May in review

Disclaimer: This is in no way to brag about my poker accomplishments. I simply provide these numbers for people who are curious about how I'm doing lately. I get tons of questions from people about how much I make, hands played, etc. that I guess I'll post monthly summaries.

SNGs: I played a lot of SNG's on Stars this month with pretty decent success. This is definetely a great way to build a small bankroll, but I think it would be hard to make a lot of $$$ without playing an insane amount of tournaments. For this reason I quit playing SNG's after 10 days or so but here are the stats.

86 tournaments x $22 = $1892 invested.
Results =$2538 ($646 profit).
ROI = 34.14%.
ITM = 50.8%.

Not amazing but I'll take it. I learned a lot and I know I can fall back on my SNG game if the cash games go sour for awhile.

MTT's: 2 final tables including a chop. I played a lot of tournaments on FTP the last few days of the month because their $69+6 buyins have huge overlays in the guaranteed prize pool. Therefore, these numbers aren't that great but...

Profit = $138.
Approx 49 tournaments entered.

Nothing amazing to report here but if I can make one serious FT my stats would really be intense for that month. Therefore, I'll continue to play MTT's until I get sick or make a big score.

Ring games: After a break from playing cash games I came back home the last few weeks of May. I am really happy with how I played and will continue to play .50/1 NLHE on UltimateBet until I get tired of the site.

Hands played = 15,508.
Total profit =$981.
$/100 hands = $6.33.

Hands played and $/100 are much lower than I anticipated, but I didn't play for many days and I also took 3 or 4 days off this month for various things. I'm happy with these stats.

Bonuses: 100% up to $500 on UB is the only real bonus I scored this month. I also used my FPP on Stars to buy an iPod Nano which I plan on selling for $225 so I'll add that to this category.

UB Bonus = $274.
iPod = $225.
Total = $499.

MAY TOTAL: $2264.

Time to start playing in the month of June...

(Cash game strategy article coming very soon.)

Before I hit a cooler

Coming off the biggest winning session of my cash game career I figure now is the time to talk about my new and improved cash game strategy before something goes wrong and I forget how to play. I should probably note this strategy has been working at .50/1 and 1/2 NL ring games on UB (also would work on FullTilt and PokerStars). I doubt you would have much success at a looser site such as Paradise or Party because a lot of these plays require that your opponents have a clue.

The biggest thing I learned from watching Green Plastic play is that he punishes limpers. If it is limped around to him he makes a pot sized (or bigger) raise. More than half the time he picks up the pot with or without cards. When he does get called he is in position, has shown aggression, and is fucking Green Plastic so he isn't going to get outplayed post-flop anyway. I don't claim to have his post-flop skills, but I know that if I'm in position on people that I saw limp/call my raise that I know I can run over the table. You can't put an aggressive player in a better spot than that.

The biggest key to winning in NLHE cash games is so simple yet people seem to really struggle with it: you need to play better cards preflop than your opponent! I promise if you are playing better cards than everyone else you will have a very hard time losing even if you are a moron post-flop. This means being able to fold AK to a raise and reraise. This means laying down KK when it is beat. If you can get away from big hands you are well on your way to being better than 99% of the people playing at these limits.

I don't want to make it sound like post-flop play isn't important though. I often with raise with complete trash in position or call a small raise with less than premium hands like AJ or KQ or J10 because I know that I am good enough to not get stacked without a perfect flop. If I don't "flop big into it" as GP says, then I fold. I have seen enough hands to know when top pair or two pair isn't a winner. When I play rags for a raise in position or call raises without monsters I am hoping for 1 of 2 things: Either I fold on the flop with minimal losses or I win a monster. I wouldn't suggest a new player to NLHE cash games makes these plays because it is very easy to get stacked with a hand like top pair/top kicker but if you have been around for awhile I think that is a very easy laydown to make in lots of situations.

I also have a new found ability to bluff huge pots. I am pretty good at reading hands and this allows me to trust my instincts in situations where I risk a large portion of my chipstack in a spot where I sense weakness. Yesterday I had a few such situations...

