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.

Berated ...

I think I'm going to start posting hands after which I get berated.

The Hand:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1042485

The Beratement:
DONK THE CLOWN: i hope your mother dies of cancer
DONK THE CLOWN: and i hope she suffers

How to deal with a bad run ...

Numbers to date through 2.5K hands:

There is inherent variance associated with poker. All of us are going to run bad. Usually a bad run starts with a cooler or a bad beat. You're playing well, but you are losing. This is the type of session I had for the first 500 hands today.

1. 4-way pot and I have a suited connector. Easy call. I lead out and expected get raised. I would expect AcAx to raise here. There is a call and I shove. I'm drawing nearly dead as the villain has an over flush.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1039087

2. A few minutes later this hand happened. The pot is just about right for me to shove and I do. I'm semi-bluffing with the shove, but I would do the exact same move with an overpair (see below). I get called by 6h7h. Notice - he 3-bet me pre-flop, called my 4-bet (big!) and then called my shove.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1039092

... and here is how I would play aces in this spot: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1039097

Granted, I played a very similiar hand at 400NL the same day.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1038662

Both players claimed tilt.

3. Pretty soon after that I get AK again and get it all-in pre-flop vs. AT:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1039101

4. And finally, the coup de grace. Same player with the AT hand turns a full house on my straight. I called pre-flop because it's a nice hand to have in position and called the flop bet because it was so weak:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1039108

So. I was done for a while. No sense in continuing when you are clearly frustrated and need to clear your head. I went out to eat and came back. I put in some changes:

1. I played fewer tables.

2. I played a lot tighter. When you are playing well, you should loosen up. When you are playing poorly, play better cards - you will have to make fewer marginal decisions.

I also started my first 25NL video to talk about dealing with a downswing (I mentioned the two things above), but the sound cut out halfway through. Ugh. Another bad beat. I will talk about one of the hands from the video though:

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Hold'em Cash Game
$0.10/$0.25 Blinds
5 Players

POCKETYANKEE: $48.20
r8r4life: $26.05
TUCCI007: $17.25
TheXC: $27.80
trapperjoshmd: $72.90

Preflop: TheXC is dealt Ad 6d (5 Players)
TUCCI007 folds, TheXC raises to $0.85, trapperjoshmd raises to $1.45, POCKETYANKEE folds, r8r4life folds, TheXC calls $0.60

Trappers has 3-bet me before and I've folded. He less than min 3-bets me this time so I call and hope to hit a good flop and bust him.

Flop: ($3.25) 4s 6s Ac (2 Players)
TheXC checks, trapperjoshmd checks

Great flop. I could lead or I could check. I choose to check.

Turn: ($3.25) 3d (2 Players)
TheXC checks, trapperjoshmd bets $1.25, TheXC raises to $5.25, trapperjoshmd raises to $9.25, TheXC raises all-in to $26.35, trapperjoshmd calls $17.10

I choose to check the turn as well (while leading would also have been good). He bets around 1/3 pot and I pop him up. He min bets me again and I figure he's got AK or AQ. I think AA would flat call my raise here and try to trap me on the river.

River: ($55.95) Qc (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $55.95 ($2.75 Rake)

I'm correct and avoid a K on the river.

At the end of the night these two hands ended my session:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1040119

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1040120 - and I actually tanked and almost folded this.

Tomorrow I hope to make my first 25NL video.

1,000 hands down at 25NL

So aggro ...

My Att. to Steal Blinds was 45.28. I'm such a ninja :)

Here are two interesting hands. What would you do in the two situations?

Hand 1

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Hold'em Cash Game
$0.10/$0.25 Blinds
4 Players
http://www.legopoker.com/hh/

Hallent: $20.10
Brazilzen: $31.95
dimeetrees: $19.95
TheXC: $25

Preflop: TheXC is dealt 4h 5s (4 Players)
dimeetrees folds, TheXC raises to $0.85, Hallent folds, Brazilzen calls $0.60

Flop: ($1.80) 7d 3h 6h (2 Players)
Brazilzen checks, TheXC bets $1.50, Brazilzen calls $1.50

Turn: ($4.80) 8h (2 Players)
Brazilzen checks, TheXC bets $3.75, Brazilzen raises to $7.50, TheXC ???

Hand 2

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Hold'em Cash Game
$0.10/$0.25 Blinds
6 Players
http://www.legopoker.com/hh/

jerpoker010: $26.10
Gunslinger1719: $23.80
TheXC: $29.40
drzimo: $50.20
zbillyz: $7.50
borq123: $24.40

Preflop: TheXC is dealt Ts As (6 Players)
TheXC raises to $0.85, drzimo folds, zbillyz folds, borq123 calls $0.85, jerpoker010 folds, Gunslinger1719 folds

Flop: ($2.05) Kh Td Jd (2 Players)
TheXC bets $1.50, borq123 calls $1.50

Turn: ($5.05) Th (2 Players)
TheXC ???

The N = 10,000 challenge

What is N = 10,000?

N in statistics usually means the size of the sample. I plan to play 10,000 hands per level at progressively higher levels at least up to 400NL.

ZOMG TheXC RU BUSTO?!?!?!

Nah. I have 20+ buyins for the levels I'm going to be playing, thus, I'm properly bankrolled. What I want to do is start at 25NL and play a good sample size of hands to really develop an understanding of that level. I chose 10,000 hands because it seems like a good number. After the 10,000 hands, I'm going to make general observations about that level by looking at my results, etc. I'm also going to be thinking about strategies specific to that level - ones that might not work at a higher level or lower level.

The plan is to play 1,000 hands per day 6-tabling. That should be around 2 hours per day. I'll also mine the tables for the duration of my challenge and let you guys know who the big winners as well as the big donators at those stakes are (at least during my time there).

I'll also post some hands that I found interesting.

In addition to all this, I'll make a few videos for each level as I'm moving up. If you play that level and are interested in being in a video, let me know ;)