Session Recap, Full Tilt Poker 12/20/05 12-5:30AM AKA Micro Limit Hold 'Em Blows/Semi-bluff Trouble/PWNED

Ok this session I played a variety of games. We had some 10+1 sng, some .10/.25 NLHE, a 10+1 MTT, .50/1.00 LHE and finally, where I made my money back and even a little profit, .25/.50 shorthanded NLHE. A couple of things I'd like to talk about...

Micro Limit Hold 'Em Blows
OK, I've played limit hold 'em online for quite sometime and I am at a loss as to how people consistently beat this game. It seems to me that with micro limit (.50/1 and below) the pots don't get big enough to use effective strategy and still beat the rake. Granted this is just preliminary and I'm sure there's a way to turn a small profit on this game but I don't see how it can be worth it. The only real way I can see doing well in this type of envirionment is to stick to playing mostly big hands, and occasionally a speculative hand in postion on the rare occaison that there are more than 4 people in the pot preflop. My problem with this strategy is that you are at the mercy of the deck and outdraws, yet you're really not giving yourself the chance to play drawing hands and redraws that makes live low limit hold 'em strategy so effective. Granted I may have played a particularly tight table tonight, but I seem to remember similar experiences when I've played at these limits before. I absolutely love playing Limit Hold 'Em. I cannot, however, enjoy micro limit hold 'em. I liken it to scratch off tickets; cheap thrills that really don't accomplish much.

Semi-Bluff Trouble
Lately I can't semi-bluff sucessfully. Not because I bluff into made hands, not because I don't give myself the right odds, but because, thanks to ESPN, the internet is a variable chuck wagon of morons who wouldn't know what a fold button looked like if it sat on their face. I have been called on semi-bluffs in the past two day with KTos, A5os and, my personal favorite, QJs. Ok, now I understand what you're going to say... "But Huck, they had you beat." Yes. They did. You're right... They also called off most of their stack with, oh I dunno, try K high and no draw. Ok, if I'm in a hand I have KT on a 469 board and you be about 3/4 of the pot, guess what, I don't really give a shit what you have, unless I make a stupendous read, I'm folding... like my cards are on fire... and have herpes simplex A. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, if I do make a read... (cough)... I SURE AS SHIT AM NOT CALLING YOU. I'm raising... big... like "that monkey in the new Peter Jackson flick" big. I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to abandon this play for a little while, because it's just simply not working for me in the environments I'm playing in right now. Yeah I know it sounds bad to say, but the players are just too bad, they won't fold, the play is too complex.

Let Me Clear My Throat... EH HEH EH HEH EH...PWNED
Ok a little set up for this play. I was sitting at this table for about a half hour and I knew this dude was super aggressive. He also knew he was super aggressive and prolly figured we were getting pretty frustrated with him so I decided to try something...

Full Tilt Poker Game #345013374: Table Selkirk (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:27:40 ET - 2005/12/20
Seat 1: killakal ($11.45)
Seat 2: Full Stack20 ($11.75)
Seat 3: Stump Daddy ($15.20)
Seat 4: SpaceLord ($62.15)
Seat 5: magik_johnson ($49.70)
Seat 6: ColdE ($40)
magik_johnson posts the small blind of $0.25
ColdE posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ColdE [Ks 3c] Free cards are fun here
killakal folds
Full Stack20 folds
Stump Daddy folds
SpaceLord folds
magik_johnson calls $0.25 No raise? interesting..
ColdE checks
*** FLOP *** [7d Kh 5c] Top pair, shit kicker, but it's good and I know this.
magik_johnson bets $1 Ooooooo...
ColdE raises to $4 This should be fun....
magik_johnson raises to $7 Oh wow, not only am I good, he's feeling frisky
ColdE raises to $39.50, and is all in Come on baby, I know it's kinda kinky but you let me do it just this once I promise we can go see that musical you like
magik_johnson calls $32.50 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!
ColdE shows [Ks 3c]
magik_johnson shows [5s As] Ok RNG, don't fist me just this one time... please.
*** TURN *** [7d Kh 5c] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [7d Kh 5c 2h] [9c] Yeaaaaaaah Booooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeee
ColdE shows a pair of Kings
magik_johnson shows a pair of Fives
ColdE wins the pot ($77) with a pair of Kings and holds up "The Roc"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $80 Rake $3
Board: [7d Kh 5c 2h 9c]
Seat 1: killakal didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Full Stack20 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Stump Daddy didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: SpaceLord (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: magik_johnson (small blind) showed [5s As] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 6: ColdE (big blind) showed [Ks 3c] and won ($77) with a pair of Kings I'm sorry but that's just fuckin pretty

Final BR: around $87 up about $12 (Insert Nick Bakay cash register cha-ching and "woo-hoo" here)

- Huck