4 hands, 4 minutes, 80 BB

Got dealt these 4 hands in a span of 3-and-a-half minutes on Party the other night. Talk about having the deck hit you in the face - about 80 Big Bets in 4 hands.

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Hand 1:

Preflop: Hero is BB with Kd, 8d. UTG posts a blind of $0.15.

UTG (poster) checks, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, CO calls, Button calls, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (8 SB) Td, Jc, 3d (8 players)

SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks, CO bets, Button calls, SB folds, Hero calls, UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, MP1 folds, MP2 calls.

Turn: (7 BB) Ad (6 players)

Hero checks, UTG bets, UTG+1 folds, MP2 folds, CO calls, Button calls, Hero raises, UTG 3-bets, CO folds, Button calls, Hero caps, UTG calls, Button calls.

River: (20 BB) 5d (3 players)

Hero bets, UTG calls, Button calls.

Final Pot: 23 BB. Results:

Hero has Kd 8d (flush, ace high).
UTG has Qd 2d (flush, ace high).
Button has Jd Qs (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins 23 BB.
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Hand 2:

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9d, Jd.

1 fold, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls, 2 folds, Button calls, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: (5 SB) 3d, 7d, Qd (5 players)

Hero bets, BB calls, UTG+1 raises, MP1 calls, Button folds, Hero 3-bets, BB calls, UTG+1 calls, MP1 folds.

Turn: (8 BB) 4s (3 players)

Hero bets, BB calls, UTG+1 calls.

River: (11 BB) 5c (3 players)

Hero bets, BB folds, UTG+1 calls.

Final Pot: 13 BB. Results:

UTG+1 has 2h Ad (straight, five high).
Hero has 9d Jd (flush, queen high).
Outcome: Hero wins 13 BB.
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Hand 3:

Preflop: Hero is CO with Kh, Ks.

UTG raises, 1 fold, MP1 calls, 2 folds, Hero 3-bets, Button calls, 2 folds, UTG calls, MP1 calls.

Flop: (13.46 SB) Kc, 3h, 9s (4 players)

UTG bets, MP1 calls, Hero raises, Button folds, UTG 3-bets, MP1 calls, Hero caps, UTG calls, MP1 calls.

Turn: (12.73 BB) 9d (3 players)

UTG checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets, UTG calls, MP1 calls.

River: (15.73 BB) 9c (3 players)

UTG bets, MP1 raises, Hero 3-bets, UTG caps, MP1 calls, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 27.73 BB. Results:

UTG has Kd Jc (full house, nines full of kings).
MP1 has 3c Ah (full house, nines full of threes).
Hero has Kh Ks (full house, kings full of nines).
Outcome: Hero wins 27.73 BB.
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Hand 4:

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 9c, 9h.

2 folds, Hero calls, 1 fold, CO calls, 1 fold, SB completes, BB raises, Hero calls, CO calls, SB folds.

Flop: (7 SB) 9d, 3c, Ts (3 players)

BB bets, Hero raises, CO calls, BB calls.

Turn: (6.50 BB) 4s (3 players)

BB bets, Hero raises, CO calls, BB calls.

River: (12.50 BB) As (3 players)

BB checks, Hero bets, CO calls, BB calls.

Final Pot: 15.50 BB. Results:

BB has Ks Kd (one pair, kings).
Hero has 9c 9h (three of a kind, nines).
CO has Ah 5h (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins 15.50 BB.
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0 for 6 with my first Pocket Rockets at Party

My initial results at Party left a little bit to be desired, as below were the first 6 times I picked up AA. I was actually up money if you just let me break even on these 6 hands. They say almost all of your profit at limit holdem comes from having AA and KK. If that is the case, I may not make it......

Hand 1:

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ac, Ad.

2 folds, MP1 calls, 1 fold, MP3 calls, 1 fold, Hero raises, BB calls, MP1 calls, MP3 calls.

Flop: (8 SB) 6h, 5h, 3c (5 players)

Hero bets, BB calls, MP1 folds, MP3 calls.

Turn: (5.50 BB) 7h (4 players)

Hero bets, BB raises, MP3 folds, Hero calls.

River: (9.50 BB) 9c (3 players)

Hero checks, BB checks.

