot-spring tour. During our boat ride to the hot spring island we spotted a killer whale, some sea otters, seals, sea lions, and other wildlife. All that while I was fighting sea-sickness on the rocky boat in the rough ocean. The hike to the hot spring (Maquinna Marine Prov. Park) was relaxing, and the springs were supernice.

Sunday we went ahead with 3 hrs of kayaking. The waves made me sea-sick again -- I guess marine-sports are simply not my thing. I still put forth my best effort at the back of the double-kayak. Arielle seemed to enjoyed it. BTW I can't imagine how easy it would be to kayak in sheltered waters, such as Deep Cove, North Van.

Some pictures:

Conditions were never better than this


I just flopped a set of Queens in this $13 6-man SNG (bottom)


Dinner, day 1: me slurping my seafood broth


Interesting carvings on the wooden trail


Arielle and I


The hot spring


Sexy boy


Dinner day 2


Just an appealing mix of seafood


Kayaking


I think I am exhausted


Next entry: Review July 17-24

0 votes

Comments (7)

Imagine every overpair got paid off by top pairs, every Axs improved to a flush by the turn, every read led to an important, correct decision, every draw or combo draw against missed, and Poker Gods answered my calls when I needed them.

That's like all the planets in the sky aligning. My golly, that's what happened Monday night:

Pure pwnage:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232883 AK Hello WTF?
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232881 AA Kizza hasn't been out of line yet, so I was surprised he decided to pull this crap here.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232880 TT Reraised pot, turned set. Hmm......
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232879 TT Flopped set against Justin (noclue) -- I wish it was somebody else but I'll take the money.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232878 KJs Flopped nut flush ding-ding-ding $$$$$$
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232877 KK winning a race in a glorious manner. Bigger preflop repop perhaps?
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232876 88 standard set vs overpair situation
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232875 A6s Lesson on outkicking, anyone?
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232873 AK I was elated to know that I didn't need improvement to win here.

Hands with read-based decisions:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232884 AK It was a timing tell that led to me felting this. With a more robust hand (i.e. set) why would he have hesitate before 4 betting flop against an enthusiastic opponent (me)?
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232874 93h I could already conclude from his preflop/flop/turn play that he had KQ.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232872 AJ A charming value-check -- it wasn't that difficult to put him on a missed FD.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232871 KQh Another instance when you ask yourself why a monster made hand would play this way.

And then Poker Gods bailed me out of trouble on the following 2 hands:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232868 K8s Flop AI with what I thought was a combo draw against a medium stack.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232867 65c I thought opponent could be making this play with a good king or spades in addition to 87.

A couple of miserable hands:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232886 AQ Megadonk backdoored a flush on me. Can't really complain about the way I played.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232885 KQ The only major blemish. If I raised this preflop I would have no problem going broke here.

0 votes

Comments (1)

Everything belonged to a Monday night session:

0 votes

Comments (6)

Objective: to test my skills against NL100 players

Hypothesis: I am good enough

Procedure:
1) Log onto Pokerstars
2) Join NL100 tables with high VPIP
3) Play

Results:
1) +$300+ in my 1st session -- I was freaking lucky that night
2) -$250 in my 2nd session -- I made quite a few bad plays, but it was 2 suckouts against that accounted for the most of the losses

Discussion:

The 1st session featured 2 huge suckouts on my part:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/231118 AKh pretty sick for my opponent
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/231119 QQ I'm almost too embarrassed to collect the pot

Some good plays:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/231120 77 A c-bet here could have led to a check-raise and destroyed my chances
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/231121 JJ Set-over-set vs. a LP regular

And a bad turn call here:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/231122 JJ #@%*&^$@#^%*?[&#$%!

Hands from the less memorable session:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232857 AK Suckout against #1. The guy was fed up with me 3-betting him preflop on another table -- OMG my big-chick was soooooooooted.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232859 AA AsAh deserts me again -- although I don't think I would have folded JJ 3-handed on that board, either.

A hand to forget

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232856 QQ WTF let's gamboooool (and then I lost)

2 modest winners

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232860 JTs I was about to throw up when I saw the turn K. When he mucked at showdown it was obvious he had AQ
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/232861 77 no respect huh?

