I hope that after I die, people will say of me: “That guy sure owed me a lot of money.” –Jack Handey
HDouble from The Cards Speak recently asked commented on one of my posts tracking the progress of my 60 day challenge and he asked:
Do you think you’re improving?
That’s really a tough question. The knee jerk response is that I am but I started to really think about the question more and here’s what I’ve come up with:
Pre-Flop:
I’m playing much, much tighter than I did before. I could still use some improvement but according to PokerTracker I’ve been playing 22% of the hands where I wasn’t in the blinds. That’s still a little high but I play three tables and normally one of them will be loose and passive enough that I can sneak in with half a big bet and see some flops with hands like A5s or other hands that have the potential to turn into monsters if the flop hits you pretty hard. Based on my PokerTracker stats those types hands haven’t really been huge winners or losers but I may ditch them from my playbook anyway.
I still catch myself playing hands against the wrong type of board. I often find myself cringing when I limp in with suited connectors in late position with only one limper ahead of me.
I’m trying out different strategies with my starting hands to see how they play. For instance, in some games I might raise with AQo and in other games I might limp in. I tend to do more limping when I know that I won’t be eliminating any players with a raise.
On the Flop:
I know my flop and post flop play is riddled with errors but I’m trying to track down my leaks and plug them. I think the two big areas I need to work on are:
1. Getting off of hands earlier. I’m still playing my AK, AQ, and AJ type hands too long when I miss the flop. I’m also sticking around to see the turn with middle pair more often than I would like.
2. Maximizing the amount of money I’m getting into of the pot. Part of this is involuntary reflex. I’m doing things like betting out in early position with a monster hand instead of check-raising.
I’ve become a lot more aggressive on the flop even if it misses me though. I’ve taken down several pots on passive tables when the flop comes something like KKx and I bet out immediately with no hesitation. I find that I do almost no checking on the flop any more. I either bet, raise or fold.
Post Flop:
Most of my leaks here are either slowing down too much when a scare card hits or paying off on the river when I know I’m beat.
Other Stuff:
One of the most frustrating things I’ve encountered is that I can’t put some people on a hand. Not at all. Here’s an example:
Hero has QQ, flop comes 592 rainbow. Hero bets, Goofy Player calls. Turn brings a T. Hero bets, Goofy Calls. River brings a 7. Hero bets, Goofy calls.
Now what did Goofy call me all the way to the river with? Think about it. It should be pretty obvious. I’ll give you a hint: He beat me.
AA
No pre-flop re-raise (called my raise cold). No raise on the flop, turn, or river. I know some might say that I got lucky because it could have cost me more but how can you put someone on a hand when they won’t even raise pocket aces?
At this level, so many players are so unpredictable that it’s difficult to judge them. Here’s a similar example but going in the opposite direction:
Paradise Poker 2/4 Hold’em (9 handed)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 7d, Ad.
UTG calls, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 calls, MP3 folds, Hero calls, Button calls, SB completes, BB checks.
Flop: (6 SB) 5d, 9d, Jd (6 players)
SB checks, BB bets, UTG calls, MP2 calls, Hero calls, Button folds, SB raises, BB 3-bets, UTG folds, MP2 folds, Hero caps, SB calls, BB calls.
I was going to just check here because I didn’t want to scare anybody off until they could improve their hands on the turn but SB and BB are on rocket fuel and take over.
Turn: (10 BB) Ac (3 players)
SB bets, BB calls, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, BB caps, Hero calls, SB calls.
I know I’m way ahead still. No pair on the board and nothing that looks scary . . . except why are these two jokers not only betting into me but capping the betting?!? Am I missing something?
River: (22 BB) 6h (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets, Hero raises, SB calls, BB calls.
Final Pot: 28 BB
Main Pot: 28 BB, between Hero, SB and BB. > Pot won by Hero (28 BB).
Results:
BB shows 5h 5c (three of a kind, fives).
Hero shows 7d Ad (flush, ace high).
SB shows 3d 6d (flush, jack high).
Outcome: Hero wins 28 BB.
SB and BB both muck their cards. One of the other players at the table messages “Wow! What the heck did the other guys have?” He starts mocking the other players about what kinds of hands they could have been betting so aggressively with that couldn’t beat a flush. SB finally claims that he had K high flush so he couldn’t lay the hand down. Now, through the magic of hand histories we know that’s not true. His high card was 6d!
Conclusion:
Yes, I think I am improving. I think I know where my major leaks are and I’m working on plugging them. Am I ready to sit down at a $15/$30 table? Not by a long shot. I still have a lot of learning to do. One of the advantages and a specific objective in starting this challenge is that you play A LOT of poker. This is a game where experience can make a huge difference in your results. I’m finding holes in my game a lot quicker and I’m able to experiment around with playing styles more often because I’m putting in the hours. In fact, Roy Cooke wrote in a recent CardPlayer Magazine article:
An amazing realization to me is that because of the multiple-table formats available with online games, some players in their 20’s have more hands-played experience than I do – and I have played almost 60,000 hours of mostly live poker!
So, HDouble, that’s my long winded way of saying . . . yes. 🙂