Wave of Mutilation

So I’m feeling slightly better. I think the worst of it is over. Really happy with the NTMTO ep. that’s going to hit the streets Friday, hope ya’ll are too.

I finished watching Shootaa’s 4 part 400NL series on Leggo today. I really like the way he explains himself. He’s a bit monotone and boring, but it’s not that bad really and I can appreciate his attention to stuff like combinatorics and pointing out variables that people may be missing. I’d suggest checking that series out. It’s good stuff.

Since Krantz is coaching/mentoring me and I’ve gotten to chill with him some (as chillin’ as you can hundreds of miles away) I’ve started watching tons of his old videos as well. I feel like the better you get at poker, the more you’ll get out of videos you watched a long time ago. You’ll recognize more and take more away from them. That’s what I’m doing now, feasting on clown vids and taking notes.

I’d yap some more but I’m still under the weather, hope grinding is going well for everyone. Also, I’m going to occasionally post a short video in the member contributions section between episodes of NTMTO, would ya’ll rather see vids with audio or without? 2 or 4 tables? What would we all benefit the most from?

What a terrible few days. On a 10 BI downer between 3 sessions, I def played a couple of hands poorly but the vast majority was stuff like, I have AJ on J99KJ and they have KJ, or I have K9 vs. a halfstacker’s Q9 on 97J and he runs a flush. Or I have KJ vs. a loose players AJ on J84J w/a fd. bleh.

I had planned on getting up the next morning, getting a fresh start grinding, focused, and A gaming it up. To my dismay I awoke sick. I don’t think my downswing made me physically ill, but something did :( So now I’m groovin’ on soup and resting up, playing some Xbox like back in the day when I’d stay home from school playing Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari and NES all day. Some things never change.

I’m not in the right state of mind to really analyze hands at the moment so I will post some when I’m feeling better. I will say that my image has very clearly been paying off lately and leave you with a couple of those gems :D

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 426856
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $534.30
Hero (CO): $445.00
BTN: $640.80
SB: $840.30
BB: $870.20

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is CO with Q Q
UTG raises to $12, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $40, 3 folds, UTG raises to $105, Hero raises to $445 all in, UTG calls $340

Flop: ($896.00) 4 2 4

Turn: ($896.00) 5

River: ($896.00) 7

Final Pot: $896.00
UTG shows 9 A (a flush, Ace high)
Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Fours)
UTG wins $893.00
(Rake: $3.00)

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 426860
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $781.90
SB: $414.00
BB: $449.00
UTG: $405.00
Hero (CO): $402.60

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is CO with A A
1 fold, Hero raises to $12, BTN raises to $40, 2 folds, Hero raises to $92, BTN raises to $781.90 all in, Hero calls $310.60 all in

Flop: ($811.20) 3 5 9

Turn: ($811.20) K

River: ($811.20) 6

Final Pot: $811.20
BTN shows 3 3 (three of a kind, Threes)
Hero shows A A (a pair of Aces)
BTN wins $808.20
(Rake: $3.00)

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 426861
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $230.30
CO: $400.00
Hero (BTN): $468.00
SB: $430.00
BB: $792.85
UTG: $564.20

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN with A K
2 folds, CO raises to $14, Hero calls $14, SB raises to $48.85, 2 folds, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $112, SB requests TIME, SB raises to $430 all in, Hero calls $318

Flop: ($878.00) 6 8 Q

Turn: ($878.00) 7

River: ($878.00) 2

Final Pot: $878.00
Hero shows A K (Ace King high)
SB shows A J (Ace Queen high)
Hero wins $875.00
(Rake: $3.00)

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 4 players – View hand 426864
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $400.00
SB: $139.00
BB: $103.90
CO: $1088.65

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN with K A
CO raises to $12, Hero raises to $36, 2 folds, CO raises to $92, Hero raises to $400 all in, CO calls $308

Flop: ($806.00) T A 2

Turn: ($806.00) 5

River: ($806.00) 2

Final Pot: $806.00
Hero shows K A (two pair, Aces and Twos)
CO shows Q K (a pair of Twos)
Hero wins $804.00
(Rake: $2.00)

Had a lot of eye opening realizations this week. When we were going over the hands in ep. 2 I had a lot of things churning in my head. What made the most sense, is that I was very often readless, and just using combinatorics and the fact that my opp was a reg, as an excuse to make a very specific play that would hinge on him being where I need him to be mentally. Combinatorics is a great aid to hand reading and I suggest that anyone who doesn’t know this stuff to learn it asap. That being said I have been using it a bit TOO much like a weapon, rather than say, a nitro boost in one of those fancy fandangled cars from the Fast/Furious movies. You get what I’m sprayin’? Weapon = No, Nitro Boost = Yes.

