Mind Games

I plunked $500 down aiming to play some NL 50 Hold'em, some PLO8 25, some NL 25 5-Card Draw and some FL $1/$2 or FL $2/$4 Stud8, Razz or Omaha Hi/Lo

(though not all at the same time of course)

For tournaments, I'll play a bunch of the "mixed game" formats, HORSE, 8-Game as well as some NL 2-7 Single Draw.
$5 spins if I'm feeling bored.

I was going to deposit a full $1K, but I think I'm going to pay money for some coaching — possibly in short-deck, since that is where I suffered the worst defeat in my downswing.

Best of luck, I think investing in coaching is the best you can do. But for shortdeck I don't think you need to get a coach immediattely. I would invest in some charts and some video's and you can get a very nice winrate (compared to NLH). Private coaching is more when you would want to analyse database and get specific exploits or how to.

Originally posted by Fredjen
Best of luck, I think investing in coaching is the best you can do. But for shortdeck I don't think you need to get a coach immediattely. and you can get a very nice winrate (compared to NLH). Private coaching is more when you would want to analyse database and get specific exploits or how to.

That's how I got into this mess

.

It isn't, but there's no reason it couldn't be. I know the principles. I just have to be methodical. I hate to say, "be cautious" since that way leads to disaster.
Did you see this hand? https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3370043#post3370043

I don't normally like passive lines, but it seemed the way to go.
I'll play NL 50 until I lose a single buy-in

Really good session today in NL 25 5-Card Draw and PLO8 25
In the PLO8 arena, I am up against two players out of the 5 opponents with very high VPIP/PFR/3Bet numbers.
The only thing to do here is to play vulture poker.[1]

PLO8
I get 3Bet here, holding 3 wheel cards, including a suited Ace
PokerStars, Omaha H/L Pot Limit - $0.10/$0.25 - 6 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

UTG (Hero): $42.61 (170 bb)
MP: $11.00 (44 bb)
CO: $34.83 (139 bb)
BU: $17.55 (70 bb)
SB: $75.79 (303 bb)
BB: $23.75 (95 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG with 4♥ A♣ 9♣ 2♠
Hero raises to $0.85, 1 fold, CO 3-bets to $2.90, 1 fold, SB calls $2.80, 1 fold, Hero calls $2.05

Flop: ($8.95) 5♣ 3♦ 6♥ (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $8.57, SB folds, Hero raises to $34.28, CO calls $23.36 (all-in) <<< flops don't get much better than this — nut low that cannot be counterfeited, and my wheel cards reach the magic six, so I have the 2nd nut high hand as well

Turn: ($72.81) K♠ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($72.81) Q♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $72.81 (Rake: $2)

Showdown:
UTG (Hero) shows 4♥ A♣ 9♣ 2♠ (HI: a straight, Two to Six; LO: 6-5-3-2-A)
(Equity - Flop: 79%, Turn: 78%, River: 75%)

CO shows A♠ 8♠ T♠ 2♦ (HI: high card, Ace; LO: 6-5-3-2-A)
(Equity - Flop: 21%, Turn: 23%, River: 25%)

UTG (Hero) wins $53.11 <<< We end up tying for low, but I get the high all to myself.
CO wins $17.70

I have position on a player playing 76/36/26 which seems to be far too many hands to be playing, even if it is only over 35 hands
In this particular hand though, I'm OOP as he has the BU
PokerStars, Omaha H/L Pot Limit - $0.10/$0.25 - 6 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

UTG: $36.68 (147 bb)
MP: $15.71 (63 bb)
CO: $76.04 (304 bb)
BU: $34.43 (138 bb)
SB (Hero): $20.69 (83 bb)
BB: $12.10 (48 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with 3♥ A♠ T♣ 5♠
1 fold, MP calls $0.25, 1 fold, BTN raises to $1.10, Hero calls $1, 1 fold, MP calls $0.85

Flop: ($3.55) 8♠ T♠ A♣ (3 players)
Hero bets $1.77, MP calls $1.77, BTN raises to $10.48, Hero calls $8.71, MP folds <<< OK, top two, and a decent low draw, but BU comes

Turn: ($26.28) 7♥ (2 players)
Hero bets $9.11 (all-in), BTN calls $9.11

River: ($44.50) K♠ (2 players, 1 all-in) <<< v lucky river — We would have tied for high, and I would have had the low to myself this time, but the river makes my flush

Total pot: $44.50 (Rake: $1.89)

Showdown:
SB (Hero) shows 3♥ A♠ T♣ 5♠ (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 8-7-5-3-A)
(Equity - Turn: 75%, River: 100%)

BU shows 9♣ A♦ T♥ 5♦ (HI: two pair, Aces and Tens)
(Equity - Turn: 25%, River: 0%)

