(Too) good (to be true) news

I'm a year older than I was the last time I posted on this blog. In that time Google have arsed around with their Blogger settings. Supposedly Blogger is now incompatible with my browser (and I can see that because all my icons are semi-invisible). Now for the good news: Poker Stars might be buying out Full Tilt, so maybe, just maybe, I'll get my $1400-odd back (there's a mega thread on 2+2 about it all, but good luck wading through all the crap). And there's more: my Stars bankroll has broken through $1400, then $1500, and now $1600. All in the space of a few days. I'm now sitting at $1614. What else? Well the number of followers on my blog has doubled (!), the genius Schweig on Deuces Cracked has invented a four-card big-bet poker game (at the same time I've been working on a poker game involving words), and just in the last few minutes this badugi hand came up. It's the ultimate blocking hand, six times less likely than the pat nuts. Four-way I didn't fancy my chances but had to try it:

PokerStars Hand #79407173406:  Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/04/25 0:38:07 ET

Table 'Boda III' 8-max Seat #2 is the button

Seat 1: LxJoob ($27.03 in chips)

Seat 2: mamuka1976 ($12.99 in chips)

Seat 3: plutoman20 ($30.42 in chips)

Seat 5: sabale010 ($8.09 in chips)

Seat 6: iveyphil0 ($52.86 in chips)

Seat 8: Yougie_AK9 ($7.93 in chips)

plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25

sabale010: posts big blind $0.50

*** DEALING HANDS ***

Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 4h 3h Ah]

iveyphil0: folds

Yougie_AK9: calls $0.50

LxJoob: calls $0.50

mamuka1976: folds

plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1

sabale010: calls $0.50

Yougie_AK9: calls $0.50

LxJoob: calls $0.50

*** FIRST DRAW ***

plutoman20: stands pat on [2h 4h 3h Ah]

sabale010: discards 2 cards

Yougie_AK9: discards 2 cards

LxJoob: discards 1 card

plutoman20: bets $0.50

sabale010: folds

Yougie_AK9: folds

LxJoob: calls $0.50

*** SECOND DRAW ***

plutoman20: stands pat on [2h 4h 3h Ah]

LxJoob: discards 1 card

plutoman20: bets $1

LxJoob: calls $1

*** THIRD DRAW ***

plutoman20: stands pat on [2h 4h 3h Ah]

LxJoob: discards 1 card

plutoman20: bets $1

LxJoob: folds

Uncalled bet ($1) returned to plutoman20

plutoman20 collected $6.68 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $7 | Rake $0.32

Seat 1: LxJoob folded after the 3rd Draw

Seat 2: mamuka1976 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Seat 3: plutoman20 (small blind) collected ($6.68)

Seat 5: sabale010 (big blind) folded after the 1st Draw

Seat 6: iveyphil0 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Seat 8: Yougie_AK9 folded after the 1st Draw

I'll post some hands from $2/$4 badugi and $1/$2 triple draw in the next few days.

Badugi baker's dozen

Thirteen hands from recent-ish badugi sessions:

Hand 1
Good pattage here I think.

PokerStars Hand #78041161024: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/03/30 5:46:19 ET
Table 'Larink' 8-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: powerducks ($53.10 in chips)
Seat 3: sungsun3131 ($48.90 in chips)
Seat 4: frostman145 ($131.86 in chips)
Seat 5: ogotop76 ($45.84 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($40.11 in chips)
Seat 7: E.K.X ($17.74 in chips)
Seat 8: BendMeDover ($77.98 in chips)
sungsun3131: posts small blind $0.50
frostman145: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5d 4h 3c 6c]
ogotop76: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
E.K.X: folds
BendMeDover: folds
powerducks: folds
sungsun3131: folds
frostman145: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
frostman145: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [6c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5d 4h 3c] [8h]
frostman145: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
frostman145: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
frostman145: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5d 4h 3c] [Ks]
frostman145: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
frostman145: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
frostman145: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [5d 4h 3c Ks]
frostman145: checks
plutoman20: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
frostman145: shows [2h Qc 3s Ac] (3-card: 3,2,A)
plutoman20: shows [5d 4h 3c Ks] (Badugi: K,5,4,3)
plutoman20 collected $10.08 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.50 Rake $0.42
Seat 1: powerducks (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: sungsun3131 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: frostman145 (big blind) showed [2h Qc 3s Ac] and lost with a 3-card: 3,2,A
Seat 5: ogotop76 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: plutoman20 showed [5d 4h 3c Ks] and won ($10.08) with a Badugi: K,5,4,3
Seat 7: E.K.X folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: BendMeDover folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 2
I didn't have jack. Or rather I did - lots of them. I tried this once with KKKK - the worst hand in badugi - and it didn't turn out too well.

PokerStars Hand #78041204290: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/03/30 5:47:53 ET
Table 'Larink' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: powerducks ($52.10 in chips)
Seat 3: sungsun3131 ($52.26 in chips)
Seat 4: frostman145 ($126.36 in chips)
Seat 5: ogotop76 ($44.34 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($44.19 in chips)
Seat 8: BendMeDover ($77.98 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.50
BendMeDover: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Jc Jd Js Jh]
powerducks: calls $1
sungsun3131: folds
frostman145: folds
ogotop76: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
BendMeDover: folds
powerducks: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [Jc Jd Js Jh]
powerducks: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $1
powerducks: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [Jc Jd Js Jh]
powerducks: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $2
powerducks: folds
Uncalled bet ($2) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $6.72 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7 Rake $0.28
Seat 1: powerducks folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 3: sungsun3131 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: frostman145 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: ogotop76 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: plutoman20 (small blind) collected ($6.72)
Seat 8: BendMeDover (big blind) folded before the Draw

Hand 3
I don't think I break tens enough. This one could probably go either way. If I'm being result-oriented it didn't really matter what I did.

PokerStars Hand #78089619466: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/03/31 4:07:35 ET
Table 'Tea III' 8-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: jvidll ($10.04 in chips)
Seat 3: plutoman20 ($23.26 in chips)
Seat 4: popaionut ($25.39 in chips)
Seat 5: kaisen75 ($37.06 in chips)
Seat 6: crellen ($8.47 in chips)
Seat 7: imi888 ($18.62 in chips)
Seat 8: Leon_Javur ($19.25 in chips)
popaionut: posts small blind $0.25
kaisen75: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2c 3d Th 5s]
crellen: raises $0.50 to $1
imi888: folds
Leon_Javur: folds
jvidll: calls $1
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1.50
popaionut: calls $1.25
kaisen75: folds
crellen: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
jvidll: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $0.50
popaionut: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
popaionut: discards 1 card
crellen: discards 1 card
jvidll: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: stands pat on [2c 3d Th 5s]
popaionut: checks
crellen: checks
jvidll: checks
plutoman20: bets $0.50
popaionut: calls $0.50
crellen: raises $0.50 to $1
jvidll: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $0.50
popaionut: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
popaionut: discards 1 card
crellen: stands pat
jvidll: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [2c 3d Th 5s]
popaionut: checks
crellen: bets $1
jvidll: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $1
popaionut: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
popaionut: discards 1 card
crellen: stands pat
jvidll: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [2c 3d Th 5s]
popaionut: checks
crellen: bets $1
jvidll: folds
plutoman20: calls $1
popaionut: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
crellen: shows [2d 5c 3s 4h] (Badugi: 5,4,3,2)
plutoman20: mucks hand
crellen collected $18.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $18.50 Rake $0.40
Seat 2: jvidll folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 3: plutoman20 (button) mucked [2c 3d Th 5s]
Seat 4: popaionut (small blind) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 5: kaisen75 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 6: crellen showed [2d 5c 3s 4h] and won ($18.10) with a Badugi: 5,4,3,2
Seat 7: imi888 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Leon_Javur folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 4
My (flawed?) thought processes for the river are in blue.