Cliffnotes here = reads are your weapons, hand combos is your nitro boost jamdance.

This week I’m getting back to basics. Like Mr. Miyagi says, when you lose your focus, you must return to balance. That doesn’t mean I’ll be playing straightforward 19/16 ABC TAG poker, but it does mean that I’m going to use my weapons rather than my nitro’s. I’m putting “DO YOU HAVE A READ?” on my 2nd monitor (the one with a visible background while I’m playing). I think this will keep it fresh in my mind, that I need to be thinking clearly, not only about what I’m up to and my image is up to, but what my opponents are ACTUALLY doing, and what hands they ACTUALLY have, what adjustments they are ACTUALLY making.

Things have gone pretty well since we made the vids, and when I briefly watched them today, I got even more out of them then when we were making them. Probably a product of thinking about a lot of things at once, and not 100% focusing on what Krantz was saying. I’ll be taking notes and watching them more thoroughly tonight sometime as I think they offer a ton of great information.

I laugh kinda like a hyena so if you guys think it’s annoying let me know and I’ll try to contain myself in the future :D

One other thing that stuck out to me, is the fact that I should actually be depolarizing my range in a lot of situations where I would default polarize it. I’m going to work on this as well, it’s going to be fresh in my mind.

OK on to some hands.

This is a pretty sweet spot, a lot of the time I would have considered checking the turn to get more value out of his weak range and induce bluffs from peels, but instead I bet again, and induce total spew :)

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 421090
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $80.00
UTG: $616.80
CO: $550.70
BTN: $80.00
Hero (SB): $588.80

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is SB with A A
UTG raises to $12, 2 folds, Hero raises to $40, 1 fold, UTG calls $28

Flop: ($84.00) 5 A T (2 players)
Hero bets $44, UTG calls $44

Turn: ($172.00) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $92, UTG raises to $204, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $112

River: ($580.00) J (2 players)
Hero requests TIME, Hero checks, UTG bets $328.80 all in, Hero calls $300.80 all in

Final Pot: $1181.60
UTG shows J Q (a pair of Jacks)
Hero shows A A (three of a kind, Aces)
Hero wins $1178.60
(Rake: $3.00)

Villain in this hand is Steve Yea, and I’ve basically been running him over, I picked up a few good hands as well but he doesn’t know that, so he probably feels like I’m way out of line. Weeee!

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 421091
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $400.00
SB: $882.10
Hero (BB): $400.00
UTG: $419.90
MP: $190.00
CO: $500.40

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BB with J J
3 folds, BTN raises to $12, 1 fold, Hero raises to $38, BTN calls $26

Flop: ($78.00) 8 3 4 (2 players)
Hero requests TIME, Hero bets $52, BTN calls $52

Turn: ($182.00) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $108, BTN raises to $310 all in, Hero calls $202 all in

River: ($802.00) K (2 players – 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $802.00
BTN shows A 5 (Ace King high)
Hero shows J J (a pair of Jacks)
Hero wins $799.00
(Rake: $3.00)

Not too soon after that hand….

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 421093
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $816.95
UTG: $472.50
MP: $86.00
CO: $449.60
Hero (BTN): $462.80
SB: $488.70

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN with 5 5
2 folds, CO raises to $12, Hero calls $12, 2 folds

Flop: ($30.00) 5 5 6 (2 players)
CO bets $20, Hero calls $20

Turn: ($70.00) 8 (2 players)
CO bets $40, Hero calls $40

River: ($150.00) 7 (2 players)
CO bets $112, Hero raises to $390.80 all in, CO calls $265.60 all in

Final Pot: $905.20
CO mucks A 9
Hero shows 5 5 (four of a kind, Fives)
Hero wins $902.20
(Rake: $3.00)

I’m pretty sure in the above hand that his river call is thin, but I don’t think he was in the folding mood at all. Maybe that’s just him though, I’ve heard he’s pretty insane.

