Beyond the Basics - Phase III

Beyond the Basics

Phase I: Grind my way to $600 - COMPLETE!
Flawed hand analysis and purty graphs
salsa4ever disses my graphs and agitates my dots
I donk off my FPPs and switch to an [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Absolute.php]Absolute skin[/url]
I start pwning 6-max
Poker is easy, just wait for Royals
AA vs. KK philosophy
Phase I complete

Phase II: Get over the hump and onto 50NL ($1500) - COMPLETE!
Progress Report
The Game Plan
I finally realize that I'm over rolled
[url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Absolute.php]Absolute is ZOMG RIGGED, time to retreat[/url]
I manipulate an opponent and get a huge boner
I learn about 3-bet ranges and make hilarious puns
Time to man up and take shots at 50NL
I continue to pwn 6-max
kmind observes as my heater takes a lunch break
I decide to tighten up and stop c-betting so much
spenda gets snarky, kmind challenges him to a dance-off
I finally learn what a downswing feels like (no lube)
I want my Rak3back and B0nus! biondino and spoonitnow convince me to finally deposit at Full T1lt
Top pair is killing me. Variance or leak?
It was a leak; I recover from the "downswing"
Phase II complete

Phase III: Double or Nothing! - in progress
Progress Report
The Game Plan
I chicken out and quit for 4 months
Back in the saddle. I get my feet wet at 25nl
I rack disciprine; use AoK's technique to plug the leak.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello and thanks for reading. Here I will chronicle my journey through the microstakes as well as my development as a poker player. I'm sure my story will be similar to many others, and I don't expect a ton of feedback, so this will probably serve mainly as a personal motivator.

On the 4th of September I deposited $100 into my Stars account. I played SnGs somewhat infrequently for about a week before becoming dissatisfied with my inability to multitable shorthanded among other things. So I switched to full ring 5NL and have since moved up to 10NL.

After 3 weeks and 15,000 hands I have made $190 net profit. The trouble is, I'm not a very good player. More specifically, I'm not a thinking player. I just play very tight, wait for monsters, and get paid off. This is profitable at microstakes, but I know that as I move up I will encounter observant opponents and this will no longer be a practical way to approach the game.

My overall goal is to learn the correct thought processes behind winning poker so that I can profit at mid-stakes. This is not applicable to my current stakes, so for now my goal will be strictly monetary. The plan is to build the bankroll up to $600 and move it to Full Tilt to take advantage of their 100% sign up Bonus. I estimate this will take about 60,000 hands to clear at $25NL, probably fewer depending on how soon I can move up to $50NL.

At some point I would like to switch to 6-max. I'm not comfortable doing so now because I am still wired like a robot and apparently incapable of opening up my game. As I nut peddle at FR I will spend a good deal of time reading about 6-max strategy and make the occasional venture to micro SH tables.

Here are my PT stats thus far:

I should be clearing the Stars $50 Bonus very soon, and I'm going to cheat a little bit and deposit another $100 to speed up the transition to $25NL. I generally 4 table and occasionally 6-7 table on the weekend if I feel that I haven't played enough hands during the week. I am a college student and my studies are top priority, so I sometimes fall behind on my goals for hands played. I have a 2nd monitor in storage and would like to 8-table eventually. I'm not sure if this will require buying a PC or getting some sort of adapter for my laptop. My laptop has a monitor port, which I use for my 20" LCD. Perhaps I could get some sort of splitter.

That's all for now. I have a tendency to ramble sometimes. My apologies if anyone actually read all that, lol.

Bankroll: $290.55

good luck! sounds very familiar.
Your stats look mostly good. Raise more pre-flop, you're currently limping more often than raising. Read and learn about position, your position stats suggest that you don't think about it much - this is important in full-ring and will become even more important if you switch to 6-max.
I'll follow this with interest, especially the Full Tilt experience as I'll also be heading that way for their Bonus soonish...

It's been an interesting day. I managed to get 1,200 hands in and went on a nice little heater. I was flopping sets left and right, and even managed to get paid off on a few of them! To illustrate this, take a gander at my whacked out setometer:

A few hands were worrisome. There are times at 10NL where I feel like I'm obligated to push certain hands because I know how badly my opponents typically play. For example:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP1 ($7.75)
MP2 ($20.55)
MP3 ($8.15)
CO ($11.65)
Hero ($11.60)
SB ($8.60)
BB ($2.85)
UTG ($9.50)
UTG+1 ($12.35)

Preflop: Hero is Button with

,

.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.10, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.10, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.10, SB completes, BB raises to $0.5, UTG+1 calls $0.40, MP2 folds, Hero calls $0.40, SB folds.

Flop: ($1.70)

,

(3 players)
BB bets $2.35 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $2.35, Hero raises to $11.1, UTG+1 calls $8.75.

Turn: ($8.75)

(3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($8.75)

(3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $26.25

Results in white below:
BB has Jd As (one pair, fives).
UTG+1 has 7h 7c (straight, eight high).
Hero has 6d 6h (full house, sixes full of fives).
Outcome: Hero wins $26.25.

I felt uneasy pushing here, but I know that I'm up against draws and overpairs often enough for this to be +EV, even against two opponents. I also know that UTG+1 isn't folding, no matter what he has. Nobody here is capable of laying a hand down after investing 23 bbs. I suspect that this might not be such a good move at 100NL. But here at 10NL I just shove it in and hope for the best. I don't even need to give it much thought, which concerns me. I don't think this is preparing me very well for the higher limits.

Another example:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG ($3.30)
UTG+1 ($8.05)
MP1 ($4.90)
Hero ($10)
MP3 ($11.40)
CO ($6.85)
Button ($6.10)
SB ($10.10)
BB ($11.10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with

,

.
UTG raises to $0.4, UTG+1 calls $0.40, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.5, MP3 raises to $3, 4 folds, UTG raises to $3.3, UTG+1 folds, Hero calls $1.80, MP3 calls $0.30.

Flop: ($10.45)

,

(3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $3.9, Hero raises to $6.7, MP3 calls $2.80.

Turn: ($23.85)

(3 players)

River: ($23.85)

(3 players)

Final Pot: $23.85

Results in white below:
UTG has As Qs (one pair, queens).
Hero has Qd Qh (three of a kind, queens).
MP3 has Ks Kc (one pair, kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $23.85.

MP3's four-bet doesn't concern me very much. I see people do this with silly hands like AJ or TT all the time. I'm not sure why I didn't go over the top preflop. For some reason I just called and decided that I was going to push on the flop as long as no overcards hit.

An obvious flaw in this reasoning is that my opponents aren't always going to make such reckless decisions. From time to time they will actually have monsters and I'm probably going to pay them off. But they're spewing often enough for the trade off to be profitable. However, I know there will come a time when I can no longer bet down TPTK and scoop a huge pot against A-rag. I just wonder when this will be and if I'll be prepared to adjust.

