Setzy's 2008: Supernova Elite Bound

Goodbye Party!

Well, I suppose a lot of people got royally fucked on the whole Monster deal, but this guy was not one of them. According to my PT I paid $540 in BBJ drop money, but I was on a table with a BBJ ($2200), and I got to cash out my Monster Freerolls today for $1150! Man, Party drops players and the Bad Beat Jackpot is sitting at 600k, haha. Good luck to whoever hits that! This new money puts me over my monthly goal...but now I have a decision to make where to take my cash game.

Stars seems the likely choice, as they will probably absorb a lot of the new traffic. I also think I'm going to soak up a few refer-a-friend bonuses and make a little money that way.

I'm withdrawing my Party money today, so this blog is especially important to remind me how much actual POKER money I have, because I'm mixing it in my bank account. I may be keeping some out forever and taking a hit in the BR, but I doubt I'd change my game and move down. I'm using like 10% of my BR in any given day, which I suppose is sound BR management, but I don't think it's neccessary as I'm a pretty stable player Smile

For now I'll be playing on Stars with my little micro-roll, until the money comes through!

BR - $9787

Call me silly, but the micro games hooked me. I went on a tear and a half at 6-max 10NL one night, and started multi-tabling FR 25NL wayyyy out of my bankroll (not total, but this portion of it). Party gave me $60 more from the Red Carpet promotion, and I cashed out $25 I had in Paradise from forever ago, and have put that into Stars as a nice cushion.

Tentatively I've decided to prove to myself (and to anyone else), that it's still quite possible to build up a brand new roll from basically scratch after Party let go of U.S. players. I reached my BR "Goal" for October, so this is my other new side project. I still consider this Stars money my "fun" money, and I'm playing Razz, a little HORSE, cheap MTTs and HU tourneys out of it also.

What I want to do with this whole situation is what I've dubbed an "express grind", make as much money as possible out of the micro-limits in a short amount of time. I'm not going to set dollar amounts, but I'm having a lot of fun doing it anyway. I've started a new database in PT called "The New Adventure!", which is precisely what this is.

Stars BR: $417 <-- none of my "Real" BR

I just got back from my first live casino cash game. Let's see how we did!

The game's 1/2NL..lowest the casino has to offer. There's a $6 fee every half hour, to be expected I guess. I buyin for $200 (my dumbass wasn't aware $300 is the max), make my way to my seat after an 18 person wait list, and proceed to donk it up.

"Standard" is quite different here. Online, UTG you'd be like, ok "standard" 4-5bb looks good..oh, 3 limpers this hand, let's jack it up to like 7bb so I can narrow the field down. Lol at "narrowing the field" at this table.

I played for some 2-3 hours, tight as a drum. I once raised a pair UTG to $12, got something like 6 callers. Are you fucking kidding me, lol. Couple of my really nice hands were in the SB..crappy position, but the flops came that made me some nice money.

I really only have 2 hands to speak of...AJh in the SB with a few limpers, I make it $17 to go and get about 3 callers. Flop the freakin nuts, bet $40, 2 folds and a dude with a mountain of money (prob like $800, but he wasn't bullying or anything, table was pretty weak-tight) asks me if I have the flush, I shrug, and he calls. Turn comes some other face card, but I still have the nuts and check (still iffy on if this was right, but I guess it wasn't bad), he bets $40 more, I call. River is an Ace but my nut flush is still the absolute nuts, I put the rest of my money in, like $90 into about a $180 pot, but he folds. He said he misread his hand and thought he had a straight (possible because he looked like he'd been there a long time and was tired, but whatever..still won the hand)

My other hand was AKo in the SB, several people limp and I bump it to $20 and get 4 callers. LOL. Flop is Kxx, I bet $80, and everyone folds.

I tried to figure out how loose players were in the first orbit..I tried to stay out of pots that could be bleeding off unneccesary chips (like a dude straddling, is that spelled right?), and think the session went fairly decent overall...+$150! Never even showed down a hand, though I did show on my nut flush.

My little micro-roll is slowly growing..I'm glad I didn't finish down at the casino and have to take out of it!

Hah, I had a bad day today with my micro-roll.

Yesterday I made it a goal to get to SilverStar on Stars, so I played a lot. And by a lot, I mean 3982 hands, according to PT. At the beginning of the day I forgot to say my prayers to the poker gods, and promptly lost 3 buyins to set over set, KK vs AA, and boat vs boat. Basically the rest of the day was breakeven. Then I uploaded my hands and went over them, looking at hands over 20bb. Everything appeared fairly normal, and then.....

I clicked on the Misc. Stats tab at the top, went and looked at each type of hand and how many I made, and how much was won or lost. Including flopped full houses (1), I flopped seven sets. *Screeching brakes* Seven sets. 3982 hands. 1 set per 568 hands!??? That's not right!

No shit that's not right. I've been raising my PPs, and I think I've been driving people out of hands, winning hands with a lot of postflop value preflop , and losing out on some winnings. Of course it's easier to say these things when you're on the losing end of things..but comparable to my large statistical sample from months ago, I'm winning less NOW than I was THEN, with a higher VPIP, PFR, and aggression rating?? Blah.

