The Official Poker Thread for the 2006

[Nl5H]

no limit is easier in the sense that you can bluff a lot more.

[jamrage]

Yeah, after a weekend of gambling I have to say that I really am not a big fan of Limit poker at all.

I played 3/6/12 which means you can bet in increments of $3 pre and post flop. It goes up to $6 on the turn and river with the option of making a $12 bet or raise on the river if you want instead of $6.

Basically, its suck out city because a lot of times people were seeing 4 cards only having to pay $6. If you caught anything on the flop you stayed in at least til the turn to see if you improve. AK is basically useless to raise preflop. I can't remember how many times i saw hands like K 2, 9 3, 7 2 win pretty regularly.

Here was my back breaker hand:
I got dealt 3 5 off in the big blind. The flop came 2 4 10 with one heart. Bet $3 call, call, call. Turn A of hearts. Bet $6, I raise to $12 (I now have the straight) call call. River 3 of hearts. I bet $12 dude raises me with $12 I call. Dude has 8 6 of hearts. Good thing for him I wasn't raising with a big flush draw.

I did win a hondo the night before which is why I stupidly decided to continue to play limit.

The NL tables had higher blinds than I was willing to pay which is why I went Limit, but from now on it will be NL all the way.

[jamrage]

no limit is easier in the sense that you can bluff a lot more.

No. It's a better game because you are able to bet people off of draws or shitty hands by not giving them a good price to call.

[Nl5H]

no limit is easier in the sense that you can bluff a lot more.

No. It's a better game because you are able to bet people off of draws or shitty hands by not giving them a good price to call.

that's a bluff.


also you shouldn't have just called on the flop u should have raised.

[the Wiper]

naw, i'm with jam..

say i have aa, and you have 89...

you flop an open ender...

in limit, you're going to see every card and (mostly likely in my case) catch your straight on the river.

but in no limit, i can bet enough that you're going to have to lay down your straight draw because you ain't trying to pay the price for each card..

[Nl5H]

no, i read his statement wrong...sorry.

jam should have semi bluffed with his straight draw on the flop.

[jamrage]

no, i read his statement wrong...sorry.

jam should have semi bluffed with his straight draw on the flop.

I could have raised it $3 more on the flop, but I probably would have been called anyway (I saw it happen all the time). Again I was on a draw. There just really isn't much bluffing to be done until the river when you can make people think with a $12 bet, but even then its tricky.

[Gregg Popabitch1]

no, i read his statement wrong...sorry.

jam should have semi bluffed with his straight draw on the flop.

I could have raised it $3 more on the flop, but I probably would have been called anyway (I saw it happen all the time). Again I was on a draw. There just really isn't much bluffing to be done until the river when you can make people think with a $12 bet, but even then its tricky.

thats why i hate limit poker.

unless it's pot limit omaha. but even then, it's frustrating.

[Reason]

thats why i hate limit poker.

but the point of playing poker at all is expectation, making money in the long run

i don't hate limit, i just don't find it as fun as nl, but i appreciate the fact that it doesn't make sense to say you hate limit poker just because of a hand or even a bunch of hands where players cold-call, call every bet, etc. because in the long run, if you're truly good, you'll make money.

i really love atlantic city. that's a bad thing right?

3 card poker is the shit.

i re-read some of the official poker thread of 2005 from the beginning...it's amazing how much one learns in a year about the game...

i'm going to copy/paste a few hands

i was curious if anyone thinks i'm playing too tight pre-flop, and if so, what are some things to consider when deciding to call the big blind or a raise...for the record it was a .50/1 NL...i think it can spark up some argumetns and discussion...a lot of the help eternal and did and others provided referred to limit hold em...maybe we can have that type of discussion with nl

#Game No : 4451875885
***** Hand History for Game 4451875885 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 06, 01:34:28 ET 2006
Table Knot Hours (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: dOwnosaur ( $178.57 )
Seat 5: storman99 ( $334.10 )
Seat 6: BigReD0926 ( $304.60 )
Seat 4: ben_yew ( $103.75 )
ben_yew posts small blind [$0.50].
storman99 posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ben_yew [ 7c 8s ]
AceInDaHol has joined the table.
BigReD0926 folds.
dOwnosaur folds.
ben_yew folds.
storman99 does not show cards.
storman99 wins $1.50
Game #4451878536 starts.