#1: I called a standard raise in position in a three way pot with KQs. The flop was 258 with 2 of my suit. The preflop raiser bet 2/3 of the pot and we continued to the turn 3 handed. The turn was an offsuit 4. Another bet which left me with pot odds (especially if my K and Q are outs) so I called again. The river was an offsuit 3. The board now read 23458 and my opponent checked. He doesn't have a 6. He doesn't check an Ace there. I bet about 3/4th of the pot and he folded JJ face up. You may be thinking "that is an easy spot to bluff" but keep in mind my river bet was somewhere around $45 or $50. Not so easy any more.

#2: I called a raise in late position with 56s. Again we saw a three-handed flop of 9JQ. The original raiser bet out very small, less than 1/2 the pot. I know this player to be solid and this bet screamed "I have a hard, but I'm scared of this board and don't want to risk much on a continuation bet." I immediately jammed the "Bet Pot" button making it over $25 more to him. He took his time and folded AA face up. I didn't show because I like the guy, but I felt pretty good making a bluff when I was almost drawing dead to a monster hand. This is the kind of play that probably wouldn't work against weaker opponents who couldn't fold an overpair, but position and the ability to read bet sizes can often win you big pots.

Hopefully some of this was helpful or intersting. Feel free to disagree with all of it, it is just my $0.02.

Still trying to get to $2K in profits for May, which is less than I had originally hoped for but at this point $2K would make me feel really good about the 2nd half of the month.

A week in review

4 weeks removed from anything that resembles structure in my life I decided to summarize the last week of poker. It has been an interesting week where I learned a ton.

I started playing cash games on UltimateBet 7 days ago after watching a few GP videos on Cardrunners. I have a new found aggression and understanding of the game. I am pounding people in position and raising with TONS of hands. I have been unable to lay down KK twice and that cost me about $219 total, but live and learn. I have earned $519 in poker and $136 in bonuses. Not bad. I'll be laying down KK soon enough and making even more money.

Today I made my first final table since the 180-man SNG chop. I played the $2K Guaranteed, $20+2 6-handed event on UB. 109 entries (just covered the guarantee) and a 1st prize of $654. I won a lot of pots early on with the dominating hand and got to short handed play rather easily. When down to the bubble (13 players) I think I raised 6 out of 8 hands in a row and made a huge stack. This lead to the greatest site in poker...

I finished 4th on a AK vs KK cooler but I was shortstacked and more than happy to put in with AK. +$221 for just over 3 hours of work.

My sports-betting career has taken a down turn. The Clippers, Barbaro, and the Pistons have all let me down recently. My bookie might break my arms soon--stay tuned.

Congrats to an old friend

Back when I first started playing on Stars 4 years ago I played the lowest limit games and MTT's. I quickly realized that there were other players who were always playing the same games I was and they were very successful. I quickly became friends with 2 of these players through AIM. Pearljam1012 and Rizen. If you live under an online poker rock you've never heard these names. If not, you know that PJ won a triple crown on p5's and is probably one of the most respected online MTT players on Stars. Then yesterday I opened the Stars $1million guaranteed to check for big names at the final two tables. Rizen is sitting pretty! I cannot believe this guy!

Of course I "railbird" him all the way through the FT, which included an hour long heads up match which had him outchipped 5-to-1 at one point. HU for $80k and they never once mentioned a chop. Rizen took down $150K for first. I was so pumped you would have thought I won the thing.

Crazy to see people you played .05/.10 NL and $5 SNG's with 4 years ago winning that kind of $.

Killerbeefan?

Some clown is using the name "Killerbeefan" on UB even though they already have a KKush account because they want the $500 in 100% 1st deposit bonus. What a donk.

Oh yeah, that also means I'm playing cash games again. Interesting hands follow...

#1: 77 on the button. Standard 4x raise UTG and 1 caller. I call. Flop is J76 rainbow and the original raiser bets the pot. I flat call. Turn is a 2, completing the rainbow, and I min raise his pot sized bet. He folds KK face up!!!! This is probably the 1 time I've seen that lay down made. I cannot begin to tell you how pissed I was at this hand.

#2: AA vs. 99 and KK vs. QQ lost both to all ins on the turn when they turned their sets. Guess I'm not as good as Mr. KK from the first interesting hand....

#3: 22 and I flat call a raise in middle position. Minimum reraise from late position and we both flat call. Flop is 226 and somehow they both go all in. Of course they both have AA, are drawing dead, and I scoop a monster pot with ducks.

