Drive to $100NL (still the same thread)

I'm not really, Just trying to set myself in the right mindset. I want to play 4000 hands like last weekend, plus some tourneys. We'll see how it goes. I'm in the middle of re reading a couple of articles I have saved and/or printed. I need to get some obvious lines burned in as habits. I seem to do things that I know are wrong, only to realise it later. When you guys tell me these things, I hear in my head" I know that". So my only explanation is bad habits. I need to make alot of what you said are "Some pretty easy things to fix here" and make them habits. Alot of these mistakes are at the 20NL level, but not at the 10NL level. So I know what to do, I just think it's how I'm doing the numbers. I need to get into the groove of doing the math before I bet. Not just assume I'm betting a large enough amount to not give odds. I also plan on not using the 1/4, 1/2, and full bet buttons. I need to look at the table and see the information available. In that hand last night and many others, I never even looked at my PT stats on some players. I c-bet twice last night into a pre flop raiser who was 15/2 after missing the flop when out of position. I caught it both times on the re-raise before commiting too many chips. I need to get info, use info and only do things after I know why I'm doing them. You know how many times I called from MP preflop with Axs, SC or KQo or less, and only said after clicking "WTF are you doing Jym"i have some bad ingrained habits, and one of them is definitly my raises and how much and why.

Type in or use the slider bar for every bet you ever make from now on.

Thanks Warpe. I've put a post it note on my book. I need to get home and see what will be easiest to do. I think I may have gotten lazy because at stars and party I always typed my bet. On Prima (River Belle) the other windows pop up on you in the middle of the action on another window even though I have very little overlap. I've been racking my brain on this and I think that's why i started using all the preselect and bet buttons since moving. I may be able to use the slider without being interfered with but the typing definitly wasn't working.

Do you have a standard PF and flop bet? If not, make one (I recommend 5BB + 1BB per limper at $20, pre-flop, and 3/4 pot post-flop, only adjusted upwards in the event of multiple players/draws and downwards in very specific read/monster type situations) - this isn't the time or place to argue the benefits or otherwise but it will literally free a part of your mind to concentrate on trickier decisions.

If you hit a downswing, or feel you're going on tilt, take a five minute break to work out what's happening. If necessary, stop for longer - you MUSTN'T let your eagerness to play 4k hands get in the way of the correct approach. This kind of major session requires an iron discipline - the moment you feel it wavering, stop.

Your right Gimme. I'm just being an ass and I really am only going to gaurentee the 4000 hands.

Biondino, I have been opening the pot with 4BB and one for every limper, but that's not where my problems have obviously been. My raising and reraising ranges have been too weak, only doubling his initial raise, even though I've been told and have read 3x or more. My post flop has been basically pot sized bets if there is an obvious draw and 1/2 to 3/4 as a std. c-bet with a made hand or not. more often than not I 1/2 pot the flop if I have the draw, even when I've been c-bet into for 1 bet heads up or multi way as a blocking bet. I've been basically 3/4 or potting the turn bets or reraising 2x his bet with no concern for pot size even though I have known in the past that it's wrong. I tend to push made hands on the turn against shorter stacks or if he's got half his stack in.

funny, 4000 doesn't seem like a major session. If no one was at home and I had no responsibilities to the wife and kid, housework or reno's to do. I could double or triple that over friday night, saturday and sunday.

So all in all a brutal weekend. Lost $3800. Here's my stats.

Oh yea, and they stole my car

Only had the basic coverage on it, since it's my second car. No theft. They wrote it off and stole everything. My baby seat, portable DVD and Nemo video( the kids), My hockey sticks, all my ID, my wifes purse and ID. Who knows what else. Then beat the hell out of it, on a golf course. So I had to pay off the loan that was outstanding.

But the poker was great. I played on a $20NL FR while 4 tabling 6max $10NL and got a stack of some guy when I checked the BB and caught a FH. I then left the $ 10NL tables and opened 1 $20NL 6 max and played just the $20 for some single table BR building and made another 2 stacks. I then bled off a little playing aggro at guys that had hands so I let them go at the turn. I ended up $55 after only 152 hands and said enough is enough, and took the winnings back to $10NL. Didn't play a hand on Saturday because of the car situation, but got a few in Sunday night after vehicle shopping. I didn't even make my target of 4K hands, but I'll use the excuse of the car for not making my only goal (came close to the $300 goal, ended @ $259 after only getting to 2500 hands, even if Givememyleg and Gutshot won't let me make $$ goals)

It was a busy weekend so I have no hands to post right now. I will try to post some this week. I think my Pre-flop raises need to be higher. I feel like I'm raising practically everything, but the stats say otherwise, so I will attempt more.

