Beyond the Basics - Phase III

Heh - I've played 30k hands of 100nl since then and, if you ignore the above (ha!) then I am a winner Smile

Though at the moment I am playing 50nl and 50pl because I crave a decent winrate (4.9ptbb/100 since I returned to ring after my summer SNG break on 1st September, which I'm fine with).

But thanks for the kind words!

402 hands, +$45.65

I've given it considerable thought, and decided to put most of my bankroll into Stars and a some of it back into Cake. For the most part, I'll play 4 tables of Stars 25NL 6-max on one monitor, and 2 tables of Cake 20NL full ring on the other. This way, I can have just about everything I want. Superb 6-max table selection, the ability to multitable adequately, Poker Tracker support, and a nice Bonus to clear. Oh, and I don't have to worry about my bankroll falling into the hands of corrupt businessmen in Costa Rica. I'm very happy with this arrangement. Now I can have my Cake and eat it too.

LAWL!!! SEE WUT I DID THERE?

Okay, so I played one hand tonight that was so horrible I'm almost too embarrassed to even post it. However, I'm very glad that it went down the way it did. I'm a believer in learning from one's mistakes. Not only does this make us wiser and enrich our lives, it gives us a silver lining when bad things happen to us. It's even better to learn from other people's mistakes, so we don't have to go through them ourselves. And, it's even BETTER when we make a mistake, get away with it, actually profit from it, and still learn from it!

So it's folded to me on the button with QT, I raise it up, and some 75/30/4 tard in the BB min raises. Now I recently read somewhere that 3-betters at the micros have extremely narrow ranges. You can generally put them on QQ+ and sometimes AK. Of course, this doesn't even cross my mind at the time. Alot of things I read take time to get absorbed and digested, and alot of it has to be learned at the table. I have to make the mistakes first!

So I call, and I hit top pair on a two-tone flop. Villain pots it, I push, he calls and shows me KK. WHOOPS. Oh well, I get trips on the river, gg nh wp LOL shipit.

Sometimes I can't help being results oriented when the outcome is a positive one. I should be disappointed that I got all my money in as a dog, not happy that I won a big pot. I guess what I'm really happy about is that I know I made a mistake, I got away with it, and I probably won't make it again. I certainly won't be cold calling 3-bets with garbage, and I might actually lay down hands like AQ or JJ.

Oh my, I thought all the action had dried up at this ungodly hour, but it seems that I was mistaken. I better get back at it.

Bankroll: $744.49

354 hands, +$25.95
Dad's drunken SnGs, +$68

I got hardly any hands in, but there were plenty of soft tables. I just had other things to do. I went to my father's house to watch the Texans lose a heartbreaker to Tennessee, after which he asked if he could come to my place and play a few SNGs. I hate screwing up my accurate records, but I couldn't say no. Fortunately he finished 1st in both of them, and to my surprise told me to keep the winnings! I suppose the donktastic entertainment was it's own reward.

I reread Sauce's exploitative 6-max strategy today. Although little of it is applicable to the stakes I'm currently playing, I find it very insightful. It's almost hard to believe that just a few levels above me, many opponents will be positionally aware, use HUDs, and actually put you on "ranges". I know that many such players won't be particularly good, but it's just weird that they'll be thinking about those sort of things. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about that for now.

I would like to put in a ton of hands this week, and I shouldn't have too much difficulty making time for it. Hopefully I can get over the 1k hump soon.

Bankroll: $838.44

739 hands, +$56.60

I was just about to close down one of my tables today when none other than ToddAnderson, AKA kmind, sat down. Naturally, I decided to stick around and take all the fish's money. Wink

I keed, I keed. Anyway, he asked me about a particular player, and I told him that I didn't know as I hadn't been playing the Stars 25NL 6-max for very long. He then offered to give me some notes on the regs there (lol, micro regs), which I enthusiastically accepted. What a terrific fellow.

