BLUEDAY'S DAILY POKER BLOG

[blueday]

Not last night but the night before, I decided to have a game on Full Tilt and decided it was time to up the stakes a little.  I picked a $3.50 + 30c 9 seater sitngo.  I registered and the game started almost straight away.

When I looked at my chips, I only had 300!    I hadn't realised it was a limited chip tourney. I thought ok here we go, I'm not going to last long as I fold so many hands. 

The play was fairly tight but needless to say on the first hand someone was knocked out as is usually the case. 

I'm just posting and folding and my little stack is getting smaller and smaller and I'm thinking I'm going to run out of chips before I get a hand.  Finally I get a hand, AA so I just threw all my chips in the pot and stole all the blinds.  This brought me back to 300 chips.

The play goes on and I'm folding again and then hey presto, AA again.  Threw all my chips in again and everyone folded.  By this time there are 7 of us left.  I then was dealt KK and threw all my chips in again and somebody called with KQ.  I must say it was a relief to see that.  Nothing came down to help my opponent and I virtually doubled up and they were knocked out.

I found that I was really tense during this game and I wonder if it was the low starting chips that made me feel that way.  I was certainly on my "best poker behaviour" that's for sure.

I continued posting and folding my rubbish and a few others were knocked out and that left 4 of us.  Only one more seat and I'm in the money. 

I was dealt a pair for several hands running and was just flat calling.  I did hit trips on the river of one hand, 9s it was and scooped a nice pot. 

Another hand comes and I have 88 and I'm small blind.  I just flat called and BB raised min so I call that too.  Flop comes down 792.  I checked and BB bet minimum so I called.  Turn Q.  I checked and BB checked.  River was a 5 I think and I checked and BB bet so I raised and he folded.  By this time I have 1045 in chips and I'm in the lead.

The game continues with one other player taking the chips off the other two left and one player was knocked out and I knew then (of course) that I was in the money.  The other player then knocked out the third remaining player who was bluffing and that left just me and this other guy.

We played a few hands just checking, folding and pre flop raises to steal the blinds.  Then I hit A6 suited and raised this guy.  He decided to go all in and I called (I had the fewer chips of the two of us).  He showed KQ.

Flop comes down KQ8 rainbow and as soon as I saw that  I knew I was doomed.  Suffice it to say nothing came that was of any use to me and I came second.   My reward for coming second was $9.45 which was a nice return on my entry fee.

I really enjoyed this game although it was quite tense because of the small starting stack.  I don't know if I will play another though.

blue

[blueday]

My last sentence on the above was "I don't know if I will play another though".

I just entered a $1.50 + 20c sitngo and I only got 300 chips again.  I had no idea.  I must check these things before I join.

First hand 3 players all in AQ / AQ / AJ.  One player out. 

I'm going to type this up as I play.  Just folding at the moment.  One player just went all in with 88 and another player called with Ace rag.  The 88 held.

Next hand another player goes all in wth A10 and one person called.  The opponent has KJ.  Flop came down 5K5. Turn 7 and river 3. Down to 7 players now.

Next hand another player gets unlucky and is knocked out - he had 2 prs and the other guy hits trips on the river. 

I'm dealt 66 and I just flat called.  Flop has come down 567.  I just checked as is everyone else.  Turn is an 8.  Checked again.  River is a 10 - everyone checks so I bet and one player called.  He has K2. lol.

Next hand I have 10 10 and just flat called.  Everyone folds except BB who has about 80 in chips.  Flop comes down 354 and I bet.  He called and was all in.  He showed 78 suited.  Turn is a 2 and river is a 5 so I won and he is out.

This now leaves 5 players.

This one particular guy is going all in almost every hand.  It's really annoying. Lots of posting and folding for me.

Then I got A5 suited and the guy who is raising every hand goes all in.  I was SB.  I decided to call.  He had QK.  Flop comes down 10 9 3, turn is a 9 and river is a 3.  So I doubled up and he lost a lot of his stack. 

Two players are all in - one shows KK and the other has AK.  The KK held and one more is out.  This leaves just 4 players.

I now have been dealt KK and I just raised and won the pot.  I've now got 1200 in chips.  The "all in" guy goes all in again and this time he gets a caller.  He shows JA and his opponent shows KK.  Flop is 10 2 6, turn is 7 and river is a 7 so its goodbye to him.

Three of us left.  I'm back to getting rubbish again.  Player with the least chips has gone all in and the one with the most chips has called.  Least chips shows Q2 and opponent shows Q8.  Flop is Q77, turn J and river 8.  Thats him gone.

