Taking another break in 10...9...8...7

Replay Poker Poker Discussion
1

Nothing to do on NYE, so decided to resume playing, and immediately regretted my decision.

Played two MTT tonight. It’s more like self flagellation at this point.

The first game, I played a straight draw perfectly and about doubled up. A little scary with 88 on the board, which could have ended up giving someone who had made a set with something else a possible full house

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458049714

Then immediately turned around and played A-rag into a straight draw that was beat by a better straight draw. I saw it too late to avoid losing a big pot, but early enough to not go out on the hand.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458050171

A few hands later, I got dealt 44 and donated my chips to the table. I couldn’t wait to do it. I hoped my tiny stack would intimidate the table into letting me have the blinds, but in early position that doesn’t happen very often. Unless I’m holding AA. AndI wasn’t. Of course BOTH of my callers had AK, and paired both of them. Like they needed to. And chopped the pot.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458052371

So much for that game.

A 6-handed MTT was starting up in just a few minutes, and no one had signed up for it, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I played better here, but very inconsistently. As soon as I’d win a good hand, I’d feel like I could play looser, and would immediately make a dumb move and lose most of my gains. I bounced up and down between 11000 and 8000 chips for a few orbits, until the blinds became too big and my luck ran out, then I quickly made mistakes I couldn’t recover from. If I’d just played sure hands and didn’t try to bluff or chase draws, I would have been much better in this one.

Some examples of my good/bad play:

First, I come out getting good cards, and take a few decent pots down right away:

In the BB with A5o, flopping an Ace, betting up a pot, winning the showdown from a player chasing baby flush and Wheel straight draws and missing. I tried to buy the pot and after firing two barrels on the flop and turn wasn’t getting a fold, so I was worried that I was beat on the river, and didn’t bet for value. A lucky win with a junky hand.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458055598

A few hands later, I get A9o and limp in to see a cheap flop, and hit trip-9s, A kicker. I’m golden here, barring quads or a full boat, but the player ahead of me bets first to buy the pot. I raise, and he shoves. I call, he has T9, and I out-kick him to win the hand. Perfectly played here, and if you want to question limping with A9 in middle-late position here, go ahead, but don’t argue with the results.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458056137

Another few hands later, I flop bottom pair and beat a straight and flush draw. I also miss a straight draw, but end up with 2 pair, the bigger pair on the board. My opponent only ends up with the pair on the board.
This is really not a good hand, and not a good play for me, but I lucked out.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458056559

This is what I meant a few months ago when I posted my thread “does good play make turn you into a bad player?” Back then, I wasn’t good enough to distinguish between good results and good play, and would take a very lucky run with my bad play and learn the worst habits from it, then go on a bad streak.

I’m about to do that in very quick micro-loops for the rest of this MTT, as you’ll see. Right now, I’m up to 11K and right at the top of the leaderboard, feeling very happy about myself, and now overconfident.

Next hand, I get KTo in the Cutoff position, limip in, and hit the Ten on the flop. The rest of the flop is pretty dry, but one player ahead bets pretty big at the flop, and makes me suspect he may have either TT or a pair higher than Tens, so I don’t feel secure with top pair here, and I fold. Good thing too, because he’s got AA, and wins a lot of chips from one of the other players at the table. So, my instincts are still good here, questionable limping strategy notwithstanding.

AA had limped in too, from the BB, and while it worked here, he probably could have done even better if he’d raised preflop to 2BB. Almost nobody who limps fails to call a 2BB bet at these tables, and it would have made his bet sizing on later streets bigger.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458056724

The very next hand, I get K9o, and almost the same thing happens, but this time I raise the better ahead of me, he calls, and we take it to the river and I see he has my early top pair beat with runner-runner two pair, and I lose a chunk of my stack. It’s not very much, but I’m a little mad here. He called my pot-sized bet on the flop with a nothing hand – an inside straight draw holding two over cards. And then lucked into his top card on the Turn, and his bottom card on the river. But, OK, fine. I probably should have played this the same as I had just played the exact hand before, and folded. Or just mucked and not bothered playing K9o from the Hijack, or if I was going to play it, not limp it. What kind of bet would I have needed to continue with from the flop to get this player to fold?