#Game No : 4451884122
***** Hand History for Game 4451884122 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 06, 01:36:06 ET 2006
Table Knot Hours (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: dOwnosaur ( $178.57 )
Seat 5: storman99 ( $333.60 )
Seat 6: BigReD0926 ( $307.50 )
Seat 4: ben_yew ( $103.25 )
Seat 1: AceInDaHol ( $48 )
AceInDaHol posts small blind [$0.50].
dOwnosaur posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ben_yew [ Kh Jc ]
ben_yew folds.
storman99 raises [$4].
BigReD0926 folds.
AceInDaHol folds.
dOwnosaur calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6h, 3d, 7s ]
dOwnosaur checks.
storman99 bets [$5].
dOwnosaur folds.
storman99 does not show cards.
storman99 wins $13.10
Game #4451886853 starts.

and a raise/re-raise/re-raise/re-raise bluff for the sake of showing off, don't be all 'oh that was a dumb play you'll bust someday' lecture either. i only do bluffs if i have good information about my opponents and my table image. in this game (the same one with the above hands) my image was that of a super tight player, the only hands seen at showdowns were monsters up to that point

#Game No : 4451890045
***** Hand History for Game 4451890045 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 06, 01:37:15 ET 2006
Table Knot Hours (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: dOwnosaur ( $174.07 )
Seat 5: storman99 ( $349.05 )
Seat 6: BigReD0926 ( $307.50 )
Seat 4: ben_yew ( $102.25 )
Seat 1: AceInDaHol ( $36.50 )
ben_yew posts small blind [$0.50].
storman99 posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ben_yew [ Ah 6c ]
BigReD0926 folds.
AceInDaHol calls [$1].
dOwnosaur folds.
ben_yew calls [$0.50].
storman99 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs, 8d, 7h ]
ben_yew checks.
storman99 bets [$2].
AceInDaHol folds.
ben_yew raises [$7].
storman99 raises [$10].
ben_yew raises [$25].
storman99 folds.
ben_yew shows [ Ah, 6c ] high card ace.
ben_yew wins $45.65 from the main pot with high card ace.
Game #4451894095 starts.

i don't really want to change my game much. it's profitable right now. i almost never risk a considerable chunk of my cash (unless i have tons of information) or go all-in in ring games (whether it's a bluff or a call or a raise or a re-raise)...IT'S something i picked up from live poker at the casinos...watching the dailys play...i realize now in the past how much of a brash idiot i was...the all-in button was certainly a much overused weapon a year ago...

i dunno. i love this game. i've made almost exactly 7200 dollars profit since that depression bout, almost exactly a year. my br is shitty because of college loans, credit debt, other debts, rent, etc., so i had to use all but about 350 bucks. i actually have only played like 3 or 4 sessions online the past month or two though. moved in with a girl, didnt have access to internet, and pussy tends to make you forget about everything. plus we were going to AC every weekend. and then i had to prepare for the move back to georgia.

what's good, pf? where's the love? that 2005 poker thread is fucking G.O.A.T. status

[jamrage]

i was curious if anyone thinks i'm playing too tight pre-flop, and if so, what are some things to consider when deciding to call the big blind or a raise...for the record it was a .50/1 NL...i think it can spark up some argumetns and discussion...a lot of the help eternal and did and others provided referred to limit hold em...maybe we can have that type of discussion with nl

#Game No : 4451875885
***** Hand History for Game 4451875885 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 06, 01:34:28 ET 2006
Table Knot Hours (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: dOwnosaur ( $178.57 )
Seat 5: storman99 ( $334.10 )
Seat 6: BigReD0926 ( $304.60 )
Seat 4: ben_yew ( $103.75 )
ben_yew posts small blind [$0.50].
storman99 posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ben_yew [ 7c 8s ]
AceInDaHol has joined the table.
BigReD0926 folds.
dOwnosaur folds.
ben_yew folds.
storman99 does not show cards.
storman99 wins $1.50
Game #4451878536 starts.