Final Pot: 9.50 BB. Results:

BB has 4s Qh (straight, seven high).
CO doesn't show.
Hero has Ac Ad (one pair, aces).
Outcome: BB wins 9.50 BB.

Hand 2:

Preflop: Hero is Button with As, Ac.

4 folds, MP3 raises, CO calls, Hero 3-bets, 2 folds, MP3 caps, CO calls, Hero calls.

Flop: (13.46 SB) 2d, 8d, 8s (3 players)

MP3 bets, CO calls, Hero raises, MP3 3-bets, CO caps, Hero calls, MP3 calls.

Turn: (12.73 BB) 5h (3 players)

MP3 bets, CO raises, Hero calls, MP3 calls.

River: (18.73 BB) Th (3 players)

MP3 checks, CO bets, MP3 folds, CO calls $0.32 (All-In), Hero calls.

Final Pot: 20.86 BB. Results:

CO has 8h Td (full house, eights full of tens).
Hero has As Ac (two pair, aces and eights).
Outcome: CO wins 18.86 BB. Hero wins 2 BB.

Hand 3:
Preflop: Hero is Button with Ad, Ac.

1 fold, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, 2 folds, CO calls, Hero raises, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, CO calls.

Flop: (11.46 SB) Jd, Jh, 6s (5 players)

UTG+1 bets, UTG+2 raises, MP1 calls, CO calls $0.06 (All-In), Hero calls, UTG+1 3-bets, UTG+2 caps, MP1 calls, Hero folds, UTG+1 calls.

Turn: (12.93 BB) 7c (4 players, 1 all-in)

UTG+1 bets, UTG+2 calls, MP1 folds.

River: (14.93 BB) Tc (3 players, 1 all-in)

UTG+1 bets, UTG+2 calls.

Final Pot: 16.93 BB. Results:

UTG+1 has 2d Jc (three of a kind, jacks).
UTG+2 has Js Ks (three of a kind, jacks).
CO has Qc Qh (two pair, queens and jacks).

Outcome: UTG+2 wins 16.93 BB.

Hand 4:

(pending bisonbison's hand converter coming back online)

Hand 5:

(pending bisonbison's hand converter coming back online)

Hand 6:

(pending bisonbison's hand converter coming back online)

Background

A bit of personal background of who I am, and what I'm trying to do. Some of this is written in retrospect, so excuse the artistic license to do so.

Have a decidedly geeky background (Ph.D. in physics, currently work in Information Technology with a very keen interest in Information Security), and like to inform myself to the extreme before attempting something. Just my personality.

So, when I caught the poker bug (as everyone seems to have nowadays), the first thing I did was read. A lot. Perhaps in a future post I will list all my books (and reviews) but suffice it to say I have well over a dozen. I also read many, many posts at 2+2 (see my links section), including almost everything ever posted about tournament poker written by Greg Raymer on the forum. The way he methodically thought his way through situations at the table really resonated with me, as I am analytical by nature.

My first experience with online poker was a free site - ESPN.com has their own poker room. At first, I mainly played the No Limit Holdem Single Table Tournaments (STTs) until I had built my "fake" bankroll to a point where I could start playing their "cash" no limit tables. I currently have a "bankroll" there of 2.7 million and play primarily the 500/1000 NL and 2500/5000 NL tables. I also found I had quite the knack for their 150 player MTTs, often finishing at the final table, and winning four of them (including two in two nights), and "cashing" at least 75% of the time.

My experience with live poker is a combination of NL tournament home games ($20 buy-in affairs), 3/6 limit holdem at a casino (have gotten killed at this), and a couple of NL MTTs at a casino (have placed 6th and 10th in both 60-player events I have played. Unfortunately, only top 5 pay.....)

Along with one of my friends / ex-coworkers (poker1eh, as listed in my links section) I decided to take the plunge into online poker for real money, based primarily on a promotion from Instant Bankroll whereby you get $75 free, and another $25 after playing 400 raked hands. My goal is to build this into as large a bankroll as possible without adding a single penny of my own money. This blog will be a narration of that journey. Given my personality, I'm sure there will be plenty of hand analysis, charts, bad beat stories, brags, etc.

Welcome, if you've had the patience to read this far. I'm sure we're all in for a ride.....