A few posts back, I talked about this:

Emotional Control
Patience
Understanding of the game through the study and comprehension of the best poker literature
Proper Judgement
Basic Strategy
Bankroll Management

Having to have mastery of at least a few of these. Today, I have not had that.

Well, I have managed my roll...anybody would have with such a small amount.

My judgement has been fine for periods of time, then along with my emotions, and my patience it all collapses.

I am on boredom tilt coupled with the fact that playing against low limit players makes for boring poker (if you're playing properly).

Mental endurance is part of this too. I just can't sustain patience and non-emotion for too long. I can be running along fine, then break down because I think think I have to make moves when I really don't.

I haven't gotten overly mad at any particular players, so my emotion hasn't been way off.

I will say that I played a 100 fpp turbo into a 1000 fpp, and got into the 1000. I was actually down to 70 chips, came back to about 2500 within about ten hands, then eventually got up enough where I knew I would finish.

In the 1000 itself, I was doing great early.....then nothing. I mean NOTHING. Not a card. I still kept up the aggression, but I couldn't steal a freaking thing without running into a better hand, or a huge raise.

Goal: 2000
Today's results: -2.40
Need: 2002.40

I've pretty much neglected this MOST important poker blog for a few days. I apologize for that.

I've violated my bankroll rules over the last few weeks to a month, and I've paid dearly for that.

I've been on what I commonly refer to as boredom tilt. But, the one thing that should be most clear is that there is no excuse for me being down right now. It's all my fault.

You cannot become a great poker player unless you have just about a 100 percent of AT LEAST a few of these:

Emotional Control
Patience
Understanding of the game through the study and comprehension of the best poker literature
Proper Judgement
Basic Strategy
Bankroll Management

If you can't "master" some or all of these, you cannot be great at this game. This game is a game that is played over time, not in one night, and it is the sum of all your mistakes vs. the sum of all of your opponents mistakes. No matter how many beats you are taking, you still come out on top in the long run if you are making the proper plays.

I am down. Way down. I haven't had to deposit just yet, but I am so close as to not know if I would be better off just depositing. I could grind it out, but I would be spending so much time to make so little money that it might actually be a waste.

Seriously, I'm resigned to playing the 1.20 45 man SnGs again. I have a very high ROI in these, but that means absolutely nothing. Of course, my sample is only like a couple hundred.

Since I've started this blog, I've gotten like 4 final tables in 180 man events, increase my roll to the highest it's ever been, and had the longest streak (still going) of not having to deposit. So, it's not like I'm at rock bottom. I continue to improve, and I continue to seem improvement.

Why reading the books is necessary. Some don't think it is...

The books aren’t really telling you anything you don’t already intuitively know, except for the math. And, even without doing the math, you can tell whether a raise, or call, or fold is mostly necessary. By nature, in fact, some of you are just plain aggressive all the time, and you’re mostly right in doing so.

But, knowing how to articulate the “why” in a concise manner can only make you better. Not because you have to explain it to someone but because you’re completely confident in your thoughts. When Sheets plays a tournament, he’s done so much homework that most of his tough decisions have already been worked out. He still takes his time to make moves, but he’s probably much more confident in his decisions than someone who hasn’t done their homework.

When I am faced with a tough decision, mostly I am picking a side, going with it, and when I’m wrong, I’m on tilt.

But, think about it…if I pick a decision that I can clearly defend (without just saying something like, “I thought he was bluffing”) then the focus becomes more on my play, and much less on my results. Reading the books, then, helps you to become more confident in your play, gets you started on doing some homework, and helps you to have a clear basic strategy.

Got another final table. 5th out of 180. Could have done better. Had a beat to end it, but I'm not complaining.

However...I'm sick of low limits. It's not the players. I mean, they are easy to beat when I'm into it. They are SO easy to beat when I'm in to it.

But, I'm not in to it. I'm just not. There is absolutely no motivation.

So, the question is....what is it that you want to do glenmawr70?

I want to play in bigger stakes. I'm tired of this little shit. I know how to beat these players, I want something better. I mean, I can go on a 4 SnG winning streak, and really only have like an extra 80.00. Hah! Who the fuck cares?

Still, I will not deposit. So, here is what I have to do....

I have to first figure out what I make the most money in. What I do BEST in.

I then have to play that until I make 550.00.

I have to set a goal to make 550 dollars. Period. After that, I switch up a level, and I go from there. If I meant to do it in 120 days, I would have to profit 4.58 a day.

So, let's say that I took the 3.40 man SnGs on Stars. If I'm making .50 cents from them each time I play them, I would have to play 9 of them a day!! If it's the 1.20's, I have no idea how much I'm making off those...I am profitable in both 3.40, and 1.20's. And, the 180 man 4.40's. I'm currently not profitable in the 5.50s and 6.50s, however, I COULD be profitable in them over the past 6 months, and not know it....all my stats on those go back to when I first started.

It's been over 2 months since I've deposited. At this point last year, I would have put AT LEAST 200.00 into Stars.

So there IS progress. As slow as it is.

Plus, I've final tabled 4 times now in 180 man tournaments.

So, is this a fucking goal? I don't think so. 9 of those a day is unrealistic. I will look at it further tonight, though, and come up with a goal.

I should have reading goals, homework goals, and other poker goals as well. Not just playing goals.

A very good can be found here: http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/15093

This article is, by far, one of the better articles I have found in some time. Do you feel that you can't win a flip to save your life? Then you probably shouldn't read it. But, if you are not in the "poker is rigged" crowd, or the "I never hit flips" crowd, then you can read it.

Basically, the author, Matt Matros, tries to convince you that no matter how skillful you are, or what you expect from the tourney, you can, and actually should take those small edges like your QQ vs. AKs even early on in the tourney. Yes, even early on.

Matros debunks the thought that you can find a better spot. That you don't want to risk your entire tournament on one single hand. In fact, he shows that MORE skillful players should take even slightly less than 50 percent shots!

You have to read it. Even if you don't agree, you should still figure out why. For me, this is everything that I have been thinking based on my observance of ranked players. They will take these chances, and many of them. It doesn't matter that they play 20 tournaments a day...the idea is, if you play 100 tournaments in a year, or in a week, you still want to do things this way.

Now, don't misinterpret this article. It would be very easy to sit and say, "Well, anytime I get a pair, I should call any one person's all in." No. Obviously this is not the case. This decision depends on your ablility to read situations, and hopefully you have profiled your opponents, and have enough ability to determine the types of hands they would do this with.

