Some Live Action

June 2, 2009 by Brian Townsend

The start to my series has been a really bad one with me losing 235k. One evening I played 200/400 PLO, losing 115k, and tonight I played 100/200 with 400 on the button NLH. I think I played well except for the evening of playing PLO where I got a bit tired towards the end of the session. I made one or two plays that I don’t think I would have made if well rested. That said they weren’t anything horrible, just things like defending my big blind with AJJ8 suited to the jack. Not a huge leak but definitely one.

Basically in the PLO game I lost two 120k pots too a player who primarily plays online. He opened UTG in an 8-handed game and I reraised with AAQ9 double suited on the button. The flop was a good one for me coming down 932 with two backdoor draws flush draws. My opponent checked, I bet 8k which was close to pot, and he called. The turn was a 5 giving me a flush draw. Again my opponent checked and I bet 20k. He went all in and I called another 30k or so. He had AKJ4 and I didn’t hit my flush on the river.

The next big hand I lost he opened from the CO and the button 3 bet the pot. I held 5678ds (I think don’t quite remember my hand) and 4 bet the pot. Then the CO repoted and the button folded. At this point I knew he had aces but I had to good of odds to fold. I flatted and we got the final 20k in on a 245 with my flush draw flop making a 120k pot. I bricked out.

Tonight in the NLH game I played two big pots. The first I had AK of hearts in a 7 handed game and there was a live strattle on. A loose aggressive player limped next to act and I raised to 3k with AKs. It folded back to the UTG player who reraised to 12k. I shoved for 60k and he snap called with AA. I think my play is fine against this player though there are some players I would fold this too.

The final hand of the evening was against a player who I have played with some in the past online. He opened to 800 from the CO and I defended from the big blind with 86 of spades. The flop was 652 with a flush draw. I checked and he bet 1500 and I called. The turn was an 8 not completing the flush, and I checked again. I really don’t like my play on this street and would have much preferred leading the turn. My opponent bet 4400 and I check raised to 16k. He thought for a bit and called. The river was an off suit queen and I bet 40k. Again I don’t love my play and would have preferred to bet a bit less. He thought for a minute and called with 88.

So overall I think I played really well the past two days and got in some tough spots. I am supposed to head out to California Wednesday, but I may delay my trip. I will see how tomorrow goes. Maybe taking a break will be good for me.

May turned out to be a good month for me. I won 150k in online cash game and won 63k in tournaments. I lost 105k the PLO game the last day of the month souring it a bit. Hopefully I can have a great June with the live cash games running during the series.

Check Out Brian’s Online Training Site – CardRunners