PokerStars Hand #78089678648: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/03/31 4:12:15 ET
Table 'Tea III' 8-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: jvidll ($5.04 in chips)
Seat 3: plutoman20 ($18.26 in chips)
Seat 4: popaionut ($21.39 in chips)
Seat 5: kaisen75 ($43.48 in chips)
Seat 6: crellen ($18.07 in chips)
Seat 7: imi888 ($17.51 in chips)
Seat 8: Leon_Javur ($17.25 in chips)
Leon_Javur: posts small blind $0.25
jvidll: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 5h 6c Ad]
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
popaionut: calls $1
kaisen75: folds
crellen: folds
imi888: calls $1
Leon_Javur: folds
jvidll: raises $0.50 to $1.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
popaionut: calls $0.50
imi888: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
jvidll: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [6c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 5h Ad] [4h]
popaionut: discards 1 card
imi888: discards 1 card
jvidll: bets $0.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
popaionut: calls $0.50
imi888: folds
*** SECOND DRAW ***
jvidll: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c Ad 4h] [9h]
popaionut: discards 1 card
Igorg71 joins the table at seat #1
jvidll: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
popaionut: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
jvidll: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [9h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c Ad 4h] [9s]
popaionut: discards 1 card
jvidll: bets $1 He’s short so I expect him to bet regardless
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2 So I raise my smooth nine
popaionut: calls $2 I figure I’m probably dead when he calls the $2 cold
jvidll: raises $0.04 to $2.04 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls $0.04
popaionut: calls $0.04
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jvidll: shows [2d 5c 6h 4s] (Badugi: 6,5,4,2)
plutoman20: mucks hand
popaionut: shows [3d 4c Ah 7s] (Badugi: 7,4,3,A)
jvidll collected $16.47 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $16.87 Rake $0.40
Seat 2: jvidll (big blind) showed [2d 5c 6h 4s] and won ($16.47) with a Badugi: 6,5,4,2
Seat 3: plutoman20 mucked [3c 9s 4h Ad]
Seat 4: popaionut showed [3d 4c Ah 7s] and lost with a Badugi: 7,4,3,A
Seat 5: kaisen75 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: crellen folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: imi888 (button) folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 8: Leon_Javur (small blind) folded before the Draw

Hand 5
Osip did like snowing. I probably would have called down if not for the third player. I still nearly folded the best hand.

PokerStars Hand #78128078778: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/03/31 18:23:55 ET
Table 'Erda V' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: OsipVV ($40.99 in chips)
Seat 2: milyang ($41.50 in chips)
Seat 3: knopka731188 ($73.44 in chips)
Seat 4: sardonicus 4 ($49.23 in chips)
Seat 5: WinpicksTbl ($41.12 in chips)
Seat 6: Chopper42 ($21 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($39.38 in chips)
Seat 8: teremm ($50.74 in chips)
Chopper42: posts small blind $0.50
plutoman20: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Qh 6c 2s 2h]
teremm: calls $1
OsipVV: calls $1
milyang: folds
knopka731188: folds
sardonicus 4: folds
WinpicksTbl: calls $1
Chopper42: folds
OsipVV said, "vnh"
plutoman20: checks
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Qh 2s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6c 2h] [5h 7s]
teremm: discards 2 cards
OsipVV: discards 1 card
WinpicksTbl: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
teremm: checks
OsipVV: bets $1
WinpicksTbl: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $1
teremm: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6c 2h 7s] [4s]
teremm: discards 2 cards
OsipVV: discards 1 card
WinpicksTbl: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
teremm: checks
OsipVV: bets $2
WinpicksTbl: calls $2
plutoman20: calls $2
teremm: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [7s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6c 2h 4s] [4d]
teremm: discards 2 cards
OsipVV: stands pat
knopka731188 said, "TEREM GO HOUME"
WinpicksTbl: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
teremm: checks
OsipVV: bets $2
WinpicksTbl: folds
plutoman20: folds
teremm: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
OsipVV: shows [3d 4h 9c 3h] (3-card: 9,4,3)
teremm: shows [2c As 6h 5c] (3-card: 6,2,A)
teremm collected $19.68 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $20.50 Rake $0.82
Seat 1: OsipVV showed [3d 4h 9c 3h] and lost with a 3-card: 9,4,3
Seat 2: milyang folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: knopka731188 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: sardonicus 4 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: WinpicksTbl (button) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 6: Chopper42 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: plutoman20 (big blind) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 8: teremm showed [2c As 6h 5c] and won ($19.68) with a 3-card: 6,2,A

Hand 6
My tri hand wasn't up to much so I thought I'd try it.

PokerStars Hand #78130375079: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/03/31 19:15:20 ET
Table 'Erda V' 8-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: OsipVV ($80.01 in chips)
Seat 2: milyang ($20 in chips)
Seat 3: knopka731188 ($67.24 in chips)
Seat 4: DJMayPoker ($49.90 in chips)
Seat 5: Regenoman ($48.23 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($36.80 in chips)
Seat 8: MB1967 ($61.16 in chips)
Regenoman: posts small blind $0.50
plutoman20: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [4d Ac 8h Ah]
MB1967: folds
OsipVV: folds
milyang: folds
knopka731188: folds
DJMayPoker: raises $1 to $2
Regenoman: folds
plutoman20: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ah]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4d Ac 8h] [Th]
DJMayPoker: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
DJMayPoker: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Th]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4d Ac 8h] [5c]
DJMayPoker: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
DJMayPoker: bets $2
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
DJMayPoker: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [4d Ac 8h 5c]
DJMayPoker: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $2
DJMayPoker: folds instantly
Uncalled bet ($2) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $13.92 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $14.50 Rake $0.58
Seat 1: OsipVV folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: milyang folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: knopka731188 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: DJMayPoker (button) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 5: Regenoman (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: plutoman20 (big blind) collected ($13.92)
Seat 8: MB1967 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 7
There's a case for just folding this pre. When he pats without capping I try to turn my terrible badugi into a bluff. I nearly wimp out on the river. I guess he just misread his hand.

PokerStars Hand #78138412990: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/03/31 23:50:10 ET
Table 'Centaurus II' 8-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: timohasan ($73.93 in chips)
Seat 2: monarkhg ($30.88 in chips)
Seat 3: niokart ($13.85 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($50 in chips)
Seat 5: all4revenge ($19.94 in chips)
Seat 7: milyang ($34.99 in chips)
niokart: posts small blind $0.50
plutoman20: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Qc Th Kd As]
all4revenge: raises $1 to $2
milyang: folds
timohasan: folds
monarkhg: folds
niokart: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $3
all4revenge: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [Qc Th Kd As]
all4revenge: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
all4revenge: checks
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [Qc Th Kd As]
all4revenge: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $2
all4revenge: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [Qc Th Kd As]
all4revenge: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $2
all4revenge: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [Qc Th Kd As] (Badugi: K,Q,T,A)
all4revenge: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $13.92 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $14.50 Rake $0.58
Seat 1: timohasan folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: monarkhg (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: niokart (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [Qc Th Kd As] and won ($13.92) with a Badugi: K,Q,T,A
Seat 5: all4revenge mucked [5c 4h 3h 8d]
Seat 7: milyang folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 8
This was a good snow I think, even in a small pot like this. Just checking the turn after it goes 1:2 screams "I don't like my tri very much and I don't want to put in a big bet here when you've got me beat a lot." So, remembering that I'd seen lots of clubs and spades (though I couldn't remember which ones) I snow which I rarely do after drawing two.

PokerStars Hand #78138852130: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/04/01 0:13:50 ET
Table 'Centaurus II' 8-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: monarkhg ($103.92 in chips)
Seat 3: niokart ($17.09 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($39.70 in chips)
Seat 7: knopka731188 ($85.70 in chips)
niokart: posts small blind $0.50
plutoman20: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kh Tc 5c 2s]
knopka731188: folds
monarkhg: folds
niokart: calls $0.50
plutoman20: checks
*** FIRST DRAW ***
niokart: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Kh Tc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 2s] [5s 8s]
niokart: checks
plutoman20: checks
*** SECOND DRAW ***
niokart: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [5s 8s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 2s] [9c Js]
niokart: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
niokart: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
niokart: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [5c 2s 9c Js]
niokart: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
niokart: folds
Uncalled bet ($2) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $5.82 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6 Rake $0.18
Seat 2: monarkhg (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: niokart (small blind) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 4: plutoman20 (big blind) collected ($5.82)
Seat 7: knopka731188 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 9
Not a nice hand. I've got a weak tri but I raise pre anyway to disguise my weakness and with the intention of snowing immediately. Plus we're short-handed so a nine draw is much more playable. I hit a real badugi which changes my plans, but so do both of my opponents despite each drawing two. My flop raise is justified because a 96 is ahead of most of a two-to-pat range, even one that donks like that, but I walk right into his trap. There's not much I could have done here except fold the river but my hand just seemed a little too good for that. I'd been running badly with opponents hitting big when drawing two.

