I played some live last night, won about $85 in the limit ($3/$6) game, lost $100 in the NL game, so about even, minus gas, which sucks ass. Right now, even live, I'm beginning to wonder if limit is better for me than NL. I am more comfortable in limit games, and even the bad players are starting to find their footing in NL. Plus, I find it boring to grind it out on the short stack for hours in NL, where a lapse in concentration can destroy hours of work.

Anyhow, I think I made a pretty good value bet in the limit game with KK on a 4JQKA board. I raised preflop, got called in 3 spots, bet the flop, got raised, ended up capping 3 ways, and making a set on the turn. I elected to check-raise, trapping the third player in the middle and got both calls. River A, which I didn't like, but both other players were visibly upset by the card, neither smart enough to give a reverse tell. That made me two extra bets on the river I probably wouldn't have got otherwise.

When I moved to the NL game, I won a few small pots preflop or on the flop without showdown, a few by reading that no one liked the board, allowing me to steal.

Then this hand came up, which I posed in Hand Analysis.

Two limp to me in the CO. I call with [Qs Js]. Button calls, SB folds, BB checks. The button is a very loose, bad player.

FLOP [Ks 9s 9d]

Checks to MP, who bets $10. I call $10, the button calls $10, all others fold.
Pot: $43 after drop.

TURN [6s]
MP bets $20. I decide to just call $20, not really sure why. Probably dumb. The button immediately declares "all-in," very excited to shove in for $111 total. The MP player looks at him, looks at the board, and decides to call, but looks like he doesn't like his hand much.

Pot: $285, $91 for me to call. I have about $45 behind, so obviously I might as well push if I'm going to call (if I think I'm best).

Honestly, I didn't really think about laying it down. I put the button on a flush (and he would raise a 3-high flush here), and I put the MP guy on trip 9's because he didn't appear to like the push. So I happily got my stack in. Turned out, MP had the [As 8s], and the button had [6d 6h]. I was literally shocked that not only did I not have the best hand, but that I was in fact third best.

Paradoxically, I think that if I minraised the turn, and then had a push and a call, I might have considered laying it down more carefully, despite the better pot odds (the theory being that to push over a bet and a raise requires a much stronger hand, and to call the 3-bet requires a stronger hand as well). Eh, I probably still don't lay down, because if I raise the turn, it would be more than a minraise, and at that point I'm probably committed (and hey, I can still hit the [Ts]).

So, that was how it went down. Maybe it was a cooler, maybe it was a poor play by me. I don't know. But I'm not going to sweat it forever.

Then, today, I had the best PLO session I've had yet, up about 5 buy-ins. Everything just kinda came together. I certainly played well, but as always happens in big pots, I got the cards I needed as well, including a few narrow "suck outs" where I had fewer outs than I thought, but still good equity. Still, it was a nice confidence boost for me.

About one more week until Vegas, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. I may play live a little more before going, but with the Stars promotions this week, I really think I want to maximize my time online (double FPP's and VPP's this week).

Nice to know I read well.