Sucks about your car, bro. Sounds like you had a good weekend, aside from your car. As always, post any trouble hands when you get some time and we can give you some advice.

If anything, we got the "don't set money goals" beat into your skull Very Happy

Plz post hand ~2452 from the above graph. Looks hawt!

It was two hands in about 5 minutes.

** Game ID 1000549068 starting - 2006-10-23 09:09:34
** Sounds Like [Hold 'em] (0.10|0.20 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- captainnappy sitting in seat 1 with $18.15
- yOOn sitting in seat 2 with $18.45 [Dealer]
- trainerJyms sitting in seat 3 with $19.20
- VIP81 sitting in seat 4 with $25.60
- ian_tui sitting in seat 5 with $4.95

trainerJyms posted the small blind - $0.10
VIP81 posted the big blind - $0.20
ian_tui posted to play - $0.20
** Dealing card to trainerJyms: 8 of Hearts, 8 of Spades
ian_tui checked
captainnappy folded
yOOn folded
trainerJyms called - $0.20
VIP81 bet - $1.80
ian_tui called - $1.80
trainerJyms called - $1.80

** Dealing the flop: 9 of Spades, 2 of Diamonds, 2 of Clubs
trainerJyms bet - $1.40
VIP81 raised - $4.20
ian_tui went all-in - $3.35
trainerJyms called - $4.20

** Dealing the turn: 8 of Clubs
trainerJyms checked
VIP81 went all-in - $19.80
trainerJyms went all-in - $13.30

** Dealing the river: 8 of Diamonds
VIP81 shows: Queen of Hearts, Queen of Clubs
trainerJyms shows: 8 of Hearts, 8 of Spades
ian_tui mucks: 4 of Diamonds, 4 of Spades
trainerJyms wins $15.15 from the main pot
trainerJyms wins $43.45 from side pot 1

End of game 1000549068

** Game ID 1000551649 starting - 2006-10-23 09:12:16
** Numb [Hold 'em] (0.10|0.20 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- sir_cunning sitting in seat 1 with $31.34
- Anttihillber sitting in seat 2 with $19.75 [Dealer]
- Knapu sitting in seat 3 with $33.40
- trainerJyms sitting in seat 4 with $17.50
- Shooter5 sitting in seat 5 with $12.81
- taki1985 sitting in seat 6 with $14.96

Knapu posted the small blind - $0.10
trainerJyms posted the big blind - $0.20
** Dealing card to trainerJyms: Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs
Shooter5 called - $0.20
taki1985 called - $0.20
sir_cunning folded
Anttihillber raised - $0.60
Knapu folded
trainerJyms raised - $2.60
Shooter5 called - $2.60
taki1985 folded
Anttihillber folded

** Dealing the flop: 5 of Diamonds, 10 of Hearts, Jack of Clubs
trainerJyms bet - $5.80
Shooter5 called - $5.80

** Dealing the turn: 4 of Hearts
trainerJyms went all-in - $9.30
Shooter5 went all-in - $4.41

** Dealing the river: 9 of Spades
trainerJyms shows: Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs
Shooter5 mucks:
trainerJyms wins $26.22 from the main pot

End of game 1000551649

Wow man that really sucks about your car.... Some people really suck.

Got a new Van today. Chrysler Caravan to be exact. Not new but a 2002 with a 100,000 (60000 miles on it, for you americans) to get by until I get ahead with the money situation.

Back to poker. I played 1100 hands of $10NL today, and took $44 from the games with little problems. I decided to try 2 tabling $20NL just for some BR building with no rebuying or topping up. ( I basically played with my $40 from the hands today). Had an up and down session, but never less than my starting buy-in. So over the weekend I played 1265 hands of $20NL slightly under rolled. I wasn't too worried about it because I was never risking any money from the days before, only my winnings from the same day. It's sort of my own little Dwarfman Challenge with out moving up past the next level. I am not afraid of playing $20 or $25 because I've been a consistant winner there. I just have never been rolled for it so I never get ahead when moving from site to site chasing bonuses, buying programs (see OP @ the top) and chasing casino bonuses.