#Game No : 4451884122
***** Hand History for Game 4451884122 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 06, 01:36:06 ET 2006
Table Knot Hours (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: dOwnosaur ( $178.57 )
Seat 5: storman99 ( $333.60 )
Seat 6: BigReD0926 ( $307.50 )
Seat 4: ben_yew ( $103.25 )
Seat 1: AceInDaHol ( $48 )
AceInDaHol posts small blind [$0.50].
dOwnosaur posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ben_yew [ Kh Jc ]
ben_yew folds.
storman99 raises [$4].
BigReD0926 folds.
AceInDaHol folds.
dOwnosaur calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6h, 3d, 7s ]
dOwnosaur checks.
storman99 bets [$5].
dOwnosaur folds.
storman99 does not show cards.
storman99 wins $13.10
Game #4451886853 starts.

and a raise/re-raise/re-raise/re-raise bluff for the sake of showing off, don't be all 'oh that was a dumb play you'll bust someday' lecture either. i only do bluffs if i have good information about my opponents and my table image. in this game (the same one with the above hands) my image was that of a super tight player, the only hands seen at showdowns were monsters up to that point

#Game No : 4451890045
***** Hand History for Game 4451890045 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 06, 01:37:15 ET 2006
Table Knot Hours (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: dOwnosaur ( $174.07 )
Seat 5: storman99 ( $349.05 )
Seat 6: BigReD0926 ( $307.50 )
Seat 4: ben_yew ( $102.25 )
Seat 1: AceInDaHol ( $36.50 )
ben_yew posts small blind [$0.50].
storman99 posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ben_yew [ Ah 6c ]
BigReD0926 folds.
AceInDaHol calls [$1].
dOwnosaur folds.
ben_yew calls [$0.50].
storman99 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs, 8d, 7h ]
ben_yew checks.
storman99 bets [$2].
AceInDaHol folds.
ben_yew raises [$7].
storman99 raises [$10].
ben_yew raises [$25].
storman99 folds.
ben_yew shows [ Ah, 6c ] high card ace.
ben_yew wins $45.65 from the main pot with high card ace.
Game #4451894095 starts.

i don't really want to change my game much. it's profitable right now. i almost never risk a considerable chunk of my cash (unless i have tons of information) or go all-in in ring games (whether it's a bluff or a call or a raise or a re-raise)...IT'S something i picked up from live poker at the casinos...watching the dailys play...i realize now in the past how much of a brash idiot i was...the all-in button was certainly a much overused weapon a year ago...

i dunno. i love this game. i've made almost exactly 7200 dollars profit since that depression bout, almost exactly a year. my br is shitty because of college loans, credit debt, other debts, rent, etc., so i had to use all but about 350 bucks. i actually have only played like 3 or 4 sessions online the past month or two though. moved in with a girl, didnt have access to internet, and pussy tends to make you forget about everything. plus we were going to AC every weekend. and then i had to prepare for the move back to georgia.

what's good, pf? where's the love? that 2005 poker thread is fucking G.O.A.T. status

I probably would have called the 87 considering you were already in for the small blind, but if you were sure you would have been raised its an ok fold. Hands like that depend on the table dynamics.

Would have called the KJ before the raise, but probably let it go after the raise so you saved yourself some money.

Nice move with the A6, but certainly a risky maneuver betting into the big stack. Bluffs are difficult to judge when you only look at the small picture, so if your table image was tight its good to keep them guessing and get calls down the road.

I love the game too even when I'm losing. Poker is a fickle mistress, but when she comes through there's not much better in terms of gaming I've found.

