The Big Cash Effect

You figure that, by being unemployed & playing poker most of the day every day, this blog would be a lot more active. You would figure, except that I'm too lazy to put any worthwhile content up here, at least in terms of poker analysis. Maybe one day.

I played some poker tonight. Now that I'm out of school, I finally got back to playing the Mookie, which basically went like this: fold, fold, fold, push AJ into AK and win, fold, fold, fold, push AT into AK and KK and lose. Finished 16th or something, which would be decent if it was a BBT3 field, but with 46 people, that's barely top 1\3rd.

Also played the $24 PLO tournament. Went out pretty early when I limped AA27 - the Hammer Aces - UTG because I knew BB was pretty spewy. Sure enough, he pots from the BB against the limpers and I repot UTG. Flop is J94 rainbow and he calls my pot bet. Turn is a 4s and he pots. I still think my AA is good so I push. He shows Q983 for nothing but middle pair & the 4s gives him like 4th nut flush draw. River is a 3. 3s. 4th nut flush is good. Dumbass.

Last MTT of the night was the 50-50, my first time playing this. Took me a moment to discover that Surflexus was at my table. He recognized me, which took me by surprise because we've never really chatted before, but we took advantage of the blogger recognition to chat throughout the game about the donkeys around us. I worked my stack up decently, hovering above an average stack for most of the first two hours, thanks mostly to this sick hand:

Seat 1: mclarich (4,955)
Seat 2: TwoPointO (10,975)
Seat 3: shipemherenow (7,219)
Seat 4: pkrprov1 (4,908)
Seat 5: surflexus (4,740)
Seat 6: JaSkin (5,395)
Seat 7: zuleh (5,395)
Seat 8: hui (5,896)
Seat 9: rooky07 (5,600)
hui posts the small blind of 50
rooky07 posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Kc Ks]
mclarich raises to 300
TwoPointO folds
shipemherenow folds
pkrprov1 has 15 seconds left to act
pkrprov1 raises to 900
surflexus folds
JaSkin folds
zuleh folds
hui folds
rooky07 folds
mclarich has 15 seconds left to act
mclarich raises to 3,100 (only one hand I'm afraid of)
pkrprov1 has 15 seconds left to act
pkrprov1 raises to 4,908, and is all in (guess he has it)
mclarich calls 1,808
pkrprov1 shows [Ad Ah] (doh)
mclarich shows [Kc Ks]
*** FLOP *** [Jd 9d 7d] (worst flop ever)
*** TURN *** [Jd 9d 7d] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 9d 7d 2c] [Kh]
pkrprov1 shows a pair of Aces
mclarich shows three of a kind, Kings
mclarich wins the pot (9,966) with three of a kind, Kings
pkrprov1 stands up

Just your standard one outer, typical.

Anyways, my demise started when I called a push from a small stack with 99, racing against KQ. The call was for half my stack but I was playing for the win and felt that I was most likely ahead. Turn is a K and, just for good measure, river is the nut flush. I couldn't recover, although I lasted long enough to cash and at least eek out a small profit.

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Anyways, none of that is really about the post title. What I've been thinking about lately is how the effect of a big cash has on how I've been playing poker lately. I'm certainly not complaining about finally getting a big score; I'm much happier with my bankroll now than I was two months ago.

But what I've noticed lately is that I'm no longer content with continuing to grind it out. The intent of my bankroll challenge was to get a big enough bankroll that I could start playing $20 SNGs and MTTs of similar buyins. But the feeling of that big MTT cash has changed that, and I'm not really interested in spending my time in SNGs for $70 a victory.

I've started playing some $.50\$1 cash games, and it's been hit or miss. I've started adjusting better to these games, and while I'm still able to spew money every now & then with TPTK when everything is telling me I'm beat, I've become more patient & been able to log a couple decent sessions recently. But unless I'm able to get up a buyin or more, I'm not content with playing for an hour or two and finishing with $10 profit (or worse, getting stacked).