I'm gonna stick with the River Belle site till I get thru the $300 Bonus, as slow as it is, It's covering the rake at these low limits. I'm @ $350 now and climbing. Here's my stats for the weekend @ 20NL up until tuesday night. A little redundant but still fun to look at.

The Poker Grapher is just my $20NL adventure for the weekend. I also finally got around to changeing my autorate rules to 6 max and updated everone in the DB. It made a huge difference in my reads. I then went to the 2+2 page to go over my PT stats and everything came back pretty good for the last 5K hands except, preflop raises are not frequent enough, overplaying SC a little, Unsuited connectors(Broadways mostly) are abysmal and my most glaring leak is post flop aggression. The Pre flop raising frequency was easy to fix with a little attention and I started raising to steal the blinds a little more. I found if I just stop calling the marginal hands for one or two bets on the button, it helps alot. It makes me a little tighter but I feel a little better playing less hands. I started raising more often as well as more like you guys have been on me about. I started C-betting at alot more missed flops than before. About 85% now and I also added alot more second barrels. It seems at this level everyone wants to see the turn if they play post flop, then let the hands go. They are only slightly tighter and playing only a few less hands on average, but It actually makes them a littel easier to read.

just found this. good luck man. looks like you are turning the corner here now that you are finally raising 4bb+1/limper.

Have a dilema. I hit the $400 mark last night (that's not it). So i withdrew $200 for now. I have no money on any other site and $200 left at River Belle. I want to change sites since it's now been 30+ days and my Bonus has timed out. It was $20 every 3500 hands, yes weak but clearable at $10 and $20 tables. If I pull the other $200 to have the full $400 I have no site to play until it clears (any Idea how long?). If I only deposit the $200 somewhere else when it clears, I will lose out on some first deposit Bonus money. I need to make the full deposits or wait.

I need to put the money somewhere and clear a quick easy Bonus. While waiting for the other $200 to clear. I have accounts at Sun, Empire and a few others that have not been used yet. Going in with the minimum to start may make $25NL a little tough. What's the suggestion. Stay at River Belle and keep getting the roll to climb and get more into Neteller first. Take the $200 and clear some easy bonuses first, I think empires is easy and I can just stay on the $10Nl tables till it's done.

Suggestions?? Don't say casino yet. I need a bit of a cushion after my last debacle.

I do have a list of pretty good bonuses but most are $50NL and higher. The Prima $20NL's are doable with $400 but I will be starting with $200 ATM. until I move the rest. maybe keep it separate and move form site to site and catch a few of the easier ones.

So I 'm thinking Sun. I can get the new deposit $50 for $50, and monthly reload right away $100 for $100 + the Rakeback + more monthies. And making this my home site while whoring others. Since at $25NL I'll be clearing Bonus the whole time I'm there.

TJ - in my experience you'll need 2k or so hands (not raked hands) to earn the $50 Bonus and double that to earn the monthly reload.

I love Crypto, as you know - I hope you have Rakeback at Sun!

it was 3500 hands (unraked) for $20-15x at River Belle. I cleared $120 in 30 days. I can do 5k hands (4 x 6max) a week give or take. I have the Rakeback from here. Is it a good deal? When I have a full $500 that I can get to Empire I want to get that done as well. It's a gravy Bonus, like party, then split. Will this site be a good home while whoring others and casinos?

Empires Bonus is vey easy to clear, and the 25NL tables are pretty good. But you need 500$ to take full advantage. So I think Sun Poker is a pretty good choice, I'll join it aswell sometime in next month.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Poker Plex. They offer a monthly Bonus of $200 and no reload is necessary.

The reason it's particularly good is because it releases in installments ($20, $30, $50, $100). So you don't have to be able to manage the whole thing. And it's no-deposit.

You can get 30% Rakeback (PM me).

So last night, playing 4 x $20Nl I'm up about $40 total after 500 or so hands. Get dealt Ac Qc in cutoff. 1 limper, I raise to a $1, original limper calls (55/25/4.5 bomb) both $20 stacks. I figure small PP or AK, Flop is K76 with two clubs, he checks I pot it, he calls again. His AF is 4.5, normally a reraise (hmmm, set?) turn is 3c, Nut flush. I 1/2 pot it like a feeler bet since he seems to thinks he's ahead. He pushes, I pause and look at the board. I've done it before where I've called a push with a paired board and had to reload, but not this time. It's mine. I call. Last card pairs the 6. You guessed it. K6d. FH. I reload, say NH, and before they are dealt again, he's gone. Hit and run.