SB (Hero) wins $42.61

5-Card Draw
PokerStars, 5 Card Draw No Limit - $0.10/$0.25 - 6 players

UTG: $16.68 (67 bb)
MP: $8.28 (33 bb)
CO: $14.25 (57 bb)
BU: $8.10 (32 bb)
SB (Hero): $23.80 (95 bb)
BB: $6.50 (26 bb)

Deal: ($0.35) Hero is SB with T♥:Q♦:4♣:Q♠:Q♥:
UTG calls $0.25, 2 players fold, BTN raises to $1, Hero 3-bets to $3, 2 players fold, BTN calls $2

Draw One: ($6.50) Q♦:4♣:Q♠:Q♥:J♥: (2 players)
SB (Hero) draws T♥:, BU draws 1
Hero checks, BTN bets $5.10 (all-in), Hero calls $5.10

Total pot: $16.70 (Rake: $0.75)

Showdown:
BU shows 9♠:5♣:9♦:9♥:3♥: (three of a kind, Nines)
SB (Hero) shows Q♦:4♣:Q♠:Q♥:J♥: (three of a kind, Queens)
SB (Hero) wins $15.95

[1] Vulture poker is when you sit on a high branch and wait for something to swoop down and eat.

I cashed the $3.30 NL 2-7 Single-Draw PKO
And even got $1.50 in bounties

This might not seem like a big deal, but I used to use this tournament as an ATM, but for several months, I've not cashed it at all.

Today it took me two bullets, so I didn't technically break even, but I'll take what I can get these days.

I just finished sorting a pile of papers, and went to print out some file folder labels
But I could not find my template, which was a rather complicate MS Word doc from ages ago.

So I very nearly stopped what I was doing and went to re-created it. Bad move — it took hours to do the first time, and if I stopped to re-do it now, it would be a huge waste of time.

I'll just use post-its until I have time to do it right.

Yay me!

GGPoker & Party freebies

I won today's 3x GG freebie — quite surprisingly, I went pretty much all the way as chip leader. Usually I lose at first and have to claw my way back up.
Today though, things just clicked — and when I had a 3:1 advantage I just pushed really wide, and opponent just didn't feel like calling.

Same in the daily Party freeroll. I doubled up in the first few minutes, then once again against a similar stack, so suddenly I was in first place.
From there, I opened very wide, and CBet fairly large, and did both fairly often.

I finished in the top 40 — needlessly I'm ashamed to say — but it seemed like a good spot to shove with a pair and a gutshot, but opponent got a runner-runner flush.

Yesterday as part of the cleanup, I dug some old computers out of the garage, and was going to set up one of them as a linux box, but I'll be spending the day helping my daughter sorting out her car mess.

Oh well...

Hope you're doing well sir.

What's the biggest multiplier you've had with the GG Daily Freebie?

Think mine was a 10X before I was no longer able to play.... you know why ♦

Originally posted by UPAY4DINNER
Hope you're doing well sir.

What's the biggest multiplier you've had with the GG Daily Freebie?

Think mine was a 10X before I was no longer able to play.... you know why ♦

I'm pretty sure I was in a 50x (12.50) once — I won 5.75 so that could have been second place.
I've also been in a 25x, but lost that one.

Nice!

Had a 16x Twister the other day but they only pay 1st position and I didn't finish 1st!

My daughter hit a severe pothole. It was so bad, it bent the rim, and like a dinosaur from the last century I didn't take a picture of it.

I just got a call from the wheel repair shop — the tire is salvageable, so they'll fix the rim and remount the tire and she'll be good to go — but not before Thursday, and maybe as late as Friday.

In other news, the best toaster we ever had suddenly quit working.
The levers go down, but they don't latch. I'll try to get a similar one today.

Oh yeah, and our clothes dryer also quite working. Just plain dead. No lights on the panel at all. It's pluggedy-indy and I turned the breaker on and off, but still no go. Technician arrives tomorrow.

Squirrels: The squirrels made a valiant effort to get back into the attic but seem to have given up. Pest guy comes back Friday to remove the one-way door.

When the IDC topics get interesting enough for the main blog.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Squirrels: The squirrels made a valiant effort to get back into the attic but seem to have given up.

I had nothing to do with them...

But here's an idea, in case they'll come back:

Our squirrel-proof bird feeder works fine if it has peanuts in it.
Anything smaller falls out the holds and the squirrels just eat the seed off the floor of the deck.

Edit: Great video — I love squirrels, and don't begrudge them the food. Just stay out of my attic guys.

Don't see many squirrels in this part of the world.

I remember being in awe of them when staying briefly in Richmond, VA.

Scampering across trees and electrical wires like little mad bastards!

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I love squirrels, and don't begrudge them the food. Just stay out of my attic guys.

We love you back.

Originally posted by UPAY4DINNER
Don't see many squirrels in this part of the world.

I remember being in awe of them when staying briefly in Richmond, VA.

Scampering across trees and electrical wires like little mad bastards!

