January monthly report

I've got a job interview in Wellington on Tuesday so I can't afford to be badugi-ing, studding or any other kind of pokering until that's over. So I hope that by posting this before month's end I'll resist the temptation to play.

January was quite a trying month so I can't be too disappointed to finish up $343 ahead. That's less than in the two previous months, the main difference being the single draw cash games on Stars where I lost $102. The graph shows my performance in those games since October:

There are various reasons for that red block. First the games have been really tight so it feels as if nobody is making any money and we're all just swapping chips around, losing money to rake whenever we see the draw, with heavy action only happening when two big hands lock horns. I think introducing antes, even small ones, would inject some much-needed life into the games. Secondly maybe my own play has got a bit predictable. Perhaps I need to vary my bet-sizing more, and even try the odd crazy move like a check-raise all in with a straight. When people don't bet nines post-draw that just feels too risky though. Thirdly (and this is related to my first point) I'm putting money into pots thinking I'm ahead when I'm actually behind. And finally I think I've simply had a bit of bad luck.

I've done well at badugi this month although I think I've run above average in $1/$2 and $2/$4. I've only played very short sessions, particularly at $2/$4. There I've made the mistake of focusing too much on how much I'm up or down for the session, and either not wanting to give back my profits when I'm ahead or not wanting to lose any more when I'm behind. I guess I'm just not accustomed to $50 swings in ten minutes; I imagine I'll get used to it over time.

So it's onwards and upwards. I'm looking forward to visiting Wellington for the first time in years (I can't say I'm looking forward particularly to the interview!), then I'll be back at the poker tables with a vengeance. There will be no time to waste - February is a short month!

I give up...

During current Badugi session you were dealt 74 hands
Pots won if drawing - 0 of 14 (0%)
Pots won at showdown - 0 of 3 (0%)
Pots won without showdown - 3
...and I'm down nearly $100. It might help if I stopped snowing.

Update: Since then I've been dealt both the top two hands (!) and won big pots with them. I need to moan about my bad luck more often. The above stats are hardly that ridiculous anyway in what is a pretty high-variance game.

A quick heads-up

Well it was a fairly long heads-up actually. On Monday I took second in the "early bird" single draw tournament after four hours and exactly 500 hands. The middle stages of the tournament went very well for me. It wasn't as it I took down pot after pot with sevens and eights - in fact over half the hands I showed down were losers - but I won the pots that mattered. When we got heads-up though it was a different story. I had a chip lead of nearly three to two, but my opponent quickly whittled away at that, then overtook me, and although I hung in there for a decent period of time I never came back. It turned out my conqueror is some kind of heads-up KCL expert. He told me in chat that he made a living from it. On the right is his graph for heads-up tourneys over the last three months. Forty-five-degree angle graphs are not what you want to see! That's a lot of money to make from three months of purely heads-up poker.

In this morning's early bird I came fourth. It had a massive overlay - I don't mind getting up early if there's free money up for grabs. Only six paid, i.e. one of the final table would miss out; as we got down to seven I was the most likely candidate. I was really hanging on for dear life. When the bubble burst I was told I'd "played my Kiwi arse off" - I found that funny.

This afternoon I finished 93rd in the PLO8 blogger tournament (WBCOOP), enough for an $11 SCOOP ticket and a WBCOOP main event ticket although I doubt I can make that. I also tried the PLO high tourney on Tuesday - I don't know what I'm doing in that game and it was hardly surprising that I busted out early.

Here are some of the more interesting hands (in my opinion) from the last few days:

Hand 1

Win this hand and I'm ahead by two and a half to one. Lose and I'm out. How many outs have I got here? Probably not many, which is why (after using my time bank) I folded. Make the six a seven (or an eight) and I'd have called.

PokerStars Game #56448105939: Tournament #353438578, $5.00+$0.50 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level XIV (600/1200) - 2011/01/23 16:41:21 ET

Table '353438578 8' 7-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: Stevenrh1 (77692 in chips)

Seat 6: plutoman20 (43808 in chips)

Stevenrh1: posts the ante 300

plutoman20: posts the ante 300

Stevenrh1: posts small blind 600

plutoman20: posts big blind 1200

*** DEALING HANDS ***

Dealt to plutoman20 [4s 2h 6c 3s Jd]

Stevenrh1: raises 2400 to 3600

plutoman20: raises 7200 to 10800

Stevenrh1: raises 66592 to 77392 and is all-in

plutoman20: folds

Uncalled bet (66592) returned to Stevenrh1

Stevenrh1 collected 22200 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 22200 Rake 0

Seat 1: Stevenrh1 (button) (small blind) collected (22200)

Seat 6: plutoman20 (big blind) folded before Flop

Hand 2

PeccoKimi has been showing down flush draws and big trips; he's clearly playing for high. But because of him, I end up virtually stacking off trying to make an eight. There were various reasons why I called. For starters there's a whole heap of dead money here. Secondly Zaharik knows that Pecco is playing for high, so Zaharik's hand isn't necessarily super strong. Thirdly Pecco's high hand most likely contains high cards, so my outs are probably live (I was unlucky that he had two of the threes I needed). And finally it's a rebuy, so I can have another go. As it happened I didn't rebuy. I ran my last 200 chips up to more than 4000 before busting in the middle of the field. I read a comment recently that there's more money to be made from triple draw than single at the moment. That might be true, but if the overlays continue and there are still people who think the object of the game is the exact opposite of what it really is, I'll be playing single draw tournaments for a while yet.

PokerStars Game #56491193682: Tournament #355556779, $5.00+$0.50 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2011/01/24 13:07:42 ET
Table '355556779 4' 7-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Rene24101990 (1455 in chips)
Seat 2: desktom (3345 in chips)
Seat 3: Vindel (3135 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (1755 in chips)
Seat 5: _z@h@rik_ (1545 in chips)
Seat 6: PeccoKimi (935 in chips)
Rene24101990: posts the ante 5
desktom: posts the ante 5
Vindel: posts the ante 5
plutoman20: posts the ante 5
_z@h@rik_: posts the ante 5
PeccoKimi: posts the ante 5
Rene24101990: posts small blind 10
desktom: posts big blind 20
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [6c 4c 2d Qc 8c]
Vindel: folds
plutoman20: raises 50 to 70
_z@h@rik_: raises 150 to 220
PeccoKimi: raises 280 to 500
Rene24101990: folds
desktom: folds
plutoman20: calls 430
_z@h@rik_: raises 1040 to 1540 and is all-in
PeccoKimi: calls 430 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls 1040
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6c 4c 2d 8c] [Js]
_z@h@rik_: stands pat
PeccoKimi: stands pat
_z@h@rik_ said, "lol"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [6c 4c 2d Js 8c] (Lo: J,8,6,4,2)
_z@h@rik_: shows [5s 7d 8h 6h 2c] (Lo: 8,7,6,5,2)
_z@h@rik_ collected 1220 from side pot
PeccoKimi: shows [Td 3c Ts Th 3h] (Lo: a full house, Tens full of Threes)
_z@h@rik_ collected 2850 from main pot
PeccoKimi finished the tournament in 37th place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4070 Main pot 2850. Side pot 1220. Rake 0
Seat 1: Rene24101990 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: desktom (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Vindel folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 showed [6c 4c 2d Js 8c] and lost with Lo: J,8,6,4,2
Seat 5: _z@h@rik_ showed [5s 7d 8h 6h 2c] and won (4070) with Lo: 8,7,6,5,2

Seat 6: PeccoKimi (button) showed [Td 3c Ts Th 3h] and lost with Lo: a full house, Tens full of Threes

Hand 3

Eight left in this morning's tournament. Had I decided to shove here, or if Ikawayim had, I'd have been out. It was a biggish bet and I just had an inkling that I might be beaten. I ended up finishing fourth for $50.

PokerStars Game #56611144924: Tournament #355556803, $5.00+$0.50 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level VIII (150/300) - 2011/01/26 14:54:24 ET
Table '355556803 2' 7-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: plutoman20 (7225 in chips)
Seat 3: ikawayim (15775 in chips)
Seat 4: Rene24101990 (8155 in chips)
Seat 5: peggy360 (13390 in chips)
plutoman20: posts the ante 75
ikawayim: posts the ante 75
Rene24101990: posts the ante 75
peggy360: posts the ante 75
ikawayim: posts small blind 150
Rene24101990: posts big blind 300
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7c 2s Kc 8c 3c]
peggy360: calls 300
plutoman20: raises 600 to 900
ikawayim: calls 750
Rene24101990: folds
peggy360: folds
ikawayim: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Kc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7c 2s 8c 3c] [4c]
ikawayim: bets 2100
plutoman20: calls 2100
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ikawayim: shows [5h 3s 8d 2c 6d] (Lo: 8,6,5,3,2)
plutoman20: mucks hand
ikawayim collected 6900 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6900 Rake 0
Seat 2: plutoman20 (button) mucked [7c 2s 4c 8c 3c]
Seat 3: ikawayim (small blind) showed [5h 3s 8d 2c 6d] and won (6900) with Lo: 8,6,5,3,2
Seat 4: Rene24101990 (big blind) folded before Flop

Seat 5: peggy360 folded before Flop

Hand 4

After this hand this morning, I was in trouble again. I can't understand just calling a raise with such a strong hand.

PokerStars Game #56612163789: Tournament #355556803, $5.00+$0.50 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level VIII (150/300) - 2011/01/26 15:11:45 ET
Table '355556803 2' 7-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Ruskor777 (17830 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 (5800 in chips)
Seat 3: ikawayim (19300 in chips)
Seat 4: Rene24101990 (8530 in chips)
Seat 5: peggy360 (10990 in chips)
Seat 6: E.K.X (11650 in chips)
Seat 7: lmmmjm (12900 in chips)
Ruskor777: posts the ante 75
plutoman20: posts the ante 75
ikawayim: posts the ante 75
Rene24101990: posts the ante 75
peggy360: posts the ante 75
E.K.X: posts the ante 75
lmmmjm: posts the ante 75
Ruskor777: posts small blind 150
plutoman20: posts big blind 300
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7c 2s 6d 6c 5d]
ikawayim: folds
Rene24101990: folds
peggy360: folds
E.K.X: raises 600 to 900
lmmmjm: calls 900
Ruskor777: folds
plutoman20: calls 600
plutoman20: discards 1 card [6c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7c 2s 6d 5d] [9d]
E.K.X: discards 1 card
lmmmjm: stands pat
plutoman20: bets 2000
E.K.X: folds
lmmmjm: calls 2000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [7c 2s 6d 9d 5d] (Lo: 9,7,6,5,2)
lmmmjm: shows [7d 4s 2d 6h 9c] (Lo: 9,7,6,4,2)
lmmmjm collected 7375 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7375 Rake 0
Seat 1: Ruskor777 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [7c 2s 6d 9d 5d] and lost with Lo: 9,7,6,5,2
Seat 3: ikawayim folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Rene24101990 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: peggy360 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: E.K.X folded on the Flop
Seat 7: lmmmjm (button) showed [7d 4s 2d 6h 9c] and won (7375) with Lo: 9,7,6,4,2

Hand 5

I guess drawing one (as you would with this hand in five-card draw high) would have been more convincing. I decide to give up when he bets even though I knew he wasn't betting a seven.