As I approach the "hump" of a 4-digit bankroll, I can't shake the feeling that I'm being a big pussy about it. I've logged over 30,000 hands in the last 50 days and I've been a consistent winner. As far as I know, 50NL is pretty much the same as 25NL, and I'll be rolled for it, so what am I afraid of? Do I really want to keep playing 25NL with 40-60 buy ins?

No. This "hump" is imaginary, a ghost in my dreams that doesn't really exist. If I allow myself to be intimidated by an arbitrary milestone and the numerical value of bets I'm placing, then I will never make progress. I can't hit the brakes at the first sign post, my journey is just beginning. It's time to grow a pair and start taking shots at 50NL.

So here's the plan: When I get to $1,000 I'll set aside $150 for 50NL. That's 3 buy-ins. If I lose it all, then I'll work my way back up to $1k at 25NL and try again. Once I get to $1500 and complete Phase II, I'll play 50NL exclusively unless I drop down to $1,000. This might be a conservative approach, but it allows me to move up a limit without playing scared.

I've only played about 1,100 hands at Stars since I moved back there, and most of them have been pretty standard. I'll probably post some hands later in the week.

Bankroll: $895.04

Hey hey,

If I may ask, what's your vp/pfr at 6max? I am finding that a nitty approach is winning at 50nl/pl (a pleasing 11.5ptbb/100 over the last 3,700 hands, i.e. all I've played in October :/ ) and of course it's a nice low-variance way of getting into a new limit. This is playing 18/12 or so, btw.

You're absolutely right about trying not to be a pussy - I am the arch-pussy, having played £25nl, $50nl and $100nl each with 3-figure buyins behind me. But my poker ambitions are very different to yours Smile

Well, I don't want to be presumptuous, but with the approach, discipline and attitude you have, I'd guess your ambitions are to move steadily up the levels until you feel you are where you can make the most from the game in the medium to long term. My ambitions are to have fun and make some pocket money, and not get too stressed about it Smile

16/8 is VERY nitty for 6max. You could probably do with opening up a little more, but it's certainly not an imprudent way of playing. I'd definitely up the aggression, though - you do want your PFR to be in 2 figures, of that I have no doubt, especially at 25nl where there are relatively more limpers and weak players and you can more often gain control of the pot. This will also give you isolation more often, which is a better spot for post-flop aggression.

429 hands, +$109.9

Wow. I cut that session short after going on a nice heater. A big part of it was getting KK > AA all in preflop, but I've been experimenting with ramped up aggression and it really paid off this session. I've been firing alot of 2nd barrels lately, and it's successful with alarming frequency. I used to just c-bet the flop and then c/f the turn if called. Now I'm beginning to wonder how many players at 25NL have been floating me.

The reason I've cut this session short is because I'm going to honor my word and take a shot at 50NL. I've closed down all my 25NL tables and I'm going to 3-table 50-NL after I take a short break.

It's pretty sweet notating my Bankroll with a comma Smile

Bankroll: $1,004.94

289 hands, +$62.75

So far, so good! I have to go to class soon so I couldn't log as many hands as I would have liked. I played one hand like Absolute dogshit which I'll post later. There were plenty of soft 50NL tables at Stars and I played the same brand of aggressive positional TAG that I've been doing over the last few thousand hands. I'm surprisingly comfortable there, and I'm feeling very optimistic. I actually dropped a buyin within the first 10 minutes, but it didn't phase me one bit. I've yet to drop 4 buyins at any point since I first deposited, and if my luck holds then I'll hopefully never play 25NL again.

Bankroll: $1,067.69

Damn, my internet was down all day today and just got back up. Maybe you don't need these notes haha. Congrats man!! Keep it up.

I dunno if this is helpful but I keep reading your username as gynowave, which conjures up not necessarily pleasing images.

(I lost $161 last night. Enjoy 50nl Evil or Very Mad

)

I've just taken a gander at PT, and it seems that in the 1,740 hands I've played since returning to Stars I'm running 19/13/4 and 24.8ptbb/100 Shocked

This trend is highly pronounced on my graph:

Of course this doesn't include any hands played at Cake, SnGs, bonuses, etc., hence the discrepancy between this and my bankroll. All things accounted for, I've been running red-fucking-hot throughout my short career. I'm almost inclined to be superstitious and believe that I'm due for a horrible downswing. Meh, whatever. The only thing I'm really overdue for is posting hands like I promised. The following are notable hands I've played at 25NL and 50NL 6-max at Stars.