Conclusion:

Move back down to NL50 because
1) I don't see myself holding a significant edge
2) I didn't like the variance

1 votes

Comments (1)

It was a good week. Not only I made money, I also played well.

After the July 2/3 debacle I made the following adjustments:
1) Play fewer tables
2) Lower my VPIP from 28-29 to 22-25
3) Bluff less frequently
4) Table-select better -- avoiding regulars.

The result was I made $800+, not including the casino MTT prize of course.

The good:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224716 85c Since he has to hesitate before calling my flop AI I knew I had him.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224717 T8d Sir thought your Ace-high flush is good? Check out my liquidpoker ID!
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224716 77 Opponent must feel sick about my preflop play.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/225906 75d Never chase a straight draw if your opponent is smart (edit: or dumb?) enough to chase the same card for a higher draw.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/225907 AQ Top-2 was good
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/225909 AQ Impetuous flop push against a donk worked out fine.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/225910 89 Trip 8s vs AA = $$$$$$
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/225912 JJ Screw that Q on the flop I am pot-committed
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227888 64d 3 pairs are no good
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227892 TT So you think your gutshot + overcard is worth chasing?
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227893 KQ AI with TP vs horrible players is probably +EV.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227894 44 Nice check on the flop sir
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227904 QQ OMG I've got top pair I go all-in
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/228359 44 ditto
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/228360 QQ Had he hit that backdoor flush I would go on perpetual tilt.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/228361 TT A difficult fold for opponent (that he couldn't make)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/228362 JT Thanks for showing us the correct way to slow-play a set.

The bad:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224721 KK PFAI with a luckbox
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227896 82d Why does poker God reward donkeys for playing AA like this?
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227898 AK I should've stacked IAMADISGRACE again (soon after the 44 hand). What a luck box.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227897 AA Finally I gave it all back to IAMADISGRACE. I can't move up if I am unable to make obvious river folds. Like this one.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/227900 53h Trip 5s on turn, but against his betting I can't see what I am beating.

0 votes

Comments (0)

So I was able to convince Arielle to play in a Holdem tourney at a local casino on Friday. She occasionally plays 3+0.4 SNGs on Stars, so she knows how the game is played. However I don't think she was comfortable playing at these stakes ($30+5) -- in fact neither was I.

The thing started @ 7pm. 44 players, 4 tables to begin with, 1500 stacks, 25-25 blinds that doubles for the first 4 levels or so. Top 5 get paid (5-10-15-20-50).

By coincidence we drew the same table. The first hand of the night went like this: UTG limped, UTG+1 limped, UTG+2 limped, I was next and folded QJ. It was apparent quite a few participants had no clue what they were doing. No idea of stack sizes. No ideas of survival. Just limp-calling raises with stuff like Q6s and 97 and A4.

Arielle was doing all right. Neither of us had anything to play with for the first 2 blind levels. When it got to 50-100 she raised to 400 in EP (somebody mumbled "watch out she's playing her first hand of the night"), got a call from a clueless player and then pushed him off the KQ5 flop. Afterwards she said she had AT.

Then it was my turn to get involved as I raised to 400 with AhJc (or Js? can't remember -- didn't matter) in MP and only the same loosie from BB called. I pushed the rest of my stack in (900) on the gorgeous Jh4h2h flop, he folded.

The very next hand I had QQ and open raised to 350. I was reraised by a relatively quiet LP. But the blinds were huge, M was small, and I wasn't about to fold my Queens. I was delighted when he flipped over JJ. Board was 84KKQ -- I won. Although I'd rather not see any face cards come up.

Then Arielle decided to get involved she came over the top of and EP raise and then flopped an Ace with AsJs vs 55. She next raised 6x vs 2 limpers with 66 on the button, got called AI by AhJh in SB and BB who was already AI with T5, folded out the limpers, saw a T-high board and won the significant side pot.

Blinds kept going up fast, however. We tried our best to stay out of trouble. With blinds 200/400 and a 3200 stack I had 99 in the BB facing a LP 4x, over-a-limper raise. I tanked and eventually folded. Good fold? Arielle said yes.

Soon after that I raised to 1200 with AcAh in LP and got a limper to call -- the same guy who I earlier folded my 99 to. Flop was 9c7c2h, and to my delight he called my 1400 AI with AsJs -- I guess he was pot-committed.

