Back on the Grind

I've been playing more poker since July started and it's going well. I've made four trips to the nearby casino to play 2/5 and 5/10 limit (mostly 5/10) over the past 3 weeks and I've crushed the fish there for close to $1200, which is pretty solid.

Online has been going just as well. I played 50nl hu at the start of the month and got bored with it pretty quickly. I was playing my B game because it's pretty depressing to play 50nl after being at 400nl a few months ago but that's poker.

Anyway, I gave $11+1 turbo sng's a shot to see what they're like. I played 72 of them, six to eight at a time and finished -$2.70 over that tiny sample. I think I ran pretty poorly once it got short-handed because I have way too many 3rd place finishes compared to firsts and seconds. That led me to decide that turbo sng's are bullshit and that 50nl is a waste of time.

So back I went to 100nl hu. Over my last two sessions I am up 12 buy-ins thanks to playing my A game and some rungood. Here are a couple hands:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($466.70) -- already crushing the guy
SB ($100)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, 7

SB bets $4, Hero raises to $12, SB calls $8

Flop: ($24) 4, K, 8 (2 players)

Hero checks, SB checks

Turn: ($24) 8 (2 players)

Hero bets $28, SB calls $28

River: ($80) 2 (2 players)

Hero bets $80, SB calls $60 (All-In)

Total pot: $200 | Rake: $0.50

Results:

SB had J, K (two pair, Kings and eights).
Hero had 8, 7 (three of a kind, eights).

Outcome: Hero won $199.50

The small overbet on the turn is what gets the money. In a vacuum this won't really work but if you overbet every now and then to make your opponent suspicious it can really get you paid in spots where it's hard to get paid otherwise.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($177.20)
Hero (SB) ($195.30)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, 3

Hero bets $3, BB raises to $9, Hero calls $6 -- call because we're deep and I think he has a tight 3betting range

Flop: ($18) J, 2, J (2 players)

BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($18) 10 (2 players)

BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($18) 10 (2 players)

BB bets $9, Hero calls $9

Total pot: $36 | Rake: $0.50

Results:

Hero had Q, 3 (two pair, Jacks and tens).
BB had 5, 3 (two pair, Jacks and tens).

Outcome: Hero won $35.50

I took some time to think about this on the river and I called for two reasons. I definitely don't think he has an ace that he's value-betting here; he's just not good enough to do that. And similarly, if he has a king he's just going to check it and hope to show it down. My Q high beats everything else so it's a call.

Here's to hoping schools stays quiet until exams start up in August so I can keep on grinding.