Hand 1: Here's the dogshit hand I referred to yesterday. If I had noticed that MP was a shortstack I'd probably fold preflop. On the flop, I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I guess I wanted to gamble with shorty, but stupidly forgot that SB 3-bet preflop, which means QQ+ 90% of the time. He gave me a harsh reminder. Some might make an argument for calling the c/r, but I know I'm absolutely crushed on this hand. My 2 outs might not even be clean. This whole hand is a result of me not paying attention.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($52.40)
SB ($45)
BB ($50)
UTG ($56.95)
MP ($13.95)
CO ($67.60)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 8

, 8

.
1 fold, MP raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $2, SB raises to $6, 1 fold, MP calls $4, Hero calls $4.

Flop: ($18.50) K

, T

, K

(3 players)
SB checks, MP bets $7.95 (All-In), Hero calls $7.95, SB raises to $18.5, Hero folds.

Turn: ($42.35) 7

(2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($42.35) Q

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $31.80

Results in white below:
SB has Ad Ah (two pair, aces and kings).
MP has 5h 6s (one pair, kings).
Outcome: SB wins $52.90.

Hand 2: Villain here is 21/12. I can't really put him on KK+. Standard?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Hero ($64.15)
Button ($40.45)
SB ($50.50)
BB ($23.55)
UTG ($59.30)

Preflop: Hero is MP with

,

.
1 fold, Hero raises to $2, Button calls $2, SB calls $1.75, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($8)

,

(4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $5, Button folds, SB raises to $17, BB folds, Hero raises to $62.15, SB calls $31.50 (All-In).

Turn: ($105)

(2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($105)

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $105

Results in white below:
Hero has Qs Qc (two pair, queens and twos).
SB has 8d 5d (two pair, eights and twos).
Outcome: Hero wins $118.65.

Hand 3: Situations like this annoy me. Villain is a big time call station. Naturally, I value bet the flop and turn (perhaps the turn bet is weak), but the river card is a doozy. I gave considerable thought to raising, but decided to just call.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

CO ($63.65)
Button ($68.20)
SB ($50.75)
BB ($42.60)
Hero ($45.90)
MP ($10.05)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with

,

.
Hero raises to $2, 4 folds, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.25)

,

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3, BB calls $3.

Turn: ($10.25)

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $6, BB calls $6.

River: ($22.25)

(2 players)
BB bets $10, Hero calls $10.

Final Pot: $42.25

Results in white below:
BB has 7c 7s (straight, jack high).
Hero has Qs Js (straight, queen high).
Outcome: Hero wins $42.25.

Hand 4: This is my favorite hand. Ever. Villain is a maniac bluff addict, and for some reason I decided to get fancy and play back at him. I know I'm not supposed to do this. Still, the chat after this hand was priceless.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

SB ($90.40)
Hero ($62.10)
UTG ($49.25)
MP ($32.15)
Button ($52.45)

Preflop: Hero is BB with

,

.
3 folds, SB raises to $1.5, Hero calls $1.

Flop: ($3)

,

(2 players)
SB bets $1, Hero raises to $4, SB calls $3.

Turn: ($11)

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $7, SB calls $7.

River: ($25)

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $25

Results in white below:
SB has 5c 8c (three of a kind, jacks).
Hero has 5h 9d (three of a kind, jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins $25.

Hand 5: Weaksauce?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (4 handed) [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

SB ($24.75)
BB ($32.50)
Hero ($28.70)
Button ($15.10)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with

,

.
Hero raises to $1, Button calls $1, 1 fold, BB calls $0.75.

Flop: ($3.10)

,

(3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2, Button folds, BB calls $2.

Turn: ($7.10)

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4, BB calls $4.

