Another Shot at NL $50
Figured I'd try to continue my rush at a higher level, so opened up 2-tables and here's how it went:
Early on, I get K
J
on the button and raise to $1.50. BB calls (both have ~$50). Flop comes QT
4. He leads into me for $2. I call. Turn 5. He bets $3. I again just call. River 4 and I have to fold to a $2 bet. COCK. I suppose I could've raised the flop, but he probably doesn't fold his queen, so the only thing I buy is a free card (if he doesn't donk into me on the turn) that would've cost more than just calling his $5 in bets.
Another hand I get AQ in the SB. UTG ($31.65) limps, I make it $2.50. He calls. Flop J5K
. I bet $3.50, he refuses to go away and calls. Turn 5. Check-check. River 6. Check, he bets $8, I fold. Ugh. Looks like it could be a bluff but this guy seemed loose-passive with the limp-call and all. Maybe he had a K, maybe he even flopped big, I dunno. Sigh.
Then I had 44. Raise to 2 two off the button, BB calls. Flop 36K. Check, I bet $3, minraise to $6, fold. Very next hand I get KQ UTG+1. UTG raises, I flat-call, BB calls. Flop comes 832. BB checks, UTG bets $3 into $6. I senes weakness and raise to $8.50. BB folds, UTG INSTASHOVES for $96.25 (had me well covered obv). Mother of God.
A few orbits later I pick up AK UTG+2. Same villain as the last hand raises to $1.50 UTG+1. I decide to reraise this time, to $4.50. He calls of course and we're heads up. Flop 4 4 T. He checks, I bet $4 (kind of a weak bet as pot was $9.75, but kinda used to NL $25 so a few of my bets were off). He calls the $4. Turn 7. Check-check. River 9. He leads for $12. I fold. Again, looks like it may be another hand where I'm getting run over but what could he have here? First off, his AF was 0.8 over like 40 hands at this point. He shoved over me that other hand (I'm sure he had an overpair or something like AQ), but wasn't really active outside of that. Set of tens maybe hoping to get paid off?
I decided to change my play up a bit. I pick up AA at the other table. UTG raises to $2.50. I just smooth call. I only had $38 left at this point, decided not to reload. He covered. Rest of the table folded, so we took a K64 flop heads up. He led for $4, I called again. Turn was T. I bet $9 into $13.75. He called and I put him on AK, KQ, QQ, JJ, TT, 99. Something like that. River was 4. He checked, I put my remaining $23.25 in there without much hesitation. He goes into the tank, uses his time bank, and eventually folds. Sigh, really wanted to get paid off there. I maybe could've got him to call a reraise preflop, and then made it harder for him to get away from it if he called once, but I really thought he would just double and maybe triple barrel. My plan was just to call down all the way, and if I got outdrawn, so be it. Still won a nice pot which put me to about even on that table.
After that I was playing mostly small pots, but lost a hand where I raised AK preflop and made it $2.50 after an UTG limper who of course called. Flop 2JJ. He checks, I bet $3.50, he raises to $8. Sigh again. I throw it in. Another player with a low AF makes a move on me. Nothing I can do.
A little later I get Q9 on the button and raise to $1.50. SB calls, BB calls. Flop comes K49. Blinds check, I bet $2, BB calls. Turn comes T, pretty good card for me. He checks, I decide to bet $2.50 and he minraises to $5. I blow a gasket and move in. He calls in an instant. River no help, T and he rolls over QJ for the turned gutterball. Really don't know why I bet so little on the flop and turn. Still used to NL $25. I'm seeing $5 pots and I'm thinking I'm playing a big pot when I'm not. But if I play that hand like I am supposed to, which means checking behind on the turn. I lose the absolute minimum. He probably makes either a small suck-in bet on the river (which I'd likely pay off) or a big bet hoping to get paid off which I could easily throw my hand into the virtual garbage can. Hell, even if I just called the minraise, he probably can't get away from his straight if I hit on the river, and I can easily save money if I miss.