Arielle next busted somebody who pushed UTG with AK. She called with KK and the guy couldn't hit an Ace. Thank God he didn't -- coz I mucked the other K, meaning she would be drawing dead.

When final table came there were like 3 huge stacks, while I only had 6 BBs. Arielle was in much more comfortable shape, but she soon doubled up some shortie when she couldn't outdraw his 99 with AdJd. At this stage we just hoped the big stacks would bust the shorties, allowing us to sneak into the money.

Arielle and I each managed to stay afloat by doubling up with JJ vs 99. But the key plays involved the big stacks busting 3 shorties in confrontations such as AhKh vs 63 -- big stack turned the 6. And then a shortie pushed with AQ and couldn't improve against JJ. The bubble burst when another shortie pushed AQ into AdTd only to see the big stack turn the flush.

So I made it into the money, and my tourney shortly ended afterwards when I pushed KJ with 5BB into AA. Arielle was ousted in 4th when she pushed Q5 with 1.5BB into BB who had 99.

I wish I was more aggressive blind-stealing. That was a disappointing ending to an otherwise thrilling evening. For our efforts we received $66 and $132 respectively. We are going to spend that money in Tofino.

-----------------------------

Back to online poker. My hand of the week is as follows.
T8suited = God. With my favourite suit to boot:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224717

1 votes

Comments (1)

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I was trying to play tight-agressive, but my true inside was still weak-tight. That led to me making bets, especially in reraised pots, that were too small yet those were bets that would make me pot committed no matter what happened on the river.

Such as these 2 hands:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224338 A bigger flop bet will make a turn AI 10 times easier
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224340 Same situation (thanks for all the comments already)

More disasters with big pairs:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224343 Just a bad beat
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224346 Another overpair got caught up on the flop and eventually outdrawn
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224345 Stupid Jack on the river cost me another $20

Lately I have been reading NL Theory and Practice by Sklansky and Miller. Somewhere they suggest that "open raising 6x with AK in late position make no sense. This hand can rarely win a big pot, but it might win a moderate amount if we run into hands like KT and A9. So why are we trying to get these to fold?"

And then I did this:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224339
Preflop was bad, I survived flop, but turn play was the final nail in my coffin. Opponent's flop lead set off alarm bells. But I mis-interpreted the turn check as a sign of weakness -- bye bye $32.

I did have a great time on one of my tables. I had the pleasure of milking 4+ BIs from Budambe (my only ATM of the day) before exacting some revenge on a regular:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224348 I was going to limp behind Budambe with anything semi-decent.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224349 Biggest pot of my life -- Nut flush vs smaller flush vs straight
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224350 Final nail in Budambe's coffin. Limping with my suited gapper allowed me to extract max value from opponent's postflop mistakes.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/224351 Flopped set vs turned TPTK vs a regular. This was a satisfactory ending to an otherwise awful night.

1 votes

Comments (0)

A tilty Tuesday night session more than negated my strong play earlier in the evening, as I was down like $30 for the whole day.

I was up $200+ in my 1st session, mainly due to me stacking shorties left right and centre at one of my tables.

I also had an extremely hot table during the late night session, but at my other tables I was trying to deal with the regulars and get even with them after I lost a few small pots. Good old ego got into my winning ways again. Why didn't I just leave, I didn't know.

Interesting hands from the 1st session:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/223537
Biggest lost of the day -- AK vs KK preflop all-in

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/223538
Bluffing with 44 into a turned full house =(

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/223539
TP-backdoor flush vs flopped set

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/223540
Trips in a raised pot = $$$

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/223541
Reraising preflop with 22, and flopping the set. That's "all she wrote" for my opponent.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/223542
It was obvious that I was hanging around with a PP. Meanwhile gawdawful's flop check was enough to convince me that he didn't have it.

~Hands from the 2nd session later~

1 votes

Comments (0)

I really wonder at times why I play poker at all.

I am a graduate student, and I don't make a whole lot of money, just ~$1.4k Canadian per month. But I hardly spend anything, either. Therefore I have yet to find an excuse to cash out a single dime out of my poker winnings (other than deposit bonuses).

I have got a promising academic career in front of me. In the next half a year or so I need to write a good thesis and produce a couple more world-class chemistry papers to wrap up my degree. So why am I staying up late, at times until 4 in the morning, just to play a card game?