Today I got on and again promptly lost two buyins to TPTK vs set, overpair to OESFD that hit a flush. Yesterday I did make Silverstar, so I've considered basically the rest of this month to be playtime. The micro-roll is still play money, so I shot up to 50NL! Dropped another buyin to KK vs a set. Whoops! Ah, ya can't win 'em all, but I did decide to quit once I hit the $300 mark.

Mentally I think I'm ready for a short hiatus. I have already met my overall BR goal for the month, and I want to be sharp for when I start the "serious" playing again. Grinding the micro-roll is fun, but I think it's very easy to forget how much of a grind it really is. I went into it with the mindset of "oh I've played higher limits, so I must be miles ahead of these players". This is true I think in the experience portion definitely, but you can't change what people hold..and when they have a better hand than you, you can't change who wins if there is a showdown. You can try to bet people out, but it over-extending yourself to players who aren't thinking about what YOU have is a very -EV mistake.

Micro-roll: $294

The past two days I've decided to mess around with some 25NL 6-max. The first day I was up about 3 buyins, today I was down about 3 buyins. I'm still not sure how I stand on 6-max, of course because the last time I played I lost at it I have a worse frame of mind, but I do like the increased action that goes on, and the more actual "poker" that is played instead of camp camp camp, wait wait wait.

I wanted to bust through with the micro-roll and start kicking some major ass, but I've ended up running in a big circle. The worst part about it all is at this point, I know I'm a competent and winning player (especially at higher levels than this), but I'm still having trouble. I tend to have very little respect for the players at this level, which I guess is a problem.

I like to write about emotions and mindsets because I think at this point they are more important than the mathematical portion of the game. I know how to raise, I know how to bet, I know how to be aggressive...but it's not always easy to know how to deal with losing. Another problem I'm faced with is that as of this point, I'm winning less than when I was playing full-time at 25NL full ring. I think overaggression may be partly to blame here..much play at 25NL is weak-tight, and betting scares off players that might take a stab with a worse hand given the chance.

I'm going to keep at it, and try to end the month well before I go back to my regular game.

I'm glad I wrote that last entry. I went back and evaluated as to WHY things have not been going my way, and I did conclude that I was overplaying too many hands vs. weak-tighties. At 25NL people don't pay attention to their surroundings enough for it to matter. So, I've been on fire since then..I had a nice weekend, visiting with my parents and going to a friends wedding. Got my car back too, so I can go do a bunch of the things I've been needing to do.

I think ..for now anyway, I'm going to keep going into November with the micro-roll. We'll see how it goes!

Micro BR: $617

Good work, keep it up. $25NL is tough at 6max. Especially if it's the lowest limit on the site. Some bad players make it swingy as hell. Easily beatable but once in a while they get your stack with the most unlikely of calls, wiping out an hours work.

Love the thread.

Sometime late last night I decided to try and finish up the required VPP on Stars to become a Goldstar. Today I 9-tabled 50NL WAYYYY out of my micro-roll, lol, for about 7 hours. I made my Goldstar and I made a little money along the way! I guess I will be able to stick around 50NL fulltime now..might be pushing it a little with the BR, but I'm not too worried about it. So hungry, gotta fix some food and then I'm gonna watch the FTR table play some more Smile

November goal to come in the next few days...

Micro-roll - $1000

November goals -

Boost the micro-roll up to $2000.

Go play live 1/2 a couple of times.

Consider splitting some of the micro-roll off into a full-time "live" roll.

Try to get to PlatinumStar on Stars..that should be pretty hard.

I'm very lucky I decided to put in that obscene amount of hands on Oct. 31 and achieve GoldStar, because the Bonus was $100 more than it would have been had I only been SilverStar. Tonight I finished the GoldStar Bonus for $200, which is now part of my micro-roll!

Tonight was pretty swingy, in session 1 I was running absurdly hot, then I went back down in the second session and back up right as the Bonus finished clearing, I believe I finished up some overall on session 2. Lots of sets, lots of gettin paid. It's doubly fun when you are playing well (I feel as confident when I sit down as I ever have playing) and you're running well. It's easy to posi-tilt though (I think that's the word), and think you can beat anything at any time, so I keep that in check and just thank the poker gods each time anything good happens, and continue on.

With the new VIP Points system in place on Stars, I'm getting FPP like nobody's business. I enjoy their store a lot more than Party, which I still need to spend my Partypoints in. From what I understand gift certificates are the best way to spend points...the new cash back thing is not as much per point, so I believe I'm going to try and save up for the $1,000 travel gift certificate. Perhaps that will be a challenge for an upcoming month!

I'm 30% of the way to PlatinumStar.
Haven't been to the casino to play live, but I played a home game tourney tonight.

Current MicroRoll: $1782

Past 2 days have been on the negative side, which in all honesty I was starting to expect. Couldn't run hot like that forever. However tonight I did run into a couple of "non-standard" hands by my account. So let's check out some HH's.

