Saturday, August 22, 2009
Winstar Trip Report: 082109
Shit was hot.
Things That Went Well
The Mental Game: Relaxed, excited, and happy. The realization that I was rock solid came in the following hand:
I open Js9s in UTG+3 (with a $400 stack) to $10, and get two callers downhill. The BB checks to me on a Jc9s8c flop, I fire out $25. Folds back to the BB, a loose passive older player with a $200 stack (CALL!!), and the others fold. After weighting his considerable calling range PF to draws and weak J-hands based on the flop action, we see a turn.
6d. Not too bad.
He checks, I fire for $75 and he thinks and calls again. River 7s. He looks at me wide-eyed, and says, "I check...you can bet if you want," and before the second phrase is out of his mouth, I'm checking my top two back to him and getting shown KdTd. He rakes in the ~$225 pot, getting some snarky comments from the peanut gallery about 'pot odds', to which he stalks off for a smoke break.
As he leaves, I smile and say to them, "That's fine. I was ahead the whole way. I WANT him to play exactly like that," and I mean it. A slight flinch, a ding to the scarlet towers, but back on the balance beam straightaways. This is when I felt invincible.
Another note came from a TAGfish-type who liked to berate people and show off his knowledge (poor as it was). In a straddled, bloated pot, I called his C-bet on a T72r board with ATs in position, caught an A on the turn, and shoved over his turn lead. I put my head down as he started going over his thought process out loud, ending with him folding his JJ face up (getting 4:1 pot odds on my last $70, lol).
As he'd done before, he started to berate, telling me that I needed to work on my handreading if I was going to be calling his bets on the flop when he OBVIOUSLY HAD AN OVERPAIR. Unfortunately, I told him that I had his chips, he didn't know my holdings, and berating people lacked class. Then I snidely said his thought processes were wrong, but he still needed to practice them until he wasn't saying everything out loud like a sixth-grader doing his multiplication tables.
This didn't go over well.
I had to make sure that I forgave the guy before I lost my mental balance again. This didn't involve kissing his ass or shaking his hand, but understanding where he was coming from, and chastising myself internally for getting drawn into his tilty little world. By buying into his "i'm right" mindset, I ended up making a withdrawal from this man's Personal Checking Account of Tilt. We don't need investments like this.
After sending him back what was rightfully his (unbeknownst to him), I was free to focus on the whole table and not on a personal nemesis. Cue the end of the "Fuck That Guy" story.
Technical Stuff
I adjusted well. Didn't get involved in the everlasting family limpfests that happen late-night. Kept my image squeaky clean with zigs. ONLY ZIGS. Once a few of the better, more observant players saw me make +EV plays and drag pots, only then did I start to zag. Manipulating my image (and playing directly to the left of the aforementioned loudmouth that BROADCAST my image to the table) let me pick up some pots without the benefit of premium holdings...because really, we can wait all day for those.
My experiments in limpfests OOP indicate that players just won't fucking fold to Cbets late night; they start to chase. So I've start checkraising the everloving fuck out of the loose-passive ones, who aren't likely to come back over the top with their draws and TPWK-type hands. This resulted in some good profit, but we also have to realize that I ran into the optimal part of their range, and that my player-type assessment had to be spot on. So it's both luck- and strong-mental-game-dependent.
I also started to abuse players' bluffs. Case in point:
I check my option in the BB with Qc9c, creating a 5-way pot. Flop comes Qs3c5s. I lead for $10, and get a call from the loose passive older player, others fold. Turn comes 8h. I lead against for $25 into the $30 pot, and he calls. River hits with an Ah.
Huh. All draws missed. And I have him (based on prior play, he'll raise to protect his Qx / two pair / sets) again on a missed draw. So I check. And he fires $50 out.
Damn. Cold feet. I tell him out loud, "The only hand I'm afraid of has the Ac," and call. And he shows Tc6c, and the entire table becomes a little more afraid of me. And my avalanche gains strength, and my footsteps rain terror, and my hands rake chips, until it's time to change tables again, now with a $1k stack.
Quitting Well
My last seat, 5:30am. Got here at 9pm. I'm sorta tired, but high on octane. This last table has bubbly people with HUGE stacks. Directly to my left, a $350 stack, then a $1.5k stack, then a $6k stack. AT 1/2 NL. WTF. Two 100bb stacks finish off the table at my right, and I take my spot, knowing that it will be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to establish the loose-aggressive image necessary to succeed with super-deep stacks, out of position and only at 75% efficiency.