I guess the point of this post is that, now that I've got this bankroll, what do I do with it? I don't really want to do another "bankroll challenge". Setting a goal is one thing, but really, I didn't hit my first goal because I grinded my way there, it was all just one fell swoop. I really don't want to try to get $5k or so through $20-$30 SNGs.

The other factor is this; it's nice to have a decent bankroll to work with, but that money is definitely better served elsewhere. I try not to think about is as money that I can apply elsewhere, since it's practically impossible to withdraw from FTP, but if there ever became a quick way to withdraw, I would have to give serious thought about taking out a significant chunk of it, even if it meant dropping back down in stakes. I'm not playing with scared money though; it's hard to play with scared money when FTP's withdrawal system makes it seem more like non-existent money. But if I were to incur a significant downswing, it would be tough to swallow.

Ugh. As I'm writing this, I lose AA to 65 blind vs blind. At least he was a short stack and only cost me $30.

Anyways, again, I'm certainly not complaining, I'm just trying to express how it's difficult to get back into the "grind-it-out" mindset. I want to be playing for significant money, but I'm also trying to balance that with continued bankroll management. As greedy as it sounds to say this, I just need another big MTT score right about now.

OK, now you can commence with your flaming.

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Congrats! If you've made it this far, I've got a bonus for you: a hand history!

One of the things I'm trying to figure out is playing sooted connectors at these stakes. For the most part, at full ring $.50\$1, the play is pretty straight forward. 3-bets usually mean AA, KK or AK it seems about 75% of the time, unless its a resteal or some lagtard. It's definitely a much tighter game than I'm used to after playing $5 SNGs for so long. In this hand, I don't know much about my opponent, which means it's probably best to play it safe, but instead I decide to float him with T9 sooted.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6779937251: Table Waterhen - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 3:24:05 ET - 2008/06/11
Seat 1: giveusakiss ($87.20)
Seat 2: concretepear ($38.80)
Seat 3: AAPokerGirl ($98.50)
Seat 4: raisinchips ($134.40)
Seat 5: mclarich ($102.60)
Seat 6: NuggetMaster420 ($200.85)
Seat 7: dbrill ($128.95)
Seat 8: Roon2020 ($80)
Seat 9: willieAA ($40)
giveusakiss posts the small blind of $0.50
concretepear posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [9s Ts]
AAPokerGirl folds
raisinchips folds
mclarich calls $1
NuggetMaster420 folds
dbrill has 15 seconds left to act
dbrill raises to $4
Roon2020 folds
giveusakiss folds
concretepear folds
mclarich calls $3

Preflop: Of course, I'm out of position but I'm willing to see a flop.

*** FLOP *** [Tc Kh Js]
mclarich checks
dbrill has 15 seconds left to act
dbrill bets $6
mclarich has 15 seconds left to act
mclarich calls $6

Flop: Not the greatest flop for me, and I could be well behind a set as tight as these games are. AQ is a possibility too. It's a dangerous hand, but unless he flopped the nuts, it's the potential for him to be a scary board as well, perhaps. I decide to call and see what the turn brings.

*** TURN *** [Tc Kh Js] [8s]

Turn: I'll get to the action in a moment. So the turn brings the best possible card for me, giving me the flush outs + a OESD both ways (although the Q may not be an out).

mclarich checks
dbrill has 15 seconds left to act
dbrill bets $15
mclarich raises to $47
dbrill has 15 seconds left to act
dbrill raises to $118.95, and is all in
mclarich calls $45.60, and is all in
dbrill shows [Kd As]
mclarich shows [9s Ts]

So the Q isn't an out, but I still have 17 outs: any spade, T or 9 will do.

Uncalled bet of $26.35 returned to dbrill
*** RIVER *** [Tc Kh Js 8s] [Qc]
dbrill shows a straight, Ace high
mclarich shows a straight, King high
dbrill wins the pot ($203.70) with a straight, Ace high

So, was this just a bad way of trying to float someone, or should I have bet the turn harder? If I push the turn, it's a lot harder for him to call off $92 with TPTK on that board. Any thoughts or criticism is welcome.