PokerStars Game #56621170240: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/26 17:36:40 ET
Table 'Una XXIV' 7-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($30 in chips)
Seat 2: I am MAKLAUD ($8 in chips)
Seat 3: XxCraxerxX ($13.50 in chips)
Seat 4: percuni ($20.95 in chips)
Seat 5: Haleike ($51.10 in chips)
Seat 6: stefge ($58 in chips)
Seat 7: ANMACLAU ($60 in chips)
XxCraxerxX: posts small blind $0.25
percuni: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7s 7d 7h 7c Qs]
Haleike: folds
stefge: folds
ANMACLAU: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
I am MAKLAUD: folds
XxCraxerxX: folds
percuni: calls $1
percuni: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [7s 7d 7h 7c Qs]
percuni: bets $1.50
plutoman20: folds
Uncalled bet ($1.50) returned to percuni
percuni collected $3.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3.25 Rake $0.15
Seat 1: plutoman20 folded on the Flop
Seat 2: I am MAKLAUD (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: XxCraxerxX (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: percuni (big blind) collected ($3.10)
Seat 5: Haleike folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: stefge folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 7: ANMACLAU folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 6

It's quite possible Milyang didn't break the best hand here. I decided to bet the end - he might have thought I was snowing.

PokerStars Game #56509645444: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/01/24 17:53:49 ET
Table 'T #831328974' 8-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: milyang ($31.25 in chips)
Seat 2: lynxjune ($39.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Foxy_Boxer ($92.50 in chips)
Seat 4: big fitz 4 ($77.50 in chips)
Seat 5: nick200484 ($10.75 in chips)
Seat 6: ZESUPERDONK ($72.75 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($67.75 in chips)
Foxy_Boxer: posts small blind $0.50
big fitz 4: posts big blind $1
BOBVESS: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [4d 7d 2s 5h]
nick200484: folds
ZESUPERDONK: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
milyang: raises $1 to $3
lynxjune: folds
Foxy_Boxer: folds
big fitz 4: folds
plutoman20: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [7d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4d 2s 5h] [Qc]
milyang: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
milyang: bets $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
milyang: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [4d 2s 5h Qc]
milyang: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $2
milyang: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [4d 2s 5h Qc]
milyang: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $2
milyang: folds
Uncalled bet ($2) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $14.75 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $15.50 Rake $0.75
Seat 1: milyang folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 2: lynxjune (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Foxy_Boxer (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: big fitz 4 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 5: nick200484 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ZESUPERDONK folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: plutoman20 collected ($14.75)

Hand 7

Playing against a monkey increases expected profits, but variance goes through the roof. You end up putting in a jillion bets and if you don't hit you won't get any of them back. Look what 24lexy was drawing to here.

PokerStars Game #56618082178: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/01/26 16:44:19 ET
Table 'T #833642309' 8-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: 24lexy ($11.75 in chips)
Seat 3: Marbous ($91 in chips)
Seat 4: matandkt ($39 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($41.50 in chips)
Seat 6: mooietruus ($48 in chips)
Seat 7: jdfm007 ($38.75 in chips)
Seat 8: w1972vw ($44 in chips)
jdfm007: posts small blind $0.50
w1972vw: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [As 4c 2c 2d]
24lexy: raises $1 to $2
Marbous: raises $1 to $3
matandkt: folds
plutoman20: calls $3
mooietruus: calls $3
jdfm007: folds
w1972vw has timed out
w1972vw: folds
24lexy: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
Marbous: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $1
mooietruus: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
24lexy: discards 3 cards
Marbous: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [2c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [As 4c 2d] [9d]
mooietruus: discards 2 cards
24lexy: bets $1
Marbous: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: calls $2
mooietruus: calls $2
24lexy: raises $1 to $3
Marbous: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
plutoman20: calls $2
mooietruus: calls $2
24lexy: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
24lexy: discards 1 card
Marbous: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [9d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [As 4c 2d] [Jc]
mooietruus: discards 1 card
24lexy: bets $2
Marbous: raises $2 to $4
plutoman20: calls $4
mooietruus: calls $4
24lexy: calls $1.75 and is all-in
*** THIRD DRAW ***
24lexy: discards 1 card
Marbous: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Jc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [As 4c 2d] [Kh]
mooietruus: discards 1 card
Marbous: checks
plutoman20: checks
mooietruus: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Marbous: shows [7s 9c 8d Th] (Badugi: T,9,8,7)
plutoman20: mucks hand
mooietruus: mucks hand
Marbous collected $0.75 from side pot
24lexy: mucks hand
Marbous collected $47.50 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $49.25 Main pot $47.50. Side pot $0.75. Rake $1
Seat 2: 24lexy mucked [3h Ts 7c Jh]
Seat 3: Marbous showed [7s 9c 8d Th] and won ($48.25) with a Badugi: T,9,8,7
Seat 4: matandkt folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: plutoman20 mucked [As 4c Kh 2d]
Seat 6: mooietruus (button) mucked [6s 2s 3d Ah]
Seat 7: jdfm007 (small blind) folded before the Draw

Seat 8: w1972vw (big blind) folded before the Draw

Hand 8

The monkey reloaded. Should I be keeping this jack? A queen would be a clear break while a ten would be a clear pat. Assuming neither of my opponents has a better three-card than mine, patting gives me 52% equity with two draws left.

PokerStars Game #56619099014: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/01/26 17:02:18 ET
Table 'T #833642309' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: joaoomachado ($14 in chips)
Seat 2: 24lexy ($82 in chips)
Seat 3: Marbous ($161.75 in chips)
Seat 4: milyang ($18.50 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($18 in chips)
Seat 6: allianzzz ($20 in chips)
Seat 7: jdfm007 ($29 in chips)
Seat 8: w1972vw ($25.75 in chips)
allianzzz: posts small blind $0.50
jdfm007: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [4h As Ac 3c]
w1972vw: calls $1
joaoomachado: folds
24lexy: raises $1 to $2
Marbous: folds
milyang: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $3
allianzzz: folds
jdfm007: folds
w1972vw: calls $2
24lexy: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
plutoman20: calls $1
w1972vw: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
w1972vw: discards 1 card
24lexy: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ac]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4h As 3c] [Jd]
w1972vw: checks
24lexy: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
w1972vw: calls $1
24lexy: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
w1972vw: discards 1 card
24lexy: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [4h As 3c Jd]
w1972vw: checks
24lexy: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
w1972vw: calls $2
24lexy: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
w1972vw: discards 1 card
24lexy: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [4h As 3c Jd]
w1972vw: checks
24lexy: checks
plutoman20: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
w1972vw: shows [5c 7s 3d 6s] (3-card: 6,5,3)
24lexy: shows [9s Th 4c 7d] (Badugi: T,9,7,4)
plutoman20: mucks hand
24lexy collected $21.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $22.50 Rake $1
Seat 1: joaoomachado folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: 24lexy showed [9s Th 4c 7d] and won ($21.50) with a Badugi: T,9,7,4
Seat 3: Marbous folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: milyang folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: plutoman20 (button) mucked [4h As Jd 3c]
Seat 6: allianzzz (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: jdfm007 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 8: w1972vw showed [5c 7s 3d 6s] and lost with a 3-card: 6,5,3

Hand 9

I hate these sorts of hands where you get whipsawed. Should I have folded the turn facing two more bets cold and possibly drawing to two outs to tie?

Full Tilt Poker Game #27555080103: Table Dune Ridge (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Limit 2-7 Triple Draw - 03:10:23 ET - 2011/01/24
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($11.65)
Seat 3: cruffles ($6.65)
Seat 4: Elvstroem ($13.75)
Seat 5: MisterJekyll ($0.55)
Seat 6: h-gerizson ($12.25)
cruffles posts the small blind of $0.10
Elvstroem posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Ts 5c 8s 2d 7h]
MisterJekyll folds
h-gerizson raises to $0.50
plutoman20 calls $0.50
cruffles folds
Elvstroem raises to $0.75
h-gerizson raises to $1
plutoman20 calls $0.50
Elvstroem calls $0.25
*** FIRST DRAW *** (Pot: $3.10)
Elvstroem discards 1 card
h-gerizson discards 1 card
plutoman20 discards 2 cards [Ts 8s]
Elvstroem is dealt 1 card
h-gerizson is dealt 1 card
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 2d 7h] [Jc Ks]
Elvstroem checks
h-gerizson bets $0.25
plutoman20 calls $0.25
Elvstroem calls $0.25
*** SECOND DRAW *** (Pot: $3.85)
Elvstroem discards 1 card
h-gerizson discards 1 card
plutoman20 discards 2 cards [Jc Ks]
Elvstroem is dealt 1 card
h-gerizson is dealt 1 card
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 2d 7h] [9h 3s]
Elvstroem checks
h-gerizson bets $0.50
plutoman20 calls $0.50
Elvstroem raises to $1
h-gerizson raises to $1.50
plutoman20 calls $1
Elvstroem raises to $2
h-gerizson calls $0.50
plutoman20 calls $0.50
*** THIRD DRAW *** (Pot: $9.85)
Elvstroem stands pat
h-gerizson stands pat
plutoman20 discards 1 card [9h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 2d 7h 3s] [Qs]
Elvstroem checks
h-gerizson checks
plutoman20 checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Elvstroem shows [7d 6d 5s 4h 2h] 7,6,5,4,2
h-gerizson mucks
plutoman20 mucks
Elvstroem wins the pot ($9.40) with 7,6,5,4,2
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $9.85 Rake $0.45
Seat 1: plutoman20 (button) mucked [Qs 7h 5c 3s 2d] - Q,7,5,3,2
Seat 3: cruffles (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: Elvstroem (big blind) showed [7d 6d 5s 4h 2h] and won ($9.40) with 7,6,5,4,2
Seat 5: MisterJekyll folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: h-gerizson mucked [8h 6c 5d 4d 2s] - 8,6,5,4,2

Hand 10

Here I make a regrettable fold. It just didn't seem I even a 6% chance of my hand being good. Spedtsberg was betting anything, so might well have had just a pair of kings. But unless Pacogreen is a complete muppet (or misclicked) he can beat KK. And there's nothing I beat that beats KK apart from, well, the hand Pacogreen actually had. What I didn't take into account, unfortunately, was that hadn't seen a single ace.