Fortune smiles on me. I flop a flush and liquidate one of the 100bb stacks who blearily gets it all in on a mono board with the NFD. Blammo. The other 100bb stack loses 25bb in a confrontation with the Big Stack, then 4bets all in PF, HU with me.
She's tired, loose, and Asian (sorry baby). I call with AhJh for 80bb, and run out a KJJAT board to crush her QQ. And that's it. I'm done. That's a fine call for 40bb, but NOT 100bb, as my 'read' is over only 20 minutes and 5 pots, just one which I'm involved in. I've only got one foot on the balance beam, but I got lucky...time to go.
Gas to get to Winstar: $10
Money used to bankroll: $600
Taking people's money: cool
Crushing people's souls: PRICELESS
Things That Went Well
The Mental Game: Relaxed, excited, and happy. The realization that I was rock solid came in the following hand:
I open Js9s in UTG+3 (with a $400 stack) to $10, and get two callers downhill. The BB checks to me on a Jc9s8c flop, I fire out $25. Folds back to the BB, a loose passive older player with a $200 stack (CALL!!), and the others fold. After weighting his considerable calling range PF to draws and weak J-hands based on the flop action, we see a turn.
6d. Not too bad.
He checks, I fire for $75 and he thinks and calls again. River 7s. He looks at me wide-eyed, and says, "I check...you can bet if you want," and before the second phrase is out of his mouth, I'm checking my top two back to him and getting shown KdTd. He rakes in the ~$225 pot, getting some snarky comments from the peanut gallery about 'pot odds', to which he stalks off for a smoke break.
As he leaves, I smile and say to them, "That's fine. I was ahead the whole way. I WANT him to play exactly like that," and I mean it. A slight flinch, a ding to the scarlet towers, but back on the balance beam straightaways. This is when I felt invincible.
Another note came from a TAGfish-type who liked to berate people and show off his knowledge (poor as it was). In a straddled, bloated pot, I called his C-bet on a T72r board with ATs in position, caught an A on the turn, and shoved over his turn lead. I put my head down as he started going over his thought process out loud, ending with him folding his JJ face up (getting 4:1 pot odds on my last $70, lol).
As he'd done before, he started to berate, telling me that I needed to work on my handreading if I was going to be calling his bets on the flop when he OBVIOUSLY HAD AN OVERPAIR. Unfortunately, I told him that I had his chips, he didn't know my holdings, and berating people lacked class. Then I snidely said his thought processes were wrong, but he still needed to practice them until he wasn't saying everything out loud like a sixth-grader doing his multiplication tables.
This didn't go over well.
I had to make sure that I forgave the guy before I lost my mental balance again. This didn't involve kissing his ass or shaking his hand, but understanding where he was coming from, and chastising myself internally for getting drawn into his tilty little world. By buying into his "i'm right" mindset, I ended up making a withdrawal from this man's Personal Checking Account of Tilt. We don't need investments like this.
After sending him back what was rightfully his (unbeknownst to him), I was free to focus on the whole table and not on a personal nemesis. Cue the end of the "Fuck That Guy" story.
Technical Stuff
I adjusted well. Didn't get involved in the everlasting family limpfests that happen late-night. Kept my image squeaky clean with zigs. ONLY ZIGS. Once a few of the better, more observant players saw me make +EV plays and drag pots, only then did I start to zag. Manipulating my image (and playing directly to the left of the aforementioned loudmouth that BROADCAST my image to the table) let me pick up some pots without the benefit of premium holdings...because really, we can wait all day for those.
My experiments in limpfests OOP indicate that players just won't fucking fold to Cbets late night; they start to chase. So I've start checkraising the everloving fuck out of the loose-passive ones, who aren't likely to come back over the top with their draws and TPWK-type hands. This resulted in some good profit, but we also have to realize that I ran into the optimal part of their range, and that my player-type assessment had to be spot on. So it's both luck- and strong-mental-game-dependent.
I also started to abuse players' bluffs. Case in point:
I check my option in the BB with Qc9c, creating a 5-way pot. Flop comes Qs3c5s. I lead for $10, and get a call from the loose passive older player, others fold. Turn comes 8h. I lead against for $25 into the $30 pot, and he calls. River hits with an Ah.