And why do I get so much pleasure for beating my lab-mates in our 3 or 4 times per week, $2 buy-in tournaments?

Therefore, and unfortunately, I must conclude that winning at poker satisfies my ego more than my financial need.

I guess poker for me would be a productive leisure activity, better than going to a movie, playing pool or pitch & putt golf, because it makes rather than costs me money. Otherwise I shouldn't really be playing that much.

But poker is such a fun game. I am a fun-loving person. I don't know.

---------------------------------------------------------

The latter part of the week was mildly productive. I pushed my bankroll over 4k for the 1st time ever. I had a brief, slightly losing Thursdays session, but my long Friday night session was satisfactory. That night my bankroll started at 3900, peaked at 4190, but I then lost a whole bunch with loose calls, AA vs set, and an unsuccessful 12-out flop semibluff. Obviously it was time to quit. I ended the night with $4030+ (+$130 over 1.8k hands for 7PTBB/100).


Hands from my sizzling Wednesday session:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220026
KK, AI on a Q76 board. On a bad day my opponent would show up with 66/77. But here he had TPTK instead, and he didn't improve.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220027
QTs vs AA, turn A gave opponent top set and me the broadway straight. He went broke.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220028
Again, on a bad day opponent will show up with something else. But here he shows up with the only reasonable hand that I beat.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220029
2 pairs with a suited gapper in a raised pot.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220030
Funny push by my opponent with a busted gutshot, into my turned full house.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220031
Value push was called by a donkey opponent with the underhouse.

Nothing spectacular on Thursday. Here are some Friady hands:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/221774
AA, doomed when opponent setted with his 99. I pushed this river because it counterfeited many 2-pair hands. Of course that was just wishful thinking on my part.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/221775
Monstrous pot with a turned ass-end straight that held up. Assassin7 was a multi-tabling regular, and he took forever to call that turn push.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/221776
AJ, outkicking trips. Pwnage.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/221777
AK, limp-reraise, flopped trips turned full house. Skeptical opponent called my value push.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/221778
I had 113 pocket pairs and flopped only 2 sets the entire night. This was one of them. Another value push was called.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/221779
Another AQ vs KQ outkicking TP. I called down only because opponent was a donkey. Again I was lucky opponent had the only reasonable hand that I beat.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/221780
A fun AA hand.

1 votes

Comments (2)

After the debacle on Friday I was able to settle down and turn in a few decent sessions. I made ~2 BI each on Sunday night and Monday afternoon, broke even on Tuesday afternoon, won big (6.5 BI over 2.5k hands) on Wednesday evening, and won a bit more than 1 BI in 1-hour session on Thursday.

Obviously I tightened up my play, especially vs regulars, and it didn't take me long to realize that straightforward poker at this level = $$$. Why I can't keep this point in mind all the time, I really don't know.

Sunday evening hands:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/218604
KK, overpair all the way to the river. I played this feebly, even though I induced and picked off a huge river bluff.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/218605
88, flopped set, against opponent who stuck around with 66, picked up a straight draw on the turn and went broke.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/218606
Aces-up against TP on a somewhat gross board. It held up. Good for me.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/218607
A preflop limp-reraise with JJ worked out fine. A shortie went broke with his 99 on the 7-high board.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/218608
QQ. Wierd line by opponent. Not well played by me either, but at the end I picked off another sizable bluff.

Monday hands:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220310
Early on, a questionable preflop call led to a turned flush with suited crap. Opponent turn a worthless TP plus the dangerous Ac, but decided to call a big bet after not improving on the river. I didn't mind that at all.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220312
Bluffing flop with possibly no outs, but my opponent believed I turn the flush -- at least that's what I thought.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220315
77 was dynamite for me on this day. I barely had odds to set hunt after I was reraised preflop, but I got my set and doubled up.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220322
Another set with 77. I think this was well played.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220332
AsAc, lost race. Ironlaw likes to play his draw aggressively. As long as I saw the flop I rued that I made a relatively weak preflop reraise.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220334
AK vs AQ preflop all-in

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/220335
Playing TP for stacks. If opponent had a set he could have easily raised my feeble bet on that drawy flop. So I stuck with my read and prevailed.

More hands later......

1 votes

Comments (0)