I lost $130 for the day. It was one of those sessions that I kind of knew it wasn't going to end well but stuck it out anyway.
I was getting decent hands worth paying $2-10 pre-flop, but I got no help whatsoever once the flop was out there. The only hands I won any money on was with 3-4 when I flopped a straight, doubling up, and then I nearly doubled up the very next hand with pocket kings when I flopped top set and a guy pushed all in with a straight draw. However, since I was down to $60 at the time of the first double up I basically was at about $40 above break-even point for the day.
The bad luck kicked in again after that and I kept seeing flops that didn't turn into anything. After the loss I am back down to $1,600 profit in the past two months.
I'll be going to Weatherford Saturday night for my monthly game there, which hopefully will result in the normal multi-hundred profit for the night. Until then.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
An Up-And-Down Day
Although I finished the day with a profit of $130, I could have stopped playing about two hours prior to when I quit and had the same result. Probably 10 minutes before I was going to call it quits, I made a pre-flop call that cost me about $80 and it was a continued downward spiral for another $150 until I was finally able to get things together and start my comeback.
I started off well and won a few small pots that helped me get up about $30, but then lost that and more when my pocket kings that were raised pre-flop got beat for about $90 by Q-6 offsuit because the guy had already put out his $2 and wanted to defend it for another $12.
Being down about $60 I worked my way back to even and then gained some profit with more small and medium-sized pots. There really was no one hand that won me a lot of money, but eventually I had $150 in profit. That is the point that I decided to go home a little early and avoid the Dallas traffic.
Yet, I failed to cash out early enough and played a hand I shouldn't have called a raise with in the first place. I limped in on the button with Q-10 offsuit and when the small blind raised an additional $10 it folded around to me. I usually would fold that hand in a second, but I had been playing very tight and thought I would mix things up for one hand. I called the raise and saw a flop of J-10-4 with two hearts. Neither of my cards was a heart. So I was sitting with middle pair and a queen kicker. The small blind bet $25 into a pot with about that amount. I for some strange reason called. The turn was a stinking queen giving me two pair. The small blind bet $50 pretty quick and I called even faster. The river was a low heart, putting three hearts out on the board. The small blind checked and I contemplated betting out, but decided to just see if my two pair would hold up on the off chance that he had been betting the heart draw and when he hit it wanted me to bet the hand for him. When I said two pair, he also said two pair and showed Q-J for the higher hand.
I hated playing that hand and couldn't shake it, which led to me losing about another $75 resulting in being down approximately $100 at one point. I clawed my way back, luckily hitting three of a kind on a hand I raised pre-flop but had no business calling for $2 in the first place. I was also helped by getting kings and then queens back-to-back. Another hand that helped was getting pocket fours and ending up with four of them.
The biggest hand of the night that I was involved in for about two minutes but ended up folding (rightly so) was the following:
I was under the gun with 10h-9c offsuit and called $2. The guy on my left raised it to $10 straight. That was then called by four people (two of those being the small and big blinds). I figured I would see a flop for eight more dollars since there was $50 in the pot already. The flop came 8h-9h-Js. So I am sitting with middle pair, a open-ended straight draw, and a back-door medium-sized flush draw that would likely be no good even if I was able to get there.
So there are six people seeing this flop and $55 in the pot (after the rake is taken). The small blind checked before the flop was ever seen. The big blind bet $10. Well of course I am going to hang around for $10. Now, most of the time I would raise in this situation hoping to either win the pot right then, get a call or two to build the pot should I hit a big hand on the turn or river or get free cards later in the hand when it is checked to me because they believe I will be the aggressor. However, in the split-second time that I thought about my options, I noticed the guy on my left (who had raised pre-flop) reach toward his chips as if he were ready to make a big bet. That was a little screwy, so I decided instead of raising this time to see where things went. I called. That is when it got interesting.
The guy on my left did raise, like I thought he might. He added an additional $30, making it $40 total. That put $115 in the pot ($55 pre-flop, big blind's $10, my $10, and the original raiser's $40). The guy on the raiser's left (who beat my kings earlier with Q-6 and we will call defender) called the $40, as did the player on his left, who will be known as random guy.
This moves us to the small blind. He surprises everyone by raising an additional $100, leaving himself about another $150 or so. Let us recap this pot. There is $55 from pre-flop action. The big blind bets $10 ($65), I call ($75), the pre-flop aggressor raises $30 more ($115), defender calls ($155), random dude calls ($195), small blind raises an additional $100 ($295). So this means it is back to the big blind, who opened into a $55 pot for $10. He thinks for a good three or four minutes and finally calls the additional $130, also leaving himself about $150. This puts $425 in the pot.