I will be back for more later. What I really need to find out next is...what if I can put my opponent on a RANGE of hands where, when I've done homework, I know that my edge is slight. I have 99, and I think he's all in for the top 15 percent of hands. There's one decision. I have 99, and I think he's all in with the top 30 percent of hands, there's another decision.

Was in a very low limit tournament with about 1400 people in it. I was tearing it up, and we were down to the last 100 people. Anyhow, I had been stealing pots as about the 2nd place CL at the table.

UTG, I raised 3xbb w/63. Yeah, I know, garbage, but I have no problem stealing with garbage because it's so easy to fold. Very easy. And, I get SO many more pots doing this with high blinds, and a larger stack than the others. Plus, I rarely get in trouble with it.

I get one caller, the largest stack. The flop is Q63. I don't have to go any further, you know he had QQ in his hand. I check, he goes all in. This is a great play by him at lower levels. I would sometimes do this as well. It's possible, however, that he's gotten beats with trips on the flop before, and he just doesn't want me drawing.

I called because I felt that my hand was a hidden hand. I've seen players do the play he was doing with AQ enough times that I felt comfortable calling.

I actually got a boat on the turn, but of course, that just gave him a bigger boat. So, let's say that he just made a good sized bet, and I called to "trap" him, when the turn came I would have had all my chips in anyhow. I'm not saying I couldn't have folded my two pair there...but the size of the buy in and the amount of time I would have to spend to win it dictated that calling was an okay move. I wasn't upset.

Played a 10 person SnG and won. Played a turbo, and three people were out in the first two hands. I got emotional though, and went out 5th. Played a regular SnG, and went out 6th.

Lastly, I ended the night playing .50/1.00 No limit cash. HOW STUPID!!!!

I got on the table with 50.00 (dumb right there), and quickly was down to 28 or so. I was pissed. I was ready to quit poker. But, I got back to 47, got a good hand (it was a short handed table of six), and went up to about 64 or so, and decided I'm way over my head, I'm getting out while I made something. So, I might have been slightly up for the day, if not even.

Yesterday, I mentioned this in my blog:

"One other thing is, I will, I mean I WILL think people are bluffing me tomorrow. Especially certain people. I need to make sure I look at the context of the hand before trying to bust their bluff. If I'm getting all tilted and shit, I will exit early. I can fold, and I can even be bluffed. "

And, of course, I thought I was being bluffed. In fact, the person that I had in mind that would be bluffing me...he was the person who was all in, and whom I called. I had KK, and I raised from UTG+1. The sb, and bb called me. I suppose I could have raised more but whatever.

So, the flop comes all under 9, and he leads out with 2xbb, the bb raises, and I reraise. He goes all in...

I think that should tell me something. For one, he's a good player. For another, he was raised, and reraised...if he's bluffing in that situation, then fine. But, about 90 percent of the time even a good LAG player who is raised, and reraised won't go all in with something less than a pair. He could have had AA maybe, but still I think he would have went all in no matter what with something better than what I had.

I called, and lost a significant amount of my stack in the 50/100. I was down to about 2800.

I climed back up to about 12k through hitting a flush all in, and flopping a strait against a big stack who made three of a kind. Both times I was able to get all my chips in. So, I wasn't doing bad.

Then, the last hand. I had AT, and I flopped three of a kind tens. I bet, guy calls. Turn is nothing, I bet larger, he goes all in...he has a boat with JT (the flop was JTT). See ya. I don't have a problem having that type of beat...I should have laid down the KK in the beginning. I could EASILY lay that down against someoen else. I mean, a min raise, a reraise, another reraise, and he goes all in. He has a pair beat folks. And, if he doesn't, I can live with it. Oh well, I call too many people too much of the time. I wasn't using proper judgement.

The funny thing is, my emotion is still graded an A. Go figure.

Tomorrow, specifically in about 12 hrs. is the live 75.00 NLHE tourney I'll be in that will have at least 4-5 tables. Will most definitely be fun.

Something good about my play today is that my emotion could be graded at an A. I don't if it's because I'm too hot to even get emotional because this heat is draining me, or I'm just controlling it on my own. But, I'm controlling it nonetheless.

I do have some wins today as well. But, I've spent a lot of the money that I've won on higher buy in tournies, and multi-tabling the 4.40's which...let's just face it...I'm not much of a multi-tabler. I don't know why...I can blog, and do all kinds of shit while playing one table, and win it, but multi-tabling WITH focus I screw up.

I think it's because I'm trying to pay attention to the "situation" so much, and I end up confusing "situations." At least that is some of what I have done today.

I was up yesterday, and I was up today, however, I have spent that on higher buy in SnGs, and multiple 4.40's, so I'm down at this point. However, I do have a chance to be up still as I am in a 4.40 as I write this. I'm doing poorly, though. I have t670 in the 15/30 blinds. It's mostly due to when I was in another 4.40, and mistaking the situation.

So, my emotion is good, my proper judgement is off. Tomorrow, when I play, since I will be focused on the table I am at, hopefully I can keep the good emotion, and increase my ability to make proper judgments.

One other thing is, I will, I mean I WILL think people are bluffing me tomorrow. Especially certain people. I need to make sure I look at the context of the hand before trying to bust their bluff. If I'm getting all tilted and shit, I will exit early. I can fold, and I can even be bluffed. It's fine, we all bluff people. I know I've bluffed probably more than I should be allowed to bluff in the past two or three months and gotten away with it. Move on.

Every day is not going to be your day playing poker. Some days will go really well, some won't. You try to minimize losses, and stay disciplined.

Today, I went down some. Not too far down, but down nonetheless. I had two last place finishes in a row in the 9 handed SnGs, and a 3rd place finish in the 10 handed turbo on Stars.

I played much better after that, and still had beats, and no cards to finish 6th and 7th. Really, I played quite well in the 6th and 7th place finishes, and was at least happy that I turned things around somewhat.

Then, I broke the rules, and went to a .50/1.00 No limit cash game. I made about 7.00, and then came a hand, my favorite hand, suited 86. Someone raised to 4.00, and I decided to fold (like I should) and there was a caller. The flop would have given me a boat, and I think to myself, "I know I should have folded there, but can I stay here without being pissed for a few moments?" I knew the answer was no, especially with the beats I've taken lately, so I got out having recouped some of the losses for the day. I think all total I was down about a little less than 20.00 for the day. Between 15, and 20.

