Moving my blog to CR

I'm going to move my blog to CardRunners. You can find it here. If you are not a member of CardRunners and want to find out what it's all about, send me an e-mail and I'll tell you more about it.

Let me know if you have any problems getting to it. I'm still not sure which format I like better.

Poker is all luck ...

I'm on a heater at 25NL - up ~ 8.5 buy-ins in 763 hands. I'm 4-tabling. I've more than doubled my initial $200 - I'm very happy.

One thing that I'm doing is taking a much more passive line. Instead of 3-betting, I'm calling hands that are very playable yet can't take a 4-bet and playing them in position:

JTh, plays well post flop IP:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524771

KQs, I get lucky on the river and it's value town. I was going to fold to a big river bet:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524775

I'm also making folds when I don't want to see later streets:

AK, I open UTG, am 3-bet by a player whose PFR is 4% and AF is 0.29 (over 45 hands). We're deep. I can call, but I just fold. It's going to be a bitch to play post-flop and get paid. If it's suited I call.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524782

I might be good, but why invest another $5 + be faced with a river bet?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524790

The delayed continuation bet ...

Here is a hand which is a perfect example of when to delay c-bet. The villain was starting to get really aggressive with me and I just folded TPGK to him the hand before SB/BB to a big river bet:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524608

25NL

I decided to play some 25NL - I was starting to get really frustrated with 10NL. People are uber-passive and play with very short stacks. I just wasn't getting paid off. If I ever have to rebuild my bankroll, I don't think I'll start at those lower limits.

It seems like 25NL is just a world of difference. I decided to tighten up and played well. Bankroll is at $379.95. I don't see myself playing any more 10NL - even if I drop. I'll play 25NL for a while and then take a shot at 50NL. So long bankroll rules :)

Aces hold up. I really like a 4-bet there vs. super-aggro player.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1517143

Stats:

And positional ones:

300BB pot

I have middle set, 90% to win on the flop:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1514129

Big fold by me to the overbet. Villain was 7/3/0.67:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1514130

I'm up $77.20 so far over 3,351 hands running at 11.52 bb/100

Long session, up 1/2 buy-in

I was playing really well - up 2 buy-ins pretty early. I stacked this huge donk with a set:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511904

He decides to play back at me and hits a 5-outer to stack me. I like 4-betting him pre-flop as well as checking the flop - it lets him bluff my "AK". Too bad he hit on the river:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511918

Not sure what to think of this one on the river. I have trips and get check/min-raised on the turn. He shoves the river. It's just hard for me to fold trips to some of these guys though:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511924

Nuts vs. 2nd nuts + redraw for me:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511934

Not sure how I feel about this one either. I guess I'm committed on the turn:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511938

Standard vs. short-stack donk:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511944

So basically I got coolered a lot vs. a bunch of people. I still had enough winners to make it a winning session though.

Running Challenge ...

In addition to Poker, I would like to keep track of my running here as well - to keep myself accountable. My goals are as follows:

1. Qualify for the Boston Marathon. To qualify for it I will have to run a 26.2 mile course in 3:10 which is 7:15 per mile. I've run a half-marathon at that pace and have run a marathon at 7:45 pace. This one was a huge goal of mine before I had two serious foot injuries.

2. Break 18:00 in a 5K. I've done it before (PR - 17:59) and would like to do it again. I ran a test run yesterday and lost to a 57 year old man. Weak. To run this I'll have to run 5:47 mile splits.

Today I ran 6 miles in 48 minutes which is right a 8:00/mile. I'm just getting the distance under my legs so I felt good. Tomorrow I'm taking off.

Brian - you've gotta get back to running buddy :)

Sustainable? I don't think so.

MTT Ratio: 3.89 ... I should probably play a few more tables, but this seems to work for me right now. Very few people are playing back at me and it's crazy how light people will get their money in.

Some hands are posted below.

10NL update ...

I think I'm going to up my tables to 6. This level right now is so passive and people don't believe that you ever have a hand. Bet, bet, bet. I won't be bluffing much.

I'm up a little over 2 buy-ins so far. Will post some hands later, although there have been very few interesting ones.

Q7s flops combo-draw:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1507849

K6s flops a combo in re-raised pot vs. super-aggro-donk. The guy was playing 33/28/8:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1508412

Here I thought he was 3-betting me light since I've been so active at the table and I decided to 4-bet in order to isolate the donk caught in between. Worked out perfectly:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1508489

Small pot, this so f-ing standard at this limit so far:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1508495

Dropping Down ...

I'm going to go back to the origins of this blog and see what I can do with $200. I'm going to play 10NL on FTP until I get to $450 and then I'll jump to 25NL. A few other rules:

1. No more than 4 tables at once.
2. No more than 1000 hands per day.
3. Post a few hands each day.
4. Fold
5. Stakes are low, have fun, don't sweat it.

Bankroll Rules:

$0 - $450: 10nl
$450 - $1000: 25NL
$1001 - $2500: 50NL
$2500 - $7000: 100NL
$7001 - $14000: 200NL

I'm mostly doing this because I have very little time to play and I don't want to "worry" about poker too much. I feel like I can do this pretty mindlessly.

Day 1: Played for 52 minutes (321 hands) and picked up $18.05 (28.12 BB/100, $20.83/hr). Ran at 32/25 and had a 53% ATSB. Raise, raise, raise, play smart post flop. I was 3-bet less than 3 times total. Here is one of the hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1499548

I really want to see if I can build a roll starting at these limits ...

A hand from a coaching session ...

What do you think of my flop/turn/river play?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=12105952&an=0&page=0#Post12105952

Messing around with a higher VPIP ...

I wanted to get a feel of how playing a style of VPIP 30+ feels like so I played 852 hands of 100NL. I also played that level because the guys I'm working with play 100NL.

The session was really swingy - most hands were pretty standard (the coolers, etc). The biggest pot came on this hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1461398

Not playing much ...

I'm not playing much these days. Between teaching full time and coaching my cross country team, I just don't have any extra time on my hands. I'm working with two 100NL players on their game in my spare time, but that's it.

So frustrated ...