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458056991

Two hands later, the tables rebalance, and I have to sit one out in the SB.

At my new table, I am dealt a great hand: 99, and land the set on the flop. This time I raise them up, and get two callers, I almost get screwed out of this one, playing it a little slow – The flop is 579-rainbow, a possible straight could be about to ruin my day here, and I just min bet it. I’m actually doing this to build the pot, and have missed the danger of someone possibly holding 86. But then, how likely is it that someone would call a 4BB raise holding 86? Pretty likely, actually, the way some people play here. So when the turn brings an 8, I get scared and bet the pot, and fortunately my opponent folds. If he has a 6, I’m beat here, and he evidently didn’t. My other fear would be that my hand “improves” to a straight with a 6 on the River, giving us a chop, or if he has a Ten, he wins the whole thing. But luck holds out and I don’t get hurt by my bad play here, instead I get to take in almost 5000 chips. Was this the right move? It worked out, but man was it risky. I wouldn’t want to run that hand that way again. Next time I buy the pot on the flop, and if I get called, I probably go quietly on the turn and lay it down.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458062385

Next hand, I get 72s, and sit it out, but it’s a big hand because the player ahead of me knocks out the player two seats a head of me AAQ over AAT, and now he’s got the tournament lead, and I’m suddenly a way back in 2nd place. This changes the table dynamics somewhat, as I am now less able to bully the rest of the table as long as he’s in the hand. It’s good to be right behind him, though; if he’s in a hand I’m thinking about playing, I can think twice about it, and stay out of his way unless I have something real big.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458062683

I get a brief string of junk hands which I fold for a while. I’m in no hurry. I got all day. About 4 hands later, I get TT, and play it well. Raise it up 4BB, the big stack calls, the flop is 57Jrainbow, he checks, I buy the pot and take it down.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458063289

Next hand, I get JTo, and decide to play it, and limp in. But the flop comes up with an Ace, the BB buys it, and that’s over quick. Should I have played here? I don’t know. I lost a 1BB bet to do it, and I could have opted not to. Hitting a straight here would have been very nice, and for the chance at that, I think the 1BB bet was reasonable to see the flop, given that I have a big stack and can afford to take a small risk now for a potential big hand.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458063469

The danger is in thinking that way all the time, and playing too many marginal hands.

Next up, I’m in the BB, and get 53, flop is 6T4-rainbow, and I have an OESD. I bet it, hoping to just take the pot on a pretty dry looking board. One player in the hand to beat, and he raises double the pot, and I’m not prepared to call that much to see if I can hit a 2 or a 7, so I have to lay it down and give up about 1500 chips. Which is definitely better than calling here and losing to a pair of Tens after the straight draw fails to deliver, which it will 6 times out of 10. I have to wonder what made him so confident though – he doesn’t show, so he could have had TT, or top two pair. Or maybe he just figured the BB is bluffing this hand, and it was safe to call.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458063580

Next hand, I get A9 in the SB, and decide to call and limp in, but I miss the flop and the last to act min-bets and I fold. I did so well earlier with A9, but the situation was completely different. I don’t know that it was worth playing it again here, but again, just 180 chips at risk when I have one of the top stacks, so it doesn’t worry me.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458063726

I sit out the next hand, folding 97o, and watch 33 knock out AK, 3s full of Tens. 33 raised preflop, AK 3-bet shoved, 33 called and took him out, hitting the full boat as soon as the flop came down. It was brutal:

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458063856

How do you make that kind of call with just pocket 3s? Now there’s one less player at the table, and one more big stack. The very next hand, our gutsy player with 33 loses a huge pot to the player next to him when he plays J2s against KJs, and loses about a third of his chips. Poor play here on his part to play J2 from the SB. He tries to bet the pot, is raised, and responds by shoving his stack all-in, and gets called. JK has him dominated, and to add insult to injury, he hits the King on the river for two pair. Now all 4 players at this table have good-sized stacks, ranging from 8000-20000 chips.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458063967