PokerStars Game #56500494588: 7 Card Stud Limit ($0.10/$0.20 USD) - 2011/01/24 15:32:26 ET
Table 'Iphiklos XXV' 8-max
Seat 2: sorrell88 ($4.73 in chips)
Seat 4: blufpoker_kk ($1.28 in chips)
Seat 5: spedtsberg ($2.60 in chips)
Seat 6: pacogreen ($3.96 in chips)
Seat 7: streusel66 ($2.65 in chips)
Seat 8: plutoman20 ($9.54 in chips)
sorrell88: posts the ante $0.02
blufpoker_kk: posts the ante $0.02
spedtsberg: posts the ante $0.02
pacogreen: posts the ante $0.02
streusel66: posts the ante $0.02
plutoman20: posts the ante $0.02
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to sorrell88 [Qd]
Dealt to blufpoker_kk [Qc]
Dealt to spedtsberg [Kh]
Dealt to pacogreen [Qh]
Dealt to streusel66 [Qs]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 2d 5s]
plutoman20: brings in for $0.05
sorrell88: raises $0.05 to $0.10
blufpoker_kk: calls $0.10
spedtsberg: calls $0.10
pacogreen: calls $0.10
streusel66: folds
plutoman20: calls $0.05
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to sorrell88 [Qd] [3h]
Dealt to blufpoker_kk [Qc] [2s]
Dealt to spedtsberg [Kh] [Kd]
Dealt to pacogreen [Qh] [9s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 2d 5s] [5d]
Pair on board - a double bet is allowed
spedtsberg: bets $0.20
pacogreen: calls $0.20
looney ltd joins the table at seat #3
plutoman20: raises $0.20 to $0.40
sorrell88: folds
blufpoker_kk: folds
spedtsberg: calls $0.20
pacogreen: calls $0.20
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to spedtsberg [Kh Kd] [2c]
Dealt to pacogreen [Qh 9s] [7c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 2d 5s 5d] [4s]
spedtsberg: checks
pacogreen: checks
plutoman20: bets $0.20
spedtsberg: calls $0.20
pacogreen: calls $0.20
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to spedtsberg [Kh Kd 2c] [5h]
Dealt to pacogreen [Qh 9s 7c] [Kc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 2d 5s 5d 4s] [6d]
spedtsberg: bets $0.20
pacogreen: calls $0.20
plutoman20: calls $0.20
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 2d 5s 5d 4s 6d] [9h]
spedtsberg: bets $0.20
pacogreen: calls $0.20
plutoman20: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
spedtsberg: shows [6h Js Kh Kd 2c 5h Td] (a pair of Kings)
pacogreen: shows [Ad As Qh 9s 7c Kc 4h] (a pair of Aces)
pacogreen collected $3.26 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3.42 Rake $0.16
Seat 2: sorrell88 folded on the 4th Street
Seat 4: blufpoker_kk folded on the 4th Street
Seat 5: spedtsberg showed [6h Js Kh Kd 2c 5h Td] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: pacogreen showed [Ad As Qh 9s 7c Kc 4h] and won ($3.26) with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: streusel66 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 8: plutoman20 folded on the River

It's WBCOOP time!

That's the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker if you're wondering. It starts in a couple of days. The instructions mention something about waiting five days to get my blog ethereally verified (how it works is a mystery to me). So perhaps I've missed the boat, just like I do in stud whenever I make trips on an early street (from my limited experience so far). I'll be sure to tell you all how I get on if indeed I do play.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: XXXXXX 071584

There aren't any draw WBCOOP tournaments (and why should there be? - only weird people like me play those games) but I like the sound of PLO8 and will try and play that one if I'm registered in time and not too busy hopelessly sending off CVs.

Today was a good one at the $2/$4 badugi tables (a little over a year ago I was playing limit hold 'em at the two and four cent level, so at that rate I'll be playing some form of $200/$400 limit poker by Easter 2012). There's still plenty of bad-ugi at these stakes, but some players are significantly more aggressive than you'll see at 25c/50c. I took a lot of notes today, and boy do you have to take notes. There were several interesting hands, some of which I've saved in a file, but so as not to give away too much information to the many thousands who read my blog, I'm only posting one of them. I'll also post an annoyingly typical single draw hand and four triple draw hands - it really is time I stopped playing that stupid bloody game.

Hand 1
I don't get excited easily these days (blame the medication) but I will admit to a whoop of delight when I unexpectedly won this hand and the half-a-Ben Franklin pot (it's a Ulysses Grant, I just checked). What should I do with my J632? Make it a Q632 and I'd break; I'd probably break a J432 three-way as well, but I think patting is clearly the way to go here. Cheeky Fish has been playing aggressively and running well prior to this hand, while Aabed has been opening two-card draws in any position. So that's the easy bit out of the way. Now when Cheeky raises me on the turn I've got to think my jack is no good. But his confidence looks to be sky-high after hitting all those sixes, he probably thinks he can win any pot he enters, so I feel he just might be trying to push me off my hand. It was still a surprise to see the king.

PokerStars Game #56349878157: Badugi Limit ($2/$4 USD) - 2011/01/22 1:01:22 ET
Table 'Bok VIII' 8-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: teleceo11 ($140 in chips)
Seat 3: CheekyFish ($141 in chips)
Seat 4: yellowundie ($133 in chips)
Seat 5: 10proguy ($76 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($84 in chips)
Seat 8: aabed ($63 in chips)
10proguy: posts small blind $1
plutoman20: posts big blind $2
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3s Jc 2h 6d]
aabed: raises $2 to $4
teleceo11: folds
CheekyFish: raises $2 to $6
yellowundie: folds
10proguy: folds
plutoman20: raises $2 to $8
Betting is capped
aabed: calls $4
CheekyFish: calls $2
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [3s Jc 2h 6d]
aabed: discards 2 cards
CheekyFish: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $2
aabed: folds
CheekyFish: calls $2
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [3s Jc 2h 6d]
CheekyFish: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $4
CheekyFish: raises $4 to $8
plutoman20: calls $4
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [3s Jc 2h 6d]
CheekyFish: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
CheekyFish: bets $4
plutoman20: calls $4
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CheekyFish: shows [4c Ah Ks 5d] (Badugi: K,5,4,A)
plutoman20: shows [3s Jc 2h 6d] (Badugi: J,6,3,2)
plutoman20 collected $51 from pot
aabed leaves the table
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $53 Rake $2
Seat 2: teleceo11 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: CheekyFish showed [4c Ah Ks 5d] and lost with a Badugi: K,5,4,A
Seat 4: yellowundie (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: 10proguy (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [3s Jc 2h 6d] and won ($51) with a Badugi: J,6,3,2
Seat 8: aabed folded after the 1st Draw

Hand 2
It's that common tricky situation again, out of position with a pat hand against a one-card draw. I bet 60% of the pot with my 9-7-yuck, and then yowzers! Did I bet enough? Should I have just checked? I'm getting about 5:3 on my call, but I'd be surprised if he was bluffing three-eighths of the time.

PokerStars Game #56327458433: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/21 16:23:54 ET
Table 'Deimos XXV' 7-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: sngonta ($69.95 in chips)
Seat 3: plutoman20 ($50.35 in chips)
Seat 4: Henry Mits ($33.90 in chips)
Seat 5: VicLuvsKay ($25.25 in chips)
Seat 6: general85555 ($25.45 in chips)
Seat 7: yamaha750 ($13.05 in chips)
chrismystero was removed from the table for failing to post
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
Henry Mits: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [4h 5c 9h 6h 7c]
VicLuvsKay: calls $0.50
general85555: folds
yamaha750: folds
nl pokerr joins the table at seat #2
sngonta: raises $2 to $2.50
plutoman20: raises $4.50 to $7
Henry Mits: folds
VicLuvsKay: folds
sngonta: calls $4.50
plutoman20: stands pat on [4h 5c 9h 6h 7c]
sngonta: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $8.50
sngonta: raises $54.45 to $62.95 and is all-in
plutoman20: folds
Uncalled bet ($54.45) returned to sngonta
sngonta collected $30.45 from pot
sngonta: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $32 Rake $1.55
Seat 1: sngonta (button) collected ($30.45)
Seat 3: plutoman20 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Henry Mits (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: VicLuvsKay folded before Flop
Seat 6: general85555 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: yamaha750 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 3
Was this a stroke of genius by my opponent? Going for a check-raise on the turn was interesting because I'm not always betting there. I'm not sure what I could have done differently.

PokerStars Game #56296792189: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/01/21 4:11:08 ET
Table 'Archid XVII' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: huracan mdp ($22.95 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($25.40 in chips)
Seat 3: iqpkia ($29.95 in chips)
Seat 4: Kubby ($6 in chips)
Seat 5: JP balkenend ($50.30 in chips)
huracan mdp: posts small blind $0.25
plutoman20: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kh 2h 7d 3d 6s]
iqpkia: folds
Kubby: folds
JP balkenend: folds
huracan mdp: raises $0.50 to $1
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1.50
huracan mdp: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
huracan mdp: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Kh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 7d 3d 6s] [Qd]
huracan mdp: checks
plutoman20: bets $0.50
huracan mdp: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
huracan mdp: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qd]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 7d 3d 6s] [Ts]
huracan mdp: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
huracan mdp: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
huracan mdp: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ts]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 7d 3d 6s] [Qc]
huracan mdp: checks
plutoman20: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
huracan mdp: shows [Tc 4d 7c 5s 9h] (Lo: T,9,7,5,4)
plutoman20: mucks hand
huracan mdp collected $7.65 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $8 Rake $0.35
Seat 1: huracan mdp (small blind) showed [Tc 4d 7c 5s 9h] and won ($7.65) with Lo: T,9,7,5,4
Seat 2: plutoman20 (big blind) mucked [Qc 2h 7d 3d 6s]
Seat 3: iqpkia folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Kubby folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: JP balkenend (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 4
I'm sure this was a bad snow. My logic for making this move is that I'd seen three eights but no sevens, so JP is extremely likely to have a seven draw. In other words I could quite possibly hit my draw but lose anyway and have to pay off multiple bets on the end. By snowing I eliminate that possibility! But 8632 is really too good a draw to sacrifice in this way.

PokerStars Game #56297169494: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/01/21 4:29:20 ET
Table 'Archid XVII' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: huracan mdp ($38.05 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($12.05 in chips)
Seat 3: iqpkia ($38.05 in chips)
Seat 4: Kubby ($5 in chips)
Seat 5: JP balkenend ($36.60 in chips)
Seat 6: cycus82 ($27.70 in chips)
huracan mdp: posts small blind $0.25
plutoman20: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [8d 6h 2s 8h 3s]
iqpkia: folds
Kubby has timed out
Kubby: folds
JP balkenend: raises $0.50 to $1
cycus82: folds
huracan mdp: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1.50
JP balkenend: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8d 6h 2s 3s] [Qc]
JP balkenend: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
JP balkenend: checks
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8d 6h 2s 3s] [8s]
JP balkenend: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $1
JP balkenend: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [8d 6h 2s 3s 8s]
JP balkenend: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $1
JP balkenend: folds
Uncalled bet ($1) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $5.95 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.25 Rake $0.30
Seat 1: huracan mdp (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 2: plutoman20 (big blind) collected ($5.95)
Seat 3: iqpkia folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Kubby folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: JP balkenend folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 6: cycus82 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 5
With the extra blockers, opening this hand on the button seems correct. Maybe I should have just called the turn bet and drawn to the seven.

PokerStars Game #56297636252: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/01/21 4:51:44 ET
Table 'Archid XVII' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: huracan mdp ($57.50 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($17.90 in chips)
Seat 3: iqpkia ($26.55 in chips)
Seat 4: ryu1so4anko ($14.35 in chips)
Seat 6: familyguy420 ($5.55 in chips)
iqpkia: posts small blind $0.25
ryu1so4anko: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3s 2s 2h 3d 9h]
familyguy420: folds
huracan mdp: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
iqpkia: folds
ryu1so4anko: raises $0.50 to $1.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
ryu1so4anko: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 3 cards [3s 2s 9h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 3d] [Jh 7h Tc]
ryu1so4anko: bets $0.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
ryu1so4anko: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Jh Tc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 3d 7h] [5d Ts]
ryu1so4anko: bets $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
ryu1so4anko: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
ryu1so4anko: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [2h 3d 7h 5d Ts]
ryu1so4anko: checks
plutoman20: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ryu1so4anko: shows [5h 2d 6d 9c 4s] (Lo: 9,6,5,4,2)
plutoman20: mucks hand
ryu1so4anko collected $7.85 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $8.25 Rake $0.40
Seat 1: huracan mdp folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: plutoman20 (button) mucked [5d 7h 2h 3d Ts]
Seat 3: iqpkia (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: ryu1so4anko (big blind) showed [5h 2d 6d 9c 4s] and won ($7.85) with Lo: 9,6,5,4,2
Seat 6: familyguy420 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 6
I expected JP to bet the flop here (he'd been playing aggressively) but he didn't, and trying for a check-raise and then a snow with my trip deuces cost me in the end. I'm trying to figure out JP's play - the only thing that makes sense is a slow-played seven or smooth eight.

