Victory at home

This past week I played in a small home game. I was dealt Ah Qh. Much betting ensued. With 4 people in the pot, the flop came down Kh - Jh - Ad. 2 other players were short stacked and pretty much pot committed. The third was a fairly tight player with some good experience. I bet out enough to put the first two players all-in and to scare off the third. It worked

I had a nut flush draw (8 outs), and a straight draw (3 outs), and a straight flush draw(1 out). This put me at about 48% to win the hand and knock out two players. If I got the worst of it, the all-in bet was less than %15 of my stack.

I hit a 5h on the river, making the nut flush. I rolled on from there, playing some rather aggressive big stack poker. Entering heads up play I had about a 7-1 chip advantage and I made seeing the flop VERY expensive for my opponent. When she called my J7, the flop came K-J-3. She checked, I bet 1/4 of the pot which she had to call. I should have bet half the pot. The turn came a 7 making me 2 pair. She checked, and I pushed all in for probably the 3rd out of the last 4 hands. Frustrated with my play she called with K8. The river was a blank and the game was over.



The downside, this was MY home game. That's right, ask them over, take their money. To make matters worse, it was a bounty tournament and I knocked out 7 of my 8 competitors. I felt a little bad, but it was a low stakes game. I got fleeced last time and probably will next time; if anyone comes back.

:)

Manage My Frustration?

I have been running pretty bad today. The one thing that I notice is that no matter how often I remind myself that I need to focus and make good decisions, I go blank and psychotic. In the end I think that I am just letting myself get too wrapped up in the outcome. I am letting my desire for what I WANT to happen over-ride my ability to judge what IS happening. Maybe a nap, or something else. Playing multiple games at once probably does not help either.

Here is hoping I can settle down.

R

The Story So Far

I have been playing poker for about a year. Like many today, I got into the craze for No-Limit Texas Hold'em back during the NHL lock-out. I am up in home games and I am still playing on my original deposit on-line (in the black at the time of this posting).

I mainly play tournaments, but lets face it, I am a very low limit player. This is just a reality of my life. I don't have the money to go big and I am addicted to the game, not the gamble. I want to go up, but it will be from winning and saving. I have won a number of low limit single and multi-table tournaments.

It's not easy to practice solid skills when surrounded by players who just down give a darn about strategy or success, but I am managing.

This blog is mainly a diary for me, but as time goes on, I imagine others will read it. I will never be authority enough to really teach anyone. You may not agree with what I write on any given day, but in a weeks time, I might not either.

enjoy.