Taking a Microscope to Micro-Cash Games

Hi Everyone, this is my new operations post, since the old one was two pages and getting out of hand. I'm a low stakes player, looking to build my roll. After 6 months on FTP and not making much out of my $100 buy in (I'm leaving it there, $165 currently) playing SNG's mostly and getting a good grip on them but not making a smooth amount of headway, I've taken the advice and moved to PokerStars and have started with a $50.00 bankroll. (If I get comfortable will move the rest of the roll there).

So after a week or so I have turned that BR into about $43.00 while I get used to cash games. I'm going to try to catalog what I find that is right and wrong as I go here... post some hands, etc... please give me any advice you deem appropriate, coaching is encouraged. ChrisBCritter has been my most vocal coach recently and I hope his guidance will continue.

I'm doing some theory work today, here is what I have turned up so far... and I have a spreadsheet I'm working from if anyone wants a copy:

Total number of starting hole card combinations: 1328
Total number of hole cards with pocket pair: 78
Percentage chance of getting pocket pair: 5.87%
Total number of AA hole card combos: 6
Percentage chance of hitting pocket rockets: .45%
Hands with 88+ pocket pairs: 42
Percentage chance of having 88+ pocket pair: 3.16%
(that includes rockets)
Hole cards combinations that contain an Ace: 198
Percentage chance your hole cards contain ace: 14.9%

Now I don't know how good the math is, because I didn't take into account the fact that there are other players at the table and they suck out some of the cards, it will take a better statistician than me to factor in how that affects things. The figure I found most interesting was the percentage chance that your hole cards contain an ace. Actually that percentage should say any one # card... because it could be the same percentage that your hand contains a 2 for example.

Anyway, look forward to comments and such... and 10 points to whomever can identify my avatar.

avator is your ma

gl in op

OK, tonight I am posting while it is fresh in my mind...

VP$IP : 20.30
PFR: 10.15
AF: 2.81

Tonight played for 2 hours, played good cards, with aggression. Only think I donked in one hand, A-T off from middle position, then after getting flat called by button, bet 1/2 pot and he came over the top, clobbering me since the flop missed me.

Anyway, played fairly well, haven't reviewed the hands yet but tell me what those numbers look like...

Oh, and about the avatar... Well look at the hair, that might help a bit... but she isn't hugely famous.

You're playing 20-10. It's better to tighten up a little and/or raise more. Playing 20-10 means stacking off with AQ too often...

Dazed and confused... and hating this fucking game this entire weekend.

Let me post a few hands for you, you can see how crappy I am doing.

Well I will if I can find where Poker Stars or Poker Tracker are doing with them.

Well apparently, even though Poker Stars CLAIMS it is saving my hand histories, they are no where to be found, that folder is empty. I don't know if Poker Tracker is maybe moving them, but with my level of frustration this weekend with poker, I could probably care less.

EDIT: HAND CONVERTER NOT WORKING CORRECTLY, SO HANDS ARE NOT COMING ACROSS CORRECTLY. WILL HAVE TO REWORK THIS POST LATER.

Ok, so now that I have calmed down a little and the thunderstorms are tearing across the neighborhood, so I can't paint the house any more...

Here are some of the hands from the last two days. Lets start with Saturday: (I wish I could import whole sessions so you see what I am folding also).

Now this hand I was looking for flush or straight draw on flop... played it correctly but at this point should I be playing these:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($5.05)
UTG ($3.58)
UTG+1 ($0.96)
MP1 ($3.20)
MP2 ($5.05)
Hero ($2.57)
Button ($1.14)
SB ($1.26)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8

, 9

.
2 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.02, Hero calls $0.02, 1 fold, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($0.10) 7

, 2

, K

(4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 bets $0.06, MP2 calls $0.06, Hero folds, SB folds, BB folds.
UTG+1 bets $0.1, MP2 calls $0.10.
UTG+1 bets $0.16, MP2 calls $0.16.

Final Pot: $0.74

Very next hand... too marginal to raise?
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($5.03)
BB ($3.58)
UTG ($0.62)
UTG+1 ($3.20)
MP1 ($5.45)
Hero ($2.55)
CO ($1.14)
Button ($1.24)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with T

, J

.
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.1, 4 folds.