PokerStars Game #56297811183: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/01/21 5:00:51 ET
Table 'Archid XVII' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: JimmyA1979 ($17.95 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($17.25 in chips)
Seat 4: ryu1so4anko ($17.95 in chips)
Seat 5: Kubby ($10.90 in chips)
Seat 6: JP balkenend ($9.20 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
ryu1so4anko: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 7c Jc Kd 6c]
Kubby: folds
JP balkenend: raises $0.50 to $1
JimmyA1979: folds
plutoman20: calls $0.75
ryu1so4anko: folds
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Jc Kd]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 7c 6c] [2s 2c]
JP balkenend: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: checks
JP balkenend: checks
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [2h 7c 6c 2s 2c]
JP balkenend: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $1
JP balkenend: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: folds
Uncalled bet ($1) returned to JP balkenend
JP balkenend collected $4.30 from pot
JP balkenend: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $4.50 Rake $0.20
Seat 1: JimmyA1979 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: plutoman20 (small blind) folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 4: ryu1so4anko (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 5: Kubby folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: JP balkenend collected ($4.30)

Taking a short break

On Sunday I played my first session of 50c/$1 single draw, dropped $56, and decided I wouldn't play any poker until Friday's early bird tournament. I was feeling depressed; when you're depressed it's hard to make rational decisions, and if you can't make rational decisions you're setting light to money. In recent weeks I'd got into a few bad habits, cooking meals while playing being the worst of them. When I'm playing poker I should only be playing poker. No phone calls, no emailing, no TV, definitely no stir-fries. Eating is OK (depending on what it is), music is fine, but that's about it.

Over the last month or so, the 25c/50c single draw tables have been populated by players trying to see a draw as cheaply as possible with their 8632 or 7542. If I'm honest it was getting to be a drag. But when I tried the next level of the game, the stakes had been raised in more ways than one. There were outrageous bluffs and people going to war with 10-8's. If I was in a better mental state it would have been a lot more fun that I've had in this game for ages.

I've also had a go at stud high for pretty much the first time ever - it's a fascinating game. I've only tried micro stakes (10c/20c) so far, which is just as well because I don't yet know what I'm doing. At these stakes a lot of players continue beyond third street (often way beyond) with just about anything, so hand reading (for me anyway) is incredibly difficult. As so many pots are multi-way, I now feel I should be aiming for big-pot hands - big trips, big straights, big flushes and full houses. So (QT)J would seem to be more playable than (55)Q, but that's only a hunch. I've already seen dozens of apparently junky starting hands turn into gold, so maybe I should just be following the herd and playing any three cards, whether rolled up aces or (72)9 rainbow. At this stage I simply don't know.

Hand 1

I just called Vindel's min-raise post-draw - at 25c/50c it's normally an eight (at least!). There's no way I'm folding here (unless I'm on a complete snow) so his raise makes no sense at all. But maybe that's precisely the point. Everybody on the table now thinks he's batshit crazy. Soon after this he went nuts with some other junk hand (AQJ94 or the like); then everyone knew he was batshit crazy. These moves had significant meta-game implications (or is it mega-game?) for the rest of the session when he ran red hot and got paid off handsomely.

PokerStars Game #55986491859: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/01/15 16:48:06 ET
Table 'Agelaos X' 7-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: bllyb1721 ($74.80 in chips)
Seat 2: mR b@bLe ($19.35 in chips)
Seat 3: Angyalfold ($39 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($44.65 in chips)
Seat 5: musketss ($19.30 in chips)
Seat 6: Vindel ($85.70 in chips)
Angyalfold: posts small blind $0.50
plutoman20: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 5s 4c 6c 9h]
musketss: folds
Vindel: raises $2 to $3
bllyb1721: folds
mR b@bLe: folds
Angyalfold: folds
plutoman20: raises $6 to $9
Vindel: calls $6
plutoman20: stands pat on [2h 5s 4c 6c 9h]
Vindel: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: bets $11
Vindel: raises $11 to $22
plutoman20: calls $11
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Vindel: shows [Ah Js 7d 5d 3c] (Lo: A,J,7,5,3)
plutoman20: shows [2h 5s 4c 6c 9h] (Lo: 9,6,5,4,2)
plutoman20 collected $59.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $62.50 Rake $3
Seat 1: bllyb1721 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: mR b@bLe (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Angyalfold (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [2h 5s 4c 6c 9h] and won ($59.50) with Lo: 9,6,5,4,2
Seat 5: musketss folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 6: Vindel showed [Ah Js 7d 5d 3c] and lost with Lo: A,J,7,5,3

Hand 2

I decided to call here with my pair of deuces - getting bluffed here would have been a disaster. I wish I'd just shoved after the draw though and I wouldn't have had to make the decision.

PokerStars Game #55987739083: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/01/15 17:11:22 ET
Table 'Agelaos X' 7-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: bllyb1721 ($44.70 in chips)
Seat 2: mR b@bLe ($9.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Angyalfold ($61.15 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($70.25 in chips)
Seat 5: musketss ($36.55 in chips)
Seat 6: Vindel ($30.85 in chips)
Seat 7: toyo8 ($30.10 in chips)
bllyb1721: posts small blind $0.50
mR b@bLe: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [8c 4s 4d 9h 2h]
Angyalfold: folds
plutoman20: raises $2 to $3
musketss: folds
Vindel: folds
toyo8: folds
bllyb1721: folds
mR b@bLe: calls $2
mR b@bLe: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [4d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8c 4s 9h 2h] [2d]
mR b@bLe: checks
plutoman20: bets $4
mR b@bLe: raises $2.25 to $6.25 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls $2.25
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mR b@bLe: shows [3c 7s 9s 6d 5d] (Lo: 9,7,6,5,3)
plutoman20: shows [8c 4s 2d 9h 2h] (Lo: a pair of Deuces)
mR b@bLe collected $18.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $19 Rake $0.90
Seat 1: bllyb1721 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: mR b@bLe (big blind) showed [3c 7s 9s 6d 5d] and won ($18.10) with Lo: 9,7,6,5,3
Seat 3: Angyalfold folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 showed [8c 4s 2d 9h 2h] and lost with Lo: a pair of Deuces
Seat 5: musketss folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Vindel folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 7: toyo8 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 3

I needed reads (which I didn't have until later) to reraise this big open-raise. I wish I'd just called and drawn. When he shoves I have to fold - my 10-8 is almost certainly dead, I don't have the odds to draw, and of course I've got no implied odds.

PokerStars Game #55987853074: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/01/15 17:13:23 ET
Table 'Agelaos X' 7-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: bllyb1721 ($47.55 in chips)
Seat 2: mR b@bLe ($17.60 in chips)
Seat 3: Angyalfold ($59.15 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($59.50 in chips)
Seat 5: musketss ($35.55 in chips)
Seat 6: Vindel ($30.85 in chips)
Seat 7: toyo8 ($31.60 in chips)
musketss: posts small blind $0.50
Vindel: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [8d 6s 4h 2s Td]
toyo8: folds
bllyb1721: raises $4 to $5
mR b@bLe: folds
Angyalfold: folds
plutoman20: raises $10 to $15
musketss: folds
Vindel: folds
mR b@bLe said, "wow"
bllyb1721: raises $32.55 to $47.55 and is all-in
plutoman20: folds
Uncalled bet ($32.55) returned to bllyb1721
bllyb1721 collected $31.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $31.50 Rake $0
Seat 1: bllyb1721 collected ($31.50)
Seat 2: mR b@bLe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Angyalfold folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (button) folded before Flop
Seat 5: musketss (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: Vindel (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: toyo8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 4

This was the biggie. My last hand of the session. I'm three-betting a lot of draws here, but when Musketss (who has so far done nothing out of the ordinary) comes over the top I figure I'm up against at least a nine, probably a 9-7 or better. There's even a small chance I'm drawing dead, and if Vindel hadn't cold-called the $17 I think I'd have let this go. When Musketss bets $10 out of position there's a chance he's got a better hand than my rough eight, but when Vindel min-raises (again) I'm pretty sure I'm dead. Still, given his earlier antics there's no way I can fold. At least I hung on to my last four bucks - over time those add up.

PokerStars Game #55989558089: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/01/15 17:43:53 ET
Table 'Agelaos X' 7-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: mR b@bLe ($24.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Angyalfold ($107.15 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($42.40 in chips)
Seat 5: musketss ($35.55 in chips)
Seat 6: Vindel ($130.70 in chips)
Seat 7: toyo8 ($30.90 in chips)
musketss: posts small blind $0.50
Vindel: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3d 6h Ts 8s 4s]
mR b@bLe said, "we do deal)))"
toyo8: folds
mR b@bLe: raises $1 to $2
Angyalfold: folds
plutoman20: raises $4 to $6
musketss: raises $12 to $18
Vindel: calls $17
mR b@bLe: folds
plutoman20: calls $12
mR b@bLe said, "wow"
musketss: stands pat
Vindel: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ts]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3d 6h 8s 4s] [7s]
musketss: bets $10
Vindel: raises $10 to $20
plutoman20: calls $20
musketss: calls $7.55 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Vindel: shows [7h 3s 5s 2h 4c] (Lo: 7,5,4,3,2)
plutoman20: mucks hand
Vindel collected $4.90 from side pot
mR b@bLe said, "wowowowowowowow"
musketss: mucks hand
toyo8 said, "nh"
Vindel collected $105.65 from main pot
plutoman20 said, "oh dear"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $113.55 Main pot $105.65. Side pot $4.90. Rake $3
Seat 2: mR b@bLe folded before Flop
Seat 3: Angyalfold folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (button) mucked [3d 6h 7s 8s 4s]
Seat 5: musketss (small blind) mucked [5h 6d 4h 2c 9d]
Seat 6: Vindel (big blind) showed [7h 3s 5s 2h 4c] and won ($110.55) with Lo: 7,5,4,3,2

Seat 7: toyo8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 5

I see this situation in badugi from time to time. Someone donks into a pat hand after they've drawn. It makes no sense to me but normally it means they have some kind of badugi, even when they've drawn two. Just about any badugi beats my K-10 so I just call here, but I turn my hand face up as a crappy badugi (I guess I could just call with a monster too). Then to my slight surprise he draws again, and donks into me again! My initial call on the flop gives him licence to snow, especially on the last draw, which is why I decide to call on the end.

Full Tilt Poker Game #27258055279: Table High Vista - $0.50/$1 - Limit Badugi - 02:07:51 ET - 2011/01/14
Seat 3: dobby821 ($9.50)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($18.50)
Seat 6: fnkmstr ($39.90)
Seat 7: Fantushi ($19.75)
Seat 8: dArtalgnan ($33.95)
dobby821 posts the small blind of $0.25
plutoman20 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Th 5s 2d Kc]
fnkmstr folds
Fantushi folds
dArtalgnan folds
dobby821 calls $0.25
plutoman20 raises to $1
dobby821 calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW *** (Pot: $2)
dobby821 discards 2 cards
plutoman20 stands pat on [Th 5s 2d Kc]
dobby821 is dealt 2 cards
dobby821 has 15 seconds left to act
dobby821 bets $0.50
plutoman20 calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW *** (Pot: $3)
dobby821 discards 1 card
plutoman20 stands pat on [Th 5s 2d Kc]
dobby821 is dealt 1 card
dobby821 bets $1
plutoman20 calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW *** (Pot: $5)
dobby821 stands pat
plutoman20 stands pat on [Th 5s 2d Kc]
dobby821 bets $1
plutoman20 calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dobby821 shows [5c 4h 2s Ad] a Badugi: 5, 4, 2, A
plutoman20 mucks
dobby821 wins the pot ($6.65) with a Badugi: 5, 4, 2, A
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7 Rake $0.35
Seat 1: ExxCaliber is sitting out
Seat 2: BuzzEngineer is sitting out
Seat 3: dobby821 (small blind) showed [5c 4h 2s Ad] and won ($6.65) with a Badugi: 5, 4, 2, A
Seat 4: Macadeezy is sitting out
Seat 5: plutoman20 (big blind) mucked [Kc Th 5s 2d] - a Badugi: K, T, 5, 2
Seat 6: fnkmstr folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Fantushi folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: dArtalgnan (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 6

Here's one of those stud hands I was talking about.

