Mind Games

OMG a tree hugger! Well, given her penchant for crystals and the like, I suppose achieving resonance might be appropriate. ♦ Each to their own - and yes, you lot are a bit weird (crystals ) - probably comes from being foreign, it's all good.

Seriously though, that wedding would seem to be the place to be, you must have had a great time.

I forgot the best part.

The "wedding march" started with several bars from "Chopin's Funeral March" then a flurry of needle-on-vinyl, then switched to the Darth Vader theme a second flurry of needle-on-vinyl ending with a more traditional bridal processional.

A fair number of :facepalm:s were observed in the congregation, as well as several people searching in the grass for theirs jaws previously dropped.

At first I thought that the sound guy was having us on, but now, the happy couple had arranged that, too.

Cheers,
VS

I went to another wedding last night.

Long time readers of this blog will both remember that in early 2013 a friend I had known for over 30 years lost his wife. He was devastated -- as you can imagine, but this spring he met Nora, and they hit it off.

This wedding was pretty much the exact opposite of last week's.

It was held in a beautiful 100 yr-old church, was officiated by a priest in full robes, candles, organ music and was very much traditional.

Some things were "different". Dennis' best "man" was his only surviving family member -- his daughter. The whole ceremony was over start-to-finish in half an hour. No rush though, the pews had cushions.

Poker?

Oh yeah...

I have been saving this hand for a few days.
Villain is REALLY loose 60/40/30/18 (100+) stats: vpip/pfr/3Bet/af (hands)
and over-the-top aggressive. How to you handle such a one as this?

Until this point, I had been passive, staying out of his way, and I had won a few small pots by calling to showdown.

So hoping that the rule of thumb "when an otherwise passive player shows aggression -- run" is well known to this guy I decided to show some aggression. I actually think I'm ahead here, but I do want to defend my turf a bit, and fold out any pair less than AA -- which I think I can do with a check-raise.

Cheers,
VS

I wasn't feeling very well today but you made me smile. You had me going with the music bit. ♦

5-Card Draw
I took another shot at FL $1/$2 yesterday.

First session slightly up, but 2nd one I hit my stop-loss in only 125 hands.
Hit a flush vs a drawn boat.
Trips vs a drawn straight
etc etc...

So back down to FL $0.25/$0.50 to build the bankroll back up. Trouble is at my normal win rate it will take several hundred hands to get it back.

Villain in this next hand is opening from UTG almost 20%, and is 45/35 overall, so defo a 3Bet, but it took a suck out to actually win it.

I mentioned before that I have a tough time with these loose hyper-aggressive types.

You know they're full of shit, but when I take 'em on they either hit it or have it already.

Peace,
VS

5-Card Draw

I had a 30 big blind swing today -- the giraffe shows a slight loss, whereas there was a slight profit. I don't know why, because the database that supplies the data has the right numbers. Oh well...

Maybe I'll use this as an excuse to learn python well enough to roll my own.

I swear I did nothing different -- but suddenly I started getting the draws instead of the other guy getting them.

The funny thing is there is a player I'm friendly with -- we always wish each other luck, chat about non-poker stuff and the like. I joked to him that whenever he sits down I start to win. But strangely, it is true. I do much better when he is at the table.

Anyway, enough yacking -- here's the geroff:

I showed in in big blinds, since it is a mixture of two limits.

I might play tomorrow, but I'll be a bit preoccupied with the weekly zimmers tournament.

If you're over 40 and interested, drop jb a note in reply to https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=1956663#post1956663 and see if he'll let you play.

I think that you have to promise not to check/raise him or something, but gadget gets away with it, so I might try...

Peace,
VS;

NLHE

This hand was a bit of a weird one --
I had pretty much given up when the A:s fell on the Turn -- I was ready to fold to the inevitable river bet that never came.

This next hand was a nail-biter -- I have to call the turn or give up. If I call the turn I have to bet/fold the river whether I make the flush or not. Villain's turn bet leads me to believe that I'm up against a better -- or at least another -- flush draw.

Up 1 BI over 110 hands tonight. Was ahead the whole time.

Other
I won two of the zimmers tournaments today. Pretty rare event for me. I had played quite a few HU hands before I realized I should be raising all but the worst hands on the Button.

I ran rather good, including this hand:

I was trying to look bluffy, and I apparently succeeded. In all fairness, you don't expect to hit the 2nd nuts drawing two

Best of luck to everyone...
VS

NLHE

Today's hands are from the Departments of "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly"

I played all three hands rather poorly, I think.
In the first, I enter the pot just because I'm getting 5:1 to call with low suited connectors.

I'll post this hand for discussion in the hand discussion forum as well.

In the next hand I was really torn pre-flop.
I'm pretty much always 4-Betting this, but I damn near folded to the shove.

I gave him AQ as bluff 4-bet hands, but at the time I thought -- just based on stack size -- that he is possibly 4-Betting even wider.