Enough about that though. It's graph time!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I don't know how reliable these EV graphs are, but they seem to indicate that I'm running better than I should. I hope it doesn't cool off any time soon.

So after clearing my $50 Bonus and making $41 at the tables, it's been a fantastic day. My $100 should be loaded into ePass by Thursday, by which time I'll probably be ready to tackle $25NL.

Bankroll: 373.85

GL with the OPS.

first of all, thanks for getting rid of that piece of shit "OW MY EYES" fucking avatar.

Keep your focus and your discipline. For now, don't worry about your "unskillful play". Keep winning, keep building. You ARE learning. By playing "unskilfully" you're learning some of the most important skills that will carry across all the games - table selection, discipline, not chasing shit hands, emotional control, Bankroll Management. These same skills will help you whether you play NLH, PLO8, Stud8, HORSE or Razz. Whereas learning to make "moves", is not only counterproductive when you haven't mastered those skills I talked about beore, and will not transfer across games.

quit stuffing around with that graph shit and focus on playing well the cards you get dealt and the flops you receive.

the results will take care of themselves. you know whether you're running hot (you are) or not.

See also: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/forum/poker-28841.htm --> written in my holdem days when I did not have much mastery of the game, but I would routinely grind out thousands. Nowadays I just pwn my chosen game (PLO and PLO8). But it's a process. You can't get to zenlike ownage right away you gotta build it slowly.

You make excellent points, and I know that I'm putting the cart before the horse. I guess I'm just nervous about the future and perhaps a little bored playing mindless robot poker. Although I suppose it would be best if I just focused on the task at hand of building the roll and minimizing mistakes. I still have alot to learn before I worry myself about the metagame.

And hey, I like the graphs! Don't be dissin' my graphs, man. You're agitatin' my dots!

"I make alot of graphs."

In your QQ hand did you have a read that he cbets a lot? And thank you for changing your avatar Smile

. Good luck.

Not a great session tonight, but not a bad one either. I just got 1,100 hands in for a profit of $11.90. I won some big pots, but a lost a few big ones too making this session less than stellar. Flopped set vs. 2 pair (he fills up on the river), TPTK vs. flopped set (I pay him off), and a bunch of hands where my C-Bets met resistance forcing me to c/f.

I'm going to goof off for a little while, but I might put in a few more hours later.

Bankroll: 386.65

Just logged another 1,000 hands and broke even. I won some decent pots, but they were negated again by silly things like AA<AJs and another FH over FH. Pretty frustrating stuff, but I try not to think about it. I've nearly quadrupled my roll in less than a month, which is very encouraging. I think I'm ready for $25NL, so I'm pretty much just waiting for my ePass deposit to go through.

But who knows? Maybe I'll go on a SICK heater before that time and get jump on it sooner! Smile

Bankroll: $387.55

Keep posting hands please. Good job so far!

108 hands, -$6.05

Yuck.

I only played 108 hands because a few of these hands annoyed me, it's very early, and I can feel myself becoming noticeably irritable. I think I'll take a little break and put in some work later.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($4.15)
BB ($20.35)
UTG ($1.40)
UTG+1 ($9.70)
Hero ($9.60)
MP2 ($1.90)
MP3 ($9.90)
CO ($22.60)
Button ($9.80)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A

, A

.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.5, 5 folds, BB calls $0.40, UTG+1 folds.

Flop: ($1.15) 6

, 7

, 3

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.8, BB calls $0.80.

Turn: ($2.75) 3

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2.1, BB calls $2.10.

River: ($6.95) 7

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $6.95

Results in white below:
BB has 3c Ac (full house, threes full of sevens).
Hero has As Ah (two pair, aces and sevens).
Outcome: BB wins $6.95.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

CO ($1.80)
Button ($14.50)
SB ($9.75)
BB ($20.30)
Hero ($9.80)
MP1 ($9.90)
MP2 ($10.75)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with

,

.
Hero raises to $0.4, 5 folds, BB calls $0.30.

Flop: ($0.85)

,

(2 players)
BB bets $0.4, Hero raises to $1.4, BB calls $1.

Turn: ($3.65)

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($3.65)

(2 players)
BB bets $3.5, Hero calls $3.50.

Final Pot: $10.65

Results in white below:
BB has 8s 7s (flush, jack high).
Hero has Jd Ac (one pair, jacks).
Outcome: BB wins $10.65.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

SB ($6.45)
BB ($6.70)
UTG ($3.75)
UTG+1 ($10.70)
MP1 ($11.15)
Hero ($9.70)
MP3 ($7.75)
CO ($5.85)
Button ($3.85)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with

,

.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $0.2, Hero raises to $0.7, 2 folds, Button raises to $1.2, 2 folds, MP1 folds, Hero calls $0.50.

Flop: ($2.75)

,

(2 players)
Hero bets $1, Button raises to $2.65, Hero calls $1.65.

Turn: ($8.05)

(2 players)

River: ($8.05)

(2 players)

Final Pot: $8.05

Results in white below:
Hero has Tc Th (full house, eights full of tens).
Button has Kh Ad (three of a kind, eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $8.05.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

BB ($5.60)
UTG ($10)
MP1 ($12.10)
MP2 ($11.90)
Hero ($13.35)
Button ($14.90)
SB ($5.75)

Preflop: Hero is CO with

,

.
UTG calls $0.10, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.5, 1 fold, SB calls $0.45, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.40.

Flop: ($1.60)

,

(3 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $0.8, SB folds, UTG calls $0.80.

Turn: ($3.20)

(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks.

River: ($3.20)

(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $2, UTG folds.

Final Pot: $3.20

Results in white below:
Hero has Tc Ad (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: Hero wins $3.20.

I don't like the way I played any of these hands. Perhaps I should give myself a few hours to wake up before playing from now on.

Bankroll: 381.40

Edit: White is a bit too visible on this background. Double post!

I've just had a nice breakfast and I'm looking at the aforementioned hands with a fresh set of eyes. I'll post my thoughts on them, but since hindsight has probably compromised my objectivity I will post them in white. If anyone is reading this, I would appreciate your thoughts as well.

Hand 1: Actually, I think I played this one fine. Preflop is good, flop bet is good, turn bet... well I know this is 10NL and many opponents will call preflop with almost anything. A3 and 45 is certainly in his range, but so are lots of other hands. I think draws, TP and overpairs call often enough to make this +EV. Checking behind on the river looks fine too. I'm not beating very many hands now, and I'm not getting called unless I'm behind.

