29th April

so I decided that I was playing well enough to play a little bit outside of my bankroll range. I'll make a post about bankroll management soon. Theres a difference between a professionals bankroll and someone just hoping to make it big. Professionals have to rely on poker as their main source of income so they will have the strictest bankroll management scheme where they hedge themselves from bad runs and variance. However, for someone who doesn't mind going bust, you can play a little bit more outside the bankroll limits. I'll explain later. It seems ridiculous I know.

So anyway, I decided to play a 9 handed 10/25c ring game and ended up being overly aggressive and playing too loose. This was a mistake because I was so used to playing 6 handed games where aggression and position matter more than the cards themselves. However when you play 9-handed, you really have to pick your hands better. Depending on how deep stacked you are, suited connectors, pocket pairs will have great implied odds 9 handed, if you can get in cheaply. I lost 7 dollars at the table on my first hand by trying to bluff a dry board heads up. It turns out he did have the high card that was on it. I reloaded and waited for hands. I soon got bored playing so tight and decided to bring the same amount of money to a 6handed game.

I began turning up the aggression, standard 3 betting and Continuation betting patterns. But I was very aware of my table image. I seemed to be someone who would raise with any two. I was soon forced to show a bluff because I couldn't take the guy off his top pair. Then because of This I decided to tighten up a little. I sometimes raise on the button with any two hoping to steal the blinds and aggravate opponents. i rarely call a raise out of position unless I have an incredible hand, in which case I would re-raise. So I was dealt pocket 8's in the small blind, the aggressive button raised to 35c as usual, I decided to re-raise to 1.20 either to take the pot now or continuation bet the flop, my 8's are better than his range I feel. Its also a tester bet, to see if he has anything. If he re-raises, I might be in trouble, but he smooth calls. I figure he wants to float me. The flop comes 4h 3d 8d. I've hit a set and theres a possible flush draw out. I decide no to play this flop too strong because I don't think he hit, but I also want to build the pot. I bet 1.75 into a $6 pot. This underbet should be setting alarms for him, I;ve either hit something huge or I'm just trying to make a weak bluff at it. He decides that his hand is better, he presses the time button, and then bets $9 dollars back at me. This is great, our image as maniac is paying off. I take a while to think or at least pretend to and re-raise him the same. I know hese obviously hit something because he took time, and re-raised huge. Overbetting the pot can be a great indicator that the guy just hit top pair and wants to protect his hand. My re-raise seems like an aggressive play and because he saw my bluff against him earlier, he decided top pair was good enough. He simply calls, but he probably knows hese behind. The flop is a Qc, I decide to just push my remaining $6 into the pot, hese priced in already because he called my re-raise. The river is a blank. We showdown, I have a set of 8's and he has a pair of 8's with ace kicker. We double up to $50.