Now I know what to do here, keep playing. Get it back, I've been running well, no biggy. WRONG. I go after him, search him out. He's on a $50NL table. NO way is he losing my money to these guys. I shut down all my tables while waiting on the list. I get on right away.
I know, stop baggering me.
He's got position though, couple hands later, 33 UTG flop the set, raise he calls, button calls, turn is an A, got him now. He pots it, I push, button calls with small stack, he folds. river good. Trainer_jyms wins the pot $87 dollars. button quits, I quit. got it back just not from him.

Funny thing though. Didn't feel like tilt. It wasn't even the money. I'de been pushing around some shorties all day. Was just a little tired of the super small stacks taking up space on the table. Guys playing $20 NL with $3.75, $5.50. You know. When i catch the odd set, or flop the straight, they're all that will stay in the pot. Fuckin nickles. sometimes you try to get on a table and when it loads some ass get on ahead of you and you watch him buy in at $5. All I want is 4 tables with 5/6 guys medium to full stacks, and be able to buy in. I open sometimes 8 or 9 tables trying to get on and it takes 20 mins to get them. If you just sit at an empty table, these short stack guys looking to double up come on the table and start playing back at ya with no fear. They just want to double up. I jsut sit out and wait or I slow way down and make them wait and wait. They are always rushed to double up. They get ansy and you take their bus fare and they reload. Fuckin annoyuing little ants. Get the hell off my tables. why the poop is the minimum buy in so low. Is there a sound strategy to playing super SS ninja. How can anyone play $.25 blinds with 3 bucks and make money.

*Last edited by jyms on Mon, 30 Oct 2006, 11:37am; edited 2 times in total*

So After withdrawing $300 from River Belle to move to another site, and another Bonus. I proceeded to have my worst weekend ever in poker. It may be because I was playing $20NL still with only $125 in my account on Prima and hit a downswing. Maybe I was too cautious. Maybe I was Doomswitched for withdrawing. I tend to think the latter. LOL. I've practically busted out on that site. I have about $15 left now. Shit!

I will definitly post some stats when the weekend is over. I will let ya know what I decided as far as sites go and the plan for November by weekends end. Going to do some homework on it now and I'll get back to it. I need to figure out what to do since I'm now a little short for $25NL. again.

*Last edited by jyms on Mon, 30 Oct 2006, 4:12pm; edited 1 time in total*

I decided to go to Crypto. No big suprise there. I spent some time researching several sites, after two suggestions, PokerPlex and Sun. They are both great. I decided to start with Sun only because of the extra$100 for FTR members. It'll help since I'm a little short for $25NL and CryptoLogic hasn't got any stakes lower to play on. I will split my time between these two sites and I think for the next while these will be home. Anything else will just be for whoring.

Some observations about this network. You can modify the table. I love being able to do this. I delete everything and play on a black background. Makes everything easier to find. The colours on the hud stand out. You see how many have entered the pot without problems. For an old man like me, with bad memory and distractions, It's easier to multitable without all the clutter. I can't tell you how many times I've C-bet into someone 3 way that I didn't see holding cards when I thought I had isolated someone else. The lowest limit is $25NL like I said so all the worst players on the site are on these tables. I would compare the play to any $5NL or $10NL table at Ultimate or Stars. It makes it really swingy playing 6 max. Here's my start.

Keep in mind, I had no notes on anybody. Some of these stackings are weak ass players going all in with villians Ax vs. my KK. Villians 8 6 vs. my AA that catches 2 pair on the river after all in post flop when the villian has TP. Now mind you, as you can see, I don't mind that at all. I get it back. It's just the up and downs are scary when you only have a limited roll.

