Monday 29 October 2007

My Biggest Online NL Holdem Pot to Date

I thought I would post the hand history to the biggest pot I have played on line to date. It came early on in a poker session this October after having won enough over the last few months to move up to the $1/$2 blind levels from the $0.50/$1 blind levels.

I must admit it did get the heart pumping ... especially as I had just moved up to this level and didn't want to be forced to move back down again. My thoughts from the hand as I remember them at the time and now in hind sight are written in red.


Hand P4-52047410-108, Started at 18/10/2007 12:05 (EDT)
Table 'Seabrook': $2-$2 No Limit HE (Real)
Seat 0: reinholzer ($205.60 in chips)
Seat 1: tohRudi ($150.80 in chips)
Seat 2: Vivi120894 ($20 in chips)
Seat 3: sobo1953 ($50.20 in chips)
Seat 4: GTheJester ($195 in chips)
Seat 5: GMAYC ($214.75 in chips)
Seat 6: Banderaszx ($204.85 in chips)
Seat 7: kemona120178 ($133.15 in chips) (on the button)
Seat 8: rdnman ($198 in chips)
Seat 9: pkh123 ($147.40 in chips)

***Blind Round***

rdnman : Post Blind ($1)
pkh123 : Post Blind ($2)
Dealt to GTheJester:


"Looking down at 99 I didn't want to see too much pre flop action so was happy for it to fold around to me. Then I had the decision to call or raise. I opted to call because I had very little information on the players yet to act, so was playing it as a fit or fold hand."
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*** Pre-Flop ***

reinholzer : Fold
tohRudi : Fold
Vivi120894 : Fold
sobo1953 : Fold
GTheJester : Call ($2)
GMAYC : Fold
Banderaszx : Bet ($8)
kemona120178 : Fold
rdnman : Fold
pkh123 : Call ($6)
GTheJester : Call ($6)

"The raise from Banderaszx concerned me at the time because I had no read on his raising requirements; i would now be out of position for the rest of the hand and it would be very difficult to continue after the flop if I missed my set and there were overcards. I was pondering a re raise before pkh123 called but would more likely have let this hand go. However pkh123's call meant that if I did hit my set I was more likely to get paid off to the correct implied odds, so I continued to call with my fit or fold strategy".
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*** Flop ***
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pkh123 : Check
GTheJester : Bet ($23)
Banderaszx : Call ($23)
pkh123 : Raise ($139.40) All In
GTheJester : Call ($116.40)
Banderaszx : Raise ($173.85) All In
GTheJester : Call ($47.60) All In

"Woo Hoo I hit my set .... then the reality of the flop set in. Was I facing a better set? Was there a flush draw out there? I thought that pkh123's check showed he was weak in the BB and put out a pot bet to deny any flush draw odds. I didn't want this pot to get too big right now and would like to get it to heads up. When Banderaszx called I suspected AK (with spades of sorts), or a flush draw. pkh123's all in was screaming JJ or straight and flush draws. I elected to call in the hope that Banderaszx would come along to create a side pot (which he did) so I may at least have a chance to cut my losses if I were already behind. Then the heart started pumping and I started praying"
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*** Turn ***
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*** River ***

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"The last two cards were a blur, had someone just set up their Aces and I was convinced the flush had hit. Goodbye $200?"
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*** SUMMARY ***

Pot: $545.25 Rake: $3
Board:


GTheJester bet $195, collected $535.40, net $340.40 Shows

(three nines)

Banderaszx bet $204.85, collected $9.85, net -$195 Shows

(a pair of Kings)

pkh123 lost $147.40 Shows

(a pair of Queens)
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So I won the hand but can't help feeling that I got very lucky. Had I re raised pre flop the ensuing action would have meant that I would have had to dump the hand. My game plan went well until the flop came down, after that all of my reads were wrong and the pot escalated so quickly all I could do was get my money in.
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But hey, I won the hand and Octobers funds were gladly boosted.
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I would love to hear your comments.
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So until next post.
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Keep it Tight!

Sunday 28 October 2007

The year so far!

At the start of the year I decided to see if I could win at poker, so on January 1st 2007 I created a poker log to record every single game I played. Be this on line, at the casino or just with my mates.



My poker spread sheet logs the buy in amount, cash returns, poker sites played, bonuses earnt etc. It has now grown quite complex and I intend to post it to this site at the beginning of the new year so that everyone can see my 2007 results and follow my progress through 2008.

This log is used to manage my bankroll and aid in game selection - I will post a more detailed explanation of my banking methods in future posts for you to comment on.

One thing it has highlighted however is how important bank roll management as well as game selection is in being a winning player.

Up until June 2007 my intention was (and still is) to use my winnings to work my way up the blind structures. I was basically treading water with my poker profits at stakes of $0.10/$0.25, $0.25/$0.50 NL blinds and couldn't see any way of making money at this great game.

Then I decided to delve into my log to see where my winnings were going. From the log I could identify the sites I was winning on as well as the stakes and game type I was successful at.

I was basically playing too many multi tournaments with too little return, and should have been concentrating on full ring cash games to fund the rest of my poker game selection.

So since June I have made a renewed effort to clear a regular profit, and with my top cash game blinds of $0.50/$1.00 NL I was averaging approx $300 profit per month. This month I have managed to work my way up to the $1/$2 NL level (interspersed with drops back to $0.50/$1.00 no limit). I need more of a sample to assess my profits including the $1/$2 level but going on the October results it looks promising to be a substantial increase on my previous profits.

Admittedly at these levels I am never going to make a living playing poker, but that is not the goal at this stage. I will post more about my immeadiate goals later but for now I will continue to play in an effort to go onwards and upwards.

So for now ...

Keep It Tight!

Friday 19 October 2007

Let me introduce myself ...

This is the first post (of what I hope will be many) to discuss and share my poker experiences with others interested in the poker world.

I will be sharing the highs and lows and some of the successes and failures in my quest to make some money (and possibly some fame ... "Dream ON!") by playing this great game.

So about me ..... I am 37 years old, live in the UK and until recently was working for myself in the Building Controls Industry. A while ago I made the decision that I was going to get out of the rat race and spend a little time pursuing my interests of which poker is the main one. Now is that time.

I have been playing poker for about 2 years now, both live and online and have had a little success along the way.

My poker screen name is GTheJester but sometimes takes the form GJester, G_Jester etc.

I play a number of different poker sites for a number of different reasons, all to be explained as my game plan unfolds.

I just want to say that this is not just going to be a self indulgent look at my poker game. I want it to be the truth about how to win (or lose) money by playing poker.

Well thats the quick intro over with, now to sign off, play some poker and create the next installment.

Until next time.

Keep it Tight!