Overall, I'm up a good amount and the bonus is coming slowly but surely. I'm sure I'll still play some SNG's on Stars and probably some MTT's later today as well. On the MTT note, I finished 11th in the FTP $8k guarantee the other night on a shitty note. I was chip leader by a good margin with 29 left and my internet went out. I came back about 25 minutes later and I was down to 8th in chips with 14 remaining. I managed to lose QQ vs. JJ and then AK vs. AQ to knock me out ($999 for 1st). The moral of the story is, get a solid internet connection before you get chip leads.

Gotta do it

Not like me to brag about poker winnings because I don't play the game for glory but when you have a run like this I just can't help myself. I have never felt so good playing poker as I have the last 4 or 5 days. Even during the 14 day winning streak of cash games in April I wasn't having this much fun playing the game. I cannot begin to tell you how solid my SNG game is right now. I cannot put into words how confident I am and how dominant I feel on the tables.

When you have 3 days where you play 10+ SNG's and have a ROI over 100% everyday you know you are doing something right!

I have had a few people from www.pocketfives.com talk to me about poker through AIM (InKevinWeTrust) and I know they've read my blog as well. I have referenced other blogs I enjoy reading so here are the links to 2 solid poker players and personal friends who know their shit...

http://killerbees24.blogspot.com
http://wolverineblither.blogspot.com

KB is a cash game specialist and WB is a SNG/MTT master. They are both very smart and academic when it comes to the game. Give them a read.

Oh yeah, KB got a membership on www.cardrunners.com and I've checked out a few videos and they are a great learning tool. Watching players like Green Plastic, ActionJeff, and muddywaters can only help your game and listening to their thought process is a huge advantage. It is worth checking out for sure.

--KKush

If you don't do this you are a moron.

Rake-free poker at no cost? Seriously. http://www.worldpx.com --they figure you'll donk off enough $$ in the casino/sportsbook that they can afford to refund your rake at the end of the week. I cannot think of any reason not to play on this site. The SNG's fill slow so I'm still playing 50/50 on Stars/WPX but still, 100% rakeback is ridonkulous.

I don't know how long this site will be able to offer this, but I plan on playing there exclusively, even if I have to play cash games/MTT's. I cannot turn down rakefree and neither should you. Oh yeah, their guaranteed tourneys almost always have an overlay which is +EV and +equity 100% of the time. Hope to see you on WPX's tables soon.

SNG Strategy

I wanted to talk about a few really common plays I see made in SNG's on Stars (especially at the $20-$30 level). These plays are made by players who are otherwise probably fine players but they are making too predictable of plays at a crucial time in the tournament. I think the key to making money is avoiding these pitfalls.

#1: I am a HUGE advocate of stealing blinds, especially from medium sized stacks who are less likely to defend. That being said, when a player has less than 5 BB's it is absolute suicide to try to steal his blinds with rags. Even if you only raise the minimum, you are priced in to call with any 2 cards when (not if) he pushes all in. Now you are an underdog and more times than not you double up a shortstack. This is the most common mistake I see people making shorthanded.

#2: Medium stacks are far too willing to give up their blinds with no defense. You can't simply "wait out" the short stack. Let's say this strategy does work and you make it into the money--now I've stolen hundreds, if not thousands, of chips from you in blind steals and you are desperately shortstacked. If you give me a chip lead short handed I am coming after you full force. What is the best defense? It is a bold but effective strategy of the "re-steal". When someone raises my big blind on the button I will reraise all in (even if it is a huge overbet) with the following hands: any pair, any suited connectors, and any 2 cards that would add up to 19 or higher in blackjack. This play is the best play in my repitoire right now. 99% of the time you take down the pot, 1% of the time you play a hand with a decent chance of making a huge double up, and 100% of the time that person quits stealing your blinds! You only have to make this play once or twice and they'll get the message. This play requires you to risk going broke, but again, the difference between 1st and 3rd is bigger than 4th and 3rd. If you aren't afraid to bubble you'll win a lot more SNG's. Another benefit of this play is that you know the next time they raise your blinds they have a monster hand or monster balls. Either way, it is much easier to fold a medium range hand.