Quick story, I may be wrong on a detail or two but this is the jist of the story. I was 6 tabling at the time so I miss some details once in a while. I get KK on or near the button. Raise to $1.25. Some super aggro with 3x buyins reraises to $5. I call. Flop Axx, He leads out with about $9 and I call. I figure he's either bluffing badly or I'm way behind. But he reraised post flop a few times before this and I folded out so it's as good a hand as any to take a stand against this guy who's obviously bullying the table. If for anything else, I can get my money back later since he's not leaving with anyones money and he will think twice about reraising if he thinks I will call him on it. Anyway he checks the turn when Q falls, I bet $10 trying to get it all in. He pushes. I call. He's holding 8T off. WTF! $50 slides back to me and he goes ape.

Why you calling those bets with KK?
There is an A on board and you called???
You suck.
Do you even know how to play?
I knew what you had and I represented an A.
How can you call that?

I love guys that think, you suck cause you should have folded to my obviously paired Ace. Or not.

Well I have $3 over my $200 deposit, I have $350 in playable Bonus and money, and am also currently working of the FTR $100 extra Bonus, that requires 1500 MPP's. The first deposit Bonus and the FTR 100 are clearing at the same time. I also have already earned $11 in Rakeback. ,WEEE. Heading to Poker Plex right after these clear and then back again. If I can break even at Sun I will have $450 plus Rakeback. Sounds doable. thanks again Biondino and Anosmic for the site suggestions and PM's. Already have 144 MPP's after 2 days and 1200 hands. A much easier Bonus to clear than Riverbelles.

Just noticed, Page 2, woohoo.

Maybe review time. ??

Where is this $350 Bonus money at?

Here's the hand from yesterday that the guy freaked out about. My memory is shit. I was in the BB but the rest applies.

CryptoLogic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.15/$0.25
5 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is UTG with 5 Diamond

5

Hero calls, CO raises to $1, 3 folds, Hero calls.

Flop: 8 Spade

5

J

($2.4, 2 players)
Hero bets $1.5, CO raises to $6, Hero raises all-in $25.2, CO calls.

Turn: 7 Diamond

($52.8, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $52.8)

River: 2 Spade

($52.8, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $52.8)

Results:
Final pot: $52.8
Hero shows 5d 5c
CO shows Jh 8d

I'll tell ya, it gets real confusing what to do with some of these hands. I'm all over the map with my play and sometimes, admittedly, I'm guessing at what they are holding. Here's my evening on my second attempt at Crypto. You want to talk about $100 dollar days??? this is 2 1/2 hours. What a battle back.

Couple hands from the down slide.

Saw Villian push a set after being raised on the flop so thought I was good here.
CryptoLogic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.15/$0.25
6 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is BB with K Heart

A

UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $1, 3 folds, Hero calls.

Flop: K Diamond

T

5

($2.15, 2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $1, Hero raises to $3, UTG+1 calls.

Turn: 3 Heart

($8.15, 2 players)
Hero bets $3, UTG+1 calls.

River: 6 Club

($14.15, 2 players)
Hero bets $2.75, UTG+1 raises to $8, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $30.15
UTG+1 shows Kc Td
Hero mucks Kh Ah

This just sucks. Had one right as AK but the other I figured missed flush draw not a straight draw.

CryptoLogic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.15/$0.25
5 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is CO with 4 Heart

4

UTG folds, Hero calls, Button raises to $1.25, SB calls, BB folds, Hero calls.

Flop: 3 Spade

5

9

($4, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, Button bets $3.5, SB calls, Hero raises to $10.5, Button calls all-in $3.83, SB calls.

Turn: 6 Diamond

($32.33, 2 players + 1 all-in - Main pot: $25.99, Sidepot 1: $6.34)
SB is all-in $1.47, Hero calls.

River: 8 Heart

($35.27, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $25.99, Sidepot 1: $9.28)

Results:
Final pot: $35.27
SB shows 6c 7d
Hero shows 4h 4d
Button shows Kh Ad

And the last bad beat, worst beat of all. Villian had been playing Suited crap for draws and big pots. I just didn't wait for the right spot. tried to extract the money instead of letting him lose it to me. Just greedy.

CryptoLogic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.15/$0.25
4 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is Button with 9 Heart

T

UTG folds, Hero calls, SB raises to $0.75, BB folds, Hero calls.

Flop: T Spade

6

7

($1.75, 2 players)
SB bets $1.5, Hero raises to $3, SB raises to $6, Hero calls.

Turn: 3 Heart

($13.75, 2 players)
SB bets $5.5, Hero raises all-in $19.35, SB calls.

