Swallowed Some Run Good in Online Poker
Recently, I played some sit 'n gos. In those massive online poker tournaments after a great start, I've just been min-cashing or bubbling and didn't have the time to stay up all night. So I played two 90 men Texas Hold'Em sit 'n gos and a 27 man sit 'n go. I went three for three with Ws, yes first place in all three. So much for not staying up all night as some of those final tables and heads up play took forever. I know it's poor form to brag but it was so tasty I wanted to share. Course it was for small stakes as that's all I'm risking on online poker for now but the bankroll is growing.
I've come and gone online usually playing well at the start and then getting frustrated and less patient. I keep reading about how many reloads this young whiz kids had to go through before they got "it." There are those few that have deposited only once but I already know I'm no poker prodigy so I'm not using them as models. Just feels like I'm turning a corner a bit in terms of online poker "feel." Hard to put a finger on, but I know when they are bluffing and i can get them off a hand and when to pitch good hands myself.
First off, any conclusions I make is clouded by running really well, you have to run well to win outright no matter who you are. That being said, I feel a lot more comfortable in this foray in online poker playing than I have in the past. I'm developing that sixth sense of timing tells and picking up betting patterns that people generally fall into the more hands I play. Couple of times I've found myself missing the flop, checking it with the intention of c-bettting the airball continuation bet of my opponent.
Online everybody is so much more willing to put chips in the middle and be aggressive at these low stakes they just aren't selective enough I find. You can let the donkeys do the pulling, so why do the pushing. Great thing is if you hit a monster you check it enough they'll bet for you. What I do find is there is little reward in representing a weak steal bet. You come over the top only a monster is going to come back over on you. Weird. Almost better just shoving and hoping for calls. At the same time, it doesn't cost much to get people off of hands and that fear that you have reopened the betting isn't as warranted.
Okay... those conclusions are from a tiny sample of run good and none of them may be of any use long run, and I understand that, but they certainly scooped me a lot of pots. Last night in those three tournaments I only got my money in really bad when I was crushed once. I almost got away from it, of course I was running good, so I hit.
We were middle stages of one of the 90 man sit 'n gos. A tight player bet, I was on the button with QQ, I raise. I had been lucky enough to get a number of hands to raise or reraise from late position so I thought I might get a call. He shoved over the top. I forget the stack sizes but I could have gotten away from it. I thought about a conversation with Reid recently where he says he's just looking to double up with those hands and I need to play them stronger.
This guy had been playing so tight and had yet to do anything like this, I felt this guy was on AA, maybe KK. I called (having some chips left over) hoping for AK. Now, I don't want it to appear I let Reid's advice effect me. Other than being more open to playing a big pot and starting a new tournament (or sit 'n go) if I missed, he's also very clear about not putting your money in bad, if you know you are behind.
I was fairly certain I was, but I slipped up and it was one of those brutally bad decisions where you call hoping you are wrong and you never are. He had KK (bottom of his realistic range... lol).
Long story short, I didn't hit a queen but the board did put a straight out there for us both, even better it went up to the jack so my queen played. Ha, I'm sure he didn't like it but oh well.
In both the 90 men I really had no doubt in my mind I was going to win. Strange confidence. Obviously, I knew I was a bad beat or two away from elimination, but barring that I felt like I knew my opponents tendecies well enough to win. In one this Russian had all the chips but he was... turrible. He'd donkbet every flop and fold to any type of aggression, even if his stack mandated it. You could steal all day from him with min-raises.
I knew I just had to outlast some other players and I tiptoed through that trouble to get to heads up with him and then I kind of steamrolled him. Oddly, I was still confident despite going 0-4 in coinflips in short stacks that made me have to rebuild shorthanded all over again. Every time I would have been sitting pretty.
So, that was fun. I felt like I'm picking up some timing tells, and I was lucky when I sniff out a bluff my hand would hold. In one big pot I did it with A7 the flop all rags and the opponent shoving. Took me a while to call for their stack (and a healthy piece of mine). Sure enough King high. Just felt like a spot they'd shove any two cards and they didn't have babies, so I was likely ahead of most of their holdings. The way they led out with Ax and pocket pairs made me feel I was good.
It's one thing to be good and another to have it hold.
Okay, surely tomorrow I'll get my wake up call and poker will humble me all over again like it always does, but for today I feel good.
Did want to share a hand with ya'll. I think I played it right but I'm a little unsure about bet sizing. Please educate me without stabbing yourself in the neck.
Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2010/03/04 1:54:58 ET
Seat 1: 2010towin (7520 in chips)
Seat 2: jubelen1 (2600 in chips)
Seat 3: akjordan16 (4240 in chips)
Seat 4: raoulduke521 (2650 in chips)
Seat 5: ME (4063 in chips)
Seat 6: flanno30 (2470 in chips)
Seat 7: camssterg (3490 in chips)
Seat 8: bigmick1722 (3637 in chips)
Seat 9: Jameslol (11720 in chips)
jubelen1: posts small blind 50
akjordan16: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ME [Kc Ks]
raoulduke521: folds
ME: raises 300 to 400
flanno30: calls 400
camssterg: folds
bigmick1722: folds
Jameslol: folds
2010towin: folds
jubelen1: calls 350
akjordan16: folds
*** FLOP *** [5c 2d 3h]
jubelen1: bets 100
ME: raises 1200 to 1300 Good raise here? Pot size bet, I don't like the straight draw from an Ace. Or too cowardly? Should I have tried to keep one or two in?). Felt like the Hundo was a blocking bet. Also, regarding stack sizes do I do it different?
flanno30: calls 1300
jubelen1: calls 1200 **Both call
*** TURN *** [5c 2d 3h] [6d]
jubelen1: checks
ME: bets 2100 **Not like either of them can go anywhere (I wonder if I wasn't paying attention to their stack sizes at the time based on the bet or if I knew I they were both short and just fired the bet bar far enough over to have them all in...)
flanno30: calls 770 and is all-in
jubelen1: calls 900 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1200) returned to ME
*** RIVER *** [5c 2d 3h 6d] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jubelen1: shows [Jh Jd] (a straight, Deuce to Six)
ME: shows [Kc Ks] (a straight, Deuce to Six)
jubelen1 collected 130 from side pot
wildbillgcp collected 130 from side pot
flanno30: shows [5d Kd] (a flush, King high) ***Certainly tagged this guy calling an early position raiser for 1/6th of his chips with K5 sooted.
flanno30 collected 7510 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7770 Main pot 7510. Side pot 260. Rake 0
Board [5c 2d 3h 6d 4d]
Seat 1: 2010towin (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: jubelen1 (small blind) showed [Jh Jd] and won (130) with a straight, Deuce to Six
Seat 3: akjordan16 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: raoulduke521 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: ME showed [Kc Ks] and won (130) with a straight, Deuce to Six
Seat 6: flanno30 showed [5d Kd] and won (7510) with a flush, King high
Seat 7: camssterg folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: bigmick1722 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Jameslol folded before Flop (didn't bet)
I've come and gone online usually playing well at the start and then getting frustrated and less patient. I keep reading about how many reloads this young whiz kids had to go through before they got "it." There are those few that have deposited only once but I already know I'm no poker prodigy so I'm not using them as models. Just feels like I'm turning a corner a bit in terms of online poker "feel." Hard to put a finger on, but I know when they are bluffing and i can get them off a hand and when to pitch good hands myself.
First off, any conclusions I make is clouded by running really well, you have to run well to win outright no matter who you are. That being said, I feel a lot more comfortable in this foray in online poker playing than I have in the past. I'm developing that sixth sense of timing tells and picking up betting patterns that people generally fall into the more hands I play. Couple of times I've found myself missing the flop, checking it with the intention of c-bettting the airball continuation bet of my opponent.
Online everybody is so much more willing to put chips in the middle and be aggressive at these low stakes they just aren't selective enough I find. You can let the donkeys do the pulling, so why do the pushing. Great thing is if you hit a monster you check it enough they'll bet for you. What I do find is there is little reward in representing a weak steal bet. You come over the top only a monster is going to come back over on you. Weird. Almost better just shoving and hoping for calls. At the same time, it doesn't cost much to get people off of hands and that fear that you have reopened the betting isn't as warranted.
Okay... those conclusions are from a tiny sample of run good and none of them may be of any use long run, and I understand that, but they certainly scooped me a lot of pots. Last night in those three tournaments I only got my money in really bad when I was crushed once. I almost got away from it, of course I was running good, so I hit.
We were middle stages of one of the 90 man sit 'n gos. A tight player bet, I was on the button with QQ, I raise. I had been lucky enough to get a number of hands to raise or reraise from late position so I thought I might get a call. He shoved over the top. I forget the stack sizes but I could have gotten away from it. I thought about a conversation with Reid recently where he says he's just looking to double up with those hands and I need to play them stronger.