Tomorrow, more of the same. Some 4.40's, 5.50 1 tables, 3.40 1 tables...probably no more turbo's for a while. Also today I played a turbo 5.50 tournament, and that went nowhere quickly.

This weekend, again, is the 75.00 NLHE championhips at the place I play live. I would really like to perform well the entire time I'm there. Mostly folding when I should, and picking spots to be the agressor when I should. Paying attention, focusing, and putting pressure on players. Taking into account what they must be thinking. All of it.

So, you know the capacity of all of your opponents at the table (online). Huh, you don't?

Why not? I mean, shouldn't you at least be aware of their stack sizes, and what they might do with them?

What if you had a program that told you how often they raised pre-flop, and where (which obviously this exists)? Would this affect your decisions against them? What if the data was incomplete? What if the data encompassed hands where they were mostly on tilt. What if they are a great player when they are in the right mood? Pre-flop aggression stats matter, don't they? Or do they?

You raised 3.5xbb on the button with 86o because it folded around to you, and you felt that the blinds would call you only with the top percentage of hands (but if they would only call you with those, why wouldn't they reraise you?). So, the BB calls you, and you have 8,000, and he has 10,000, and the blinds are at 200/400 w/ante, and you're not on the bubble. It's an MTT.

The BB is tight, but aggressive. The flop is 86A all of different suites. The BB leads into with a bet the size of the pot. According to your stats, he RARELY calls from the bb without the top 5 hands, AND, he doesn't push all in with stacks sizes this large with the nuts on the flop.

Okay, take out the stats, and ask yourself questions about the here and now. You have two pair, and you have an ace on the flop. AA, 88, and 66 are the only hands beating your right now. But, they are badly beating you. You have a decision to make...this player, this tight player (according to his stack) has actually been playing quite a few hand lately for a raise. You're not on the bubble...but it's getting there, and wouldn't YOU like to be CL at the table when the bubble comes? I know I would. Would he had AK? Plus, why would he bet the pot? I mean, you've shown already that you can lay down. What does he think you have that you would CHASE? There is no flush draw. Does he think you specifically played 75? He couldn't put you on exactly that. No...if he had trip aces, he would HAVE to know he wouldn't get a dime off of you unless you had an ace on this flop too. Yet, he has 3 of them. So, what's the likelyhood.

His bet screams of this: I have a pair, or I have AK. I don't think you have an ace as you have tried to steal on the button many times. I'm willing to bet you didn't hit at all Mr. 86o, and you'll quickly fold to my pot sized bet. After all, you've raised, and folded to pot sized bets in the past with what I'll assume was absolutely nothing, so betting the pot now will get you to do the same.

The best thing to do right now is raise all in.

BUT WAIT...what if he has trips? He is tight, and he is aggressive.

What if he KNOWS that I know he wouldn't bet so big with the current nuts, and hopes I'll call or raise....

But, that doesn't make sense. What would I do such a thing with? Even if I didn't put him on the ace, if I had pretty much nothing, like he probably thinks in the first place, then why bother raising so huge if he knows I'll fold anyhow.

You might draw out on him.

How? Draw to what? Hit runner runner? If he's scared of me doing something like that, then I need to play him more often. In fact, I should give him chips if he's down and maybe he can take other people's chips for me, then I can take chips from him.

The stats say one thing, the situation right in front of my eyes says another. I push all in...he folds.

So far, I love pkr.com. They are, of course, play money right now. But, once they iron out all the kinks and go live, they are going to quickly go to the top of online poker.

Anyhow, I played online tonight, and one of the things I played was a 4.40 180 man SnG. I was doing so well. Playing unemotionally, and so on. We got in the money, and we're down to two tables, and I really feel that I could have final tabled again, however, I got emotional against another player. I get 33 in the sb, and I go up against the bb. The flop is all high cards, and I was already mad at this player. Does it matter why? Should we have this type of emotion? Anyhow, I called him to the river where he went all in and my 33 wasn't even close to good. I made myself believe that he was on a stone cold bluff even though there was all kind of paint and strait possibilities on the board. Out in the money, but on the 2nd table, that sucks. I got some beats too. I'm surprised I even got that far with the beats I was taking.

I played some pkr.com, and won a 6 seater.

Then, I got back on Stars, and played a turbo, and went out 6th. But, I had the best hand on the flop. I called with 55, and I got the other two players to put their stacks in the middle (one had more than me). I had tripped up, and they both had draws to the flush. I checked on pokerstove, and with them both having a flush draw, and me having tripped up, I'm better than a 70-30 favorite against two opponents! That's pretty freaking good odds. But...they hit their flush. No problem...I mean, the result is not what counts, is that I played the hand properly, and I think I did.

Would I have called all ins on the turn if I hadn't bet, and saw three to a flush with them both getting all in?

Didn't do great in the live events over the weekend.

First, the deuce to seven lowball wasn't triple draw like I thought. I feel triple draw is easier for obvious reasons (although your showdown hands have to be much better). Anyhow, no one was busting out at all, and at one point, I said to myself, "all in with a great hand or go home." I went home, but didn't have a problem with it whatsoever because I was going nowhere.

In the H.O.R.S.E. tournament I was doing fine, but just could not get anything significant to happen. When it came to Razz, and Stud Hi/Lo I made some pots, however, I didn't have much happen for me in the other levels. In neither event did I final table. Oh well.

This weekend is the real event. The 75.00 NLHE event, and there will be about 30 people. Not sure of the number, but it could be as many as 45. I feel much more comfortable playing in a no limit game.

Online, I pretty much doubled my short roll since the last post. I was completely undisciplined, and played pretty poorly, but was a complete lucksack in a 6 man turbo SnG. I had at least two situations where I was a 4-1 dog, and I won. In fact, at one point, I called off 3/4 of my stack and lost because I correctly figured out the guy didn't have a flush on a flop of all hearts...but he did flop a strait. Ooops. But, I ended up heads up with him, and won. He had a huge chip lead at one point, and he was dominating me. He actually was outplaying me HU, but at one point I started going all in and he kept folding. Then, I had another situation where he was winning, he even typed gg, and I hit a two outter on the river to win, and almost even up. I kept up the aggression, and eventually pulled ahead, then just kept putting him all in, and I eventually won.

Tonight, I plan on going back to lower limits, and trying to stay disciplined, and within my bankroll rules (which I should ALWAYS do). I might play a 4.40 180 man SnG as well.