Anyway, here’s some pwnage imo. I flat AA b/c I’d like to make more money than what the retarded shortdonk has. Magic happens.

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 421094
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $86.00
MP: $76.80
CO: $465.00
BTN: $399.40
Hero (SB): $751.40
BB: $406.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is SB with A A
1 fold, MP raises to $9, 2 folds, Hero calls $7, BB raises to $40, 1 fold, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $104, BB raises to $406 all in, Hero calls $302

Flop: ($821.00) T 5 8

Turn: ($821.00) J

River: ($821.00) 5

Flop: ($821.00) J 7 4

Turn: ($821.00) 6

River: ($821.00) 6

Final Pot: $821.00
Hero shows A A (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
BB shows 9 9 (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
Hero wins $408.50
Hero wins $408.50
(Rake: $4.00)

Winning a flip postflop, was a bit surprised to see him flat my 3b w/A8s. I guess I get no credits :/ I blame the CLOWN AVATAR!

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 421096
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $505.60
SB: $402.00
Hero (BB): $440.90
UTG: $1051.80
MP: $366.00
CO: $368.70

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BB with K K
UTG raises to $16, 4 folds, Hero raises to $50, UTG calls $34

Flop: ($102.00) T 8 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $60, UTG raises to $1001.80 all in, Hero calls $330.90 all in

Turn: ($883.80) 9 (2 players – 2 are all in)

River: ($883.80) T (2 players – 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $883.80
Hero shows K K (two pair, Kings and Tens)
UTG shows A 8 (two pair, Tens and Eights)
Hero wins $880.80
(Rake: $3.00)

OK now for a couple of strat hands and we’ll call it a blog.

I double barrel b/c I may get some folds, have a gutshot, and will have flexibility on the river! I kinda get there but not really, I think I would bluff this all the time, and villain was a reg/I feel like he could hero call here w/top pair, and I think I’m clearly ahead of his bluffcatching range. Obv I get pwned by a diamond. Is this too thin? I think the variables were lined up well.

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 421097
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $400.00
CO: $406.00
BTN: $134.50
Hero (SB): $415.00
BB: $1284.60
UTG: $92.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is SB with K 9
4 folds, Hero raises to $12, BB requests TIME, BB calls $8

Flop: ($24.00) J Q 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $20, BB requests TIME, BB calls $20

Turn: ($64.00) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $48, BB requests TIME, BB calls $48

River: ($160.00) T (2 players)
Hero requests TIME, Hero bets $112, BB requests TIME….

So here I squeeze a loose and fishy guy, he doesn’t like to fold much. On the flop obv an easy value bet, on the turn I think the T is going to fold out a lot of the hands I get value from, so I decide to check back and try to value bet the river. When he leads the river, I don’t think he’s ever leading 77 type hands, the hands I’m trying to get paid off by. I also don’t think he’s ever really bluffing, or value betting worse. I know he can’t rep much value range wise, but I really felt like I was beat here, one of those spots where I want to call given the way the hand played out, but I don’t really see too much I’m ahead of other than the straight draws that click with 23 that didn’t get there. What to do, what to do. Thoughts?

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 421098
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $82.00
BB: $486.90
UTG: $510.20
CO: $400.00
Hero (BTN): $543.10

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN with J K
UTG raises to $12, CO calls $12, Hero raises to $48, 2 folds, UTG calls $36, 1 fold

Flop: ($114.00) 3 K 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $68, UTG calls $68

Turn: ($250.00) T (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($250.00) 3 (2 players)
UTG bets $185 and Hero finds a shoe to vomit in, then clicks!?

That’s all for tonights blog folks. I’m going to put on my New Jersey Devils hat, and go play some NHL 10 on Xbox 360. I finally got the correct HD cable set up so I can FINALLY nut over a sick slick pic on the technicolor. Farewell and good night.

I had a pretty gigantic blog post I was working on, reviewing vids and yapping about all kinds of cool stuff, and my browser crashed and I lost it all. Fail.

The bottom line was that Bttech’s first few Leggo vids are insane and worth watching multiple times. I really like the name of his new series Regulators as well, being a fan of both the Young Guns movies and the Warren G song (even if you don’t like rap, how can you not like that song?).

