Operation: $2NL to $200NL [PHASE I: Microstakes] - COMPLETE

The cbet is kinda bad. But when we do it, we have to call. So betting like $6.50 might be a little better.

$20 in the pot, $8.45 to call, it's like 3.3:1, so as played we need like 23%ish. With a lot of draws out there, it should be a close call. The c-bet might be questionable, but we could argue that since worse hands call or push, it's for value. Suppose V just calls the flop and checks a blank turn, I think we bet again for value.

That said, a delayed cbet might be best here.

Thanks for the input, dev.

I think you're right about how after c-betting here folding is a mistake.

I wasn't really prepared to call his shove so I shouldn't have cbet Good grief

.

How credible would you think betting any turn would be? Like do you think we'd get the same reaction as we did on the flop or do you think villain might tighten his range (or even loosen it) when it comes to shoving over.

As played, if V calls and checks turn, I think we can always bet. If it's a scare card we have some chance of taking him off of a 1 pair hand, if it's not then we're making him pay for draws. He can't have anything too potent if he plays it that passive on this board. If he does, we make a note and start searching for him at the beginning of our future sessions.

I have this idea that making a small error against a fish isn't too bad because we end up getting some of that money back by continuing to play against them. It's a minor concept online, because people get up and leave all the time without notice, but I started a thread about it a long time ago: here. Pretty much everyone but spoon misunderstood what I was talking about.

Interesting thread.

After looking over spoon's math in comparison to your theory it actually makes alot of sense, as long as we are sure we're going to be donated to I guess, as was the case in your home game.

If I'm not mistaken I think this is sort of what Doyle was getting at in SuperSystem, about how he can afford to take slightly -EV all ins vs other players because he expects to get their money back one way or another by pwning them in every other pot. So if Doyle has a very large roll playing against a bunch of short rolled ATM visiting live fish who will sit out the night till they bust out, he basically just needs to keep getting into big pots with them and take lots of borderline flips etc (even ones that are slightly - EV), hence his very loose/aggressive get the chips in the middle style.

Guess I'll post May results in my blog too:

The bigger looking swings are 25nl, and theres some 5nl and 10nl squeezed in there for the most part as well:

Cash Games:............$300.70
SNGs:........................$ 72.50
DON SNGs:................$ 14.30
Heads up event:.......$160.00
Cash credits:.............$ 24.00
Total profit:..............$547.50

Overall I was pretty pleased with the results. Ran much better than I did in April, but I feel like I played much better as well. Taking a vacation really did help me get back on track.

As for my game I feel I've been improving much faster lately due to spending a higher % of my poker time on studying, as opposed to just playing.

I still ended up spewing a few buy-ins at 10nl, and also 25nl. (Sort of near end where graph kinda gets swiggly). Overall much better though.

Goldstar was unfortunately, not attained this month, but I felt it was in my best interest not to push for it.

However, this brings me to my June goals:

-Attain Goldstar
-Play 25nl more regularly
-Leave when you aren't feeling it. Total monthly spew for May was probably about $100, when it should have been $0.
-Keep up the study habits and don't get trapped in just grinding.

That's all folks

-m2m

Okay here's a hand from today's 25nl session: villain is unknown, but he has a dog avatar, a ?spanish? name, and he's repping his silver star....if any of that is relevant at all.

Alright I'm wondering what the best course of action is here to maximize value/not stack off etc.

I don't feel I can get 3 streets here very often but I was considering checking flop and betting turn and river(pending) but the flush draw encouraged me to bet. Is giving a free card on this flop OK and then delaying the cbet? I usually do it on dryer boards but I'm wondering what others have to say on this topic:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($15.80)
UTG ($25)
UTG+1 ($25)
MP1 ($26.60)
MP2 ($15)
MP3 ($25)
Hero (CO) ($36.20)
Button ($14.85)
SB ($20.50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A

, 10

3 folds, MP2 (poster) checks, 1 fold, Hero bets $1, 2 folds, BB calls $0.75, 1 fold

Flop: ($2.35) 6

, 2

, A

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.50, BB calls $1.50

Turn: ($5.35) 8

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3.75, BB calls $3.75

River: ($12.85) 3

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $12.85 | Rake: $0.60

Okay this is the SAME villain now, only he's 38/12 over 26 hands

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($14.20)
MP ($33.85)
CO ($13.40)
Button ($12.10)
Hero (SB) ($25.50)
BB ($26.85)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q

, A

UTG calls $0.25, 1 fold, CO calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero bets $1, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.75, 1 fold

Flop: ($2.50) Q

, 10

, 9

(2 players)
Hero bets $1.75, UTG calls $1.75

Turn: ($6) 4

(2 players)
Hero bets $3.25, UTG calls $3.25

River: ($12.50) 5

(2 players)
Hero???