This Friday, there will be a no limit deuce to seven lowball tourney with rebuys, and Saturday is a H.O.R.S.E. tournament. Both are live, and will be fun.

I am actually 6th ranked in this series of events so far, and I still have three very good tournaments left that I could probably take over first place in. I really feel that I can do it, but I know one thing...I have to understand the value of my hand better in the non-hold 'em events. I really underestimated the value of my hands in the Omaha game, and didn't get pots that I probably should have. No problem, you live and learn.

I won't be playing any poker from now to Friday. I'll be gone, so I'll take a poker break. Frankly, I kind of need one.

Last night, I decided to change things up if only temporarily. I asked myself, what is mostly happening to me in these low limit SnGs? I think I'm going nuts early trying to get a big stack so I can push people later. While this isn't a bad idea, I've taken the concept too far and have been doing some really moronic plays.

What I said was, I'm going to just wait through the 10/20, 15/30, and 25/50 levels and really only play very good hands, or spec hands with a lot in the pot. For example, if I'm in the SB, and it's like 11-1 to me with 76o, I can call. Or, I'm on the button with 55, and 4 people are already in the pot, fine, I'll call. I still raised with my good hands, and folded when I had to. For example, I had AKo UTG, raised 3.5xbb, got four callers, was bet into with nothing on the flop to help me, and folded. No problem.

In both of them, I get 3rd. I don't really like 3rd, but I think it was more of a learning experience for me. I think it showed me that there is that in between that I need to be at between getting aggressive enough to accumulate and push, and being selective enough so I'm not bleeding chips. Selective aggression, but not the extreme of either one (selectiveness or aggression).

In both instances, when I got ITM, I was the short stack, I pushed, and someone had a somewhat better hand that held up (although I was never more than a 3 to 2 dog).

Another thing is, as you know, I can't complain about luck in the recent month's downswing. I mean, I've put some beats on people, and I've gotten some beats, and it seems as if it's all evened out, who knows. The point is, this downswing that I've had has been my fault. I've been calling people down with hardly nothing because I'm "mad" at them, and I don't know how many 9th place finishes I've had. If I'm playing the way I know how, I should rarely get 9th place finishes. I mean, like 1 percent of the time I should have last place finishes. I know they happen, but they should be from a beat or something. Really, they should be only if I have AA pre-flop, and someone reraises me, and we get all in, and they put a beat on me. Otherwise, I shouldn't get last place.

I know another thing too...if I am correct, when I was in the upswing, I wasn't calling as often as I have been pre-flop. Just limping. I wasn't doing that.

I would still get in on hands, but I would be more selective, and what I would do is, if it folded around to me, and I was mid to late position, I would raise with whatever I had. Now, that was if the players behind me weren't nuts. Or, if I felt they would call, and fold on the flop.

Lately, I've been calling too often, and instead, I need to be stop the limping, and increase the raising, but decrease the number of hands pre-flop. Profile the table's players, and see who I can raise, and who won't let me get away with anything. Some people are going to showdown no matter what.

When I get back on Friday, and play, what I need to do is, readjust my game to have more selectivity early, raising when I get in BUT in the correct situations against the right opponents. This will help my early level game in that even if I am stopped, it will set up later play, and if they allow me to take chips, it just helps me to accumulate, and may set up a play when I actually have something. I need to be much less inclined to just call pre-flop, especially raises.

When it gets down to 6, turn it up, 5 turn it up even more, 4 even more. ITM, the most. Have patience HU.

On the brink....

One hand, and it was the difference between quitting poker (for a long while) and being happy enough with poker to continue playing.

I went on tilt last night, and lost a few SnGs. Today, I was worse, busting out of two strait SnGs in 9th place. I just find it hard to care anymore about the lower levels. But, that goes to discipline. You have to grind it out in the lower levels before you can move up. You have to be able to care I suppose.

Anyhow, here's how the hand went down:

30.00 SnG (which there is no way that I should have been in).

We were down to 4 players, and I had gotten myself a good stack, I had about 3500, and I was comfortably in 2nd place (in chips). I had been pretty aggressive since it was down to 6 players, then 5, and I had turned it up slightly down to 4. I was surprised at the lack of aggression back at me. I felt comfortable that if they did show any aggro back at me, they actually had something. Of course, that would also depend on other factors as well.

I'm in the SB, and the first two players fold to me. I have 8h 7c, and I raise the BB about 3xbb.

He calls, and we see a flop of Ah 7h 8d. So, with only 4 people at the table, I'm hyped because I might just make the freaking money, and be able to pay (and then some) for my stupid foray into a higher level than I have business being in.

I check, he bets 400, I raise to 1000 he raises to 2200, and I go all in which is another 990 for him. He calls, and flips over:

As 8s, top two pair.

I was SO fucking mad. I mean, at that moment in time, I was ready to quit poker forever, but realistically, I would have probably quit for about two to four weeks.

Essentially, I have to get a 7, or runner runner hearts. Here are my chances according to twodimes.net:

cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
7c 8h 126 12.73 864 87.27 0 0.00 0.127
As 8s 864 87.27 126 12.73 0 0.00 0.873

(I checked pokerstove and ran many more trials, and had roughly the same result.)

So, I'm a dog, worse than a 4-1 dog...

*** TURN *** [Ah 7h 8d] [7d]

What a turn of emotion. The river was a 6 which didn't help him, and all the sudden I virtually take someone out (he had 120 left, and was soon gone), I'm in the money, and I have t6980.

There was short stack ITM that hung around long because my other opponent wouldn't challenge him. I was the only one challenging him, and frankly, I didn't care if I doubled him up since the other guy was playing so weak. Eventually, though, I took him out, and we went heads up with me having about 8600, and him having 4900 (approximately).

I thought I had him, but he really had great aggro when I had absolutely nothing, and was trying to buy the pot. I held on for some time, but I lost key pots, and when I had something, he NEVER got involved. His timing was perfect coupled with not having a good hand when we played a hand against each other, and he won. It would have taken me winning about 4 strait 5.00 SnGs to equal the money of that SnG in 2nd place, so I was pretty happy although I really wanted the win.

Well, I was undisciplined, and I got VERY lucky. This is bad, in reality. When I get bored with the 5.00 again, what do I intend to do? Also, I had that final table money, and had I not tilted it off, but still did this, I would have much much more. I have to have some BR discipline.

