IT'S OVER 9,000
Well, I figure it's time for another update. I played about 10 hours of 2/5 last night, and posted a pretty sick +$1,400 session. My
bankroll is now sitting a little over 9k, which actually puts me kind of in the realm of being rolled for 2/5. Not really a solid, ideal roll, but pretty much rolled nonetheless. And perhaps most importantly, even if I have a bad couple sessions at 2/5, I'll still be very well-rolled for 1/2.
Yesterday was interesting from a number of perspectives. For one thing, I was on the same table as Sand (first at the must-move and then at the main game) for quite a while. This was our first time playing together in a while, and our first time playing 2/5 together. I ran pretty well, and Sand ran pretty terribly, so we weren't involved in many pots. His range is tight already - add card-deadness and people 3betting him right and left, and suddenly he's not seeing many flops.
We got into a kind of weird hand where tbh I was very lost on almost every street. Not lost as in I had no idea what to do, but rather, lost as in I was unsure whether I could create profitable spot or not. Here's the hand.
I opened 99 to $20 in E/MP, and Sand 3bet to $75 from the HJ (or maybe CO). It folded back around to me. I was frankly already unsure whether I could profitably call. We weren't deep enough for me to set-mine (there was maybe $500 behind after the 3bet), and I doubted I was stacking him that often when I hit a set anyway. Plus my pair is just a little too low to be able to handle a lot of heat on a lot of different flops. But I did end up calling. I flopped gin on K98 two tone, and actually had to think pretty hard before even checking the flop. I strongly considered virtually every option: x/c, x/r, even leading. Eventually I decided that I pretty much only get 2 or more streets from AK or AA, and I can rep TT-QQ pretty well by x/c the flop.
So I checked, and Sand bet $90. Again, I considered my options, but still liked my train of thought. I called, and the turn came down. I honestly don't remember what it was - I think it wasn't a complete blank: I want to say it was an offsuit J. I checked again, planning to probably x/c turn and lead river. Unfortunately Sand checked it back. The river came a blank, and I was left with a somewhat confounding spot. If Sand was pot-controlling the turn with a value hand, it was pretty likely he would bet the river, but I wasn't sure how often he would check the turn with AK or AA. On top of that, I didn't think his bet would be very big. I also figured he would almost never try to bluff the river once I call his flop bet. So I thought leading myself and trying to rep KQ or QQ would get looked up by AK or AA. And sizing bigger would get me paid more.
I ended up betting $230, which in retrospect was probably too big, seeing as the pot was $320ish. Sand effectively snap folded though, so I'm guessing he had QQ, AQ, or similar. Probably weighted more to QQ.
I got into a number of interesting spots during the session, a couple of which I was very proud of. I hope to post some of them over the next few days, but I'll put in one more highlight here:
I'm in the SB holding KThh in a straddled pot. It folds around to me (#thisisnt1/2anymore), and I make it $25. It folds to the straddler, who makes it $55. His sizing and his posture are both suggesting weakness to me, so I call with a reasonable hand. From what I can see (from around his cupholder), villain has roughly $400 behind. The flop comes AQ3, with one heart. Not an ideal flop for me, though I do have a gutter and a backdoor heart draw.
I check, and villain holds out a black chip in front of him, hovering just over his cards. He moves it just in front of them, and the dealer prematurely says "one hundred," to call out the bet. But villain hasn't released yet, and is sort of hesitating, gesturing with the chip.
"Mmm... eight-five," he says, and tosses the chip out.
He seems like he is trying to appear nonchalant, but then he completely shuts down. He stops moving completely, and stares straight at a patch of table near the board and pot. I've seen him do this once before, and he had complete air when he was called. I'm 95% certain he has no piece of the board, but I'm unsure what I should do. I think he has about $350ish behind after the $85, which isn't very much if I'm wrong, so calling down seems bad. But if I shove all in, it really looks like I want him to fold. I figure I can probably still raise/fold though (just in case my read is wrong somehow).
I tank for a hair longer, and then count out $185 and push it forward. I'm instantly sure he is going to fold. He makes a face when I push out the raise, as if he is being put to a tough decision and is trying to figure something out. But it's very obviously just him "Hollywooding" to save face. He does this for about a full minute, before finally shaking his head as if to say, "well, I guess you must have it here - I'll fold my AK," and pushing his hand into the muck. I scoop a nice pot and toss my hand forward face down.
This hand was pretty exciting for me, though not so much because I won a pot, or because I x/r with air in a 3bet pot. It just felt really good to make a read I was confident in, and then follow through on it. Moving up limits is always hard (especially for as big a jump as live 1/2 to live 2/5), and following through on reads in a bigger game can really be a challenge. So I was pretty happy with that aspect of it.
Later on, in the main game, I found myself pulling the trigger in a number of other spots, those these were not based on live reads. There were multiple times where I would 3bet with a hand like 76s, or QJo, and get called. Then an AKx flop would come down, and I would cbet, knowing how strong the villains thought my 3betting range was. They would tank a while, clearly not WANTing to fold, but they'd eventually let it go when they missed. More on 3bet pots and fit-or-fold postflop play later.
All-in-all, it felt great to play solid in what ended up being a somewhat tougher game than the last 2/5 session I played - and winning 280bb sure didn't hurt either!!
