Poker Bankroll Update
After having a few days to be with my family and our recent loss, I was able to sit down and play some poker. Now, I was a little hesitant to actually sit down and play because I always preach being focused with no distractions. However, I thought that maybe if I played for a little while, totally concentrating as best I could on the game that I would be able to put the other stuff out of my mind. And am I ever glad that I did!
I had built up my account on Full Tilt to about $240, just grinding away as usual. For whatever reason, I have not been able to move up as quickly on Full Tilt as I have with PokerStars, partially because I think Full Tilt has better cash games players at all levels than PokerStars does. That being said, it was also a horrendous week at Stars, going from $328 to $172 over two nights. Anything that could go wrong was going wrong and probably the only reason I didn’t tilt as much as I could have was because I was winning on Full Tilt at the same time.
As I got ready to play, I turned on Pokertube.com like I usually do. I like to watch cash games while I’m playing and I keep three chips from the casino with me at my desk. For whatever reason I find having them in my hand, doing chip tricks, helps me concentrate and I find that watching high stakes cash games at the same time helps as well. I watched an interview with Patrik Antonius that was conducted by Phil Gordon. They talked about the state of the online game, in particular about Isildur1 and his impact on the nosebleed levels at Full Tilt. During the interview, Gordon asked whether he thought Isildur1 had the discipline to move down levels if he started losing really badly. Antonius said he thought so, and what he used to do was “take a shot”, meaning move up levels before his bankroll was quite ready, and if he lost he’d go back down and grind his way back up and take another shot. He said he knew he could play at that level, it was just getting his roll there. I thought about that for a second. I had played as high as $5/10 myself so I knew I could compete at a higher level and decided I would try it too. I moved up to .25/.50, playing the deep stack table with a .10 ante and where you could buy in for 200x the BB and took a seat.
I started with $50 and within 4 hands I had doubled up when someone ran their QQ into my KK. From there, I was not only getting a great run of cards but I was reading opponents as well as I ever had in my life. It was a great case where learning to trust your instincts has really worked out. In one particular hand I was dealt 8 3 in the BB. It folded around to the button who just limped in. The SB completed the the bet and I checked so there was now $1.65 in the pot. The flop was K 6 3 rainbow. Everyone checked. The turn was the 2c, bringing two clubs on the board. The SB checked and I bet $1. The button called and the SB folded and now there was $3.65 in the pot. The river was an offsuit nine. I didn’t think there was any value in betting here as I’m only getting called by a hand that beats my 3’s, and I could get raised. I checked and the button bet $8, over twice the pot. This bet didn’t make sense to me at all and thought it looked likehe had missed a flush draw. I even typed into the chatbox what I was thinking and that I wanted to call him with my three. I decided to go ahead and call and I was right. He had the 8 7c and I took it down.
This next hand made my night. I had lost a few hands and was back down to $87 when I was dealt AQh under the gun. I made my standard raise to $1.50 and got called in three spots. The pot was now $5.50 and the flop came A Q J with two spades. I bet $5 and was immediately raised to $18. I took a second to consider what he might have, maybe a flush draw or A 10 and was trying to see if I had KK. I decided to just call and see what the turn would bring. The pot was now $38. The 4h came down. I checked and he moved in for $73, another massive overbet. Could this guy really have K 10? If he did, why wouldn’t he look to value bet me? He has to know that I have at least an ace if I called his raise on the flop. I didn’t think he’d do this with A 10 so the only other hand I thought he could have was a set of jacks. I let my time bank run all the way down before deciding to make the call. He had AJ! The river was a brick and I took down a $180 pot. WHEW!
The rest of the night went pretty much the same way all night. There were two hands where I had an underpair to the board after the river and called down bets because I just knew they had AK. I was right both times there too and now because everyone had seen I was making great reads they were less inclined to bluff me. After someone made a big raise on one of my continuation bets and I had folded, they showed me their cards to show me they had the hand they were representing. Then he wrote, “You’re the last person I’m going to try and bluff tonight”. I laughed pretty hard. It was nice to know you can have that sort of hold on a table because another guy typed “No kidding!”
I ended that night with over $520 in my account and have since pushed it up to $600. PokerStars has been a bit of a slower climb but I’m back up to $250. I’m playing the same .25/.50 blind level at PokerStars as well and have been playing much better. I won’t get to play too much this week as I have three double shifts, my kid’s Christmas Concert at his school, and shopping to do but when I do get back to it hopefully the good run will continue.