Okay, so I have 9-10 on a J-9-8 board (in case you forgot where I was in this peculiar hand). This is an insta-fold pretty much every single time with that much action going on. I took my time to do so though, just to make sure I was comprehending what was going on. I guess I should add that at this point I had about $160 at the start of the hand and I would have been putting myself all in to win this pot had I called.
After my fold, there is $425 in the pot and it is back to the pre-flop raiser. He starts talking about how he can't believe this is happening and how much he wants to call. He finally says he is going to fold and shows me his hand. He also said he would have called had it been just him and the small blind. I am not going to say what he had just yet. We'll play a guessing game at the end of this.
So the defender folds pretty quick and random guy folds also. Both are saying how much they want to call though.
With $425 in the pot we see a turn. It is the four of hearts. The small blind instantly waves his arm forward, signifying his all in move for $150. The big blind insta-calls putting him all in or close to it.
So what does everyone have? You have the small blind who checked blind, then re-raised a re-raise, and then moved all in on a turn that put three hearts on the board. The big blind opened it up on the flop, called the re-re-raise and insta-called the all in on the turn. The original raiser painfully folded on the flop after lots of crazy betting. The defender and random guy called the $40 on the flop but got out when it was a large re-raise and call after that.
Well here are the results:
Small blind - 10-7, giving him the flopped straight
Big blind - A-2 of hearts, giving him the nut flush
Me - missed straight draw with a pair of nines
Original raiser - pocket eights, which means bottom set on the flop and no improvement
Defender - J-X of hearts, giving him top pair and the losing flush
Random guy - pocket 10, giving him an open-ended straight draw that never made it
A very interesting hand that everyone involved had some interest in.
So with my $130 profit, that increases my winnings to $1,745 since Nov. 18. I played for six hours, giving me an hourly profit of $21.67.
Until next time, which likely won't be for about a week until after the holidays.
I started off well and won a few small pots that helped me get up about $30, but then lost that and more when my pocket kings that were raised pre-flop got beat for about $90 by Q-6 offsuit because the guy had already put out his $2 and wanted to defend it for another $12.
Being down about $60 I worked my way back to even and then gained some profit with more small and medium-sized pots. There really was no one hand that won me a lot of money, but eventually I had $150 in profit. That is the point that I decided to go home a little early and avoid the Dallas traffic.
Yet, I failed to cash out early enough and played a hand I shouldn't have called a raise with in the first place. I limped in on the button with Q-10 offsuit and when the small blind raised an additional $10 it folded around to me. I usually would fold that hand in a second, but I had been playing very tight and thought I would mix things up for one hand. I called the raise and saw a flop of J-10-4 with two hearts. Neither of my cards was a heart. So I was sitting with middle pair and a queen kicker. The small blind bet $25 into a pot with about that amount. I for some strange reason called. The turn was a stinking queen giving me two pair. The small blind bet $50 pretty quick and I called even faster. The river was a low heart, putting three hearts out on the board. The small blind checked and I contemplated betting out, but decided to just see if my two pair would hold up on the off chance that he had been betting the heart draw and when he hit it wanted me to bet the hand for him. When I said two pair, he also said two pair and showed Q-J for the higher hand.
I hated playing that hand and couldn't shake it, which led to me losing about another $75 resulting in being down approximately $100 at one point. I clawed my way back, luckily hitting three of a kind on a hand I raised pre-flop but had no business calling for $2 in the first place. I was also helped by getting kings and then queens back-to-back. Another hand that helped was getting pocket fours and ending up with four of them.
The biggest hand of the night that I was involved in for about two minutes but ended up folding (rightly so) was the following:
I was under the gun with 10h-9c offsuit and called $2. The guy on my left raised it to $10 straight. That was then called by four people (two of those being the small and big blinds). I figured I would see a flop for eight more dollars since there was $50 in the pot already. The flop came 8h-9h-Js. So I am sitting with middle pair, a open-ended straight draw, and a back-door medium-sized flush draw that would likely be no good even if I was able to get there.
So there are six people seeing this flop and $55 in the pot (after the rake is taken). The small blind checked before the flop was ever seen. The big blind bet $10. Well of course I am going to hang around for $10. Now, most of the time I would raise in this situation hoping to either win the pot right then, get a call or two to build the pot should I hit a big hand on the turn or river or get free cards later in the hand when it is checked to me because they believe I will be the aggressor. However, in the split-second time that I thought about my options, I noticed the guy on my left (who had raised pre-flop) reach toward his chips as if he were ready to make a big bet. That was a little screwy, so I decided instead of raising this time to see where things went. I called. That is when it got interesting.