Hand 2: Ugh. First off, I have no idea whether I should be raising UTG with AJo. I'm struggling right now with playing TT, JJ, QJ, KJ, AT, and AJ in early position. In middle to late position I'm raising these hands just about every time. The main reason is that I hate C-Betting out of position, but it also presents me with difficult situations even when I hit. But I digress. PFR aside, I like the raise on the flop. If he's drawing, I want him to pay for it. If he has a set or overpair, he'll probably reraise me and allow me to throw the hand away cheaply. I expect hands like JT, QJ, and KJ to just call. That turn card sucks, because it just completed alot of draws. Against a thinking player, I could safely assume that he wasn't likely on any sort of draw because I gave him bad odds. But this is 10NL, so I don't know if he could have a pair of Jacks or a monster. Checking behind seems like the right play. I really don't know WTF I was thinking calling that river bet. If I was unwilling to value bet on the turn, why the hell am I calling a pot sized bet on the river when every draw imaginable has completed? Terrible call. It's extremely unlikely that I'm ahead.

Hand 3: Min-raises annoy me, I think the reraise is good. Min 3-bets really annoy me, but it should be a red flag that tells me I'm behind. He's probably got AA-JJ, AK or AQ. I don't know why I called. In my experience, most shorties will push any flop once they've raised preflop. I guess my reasoning for this flop bet was to stop AK or AQ in it's tracks and prevent him from stealing this pot from me. Following that logic, the reraise should tell me that I'm actually up against an overpair. But now there's $6.40 in the pot and it's only costing me $1.65, so I guess I have no choice but to call. I probably should have checked the flop and folded to a push.

Hand 4: PFR looks good. I wouldn't C-Bet against 2 opponents if I completely missed, but I have middle pair and I can't allow flush draws to have free cards. That said, my bet is weak. I'm usually betting about 2/3 - 3/4 of the pot, so why the weakness? I don't know. I guess I'm afraid of a Queen. Is it possible that someone would slowplay top pair on a connected board? Yes, probably. I've seen worse. Turn is a blank. Why am I checking behind? I don't know, I must be thoroughly convinced that I'm up against a Queen. The way I've played the hand so far is as if I completely missed the flop. My C-Bet was called, and now I'm shutting it down. The only difference is, I would normally C-Bet bigger than 1/2 pot. River is a T. Hooray! I'm not afraid of your Queen anymore! 2/3 pot bet, bitch! Call me, I dare you. Wait, what's that? You were on the flush draw all along? FUCK.

165 hands, -$1.70
Gauntlet VI Registration, -$5.50

I didn't intend on having another short session, but my internet crapped out on me. You see, I'm living in a student apartment unit near my university, and the bandwidth here is shit. Fortunately, we have the option to upgrade service for a fee, which is precisely what I did after Poker Stars froze up. It had been a small issue in the past, but this was the first time I had actually timed out of a hand and was auto-sat. I should be surfing the intertubes at blazing fast speed sometime this evening.

I have also decided to participate in the FTR Gauntlet this season. This may hinder my efforts to build the roll up to $600, but I don't expect it to be a major setback. I'll have to leave some extra funds in my Stars account when switching to Full Tilt. If that means delaying the realization of my goal, I'm okay with that. I expect the competition to be alot of fun, and hopefully a fantastic learning experience. And who knows? Maybe I'll luck out and get a shot at they trophy! Please inform Xianti that I want my hand to be 42 offsuit. After all, that is the answer.

Bankroll: $374.10

405 hands, +$7.35

Despite my upgraded bandwidth, I'm still having lag issues with Poker Stars. On top of that, I have exams coming up next week. So... I may not be able to play as many hands as I would like. I made a thread in the BC regarding my difficulties with the Stars client, so if you're participating in the Gauntlet and you happen to be reading this, HALP ME!!! (unless you want to endure a slow boring tourney tomorrow).

My ePass deposit should go through in a few days, so if I can find the time to squeeze in a few thousand hands and maybe get the roll up to $500, I'll take a stab at $25NL this weekend.

Bankroll: 381.45

281 hands, -$11.30
ePassporte deposit, +$95.00

I've barely played any hands at all recently, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. I have an exam on Monday and another exam on Tuesday, both of which will require heavy study. That's unfortunate, because I usually put in a high volume of hands on the weekend.

The ePass load finally came through. By this point I had expected to be rolled for 25NL, but I am a bit short. However, since I've been having issues with the Poker Stars client, I've decided to switch rooms and do a little Bonus whoring. I'm going to move $400 to Wild Jack Poker and take advantage of the $100 sign up Bonus, which means I'll be rolled for 20NL. It appears to be an easy Bonus to clear, but I hear that customer service is shitty. It will take up to 72 hours for the Bonus to be credited to my account, and estimated cashout time is 36 hours, though I have seen reports of up to a week. *sigh*

If anyone has any better ideas on where I can Bonus whore, I'm all ears. All the other places I've looked have bonuses that will take forever to clear.

Bankroll: $465.00

Screw that, I'm just going to move it over the VegasPoker. The Bonus isn't that great, but it has good traffic and I won't have to worry about cash out times. I'm going to leave some money at Stars for the Gauntlet, but I'll still count it as part of my bankroll for the sake of simplicity.

However, I can't switch over to Full Tilt until I have $600 in my Vegas account. That means I may have to adjust my BR goal to something like $650.

In other news, I've blown all my FPPs on turbo satellites. Can't believe I couldn't take one of those down Sad

Soooooo lame. I try to cash out to my ePass account, but the only option available is to have a check mailed to me. I shoot an e-mail to customer support and am informed that I have to make a deposit with ePass before I can cash out there.

Fine. So I go ahead and make a small deposit into the stars account and then attempt to cash out. Oh, sorry, you have to wait 48 HOURS until your last deposit is processed.

Oh well, I didn't intend to play much this weekend anyway.

256 hands, +$18.35

Wow. 6-max is crazy. I decided to quit while ahead because I felt that I was playing very badly. Fortunately, I made some big hands, and almost every single one got payed off! It seems that players here are more willing to stack off with top pair and other such marginal holdings.

It was nice to get my feet wet at a SH table, but I still don't have any idea what I'm doing. I was raising almost any two on the button, 3 betting with all kinds of crap, and showing down much worse hands than I usually would. In fact, I was playing almost the complete opposite of how I usually do. I'm usually a huge nit. I knew that aggression and positional awareness was very important at 6-Max, and I guess I got carried away.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($12.50)
Button ($18.20)
SB ($8.50)
BB ($7.40)
UTG ($19.70)
Hero ($10.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 8

, 7

.
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.4, 2 folds, SB calls $0.35, BB calls $0.30.

Flop: ($1.20) K

, 9

, 5

(3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.6, SB calls $0.60, BB folds.

Turn: ($2.40) 6

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.6, SB calls $1.60.

River: ($5.60) Q

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.7, SB calls $3.70.

Final Pot: $13

Results in white below:
SB has 8d Kd (one pair, kings).
Hero has 8s 7s (straight, nine high).
Outcome: Hero wins $13.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

SB ($9.60)
BB ($17)
UTG ($8.35)
MP ($13.35)
CO ($15.75)
Hero ($10.15)

Preflop: Hero is Button with

,

.
2 folds, CO calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.5, 2 folds, CO calls $0.40.

Flop: ($1.15)

,

(2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $0.6, CO calls $0.60.