I played some 1/2 and 2/4 today. I lost two races at 2/4, got frustrated, and went down to 1/2. I was playing well and then this hand happened:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1385218

Yes, it's just a suckout, but I can only take so much losing in a session. So I quit for the day. Because I've been losing at 2/4 (yes, variance, blah blah blah), I don't think I'll play there for a while. I'll play 1/2 for a bit longer - it's a lot less stressful and since I'm teaching full time, it's good enough to keep me sharp.

My plan is to play 1/2 until my BR is at $30,000. My FTP BR is currently at $25,817.

Why Taylor is Taylor and I'm not

Taylor played a pretty short session with us and afterwards we looked at his PT stats:


His aggression factor is INSANE! I mean ... talk about TAG. He played very tight (18/16), but his overall AF was 10.5! His flop, turn, and river aggression was just nuts. I tried to be more aggressive today in a 100NL session (dropped down to work on it):


As you can see, my flop aggression is good, but turn and river suck. Overall is ok. I just tend to get more passive the further we get. I think an exercise for me to do is to play REALLY, REALLY TAG and see just how high I can get my aggression factor up. I would like it between 6 and 8. This might mean that my VPIP will go down, but that's fine for now - I need to get better and double and triple barrelling.

Coaching for CR

Up to 200NL:

http://www.cardrunners.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=145&threadid=27628&enterthread=y

I've had a really positive experience with PIF and would like to work with one additional person 1 on 1. I feel that both people can get a lot out of the whole process.

Finished up for the day ...

Haha ... I got stacked twice in the first 10 minutes or so:

AK > my KK:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1344612

QQ > TT on a QT3 board:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1344616

AA no good in rr pot!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1344620

... and finally one where I made a hero call and lost with trips:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1344624

Last one is questionable. The rest are good. I grinded my way back to even after all that. It helped that I hit quads twice:

QQQQ ... I get CRAI on the turn:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1344637

TTTT ... value town!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1344642

... not sure if I should shove there at the end.

The small edges ...

Josh and I have been talking about how the small edges can have a big difference in your overall bb/100 statistic. Whenever we feel we're even money or possibly ahead and there is already money in the pot, we should be trying to win it. Let me illustrate my thinking with the two following hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1336087

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1336093

In both situations I felt that I was flipping and thus with the dead $$ in the pot I'm correct to call.
Yes, it's high variance but with a read (They aren't shoving aces in either spot) it's still correct.

On the other hand, I have been folding a lot more to TAG 3-bets in position with good hands:

I have no read and no hisotry with the player:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1336129

He made it too much:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1336133

Hookem taught me to lie ...

I'm experimenting some in playing in 3-bet pots so I've dropped down to 100NL to do it. I might drop down even lower to increase the variance in the cards and minimize it as far as my bankroll.

Anyhow ... Brian usually lies when someone asks him about a hand so I've taken a similiar line and tell people retarded hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1335567

FIR3ST4RT3R: wat do u have?
TheXC: KK

Winning session ...

I booked a good session. I posted some of my beats below (3 times losing with a set, once with AA vs. AK.


It seems like c-betting with AK and AQ in a re-raised pot is leaking me a lot of money. I'm not sure what I need to do about that. Def my biggest leak right now.

I also flopped the nut straight and was only a 54% to win. How sick is that?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330856

I feel like when I stack people they often put it in with very marginal hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330860

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330865

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330868

... but when I get stacked I have a flush to a higher flush, a set to a higher set, etc. I guess that means I'm playing well.

My last two sessions ... I can't win with sets.

Ugh. So demoralizing.

TT flops the nuts. He turns a higher set:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330314

Villain was super nitty and the math was JUST about right. Felt like calling pre-flop:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330316

Gutter-ball good vs. my top set:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330321

5% FTW!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330324

Player is 31/21:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330760

... and my Aces are no good vs. AK AI-PF. Notice that he has a 1-outer to win - Ks is no good as I hold the As:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1330336

This stuff is brutal for the winrate. I feel like I'm playing well though - aggressive in position, tight out of position, and doing a lot more delay c-betting in position than standard c-betting.

A few more hands ...

Man ... I coolered the crap out of this guy. It's SB/BB too:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1325253

Hand 2: How thin of a river call is this?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1325247

I posted a 2+2 thread about this.

Hand 3: Gutter and 2 overs:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1325258

Standard overbet. I should probably make it $30:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1325261

Of course he doesn't have a Queen there:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1325264

Some of these hands are funny ... I do admit that I didn't play some of these correctly. For example ... the min-raise with 22 on that draw heavy of a flop. BUT ... the guy was such a donk ... I wanted to at least keep him in.

Thinking through a hand ...

FullTiltPoker Game #3126231899: Table Saguaro (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:12:33 ET - 2007/08/01
Seat 1: crazyforliberty ($339.85)
Seat 2: mandali ($60.30)
Seat 3: DontWasteMyTime ($366.30)
Seat 4: TheXC ($206)
Seat 5: slickx14 ($296.80)
Seat 6: johnny1146 ($49.95)
johnny1146 posts the small blind of $1
crazyforliberty posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheXC [9h 6h]
mandali calls $2
DontWasteMyTime has 15 seconds left to act
DontWasteMyTime folds

TheXC raises to $9 - I raise to isolate a limper. Standard.

slickx14 has 15 seconds left to act
slickx14 calls $9
johnny1146 calls $8
crazyforliberty folds
mandali folds

I get 2 callers. Ugh.

*** FLOP *** [5c Jd Kh]
johnny1146 checks

TheXC checks. I would normally bet this flop but with $30 and johnny1146 having $40 I can't stand a shove with my nothing hand.

slickx14 bets $10. He bets very weak.

johnny1146 folds. He's gone ... sweet - I don't have to worry about him anymore.

TheXC raises to $35. Raise the weak bet!

slickx14 has 15 seconds left to act
slickx14 folds
Uncalled bet of $25 returned to TheXC
TheXC mucks

TheXC wins the pot ($48.45). Ship it :)

Luck o' Meter

This program is pretty sweet:

http://www.pokerluckometer.com/

The NUTS!!!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1322496

Not really sure what to do here ...

A post about a hand to 2+2. JJ turns top set in RR pot OOP.

Poker is all luck

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1321689

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1321698

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1321706

... and the 1 outer:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1322416

My AK > your AK:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1322661

Heeeeeater at 400NL

I was inspired by Arrrtard's back-to-back 2K days at 400NL and decided to play there for a bit. I've played 200NL mostly to see if I can grind it out profitably (yes), but this was a lot of fun. I'm up over $2,500 for the day and playing really well ...