PokerStars Game #55923998311: 7 Card Stud Limit ($0.10/$0.20 USD) - 2011/01/14 15:26:47 ET
Table 'Altarf XV' 8-max
Seat 1: Brodiaga98 ($0.95 in chips)
Seat 2: streusel66 ($3.91 in chips)
Seat 3: plutoman20 ($7.84 in chips)
Seat 4: hillbilly350 ($1.13 in chips)
Seat 5: gmorion ($0.73 in chips)
Seat 6: DJekky ($3.04 in chips)
Seat 7: Sabr1988 ($6.81 in chips)
Seat 8: bogieV ($4.52 in chips)
Brodiaga98: posts the ante $0.02
streusel66: posts the ante $0.02
plutoman20: posts the ante $0.02
hillbilly350: posts the ante $0.02
gmorion: posts the ante $0.02
DJekky: posts the ante $0.02
Sabr1988: posts the ante $0.02
bogieV: posts the ante $0.02
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Brodiaga98 [Jh]
Dealt to streusel66 [Jd]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s Kh Ks]
Dealt to hillbilly350 [5h]
Dealt to gmorion [Td]
Dealt to DJekky [Jc]
Dealt to Sabr1988 [8c]
Dealt to bogieV [7c]
hillbilly350: brings in for $0.05
gmorion: calls $0.05
DJekky: folds
Sabr1988: calls $0.05
bogieV: folds
Brodiaga98: folds
streusel66: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.05 to $0.10
hillbilly350: folds
gmorion: calls $0.05
Sabr1988: calls $0.05
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s Kh Ks] [Ad]
Dealt to gmorion [Td] [Qc]
Dealt to Sabr1988 [8c] [4s]
plutoman20: bets $0.10
gmorion: calls $0.10
Sabr1988: calls $0.10
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s Kh Ks Ad] [9s]
Dealt to gmorion [Td Qc] [2d]
Dealt to Sabr1988 [8c 4s] [5c]
plutoman20: bets $0.20
gmorion: calls $0.20
Sabr1988: calls $0.20
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s Kh Ks Ad 9s] [6d]
Dealt to gmorion [Td Qc 2d] [8s]
Dealt to Sabr1988 [8c 4s 5c] [7s]
plutoman20: checks
gmorion: checks
Sabr1988: bets $0.20
plutoman20: calls $0.20
gmorion: calls $0.20
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s Kh Ks Ad 9s 6d] [As]
plutoman20: checks
gmorion: checks
Sabr1988: bets $0.20
plutoman20: calls $0.20
gmorion: calls $0.11 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Sabr1988: shows [6h Ac 8c 4s 5c 7s Ts] (a straight, Four to Eight)
plutoman20: mucks hand
Sabr1988 collected $0.17 from side pot
gmorion: mucks hand
gmorion leaves the table
Sabr1988 collected $2.23 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2.52 Main pot $2.23. Side pot $0.17. Rake $0.12
Seat 1: Brodiaga98 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: streusel66 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 3: plutoman20 mucked [5s Kh Ks Ad 9s 6d As]
Seat 4: hillbilly350 folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 5: gmorion mucked [4d 4h Td Qc 2d 8s 2h]
Seat 6: DJekky folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Sabr1988 showed [6h Ac 8c 4s 5c 7s Ts] and won ($2.40) with a straight, Four to Eight
Seat 8: bogieV folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

Hand 7

And here's another. I bet sixth here because I caught a flush draw; otherwise I would have checked. In hindsight there were so many clubs dead that my flush draw wasn't worth much.

PokerStars Game #55997329304: 7 Card Stud Limit ($0.10/$0.20 USD) - 2011/01/15 20:22:31 ET
Table 'Cottrell XII' 8-max
Seat 1: johnnyru16 ($4 in chips)
Seat 2: Abagail9 ($4.68 in chips)
Seat 3: maestro6 ($4.11 in chips)
Seat 4: Fatdaddy500 ($12.25 in chips)
Seat 5: psycho622 ($10.09 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($3.92 in chips)
Seat 7: sgstais ($3.98 in chips)
Seat 8: Jaz077 ($1.80 in chips)
johnnyru16: posts the ante $0.02
Abagail9: posts the ante $0.02
maestro6: posts the ante $0.02
Fatdaddy500: posts the ante $0.02
psycho622: posts the ante $0.02
plutoman20: posts the ante $0.02
sgstais: posts the ante $0.02
Jaz077: posts the ante $0.02
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to johnnyru16 [8s]
Dealt to Abagail9 [5c]
Dealt to maestro6 [Jh]
Dealt to Fatdaddy500 [Jc]
Dealt to psycho622 [Ah]
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kc Kd 7d]
Dealt to sgstais [Ks]
Dealt to Jaz077 [Ac]
Abagail9: brings in for $0.05
maestro6: folds
Fatdaddy500: calls $0.05
psycho622: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.05 to $0.10
sgstais: folds
Jaz077: folds
johnnyru16: folds
Abagail9: calls $0.05
Fatdaddy500: calls $0.05
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to Abagail9 [5c] [Qd]
Dealt to Fatdaddy500 [Jc] [Qs]
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kc Kd 7d] [Tc]
Fatdaddy500: checks
plutoman20: bets $0.10
Abagail9: calls $0.10
Fatdaddy500: calls $0.10
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to Abagail9 [5c Qd] [3c]
Dealt to Fatdaddy500 [Jc Qs] [6s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kc Kd 7d Tc] [2c]
Fatdaddy500: checks
plutoman20: bets $0.20
Abagail9: calls $0.20
Fatdaddy500: calls $0.20
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to Abagail9 [5c Qd 3c] [Kh]
Dealt to Fatdaddy500 [Jc Qs 6s] [Qc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kc Kd 7d Tc 2c] [8c]
Fatdaddy500: checks
plutoman20: bets $0.20
Abagail9: calls $0.20
Fatdaddy500: calls $0.20
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kc Kd 7d Tc 2c 8c] [6h]
Fatdaddy500: checks
plutoman20: checks
Abagail9: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Abagail9: shows [Th Js 5c Qd 3c Kh 9c] (a straight, Nine to King)
Fatdaddy500: mucks hand
plutoman20: mucks hand
Abagail9 collected $1.87 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1.96 Rake $0.09
Seat 1: johnnyru16 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Abagail9 showed [Th Js 5c Qd 3c Kh 9c] and won ($1.87) with a straight, Nine to King
Seat 3: maestro6 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Fatdaddy500 mucked [9s 7c Jc Qs 6s Qc 2d]
Seat 5: psycho622 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 6: plutoman20 mucked [Kc Kd 7d Tc 2c 8c 6h]
Seat 7: sgstais folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

Seat 8: Jaz077 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

Rant over...

I was going to post some hands in my last blog entry but got sidetracked in a rant about Poker Stars' payout structures. In single draw cash games I'm essentially break-even over my last 4000 hands, badugi isn't much better while triple draw is marginally worse.

Hand 1
I should never have let my stack get this low. I did add a few dollars just after this hand. I'd been getting mainly junk so far; sometimes you just have to make a move.

Full Tilt Poker Game #27138298594: Table Farnsworth (6 max, ante) - $0.25/$0.50 Ante $0.10 - No Limit 2-7 Single Draw - 21:25:11 ET - 2011/01/09
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($13.65)
Seat 2: A White Horse ($31.65)
Seat 3: Nodressing ($40.40)
Seat 4: Husserl2nd ($31.80)
Seat 5: Rafal ($52.75)
Seat 6: Pickled Toad ($50.85)
Rafal antes $0.10
Pickled Toad antes $0.10
Husserl2nd antes $0.10
Nodressing antes $0.10
plutoman20 antes $0.10
A White Horse antes $0.10
Pickled Toad posts the small blind of $0.25
plutoman20 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 6s 6c 3c 4h]
A White Horse folds
Nodressing raises to $1
Husserl2nd folds
Rafal folds
Pickled Toad folds
plutoman20 raises to $3.50
Nodressing calls $2.50
*** DRAW *** (Pot: $7.85)
plutoman20 stands pat on [5c 6s 6c 3c 4h]
Nodressing discards 1 card
Nodressing is dealt 1 card
plutoman20 bets $5
Nodressing folds
Uncalled bet of $5 returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 mucks
plutoman20 wins the pot ($7.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.85 Rake $0.35
Seat 1: plutoman20 (big blind) collected ($7.50), mucked
Seat 2: A White Horse folded before the Draw
Seat 3: Nodressing folded after the Draw
Seat 4: Husserl2nd folded before the Draw
Seat 5: Rafal (button) folded before the Draw
Seat 6: Pickled Toad (small blind) folded before the Draw

Hand 2
Against someone else I would have folded to the three-bet, but I figured against a loose player like Jaysull my implied odds were there if I could make my eight.

Full Tilt Poker Game #27140263526: Table Farnsworth (6 max, ante) - $0.25/$0.50 Ante $0.10 - No Limit 2-7 Single Draw - 22:49:33 ET - 2011/01/09
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($35.85)
Seat 2: btwen ($40)
Seat 3: Nodressing ($36.15)
Seat 4: LOLZOMGHOLYWTF ($19.05)
Seat 5: TERCIOUSNATOR ($32.50)
Seat 6: jaysull ($44.55)
jaysull antes $0.10
TERCIOUSNATOR antes $0.10
btwen antes $0.10
plutoman20 antes $0.10
LOLZOMGHOLYWTF antes $0.10
Nodressing antes $0.10
TERCIOUSNATOR posts the small blind of $0.25
jaysull posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Qh 7h 4s 6c 8d]
plutoman20 raises to $1.75
btwen folds
Nodressing folds
LOLZOMGHOLYWTF folds
TERCIOUSNATOR folds
TERCIOUSNATOR adds $0.35
jaysull raises to $5
plutoman20 calls $3.25
*** DRAW *** (Pot: $10.85)
jaysull stands pat
plutoman20 discards 1 card [Qh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4s 6c 8d] [2c]
jaysull bets $3
plutoman20 raises to $9
jaysull calls $6
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20 shows [8d 7h 6c 4s 2c] 8,7,6,4,2
jaysull mucks
plutoman20 wins the pot ($27.45) with 8,7,6,4,2
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $28.85 Rake $1.40
Seat 1: plutoman20 showed [8d 7h 6c 4s 2c] and won ($27.45) with 8,7,6,4,2
Seat 2: btwen folded before the Draw
Seat 3: Nodressing folded before the Draw
Seat 4: LOLZOMGHOLYWTF (button) folded before the Draw
Seat 5: TERCIOUSNATOR (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 6: jaysull (big blind) mucked [Ts 8c 7d 6d 4h] - T,8,7,6,4

Hand 3
This one was from Wednesday's early bird tournament and is straight out of the WTF files. I was decidedly unlucky to run my number seven into a better pat hand, but how on earth did I remain in the tournament after this? How did Rugged not shove? I only survived a few more hands: Rugged got dealt an 8-7 and I missed my smooth eight draw.

