The problem with having monster sessions is that perfectly respectable ones lose their luster. I know that 7.09BB/100 hands is a good win rate, yet ending up only $32.75 after 3.25 hours of game time somehow feels inadequate. It’s not just the money: part of the reason for this feeling is that a lot of my big wins was the result of getting some lucky turn and/or river cards or playing against really really bad players who will call to the showdown or try to bluff with nothing. In the monster session, I usually had my opponents beat from the flop or before the flop. I had a feeling that I was getting and playing the right cards, and got rewarded for it. I guess ultimately I want to win the money and know that I deserved it.
Monthly Archives: July 2004
Lucky, not good
After coming in ninth ($2.50) in this morning’s MultiPoker freeroll, I fired up a 1/2 table and played until the afternoon turbo freeroll. Man, I got killed on some hands in a big way. This table was a bit more loose-aggressive than the normal 1/2 tables, and that magnified my losses. After busting out of the afternoon freeroll with pocket jacks (the caller had 9To and flopped a set), I went looking for a second table to try to average out the wins and losses.
I found the best table in the world.
I won 11 of the 94 hands I played, and split a few more. I won 4 of the 10 biggest pots, including the largest one of all:
Party Poker 1/2 Hold’em (9 handed) converter
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Qc, Qh.
UTG calls, Hero raises, MP1 calls, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO calls, Button folds, SB calls, BB calls, UTG calls.
Flop: (12 SB) 2s, Qs, 4h (6 players)
SB bets, BB folds, UTG folds, Hero raises, MP1 calls, CO folds, SB 3-bets, Hero caps, MP1 calls, SB calls.
Turn: (12 BB) Th (3 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, MP1 3-bets, SB caps, Hero calls, MP1 calls.
River: (24 BB) Ah (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, MP1 calls, SB calls.
Final Pot: 27 BB
Main Pot: 27 BB, between MP1, SB and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (27 BB).
Hero shows Qc Qh (three of a kind, queens).
MP1 shows Ts Qd (two pair, queens and tens).
SB shows 2d 4d (two pair, fours and twos).
Outcome: Hero wins 27 BB.
Over the course of an hour and half, I flopped a set on three hands, got Hiltons three times, rockets twice, cowboys once, and won each time. In the first 50 hands or so, I was getting a ridiculous 90+BB/100 hands. By the time I left the table, this was down to 46.28BB/100 hands. Wow. You’d think that after winning all that money, the table would stop calling my pre-flop raises, but they almost always threw out one more small bet to call. The only time they didn’t was when I had rockets on the button and the table folded around to me. Guess the SB and BB didn’t have anything worth defending.
I ended the day up $66.75, for a win rate of 14.77BB/100 hands.
I still don’t know anything about table selection, but I suspect avoiding having multiple loose-aggressives at my table will probably help my win rate quite a bit.
How not to buy a used car
1. Buy under time pressure.
2. Inspect the car without a friend.
3. Forego the dealer inspection.
I followed all three of the steps outlined above, and started paying for it from day one.
Almost as soon as I got the MR2, I noticed a weird periodic grinding noise coming from the rear. Turned out the wheel bearing needed to be replaced. Fuck. That cost about $800 in parts and labor, and I could have avoided it if I had actually taken the car to get the safety inspection done.
The latest drama with the MR2 is a problem with the engine–some kind of periodic clanking sound coming from inside the block. Toyota wanted to charge me a few hundred dollars just to open up the oil pan and figure out what was wrong. Ugh. I took it to two other mechanics and they refused to work on it–the first one said to take it Toyota to get the engine overhauled, the second to get a used engine installed. My dad found a shop in K-town that would do the swap for $1500, which we figured was the best price we were going to find.
Hopefully this engine swap will take care of the remaining problems and keep the car running long enough for me to sell it next year.
Last hand of the night
Seat 1: EM
Seat 2: JB
Seat 3: JA
Seat 4: MA
Seat 5: Me
Seat 6: JC
JC is the button.
I’m annoyed that I’m slightly down. After my big lead early on, a couple pots and missed flops have whittled away my lead. I look at my cards and decide to play.
JA folds, MA calls, I call, JC folds, EM calls, JB checks.
Flop: K K 4
EM checks, JB checks, MA bets, I call, EM folds, JB folds.
Turn: K
MA bets, I call.
River: 2
MA bets, I raise, MA calls.
I take the pot (9BB).
What did MA have? For that matter, what did I have?
I’ll post the answer in the comments section in a day or so.
Weekly game results: July 15
Finally up. I’d taken the lead earlier in the evening, but one particularly bad pot and some missed flops resulted in a serious degradation of my stack. CR and ER missed this week, but a couple new players showed up in their stead.
This week Cumulative
EM -$0.80 +$2.55
JB +$1.25 -$1.30
JC +$3.05 +$7.50
Me +$1.10 -$3.95
JA -$0.15 -$0.15
MA -$4.45 -$4.45
JC had another good session, coming back from behind to take the lead and keep it. This has got to stop.