Two left including me.  Opponent is stealing my blinds and I'm waiting for the hand.

I have 66 so I'm all in.  Opponent calls with A7 suited spades.  Flop comes down 2sJc4s.  Turn is Jd and river is 5s.  So Im out in 2nd place lost on the river to a flush.  Well isn't that just typical.

Anyway return is $4.05 which is pretty good.

That was an "as it happens" write up and jeez that was hard.

blue

[medtrans]

Love your blogs Blue!  Keep them coming.

medtrans

[blueday]

Thanks medtrans. I do like writing them and I'm really glad that you enjoy them.

blue

[blueday]

I played a $2 sitngo on Full Tilt - just finished and I'm furious.

Why am I furious you may ask.  I let this fish win a hand by betting low and letting him get to the river and he stole a large chunk of my stack.  I had AQ suited hearts - flop comes down A2Q.  I bet min bet - he flat called. Turn comes - think it was a 10.  I checked he checked.  River comes 5. I bet the pot he raised and I called.  He had 34 and hit a straight.

I told him he was a "bit of a fish" but alas it didn't elicit a response.  The game went on and if he was in the hand, I just went all in to stop him fishing to the river.

There were 4 of us left in the game and one is just posting and folding, one is trying to steal my blinds and then there was the fish.  I played a couple of hands with the blind stealer.  Each time I had hit with top pair - he bet 800, I just went all in and he folded.  I managed to get a few pairs and just went all in each time and stole the blinds.

The game goes on - bit boring really, just posting and folding.  I had QK suited hearts and I'm small blind and the fish is on my left so he is Big Blind.  I just flat called and fish checks.  The flop comes down K28 rainbow flop.  I checked, fish bets 800, I went all in and fish folds.  A very successful hand for three reasons (1) I had top pair (2) He wasted 800 chips and (3) I won.

A few hands go by and I get QK suited again.  I called and fish raised so I called his raise.  Flop comes down Ks2s10.  I bet 2 x BB, fish calls.  Turn comes nothing of any help to anyone.  I just went all in and fish called.  He shows 4s6s.  River comes a spade and I'm out in 4th.

I'm furious because I should have just gone all in on the flop.  From his past play, he would likely have folded and I would have won the hand and still been in the game.  This may sound awful but I really really dislike the fish when they get lucky.  I don't mind them when they don't get lucky and I see plenty of that in poker - example the serial "all inners" every hand.  Its always just a matter of time before somebody hits AA or KK and knocks them out.  But the lucky fish make me mad as hell.  

So my lesson learned today is:

If you know they are a fish - don't give them an inch.  

It's incredible that I've been playing poker since I was a kid and yet still I'm always re-learning the things that I already know but tend to forget too easily.

blue

[blueday]

$5 + 50c 6 seater sitngo at Full Tilt.  Upping the stakes slightly to see how I do.  This is another "as it happens" post.

Second hand dealt with AA.  Raised to 300 and everyone folded.  I'd rather win the BB/SB than let some fish get in with rubbish.  Fourth hand dealt 10 10 and I'm BB.  Was raised min raise so I called.  Flop comes down Ah3h4h.  Original raiser bets high so I folded.  

One person out - all in with K5 loses to trip 10s.

Just got dealt QQ.  I'm the dealer.  BB is raised so I re-raised.  Original raiser calls.  Flop comes down 6hJh8s.  I just went all in and other player called.  He shows AsJs.
I thought here we go again - they will get their flush.  Turn comes - 9s so they now have 4 spades.  River comes 9h....phew.  So that's another one out and I virtually doubled up.

Just posting and folding at the moment.

Had my BB raised again by the person UTG.  Getting fed up with it so I re-raised and he folded.

Another player just bit the dust - he was all in with a straight draw and didn't hit.  3 of us left now.  Both are bluffers which makes it quite difficult to pick the hands that aren't bluffs.

Still just posting and folding and checking down.

Just had QK - I'm BB and the guy UTG raised me....yet again and I called.  Flop comes down Q8K.  I bet 200, he re-raised to 600 so I re-raised him to 1000 and he folded.  Phew - was dreading he had the K.

As I was writing the above, the guy to the left of me goes all in with AK and gets called by the other player with QQ.  Flop is 936, turn  8, river 8 so he is out and I'm in the money.

