Perfect Poker

Last night I went to the Hustler, and didn't have to wait too long to get into the $1/$2 no limit hold'em game. Once I was seated, I immediately knew that I was a little more dialed in to what was going on than I have been in several months. While I waited for the blinds/button to pass to be dealt in, I was already putting people on hands accurately, profiling my opponents well, and anticipating how they would act on their hands having been seated for only few minutes. Yes, I could feel that, barring some future meltdown or very bad luck, tonight rated to be a big night for me.

My last session had also been at the Hustler, and the results could hardly be more deceiving. I made a few hundred dollars -- (unfortunately) one of my biggest wins in a while. But by making bad reads, lazy decisions, and poorly-timed bluffs, I left a lot of money on the table. The way I was running I easily should have won another $700 Tuesday night, were it not for careless mistakes on my part. I spent Wednesday and Thursday seething at myself and longing for another chance to play the right way.

When I arrived at the game last night, I realized that this was that chance. I was feeling really focused. I was already ahead a little bit for the week so I didn't have to worry too much about losing. This was a great opportunity to prove to myself that I am capable of playing really solid poker when I make a conscious decision to do so.

So I set for myself a goal: try to play four hours of mistake-free poker.

I think I did a pretty good job. I didn't realistically expect to be able to pull it off, but I think having that mindset really helped me to avoid some bad situations. Obviously it is impossible to be completely objective about one's own play, but I turned every single decision I made at the table over and over in my mind both then and since. And I have come up with only three clearly identifiable mistakes from the session.
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#1
Early in the session. On my right I have a good player, an older gentleman who has a habit of flashing his cards when faced with a big decision. And I don't mean that he doesn't protect his cards when he looks at them, where I get to sneak a peek if I really try. It's more like he would show them to me. He would lift them up in front of his face, and since we were on the end of the table (he was the 7 seat, I was the 8), I was the only player that could see his cards. He did this even when I was in the hand! This could potentially be a HUGE advantage over the session.

My mistake? I moved one seat to my left, away from the free information. The reason was that the glare shining on the board was causing me to have to partially stand up to see what the flop, turn and river were. I was worried that standing up to see the cards would open me up to being read by my opponents. They would all be zeroing in on the exact moment that I saw the board, and I didn't want to be giving up that edge. So I moved to the 9 seat so that I could see without straining and avoid facial tells. I might have made the right decision, I don't know. Perhaps not having to strain to see the board (and potentially misreading it) was more profitable. But who knows what I could have made from seeing his cards every time?

(Side note: he ended up moving one chair to his right shortly after I moved, so it probably would have been a moot point. But one could argue that moving away was questionable AT THAT TIME.)

#2
I have A-K suited in the cutoff position, and there are two limps to me (playing six-handed). As it is shaping up to be a family pot and I don't want that, I decide to raise it to $10 (on the larger end of the raising spectrum for that game). It is folded around to the Limper One who, after some thought, calls. Limper Two seems to make a pot odds-driven insta-call.

The flop comes down 7-4-3 all different suits, and it is checked to me. I decide to make a continuation bet of $15, a little more than half the pot. Limper One quickly check-raises to $35, and Limper Two gets out of the way. I think perhaps I can move him off a weak top pair or medium overpair, or maybe he was just making a move on me, so I put him all in without much hesitation. He calls just as rapidly for his remaining $70, and shows me two Queens. Oops. But the turn and river come Ace, King and I win the pot anyway.

Now, I was definitely going to see the turn card. There was no way I was going to fold for $20 when the pot was $75 and I was getting some implied odds as well, not with two overcards and potentially bluffing outs if he had the type of hand that I put him on. So the mistake wasn't that I didn't release my hand at that point. But did I really need to shove? In that game, you honestly don't see too many check-raise bluffs. I really should have discounted the possibility that my hand might be good. There just wasn't all that much chance of A-K beating him. A call there would have given me a lot more flexibility.

#3
I limp in the cutoff with pocket 3's. It is a seven-handed family pot. The flop comes A-A-3 and it is checked to me. Family pot, so someone must have an ace, right? I bet out $8, the button (a very very tight player) calls me, as does a player in early position. Nice.

The turn is a Q, not the best card in the deck. But when you have 3's full, you never know when a card is going to fill your opponents up (if they don't have a full house already). Since I didn't see any shift in my two opponents that would make me think they improved, I wanted to stay aggressive. After a check, I bet out $18 and both players quickly called.

The tight player on the button seemed very agitated however. I know that agitation. It's the feeling that you HAVE TO call down because you have trips, but your kicker is not strong at all. You just hope that they will check the next street so you can save some money.

The river was an 8. The first player to act was all in by calling the turn, and the tight button player had $65 left. For some reason I can't fathom, I decide to bet out $40 rather than putting him all in. I cannot justify this bet in any way. In my opinion, it was the worst mistake I made the whole night. Sure, he called it and I won a nice pot by firing three bullets. But I knew he had trip aces, I knew he couldn't fold it, I knew he would check if I checked ... I had him covered, so that should be a pretty automatic shove. Ugh.

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Overall though, the session went well. I don't know why this seems like such a novel concept to me. Don't make mistakes. Duh, right? But for some reason, I often show up to a game and just play. I may tell myself "Okay, let's play tight today" or "Let's really mix it up and keep the pressure on." But outside of tournaments, I've never really said "Let's just try to make the right play on every single street of every single hand." It's obvious, but I should force myself to play this way EVERY time. And the results should fall into place.