River: ($15.10)

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $15.10

Results in white below:
BB has Kd Qd (one pair, kings).
Hero has Kc Js (one pair, kings).
Outcome: BB wins $15.10.

Hand 6: Maybe I'm getting carried away with overpairs?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG ($54.75)
Hero ($50.70)
CO ($34.20)
Button ($46.25)
SB ($39.20)
BB ($50)

Preflop: Hero is MP with

,

.
1 fold, Hero raises to $2, 1 fold, Button calls $2, 2 folds.

Flop: ($4.75)

,

(2 players)
Hero bets $3.5, Button raises to $9, Hero raises to $48.7, Button folds.

Final Pot: $22.75

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $22.75.

Hand 7: Villan is 76/26 over a small sample. His min-reraise throws me for a loop.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (5 handed) [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Hero ($26.95)
Button ($25.40)
SB ($18.60)
BB ($29.90)
UTG ($32.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP with

,

.
UTG raises to $0.75, Hero calls $0.75, 3 folds.

Flop: ($1.85)

,

(2 players)
UTG bets $0.5, Hero raises to $2, UTG raises to $3.5, Hero calls $1.50.

Turn: ($8.85)

(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks.

River: ($8.85)

(2 players)
UTG bets $6, Hero calls $6.

Final Pot: $20.85

Results in white below:
UTG has 2h 2c (one pair, twos).
Hero has Js Qc (one pair, jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins $20.85.

768 hands, +$98.16
Gauntlet VI Registration, -$5.50

Wheeee, now I have over 6 buyins for 50NL! I'm pulling further away from the so-called "hump". I'm feeling more and more comfortable at 50NL and I think I'm here to stay. For a while, at least. Today's session was actually pretty wacky. I made one pretty gross river bluff and got called by a medium PP on an ace high board Sad

Aside from that, I've kept spewage to a minimum, but the session was pretty swingy. Fortunately I came out well ahead, and my winrate at Stars 6-max is still ridiculous. It's hard to believe that I've nearly doubled my bankroll in less than 2 weeks. If this keeps up, Phase II will be complete in no time.

Bankroll: $1160.35

552 hands, +$125.06

FYI: kmind is bad luck! I went on another of my patented heaters, and then this guy IMs me and decides to sweat a few of my tables. I pretty much broke even the whole time. As soon as he leaves, the heat returns!

lol, I keed, I keed. It was actually alot of fun talking with someone about hands as I played them in real time. I hope we can do it again sometime. In fact, anyone reading this feel to PM me if you want my AIM/MSN/whatever. I'll teach you how to properly operate a luckbox.

Bankroll: $1285.41

587 hands, -$51.70

Pretty lousy session. Toward the end I was being mindlessly aggressive, which culminated on this ridiculous hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG ($51)
MP ($49.75)
Hero ($55)
SB ($43.30)
BB ($34.80)

Preflop: Hero is Button with

,

.
2 folds, Hero raises to $2, SB calls $1.75, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($6)

,

(3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $1, Hero raises to $5, SB folds, BB calls $4.

Turn: ($16)

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $10, BB raises to $20, Hero raises to $38.5, BB calls $7.80 (All-In).

River: ($71.60)

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $71.60

Results in white below:
BB has Tc Qc (straight, queen high).
Hero has 9s Td (one pair, nines).
Outcome: BB wins $71.60. Hero wins $10.70.

That's when I decided that it was time to call it a night. Considering how badly I played the entire session I feel very fortunate to be down only a buyin. I wouldn't say I was tilting per se, because nothing really happened to provoke me. Maybe I was tired. Maybe it had something to do with spoonitnow being at a few of my tables and I was subconsciously trying to show off. The reason isn't really important. I'm just glad that I eventually recognized my poor state of mind and called it quits. In the future I hope I can recognize that more quickly.

Bankroll: 1,233.71

Your post reminded me of the gauntlet tonight

keep going m8

1,467 hands, +$45.65

Meh. It's been a profitable day, but overall a somewhat disappointing session. One of the first hands I played today, I got AA all-in preflop and lost to AKo. There were a few other suckouts, and perhaps a few hands I lost that I should have gotten away from. But I feel like I played pretty solid overall, though I think I may need to make some adjustments.

