Sunday, January 22, 2006

Ladbrokes: 244 dollars
Pacific: 251 dollars

Total: 495 dollars

TRIPPING UP.

Lots of variance this week. On Pacific, I've been in the 270's and down to the 220's before ending up just 10 dollars up or so. I've mainly been trying to play on the .50/1.00 tables but I can't always find a nice soft ring game at the time I want to play (a bit surprising that) so I've sometimes been playing .25/.50 again. One time I couldn't even find that and played a bit on Laddies instead - hence the slight movement there.

Saddest hand of the week came in a .50/1.00 game when I raised late with 88 and hit my set on the flop, which was 48Q rainbow. An early player raised (paired the Q I presumed, correctly it transpired) and I reraised with a couple of limpers tagging on. The turn produces a 6, still no flush possiblities. One of the previous limpers now starts betting, which gets me checking things out. Possibly two pair, but may have hit his set too, but mines higher, was my thinking. I didn't consider the straight for more than a nanosecond. Who would call all those bets needing two cards for an inside straight? The river came with an A and we capped out the betting leaving a 34 dollar hand...which of course I lost to the straight. SIGH. The trouble is that you can react to this sort of thing by becoming too cautious and backing off when anything remotely scary appears on the board. Discipline, my boy! Not long after I was tested with trips 9's when someone hit an obvious straight on the turn. I just called and was fortunate that the board then paired so I was able to take him down with a full house - just 19 dollars there though.

1 comment:

_Kronsdat said...

I would be like you on this one and would bet it hard. My take on it is that you have to make as much out of it as you can when your top pair does hold up. This is to compensate for the times when one of the villains hits his draw. Of course sometimes you will hit your overcard yourself.

The number of folk on Pacific who will chase runner, runner flushes with any two suited cards is amazing. You have to respect it when they hit but most of the time you are taking their money.

My vulnerability seems to be in the big multiway pots with good drawing hands. I had a hand this week where 89D hit 7D AD 10C. It was capped out before the flop and there was much activity which I limped along with to the river. Despite all the outs, nothing hit and I'm down 8 dollars.

I could do with a few of these hitting for me, but then couldn't we all! :-)