I quit that table after that and just concentrated on the other table. I was sitting with $43 and change and started to build my way back up. Picked up the blinds a few times and a pot or two with a c-bet. Then a new player joined and I got involved in a pot with him. I had 97 one off the button. He limps UTG, I raise to $2.00 to take control of the hand. He calls. Flop 428. He checks, I bet $3.50 into $4.75, he calls. Damn. Turn 5, check-check. River 9, he bets $2.50, I figure what hand do I have to see now, set, two pair, or straight? I call, but he shows Q4 and I take it down. That's why you gotta pay those small bets off.
Picked up some more small pots. One hand had JT and called a $2 CO raise. Blinds came along, and the flop came A3T. SB leads for $.50 into $8 and BB and the CO folded to me. I raised to $6. BB folded. Kinda wanted to gamble there, oh well.
After that pretty much playing the game I wanted to play. Make a bunch of small raises in position, and either win the blinds, take it down on the flop, or hit something. I was doing the first two things pretty well. Did finally hit a big hand when I had 44 two off the button. Raised to $2, player right behind me called. Flop comes Q74. I lead for $3, he calls. Turn 3. I bet $7, he folds. Damn. He only had $20.75 to start the hand, so I figured I was getting his stack when he called the flop. Did make a note that he'll fold to a double barrel, so I'll keep that in mind if I meet him again.
Ended my session a little after that and left ahead $4.75 at that table. Lost a whole buyin at the other table though, so $-45.25 for the night. If it wasn't for that one hand though it wouldn't have been so bad. I know I can beat this level. Might give it another try tomorrow.
In other news, still haven't received my copy of Professional No Limit Hold'em. A few days ago Amazon said the book was in stock, yesterday it said 1-3 weeks, and today it is saying 2-4 weeks. Had zero problems when I ordered Harrington on Hold'em Volume III and No Limit Hold'em Theory and Practice. Got here maybe a week at the most after the official release dates of the books (ordered them together, was around the same time). I really don't want to wait until mid-August to get it. Hopefully by Monday it'll be shipped. Mason Malmuth said all of the orders to bookstores have been completed, so Amazon should have plenty of copies. It really is the cheapest option, $19.77 and you can get free two day shipping if you sign up for a free trial of Amazon Prime. I have not anticipated a book this much since The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Early on, I get K
J on the button and raise to $1.50. BB calls (both have ~$50). Flop comes QT4. He leads into me for $2. I call. Turn 5. He bets $3. I again just call. River 4 and I have to fold to a $2 bet. COCK. I suppose I could've raised the flop, but he probably doesn't fold his queen, so the only thing I buy is a free card (if he doesn't donk into me on the turn) that would've cost more than just calling his $5 in bets.Another hand I get A
Q in the SB. UTG ($31.65) limps, I make it $2.50. He calls. Flop J5K. I bet $3.50, he refuses to go away and calls. Turn 5. Check-check. River 6. Check, he bets $8, I fold. Ugh. Looks like it could be a bluff but this guy seemed loose-passive with the limp-call and all. Maybe he had a K, maybe he even flopped big, I dunno. Sigh.Then I had 4
4. Raise to 2 two off the button, BB calls. Flop 36K. Check, I bet $3, minraise to $6, fold. Very next hand I get KQ UTG+1. UTG raises, I flat-call, BB calls. Flop comes 832. BB checks, UTG bets $3 into $6. I senes weakness and raise to $8.50. BB folds, UTG INSTASHOVES for $96.25 (had me well covered obv). Mother of God.A few orbits later I pick up A
K UTG+2. Same villain as the last hand raises to $1.50 UTG+1. I decide to reraise this time, to $4.50. He calls of course and we're heads up. Flop 4 4 T. He checks, I bet $4 (kind of a weak bet as pot was $9.75, but kinda used to NL $25 so a few of my bets were off). He calls the $4. Turn 7. Check-check. River 9. He leads for $12. I fold. Again, looks like it may be another hand where I'm getting run over but what could he have here? First off, his AF was 0.8 over like 40 hands at this point. He shoved over me that other hand (I'm sure he had an overpair or something like AQ), but wasn't really active outside of that. Set of tens maybe hoping to get paid off?I decided to change my play up a bit. I pick up A
