I've been suuuuuper busy this past month with midterms. Unfortunately, I totally underestimated the time required to prepare for exams, work on my disseration, and complete a lot of group work...sadly, this cut into my poker time. I think I only managed to play around 200 games this past month. Also, I noticed that if you're stressed with work, you don't usually play your A game. Towards the end of the month I quit playing for like 2 weeks because of a stress induced downsing.

Anyway, I started playing again 3-4 days ago, and started off with a nice little downswing at HUSNGs. Everyone deals with those downswings differently. In my case, I usually cut down a bit on volume, and spend more time studying by watching videos. I also mix in some HU cash to get unstuck, because for some weird reason I always run like Jesus on steroids in cash whenever I'm on a downswing at HUSNGs. Long story short, it's been the case this time as well, and I made back the money I lost last month and during the past 2-3 days :)

My roll on Stars wouldn't really allow me to play NL50, but I could always redeposit if I busted. Anyway, I don't play NL50 because the feeling of taking $200 from a villain, and then losing $150 to rake in the process is mindcrushing!! Which is why I played around 2k hands of NL100 instead.

Here's a few fun hands against an aggro villain. He floated a ton of flops, almost never folded in 3bet pots, and you had to 2-3 barrel him to get him off hands (or even air). At HUSNGs you could just valuebet your good hands, but due to loosing money when you fold too much (blinds!), you can't really do that too much in HU cash. So I had to bully the bully a bit.

Hand1: Here he bets $26 on the turn, which is A LOT. I didn't think he'd bet that much with a strong hand given how he bet before...if he had a strong hand, he'd bet smaller to make me call. Obviously I have nothing, so I can't call him, which is why I bluff raised him to make him fold.

PokerStars Game #36436583505:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2009/12/09 1:22:22 WET [2009/12/08 20:22:22 ET]
Table 'Pompeja II' 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: modragons ($126.45 in chips)
Seat 2: Radeh ($102.20 in chips)
modragons: posts small blind $0.50
Radeh: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Radeh [As 2d]
modragons: raises $2 to $3
Radeh: raises $7 to $10
modragons: calls $7
*** FLOP *** [Qh 8c 6d]
Radeh: bets $9
modragons: calls $9
*** TURN *** [Qh 8c 6d] [3c]
Radeh: checks
modragons: bets $26
Radeh: raises $57.20 to $83.20 and is all-in
modragons: folds
Uncalled bet ($57.20) returned to Radeh
Radeh collected $89.50 from pot
Radeh: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $90 | Rake $0.50
Board [Qh 8c 6d 3c]
Seat 1: modragons (button) (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 2: Radeh (big blind) collected ($89.50)

Hand 2: Here he bets $3 into me on the flop, which is often not a sign for a strong hand...so I raised him. Once he checks on the turn, I was 90% sure he wouldn't call me if I bet again. I was right :)

PokerStars Game #36436727911:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2009/12/09 1:26:08 WET [2009/12/08 20:26:08 ET]
Table 'Pompeja II' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: modragons ($105 in chips)
Seat 2: Radeh ($141.50 in chips)
Radeh: posts small blind $0.50
modragons: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Radeh [Ad 6c]
Radeh: raises $1 to $2
modragons: calls $1
*** FLOP *** [Tc 2s Kh]
modragons: bets $3
Radeh: raises $6 to $9
modragons: calls $6
*** TURN *** [Tc 2s Kh] [6d]
modragons: checks
Radeh: bets $17
modragons: folds
Uncalled bet ($17) returned to Radeh
Radeh collected $21.50 from pot
Radeh: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $22 | Rake $0.50
Board [Tc 2s Kh 6d]
Seat 1: modragons (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 2: Radeh (button) (small blind) collected ($21.50)

Hand 3: Once he checked on the flop, I KNEW he didn't have a J or 9 because he always bet if he had a hand...so I bet $3 on the turn to pretend I have the J or 9. He called, but I knew he would with draws or maybe a weak pair. On the river I figured he didn't have a strong hand, so I bet high enough to make him fold weak pairs.