PokerStars Hand #78139928946: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/04/01 1:15:54 ET
Table 'Centaurus II' 8-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($35.67 in chips)
Seat 7: knopka731188 ($191.98 in chips)
Seat 8: ADY009 ($53.80 in chips)
ADY009: posts small blind $0.50
plutoman20: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [6d Qd 3s 9c]
knopka731188: calls $1
ADY009: calls $0.50
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
knopka731188: calls $1
ADY009: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
ADY009: discards 2 cards
romuloft231 joins the table at seat #5
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qd]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6d 3s 9c] [2h]
knopka731188: discards 2 cards
ADY009: bets $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
knopka731188: calls $2
ADY009: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
ADY009: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [6d 3s 9c 2h]
knopka731188: stands pat
ADY009: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
knopka731188: calls $2
ADY009: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
ADY009: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [6d 3s 9c 2h]
knopka731188: stands pat
ADY009: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
knopka731188: raises $2 to $4
ADY009: folds
plutoman20 said, "ha"
plutoman20: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
knopka731188: shows [3d 2c 7s 5h] (Badugi: 7,5,3,2)
plutoman20: mucks hand
knopka731188 collected $25.22 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $26 Rake $0.78
Seat 4: plutoman20 (big blind) mucked [6d 2h 3s 9c]
Seat 7: knopka731188 (button) showed [3d 2c 7s 5h] and won ($25.22) with a Badugi: 7,5,3,2
Seat 8: ADY009 (small blind) folded after the 3rd Draw

Hand 10
I posted this one on Deuces Cracked. J86A has a weird "texture" to it somehow which makes me not want to break it, but then it plays badly in a big four-way pot (it's 19% to hold up if all your opponents draw one) with a bunch of reverse implied odds and little fold equity. Then I couldn't get away from it because the pot was so big.

PokerStars Hand #78139073105: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/04/01 0:25:24 ET
Table 'Centaurus II' 8-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: timohasan ($39 in chips)
Seat 2: monarkhg ($141.14 in chips)
Seat 3: sabale010 ($8 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($36.68 in chips)
Seat 5: Lanut$ ($11.74 in chips)
Seat 7: knopka731188 ($93.16 in chips)
Seat 8: ADY009 ($40 in chips)
sabale010: posts small blind $0.50
plutoman20: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Jh 8c Ad 6s]
Lanut$: folds
knopka731188: calls $1
ADY009: calls $1
timohasan: folds
monarkhg: folds
sabale010: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: raises $1 to $3
knopka731188: calls $2
ADY009: calls $2
sabale010: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
sabale010: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [Jh 8c Ad 6s]
knopka731188: discards 1 card
ADY009: discards 1 card
sabale010: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
knopka731188: calls $1
ADY009: calls $1
sabale010: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
sabale010: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [Jh 8c Ad 6s]
knopka731188: discards 1 card
ADY009: discards 1 card
sabale010: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
knopka731188: calls $2
ADY009: raises $2 to $4
asttttt joins the table at seat #6
sabale010: calls $4 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls $2
knopka731188: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
asttttt leaves the table
sabale010: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [Jh 8c Ad 6s]
knopka731188: discards 1 card
ADY009: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
knopka731188: checks
ADY009: bets $2
plutoman20: calls $2
knopka731188: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ADY009: shows [6h 2c 7s 4d] (Badugi: 7,6,4,2)
plutoman20: mucks hand
ADY009 collected $4 from side pot
sabale010: mucks hand
ADY009 collected $31 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $36 Main pot $31. Side pot $4. Rake $1
Seat 1: timohasan folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: monarkhg (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: sabale010 (small blind) mucked [Qh 4h 2d 3c]
Seat 4: plutoman20 (big blind) mucked [Jh 8c Ad 6s]
Seat 5: Lanut$ folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: knopka731188 folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 8: ADY009 showed [6h 2c 7s 4d] and won ($35) with a Badugi: 7,6,4,2

Hand 11
All this damn donking was driving me nuts, but I actually think I played this hand well.

PokerStars Hand #78139358390: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/04/01 0:41:08 ET
Table 'Centaurus II' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: timohasan ($70.02 in chips)
Seat 2: djs909090 ($17 in chips)
Seat 3: sabale010 ($9.02 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($25.56 in chips)
Seat 5: Lanut$ ($21.34 in chips)
Seat 6: bellababy ($13.58 in chips)
Seat 7: knopka731188 ($190.24 in chips)
Seat 8: ADY009 ($65.54 in chips)
bellababy: posts small blind $0.50
knopka731188: posts big blind $1
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c Td As 3h]
ADY009: raises $1 to $2
timohasan: folds
djs909090: folds
sabale010: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $3
Lanut$: folds
bellababy: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
knopka731188: folds
ADY009: calls $2
plutoman20: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
bellababy: discards 1 card
ADY009: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [5c Td As 3h]
bellababy: bets $1
ADY009: calls $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
bellababy: raises $1 to $3
ADY009: calls $2
plutoman20: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
bellababy: discards 1 card
ADY009: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [5c Td As 3h]
bellababy: checks
ADY009: bets $2
plutoman20 said, "lol"
plutoman20: calls $2
bellababy: raises $2 to $4
ADY009: raises $2 to $6
plutoman20: folds
bellababy: raises $0.58 to $6.58 and is all-in
Betting is capped
ADY009: calls $0.58
*** THIRD DRAW ***
bellababy: stands pat
ADY009: stands pat
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bellababy: shows [6h 3d 4c Ts] (Badugi: T,6,4,3)
ADY009: shows [4s 2d 3c Ah] (Badugi: 4,3,2,A)
ADY009 collected $36.16 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $37.16 Rake $1
Seat 1: timohasan folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: djs909090 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: sabale010 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 5: Lanut$ (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: bellababy (small blind) showed [6h 3d 4c Ts] and lost with a Badugi: T,6,4,3
Seat 7: knopka731188 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 8: ADY009 showed [4s 2d 3c Ah] and won ($36.16) with a Badugi: 4,3,2,A

Hand 12
I've played Romuloft a few times before. Sure he gets his big hands paid off when he makes them...

PokerStars Hand #78140147935: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/04/01 1:29:00 ET
Table 'Centaurus II' 8-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($12.67 in chips)
Seat 5: romuloft231 ($20.90 in chips)
Seat 6: monarkhg ($46.46 in chips)
Seat 7: knopka731188 ($215 in chips)
Seat 8: ADY009 ($42.76 in chips)
romuloft231: posts small blind $0.50
monarkhg: posts big blind $1
seonae8591: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Jc Td 3h 4c]
knopka731188: calls $1
ADY009: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $1
romuloft231: calls $0.50
monarkhg: checks
*** FIRST DRAW ***
romuloft231: discards 2 cards
monarkhg: discards 1 card
knopka731188: discards 2 cards
ADY009: discards 1 card
seonae8591 leaves the table
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Jc Td]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3h 4c] [Ad 2d]
romuloft231: bets $1
monarkhg: folds
knopka731188: calls $1
ADY009: calls $1
seonae8591 joins the table at seat #1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
romuloft231: raises $1 to $3
knopka731188: folds
ADY009: calls $2
plutoman20: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
romuloft231: stands pat
ADY009: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [2d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3h 4c Ad] [7s]
romuloft231: bets $2
ADY009: calls $2
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
romuloft231: raises $2 to $6
ADY009: folds
plutoman20: raises $2 to $8
Betting is capped
romuloft231: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
romuloft231: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [3h 4c Ad 7s]
romuloft231: bets $2
plutoman20: calls $0.67 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($1.33) returned to romuloft231
*** SHOW DOWN ***
romuloft231: shows [8h Kd 3s 7c] (Badugi: K,8,7,3)
plutoman20: shows [Ad 7s 3h 4c] (Badugi: 7,4,3,A)
plutoman20 collected $33.34 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $34.34 Rake $1
Seat 4: plutoman20 (button) showed [Ad 7s 3h 4c] and won ($33.34) with a Badugi: 7,4,3,A
Seat 5: romuloft231 (small blind) showed [8h Kd 3s 7c] and lost with a Badugi: K,8,7,3
Seat 6: monarkhg (big blind) folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 7: knopka731188 folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 8: ADY009 folded after the 2nd Draw

