Well, I've been really busy ... so I haven't posted in a while as you can see.
I went on vacation with my wife ... a driving tour of South Dakota. Kindof an odd vacation, but very enjoyable nonetheless. It was driving distance for us, and could be done fairly inexpensively. The nice thing is that I paid for the vacation with money won from playing poker ... so it didn't put a crimp in our budget.
Custer State Park in the Black Hills was awesome, as was Mt Rushmore ... I even got in some poker at Deadwood; I lost a little money, but it was fun. The Badlands are a combination of bleak and beautiful ... truly amazing geology. If I had webhosting, I'd post my pics ... but alas, I'm a technilogical buffoon. The only disappointing experience was the Crazy Horse Memorial ... which is really pretty cool, but I didn't expect it to be the massive fundraiser that it turned out to be ... You can see it from the road, I'd recommend just driving past. If you have a camera with a good zoom, you're all set.
Back to poker, I have been selective with my play at higher limits with good success. My forays into 10/20 have been very successful, but they are few and far between. I am really looking for ideal conditions when I play those high limits.
My shorthanded play continues to be very good, and I have reduced the variance in my game at shorthanded play. I don't really know how actually, but I think it comes from a better understanding of the dynamics of short play. I am getting better at being selectively aggressive.
For instance, I had a hand the other night that I was extremely proud of and I thought typified how well my play has been. I had K9s on the button at a 5 player table ... 1 limper, I raise (this is short, and I mix my play up here b/w raising, calling ... even folding sometimes). The sb, bb and limper all call ... I have position.
The flop comes Q95 ... giving me middle pair. It is checked to me, and I bet with my middle pair. The SB folds, the BB calls, as does the limper. The turn is an 8 and it is checked to me again. Normally, I would bet middle pair again, no one has show any strength, but in thinking about the hand, I begin to consider what the two others were calling with. Remember, these are 5 player tables ... very loose, and sometimes very aggressive. A set is unlikely, people bet pocket pairs at 5 player tables; a Queen is possible, but it would have to be a Q with a good kicker ... enough to slow play in the face of a raise ... but again, KQ, AQ, even QJ sometimes, are raising hands at a short table preflop.
In the span of 10 seconds, I have a firm grasp on the fact that one of the two has TJ and has made a straight. I know that I may be wrong ... but I don't have squat anyway ... so why piss into the wind. Bear in mind, that I play aggressively at these short tables ... I win a lot of pots on triple bluffs (this is limit of course) ... bet preflop, flop, turn, and sometimes even river if it appears the other guy has missed a draw. I also fold a lot, so it's hard to put me on a hand. As such, my reads are very important. It is checked to me, and instead of my instict, which is bet ... I check ... the river is a blank ... the BB checks, and the preflop limper bets ... ez fold for me ... the BB calls.
Surprise surprise, the limper shows TJ for the nut straight ... I absolutely minimized my losses. A perfect hand, I was ahead preflop and raised ... ahead on the flop and bet ... the turn was a very bad card, but disguised, I recognized it and avoided the trap ...
Some out there may be thinking ... what the hell are you doing raising with K9s anyway? If you are one of those people, you don't understand shorthanded play. Yes, I may miss and have to lay it down, but K9s is a solid hand at a short table ... esp where no one has shown strength. It's a different ballgame from full table play.
It's late, but I think I'm gonna see if I can find a tournament to play ...
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