This guy had been playing so tight and had yet to do anything like this, I felt this guy was on AA, maybe KK. I called (having some chips left over) hoping for AK. Now, I don't want it to appear I let Reid's advice effect me. Other than being more open to playing a big pot and starting a new tournament (or sit 'n go) if I missed, he's also very clear about not putting your money in bad, if you know you are behind.
I was fairly certain I was, but I slipped up and it was one of those brutally bad decisions where you call hoping you are wrong and you never are. He had KK (bottom of his realistic range... lol).
Long story short, I didn't hit a queen but the board did put a straight out there for us both, even better it went up to the jack so my queen played. Ha, I'm sure he didn't like it but oh well.
In both the 90 men I really had no doubt in my mind I was going to win. Strange confidence. Obviously, I knew I was a bad beat or two away from elimination, but barring that I felt like I knew my opponents tendecies well enough to win. In one this Russian had all the chips but he was... turrible. He'd donkbet every flop and fold to any type of aggression, even if his stack mandated it. You could steal all day from him with min-raises.
I knew I just had to outlast some other players and I tiptoed through that trouble to get to heads up with him and then I kind of steamrolled him. Oddly, I was still confident despite going 0-4 in coinflips in short stacks that made me have to rebuild shorthanded all over again. Every time I would have been sitting pretty.
So, that was fun. I felt like I'm picking up some timing tells, and I was lucky when I sniff out a bluff my hand would hold. In one big pot I did it with A7 the flop all rags and the opponent shoving. Took me a while to call for their stack (and a healthy piece of mine). Sure enough King high. Just felt like a spot they'd shove any two cards and they didn't have babies, so I was likely ahead of most of their holdings. The way they led out with Ax and pocket pairs made me feel I was good.
It's one thing to be good and another to have it hold.
Okay, surely tomorrow I'll get my wake up call and poker will humble me all over again like it always does, but for today I feel good.
Did want to share a hand with ya'll. I think I played it right but I'm a little unsure about bet sizing. Please educate me without stabbing yourself in the neck.
Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2010/03/04 1:54:58 ET
Seat 1: 2010towin (7520 in chips)
Seat 2: jubelen1 (2600 in chips)
Seat 3: akjordan16 (4240 in chips)
Seat 4: raoulduke521 (2650 in chips)
Seat 5: ME (4063 in chips)
Seat 6: flanno30 (2470 in chips)
Seat 7: camssterg (3490 in chips)
Seat 8: bigmick1722 (3637 in chips)
Seat 9: Jameslol (11720 in chips)
jubelen1: posts small blind 50
akjordan16: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ME [Kc Ks]
raoulduke521: folds
ME: raises 300 to 400
flanno30: calls 400
camssterg: folds
bigmick1722: folds
Jameslol: folds
2010towin: folds
jubelen1: calls 350
akjordan16: folds
*** FLOP *** [5c 2d 3h]
jubelen1: bets 100
ME: raises 1200 to 1300 Good raise here? Pot size bet, I don't like the straight draw from an Ace. Or too cowardly? Should I have tried to keep one or two in?). Felt like the Hundo was a blocking bet. Also, regarding stack sizes do I do it different?
flanno30: calls 1300
jubelen1: calls 1200 **Both call
*** TURN *** [5c 2d 3h] [6d]
jubelen1: checks
ME: bets 2100 **Not like either of them can go anywhere (I wonder if I wasn't paying attention to their stack sizes at the time based on the bet or if I knew I they were both short and just fired the bet bar far enough over to have them all in...)
flanno30: calls 770 and is all-in
jubelen1: calls 900 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1200) returned to ME
River don't really matter but scroll down if you want.
*** RIVER *** [5c 2d 3h 6d] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jubelen1: shows [Jh Jd] (a straight, Deuce to Six)
ME: shows [Kc Ks] (a straight, Deuce to Six)
jubelen1 collected 130 from side pot
wildbillgcp collected 130 from side pot
flanno30: shows [5d Kd] (a flush, King high) ***Certainly tagged this guy calling an early position raiser for 1/6th of his chips with K5 sooted.
flanno30 collected 7510 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7770 Main pot 7510. Side pot 260. Rake 0
Board [5c 2d 3h 6d 4d]
Seat 1: 2010towin (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: jubelen1 (small blind) showed [Jh Jd] and won (130) with a straight, Deuce to Six
Seat 3: akjordan16 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: raoulduke521 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: ME showed [Kc Ks] and won (130) with a straight, Deuce to Six
Seat 6: flanno30 showed [5d Kd] and won (7510) with a flush, King high
Seat 7: camssterg folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: bigmick1722 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Jameslol folded before Flop (didn't bet)
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