The guy on my left did raise, like I thought he might. He added an additional $30, making it $40 total. That put $115 in the pot ($55 pre-flop, big blind's $10, my $10, and the original raiser's $40). The guy on the raiser's left (who beat my kings earlier with Q-6 and we will call defender) called the $40, as did the player on his left, who will be known as random guy.
This moves us to the small blind. He surprises everyone by raising an additional $100, leaving himself about another $150 or so. Let us recap this pot. There is $55 from pre-flop action. The big blind bets $10 ($65), I call ($75), the pre-flop aggressor raises $30 more ($115), defender calls ($155), random dude calls ($195), small blind raises an additional $100 ($295). So this means it is back to the big blind, who opened into a $55 pot for $10. He thinks for a good three or four minutes and finally calls the additional $130, also leaving himself about $150. This puts $425 in the pot.
Okay, so I have 9-10 on a J-9-8 board (in case you forgot where I was in this peculiar hand). This is an insta-fold pretty much every single time with that much action going on. I took my time to do so though, just to make sure I was comprehending what was going on. I guess I should add that at this point I had about $160 at the start of the hand and I would have been putting myself all in to win this pot had I called.
After my fold, there is $425 in the pot and it is back to the pre-flop raiser. He starts talking about how he can't believe this is happening and how much he wants to call. He finally says he is going to fold and shows me his hand. He also said he would have called had it been just him and the small blind. I am not going to say what he had just yet. We'll play a guessing game at the end of this.
So the defender folds pretty quick and random guy folds also. Both are saying how much they want to call though.
With $425 in the pot we see a turn. It is the four of hearts. The small blind instantly waves his arm forward, signifying his all in move for $150. The big blind insta-calls putting him all in or close to it.
So what does everyone have? You have the small blind who checked blind, then re-raised a re-raise, and then moved all in on a turn that put three hearts on the board. The big blind opened it up on the flop, called the re-re-raise and insta-called the all in on the turn. The original raiser painfully folded on the flop after lots of crazy betting. The defender and random guy called the $40 on the flop but got out when it was a large re-raise and call after that.
Well here are the results:
Small blind - 10-7, giving him the flopped straight
Big blind - A-2 of hearts, giving him the nut flush
Me - missed straight draw with a pair of nines
Original raiser - pocket eights, which means bottom set on the flop and no improvement
Defender - J-X of hearts, giving him top pair and the losing flush
Random guy - pocket 10, giving him an open-ended straight draw that never made it
A very interesting hand that everyone involved had some interest in.
So with my $130 profit, that increases my winnings to $1,745 since Nov. 18. I played for six hours, giving me an hourly profit of $21.67.
Until next time, which likely won't be for about a week until after the holidays.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Playing Summary
Like I said in my first post from last night, in the past five weeks or so I have made approximately $1,600 playing cards at Winstar Casino as well as another game I frequent once a month in Weatherford. The following is a general summary of how much I am winning or losing, how long I am playing, my hourly rate and my overall income from poker.
Note: I didn't start keeping a detailed report until about a week ago because I didn't think I would last this long playing cards for a real income. I figured I would go broke after about two weeks and then find a job at a local Chili's, but things have gone well lately and therefore I finally decided notes should be kept. With that being said, I know the amounts I have won and lost are correct, but the dates and the hours might be a little off because I had to go off of memory.
Nov. 18:
Won $50 and played for 5 hours, equating to $10 an hour. Overall I am up $50.
Nov. 23:
Won $150 and played for 4 hours, equating to $37.50 an hour. Overall I am up $200.
Nov. 30:
Lost $120 and played for 5 hours, equating to $24 lost every hour. Overall I am up $80.
Dec. 2:
Won $200 and played for 5 hours, equating to $40 an hour. Overall I am up $280.
Dec. 5:
Won $350 and played for 6 hours, equating to $58.33 an hour. Overall I am up $630.
Dec. 9:
Won $250 and played for 3 hours, equating to $83.33 an hour. Overall I am up $880.
Dec. 14:
Won $520 and played for 3 hours, equating to $173.33 an hour. Overall I am up $1,400.
Dec. 16:
Lost $300 and played for 5 hours, equating to $60 lost every hour. Overall I am up $1,100.
Dec. 17:
Won $250 and played for 2.5 hours, equating to $100 an hour. Overall I am up $1,350.
Dec. 21:
Won $265 and played for 7 hours, equating to $37.86 an hour. Overall I am up $1,615.
I plan on a trip tomorrow and then maybe once or twice more before the end of the year. It has been a great run I've been on and hopefully until I hear something about a job I will keep it going. Until tomorrow.