Strangely enough, it seems that there are alot more stations at 50NL. Well actually, I've yet to determine whether they're floaters or stations. I seem to recall moving to a new game and thinking that everyone had suddenly gotten trickier and were exploiting my tendency to c-bet everything, before realizing they were just a bunch of dumb call stations. I suspect that this may be the case here.

I'm still not very comfortable c-betting, especially at 6-max and especially when I'm constantly getting looked up. I keep going in circles. At first I was a supernit, basically playing my FR game short-handed. Then I opened up a bit and started raising alot more hands (PPs in any position; K9s+, Axs, etc. in MP; and all kinds of crap in LP). Now at 50NL, it seems that my preflop aggression and subsequent continuations are a huge leak.

Then again, this could just be a recurring concept that I struggle with and I'm just getting frustrated over a small sample. One of the most difficult adjustments I've had to make for 6-max has been raising preflop with a wider range. For some reason, I feel like it's my god-given right to win the majority of pots that I enter. I just HATE raising a hand preflop and missing. I hate it even more when I fire a bet and get called. I really really hate it when this happens over and over again, and it makes me wonder why I'm raising anything but JJ+ in the first place. When I get into these funks it makes me cringe when I'm dealt AQs UTG. I know I'm probably not going to hit the flop and that there's a good chance that my c-bet isn't going to win me the pot, so why don't I just fold?

This is obviously something I really need to work on, and until I get more confident in my postflop game I'm going to tighten up. This might actually be closer to optimal since most tables I play are very loose. Maybe I'm not supposed to be playing this aggressively in the first place. Or, perhaps I should just play closer attention to my opponents and determine who I should and should not be c-betting against.

After rereading those last few paragraphs, I sound clueless and panicky (lol). I don't think I'll make too drastic of a change. I'm just going tone down the aggression a bit and mostly just wait for big hands. In the meantime I'll reread some stuff on c-betting and SH aggression. I think I'll save myself some headaches and perhaps some money if I don't contest so many small to medium sized pots with weak hands.

Bankroll: $1,279.36

Interesting thoughts. The whole c-betting thing is one I am working very hard to improve and has been my main focus lately. Maybe we can go over some ideas or something. AA<AK = ghey.Keep on moving the BR though.

cbetting is overrated

411 hands, +$124.57
Cleared Bonus, +$10.00
Dad's drunken SnG's, +$28

My father's insistence on showing up unannounced and playing SnGs on my account might have annoyed me if he didn't keep miraculously winning. The fact that he keeps letting me pocket the profits helps too.

I've decided that there is a time and place for positional looseness, preflop aggression, and high-percentage c-betting. Sometimes it's dependent on what particular opponents I'm playing, but for the most part I think it's best to tone it down at 50NL. I'm not having any problems playing tight and having my big hands paid off. In fact, it's surprisingly similar to 5NL and 10NL. If I happen to be at a table full of weak/tight nits (God forbid) then I'll loosen up and roll over them, and if I'm playing against loose call stations then I'm c-betting less and strolling through value town. I'm not going to deviate from my default nitty camper style unless someone at the table gives me a reason to.

I'm very close to my finishing this phase of my op, and part of me wanted to stay up a bit later and finish it off. But, well, I'm tired and a bit cranky. I don't think I'm in the right state of mind to play poker. It sucks because I'm missing out on the drunk tardfest that is Friday night at Stars. Oh well, I'll get 'em tomorrow. Tonight I'm just going to relax and perhaps think about how I want to approach Phase III.

Bankroll: $1441.93

Nah, $200 just isn't enough for me. I'm too balla for that Wink

Sorry the hijack!

1,041 hands, -$221.05

Emo

Bankroll: $1,220.88

314 hands, -$128.55

Emo

Bankroll: $1,092.33

I gotta say I was reading the last dozen or so posts thinking "when is he going to hit a cooler"? 7 buyins - ouch, and I know:

(my October graph - okay, it's 11 buyins, with an annoying little false dawn in the middle. Also, notice the sexy upswing immediately beforehand - look familiar?)