Next, I’m in BB and limp A7o. The flop brings me an Ace, I buy the pot. Happy. I show it just so they know I wasn’t bluffing with the BB.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458064106

A few hands later, I fold A2s, just to prove that I can learn to fold Aces: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458064387

After that, in SB I am dealt 67, and flop a full house, 77s full of 6s. I slow play it, letting my opponent feeler bet into me, and almost lose it when I see the Turn and River show up with two Kings. Now if he has any King, I’m done, he’ll have KKK77 or KKKK, and my sure thing flopped boat will have me dead. So I can’t bet for value, and he’s only betting small, so I just take down 2500 chips from the Big Stack. I was so sure I was going to be able to take more value here, and then the turn and river made that a non-starter. Dang. This is less bad play than it is bad luck. I still won, but not nearly the pot size that i was hoping I could have gotten.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458064488

Next hand I get dealt 55 in the SB, and raise just to 2BB, bet the flop and get one fold, one call. Min bet the turn as a feeler, and get called again, min bet the river, and am beat, JJ77A over 7755Q. A really huge pot, and I should have known better to play 55 like this, but keep in mind earlier I’d seen 33 take out AK, so that was in the back of my mind somewhere… Of course I didn’t play the hand that way, and I don’t think I could have. But all I’ve done was given the Big Stack more chips than I just took from him with my flopped boat, about a quarter of my stack, poof. :anger: :angry: What I should have done there was saw the flop, checked it, and then folded as soon as he bet as long I wasn’t sitting on a set of 5’s. Instead I thought I could bluff and take the hand, and then had to stay in to the end when that failed, and bleed off more min-bets hoping it would keep my opponent from coming back over me with something I couldn’t call, and maybe I’d see a 3rd 5. Nope.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458064620

I go back to folding junk for a while. Folding junk is a nearly unbeatable strategy that I keep getting away from because it’s not “glamorous” or “fun” and I keep getting tempted by the “off chance” that I could hit something with any two cards, like I did with 76 a couple hands ago. But I like folding. I really do. I get so deep into tournaments when I fold a lot. It’s so much more profitable in the long run than limping and bluffing. I need to keep reminding myself.

But, see, this is when it happens. I fold 97o, and the flop comes 9A7. I coulda had someone sitting on an Ace with two pair, here. Maybe. But better than 9 times out of ten I wouldn’t flop two pair. So that’s a really dumb way to think. Still, when you see that you missed your 1-in-20 chance of flopping two pair, you feel it. You know that feeling? Ignore it!

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458065377

I go back to folding. The table is only 4-handed, and I’m now the small stack. Then the 3rd stack hits Queens full of 8s and takes a big chunk out of the Big Stack.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458065548

I keep on folding, and for a string I get a bunch of Jack-rag-suited hands, and it feels like the RNG is telling me I should play Jack-rag-suited for flush potential, but I know better than that, and I just ignore it.

Then the tables re-balance again, and suddenly we’re 6-up again. Finally some fresh blood at the table. Only, I’m it. My stack has bled down now to just under 6000 chips, down from around 12000 at peak, and I’m barely hanging on. The one other player at the table with less chips than I have is sitting behind me. He’s got about half what I have, and that means he’s a danger to shove at this blind level if he’s got anything worth raising. This is what I’m thinking. So I worry now about raising behind him.

I get K2o, and raise, hoping everyone will fold. But guess what, he calls. The flop comes, Qh3hJd, and I try to bluff the pot, but he’s got Ah6d, and about half his stack in already, and nothing left to play with if he lays down, so naturally he shoves. I’m darn near committed too, on a bluff, and I need a miracle if I am going to win this, but I can’t afford not to, so I call, and lose about 5000 chips, and now he and I have switched positions. My run is just about done.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458066017

A4o, I shove it all in, one of the big stacks calls and he’s got… AA. Crap. Well at least I paired my 4 on the River. And I’m out 11th, in a tiny MTT where the bubble was at 4th place. No chips for me.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458066175

Happy New Year

I’m back on my break again. See you next year.