I'm always looking to improve my game, so the poker thread is great for that. It's great that there are some cats on here doing this for a living that I can live vicariously through.

[Nl5H]

the only reason i said to raise, is because on later streets all that money you put in if you make your hand makes you look all the more stronger...

[jamrage]

the only reason i said to raise, is because on later streets all that money you put in if you make your hand makes you look all the more stronger...

Usually, but in this case the guy with the flush hand was gonna call an extra $3 no matter what. I don't think it would have helped me anyway. In fact, if I'd raised on the flop with only one heart, the guy almost assuredly would not put me on a flush draw. When I raised when my straight card came it put two hearts on the board and could appear that I was betting a high flush draw with a pair of aces or something similar. When the river came I bet immediately hoping that a small flush might let it go. I was pretty surprised that the guy raised me after his small flush came. I don't think he read my hand correctly, but he made the correct read anyway (meaning he probably put me on an Ace, not a straight). Definitely the type of hand that you would like to have in NL so you could bet the flush draw out of the hand.

[Nl5H]

the guy with A 6 had no business being in that hand.

[jamrage]

I want an update from our resident pros.

Who's up who's down for the month? Be honest.

Any brick and mortar pros here or just online players?

[Psychosis]

I'm not a pro or anything, but I play a lot. I had one of my worst days yesterday, but I play small stakes so it's no big deal. Looking back there was only one questionable call that I made, all of my big losses were bad beats (e.g. all in on the flop w/ a set of 5's against AA and he hits the 3rd A on the river). For the month I'm still up $150.

[jamrage]

I'm not a pro or anything, but I play a lot. I had one of my worst days yesterday, but I play small stakes so it's no big deal. Looking back there was only one questionable call that I made, all of my big losses were bad beats (e.g. all in on the flop w/ a set of 5's against AA and he hits the 3rd A on the river). For the month I'm still up $150.

Sucks about the set, well done on the winnings.

I'm up about $50 so far this month online, but I usually only play at night and at one table.

It's funny, about every 2 or 3 months Party Poker gives me like 30 bucks to play with to try and entice me back. (I Play Pokerstars exclusively now) I have to play a certain amount of hands to be able to cash out (I usually build it up then lose it all). I've worked it up to around 90 bucks so far *knock on wood*. I wonder if I built it up to 300 and cashed out if they would still give me the free $30 periodically?

[Reason]

I'm not a pro or anything, but I play a lot. I had one of my worst days yesterday, but I play small stakes so it's no big deal. Looking back there was only one questionable call that I made, all of my big losses were bad beats (e.g. all in on the flop w/ a set of 5's against AA and he hits the 3rd A on the river). For the month I'm still up $150.

Sucks about the set, well done on the winnings.

I'm up about $50 so far this month online, but I usually only play at night and at one table.

It's funny, about every 2 or 3 months Party Poker gives me like 30 bucks to play with to try and entice me back. (I Play Pokerstars exclusively now) I have to play a certain amount of hands to be able to cash out (I usually build it up then lose it all). I've worked it up to around 90 bucks so far *knock on wood*. I wonder if I built it up to 300 and cashed out if they would still give me the free $30 periodically?

i got 75 bucks for free once from pp after not playing there for three months (love pstars)

i have turned that 75 into a lot of money, and what i have in pp now (865) is still in pp.

and since then, i have gotten like...ONE deposit bonus offer, and obviously NO free money...so i'd guess not

[Psychosis]

I've got about $950 on party and have never gotten any bonus offers except for the initial sign up bonus. I've never cashed out though.

[jamrage]

I'm not a pro or anything, but I play a lot. I had one of my worst days yesterday, but I play small stakes so it's no big deal. Looking back there was only one questionable call that I made, all of my big losses were bad beats (e.g. all in on the flop w/ a set of 5's against AA and he hits the 3rd A on the river). For the month I'm still up $150.

Sucks about the set, well done on the winnings.

