How To Play Pocket Kings
2 months ago
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Bingo, Sunday Hundred Grand & NL10
What a busy week end! From me pushing to close the small gap to NL10, to my first experience in a "big" online tourney to a friendly session of bingo poker. So much stuff about this week end that I'm not too sure where to start. I won't go in chronological order since the load of online cash games I've played this week end is just a big blur and, anyway, I'm not a big fan of order.
Saturday night, Mel and I had a small casual poker night with a few friends we had not seen in a long time. With 60,000 chips, blinds at 1000/2000 and doubling every 15 minutes, this was pretty much a crapshoot. Add the fact that half the people there did not care about cards and were there just to hang out, and that we were playing for ridiculously small stakes (2$) and this was pretty much a crapshoot. I still managed to do well and finished 2nd.
Even though that saturday night bingo session was entertaining, this week end was all about 2 things : my push to get my bankroll big enough to take a shot at NL10, and the sunday hundred grand. I played cash games like a mad man the whole week end and finally, late sunday night after the tourney (more on that later), I made it. Having taken my monday off, I immediatly jumped on 4 NL10 tables and went on a close to 20$ downswing. If you recall my post about my bankroll management guidelines, this was close to throwing me back to the fscking penny games. I closed all 4 tables, took a short break and decided to take things a bit more slowly. Started playing on 2 tables and managed to win back most of that downswing before going to bed. Then on monday I went on a sick tear. I just couldn't do anything wrong, and when I made a bad call the poker gods would help me by giving me a nice suckout. When I went to bed last night, my roll was up to around 137$, giving me some breathing room at NL10.
A few realisations from my quick dip in NL10.
- My bankroll management guidelines for microstakes are VERY aggressive. And I do mean VERY aggressive. I have to admit that at first, with barely 10 buy-ins I was not quite comfortable there, especially starting with a nice 2 buy-ins downswing. I've now settled into it and playing fewer tables at once helps. Will see if I change my guidelines to move up to NL25.
- I have to get used to playing shorter stacks.
- NL10 is WAY more tight and players have a better grasp of how and when to be aggressive. Don't get me wrong, this level still seems relatively easy to beat with basic ABC poker, but that and the shorter stacks mean I had to make a few small adjustments.
Now about that sunday hundred grand... Well my @#$(*&! piece of 5H17 PC decided to die on me in the middle of it. Not only that, it died on the river, when I had top 2 pairs, a lot invested in the pot and about to call a bet from someone. I managed to come back and play on Mel's laptop (she generously put aside her work to allow me to finish my tourney! thx!!!). Anyway, I came back short stacked and SEVERLY tilted from the whole thing. Needless to say it didn't go really well. I am still happy to have tried it though and it gave me precious hindsight for my next try. Even with 3000 starting chips, I thought the whole thing moved pretty fast... way faster than I expected. Next time I will play more aggressively right off the bat.
So there it is, my whole week end. I have to say that it was a very good week end. I had set myself the goal to be at NL10 before the end of the year and here I am. When I first deposited to pokerstars last January, I wanted to make poker some sort of sideline income before the end of 2007. I am not quite there yet (how little did I know back then!) but I am definitly on the right track.
So now what's next? NL25. I want to be there before next summer, then up to NL50 by the end of 2008. When does that make me move to being a professional poker player? I don't know yet, but I'll make sure to keep my eyes on the prize.
Surely, step by step, I am going through with my poker plan...
Saturday night, Mel and I had a small casual poker night with a few friends we had not seen in a long time. With 60,000 chips, blinds at 1000/2000 and doubling every 15 minutes, this was pretty much a crapshoot. Add the fact that half the people there did not care about cards and were there just to hang out, and that we were playing for ridiculously small stakes (2$) and this was pretty much a crapshoot. I still managed to do well and finished 2nd.
Even though that saturday night bingo session was entertaining, this week end was all about 2 things : my push to get my bankroll big enough to take a shot at NL10, and the sunday hundred grand. I played cash games like a mad man the whole week end and finally, late sunday night after the tourney (more on that later), I made it. Having taken my monday off, I immediatly jumped on 4 NL10 tables and went on a close to 20$ downswing. If you recall my post about my bankroll management guidelines, this was close to throwing me back to the fscking penny games. I closed all 4 tables, took a short break and decided to take things a bit more slowly. Started playing on 2 tables and managed to win back most of that downswing before going to bed. Then on monday I went on a sick tear. I just couldn't do anything wrong, and when I made a bad call the poker gods would help me by giving me a nice suckout. When I went to bed last night, my roll was up to around 137$, giving me some breathing room at NL10.
A few realisations from my quick dip in NL10.
- My bankroll management guidelines for microstakes are VERY aggressive. And I do mean VERY aggressive. I have to admit that at first, with barely 10 buy-ins I was not quite comfortable there, especially starting with a nice 2 buy-ins downswing. I've now settled into it and playing fewer tables at once helps. Will see if I change my guidelines to move up to NL25.