Set over set, standard:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1316471

I take an unusual line with AK in a re-raised pot. He INSTA-calls:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1316483

AK fills up. Turn bet is to get value out of weaker aces and price in draws.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1316489

This one I misplayed. River should be an EASY overbet-shove. I missed out on like $115 or so.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1316500

Should I flat call here IP? This guy is getting REALLY frustrated with me but his AF is only 0.7.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1316513

A 200NL session review ...

I 6-tabled for one hour and played very well:

The start sucked as I got stacked in the first 10 hands or so:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315171

I value-shove AK on the river. Is checking best here? I put one of them on a draw and the other on a weak ace.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315186

A collection of hands vs. the same player:

1. I get tw0-outed on the turn and call a river bet:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315216

2. I make a note on him. "min-raise IP weak for pot control". I decide to punish him for doing so.

3. I flop TPGK. I 3-bet him on the flop and shove turn:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315240

4. Finally ... the coup de grace. My set vs. his TP:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315267

5. I'm not folding ANYTHING against this guy. I call his small bet with33 on a 52265 board:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315352

The player in this hand was SUPER loose and SUPER aggro:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315299

This player is drawing dead against my full house when he c/r ai on the turn:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315341

Small set rivers FH:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315348

A note on small pocket pairs:

I've been folding those OOP to a 3-bet when we're only 100BB's deep or so. For example ...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1315356

Overall good session. The QQ call on the river was bad, but other than that I think I played each hand optimally.

What a frustrating month ...

July has been incredibly frustrating. I just never got any momentum going. It seems like whenever I was starting to get something going I would lose my whole stack in a very frustrating fashion. Like this:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1313028

So while I'm up for the month, it's not much and that sucks. Worst of all I'm playing frustrated.

Value Shoving ...

This is something I've talked about a lot, and here is another textbook example of an overbet-shove:

1. Back door flush hits on a 4-to-a-straight board:

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $1/$2 Blinds - 5 Players -

PKowalski: $337.10
Kylef41: $135.80
pauly007: $363.50
TheXC: $303.50
unclesnappy: $190.00

Preflop: TheXC is dealt 6d 7d (5 Players)
pauly007 folds, TheXC raises to $7.00, 2 folds, Kylef41 calls $5.00

Flop: ($15) Jd 9c 3h (2 Players)
Kylef41 checks, TheXC checks

Flop misses me completely and the J and 9 are likely to hit his blind calling range.

Turn: ($15) 8d (2 Players)
Kylef41 checks, TheXC bets $11.00, Kylef41 calls $11.00

Wheee! I've picked up a combo draw. Let's bet it ...

River: ($37) Td (2 Players)
Kylef41 bets $22.00, TheXC raises all-in to $285.50, Kylef41 calls all-in for $95.80
Uncalled bet of $0.00 returned to TheXC

Perfect card for me! Now there are 4 to a straight and I've got a very disguised hand. Any queen should call me here.

Pot Size: $272.60 ($3 Rake)

Result: Villain had KQo

Head's Up ...

I played some HU the past few days ... I'm a huge calling station.

Here, since I never give anyone any credit I called:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1302168

LOL ... I call!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1302174

A couple of hands ...

K9o vs. horrible player. He's 66/14 and just doesn't play well.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1299151

The flop was great so I potted it. Turn isn't bad so I bet pretty big. The river is horrible since it completes a flush draw. I check to him and he pots it. I think that if he bet smaller I would fold. Since he's a horrible player I called.

I am confused by his river play here. The player is 19/13 over 100 hands. wtf?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1299162

Link to my 2+2 post about it.

I think this is a fold on the river vs. a pretty passive (18/4/0.67) player:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1299178

Quad Kings FTW!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1299181

Pretty standard vs. shortie in a rr pot with that kinda flop. He INSTA-calls me:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1299308

NH for me ... kinda deep

55 - flop a set, river quads:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1295410

A couple of hands ...

Not sure what to do on the turn here:

33 in position: Link to 2 + 2.

Flop/Turn Play ...

I played this interesting hand ... not sure what to do on the turn. I put him on 55:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=11329514&an=0&page=0&gonew=1#UNREAD

Two hands ...

I flop a set of 3's and shove the turn:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1266549

I turn a set of 7's and overshove the river:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1266561

I think I played both correctly ...

Playing some in Vegas ...

I played for a bit today after my first day in Vegas. Here is an interesting hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1261906

Button raiser is SUPER aggro and SUPER loose. I think he is 4-betting me light here. I hate calling in this spot because I will be out of position and I don't want to see an Ace on the flop. I think shoving is correct here, but I feel like I'm not giving him a chance to bluff again. On the other hand, if I call his 4-bet, he's probably shutting down anyhow ...

So I guess I'm not really sure what to do in this spot.

Turn decision ...

I think I played this correctly:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1257027

Villain was 15/13 but very aggro. I think calling on the turn is -EV.

River Decision ...

I'm on a $2,500 upswing - I'm finally starting to hit some hands and bad players are paying me off.

This was the most interesting hand from my morning session:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1256457

Josh and I talked about it later regarding my river decision. I told him I think we are chopping so I called - his line makes sense for AK but not much else. Josh thought that calling to chop is like stabbing yourself in the eye - it's not fun and nothing good ever comes of it.

When I was thinking about the hand, I just thought AK would play it that way - 4-bet pre-flop, check the dry flop, bet the King, and then shove the river. So ... I called.

This hand ...

No pair, no draw I guess ...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1255690

Things that make me happy ...

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $1/$2 Blinds - 6 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

jags1818: $302.75
davcrehan: $33.80
iamdaisy: $305.00
SmookingBianco: $197.00
TheXC: $200.00
dadham9: $199.25

Preflop: TheXC is dealt Jc Jh (6 Players)
2 folds, TheXC raises to $7.00, dadham9 folds, jags1818 calls $6.00, davcrehan folds

Flop: ($16) Kc Js 6d (2 Players)
jags1818 checks, TheXC bets $11.00, jags1818 calls $11.00

Turn: ($38) Jd (2 Players)
jags1818 checks, TheXC bets $18.00, jags1818 calls $18.00

River: ($74) Ah (2 Players)
jags1818 bets $74.00 ...

