Played 1,000 hands booked decent win.

I put in about 2.5 hours of four tabling .25/.50 NL.

Right off the bat two guys handed me money drawing completely dead. Cool. And then I went on to flop a set of fives and get all of the money in on the turn of 295 2 vs 77 and lost that one. I continued to run like complete shit in the made hand vs draw department. And then I got involved in a decent sized pot in which I had AQ the flop was monotone AKx giving me pretty much the immortal nuts at this point. The SB fires pot into me and I called, the turn is a brick and he goes all in for 2x pot and shows AT without the club and I failed to dodge another two outter. More fun ensued when I got in a pot with A7s and flopped the 12 out draw I love to miss so much. I check to initial raisor who bets half pot, a really tight player raises, I try to get the PFR'er to tag along but he folds. The board pairs a 4, I check, the tight player checks back. The river completes my flush, I don't think the guy on the other end will raise me with a hand worse than a full house, and I don't think he'll call with worse than a straight which seems unlikely by giving a free card on the turn. So I check call and he shows me 5s full of 4s.

I miss a ton of value on hands I think I can get a big bet called on the river, and then get a 3 barrel called on the river when I make the same exact bets I had in the hands I didn't get called because I obviously suck. And then there was a hand I might have been able to fold. Where I had AK utg, raised, got called by the really weak button, and then the SB pots it. I didn't know too much about him, but I really thought I had more equity if I kept the weak player in the hand as well so I just called. The weak player folds and the flop comes AQx and I get a pot sized bet fired into my face which I called. On the turn he bets about 3/4 pot which leaves him obviously committed. I don't think anybody ever bets KK this way, so his range is exactly AA, QQ, AK, AQ, AJ, and bluffs. With no reads on him I think I probably should have saved a full buy in and folded but alas I put the rest in and he showed me AQ. And just my luck I can't get my rebuy in before the very next hand in which I get dealt AA. I'm awesome.

So I'm running awful, and not even sure if I'm playing good, but then a really loose passive player goes bananas vs me after I isolated him with QJo and the flop comes AQJ with a flush draw, he check calls the flop bet, and then check raises me on the turn that is an 8, I reluctantly get it in with him and am shocked when he turns over J5 to be drawing dead. Obviously the river comes a 5 because why wouldn't anybody ever not hit their kicker vs me, luckily it doesn't matter this time.

So I'm running 3 buyins under EV and I'm basically break even and then this hand saves the day:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12276133655: Table Stardust (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:04:36 ET - 2009/05/17
Seat 1: madeinN ($20.25)
Seat 2: paskaapina ($113.30)
Seat 3: greg3113 ($62.45)
Seat 4: SHIPPOPOTAMUS ($93.75)
Seat 5: ttamstap ($50)
Seat 6: h8pokeroff ($44.85)
h8pokeroff posts the small blind of $0.25
madeinN posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SHIPPOPOTAMUS [Ac Ah]
paskaapina calls $0.50
greg3113 folds
SHIPPOPOTAMUS raises to $2.50
ttamstap folds
h8pokeroff folds
madeinN calls $2
paskaapina raises to $11.25
h8pokeroff adds $5.40
SHIPPOPOTAMUS has 15 seconds left to act
SHIPPOPOTAMUS raises to $36.50
madeinN folds
paskaapina raises to $113.30, and is all in
SHIPPOPOTAMUS calls $57.25, and is all in
paskaapina shows [Kh Kc]
SHIPPOPOTAMUS shows [Ac Ah]
Uncalled bet of $19.55 returned to paskaapina
*** FLOP *** [8h 4c 4s]
*** TURN *** [8h 4c 4s] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [8h 4c 4s Js] [4h]
paskaapina shows a full house, Fours full of Kings
SHIPPOPOTAMUS shows a full house, Fours full of Aces
SHIPPOPOTAMUS wins the pot ($187.25) with a full house, Fours full of Aces
paskaapina adds $30.45
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $190.25 | Rake $3
Board: [8h 4c 4s Js 4h]
Seat 1: madeinN (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: paskaapina showed [Kh Kc] and lost with a full house, Fours full of Kings
Seat 3: greg3113 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: SHIPPOPOTAMUS showed [Ac Ah] and won ($187.25) with a full house, Fours full of Aces
Seat 5: ttamstap (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: h8pokeroff (small blind) folded before the Flop

This is the first $150+ pot I've ever won at these stakes with AA vs KK, the other three were epic fails.

New computer

I'm back.Fuck your faces.

Poor results today.

I played 1000 hands of .25/.50 PLO today and got absolutely crushed for 7 buy-ins. 200 bbs in two coinflips, 150 bbs in a sick ass cooler where I raise preflop with A778 and the flop is A76r the BB check-raises me, I 3-bet, he shoves and has the other two Aces. 150 bbs where I have 88xx and the flop is Qc8c5s, I C/R the raisor and he gambles up with Q96K not even a flush draw and spikes a 7 on the turn. And then another 200 BBs by raising preflop, and never hitting a flop, and then the standard run bad where my hand demolishes the flop and nobody seems interested at all.