Hand 13
I sometimes reraise this, sometimes don't. I'm thinking 532 plays really well multi-way so I should let as many people come in as possible. I think calling the initial two flop bets was fine, especially with the rather aggressive Milyang involved, but when the flop is capped it's likely I'm drawing to two or three outs and it's time to get away. Of course I hit an eight which is too good to fold even though I expect to be beaten.

PokerStars Hand #78550100005: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/04/08 16:48:38 ET
Table 'Derice VI' 8-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: CyberTox ($13.51 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($14.24 in chips)
Seat 3: Jorgos_Joanu ($7.07 in chips)
Seat 4: zemachess ($14.78 in chips)
Seat 5: peerke47 ($38.26 in chips)
Seat 6: milyang ($15.28 in chips)
Seat 7: !MJLE1975! ($5.50 in chips)
Seat 8: Alekcanda ($6 in chips)
!MJLE1975!: posts small blind $0.25
Alekcanda: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2d Js 3s 5c]
CyberTox: raises $0.50 to $1
plutoman20: calls $1
Jorgos_Joanu: folds
zemachess has timed out
zemachess: folds
peerke47: folds
milyang: raises $0.50 to $1.50
!MJLE1975!: folds
Alekcanda: folds
CyberTox: calls $0.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
CyberTox: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Js]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2d 3s 5c] [Ks]
milyang: discards 1 card
CyberTox: checks
plutoman20: checks
milyang: bets $0.50
CyberTox: raises $0.50 to $1
plutoman20: calls $1
milyang: raises $0.50 to $1.50
CyberTox: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
plutoman20: calls $1
milyang: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
CyberTox: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ks]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2d 3s 5c] [8h]
milyang: stands pat
CyberTox: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
milyang: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
CyberTox: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [2d 3s 5c 8h]
milyang: stands pat
CyberTox: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
milyang: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CyberTox: shows [Ac 3d 6s 4h] (Badugi: 6,4,3,A)
plutoman20: mucks hand
milyang: mucks hand
CyberTox collected $16.85 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $17.25 Rake $0.40
Seat 1: CyberTox showed [Ac 3d 6s 4h] and won ($16.85) with a Badugi: 6,4,3,A
Seat 2: plutoman20 mucked [2d 8h 3s 5c]
Seat 3: Jorgos_Joanu folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: zemachess folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: peerke47 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: milyang (button) mucked [3h 7s 4c 8d]
Seat 7: !MJLE1975! (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 8: Alekcanda (big blind) folded before the Draw

March monthly report

It was back to winning ways for me in March. I made $168, taking my profit for the first quarter of 2012 to $237 and my bankroll to $1263. By way of comparison I made $1072 in the same period last year, but then I didn't have one of them job thingies and a property big enough for a whole family but without any of the family.

Maybe this is really obvious, but I've only just realised how much the level of my play depends on the state of my mental health (which for me varies considerably). When I'm depressed I don't start capping complete crap UTG in triple draw and discarding five, but say I have 84422 my blockers might not register, my play might become semi-robotic and I'll be largely oblivious to what my opponents are doing.

I've played a whole bunch of interesting hands in the last day or two. They might have been just as boring as ever; maybe my improved mental health made me care about them more. I'll post some of them here soon, I promise.

Shocker (February monthly report)

This month has been a real shocker. I've also lost money on online poker, my first losing month in two years. I'm down $124 for February - dropping $170 on a single day didn't help. My profit for 2012 is $69 and I'm running a bankroll of $1095. I know it's only the 26th but that's my month over with.

The losses haven't affected me too much - I've had other, bigger potential losses to worry about such as my job, which hasn't gone just yet but I'm looking at about a four-outer on the last draw.

This hand came up in a turbo satellite thingy today. It's my second escalera real, all the more surprising because I rarely play hold 'em any more. I did qualify as it happened, and just took the tournament money. Roll on March!

January monthly report

A very quick one (it's almost 3:30am here - can't sleep): I made $193 in January, taking my bankroll to $1219.

A sense of perspective

I haven't played that much so far this year. A recent trip to Auckland, some property-related stuff and, you know, work, have got in the way. But all of those barriers are nothing compared to the loss of my grandmother ten days ago at the age of 89. I was very close to her and although there was no quality of life any more and it is a release that she slipped away, it's still very sad. So a lot of the time I haven't felt like playing (or working, or sorting stuff out for my new flat...) anyway. On the other side of the coin, I feel I can play with a lot more freedom now because whether I win or lose a particular pot doesn't matter as much.

I'm up $171 for the month; my bankroll is $1197, a high point since my last cash-out. Here are a few hands:

Hand 1
This was the hand that led to my demise in this morning's micro single draw tourney. In my experience you're normally shown some kind of eight when you call here, but who knows what he had. It was a shame because I'd had a strong start and a pretty solid middle but after this hand I came to a rather sticky end, later bricking two big draws. I finished in sixth place.

PokerStars Hand #74645562742: Tournament #503373806, $2.00+$0.20 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level XII (400/800) - 2012/01/28 17:25:34 ET
Table '503373806 8' 7-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: alf1963 (17168 in chips)
Seat 2: kalachim (16040 in chips)
Seat 4: SARASAPE1 (38525 in chips)
Seat 5: sergeypcv (6384 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 (21018 in chips)
Seat 7: antoca901 (14865 in chips)
alf1963: posts the ante 200
kalachim: posts the ante 200
SARASAPE1: posts the ante 200
sergeypcv: posts the ante 200
plutoman20: posts the ante 200
antoca901: posts the ante 200
sergeypcv: posts small blind 400
plutoman20: posts big blind 800
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s 6h 4h 2d Tc]
antoca901: folds
alf1963: folds
kalachim: folds
SARASAPE1: raises 800 to 1600
sergeypcv: folds
plutoman20: raises 3300 to 4900
SARASAPE1: calls 3300
plutoman20: stands pat on [5s 6h 4h 2d Tc]
SARASAPE1: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: bets 6900
SARASAPE1: raises 26525 to 33425 and is all-in
plutoman20: folds
Uncalled bet (26525) returned to SARASAPE1
SARASAPE1 collected 25200 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 25200 Rake 0
Seat 1: alf1963 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: kalachim folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: SARASAPE1 (button) collected (25200)
Seat 5: sergeypcv (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: plutoman20 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: antoca901 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 2
I don't make this kind of play enough.

PokerStars Hand #73863049351: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2012/01/14 19:42:23 ET
Table 'Mathilde VI' 7-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: M0FLES.22 ($17.40 in chips)
Seat 2: marcosxativa ($15.70 in chips)
Seat 3: alexxcs ($4.15 in chips)
Seat 4: EmulationX ($15.45 in chips)
Seat 5: MELKII666 ($7.80 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($28.55 in chips)
Seat 7: * MDI rus * ($19.30 in chips)
* MDI rus *: posts small blind $0.25
M0FLES.22: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 9s 6c 7h 9c]
marcosxativa: folds
alexxcs: folds
EmulationX: folds
MELKII666: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
* MDI rus *: calls $1.25
M0FLES.22: folds
* MDI rus *: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [9c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 9s 6c 7h] [8s]
* MDI rus *: bets $0.50
plutoman20: raises $3 to $3.50
* MDI rus *: folds
Uncalled bet ($3) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $4.30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $4.50 Rake $0.20
Seat 1: M0FLES.22 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: marcosxativa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: alexxcs folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: EmulationX folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: MELKII666 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: plutoman20 (button) collected ($4.30)
Seat 7: * MDI rus * (small blind) folded on the Flop

Hand 3
My record of picking off bluffs is poor. This one bucked the trend. His three-bet pre was the deciding factor in my call. People are more likely to bluff post when they three-bet a draw pre, and generally get called down lighter (so should therefore value-bet more thinly).