#3: The Ax overplay. The Ace is the highest card in the deck--we all know that. I still cannot fathom why so many people are willing to go broke with Ace/rag on the bubble. If someone raises I cannot understand playing A9 for all my chips--what hand are you a huge favorite on? Sure, if they have KQ you are a slight favorite, but why not wait for a better spot? These hands are good for shortstacked play or the re-steal (see #2), but they aren't worthy of playing for a call or reraise all in unless you suspect a steal. If you have 12+ BB's you aren't desperate and can easily fold until you get a pair or AK, AQ to make your play.

Good luck at the tables.

Get T.I.'s new album

Lately I've switched over to 100% SNG's on Stars. I have had mixed results but I know in the long run (like 1000 SNG's from now) I'll have an ROI of 20%+ which is steady money and my bankroll will be solid enough to move up. I started using AleoMagus’s spreadsheet (just Google it) and it tracks all kinds of stats--I'll post my results for May at the end of the month. If you are serious about playing SNG's, that spreadsheet is an absolute must have.

(This is my first drunken post. I thought I should say that to explain any typo's that may occur.)

SNG's are something that fits my style of play. I like being able to run over a table with a big stack and not worrying about the monster suckout for hundreds of dollars. I enjoy the aggression and balls it takes to make some of the plays I make on a regular basis. I have never felt so strong about my play as I do when I'm playing shorthanded in a SNG. That being said the most important 2 things about single table tournament poker are as follows...

#1: Play ultra-tight early and avoid races. I don't mean kinda tight, I mean virgin asshole tight. My money will not go in a pot at all without 1010-AA, AK. I am dead serious. I fold AQs out of the small blind like it is 72o. I won't limp with 99. There are so many people making mistakes will small pairs and A-junk that you can wait for a premium hand and double up. I hate seeing QQ vs. AK all in early. AK is a foldable hand up until the blinds get to 50/100 or the game is 6 handed. If you do this and avoid a bad beat you will have 2500 chips easily when you get to the bubble. That is when true SNG players come alive. Trust me.

#2: On the bubble you should switch into the highest gear you feel comfortable. The blinds are worth stealing. Attack medium stacks with junk and go after short stacks with better than average hands. Raise with K8, A3, J10--but do so in position and not every hand. Steal blinds. Fold if you get reraised. If you get called and flop a hand worth playing, play it all in--this puts them to the decision. I have noticed that everyone expects the shortest stack to be the next one out. That means everyone else is avoiding playing pots. Forget taking out the shortstack--chip up off the chip leader! The difference between 3rd and 1st is a lot bigger than the difference between 4th and 3rd--put the idea of "bubbling" out of your head. I am in it to win, not make the $$$. That being said, I still don't have many 4th place finishes (out of the $$$) because by stealing blinds you put yourself on a comfortable stack and you can avoid making some sub-optimal calls because you are playing with their money.

I will probably write a more detailed post about how I use position and a few common situations soon. I think that I have a pretty good idea of how to beat SNG's on a regular basis because people make the same mistakes every tournament I play. Cash game play is too routine for me. I get bored but it isn't my style to loosen up so I can adjust my mindset to the game. With SNG's every stage requires a different skill and every hand is completely situational. I look forward to writing some more blog's about a couple specific situations soon, but alas, I must succumb to the alcohol and go to bed.

Oh yeah, T.I.'s new CD is great.

Donk? I think not but you decide

Today I played another live tourney with friends. The competition was much better. We had a 9 man table and out of the 9 I have a lot of respect for 5 of the players. I rebought a few times and got down to 4 handed when the following hand occured. I received a lot of shit for my call here but it was not only correct but my reasoning seemed solid to me...

I have approx. 11 BB's which is the current short-stack. I am on the button in a 4 handed game. Player UTG is definetly the loosest player left who is capable of running a big bluff. He limps. I look at AJ of hearts and raise four times the BB. UTG is the only player who calls. At this point the pot is approx 13 BB's and I have 6.5BB's left in my stack. I am pretty much pot committed unless the flop is a disaster. The flop is 248 rainbow. UTG quickly moves all in and I call instantly. He is disgusted and turns over 63. My hand holds up and I become the target of some shit talking for calling with AJ high.