Totally unprepared. That was pretty much the name of the game for the Omaha rebuy tonight. I was totally unprepared.

Usually I prepare a little before a game to kind of have myself ready to play. I suppose the PLO SnG I played was a bit of preperation, but I like to look at the blind structure, and make a game plan for the specific game I'm in. I didn't really think about how often I could rebuy, and so on, and so I had to think about my strategy on the way there.

I started off pretty good going from about 4k to 6k. But, nothing really happened for me, and I was either bluffed off pots, or people would catch their cards, and I couldn't win much. After the rebuy and add on, I had nearly 8k.

When the next level started, however, I loosened up way too much. I'm not sure why, but I felt I had to make something happen. I was calling bets that were way to big. Eventually, we made it down to two tables, and I lost a huge pot calling when I should have been raising as big as I possibly could. Slow playing something that can get drawn out on in PLO seems to be a pretty stupid thing to do!!

So, no final table.

So far after I've gotten home, I've played a 5.50 SnG, and went out 9th. The way these things are going anymore, they are totally weird. Not like they were the past few months. But, I'm adjusting. I think I need to tighten up some, and pick and choose my spots better.

I'm in a 6.50 now, so we'll see how that goes....oh wait, I just made another moronic move, and I'm down to like 250 in the 10/20.

Oh yeah, what was that I was saying about big pots early?

I'm playing an Omaha Pot limit rebuy game tonight, live.

I decided to play a 5.50 one of those on Stars, and won it. The players were SO weak. When it was down to 6, then 5, then 4, I think my opponents raised the flop a total of maybe 2-3 times. They rarely raised. I was getting in on flops for cheap because I knew I wouldn't get raised no matter what.

I was stealing blinds by raising here and there, but admittedly, I had to cut down the number of raises I was doing as well because people were more inclined to call from the blinds since they felt their hands were better than they really were. When I did raise, I just raised the pot rather than anything smaller because they really had to think about whether they wanted to call with something like 77J2...lol.

I'm unsure whether I will play any more of these, but it's like, if I'm not winning 5.50 NLHE SnGs, and I'm winning PLO SnGs, maybe I should give them more of a try. However, I only played one, so I can't make any judgement based on that.

Tonight, I don't really have any expectations. Depending on my seat, I will probably see a lot of people raising the pot a lot of the time with less than stellar hands. If this is the case, I'll have to lower my calling standards, and just get involved. One thing I do know is that the more people there are in the hand, the more you can pretty much guarantee that someone has the outright nuts. If you have trips, and there are three to a suit on the board, and there are five people in the hand, you are losing right now. Of course, if the bet is right, I'll draw to the full house, but I'm a donkey sometimes.

If my table is mostly tight, then no problem. I'll just play the hands I wish to play, and if they are letting me limp in, I'll bet my good hands, fold my less than good hands. I don't care about anyone who bluffs me. I mean, in this game, early on, with a lot of opponents, if you're trying to bluff someone, you're a dumb ass. You can semi-bluff with outs, obviously, but bluffing with what you know to be the worst hand that can't improve is dumb. Early, with a lot of opponents that is.

So, it will go like this...tight table that lets limpers in, I probably slowly accumulate, and hopefully get final.
Fast table with many raises, and many pot bets, I either go out fairly early (after rebuys), or gain a LOT of chips and go to the final.

I don't want to play too tight, but I think tight will be right in a LOT of spots.

So, after all that pseudo-whining in the last post, what do I go and do? Get another final table in the 180 man 4.40 SnG.

Yes.

Let's go over some things.

First, and foremost, my focus was ON from beginning until about ten minutes before I busted out 5th at the final table. My patience was there, I used proper judgement, I read players properly. I played extremely well.

Now, I did get a few good hands pre-flop early.

To start, in the 10/20, I got KK. I raised a few limpers to 100, and someone reraised me to 300. I just called, flopped trips, and got all of his chips after he led into me for about half his stack, and I put him all in for the rest. That doubled me up early to around 3100.

I got AA after that, and didn't make anything but the 10/20 blinds. Anyhow, I stayed focused, and folded hands that I should have folded. For example, I might get KJo UTG, and I would just fold it. I wasn't playing overly tight, but I did consider position more than I probably have been over the past month.

In the 50/100, I still had about the same amount of chips. I pretty much just fluctuated only slightly up and down, and I wasn't getting involved in big pots with crap. Also, I bet hard at very good hands. My image was pretty much tight, very aggressive.

At one point in the 75/150, I get AJo, and min-raise UTG. That was a weak move, but the fact is, I knew I could get off the hand. I get a caller immediately to my left, and that was the only caller. Even the BB folded. I hit a J on the flop, bet about 3/4 of the pot, and get called. I just didn't think he had me beat though. The turn was a 6, and I bet about twice what I bet last time. He folds, and I get another nice pot. My thought, though, on the flop was this...if he's calling my min-raise, he could have a smaller pair, AT, AQ, AK (although unlikely), KQ, and KT. Maybe even JT, but I think he could call at least my flop bet with. When I bet the turn huge, though, he folded. Had he called my turn bet, I would have really felt like I was in trouble. Anyhow, you trust your reads, and either go up with them, or go down.

But, you need to get lucky (at least a little) to get final tables. And, on this hand I did:

100/200, and I get AJo in MP. Two limpers, and I raise to 600. Behind me, an opponent that seemed almost overly aggressive went all in. Had I been thinking, though, I would have realized he had either JJ, or AK because low limit players are so afraid of HAVING one of those two hands. They are insecure because they've been burnt so many times by those hands (because they can't lay them down) so they go all in with them (great logic).

But, I didn't think that, and I erroneously think I am in a race that I am willing to take. Well, he has JJ, and I'm a 70-30 dog. To make a long story short, I get the A, and double up. I'm at t9060.

I pretty much hover around 11-9k for a while. I win a nice pot in the 200/400 w/ante level, and get to around 12k.

At this point, I'm kind of thinking when I'll get not only in the money, but maybe down to the final table. I'm estimating that I'll get ITM at around 300/600 w/ante. However, it was one level later.

Still in the 200/400 w/ante, I call a small stack all in, and so does someone else, and I have QJ, get the Q, and win the pot. That takes me to 16k. Against the same player, I pick up another pot with 99. He limped in, and so did I. The flop is T63, and he checks. Sure, he could be slow playing the T, or higher, but generally players are not taking that risk. I've done it, and got dogged for it, but I do it occasionally. You just don't want to give your opponents free cards though. So, on the turn is another T, and he bets 1000, and I just don't think he has a T, so I call. He checks the river, and I check it (I could have bet), and I win another pot.