A at the other table. UTG raises to $2.50. I just smooth call. I only had $38 left at this point, decided not to reload. He covered. Rest of the table folded, so we took a K64 flop heads up. He led for $4, I called again. Turn was T. I bet $9 into $13.75. He called and I put him on AK, KQ, QQ, JJ, TT, 99. Something like that. River was 4. He checked, I put my remaining $23.25 in there without much hesitation. He goes into the tank, uses his time bank, and eventually folds. Sigh, really wanted to get paid off there. I maybe could've got him to call a reraise preflop, and then made it harder for him to get away from it if he called once, but I really thought he would just double and maybe triple barrel. My plan was just to call down all the way, and if I got outdrawn, so be it. Still won a nice pot which put me to about even on that table.After that I was playing mostly small pots, but lost a hand where I raised A
K preflop and made it $2.50 after an UTG limper who of course called. Flop 2JJ. He checks, I bet $3.50, he raises to $8. Sigh again. I throw it in. Another player with a low AF makes a move on me. Nothing I can do.A little later I get Q
9 on the button and raise to $1.50. SB calls, BB calls. Flop comes K49. Blinds check, I bet $2, BB calls. Turn comes T, pretty good card for me. He checks, I decide to bet $2.50 and he minraises to $5. I blow a gasket and move in. He calls in an instant. River no help, T and he rolls over QJ for the turned gutterball. Really don't know why I bet so little on the flop and turn. Still used to NL $25. I'm seeing $5 pots and I'm thinking I'm playing a big pot when I'm not. But if I play that hand like I am supposed to, which means checking behind on the turn. I lose the absolute minimum. He probably makes either a small suck-in bet on the river (which I'd likely pay off) or a big bet hoping to get paid off which I could easily throw my hand into the virtual garbage can. Hell, even if I just called the minraise, he probably can't get away from his straight if I hit on the river, and I can easily save money if I miss.I quit that table after that and just concentrated on the other table. I was sitting with $43 and change and started to build my way back up. Picked up the blinds a few times and a pot or two with a c-bet. Then a new player joined and I got involved in a pot with him. I had 9
7 one off the button. He limps UTG, I raise to $2.00 to take control of the hand. He calls. Flop 428. He checks, I bet $3.50 into $4.75, he calls. Damn. Turn 5, check-check. River 9, he bets $2.50, I figure what hand do I have to see now, set, two pair, or straight? I call, but he shows Q4 and I take it down. That's why you gotta pay those small bets off.Picked up some more small pots. One hand had J
T and called a $2 CO raise. Blinds came along, and the flop came A3T. SB leads for $.50 into $8 and BB and the CO folded to me. I raised to $6. BB folded. Kinda wanted to gamble there, oh well.After that pretty much playing the game I wanted to play. Make a bunch of small raises in position, and either win the blinds, take it down on the flop, or hit something. I was doing the first two things pretty well. Did finally hit a big hand when I had 4
4 two off the button. Raised to $2, player right behind me called. Flop comes Q74. I lead for $3, he calls. Turn 3. I bet $7, he folds. Damn. He only had $20.75 to start the hand, so I figured I was getting his stack when he called the flop. Did make a note that he'll fold to a double barrel, so I'll keep that in mind if I meet him again.Ended my session a little after that and left ahead $4.75 at that table. Lost a whole buyin at the other table though, so $-45.25 for the night. If it wasn't for that one hand though it wouldn't have been so bad. I know I can beat this level. Might give it another try tomorrow.
In other news, still haven't received my copy of Professional No Limit Hold'em. A few days ago Amazon said the book was in stock, yesterday it said 1-3 weeks, and today it is saying 2-4 weeks. Had zero problems when I ordered Harrington on Hold'em Volume III and No Limit Hold'em Theory and Practice. Got here maybe a week at the most after the official release dates of the books (ordered them together, was around the same time). I really don't want to wait until mid-August to get it. Hopefully by Monday it'll be shipped. Mason Malmuth said all of the orders to bookstores have been completed, so Amazon should have plenty of copies. It really is the cheapest option, $19.77 and you can get free two day shipping if you sign up for a free trial of Amazon Prime. I have not anticipated a book this much since The Picture of Dorian Gray.
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