1st few days of roll building!

So I played for quite a while yesterday, 1st notable hand I played was pocket ducks. I call on the button and the SB raises. BB calls and so do I. Flop is K Q 2 Bingo Bango Bongo!!! SB checks and BB bets out $20 (this is on $1/$2) I call, SB raises to $40, hmmmmm do not really like that but I don’t think I can get away. BB calls and I make it $70 ish to play. SB calls, pretty sure he has AK there and the BB folds. The SB then shoves on the turn! I instant call with my set and he flips over QQs, the BB claimed he had AK!! Oh well good start!!!! I managed to get my buyin back and the table broke, then played some $2/$4 and was doing well raising and c/bet a lot of flops.

I went through this time where people kept raising me on flops after my c/bet and of course I have air like always, so I decided to slow down a bit and really think about what kind of flops could c/bet with and what I shouldn’t. Read some thread on pocket fives where someone was having the exact same problem, he mentioned that so many players are raising flops with air and just trying to take pots away as they always put you on AK if you pop it pre, which is definitely not the case with me!!

I have also started playing AAs a lot differently; this is definitely the hand that you make a lot of money with on cash and in tournaments. I basically been playing it very slow, just limping and trying to get the pot heads up but if I limp and four go to the flop I will definitely be able to let it go. But most of the time I get it heads up and try and really go for the big pots even if that means checking the flop and the turn and giving them a chance to catch up. So far the plan has worked making a lot of money with AAs, although lost a $900 pot yday with AA against 44 after I limped re raise from UTG flop was 4 7 9 all spades and I was holding the As, we get the money in the turn was a spade! But the river paired the board!! Yuk! But AAs still my favourite hand!!!

Another interesting hand at $2/$4 was UTG opens I call with Akoff and the button re raises to $55. UTG calls and I call. Obviously could play the hand differently but I was in the mood to see a flop, also had position on the UTG raiser although it had now been taken away. In terms of reads I guessed the re raiser had AK JJ QQ KK AA, had not seen him get out of line at all. Flop K J x, ok good flop for hitting top pair but since I played the hand slow pre I like to stick to that line of thought and play pretty snug in this spot. UTG checks I follow and the button bets out $110, UTG calls and I call. The turn is a brick we checked to the button who now checks, ok pretty sure he has QQs here. But I have know idea what UTG I doing! The river was another brick and UTG checks, now I should be valuing betting here to try and get QQs to pay me off but the pot was pretty big and I was still a little bit worried about UTG, also I give the button a chance to bluff at the pot. Also if he has AAs here which is possible I think he checks behind and I get away from another bet. He could easily be controlling the size of the pot with the bullets here and be happy with the $500 in the middle. He then checks behind and shows QQs my AK is good and maybe missed a bet there but oh well, UTG had T9, just a gutshot hoping to get lucky!!

Controlling pots is something I have stopped doing on the turn, this is more of a Barry Greenstein play. If people are check calling and calling they are probably on a draw or on too sure about their hand, I am more than happy to check the river in position but checking turns with Top pair hoping to control the pot is something I used to do, which I feel is really weak, especially as you give them a chance to bluff you on the river if they miss a draw and you can only beat a bluff. You basically give yourself a tough decision, which I don’t like to do in poker. So for example, I have KJ and raised and get one caller, flop is J 9 3 with two hearts, he check I bet, he calls, now I will always bet out on the turn and not control the pot even if a Q/T/8 or a heart peels off. Then on the river he is more likely to check to me as I have fired 2 shells, I will check behind if I feel I am beat. (but depends on the board.) If I am out of position I will fire the river and fold to a raise, basically put a blocker bet out to avoid calling a larger bet or folding the best hand. If I get raised and depending on the player I say well done fold and move on. A lot of the times yday I was betting the whole way ahead even when I just had T high, they catch up on the river and I checked behind them, meaning I got all the money in the pot ahead and nothing when I was behind which is pretty much all you can do! Ship those Slanksy bucks!!!

Currently about $650 up on Rivercard! And some more action points for my $1500 seat!

Poker Stars!! Hates me!! And I hate them!!! Played a few 1000 runner comps and keep getting deep like in the top 2-5% but cant seem to do better, this really sucks as you play for 5 hours and get about 4x your money back, considering these are $8, $10 rebuys its not a great amount especially when 1st gets around $5-$7k!!

Just played a few sats just now for the million and WSOP qualify as well as a $10 rebuy, lost with A8 vs T3 all in pre, QQ vs AK vs A7 all in pre, KKs vs AJ all in pre and some other crap along the way!!! Was pretty sick considering it happened in the space of ten minutes with my housemate wondering what is going on! As I am not doing great online Guv has suggested going to StarCity in Birmingham to play the £20 rebuy at 4.30pm and the £20 at 9pm, if we want, so I decided to go as my luck online ain't great at the moment! Playing some $2/$4 now which is going ok SO FAR!!!

Rivercard : $2,600
Poker Stars : $450
Live : $1000