I'm at 19k, and get to around 22k.

We're in the money, and we're getting more and more shorthanded (before we go to the FT).

I go down some from the blinds, and back up stealing blinds. I pushed all in a few times, one of them with a middle pair, for example, and stayed alive like that. I get AA, and raise a small stack who reraises all in, and he has J8. Well, J8 wins. No problem. I had plenty.

Okay, so I tread with stealing blinds, and we fast forward to the 600/1200 w/75 ante, and I get AKs. A bet of 3600, and call in front of me, and I go all in. They both fold, and the next hand I get A9o. We were short handed with 6 players, and a small stack at the table whom I had taken a few pots from went all in. I thought about it, but I felt that I could have a flip, or a dominating hand. My A9 held up, and I was now at 43k with 5 people at the table. I am definitely going to the FT.

I go into the FT 2nd in chips barely ahead of 3rd.

2 people go out, and I'm at 61k with 7 left. I'm the CL, and you really would think that 5th is out of the question. It's the 800/1600 and I have 61k, and I get TT.

There are 6 of us. I am 2nd to act, and I raise 3xbb. The player behind me, with 34k goes all in, and everyone else folds. I think forever. Here's what I think..

If I lose, I still have ~27k. If I win, I probably can win the whole thing because it is 5 handed, and I would have ~84k. So, what about his hand? I start to think that to go all in with as many chips as he has, it is more like a steal with a pair. I mean, why go all in over the top of a habitual stealer (me) who has shown he can fold? Why not, with your monster hand double raise me, and get me to call, then get me to put some more chips in on the flop? I felt that if he does have a very good hand, he has AK, but I felt it was more likely something like 55-99.

Well, I was right. He had 88, got an 8, and took quite a bit of my stack.

I dealt with it okay, I mean, I had some beats the past few, but I put a beat on someone just to get to where I was. It happens. I think I got over it for the most part, but then, I got in a chat argument, and that's fatal for my game. Completely fatal. I could handle live trash talking before a chat argument. And, it's so easy to take the chat off!!

I climbed back up with a lot of aggression to about 42k. I get AKs, and I raise the blinds, and get a caller (in this situation, this is probably an all in hand). We have 6 players still, and it's the 1000/2000 w/100 ante level. I get nothing, and my opponent leads into me with 10,000, and I just fold.

Then, I get Q3 against my chat partner. I flop the Q, and didn't think he had me beat, and I bet. He reraises me, but based on his past actions, I felt he was doing it with a less than stellar hand. The turn, he check raises me AGAIN!!, and I call. I just really felt that he didn't have me beat, and I was willing to show it down if there wasn't a higher card on the board. The river doesn't help, and I put him all in, and he calls. He has Q3 as well.

He says, "u must of been sweating"

I say, "not really, I didn't have to really call anything." Of course, this is not entirely true. I did have to call two check raises. TWO!

He says, "with that kicker...come on" and, looking back, he's right. The fucker check raised me twice, but I just felt he was trying to buy the pot. I wasn't entirely right, nor entirely wrong.

I say, "uh, you called the all in man." Then, "calling and raising...way different." Which, this is right, but it's slightly misleading, and I think I was doing that intentionally. I wanted to get him off his game by breaking his conversation.

He says, "don't get clever" then, "just a comment"

At this point, I decided to try to really get under his skin.

I say, "if you think that's clever, then you're obviously in trouble." I'm a dick.

He says, "no...I said don't get clever p enis" Which, when you think about it is a little funny. But, I learned techniques to get under people's skin over a lot of trial and error, and one thing you can do that really pisses people off (but in a silent way) is to say what I did next.

I say, "you need some anger management." I mostly said this because in reality he didn't seem to upset. But, by saying this, sometimes what happens is people will be like, motherfucker, I wasn't mad, but you're making me mad now bitch.

Instead, he says, "u need some manners"

I'm not really sure what he meant by that, but anyhow, I said, "so which is worse?"

He starts to show a little anger, and replies, "who cares" To me, this is when I really need to take a jab.

I say, "your wife maybe?" Now, that implies a lot. Basically, I'm saying that he needs anger management, and that his wife would really like him to get help, and I'm implying that he might just be kicking her ass. But, he comes back with a GREAT neutralizer that I frankly didn't quite know what to say.

He says, "I'm gay" I'm like, what the FUCK do I say back to that? I say, "lol, I almost believe you."

After that, we didn't say a word, and I only played 16 more hands. I basically just tried to keep stealing blinds. I wasn't really going anywhere if I didn't get involved in any big pots, I had plenty of chips, even after the TT vs. 88 hand. But, the table was SO freaking tight. I just couldn't help but think that I could be stealing even more chips than I already was. I got up to 42k again, but lost a hand calling someone down with like bottom pair. That brought me back down to 32k in the 1k/2k w/100 ante.

Finally, last hand. I'm the shortest stack. 1500/3000 w/150 ante, and I have 33480. So, I still have fold equity. I have KT and we're 5 handed, and the button (who had been raising a lot as of late) min raises (not uncommon). I go all in, and the BB has a great hand, AQ, reraises all in, and the button folds. I don't hit anything, and I'm gone.

I don't think my play was bad. The BB litterally needed a hand at least that good to call my all in, and I think my read on the button was correct. Plus, I'm not a huge dog against that hand, and if I win it, I'm back in the drivers seat to get the win.

Great tournament overall. Needed to not use the chat the way I did. That will have to be cut out for me.

Let's say that you have a propensity to call big bets early in SnGs with top pair only regardless of kicker. Let's say that you also will call big bets having not paired up anything but bottom pair, thinking you'll "outplay" the person on the river, and you just happen to hit a 2nd pair. Let's say that you do this type of shit, and it holds up for about a month or so. Well, you'll probably increase your roll quite a bit during that time.

At one point, however, top pair weak kicker for half your stack won't be any good. Bottom pair won't hit a 2nd pair, and you'll have your opponent so pot committed that he couldn't possibly be bet off the hand. And, these things are much more likely to happen year around than the instances above. All that money you made starts to slowly trickle away. Little by little it goes, and you're not having fun anymore. You start to not only repeat stupid mistakes, but you act out of tilt.