2

Well, new year, new me, I guess.

I played and won chips in my first two SNG of the year.

I think I may have figured out what I’ve been doing wrong on this skid that I’ve been on.

So, late last night I played a 9-seater SNG, and took 2nd. My opponent heads-up was ranked like 250,000, but played very well, and I have to give him credit. I went into heads up the small stack, but I played him about as well as I could, and reversed the stakes at one point with a big hand, AATT over Kings. But then my cards went dead and I ended up losing on a hand that I hoped I could bluff, Kings on a board with AK, only my opponent had the Ace. Still, a 2nd place finish, I’ll take it.

You can see the first hand of the game starting here: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458110061

I took a big pot early on with a pair of Tens over an over-confident pair of pocket 7s. The bet sizing there got out of hand, which made me uncomfortable; I’m playing ATs, and try to bluff-buy the pot, but get called, then hit my Ten on the Turn, and with renewed confidence fire away again, still get called. By the river, I have no Ace, no hearts flush, and I’m worried I’m up against a pair better than Tens, so I don’t bet, but I take the hand, leaving my villain with under 1000 chips.: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458110381

Played QQ perfectly, for another huge pot. I raise big, the small stack shoves, another player calls, and I call. Then the flop comes up 4JJ, and I’m worried I’m beat, but no one’s betting, so the Turn, another 4, makes me more worried as there are now two ways for someone else to have improved from trips to a full house. Finally a Queen comes on the River, and I put the other player all-in, and they both hold AK, having hit none of this board, I have the nuts, good for 6300 chips: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458112855

The rest of the way, I take a lot of smaller pots, then a big one. A8 vs 66, I pair my 8 and take out the 3rd place finisher. https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458115688

Now my stack is about a 2:1 underdog against the chip leader at the table, but he’s inexperienced and I feel like I may be able to outplay him, if I get the time and the cards to do it. So I go to work, chipping away at him mostly winning the blinds.

Then I hit a really big hand: ATs vs KJo, I pair both the Ace and the Ten, while he only pairs his Jack, and I take down 13000 chips. https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458116079

At this point, I think I’m in the drivers seat, and I’m going to take home first place. And yet, it’s not over.

Then disaster strikes. I raise with K8, and flop into pair of Kings with an Ace on the board. I shouldn’t have tried to make a play here, but I stupidly try to semi-bluff, only he’s got AT, and takes almost 19000 chips back from me:

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458116403

If I could take this hand back, I don’t bet the flop, I fold, and I keep my chips and keep waiting for a better opportunity. I got impatient and hoped that “any pair can be good in heads up” would carry me, and didn’t fear the Ace like I should have. Big mistake.

I come back and shove Q9o into JJ and suck out, keeping myself alive for a few more hands

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458116488

But then he puts me away, I try to play A6s into 44 and don’t hit anything, and lose the game:

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458116578

Oh well, 2nd place then.

3

And then I wen to bed, woke up, and found another 9-seat SNG to get into, and won the whole thing.

The starting hand is here, if you want to replay the whole thing: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458204052

I waited patiently through the first orbit or so, then found myself with 66, in middle position, so I limp and hit a set on the flop ,which I bet, one player has hit top pair, raises me, so I call. The turn is a Jack, so there’s now two overcards to my set, but I think I’m still good, and I check, my opponent min-bets, I raise, according to plan, he re-raises, and I shove, he shoves back, he’s all-in, I’m nearly there myself, and I win the hand, 666 over KK, and he missed a flush by one heart:

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458207338

Beautiful play. The right outcome for me. But I can see why he called, with 4 hearts and top pair.