River: 7 Diamond

($52.45, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $52.45)

Results:
Final pot: $52.45
Hero shows 9h Tc
SB shows Kh Kc

I'm sure your tired of hand histories but just for a chance to show a winner.

CryptoLogic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.15/$0.25
6 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is Button with Q Diamond

Q

UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, CO raises to $2, Hero raises to $4, 3 folds, CO calls.

Flop: J Diamond

7

9

($8.65, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $7, CO calls.

Turn: A Club

($22.65, 2 players)
CO is all-in $13.6, Hero calls.

River: 4 Club

($49.85, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $49.85)

Results:
Final pot: $49.85
CO shows 3s 3h
Hero shows Qd Qc

*Last edited by jyms on Mon, 20 Nov 2006, 2:12pm; edited 2 times in total*

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3760/boomde9.jpg

I took the image out it was too large but left the link

Seriously, How's the setup. would anybody be able to suggest anything else that's necassary?

2 1600x1200 monitors would be nice.

I have 1 that does 1600x900, and 1 thats 1280x1024. If It doesn't come from the poker money, I can't get it. That's what the boss said. so as soon as it's feesable. My overlap is not that bad compared to some. They are on the list.

Does this mean I play too much poker

I've taken some serious beats in the last three days. Down 4+ buyins at $25NL. I need to slow down, play two tables instead of four. I have leaks, somewhere. Not sure where. I'm going to read NLHE T&P over the next few days. Maybe that'll point something out. Have some freinds from here talking me off the ledge, haha. Look at these stats and tell me if anything is glaringly obvious. Keep in mind, I'm trying to find some major problem, not some little minor edge that I can use. I'm losing at a consistant rate, at $25NL. This is my last 10k hands

I'm not sure if it's playing to aggressive with medium hands and going to showdown when they don't give it up. Or am I overvalueing my hand on certain boards? I really feel that I have not hit my share of sets. They are not getting paid for sure when I do. I sem to never hit them and when I have a rare shot with one there is a scare card that they all fold to. Or I get my ass handed to me by some straight chaser that catches. twice last night I bet hard with a set and the villian had flopped a straight. Just unlucky I know.

So a quick update. Haven't had time to post anything stats or hands wise. I only get to FTR (yes, I use it as a verb sometimes) at work lately. I'm 1/3 of the way thru NLHE T&P and have grinded my BR to $400 in Neteller and have $275 US on Poker Plex with $180 in monthly's to clear. I have found my groove at the $25NL on Crypto and am playing well. I am up and down a couple buy ins so far since moving to plex but it's working out well. I am basically playing to break even and not get stacked to often while clearing the bonuses. I blew off most of my $250 Bonus from Sun trying to clear the 1500 MPP's and left there with $350 after getting down to less than $120 from a $300 deposit.

I find if I play a little tighter and get out of bad situations early, it's an easy game. I may be leaving some value there but with the limited BR why play an even higher variance game. What I am finding is it's real hard to play some of these Loose Aggressives that really suck. I need more aggression in my game for sure, because they get me off of marginal, but winning, hands too often. What would be a good start for aggression stats at the $25NL and soon to be $50NL tables. I'm shooting for $50NL in the new year. I think it's easily doable if i'm not intimidated by some players. There is only one player at $25NL that's consistantly doing that, not from skills, but the horrific and luckbox style that is used. This girl has stacked me several times when I have almost certainly always got it all-in while ahead.

So far so good, mate.
Cool to see you're ready to break into $50NL... and it's a sick amount of poker you've been playing!

Good luck with the next few targets.

$50NL??????? Is the drive complete, or would you stay at $25NL and clear the monthlys at Poker Plex and Sun Poker first? If I take a shot, how big a shot do I take? I'm thinking 2 tables instead of 4 and get the feel maybe two tables of each. I've tried them on the weekends late and am at -$35 after 3K hands with fear for the $$$. Is that alot of rake for $25NL. I coulda played more. I ended up playing 30K+ hands of ring plus some tourneys at stars and Crypto in November.

In terms of experience, you should be ready for $50. I worry that your high-variance game might appreciate more of a cushion before you move up. Also, how come you're playing so much but not making more money? Are you cashing out? Or are you only a marginal winner? If it's the latter I think you need to make every effort to deal with your leaks - there's really no excuse to be making less than say 4BB/100 at $25.

