Profitable Last Couple of Days

[See You Next Wednesday]

Finished in the money in 4 out of my last 5 sit-n-gos: 2/45 ($6 buy-in), 1/9 ($3 buy-in Omaha H/L), 4/45 ($11 Buy-in) and 2/18 ($15 buy-in) for a total of $210. Should've won that first one, in heads up the guy I was playing against was all-in and behind before the flop three times and survived every time. Twice on the river.

It comes and goes. Probably this week tomorrow I will be talking about not cashing in my last 10 tourneys or something.

[Eaglebauer]

It comes and goes. Probably this week tomorrow I will be talking about not cashing in my last 10 tourneys or something.

It certainly does come and go. I lost on ALL of the following all-in showdowns this week.

KK vs. J3o - 88% fav
A9 vs. J10o - 56% fav
KK vs. AQ - 72% fav
AA vs. 99 - 81% fav ($200 buyin tourney.....grrrrrrrrrr)
QQ vs. A3s - 67%
AQ vs. K8 60% fav

These were all major showdowns as well, not last gasp short stack showdowns for either myself or opponent. I feel like I've lost 30 showdowns in a row.

[Adelpiero]

started with 0 in my account on 365poker.com


i now have 250ish. top 10 in 5k freeroll, top3 in 1k, and a couple nice hands in .25-50 N/L

[Mook]

Hats off to you for the winning streak! Keep it up.

Sadly, the cooler visited me a couple of weeks ago.....I decided to stop playing for a few days until I get in a better frame of mind.

[buckeye_in_sc]

Eagle...The KK vs J3 is horrible...


This happened to me at Full Tilt...went on a winning streak...couple 1st places in some 6 person $10 SNG's, 2nd's in a couple 9 persons...a 14th place finish in a $10 +1 Turbo (I was chip leader at one point and went card dead)...and some nice runs at the $.10/$.25 NL tables...then I started slowly cashing out $50 here, $80 there, etc...then my QQ and KK started getting busted...ironic? Yeah it happens.. but...question now


do you guys believe that online sites "cater" if you will to people who keep their money in their online account? I.e. a "doom" switch if you will (poker conduct has some interesting articles)...just asking I know it is poker but I seem to see many more bad beats online than live...just another discussion...

but then I came back with a deposit to Full Tilt and promptly won a $20+2 heads up SNG and a $20+2 6 person SNG...who knows...

discuss...?

[Mook]

Eagle...The KK vs J3 is horrible...


This happened to me at Full Tilt...went on a winning streak...couple 1st places in some 6 person $10 SNG's, 2nd's in a couple 9 persons...a 14th place finish in a $10 +1 Turbo (I was chip leader at one point and went card dead)...and some nice runs at the $.10/$.25 NL tables...then I started slowly cashing out $50 here, $80 there, etc...then my QQ and KK started getting busted...ironic? Yeah it happens.. but...question now


do you guys believe that online sites "cater" if you will to people who keep their money in their online account? I.e. a "doom" switch if you will (poker conduct has some interesting articles)...just asking I know it is poker but I seem to see many more bad beats online than live...just another discussion...

but then I came back with a deposit to Full Tilt and promptly won a $20+2 heads up SNG and a $20+2 6 person SNG...who knows...

discuss...?

I think this thought has occurred to everybody playing online. Personally though, I find it hard to believe.....it assumes that in a 10 person Sit n' Go you are the only person who deposited/withdrew $$. It would also have to have some insight into individual play, because we don't all play the same way. A lot of people will dump AA on the bubble to make the money. Finally these sites are businesses, and ultimately it is in their best interest from a financial perspective to not cheat their customers. I've been on the receiving end of some crazy beats, I've also administered some. It happens, we need to get over it. Typically I like to go back through hands and try to figure out what I could have done differently. Sometimes there isn't anything I could do and I would have busted anyway. Othertimes though, if you are objective, you'll find ways you could have gotten away from a hand and lost fewer chips. Always be objective in your analysis of your play...sometimes bad beats are bad beats and sometimes if I look carefully enough, I'll find I was very much a part of the "bad" beat I took. Regardless of whether or not I had the best cards when the $$ went in, I like to ask myself if I needed to get myself into a situation where all my chips were at risk. And believe me, I know that late in these Sit n' Go's with the blind structures it becomes a bit of an all-in fest and you have to get a bit lucky to win.

When I'm losing I like to believe there is a conspiracy, but ultimately it just doesn't make sense, there are too may other factors at hand in cards. I cash out every month and haven't gone on any kind of prolonged losing streak.....of course, I did cash out about 10 days ago and have received a lot of bad beats....things that make you go hmmm.

[buckeye_in_sc]

Mook - completely agree with you that we all have holes in our game and perhaps we could have prevented a bad beat or two and perhaps made some money or advanced further up the money ladder in a tourney...again just throwin it out for discussion...

i played this morning a little 1/2 Limit...had A/Q on the button (6 person table only 5 playing) I raised to $1.50 (capped) and got two callers...flop comes 3/Q/3...i bet...one caller...turn nothing...i check...dude bets and I raise...river 3 (so I make a full boat) check...dude bets I raise he calls...right then and there I knew he had the 3 in the hole...yep 3/4 suited in the hole...had I thought a little more about the hand I still probably check or bet out since it is hard to get away from a boat and especially when you can't see the persons actions at the table...perhaps I should have laid down my 3's full of queens but that was tough...i understand I need to get better in recognizing betting patterns in online games but it is tough at lower limits since people are apt to chase much more than say at 2/4 limit or 3/6 limit...

looking forward to playing live tomorrow night in our monthly neighborhood game...

good discussion lets keep it going...