I continue to play patiently, not getting into hands with marginal cards. Until, I flop into this straight, from 89 in the BB:

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458209992

Again, I play the hand beautifully. Leading the action, I check, UTG bets, and is called by me and one other. I decide to min-bet the Turn, which probably slowed the other two down, they just call. But then the River I bet half the pot, get one call and one fold, and win the hand, straight Q-8. Holding the weak-end of this straight, I wasn’t as worried as I maybe should have been, but good for me, I take the hand. Here, K9 or AK would have had me looking dumb, but if I lose this hand I’m still healthy at close to 4700 chips, and this pot puts me up to over 8000, well ahead of the rest of the table.

From here, I stay out of hands I have no business playing, and win a number of small pots when I hit pairs. I’m getting good cards when I play, flopping well, and betting well, using my stack advantage to help me close hands and take a few hundred chips pretty frequently, at not too much risk to me, building my stack higher.

Then I take another big pot, with K8-suited, I’m SB and we’re 3-handed, I limp, the BB raises, the button folds, I call, and I flop top pair, but it’s only 8s, but I bet it and the pot gets big. The board looks like a straight for anyone holding a 5, so I bet like it on the river, and get a fold, good for over 5000 chips to me. My guess is this was a necessary bet, because my 8s might not have been good enough for whatever my opponent was on, and I really didn’t think he had a 5 based on how he bet the hand before the flop.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458214525

A couple hands later, I get A8s, and flop a 4-spade draw to a flush, my opponent the small stack shoves at the flop and I have enough chips to call and be wrong, but I’m right and I fill out the flush and knock him out of hte game. He had Ah2h, and shoved with a pair of 2s, hoping I’d let it down. Ha.

Well, he could have beat me with a pair of 2s.

Now it’s heads-up, and I’m well ahead of my opponent, a little over 2:1 over him. We trade the blinds back and forth a bit. My opponent is ranked high, about 1500 or so, and I’m giving him respect. He’s being aggressive with his chips, shoving at me pretty frequently, and a lot of the time I have nothing to call with, other times I’m tempted but not feeling ready to do it. We’re close to even, as he’s worn me down through his aggressive blind buying. Then, something shifts and I start getting some better cards, and start raising, and now he’s laying down and I’m wearing him back down. And then it happens, he shoves again, and I’m holding K9o, and I decide to go for it, he’s got A6, hits nothing, and I pair my 9 to win the game, 9955 over 55.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458216372

So what was different for me in these two games?

  1. I played with zero distractions. I maximized the game window, put my phone down, and didn’t do anything but play poker. Sometimes I’ll flip over to other windows when I’m out of a hand to write an email or read something or take notes, but this time I decided to buckle down and play 100% poker.
  2. I folded more hands. Saved a lot of chips that way.
  3. I patiently waited for better hands, and played them.
  4. After winning my big hands, I didn’t give the chips away through careless play. I didn’t take (many) big risks trying to knock out the smaller stacks (until we were 3-up and I made that A-high flush).

So that’s just two games in a row that I’ve won chips in, but I think I’m back. Bankroll is now at 1.6M, and that’s a good way to start off the year.

1 Like
4

Here it comes another post about how he just won another game … good job though !

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5

Dude has a future as a typist if the poker thing doesn’t work out :slight_smile:

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And another 1st place finish in a 9-seat SNG. First hand is here: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458280477

I seem to be on a roll, playing much better than I had been during my slide.

Again, I played a focused, disciplined poker here, and it paid off for me.

I didn’t get into any hands in the first couple of orbits, due to not getting anything I could play, but I got to watch a lot of chips flying across the table, as other players hit big hands. @chickencoop hit 2 full houses in a row, taking down almost 9000 chips between them:

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458281291
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458281697

@JBALI hit a Ace-high flush, good for 4300:
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458283723

I just stayed out of it, worrying that by the time I got a hand, my stack might be dominated by the players who won these early hands. But I didn’t let that get me impatient to give them my chips with a weaker hand than I ought to be playing.

