Good start to November

It's been a good start to November. Not least because of this news that broke on Tuesday concerning Groupe Bernard Tapie's acquisition of Full Tilt Poker. The way is clear for the deal to go ahead, which means that maybe, just maybe, I'll get my $1446.54 back. I just hope that money in limbo, like mine, is all accounted for. I'm still not counting my chickens here.

It's also been a successful few days on the virtual tables. My bankroll is now $812 (+$164 for the month). Fifty bucks of that profit came via a bonus which sort of crept up on me. I won two limit badugi tournaments back-to-back on Friday (albeit with fields of just 17 and 18); my bankroll is getting to the point where micro tourneys are no longer worth the time spent on them. Single draw is very much up-and-down; I wish I'd saved my hands from last session.

A couple of single draw hands that I do kind of remember:

I get 98654, UTG I think, and raise to $1.50. The next guy calls and it folds round to the button who reraises to $4. I consider a fold but instead make it $11. The third guy gets out of the way and the button goes all-in for $23 which I have covered. I'm getting three to one but I can't see me being good a quarter of the time and I can't really break, so I make an unhappy (but sensible I think) fold.

An aggressive player who plays lots of hands raises to $1.50 in early position. I reraise to $4.50 with (I think) a J98. It goes 0:1, I think of betting out post as a bluff but decide against it, and he shoves for about the size of the pot. I fold.

Badugi has been going well. This morning I dropped $20 in 173 hands, a strange session in which I most of my showdowns but didn't get many playable starting hands, and most of those I did play I folded before the end. Then I rang my brother in the UK but he was out (on the town? - it was Saturday night) so I got back to badugi where I made $70 in just 48 hands when the table broke. Here are some hands from the comedy poker game that I did keep an accurate record of:

Hand 1
I rarely cap draws pre-flop; it's something I should probably do more often. It seemed appropriate here because I was sure I had a significant equity edge even though I might not have been the favourite. Janetlee could well have had a good pat hand or a better tri than mine, but Kikimora liked to open with rough tris and Seoul also played lots of rough tris as well as two-card draws (duos?). The only downside to this play I guess was that Kikimora unexpectedly folded.

PokerStars Game #69842368748: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/11/01 1:10:06 ET
Table 'Aldhibah III' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Yorugua666 ($36.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Pytchuka ($58.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Seoul 2010 ($50 in chips)
Seat 5: janetlee123 ($26 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($38.25 in chips)
Seat 7: ogotop76 ($106.25 in chips)
Seat 8: kikimora81 ($6.50 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.50
ogotop76: posts big blind $1
Seoul 2010: posts small & big blinds $1.50
Tacobilletes: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 5s Ah 8c]
kikimora81: raises $1 to $2
Yorugua666: folds
Pytchuka: calls $2
Seoul 2010: calls $1
janetlee123: raises $1 to $3
plutoman20: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
ogotop76: folds
kikimora81: folds
Pytchuka: calls $2
Seoul 2010: calls $2
janetlee123: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 5s Ah] [5d]
Pytchuka: discards 1 card
Seoul 2010: discards 2 cards
janetlee123: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
Pytchuka: checks
Seoul 2010: checks
janetlee123: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
Pytchuka: calls $1
Seoul 2010: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 5s Ah] [9d]
Pytchuka: discards 1 card
Seoul 2010: discards 1 card
janetlee123: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
Pytchuka: checks
Seoul 2010: checks
janetlee123: bets $2
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
Pytchuka: folds
Seoul 2010: calls $4
janetlee123: folds
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [3c 5s Ah 9d]
Seoul 2010: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $2
Seoul 2010: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [3c 5s Ah 9d] (Badugi: 9,5,3,A)
Seoul 2010: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $36.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $37.50 Rake $1
Seat 1: Yorugua666 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Pytchuka folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 3: Seoul 2010 mucked [6c Ts 4d 5h]
Seat 5: janetlee123 (button) folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 6: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [3c 5s Ah 9d] and won ($36.50) with a Badugi: 9,5,3,A
Seat 7: ogotop76 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 8: kikimora81 folded before the Draw

Hand 2
I sometimes raise a bad badugi in this situation, but mostly I'll just draw. It's good to try this against a relatively unknown player to see how they react. He might well have broken a worse hand here, but if he draws two then that's not a bad outcome at all.