No matter, according to Equilab, I am actually ahead of his range -- but barely.:

       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    55.42%  39.50%  15.92% { A:h K:h }
SB     44.58%  28.65%  15.92% { KK+, AQs+, AQo+ }

As it is, assuming I flat his 4Bet, I have TPTK OTF with a redraw to the nut flush, I'm never folding then anyway, so in this particular case, it comes out the same.

In the "Ugly" hand, I get squozen by a super-short BB.
If we had not had the BTN in the hand, I would call, but as it is, I'm going to need to 4Bet to keep him out, and I don't want to do that w/ ATo....

Best of luck to all in November!,
VS

Hand 1: Overbet the flop and keep betting big. How else are you going to get all the money in against the fishies? You don't need to worry about balance. You'll get calls from any A, 2 3 4 5, 6 and overpairs. Just take their $$$.

Yes, I'm afraid you're quite right.
Not the first time I've checked the nuts intending to call and look fishy, when I end up BEING fishy

Then again -- from a tournament this morning...
SB: 2,450 (49 bb)
Hero (BB): 2,675 (53.5 bb)
UTG+1: 2,630 (52.6 bb)
UTG+2: 2,870 (57.4 bb)
MP1: 2,075 (41.5 bb)
MP2: 2,516 (50.3 bb)
MP3: 4,164 (83.3 bb)
CO: 3,470 (69.4 bb)
BTN: 4,020 (80.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q:d A:c
4 folds, MP3 raises to 125, 3 folds, Hero calls 75

Flop: (275) Q:h A:h 5:d (2 players)
Hero bets 200, MP3 folds

It boils down to this:
They have a hand to play with or they don't. If they don't, you're not getting anything either way, if they do -- game on!

<sigh>,
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Yes, I'm afraid you're quite right.
Not the first time I've checked the nuts intending to call and look fishy, when I end up BEING fishy

Then again -- from a tournament this morning...
SB: 2,450 (49 bb)
Hero (BB): 2,675 (53.5 bb)
UTG+1: 2,630 (52.6 bb)
UTG+2: 2,870 (57.4 bb)
MP1: 2,075 (41.5 bb)
MP2: 2,516 (50.3 bb)
MP3: 4,164 (83.3 bb)
CO: 3,470 (69.4 bb)
BTN: 4,020 (80.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q:d A:c
4 folds, MP3 raises to 125, 3 folds, Hero calls 75

Flop: (275) Q:h A:h 5:d (2 players)
Hero bets 200, MP3 folds

It boils down to this:
They have a hand to play with or they don't. If they don't, you're not getting anything either way, if they do -- game on!

<sigh>,
VS

That looks like one you could check call and check raise turn, or just check raise. You're much more likely to get a cbet in a HU pot on a board like that than in a multiway pot on the board in the other hand.

NLHE
I had another deep run in a PokerStrategy.com freeroll.
For a while I had visions of the final table, but alas, a long card dead stretch and I ended in 30th place or so.

Real Life
I had a revelation today.

I lived at just about the right age.

When Mrs Vorpal and I were first married, I drove a taxi for a living, and a mere "working stiff" could afford to go to the finest restaurants, and finish off the evening with a brandy and a cigar.

Thirty years earlier, only the wealthy could indulge themselves thus.
Thirty years later, and smoking is no longer allowed in restaurants

<sigh>
VS

NLHE
Oh, Dear.
I played 300 odd (very odd) hands of NL2 tonight before supper and after the 5-Card Draw tables broke up for the night.

I took two pair hands up against unlikely draws and lost to the straight -- twice.
I had QQ beaten by AA for 230 BB (ouch!) I probably could have gotten away from it by folding preflop, but villains w/ AA are more likely to call in the hopes of not driving out worse.

Had I called, I would have got in in post-flop anyway, so no big.

I did have one fun hand. I really wonder if leading out on the flop is a good idea here, or playing check/call is the way to go.

Not much would call a check/raise .
I did decide to lead small OTT, hoping for someone to get frisky with a flush draw, but no luck.

Total for the night -- down 3.5 BI -- back down to where I was at the start of the month.

Have a great day tomorrow!
VS

I can't remember the last time I stacked two with one hand.

These guys like to play Ace-rag a TON.