Finally, I get something. KK, but although I’m last to act, no one seems to be in this hand, and I only get 1 caller, and buy the pot on the flop for a measly 420 chips. But it’s a start! I didn’t want to try to slow play this one after a scary pair of 5s hit the flop, so I took a deep breath and hoped the Kings were still good.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458284924

A few hands later, in the BB I’m forced to limp in with 34s, and am fortunate enough to buy another pot when the flop comes up dry and I end up with 2 pair on the Turn.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458285927

I continue winning occasional, small pots, when I’m able to play hands at all.

Then, disaster. I get Qd4d in the BB, limp to see KdThJd. I decide to play this for a lot of chips. Turn gives me an Ace, for a broadway straight, and I figure I’m good. I figure my opponent must also have a Q, and also hit a broadway straight, so this is fine to play, most likely I chop with him, maybe I hit my flush and knock him out. The River is a Ten of diamonds, giving me a Q-high flush, and I think I’m even better. I bet, and am called, and see JT – he has Tens full of Jacks, and I’m knocked back down to 2700 chips. Ouch! I thought I was going to ride away with this one.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458291160

But then I’m right back to recovering in the very next hands, taking several small pots in a row, and I’m OK.

Now I’m back up to 5400 chips, and the disaster hand is no longer burning me.

I let a couple hands go by, as I don’t like the bluffing I had to do in the blind positions to try to keep my chips, and felt lucky that it worked out, but I don’t want to push it. I go back to folding junk that I don’t have to play. But then I take a couple more small pots a few hands later:

My Big Hand. JJ UTG. Flop comes up solid hearts, one of my Jacks is a heart, so I go all-in.
I don’t make the flush, but my opponent has AT and only hits Tens, so I win the hand. , pulling in almost 9500 chips. Heart racing. I’m back in the chip lead. My opponent, @noridehome, had been complimenting my play earlier, saying that he was fearful of my play, and I chided that he should have listened to himself as I take a big chunk away from him.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458293468

Next hand, I’m in the BB and get dealt K2, limp and flop 6K6, bet it, take it from the SB.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458293599

A7o, UTG. I limp, everyone’s in. I hit the Ace on the flop, bet the pot.
3 to beat, one calls. I hit the 7 on the Turn. I go all in. And knock out @SharonSmarty who was on a club flush draw, but didn’t get there, the river giving me AATT7, over her TTA. https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458294464

I always like beating @SharonSmarty, because she gets annoyed with me chattering and winning pots through small aggressive bluffs and thinks I’m not a good player. Obviously I have been playing poorly for the past few weeks, but it’s so nice to eliminate a player as highly ranked as she. :grin:

A couple of hands later, I get AJs, in the BB, raise, and flop the Jack. The SB is the small stack at the table, he shoves with Q8o, I call, fortunately no Ten or Q hits the board, and I’ve eliminated him on a big hand to go heads-up with @noridehome, the player who said he was afraid of me. I river an Ace to give me AAJJ over his 88. https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458295372

Heads-up doesn’t take very long. I have a 2:1 advantage over @noridehome, and we get to it. He takes the first hand preflop by raising AJ at my 84, I take the second at the flop, limping A8s and flopping top pair, and buying the pot. Next hand, I limp K2o and fold after missing the flop and @noridehome betting into a 578 rainbow flop. Next hand, he raises me, I give up the BB, holding Q2o that’s not worth calling with. Next, in the SB I get 25o and muck it.

Then, in the BB again, I get 99, @noridehome raises, I call, flop is J8J, I bet half the pot, and am raised all-in. I call, he’s got AK clubs and doens’t hit anything with it, and I take the hand JJ99 over JJ.

Very satisfying, 3 chip wins in a row.

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I type about 110wpm when I’m going good.

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8

I never said you were a bad player … annoying yes and I don’t really care if you don’t like me.

1 Like
9

I don’t dislike you, I just like it when I win, especially when I beat you. Beating higher ranked players always makes anyone feel good.

10

Well, I’ve taken two beatings in a row now.

A 3-max SNG. I can’t get in the first couple of hands, and by the time I get cards, the 1st place finisher has already eliminated the 3rd place finisher, putting me at a big disadvantage. I tried playing back as best I could, and lasted a while, but got beat when I shoved 66 and he hit an over pair.