Yeah, very familiar.

That's my career at 50NL. Cold enough for ya?

Losing 25% of my bankroll in one day was very disheartening. Fortunately, I still have some cushion left to fight it out. I'll have to blow $242.33 before reaching my self-imposed stop-loss of $850. I know that's only 5 buyins and it could easily happen, but if I ended up having to drop back down to 25NL, that could be devastating.

Nothing unusual happened. KK < AA, TP+FD < overpair, overpair < TP (trips on river), TP < overpair x2, etc. I've happily stacked off in such situations many times before. It's just never happened so many times in such a short span. To make matters worse, I didn't win a single pot larger than 50bbs.

I know this all sounds very noobish and whiney, but this is a new experience for me. Not since my crash and burn last year (which was probably due to horrible play) have I had such a downswing. I wondered aloud earlier in this op how I would handle it when I eventually hit a cooler, and now it seems that I'm not taking it very well.

As I typed this, I was actually 4-tabling a bit as there happened to be a few decent tables on Stars. I've just closed the tables down and booked a profit of $45, so I guess I'm feeling a little better. If I were just now taking a shot at 50NL and won a buyin in a few hundred hands, I would feel great. Perhaps it would be best if I just pretended that the last 4,000 hands never happened.

Hehe. But, as you know, it's all part of the learning process - in this case, it's teaching your psyche to be more resilient, accustomising you to the substantial losses you're likely to experience weekly or more from now on.

I had pretty much exactly the same experiences as you - KK vs AA all in pre-flop twice (both times against aggro villains who 3-bet a fair amount pre-flop), and about 5 buyins lost with overpairs vs sets and TPTK vs overpairs. I am slightly concerned about these - one of my biggest leaks is that I fold too easily with good hands, so I've been doing me best not to, and I thought it was working - the last 2,000 hands are maybe indicating something else. Or, it's just variance.

Hmm, maybe I should post about this in my own operation thread Smile

Gyno, do you ever play the gauntlet? If not, you should!

GL, dude! I'm playing stars $50 at the mo too. I'm finding it good Smile

Hopefully I won't hit a massive downswing soon! Currently I'm running about 10ptbb/100 over 7k hands @ 25NL and 50NL, so all is good. Hope you get back on your heater soon!

Yeah, I've played in the Gauntlet every Wednesday this season. Bigred knocked me out of the first 2 with coinflips. 3rd game I played badly and donked out. Then last week I got crippled with KK < 88, then lost a coinflip (can't remember what it was) then QKs < T9s to finish me off.

I don't think I stand much chance of finishing top 10 Sad

Lol, you could have picked a better hand than that! k thanks

271 hands, +$70.25

After reading spoonitnow's thread on bonuses and Rakebacks, and consulting with biondino about the state of Full Tilt, I've decided to move $600 there. My FPP's at Stars are not worth very much, and I find myself dry heaving every time I look at my contributed rake on PT. I'll keep the rest of my money at Stars, but I will only be playing the juiciest tables there.

My rectum is still sore, but I'm easing my way back into a comfortable position. I now have a $312.58 cushion and hopefully I can widen the gap in the coming days. I know it's only 271 hands, but hey I'm a busy man. I've got places to go, football to watch, and obscene quantities of cheap American beer to drink. I'm living the dream, baby!

Bankroll: $1,162.58

I've been busy with life lately and haven't logged many hands. I did deposit $500 at FTP (ePass wouldn't let me do 600) but I've only played 20 or so hands, lost about $5 and for some reason can't get the hand histories to work properly. I've contacted customer support, and I don't intend to play there anymore until it gets resolved. I really really love Poker Tracker, and reviewing my sessions has become a ritual that I can't stand breaking.