I'm up about $50 so far this month online, but I usually only play at night and at one table.

It's funny, about every 2 or 3 months Party Poker gives me like 30 bucks to play with to try and entice me back. (I Play Pokerstars exclusively now) I have to play a certain amount of hands to be able to cash out (I usually build it up then lose it all). I've worked it up to around 90 bucks so far *knock on wood*. I wonder if I built it up to 300 and cashed out if they would still give me the free $30 periodically?

i got 75 bucks for free once from pp after not playing there for three months (love pstars)

i have turned that 75 into a lot of money, and what i have in pp now (865) is still in pp.

and since then, i have gotten like...ONE deposit bonus offer, and obviously NO free money...so i'd guess not

Nice work on the 75-865 conversion. What game/limits?I would imagine that they probably give you money depending on what limits you were playing most? I'm pretty low stakes .25/.50 NL usually.

I think the other key to free money is to not have any money in your account. I've lost everything the last few times they've thrown me money. Why are they gonna give you money to entice you when you already have some in your account?

[eternalreflection]

I want an update from our resident pros.

Who's up who's down for the month? Be honest.

Any brick and mortar pros here or just online players?

I'm up a modest 700ish this month, been pretty lazy since turning pro in March, decent income in, too much time playing Halo, Oblivion, New Mario, watching Westwing

I like limit more than NL, to me its much more interesting, NL is bland, but I play mostly NL nowadays because the games are 3times easier, getting people's whole stack when they can't fold Ax is great

[Nl5H]

i need to go to foxwoods soon or else my head will explode.

[jamrage]

I want an update from our resident pros.

Who's up who's down for the month? Be honest.

Any brick and mortar pros here or just online players?

I'm up a modest 700ish this month, been pretty lazy since turning pro in March, decent income in, too much time playing Halo, Oblivion, New Mario, watching Westwing

I like limit more than NL, to me its much more interesting, NL is bland, but I play mostly NL nowadays because the games are 3times easier, getting people's whole stack when they can't fold Ax is great

Wow, I think you're the first person I've met who's said that limit is more interesting than NL.

Limit was just the same thing when I was playing in the casino, really not a whole lot of room to make any moves, or spice things up.

How many hours a day do you play when you're taking it super seriously?

[jamrage]

Have to show off:

***** Hand History for Game 4510780101 *****
$50 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 13, 23:55:22 ET 2006
Table Table 109828 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: fishstks ( $16.73 )
Seat 2: igotballs13 ( $11.93 )
Seat 6: B_A_D__WOLF ( $13.94 )
Seat 3: jamrage ( $109.94 )
Seat 5: SKY7777 ( $42.03 )
fishstks posts small blind [$0.25].
igotballs13 posts big blind [$0.50].
SKY7777 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to jamrage [ 6s 5s ]
jamrage calls [$0.50].
SKY7777 checks.
B_A_D__WOLF calls [$0.50].
fishstks folds.
igotballs13 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7s, 4s, 3s ]
igotballs13 bets [$0.50].
jamrage calls [$0.50].
SKY7777 calls [$0.50].
B_A_D__WOLF folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
igotballs13 bets [$0.50].
jamrage calls [$0.50].
SKY7777 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing River ** [ 8d ]
igotballs13 bets [$0.50].
jamrage raises [$4].
SKY7777 raises [$7.50].
igotballs13 is all-In [$9.93]
jamrage raises [$16].
SKY7777 calls [$12.50].
jamrage shows [ 6s, 5s ] a straight flush, seven high.
SKY7777 doesn't show [ 9s, As ] a flush, ace high.
igotballs13 doesn't show [ Ks, Ah ] a pair of threes.
jamrage wins $18.94 from side pot #1 with a straight flush, seven high.
jamrage wins $34.74 from the main pot with a straight flush, seven high.

I think I made the proper raise at the end even though the temptation was to push after SKY raised and igotballs went all in. The 3 on the turn made a full house possible though, and I figured if SKY had a full house she would push anyway. If she didn't, she would have a tough time calling if I pushed even if she had the Ace high flush. She thought for a long time before calling so I think I made the correct play.

