Variance is a Cruel Master

About two weeks ago, I decided to try a different game - I was going to head off into the wilds of 7-Card Stud.

Ignorance and not really knowing how to play? Not a problem! I'm smart. I can learn, and by last Saturday, I was the greatest stud player to ever grace the .50 - $1 tables, having walked away with twice my buy-in on three sessions.

You can see where this is going, right?

I'm happy to report that I've handed nearly all of my profits right back. It's one of those nights where instead of hitting me in the face, the deck kicked me in the nuts. Repeatedly. I'd catch a flush - and run right into a full house. I'd catch two pairs, only to see someone catch a set on 7th street.

I'm still enjoying the game, but I clearly need a little work. Any reading suggestions or tips? I'd welcome them.

Extreme Pain (or How I Kicked Myself in the Junk)

Dear readers, let this serve as a warning to you on how NOT to play a hand. Saturday, David, ToM, Chilly and I played in a very fishy $25 home tournament. I was sitting in pretty good standing: nine players left, blinds at T75 - 150, and I have approx. T3500 in chips. One stack has me dwarfed, one is around mine and the rest have fewer chips.

UTG, I look down to see AKo. Nice. I bet T450 - and the small stack pushes for T460. Action folds to the small blind (roughly the same number of chips), who softly cursed when I raised. He called the bet. Figuring (rightly) that I had him dominated, I called - and then I couldn't figure out why my boys felt like someone just took a hammer to them.

The flop - J-4-rag rainbow. Small blind checks. I bet T1000. After much hemming and hawing, he calls. This is not what I wanted, so when another four spikes on the turn, I push. And he calls. I now figure he has a jack, and I'm not feeling very good about this hand any longer.

I show my big slick, as does the small stack. And the small blind shows his QJs. Crap. Now down to four outs to chop the small main pot and win the side, I watch the rag fall on the river and I started thinking about hitting the boats, since it turns out the small blind had me covered.

After getting over my irritation at being called with QJs, I realized that it was my own fault. I should have pushed pre-flop instead of calling the (small) raise. The small blind probably would have folded. Had ne not done so, then I would have cursed his name and called him a donkey, but I let him in the pot.

So I'm sure that the small blind enjoyed finishing in the money for a second time while I headed off to the casinos - for another fun session of junk-kicking.

Overall, I was fairly happy with my play, but I need to be more aggressive on these hands, and not trust that a draw like big slick (granted, a strong one), will hold up to several callers. I didn't put my chips in when I had the best hand - I did it with the second best hand, which kept me from cashing in on this tournament a second time.

Until next month.

Some MTT Play

Just bounced out of a Party Poker 2000 player MTT in 379th. I was getting short stacked and pushed on pocket kings UTG - they ran into A9d and he caught the wheel. Ouch. C'est la vie.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my play. I stole a few pots, and I was generally patient and waited until I had decent cards to play. When I was in a pot, I played aggressively and didn't back off too many hands (unless I was pretty sure I was beat). It cost me a couple of times, but I've been working on playing more aggressively.

It's the fourth time I've played in one of those tournaments. The first time, I bounced out around 700, the second, around 1000, the third 600, so I'm seeing some progress - even if the low payout is $1.70, it would have been nice to finish in the money.

What the hell, it's good practice for next weekend's two-table donkeyfest and the upcoming Bradoween Open.

Good Times

Man, I wish I was not slumming the super low-limit tables tonight. I'm even happier I found someone to pay me all the way down:

***** Hand History for Game 2463196261 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Monday, August 01, 23:22:38 EDT 2005
Table Table 32371 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: mikeyb107 ( $11 )
Seat 2: TheForce4 ( $12 )
Seat 3: emoknights ( $3.25 )
Seat 4: ryg26 ( $26 )
Seat 5: sdbakerty ( $28 )
Seat 6: ChipChairman ( $33 )
Seat 7: pdg63376 ( $24 )
Seat 9: Artsemis ( $9 )
Seat 8: brianm94 ( $24 )
Seat 10: kimchhe ( $30.25 )
Artsemis posts small blind [$0.25].
kimchhe posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to brianm94 [ 4d 3d ]
mikeyb107 calls [$0.50].
TheForce4 calls [$0.50].
emoknights folds.
ryg26 folds.
sdbakerty folds.
ChipChairman folds.
pdg63376 folds.
brianm94 calls [$0.50].
Artsemis calls [$0.25].
kimchhe checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ad, 5d, 2d ]
Artsemis bets [$0.50].
kimchhe folds.
mikeyb107 folds.
TheForce4 folds.
brianm94 raises [$1].
Artsemis raises [$1].
brianm94 raises [$1].
Artsemis calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8d ]
Artsemis bets [$1].
brianm94 raises [$2].
Artsemis calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
Artsemis checks.
brianm94 bets [$1].
Artsemis calls [$1].
brianm94 shows [ 4d, 3d ] a straight flush, five high.
Artsemis doesn't show [ Td, 9d ] a flush, ace high.
brianm94 wins $11.75 from the main pot with a straight flush, five high.