A hand that came out of my discussion with Josh ...

Here is a discussion I had with Josh this morning about a hand (none of it seems personal or confidential and I hope he doesn't mind me sharing it):

joshuaashtondzl: I butchered this hand horribly and I was pretty upset about it
joshuaashtondzl:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1253270

Josh: I'm not huge on double barreling (even though I know it seems otherwise)
Josh: But this guy was a huge floater, so I figured if he had a big ace, he would have 3bet me and the line meets the float persona
Josh: Then, I get lucky - and I fuck up.
Josh: I think its possible I was ahead the whole time and he was on a flush draw
Josh: but if not, I made a relaly poor bet.

PokerXC: But he might also have like AJ ...
PokerXC: Yeah ...
PokerXC: bet smaller
PokerXC: Like $30 into $90

I was thinking about that hand and about our discussion when this hand came up:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1253447

Pre-flop and flop are standard. On the turn I want to get value out of flush draws and I want to price them in (price in/price out). River is a blank and I feel if I bet a lot he's just going to fold. I also think that if I check I might miss value out of a ten or some other random crap he's incapable of folding. So ... I bet weak like we talked about and get min-raised and call.

I think a call is correct there - if he's bluffing there is no value in raising and if he hit some sort of miracle diamonds (Ad 3d? Ad 7d? 4d 5d?) I am shoving into a worst hand. Basically ... I can't think of many worst hands that call here if I shove.

Here is the advice I got from 2+2. I don't know if I agree with it. I like Brian's advice of "Donk bet into donk players."

Pot control ...

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $1/$2 Blinds - 5 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

SteamboatM: $132.05
jwpoker4: $263.05
riverbaby11: $203.25
nuSFwck: $521.30
TheXC: $199.00

Preflop: TheXC is dealt Th 9c (5 Players)
2 folds, TheXC raises to $7.00, SteamboatM calls $6.00, jwpoker4 calls $5.00

Totally standard button raise. I get two callers.

Flop: ($21) 7c 9h 5d (3 Players)
SteamboatM checks, jwpoker4 bets $14.00, TheXC calls $14.00, SteamboatM folds

A 26/17 type player leads out. I have top pair and no kicker. There is one more person still behind me that could check raise. I have position. All signs point to "call".

Turn: ($49) Tc (2 Players)
jwpoker4 checks, TheXC bets $31.00, jwpoker4 folds
Uncalled bet of $31.00 returned to TheXC

The turn is a good card for me. It gives me top two and does not complete any draws. The only straights out there are 68 which he would have flopped and J8 - which means he would have just turned a gutter. He checks to me. Now ... I have to bet here - both for value and to make sure I don't get bluffed on the river.

If he check/raises me here, I don't think my two pair is good though ...

Pot Size: $49.00 ($2.45 Rake)

What a session ...

There was no tilt involved ... just cooler after cooler. Brian was sweating me and all he could say was "poker is swingy dude ... you're playing well."


Here is one of the hands that kicked off the huge drop:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1246704

And this one ... this one was strange:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1246708

Pretty big pot ... $658 - I'm 99.9% to win on the flop :)

I called pre-flop because avanto was in - not because I had the odds vs. Gambaholic:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1246230

I'm 5% to win on the flop ...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1244254

Two hands where I got stacked ...

After this one I shrugged my shoulders, typed "nh" and moved on:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1240511

... while after this one I just felt so deflated and steamed:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1240416

It's crap like the 2nd hand that has just killed me in the last few days. I also noticed that I tend to lost money when I play in the morning/afternoon while I tend to clean up in the afternoon/evenings. This is something I need to keep in mind in the future. Overall, I'm still struggling to get anything going. I'm down $675 for the month. I just want one good day ($500+) to get my confidence back and end my frustrations.

My session today ...

I usually don't whine about bad beats, but it was really getting to me today.

Here are some choice ones:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1237978

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1237992

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1237993

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1237997

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1238038

After a while I just felt so demoralized ... it was crazy.

Floating, taking it away on the turn ...

I thought he was squeezing ...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1235923

chefrm: lol x got me good though
TheXC: I figured you were squeezing.
chefrm: i wasnt
chefrm: i almost shoved on turn
chefrm: knew u had nada
TheXC: So ... my plan was to call and try to take away the turn.
TheXC: How did you know?
chefrm: i know
TheXC: hahaha
TheXC: what did you have?
chefrm: cuz i have been really watching your game
chefrm: aks
TheXC: ok
TheXC: And I tend to fold to turn shoves?
chefrm: vnh though
TheXC: ty
chefrm: i just didnt think u could stand it with that weak bet
TheXC: value shove
TheXC: Wait ...
TheXC: so you were going to shove to my bet?
chefrm: yes
TheXC: Hmmm ...
TheXC: Given my hand I obviously can't call ...
chefrm: just had to decide if u had hand or not
TheXC: but generally ...
chefrm: donk bet goes both ways from u i think
TheXC: I hate a bluff-shove there when we're deep.
TheXC: yes
chefrm: i know
chefrm: so i gave up
TheXC: ty
chefrm: :)
TheXC: I'm going to take a break
chefrm: was well played

Given all this, I should have bet like $90 instead of my donk bet of $50. I figured $50 would be a good amount to bet vs. a very good player (chefm is a solid regular) if I was trying to milk him.

BTW ... unless you have a really good read on a situation, that play is usually burning money.

I don't feel like I'm getting max value out of my hands ...

For example ...

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $1/$2 Blinds - 6 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

TheXC: $232.45
piriformis: $219.95
us3901: $324.05
WhaaataBLUFF: $273.05
Andykay: $253.75
jdb4_4: $852.15

Preflop: TheXC is dealt 3h 3s (6 Players)
us3901 calls $2.00, WhaaataBLUFF raises to $9.00, 2 folds, TheXC calls $8.00, piriformis calls $7.00, us3901 calls $7.00

Multi-way pot, I have a small pp, great spot to call and try to hit a set.

Flop: ($36) Td 3c Qh (4 Players)
TheXC checks, piriformis checks, us3901 checks, WhaaataBLUFF checks

I hit my set, but there is no betting ...