Your absolutely right, High variance, no money. I have swings every seesion of $50 or $100 bucks. I need to really look at my game. I don't think it's something in the stats. Maybe I'll post my November numbers when I get home. My paker grapher looks like an obsticle course.

As for the move up, nope, got my ass handed to me on 3 hands. AA ran into quads, set into quads, and my A high flush got rivered by a boat, all for stacks. I need to find out what it is, and not those beats but the fact that alot of my bigger pots are for stacks. it's not uncommon for me to have 8 or more $25 pots in the win and loss columns over a 1K hand session.

Look at how often you are stacking off with TP/2p. Pull those hands and see if you could have got away from them.

I know without looking that one of my problems is playing TPTK too aggressive. This level of players will call without odds.

If as an example, I have AK in the cutoff, 55/15 UTG raises to 4BB and I call. Flop is Axx with a flush draw, he bets 4 BB, I raiseto 12 BB and he calls, turn comes non flush card, he checks, I 3/4 bet the pot about 25 or so BB and he calls.

Now no matter what falls, this is my dillema, flush card falls, do I pay him off for making those calls, because you would not believe the amount of 64s flushs I see, or some other weak ass suited hand. many times it's bottom 2 pair, or Ax thats hit it's miracle kicker on the turn or river. I have a real problem with the difference between pot control and showing weakness.

I play for stacks way too much, winning my fair share, but rarely ever getting it in behind. Is it a matter of not respecting the weaker players that still do get real hands. I may not have the best lines to play with TPTK and get to deep. It's not unlucky or bad beats because I'm sure that the stats would show it different and I refuse to think I'm unlucky, generally.

HELP!!! I'm getting killed. I tried £25 and hit a bad run. I know what a bad run is, I will accept the bad run. I lost £100 ($200) and moved down. I proceeded to lose more and more. What would be the best way to correct a problem you can't find. Has anyone had this problem. My game has way too much variance. I play 6max (FR on Crypto is obscure at best) and I know that causes some. How do you lower the variance card? I have leaks, I must, but it's hard to find. If I play tight, I have swings of $100 or more. If I play looser pre flop and Weaktight post flop, I still have the swings. I don't think having me select a few hands to post is going to fix this. Should I just post my last 5K, 10K or 30K hands stats from last month. It's definitly a post flop problem. Going to far with mediocre hands. I'm sure. But I win as many stacks as I lose. Would you try short stacking a while to reduce the variance, or does that even help. NLHE T&P is just making it worse (maybe i should restart it and finish it eh?). I tried to see more flops cheaply last night, against loose opponents ( 45+/10 table stats on all 4) and get out when missing.

Thanks, I feel better already.

When I get home I will cut and paste all my stats from November and post them, maybe something will jump out. I'm going to retry analizing my PT stats (from the 2+2 thread) and maybe someone can rail me on a couple tables in aim or MSN one day this week. You Euro guys have helped loads, but your not there at 11 p.m. E.S.T. when I'm stinkin' up the tables.

TJ, my stats at 6max £25 (which I killed) were roughly:

Overall VP 25, PFR 12
Button 30/19
UTG 11/7
Post flop aggression factor of 3
Check your position stats and your aggression stats - they should give a clear education if things aren't right.

Start laying down more marginal holdings. Don't call all-ins without top two plus unless you have a great read. Make a lot of positional raises and cbets (incl. donk bets) but fold if you hit proper resistance.

Remember that most plays are honest - people will try and re-raise your cbets with air etc. but by and large, they don't. When you are in a pot, make sure you are controlling it as much as possible. Avoid unecessary coin flips. Don't slowplay. When you make a bet or a move, make sure you know what you want and how you'll react to whatever they do. Don't try and bully in multiway pots and if you do (and sometimes on a weak table, it's a good idea), fold when necessary. Bet 2nd pair and strong draws hard - you always want to be putting the opposition to decisions. Fold on a three flush river if someone has been calling and then bets big. Make some re-raises and believe it when people play back at you.

This could just be a downswing - indeed it probably is, you're probably still a decent player. Maybe stay at $25NL for now, get your confidence back. There's no point in loosening up pre-flop when you're not confident in your post-flop play. Play borderline nitty if you like - aim for a PFR that's 3/4 of your VP. Make position your god. Don't worry about image. Take notes.

How's that?