And, you find that you are back at square one, right where you started, 2-3 months ago.

You really thought you made a breakthrough. You put a stat sheet together, and really started keeping track. You developed a basic strategy that you really thought worked. You basically said that you'd pretty much play fairly tight early, playing pots here and there, trying to give action to get action, but not getting in big pots with garbage.

As it gets down you increase your aggression stealing blinds, and antes, and when it gets down to four, you are most aggressive. Once you are in the money, you continue your aggression to the win.

Yet, you're not really doing that so much. You're getting mad at players thinking they don't have a thing, and calling them down with virtually nothing. You're top pairs with weak kickers are not holding up. Players are staying in longer, and by the time the blinds are 50/100, there are still 7 players. You are essentially needing things to go exactly your way, and they are not. You were playing by a set of certain circumstances, and those circumstances are no longer there.

News flash...you have to play the lowest level on Stars now. You have to start ALL over. Right from the beginning. Sure, you could deposit, you could put in a couple hundred dollars and be right back up at the top again. You could then play your 5.50, and 6.50 SnGs again with a new sense of confidence.

But, you won't do that. You're going to play 1.20 5 table NLHE SnGs on stars until you get 70.00 in your account. You read that right...70.00. That's how bad it's become. You won't spend money on poker anyway, and then you'll only spend a little.

At this point, you have 30.00 in your account (roughly).

You are on a 1.20 SnG quest for an additional 40.00.

From this point until 70.00, you'll have a daily goal post and it will be expressed as + or - with a starting point of 30.00. So, if you make 15.00 (and are up to 45.00), then you would have:
Running tally: +15
Account: 45.00

It is a running tally, so it will reflect where you are from the start. So, if you have 50.00 in the account, your running tally will be +20.00.

You are right to think this is pathetic. It is. But, I will not deposit again. So, you have to go with what you got. I don't care how much I will be bored, and how much I hate to play at lower limits, I will have to do it. Period.

In my first SnG, I played fine early. In the first 15 hands, I picked up a pot with KT where I bet the pot strong, but not too much, and my opponent called the flop, and turn, but folded on the river.

A little over 30 hands in, I've climbed to just under 1st in chips. I've picked up blinds, and took pots with nothing where I raised, got one caller, and took bet the flop. At one point, it was the 50/100, I had 2685 in chips, and we still have 7 players. It's as if these things are getting tighter.

Then, I do a stupid play. Not miscalculated...stupid.

A few people go out in the 50/100, and we're 5 handed with a coward that's sitting out waiting to get down to 4 (you've seen these types of players)....

Seat 3: transmanjb (1375 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: glenmawr70 (2085 in chips)
Seat 5: vulture~2004 (1665 in chips)
Seat 8: Nikalix (5465 in chips)
Seat 9: surplus buye (2910 in chips)
surplus buye: posts small blind 50
transmanjb: posts big blind 100

Dealt to glenmawr70 [Kh Js]
glenmawr70: raises 200 to 300
vulture~2004: calls 300
Nikalix: folds
surplus buye: folds
transmanjb: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ah As Qs]
glenmawr70: checks
vulture~2004: bets 600
glenmawr70: calls 600
*** TURN *** [Ah As Qs] [3d]
glenmawr70: checks
vulture~2004: bets 400
glenmawr70: calls 400
*** RIVER *** [Ah As Qs 3d] [9d]
glenmawr70: checks
vulture~2004: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***glenmawr70: shows [Kh Js] (a pair of Aces)
vulture~2004: shows [8d 8s] (two pair, Aces and Eights)

This is a classic case of not thinking ahead. I basically knew that I would put him all in at some point, and take the pot...oops, I forgot that he bet so much of his stack that he would HAVE to call, and even the king of donkeys would call with as little as King high. So, on the river, I made another mistake. I actually realized how stupid I had been, and checked. The truth is, I was left with so little that it was apparent I was losing this in a showdown...however, my only chance, as slim as it was, was that I could bet the rest of his stack, and he could fold (which would be a mistake on his part with any pair).

Anyhow, why check then call, check then call? Horrible, even as an elaborate bluff. Why? Because you don't have to do those types of bluffs at this level. He was tight enough, yet tricky enough that I knew he has something. It just pissed me off that I played so poorly.

Then, I get in a 5 table SnG, and I play poorly, go down early, go all in, double up to 1200, get KQ, and double up again, and I'm fine all the sudden.

I make another few nice pots, and we're at 3 tables, and a player min raises my big blind. I don't know about you, but if I have some extra chips, I'll call a min raise with any two, and I did. I called with T3o, and flopped three of a kind. I eventually got all of the min raiser's chips, and he had AA. I typed, "Nice min raise," and I should have never opened my fucking mouth.

I was doing great, lost a few inconsequential pots, then ran into this:

1: glenmawr70 (4860 in chips)
Seat 2: Dada o 2 (2430 in chips)
Seat 3: meaux (1450 in chips)
Seat 4: spapapa (5535 in chips)
Seat 5: Chilihead1k (6590 in chips)
Seat 6: The Jackal01 (3500 in chips)
Seat 7: TR Big Blue (6915 in chips)
Seat 8: jp2dz (2970 in chips)
Seat 9: Eärendil (2330 in chips)
glenmawr70: posts small blind 100
Dada o 2: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to glenmawr70 [Ac Ad]
meaux: folds
spapapa: folds
Chilihead1k: folds
The Jackal01: folds
TR Big Blue: raises 400 to 600 (with KJo)
jp2dz: folds
Eärendil: folds
glenmawr70: raises 600 to 1200
Dada o 2: folds
TR Big Blue: calls 600 (with KJo)
*** FLOP *** [7s Qh Td]
glenmawr70: bets 1800
TR Big Blue: calls 1800 (calls, and this is a mistake, he's not getting the odds at all)
*** TURN *** [7s Qh Td] [Ah]
glenmawr70: bets 1860 and is all-in (I figure, I've invested this much, he'll call, didn't know that he hit one of two aces for his strait that FUCKING GAVE ME TRIPS!!!)
TR Big Blue: calls 1860
*** RIVER *** [7s Qh Td Ah] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
glenmawr70: shows [Ac Ad] (three of a kind, Aces)
TR Big Blue: shows [Jc Kd] (a straight, Ten to Ace)TR Big Blue collected 9920 from pot

So, I got my aces cracked after cracking someone elses with T3o. Okay. I can deal with it. It sucks because he played poorly, and won, and when I played T3o, I played properly and won. I mean, the call of the min raise when I'm in the BB is something you should do from time to time, you already have half of it in there as it is. Plus, min raisers sometimes have a good hand, and if you hit something, you can oftentimes get their stack.