I flop a double gutshot, hit one of the holes OTT which makes their wheels.
67 still beats me, but that isn't the type of hands these guys play.

partypoker - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $5.99
SB: $1.90 (VPIP: 36.17, PFR: 4.26, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 47)
BB: $1.53 (VPIP: 48.48, PFR: 18.18, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 33)
UTG: $1.57 (VPIP: 52.94, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
MP: $3.11 (VPIP: 40.54, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 75)
CO: $2.10 (VPIP: 80.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)

SB posts SB $0.01, BB posts BB $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.03) Hero has 8♠ 6♠

fold, fold, CO calls $0.02, Hero calls $0.02, SB calls $0.01, BB checks

Flop: ($0.08, 4 players) 4♣ 2♥ 5♠
SB checks, BB checks, CO checks, Hero bets $0.06, fold, BB calls $0.06, CO calls $0.06

Turn: ($0.26, 3 players) 3♥
BB checks, CO bets $0.12, Hero calls $0.12, BB raises to $0.36, CO raises to $0.60, Hero raises to $5.91 and is all-in, BB calls $1.09 and is all-in, CO calls $1.42 and is all-in

River: ($5.75, 3 players) Q♦

Nice way to end the night!
VS

NLHE
OK, today I had another U-shaped session.
I lost 3BI in the first 60 hands, slowly gained some back, the dropped another one over 100 hands so 360 hands in I'm 4 BI down.

Then all of a sudden, I'm the one winning the flips, I'm the one hitting the straights, and I'm the one flopping sets. Easy game.

For the fun hand, see https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=1959313#post1959313

I'm dying to know what people think villain had.

Cheers,
VS;

Today's NLHE hand is from the department of "Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics" -- or "How stats can give you fits"

Says I, "pffft -- 25% 3Bet? He's full o' shit"
[ ] Of course I checked sample size
[X] suckout shoes on and firmly laced

The weirdest part is that I've seen so many bogus shoves over the last few days, as soon as he shoved I "just knew" I was ahead

$0.02 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $2.80 (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
Hero (UTG): $2.53
MP: $1.93 (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
CO: $1.79 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
BTN: $4.83 (VPIP: 27.27, PFR: 27.27, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 34)
SB: $0.80 (VPIP: 24.49, PFR: 16.33, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 49)

SB posts SB $0.01, BB posts BB $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.03) Hero has 9♠ A♠

Hero raises to $0.06, fold, CO calls $0.06, BTN raises to $0.22, fold, fold, Hero raises to $1.00, fold, BTN raises to $3.53, Hero calls $1.53 and is all-in

Flop: ($5.15, 2 players) Q♥ T♣ A♦

Turn: ($5.15, 2 players) T♥

River: ($5.15, 2 players) 3♣

♠_biggrin:

Another distinctly u-shaped session.
Oddly it started to turn around when I began to challenge moves like this.

Things like:

And

Bizarre.
After being down 3.5 BI at one point I finished up 1/2 BI -- largely because I called these two shoves -- and I folded to a bunch more.

At my lowest point I was 0/5 in showdown hands, and when I finished I was 11/12 weird how it just goes like that sometimes.

Peace,
VS

post #6600

NLHE

As you can tell, today's hands come from the river.

I get a lot of these:

Hands where I take a stab and just give up.
So after this hand I think to myself, "Self: If you had bet even 2/3 pot OTR, you would take that"

Sooo...
Busteded straight draw:

Ace high...

I thought there were more, but when I went to post 'em I most likely would have won the showdown anyway.

eg:

But yet another U-Shaped session -- lost 1.5 BI at the start, finished slightly up.

I would LOVE to have a session when I play the FIRST 300 hands +3 BI. I could quit.
Instead I lose first, play a longer session, and finish up a few cents.

<sigh>
VS

Hi, may be it would be interesting for you. There is a new blog in Russian from $2-4 and 3-6 5CD limit regular, including his stats (and some of his hands also)
https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/ru/forum/thread.php?threadid=1023847&page=2

stats

Hi, Anykey444,
I know this player.
My notes on him show that he likes to limp & trap.

Winning player, though.

I tried google translate on the Russian page, but it was still more-or-less incomprehensible.

For example, your comment translates as:

This converter does not show the poppy that interferes enjoy dispensing http://www.pokerhand.org/ poppy shows. He really did not particularly converts, simply inserts the card images instead of the text, but in my opinion is still better.

Say what!? What is "poppy" meaning here?

I took some of your advice from a few weeks ago

5CD
If we estimate opp limp range as say 22-88 (mainly SB complete) than it's better not to drop Q and/or any second card 9+ and to disc 3 to show some strength, as by disc 4-5 we show weakness and could be bluffed off postdraw. Multiway it's different.

I've been having some success with that -- two pair, a few wins hitting one or the the other card, and this:

and this:

Cheers,
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I tried google translate on the Russian page, but it was still more-or-less incomprehensible.

For example, your comment translates as:

This converter does not show the poppy that interferes enjoy dispensing http://www.pokerhand.org/ poppy shows. He really did not particularly converts, simply inserts the card images instead of the text, but in my opinion is still better.

Say what!? What is "poppy" meaning here?

That's a funny confusion. The Russian word 'мак' normally does mean 'poppy', but Anykey444 used it as an onomatopoetic translation of the English poker term 'muck' because 'мак' is pronounced the same way as 'muck' and there's no corresponding Russian poker term yet.

So what he wrote there is that the Feral Cow converter doesn't show mucked hands, which prevents him from enjoying hand histories posted using it, but the Pokerhand one does and is thus better in his opinion.