There are way too many sharks in online poker nowadays so just out of curiosity I looked at a page on poker sites with the most fish. It seems there are some sites like Sportsbook.com (which I don’t have an account at) that have more than average amounts of easy players to beat. It makes me wonder why I enjoy Pokerstars so much 
So, like the mafia, poker has sucked me back in again. I bought in for $200 a month ago and rode some swings up to almost $500, and then back down to about $350, trying different styles of play the whole time — re-learning the game.
After my latest crash, I have re-nitted myself. I just busted out a guy who yelled at me about how “donks always hit their stupid hands” when he went all in on me with his set when I had the nut broadway straight. It’s good to be a nit.
Hi, I’m back.
I’ve been playing very well lately, but I know a heater when I see one. I’ve made about $500 in three days playing twenty and thirty dollar Sit ‘n Gos — not even multi-tabling, just hitting a few casually every day.
If anybody needs some good luck out there, I’ll let you rub my belly for ten bucks.
I’ve taken a break from poker for a few days, but I think my eggs are trying to tell me something.
Holy crap, why didn’t I figure this out before? Check raising on a scary board is a good way to get a fold. Check-raising on a boring board is a good way to get action.
Holy crap!
Those crying calls sure do add up don’t they? In NL, it makes a lot less sense to make a crying call than in limit. I can see that now.
Same for bluff catchers. At 50NL no one is going to run a complicated multi-street bluff. No one. Ever. Ever Ever.
Assuming that the pre-flop raiser from position will c-bet the flop: A safe bet.
Assuming the c-better will fire a second barrel on the turn: Wishful thinking.
At this point, after my latest swing, I’m completely convinced that the skill to have in this game is value-betting. All other skills are red herrings (outside of good hand selection pre-flop of course.) Value-betting does not necessarily mean pounding away at pots. It can mean betting the flop, and then checking the turn and over-betting the river. (But it probably always includes betting the
I stacked off twice tonight — once with Top Pair Top Kick and then again with Top Two Pair. Both times were against a set.
I really should have known better. There’s no reason I would have been getting action on those hands if I wasn’t up against something better. But for some reason I forgot to abandon ship.
I’ll remember next time. Top two pair is just like TPTK, essentially. When the other guy makes a big bet, it’s time to seriously reconsider one and two pair hands. And even if a set is unlikely because you have top two pair and you know he doesn’t have a small pocket pair, guess what: He has both case cards.
$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
8 players
Converted at weaktight.com
Stacks:
| UTG | schub007 | ($80.70) | |
| UTG+1 | crzytimes | ($58.25) | |
| MP1 | gwendolyn78 | ($24.75) | |
| MP2 | 55 Magge 88 | ($65.20) | |
| CO | toggy51 | ($26.05) | |
| BTN | KKong444 | ($9.25) | |
| SB | RCAMDESSUS | ($53.00) | |
| BB | Hero | ($50.75) |
[toggy51 posted $0.5]
Pre-flop: ($1.25, 8 players) Hero is BB
2 folds, gwendolyn78 calls $0.50, 1 fold, toggy51 checks, KKong444 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero checks
Flop: 
($2.25, 4 players)
Hero bets $1, gwendolyn78 calls $1, toggy51 calls $1, 1 fold
Turn: 
($5.25, 3 players)
Hero bets $3, gwendolyn78 folds, toggy51 raises to $6, Hero calls $3
River: 
($17.25, 2 players)
Hero checks, toggy51 bets $5.50, Hero calls $5.50
Final Pot: $28.25
toggy51 shows: 
Hero shows:
toggy51 wins $26.90 ( won +$13.90 )
KKong444 lost -$0.50
Hero lost -$13
gwendolyn78 lost -$1.50
So, on the flop, I thought that I’d bet my draw. And I did. Then on the turn, I bet it again and got min-raised. The min-raise made me happy because it meant that he had a hand he was really excited about; so if I hit my straight, I can get some value for it.
On the river I hit my ace, and he laid down a little bet. I called it because I thought, “It’s just a little bet! I can’t not call this!” But calling was a mistake. And I should have known it because his turn-raise told me that he had better than a one-pair hand. So, one pair wasn’t gonna do it for me on the river. But I forgot.
Just doing a brief mental review of the hand’s previous action would have saved me five bucks. That’s another good habit to get into.