In non-poker related news, I've accidentally quit smoking. I drank a lot on Sunday and was real hung over on Monday. I just lazed around all day and felt too sick and groggy to walk out to the parking garage to retrieve my cigarettes and lighter. Now it's Wednesday and I still haven't had a smoke. I imagine this may have an impact on poker and other life pursuits, as I may find myself stressed out and highly irritable. I think I'll be fine as long as I am lucid and aware of my emotional state.

Hey man, you're doing well, why don't you pop into IRC some time and have a chat? Also Smoking is good for you, my doctor told me so.

I haven't played a single hand since Sunday (unless you count the 2 minutes I spent fiddling with FTP or that rigged FTR tourney). I didn't take this break intentionally, but now that I have I feel refreshed. My batteries are recharged and I can march on to November with a clean slate. My only concern is that I may have gotten a bit rusty. I vaguely recall taking a similar break and playing quite badly for the first few hours of my return. When I resume my journey tonight, I may decide to play just one or two tables to acclimate myself.

After skimming through the October results thread, I wondered how my results for October looked. After applying the appropriate filter to Poker Tracker I was surprised to see that I had only played 14k hands for a profit of $408. Of course, this doesn't include any hands played at Cake, but it's still a somewhat disappointing number. One of my primary goals was to play more hands, and this month I'd like to crush last month's record. Let's see if I can't double it.

Whoops, I've smoked 3 cigarettes since Sunday. That's still an astoundingly small number, considering I used to smoke nearly a pack a day. Still, it seems that cold turkey isn't going to work for me. I'm not throwing any money at the gum or patch, so perhaps I can wean myself off them?

You could just see how long you go on smoking a fag a day - it's
s a massive improvement after all. The important thing is you are 100% sure in your head you want to give up - even a tiny little uncertainty will end in disaster. If you're not 100%, then work on the psyche before actually quitting for good.

Btw I am around tonight, probably playing, if you want to chat about poker!

744 hands, -$187.50
Gauntlet VI Registration, -$5.50

I don't have much to say about last night's session. It was just another one of those nights where I couldn't get a hand to hold up. By the end of it, I succumbed to tilt and donked away a buy-in on this hand:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($57.30)
SB ($50.45)
BB ($57.50)
UTG ($23.30)
UTG+1 ($59.25)
MP1 ($47.25)
MP2 ($42.75)
MP3 ($61.30)
Hero ($49.25)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q

, K

.
5 folds, Hero raises to $2, Button raises to $6.75, 2 folds, Hero calls $4.75.

Flop: ($14.25) 2

, Q

, J

(2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $10, Hero raises to $24.5, Button raises to $60.55 (All-In), Hero calls $18 (All-In).

Turn: ($99.25) 5

(2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($99.25) 8

(2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $99.25

Results in white below:
Hero has Qh Kd (one pair, queens).
Button has Ad Ac (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Button wins $99.25.

Naturally, I called it a night after that. I wish I had realized that I was getting frustrated and saved myself $50. I'm almost out of cushion. I'm getting very close to having to drop down to 25NL, and the thought of that makes me sick. Everything about the last 5,000 hands makes me sick. Maybe one day this will look like a small hiccup on my life graph, but right now it looks pretty ugly:

If I'm going to stay at 50NL my luck will have to change very soon. Tonight I'll burn up my FPPs on satellites and hopefully give myself some breathing room. If not, I only have another $120 to spare before dropping down.

Sad

Bankroll: $969.58

1,342 hands, +$217.60
FPP Sattelite win, +11 tournament dollars

847 hands, +$165.05
Dad's drunken SnGs, -$22.00, -T$11

It's hard for me to get annoyed with my father since he's padded my BR in the past. Still, I wish he be a bit more sensible. Open limping with Axs in MP late in a SnG with an M of 6 makes me want to hurl. I try not to watch him play anymore, but I think I should at least post a sign by my computer that says "NO LIMPING".

I know I say this all the time, but there weren't too many hands of interest last night. Maybe I just don't know what an interesting hand looks like anymore. I think they used to be hands that I struggled with, and couldn't determine the best decision. Nowadays, the decisions come easier to me (though that doesn't necessarily mean I'm making more correct ones).