It’s been a long ass day between grinding and making vids. I’m going to call it a night. Good luck on the game grid, programs.

All I can think about is exploiting my image at a poker table whenever I hear that line. That’s pretty sick.

I have various flavors of hands and situations to look at today, some will have played out one way, but I want to know what would happen if they played out another. So Krantz, going to need you on this one.

Lets see….

So in this hand, villain is a 6 tabling 19/16 type of a guy that I have no real history with, but seems pretty straightforward. My plan was to fold on the turn if he bet, but once he checks back, I was going to check and raise the river. When I see him NOT bluff the river w/QJ and give up so weakly, should I be more or less likely to checkraise bluff the river in the future. Is your average multitabling guy going to be more likely to bluff me, or more likely to keep playing his standard game? I guess I should build a history with each player and go from there, but what about the initial thought to checkraise this time? Good? Thought process being that he rarely has a flush, I can, he usually has pot controlling Ax hands that will bet/fold the river.

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 412916
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $183.95
UTG: $305.80
MP: $414.80
CO: $400.00
BTN: $410.00
Hero (SB): $529.80

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is SB with T T
2 folds, CO raises to $14, 1 fold, Hero calls $12, 1 fold

Flop: ($32.00) 9 5 A (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $20, Hero calls $20

Turn: ($72.00) K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($72.00) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Final Pot: $72.00
CO shows J Q (Ace King high)
Hero shows T T (a pair of Tens)
Hero wins $69.00
(Rake: $3.00)

In this next hand, I think I misplayed it (it’s subtle) and I have a crazy idea and I want to know if I should put down the cocaine or keep sniffin’ it. We’re playing 4 handed on one of the 5 handed tables, there’s a fish w/150 bucks or so and then 2 regs and I. I’m sitting here because I want to get in some tougher spots w/regs for educational purposes. I’ve been playing pretty aggressively and winning most of the pots (like 47/40 or something) and villain is also pretty loose, and he’s started to stop folding.

Anyway, in reality I check the flop, check and call the turn, and go for a checkraise on the river. I think it’s OK but what I immediately thought after was, checkraise the turn, and checkraise the river! Thought process being that he isn’t betting A high on the turn, he’s either pot controlling Kx because I’ve been so aggro, slowplaying a J, or turned AQ or a FD. So I think the majority of his turn range is calling a checkraise, and if he is frustrated and picked up a flush draw, he may even jam drawing dead? Too optimistic? Probably, he’s still going to call though. Which brings me to the reason for the river checkraise. He’s probably going to value bet if he hits a flush, he’s prob going to value bet if he has AQ or a K, if he has a J, all that jazz. and if he misses a flush, he has the chance to bluff. Is that good? Or is he going to be checking back thinking there’s no value if I checkraise the turn and check the river b/c I have nuts/air. I’m not entirely sure if I’m on to something or gettin’ fancier than a stelladoro breadstick on a gold plated doiley (which may not even exist but I’ll tell you what, it sounds pretty fucking fancy no?)

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 412933
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $136.05
Hero (BB): $446.10
UTG: $423.00
CO: $0.00
BTN: $497.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BB with T J
UTG raises to $12, 2 folds, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($26.00) K J J (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

Turn: ($26.00) T (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $16, Hero calls $16

River: ($58.00) 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

OK, I wasn’t entirely sure about barreling on this turn, but here’s what I’m thinking (villain is 30/16 a bit random, not super aggro, not much history)….

I’m ahead of a lot of the draws he’ll peel with again, rarely be checkraised, I may get a fold from a 7 or a T, and I have the 4h (not high value b/c he can def have a bigger heart some but w/e it’s still notable) and A high, and can check down the river.

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 412962
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $206.55
BB: $302.10
UTG: $811.00
MP: $424.10
CO: $400.00
Hero (BTN): $599.50

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN with 4 A
3 folds, Hero raises to $12, SB calls $10, 1 fold

Flop: ($28.00) Q 7 T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $22, SB calls $22

Turn: ($72.00) 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $44…

I feel like I’m doing well and improving my hand volume, which has been traditionally very poor and a big leak of mine. I’m starting to play more sessions more often, even though the past week has been pretty trying. Like, I had a lot of coaching to do, and that was fine, I love it, butttttt there was one day that I woke up in the middle of the night with terrible indigestion and my throat and chest were swollen and I was weezing and couldn’t breathe. It was terrible and I felt pretty sick for 2 days straight. Food poisoning? Must be. It was pretty nasty. I’m OK now though :)

That’s all I got for today I think. There were some other interesting hands but I don’t want to overload it. Also, speak up folks. I know a lot of you are reading this, ship me some comments. It makes me sad when I don’t get any feedback. We’re all supposed to be improving from this :) Don’t be shy, say hi!