Then I put in another 9-seat SNG, and was playing well, but just got beat but not outplayed.

I didn’t get cards I could play for the first orbit or so, then woke up with AJs in late position, raised it up to 3BB, got called by the button, who is holding 42s, and the SB. The flop pairs my Jack, and I bet the pot, and am called by the button, who has paired his 2, the SB folds. The turn pairs the button’s 4, giving him 2 pair, and I bet the pot again, this time he shoves. I call, figuring top pair top kicker must be good, see he has 2 pair, and think I’m beat. But the river is an 8, which pairs an earlier 8 from the flop, giving me a better 2 pair, and I survive, Button Donkey is out, and I’ve doubled up.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458322468

My demise happend when, in BB, I got dealt AKo, raised it like you’re supposed to, and the SB shoves 99. The board gives me nothing, and I’m knocked down to 2800 chips, losing a little under half my stack.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458329676

Then I get KQs, and raise it up high again. Get called. Flop gives me top pair, King, with 2 more clubs, and I think this is my hand. I shove, and my opponent calls me. He’s got AK, and the Turn and River are Aces, giving him Aces full of Kings. The turn Ace was Clubs, giving me an A-high Flush, but I’m beat and destroyed, exit in 5th. For a moment I think I’m saved by the Flush, and then I see the chips slide over to my opponent and see he’s full up.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458329794

I couldn’t have played these hands any better, so this is not a loss to beat myself up over. I played well; the cards let me down.

11

last hand last night’s game. https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458094834
only hand tonight https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458370669

12

Ouch!

13

be aggressive I was told get ace rags fold, yeah right.

14

Indeed. It will pay off in the long run, but there are a lot of other factors to consider. Any cards can be beaten by any others depending on what the cards in the middle do to you. I would used to feel entitled to invincibility and a lot of chips when I got these hands, but now I look at them as opportunities, and I play them more carefully, and according to the situation.

15

I get all that. just get tired losing like this. yet I play like these people do and I don’t hit. what gives?

16

I think everyone feels like that, I definitely have.

It’s sure frustrating. When you can’t catch a break, and yet everyone else is playing terrible cards and hitting sick, sick suckouts.

The best thing to do, I think, is to stop playing ring games, and tighten your range up. There’s some occasional wild play in MTT and SNG, but you can stay out of its way and outlast it, and just play a fundamentals-driven game that you’re comfortable with, and you’ll probably win more.

17

my ace rag finally hits and this just happened https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/458379077

18

Yep… that happens allll the time. It’s not the cards you start with, but the ones you end up with, that count. You did the right thing to lay it down.

I like to play some ragged hands occasionally, but I do it less than I used to, and generally feel like it’s a bad idea. There will be times when the rag card will hit trips or make two pair for you with your top card, or when you’re suited they can help you make a flush and if you have A-rag suited, that’s a nut flush. I really like a nut flush. Those will be very rare, but can be very powerful and profitable when they do happen, so it’s probably worth seeing a cheap flop with them and then dumping it if it doesn’t hit.

Bottom and middle trips and sets can be great upsets over a confident player holding a high top pair hand, but paired boards can be dangerous, so sets are much better for that sort of play. The pair on the board that made your trips can make someone else a full house, or make a straight, and you have to watch out for that stuff, not just think about the hand you can make.

If you pair the Ace, you have to be careful about stronger Aces, if someone’s got one. But sometimes they don’t. Or sometimes you hit a sick wheel board and it doesn’t matter. But then you have to watch out for the guy with the 6…

19

I knew a flush would hit or bigger fullhouse. soon that 10 came on turn I knew it

20

Yeah, when two pair are on the board, it’s pretty common for someone to have a boat, and once in a while you’ll see quads. Even if you have a boat in that situation, you should be careful if it’s the small boat. If you’re 2s full of 10s, you don’t want to find out someone else is 10s full of 2s.