Just check this out

The Cooler is the name of the blog, and no hand is a better example of giving someone the ultimate cooler....

How do you spell practically drawing dead?

Some more HH's

I hit a 1 outer after this guy pushes top pair?
I was afraid with top set.
My flopped quads get called by Ace high.
LAGging it up and hitting.
COOOOOLER.

Finally

Playing big pots

Killerbees commented recently that I seem to play a much higher quantity of huge pots than he does. I get stacked, stack someone, get stacked, stack someone on a consistant basis. I don't know if it is because I play a looser style which puts me in more pots or whether it is just how the cards fall for me. I must admit, I do play a lot of big pots--and I like it. More often than not I'm in the big pot with the best hand. If not, I usually made a push on a draw that has fold equity attached, meaning I made a bet that was tough for them to call and even if they do call (which they do quite a bit) I still have live outs to beat them. I think this leads to bigger swings in the short term, but when you're playing 2k hands a day it seems to even out most of the time.

Here are some examples....
Stacking a very good player
Cracking a set
Getting bluffed

How I'm running

I usually don't post single session results because I don't put a whole lot of stock in them. I am a "big picture" guy because even the biggest donk in the world can make a sick score in the short term. That being said, I must admit for the last few days I've been running horribly. I can honestly admit to making several terrible mistakes that cost me some money, but I am 100% confident that I lost twice as much on bad beats and terrible situations. I don't like to bemoan bad beats because they are part of the game, but at some point they do begin to affect my play. I woudn't call it "tilt", I would call it playing sub-optimally. I often find that all it takes to jump-start me back into my game is winning one big pot or succeeding on a big bluff. Today I had AA hold up vs. KK in a small pot, but for some reason that was all it took. I went from -$300 to almost even. I made a costly semi-bluff against a guy who held top two. I missed my straight draw, but I stand by the play 100% because if he has anything less than top two I'm fully confident I win the pot. (I'll post this HH when I find it in PT) I also had 8 live outs so I can't complain about where I'm at right now. I know this seems fairly random, but I just wanted to share with you alittle of my opinions on the psychology of the game. I know that when I'm winning I play better, and when I'm losing it takes winning a pot to snap me out of this passive, weak/tight player that I become.

I am also playing 6 tables so I have less of a desire to make cute plays because I have 5 other tables that demand my attention. I can't deviate from "ABC poker" due to lack of time. I think this is a very good thing. I also switched the music from country to some Coldplay which always seems to mellow me out. I think my mental state is directly reflected in my play, which is directly reflected in my profits. There is a saying about golf attire: Look good, feel good. Feel good, play good. For that reason I always have on khakis and a polo shirt when I play golf seriously, because I feel like I've won half the battle. The same is true for poker. When I sit down and give every hand my full attention and I have a clear head, I'm unstoppable.

Check out The Cooler.

Just some HH's to keep ya happy

AA-weird hand
Cracking top set.
QJ > KK.

Oh yeah, technical problems are delaying my dual monitors--I'll keep ya posted. Also, I finished 23rd in the $5 w/Rebuys on Stars for my first cash in July. Some donk overplayed A9 vs. my position bluff with 56s and I hit the rail hard. I liked my play then and stand by it now.

Accepting donations

Here are some really interesting hands from my play lately. These hands really could have been played by a monkey (except my A6 where I went with a solid read on a losing player.) I think these might be the new breed of players on FullTilt now that the site has tons of traffic and gets fishier by the day.

Flopping two pair vs. a moron
He calls $50 on the turn drawing dead?
What a moronic play on every street
Giving out a cooler with my lucky hand

I plan on continuing on FTP even after I collect my bonus because of their IronMan competition. Basically you need to earn 200 FullTiltPoints for 25 days in the month of July and you'll be entered in a $30K Freeroll. The winner of that gets to play 3 of the pros heads-up for a total of $100k. Obviously the odds are against me, but a $30k freeroll is pretty exciting nonetheless.

Hoping for another sick day,
KKush

Checking some stats

I started using PokerTracker again a few days ago. I have only about 2000 hands loaded so far from cash game play, but I still think some of the stats are worth discussing. First, let me start by saying that I've been running incredibly lucky. For instance, odds of AA is 220:1. I've had them 12 times in 1,987 hands (166:1). I've also won 11/12 times with them. I've laid 2 really gross beats too. I already posted the 1 outer with KK, but here is a 2 outer with AK.