Turn: ($36) Qc (4 Players)
TheXC bets $21.00, piriformis calls $21.00, 2 folds

Board pairs ... I lead out with my set to try to build a pot. Maybe I bet too little here?

River: ($78) 4s (2 Players)
TheXC bets $66.00, piriformis calls $66.00

Now I try to bet for value ... should I check here and check/raise all in? I'm not sure.

Pot Size: $210.00 ($3 Rake)

piriformis had Kd Qd (three of a kind, Queens) and LOST (-$96.00)
TheXC had 3h 3s (a full house, Threes full of Queens) and WON (+$111.00)

Straight flush ...

I'm still running/playing poorly, but this always puts a smile on my face:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1235867

Variance ...

I'm currently down $200 for the month. I've been in a bit of a downswing and have just gotten BRUTALLY beat in some pots. It's very frustrating - hence the lack of updates. I'm trying to analyze my game and try to figure out what's going on. For one, I'm C-betting less. I've also tightened up. Finally, I think I'm going to get in fewer high-variance situations (shoving combo-draws, etc).

Losing sucks ... my graph for the month is horrible too.

Played way too long ...

I was up $425 early, got down to -$531, took a break, and came back and played till I was up. Finished the day with 3519 hands for $57.85. Basically didn't want to finish the day in the red. Ugh. It was nasty.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1226011

I made too many river calls when I shouldn't have. I also played too loose from some spots and C-bet into the wrong people. Ugh - not the way I wanted to start my month. At least I'm starting it up and not down. It's sad when my rakeback from a day >> amount won.

Oh well ... here is to a better day tomorrow.

July

My goal for July is what it was for June: Make $10,000 w/o rakeback. I will play pretty much 2ooNL 6-max until I get there.

I went ahead and played an orbit and saw this guy raise the previous two hands. I told myself if I hit ANYTHING I'm going with it:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1223669

ThisRiggIsSweet: @#&#ING MORRON
TheXC: short stack = no credit

I feel like this is the right way to kick off my month :)

Here is where I milk AA: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1224134

I bet 1/2 pot on the turn to keep a T and flush draw in. On the river they are pot committed.

I think I played this correctly: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1224152

Slowplaying AK and getting paid off ...

If I bet either of these flops I am not going to get paid off:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1218894

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1218896

... and a board where you DON'T want to slow play a big hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1218897

Here is a situation where I played a hand correctly and lost. I am so far ahead on the flop that I want to give the person a chance to catch up. He also has so little money that I can use the turn and river to get it all in. Unlucky for me:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1218904

I played for 40 minutes or so and won $350 or so. Here is a hand that I really misplayed. I think calling the flop is the correct action. Given the turn, we would have gotten all our money in anyhow. He was a 2:1 favorite on the flop.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1218916

Met my goal for June ...

So I'm actually up around $12K for June - $800 is in another database + around $1,200 in rakeback. BUT ... I'm up $10K in my new PT database. I told myself I would take tomorrow off if that happened, but I think I'll play just long enough to get my PT points. I'll play nitty low-variance TAG poker.

Rough day at the tables ...

I got down early - like 4.5 buy-ins and then decided to play until I was up (as I've seen Brian Rue do that time and time again). I took some brutal beats but overall I just didn't play well. Paid off people when I shouldn't have, etc. Ugh. Bad play galore today. Still ... I'm up ~$100 ... haha.

Good news ... today will be rakeback city :)

The float ...

I read him as weak ...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1212952

When to overbet ...

I think anytime I have quads I am shoving the river just to see if I get called. Wheeee for the gutter:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1209460

Whenever I get a backdoor flush on a non-paired board:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1209465

Whenever the opponent is a calling-station and can't fold sh!t:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1209467

I'm done for the day ... I played 1623 hands (2.42 hours) and ended up $558.40. I'm just short of $10K without rakeback. My rakeback for the month should be around $1K.

WTF are they thinking ... ?

I swear ... most players are so bad. So many of them have no concept of board texture and are always trying to bluff others off their hand. Here are two hands from this morning's session:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1208972

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1208975

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1209311

I own Josh and SirNeb

Prostyle:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1208192

Got the $1K again ...

I decided to play until I got the $1K today ... I was up $600 and then down $400 at some point. I played for over 5 hours but got there. Wheeeee ...

The Blocker Bet ...

Here is a very standard way of playing the blocker bet:

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $1/$2 Blinds - 6 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

BjErHe: $503.90
TheXC: $200.00
__Acehole888__: $197.00
BigHands73: $158.65
nonthinking: $214.85
ColmsUM: $203.00

Preflop: TheXC is dealt 8c Ad (6 Players)
__Acehole888__ folds, BigHands73 calls $2.00, 2 folds, BjErHe calls $1.00, TheXC checks

So we get to see the flop for free. That's fine.

Flop: ($6) As 9s 6c (3 Players)
BjErHe checks, TheXC bets $4.00, BigHands73 calls $4.00, BjErHe folds

Flop for us is pretty good - we flop an ace with an average kicker. We put out a little blocker bet to get value out of 9's and draws.

Turn: ($14) 3c (2 Players)
TheXC bets $8.00, BigHands73 calls $8.00

The turn doesn't change anything - we put out another blocking bet. 11 would have been better in this case.

River: ($30) Kc (2 Players)
TheXC checks, BigHands73 bets $16.00, TheXC calls $16.00

So ... flush draw and straight draws both missed. Now we check to induce the bluff and call.

Pot Size: $62.00 ($3 Rake)

BigHands73 had 8d 7d ([8d 7d] Ace King high) and LOST (-$30.00)
TheXC had 8c Ad (a pair of Aces) and WON (+$29.00)

I suck out ...

1 hour session with Hookem148

Brian "Hookem" and I did a two hour sweat session today (well - we started at midnight with me). I really think we played every hand optimally. It was really cool just talking it out with him and discussion how we should play some hands.

Anyhow - I ended up $1,200 so I don't think I'll play any more on Sunday.

I'm not sure how to play this hand ...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1202083

After this, Brian played $400NL and made $1,200. It was a pretty sweet sweat session.

Update on the month ...

So that's $6777.10 + $716.51 rake back = $7493.61 over 63 hours = $117.82/hr.