Note: I didn't start keeping a detailed report until about a week ago because I didn't think I would last this long playing cards for a real income. I figured I would go broke after about two weeks and then find a job at a local Chili's, but things have gone well lately and therefore I finally decided notes should be kept. With that being said, I know the amounts I have won and lost are correct, but the dates and the hours might be a little off because I had to go off of memory.
Nov. 18:
Won $50 and played for 5 hours, equating to $10 an hour. Overall I am up $50.
Nov. 23:
Won $150 and played for 4 hours, equating to $37.50 an hour. Overall I am up $200.
Nov. 30:
Lost $120 and played for 5 hours, equating to $24 lost every hour. Overall I am up $80.
Dec. 2:
Won $200 and played for 5 hours, equating to $40 an hour. Overall I am up $280.
Dec. 5:
Won $350 and played for 6 hours, equating to $58.33 an hour. Overall I am up $630.
Dec. 9:
Won $250 and played for 3 hours, equating to $83.33 an hour. Overall I am up $880.
Dec. 14:
Won $520 and played for 3 hours, equating to $173.33 an hour. Overall I am up $1,400.
Dec. 16:
Lost $300 and played for 5 hours, equating to $60 lost every hour. Overall I am up $1,100.
Dec. 17:
Won $250 and played for 2.5 hours, equating to $100 an hour. Overall I am up $1,350.
Dec. 21:
Won $265 and played for 7 hours, equating to $37.86 an hour. Overall I am up $1,615.
I plan on a trip tomorrow and then maybe once or twice more before the end of the year. It has been a great run I've been on and hopefully until I hear something about a job I will keep it going. Until tomorrow.
Monday, December 21, 2009
A Poor Ending To A Pleasant Day
Good evening.
I just made it home after another trip to Oklahoma's Winstar Casino, where I played another session of poker resulting in a win. I've been extremely lucky to have numerous winning sessions that are keeping my wife and I afloat financially. For the past month I have made about two trips a week to Winstar in order to make a little extra money to help things out at home. I didn't expect to win enough times in a row to actually make this sort of thing a real option, but it has been going very well.
After tonight's winnings of $265, I have won more than $1,600 in about five weeks of poker playing (including a game outside of Winstar in Weatherford). Since my buddy James wanted to get a little insight into my play each time I go to Oklahoma, I am doing my part and putting down into words my experience.
Like I said in the previous paragraph, tonight I won $265 after playing for seven hours. That equates to a little more than $37.75 an hour of work. Not bad.
I don't have a ton of stories about specific hands except for my final hand for the night. But before we get to that, I doubled up early in the session when my pocket eights hit an eight on the flop. The pre-flop raiser (who didn't see two cards he never liked) bet the flop and the turn, which led to us getting all the money in on the turn. He held kings and I won the pot.
I later lost about $60 of my stack when I had 8-6 and hit a six on the turn after it was checked around on the flop. I called a bet of $10 and it was heads-up going to the final card. The river was an eight and the original bettor (one of the blinds) put out $25. I raised the minimum with my two pair and was called by a higher two pair (J-6, he checked with a jack on the flop).
Won that money back a little later (and some more) with pocket threes when I flopped another set. A few hours later won a nice pot when I turned a flush with A-4 of clubs. The board was 10-J-Q-K. A kid who couldn't have been more than 19 called my turn bet of $10. The river put an ace on the board for a straight. I bet $30 hoping he would think I was just trying to get him off the straight that was out on the board. He called and I showed my flush.
I won a few more medium size pots with trip jacks and two pair. At the end of the night I was sitting at exactly $600 (and I had bought in for $200 resulting in a $400 profit for you math wizards). I went to get a rack so I could go home after a long day and told the table the hand being dealt would be my last. Well, since we know I only took away $265 in profit, the ending is already known. So here is the rest of the story.
My final hand became my next to final hand. I got A-6 of diamonds and called the two dollars. It was raised by the guy on my left who had $500 in front of him. He made it $16 pre-flop and I decided if I could hit something good (like diamonds or sixes) then I would make some good money. I missed the flop and folded as he reached for money.