Turn: ($2.35)

(2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $1.4, CO raises to $2.8, Hero calls $1.40.

River: ($7.95)

(2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $7.95

Results in white below:
CO has 5c 5s (one pair, fives).
Hero has Ah 2c (one pair, twos).
Outcome: CO wins $7.95.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button ($8.35)
SB ($15.70)
BB ($9.90)
Hero ($9.95)
MP ($19.60)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with

,

.
Hero raises to $0.4, 3 folds, BB raises to $1.15, Hero calls $0.75.

Flop: ($2.35)

,

(2 players)
BB bets $1.65, Hero calls $1.65.

Turn: ($5.65)

(2 players)
BB bets $3.55, Hero raises to $7.15, BB calls $3.55 (All-In).

River: ($19.85)

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $19.86

Results in white below:
BB has Qh As (high card, ace).
Hero has 6d 6h (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins $19.89.

Yuck.

So I'm going to spend some more time reading about SH strategy and see if I can actually apply what I've read. Also, I need to stop being a hypocrite about bet sizing. Those are some weak bets. If I play any more today, it will probably be at FR. Depends on how my studying goes.

Bankroll: $483.35

667 hands, +$8.36
Gauntlet VI registration, -$5.50

With my exams out of the way, I expect to put in many more hours than I have been lately. I got my feet wet tonight at Vegas 24/7 poker and was very pleased with the atmosphere. It was much, much softer than the play I'm used to at Stars. The standard of hand with which the typical player will stack off seems to have lowered quite a bit, and I've noticed alot more calling stations paying to draw. However, this is a small sample to draw conclusions from. Time will tell if this trend continues.

But I'm not going to crush these games until I stop throwing money in the pot when I KNOW that I'm beat. I was pretty good about that over the last 15,000 hands, but I guess I've let some bad habits creep back since I took this semi-hiatus. A few examples:

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG+1 ($15.15)
MP1 ($9.45)
MP2 ($11.28)
CO ($11.10)
Hero ($19.95)
SB ($10.05)
BB ($1.95)
UTG ($27.41)

Preflop: Hero is Button with T

, Q

.
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.10, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.5, 2 folds, MP1 calls $0.40.

Flop: ($1.15) T

, 5

, 9

(2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $1, MP1 raises to $4.6, Hero raises to $9.4, MP1 calls $4.35 (All-In).

Turn: ($19.05) A

(2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($19.05) 3

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $19.05

Results in white below:
MP1 doesn't show.
Hero has Td Qd (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Converter is messed up, villain had AA.

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP2 ($14.10)
MP3 ($5)
CO ($9.45)
Button ($7.20)
SB ($3.20)
BB ($8.95)
Hero ($19.90)
UTG+1 ($11.75)
MP1 ($3.35)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with

,

.
Hero calls $0.10, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.10, 2 folds, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($0.40)

,

(5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.3, MP2 calls $0.30, SB calls $0.30, BB folds.

Turn: ($1.30)

(4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.8, MP2 calls $0.80, SB calls $0.80.

River: ($3.70)

(4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP2 bets $2.5, SB folds, Hero calls $2.50.

Final Pot: $8.70

Results in white below:
Hero has 4c 4d (three of a kind, fours).
MP2 doesn't show.
MP3 doesn't show.
Outcome: Converter is messed up, villain had A8 for the straight.

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP2 ($14.90)
MP3 ($9.90)
CO ($3.10)
Button ($11.53)
SB ($10.20)
Hero ($19.95)
UTG ($3.25)
UTG+1 ($3.40)
MP1 ($27.81)

Preflop: Hero is BB with

,

.
UTG calls $0.10, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.10, 4 folds, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($0.40)

,

(4 players)
SB bets $0.1, Hero raises to $0.4, UTG calls $0.50, MP1 folds, SB folds.

Turn: ($1.40)

(2 players)
Hero bets $1.1, UTG calls $1.10.

River: ($3.60)

(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $1.55 (All-In), Hero calls $1.55.

Final Pot: $6.70

Results in white below:
Hero has Jd Qs (two pair, queens and nines).
UTG doesn't show.
Outcome: Villain has Axs for the flush.

Maybe I'll try out AoK's leak plugging technique and save myself some money.

I'm going to give the Gauntlet another shot tomorrow. The last one was pretty fun, but it ended for me in a disappointing fashion. I'd managed to build up a nice stack, and I had just gotten down to 2 tables when bigred announced that he had to go to sleep. So he pushes all-in every hand and manages to stack a few people with trashy hands, lol. So I pick up 99, raise it 3xbb to isolate, and bigred shoves as expected. Hooray, I think to myself, I'm probably a huge favorite. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a coinflip as he wakes up with AQ and my pair doesn't hold up. As soon as I'm eliminated he declares that he'll see it through to the end. Rolling Eyes

Bankroll: $486.23

Hand 1: Bet pot on flop to extract more value/charge draws more. Turn I'd either c/c or bet closer to pot and fold to any substantial bet. River I'd b/f.
Hand 2: Raise a little more on flop. I'd pot turn and let him tell you if he has a nine. River is one of the worst cards possible so I'd c/f regardless of the great pot odds.

438 hands, +$29.19

For some reason, there is way more action on the 6-max tables than FR at V24/7. Today I only noticed 2 or 3 full ring tables, and they were all filled. That left me little choice but to grow a pair and try my luck at the SH 20NL tables. It's been quite an adjustment. I quit playing poker over a year ago, have only been back for a few months, and so my recent experience is limited exclusively to Poker Stars microstakes. I'd almost forgotten what the old days at Party were like, but it's starting to come back to me. I saw some bizarre things today that I never saw over 15k hands at Stars. The players here, for the most part, are absolutely atrocious.

I don't know if playing very well at 6-max. I'm usually a 15.6/6.6/2.8 nit. I haven't opened my range up too terribly much short handed. So far I'm running 21.7/13.7/3.4. I think I might actually need to tighten up a little bit and nut peddle if the trends I've 0bserved continue. My c-bets aren't getting much respect, but most of my made hands are getting paid.

There I go again, drawing conclusions from small sample sizes. Though I hope my initial impressions turn out to correct, I'll reserve judgment for now and keep my eyes open. I'm off to class now, but I expect to get in some more hands tonight before the Guantlet and perhaps a few hours worth afterward.

Bankroll: $514.60

582 hands, +$29.63

AHHH bigred knocked me out of the Gauntlet again! This time it was a questionable move on my part, when he raised 3x UTG and I pushed from LP with 99. Still, I was a slight favorite as he had AK and lost another flip. The first two games have been eerily similar. Both times I got cold decked, but managed to pick off bluffs and blindsteal my way to a healthy stack through the first hour. And both times I pushed with the first decent PP only to get stacked by bigreds overcards. The 1st time was excusable IMO because he could have been pushing with any 2. This time, I should have known he had a strong hand and I had a decent enough stack so that I should have been able to fold 99. Oh well, better luck next week.