I realize I should have raised bigger preflop, aside from that, where am I here :S. I guess my bet sizes are sort of smallish due to his stack size since I can get it in pretty easily with TPTK against his effective stack. I sort of felt I should bet smaller to get all his weak shit in his range to continue, though I guess I could just get it in earlier by betting bigger and things wouldn't change much?

Definitely be raising larger preflop and betting larger for value on the streets you do decide to bet. Guy is obviously a terrible station/passive player and will pay you with weak Ax hands as well as pay to chase his draws. Don't be scared of him, just bet bet bet for value.

When he hits , you'll know it and can fold until you get more reads on his post flop play. But honestly you should have stacked him already.

So I just fkin spewed 4 buyins in like an hour.

75% spew 25% wtf donk faggot.

I'm posting some guidelines above my desk regarding my sessions now and hopefully I'll start applying the things I learn.

POST THE SPEW HANDS!!!! I Heart

spew.

In the AQ hand I'd bet $6 on the river as played.

That said, I like a bigger pre-flop raise because we're out of position. CO really should have called you with pretty much his entire range. because it's only 3bbs and he has position.
$2 pre
$3.5 flop.
$10 turn
Shove river.

After a single limper, I like to isolate for 5bbs. You want to play a big pot.

Okay this one is just bad.

I was on sort of passive/omg let me win a pot/wtf are u doing 3betting me/i dont wanna 4bet and get it in pre so ill just call oop....

Basically a bad mindset. Played this hand like shit:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($9.65)
Hero (UTG+1) ($29)
MP1 ($32.30)
MP2 ($22.95)
MP3 ($25.60)
CO ($26.70)
Button ($25.40)
SB ($46.10)
BB ($53.55)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K

, A

1 fold, Hero bets $1, 2 folds, MP3 raises to $3.25, 4 folds, Hero calls $2.25

Flop: ($6.85) 10

, 7

, A

(2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $4, Hero calls $4

Turn: ($14.85) 4

(2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks

River: ($14.85) 6

(2 players)
Hero bets $7, MP3 raises to $16.25, Hero folds

Total pot: $28.85 | Rake: $1.40

WTF is with his check on the turn tho??

BTW this guy is unknown, though I noticed him join a couple other tables as I was leaving if thats relevant at all (i.e. multitabling/tightish?)

I was thinking about check raising the flop..but then I couldn't see any worse aces calling me :/

River bluff is just lol lol lol lol spew

Epiphany:

I'm betting too small on early streets which leads to having to bet too big on later streets.

Yeah I usually have the discipline to get away from this early and not try and buy the pot later when its obvious I'm beat.

Gonna have to start being more serious about closing the windows when I'm having a rough night

Had a sweat session with 100-200nl ring player the other day. Managed to identify some leaks to work on.

Been doing quite a bit of studying and thinking away from the tables, especially about my general tendencies, the cause of them, and what can be done to improve them.

Most importantly, I feel like my thought process has clicked a bit. It's not that I'm thinking deeply or anything, I'm just thinking more logically and seem to be indentifying more profitable spots to steal, not cbet, call, raise, etc. than before.

Looking at this operation it seems to be pretty results oriented, with my Bankroll Management chart and my plan to make new threads for different categories of stakes. What it really comes down to though is an exciting journey of learning about poker - essentially - this is the root of it all.

Of course many of our dreams and ambitions that are poker related involve some quantitative measure, such as an earnings goal of winning 'x' amount of money, or a volume based goal such as achieving SNE. I think the most rewarding part of achieving such goals is enjoying everything inbetween the start and finish. I guess I'm still along way from where I want to be, but that's not a big deal, because I'm enjoying the ride.

Something I learned today:

Just because you have a very strong hand on a safe looking board does not provide an excuse to think on zeroth level and be inconsiderate of villains range. How to maximize value and minimize loss, essentially, will be figured out after considering villains range. Without considering that range, you're just mashing buttons - even if you have a very strong hand that you plan to commit your stack with.

I approve of your random poker thoughts blogging. Keep it up man.

Good to see you enjoy reading.

So this month I'm working towards achieving GoldStar. If I do not I will probably just stop playing.

I have 533/3000 VPP's so I'm off to a good start pace wise, I also haven't really played that much. Next week I'll probably be playing more I imagine.