Well what a fish.  I had 9K and I'm BB.  He just flat called and flop comes down K32.  So I bet. He calls. Turn 3, river J.  I bet again and he raises so I just called and he'd fished a flush all the way to the river.

The game is now over and I just couldn't write this as it was going so fast.  So here is the rest of the game from the history.

I'm just posting and folding, stealing a few blinds here and there and he is doing the same.    So I'm big blind and I have 10 10.  He raises all in and I thought this was a great hand so I called.

He shows QK.  Flop comes down 24Q.  My only hope is a 10. Turn comes 8 and the river is a 3.  I lose most of my stack and I'm left with 110 chips.

You would think that this was all over now but I'm a fighter when the chips are down and I managed (with a lot of all ins) to get back up to 3160 chips.

I'm BB and he raises all in.  I have A 7 which is a good hand heads up so I called.  He shows 9J.  Flop is 10,9,4.  Turn is 4 and the river is the J.  

I came 2nd but I put up a good fight and walked away with $10.50 which is a nice return for my $5 entry fee.

It was a good game and if it wasn't for the bad luck with the 10s, I feel sure I could have won this game.

[Shelli]

Nice win Blue!!!  Hey u doubled your money, not too shabby!!!

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO !!!

[big_deanus]

Hey Blue, just reading your furious post... it made me laugh. You really seem to hate those lucky fishes. I think you actually played the last hand that got you knocked out close to how you should have though.

It sucked that you got knocked out, but by putting him all in on the turn you forced him to make an awfully bad call with only 20% chance of hitting his flush. Where if you put him all in on the flop its not such a bad call for him, where if he calls he has a 42% chance of taking the pot down. It sucks when you lose, but your aim should always be to force your opponent into making bad calls, which is what you did. 

Anyway, keep the posts coming i enjoy reading them. And try to lay off on the poor little fishies a bit.

[blueday]

Nice win Blue!!!  Hey u doubled your money, not too shabby!!!

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO !!!

Thanks Shelli.  No not shabby at all.  It was a good game.


Hi big_deanus - does it really show that much that I hate those fishy players?  Heh heh.  Yes I do and I try to keep calm and I really do try to show them up if I can.  It amazes me that other players do not recognise a fish when they see one.

I played a matrix game - 4 games for the price of one for $2.  I did get my money back but there was one player who really sucked big time.  He was raising pre flop every hand without fail, he was betting huge if he was called and they were folding folding folding.  I did manage to get a really good hand against this person and I just flat called, flat called and then when the river came, I went all in and he folded in the blink of an eye.  This person did call one hand against me and he had absolutely nothing which I had already guessed and after me showing him up, he was soon knocked out.

I don't get how some players are so blind to their "strategy".  Yeah - in inverted commas - I don't think being a fish qualifies as a strategy.  What do you think?

Thanks for the comments - I do appreciate some feedback.

blue

[blueday]

$2 6 seater sitngo on Full Tilt tonight.

I was ready for the usual posting and folding of rubbish...which of course came.  The play was pretty poor to be honest and I was just watching the play.  20 hands in and I still haven't played a hand

Two players are trying to steal all the blinds and the short stack raised all in (dealer) and got called. They show their hands pre flop - Qs4s and 10d8d (all in).  The flop came down 3s5sAd.  Turn is a 2s and river is a 7d so the all in guy was out.  Down to 5 players.

28 hands in - I got Ac8c and thought I would just flat call.  2 other players in (BB and SB) - SB just flat called and BB checked.  Flop comes down 2c6h7c.  I bet 240 after  SB and BB checked.  SB called and BB folded.  Now I've been watching this player who is SB and he was a bit of a bluffer judging from the hands he played.  I'm on a flush draw.  Turn comes down 6d.  No good for me.  SB checks so I just bet 720 and won the pot with nothing but Ace high.

A few hands later I'm dealt 10 10.  I'm SB - first to act folds, 2nd to act folds and dealer raises to 350 (Blinds are 50/100).  I just flat called and BB folds.  Two of us in the hand and the flop comes down K37 - no good to me.  So I bet 800 guessing that the other player either has Ace rag or a small pair.  They just flat called me which said a lot.  Next card is a 4 - so I just went all in and they called me.  Fortunately, they showed 88.  River comes down and its a 10 so I have trips and they are left with 185 chips.

A few hands on and the small stack is all in with 92 off - he loses to a pair of 10s.  92 off - what were they thinking.