Here we go. Don't hold back, I suck, but anything glaringly obvious except the red $$$ figures. This is my first glance at PT stats for the month myself, I am actually a little shocked at my numbers. My raising is lower than I thought, much lower. My first in stats are horrendous, and feel free to give me shit about the SB, WTF is that. I know better than this. WOW!! Am I that stupid? Is it that simple. Stop playing from the SB without premium hands, Or are my other positions behind and not making up for obvious losses from the blinds? I am ahead in Diff w/o blind, but can this be more or is it fine. I'm definitly completing to much. So what I've done is added my stats to the table Hud so I can keep an eye on myself. I know that I cant predict my VPIP on such a short session but I may be able to watch my raising and aggression. Does eanyone else agree or not about shooting for a 3 AF? I will until I see or hear otherwise. Biondino seems to know how to kill the $25NL at Crypto , I'm just worried about playing more aggro than I'm used to.

The reason my post- flop aggression stats are higher than yours is because I don't call very often. If I have a hand or I want to (semi)bluff, I bet; if I have a good draw, I bet; if villains play back at me and I don't have a hand I want to continue with, I fold.

Another big reason why I can be more aggro post-flop: I'm seldom in multiway pots because I am usually raising pre-flop for isolation, so I'll be betting and folding far more than I am calling.

Your PFR stat is a bit too low for 6max, I think. You MUST bet your strong hands and you MUST bet with position. You are calling 2/3 of your hands on the button - this lets in crappy speculative hands, Ax hands and the like, and effectively negates the opportunity to use position to its fullest. You should be raising at least 2/3 of the time on the button - you should NEVER limp if folded to.

In one sentence: when you choose to play, play hard and fast but be prepared to fold.

Raise more hands, be more aggressive, learn not to stack off with tp and the like. You go to showdown 27% of the time and only win 48% of them; this is much too low.

Yeah your sb stats are purty bad. I'm not sure what you're doing because your vpip fromt he sb isn't abnormally high by any means. You must be completing with lukewarm hands like KT and playing for stacks when a K hits, or something of the like. I think you should filter for hands in the sb/going to showdown and losing.

Post some hands. Filter "Went to showdown and lost." You can ask if you're stacking off when you should. Losing after 1k hands could be variance, losing after 10k hands can even be some bad bad variance, but losing after 35k hands needs some re-evaluation and you need to change your play. I don't think you're ready for 50nl yet.

If you guys were trying to increase your aggression, where would you start. I hover around the 1.4 to 1.7 AF post flop. I find that the 2.5 to 3.0 guys are the toughest to play against. Any higher and you just reraise with any decent hand, they are typically folding or pushing so it's easy. I have found that most guys that reraise my c-bet and then fire a second barrel on the turn, or call my re raise post flop and fire on the turn, the toughest spots to play in. When I try to get more aggressive on the turn cards with mediocre hands, i find it gets expensive alot of times. Losing monies I've earned already. Where is the easiest place to gain aggression and not have to put yourself in bad positions with smaller holdings. When looking at my chart above, owuld just not calling as much on the flop and turns be enough. I generally call pot sized C-bets with TPTK, TP and a draw, and draws depending on opponents. What is some lines for re_raising the flop, will you fire second barrels with draws if stacks are deep enough. How about a PP with overs on the board.

By the way, no way is a Str8 and Flushdraw on the flop 54% to the river. I don't hit them EVER. I've lost a ton on these. And sets, 1 in 11 my ass.

The cheapest place to increase your aggression postflop is on the flop. Start raising your TPTK hands and raising flush and oesds for free river cards. You'd be surprised at how many c-bets you pick off on the flop, and how often you get checked to, to either fire a second barrel and take it down or to take your free card. Raise weak-tight opponents when they make weaksauce bets and you have a piece. Raise with air in position when checked to. Raise raise raise...

TJ, see my post of 5th December. I suspect you're aggressive enough with good hands, but you're obviously calling too much (your stats don't lie) and this might be why you can't get your AF over 2.

I did this last night, I started rolling at £25NL, was up £85 after 100 hands, 4 tabling. but things slowed, too many callers, too many catching cards, just slowly got into the negitives and reverted back to my old ways and played even the rest of the night. Couldn't get it back. i think I'm having the problem more with playing aggressive when running bad, and start looking to hit again, instead of pushing them off their bad hands.

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