PokerStars Hand #74098818116: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2012/01/19 1:15:25 ET
Table 'Endymion XI' 7-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: vicentziu_99 ($25.45 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($31.65 in chips)
Seat 3: TYSKEN69 ($13.05 in chips)
Seat 4: trankibroma ($22.65 in chips)
Seat 5: sasha5555587 ($89.05 in chips)
Seat 6: Proudchief ($20 in chips)
Seat 7: HE YBEPEH ($50 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
TYSKEN69: posts big blind $0.50
Proudchief: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2s 5c 6s Kh 7s]
trankibroma: calls $0.50
sasha5555587: folds
Proudchief: checks
HE YBEPEH: folds
vicentziu_99: calls $0.50
plutoman20: raises $1.25 to $1.75
TYSKEN69: raises $2.75 to $4.50
trankibroma: folds
Proudchief: folds
vicentziu_99: folds
plutoman20: calls $2.75
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Kh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2s 5c 6s 7s] [Qh]
TYSKEN69: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
TYSKEN69: bets $3.50
plutoman20: calls $3.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TYSKEN69: shows [3s 4s 6d 5s 7c] (Lo: a straight, Three to Seven)
plutoman20: shows [2s 5c 6s Qh 7s] (Lo: Q,7,6,5,2)
plutoman20 collected $16.65 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $17.50 Rake $0.85
Seat 1: vicentziu_99 (button) folded before Flop
Seat 2: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [2s 5c 6s Qh 7s] and won ($16.65) with Lo: Q,7,6,5,2
Seat 3: TYSKEN69 (big blind) showed [3s 4s 6d 5s 7c] and lost with Lo: a straight, Three to Seven
Seat 4: trankibroma folded before Flop
Seat 5: sasha5555587 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Proudchief folded before Flop
Seat 7: HE YBEPEH folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 4
I hate these spots. By four-betting OOP I've announced that my hand is pretty good, so I'm not sure what betting post will achieve (apart from acting as a blocking bet). We're fairly deep here, so do I call a shove if he bets?

PokerStars Hand #74099026860: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2012/01/19 1:28:13 ET
Table 'Endymion XI' 7-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: vicentziu_99 ($32 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($43.10 in chips)
Seat 4: trankibroma ($14.05 in chips)
Seat 5: sasha5555587 ($86.90 in chips)
Seat 7: HE YBEPEH ($60.60 in chips)
HE YBEPEH: posts small blind $0.25
vicentziu_99: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9c 6s 2d 4s 7h]
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
trankibroma: calls $1.50
sasha5555587: raises $2.50 to $4
HE YBEPEH: folds
vicentziu_99: folds
plutoman20: raises $10 to $14
trankibroma: folds
sasha5555587: calls $10
plutoman20: stands pat on [9c 6s 2d 4s 7h]
sasha5555587: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
sasha5555587: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [9c 6s 2d 4s 7h] (Lo: 9,7,6,4,2)
sasha5555587: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $28.75 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $30.25 Rake $1.50
Seat 1: vicentziu_99 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: plutoman20 showed [9c 6s 2d 4s 7h] and won ($28.75) with Lo: 9,7,6,4,2
Seat 4: trankibroma folded before Flop
Seat 5: sasha5555587 (button) mucked [2c 8d 8h 5c 3s]
Seat 7: HE YBEPEH (small blind) folded before Flop

Hand 5
A good example of when to fold a pat ten badugi. Chips were flying around all over the place on the badugi tables last night.

PokerStars Hand #74605284618: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/01/28 1:53:34 ET
Table 'Hungaria V' 8-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($50.70 in chips)
Seat 2: ahjpk ($16.40 in chips)
Seat 3: cdgolfer ($26.50 in chips)
Seat 4: candy1203 ($35.70 in chips)
Seat 5: annlose ($38.20 in chips)
Seat 6: SaveR_DarK ($2.75 in chips)
Seat 7: ninja1004 ($15.20 in chips)
Seat 8: huli2 ($20.55 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
ahjpk: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Ts Ad 8c 3h]
cdgolfer: raises $0.50 to $1
candy1203: raises $0.50 to $1.50
annlose: calls $1.50
SaveR_DarK: folds
ninja1004: calls $1.50
huli2: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
plutoman20: folds
ahjpk: folds
cdgolfer: calls $1
candy1203: calls $0.50
annlose: calls $0.50
ninja1004: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
cdgolfer: stands pat
candy1203: stands pat
annlose: discards 1 card
ninja1004: discards 1 card
huli2: stands pat
cdgolfer: bets $0.50
candy1203: calls $0.50
annlose: calls $0.50
ninja1004: calls $0.50
huli2: raises $0.50 to $1
cdgolfer: raises $0.50 to $1.50
candy1203: folds
annlose: calls $1
ninja1004: calls $1
huli2: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
cdgolfer: calls $0.50
annlose: calls $0.50
ninja1004: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
cdgolfer: stands pat
annlose: discards 1 card
ninja1004: discards 1 card
huli2: stands pat
cdgolfer: bets $1
annlose: calls $1
ninja1004: calls $1
huli2: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
cdgolfer: stands pat
annlose: stands pat
ninja1004: discards 1 card
huli2: stands pat
cdgolfer: checks
annlose: checks
ninja1004: checks
huli2: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
cdgolfer: shows [3s 2c Td 5h] (Badugi: T,5,3,2)
annlose: shows [8d 2s 5c 7h] (Badugi: 8,7,5,2)
ninja1004: mucks hand
huli2: mucks hand
annlose collected $22.75 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $23.25 Rake $0.50
Seat 1: plutoman20 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 2: ahjpk (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 3: cdgolfer showed [3s 2c Td 5h] and lost with a Badugi: T,5,3,2
Seat 4: candy1203 folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 5: annlose showed [8d 2s 5c 7h] and won ($22.75) with a Badugi: 8,7,5,2
Seat 6: SaveR_DarK folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: ninja1004 mucked [6s Ac 4h 6h]
Seat 8: huli2 (button) mucked [9c Th 4d As]

Hand 6
I was obviously extremely lucky to get dealt number two, then I benefit greatly from all the crazy donkery that went on.

PokerStars Hand #74552866230: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2012/01/27 4:36:01 ET
Table 'Kochab V' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: feanryhu ($49 in chips)
Seat 3: plutoman20 ($63.75 in chips)
Seat 4: Owschlag ($20.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Rossisxxx ($41.25 in chips)
Seat 6: Chopper42 ($45.25 in chips)
Seat 7: antiFTP ($81.25 in chips)
Chopper42: posts small blind $0.50
antiFTP: posts big blind $1
Breeze747: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5d 2h Ac 3s]
feanryhu: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: raises $1 to $3
Owschlag: folds
Rossisxxx: folds
Chopper42: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
antiFTP: calls $3
feanryhu: calls $2
plutoman20: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
Chopper42: discards 2 cards
antiFTP: discards 1 card
feanryhu: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [5d 2h Ac 3s]
Chopper42: checks
antiFTP: bets $1
feanryhu: calls $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
Chopper42: calls $2
antiFTP: calls $1
feanryhu: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
Chopper42: discards 1 card
antiFTP: stands pat
feanryhu: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [5d 2h Ac 3s]
Chopper42: checks
antiFTP: bets $2
feanryhu: folds
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
Chopper42: calls $4
antiFTP: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
Chopper42: discards 1 card
antiFTP: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [5d 2h Ac 3s]
Chopper42: checks
antiFTP: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
Chopper42: folds
antiFTP: folds
Uncalled bet ($2) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $35 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $36 Rake $1
Seat 1: feanryhu folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 3: plutoman20 collected ($35)
Seat 4: Owschlag folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Rossisxxx (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Chopper42 (small blind) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 7: antiFTP (big blind) folded after the 3rd Draw

Decent start to 2012

I've made a reasonable start to the year. I'm up $101 having been down about $75 at one stage. My bankroll is $1127 so I'm not far off the 300 BB or so I need to take a serious crack at $2/$4 badugi (I took a shot back in September and lost a quarter of my bankroll in two hours; when you're properly rolled the whole experience is much less stressful and you can play better accordingly).