Final Pot: $0.05

Next 3 hands I played, raised with 66, AQ and AT (Button) and won all three uncontested.

On this hand, lets call it Hand C, am I pushing it too much or is this standard?
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP1 ($1)
MP2 ($2.68)
CO ($1)
Button ($0.88)
SB ($2.74)
Hero ($2.83)
UTG ($1.26)
UTG+1 ($1.98)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A

, 2

. MP1 posts a blind of $0.02.
2 folds, MP1 (poster) raises to $0.04, 3 folds, SB calls $0.03, Hero calls $0.02.

Flop: ($0.12) 8

, J

, A

(3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.08, MP1 calls $0.08, SB calls $0.08.

Turn: ($0.36) 2

(3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.36, MP1 folds, SB folds.

Final Pot: $0.36

Hand D was an easy hand to play:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($0.86)
UTG ($2.68)
UTG+1 ($0.98)
MP1 ($0.80)
MP2 ($2.62)
Hero ($3.05)
Button ($1.42)
SB ($1.96)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A

, K

.
3 folds, MP2 calls $0.02, Hero raises to $0.12, 3 folds, MP2 calls $0.10.

Flop: ($0.27) 2

, K

, J

(2 players)
MP2 bets $0.1, Hero calls $0.10.

Turn: ($0.47) Q

(2 players)
MP2 bets $0.1, Hero raises to $0.4, MP2 calls $0.30.

River: ($1.27) 4

(2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $1.27

Won some other small pots, and that is the end of that table (this was actually friday night late). Other table at that time:

Hand E was second hand after sitting at this table:

Serious work for serious failures... anyway... took a detailled look and notes at today's afternoon session. It was only about an hour... but here are the results:

Two tables... first table:

Played 9 minutes, 13 hands, lost $0.14

Second Table: Played 36 minutes, won $2.80

I took notes on both tables, here is a breakdown of what I did, you tell me where I made major mistakes, if I'm too tight, etc...

First table:
EP - K3o, check (buy in .02) then flop top pair, won with bet after flop.
TT - raised to .10, one caller, JQK on flop, big raise by caller, folded
folded the following hands: 45o, 78o, 4cjd, Jh2c (fold to SB raise), Js7d (fold to BU raise), Jc2S, Th9s, Td5h (UTG now, players leaving)
4s5h, check BB, fold to big flop and bets by others
Ts7d in SB, fold
2d9d in Button, fold to 4 limpers ahead, leave table

Second Table:
(This one I am going to post some hands)

First hand:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Button ($4.97)
SB ($1.48)
BB ($2.99)
UTG ($4.97)
UTG+1 ($3.39)
MP1 ($0.25)
MP2 ($0.71)
MP3 ($3)
Hero ($3)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7

, 9

. MP3 posts a blind of $0.02. Hero posts a blind of $0.02.
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.02, MP2 calls $0.02, MP3 (poster) checks, Hero (poster) checks, 2 folds, BB checks.

Flop: ($0.11) K

, 5

, T

(5 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks, MP3 checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($0.11) 4

(5 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks, MP3 checks, Hero checks.

River: ($0.11) Q

(5 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets $0.06, MP3 folds, Hero calls $0.06, BB folds, MP1 folds.

Final Pot: $0.23

Results in white below:
MP2 has 9d Qh (one pair, queens).
Hero has 7s 9s (flush, queen high).
Outcome: Hero wins $0.23.

Fold the following: Ts5c, 9c7d, 6s4d, Ad6s, Ac4s
Big Blind: 7sJh - fold to raise by MP
Fold these: 3c5d, 6d7h, Ks6c, 4h6d, Ah2d, Qd7h

This hand next: big hand, glad I folded pre-flop:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($5.08)
MP1 ($1.44)
MP2 ($2.25)
MP3 ($5.14)
CO ($3.32)
Button ($3.45)
SB ($0.58)
BB ($1)
Hero ($3.13)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8

, 8

.
Hero raises to $0.1, 2 folds, MP2 raises to $0.18, MP3 raises to $5.14, 1 fold, Button calls $3.45 (All-In), 2 folds, Hero folds, MP2 calls $2.07 (All-In).