There aren't too many hands of interest in my latest adventures at 6-max, but here are a few hands I think I played badly:

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($19.85)
UTG ($36.21)
MP ($4.77)
Button ($1.50)
SB ($1.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J

, J

.
UTG calls $0.10, MP raises to $0.2, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.7, UTG calls $0.60, MP calls $0.50.

Flop: ($2.15) 9

, 8

, 2

(3 players)
Hero bets $1.5, UTG raises to $3, MP folds, Hero calls $1.50.

Turn: ($8.15) 4

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

River: ($14.15) 6

(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $5, Hero calls $5.

Final Pot: $24.15

Results in white below:
Hero has Jc Jd (one pair, jacks).
UTG had K8
Outcome: Hero wins $24.15.

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Hero ($30.28)
MP ($7.47)
Button ($1.33)
SB ($1.56)
BB ($3.47)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with

,

.
Hero raises to $0.4, MP raises to $0.8, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.40.

Flop: ($1.75)

,

(2 players)
Hero bets $1.5, MP calls $1.50.

Turn: ($4.75)

(2 players)
Hero bets $2.8, MP raises to $5.17, Hero calls $2.37.

River: ($15.09)

(2 players)

Final Pot: $15.09

Results in white below:
Hero has Qc Kc (one pair, queens).
MP has QT D-:
Outcome: MP wins $15.09.

hay doods, did u kno that poker is liek relly EZ? u just gotta kno when to holdem. liek in this hand i knew not to foldem:

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button ($7.05)
SB ($3.35)
Hero ($20.25)
UTG ($5)
MP ($11.95)
CO ($9.10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with

,

.
UTG raises to $0.2, MP calls $0.20, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.9, UTG calls $0.70, MP calls $0.70.

Flop: ($2.75)

,

(3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $2, MP raises to $11, Hero calls $11, UTG calls $2.10 (All-In).

Turn: ($14.95)

(3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, MP raises to $0.05, Hero calls $0.05.

River: ($15.05)

(3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $28.95

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Kh (straight, ace high).
UTG has Ks Qs (one pair, queens).
MP has Jc 10c (two pair, jakcs and tens).
Outcome: Hero wins $28.95.

Bankroll: $544.33

I'm in the middle of a session right now. Just thought I'd pop in and post this:

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($9.75)
BB ($16)
UTG ($18.25)
MP ($5.35)
CO ($21.25)
Hero ($19.85)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q

, J

.
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.4, SB calls $0.35, 1 fold.

Flop: ($0.90) 4

, 6

, A

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.6, SB calls $0.60.

Turn: ($2.10) K

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.4, SB calls $1.40.

River: ($4.90) T

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4.2, SB calls $4.20.

Final Pot: $13.30

Ship it!

681 hands, +$42.74
Cleared Bonus, +$5.00

OMG ROYAL FLUSH, POKUR IS SOOOOO EZ

It's been an interesting night, and I'm very tired. I played a bit longer than I intended because I was trying get to $600 and close the first chapter, but I just broke even the last hour. Oh well, there's a good chance I can cash in on the drunks tomorrow night.

I'll review tonight's hands in the morning and post any that I feel I played badly.

Bankroll: $591.87

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (4 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($2.10)
Hero ($20)
SB ($32.95)
BB ($5.20)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7

, 7

.
UTG calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.5, 1 fold, BB calls $0.40, UTG raises to $2.1, Hero calls $1.60, BB calls $1.60.

Flop: ($6.35) 4

, Q

, 7

(3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.6, BB folds.

Turn: ($7.95) 2

(2 players)

River: ($7.95) 8

(2 players)

Final Pot: $6.35

Results in white below:
Hero has 7h 7d (three of a kind, sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins $6.35.

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button ($11.04)
Hero ($19.60)
BB ($4)
UTG ($20.40)
MP ($3.33)

Preflop: Hero is SB with

,

.
UTG raises to $0.4, MP calls $0.40, Button calls $0.40, Hero raises to $1.6, 1 fold, UTG calls $1.20, MP calls $1.20, Button folds.

Flop: ($5.30)

,

(3 players)
Hero bets $3, UTG calls $3, MP calls $1.73 (All-In).

Turn: ($10.49)

(3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, UTG checks.

River: ($10.49)

(3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, UTG bets $2, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $10.49

Results in white below:
UTG doesn't show.
MP has Qd Td (one pair, tens).
Outcome: MP wins $10.49. UTG wins $2.54.

On the following hand, villain is a 70/30 maniac. His 4-bet totally throws me for a loop. I didn't really want to play for stacks with AK, but I couldn't fold it either. In hindsight, I think the best plays are push, fold, and call, in that order. Guess which one I chose?

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG ($25.70)
MP ($12.80)
CO ($2.95)
Button ($3.65)
SB ($9.15)
Hero ($51.65)

Preflop: Hero is BB with

,

.
UTG calls $0.10, 3 folds, SB raises to $0.7, Hero raises to $2.1, UTG folds, SB raises to $4.2, Hero calls $2.10.

Flop: ($8.50)

,

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($8.50)

(2 players)
SB bets 4.95 , Hero folds.

Final Pot: $8.50

Results in white below:
No showdown. SB wins $8.50.

That's it, really. I'm very happy with the way I played the rest of my hands. Oh, actually there's one more, and I'm going to post it without the converter so the chat log is visible.

Nevermind, I forgot that AP's hand histories suck ass. The chat is not included, so I'll just add it manually.

Villain is a pretty solid player (for these stakes) and I haven't seen him do anything too fancy. His play has been fairly straightforward for the most part.

Absolute Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

BB ($5.60)
UTG ($22.60)
Hero ($19.70)
CO ($9.48)
Button ($8.05)
SB ($34.47)

Preflop: Hero is MP with

,

.
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.4, 1 fold, Button calls $0.40, SB raises to $2.05, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5.6, Button folds, SB says "I have AA" and raises to $28.4, Hero hesitates for a moment and calls $14.10 (All-In).

Flop: ($39.90)

,

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($39.90)

(2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($39.90)

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $39.90

Results in white below:
SB had AA.
Hero has Kd Kc (straight, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins $39.90. SB wins $8.70.

Now of course I have never ever folded KK preflop, and I probably never will. There have been a few times in the past where I suspected that I might be up against AA and put the money in anyway. But this situation was very strange and unique. For some reason, I was 90% sure he had Aces. So why did I call? I can't think of a logical explanation.

I just felt like I had to. You never fold KK preflop, it's a rule. If I play 100,000 hands against somebody who only PFR with AA and limps everything else, I'll still get all the money in preflop and get stacked 80% of the time. I know that makes absolutely no sense at all. It's just a fate that I feel resigned to.