Huh. All draws missed. And I have him (based on prior play, he'll raise to protect his Qx / two pair / sets) again on a missed draw. So I check. And he fires $50 out.
Damn. Cold feet. I tell him out loud, "The only hand I'm afraid of has the Ac," and call. And he shows Tc6c, and the entire table becomes a little more afraid of me. And my avalanche gains strength, and my footsteps rain terror, and my hands rake chips, until it's time to change tables again, now with a $1k stack.
Quitting Well
My last seat, 5:30am. Got here at 9pm. I'm sorta tired, but high on octane. This last table has bubbly people with HUGE stacks. Directly to my left, a $350 stack, then a $1.5k stack, then a $6k stack. AT 1/2 NL. WTF. Two 100bb stacks finish off the table at my right, and I take my spot, knowing that it will be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to establish the loose-aggressive image necessary to succeed with super-deep stacks, out of position and only at 75% efficiency.
Fortune smiles on me. I flop a flush and liquidate one of the 100bb stacks who blearily gets it all in on a mono board with the NFD. Blammo. The other 100bb stack loses 25bb in a confrontation with the Big Stack, then 4bets all in PF, HU with me.
She's tired, loose, and Asian (sorry baby). I call with AhJh for 80bb, and run out a KJJAT board to crush her QQ. And that's it. I'm done. That's a fine call for 40bb, but NOT 100bb, as my 'read' is over only 20 minutes and 5 pots, just one which I'm involved in. I've only got one foot on the balance beam, but I got lucky...time to go.
Gas to get to Winstar: $10
Money used to bankroll: $600
Taking people's money: cool
Crushing people's souls: PRICELESS
# posted by OneGreenChip : 7:32 AM
Comments:
<< Home
Js9s: Love the bomb on the flop AND turn against this guy. It's soooooooo wet and you can get a ton of value here because he's so passive / loose -- gross if he raises the turn, I think it's a fold there. River's a turbo check back. There's one instance where I'd bet it: if we were a bit deeper and the guy was bad enough (very bad!) to pay of a small bet with TPTK or a worse 2pr. It's definitely a bet/fold in that spot though, and would be very thin value (AND you'd have to be sure that the guy doesn't have CR bluffing in his arsenal).
ATs: Nice flat on the flop. On the turn, you don't really need to protect against draws in this scenario (89 and broadway gutters). I feel like even a tag fish could be doubling here with a lot of his bluffs. You have position, so I just let him get the last bets in.....tank the turn and flat. Yeah he might c/f the river, but I think it's just a bit more +EV vs. his range.
Qc9c: Perfect the whole way, but I think one of those spades on the flop you meant to write as a clubba.
AhJh: Agreed.
Other stuff (which I think are the best parts of this poaaaast): Hmmm. Well first of all, you've got the mindset here and I love it. Very zen-like, focused.
Awesome:
- Getting the quit after your AJs hand.
- Knowing that you had an awesome situation with the J9s hand where you maximized and played it perfectly. Getting sucked out on doesn't matter
- Experimenting and be willing to step out of what you know
- Biggest win, being able to not get sucked in by the guy (your 6th grade comment = lawllll) mentally.
Things to work on:
- Telegraphing. There's no reason whatsoever to wear yours "I get it" zen attitude like a badge of honor imo. Act like everyone else and blend in! Act like you're pissed when you see a fish get sucked out on (but don't berate. "GOD I NEVER RUN WELL"). The key is the realization though that verbalizing some of these things actually can bring out the inner demon.
- Saying "The only hand I'm afraid of has the Ac" not only lets guys know that you hand read, but you can hand read well!
Best line of the post: "By buying into his "i'm right" mindset, I ended up making a withdrawal from this man's Personal Checking Account of Tilt. We don't need investments like this." Something I need to focus on more, because the transaction doesn't need dialogue to be made.
I think trip reports like this are even more necessary with live poker than online. It's not like you have a DB to capture everything. Good shit!
ATs: Nice flat on the flop. On the turn, you don't really need to protect against draws in this scenario (89 and broadway gutters). I feel like even a tag fish could be doubling here with a lot of his bluffs. You have position, so I just let him get the last bets in.....tank the turn and flat. Yeah he might c/f the river, but I think it's just a bit more +EV vs. his range.
