**** TJ’s Sundry Poker Adventures! 2025-26 ****
Hello again!
I’m coming off nearly a month in Las Vegas, and now that there’s some distance, and perspective, from the po
Lost tonight at G, -1900. I got scooped in two bomb pots for my stack, the first hand of the night and the last hand, then drove home angry at my mistakes. I played fine in between, though.
To be fair, I did run pretty bad in them both. I was made on one board, best draw on the other, then villain caught a perfect runout to beat me. In the other one, I was chopping until a 2-outer came, with me losing to only one possible combo, and that’s exactly what he had.
But still. Position matters. That river was a check/call instead of bet/call. I know better.
Gonna internalize these lessons, and come back better next time.
please keep losing at swami if it means your thought is focused on these research efforts
I recovered from that frustrating session nicely, and set a new personal best session at G tonight, +4725.
The first hand I played, I check/shoved with top set, up against a combo draw. Run it once, always once, like a boss, but he rivered the flush. Eh, I was only about a 60/40 favorite when the money went in… yes I unequivocally DO in fact want to pile heaps in with the nuts, these things happen.
Reload, and proceed to run pretty scorching hot from then on. To put it mildly.
Won a 3 way all in with set over set vs a flush draw. Backraise AAxx preflop, get it in 3 ways, plus another 1k in heads up on a 7-4-4 flop, and fade JJ65. Float a cbet with a gutshot and flush draw 4 ways in position, spike the nut straight on the turn, and hold for the river. Flop top set AGAIN, get it in vs a nut flush draw… turn flush, river boat.
This game seems so simple when you’re running well.
There’s a big game getting together at K tomorrow night. It’s deeply tempting, to shot take with some of the white meat from this month.
But honestly, that game plays bigger than I’m comfortable. I’m not going to chase monster wins at the cost of occasionally dropping a big enough number that it would annoy me.
Instead, I’m going to sleep in, get a great breakfast, crush it at the gym on my day off, and stick to games with opponents that don’t stress me, and where I feel comfortably rolled.
I couldn’t even play at K tomorrow night if I wanted to, because I work early the following day. There’ll surely be other big games.
But if things continue to go well for me, I might be back sooner rather than later.
Nice hit, TJ!
Re: fist hand. As my friend DaveB from a different (now long-dead) poker forum taught me, "embrace the chase."
Good attitude and analysis of your play. Got it in quite good, and someone catching up is ok. Long run!
I’m working the rest of this week, so that closes the book on poker for this month.
October recap: it was a sensational month, in every aspect.
I played 33.3 live hours, and went +17.7k.
Nominally, I missed my hours played goal of 40 hours for this month. My longest session of the month was just over 5 hours, and that’s probably a good thing. A good chunk of my volume was playing in my private, invite-only online PLO game. I track that by hands played, not hours, so it adds another 9 sessions, 2288 hands. Even though I didn’t hit the number, I’m satisfied with my volume for this month.
And, obviously, ecstatic about the bottom line.
Work’s been going well. I completed a months-long education project, for which I earned a 5% raise. AND, due to the quirks of a biweekly pay schedule, October was a 3 paycheck month, instead of the usual 2.
My fitness goal was 14 workouts in October, and I was able to make it there for 13. Setting an ambitious goal and not fully realizing it doesn’t make me a failure. I’m feeling great about myself, and it’s light years better than zero workouts in a month.
For November, we’ve got the WSOP Circuit returning to Cherokee at the end of the month. I’ll definitely be there the first weekend, and (unless it goes terribly, again), I’m already booked to come back for the Main Event the second weekend.
November goals:
- 40+ hours of live play, between local cash, Cherokee cash, and tournaments.
- 11 workouts. That’s about 3 a week while I’m in town, and while I won’t be getting in the gym when I’m out of town, I’ll be getting my steps in.
- Have a happy, safe, and fulfilling Thanksgiving!
…Which I hope also happens for everyone reading this!
Congratulations on the great month. Hoping that the best is yet to come for you.
Nice month. Sounds like you’re crushing all round. Keep it up.
Fantastic. I hope we can make it to Cherokee for some of it. I'll let you know! (I wish they had PLO the second weekend.)
November’s off to a solid start. I played last night at G, and shook off a pretty gross beat early. Stayed patient, played confidently, and turned it back around to finish +1365. There were several interesting spots I wanted to write up.
I call a raise in my button straddle with Q972 double suited, and flop all three pairs, 9-7-2, with a Q-high spade draw and backdoor clubs. I bet when it’s checked to me, two callers, and I fill up on the turn, with another deuce.
Checked to me again, so I bet, but now a player raises. I’m a little confused. I’m blocking 99 AND 77, there’s only one combo left of each. I shrug and call, and call the rest when he moves in on the 5 river.