I can' t remember the last time i flopped a straight flush.

[Psychosis]

nice, I hope you buddylisted igotballs

[Reason]

that's a sick hand on so many levels...

i've been too busy to play since bein in georgia...i don't like or think feasible really short sessions....if i play, i want to make sure i can get through a few sngs, maybe a big tourney, definitely a few hours sitting at the same ring game

to answer that question jamrage, i play 1/2 nl almost strictly. i'm used to it b/c that's the limit i play in casinos...

i won't lie. if i have a great run, i move up. i try not to go past 3/6 though

the time i got 75 bucks, i hadn't played at pp for a couple months...and the last time i did i was playing 5/10 NL...that was when i had my crazy run and turned 200 into 7,500.

[Nl5H]

hey jamrage, perfect play man...i haven't played in about a month.

[eternalreflection]

I want an update from our resident pros.

Who's up who's down for the month? Be honest.

Any brick and mortar pros here or just online players?

I'm up a modest 700ish this month, been pretty lazy since turning pro in March, decent income in, too much time playing Halo, Oblivion, New Mario, watching Westwing

I like limit more than NL, to me its much more interesting, NL is bland, but I play mostly NL nowadays because the games are 3times easier, getting people's whole stack when they can't fold Ax is great

Wow, I think you're the first person I've met who's said that limit is more interesting than NL.

Limit was just the same thing when I was playing in the casino, really not a whole lot of room to make any moves, or spice things up.

How many hours a day do you play when you're taking it super seriously?

NL has the more interesting hands, but also has more hands that nothing happens in, its for a large portion of hands, a 2street game, preflop, flop. And many of the hands that do get past the flop still don't make it to showdown, in limit due the bets being smaller in relation to the pot, many more hands make it to showdown. With the buyin capped at a 100bb it limits the play, if say the 1/2 blind NL game had a 300min, 600max buyin it would increase the strategy and skill involved 10x(along with busting the fish much faster)

My Went to Showdown% is 13%lower in NL than it is with Limit, that works out to about 13fewer Showdowns per hour. Also you are more aggressive betting in limit, due to better risk/reward ratio, in NL your bets are in the 1/2pot to Pot size range, bets that size need high success rate to be good, and therefore high quality hands, which don't exactly come around superoften.

In Limit your bet will often be 1/6th or less of the pot, so you can stab at more pots with weaker hands, hands that you would be unwilling to get action with in NL are bettable, your 3bet range is broader as well.

The most common issue with limit I hear, is regarding bluffing. The ironic part is, you should be bluffing much more often in limit than you do in NL. Your bluffs will be unsuccessful more often, but thats ok, you get much better odds on your bluff. If a pot is $70, and you bet $10 on a bluff you only need the bluff to work 12.5% of the time to be breakeven, if it works more often its a good bluff, if not its a bad one. Now take the same $70 pot in NL. To bluff at that you will need to bet somwhere in the $30-$70 and for the bluff to be profitable you need to win 30%($30) to 50%($70) so its a higher risk proposition.

The other main complaint has to do with being unable to stop your opponent from drawing. Its true your opponents will often get very good odds to draw at strong hands like flushes/straights, or even moderate ones like 2pr. However you aren't as helpless as its commonly made out to be, you can protect your hand from 6out(2overcards, set/gutshot) or lower draws fairly consistently by betting. Open-Ended Straight Draws or better, you basically have to right the variance rollercoaster, however you are still generally making +EV bets even when your opponent is getting correct odds. The part that is never brought up, is that this works both ways, you have much more flexibility with draws playing limit, and are able to see the river much more often, or the turn with the weak gutshot-type draws, when you would be forced to fold in NL.


my sessions tend to be 1-1.5hrs, 0-4sessions a day or so

[jamrage]