The Jag abides (but not always because I definitely don’t dabble in pacifism, not at the poker table anyway)

This week has been a rollercoaster at the tables. I think it’s partly because I’m trying some new stuff, and partly because I’m playing poker :D. It’s all for the best though as learning is my #1 priority. Soaking up as much as I can from the Clown God that is my mentor.

Apologies again about the mess up with episode 2 guys. That was my bad, I didn’t think it was going to be an issue because it hadn’t been an issue. I’m replacing my PSU immediately. I do think however, that there’s a ton of good discussion and that even though the audio is a bit fast for the first 37 minutes, the content is what’s most important and there’s so much that you can take from that video. There’s so much that I’m taking from that video as well.

One of the things that Krantz has said a few times that’s sticking as what I would call active knowledge instead of passive knowledge, is that you want to “neutralize your opponents hand reading and create mistakes that you anticipate”. This is something I’ve always passively known, but maybe didn’t actively note. I think it’s really important not only for an overall game plan but to get better and beat better players. I’ll probably be sitting in some tough games this week just to monkey around with this stuff. This may make for some fun hands :)

I noticed as well that I’m a bit too “loose” with my bet sizing. The KQ hand in the video where I bet turn and shove river is a great example where I KNOW my bet is too big on the turn but I don’t take time to fix it. Krantz is right, can’t be lazy about that stuff. It’s too important. He also said “you wouldn’t give a guy a dollar would you?” and clearly the answer is no unless he was like, some homeless dude that wanted a chicken sandwich because, who can deny a homeless guy a chicken sandwich? This is also something I’m going to try and expunge from my game, laaaaaazinessss.

If you’re at the tables and you play in the same games I do, be prepared to be bloodied and bludgeoned with the button. Blame Krantz for that too :)

Alright, I’ve got an interesting hand that can’t wait I need feedbacks. History is, opp. is a loose kind of a guy that has peeled a lot of 3b’s, and checkraised a couple of times with a speech. I’m guessing that means they had the nuts but I could be wrong.

Anyway, in the hand, I think it’s completely standard up to the river, where I decide to polarize my range and jam instead of just vb’ing, I think his range is capped to showdown bound hands most of the time. He would c/r his good/value hands on the flop, and once I check back the turn probably value bet AQ and AJ type of stuff on the river, and he wasn’t tricky, just loose. It’d be hard to give him credit for trying to c/r me on the river w/2 pair or something. I tanked a bit as well to sell the idea that I was thinking about bluffing.

Cliffnotes = loose/aggro guy doesn’t like to fold a ton, but likes to play his good hands fast, I jam river w/a hand ahead of his bluffcatching range and hope he calls w/a hand he shouldn’t.

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 405482
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $723.20
UTG: $239.10
CO: $405.60
Hero (BTN): $527.50
SB: $336.30

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN with 9 A
1 fold, CO raises to $14, Hero raises to $40, 2 folds, CO calls $26

Flop: ($86.00) A 5 6 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $40, CO calls $40

Turn: ($166.00) 2 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks

River: ($166.00) J (2 players)
CO checks, Hero requests TIME, Hero bets $447.50….

Anyway, going to drink some Kombucha, eat some dinner, and then grind some more perhaps. What’s Kombucha you say? It’s this awesome stuff that makes you feel like a million dollars. It’s an ancient chinese tea, elixir of life style. Synergydrinks.com CHECK IT OUT. I guarantee if you’re open minded and you drink 1 bottle a day for a week or two you will reaaally feel a difference. BOOM don’t say I never gave you nothing :)

Today I watched a couple of Brian Townsend’s videos from the midstakes portion of his “I like to move it, move it” series.

Oh, and I don’t know if this is a good thing or not but I’m currently eating shrimp wrapped in bacon and brown sugar. I hope it’s a good thing.

