That big spike in the middle there represents the following hand:

A bad beat in a crucial spot. If I win that pot, I’m in very good shape to take down the tournament, obviously.

However, not everything can be blamed on brutal variance. I have been making some bad decicions with 18 or less people left, which have cost me at least 2 final tables. It seems like I want to make that final table SO bad that I can’t handle the stress and spew away all my chips at a certain point, because of fear of getting blinded out (although I have a healthy stack). Again, something to work on. I decided to play at least 51 more of these $2.50 buy-ins before stepping up.

And finally for the graph-lovers:

Here’s the graph:

I’m running pretty good and not playing all that bad. Not that many spectacular hands have been played, although I keep breaking my head over this one:

This hand was very crucial, I became chipleader after this hand and ended up winning the SNG. Obviously I think he’s stealing and A8 is too good of a hand to muck there. BUT, if I push do I only get called by better? The player was very active (33/33) and his steal attempts were at 100% (over 20 hands, mind you) so was this the right play? I still don’t know…

Maybe I’m not playing cautious enough and this will result in a major downswing later on. Another example of me playing a bit too reckless is the following hand:

After his push I’m only a slight favourite at best. I have a healthy stack, so maybe I should pass on this spot?

Many interesting questions I’m taking into the second week of the grind (although some might say that playing 20 SNG’s a week might not be considered an actual grind, lol.)

They just can’t throw away a hand, it’s beautiful!

We’re playing 1/1 with a max buy-in of 100BB’s. There were 3 big stacks at the table, including myself. I’d been playing a fairly tight game untill this hand came up, only showing down top starting hands. So, with these big stacks out there I decided to switch gears a bit and started to play somewhat looser.

I look down at Q8 under the gun (a marginal hand in that position) and decide to min-raise to 2€, just to do something funky and keep my opponents guessing. The player to the left of me makes it 10€. The player next to him calls and so does the button and the big blind. With so much money already out there I decide to call too, hoping to hit the flop hard.

The flop comes down: Q89.

I flop two pair. Big blinds checks, I check too (to see what happens, and maybe check-raise the original raiser if he doesn’t get called by anyone else). The original pre-flop raiser bets out 15€, and the player next to him makes it 40€. The 2 other players fold and it’s my turn to act now.

Now, with a flop like that there are obviously a lot of hands that have me beat. Someone could have flopped a set or a straight. Although I don’t read my opponents that strong, especially not the pre-flop raiser (I put him on an over-pair or less). With so much money out there and a fairly decent hand I decide to call, but to proceed the hand cautiously. Just as I expected the player left of me (the pre-flop raiser) doesn’t re-raise and decides to call too.

The turn is the most beautiful card in the deck: Q89 Q

That card all of a sudden gives me the second nuts! Yet, it’s only the second nuts, so I’m a bit worried, but at the same time very confident that my hand is best. I check, looking to check-raise. Then something unexpected happens, the pre-flop raiser (the one who I read weak) puts 75€ in the pot. The player next of him min-raises him to 150€. And while I’m thinking about my decision the other player acts before his turn and moves all-in for 60 more. His action is binding btw, so he is obliged to move in, whatever I decide to do.

I must admit I was confused at that point. Looking at how the hand was played, especially the pre-flop action, I surely can’t put anyone of these 2 players on Q9 right? So, figuring I still have the best hand, and the other player is probably pushing with a straight or a smaller full, I decide to just call and let him do the pot-building.

The other player calls and so do I (I can’t re-raise ‘caus the all-in doesn’t count as a raise). The river is the K. Although my hand gets beaten by KK or KQ now, I still see that card as a blank and move in for my last 60€, and the other player calls.

Showdown: the pre-flop raiser had 88, and the other player had 99! I spiked a 2 outer on the turn against 2 sets.They were both stunned and couldn’t believe I raised and called a re-raise pre-flop with Q8. Because of a pretty cold deck and me shifting gears at the perfect time, I rake in a pot worth of 995€. Real cooler for my opponents, really sweet for me.

Hand #1: the importance of raising when the odds are in your favour.

I capped the bets on the flop because my hand is a favourite a high percentage of the time. It’s always a good idea to raise or re-raise when you think you’re a mathematical favourite, although you’re only on a draw. This will result in a long turn profit.

Oh yeah, and don’t ask me what Mr. meltdown19 was doing in that hand, LOL.

Hand #2: the right turn, at the right moment and the perfect river to finish it off.

Although I take a little gamble by checking my set on the flop in such a crowded hand, it played out perfectly. That ace gave my opponents just enough confidence to commit some chips. And the nine on the river sealed the deal: not only did it give me the absolute nuts, my opponents improved to a full-house.

Hand #3: and sometimes you just get a right flop.

I flop a straight, he flops a set. The board doesn’t pair and I win a nice pot. End of story. Sometimes it’s really that simple.

Well, I thought the same think would happen in my last online LHE session, when I was holding the nuts and my opponent kept reraising me. But only, he didn’t have the nuts!