Next I've been playing pretty tight for me. I tried to adopt a LAG style of play but for some reason when I multi-table (especially 5 or 6 like I've done lately) I find it hard to get too creative. I'm seeing like 14% of flops over this sample, which is maybe 10% lower than if I played 1 or 2 tables and tried to win every pot.

PT says I've won almost 88% of my money with pairs. That says alot considering AKo is my biggest single winning hand. Bobby and I's idea that sets are where the money is (and in overpairs on loose tables), is obviously correct.

To close, I'm up almost $600 over the last two days and I'm loving playing poker of my new set-up. I might try winning an entry into the FTP major tournament today, but no promises.

Aces full loses to straight flush. Sickest beat I've seen in a long time.

Roller coaster trip saved by an old friend

Well, everyone knows the high that I was riding in MTT's during June. 10 FT's and almost 3K in profits. 10 tournaments into July without any major misteps on my part and I have zero cashes. I'm getting so many sick suckouts and no real chances to chip up. Luckily, I revamped my cash game play for the FTP bonus and that has been my saving grace. I think I'm going to step out of the MTT arena and try to make my cash this month in ring games. I had a great day on Wednesday, disaster yesterday, but I'm flying high today (on my new setup... so sweet!)

Here are some really fun hands I've played lately mainly because I won.

AA playing itself
Bottom boat gets paid
Miracle 1 outer! I guess KK is my lucky hand! The only thing here is, obviously I'm done with the hand if the K doesn't spike the turn!


I'll post pictures of my new "office" after I install my digital camera software on the new machine. Let me assure you that this change is definitely +EV!

A welcome back slap in the face

I was so amped up to play poker again that I honestly couldn't wait to sign on. Unfortunately FullTilt didn't seem to want me back. I found myself in terrible spots and forced to make laydowns that were just unbelievable. I cannot honestly believe I didn't go busto in the last 2 days facing some of the beats/coolers I've been in. That being said the first two days didn't end horribly, only losing $109 total but more than making up for that in bonuses.

Then today I finally am breaking through alittle bit. I haven't ran well, but I have had enough big pots and avoided enough situations where I'd likely have gotten stacked by folding big hands. Here are some fun HH's from lately.

Losing a pot with the nuts to the river

74 > AA (another spot where my LAG style pays off. He should have folded on the turn!)

Same table as 74, set very next hand

Getting paid with top set (Moron in the BB can't figure that he's beat here?)

On a side note, I ordered my new PC today. It has a P4, 2.8 ghz processor and 1G of RAM. Most importantly it has dual 17" LCD flat panel monitors. I cannot wait to start playing on this system. I'll be sure to post some pictures of it so y'all can see the new and improved "Office."

June in review

Sorry for the delay and lack of posting but I spent the last week laying in the sun and drinking beers with my best friends in North Carolina. Anyone who reads this and was there, you know what I mean when I say "The wheels of justice." I enjoyed the break from poker but I honestly feel like I can take on the poker world right now. I cannot wait to finish this post and start playing.

Here are my stats from June. This month I practically played only MTT's on an almost daily basis. I will include all the stats I can gather from MTT's and then just include the total profit without any discussion of cash/sng's just because I played so few they aren't worth mentioning.

Tournaments: 79
ROI: 146%
Wagered: $1905
Won: $4690
Profit: $2785
Final Tables: 10
Wins: 1
ITM: 20%
Biggest downswing: $367 (This number looks huge but it is downswing without turning profit, not length of time between cashes)
Approx rake: $153 (I tried my best but my spreadsheet doesn't automatically compute this)

Total June Profit (MTT's + Bonus +/- limited cash game action): $3149

I am currently finishing my Star's reload bonus and then moving back to FullTilt for the $300 reload bonus they have. I'll be playing .5/1 NL on Tilt and 180-SNG's on Stars for the most part this month. I look forward to posting more often and having another great month (hopefully with some more wins!)

I also added a few more poker blogs to my links. Good luck at the tables.