PokerStars Game #70052904648: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/11/05 3:01:10 ET
Table 'Lola II' 8-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($37.75 in chips)
Seat 2: Chopper42 ($86.25 in chips)
Seat 3: dksxpsk ($46 in chips)
Seat 4: willylacot ($24.25 in chips)
Seat 5: ninja1004 ($34 in chips)
Seat 6: Pafosbusch ($53 in chips)
Seat 7: raffaelle ($47.25 in chips)
Seat 8: Lucky013 ($6.75 in chips)
ninja1004: posts small blind $0.50
Pafosbusch: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [6s Kh 5h 3d]
raffaelle: folds
raffaelle leaves the table
Lucky013: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
Chopper42: folds
dksxpsk: raises $1 to $3
willylacot: calls $3
ninja1004: folds
Pafosbusch: folds
plutoman20: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Kh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6s 5h 3d] [Qc]
dksxpsk: stands pat
Lucky013 leaves the table
clericvipr joins the table at seat #7
willylacot: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: checks
dksxpsk: bets $1
willylacot: calls $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
dksxpsk: calls $1
willylacot: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [6s 5h 3d Qc]
dksxpsk: discards 2 cards
willylacot: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: bets $2
dksxpsk: folds
willylacot: folds
Uncalled bet ($2) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $15.75 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $16.50 Rake $0.75
Seat 1: plutoman20 collected ($15.75)
Seat 2: Chopper42 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: dksxpsk folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 4: willylacot (button) folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 5: ninja1004 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 6: Pafosbusch (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: raffaelle folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Lucky013 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 3
Both my opponents were unpredictable enough that calling the pre-draw cap was a fairly easy decision. I almost broke on the flop, but it just felt as though he might be trying something. I'm surprised he didn't bet the turn after snowing because that would have put me in a very awkward spot with my hand face-up.

PokerStars Game #70053413638: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/11/05 3:33:06 ET
Table 'Lola II' 8-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($68.50 in chips)
Seat 3: dksxpsk ($60 in chips)
Seat 4: willylacot ($18.25 in chips)
Seat 5: ninja1004 ($45.25 in chips)
Seat 6: Pafosbusch ($70.75 in chips)
willylacot: posts small blind $0.50
ninja1004: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 4c 4s 7s]
Pafosbusch: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
dksxpsk: raises $1 to $3
willylacot: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
ninja1004: folds
plutoman20: calls $2
dksxpsk: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
willylacot: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [4s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 4c 7s] [Qd]
dksxpsk: discards 1 card
willylacot: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
dksxpsk: raises $1 to $2
willylacot: calls $2
plutoman20: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
willylacot: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [2h 4c 7s Qd]
dksxpsk: stands pat
willylacot: checks
plutoman20: checks
dksxpsk: checks
*** THIRD DRAW ***
willylacot: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [2h 4c 7s Qd]
dksxpsk: discards 1 card
willylacot: checks
plutoman20: checks
dksxpsk: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
willylacot: shows [6c Tc 5d Ah] (3-card: 6,5,A)
plutoman20: shows [2h 4c Qd 7s] (Badugi: Q,7,4,2)
dksxpsk: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $18.25 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $19 Rake $0.75
Seat 1: plutoman20 showed [2h 4c Qd 7s] and won ($18.25) with a Badugi: Q,7,4,2
Seat 3: dksxpsk (button) mucked [9h 6s 3d 7h]
Seat 4: willylacot (small blind) showed [6c Tc 5d Ah] and lost with a 3-card: 6,5,A
Seat 5: ninja1004 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 6: Pafosbusch folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 4
Both my opponents were aggressive players. Folding to Milyang's river bet, once Leyjenpa called, worked out this time but in the long run, getting 11:1, I'm not sure. This is a close one I think.