He had 9755, so he’s making a move with two pair that was dead, and spiked one of the only two outs that could win him the hand. Frustrating… reload full.
A little later, this time I have the 9755, (which, to be clear, is NOT a great hand), and check my button straddle option. It comes J-T-8 with two diamonds, I have none. I HATE making the idiot end of straights in this game, but it’s checked to me, so I bet to thin the field, and I don’t get check/raised, so I think I’m ahead, for the moment.
Turn is an interesting card, the 5c, which also gives me a set, to put two clubs and two diamonds on the board. It’s checked to me again, and now I have to have a ton of equity against the one thing I’m afraid of, so I bet again. This time I do get checkraised.
I can’t completely rule out Q9 waiting for the turn to raise… and I feel like a flopped set would prefer to raise the flop. But I have a set now, and a made straight, and there’s a million draws, so I call.
River pairs the J, both flush draws miss, he moves in, and I have a decision to make. Now the only thing I’m really scared of is JT or J8, but that would be a weird way to play it, unless he had other stuff to go with it. I tank a while, and say to myself that I have a boat and with this texture being so dynamic, I don’t think I should fold. I call, and he says “If you’re calling, you gotta be good.” He had just a jack, with busted nut diamonds.
There were also two very interesting bomb pots. I have AKQJ with three clubs, the top is K-8-6 two diamonds, and the bottom is Q-J-2r. I check to the button, who bets 200, one call and I call. We go to the turns, of K-8-6-T, and Q-J-2-J, so now I have the 2nd nut boat and a broadway wrap. This time I wake up and lead pot for 600, button calls, other guy folds.
Don’t get great rivers, K-8-6-T-6 with three diamonds, and Q-J-2-J-2. I check, and he moves in for almost 2k.
I’m hating life. QQ is absolutely in his turn flatting range, and now 22 beats me also. If I’m not ahead on the board where I made jacks full, my lonely little pair of kings could lose to diamonds, 97, or a random 6 to get scooped. Big bets for big stacks, and I’m not nutted on either board. I say we might be chopping, but I fold, and show.
He shows he did in fact have QQ, so I was roasted there, but my kings were good for the chop on top. Still, I’m fine with the fold. The read was based on me possibly not being good on my board with a boat, and that was correct. I don’t want to call off 2k hoping for just a chop.
Bomb pots, man.
But I got another nice one a little later, with AAT8, and catch an ace on both flops. I bet/bet/shove, get the river board pair where I needed it, and had JJ oversetted on the other board, to scoop.
In all, a nice night. Gonna keep riding this positive momentum for as long as it lasts. And do as much as I can, away from the tables, in the gym, and at work, to give myself the best mindset I can have.
Poker has been swingy lately. I’m on a 3 session skid at live cash games (-6.8k), but as bad as I’ve run live, that’s how good I’m running in the private online game (+14k). Definitely thankful I have diversified my play, not to be pigeonholed into just one option.
I haven’t been playing particularly bad live, just running bad in big multiway spots for big pots.
Get AAJ3 with one suit in preflop 3 ways for ~3k, lose. Turn top set of queens, on a 4-5-T-Q board with two flush draws, neither of which I have, and lose a 4way all in for a 4k pot when the diamond comes.
There was another flop where I had top two and a Q high flush draw, plus a backdoor flush draw, when a tilting, stuck player potted it. I was thinking he might be light, so I stacked off, but then wasn’t happy to see a third player stack off behind me. I actually had the best hand, as the tilting player had top and bottom 2 pair plus an overpair… and the third player called off the rest of it with JUST the nut flush draw and nothing else… which came, despite my blockers. About a 5k pot.
Made a read, trusted it, was right. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, I can live with the results.
It hasn’t all been just runbad, though. There are always spots to improve my decisions. I made a $1300 river call with top set on a board where a straight was possible. My opponent was tilting, and had shown bluffs earlier, so again I went with my read… but that one was wrong. Clear cut bad decision.
I’m striving to make the best decisions, at all times. Gonna play live tonight, let’s see if we can turn it back around.
Different kinds of bad luck happen too. Sometimes it's unfortunate runouts, sometimes it's having strong second-best hands.
Just keep making the best decision and the long-term will take care of itself.
Played at T tonight, and had a “Poker is easy” kind of night, +2380. The trick is, just hit all your draws.
PM me for coaching rates.
Had A554 on a T-3-2r flop, plus backdoor nut hearts, and the PFR continued for pot. I thought about it a bit… in position… maybe with fold equity, meh it’s probably fine, I shove. First big hand of the night, let’s see how we can run. SPR is lower than late night with deep stacks, so paradoxically I think I get it in wider.