For instance, I spoke with biondino yesterday about a hand that I felt I played poorly. After posting the HH, he agreed, and offered his reasoning on a more optimal line. However, closer examination resulted in me changing my mind! Here's the hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (4 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($50)
UTG ($86.80)
Hero ($68.90)
SB ($21.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9

, 9

.
1 fold, Hero raises to $2, 1 fold, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.25) 6

, 9

, Q

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3, BB calls $3.

Turn: ($10.25) 6

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $6, BB raises to $12, Hero calls $6.

River: ($34.25) 7

(2 players)
BB bets $9, Hero calls $9.

Final Pot: $52.25

Results in white below:
BB has Ts Ac (flush, ace high).
Hero has 9h 9s (full house, nines full of sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins $52.25.

This is one of those "uninteresting" hands that I normally wouldn't post. I initially felt that flat calling the river was weak and that I should have pushed for value. I "knew" I played it wrong and what I should have done differently. Mark agreed, but after a few minutes I realized that the river card destroyed villain's calling range. If he had something like 5c4c or a naked 6, he wasn't going to call a shove. He was mostly going to call with hands that beat mine. I decided that 3-bet shove on the turn was probably the best move, with my initial line being a close 2nd. (in Mark's defense, I don't think he noticed that there was 4 to a flush on the river)

My reasoning may very well be flawed, but the fact remains that I dismissed this hand as unworthy of further review. The only reason I even told biondino about it was because I was disappointed with myself for passing up value. It was initially just a vent. I wonder how many more "interesting" hands I have in my database that I shelved. After today's football game I intend to take a closer look and hopefully recover some post-worthy hands.

Bankroll: $1,328.23

205 hands, +$76.30
FTR500 Registration, -$5.50

I hate putting in such short sessions, but the action at Stars dried up very quickly tonight.

So I reexamined my PT database and found that a big part of my downswing was due to tilt and getting carried away with TPGK. Sometimes both. Several hands went like this:

In Position:

I raise with two face cards.
I hit my pair on the flop.
Villain leads, I r/r all-in.
I lose to overpair/2pair/set

Out of position:

I raise with two face cards.
I hit my pair on the flop.
I c/r all-in.
I lose to overpair/2pr/set

Those were just hands in which I was tilting. Quite a few played similarly where I got all the money in in a slightly less retarded fashion. This is exactly the sort of thing I worried about when I first made this op thread. Playing for stacks with TPTK or even TPGK was unbelievably profitable at 5nl and 10nl. Now it doesn't work anymore and it has cost me dearly to figure that out.

Of course there were some bad beats and coolers mixed in, but that didn't account for all 11 buy-ins as I naively believed at first. This has been an expensive lesson, but hopefully it will pay for itself. I'm still hard-pressed to find "hands of interest", but there are a few in there which I will post tomorrow. It's been a long day and I'm feeling lazy.

Bankroll: $1,399.03

"Never stack off with a pair" is a phrase that's served me well up to now. Obviously never say never, but by and large you should be able to get away from pairs against real strength. Save the all-ins for playing truly terrible players or bluff-catching vs laggs, that kind of thing.

714 hands, +$141.45

Phase II Complete

50NL has been quite an adventure. I thought I had this phase wrapped up 11 days ago, only to have things tailspin out of control. I came dangerously close to dropping back down to 25NL. I tilted some, perhaps panicked a little bit, but I fought through it and fixed a huge leak in my game. It was just one of those growing pains that I foresaw in my Beyond the Basics mission statement, and I'm sure there will be many more to come. Hopefully I will be observant enough to pay less for my next lesson.

Believe it or not, I'm actually beating 50NL for 5.81ptbb/100 through 8,329 hands. Perhaps if I hadn't donked away so many buyins, I could have been crushing this level!

I have alot more I want to post here, but it's getting late. Tomorrow I will post checkup stats, some hands, and my plans for Phase III.

Bankroll: $1,540.48

so whats next?

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Beyond the Basics - Phase III