PokerStars Game #55696778772: Tournament #350348291, $5.00+$0.50 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level VI (80/160) - 2011/01/10 14:28:23 ET
Table '350348291 3' 7-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: melnik1977 (2898 in chips)
Seat 2: brcrhod4 (6287 in chips)
Seat 3: smattle (4090 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 (4675 in chips)
Seat 6: Rugged & Vic (8985 in chips)
Seat 7: AlexAntonov (7193 in chips)
Everyone antes 40
melnik1977: posts small blind 80
brcrhod4: posts big blind 160
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s 6d 2c 8h 3h]
smattle: folds
plutoman20: raises 320 to 480
Rugged & Vic: calls 480
AlexAntonov: folds
melnik1977: folds
brcrhod4: calls 320
brcrhod4: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [5s 6d 2c 8h 3h]
Rugged & Vic: stands pat
brcrhod4: bets 480
plutoman20: raises 1220 to 1700
Rugged & Vic: calls 1700
brcrhod4: calls 1220
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [5s 6d 2c 8h 3h] (Lo: 8,6,5,3,2)
Rugged & Vic: shows [3c 5d 4h 8s 2s] (Lo: 8,5,4,3,2)
brcrhod4: mucks hand
Rugged & Vic collected 6860 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6860 Rake 0
Seat 1: melnik1977 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: brcrhod4 (big blind) mucked [9d 3s 4s 5c 7h]
Seat 3: smattle folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: plutoman20 showed [5s 6d 2c 8h 3h] and lost with Lo: 8,6,5,3,2
Seat 6: Rugged & Vic showed [3c 5d 4h 8s 2s] and won (6860) with Lo: 8,5,4,3,2
Seat 7: AlexAntonov (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 4
Fakemode wasn't a bad player but he was fairly new. I like to three-bet monster draws at times because I tend to get more action after the draw that way. He very nearly folded to my pre-draw reraise, and I guess if he was more experienced he might have folded to my shove.

PokerStars Game #55727787077: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/11 2:18:34 ET
Table 'Peiroos IV' 7-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: LaDaL_1er ($17.95 in chips)
Seat 2: Character81 ($4.95 in chips)
Seat 4: fakemode ($67 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($26 in chips)
Seat 6: CrazyLissy ($49.55 in chips)
Seat 7: sngonta ($29.30 in chips)
sngonta: posts small blind $0.25
LaDaL_1er: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3s 7h 4s 2s 2c]
Character81: folds
fakemode: raises $0.50 to $1
plutoman20: raises $2 to $3
CrazyLissy: folds
sngonta: folds
LaDaL_1er: folds
fakemode: calls $2
fakemode: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [2c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3s 7h 4s 2s] [6c]
fakemode: bets $5.40
plutoman20: raises $17.60 to $23 and is all-in
fakemode: calls $17.60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [3s 7h 4s 2s 6c] (Lo: 7,6,4,3,2)
fakemode: shows [5c 7d 3d 4h 8h] (Lo: 8,7,5,4,3)
plutoman20 collected $50.15 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $52.75 Rake $2.60
Seat 1: LaDaL_1er (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: Character81 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: fakemode showed [5c 7d 3d 4h 8h] and lost with Lo: 8,7,5,4,3
Seat 5: plutoman20 showed [3s 7h 4s 2s 6c] and won ($50.15) with Lo: 7,6,4,3,2
Seat 6: CrazyLissy (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: sngonta (small blind) folded before Flop

Hand 5
This was an interesting one. I get number six...suited. What do I do? Facing a raise I've got three sensible options (flat-out folding is surely silly). Option one: call and draw to 8432. Option two: reraise and draw to 8432, bluffing with any club if it's checked to me after the draw, and bluff-raising with the lower clubs (5, 7 and maybe 9) if I'm facing a bet. Option three (which I picked): reraise and snow. Looking back, I think I chose the wrong option. I've got a big draw here despite its suitedness (throwing away a fifth club makes it slightly better) but by snowing I forfeit all my showdown value. This is a totally different situation from Hand 1 where my draw is bad and I'm not compromising much by patting. Either of the first two options would have been better.

PokerStars Game #55753973327: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/11 14:41:03 ET
Table 'Ganesa III' 7-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($30.10 in chips)
Seat 2: Carpesiano ($45.40 in chips)
Seat 3: trubark ($13.45 in chips)
Seat 4: 158 YA ($25.60 in chips)
Seat 5: MET8 ($37.40 in chips)
Seat 6: 345q8 ($37.80 in chips)
Seat 7: Manta-High ($20 in chips)
MET8: posts small blind $0.25
345q8: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [8c 2c 6c 3c 4c]
Manta-High: raises $1 to $1.50
plutoman20: raises $2.50 to $4
Carpesiano: folds
trubark: folds
158 YA: folds
MET8: folds
345q8: folds
Manta-High: calls $2.50
Manta-High: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [8c 2c 6c 3c 4c]
Manta-High: checks
plutoman20: bets $5
Manta-High: folds
Uncalled bet ($5) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $8.35 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $8.75 Rake $0.40
Seat 1: plutoman20 collected ($8.35)
Seat 2: Carpesiano folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: trubark folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: 158 YA (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: MET8 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: 345q8 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Manta-High folded on the Flop

Hand 6
Maybe I should have bet bigger here. I think he'd have called two or three bucks. His J-8 was better than I thought he had. It's amazing how many players limp in with such good hands.

PokerStars Game #55755027489: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/11 14:58:32 ET
Table 'Ganesa III' 7-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($35.05 in chips)
Seat 2: JuggliNick ($32.25 in chips)
Seat 3: trubark ($5.85 in chips)
Seat 4: 158 YA ($28.90 in chips)
Seat 5: Crazyeyes2 ($11.20 in chips)
Seat 6: 345q8 ($33.85 in chips)
Seat 7: Manta-High ($22.75 in chips)
Manta-High: posts small blind $0.25
plutoman20: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kh Jc Td Th 4d]
3 folds
Crazyeyes2: calls $0.50
2 folds
plutoman20: checks
plutoman20: discards 4 cards [Kh Jc Td Th]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4d] [9s 2s 7h Ts]
Crazyeyes2: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $1
Crazyeyes2: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [9s 2s 7h Ts 4d] (Lo: T,9,7,4,2)
Crazyeyes2: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $3.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $3.25 Rake $0.15
Seat 1: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [9s 2s 7h Ts 4d] and won ($3.10) with Lo: T,9,7,4,2
Seat 2: JuggliNick folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: trubark folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: 158 YA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Crazyeyes2 mucked [8d 3h 5d 7s Jh]
Seat 6: 345q8 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Manta-High (small blind) folded before Flop

Hand 7
Down to two tables in yesterday's tournament. I make a basic error here. When Melnik shoves he's drawing maybe 30% of the time, so my rough jack has a 15% chance of beating him. I therefore need to get 6:1 to call. I'm getting nowhere near that so I should fold. It's interesting how sensitive my decision is to Melnik's stack size. If he had say 2800, not only would I be getting a better price on my call but he'd also be shoving many more draws, increasing my chance of winning. I really need to start using my time bank (which I currently hardly ever do) to help me make these decisions.

PokerStars Game #55812808046: Tournament #350348293, $5.00+$0.50 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level IX (200/400) - 2011/01/12 15:25:09 ET
Table '350348293 3' 7-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: melnik1977 (3735 in chips)
Seat 2: Ruskor777 (11105 in chips)
Seat 3: Angyalfold (13610 in chips)
Seat 4: sh@shk@ (7615 in chips)
Seat 5: NightStarUz (3210 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 (22910 in chips)
Everyone antes 100
Angyalfold: posts small blind 200
sh@shk@: posts big blind 400
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Td Js 9d 2d 3s]
NightStarUz: folds
plutoman20: raises 1000 to 1400
melnik1977: raises 2235 to 3635 and is all-in
3 folds
plutoman20: calls 2235
plutoman20: stands pat on [Td Js 9d 2d 3s]
melnik1977: stands pat
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [Td Js 9d 2d 3s] (Lo: J,T,9,3,2)
melnik1977: shows [2c 9h 8h 4d 6s] (Lo: 9,8,6,4,2)
melnik1977 collected 8470 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8470 Rake 0
Seat 1: melnik1977 showed [2c 9h 8h 4d 6s] and won (8470) with Lo: 9,8,6,4,2
Seat 2: Ruskor777 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Angyalfold (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: sh@shk@ (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: NightStarUz folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: plutoman20 showed [Td Js 9d 2d 3s] and lost with Lo: J,T,9,3,2

Hand 8
Melnik came back from the dead to finish second. Should I be three-betting with this hand? I think I'm the best player left so perhaps I should be looking to reduce variance, but three-handed a seven draw - even with a gutshot - is a monster. When I make a 9-7 I've got no choice but to put Melnik all in, but my luck runs out here.

PokerStars Game #55816539869: Tournament #350348293, $5.00+$0.50 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level XIII (500/1000) - 2011/01/12 16:22:59 ET
Table '350348293 3' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: melnik1977 (19610 in chips)
Seat 3: ISTEPÔ (79060 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 (31830 in chips)
melnik1977: posts the ante 250
ISTEPÔ: posts the ante 250
plutoman20: posts the ante 250
plutoman20: posts small blind 500
melnik1977: posts big blind 1000
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7d 4h Ad 6c 3c]
ISTEPÔ: raises 2000 to 3000
plutoman20: raises 6000 to 9000
melnik1977: calls 8000
ISTEPÔ: calls 6000
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ad]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7d 4h 6c 3c] [9c]
melnik1977: discards 1 card
ISTEPÔ: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets 11000
melnik1977: calls 10360 and is all-in
ISTEPÔ: folds
Uncalled bet (640) returned to plutoman20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [7d 4h 9c 6c 3c] (Lo: 9,7,6,4,3)
melnik1977: shows [4c 6h 3s 5h 9s] (Lo: 9,6,5,4,3)
melnik1977 collected 48470 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 48470 Rake 0
Seat 1: melnik1977 (big blind) showed [4c 6h 3s 5h 9s] and won (48470) with Lo: 9,6,5,4,3
Seat 3: ISTEPÔ (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [7d 4h 9c 6c 3c] and lost with Lo: 9,7,6,4,3

Hand 9
I'm still crap at triple draw. I've got no reads so I definitely should be breaking this hand on the turn. My draw is too good not to. Why didn't he bet the river?