LOL Donkaments!

Like I said in the previous post: it’s a goldmine out there.

True, the amount you can win in one single hand is smaller than in No-Limit (duh!), but Limit Hold’em might be one of the most action packed poker games out there these days. Players stay in hands way too long with a marginal hand, chase draws even when they are drawing dead, fill up and as a result donk a lot of cash away in short periods of time. And the best part: because the pots stay relatively small, they don’t get the feeling they are loosing big, so they KEEP donking chips away.

A good example:

And the best part: ‘lebruske’ was one of the better players at the table! It’s a goldmine out there, go check it out.

Few days ago I was playing in a very friendly small-stakes cash game (actually the game is just an excuse to drink and get stoned amongst friends. ) Anyway, during that session a very fun hand came up.

I was playing a VERY agressive game, almost playing any 2 cards, raising and re-raising every pot. We were playing 0,10/0,20c blinds and I was losing about 20$. I picked up KK under the gun and made my standard raise to 1$ (or 5BB’s). I got two callers behind me. Then the miracle flop hit: KK9. I checked and the player next to me made it 2$ into the 3,40$ pot. The other player folds and I casually throw the chips in (just like I’m floating to hit a pair or am drawing to a flush). The pot is now almost 8$ and we both have about 20$ behind. The turn is a perfect blank: 2. I’m thinking how to get his whole stack in by the river and decide to check, hoping he has 9 or bigger pair and he’ll bet out again. And he does, betting 5$ and again I flat call, hoping that the river is a total blank again. The perfect card completes the board: 3.

Now, my opponent’s actions so far suggests he has a 9 or better. I don’t think he would bet out his flushdraw on the flop and he certainly wouldn’t bet out his draw again on the turn. The question is: if I check will he bet with his hand behind me. I was convinced he would, for several reasons: I was playing a very loose game, so the chance his 9 was good was fairly big. He was stuck, so he probably wanted to extract as much value as possible out of this hand. He could easily have an even stronger hand then just 2 pair, he could have for example flopped a full house with 9′s, and a hand that strong he would certainly bet. And in the rare chance he had nothing, I still give him some room to hang himself. So, I checked.

He didn’t even think long to decide his bet amount: 9$ into a 18$ pot, leaving 6$ of his stack behind. I instantly went all-in and that’s when things got funny.

He looked at me and asked: “Do you have a king?” I chuckled, looked at him and said: “Well, maybe I have two?” The others players at the table instantly knew I had flopped quads, but my opponent was still oblivious to what was going on. Still I felt like I needed to say something to push him over the edge. I said: “I would never check trips kings on the river with that board. Would I now?” He agreed with me and called.

When I turned over my hand he said: “Well, I have to admit that I’m not suprised. Nice speech dude.” The table laughed out loud.

Here’s what happened:

My pre-flop play might not make much sense: why raise in middle position with K9s? Well, their are several reasons, first of all the table was pretty weak and more importantly I want to keep my opponents guessing. It’s obvious this worked, Mr. Donk here didn’t have a clue what I had, so decided to push all his chips in with a very marginal hand, either on a bluff or just figuring I had AK or a weaker pair. I had been playing very loose ’till that point (basically because the table was playing very tight passive), so he might have actually thought his 88′s were good. Mixing is it up is vital in a poker game!

I decided to call his reraise pre-flop because I had position on him, considered him a weak player that I could outplay post-flop and thought that the player on the button was likely to fold. Well, the button-player didn’t fold, but I was still happy to see a flop with my hand, even with a player (who didn’t show much strength anyway) behind me.

Now, after Donk leads out on the flop I put him on a big pair, at least JJ’s, and I hope he isn’t holding TT’s. Like I said, he was playing a solid game ’till that point, so it was fairly possible he flopped top full. Yet, I’m pretty confident that my is good hand and decide to flat call and see what the player on the button does. He decides to flat call too. Now I know the button player very well, he is either holding a flushdraw or a T, of which both I think a T(J maybe) is most likely, ‘caus I think he would raise a flush draw, just to see where he stands.

On the turn, Donk doesn’t hessitate one second to lead out again, for more then half of his stack. “I smell KK’s or AA’s” I thought at that point. But the question is, should I flat call this and invite the button player in? If he has a flush draw I should move all-in, if he has just a T my flat call would maybe induce him to call too, but I think that’s very unlikely due to the strength Mr. Donk has showed so far. Anyway, I decided to flat call and gamble a bit, if he has a flush draw I want that extra 76$ in the pot, and on the rare chance that Donk is bluffing I don’t want to scare him off his hand. I flat call and the button player folds, excellent result either way.

The river is a blank, Donkey pushes, I insta-call muthering something like “If I’m stupid enough to play K9s, I’m stupid enough to go broke with it too”. The donk asks “You have a ten?” and I show him my trips. He stands up, throws his 88′s open en leaves the pokerroom.

The whole table was shocked at first, then started laughing out loud.