Journal of a Poker Pro

So the bad news is I'm home on a friday night. The good news is that I took advantage of it. The games were really good tonight, so I jumped up to $200NL for the first time. I 6-tabled it for the most of the night, and after a rough start, eventually got up about $400. I played for some more and ended up +$281 for the night.

Some thoughts from the session:

First, I know I can beat this level (Even if I ended down $300, I'd still know this. The play was just as bad, and worse in spots, as my lower limit). So that feels really good. I felt like some people were putting moves on me in spots, but didn't make a re-raise. I decided to play cautiously and avoid the curse of overthinking. What I mean is that when you play higher than you're used to, you tend to think the players will be better. So all of the sudden, you start seeing things that arn't there and beating yourself. An example would be if someone raises your bluff, instead of folding and giving him credit for a good hand, you instead raise all in because you think "He knows I'm bluffing, and he's bluffing with that raise because he knows that". So yeah, I played cautiously to make sure this wouldn't happen to me tongiht. I played straight-forward, aggressive poker and it paid off.

Last thing I want to mention is a great hand I played. I played it OK, but my opponent played it expertly. Check this out:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

MP3 ($413.10)
CO ($164.60)
Button ($19.65)
SB ($191.10)
Hero ($234.80)
UTG ($209.70)
UTG+1 ($106)
MP1 ($213.80)
MP2 ($247.70)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6s, 6d.
5 folds, CO calls $2, 1 fold, SB raises to $4, Hero calls $2, CO calls $2.

Flop: ($12) As, Th, 8d (3 players)
SB bets $2, Hero calls $2, CO calls $2.

Turn: ($18) 6h (3 players)
SB bets $2, BB raises to $8, CO raises to $22, SB folds, BB raises to $50, CO calls $28.

River: ($120) Qd (2 players)
BB bets $178.8 (All-In), CO calls $108.60 (All-In).

Final Pot: $407.40

Results in white below:
Hero has 6s 6d (three of a kind, sixes).
CO has Jc 7s (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins $407.40.

Yes. He called my all in -- for ONE HUNDRED more dollars -- with JACK HIGH. I mean seriously, WTF? Where do these people get money?

Anyhow, hope you enjoyed that one. I know I did!