Why I Love Playing Deep Stack Poker...

Because you can play hands this way...

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/682687

My read on this guy was based on a 10 hand sample, but I got the sense that he was quite spewy. Anyway, this is not really something I would have imagined doing a few months ago. I don't really know what happened last month, but something really clicked in my poker game, and I am feeling better than ever.

Here are some of the other hands from today's 700 hand sesh:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/682688
I am really proud of my read in this particular spot. I though it was equally as likely that this player had 77-99 as it is he had JJ or QQ, so I flipped a coin and jammed. It is a really really really terrible play by this guy to pot the turn ($25) with $55 behind and not have a plan when I ship it in. But players at 100NL consistently do this, and I am starting to pick up on it and putting in some turn bluff-raises. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold in this hand.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/682689
I am absolutely in love with the line that I take here. Unfortunately I lose another big one on the river.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/682690
gotta love the 3-bet cold-caller with QJo

Overall I ran really bad in this session but ended up winning a little over $100 which is cool. My EV was $279 but w/e. I am playing really well right now and am enjoying it.

I decided to play some live poker last night, so I went to play 2-4NL at Nooksack Casino. It was a pretty typical game - 7 stations, 1 rock, and me. Literally 4-5 limpers every hand. However, the avg stack was probably around $150, so I really couldn't get too out of line. I couldn't do too much isolating, light 3-betting, or squeezing. But I did take down a ton of small pots and ran well in this big pots and ended up making $315.

In my last orbit, a somewhat interesting hand came up when I isolated a pretty terrible, nutty Asian with J9dd making it $16 to go p/f after he limped. We were HU to a Js 9c 6c flop. He checked, and I decided to weak lead $15 into the $38 pot. He looked extremely weak, looking back at his hand, but he threw in the $15. The turn was the 6s. He checked quickly, and I again underbet the pot, betting $25. He waited 3 full seconds before saying "Awww Eeeeen" for like $100 more. I took off my hat, sunglasses, iPod, etc. and started replaying the hand in my head as well as thinking about the other hands I had seen him play.

I saw him bet/3-bet AI with 97 on a 754Q9. With the little time that he wasted in shipping it in, I was fairly certain that he wasn't bluffing. And on this board, there is no hand that I beat if he isn't bluffing. He is never doing this with just one J or a 9 + f/d or something like that. So I opted to muck, and I am pretty happy about it.

I ended up not putting in any hands the last week of April, but finished up $1818 playing cash through 16.5k hands. I came up a little bit short of my goal of 20k hands, and I obv could have easily accomplished that, but after the 2nd place tourney finish, I decided to just take a break and hang out with friends more, which was nice. Including my session last night and a few live sessions over the month plus online plus rakeback, I would estimate that I made around $4600 last month, which is pretty big for me. I don't intend on setting a hands goal this month but will play when I feel like it and when the games are good (AKA when I feel like it lol).

Last week I started my job working at the golf course. I am starting out working outdoors, washing clubs and carts, picking the range, and doing other random stuff. If I were my co-workers I would find it so entertaining watching me. I am a pretty uncoordinated as it is, but with these little mindless tasks that seem easy, I find ways to screw them up. I'm sure this is true for a lot of people, but there were a couple things that I did the first two days that made my co-workers just laugh at me because the things that I was doing seemed so easy and simple that I didn't want to ask specifically how to do them!

I really love being around the game of golf, even though I am playing terrible right now. There's just something about the aura of a golf course that just makes me happy. I am not going to stop looking for a summer job/internship, but, at this point, I am pretty made up that I will be going to grad school in Fall 2010, and I wouldn't feel too lazy or unaccomplished if I don't find a "real" job right now, especially in this economy.

That being said, I have to work tomorrow at 9am (YUCK), so I need to get some rest. Big test on Tuesday but that's all about it for this week.

God Bless,

JG