In the Void, and Pushing Temporary Edges
The whole month of April, and especially the last week I feel as though I have been playing what I call in the void. I simply mean that I have been playing in the "blah" mood the entire month, not optimally, overthinking situations, and just playing poorly in general. So, what does that mean? It means it's time to do one of two things: either drop down and play a lot of tables, or get out of the void. Of course, getting out of the void is something that I really can't do myself, so it looks like option one for now. I'll probably play about 8 tables of NL600 on stars, which will be a decent hourly, and I can play without thinking too hard about poker, since apparently I have some ineptitude to play poker right now. I think this is the best thing for me to do, at least until finals are over.
A funny story was me playing NL600 last Friday. I took $4000 (yes that's almost 7 buyins at 6m) from a 2p2er, who said that I should at least name my boat after him. I thought this was funny, but also realized that this is one of the ways to make a lot of money in these games. There are so many regulars these days, that, aside from table selecting in terms of fish, you can also do so in terms of weaker regulars. This is something that I commonly did at NL2000, but works well at midstakes (on stars at least) as well because people enjoy playing obscene amounts of tables. If you can get position on some of the weaker regulars, you can anger them, and even tilt them, and this effects 5-6 tables. So, you have transformed an overwise solid player into a spew monkey.
This reminds me of someone I was playing hu last week. It was like 3 in the morning, and I wanted to play. So I sat on FTP against who appeared to be a good player, while one of my friends decided to sweat me. He normally plays NL100, but I think he HAS to be one of the best players at that limit, so I do respect his opinions... sometimes :P. So, I am 3 tabling vs this guy at NL1000, and after about 5 minutes my friend comments that this guy seems solid. I agree, but I think he has a weakness: 3bet pots. Many otherwise really solid players don't know how to play in 3bet pots, whereas I frequently change my gears to capitalize on this. So, at this point in the match we are playing really solidly, and I don't think I have a decent edge. I'm ready to quit in about five minutes, however, my opponent all of the sudden types in the chat box, "20 mins more, I'm tired and need to go to bed at 4."
Boom. He's tired. Time to take advantage. I start really putting he pressure on preflop via raising on the button, but I made sure not to 3bet him that light. My reasoning was that he was tired and therefore would not think it through that I wasn't 3betting that light, and instead just see raise preflop, raise preflop, raise preflop, and just assume that I would 3bet him light as well. Of course, you can take this logic one step further, and play a hand in the strangest manner that you can think of :).
So, this hand comes up, and I haven't 3bet in a while. Yes, I just talked about how I wouldn't 3bet him that light, and therefore I should 3bet with big hands because he won't give me credit anyway, but I decided to mix it up on this hand because he hasn't seen me only call a raise with a big hand yet (about 45 minutes in). This deception, combined with the fact that I haven't 3bet in a while (I like to have some form of "protection" when 3betting my big hands, ie having 3bet kind of recently at least).
Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $5/$10 Blinds - 2 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh/)
Hero (BB): $1803.25
SB: $2484.75
Preflop: Hero is dealt As Ad (2 Players)
SB raises to $30, Hero calls $20
Flop: ($60) Jh 2c 2d (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets $45, Hero raises to $165, SB calls $120
I check raise this perfect flop, which is standard. He's probably aggressive enough to float me here, since it's unlikely I have a two, and I "can't" have JJ+ since I didn't 3bet preflop.
Turn: ($390) 6s (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets $275, Hero calls $275
When I check the turn, the strongest hand I can have vs a good hand reader is a jack. By check/calling, I represent a jack, and nothing better.
River: ($940) 8h (2 Players)
Hero checks,
The river was close, because I think when I check he will check back all jacks. But, I guess since my hand seems so defined as weak, he can show up here with ATC? I hoped so.
SB bets all-in for $2014.75, Hero calls all-in for $1333.25
Uncalled bet of $681.50 returned to SB
Pot Size: $3606.50 ($0.50 Rake)
SB had Qh 8c (two pair, Eights and Twos) and LOST (-$1803.25)
Hero had As Ad (two pair, Aces and Twos) and LOST (-$1800.25)
Luckily, I was right.
So, now I can take advantage of this temporary edge. He is tired AND I have momentum, which is huge heads up. On another table, I raise with ATs, and I am 3bet. I call because the effective stacks are like $2500. I won't walk through the HH, but I'll just ask to note that it is really obvious he has a one pair hand on the flop (or KK), and should not be actively inflating the pot. The turn from his perspecive is probably a c/f.
Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $5/$10 Blinds - 2 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh/)
BB: $2415.50
Hero (SB): $3909.50
Preflop: Hero is dealt As Ts (2 Players)
Hero raises to $30, BB raises to $110, Hero calls $80
Flop: ($220) Kd Th Tc (2 Players)
BB bets $155, Hero raises to $500, BB calls $345
Turn: ($1220) 6c (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $700, BB raises all-in to $1805.50, Hero calls $1105.50
River: ($4831) Js (2 Players - 1 All-In)
Pot Size: $4831 ($0.50 Rake)
BB had Ad Kh (two pair, Kings and Tens) and LOST (-$2415.50)
Hero had As Ts (three of a kind, Tens) and LOST (-$2411.50)
Of course, then I donked back about 2 buyins because I myself was tired :).
