Throwing a Curveball

Friday started out OK with a lot of grinding and wheel spinning. I spent most of the day with my sick son watching cartoons and playing poker. I think I was even for the day overall with a multitude of my flopped two pair getting beat by sets with no pairs on the board. I dealt well with this for the most part realizing that variance was just slapping me.

The best time I had was tripling up on a 10NL table. I had 96 in the BB and saw the flop with 6 others. The flop is 9d6dAc and I bet .50. Two callers see the turn 6h and my $1.10 bet. Both call. Now I have a boat and I’m hoping a diamond hits on the river. It does and I bet small. Both players push and I call. They had the nut flush and second nut flush respectively. Thank you and come again.

Check out this hand. I have Kc9c in the SB and call a small raise with 5 other players ($1.05). The flop comes Qc6c7d. I bet .90, BB calls, and UTG raises it to $2.50. What would you do? I have the right odds so I call, BB calls. Turn is an 8d. I have an OESD and the second nut flush draw. With 15 outs, maybe 12 if he has trips, I check. This may have been bad in that a bet may have protected my draw. Anyway he bets $6. Should I call this? I’m paying $6 to win $14 and will win about 30% of the time. I called and hit a ten to take down the pot. Is this a positive play in the long run? I think it’s a winner in the long run. By the way my opponent held pocket queens. I only had 12 outs as he had trips. I put him on AQ, which was a bad read on my part and unlucky for him.

The Dirty Dozen SNGs at Noble are still a cash cow for the most part. I finally passed my high water mark during a SNG session last so I am feeling better about my quest. The only thing I need to change is my desire to play the MTTs while trying to increase the bankroll at Noble. The fields are soft but I can make more playing NL and the SNGs. The hits I take when I don’t cash during my MTT trials have induced a –ev phenomenon that sees me going nowhere. I think I will avoid them for a while.

Mothers Day brought everyone to our house to celebrate the event as well as M’s birthday. She will be 10 next week. Anyway, my brother-n-law likes to play some cards but had never jumped onto the virtual felt. During small talk he tells me he had deposited $100 on Party Poker. It last him about 3 weeks before he went on bankroll tilt. It’s the usual story of playing over your limit and that before he knew it he was down to nothing. This brought up the subject of money management and how to protect your investment.

I told him that he is the type of player that the sharks are looking for by playing beyond his limits. It isn’t that he doesn’t play the game well, but that he needs to work within the constraints of his bankroll. My suggestion was to play games that allowed him to have 50 buy-ins. This is a conservative number but it allows him time to grow within the game. As he improves he can adjust his risk of ruin to a level that is more comfortable. I don’t know if he’ll give it another shot but I hope he does cuz momma needs a new pair of shoes. In reality he is not a bad player. He just needs to play and improve his decision-making skills. Additionally, I told him not to worry about dropping the cash as most players have lost their initial deposits and many have lost multiple deposits before becoming winning players. I think it bothers him that I’ve had limited success while struggled. He’s also a competitive person and is channeling his energy into the game. I wish him luck.

He is also the guy who taught me my curveball.