NL has the more interesting hands, but also has more hands that nothing happens in, its for a large portion of hands, a 2street game, preflop, flop. And many of the hands that do get past the flop still don't make it to showdown, in limit due the bets being smaller in relation to the pot, many more hands make it to showdown. With the buyin capped at a 100bb it limits the play, if say the 1/2 blind NL game had a 300min, 600max buyin it would increase the strategy and skill involved 10x(along with busting the fish much faster)

My Went to Showdown% is 13%lower in NL than it is with Limit, that works out to about 13fewer Showdowns per hour. Also you are more aggressive betting in limit, due to better risk/reward ratio, in NL your bets are in the 1/2pot to Pot size range, bets that size need high success rate to be good, and therefore high quality hands, which don't exactly come around superoften.

In Limit your bet will often be 1/6th or less of the pot, so you can stab at more pots with weaker hands, hands that you would be unwilling to get action with in NL are bettable, your 3bet range is broader as well.

The most common issue with limit I hear, is regarding bluffing. The ironic part is, you should be bluffing much more often in limit than you do in NL. Your bluffs will be unsuccessful more often, but thats ok, you get much better odds on your bluff. If a pot is $70, and you bet $10 on a bluff you only need the bluff to work 12.5% of the time to be breakeven, if it works more often its a good bluff, if not its a bad one. Now take the same $70 pot in NL. To bluff at that you will need to bet somwhere in the $30-$70 and for the bluff to be profitable you need to win 30%($30) to 50%($70) so its a higher risk proposition.

The other main complaint has to do with being unable to stop your opponent from drawing. Its true your opponents will often get very good odds to draw at strong hands like flushes/straights, or even moderate ones like 2pr. However you aren't as helpless as its commonly made out to be, you can protect your hand from 6out(2overcards, set/gutshot) or lower draws fairly consistently by betting. Open-Ended Straight Draws or better, you basically have to right the variance rollercoaster, however you are still generally making +EV bets even when your opponent is getting correct odds. The part that is never brought up, is that this works both ways, you have much more flexibility with draws playing limit, and are able to see the river much more often, or the turn with the weak gutshot-type draws, when you would be forced to fold in NL.


my sessions tend to be 1-1.5hrs, 0-4sessions a day or so

Good stuff.

After my latest casino experience I'm probably going to stick to no limit holdem though.

My main problem was, as you said, people staying in hands til the end. I found it difficult to protect, because once your raise people go in to check/call mode, so you're probably only going to get one or maybe two extra bets.

Interesting about the length of your sessions, thats's generally how long I play as well, unless I'm on a rush. I'll generally play every night from 7-9 and then maybe 10-12. Weekend evenings are great because people just got paid and have been drinking.

[jamrage]

Well, I won up to $220 with the $30 that Party Poker gave me.

Then I lost $120 from a mixture of getting fools calling 4 times the big blind with 8 6 offsuit and flopping straights, not hitting any flops, and having AK against KK with a K55 flop.

I cashed out a hundred (which was everything I had left), and will now see if Party Poker gives me anymore money in the future.

[Moss]

I want an update from our resident pros.

Who's up who's down for the month? Be honest.

Any brick and mortar pros here or just online players?

well everything is going alright now for me. I ran at 5bb/100 for my 1st 2 monthes pro, and brought in 10k, but for May and June i've been dealing with alot more variance. I've had a 250bb dowswning, 4 or 5 150bb's, and more 100bb's than i could count on my fingers. I pretty much broke even over like 35k hands and I feel like I'm finally out of that rut and up a decent amount for this month.

But gotdamn do i miss running super-hot and living care-free. I really underestimated how brutal this can be emotionally when you're playing for a living. Fuckadownswing though.

Also, even though my main game is limit, I started playing NL 6max games at my buddies house. They sell pot all day and run a little poker game there (1/2 NL), so it's a prime oppurtunity to get comfortable playing NL and also to take these fools money. Since i started playing there a month and a half ago I'm up $1500.

I just don't know if I'll ever be able to work a regular job again.