If I never fold KK, and my opponents never fold KK, then the AA vs KK situations break even over time, and everything else is gravy. This makes KK a very easy hand to play preflop and is still very very +EV. I know that this may not be the most optimal way to play it, but it's profitable and I'm not going to give myself headaches over it, especially at these stakes.

It just felt weird to make that call when it was very obviously -EV at the time.

1,083 hands, -$34.48

Oh man, that session made my ass hurt.

It sucks when a maniac draws out on you with something ridiculous, but it sucks even more when he wakes up with a monster and stacks you again because you don't respect his bets.

I think I lost about $15 from spewage, and a much greater sum (that I am in no mood to calculate right now) from bad beats.

I feel okay though, and though I am in reasonably good spirits I think I will take a small break and start anew with a "clean slate". If there was any time I would prefer to hit a downswing, it would be now, because weekend nights are the best opportunities to turn it all around. If I can manage to run well, I should have no problem getting my big hands paid off by the drunks.

Bankroll: $557.39

1,894 hands, +31.07
Cleared Bonus, +$5.00

I'm exhausted. I'll post hands and stuff in the morning.

Bankroll: $593.46

177 hands, +$12.00

I have some errands to run today. I admittedly played those hands just so I could finally get over the $600 hump. I'm very excited to have realized my first goal, which is hopefully the first of many in my journey.

I have to go now, but when I return this evening I have a ton of content I want to post.

BOO-YAH!

Bankroll: $605.46

nice one. Look forward to what's next

why is it the only site ive won on in the last sorta 3 months or so is Absolute where im 10+bbs/100 in games i cant beat elsewhere.

You think the small stakes games are super soft too or is it just all the short stacks?

I would really like to have posted a 20k checkup, but all my stats are muddled. I've played deepstacked tables, regular tables, 6-max tables, full ring, Stars, AP... it would be virtually meaningless information.

So I'm just going to post my profit graph and my position stats for the AP deepstacked 6-max. The sample size is small, and I expect to post more meaningful stats in the near future since I think I'll be focusing all my efforts at 6-max.

I've only played about 11,000 hands in the two weeks since I started this op, and I'm very disappointed with that. I will try to amend this, as well as several other perceived shortcomings, in the second phase of my operation. I will write these up shortly.

Phase II

Primary Goals:

Get to $1500 - Last year I deposited $500 into Party Poker and took a shot at greatness. At 25NL I doubled it over 10k hands. I was probably running extremely well and perhaps I got cocky. For whatever reason, I seemed to hit a wall as soon as my bankroll got up to 4 digits. Whether this was the variance karma ghost coming back to bite me in the ass, some sort of mental block, or bad play due to the extra tables I had added on (I started 10-tabling at that point if I recall correctly), I don't know. But I hit what I perceived as a monster downswing (I now know better) and dropped about $300 before panicking and cashing out.

I must not allow history to repeat itself. Though it may seem an arbitrary number, $1,000 is a huge hump for me. I am older, wiser, and probably a much better player now than I was then. Even so, I'm going to proceed with caution and continue to play 20NL (or perhaps 25NL) until I put comfortable distance between 1k and my bankroll. I might even be a nit about it and wait until $1500 before I play 50NL. I must also fight through the downswings and be fearless. This time around, my initial investment is much smaller, and my personal finances are in better shape. As much as it would suck to go busto, the prospect of losing $195 of real-world money doesn't scare me at all. If things get tough, I'm going to fight to the bitter end. No quitting.

Play more hands - Unfortunately, I cannot commit myself to a quantitative goal here. Being a student is my job, and poker is a hobby that may possibly help pay the bills in the future, but not right now. There will be times when I'll have my hands full with school, and I just won't be able to put in as many hands as I'd like.

That said, I'm still slacking a bit. I'm usually 4-tabling on one monitor and reading forums and news sites on the other. I play 6-7 tables sometimes, but not often enough. I also take frequent cigarette breaks because I'm a moron and I can't quit. There's really not much I can do about that, but I'm going to try to make each session at least 2 hours.

On a good week, I should be able to put in about 10k hands. I can't foresee any circumstances that would prevent me from playing at least 5k.

Secondary Goals:

Digest starting hand requirements - Beyond the basics? Forget that, lets get back to fundamentals. I've played 5,000 hands at 6-max and I'm still playing by feel. There's no consistency. I sometimes ask myself why I'm folding AT under the gun when I raised with KJ in the same position 2 orbits ago. It's amazing how much I suck preflop. I need to get a clue.

Learn to deal with shortstacks - I have no way of discerning this via PokerTracker, but I'm pretty sure the shorties are kicking my ass. I'm afraid to c-bet them, and I seem to call their pushes with worse hands with alarming regularity. I just don't know how to play post-flop against these guys when they're pot committed every hand. Having a few on my left makes me want to just start limping everything. I'm starting to think that the only defense for this is better table selection.

Identify my other leaks and plug them - I might be beating these stakes, but I know they're there. My game is like a sponge. It's soaking up money, but it's still full of holes. Tons of them. Even more so than my other secondary goals, I'm going to need help with this one. If anyone here at this fine forum actually reads this thread with any regularity, please feel free to give me an emphatic kick in the ass and point out my shortcomings.

Read more - I'm going to fail the other 3 secondary goals if I don't satisfy this one. Aside from reading and posting here at FTR, I would like to closely examine SmackinYaUp's guide, the stickies at FTR's SH forum, and perhaps some threads at 2+2 if I can find anything specific to 6-max. I can't believe they don't have a short-handed forum there.

At some point, I also need to decide where to take my bankroll. I have been heavily discouraged from moving to Full Tilt by a few veteran members here. For now, I'll just stick with my AP skin, but I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for good Bonus whoring opportunities.

dont go for quantity of hands while you are still unsure you are developing an easy winning style.
Im the best example of that, i barely play 15k a month and have gone from a winning 100nl player to a -2bbs/100 200nl loser.

Fwiw, i asked about microstakes AP becasue normlly when micro stakes agmes are good then guys who move into small and mid stakes games have needed less skill to actually get there and i wondered if this was the case.
2+2'ers on AP stick out like a sore thumb at 50nl+

427 hands, +$2.58
Cleared Bonus, +$5.00

I've been pretty busy today, paying bills, going to class, etc. I've squeezed in a short session without any memorable hands.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm playing the correct stakes though. I have considered deepstacked .05/.1 to be 20NL. However, almost nobody is buying in full. In fact, an overwhelming number of players are buying in for $10 or less. It's essentially like playing 10NL, which I am way overrolled for.

However, if I move up to .10/.25 and buy in for $25, I'll still encounter quite a few players buying in for the max of $50. I'm not sure if I'm ready to play for $100 pots yet. But if it's anything like the games I've been playing, most players won't buy in for the max, and those that do typically avoid playing big pots with me, as I do them.

I think I'll mix in a few .10/.25 tables and get comfortable playing them. Perhaps by the end of the week I'll play it exclusively.