The highlight so far has been the 69-man KCL tourney I took out yesterday. In terms of number of entrants that's the biggest tournament I've ever actually won. My previous biggest was also my first-ever victory, a 66-man pot-limit badugi when I was still in my twenties, i.e. ages ago. In yesterday's tourney I made a good but unspectacular start, had a very good middle, won a big 50-50 hand which could have left me crippled, then got the speed wobbles but eventually cruised to the win. I got lucky of course, but felt I got full value for my hands and outplayed a lot of my opponents who folded too readily pre-draw.

Hand 1
Somehow I expected to lose this. I've run badly in this sort of situation in the past. There wasn't a lot in it.

PokerStars Game #73404637040: Tournament #493056174, $2.00+$0.20 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level IX (200/400) - 2012/01/06 16:38:33 ET
Table '493056174 6' 7-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: DerDude22 (16069 in chips)
Seat 2: dyadka (11298 in chips)
Seat 3: BloodVisions (4095 in chips)
Seat 4: *V.Danish* (6119 in chips)
Seat 5: daniel1021 (11396 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 (17428 in chips)
Seat 7: LuckyFish628 (10415 in chips)
DerDude22: posts the ante 100
dyadka: posts the ante 100
BloodVisions: posts the ante 100
*V.Danish*: posts the ante 100
daniel1021: posts the ante 100
plutoman20: posts the ante 100
LuckyFish628: posts the ante 100
dyadka: posts small blind 200
BloodVisions: posts big blind 400
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5s 3s 8h 6h 7d]
*V.Danish*: folds
daniel1021: raises 800 to 1200
plutoman20: raises 2400 to 3600
LuckyFish628: folds
DerDude22: folds
dyadka: folds
BloodVisions: folds
daniel1021: raises 7696 to 11296 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls 7696
daniel1021: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [5s 3s 8h 6h 7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
daniel1021: shows [5h 9c 2h 4c 6c] (Lo: 9,6,5,4,2)
plutoman20: shows [5s 3s 8h 6h 7d] (Lo: 8,7,6,5,3)
plutoman20 collected 23892 from pot
daniel1021 finished the tournament in 13th place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 23892 Rake 0
Seat 1: DerDude22 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: dyadka (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: BloodVisions (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: *V.Danish* folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: daniel1021 showed [5h 9c 2h 4c 6c] and lost with Lo: 9,6,5,4,2
Seat 6: plutoman20 showed [5s 3s 8h 6h 7d] and won (23892) with Lo: 8,7,6,5,3
Seat 7: LuckyFish628 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 2
I nearly four-bet this myself. I was happy not to see a shove post-draw but I think I would have reluctantly called anyway.

PokerStars Game #73409478459: Tournament #493056174, $2.00+$0.20 USD Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit - Level XIV (600/1200) - 2012/01/06 18:03:08 ET
Table '493056174 6' 7-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: terrypem (18428 in chips)
Seat 5: Lika-Geo (51819 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 (67753 in chips)
terrypem: posts the ante 300
Lika-Geo: posts the ante 300
plutoman20: posts the ante 300
terrypem: posts small blind 600
Lika-Geo: posts big blind 1200
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9s 4d 8d 6h 5d]
plutoman20: raises 2200 to 3400
terrypem: folds
Lika-Geo: raises 6600 to 10000
plutoman20: calls 6600
Lika-Geo: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [9s 4d 8d 6h 5d]
Lika-Geo: bets 16125
plutoman20: calls 16125
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Lika-Geo: shows [4c 5h Th 5c 4s] (Lo: two pair, Fives and Fours)
plutoman20: shows [9s 4d 8d 6h 5d] (Lo: 9,8,6,5,4)
plutoman20 collected 53750 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 53750 Rake 0
Seat 1: terrypem (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: Lika-Geo (big blind) showed [4c 5h Th 5c 4s] and lost with Lo: two pair, Fives and Fours
Seat 6: plutoman20 (button) showed [9s 4d 8d 6h 5d] and won (53750) with Lo: 9,8,6,5,4

Hand 3
I don't want to get squeezed and Jackal is fairly short-stacked so I can't get a lot of value from him. Three-bets on these tables normally mean a pretty strong hand (though not always this strong!) so reluctantly I let this go.

PokerStars Game #73422276627: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2012/01/06 23:47:31 ET
Table 'Boyce' 7-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Stressin78 ($10.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Ohnawiio ($28.90 in chips)
Seat 3: umjik ($29.90 in chips)
Seat 4: BADIM1965 ($49.40 in chips)
Seat 6: jackal5050 ($20.50 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($44.10 in chips)
Ohnawiio: posts small blind $0.25
umjik: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h Qc 2h 4h 3c]
BADIM1965: raises $1.50 to $2
jackal5050: raises $3 to $5
plutoman20 said, "yikes"
plutoman20: folds
Stressin78: folds
Ohnawiio: folds
umjik: folds
BADIM1965: calls $3
BADIM1965: discards 1 card
jackal5050: stands pat
BADIM1965: bets $6
jackal5050: raises $9.50 to $15.50 and is all-in
BADIM1965: calls $9.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jackal5050: shows [6c 3d 2c 5h 7s] (Lo: 7,6,5,3,2)
BADIM1965: shows [6h 2s 9h 4s 7d] (Lo: 9,7,6,4,2)
jackal5050 collected $39.70 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $41.75 Rake $2.05
Seat 1: Stressin78 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Ohnawiio (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: umjik (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: BADIM1965 showed [6h 2s 9h 4s 7d] and lost with Lo: 9,7,6,4,2
Seat 6: jackal5050 showed [6c 3d 2c 5h 7s] and won ($39.70) with Lo: 7,6,5,3,2
Seat 7: plutoman20 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 4
Despite the result I'm quite happy with my break here.

PokerStars Game #73189250447: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/01/02 19:58:05 ET
Table 'Aribeda X' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: rimmo1969 ($18.80 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($25.70 in chips)
Seat 4: milenium1 ($17.85 in chips)
Seat 5: patty5050 ($27.40 in chips)
Seat 6: stef456 ($23.15 in chips)
Seat 7: milyang ($10 in chips)
stef456: posts small blind $0.25
milyang: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [As 2s 3c Ad]
rimmo1969: folds
plutoman20 is connected
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
milenium1: raises $0.50 to $1.50
patty5050: folds
stef456: calls $1.25
milyang: folds
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
stef456: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [7d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [Th]
milenium1: stands pat
stef456: checks
plutoman20: checks
milenium1: bets $0.50
stef456: calls $0.50
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
milenium1: raises $0.50 to $1.50
stef456: calls $1
hockk was removed from the table for failing to post
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
stef456: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Th]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c]
milenium1: stands pat
stef456: checks
inperator34 joins the table at seat #3
plutoman20: checks
milenium1: bets $1
stef456: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
stef456: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c] [As]
milenium1: stands pat
stef456: checks
plutoman20: checks
milenium1: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
stef456: shows [Tc 4d Ah 7s] (Badugi: T,7,4,A)
plutoman20: mucks hand
milenium1: mucks hand
stef456 collected $12 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12.50 Rake $0.50
Seat 1: rimmo1969 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: plutoman20 mucked [As 2s 3c Ad]
Seat 4: milenium1 mucked [3s 2d Jh Ac]
Seat 5: patty5050 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: stef456 (small blind) showed [Tc 4d Ah 7s] and won ($12) with a Badugi: T,7,4,A
Seat 7: milyang (big blind) folded before the Draw

Hand 5
Patting 42A on the last draw isn't in my repertoire (yet!). Whether she misclicked or just wants to project a batshit crazy image I don't know. If you snow a lot (and have shown down a few recent snows) then this play sort of makes sense.