PokerStars Game #70082293350: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/11/05 15:58:19 ET
Table 'Agapenor III' 8-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 3: milyang ($16.50 in chips)
Seat 4: leyjenpa ($51.75 in chips)
Seat 5: leppie4 ($150.50 in chips)
Seat 6: jokerheidi ($42.50 in chips)
Seat 7: maik1234 ($21 in chips)
Seat 8: plutoman20 ($47 in chips)
leppie4: posts small blind $0.50
jokerheidi: posts big blind $1
Cheereemoni: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9d 5d 3h 4s]
maik1234: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
milyang: calls $2
leyjenpa: raises $1 to $3
leppie4: folds
jokerheidi: folds
plutoman20: calls $1
milyang: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [9d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5d 3h 4s] [4c]
milyang: discards 1 card
leyjenpa: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
milyang: checks
leyjenpa: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
milyang: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [4c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5d 3h 4s] [Qh]
milyang: discards 1 card
leyjenpa: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
milyang: bets $2
leyjenpa: calls $2
plutoman20: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5d 3h 4s] [Jc]
milyang: stands pat
leyjenpa: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
milyang: bets $2
leyjenpa: calls $2
plutoman20: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
milyang: shows [8s 2c 7d Ah] (Badugi: 8,7,2,A)
leyjenpa: mucks hand
milyang collected $22.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $23.50 Rake $1
Seat 3: milyang showed [8s 2c 7d Ah] and won ($22.50) with a Badugi: 8,7,2,A
Seat 4: leyjenpa (button) mucked [3s Ks Ad 4h]
Seat 5: leppie4 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 6: jokerheidi (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: maik1234 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: plutoman20 folded after the 3rd Draw

Hand 5
This hand (which came immediately after Hand 4) was a strange one. I tried the bluff-raise on the turn when I hit the queen, not expecting him to call me and pat with a worse hand. Milyang's cold call of the $4 on the turn was interesting; normally this would be bad but given what we actually held (did he have some kind of read?), it was just about correct.

PokerStars Game #70082326367: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/11/05 15:59:09 ET
Table 'Agapenor III' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 3: milyang ($31 in chips)
Seat 4: leyjenpa ($43.75 in chips)
Seat 5: leppie4 ($150 in chips)
Seat 6: jokerheidi ($41.50 in chips)
Seat 7: maik1234 ($21 in chips)
Seat 8: plutoman20 ($41 in chips)
jokerheidi: posts small blind $0.50
maik1234: posts big blind $1
Cheereemoni: sits out
barabas444: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [6h Ac 3d 8c]
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
milyang: calls $2
leyjenpa: raises $1 to $3
leppie4: folds
jokerheidi: folds
barabas444 leaves the table
maik1234: folds
plutoman20: calls $1
milyang: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6h Ac 3d] [Ks]
milyang: discards 1 card
leyjenpa: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
milyang: checks
leyjenpa: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
milyang: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ks]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6h Ac 3d] [Qs]
milyang: discards 1 card
leyjenpa: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
milyang: checks
leyjenpa: bets $2
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
xMissKimx joins the table at seat #2
milyang: calls $4
leyjenpa: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [6h Ac 3d Qs]
milyang: discards 1 card
leyjenpa: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
milyang: checks
leyjenpa: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [6h Ac 3d Qs] (Badugi: Q,6,3,A)
milyang: mucks hand
leyjenpa: shows [5d 9s Qc 7h] (Badugi: Q,9,7,5)
plutoman20 collected $24.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $25.50 Rake $1
Seat 3: milyang mucked [7c 4s Ad 6d]
Seat 4: leyjenpa showed [5d 9s Qc 7h] and lost with a Badugi: Q,9,7,5
Seat 5: leppie4 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: jokerheidi (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: maik1234 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 8: plutoman20 showed [6h Ac 3d Qs] and won ($24.50) with a Badugi: Q,6,3,A

Hand 6
A weakness of mine in the past has been a failure to get full value for strong (but sub-monster) hands against aggressive players, like both my opponents here (Milyang is aggro but solid, Spud verges on maniacal).