Anyway there are now 4 of us left and its just posting and folding for me for quite a few hands which gave me an opportunity to watch the other players.  I was dealt 9d10d on one hand and just flat called on a preflop raise (I'm BB).  Flop comes down 347d.  I checked - other player checks.  Turn comes down another 4.  I checked - opponent bets 480 and for reasons unknown to me I called.  River comes and its a 7.  If I was going to win this pot, I had to do something so I bet 360 and amazingly, the other guy folded.  That was a nice pot for nothing in my hand.

This game seemed to be going on for ages and I posted and folded what must have been another 20 hands.  I stole a few blinds with a couple of decent hands but that was about it.

One of the players (to my left) is now quite short stacked due to some very poor play.  I'm SB and the short stack is BB.  The other two players folded so I decided to push the short stack with my A2.  The player called and revealed 5d8d.  Flop comes down 106dQ, turn is Q and river is a 10 so that's one more down and I win the pot making me chip leader.

That left 3 of us and the very next hand another player is knocked out losing with his pocket 7s to a pair of Ks.

Two of us left and we are just checking for a couple of hands - both stealing a few blinds, me pushing with my Ace high and him folding and vice versa.

We did see one hand right through and we both ended up with 7s but his kicker was one pip above me so he won the pot. 

I'm dealt A5 which is a good hand heads up and I raised.  He called.  Flop comes down 889 so I thought I better push all in to get him off the hand.  He called and revealed his J8.  Damn that was the end of me.  Turn was a 10 and river was an Ace and I came 2nd.

I won $4.20 so I doubled up which is all good.  Just a big shame I didn't win.

blue

[blueday]

I just played a $2.50 plus 25c 18 seater sitngo at Poker Time (6 seats to a table)

Despite the fact that I didn't think I would make top 3 for a payout, I thought it would be a bit of fun and try my hardest to stick with what I know about fish and other playing styles. 

I was underdog from the beginning losing 480 chips in the first hand to a fish who hit his flush on the river.  I posted and folded a few hands after this to watch the playing styles and stole a couple of pots to get my stack back up.

Unraised BB were getting lucky with cards like 24 off - lots of flush possibilities almost every hand.  One of the chip leaders on our table even moaned about it and yet he was the one getting lucky with his 2h for a flush! 

I had pocket Kings and just raised to take the blinds.  My stack is slowly going back up but I was still 17th out of 17.  2 players were moved from our table which left 4 players.

Still posting and folding and then I got AJ suited - raised and took the blinds.  Next hand a player is all in with AK suited and loses to a pocket pair of 7s.  I was then moved to another table and there were 5 of us at this table.  Another AJ suited for me and I take the blinds again by raising.  There isn't too much action at this table.  Lots of posting and folding from the other players.  This goes on for some time and then another player is moved and we are down to 4 players on the table.

I was dealt 89 off and I was BB unraised.  Flop comes down 3s5s8d so I bet 2xBB and was raised all in.  I decided to call as the player who raised had only flat called and I guessed he had Ace plus an other high card (2 overcards) because the flop was so low.  He shows his hand 4s7s so he's on a straight flush/flush/straight draw.  So any 6, any spade and I'm beaten.  Turn comes 2h.  He now needs any Ace as well but I'm still in the lead with pair of 8s.  River comes and it's a 5c.  Phew - I took him out and my chips stack was at 2550.

3 of us seated at the table lost of posting and folding.  I did get AK suited at one point and raised and stole the blinds.  The very next hand I'm BB and the SB raised me all in and I have AK again.  So I called and he shows A8.  Flop comes down 3Q2, turn is 10 and river is a 3 so my AK held and he was out.  I now had 4495 chips and there are just 2 of us at the table.  I won a couple of hands with 2 pairs and then we were moved to the final table - 6 players.

I'm 5th out of 6 players at this point and only top 3 positions play.  I'm feeling quite positive because the play from the two chip leaders at the table was "buy pots at no expense" and I'm thinking just a couple of good hands and I can double up here.  Needless to say, they were stealing blinds all over the place and I decided to bide my time (as much as I could bearing in mind the blinds were getting up to the 300 mark now).

One player lost his shirt with AJ suited against one of the chip leaders who had K8 and hit the K on the river.  The very next hand, the guy that had lost his shirt who only had 170 in chips left, went all in and won with AK suited but was knocked out a few hands later.  This left 5 of us and I'm 2 positions away from cashing in.   In the meantime, I'm still posting and folding - just getting the usual "ton of rubbish". 

