Recent Poker Thoughts

I was playing $1/2 until the end of April then I had to make a big cashout to pay my last tuition bill which resulted me to move down to $.50/1. After I get my job settled, I no longer had to cash out my winnings from my account because I now have full time job secured kicking pay check to my bank every month. This resulted me to play no more of scared money poker tight uh huh rock style anymore and in addition to good run of cards, I moved from $.50/1 to $2/4 within 1 month and half with only 2 hrs of day playing everyday =) Click here to download if you wish to see larger version of the graph.

June 2008 BB/100: 4.49, NET: +$13,992.45


July 2008 BB/100: 2.54, NET: +$11,193.00


Today, I was playing very good session with good run of cards and this one hand came across my mind which caused me to start thinking about my leak some more. The opponent is 15/11 TAG and I have him over 5,000 hands and my notes are saying that he never gets out of the line. Lets look at the hand.

PokerStars Game #19527214670: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/08/11 - 01:21:26 (ET)
Table 'Frigga II' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: gandi9 ($451.95 in chips)
Seat 2: zawaaa ($240 in chips)
Seat 3: LuxuryMaster ($395.60 in chips)
Seat 4: Marius2910 ($306.85 in chips)
Seat 5: DCal Zone ($425 in chips)
Seat 6: jnpn ($731.30 in chips)
gandi9: posts small blind $2
zawaaa: posts big blind $4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to LuxuryMaster [K A]
LuxuryMaster: raises $8 to $12
Marius2910: folds
DCal Zone: folds
jnpn: calls $12
gandi9: folds
zawaaa: folds
*** FLOP *** [9 9 A]
LuxuryMaster: bets $24
jnpn: raises $56 to $80
LuxuryMaster: raises $108 to $188
jnpn: raises $224 to $412
LuxuryMaster: calls $195.60 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($28.40) returned to jnpn
*** TURN *** [9 9 A Q]
*** RIVER *** [9 9 A Q 3]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
LuxuryMaster: shows [K A] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
jnpn: shows [7 9] (three of a kind, Nines)
jnpn collected $794.20 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $797.20 | Rake $3
Board [9 9 A Q 3]
Seat 1: gandi9 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: zawaaa (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: LuxuryMaster showed [K A] and lost with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 4: Marius2910 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: DCal Zone folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: jnpn (button) showed [7 9] and won ($794.20) with three of a kind, Nines


I read the book of TJ Courtier and he said: "Making a good fold is same as winning because by not losing the money in the situation where you would have if you had called". I completely agree with his line. He also talks about how good player extracts the most value out of the hand and I felt that the challenge is to find a border line between folding and call/raise.

With this in mind, thinking about this hand back, I think I could have played in two different ways, 3 bet with intention of shoving all in or fold to his raise. Now, considering how tight this opponent is, I should have leaned towards fold. I really don't think 3 bet shove is a bad idea but I felt like I am playing cards this way. You are pretty much committing money into the pot despite opponent's tendency and I didn't feel much of science and skill this way.

In same situation if the opponent is 26/20 LAG, I will more easily put the money into the pot as his range includes any ace, FD. I really think 3 bet + with intension of shove is better in this situation.

Poker is game of intellectual guessing. The reason I belive for my shove was incorrect against TAG was based on the observation of opponent's tendency. I felt like I just talked out of myself on this hand and put the money into the pot. Something to think about. Any comments on this would be great.