Anyway, these videos teach an aggressive bankroll management scheme. I think it’s reasonable if you can stay disciplined and move up or down when you’re supposed to. It’s funny that I picked those specifically to watch because one of the villains in those vids also appears in the next episode of Never Tell Me the Odds. Hope that’s not too much of a spoiler.

Also, the bacon wrapped shrimp wasn’t a great idea. I may experience nausea and have to finish this blog post later.

I’m not sure which episode it is but I remember one of the original Unconventional Wisdom’s providing me with a spicy lil aha moment. It’s the one where Vanessa is talking about playing against passive players and against them a lot of the time you aren’t checking to check and call on the river, like say some draws missed and you have top pair, vs. a lot of passive players you’re going to be checking to FOLD. That hit me in the head pretty hard and I was like OH DUHHHHH omg! Because I was always like “and now all the draws missed, so I will check and call!” Well, you live and you learn. There’s so much great information in that series anyway, it should definitely open your mind. Since I can’t remember which episode I’m talking about exactly, I guess you’ll have to watch them all :)

I’ve changed my avatar on Full Tilt to the clown, so I can hear Krantz over my shoulder when I’m about to do something boneheaded or get in a tough spot. I can just ask myself, what would Krantz do? JB1-Kranobi. Use the force obv.

It’s December and it’s cold. That means it’s time to run hotter than the sun to keep electric costs down. I figure if I can warm my bedroom with the flame dripping off of my cards on Full Tilt then I will definitely have increased my winrate.

So I got a new video card (EVGA GTS 250) to run my 30" and a 24", but my power supply (generic 500w) is now bogus, and whenever I’m trying to produce a video in camtasia it snap shuts down. Sure it starts up again and doesn’t really do it any other time, but still annoying and if I plan on making any videos in the future (and I do) I’m going to need to replace it. So, any suggestions?

It’s a Red House Painters kind of an evening. I bid you all farewell.

I was on CR today to whip up a fast blog about Never Tell Me the Odds and I found a nice entry I posted earlier in the year. It’s a bit on the passionate ranting side, but I think it’s inspiring (for me at least, hopefully for some of you as well). Here goes….

Why you suck at poker

You can’t think for yourself. Your understanding of poker comes from what you’ve been taught, like a cookie-cutter. You don’t have the ability to come to your own logical conclusions, and you have no idea what to do in new situations that you haven’t been cookie-trained in (no fear though, you can in some cases be taught how to be logical lol). That’s why you lump in with the rest of the grinders, spending seasons in the abyss trading coolers with other people too stupid to realize "hey, there’s 5 regs at this table and myself, I could probably find a better spot. Like maybe a table with an actual fish :).

You play too many tables. You rely on rakeback. You “chalk it up to a cooler” too much. You don’t do enough homework. You don’t think about your game enough. You think you know it all, when really you don’t know jack fucking shit. You spew in spots where you’re crushed like a retard asking out a prom queen. You assign qualities to your opponents that they just don’t have. You overthink, you underthink, you estimate terribly. You don’t value bet well. You fail to stack people where you can, leaving tons and tons and tons of ptbb’s laying all over the felt. You don’t have a plan for the rest of the hand. You fire too many barrels. You fire too few barrels. You don’t even know what you’re going to do when you face a raise a lot of the time, let alone what turn and river cards are awesome/terrible.

You’re complete shit when it comes to reading hands. You let whimsy control your game. You play too many tables. I know I already said that one but you know what, it seems like a good time to reiterate it. You play too many FUCKING TABLES. You can’t make good decisions 8 tabling if you don’t already have a good internal idea of what those decisions should be. If you haven’t been there through a ton of 2-4 tabling repetition, you won’t “get it” while 8 tabling. So stop. You don’t know how to count card combinations (an excellent way to increase your hand reading ability). You let your emotions influence you and you tilt too much, even if you “aren’t the type to tilt too much”. You don’t work hard enough. You don’t put enough hands in and you quit winning sessions too soon, hanging around while you’re losing and on tilt (IE your winning sessions are your shortest, and your losing sessions are your longest). You’re not honest with yourself. You self-soothe and do whatever you can to justify your plays or lack of motivation to yourself. You find others to be miserable with, you may even have a network of dreamsowers lamenting their every lost flip and overpair vs. a set. You may even sit around and talk about how good you all are or will be, and how you crush the game, and are just unlucky. Jacking off each others ego so you can feel good about how great you play just to spite how shitty you’re running. Most of all, YOU KNOW A LOT OF THIS ALREADY.