PokerStars Game #36436890758:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2009/12/09 1:30:25 WET [2009/12/08 20:30:25 ET]
Table 'Pompeja II' 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: modragons ($104.35 in chips)
Seat 2: Radeh ($140.50 in chips)
modragons: posts small blind $0.50
Radeh: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Radeh [7d Qd]
modragons: raises $2 to $3
Radeh: calls $2
*** FLOP *** [Jd 9c 4h]
Radeh: checks
modragons: checks
*** TURN *** [Jd 9c 4h] [5s]
Radeh: bets $3
modragons: calls $3
*** RIVER *** [Jd 9c 4h 5s] [8h]
Radeh: bets $9
modragons: folds
Uncalled bet ($9) returned to Radeh
Radeh collected $11.50 from pot
Radeh: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12 | Rake $0.50
Board [Jd 9c 4h 5s 8h]
Seat 1: modragons (button) (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 2: Radeh (big blind) collected ($11.50)

Hand 4: This was later in the match, he was getting really angry because he already lost $50 to me. I also knew that would piss him off because he's a "reg" and he sees me as an idiot amateur. Again, when he bets $10 into me on the flop, it's usually not a sign for a strong hand. I don't have anything on this board (242), but it's also very unlikely he has anything unless he has a hand with a 2 or a 4 (or an over pair). When he bet that much on the turn, nothing really changed. He wouldn't really bet that strongly with a king...and if he has nothing, my hand with an ace is probably best. Once he checked on the river, it was pretty clear that he didn't have anything...so I bet to make him fold small pairs like 66. I bet $41 because it looks like the perfect value bet, and knowing the villain's a thinking player, I figured that would look kinda scary to him.

PokerStars Game #36437114638:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2009/12/09 1:36:24 WET [2009/12/08 20:36:24 ET]
Table 'Pompeja II' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: modragons ($111.15 in chips)
Seat 2: Radeh ($158.50 in chips)
Radeh: posts small blind $0.50
modragons: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Radeh [9h As]
Radeh: raises $1 to $2
modragons: raises $6 to $8
Radeh: calls $6
*** FLOP *** [2c 4c 2s]
modragons: bets $10
Radeh: calls $10
*** TURN *** [2c 4c 2s] [Kd]
modragons: bets $23
Radeh: calls $23
*** RIVER *** [2c 4c 2s Kd] [7d]
modragons: checks
Radeh: bets $41
modragons: folds
Uncalled bet ($41) returned to Radeh
Radeh collected $81.50 from pot
Radeh: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $82 | Rake $0.50
Board [2c 4c 2s Kd 7d]
Seat 1: modragons (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 2: Radeh (button) (small blind) collected ($81.50)

Note that in all of the above hands I never really had a good hand (or a hand at all, lol). It shows how important bluffing is in the right spots, especially against an aggro villain who tries to bully you around. At HU cash, you always have to keep in minds that folding actually costs you money due to the blinds.

Hand 5: This one was a bit of an ugly spot. Again, when he bets $5 into me on the flop, it's not a sign of a strong hand and I put him on a draw. However, there are sooooo many cards that could come on the turn or river that hurt me...because they could complete a straight (5 in a row). So I raised him to make him fold, or force him to get in more money now while I still have good EV. I wasn't exactly super happy, because J8, or trips are certainly in his range...but when I raised him on the flop, I had already made up my mind that I'd shove over him should he raise. I took that decision BEFORE raising him! Anyway, the turn/river cards were both aweful because they would have completed several straight draws...but luckily for once my hand held up :)

PokerStars Game #36437274916:  Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2009/12/09 1:40:47 WET [2009/12/08 20:40:47 ET]
Table 'Pompeja II' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: modragons ($115.40 in chips)
Seat 2: Radeh ($180.45 in chips)
Radeh: posts small blind $0.50
modragons: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Radeh [7s Th]
Radeh: raises $1 to $2
modragons: calls $1
*** FLOP *** [7h Td 9d]
modragons: bets $5
Radeh: raises $10 to $15
modragons: raises $21 to $36
Radeh: raises $142.45 to $178.45 and is all-in
modragons: calls $77.40 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($65.05) returned to Radeh
*** TURN *** [7h Td 9d] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [7h Td 9d Js] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
modragons: shows [Ks Jc] (a pair of Jacks)
Radeh: shows [7s Th] (two pair, Tens and Sevens)
Radeh collected $230.30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $230.80 | Rake $0.50
Board [7h Td 9d Js 6h]
Seat 1: modragons (big blind) showed [Ks Jc] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 2: Radeh (button) (small blind) showed [7s Th] and won ($230.30) with two pair, Tens and Sevens

I think it's really important to always ask yourself what will I do if he raises me BEFORE you bet. If you're unsure, or not happy if he does so, don't bet/raise. It'll save you from getting into a lot of tricky spots.

Overall I'm pretty happy playing NL100 a bit on the side, and it was a big ego boost to have a reg sit out on you after you took a bit of his money :)