Poker with John D’Agostino

I played at a table with “Dags” tonight at FTP. Usually I see John playing the $25/$50 NL tables where he buys-in for the maximum: $5,000. Today he was playing the $0.05/$0.10 NL tables where he bought in for the maximum: $10. That’s right, ten bucks. I couldn’t resist so I joined and also bought in for $10. The table was pretty loose as you’d expect for such low stakes online poker with a pro sitting at the table. My strategy was the same as it nearly always is at a loose nine-handed game. I’m going to play pretty tight, not take a lot of chances, but bet my good hands strongly. This is known as playing tight-aggressive. That’s not to say I won’t ever bluff, because I will if I think it will succeed. In fact, my tight table image will allow me to get away with more bluffs than a more loose player.

I’m “Skeezix”

I played a few small pots, but nothing major until I was dealt QQ. The following unfolded:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Skeezix [Qd Qc]
Skeezix raises to $0.75
tank34 calls $0.75
Xx Fist Full xX folds
Mingmin12 folds
John DAgostino calls $0.75
kazaf folds
Dirtdog folds
ScaryShari folds
pokeropie folds
*** FLOP *** [Th Qh 9c]
Skeezix bets $2.40
tank34 calls $2.40
John DAgostino raises to $9.15, and is all in
Skeezix calls $6.20, and is all in
tank34 calls $6.50, and is all in
John DAgostino shows [9d Jd]
Skeezix shows [Qd Qc]
tank34 shows [Jc Jh]
Uncalled bet of $0.25 returned to John DAgostino
*** TURN *** [Th Qh 9c] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [Th Qh 9c Ks] [8s]
John DAgostino shows a straight, King high
tank34 shows a straight, King high
tank34 ties for the side pot ($0.30) with a straight, King high
John DAgostino ties for the side pot ($0.30) with a straight, King high
Skeezix shows three of a kind, Queens
tank34 ties for the main pot ($13.40) with a straight, King high
John DAgostino ties for the main pot ($13.40) with a straight, King high
John DAgostino: pokah's fun
Skeezix: nh
WARBUCKS69 (Observer): lol
John DAgostino: lucky
Skeezix: i hated that flop
Skeezix: too much texture
tank34: yep very lucky
Skeezix: but i'm not folding top set
John DAgostino: i agree with ya

Carnage #1

I’ve learned the hard way that after losing a hand like that all you can do is say, “Hey, I got my money in with the best hand.” Keep making plays with a positive expected value, and you’ll come out ahead.

Holdem Hi: 903 enumerated boards containing 9c Qh Th
cards     win   %win      lose  %lose       tie   %tie        EV
Qc Qd     631  69.88       264  29.24         8   0.89     0.702
Jc Jh      38   4.21       632  69.99       233  25.80     0.170
Jd 9d       1   0.11       669  74.09       233  25.80     0.129

I bought another $10 in chips and kept playing. A few hands later I was dealt another pocket pair: 99 and this time just called. Everyone else wanted in since it was so cheap and then John tried to make a move to take down all that “dead money.” Given his position in the hand and the huge overbet, I felt he wasn’t that strong and I called:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Skeezix [9c 9h]
Dirtdog folds
ScaryShari folds
pokeropie folds
Skeezix calls $0.10
tank34 calls $0.10
Valico calls $0.10
Mingmin12 folds
John DAgostino: now im steamin
John DAgostino raises to $13.85, and is all in
AceRockJ folds
Valico: haha
Skeezix: hmm..alright, i'll gamble.
Skeezix calls $9.75, and is all in
John DAgostino: oh no
tank34 folds
Valico folds
John DAgostino shows [9d Kh]
Skeezix shows [9c 9h]
Uncalled bet of $4 returned to John DAgostino
*** FLOP *** [Qs 4s Ks]
*** TURN *** [Qs 4s Ks] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 4s Ks 7d] [Jd]
John DAgostino shows a pair of Kings
Skeezix shows a pair of Nines
John DAgostino wins the pot ($19) with a pair of Kings
Valico: ouch

I don’t have a screenshot of this one, but you get the idea. Again, I got my money in as about a 70% favorite and got outdrawn.

Holdem Hi: 1712304 enumerated boards
cards     win   %win      lose  %lose       tie   %tie        EV
9c 9h 1166827  68.14    507034  29.61     38443   2.25     0.693
9d Kh  507034  29.61   1166827  68.14     38443   2.25     0.307

I’m not bitter, though. That’s poker. 7 times out of 10, I win those hands, but 3 times I lose. And regardless of the results, I enjoyed playing some all-in hands against jdags.

Tags: Poker