I could go on and on here, but I think you get the idea. Am I talking about you? Am I talking about me? To some extent. I’m talking about all of us in some way or another. We’re all guilty. Anyone who takes this game seriously and wants to make a living, an income, a business out of poker. I tell my students all the time, It’s there if you want it. Do you? When are you going to be honest with yourself and change? How many years are going to go by before you realize you haven’t improved and you’re still where you were? It’s true that poker isn’t for everyone. Some people can absolutely not stomach the swings. Some people can’t weather the storm of mental beatings and abuse that you go through in this game. Some people aren’t mentally tough enough. Above all you need to be honest with yourself. If you’re happy being an SSNL grinder, making a better-than-average income, hats off to you. But for those of us with something else burning inside, there’s a whole world we haven’t discovered yet in this beautiful game.

All I can think of when I think of interesting hands is the Foo Fighters video for I think it was the song Everlong, where the gigantic rubber hand just pimp slaps this fool. Anyway, week 1 isn’t technically done b/c I have tomorrow to grind (my week is different from yours ldo). With Thanksgiving and being sick yesterday I didn’t get as many hands in as I’d like, but I’m okay with that. Runnin’ at just over 6ptbb/100 in this sample. I’m not really a winrate/EV guy b/c I think it promotes a lot of self-degradation and results oriented thinking that holds you back and fucks you up, but for those interested I’ll probably be providing some of that information.

I have some interesting hands, a couple of nice hand reading situations, and some entertainment for those of us looking for clown shoes, all that kind of thing.

First up, entertainment!

I was thinking, hmm, how much can I bet to get this dude to spaz out or peel light…. I started with 24, then 18, then 12, and settled on the stone minbet. He SNAP folded :D IMO that’s some nice bluff metagame in the future when I tangle with this chap.

Full Tilt Poker $3/$6 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 397376
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $702.00
BTN: $221.45
SB: $625.05
BB: $991.65
UTG: $108.35
MP: $213.30

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero is CO with A T
UTG calls $6, 1 fold, Hero raises to $24, 3 folds, UTG calls $18

Flop: ($57.00) 7 7 A (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6, UTG folds

Final Pot: $57.00
Hero wins $54.15
(Rake: $2.85)

This hand is actually entertainment AND cool hand reading. Guy is very aggressive, high 3b and squeeze % etc. and I’m pretty sure that he’s flatting most of his medium strength hands here, also pretty sure that AQ (if he has it) and AK are getting jammed preflop. This was not the type of guy to get coy and flat w/those hands here. So that leaves his range imo at air/slowplayed nuts. What does that mean on this flop? Well, he has a ton of air, and the A is actually a great card for me to see, because I’m prob going to be able to get him off of QQ and KK if he has them, and AA is only 3 combos. He may show up with AQ/AK here some but I really think this guy would just jam those preflop, that’s my read anyway. So I bet less than half pot here thinking that 1. his air can do something dumb 2. I can get peeled by his bluffcatching range (QQ/KK is what I perceive as a big part if he has them) and then shove the turn and hopefully get them to fold, while in the process getting stacked by AA, which I’m fine with. He shoves the flop, which is like 100% air. I’m pretty sure he’d always flat call w/his value and bluffcathing range (this may change in the future, but at this point we have no history in this kind of situation) so I call pretty happily. Voila. Batman.

Full Tilt Poker $3/$6 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 397378
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (MP): $1356.75
CO: $262.80
BTN: $615.00
SB: $1215.65
BB: $600.00
UTG: $134.30

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero is MP with J J
1 fold, Hero raises to $18, CO calls $18, BTN raises to $66, 2 folds, Hero raises to $142, 1 fold, BTN calls $76

Flop: ($311.00) 2 A 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $128, BTN raises to $473 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $345

Turn: ($1257.00) J (2 players – 1 is all in)

River: ($1257.00) 9 (2 players – 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $1257.00
Hero shows J J (three of a kind, Jacks)
BTN shows 8 4 (Ace Jack high)
Hero wins $1254.00
(Rake: $3.00)

I hero-call here against a fish who I thought could be bluffing here with a ton of missed draws. I don’t think he’d play top pair this way, and his 9x combo’s are cut some by the river, though he could have trips, I was just hoping he didn’t have a 7. Is there any merit to raising in this situation to clean the hand up?