I didn't say a word but raked the pot and went on to split the prize pool with a friend heads-up. How can I call with AJ high? It is a common SNG situation. I am getting over 3-to-1 on my money (13BB+6.5BB=18.5 to my 6.5). Unless he flopped a set or has AA/KK/QQ/JJ, I am by no means a 3-to-1 dog. He wouldn't limp/call with any pair so I know I am in good shape. I put him on a hand like A7, A6, 910, 67. If he flopped a pair I still have to call with overcards here. I had no choice but to call here. This is simple math and knowing your opponent's range of hands. I don't doubt that I've seen more hands than the rest of the table combined and experience makes this an automatic call 100% of the time. It is nothing like "he just wanted to gamble" or "he had a good read". It is really just knowing the situation.

I'd love to hear someone's opinion on this--InKevinWeTrust on AIM anytime. Hitting the tables for a profitable Saturday night session.

4500% ROI

That's right. I chopped a $4-180 person SNG on Stars. We chopped 50/50 despite the fact that I was down 3 to 1 in chips and suck at heads up play! Good deal for me. I know it is $180, I know it was a $4 tourney, but it still feels good.

Oh yeah, I'm going to keep playing SNG's and MTT's forever. I'm thinking about writing a blog about my SNG/MTT strategy soon. Anyone interested? Send me an IM on InKevinWeTrust and I'll take the time to write one. Maybe it will get your ROI up to around 50% like mine is for the month!

Fruits of my labor

Played in a $5 (w/ unlimited rebuys for an hour) tourney last night at my buddy's. This usually becomes an all-in war after 2 hours, but last night we had 12 players and lots of chips in play. This allowed for everyone to be patient and pick their spots. No one is more patient that I am. I never felt so confident playing live. Here are a few key hands that ultimately resulted in my win.

A3 of clubs in a 10 handed game. I limped and flopped the nut flush draw in a 4 handed pot. At this point I was probably around average stack with about 1200 chips (500 for each $5 rebuy). I opened for $250. My weak/tight friend in late position raised all in for $475 total. I was obviously pot commited. He turned over 27 of clubs so I had the best hand with the best draw and it got me an early chip lead.

1010 in the BB. Early raise by a loose player UTG+1. 3 callers. At this point I knew my hand was the best judging my the flat-calls from good players behind him. I knew there was a good chance I was up against a ton of overcards and small pairs. I simply pushed all in. Everyone folded and the original raiser showed AQs. I definetly would have called in his spot, but I'll take a nice pot with no flop any day.

Down to 4 handed with the best player at the table sitting to my immediate right. He raises from a short stack and I have AJsuited. I consider pushing but I see he still has about 6 or 7 BB left in his stack. I flat call in position. Flop is A85. He pushes. I think for atleast a minute and call. He shows A10 and I take him out and a huge chip stack 3 handed.

Played 3 handed for awhile with a desperate short stack. He finally announces he'll go in blind with about 8 BB from the button. I am in the SB and look at my first card, As, and immediately announce that I am all in was well, hoping for an isolation. The BB goes into the tank, eventually folding AJ face up. I look at my other card and begin laughing, the Ac. The button flips over 33 (not bad in the blind!) and I take him out. At this point we settle on a chop of the money based pretty much on chip stacks.

The SNG run has been pretty super-duper. I have cashed in 8 out of 12 with an ROI of around 60%. Only 2 wins due to some short-stacked heads up situations and 1 horrible beat, but I'll take the good with the bad. I feel great about the way I'm playing, especially 4 and 5 handed on the bubble. Everyone is afraid to go broke and I am pretty good at applying pressure and stealing blinds from shortstacks.

Also, I am well on my way to the FT of a 180 man SNG on Stars right now. Sitting 6th/12 and playing really well. Hopefully this will be my first, albeit small, MTT win. I'll report tomorrow on how I finished as well as my golf score tonight!

Coming home

Wow. Another one of those runs that makes you wonder how anyone makes money playing poker. I have never suffered a run of bad beats like this--much worse than my previous post about terrible beats. I will spare you the stories because everyone has heard them more times that I care to mention. I honestly can't stomach cash games right now.