PokerStars Game #73420683831: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/01/06 22:40:20 ET
Table 'Silesia V' 8-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 2: TensiAngel ($7.70 in chips)
Seat 3: pobed58 ($22.90 in chips)
Seat 4: dreamgrl03 ($18.20 in chips)
Seat 5: cheesebal31 ($20.30 in chips)
Seat 6: joaoomachado ($31.20 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($15.60 in chips)
Seat 8: Jorgos_Joanu ($18.85 in chips)
TensiAngel: posts small blind $0.25
pobed58: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h 4s Ad Ks]
dreamgrl03: calls $0.50
cheesebal31: folds
joaoomachado: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
Jorgos_Joanu: folds
TensiAngel: calls $0.75
pobed58: folds
dreamgrl03: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
TensiAngel: discards 1 card
dreamgrl03: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ks]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h 4s Ad] [3h]
TensiAngel: checks
dreamgrl03: checks
plutoman20: bets $0.50
TensiAngel: calls $0.50
dreamgrl03: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
TensiAngel: discards 1 card
dreamgrl03: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4s Ad 3h] [Qh]
TensiAngel: checks
dreamgrl03: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
TensiAngel: folds
dreamgrl03: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
dreamgrl03: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4s Ad 3h] [9s]
dreamgrl03: bets $1
plutoman20: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dreamgrl03: shows [2d Ah 4c 6c] (3-card: 4,2,A)
plutoman20: mucks hand
dreamgrl03 collected $10.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $11 Rake $0.50
Seat 2: TensiAngel (small blind) folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 3: pobed58 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: dreamgrl03 showed [2d Ah 4c 6c] and won ($10.50) with a 3-card: 4,2,A
Seat 5: cheesebal31 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: joaoomachado folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: plutoman20 mucked [9s 4s Ad 3h]
Seat 8: Jorgos_Joanu (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 6
I made a right pig's ear of this one. Royal Hippy is an aggressive spew-monkey while Fortoviy plays way too many hands so I shouldn't give either of them much credit. OOP on the flop I should have just ditched the jack to make life easier. I plan to pat and call down but when Fortoviy pats I figure my J4 is probably no good. It is indeed behind the median badugi you'll hit on a two-card draw (the median badugi after drawing two is T9, and the median badugi you'll actually pat in that situation - excluding things like K43A - is more like a mid-range ten). But Fortoviy doesn't seem to like his hand too much (judging from his initial flop call) so that wasn't clever thinking. Having thought about this more, given my reads on both players I've got the best hand about 40% of the time here when we're all pat which is a helluva lot more than my equity when I draw. But really I should have drawn one on the second draw.

PokerStars Game #73469822763: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/01/07 19:15:59 ET
Table 'Tsai IV' 8-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($23.90 in chips)
Seat 2: Cwietok ($58.85 in chips)
Seat 4: RoyalHippy ($16.45 in chips)
Seat 5: Barmaley05 ($13.65 in chips)
Seat 6: FELISYO ($22.35 in chips)
Seat 7: Fortoviy1979 ($45.05 in chips)
Seat 8: mb-706492 ($8.25 in chips)
mb-706492: posts small blind $0.25
plutoman20: posts big blind $0.50
ErjaTilhi: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Jh 3s Qd 2h]
Cwietok: folds
RoyalHippy: raises $0.50 to $1
Barmaley05: folds
FELISYO: folds
Fortoviy1979: calls $1
mb-706492: folds
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Jh Qd]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3s 2h] [4d Jc]
RoyalHippy: stands pat
Fortoviy1979: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: checks
RoyalHippy: bets $0.50
Fortoviy1979: calls $0.50
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
RoyalHippy: raises $0.50 to $1.50
Fortoviy1979: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [3s 2h 4d Jc]
RoyalHippy: stands pat
Fortoviy1979: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
RoyalHippy: bets $1
Fortoviy1979: calls $1
plutoman20: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Jc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3s 2h 4d] [6h]
RoyalHippy: stands pat
Fortoviy1979: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
RoyalHippy: checks
Fortoviy1979: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [4d 3s 6h 2h] (3-card: 4,3,2)
RoyalHippy: shows [9s 2d 3c Qh] (Badugi: Q,9,3,2)
Fortoviy1979: mucks hand
RoyalHippy collected $10.25 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.75 Rake $0.50
Seat 1: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [4d 3s 6h 2h] and lost with a 3-card: 4,3,2
Seat 2: Cwietok folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: RoyalHippy showed [9s 2d 3c Qh] and won ($10.25) with a Badugi: Q,9,3,2
Seat 5: Barmaley05 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: FELISYO folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Fortoviy1979 (button) mucked [Qc Kd 5h 2s]
Seat 8: mb-706492 (small blind) folded before the Draw

Hand 7
Thinking (correctly) that he's got a crappy hand, I decide to bluff-raise the river. But the sort of player who's going to make T9864 isn't the sort of player I should be bluffing anyway I suppose.

PokerStars Game #73418484386: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/01/06 21:24:54 ET
Table 'Seraphina II' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($16.75 in chips)
Seat 2: DaBro228 ($12.45 in chips)
Seat 3: §ick&Dirty ($53.85 in chips)
Seat 4: Pischi ($10.75 in chips)
Seat 6: Peresvet7 ($42.55 in chips)
DaBro228: posts small blind $0.25
§ick&Dirty: posts big blind $0.50
snowboard789: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [5c 2h 5h 4s 8s]
Pischi: folds
Peresvet7: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
DaBro228: folds
§ick&Dirty: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
§ick&Dirty: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 5h 4s 8s] [8h]
§ick&Dirty: checks
plutoman20: bets $0.50
§ick&Dirty: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
§ick&Dirty: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 5h 4s 8s] [2c]
§ick&Dirty: checks
plutoman20: checks
*** THIRD DRAW ***
§ick&Dirty: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [2c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 5h 4s 8s] [8c]
§ick&Dirty: bets $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
§ick&Dirty: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [8c 2h 5h 4s 8s] (Lo: a pair of Eights)
§ick&Dirty: shows [6d 8d 9s 4h Ts] (Lo: T,9,8,6,4)
§ick&Dirty collected $6.90 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.25 Rake $0.35
Seat 1: plutoman20 (button) showed [8c 2h 5h 4s 8s] and lost with Lo: a pair of Eights
Seat 2: DaBro228 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 3: §ick&Dirty (big blind) showed [6d 8d 9s 4h Ts] and won ($6.90) with Lo: T,9,8,6,4
Seat 4: Pischi folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Peresvet7 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

Hand 8
I go for a thinnish value bet here, don't expect him to raise and don't expect to win when I call.