Full Tilt Poker $3/$6 No Limit Hold’em – 4 players – View hand 397381
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $697.00
SB: $1216.00
BB: $1426.10
Hero (CO): $600.00

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero is CO with K J
Hero raises to $21, 2 folds, BB calls $15

Flop: ($45.00) A 7 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $35, BB calls $35

Turn: ($115.00) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80, BB calls $80

River: ($275.00) 9 (2 players)
BB bets $120, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $120

I check back this board which is terrible in that I’m prob going to get played back at frequently, even though he has a tighter sb flatting range, still a terrible board. On the turn I raise for value b/c I think he’ll bet/call with a lot of draws and pairs and it gives me flexibility for the river, and he may think I’m just bluffing the K. I feel very comfortable folding to a 3b. On the river he leads out and my first thought is that this guy wouldn’t be leading a strong hand here, it’s always some sort of showdown hand, maybe a bigger king, maybe a Tx hand, instinct said to SHOVE. Thoughts? (no insane history but player was a reg on the tighter side, still think him being tight doesn’t mean he has a monster here but he def has a better hand a lot, can it stand a ship?)

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 397382
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $457.75
MP: $188.50
CO: $400.00
Hero (BTN): $406.00
SB: $421.30
BB: $430.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BTN with K 7
3 folds, Hero raises to $8, SB calls $6, 1 fold

Flop: ($20.00) 6 8 T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($20.00) K (2 players)
SB bets $10, Hero raises to $36, SB calls $26

River: ($92.00) 5 (2 players)
SB bets $29…. HERO????

So in this spicy lil’ burrito I decide to check back the flop, induce bluffs, get value later, POT CONTROL. Not something I do a ton of the time but this is a perfectly good spot for it. On the turn fishy villain leads for minballs, and I raise for value. There’s a ton of draws he can call with here, lots of worse hands. He SNAP clicks it back. This I read as a bluff like 100% of the time. He didn’t think about anything, he’s just clicking buttons. As such I am prepared to call it off on a lot of blank rivers. We peel a brick and he thinks for a bit and jams. I think this is a good example of a very obvious fish bluff. NO thought snap action on the turn, then think think think bluff jam the river. Sweet :D

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 397390

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $410.00
UTG: $337.30
CO: $435.80
BTN: $160.20
SB: $152.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is BB with T 8
3 folds, SB calls $2, Hero raises to $16, SB calls $12

Flop: ($32.00) 8 K 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($32.00) 5 (2 players)
SB bets $4, Hero raises to $20, SB raises to $36, Hero calls $16

River: ($104.00) 2 (2 players)
SB bets $100 all in, Hero calls $100

Final Pot: $304.00
Hero shows T 8 (two pair, Eights and Twos)
SB shows 4 A (a pair of Twos)
Hero wins $301.00
(Rake: $3.00)

That’s it for now folks. I think this weeks video will be pretty interesting. I know we had mixed reviews about the talking in the first 20 min of episode one and I can see both sides of it. Ya’ll don’t wanna know me, ya’ll just want the GOLD. FUCK THAT JAGUAR GUY KRANTZ, WHERE DA GOLD AT!!!! :D haha I can understand that. I figure this coming week we’re going to talk about the latest movies and music we’re into, how to clean a bathtub with a go-kart, and the Isle of Misfit toys and what it means to me.

I’m just kidding :) Unless….

I didn’t even realize that the first episode of “never tell me the odds” was going to be up so soon but WHAM, there it is. I know we rambled on about balloon stores and mysteries but I really did get a lot out of the 3 hands we talked about. I realized afterwards that all of the hands are misplayed on the turn. This points to realizing a quite subtle (at least for me) leak, something not super obvious. Being on the right track hand reading wise, and making the wrong play in lieu of, and every decision of this type focusing on or around turn play. I’ve already started to see some of these spots differently and it will be interesting to see how I apply and evaluate similar situations in the near future. On we go!