That being said I opened 4 SNG's on Stars. Last month I murdered SNG's for a week or so, thus I decided no better place to calm down and atleast break even. I finished 8th (ran into KK with AQ on Q high flop), 4th (don't remember getting above 1500 in chips), 2nd (guy hits a 5 outer heads up with 95% of the chips in preflop with KQ vs. K7--almost broke my mouse on this one), and 1st (finally a win--after cracking AA w/ 99 to stay alive 4 handed).

Still down $71 on the day, but that beat heads up in a $50+5 would have put me more than even. I think I'll be playing SNG's for a while. I know Bobby won't like to read this, but oh well. With an ROI on the day of 72.7% I like SNG's a lot right now. I am profitable and stay off tilt much easier when the suckouts only cost $20+2 instead of my $150 stack at a table.

Look out Tiger

2nd round of the year I shoot 36-39--75 (finishing bogey-bogey). Forget poker, look for me on the PGA Tour soon.

Oh yeah, I 2 outered a guy for a monster pot to get myself OFF tilt. Go figure.

"Heaters"

About 1,000 hands into my session today I was feeling pretty shitty. I had managed to fold away about $100 and hadn't hit any big hands all day. I flopped a few sets early on, but always in limped pots with no action. I have been in a bit of a funk lately as I haven't been able to get a really good "heater" going for awhile. "Heater" is a term I picked up in Soaring Eagle. Donks use it as an excuse to play about 10 hands in a row after winning some tiny ass pot because they are on a "heater". I use it more for when I hit a good run and make some serious cash. This sets the stage for the hand that jump started my "heater" today...

JcJs open to $4 in middle position. 1 caller on the button. Flop is glorious: AhKhJd. I bet, he raises, I reraise, he pushes all in. I have "Vegas and the fuckin' Mirage syndrome" and shove all in. Worst nightmare. He is holding the dreaded nuts with nut flush draw with QhTh. I begin hating myself for shoving in with bottom set on that scary board. Turn is the 4h. "Pair the God damn board!". 4c on the river and my donk play scoops me a $196 pot.

After this I am bullet-proof for the better part of 400 hands. Flopped set over set twice. Got paid big with AK on QJT board. Seriously ran over the tables. Made the final 24 of another $8k guarantee on Tilt before donking off on a position bluff. I'll FT one of these within a week, I promise my faithful readers that.

Still playing at 2:06 a.m. Trying to push myself until 3 a.m. or $100 more in profit, which ever comes first....

On a side note, the Redwings are out of the playoffs so I will now transform into the Piston's #1 fan for a few weeks.

April in a nutshell

Well, my first month of playing poker as a "pro" just came to a close. I must admit that it was quite the journey from $220 in my Stars account to telling my parents that I wouldn't be working at the golf course anymore. The highs are amazing, the lows suck big fat donkey cock. People hear "poker pro" and think of Doyle, Phil, and Gus playing under the bright lights. I am a much more humbled version of the poker pro, grinding out a living at medium stakes. I am not paying any bills (besides gas for my car and all the beer I drink), but I still think the word "pro" is on point. I really hate talking numbers with people but for the sake of the blog here are my stats from April....

50 SNG's in the $20+2 and $30+3 range. My total profit is +343 with an adjusted ROI of 34.3%. Definately the biggest surprise was my SNG game. Always nice to find out you have other skills.

25 MTT's ranging from $5-$33. -$116. No final tables but some very close calls with 3 finishes at the final 2 tables. MTT's aren't my strongest game, but with 1 FT it will all be worth it.

$335 in bonuses. (Definately an area for improvement in May--rakeback?)

Approx. 28,736 hands of NLHE cash game play in the .5/1 and 1/2 range. Total profit of approx. $2224. Rough math gives me a $/100 hands figure of about $7.74. That number sucks due to a rough run at the end of the month, but I think $9 is a reasonable goal for May. I also would like to play around 50k hands in May. Even if I maintain $7.74/100 hands and play 50k hands, you can do the math!

APRIL TOTAL: $2786.

Rough run at the end knocked my stats down alittle, but I'm happy with what I've learned and how far my game has came in 30 days. I know that May will be bigger and better. My game is stronger, my bankroll is solid, and my site seleciton/bonus hunting will be intense. I know that if I play full time I can definately reach my very modest goals: 50k hands, $9/100 hands, and $3000 total profit.

Thanks for reading and pretending to be interested.