PokerStars Game #70086792103: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/11/05 17:21:30 ET
Table 'Sadr V' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($51 in chips)
Seat 2: thegosu2 ($68.75 in chips)
Seat 3: xMissKimx ($38.50 in chips)
Seat 4: robertokinho ($33 in chips)
Seat 5: spud1404 ($145 in chips)
Seat 6: Cheereemoni ($28.75 in chips)
Seat 7: MAIOR01 ($199 in chips)
Seat 8: milyang ($20 in chips)
Cheereemoni: posts small blind $0.50
MAIOR01: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7c Qh 4s 3h]
milyang: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: calls $2
thegosu2: folds
xMissKimx: folds
robertokinho: folds
spud1404: raises $1 to $3
Cheereemoni: folds
MAIOR01: folds
milyang: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
milyang: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7c 4s 3h] [6d]
spud1404: discards 1 card
milyang: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
spud1404: raises $1 to $2
milyang: raises $1 to $3
plutoman20: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
spud1404: calls $2
milyang: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
milyang: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [7c 4s 3h 6d]
spud1404: discards 1 card
milyang: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
spud1404: calls $2
milyang: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
milyang: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [7c 4s 3h 6d]
spud1404: discards 1 card
milyang: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
spud1404: folds
milyang: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [7c 6d 4s 3h] (Badugi: 7,6,4,3)
milyang: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $31.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $32.50 Rake $1
Seat 1: plutoman20 showed [7c 6d 4s 3h] and won ($31.50) with a Badugi: 7,6,4,3
Seat 2: thegosu2 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: xMissKimx folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: robertokinho folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: spud1404 (button) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 6: Cheereemoni (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: MAIOR01 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 8: milyang mucked [Ah 9d 8s 5c]

Hand 7
A similar situation here but with a slightly better hand.

PokerStars Game #70087146319: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2011/11/05 17:28:03 ET
Table 'Sadr V' 8-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($75.25 in chips)
Seat 2: thegosu2 ($65.25 in chips)
Seat 3: xMissKimx ($54.50 in chips)
Seat 4: robertokinho ($34.25 in chips)
Seat 5: spud1404 ($93.25 in chips)
Seat 6: Cheereemoni ($29 in chips)
Seat 8: milyang ($8 in chips)
milyang: posts small blind $0.50
plutoman20: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Ks 8d As 5h]
thegosu2: folds
xMissKimx: folds
robertokinho: calls $1
spud1404: calls $1
Cheereemoni: folds
milyang: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: calls $1
robertokinho: calls $1
spud1404: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
milyang: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ks]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8d As 5h] [7d]
robertokinho: discards 1 card
spud1404: discards 2 cards
milyang: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
robertokinho: calls $1
spud1404: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
milyang: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [As 5h 7d] [2c]
robertokinho: discards 1 card
spud1404: discards 1 card
milyang: bets $2
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
thegosu2 leaves the table
robertokinho: calls $4
spud1404: raises $2 to $6
milyang: calls $3 and is all-in
plutoman20: raises $2 to $8
Betting is capped
robertokinho: calls $4
spud1404: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
milyang: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [As 5h 7d 2c]
robertokinho: discards 1 card
spud1404: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $2
robertokinho: folds
spud1404: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [7d 2c As 5h] (Badugi: 7,5,2,A)
spud1404: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $13 from side pot
milyang: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $31 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $45 Main pot $31. Side pot $13. Rake $1
Seat 1: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [7d 2c As 5h] and won ($44) with a Badugi: 7,5,2,A
Seat 2: thegosu2 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: xMissKimx folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: robertokinho folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 5: spud1404 mucked [4s 5d Ah 8c]
Seat 6: Cheereemoni (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: milyang (small blind) mucked [9h 2h 5c 3s]