I was actually sitting there saying out loud - give me a nice pair, nice pocket pair.  A few hands in I'm BB and I'm dealt JJ.  The fishy pot stealing chip leader raised me so I just went all in (thinking its now or never) - he showed 33 against my JJ.  Flop came down KA7, Turn is another Ace and river was a 6 - phew.  I had doubled up and now had 5,690 chips.

A few hands on and another player goes all in with 88 - I folded but the chip leader called with A3 - flop was 3JA, turn was a J and river was an A.  So one more player down and I'm 4th out of 4 players.

As usual the "big boys" are stealing the blinds.  I'm SB and I'm then dealt QQ.   I raised BIG pre flop and was raised all in so I called.  My opponent showed 77.  Flop is A6A, turn is a 9 and then the river (which took a lifetime to come) was a 2.  I doubled up again and now had 8,100 chips.  I was in 3rd position!

Still the blind stealing goes on and it's posting and folding for me until I hit KK.  I raised really big pre-flop and took the blinds.  More posting and folding, pot stealing, blind stealing and so on and I'm back in 4th place again.  One of the other players (3rd position) made a large bet which was called by the chip leader.   Chip leader bet "all in"and the 3rd position folded which meant he now moved down to 4th position. 

A few hands on and I am dealt 10 10.  I bet big and the chip leader raised me all in - I called.  He showed K10.  Flop comes down 10,5,3.  Turn is a 7 and river is a 7 so I doubled up again with a full house.  I have 10,300 chips now.

The guy in 4th position went all in with JQ suited but lost to a pair of Kings.  3 of us left and I'm definitely in the money. 

I'm actually in 2nd position now as the guy that was 2nd lost a lot of chips to the chip leader.  A few hands go past and the guy in 3rd goes all in with pocket 8s.  Chip leader called him with A3 (must be his favourite hand - twice he did that).  Flop comes down 4AK, turn is a 6 and river is a 5.  He is out and there are 2 of us left.

I have 9720 chips to his 26,280.  It doesn't look good. 

He starts off by raising my BB and I'm folding, folding folding.  I did have AQ at one point and raised and took his BB.  My chips are dwindling because of the ante and the huge blinds and I'm down to 7480.  Next hand I am dealt AA.  Joy!  I raised preflop and he called.  Flop came down 789.  Risky I know but I bet all in and he called.  He showed K5.  Turn was a 4 and river was a 9.  I doubled up to 14960.

A few hands went by and neither of us were raising but we were seeing flops and I was getting lucky each time.  Chip stack is up to 18k now and opponent has 17k. 

I'm dealt 710 suited which isn't a bad hand at all.  Opponent raised my BB so I called him.  Flop came down 387.  I bet - he called.  Turn is a 10.  I went all in - he called and showed KJ.  River was an Ace - no help to him and I won the tournament and $22.50.  A great result and a really good game.

blue

[dirkemans]

nice going so far, seems your  a pretty winning micro stakes player!
i gave up on online poker myself, cause i have lost too many buyins to fishes which yuo regularly describe in your posts ^^
i loathe them!
i always end up hating myself for slowplaying aces or other winning hands, to get "flushed" or "straighted out" on the river...

not give them an inch you say, but on the other hand that would mean i can only play on position, and have to fold if i dont hit a lot, which is not my style:)
i still have  a lot of wins in live play, cause somehow, in casino's and private tourneys these fish dont appear there as much.

and i can read people if i look at them: which i depend on heavily.
but you seem to be  a tight one, with  a lot  of patience, and they say thats the only way to be + EV online..

i hope you keep winning, and show those fish who's boss!

nice blog   

[medtrans]

Very nice blue.  Yes patience is a virtue and you sure have it.

Like dirk I had to quit playing too.  Too frustrating!

Love your blogs.

medtrans

[blueday]

Thanks guys for your nice comments.  In life I am a patient person and it rubs off in the poker.  I love live play (with the family) and I've only ever played one real live game at a casino.  It was a rebuy and add-on and with the size of the rebuy there was no way that I could afford to do that. I will say the people at my table all re-bought twice before I went out so I thought it was a good achievement. 

It's a shame you find it so frustrating - I know it can be sometimes.  My suggestion to you - if you want a great game of poker - find the "double your stake" tables.  If there are 10 of you, 5 of you double up your buyin.  These games are usually quality - definitely worth a go.

blue

[dirkemans]

i only have full tilt poker : i never saw such  a format there?

did i miss it or are you reffering to other pokerrooms?
sounds nice idd, i should be able to outlast 5 players^^