$300 under ev in 1200 hands of .25/.50

what the efff.

Not to mention the cold decks where I was a substantial favorite getting a large portion of money in, and then either drawing dead or very slim when the rest in.

crazy, my head's spinning.

shippopotamus on getting max value

Although I may not be running that great lately, I feel like my ability to read hands and make good value bets is easily the best of any player at the .25/.50 NL level. Determining whether or not to make a value bet is based on all of the information that you have before you. The following things are what I really considered deeply when wondering if I should bet and how much:

1) Position
2) Stack sizes
3) How many players
4) Who are those players (ranges & tendencies)
5) Board texture
6) Hand representation
7) My image

Here's a couple recent hands and my thoughts:

http://weaktight.com/897775

A weak player limps, and a good player in the CutOff raises for what I believe is isolation purposes. I don't want to raise the bad player out and play heads up vs the strong player so I elect to call, sb calls, limper calls. I flop TPGK, and the good player leads for 2/3 pot which is no surprise as his CBET is 100%. I don't think raising is a terrible play, but calling to see what the bad players do is way more optimal in my opinion, because if one of them raises I will fold. Both players behind fold. On the turn the CO checks over to me and that's when I really start to go through my best value routine in my head:

1) I've got position on him, he's giving away his chance to bet again.
2) The pot is $20 and the effective stack size is $42 a pot size bet commits me and never folds his strongest hands should he have been tricky and checked to me with AA, AK, 99. I don't think there's much value in making a big bet here.
3) He bet into 3 other players, so I think he's got something.
4) The other players were donkeys, who pay off a lot, if he thinks he could get value from them with hands I beat like KJ, KT, . Villain is a pretty good 24/21/5.0 player.
5) The board presents gutshot straight draws and also a flush draw, if he had a set, AA, or AK he would probably continue firing. If he had a combo draw I don't see him checking to me either.
6) By calling on the flop I haven't really given away the strength of my hand at all. I could have a pair of Kings, a pocket pair, maybe A9, but most likely a flush draw type hand.
7) I've been playing a ton of hands and hardly ever giving up my button.

This leads me to bet out 1/3 pot to keep everything I can beat in the hand - KJ, KT, QQ, JJ, and I'm not too worried about him having a flush draw. By betting $7, I make it look a little bluffy to get calls from all sorts of his range and I'm creating a SPR of 1 on the river if he calls.

On the river he checks to me so I go through the routine again.

1) He gave up his very last chance to get value from his biggest hands, so I'm no longer worried about them.
2) The effect stack is the same size as the pot.
3)I've only got to beat one player
4) I no longer think he has a set, AA, or AK. So either he has KJ, KT, QQ, JJ, TT or a missed flush. I'm beating 100% of the current range I'm putting him on.
5) The river bricked every single draw and the only way the river changes anything is if I had a hand like a pair of 5s and a flush draw.
6) By calling on the flop, and making a small bet on the turn I think I've created some doubt in his head that I might have a flush draw. This is the perfect river card to bluff on because he will be thinking either I flopped a set with 99 or I'm bluffing.
7) I'm really really bluffy.

Conclusion, easy shove and hope he calls with QQ.

http://weaktight.com/898166

In this hand, the button player is really fishy, so I decide to isolate from the SB with T9o and really deep stacks. I c-bet the flop and he calls which indicates that he has any pair or any draw. The turn gives me top pair, which I'm pretty sure is the best hand. So I bet a little more than half because I want to get money in but I don't want to balloon the pot so much. The river brings a K which is sort of scary but I go through my drill.

1) He has position on me.
2) There's $31 in the pot and we have $75 left, I don't think I ever win if I bet a huge amount and he calls, and I don't think he ever raises the river as a bluff.
3) Pot has been heads up the whole way.
4) Opponent is fishy and is range includes all flush draws, all straight draws and all pairs. I beat all of the pairs he made on flop and I still have the draws beaten unless he had hearts with a King.
5) All of the straights bricked, and the flush bricked which indicates that I should check/call the river to get him to bluff at it. The problem with check calling is that this opponent is not overly aggressive and when he bets, he bets large. Even though checking and calling is definitely profitable, I think I have way more value in betting and getting called by the weaker pairs that he flopped.
6) The board isn't conducive to hitting my range of hands that I would raise with preflop, so if he thinks I'm was bluffing the turn, he's definitely going to think that I might be bluffing the river.
7) I don't think my image matters all that much here, but I do tend to go from start to finish with bluffs a lot.

Conclusion: Bet to block/get thin value.

More to come, but position is easily the most important when I determine whether or not I'm going to value bet. When you act last on the river you have that last piece of information that your opponent isn't positive whether or not they have the best hand. They basically tell you that they have either this, this, this or this. When you're out of position, you really need to know your opponent in and out.