Ouch

September 18th
Casino: Harrah's Las Vegas
Time: Swing
Game: 1/2 NL
Hours: 3 hours
Profit/Loss: -$400
Notes: The game was good.  Position on the only thinking player at the table.

I felt I played so good today.  Had a great read on the table, and just couldn't catch a break.  I picked a bad day to start running bad.

I'm pretty sure I'm getting laid off, so I'm going to try playing again.  My roll is down to $677.  Ideally I would like a $5,000 bankroll.  The plus side is I'll be collecting unemployment for the next few months, so if I play well, I should be building up my bankroll without having to use much of it for living expenses.  A $5,000 bankroll with less credit card debt would be better.  A $10,000 bankroll with no credit card debt would be the best.

Here are some hands.

Let me start by saying, the big stack at this table is a thinking player, reads hands well, is very capable of folding good hands, and after we played a couple pots together, he said he's not looking to get into tough spots with me.

Hand #1 - Turned Set
The big stack to my right is going to call the flop light there.  The original raiser was horrible and NEVER has a 10, and I know the big stack knows that, so I except the big stack to bet a 10.  The big stack is capable of calling down light on the flop with 4s-9s, but he will fold to a 2nd barrel if he doesn't improve.  I know he doesn't want to play a big pot out of position.  At the same time, I know the big stack isn't giving me much credit because of my position, and I know that he knows that I know the original raiser doesn't have much.  So I'm betting for value against the raiser and then plan on barreling the turn to pick up the pot.  The turn was a great card.

Hand #2 - 4d5d 4 bet shove

So now the big stack tells me he respects my play and doesn't want to get into tricky spots with me.  I told him he was the only player at the table I didn't want to get into a big pot with.  A few hands later, this hand comes up.  The limpers to me are dead money and their range is HUGE.  I still like my play, and I think this play works almost every time.  The guy that 3 bet, his bet sizing just screamed he was feeling out where he was at.  I've seen him play a lot and he isn't putting it in preflop very often without AA or KK.  My range looks so strong with players between us.  Most of the time here I have AA or KK and get paid.  I didn't hesitate very long, because I didn't want it to look like JJ-QQ.  I wanted it to look like KK and I know I'm not folding, or I have AA and am just playing straight forward.



Hand #3 - AcJc Betting the turn for value
This hand is tricky. The BB wasn't very good and has a wide range in the BB.  The original raiser is terrible and will donk bet and bet top pair always.  The button plays way too tight.  When I bet the flop, the button may or may not have been ahead, but when he just calls my bet, he definitely has a 1 pair hand at best.  He might have a flush draw.  The BB still has a wide range.  The original raiser has nothing.  This is my prediction on the flop.  The original raiser didn't seem like he wanted to call the flop bet.  The BB hesitated before calling the flop bet, and his stack size, he should be shipping 2 pair, sets, or a straight every time.  And the BB should be shipping AK preflop, so I only have to worry about AQ from him.  When the turn hits, I knew I could barrel the button off the hand, and bet for value against the BB, and assumed the original raiser folds.  I almost folded the river.

Hand #4 - TT
The guy in the hand was an idiot, but I didn't see him bluff once.  Apparently he bluffed once before this, but had more money at the time.  He's been bleeding money.  I just don't see what hand I can beat?  I feel like 2 pair always checks because they have showdown value.  Betting 2 pair on the river isn't for value.  What bluff makes sense?  The hand he woke up with makes no sense.  If I assume him to check 2 pair, what hand can I beat on that river?  His range could be J9,JT,JQ,KJ,AJ, hearts.  I think I see QQ more often then I see what he had.