Mind Games

5-Card Draw
Dropped back a bit from my all-time peak, but nothing serious.
Strangely, I just keep losing at FL $0.10/$0.20 to people who shouldn't be in the hand at all -- but hit.

For example: I raise from SB with a pair of AA or KK, and get flat-called from the BB who draws 1. I hit two pair, bet and get flat called.
Villain shows a low straight.

Over time, this player will lose. When calling the raise, he gets 3.5:1 on his money. Assuming he has an OESD, it is 4.88:1 to hit.
To make that pay, he must 3Bet pre -- the folds will reduce the odds gap. To do that, he has to be reasonably sure SB will fold.
Alternatively, he can bet post draw with his busted draws.

Oh well, since he will lose over time, I will win over time -- and I do.

NLHE
PokerStars had a promo where you won points for playing Spingo -- 30 pts for a win, 15 for a 2nd place, -5 for third.
When you hit 100 pts, you get a random prize "up to" $20000. My highest was $5.00
I played 140 tournaments, with an ROI of about 10% -- add to that the $42 in promo bonuses and we're all set.

Sad to see that one go -- it was like an ATM.

I then discovered the $1 "Sit and KO" 36-man Hyper Turbos.
These are a blast. The trick is to avoid getting knocked out, so tight is right.
From there, it is "pick on the shorties" and steal like mad.
I've a 30% ITM in those, but the big story is the KO bounties.
My ROI is about 30% as well. Small sample size still, though.

Peace,
VS

Hey Vorpal,

how is your mind game going? still tilting?

I only ever tilt on purpose to lull the opposition into thinking I'm on tilt.
Once they think I'm on tilt, I play super aggressively, since they are thinking -- if he was really on tilt he would never play like that, so they either call with worse or fold better.

Works every time.

Peace,
VS

Real Life
It has been a wild week. A week ago yesterday, I had a funny bubble in the lower left of my left eye visual field.
Nothing I could do about it Sunday, and since there was no pain, I thought I'd wait to see if it went away on its own.

Monday morning it had reduced in size, so I went to work, but during the day it grew considerably.

So, Tuesday morning I called the eye specialist who did my cataract operations, and was told to come on in.
He had a quick look, and sent me to the retinal specialist.

Wednesday surgery to repair a detached retina.

It seems to be healing fine, but I have a follow up appointment Thursday so they can assess the progress.

But looking at it from behind, all seems well.

and so it goes...

Getting old may suck, but it beats all the alternatives.
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I only ever tilt on purpose to lull the opposition into thinking I'm on tilt.
Once they think I'm on tilt, I play super aggressively, since they are thinking -- if he was really on tilt he would never play like that, so they either call with worse or fold better.

This is a nice one, I do the same. But backfires sometimes when good regs start slowplay and call down all the way instead of usual raising.

Here is a truly interesting hand. It shows the value of aggression -- and the consequences of lack of aggression.

Feral Cow Poker
PokerStars Limit Omaha Hi/Lo $0.25/$0.50 - 8 players

UTG: $8.27
UTG+1: $6.95 (Hero)
MP: $20.32
HJ: $9.22
CO: $13.39
Button: $21.77
SB: $5.69
BB: $19.66

Preflop: (1.40 SB) Hero is UTG+1 with 2♥ 7♣ 3♥ A♠ (8 players)
UTG folds, Hero raises, MP folds, HJ calls, CO calls, Button calls, SB calls, BB calls
The hand has decent lo values, but not a lot else. I decided to raise because (compared to others at least) I am squeaky-tight, and raising shows some strength

Flop: (12.00 SB) 5♣ A♣ Q♣ (6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets, HJ folds, CO calls, 2 folds, BB calls
This is just a stab -- I fold to a raise here. The stab failed, so I'll check fold the rest of the hand

Turn: (7.50 BB) J♠ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

River: (7.50 BB) T♦ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks
And end up winning a decent pot.
Here's a boom link to the hand
Hero showed 2♥ 7♣ 3♥ A♠, and won ($3.59) with HI: a pair of Aces
CO mucked 3♠ 5♥ 2♠ 7♥
BB showed 4♠ 3♦ 4♣ 8♥, and lost with HI: a pair of Fours
Hero won $3.59
(Rake: $0.16)

In looking back I think that the open raise and the stab by a tight player may have let the villains think I was hiding a strong hand.
Had either of them made a bet on the turn or river I would likely have folded my monster pair of aces.

Cheers,
VS;

Hi nice hand
On the flop you also had nut low draw, you shoud bet the flop AND the turn, many players wouyld never fold on the flop in multipot with any equity, even close to zero.

Happy New Year

NLHE
The Battle of the Gutshots

Villain here is a hyper LAG.
He mostly plays high cards, and suited aces.
He likes to slowplay anything, and shove the river when he has it.

I'm pretty deep here, so I can go flop hunting with easily playable hands.

