Crazy Night on Full Tilt Poker

I've been playing around with $100 on Full Tilt Poker this week.  For the most part, I would say I've been up and down and with some huge swings.  Admittedly, I've been playing .10 / .25 tables, but my online cash game abilities need some work before I put in a lot of money.

I started the night being down 50% with just $50 of my original $100 remaining.  So, I decided to play 2 tables simultaneously ($25 each).  Everything was going along pretty well until I went all in with 2 pairs AQ on one table and lost to a sick set of 10's.  Didn't see that coming!

So, I was down to 1 table and by this time, just about $14 or $15 remaining.  30 minutes later, all hell broke lose and I was up over $75.  In 5 hands, I hit a full house and 2 Straight Flushes that were both 9 thru K.

As you can see, the 2nd was even on the flop and I only won .57 cents.  The 1st was the best because my opponent hit a full house and he called my all-in bet.

When I hit the full house, I actually picked up a set of 4's on the flop and then the board paired.  With that set, I had it all the way, but the guy I beat for quite a bit of money completely went on tilt.  This is him:

He made such as special (although completely ineffective) effort to piss me off and get me off of my game for the next 10 minutes that I thought I should memorialize him here.  At this point, half of the money I was playing with came from him anyways, so how could I be upset at him for being a total jerk afterwards.  It's safe to say that HE didn't see THAT coming either.

Anyways, I finished with $74 for the night and now I'm only down $26 for the week.  What a crazy night!

Lessons From Friday Night Poker

I've learned over the last couple of years that poker is a marathon, not a sprint.  When you play on Full Tilt Poker, hundreds (if not thousands) of people are going all-in every second (because they're playing for free).  However, when you add money into a game, you have to leave that mind-set behind.  I can't imagine going all-in on the first hand when my money's up for grabs.  Of course, that happened 2 weeks-in-a-row just a few months ago.  One week, I got a full house and a friend of mine got a smaller full house and I knocked him out ON THE FIRST HAND.  We both thought we had the best hand, but I was lucky.  THE VERY NEXT WEEK, I had an Ace high flush and got beat by a full house.  I was all-in ON THE FIRST HAND!  What goes around comes around I guess.

So, I've learned to play steady and in control.  Minimize stupid moves.  Recognize when I'm probably beat.  Understand my opponents.  Make smart plays.  I'm usually good for 1 or 2 really dumb moves each Friday night, but an overall steady approach is paying off big for me. 

Five Fridays ago, I left my house and my poker box had just $30 left in it (I took $45 with me).  I knew that if I didn't break my 6-week losing streak, I would only have enough money for one more poker night before having to hit the ATM again.  I hadn't been back to the ATM since December (I withdrew $20).  After that, I went on a hellacious winning streak. 

That streak went cold for 6 weeks though and I was on the verge of busting.  So, now back to 5 weeks ago.  In the last 5 weeks, I have gotten 1st or 2nd place 12 out of 15 games.  The cold streak has been over and I'm on fire.  My secret in all of this is steady, controlled poker.  I fold a lot, never go down with sunken chips, and wait for my spots.  Result:  My $30 money box now has $400 in it.

I play with some really good and interesting men.  When I win, it's not just from showing up and taking down pots.  These guys have been playing for 10+ years in most cases.  One of them is 85 years old.  He's been playing for over 50 years.  The man is good.  Another guy (also named Chris) is the model I use for how to play poker.  He's the smartest poker player I know.  He keeps me and everyone else on their toes.  There's a funny story to each of the other guys at that table, but they all play poker well.  Winning against them requires a steady, controlled approach to the game.  Then, add about 20% luck.

Poker Lesson #1:  Slow and Controlled
Poker Lesson #2:  Never Go Down with Sunken Chips

WPT Hole Card Outcomes

I watched the final table of a recently televised World Poker Tour tournament that consisted of 6 final players.  I wanted to see how often the best starting hand won the pot.  The result was some fairly interesting outcomes.

I watched 38 hands in just under 2 hours.

There were 17 All-Ins in 38 hands.  That's 45%, showing a very aggressive final table.

Out of 17 All-Ins, the player going all-in won 11 times (65% success rate).

8 of the all-ins (72%) were by the same player who incidentally made it to the final-2 and lost on his final all-in bet.

At least 2 players saw the flop 79% of the time.  21% of the time the winner was decided before the flop.  In other words the hand was decided pre-flop 1 out of every 5 hands.

Out of the 30 hands that saw the flop, the players remaining (who hadn't folded yet) with the best starting hole cards won the pot 17 times (57% of the time).

And finally. . . .

Most interesting to me - I ranked all of the winning hole cards to find out the average winning hole cards.  To do this, I ranked the cards from 1 to 13 (2=1, A=13).  The average winning hole cards were. . . . .

J   8

How many times would a J 8 hold up in your home game?