FULL TILT POKER BLOG

Even Card Sharks Can Learn From Hand Histories

Posted by anonymous | Filed under Uncategorized

Full Tilt Poker’s hand history feature has really helped me plug a few leaks in my game. I had been losing about $50,000 a month playing 1-2 No-Limit, but after taking the time to review my hand histories, my hourly rate is quickly approaching zero dollars per hour.

For instance, look at this hand I played a few days ago:

Parapunk posts the small blind of $1

Clown posts the big blind of $2

The button is in seat #6

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to Clown

Parapunk calls $1

Clown checks

*** FLOP ***

Clown bets $4

Parapunk calls $4

*** TURN ***

Clown bets $20

Parapunk calls $20

*** RIVER ***

Clown bets $289 and is all-in

Parapunk calls $289

*** SHOW DOWN ***

Clown shows (two pair, Aces and Fives)

Parapunk shows (four of a kind, Aces)

Parapunk wins the pot ($630) with four of a kind, Aces

Now we all know that, as good a hand as it is, it is possible to go broke with bottom pair, good kicker. Let me take you through my thought process on this hand. When Parapunk limped preflop and then called my $4 bet on the flop, I immediately put him on , for a backdoor, gutshot straight draw. This read turned out to be incorrect.

On the turn, I picked up a very good straight draw to go with my bottom pair, giving me a roughly 70% chance of cracking Parapunk’s set of aces. I think my biggest mistake of the hand came here on the turn, with my $20 bet into the $12 pot. This is called an “overbet.” Had I bet more, I could probably have gotten Parapunk to fold his quads draw. (Another benefit of reviewing hand histories is that you notice flaws in other players that you might not have noticed before. I usually play 8 or 9 tables at once and see the flop 74% of the time, so I don’t have time to take notes. I’m far too busy hitting the “raise” and “call” buttons. Now that I review my hand histories, I notice Parapunk’s loose turn call with his three aces, so I give him a note: “calling station.”)

Unfortunately, the river greatly improved my hand to two pair, making it impossible for me to not go broke here. I had been kicking myself for seriously misplaying this hand on all streets, but with the hindsight afforded by hand histories, I realized that my only real mistake was not being aggressive enough preflop or on the flop and turn, and giving my opponent a chance to draw to four of a kind. I played the river fine though.

Also, I’ve been keeping track of how much money I’ve won and lost with various hands. Since hand histories came out, I’ve lost $78,890 with what I had previously considered a premium hand, King-Four suited. In fact, I haven’t made money with any hand, though I’ve almost broken even with pocket Jacks and Ten-Six offsuit.

After extensive self-analysis and consultation with my poker coach, Sammy Farha, I decided that I am too loose- that is, I play too many hands and go too far with them. Were it not for Full Tilt Poker’s hand history feature, I would still be losing one child’s college fund a month. Now, I am probably the tightest player on the site. Because I play so few hands, I can now play 15 tables at once. Every time a new hand is dealt, I click “fold to any bet.” Once I get better, I will loosen up a little and start playing AA and KK in position, that is, when I am in no seat relative to the button. While it is not much fun folding 100% of my hands, I am losing less and less money. I guess I’m somewhat of “a grinder,” that is, a disciplined player, or “rock,” who pays the rent by losing as little money as possible with zero variance in his loss-rate.

Soon, I’ll be blinding away at the 25/50 NL game, and you better believe I’ll be poring over my hand histories looking for any edge I can get.

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