In his case, he calls a raise pre-flop by someone who is obviously representing a monster, then a 2/3 the pot bet on the flop not getting odds, then he hits one of 2 aces left which also happens to give me trips. I was so hoping that the river would pair the board. I would have been in the driver's seat for a nice cash.

I was so mad afterward. I just can't get it going it seems. It's not beats really. The AA thing is fine, it happens. It's the stupid plays that are screwing me.

It's Thurs, about 8:50p EST. I'm about to play some poker for the first time today. I've recently had an argument, however, it wasn't the worst. But, it pissed me off.

I have to guard against calling someone just to piss them off. If they have a great hand, it surely won't piss them off!! In fact, you don't play the game to piss people off. You play to win money.

It's late, but not too late, I can get in at least a few SnGs. I doubt I'll play any MTT's.

I do feel a little aggravated, so I need to guard against actually getting in a lot of hands. Plus, I haven't played all day, and that might make me want to get in a few too many hands.

The right way to play is the right way to play whether I'm in an excellent mood or not. So, I know that way, and I have to play that way. I'll post the results when I'm done.

This weekend, I'll be playing a pot limit Omaha rebuy tournament. That's on Saturday.

I've been playing a lot live lately, and here are recent results, and reasons (not excuses) or discriptions (brief) of what happened.

10.00 NLHE rebuy w/double add-on. Only spent 40.00 (immediate extra rebuy, then the double add on). Got to last two tables, had a good stack, then a guy that wasn't supposed to be on my left (because he already busted out) played his tired wife's stack, and that put me on tilt, and I donked off my chips. Pathetic of me, I realize.

15.00 Seven Card Stud. Nothing went my way. However, I played survival and was down to two tables when, if my hand held up, I more than likely make final table.

20.00 LHE. Nothing going my way at all. But, pretty much like the Stud tourney, I had a chance in the end that didn't come through.

20.00 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8/B. Cashed in last place (4th). When it was down to two tables but just before we would actually get to final, I just started raising with every hand I had. I had lost a pretty big pot, and decided that I was going to either go bust, or take the blinds. People kept folding, and folding with an occasional call that I bet off the pot. This part of the tournament alone allowed me to at least cash. At final table, I was more than card dead.

15.00 Seven Card Razz. I'm sorry, I don't remember the result. I planned on winning, and I know that I didn't, however, I can't remember the exact result. I think I made final table, and I remember one of the players just absolutely catching everything even though he didn't know exactly how to play. It was a short even, so, I made final table pretty easily. However, I don't think I cashed because top three got paid. I think I made like 5-7 or something.

25.00 NLHE Shootout. This is different from your normal shootout in that two people go from your table, and you carry over whatever chips you had. So, you don't want to just survive to the final table because some people can have more chips than you. I steadily increased, had AA a few times, and made a good amount of chips. I made the final table with about 40 percent of the chips from my first table. I played well, didn't get any cards though, and made a dumb mistake (kind of). I still cashed since everyone cashes at the final table, however, I could have done WAY better.

I'm not doing as well as I envisioned myself doing in these series of events. Some of it's due to lack of emotional control, and a small part of it is due to improper judgement. I know my strategy is fine, and my talent and ability is enough to compete. But, I have some events to show that I am able to play left.

Of course, coming up is the PLO touranment. We have a deuce to seven no limit event (no expectations there), a limit H.O.R.S.E. event that expect to do well in, and a larger buy in HLHE championship event (about 75.00 I guess) that I expect to do well in as well.

I don't want to just cash, I want to win one of these events. I don't care which one, although it's no secret that I would prefer it to be the championship event (which happens to have the most cash involved).

Of course we are going into these lightly before we discuss it at length, but we talked briefly about capacity in the last entry.

The other term was intent. We pretty much no the overall intent of our opponent, and that is to get more chips. However, there are different ways that he wants to get our chips, and as a result, his intent is slightly different each time.

His intent may be:
to trap us making small bets with the nuts.
to take the pot although he's unsure if he has the best hand.
to bluff us with nothing.
to bluff us with a draw.
to overbet with the nuts hoping we will bite with a mediocre hand.
to call down with a marginal hand cheaply in an attempt to set up plays later.

There are many others, but the idea is that we pretty much know the intent of our opponent(s) at all times. Many times, for example, we'll know that our opponent's intent is to draw.

Capacity required a collection of information, and observations. Intent requires that plus experience. However, if you are aware of all of the different intentions there are, then couple that with the tendencies of your opponent (you have been paying attention to him we'll assume), then you begin to determine more quickly how you should play your hand against your opponents. If asked the intent of your opponent, you will be able to quickly "feel" that he is on a draw, for example.

One thing about intent, however, is that it is very subjective. I might think you're drawing to a flush, but you might not be. I might thing you're trying to buy the pot, but you aren't. To me, this doesn't matter as we have got to trust ourselves. Certainly we have to improve our ability to read people's intentions, but you can't always think that you're probably wrong. You have to think you're always right, and get proven wrong, then work on ways to not make that mistake any more.

I don't mean to say that narrowing all the information down into these two terms will suddenly give you more "feel" while playing online, I'm saying that narrowing it down like this allows you to simplify or compartmentalize the enourmous amount of information you have ask for, and that your brain can actually sort all of the pieces it acquires as they happen.

Example:
Piece of information:
Chip leader
Goes to:
Capacity

Piece of information:
Opponent is drawing to a flush.
Goes to:
Intent.

Piece of information:
I've flopped quads, and my opponent has led out a minimum raise.
Goes to:
Intent.

In that last one, I put in my flopping quads, however, I'm still needing to judge my opponent's intent on the hand. The reason being, I need to extract the MOST chips I possibly can with my hand. If his intent is to see the next card or fold, then I'm going to let him see the next card (obviously) because it's possible that it will help him enough that he will give me more chips. Obviously, looked at for what it is, you see that I'm on a trap. However, when we start thinking about our opponent's intent, we start to think of our hands in more detail. We don't just think trap, and then bet too much for our opponent to call. Instead we start thinking about the exact maximum amount our opponent will call based on his intent, and not our holding.