Squirrels shorting out power lines is a major cause of outages here.
The last one that happened didn't even harm the squirrel — well, apart from the flaming tail.

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I love squirrels, and don't begrudge them the food. Just stay out of my attic guys.

We love you back.
Aaaawww shucks <shuffles feet shyly>

Really? Apparently I also have a "D" ELO rating[1] [2]
According to this, I've won precisely half my last 24 Spin&Gold freebies. So why doesn't it feel like I'm doing all that well at them?

Today I played against an "E" and a "C", and when I won I collected 61 points. Whoop-de-do. I'll keep an eye on this though. I'm a sucker for anything that can be put on a spreadsheet

The best I ever did in an ELO system was in the game "Hearts" that I used to play online, where I achieved "Master" — the top level. The problem there is that there were so few "masters" that playing any game against 4 lower players meant that your score was too low to make up for the games you lost. So once I made it up to master I just quit and played non-rated games. Sorta defeats the purpose

[1] I knew of ELO rating systems from Chess, but always thought it was some sort of acronym related to Chess. Apparently not.
[2] https://en.ggpoker.eu/poker-games/spin-gold-elo/

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Originally posted by UPAY4DINNER
Don't see many squirrels in this part of the world.

I remember being in awe of them when staying briefly in Richmond, VA.

Scampering across trees and electrical wires like little mad bastards!

Squirrels shorting out power lines is a major cause of outages here.
The last one that happened didn't even harm the squirrel — well, apart from the flaming tail.

Haha - the little rodent bastards eh!

I was kinda mesmerized that they didn't set themselves on fire by doing it - I guess they are smart little creatures after all!

One of my colleagues has a "pet" squirrel that is now coming to his front door on the daily for some grub - he often shares pics and videos.

All I get is my neighbours underfed cat!

My first hand at this table

SB seems to think a tiny stack can be used for intimidation
One of the principles of online poker is that you play with a full starting stack whereever possible. One of the reasons behind this is that if you get the nutz its a crying shame to get paid any less than the max. Furthermore, not playing with a full stack can indication a weak player. I've even used that to emulate a weak player.

On the other hand if you are a complete spewtard, you spew less when you play with 20BB

So let's break this one down...
888Poker, Omaha H/L Pot Limit - $0.02/$0.05 - 4 players

UTG: $0.93 (19 bb)
BU: $3.89 (78 bb)
SB: $1.00 (20 bb)
BB (Hero): $5.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with 3♠:A♣:6♠:9♣: <<< Suited Ace, two wheel cards and the magic six
1 fold, BTN raises to $0.10, SB calls $0.08, Hero calls $0.05 <<< just flat this. Raising is spewing here.

Flop: ($0.30) 6♦:8♣:7♦: (3 players)
SB bets $0.30, Hero calls $0.30, BU folds <<< very possible that SB has a straight already, very possible that SB has the low already, but I have an open-ender, and the second nut low, not to mention a backdoor flush draw

Turn: ($0.90) 2♣: (2 players)
SB bets $0.60 (all-in), Hero calls $0.60 <<< Nut low for Hero — I'm not going anywhere esp now that I have the nut flush draw also

River: ($2.10) 5♣: (2 players, 1 all-in) <<< Boom

Total pot: $2.10 (Rake: $0.12)

Showdown:
SB shows 3♣:J♥:7♣:7♥: (HI: a flush, Eight high; LO: 7-6-5-3-2)
(Equity - Turn: 37%, River: 0%)

BB (Hero) shows 3♠:A♣:6♠:9♣: (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 6-5-3-2-A)
(Equity - Turn: 63%, River: 100%)

BB (Hero) wins $1.98

Pre-flop equity:
      Equity  Scoops  Wins Hi  Ties Hi  Wins Lo  Ties Lo
SB    42.72%  27.94%   53.13%    0.09%    4.52%    0.36% { Jh7h7c3c }
BB    57.28%  42.62%   46.68%    0.09%   45.61%    0.36% { 3sAc6s9c }

Equity OTF
Board: 6♦8♣7♦
      Equity  Scoops  Wins Hi  Ties Hi  Wins Lo  Ties Lo
SB    39.10%   0.00%   71.07%    0.00%    0.00%    7.13% { Jh7h7c3c }
BB    60.90%  25.64%   28.93%    0.00%   85.73%    7.13% { 3sAc6s9c }

Just for giggles I ran Equilab on the turn as well
Board: 6♦8♣7♦ 2♣
      Equity  Scoops  Wins Hi  Ties Hi  Wins Lo  Ties Lo
SB    36.89%   0.00%   70.04%    0.00%    0.00%    3.75% { Jh7h7c3c }
BB    63.11%  29.96%   29.96%    0.00%   92.50%    3.75% { 3sAc6s9c }

Nice to know that their equity calculator agrees.

Conclusion:
For me in SB I fold this with a mere pair o' jacks and no low, and no connectedness