Then I started to finish stacking my chips up when the dealer dealt me in for one more hand. I said, "Sure, why not. One more hand everyone." I looked down as I was racking my money to see two black kings. Crap! I raised it to $10 and was called by two people (one being the young kid I had beat earlier in the night with the flush when the straight was on the board, who had about $30 after the pre-flop call). The flop was 9-4-3 with two diamonds and one heart. I bet $15 and was called by both people. I didn't like being called by both, but felt I was still sitting okay with my two kings. The turn was the seven of hearts, presenting a board of 9-4-3-7 with two diamonds and two hearts. I quickly bet $50 knowing the kid could only call for a little less than $20 and hoping my aggressiveness would push the second guy out of the pot. I regretted the bet as soon as I made it and had I been thinking clearly probably would have bet less so I could get away from the hand if I was raised. I was met with a call by the kid and then a push for all in by the second guy. It was another $45 to call from me. So that put $235 in the pot and it was $45 to call. I kind of knew I was beat by one of them but was hoping it was the kid who had me beat and I could salvage some of this from the side pot by the second guy if he was on a flush draw.
Sadly, it was the kid on the flush draw and the second guy who had flopped a set of threes. The river was another nine and I didn't catch up. Sad day, but I still had money and it was still a good day.
That was about it for today. Tomorrow I will list my wins and losses for the past month to give you an idea of how I am doing at this little dream come true. Until then.
I just made it home after another trip to Oklahoma's Winstar Casino, where I played another session of poker resulting in a win. I've been extremely lucky to have numerous winning sessions that are keeping my wife and I afloat financially. For the past month I have made about two trips a week to Winstar in order to make a little extra money to help things out at home. I didn't expect to win enough times in a row to actually make this sort of thing a real option, but it has been going very well.
After tonight's winnings of $265, I have won more than $1,600 in about five weeks of poker playing (including a game outside of Winstar in Weatherford). Since my buddy James wanted to get a little insight into my play each time I go to Oklahoma, I am doing my part and putting down into words my experience.
Like I said in the previous paragraph, tonight I won $265 after playing for seven hours. That equates to a little more than $37.75 an hour of work. Not bad.
I don't have a ton of stories about specific hands except for my final hand for the night. But before we get to that, I doubled up early in the session when my pocket eights hit an eight on the flop. The pre-flop raiser (who didn't see two cards he never liked) bet the flop and the turn, which led to us getting all the money in on the turn. He held kings and I won the pot.
I later lost about $60 of my stack when I had 8-6 and hit a six on the turn after it was checked around on the flop. I called a bet of $10 and it was heads-up going to the final card. The river was an eight and the original bettor (one of the blinds) put out $25. I raised the minimum with my two pair and was called by a higher two pair (J-6, he checked with a jack on the flop).
Won that money back a little later (and some more) with pocket threes when I flopped another set. A few hours later won a nice pot when I turned a flush with A-4 of clubs. The board was 10-J-Q-K. A kid who couldn't have been more than 19 called my turn bet of $10. The river put an ace on the board for a straight. I bet $30 hoping he would think I was just trying to get him off the straight that was out on the board. He called and I showed my flush.
I won a few more medium size pots with trip jacks and two pair. At the end of the night I was sitting at exactly $600 (and I had bought in for $200 resulting in a $400 profit for you math wizards). I went to get a rack so I could go home after a long day and told the table the hand being dealt would be my last. Well, since we know I only took away $265 in profit, the ending is already known. So here is the rest of the story.
My final hand became my next to final hand. I got A-6 of diamonds and called the two dollars. It was raised by the guy on my left who had $500 in front of him. He made it $16 pre-flop and I decided if I could hit something good (like diamonds or sixes) then I would make some good money. I missed the flop and folded as he reached for money.
Then I started to finish stacking my chips up when the dealer dealt me in for one more hand. I said, "Sure, why not. One more hand everyone." I looked down as I was racking my money to see two black kings. Crap! I raised it to $10 and was called by two people (one being the young kid I had beat earlier in the night with the flush when the straight was on the board, who had about $30 after the pre-flop call). The flop was 9-4-3 with two diamonds and one heart. I bet $15 and was called by both people. I didn't like being called by both, but felt I was still sitting okay with my two kings. The turn was the seven of hearts, presenting a board of 9-4-3-7 with two diamonds and two hearts. I quickly bet $50 knowing the kid could only call for a little less than $20 and hoping my aggressiveness would push the second guy out of the pot. I regretted the bet as soon as I made it and had I been thinking clearly probably would have bet less so I could get away from the hand if I was raised. I was met with a call by the kid and then a push for all in by the second guy. It was another $45 to call from me. So that put $235 in the pot and it was $45 to call. I kind of knew I was beat by one of them but was hoping it was the kid who had me beat and I could salvage some of this from the side pot by the second guy if he was on a flush draw.
Sadly, it was the kid on the flush draw and the second guy who had flopped a set of threes. The river was another nine and I didn't catch up. Sad day, but I still had money and it was still a good day.
That was about it for today. Tomorrow I will list my wins and losses for the past month to give you an idea of how I am doing at this little dream come true. Until then.
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