This post is getting long and rambling, so basically my point is to say that in these new days and games, sometimes you need to find other ways to make money than from just the fish. Look for tired or otherwise solid opponents who happen to be playing poorly, and take advantage of the temporary edge that you will have. I've said before that high stakes games aren't necessarily about who's the best, but rather who's playing the best. This concept trickles down to MSNL as well, so keep it in mind, and adapt accordingly, which mean get off the tables if you aren't playing well!
Until next time,
Greg
A funny story was me playing NL600 last Friday. I took $4000 (yes that's almost 7 buyins at 6m) from a 2p2er, who said that I should at least name my boat after him. I thought this was funny, but also realized that this is one of the ways to make a lot of money in these games. There are so many regulars these days, that, aside from table selecting in terms of fish, you can also do so in terms of weaker regulars. This is something that I commonly did at NL2000, but works well at midstakes (on stars at least) as well because people enjoy playing obscene amounts of tables. If you can get position on some of the weaker regulars, you can anger them, and even tilt them, and this effects 5-6 tables. So, you have transformed an overwise solid player into a spew monkey.
This reminds me of someone I was playing hu last week. It was like 3 in the morning, and I wanted to play. So I sat on FTP against who appeared to be a good player, while one of my friends decided to sweat me. He normally plays NL100, but I think he HAS to be one of the best players at that limit, so I do respect his opinions... sometimes :P. So, I am 3 tabling vs this guy at NL1000, and after about 5 minutes my friend comments that this guy seems solid. I agree, but I think he has a weakness: 3bet pots. Many otherwise really solid players don't know how to play in 3bet pots, whereas I frequently change my gears to capitalize on this. So, at this point in the match we are playing really solidly, and I don't think I have a decent edge. I'm ready to quit in about five minutes, however, my opponent all of the sudden types in the chat box, "20 mins more, I'm tired and need to go to bed at 4."
Boom. He's tired. Time to take advantage. I start really putting he pressure on preflop via raising on the button, but I made sure not to 3bet him that light. My reasoning was that he was tired and therefore would not think it through that I wasn't 3betting that light, and instead just see raise preflop, raise preflop, raise preflop, and just assume that I would 3bet him light as well. Of course, you can take this logic one step further, and play a hand in the strangest manner that you can think of :).
So, this hand comes up, and I haven't 3bet in a while. Yes, I just talked about how I wouldn't 3bet him that light, and therefore I should 3bet with big hands because he won't give me credit anyway, but I decided to mix it up on this hand because he hasn't seen me only call a raise with a big hand yet (about 45 minutes in). This deception, combined with the fact that I haven't 3bet in a while (I like to have some form of "protection" when 3betting my big hands, ie having 3bet kind of recently at least).
Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $5/$10 Blinds - 2 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh/)
Hero (BB): $1803.25
SB: $2484.75
Preflop: Hero is dealt As Ad (2 Players)
SB raises to $30, Hero calls $20
Flop: ($60) Jh 2c 2d (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets $45, Hero raises to $165, SB calls $120
I check raise this perfect flop, which is standard. He's probably aggressive enough to float me here, since it's unlikely I have a two, and I "can't" have JJ+ since I didn't 3bet preflop.
Turn: ($390) 6s (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets $275, Hero calls $275
When I check the turn, the strongest hand I can have vs a good hand reader is a jack. By check/calling, I represent a jack, and nothing better.
River: ($940) 8h (2 Players)
Hero checks,
The river was close, because I think when I check he will check back all jacks. But, I guess since my hand seems so defined as weak, he can show up here with ATC? I hoped so.
SB bets all-in for $2014.75, Hero calls all-in for $1333.25
Uncalled bet of $681.50 returned to SB
Pot Size: $3606.50 ($0.50 Rake)
SB had Qh 8c (two pair, Eights and Twos) and LOST (-$1803.25)
Hero had As Ad (two pair, Aces and Twos) and LOST (-$1800.25)
Luckily, I was right.
So, now I can take advantage of this temporary edge. He is tired AND I have momentum, which is huge heads up. On another table, I raise with ATs, and I am 3bet. I call because the effective stacks are like $2500. I won't walk through the HH, but I'll just ask to note that it is really obvious he has a one pair hand on the flop (or KK), and should not be actively inflating the pot. The turn from his perspecive is probably a c/f.
Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $5/$10 Blinds - 2 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh/)
BB: $2415.50
Hero (SB): $3909.50
Preflop: Hero is dealt As Ts (2 Players)
Hero raises to $30, BB raises to $110, Hero calls $80
Flop: ($220) Kd Th Tc (2 Players)
BB bets $155, Hero raises to $500, BB calls $345
Turn: ($1220) 6c (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $700, BB raises all-in to $1805.50, Hero calls $1105.50
River: ($4831) Js (2 Players - 1 All-In)
Pot Size: $4831 ($0.50 Rake)
BB had Ad Kh (two pair, Kings and Tens) and LOST (-$2415.50)
Hero had As Ts (three of a kind, Tens) and LOST (-$2411.50)
Of course, then I donked back about 2 buyins because I myself was tired :).
This post is getting long and rambling, so basically my point is to say that in these new days and games, sometimes you need to find other ways to make money than from just the fish. Look for tired or otherwise solid opponents who happen to be playing poorly, and take advantage of the temporary edge that you will have. I've said before that high stakes games aren't necessarily about who's the best, but rather who's playing the best. This concept trickles down to MSNL as well, so keep it in mind, and adapt accordingly, which mean get off the tables if you aren't playing well!
Until next time,
Greg
posted by Greg at 4/30/2007 12:17:00 PM
6 comments
