I've been meaning to blog every poker session, regardless of the situation.  But then I would always forget and 3 - 4 days later I don't remember what I wanted to write about.  A bunch of us have been playing short handed poker on Sunday and I've treated the sessions just as having fun, hanging out with buddies.  Its consists of Me, Kyto, Loge, March, and a few other stragglers(Ing, Wil, Hoop, Tone, etc).  The 4 of us have gone strong every week for 4 weeks now while there are some additions here and there each week.  Everybody here for the most part is trying to learn the game.  Not necessarily how to play but the thought processes, strategies, and pyschology part of the game.  Obviously, I'm not an expert but I feel I can at least introduce them to new aspects of the game that they never thought of and incorporate that into their own game.  The first couple of times we played I kinda just sat back and watched.  Observed their play and kinda gauge where they were.  I didn't make any elaborate play or moves, just basically ABC poker.  Very straightforward.  The last two sessions however, I've began making more complicated moves.  Raising, re-raising preflop.  Leading out on the flop after showing strength, checking the flop after raising preflop, etc, etc.  Sometimes I don't think they even realize how observant I really am at the table.  I talk a lot, having conversations but usually I know exactly whats going on in hands I'm not even involved in.  Remembering patterns, paying attention without others knowing that you're paying attention.  That's key when playing the game.  I wanted to go over a few hands from yesterday's game so just you can see my thinking and thought processes in the hand.

Everyone noticed that when Tony got there, he was raising quit a bit right from the start.  I'm not saying his hands weren't "raise" worthy but when you raise blank times in a row, people take notice regardless.  You can raise with anything but its a lot harder to call with nothing.  (I have no problem raising with 6 7 but its really hard to call a raise and reraise with that hand.)  Tony was taking down a lot of uncontested pots after showing strength preflop.  This is a very key hand that came up.  Tony raised in lp (late position) to $2.50.  Kyto called in the sb and I decided to make a stand and RR to $9.00 with junk (I think I had 4 7 off).  Folded to Tony who thought for a sec before making a call and Kyto folded.  Its very important to note that at this point, you gotta be able to narrow his range of hands.  I had him in the range of small pocket pair, QJ, KJ, AQ, AJ, A10, AK, maybe even K10s, J10s.  Notice a lot of my range has paint.  My thinking is if no paint hits the flop, I'm automatically betting all in (mind you our stacks are only about $20 - $25 at this point) and representing a big pair.  Flop brought K 10 rag.  Not a very favorable flop for someone trying to run my bluff!  So instead of pushing all in here, I bet $10 in which Tony instantly went all in.  The $10 bet did a couple of things:  First, if he missed he can't call (QJ, AQ, AJ, A10, small pair etc. which is about half of his range I had him on).  If he did hit, (KQ, AK, KJ, K10) he's going to do exactly what he did.  You don't always have to follow through with that you hand in mind, leave yourself outs!  Obviously, I can't call the all in push since I have nothing but you get information from the hand.  Don't let it be a complete waste.  Tony called a reraise with KQo and he thinks I'm just bullying him around.  This set up pefectly for me in a later hand with him. 

And here's how the previous hand worked in my favor.  I raise with AcJc in early position to $2.50.  A decent hand for shorthanded play but don't fall in love with it.  1 person calls as does Tony.  We take the flop of J 10 5 rainbow.  I lead for for $6, about a pot sized bet.  The other person folds and Tony raises to $12.  Now is where the brain turns.  The hands I think that are beating me (J10, J5, 105, JJ, 1010, 55), I don't think would raise me in this spot most of the time.  Sometimes people with play monsters fast so take that into account too but you also got to know your opponent.  Initial instincts by most people is to play monsters slow.  I felt fairly confident in my read that Tony had a J.  Since I have AJ, my thinking is how am I going to extract the most money out of this hand.  Obviously if he hits his other card I can't do anything about that, the cards still gotta come out.  One option I had was to just call and check the turn and hopes he bets (which I felt pretty sure he would too).  I could reraise but how much?  This is the option I went with.  For one, I didn't think Tony believed me.  I don't know what he thinks I have but I just don't think he believes I have anything (Remember how he thought I was bullying him before in the previous hand?).  He thinks AA, KK, QQ, AJ, or a hand that he's winning against wouldn't actually wait this long to make a move.  After some thought, I push AI and got instacalled.  The instacall scared me a little as I asked "Shit, do you have two pair?" and he said no which is when I knew I had him dominated.  The turn and river bricked out and I won about an $80 pot and Tony was in shock!  Sorry Ton!

There was a few hands I got involved with Kyto in that I played a little differently from the norm but had to bail out (Well, there really is no "norm" to the way I play a hand anyway).  One hand, he check raised March out of the sb on the flop of J something something and I had J rag.  My plans were to check raise March in that spot but since Kyto did, I elected to smooth call instead and it went heads up heading to the turn.  Turn came rag and Kyto checked.  Thats when I felt like I had the best hand.  More times than not, I'm betting in this spot, but again, I wanted to play it differently.  River completed a 4 card straight on the board, 8 9 10 J at which point Kyto lead out and I had to bail because I played it so awkwardly and didn't know where I stood in the hand and most likely, NOW I was losing.

Another hand, I had 7d8d and flop was 2d 3d, 8c.   Kyto checked and I checked behind.  Again, I'd say 80% of the time, I bet in that spot because of the power of my hand at that point.  Turn Ah.  Kyto checks, I bet $3, Kyto raises to $8, I make it $18, and he pushes AI.  This is where I played the hand wrong and it was a costly mistake by me but at the same time, very good play by my brother.  My hand isn't has strong on the turn as it it on the river, especially with the ace hitting.  Had I just called his check raise, I could have seen the river and proceeded from there.  What could he really be check raising on the turn?  22, 33, 88, A8,45 are all very likely possibilities.  I'm not beating much but I still have a lot of potential which I would get paid off if I hit because he has a very strong hand.  I elected for the more aggressive approach and reraised to $18 which I knew if he went AI, I couldn't call and that is why it was a wrong play from my standpoint.  I still had position and could have seen the river but instead I had to fold when he pushed for $50+.  Great play by Kyto but I shouldn't have taken a different approach in that hand. 

Those are just a couple of hands just off the top of my head that are fresh right now.  At first, I wasn't taking the sessions serious enough.  I didn't think I could take anything from it.  But now, I'm taking a different approach because you can learn something in every situation and I want to provide help to these guys that are trying to learn too.  When I first started playing, a lot of the strategies I developed were self taught.  I mean, I read the books and such but you don't understand them until you actually apply them in real life situations.  I want to be able to provide a different perspective on situations that they get involved in.  Not necessarily how to play because that comes with your own style but a "you can also play it this way" approach. 

Feel free to ask any questions any time!  You can post a comment here about a specific situation and we can discuss or just ask.

Side note from Thursday game 1/10/08.  Since its been so long, I forgot the important hands.  I cashed out $40ish, which isn't a great amount but at least its positive.  I remember making a great play with 77 on a board of QJ8.  I pushed all in on the turn, putting him on a flush draw and I was right but damn, it was a scary board.  Thats all I remember.

See you at the felt!