Bankroll: $612.04

663 hands, +$19.13
Gauntlet VI Registration, -$5.50
Cleared Bonus, +$5.00

I now realize that over the last 5k hands or so, I've essentially been playing 20NL with training wheels. Deep-stacked .05/.1 is really just 10NL with 200bb+ pots occurring a bit more frequently. It wasn't a complete waste of time, because I've had to make adjustments to short-handed play at a new site. However, I think it's time to take the training wheels off.

So instead of adding tables gradually as I had originally intended, I jumped straight into it today. I was determined to play my normal game and not be afraid of the larger bet sizes. At first, it seemed like that attitude was counter-productive. After making some position raises, my c-bets were meeting heavy resistance. I was getting min-raised, floated (seemingly), and one player actually pushed on an unconnected rag board and proudly showed me that he did it with air.

I wasn't sure what to make of it all. It was hard to tell whether these players were actually observant that I was c-betting [almost] every time I raised preflop and were exploiting me, or if they were just a bunch of loose action junkies. Naturally, I assumed the former because players are supposed to get tougher as one moves up in stakes, but it quickly became apparent that it was the case was actually closer to the latter.

At DS 10NL, the field consisted of about 50% shortstacks, 30% spewtards, 10% weak/tight rocks, and 10% decent, solid players. It seems that up at .10/.25 most of the shortstacks are gone, leaving a higher distribution of LAGGs and less reason for me to open up my PFR range.

I'm very pleased with this environment. Shortstacks were giving me a hard time, and now there are far fewer of them for me to deal with. Strangely enough, the average player at this level is actually much worse. I said earlier in this thread that I believed I could double my winrate if everyone bought in full. Though it seemed a bold statement at the time, I would not be surprised if it turns out to be true. These tables appear to be incredibly soft.

Bankroll: $630.67

143 hands, +$5.35
AP Mystery Money, +$19.00

So I was 4-tabling on one monitor and reading forums on the other (I know, I'm not supposed to do that anymore), and I discovered that AbsoluteGate is really starting to heat up. They've been blacklisted by BonusWhores and P5's has pulled all their AP banners. Further analysis of the master HH from the Potripper tournament has shown that it may have been an inside job. There is speculation that AP could shut down in the near future and that keeping money there might be risky.

So I shut down all my tables and considered the risk I was taking with half my bankroll at Vegas 24/7 (an AP skin). In light of the most recent developments, I've decided to jump ship. It's really very unfortunate, because the games there are fantastic and the Bonus is pretty decent. All I've really wanted out of a room was PT support, a decent Bonus, and soft tables. I had all those things with AP, and I know I'm going to be hard pressed to find another room like it. For now, I guess I'll switch back to Stars and keep an eye out for attractive Bonuses, though I doubt I'll find any.

Interestingly enough, I loaded up an old AP account a few days ago and discovered that I had $19.00 in the account. I don't know if it was one of those promotional deals where they feed your account, or if it was left over from years past, but I decided to deposit a small amount so that I could get it above the minimum withdrawal level. I received an E-Mail today from ePass informing me that the cashout was a success!

As far as jumping ship goes, I'm facing a small dilemma with Rakeback. I'm owed about $22 so far, which I'll receive either on the 20th of this month, or the 20th of next month. My Rakeback affiliate isn't entirely clear on this, but I think it's probably next month. I wonder if I should withdraw all but $30 so I can get my Rakeback. Or.. perhaps I could just withdraw all of it now and see what happens down the road. Perhaps if AP hasn't completely folded by that point, I could deposit $30 and immediately withdraw like I did with the mystery money. Yes, I think the latter choice is probably the best way to go.

Bankroll: $655.02

~400 hands, +$24.58

So I've moved about 60% of my bankroll over to Cake Poker. After spending an hour there, my feelings on this decision are mixed. The players there are terrible. I saw lots of people stacking off with TPWK, middle pair, and even gutshots. These tables are even softer than AP. The Bonus there is relatively easy to clear as well. I don't know if I'm going to stick around to clear it, because there are some things I don't like about this site, but this place looks like an ATM at first glance.

Okay, so what I don't like about Cake: I really hate the interface. I can't resize the tables, which is a huge bummer. I played 5 tables today with alot of overlap. Perhaps I could squeeze in one more, but that's about it. There are also bet 1/2 pot and bet full pot buttons. Surprisingly, I didn't see many people making use of those functions, but I know that it can be a major drawback when the fish inadvertently make better decisions. Poker Tracker is not supported by Cake, which is why I have to estimate how many hands I've played (~400). Every table has 10 seats, even 6-max tables, so it can be difficult to see which games are drying up when multi-tabling. Cake is a pretty small site without much traffic, but I managed to play 5 tables of 6-max with VPIPs over 50%, so perhaps this won't be much of an issue at my stake.

I still have another $300 floating around, pending my AP withdrawal. I can only pray that the money finds it's way back to my ePass account. If/when it does, I'll have to decide what to do with it. Perhaps I can find a more stable room with a small Bonus. For now, I think the plan is to build the roll up to $1,000 and move it all to Bodog. The 10% Bonus should be a cinch to clear and I hear it's one of the fishiest rooms around. I hear people say that Bonus whoring is more profitable at higher stakes, and that making money at the micros is easy enough, but I would argue that a huge chunk of my roll is comprised of cleared bonuses. I'm going to take advantage of them while the going's good.

Bankroll: $679.60

~600 hands, +$32.44
Cleared Bonus, +$10.00

I know this sounds really stupid, but I'm disappointed that none of my progress at Cake can be tracked in PT and even more disappointed that it can't be graphed. If things go as expected, and I'm playing 50NL or perhaps even 100NL by the time I move to a site that supports PT, the graph is going to look really wacky.

Of course, that's a trivial matter. The #1 priority is always making money, and that's exactly what I'm doing. Beating 20NL at Cake is as easy as... well, cake. Even if I could post hands from the last two days, I probably wouldn't because most of them were really standard. Hit monsters, get paid, lather, rinse, repeat.

I did play one hand today that was somewhat interesting though. I limped with 44 in EP, and as expected everyone else came along. The flop came something like 4h 6d 2h. I pot it, CO calls, Button shoves. At this level, I'm treating this sort of like my KK vs AA philosophy. If I'm against a straight, I'm stacking off every time. I could easily be up against an overpair or a flush draw, and if I'm not I still have some equity. As it turned out, he had the straight and it held up. No big deal.

In other news, I played like shit in the Gauntlet. At this point I'm wondering if I even have a shot at making the top 10. I think my problem is that I think everyone perceives me as a weak/tight noob, so I see every button raise as a blind-steal, every c-bet as a bluff, every 3-bet as a power-play. Whether I'm correct about that or not is irrelevant. It's caused me to get way too involved early in the tournaments. I should just play standard Harrington style until my M gets low, then I can worry about people pushing me around.