Run it once, always once, it comes 9, 6 and I crack his AA. So about 11 outs twice, though I thought I had 13 outs twice.
Open AKQJ, flop comes A-K-2 rainbow, first to act leads out into me. I don’t have the nuts, but I like my hand, and I think I’m ahead most of the time, so I raise a committing amount on the flop. He calls. I drill a ten on the turn, and he check/calls off his stack. River clean, he also had AKxx, so I freerolled him with my broadway gutshot.
Open AAxx, check/call a K-3-3 flop, bink an ace on the turn, and get a huge turn check/raise in, to win.
Another pretty standard spot, where I got top set in on T-6-4 two tone, and fill up on the turn vs the nut flush draw.
So yeah! Nice night. Fired up to play lots of poker.
Building momentum for Cherokee at the end of the month.
I was on the opposite end of those types of hands last night, but I'm happy for you!
PLO is the best game in the world when your draws hit and your made hands hold up. Ride that run good as long as you can.
hey TJ
catching up after my last post almost a month ago
i inherently second goldie acknowledgment of your aparent callous mindset toward playing appropriate plo odds and ends of it still numbly excepting the result while continuously breathing in-n-out upon your opponents chips
happy stacking, king hamburglar
“Those whom the [poker] gods would destroy, they first make proud.”
They must have caught me whistling past the graveyard in my last post, because I got a healthy serving of some gross coolers, -3k tonight.
Call a raise with 99xx, 5 of us see a 9-6-6 flop. I bet 100 at 300, one call, then EP checkraises to 400.
Oh. Baby. They both have a 6, they’re drawing dead without overpairs, and I’m about to win a 3 way all in.
I just call.
Then first caller back raise shoves.
The checkraiser looks very confused, and folds. I snap.
…Oops, quad sixes are in fact very good. Nh.
Then, later, I check/shove with top set of QQ on Q-7-5 rainbow. Up against 9876, about a 4k pot, river 4 :(
Sigh. Not my night.
There’ll be other nights. These things happen.
My mind is still right, to observe my opponents, process my decision-making, and fearlessly get it in with the best of it.
…Next time.
I’m done for the month playing live poker locally, so I’ll go ahead and recap November, as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, and then Cherokee!
I played 42.8 hours, plus 672 hands online, for a net total of +8.1k.
A very solid bottom line number… though I’m feeling a bit dissatisfied, as I ran and played pretty bad down the stretch to close out the month. It looked much better a week or two ago. As in citing baseball statistics, we call that “having fun with arbitrary end points.”
My volume goal was 40 live hours in November INCLUDING Cherokee, so I’m pleased I cleared that before my trip. However, I played several long sessions to get there: three sessions over 5 hours, with a max of 8 hours, which is probably not ideal.
I know from experience that after the 4 hour mark, my focus wanes, and I don’t play my best. Need to be better about picking up, when I know I’m not locked in observationally, processing efficiently, with anything less than razor-sharp focus. Even if I’m down, even if I’m not up very much.
Still, I’m not complaining. It’s been a great month. I’m gonna close out November strong at work, have an AWESOME holiday with my family, then turn my sights toward this tournament series!
For my fitness goals, I set a target of 11 workouts in November.
After I work out tomorrow, and again before I gorge myself then hit the road on Thursday, that’ll get me to 11.
I did have a busy, moderately stressful stretch at work, where I went 7 consecutive days without getting in the gym. So I felt bad about that, but made it up to myself, working out 4 out of 5 days when I could find the time.
Ideally, I want to be working out at least 3 days a week. Averaging that is okay.
Again, consistency is more important than intensity.
I’m incrementally adding weight to some of my core lifts, and seeing progress. I’ve been noticeably sleeping better, and feeling more energized at work.
Above all, I’m focused on making this a sustainable behavioral change in my lifestyle habits. With this goal setting, and accountability here, it’s been a smashing success.
Happy for you in life, rooting for you in poker. Sounds like you are on the path to success in both.
We had an absolutely FANTASTIC Thanksgiving.
It was for 9 humans, and 4 dogs. The dogs were a bit overstimulated… but I think they enjoy the holidays even more than we do, with all the people together and around.
White and dark meat turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potato casserole, and Brussels sprouts with garlic, country ham, and apple. Plus cranberry, of course, and some rolls.
I had two plates, and three pieces of different pies for dessert.
Now I’m VERY full, (but not sleepy), and on my way to Cherokee!
Next stop: the Econo Lodge.
Looks like you got it catered. Smart. I used to do that, but the local buffet joint went out of business. :-(
Oh no, my amazing sister and her boyfriend made everything, it was exquisite.
They’ve both worked in restaurants and catering for a long time, and know how to do a spread, professionally.