Bankroll is healthy (~)$1500. Probably gonna play some HU 50nl when I roll past the $2k mark and then re-eval how well my game has come along and decide whether to move up or not.

Not much to update really. Roll is still at a bit of a standstill but I'm not worried about that much.

VPP's towards GoldStar: 704/3000 (recorded before today's session)

Confession:

I'm stuck 4 buyins over 20k hands at 25nl.

I have played poorly. I take things too far with marginal hands. I override pot control when I shouldn't. My favourite line is 'lol pot odds call'. I don't 3bet enough. I try too hard to get hands like QQ all in preflop vs nits. I don't look for good spots to steal, I just somehow expect them to pop out at me. I also overestimate or underestimate ranges due to being emotionally attached to pots. For example: 'But I have a set/pair/flush (etc) he should be bluffing some of the time...'

But the good news is, all this is going to change, starting now.

I've deleted the thing in PokerTracker which shows my winnings. All I can see are my stats - all I can see are things I need to work on.

I've let my game slip. Too many curiosity calls, too many unplanned hands. It's time to start playing my best, and make well informed objective decisions.

To help make such decisions, I'm going to be studying alot away from the table. Things are actually clicking, but whenever I sit down to play I seem to forget what I'm doing. I won't settle for that anymore, I'm going to prepare myself to play solid poker, and I'm not going to let anything get in my way.

This operation is destined to get back on pace, and I'm going to do my best to make it happen.

Good luck

Good stuff. You have a good list of leaks there, might want to tackle them one at a time rather than just focusing on 'playing well'. Let us know what works for you.

Play well, GL, etc.

Sweet, back to back winning sessions at 25nl.

VPP's to GoldStar: 924/3000 - - - On pace!

Another win booked.

VPP's to GoldStar: 1,015

Here's a hand from tonights session, guy seemed like a bit of a donk:

Should we be raising here on flop? I didn't feel like it would be for value, other than against a draw. He's some random who just sat in. Saw him call QJo from an UTG raiser, thats it. I don't have a read on his overbet here:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($25)
Hero (CO) ($35.80)
Button ($23.30)
SB ($25.10)
BB ($26.70)
UTG ($14.25)
UTG+1 ($43.35)
MP1 ($12.80)

Preflop: Hero is CO with J

, J

UTG calls $0.25, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero bets $1.50, 4 folds, MP1 calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.60) A

, 10

, 2

(2 players)
MP1 bets $1, Hero calls $1

Turn: ($5.60) Q

(2 players)
MP1 bets $10.30 (All-In), Hero...

Well played, now call.

One card beats us and he's betting as if he's either bluffing or scared to get drawn out on. If he's doing this with a Kc I just hope he doesn't sit out next hand.

I'd call.

wtf cold call 3bet then raise flop...is this pretty much always a set?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($16.20)
UTG ($10.90)
UTG+1 ($22.55)
MP1 ($1.35)
Hero (MP2) ($10.35)
CO ($9.85)
Button ($10)
SB ($15.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A

, A

2 folds, MP1 bets $0.30, Hero raises to $0.90, CO calls $0.90, 3 folds, MP1 calls $0.60

Flop: ($2.85) 4

, 10

, Q

(3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $1.60, CO raises to $3.60, 1 fold, Hero?

$0.05/$0.1 No Limit Holdem
9 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG orestbeaver ($1.60)
UTG+1 Hero ($14.05)
MP1 Strepped ($2.45)
MP2 SCovermind ($10.25)
MP3 LuckyOlli70 ($12.30)
CO dokiel ($10.25)
BTN potobetis ($12.35)
SB fx6893 ($22.60)
BB KirillPoykin ($2.00)

Pre-flop: ($0.15, 9 players) Hero is UTG+1 Ace of Hearts

1 fold, Hero raises to $0.40, 3 folds, dokiel calls $0.40, 3 folds

Flop: Ace of Clubs

($0.95, 2 players)
Hero bets $0.60, dokiel calls $0.60

Turn: Jack of Diamonds

($2.15, 2 players)
Hero bets $1.30, dokiel raises to $3, Hero goes all-in $13.05, dokiel goes all-in $6.25

River: Jack of Clubs

($24.45, 2 players)
Hero says "wow....", Hero says "lolll."

Final Pot: $20.65
dokiel shows: Jack of Hearts

Hero shows: Ace of Hearts

dokiel wins $19.65 ( won +$9.40 )
Hero wins $3.80 ( lost -$10.25 )

I played 3 hands with this player. First hand he raised my turn bet so I folded. 2nd hand he raised my turn bet I stuck it in and go 1 outered. Then the 3rd time he raises me, its on a really wet flop, I ship my overpair and get snapcalled by the nuts.