C$0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: C10.41 (23.19/0.00/0.00/69 (V/P/3/H)
CO: C12.19 (37.82/5.04/0.00/121 (V/P/3/H)
BTN: C7.35 (51.23/32.62/12.85/2,856 (V/P/3/H)
SB: C14.70 (27.69/22.77/7.24/565 (V/P/3/H)
Hero (BB): C19.88

SB posts SB C0.05, Hero posts BB C0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: C0.15) Hero has 6♥:7♠:

UTG calls C0.10, fold, BTN raises to C0.45, fold, Hero calls C0.35, fold

Flop: (C1.05, 2 players) 2♣:9♠:4♥:
Hero checks, BTN checks
I'm insta-folding to any bet here -- I hit nothing but a backdoor gutshot

Turn: (C1.05, 2 players) 8♣:
Hero bets C0.52, BTN calls C0.52
Open-ender is worth a bet.

River: (C2.09, 2 players) 5♥:
Hero bets C1.04, BTN raises to C5.21, Hero raises to C18.91 and is all-in, BTN calls C1.17 and is all-in
I figured that this was a classic river shove with two pair, top pair or over pair -- maybe a set

Just popping in to say Hi

Hi!
I hope all is well with you and your family...

All the best,
VS

5-Card Draw
Another limper.
Feral Cow Poker
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

CO: $1.91
Button: $5.79
SB: $4.58
BB: $4.00 (Hero)
UTG: $1.92
UTG+1: $0.86

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) K♠:9♦:8♠:4♥:5♣: (6 players)
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $0.10, 3 folds, Hero checks

First Draw: ($0.25) (2 players)
Hero discards 4, UTG+1 discards 1,
K♠: || 3♠:A♠:8♣:T♦:
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.20

Hero showed K♠:3♠:A♠:8♣:T♦:, high card Ace
UTG+1 showed 7♦:8♦:9♥:A♥:T♣:, high card Ace
Hero won $0.62
(Rake: $0.03)

I figured that if he limped and D1, he's on a draw.
If he didn't pair, I have him beat.

I don't know what the odds are of pairing a draw, but I bet I have pot odds to call.

I'll check it out...
VS

Here I am, checking out PokerStrategy after months (or is it years now) of being away... I go through the blog section, and this blog I posted in is still active...

Are you the oldest active member now, Vorpal? And I don't mean real life age, I mean account age

Glad to see you are having fun with some a la JB 5CD.

I've been around since 2009 or so, but I'm sure that others have been around longer.

Your book's 5-Card Draw section was really helpful getting me grounded in the whole field of combinations and ranges.

I enjoy most games, but oddly, Hold'em isn't really one of them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace,
VS

Q: When is a royal flush totally useless?
A: When it is on the board in O8
https://www.boomplayer.com/en/23269696_D82EEC214B

General
I spent about a month getting used to the new version of fpdb -- a tracker that works for non-holdem games.
I had to revise all my spreadsheets and data collection bits.

5-Card Draw
This one was neat -- in the BB I have pot odds to call with a flush draw, even if no-one calls post-draw.
I had to lead post-draw, because both of these guys are extremely passive. Against an aggro player, this is a good spot for a check-raise.

Note that I *don't* have odds to call if UTG raises and CO 3-Bets or calls.
I still might, If there's a good chance of getting paid off post-draw.
I might raise an A-high FD vs some players too...
After the hand, UTG gets all whiny and rants about fking luckboxes etc.
His fault -- had he raised pre, CO would fold, at which point so would have I. In any case, he's limping junk UTG and deserves what he got.

once a cow has a taste for violence, it reverts. it becomes feral.
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

BB: $9.10 (Hero)
UTG: $3.17
UTG+1: $1.63
CO: $20.15
Button: $4.14
SB: $6.00

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) 2♣:K♠:8♠:T♠:4♠: (6 players)
UTG calls $0.10, UTG+1 folds, CO raises to $0.20, 2 folds,
Hero calls $0.10 (4.5:1 odds to call),
UTG calls $0.10

First Draw: ($0.65) (3 players)
Hero discards 1, UTG discards 3, CO discards 3,
K♠:8♠:T♠:4♠: || 3♠:
Hero bets $0.20, UTG calls $0.20, CO calls $0.20

Hero showed 3♠:K♠:8♠:T♠:4♠:, a flush, King high
UTG mucked 2♠:J♦:J♥:5♥:J♣:, three of a kind - Jacks
CO mucked 7♦:A♦:A♠:Q♠:A♣:, three of a kind - Aces
Hero won $1.19
(Rake: $0.06)

Peace,
VS

5-Card Draw
Well this doesn't happen too often...
(first time, I think...)

The heads-up part was the hardest, as I'd never played NL 5-Card Draw heads up before.

Fortunately villain tended to bluff too much, so I picked up a few pots I might otherwise have folded.

Best of luck,
VS

Congrats on the ship sir

Thanks!

I've decided I like PLO8

Cashed in 2 Tournaments today a first place and a second.
This hand set up my run to the 2nd place finish.

Peace,
VS

That’s always nice that you did it well in 2 tournaments.
That’s I think the beauty of games that only a small group of poker players are playing.