It's been over 24 hours since I requested a payout from Vegas 24/7 and it still hasn't gone through. I don't think it's panic time just yet, but I'm getting very nervous. My AP mystery money took about a day to go through, so what's the hold up? Perhaps because this is my first withdrawal, or maybe because it's a larger amount. I'll give it another day before I contact customer support. For some stupid superstitious reason, I'm afraid that correspondence with AP could make it worse.

Bankroll: $722.04

~600 hands, +$28.75
AP thievery and my miscalculations, -$1.60

PRAISE JEEBUS! My cashout from Vegas 24/7 went through this morning. Of course, those savages will only pay out in dollars, so I have some cents laying around in the account. Also, as any astute readers may have observed, my bankroll calculations over the last month may have been ever so slightly off. This could be for any number of reasons. The main culprit is proabably unimported hands in Poker Tracker, which can offset my maths a few nickels and dimes at a time. In any case, the difference is negligible, but I have gone through my ePass, Stars, and Cake accounts and gotten an exact figure for the sake of accuracy.

I'm really starting to get tired of Cake's interface. It's a fish fest for sure, but I wonder if it's worth it. Perhaps I could live with all the shortcomings of the software if there were soft tables available 24/7. Unfortunately, that is not the case. And even when traffic is [relatively] high, I can only stomach playing 4 tables at most with the unresizable tables. I know I've only been playing there for a short time, but I think it's time to look into making another switch. I would be willing to sacrifice a small portion of my winrate in exchange for Poker Tracker compatibility the ability to multitable proficiently.

A few hands of interest today:

Hand 1: Villain is very aggressive and slightly loose. Effective stacks are ~130bbs. I'm in the BB with 9d 8h. It folds around to the SB who completes. I check. Flop comes 7c 8c 9c. Villain pots it, I reraise 3x, villain calls. Turn is Kd, pot is ~$3.00. Villain checks, I bet $3, villain raises to $10, I reraise $24 (all-in), villain calls.

Result: Villain shows Js 4d!!! He misses his gutshot and berates me in the cha+room (wtf?)

Hand 2: Villain is a LAG tard who probably watches to much poker on TV. He loves making big bluffs and showing everybody. Effective stacks are ~90bbs. I'm UTG with 77, I limp, 2 others limp, button raises 6xbb, I call, everyone else folds. Flop comes 2h 7d 9d. Pot is about $3.00

Now I usually drop the hammer with a set on a board like this, but I'm 90% sure I have him killed and that my best chance at extracting from this particular opponent is to feign weakness.

I check. Villain bets $3, I call. I'm starting to like that "bet pot" button. Twisted Evil

So the turn is 3c, and the pot is $9.00. I consider my next move for a moment. I really don't like checkraising more than once. I almost never do it. By checking again, it really narrows my hand down to either a monster or a flush-draw. My opponent is pretty bad, but I think he knows better than to give a FD a free card. So if he has any kind of hand he would probably bet about half the pot to give me bad odds, and perhaps throw the hand away to a reraise. Conversely, if he doesn't have any kind of hand OR he has a flush draw, he might check behind. Of course, I didn't really think about ALL this stuff at the time, but I knew that checking again would be a pretty bad move.

So I'm about to bet $6, knowing that he's probably going to fold any non-overpair, when I remember something IowaSkinsFan wrote about manipulation. I asked myself how I could make him bluff at this pot, and I put myself in his shoes with something like AT+. When looking at the problem from that angle, the answer was obvious! I'll just bet $2 into a $9 pot! It's like saying "Please mister, let me see the next card cheaply, I want to hit my flush". By making a "blocking bet" I'm actually feigning weakness more effectively than if I had just checked! If he has air, he's very likely to come over the top. Ditto if he actually has something like QQ+. The obvious drawback to this all is if he is actually on a flush-draw himself, but if its something like QJs, he can't call if he thinks I'm trying to hit the nut flush draw!

So I bet $2, he reraised all-in, and I called. I felt very proud of myself as he showed AKo and I scooped the pot. I look forward to trying this tactic some more against overaggressive opponents, but perhaps I will do so on boards with better texture.

Bankroll: $749.19

~1,000 hands, -$60.35
Cleared Bonus, +$10.00

Ewwwwwwww.

Over the last 25,000 hands I haven't experienced many downswings. In fact, I think I've only had 1 or 2 sessions where I lost 2+ buy-ins. Though I was aware of how fortunate I've been to enjoy such positive consistency, perhaps there was a small part of me (my ego) that was not cognizant of that fact. Perhaps on some level I thought I might be a young Coco_Bill in the making, and that I was just going to cruise to 600NL without many bumps in the road.

How naive of me.

I started off the session by getting stacked with a set when an obvious scare card hit the river and I couldn't get away from it. Perhaps I could find a fold in there somewhere, but I'm not too disappointed with the way I played it. An hour later, I got stacked again with what I thought was the nut flush, only to see the pot get scooped the other direction. You mean they have straight-flushes in this game, WTF?! Toward the end, I may have tilted a bit, and made a few loose calls that cost me half a buy in or so. Fortunately, I was wise enough to recognize my poor state of mind and called it a night.

So you might be thinking "It's only 3 buy-ins. So what?" Well, what can I say? I've been spoiled. I don't know the meaning of variance, swings, short term, long term. Newbie Circle of Death? God, I hope not. I know I'm not a poker genius. I may not have experienced first hand the tumultuous waves of standard variations, but I am very aware of them. I know that the result of 1,000 hands is meaningless. I know that my journey isn't going to be a smooth ride. I've read other's stories, and (hopefully) learned something from them. Still, whether I will be able to handle the inevitable roller-coaster is unknown. It doesn't matter how many stories I read or graphs I look at, I have to go through it myself before I can truly understand.

Perhaps the first step is to realize how irrelevant last night's session was. 1,000 hands and down 3 buy-ins. If I allow myself to be wavered by this, then I certainly won't be able to handle the bigger swings that I will inevitably experience. I was alarmingly distraught after this session (which was last night, by the way), but hopefully I can shrug this off and continue to play the same brand of poker that has gotten me this far.

Perhaps a change of scenery will improve my spirits. I think I've had my fill of Cake.

Bankroll: $698.84

Edit: Wow, I say perhaps alot. Perhaps I should mix in a few maybes. FUCK.

This is great stuff - I have no doubt your journey will be successful. But you're right, you haven't had a bad downswing yet and it will come, so make sure you can deal with it. Here is my first stab at moving up to 100NL:

Fun huh

Thanks for the kinds words, buddy. I appreciate the feedback.

I really have no idea if I'll be able to deal with the swings, and I'm quite sure there's nothing more I can do to prepare myself. I'll either cope or I won't. I'm a bit disappointed with myself for the way I reacted my last session, but the anguish was short-lived and I feel fine now. Time will tell if I can keep my faculties in check throughout the tougher times.

I imagine it must really suck hitting a downswing just after moving up a level though. Twice as much in fact. Wink

You seem like a solid guy though, and I'm sure you'll work through it. Best of luck to you.

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