Wow ... just ... wow.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1200182

$1,000 day

I decided to play until I got to $1,000. Ugh ... I was so close many times but just got in a bunch of crappy situations. In the end, it took 3 hours and 50 minutes, but I got there:

A good turn for me ...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1191118

Up around $600 for the day ...

Played ~1K hands at 200NL and finished up 2 buy-ins. I am very happy with my play. It helps that I tightened up to 24/18.

At the time that I played these two hands I thought checking behind on the river was correct. Now I don't think so ... I should have put out a very small bet both times. The flop and turn are good though - if they are bluffing, let them keep bluffing.

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1185265

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1185271

I'm running at ~$124/hr since coming back from Europe and am up a little over $5K.

Meh session ...

Yeah, I finished up $853, but it was just so frustrating. I decided to keep playing until I was up after some massive swings. Sets lose to gutters, etc - those kind of hands are just killer for the winrate. Here is a hand that I thought I misplayed:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1183540
He has 66 here like 90% of the time. I'm also behind a slowplayed AK:

And here are a few hands I thought I played pretty well:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1183552

The player is 21/12/1.2 I just don't think he's overbetting the river without the nuts here. I also don't think he's raising pre-flop w/o JJ, QQ, KK, or AK.

And overbetting because I don't think the villain can fold a King here so I will "bluff" at the pot after he checked to induce the bluff:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1183558

Overall, I am getting pretty good at picking off bluffs, etc.

EDIT: Played a few more hands of HU and finished up $1,060 for the day. 100NL HU is really starting to be my bread and butter.

I really think this is a fold on the river ...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1177562

It was the one card I didn't want to see. Overall, I'm up $1,641 for the day at 200NL (6-max) and 100NL (HU) + short session of 1000NL HU (long story). 6-max is significantly easier as I sit back and just play pretty ABC poker. 200NL seems pretty soft - very few good/solid regulars from what I saw today.

I'm suspending my n = 10,000 challenge for a while

This summer I wanted to see if I could make a living playing poker full time. My plan is to play 100NL and 200NL for a while. My goal is to make $500/day for 20 days out of the month. This way, if I work 10 months out of the year I will make $100,000. This does not include rakeback, which I will count as a Christmas bonus. My current job pays a tad over $50K and I can always go back to it the following year if I have to. There are plenty of schools that need good math teachers :)

So ... me playing full time professionally is still in it's early stages. I guess as long as I can show my fiance that I can keep up a certain winrate, I'll quit my job in May and play full time for a while. We might have a baby by then so I could work out of the house and take care of a lot of things which she is at school.

So far, since coming back from vacation I'm playing really well. Here are my stats:

So I'm up $3015.30 (6 days' expected profit) over the last 3628 hands. Playing HU has really helped my game overall. It feels like I sit down and take people's money:

First, I cooler a guy:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1171006

Then, he doesn't believe that I have anything:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1171009

Finally, full out monkey tilt:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1171010

Back from my trip ...

So I'm back from my trip to Europe and since coming back I've mostly played 100NL HU. I haven't had much time to play so HU allows me to just jump right in and be in the middle of action. It's crazy how much money you can make off bad players there. Like Taylor told Brian one time: "Playing HU well is like printing money."

The thing about HU is that no-one seems to believe me when I have hands and people bluff like CRAZY. I just played good solid poker and profit.

I will get back to playing my 6-max challenge soon, but for the meantime, here are my PT numbers:

Some FR play on Stars ...

I'm still not back to doing the challenge, but I played some FR on Stars (just to try it out). I won't actually get back to 100NL 6-max until early June.

I played this hand and the following conversation followed:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1123879

triverd: like
triverd: what are you thinking
TheXC: I was going to float you.
triverd: that's a terrible idea
TheXC: Figured you would check the turn and I could bet.
TheXC: Why?
triverd: i don't get floated
TheXC: Dry flop
TheXC: you just did
triverd: no i didn't
triverd: you got lucky
triverd: i knew what you were doing
TheXC: How?
triverd: because i'm good

Some heads-up play ...

I'm taking a short break from my challenge due to my trip to Europe. I've played a few sessions of HU for two reasons ...

1. It's a part of my game that I feel is very weak.

2. It has the potential to be very profitable.

3. It forces me to navigate situations where are a lot more marginal.

So far it's been very frustrating because I've gotten sucked out on hard core. I have a hard time dealing with losing and it just hurts me to lose a big pot when I'm favored. In HU, there are just many more situations where I'm getting my $$ in with an high pocket pair and find myself again a naked ace. I seem to let the suckouts get to me - I guess I just don't have the experience yet - I'm sure it was like this at the beginning of 6-max play.

Brian watched me for a bit and I learned a lot from him. I think he's an excellent HU player and the strategy feels so different from 6-max.

I guess I have have to get used to the swings and then I'll be alright.

I played against HeroCall ... he was PSYCHO AGGRO. It was pretty easy to play him though - I played a lot more passive and value bet the shit out of him (and overbet once I realized he can't fold):

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1120006

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1120007

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1120009

Heading to Europe

My fiance and I are heading to Europe to meet my family. I will be gone for two weeks until June 6th. I will not play any poker until then, but will still post to CR and such.

"Check it out Grandma! I got me one of them fancy American brides! Ship it!"

Day 4 of 100NL

I misplayed two hands, but overall the play was terrible. I played a short session and netted about two buy-ins.

Hahaha:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1103042

Not really sure what the correct turn play is here:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1103048

Post about Poker Tracker Stats

I wrote a post on CR about PokerTracker basics. I want to link it here just so that I have a good reference point to it later on.

1875 hands down at 100NL

Meh session. Got called down REALLY lightly in a few spots and had to fold overpairs in others.

Big winner:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1096798

Big loser:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1096801

I had Brian sweat me and it's pretty amazing how well he was reading the other players. He would say things like "Well ... what sucks here is that he's got TT and he's not folding." He was dead on 3-4 times.

Brian makes a correct read:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1096645

He put him on a flush draw and read his small turn bet as wanting to control the pot. He said "raise him".

Me: $20?
Brian: $28? ... and call a shove

~1K hands down at 100NL

Here are my numbers through the first 950 hands at 100NL:

I played a lot of small pot poker today (+$100) - didn't win a single pot over $30 - nothing really interesting happened. I did open up my middle position numbers a little more.