- I have to get used to playing shorter stacks.
- NL10 is WAY more tight and players have a better grasp of how and when to be aggressive. Don't get me wrong, this level still seems relatively easy to beat with basic ABC poker, but that and the shorter stacks mean I had to make a few small adjustments.
Now about that sunday hundred grand... Well my @#$(*&! piece of 5H17 PC decided to die on me in the middle of it. Not only that, it died on the river, when I had top 2 pairs, a lot invested in the pot and about to call a bet from someone. I managed to come back and play on Mel's laptop (she generously put aside her work to allow me to finish my tourney! thx!!!). Anyway, I came back short stacked and SEVERLY tilted from the whole thing. Needless to say it didn't go really well. I am still happy to have tried it though and it gave me precious hindsight for my next try. Even with 3000 starting chips, I thought the whole thing moved pretty fast... way faster than I expected. Next time I will play more aggressively right off the bat.
So there it is, my whole week end. I have to say that it was a very good week end. I had set myself the goal to be at NL10 before the end of the year and here I am. When I first deposited to pokerstars last January, I wanted to make poker some sort of sideline income before the end of 2007. I am not quite there yet (how little did I know back then!) but I am definitly on the right track.
So now what's next? NL25. I want to be there before next summer, then up to NL50 by the end of 2008. When does that make me move to being a professional poker player? I don't know yet, but I'll make sure to keep my eyes on the prize.
Surely, step by step, I am going through with my poker plan...
Monday, December 03, 2007
Downswing and a nice comeback
It seems like an habit for me to start a month with a downswing. I don't know if it's just a random trend or if I'm on to something. But anyway, last night I decided to start playing and grind the few $ I needed to finally move up stakes. Well turns out it was one of those nights where I just couldn't hit anything and people would keep hiting against me. I ended up with a 350 BB downswing and a steaming a bit.
I decided to take a short break and when I came back I thought "what the heck. I want to play but feel like it's one of these nights where I need to do some damage control". That's how I decided to invest a small amount to enter a satellite for the Sunday Hundred Grand on stars.
It took me some time to get this thing rolling and I did not really pick up a hand until the first break. Then after the break I had to take some chances and I doubled up twice to put me back to the average stack. Then I turned on the aggression and managed to steal a few pots and I was finally in good shape. Then I just hit the zone. I don't know how else to describe it... When I play tournaments I sometimes end up feeling like everything just clicks. I instinctivly know when to steal, when to tone down aggression and when to go all out.
Anyway, when we got 6 handed I had a stack I had managed to build up to about 16K (about 10K behind the chip leader) and I picked up pocket Kings in mid pos with blinds of 300/600 and a 50 ante. UTG calls the BB and I make it 2400 to go. The shortest stack pushes his last 1818 chips in the middle and another relatively short stack pushes half his remaining chips in the middle for a call. Dlop comes J-J-5 rainbow.
The guy in the small blind then checks with only 2587 chips left, so I bet 2600 putting him all in figuring that there's a good chance I have the best hand and even if I lose the main pot AND the sidepot I will still be left with plenty of chips to play. He thinks for a while and calls.
The small blind flips 9-9, the shortest stack flips A-K. Turn comes a deuce and the river brings a harmless ten and that's all she wrote. I now have a seat in next sunday's hundred grand!
I decided to take a short break and when I came back I thought "what the heck. I want to play but feel like it's one of these nights where I need to do some damage control". That's how I decided to invest a small amount to enter a satellite for the Sunday Hundred Grand on stars.
It took me some time to get this thing rolling and I did not really pick up a hand until the first break. Then after the break I had to take some chances and I doubled up twice to put me back to the average stack. Then I turned on the aggression and managed to steal a few pots and I was finally in good shape. Then I just hit the zone. I don't know how else to describe it... When I play tournaments I sometimes end up feeling like everything just clicks. I instinctivly know when to steal, when to tone down aggression and when to go all out.
Anyway, when we got 6 handed I had a stack I had managed to build up to about 16K (about 10K behind the chip leader) and I picked up pocket Kings in mid pos with blinds of 300/600 and a 50 ante. UTG calls the BB and I make it 2400 to go. The shortest stack pushes his last 1818 chips in the middle and another relatively short stack pushes half his remaining chips in the middle for a call. Dlop comes J-J-5 rainbow.
The guy in the small blind then checks with only 2587 chips left, so I bet 2600 putting him all in figuring that there's a good chance I have the best hand and even if I lose the main pot AND the sidepot I will still be left with plenty of chips to play. He thinks for a while and calls.
The small blind flips 9-9, the shortest stack flips A-K. Turn comes a deuce and the river brings a harmless ten and that's all she wrote. I now have a seat in next sunday's hundred grand!
Saturday, December 01, 2007
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