[Mook]

Buckeye - definitely not a bad play on the quad 3's. Damn near everybody would take it in the shorts on that one. The guy calling a capped pot with 3-4 is more than a little iffy...I'd have put the guy on AA, KK, KQ or AQ in that hand. That said, I'd have gone down with my Q's Full. Now I really don't think the game is rigged because most people aren't playing 3-4 off......unless of course you were playing a 'bot!!

I have wondered about sites creating action flops, giving several people part of the action. But once again from a business perspective it doesn't make sense to me. Of course, I've been wrong before and although it is highly unlikely I ever would be again.....

[See You Next Wednesday]

Cashed again last night, 2nd out of 9 for a reitrement inducing $40 in Omaha H/L.

I think the real culprit here is perception, we only remember the times that somebody seemed to come from behind unbelievably to win and seem to ignore the times that 9Ts lost to QQ. The other thing is that people play a lot more crap. Folks who think A6o or 33 or 89o are great hands. A third factor is of course you generally only see hands where the player has outs. Now they may be chasing, but they are still chasing something and so what we see is skewed toward hands that could win.

I agree essentially with mook. All the time you hear somebody lose and blame the website. It's nonsense. AA is no guarantee, even against 72.

Mook, you said you know folks who would fold AA on the bubble or thereabouts. I don't think thats smart at all. They think they are making money, but they are probably costing themselves. When you have a strong opening hand like that you have an opportunity to really increase your stack which will probably get you furter into the money. The money goes up exponentially. So why protect yourself to get into the low end of the payout?

[Eaglebauer]

Eagle...The KK vs J3 is horrible...

Yeah I had this one setup perfectly. The guy immediately to my right had twice raised (3-4x bb) and folded to my subsequent all-in (AA once, QQ once... the blinds were high-- it was worth it).

So then not too much longer thereafter we're in the blinds and everyone folds around to him in the small blind, he just elects to complete the sb. I have KK and think to myself "he's gonna love this" and so I just go allin again, thinking there was a high chance he was going to be pissed off and call even with a weak hand.

Which he did.

But how could he call with J3. (in fact, what was he doing trying to play in the sb with me with J3 when he knows I'm a guy who will put him all-in?).

[Mook]

Mook, you said you know folks who would fold AA on the bubble or thereabouts. I don't think thats smart at all. They think they are making money, but they are probably costing themselves. When you have a strong opening hand like that you have an opportunity to really increase your stack which will probably get you furter into the money. The money goes up exponentially. So why protect yourself to get into the low end of the payout?

I personally can only imagine a couple of scenarios where I would consider folding AA. One of those scenarios would most definitely not be on the bubble in a SNG, which is primarily what I was speaking of. However, since our ultimate goal is to make the money it can be correct to fold. My only goal starting a SNG is to make the money. Once that is accomplished, I can try to win. Frankly, I'd call the all-in's even in all three people went in in front of me with AA. Frankly, the only place I'm folding AA pre-flop is in a Satellite or Qualifier where the only thing that matters is moving on or getting seat and that doesn't necessarily entail winning.

[Adelpiero]

Noone would fold AA before a flop


it's a rarity, say .025% that pocket KK get thrown away before the flop.



if your throwing away AA in a tourney, please tell me where you play, and your username, i would love to play with you, seriously.

[Mook]

Alright, here's a scenario where somebody could rightfully throw away AA pre-flop. Keep in mind this is hypothetical. You're in 10 person SNG that pays 3 places and 4 players are left. You are on the shortstack with about two BB's left and you're in the BB next hand. All three players in front of you go all in.....at this point you are making a bad financial decision if you don't fold. Once again, I'm not saying I would fold, I probably wouldn't, but folding in this or a similar scenario is not wrong, remember the first goal is to make $$, from there you can try to win.....I'll use another example where you are trying to qualify for a big tournament and you play in one table satellite where two people qualify. You are third in chips and the other two players are about even, both go all in in front of you, in this example I would fold because the goal isn't to win or accumulate chips, the goal is to get a seat and one player will either go out or be totally crippled on this hand, if you call and lose you get nothing since you were third in chips to begin the hand.

Please don't get me wrong and think that I sit around folding AA, in fact I've never done it. I'm just saying that there could be situations where it could be a reasonable decision. Now folding KK is an entirely different matter and something I have done once.....1 player had QQ and another had AA. I raised 4x and was re-raised about 6x more, player 3 moved all in...it wasn't hard to fold the KK's since I knew these players. By the way, a Q hit the flop and QQ's won the pot. My decision could have been wrong, but I was comfortable with it and was able to live to fight another day.

[Mook]

if your throwing away AA in a tourney, please tell me where you play, and your username, i would love to play with you, seriously.

If you find yourself playing with somebody who would do this, you probably don't want to play with them......seriously.

[the_ouskull]

<--- Knows what ^^^ is talking about.

the_ouskull