Day 1 of 100NL

I decided that I really wanted to have a good session so I made the following adjustments:

1. I only played 4 tables as opposed to 6 or 8 to work on my reads and to really focus.

2. I played super nitty post flop. For example:

KK OOP with an Ace on the board:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1089120

Am I ahead there? Probably. Do I want to get floated after I make a c-bet? Nope.

3. Didn't really make a lot of CB's after the flop if the flop didn't hit me.

4. Tightened up in middle position (8/8) and first position (3/3), but I was still 37/36 on the button and 27/26 in the cutoff. Next session I think I'll start opening up my middle position.

5. Quit early after < 500 hands.

Done with 50NL

Meh.


I talked to Hookem148 and told him I'm very unhappy with the results and would like to play another 10,000 hands at 50NL. He said since I decided to play 10K hands at each level I should stick to that. I think he's right. So ... 100NL is next.

I tightened up more at 50NL and I think I'll tighten up maybe a little more at 100NL to begin with. I'm still killing on the button so I should continue to be aggressive there. Honestly, I feel like a big part of my run at 50NL have been the cards. We'll see what happens next ...

My cards ...

You get get cards for FTP to look like the ones I have (big and colorful) by downloading the files from the following webiste:

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mtmcinto/www/FTPpics/

After that, you have to do the following:

1. Go to your "Program Files" folder.

2. Go to "Full Tilt Poker" ---> "Graphics" ---> "Table" ---> "Elements"

3. Remove the old cards (cards0 - cards6, cardssmall), replace them with the new ones.

Be sure to change the "4-color deck" option on FTP back to "two-color deck" or the clubs and diamonds will not display.

Enjoy.

Dropping down in stakes for confidence ...

Sometimes it's good to drop down in stakes for confidence. I decided to play 10NL today after my rough time at 50NL. I ran well. Here are my stats:

Basically I found a table full of fish and played loose and aggressive. LOL at the big fish on my left and the big nit across from me!

Anyhow - it's back to 50NL with my newfound confidence. I know that I'm a winner at 10NL and if I ever need to drop in stakes and rebuild I can do it at that level.

Key hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1079541

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1079544

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1079545

Top Set Mining = The Future

I had an idea and posted it to 2+2's BBV (Brags Beats and Variance) message board.

I think I'm going to do n = 20,000 for 100NL

I was thinking of doing that at 50NL as well ... I'm ~1000 hands away from 100NL and am deciding right now if another 10,000 hands at 50NL would be good or if I should just go straight to 100NL. I'm leaning toward the latter.

Overbetting/Zeebo

I've been messing around more with overbetting/value shoving. I've been thinking about it in terms of the Zeebo Theorem:

Zeebo Theorem - no one is capable of folding a full house. Ever.

It's kind of tongue-in-cheek, but understanding it really allows you to get paid off.

Corollary - people can't fold the nut flush either. If you have a full house and you think someone has the nut flush, just shove - they'll call.

Example:

Sun Choi (58/5/0.4) - loose passive and a pretty big loser (79 BB/100) over 289 hands.

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Hold'em Cash Game
$0.25/$0.50 Blinds
6 Players
http://www.legopoker.com/hh

Hero: $49.50
alec200: $69.50
BeeeBack: $52.90
Al3oholica: $62.90
sun choi: $75.55
Jullp: $54.25

Preflop: Hero is dealt 4c 7c (6 Players)
BeeeBack folds, Al3oholica folds, sun choi calls $0.50, Jullp folds, Hero calls $0.25, alec200 checks

74s is certainly good enough to see a flop with.

Flop: ($1.50) 6s 4s 4d (3 Players)
Hero bets $1.50, alec200 folds, sun choi calls $1.50

Bingo! Trips. Start building a pot ...

Turn: ($4.50) Ks (2 Players)
Hero bets $3, sun choi calls $3

Hmm ... flush draw out there. Let's continue betting until we are told different.

River: ($10.50) 7s (2 Players)
Hero bets all-in for $44.50, sun choi calls $44.50

Full house! Let's see ... if he's got the As he is certainly calling (cause he's a calling station). If he has like A4 or another 4 he is probably calling. Shove!

Pot Size: $99.50 ($3 Rake)

sun choi had As 9d (a flush, Ace high) and LOST (-$49.50)
Hero had 4c 7c (a full house, Fours full of Sevens) and WON (+$47)

For The Win!

Down $107 (for the challenge)

After last night. Just sick. One hand was semi-tilt. The rest you saw below. Many I didn't post because there were just so many and they were so standard.

AK < AQ AI pre-flop
AK < JJ AI pre-flop vs. aggro short stack
TT < AK AI pre-flop vs. aggro short stack
etc, etc, etc ...

AK, Semi-tilt:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1073683


So ... what can I do? No reason to tighten up - I'm not misplaying hands. I'm not doing anything crazy. Let's see what today brings ...

One thing that I will do is institute a stop-loss policy. If I ever lose 5-buy-ins in a day I'm done for that day.

My night in a nutshell ...

Pre-flop marginal. Flop and turn expert:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1073353

... last hand of the night:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1073365

... pukes ...

This puts me down $92 for the challenge. Tomorrow's goal is to get back to even.

Overbetting/Value Shoving

I've been experimenting with overshoving and have had quite a bit of success. I guess no-one ever believes you have a hand. Notice what I've gotten called with:

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1073232

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1073237

3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1073244

... it's been pretty effective so far - especially again calling stations.

Additionally, I've just been potting these guys (calling stations) on every street to build a big pot by the river.. They have no concept of odds and will chase draws.

Downswing ... so long winrate

Top set no good:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1072283

Bottom set no good:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1072375

Middle set no good:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1072372

Flopped full house no good:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1073304

Trips no good:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1072331

6-outer for villain good:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1072377

... and some more (can't win a race). No need to post the rest though.

cbloom's article

Very important to keep these things in mind. From 2+2. I found the "what doesn't matter" to be much more insightful that the "what does matter" section. In the end, making plays which are neutral EV will have no affect on your winrate. This is pretty important to keep in mind.

CTS on heaters/downswings

CTS, one of the players I follow and highly respect, posted about heaters/dowswings on 2+2 when asked the following question:

"How big in terms of buyins were the insanest heaters and insanest downswings?"