PokerStars Game #73419365197: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2012/01/06 21:52:32 ET
Table 'Seraphina II' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($45.15 in chips)
Seat 3: Mistr Kim ($12.20 in chips)
Seat 5: tikmann22 ($24.65 in chips)
Seat 6: Peresvet7 ($40.15 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
Mistr Kim: posts big blind $0.50
42llopi: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [8h 4h As Ah 2c]
tikmann22: folds
Peresvet7: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
Mistr Kim: raises $0.50 to $1.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [As Ah]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8h 4h 2c] [7s 6s]
Mistr Kim: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: checks
Mistr Kim: checks
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [8h 4h 2c 7s 6s]
Mistr Kim: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: bets $1
Mistr Kim: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [8h 4h 2c 7s 6s]
Mistr Kim: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $1
Mistr Kim: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Mistr Kim: shows [8c 2h 7c 3s 9h] (Lo: 9,8,7,3,2)
plutoman20: shows [8h 4h 7s 6s 2c] (Lo: 8,7,6,4,2)
plutoman20 collected $8.60 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $9 Rake $0.40
Seat 1: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [8h 4h 7s 6s 2c] and won ($8.60) with Lo: 8,7,6,4,2
Seat 3: Mistr Kim (big blind) showed [8c 2h 7c 3s 9h] and lost with Lo: 9,8,7,3,2
Seat 5: tikmann22 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Peresvet7 (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

December monthly report and 2011 annual review

I made $122 in December, playing on just ten days or so (and sometimes only a few hands), to take my bankroll to $1026. In 2011 I made $2439. A few hundred of that was from Full Tilt; I still hope I can get it (and my profits from late 2010 as well as my initial deposit) back. I never scaled the heights I reached in 2010, but I never got a big MTT payout and I had one of them job things to contend with for most of the year. For most of June and July I didn't play at all. Here is a chart showing my month-by-month profit in 2011:

Compare that to 2010. I honestly don't know how much I'll play in 2012. I'd like to say three hours on a Saturday morning and that'll be it, but I find the lure of a 24/7 gaming site, which includes games that I can beat, a little too much to resist, even when the opportunity cost of playing can be high. I'll admit that online poker is a means of relaxation for me. If I plonk $50 down on a poker table the worst that can happen is that I lose $50. In many areas of life that's far from true.

Milestones

I reached three milestones yesterday. My bankroll hit four figures, my all-time profit reached five figures (if you include the Full Tilt money I may or may not get back) and my profit on Poker Stars for 2011 broke through the $2000 barrier. With my recent plunge the shark-infested waters of real estate and everything that involves, I've played my last hand of 2011(I'll do a proper annual report just before year-end).

I made $158 yesterday. Most of that was at 50c/$1 badugi where I won at the rate of one big blind per hand (big blind, not big bet!) in my last 155 hands, showing down 18 winners out of 23, as my personal settings were switched to God mode. In a fairly recent post I bemoaned my bad luck at those stakes - I should complain more often! I capped off a good day with a win in a 30-man limit badugi tournament. We were three-handed for some time until I got heads-up with a guy who I'd coded purple, meaning aggro-spewy. I'd seen him before in the $2/$4 cash games earlier in the year. He routinely three-bet pre-flop and drew two, which is throwing money away because I'm never drawing any more than two when I open. Maybe he had a big bankroll and was just there to gamble. He was a tricky customer though and I had to three-bet my entire draw-one range so as not to turn over my hand. I tried to snow-catch on a few occasions but surprisingly never caught him. I started heads-up play with a 2½-to-one lead, he got back to even, but I pulled away again. I got a good run of cards and on a different day he might have won. His username ended in 1980, clearly a good year for badugi. I think we would both be inside the top third of online poker players by age (however I'd guess badugi has a slightly higher average age - and more females - than say NLHE, but I might be wrong).

Here are two highlights from yesterday's badugi hands:

Hand 1
A pat hand this strong comes up once every 1600 hands; it's a real bonus when you get it paid off in a five-way pot.

PokerStars Game #72272915979: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/12/16 15:18:35 ET
Table 'China VIII' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: shoorikch ($16.70 in chips)
Seat 2: Dmetr ($13.65 in chips)
Seat 3: Tryanerror ($24.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Oleg Azmagul ($16.70 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($24 in chips)
Seat 7: solano1987 ($15.20 in chips)
Seat 8: XBlackDog81 ($35.25 in chips)
Hoyster87 will be allowed to play after the button
solano1987: posts small blind $0.25
XBlackDog81: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2c Ah 6d 4s]
shoorikch: calls $0.50
Dmetr: calls $0.50
Tryanerror: folds
Oleg Azmagul: calls $0.50
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
solano1987: raises $0.50 to $1.50
XBlackDog81: folds
shoorikch: calls $1
Dmetr: calls $1
Oleg Azmagul: calls $1
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
solano1987: calls $0.50
shoorikch: calls $0.50
Dmetr: calls $0.50
Oleg Azmagul: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
solano1987: discards 1 card
shoorikch: discards 1 card
Dmetr: discards 2 cards
Oleg Azmagul: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: stands pat on [2c Ah 6d 4s]
solano1987: checks
shoorikch: bets $0.50
Dmetr: calls $0.50
Oleg Azmagul: calls $0.50
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
solano1987: raises $0.50 to $1.50
shoorikch: calls $1
Dmetr: folds
Oleg Azmagul: calls $1
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
solano1987: calls $0.50
shoorikch: calls $0.50
Oleg Azmagul: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
solano1987: discards 1 card
shoorikch: discards 1 card
Oleg Azmagul: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: stands pat on [2c Ah 6d 4s]
solano1987: checks
shoorikch: checks
Oleg Azmagul: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
solano1987: calls $1
shoorikch: calls $1
Oleg Azmagul: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
solano1987: discards 1 card
shoorikch: discards 1 card
Oleg Azmagul: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: stands pat on [2c Ah 6d 4s]
solano1987: checks
shoorikch: checks
Oleg Azmagul: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
solano1987: folds
shoorikch: raises $1 to $2
Oleg Azmagul: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $3
shoorikch: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [2c Ah 6d 4s] (Badugi: 6,4,2,A)
shoorikch: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $28.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $29 Rake $0.50
Seat 1: shoorikch mucked [6s 3h 7d Ac]
Seat 2: Dmetr folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 3: Tryanerror folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Oleg Azmagul folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 5: plutoman20 (button) showed [2c Ah 6d 4s] and won ($28.50) with a Badugi: 6,4,2,A
Seat 7: solano1987 (small blind) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 8: XBlackDog81 (big blind) folded before the Draw

Hand 2
Earlier in the day I ran number four into number three. I was a little hesitant to three-bet the river and when he capped I feared the worst. Putting in eight big bets with a rough seven is a massive overplay on his part.

PokerStars Game #72295046631: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/12/17 0:17:46 ET
Table 'Tana VII' 8-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($22.20 in chips)
Seat 2: ozziandy ($19 in chips)
Seat 3: brumegmau ($6.85 in chips)
Seat 4: cj.com ($1 in chips)
Seat 6: ddcl ($8.25 in chips)
Seat 7: Miroslav AA ($4.05 in chips)
Seat 8: tweekout ($24.45 in chips)
cj.com: posts small blind $0.25
ddcl: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 5d Jc As]
Miroslav AA: folds
tweekout: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
ozziandy: calls $1
brumegmau: folds
cj.com: calls $0.75 and is all-in
ddcl: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
cj.com: discards 1 card
ddcl: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Jc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 5d As] [5h]
ozziandy: discards 1 card
ddcl: bets $0.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
ozziandy: raises $0.50 to $1
ddcl: calls $0.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
cj.com: discards 1 card
ddcl: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 5d As] [4h]
ozziandy: stands pat
ddcl: checks
plutoman20: checks
ozziandy: bets $1
ddcl: calls $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
ozziandy: raises $1 to $3
ddcl: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
ozziandy: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
cj.com: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [3c 5d As 4h]
ozziandy: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $1
ozziandy: raises $1 to $2
plutoman20: raises $1 to $3
ozziandy: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
plutoman20 said, "oh no"
plutoman20: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ozziandy: shows [7s 6c 2d 3h] (Badugi: 7,6,3,2)
plutoman20: shows [3c 5d 4h As] (Badugi: 5,4,3,A)
plutoman20 collected $19.70 from side pot
cj.com: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $3.80 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $24 Main pot $3.80. Side pot $19.70. Rake $0.50
Seat 1: plutoman20 showed [3c 5d 4h As] and won ($23.50) with a Badugi: 5,4,3,A
Seat 2: ozziandy showed [7s 6c 2d 3h] and lost with a Badugi: 7,6,3,2
Seat 3: brumegmau (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: cj.com (small blind) mucked [4d 6s Kh Ac]
Seat 6: ddcl (big blind) folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 7: Miroslav AA folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: tweekout folded before the Draw (didn't bet)

That was quick

I just dropped $45 in 56 hands of single draw. That would be my worst session ever in that game. It was like a car crash. OK, I ran terribly there, but I did make one or two seriously spewy plays.

Rule number one of poker: don't play when you're depressed.