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

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($57.30)
Button ($29.25)
Hero ($49.45)
BB ($179.85)
UTG ($34.85)
UTG+1 ($54.70)
MP1 ($55.35)
MP2 ($41.75)
MP3 ($63.55)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K

, K

.
UTG raises to $4, 6 folds, Hero raises to $10, 1 fold, UTG calls $6.

Flop: ($20.50) 7

, 5

, 8

(2 players)
Hero bets $13, UTG calls $13.

Turn: ($46.50) 9

(2 players)
Hero bets $26.45 (All-In), UTG calls $11.85 (All-In).

River: ($84.80) 9

(2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $84.80

Results in white below:
Hero has Kc Kh (two pair, kings and nines).
UTG has Kd 6s (straight, nine high).
Outcome: UTG wins $70.20. Hero wins $14.60.

In that hand I was pretty much counting my chips before they even started coming my way. The weird part about it was the initial raise to $4. That's so much higher than a "normal" raise, which is why I raised just under 3x. I more expected him to push over it with a lower PP or AA, but I was ready to call anything.

Now in this hand, I have history with Villain. On another table earlier tonight I stacked him set over set and he left. He's pretty liberal postflop for a 50NL player, so I considered myself ahead with him having a weak A or being crushed with one of those sets. However, I didn't think he'd 3-bet with a set like that, so I immediately committed my stack to try and maximize fold equity.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($53.70)
Hero ($80.65)
CO ($78)
Button ($48.50)
SB ($10.25)
BB ($50.80)
UTG ($30.20)
UTG+1 ($25.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A

, K

.
UTG calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $2.5, 1 fold, Button calls $2.50, 2 folds, UTG calls $2.

Flop: ($8.25) A

, 7

, 9

(3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6, Button raises to $18, UTG folds, Hero raises to $78.15, Button calls $28 (All-In).

Turn: ($132.40) 4

(2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($132.40) 8

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $132.40

Results in white below:
Hero has Ac Ks (one pair, aces).
Button has 4d 7d (two pair, sevens and fours).
Outcome: Button wins $100.25. Hero wins 32.15

So much of 50NL is totally ABC. These were just some nonstandard hands that made me raise my eyebrows. I still feel very capable and confident, just have to play out of this run of cards and back into something a little more stable.

MicroBR: $1470

Bad beats Setzy. I hope you reloaded and got a chance to play more hands with these fish.

Played a few more MTT's than normal lately, pretty much got all I wanted out of those for a while.

Yesterday I played a 4.40 180-man and finished 7th.

Today I played a 4.40 180-man, a 3.30R, a 3.30 triple shootout, a 1.10 HORSE and a 1.10 Razz, and cashed in none of them, lol. Needless to say after playing MTT's for some 7 hours straight, I've had enough! I can see how the variance would be killer on strictly tourney players. For me it's a great break from the normal grind, but jeez.

Anyway, the past few days of cash have been back on the upswing, which is nice. I read a few threads on 2+2 about this and that, and I think I'm going to take my first stab at 100NL with the microroll when I hit 2k. I'll give myself a 3 buyin cushion, go do my thing, and if it doesn't work out I'll go back, simple as that. I'm not going to make it official, but tentatively I'm going to say I want to be playing 200NL by New Year's, which will be higher than I've played before. Should be fun.

MicroBR: $1825

go ahead and move up. you've played at that level before. i moved up about that time as well and im glad i did. the play is actually softer at 100NL, 50NL was a nitfest for me @ FullTilt.

Setzy, you and I are running in parallel.. (with Martin alongside, but slightly ahead...) I started mini-bankroll at Stars.. and built up to about 1800 in the last month and a half. I don't think I'm playing quite as much as you are, but it cracks me up to read you blog being so similar to mine. I actually sat last night for a little 100NL.. and there was tremendous amounts of really questionable play at most of my tables.

It would seem Terry speaks the truth about 100 being softer than 50! (yeah!)... if you ever want to compare hands and such I'd be all for it.. we look to play somewhat similar...

Great Job and I'll see you at the tables.. (though, are you still using Setzy as your handle?)

I have an $8k roll and I'm still too scared to jump to $100 (even though I am playing at, and owning, £50NL which is like $97NL) - watching you youngsters with your little bankrolls and big enthusiasm is very tiring for an old fucker like me Smile

I got 7.5k BR and only dare to play 1 table FR of 200NL Embarassed

I'm closing in..

I'm 95% of the way to PlatinumStar, and I've been playing 100NL like mad. Today I ran on one of those extremely hot positive variance runs, hitting tons of sets in raised pots and getting paid every which way from Sunday. My evening session was good, but it went from really good to ok after I lost boat vs boat.

I still have not been back to the casino. Meh.

I'm considering camping out for a Nintendo Wii Saturday (day?/night), because it's released on Sunday. Was just talking to my roommate about how it would be cool to have some wireless internet and be able to play online poker while waiting, hehe.

Anyhow I've been running well at 100NL, and the players don't seem much better than the lower levels, so unless I crash and burn for an extended period I'm there full time now. Well, here's to a good month thus far!

MicroBR: $2675

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Setzy's 2008: Supernova Elite Bound