CTS responded:

"Kind of hard to quantify biggest heater, but I've ran at over 10ptbb/100 for 100k hands in toughish NL games.

for downswings, ive broken even / lost over 100k hands a few times, and have had a 30buyin downswing or two i think. I play a really swingy style though, a good session is +10buyins or more, and a bad one is -8buyins, anything in between is, meh."

I found to be pretty insightful - whenever he's posted numbers they are always sick good so it's good to know that even the great players have their valleys and plateaus.

Halfway point of 50NL

Variance galore (see previous post), but I think I'm playing well.


Ugh:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1067559

Villain read my soul. I put him on JJ or AK and hoped he would read my weak river bet as weakness and push. I ALMOST just shoved the river. Lesson learned: I'm just shoving from now on.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1068207

LOL variance ...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1066223

Day 3 of 50NL

I'm a quarter of the way done with the level. So far, I haven't been really impressed with anyone's play there. A lot of standard TAG players (bet when they have something, fold when they don't) and loose-passive players (call, call, call).

Any King and any flush calls my river shove:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1064805

Check, Call, Lead is correct here:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1064813

Getting max value? I don't think he calls a river shove:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1064817

Day 2 of 50NL

Here are my 2-day totals. I'm 1233 hands in:

Some Hands:

99 ... is he really potting trip tens here?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1060178

Qd9d. I could re-raise flop, but the guy is crazy. I'm exercising pot control by calling.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1060181

KQo vs. same villain. I choose to go the low variance route and fold.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1060192

Loose, aggro guy raises, TAG calls. Sounds like it's time to ... squeeze with 9h6h:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1060185

Cardcare's 100K

Cardcare posted his PT numbers from 600NL and 1000NL. I wanted to compare them with my own numbers from 25NL:
Some key differences:

1. He folds his BB significantly less than I do.

2. His "Won $ WSF%" (Won $ When Seeing Flop %) is around 15% higher than mine. This is significant.

3. My "Won $ at SD%" (Won $ at Show Down %) is around 12% higher than his.

4. We raise about the same, but he plays much looser (VPIP) than I do.

Anyhow ... his numbers are something I am going to come back to throughout the challenge. The guy is clearly a winner so it's interesting to see the differences/similarities in our pre-flop game.

Highlights of the discussion that followed his post:

"MT Ratio is 4.98. NL 600 was 4-6 tables only, NL 1000 with 6-8 tables."

"Perhaps the SB is my favourite position to squeeze and I openraise alot out of teh SB."

Deception/Pot Control

I like a check in postion here:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1056528

Why?

FollowFanfare runs at 23/20. He's going to be calling me with all sorts of hands like 8's, 7's, and 10's. By checking the flop I control the size and really underrepresent my hand. Notice what he called me with at the end.

1st Day of 50NL

I played for 1.5 hours (5.41 MT Ratio). Overall, I'm very happy with my play. There is a big difference right off the bat in how loose the players are pre-flop. They are a lot tighter at 50NL. I also tightened up a bit.

The shorter session was good too.

A Few Hands.

I like a check here more so than a blocker bet. When he shoved I knew I was good.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1056525

Here, I like a check on the turn as well. River shove is expert :)
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1056530

A float! I like raising the turn here to rep a big ace. His bet screams weakness.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1056538

Here I wasn't bluffing ... I was value betting. Player was crazy.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1056581

... and your obligatory cooler:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1056534

After review ... a plan for 50NL

5 Things Which To Work on at 50NL:

1. Continue playing very loose from the button - it's a good $$ spot for me.
2. Tighten up in the CO with a looser player on the button. Change tables maybe?
3. Play between 4-8 tables. 6 is ideal.
4. Play more carefull with AK. Don't stack off pre-flop at this limit unless it's against a huge donk (VPIP > 40, PFR > 20).
5. Increase my WTS % to > 30%. This might mean I will have to tighten up more in MP and CO.

That's a start ... I'll evaluate this after 2,000 hands.

Done with 25NL

Ugh ... what a way to go out:

Here I make the right read and lose. Ugh.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1053315

I'm pretty frustrated with myself. I feel like I should be able to beat 25NL at a much higher rate. On some level, I want to do another 10K hands and see what happens. Anyhow, here is my graph:


So much variance ... it's no good. I think my biggest heater was 8 buy-ins and my biggest downswing was 4 buy-ins. In the end, I just don't think I gave my 100% to the level which caused all the swings. Now ... some facts:

Top 5 Moneymakers:

1. AA (by far). I've had it 55 times for $273.90
2. AQo. 76 times for $80.25
3. KQs. 38 times for $76.95
4. KK. 53 times for $63.15 - lost 9 of them
5. TT. 47 times for $54.45

Top 5 Losers:

1. 65s. -$49.60
2. AKs. - $45.90
3. AJs. -$33.95
4. JJ. -$30.15
5. 54o. -$29.95

And the postion stats:


As you can see, I made most of my $$ from the button and UTG. It looks like my leaks are from the CO and MP. I will def tighten up in 2nd position. My SB/BB play seems ok.

Also, Brian Rue mentioned that the Went to SD % should be over 30%. This is only happening for me in the UTG position. Maybe I just need to tighten up in general and work on getting that number up by playing better quality hands.

So ... if someone's WTS% is high, you can't bluff them. It looks like I'm very bluffable though. Another thing to work on.

I also paid $238 in rake. This is more than I made. GG FTP.

Break Even stretch ...

Just not hitting the hands ...

Fold River?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1051707

Fold River:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1051708

Halfway point of 25NL

My plan for the next 5K hands is to really TAG it up. Like 18/14 or so and play really carefully post-flop in order to control the pot size.

I plan to run 5-6 tables for that stretch.

The Beluga Theorem

Beluga Theorem: A check raise on the turn means that a single overpair or top pair/top kicker is usually no good.

Example 1:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1043601

Example 2:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1043605

... I thought about folding both of them, and probably should have.

1st 25NL Video

It's around 40 minutes ... very standard. Includes "Stack-a-Donk" at 36:20.

http://files.filefront.com/25NL_2wmv/;7368983;/fileinfo.html

3 Days down ...

25 NL: Value bet more, shove draws less, fold more.

I also made the 1st of two 25 NL videos which I'll put up tomorrow if it compiles ok. I run 4 tables for 40 minutes and discuss the "Stack-a-Donk" play. Everything is pretty standard.