Qc9c: Perfect the whole way, but I think one of those spades on the flop you meant to write as a clubba.
AhJh: Agreed.
Other stuff (which I think are the best parts of this poaaaast): Hmmm. Well first of all, you've got the mindset here and I love it. Very zen-like, focused.
Awesome:
- Getting the quit after your AJs hand.
- Knowing that you had an awesome situation with the J9s hand where you maximized and played it perfectly. Getting sucked out on doesn't matter
- Experimenting and be willing to step out of what you know
- Biggest win, being able to not get sucked in by the guy (your 6th grade comment = lawllll) mentally.
Things to work on:
- Telegraphing. There's no reason whatsoever to wear yours "I get it" zen attitude like a badge of honor imo. Act like everyone else and blend in! Act like you're pissed when you see a fish get sucked out on (but don't berate. "GOD I NEVER RUN WELL"). The key is the realization though that verbalizing some of these things actually can bring out the inner demon.
- Saying "The only hand I'm afraid of has the Ac" not only lets guys know that you hand read, but you can hand read well!
Best line of the post: "By buying into his "i'm right" mindset, I ended up making a withdrawal from this man's Personal Checking Account of Tilt. We don't need investments like this." Something I need to focus on more, because the transaction doesn't need dialogue to be made.
I think trip reports like this are even more necessary with live poker than online. It's not like you have a DB to capture everything. Good shit!
re: telegraphing
That's a really good point. I know I was splitting my conscious thoughts two ways at that point: firstly, paying attention to technical strategy; secondly, being aware of my own state of mind.
Making my statement out loud like that reeks of the 6th grade effect (lol hypocrisy)...whereby I'm really just talking out loud, to myself, for my own benefit. Obviously it's relatively EV+ to make that statement internally and outwardly 'blend in'.
I know I was so focused on avoiding tilt that I didn't want to play that game -- in a sense, the matador refused to step into the arena. The goal is now to be splitting my awareness three-ways:
1. strategy/technique
2. monitoring of self
3. projecting the correct image
Obviously, by telegraphing I'm sending a message out to players that I am not somebody to be trifled with. The net effect here is that I increase my fold equity, as observant players notice my untiltability and give my moves credit for being logical and not emotional -- as long as I'm playing TAGgy.
Successfully establishing the last part of the stated mental triad would give us more flexibility, it's true. But how does this play out?
Proposed net effect: players make calls with a wider range against me, increasing the value of my VBs. In short, I can VB more thinly (against perceptive opponents).
So our real question is: does increased fold equity or wider opponent calling ranges make us more money at live 1/2NL? No question that I need to get a handle on broadcasting my image, so I can take advantage of either situation, but I guess I need a better understand of where my profit is coming from (situationally dependent) before deciding how to manipulate my player image.
More to come.
Post a Comment
That's a really good point. I know I was splitting my conscious thoughts two ways at that point: firstly, paying attention to technical strategy; secondly, being aware of my own state of mind.
Making my statement out loud like that reeks of the 6th grade effect (lol hypocrisy)...whereby I'm really just talking out loud, to myself, for my own benefit. Obviously it's relatively EV+ to make that statement internally and outwardly 'blend in'.
I know I was so focused on avoiding tilt that I didn't want to play that game -- in a sense, the matador refused to step into the arena. The goal is now to be splitting my awareness three-ways:
1. strategy/technique
2. monitoring of self
3. projecting the correct image
Obviously, by telegraphing I'm sending a message out to players that I am not somebody to be trifled with. The net effect here is that I increase my fold equity, as observant players notice my untiltability and give my moves credit for being logical and not emotional -- as long as I'm playing TAGgy.
Successfully establishing the last part of the stated mental triad would give us more flexibility, it's true. But how does this play out?
Proposed net effect: players make calls with a wider range against me, increasing the value of my VBs. In short, I can VB more thinly (against perceptive opponents).
So our real question is: does increased fold equity or wider opponent calling ranges make us more money at live 1/2NL? No question that I need to get a handle on broadcasting my image, so I can take advantage of either situation, but I guess I need a better understand of where my profit is coming from (situationally dependent) before deciding how to manipulate my player image.
More to come.
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]