1. I suck at poker
2. Running this bad doesn't help when I suck

I could post more hands like this but I don't really want to turn the entire thread into a bitch fest. I guess I just need to vent somewhere as I'm getting tons of hands in, studying my ass off, but just not seeing any results.

Alright I guess I'll take a break on Sunday and just review hands/study.

No playing at all.

Run bad in cash, run hot in donkament.

Placed 2nd in a $4.40 regular 180 for $140ish

Words of wisdom:

It's pretty obvious tight, weak, regulars aren't bluff raising you very often postflop, if ever.

Today's first session was very poorly played, though my second session went better. I felt as though I handled marginal situations with more discipline (folded).

Tomorrow is going to be a spew free day.

Good luck m2m, I'm always here if you need a rail to lean on.

hey man, just stopping in to say that I read the last two pages of this blog (since the last time I was here), and that I'm happy that you're steadily moving up and making money. You should be proud of doing what so many others have failed at doing.

I mean you're now playing 25NL where before you started at 2NL, do you realize how big a difference that is? I only see you moving up for now man. Good luck and hopefully see you later.

1688/3000 VPP's = on pace for GoldStar

Roll is ~ $1,650

Probably won't start playing 50nl till July though as I need to get more hands at 25nl in.

lol what's teamviewer

So I played some 50nl HU last night.

Down about $5 overall...I stacked off marginally vs a drooler and he had me outkicked but I felt I was ahead of his range given the action. I ended up making it back in another match.

Not sure if it's the greatest Idea, but I guess I'm close to where I could be 'taking shots' so meh :/

Why wouldn't you play $50NL full ring? You have more than 30 buy-ins for the bankroll. Playing heads-up $50NL up is actually harder and more variance than full ring.

Variance is killer HU. Most regular HU players use a 50BI roll, pros usually use 100+. If you're going to take shots, I'd suggest FR as Jason said.

Yeah, I was just searching out weak players really, but I don't plan on playing HU regularly untill my roll is 2-2.5k+

With that said I'll probably just hold off on fish hunting there again for awhile and grind 25nl for a bit longer + do my sng thing.

Okay roll is $2.2k now.

2nd in another donkament this week for a $533 cash.

Man I am hot in these things! 3 FT's this week Very Happy

Wow, a 32% bankroll boost in one payout. That's probably a nice feeling. Bankroll Management says you may drop down a level or quit playing for the day if you lose so much, but it doesn't say anything about how much you can win Smile

Yo thanks for dropping by people.

So I had a pretty good session of 25nl today. I played pretty well and ran well too.

I'm going out to a home game tonight ($20 buyin) so that should be fun and easy Razz

1901/3000 VPP's towards GoldStar - this shit is happenin'

Update:

Things are going well at 25nl. I seem to have caught a grip and found my fold button. Studying has definately helped, as I seem to pick up on new small edges every day. Coaching from spoonitnow has be extrememly beneficial to constructing my game, and pretty much invaluable. Oh yeah, running good also helps.

The #'s
619 VPP's left to collect for GoldStar.
My goal is to get that done before Saturday, so I can participate in the GoldStar+ $100k tournament.
Bankroll is ~ $2,350 as of this update.
I've played 500 hands at 50nl so far, and that went well for +1 buyin.

The Next Step (Small Stakes)
I'll be starting Part II of my Operation in a new thread at the beginning of July. The focus of the thread will be my experience at the Small Stakes games ($50nl and $100nl), and of course I like to play sng's and donkaments on the side, so I'll mention some things regarding those. My main focus going in will be emotional control, though I'm always working to improve the technical aspects of my game of course.

Will update by the end of the month at the latest.

So now you got me all into donkaments. Thanks a lot.

I say we incorporate a break from cash games one day out of the week. We'll have a donkament day weekly. Maybe it'll catch on and spread throughout IRC/FTR (I can see Illfavor taking part in some of them with us...as well as Dranger when he gets his ass back). I was looking and the $2.75 at 5pm (though I'm sure you have work at this time) and the $2.20 at 11pm are SWEET. We can do those in addition to the $4.40 tourneys. Just a thought to break up the monotony that is grinding.

I have a donkament day, and that day is Sunday.

You dig?

Sunday afternoons aren't good though because I'm usually out visiting family/friends but I start up the grind at like 8-9pm.

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Operation: $2NL to $200NL [PHASE I: Microstakes] - COMPLETE

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Operation: $2NL to $200NL [PHASE I: Microstakes] - COMPLETE