The Drive to $10K

Originally Posted by daven

re the taking breaks thing - have you tried sitting out at the tables for a few minutes, grabbing some water, a bite, whatever. Breathing some, and then coming back with clarity and focus? it works, and even better, you can see during the short break when it won't work (still steaming about the bad-beat, tired, distracted, whatever) and you're better able to quit when you should without having to second guess the decision.

Breaks are something I am going to broach later this week in this thread, I am still weighing my possibilities for long term and short term breaks.

anyway, onto the hands.

hand 1 qq - preflop i would go to 5bb rather than 6. If 6 is getting called, is 8? etc. But fine preflop play with reads. Flop i'd probably just pot it, he's calling any draw/piece so why not? Turn, I bet the turn too and block the river $20. Does he ever really have worse than A4 here? i guess 75 sometimes?

Agree, I didn't do anything to exploit a very readable opponent. Blocking bets are something I need to use more, and then actually fold when they do something stupid. I tend to change my mind sometimes when I shouldn't.

hand 2 kts - Do you open KTs from UTG as standard (i see it's 4-handed, but even then...) I simply fold to the 3-bet oop. Make a stand in position or with a smarter hand, like you're not getting money from his air or his good hands with KTs... As played, wow. You put yourself in a situation where you're either flipping or way behind when called. I guess I don't understand the dynamic you guys had, but I agree with you that this looks terrible and probably is. I'd far prefer the c-r shove with a hand that has decent equity. You say he calls with worse, um, does he call with worse made hands? or only draws where he is getting ok odds anyway?

. This had sucked for every reason you mention. One thing I have been trying to avoid is getting into those WB/flip type hands for stacks.

hand 3 tt - you state you played the turn bad. What about the flop? min-raises give draws such good odds. I prefer either checking (don't be too scared of FDs heads-up, rep the draw and hope that the spade doesn't come, etc) or raising properly. Turn, yep, yuck. You have effective $70ish so any real bet commits you, so just shove and hope he calls draws/worse hands.

griffey had mentioned this before and now again, I missed this one completely

hand 4 JK - Squeeze size standard? seems a little light, like it's barely 3x, it's multi-way and oop. Prefer $15. Once a 3-bet gets called it's time to think a second. Are they likely to fold to a c-bet? how is their perception of your range? do they put you on AK? do they think you spew? Here the widest raising range i like putting villain on is 77+/67s/87s/AJs/KQs and even then it's 69-31 close to a fold (at worst a small mistake to fold? vs likely big mistake). Checking flop is kinda cool too.

Std squeeze should be $14 minimum I agreed in the post. This hand was a butcher for sure. I will definitely change this mindset.

hand 5 99 - pre-flop good. Flop, well, yuck. If you're going to check-raise then give it some ooomph. Once you've got UTG calling you can figure on at least one FD, and you're giving them odds with your raise size. Hell, check-shove flop and balance even. As played pot turn/shove turn.

agree, I thought a ton about this hand because it was very standard to what I have been facing a lot lately.

also

Originally Posted by jyms

There is no winning poker when you are not winning the big pots.

i find this interesting. Big pots are cool, and should be fairly straightforward. Long term they should leave you way ahead. Losing a big pot destroys all the hard work that let you steal away ten small-medium pot, so it shouldn't be done in error too often.

now, if only i could apply all the advice that i give so liberally.... here's hoping, since reading your "why" post you gave as an answer to royalprodigy i've been doing ok. I think that post is one of the gems of FTR. Nice.

i have a hard time following my own advice because I tend to know things when time is slowed, in posting or conversation. I am not doing well playing tired, rushed and feeling behind all the time and will be working on this this week. I need some changes to my playing philosophy. Not so much in game situations, although definitely there to, but in my mindset, schedule and preparations. I have some goals to post in the near future and I need to figure out the full plan.[/quote]

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07-06-2009 10:28 PM #1
jyms View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries Bankroll Lag Join Date Sep 2005 Posts 10,877	Originally Posted by daven re the taking breaks thing - have you tried sitting out at the tables for a few minutes, grabbing some water, a bite, whatever. Breathing some, and then coming back with clarity and focus? it works, and even better, you can see during the short break when it won't work (still steaming about the bad-beat, tired, distracted, whatever) and you're better able to quit when you should without having to second guess the decision. Breaks are something I am going to broach later this week in this thread, I am still weighing my possibilities for long term and short term breaks. anyway, onto the hands. hand 1 qq - preflop i would go to 5bb rather than 6. If 6 is getting called, is 8? etc. But fine preflop play with reads. Flop i'd probably just pot it, he's calling any draw/piece so why not? Turn, I bet the turn too and block the river $20. Does he ever really have worse than A4 here? i guess 75 sometimes? Agree, I didn't do anything to exploit a very readable opponent. Blocking bets are something I need to use more, and then actually fold when they do something stupid. I tend to change my mind sometimes when I shouldn't. hand 2 kts - Do you open KTs from UTG as standard (i see it's 4-handed, but even then...) I simply fold to the 3-bet oop. Make a stand in position or with a smarter hand, like you're not getting money from his air or his good hands with KTs... As played, wow. You put yourself in a situation where you're either flipping or way behind when called. I guess I don't understand the dynamic you guys had, but I agree with you that this looks terrible and probably is. I'd far prefer the c-r shove with a hand that has decent equity. You say he calls with worse, um, does he call with worse made hands? or only draws where he is getting ok odds anyway? . This had sucked for every reason you mention. One thing I have been trying to avoid is getting into those WB/flip type hands for stacks. hand 3 tt - you state you played the turn bad. What about the flop? min-raises give draws such good odds. I prefer either checking (don't be too scared of FDs heads-up, rep the draw and hope that the spade doesn't come, etc) or raising properly. Turn, yep, yuck. You have effective $70ish so any real bet commits you, so just shove and hope he calls draws/worse hands. griffey had mentioned this before and now again, I missed this one completely hand 4 JK - Squeeze size standard? seems a little light, like it's barely 3x, it's multi-way and oop. Prefer $15. Once a 3-bet gets called it's time to think a second. Are they likely to fold to a c-bet? how is their perception of your range? do they put you on AK? do they think you spew? Here the widest raising range i like putting villain on is 77+/67s/87s/AJs/KQs and even then it's 69-31 close to a fold (at worst a small mistake to fold? vs likely big mistake). Checking flop is kinda cool too. Std squeeze should be $14 minimum I agreed in the post. This hand was a butcher for sure. I will definitely change this mindset. hand 5 99 - pre-flop good. Flop, well, yuck. If you're going to check-raise then give it some ooomph. Once you've got UTG calling you can figure on at least one FD, and you're giving them odds with your raise size. Hell, check-shove flop and balance even. As played pot turn/shove turn. agree, I thought a ton about this hand because it was very standard to what I have been facing a lot lately. also Originally Posted by jyms There is no winning poker when you are not winning the big pots. i find this interesting. Big pots are cool, and should be fairly straightforward. Long term they should leave you way ahead. Losing a big pot destroys all the hard work that let you steal away ten small-medium pot, so it shouldn't be done in error too often. now, if only i could apply all the advice that i give so liberally.... here's hoping, since reading your "why" post you gave as an answer to royalprodigy i've been doing ok. I think that post is one of the gems of FTR. Nice. i have a hard time following my own advice because I tend to know things when time is slowed, in posting or conversation. I am not doing well playing tired, rushed and feeling behind all the time and will be working on this this week. I need some changes to my playing philosophy. Not so much in game situations, although definitely there to, but in my mindset, schedule and preparations. I have some goals to post in the near future and I need to figure out the full plan.[/quote]