Full Tilt Poker Game #27144419755: Table Bridlewood (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Limit 2-7 Triple Draw - 03:34:20 ET - 2011/01/10
Seat 2: omaholic72 ($9.15)
Seat 3: k0b8 ($21.20)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($11.65)
Seat 5: Hack Cabbage ($4.50)
Seat 6: uwballer ($12)
k0b8 posts the small blind of $0.10
plutoman20 posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Jc 6s 4s 6c 2s]
Hack Cabbage raises to $0.50
uwballer raises to $0.75
omaholic72 folds
k0b8 folds
plutoman20 calls $0.50
Hack Cabbage calls $0.25
*** FIRST DRAW *** (Pot: $2.35)
plutoman20 discards 2 cards [Jc 6s]
Hack Cabbage discards 2 cards
uwballer discards 1 card
Dealt to plutoman20 [4s 6c 2s] [Ah 9c]
Hack Cabbage is dealt 2 cards
uwballer is dealt 1 card
plutoman20 checks
Hack Cabbage checks
uwballer bets $0.25
plutoman20 calls $0.25
Hack Cabbage folds
*** SECOND DRAW *** (Pot: $2.85)
plutoman20 discards 2 cards [Ah 9c]
uwballer discards 1 card
Dealt to plutoman20 [4s 6c 2s] [9s 7c]
uwballer is dealt 1 card
plutoman20 checks
uwballer bets $0.50
plutoman20 raises to $1
uwballer raises to $1.50
plutoman20 calls $0.50
*** THIRD DRAW *** (Pot: $5.85)
plutoman20 stands pat on [4s 6c 2s 9s 7c]
uwballer stands pat
plutoman20 checks
uwballer checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
uwballer shows [8c 5d 4h 3d 2h] 8,5,4,3,2
plutoman20 mucks
uwballer wins the pot ($5.60) with 8,5,4,3,2
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $5.85 Rake $0.25
Seat 2: omaholic72 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: k0b8 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: plutoman20 (big blind) mucked [9s 7c 6c 4s 2s] - 9,7,6,4,2
Seat 5: Hack Cabbage folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 6: uwballer showed [8c 5d 4h 3d 2h] and won ($5.60) with 8,5,4,3,2

Blue is good

Some blue figures have started appearing in my poker spreadsheet. Blue is good. My profit for the very young 2011 moved into positive territory yesterday after a good result in the "early bird" (6:50 am) single draw tournament. I finished third out of 55 without having to rebuy, turning $5.50 into $72.50. I ran insanely well in the early stages although I was helped by some very poor play from my opponents. I made the nuts on the very first hand and found someone willing to stack off with a 9-8. I was then dealt a pat 9-8 of my own, not a huge hand but plenty good enough against someone who doesn't know the rules of the game, and I was up to 7000 after half an hour. The luck factor in these tournaments comes from who you happen to get on your table as much as the cards you get. When we got down to three I was in second place with chip counts of 85,000, 40,000 and 5000. My strongest opponent had just been knocked out and I felt I could quite easily win the whole thing, but the short stack got lucky against the big stack a couple of times, then he made a 9-6 to my 9-7 to leave me short, and I didn't recover. A shame I couldn't win it, but after my recent run of bad luck in that tournament I was happy with third.

A quick message to Poker Stars: fix your payout structures, dammit! This tournament has an overlay (that's to say, free money) and if anything I benefited from their wacky payout calculations, so perhaps I'm in no position to complain but there are two problems I see:


1. When the tournament doesn't reach its guarantee the total prize pool is $500. Great. But here's the weird bit. If there are 45 entrants they pay out the top seven but when there are 55 the top ten get paid so everyone (except 8th, 9th and 10th obviously) gets a smaller slice of the $500 pie, including the winner. So if you win the tournament from a field of 55 you get less than you do if you win from a field of 45, even though it's obviously harder to win when there are 55 players. I've simplified things a bit because rebuys come into play in this tournament, but I think that when the guarantee isn't reached they should just pay the top seven regardless. Seven out of 55 is plenty anyway.

2. The payouts themselves aren't smooth - they have weird jumps in them that don't make any sense. I've noticed this in pretty much every MTT I've seen.


Here were the payouts from yesterday's tournament:
1st...................$150
2nd...................$95
3rd..................$72.50
4th...................$47.50
5th...................$36.25
6th...................$27.50
7th...................$22.50
8th to 10th.........$16.25

The gap between 2nd and 3rd is too small, 3rd and 4th too big, 4th and 5th too small... Presumably they use some kind of formula - I'd love to know what it is. Why can't they just give second 65% of first (sounds about right), third say 70% of second, and slightly higher percentages as you go down? Here's how I'd split the $500 pie:

1st............$163
2nd............$106
3rd............$74
4th............$55
5th............$42
6th............$33
7th............$27

Here's a graph of their payout scale against mine. I hope you'll agree that mine is smoother :-)

At sixes and sevens (well sevens and eights actually)

Another single draw shocker. It looked like there were some loose players out there, so I put $60 on two tables, but when almost half of that was gone within 52 hands, I decided I'd had enough. Is it just me or has the game changed lately? I thought 2-7 single draw was about getting reads on opponents, executing bluffs, picking off bluffs, making thin value bets. Now it's all about making sevens and eights. It's very hard to win any decent-sized pot without a seven or an eight. Am I the only player in the game who would rather draw one to 9754 than two to 732? It sure feels that way. It's become more like triple draw all of a sudden, albeit the no-limit version which I haven't yet dared to try.

Here are the highlights (!) of my short sharp shock session (say that ten times fast*):

Hand 1 of 52: I get T8654 in the BB. UTG player min-raises, it folds round to me, I reraise him to $3, he min-four-bets to $5 and I call. I decide to draw, hit my straight, check, he bets $2 into a $10+ pot and I don't have the balls to check-raise him, figuring that with all that min-betting he might well have a monster hand.

Hand 11: It folds to me in the SB and I raise with KT974. BB calls, we both draw one. I pair my four but the BB makes 66542 and I take down a small pot. He could have bluffed there.

Hand 14: I raise in position with J8642, we both take one, I hit an ace and lose to a 10-9.

Hand 22: I get 97752 in the BB. There's a limp and a min-raise, which I call as does the limper. I take one, limper takes two, raiser takes one. I make 98752 but I'm out of position and won't get value from much worse so I check and win a smallish pot. The limper made JT983! Surely I'll start beating these players again.

Hand 24: I get T7653 in the SB. Folds round to the cut-off who only has 60 cents, which he puts in the middle. Button calls, I raise to $2, button folds. Mr 60 cents has a pat 98652 and I lose.

Hand 28: Folds round to me in the cut-off. I raise to $1.50 with JT842. BB calls me and draws one, I stand pat. We check it down; BB shows me the nuts.

Hand 30: I get J7632 in middle position. UTG limps, I raise to $1.50, not minding if the pot goes multi-way. Button calls, UTG calls. All three of us draw one, I hit a nine. UTG checks, I bet $3.50, then the button shoves for $17.75. I very nearly misclick call (I was busy on my other table when this table suddenly reappeared) but manage to locate the fold button. I'm guessing 87632 is probably a fold too in that spot.

Hand 32: I get K9643 in the SB. Cut-off raises to $1.50, button calls, I call, BB calls. Four-way to the draw. I draw one and make 96543, BB draws one, CO pats, button draws two. I bet $4 into a $5.70 pot, BB calls, CO folds, button raises to $8.50, I think about it and make a crying call, BB calls. Button wins a handsome $30 pot with his miracle number two while the BB also has me beat with 87643.

Hand 33: UTG opens to a big fat three bucks, I decide to call on the button with my Q8532 (I've got big implied odds with that draw after all). We both draw one, I hit an ace and lose to Q6543. What sort of draw is that? I guess if you must open UTG with that hand, you're better off patting and bombing the pot after the draw.

Hand 35: I get 88762 UTG, raise and get no callers. For once a standard hand.

Hand 43: I'm not involved here, but the five players who are draw ten cards between them in a limped pot. What happens if you run out of cards in single draw? They all check it down after the draw. The fourth player to act had drawn two to make the nuts; presumably he was hoping the last player (who had also drawn two) had made the second nuts.

Hand 45: I get 87652 on the cut-off five-handed. I raise but alas get no callers.

Hand 52: I get Q9853 UTG five-handed. I don't know why I didn't open this. The fold worked out OK though - the BB shoved for $10.60.

All of that happened in 20 minutes. I showed down nine hands (that's a shedload in that time), seven of them losers. The champagne will remain on ice for some time methinks.

* I've got a handful of shares (not many) in a company called Smiths City. They're a chain of department stores based mainly in the South Island. It's hard to say "Smiths City shares" without saying "shitty", which is appropriate given their performance.

The long road to zero

It's a case of two steps forward, two steps back at the moment. I should be thankful that it isn't one and three. If and when my profit for the year hits zero I'll be cracking open the champagne. I've had promising runs in a couple of single draw tournaments but neither amounted to much. On Friday with 13 left and seven paying, I was dealt a 9-5 but collided with a pat 87432. This morning on Full Tilt I ran pretty well, making the second nuts twice and taking down a lot of sizeable pots with nines (which are worth more in tournaments where the play is looser). Unfortunately my luck ran out at the final table and I finished up fifth for a small payout. Here are eight recent hands of note:

Hand 1
My play was bad here. I should either have called the smallish reraise and drawn to the smooth nine, or just folded. Calling and patting paints a big "bluff me" target on my back. I guess I could make this play with a big hand, and it would be something I'd do so infrequently that I might not need to balance it much.

PokerStars Game #55429645450: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/05 19:21:38 ET
Table 'Hohensteina V' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: BLOCKHEAD2 ($16.75 in chips)
Seat 2: tornnado ($16.75 in chips)
Seat 3: ygunstah ($11.70 in chips)
Seat 4: andrej tuzla ($19.60 in chips)
Seat 6: Andysson ($44.85 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($30.85 in chips)
andrej tuzla: posts small blind $0.25
Andysson: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Td 3c 5s 2h 9h]
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
BLOCKHEAD2: folds
tornnado: folds
ygunstah: folds
andrej tuzla: raises $2 to $3.50
Andysson: folds
plutoman20: calls $2
andrej tuzla: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [Td 3c 5s 2h 9h]
Manta-High joins the table at seat #5
andrej tuzla: bets $5.50
plutoman20: folds
Uncalled bet ($5.50) returned to andrej tuzla
andrej tuzla collected $7.15 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.50 Rake $0.35
Seat 1: BLOCKHEAD2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: tornnado folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ygunstah (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: andrej tuzla (small blind) collected ($7.15)
Seat 6: Andysson (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: plutoman20 folded on the Flop

Hand 2
This is a new play of mine. Hopefully better queens, jacks and even the odd rough ten will fold.

PokerStars Game #55430796788: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/05 19:45:13 ET
Table 'Hohensteina V' 7-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: 42llopi ($31.35 in chips)
Seat 2: ANMACLAU ($20.90 in chips)
Seat 3: ygunstah ($9.45 in chips)
Seat 4: ratso69 ($16.90 in chips)
Seat 5: Manta-High ($20 in chips)
Seat 6: Andysson ($45.70 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($25.15 in chips)
ANMACLAU: posts small blind $0.25
ygunstah: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3s 4s Ts Qd 6c]
ratso69: folds
Manta-High: folds
Andysson: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
42llopi: calls $1.50
ANMACLAU: folds
ygunstah: folds
plutoman20: stands pat on [3s 4s Ts Qd 6c]
42llopi: discards 1 card
ratso69 leaves the table
plutoman20: bets $3.50
02gunner93 joins the table at seat #4
42llopi: folds
Uncalled bet ($3.50) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $3.60 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3.75 Rake $0.15
Seat 1: 42llopi (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: ANMACLAU (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: ygunstah (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: ratso69 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Manta-High folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Andysson folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: plutoman20 collected ($3.60)

Hand 3
How did more money not go in on this hand? This sort of thing makes me far more circumspect with my pat nines and tens than I used to be.

PokerStars Game #55497136787: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/07 0:51:01 ET
Table 'Eridanus III' 7-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($42.75 in chips)
Seat 3: PATSYPOKER19 ($33.40 in chips)
Seat 4: eva2011 ($10.80 in chips)
Seat 5: Elales ($29.40 in chips)
Seat 6: 'tacheman ($48.80 in chips)
Seat 7: Aces4Ginny ($12.50 in chips)
Elales: posts small blind $0.25
'tacheman: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9h 2h Qd 5s Kd]
Aces4Ginny: calls $0.50
plutoman20: folds
PATSYPOKER19: raises $1 to $1.50
eva2011: folds
'tacheman said, "nice"
Elales: raises $5 to $6.50
'tacheman: folds
Aces4Ginny: folds
PATSYPOKER19: calls $5
Elales: stands pat
PATSYPOKER19: stands pat
Elales: checks
PATSYPOKER19: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***Elales: shows [7c 4c 6d 8s 2d] (Lo: 8,7,6,4,2)
PATSYPOKER19: shows [3d 8c 5d 7d 2s] (Lo: 8,7,5,3,2)
PATSYPOKER19 collected $13.30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $14 Rake $0.70
Seat 1: plutoman20 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: PATSYPOKER19 showed [3d 8c 5d 7d 2s] and won ($13.30) with Lo: 8,7,5,3,2
Seat 4: eva2011 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Elales (small blind) showed [7c 4c 6d 8s 2d] and lost with Lo: 8,7,6,4,2
Seat 6: 'tacheman (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Aces4Ginny folded before Flop

Hand 4
Chuckila's post-draw play makes no sense to me at all.

PokerStars Game #55526462638: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/07 15:04:34 ET
Table 'Hakone V' 7-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: jerrym9 ($28.55 in chips)
Seat 2: shottapatron ($15.80 in chips)
Seat 3: AleshNo1 ($38.95 in chips)
Seat 4: 42llopi ($14.25 in chips)
Seat 5: Chuckila ($81.45 in chips)
Seat 6: pedorretas31 ($15.15 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($32.75 in chips)
AleshNo1: posts small blind $0.25
42llopi: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9s 2c 4c 6d 4s]
Chuckila: raises $1 to $1.50
pedorretas31: folds
plutoman20: calls $1.50
jerrym9: folds
shottapatron: folds
AleshNo1: folds
42llopi: folds
Chuckila: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [4s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [9s 2c 4c 6d] [7s]
Chuckila: checks
plutoman20: bets $2.50
Chuckila: calls $2.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [9s 2c 4c 6d 7s] (Lo: 9,7,6,4,2)
Chuckila: shows [3c 8h 4h 6s 7h] (Lo: 8,7,6,4,3)
Chuckila collected $8.35 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $8.75 Rake $0.40
Seat 1: jerrym9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: shottapatron (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: AleshNo1 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: 42llopi (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: Chuckila showed [3c 8h 4h 6s 7h] and won ($8.35) with Lo: 8,7,6,4,3
Seat 6: pedorretas31 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: plutoman20 showed [9s 2c 4c 6d 7s] and lost with Lo: 9,7,6,4,2

Hand 5
I'm not sure if Dazanack's slow-play is the best idea in the long run, but it worked here OK. I thought for a while before breaking - make my hand T7542 and there would have been no hesitation - but maybe I should have just folded getting a little less than two to one; I had just six outs.

PokerStars Game #55553129425: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/01/08 0:43:49 ET
Table 'Virtus IX' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: jerrym9 ($26.25 in chips)
Seat 3: plutoman20 ($31.65 in chips)
Seat 4: jniquetamere ($10.90 in chips)
Seat 5: domenickdomo ($36.70 in chips)
Seat 6: WineOClock ($23.20 in chips)
Seat 7: Dazanack ($17.20 in chips)
jniquetamere: posts small blind $0.25
domenickdomo: posts big blind $0.50
'tacheman: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h Td 2s 6h 4d]
WineOClock: raises $1.50 to $2
Dazanack: calls $2
jerrym9: folds
plutoman20: raises $6 to $8
jniquetamere: folds
domenickdomo: folds
WineOClock: folds
Dazanack: raises $9.20 to $17.20 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls $9.20
Dazanack: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Td]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h 2s 6h 4d] [5d]
plutoman20 said, "nh"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dazanack: shows [7s 5c 4h 3c 8s] (Lo: 8,7,5,4,3)
plutoman20: shows [5h 5d 2s 6h 4d] (Lo: a pair of Fives)
Dazanack collected $35.30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $37.15 Rake $1.85
Seat 1: jerrym9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: plutoman20 (button) showed [5h 5d 2s 6h 4d] and lost with Lo: a pair of Fives
Seat 4: jniquetamere (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: domenickdomo (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: WineOClock folded before Flop
Seat 7: Dazanack showed [7s 5c 4h 3c 8s] and won ($35.30) with Lo: 8,7,5,4,3

Hand 6
Some weird play from Ma22ye81 here. Unfortunately I couldn't benefit from it.

PokerStars Game #55415294919: Badugi Limit ($2/$4 USD) - 2011/01/05 15:09:30 ET
Table 'Ortrud III' 8-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: TYKZ ($88 in chips)
Seat 2: mütze1976 ($57 in chips)
Seat 3: BendMeDover ($42 in chips)
Seat 4: ma22ye81 ($44 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($100 in chips)
Seat 7: redskinfox ($216 in chips)
Seat 8: kamaki66 ($60 in chips)
ma22ye81: posts small blind $1
plutoman20: posts big blind $2
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [4s 4c 2h Qs]
redskinfox: calls $2
kamaki66: raises $2 to $4
TYKZ: folds
mütze1976: calls $4
BendMeDover: folds
ma22ye81: calls $3
plutoman20: calls $2
redskinfox: calls $2
*** FIRST DRAW ***
ma22ye81: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [4c Qs]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4s 2h] [8c 7d]
redskinfox: discards 1 card
kamaki66: discards 1 card
mütze1976: discards 1 card
ma22ye81: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
redskinfox: calls $2
kamaki66: calls $2
mütze1976: calls $2
ma22ye81: raises $2 to $4
plutoman20: calls $2
redskinfox: calls $2
kamaki66: calls $2
mütze1976: calls $2
*** SECOND DRAW ***
ma22ye81: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [4s 2h 8c 7d]
redskinfox: discards 1 card
kamaki66: discards 1 card
mütze1976: discards 1 card
ma22ye81: bets $4
plutoman20: calls $4
redskinfox: calls $4
kamaki66: calls $4
mütze1976: calls $4
*** THIRD DRAW ***
ma22ye81: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [4s 2h 8c 7d]
redskinfox: discards 1 card
kamaki66: discards 1 card
mütze1976: stands pat
ma22ye81: checks
plutoman20: checks
redskinfox: checks
kamaki66: checks
mütze1976: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ma22ye81: shows [Jd 4h Ts Ac] (Badugi: J,T,4,A)
plutoman20: shows [4s 8c 2h 7d] (Badugi: 8,7,4,2)
redskinfox: mucks hand
kamaki66: mucks hand
mütze1976: shows [8s 5c 6h 3d] (Badugi: 8,6,5,3)
mütze1976 collected $58 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $60 Rake $2
Seat 1: TYKZ folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: mütze1976 showed [8s 5c 6h 3d] and won ($58) with a Badugi: 8,6,5,3
Seat 3: BendMeDover (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: ma22ye81 (small blind) showed [Jd 4h Ts Ac] and lost with a Badugi: J,T,4,A
Seat 5: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [4s 8c 2h 7d] and lost with a Badugi: 8,7,4,2
Seat 7: redskinfox mucked [3h 3c 2c 4d]
Seat 8: kamaki66 mucked [6s Js 5h 7c]

Hand 7
The weirdness of Ma22ye81's play half an hour earlier meant I didn't trust him here.

PokerStars Game #55417253539: Badugi Limit ($2/$4 USD) - 2011/01/05 15:40:31 ET
Table 'Phyleus II' 8-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: zorro222_zor ($69 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($123 in chips)
Seat 4: ma22ye81 ($176 in chips)
Seat 5: imi888 ($54 in chips)
Seat 6: timoken ($33 in chips)
Seat 7: seado ($53 in chips)
ma22ye81: posts small blind $1
imi888: posts big blind $2
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h 3s Td 7c]
timoken: folds
jokerheidi joins the table at seat #8
seado: folds
zorro222_zor: folds
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
ma22ye81: calls $3
imi888: calls $2
*** FIRST DRAW ***
ma22ye81: discards 2 cards
imi888: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: stands pat on [5h 3s Td 7c]
ma22ye81: checks
imi888: checks
plutoman20: bet
s $2ma22ye81: raises $2 to $4
imi888: folds
plutoman20: calls $2
*** SECOND DRAW ***
ma22ye81: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [5h 3s Td 7c]
ma22ye81: bets $4
plutoman20: calls $4
*** THIRD DRAW ***
ma22ye81: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [5h 3s Td 7c]
ma22ye81: bets $4
plutoman20: calls $4
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ma22ye81: shows [2c 7h 3d As] (Badugi: 7,3,2,A)
plutoman20: mucks hand
ma22ye81 collected $35 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $36 Rake $1
Seat 1: zorro222_zor folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: plutoman20 (button) mucked [5h 3s Td 7c]
Seat 4: ma22ye81 (small blind) showed [2c 7h 3d As] and won ($35) with a Badugi: 7,3,2,A
Seat 5: imi888 (big blind) folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 6: timoken folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: seado folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 8
Gerrr puts in too much action here. Maybe I didn't put in enough - pat sixes are rare after all. His three-bet on the flop is fine - I'd probably do the same with his hand - but when I cap he's got to think he's probably toast. Raising the turn was throwing money away. Who knows - perhaps people are just that much more aggressive at $2/$4.

PokerStars Game #55533072277: Badugi Limit ($2/$4 USD) - 2011/01/07 16:55:01 ET
Table 'Brabantia VII' 8-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Ptr10 ($30 in chips)
Seat 2: Gerrr ($98 in chips)
Seat 3: eeeooplad ($54 in chips)
Seat 4: pauly3 ($62 in chips)
Seat 6: marcbozz ($65 in chips)
Seat 7: syncbic ($64 in chips)
Seat 8: plutoman20 ($112 in chips)
marcbozz: posts small blind $1
syncbic: posts big blind $2
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s 6h 5c 3s]
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
Ptr10: folds
Gerrr: raises $2 to $6
eeeooplad: folds
pauly3: folds
marcbozz: folds
syncbic: folds
plutoman20: calls $2
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6h 5c 3s] [Ad]
Gerrr: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
Gerrr: bets $2
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
Gerrr: raises $2 to $6
plutoman20: raises $2 to $8
Betting is capped
Gerrr: calls $2
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [6h 5c 3s Ad]
Gerrr: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $4
Gerrr: raises $4 to $8
plutoman20: calls $4
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [6h 5c 3s Ad]
Gerrr: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
Gerrr: bets $4
plutoman20: calls $4
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Gerrr: shows [7s 2c 6d 5h] (Badugi: 7,6,5,2)
plutoman20: shows [Ad 6h 5c 3s] (Badugi: 6,5,3,A)
plutoman20 collected $53 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $55 Rake $2
Seat 1: Ptr10 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Gerrr showed [7s 2c 6d 5h] and lost with a Badugi: 7,6,5,2
Seat 3: eeeooplad folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: pauly3 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: marcbozz (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: syncbic (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 8: plutoman20 showed [Ad 6h 5c 3s] and won ($53) with a Badugi: 6,5,3,A