Flop: ($9.28) 5

, 5

, 7

(3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($9.28) 9

(3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($9.28) 6

(3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $9.28

Results in white below:
MP2 has Qd Qs (two pair, queens and fives).
MP3 has Ts Td (two pair, tens and fives).
Button has Jh Jc (two pair, jacks and fives).
Outcome: MP2 wins $6.88. Button wins $2.40.

Next folded 9s8d.

This hand was next and I had a question, I'm not sure my play was correct here, think correct would have been to call.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

BB ($5.08)
UTG ($1.44)
UTG+1 ($6.42)
MP1 ($5)
MP2 ($3.32)
MP3 ($2.25)
CO ($0.57)
Button ($0.97)
Hero ($3.01)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J

, A

.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.02, MP1 raises to $0.04, MP2 calls $0.04, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.03, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.02.

Flop: ($0.18) K

, 2

, Q

(4 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 bets $0.16, MP2 folds, Hero folds, UTG+1 folds.

Final Pot: $0.18

Results in white below:
No showdown. MP1 wins $0.18.

Next folded a few more hands, then this big hand came up:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($5.05)
Button ($1.46)
SB ($5)
BB ($3.28)
UTG ($3.20)
UTG+1 ($1.61)
MP1 ($0.97)
Hero ($2.97)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K

, A

.
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.14, CO calls $0.14, 1 fold, SB calls $0.13, 1 fold.

Flop: ($0.44) A

, J

, A

(3 players)
SB bets $0.34, Hero raises to $0.98, CO folds, SB raises to $4.86, Hero calls $1.85 (All-In).

Turn: ($6.10) 7

(2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($6.10) 7

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $6.10

Results in white below:
SB has Jd Ts (two pair, aces and jacks).
Hero has Ks Ad (full house, aces full of sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins $6.10.

Had $5.80 at that point (rake) and then folded down rest of hands until I left... one that I was wondering about was Ad9d from MP, with no limpers in front, should I be getting in with that on an average table? I mean, likely I would limp it looking for flush or A pairing...

BR: 35.65

Attitude: Sucky to indifferent, lost a lot of green this weekend being stupid.

Raise the 79s hand for value on the river.
88 standard
AJo fold pre
AK standard

Hi there Monty. Sorry you're having a frustrating start with cash. As daven said, your Pre-flop needs a little work. Either play less hands, or raise more of the ones you do play, or BOTH! Call very infrequently, and have a reason for doing so.

PT3 moves the hand-histories when it processes them, so they are under the PokerTracker folder under an "Imported" or "Processed" folder, or something like that.

So what's killing you here? From the hands that you've posted, I'm not seeing any real leaks. Have you had an inordinate share of bad-beats?? These hands cannot be the whole story...

Hand 1: 89s This is fine/standard, you're limping after a few limpers in position, saw a cheap flop that you totally missed and got out of the way. There's nothing wrong with this.
Hand 2: JTs A little loose. It's not out of line though. If you decided to play this hand from MP, then a raise is the way to go!
Hand 3: A2o Fold this Pre Flop. Yes, even to the min-raise. This is a crap hand. Flop and Turn are fine though. Lucky turn!
Hand 4: AKo Good, but not great! I'm very tempted to bet the river a LOT also. TPTK is a relatively strong hand in the micros. Any type of read on villian would've determined whether or not I bet that river. (About $0.70 for Value!)
Hand 5: (hand E) Missing...
Hand 6: 79s As Muzz said, raise the river. You have a very strong hand. Try to get paid.
Hand 7: 88 Tempted more to limp this UTG at these stakes, but a raise is definitely NOT a mistake. Set-mine with it. EASY fold to the multiple pushers...
Hand 8: AJo Easy fold out of the SB. This should also be an easy OPEN FOLD from UTG. If you have to play it, then you need to 3-bet raise over the min-raiser. That's too advanced of a play against all of the Level Zero villians though...Flop check/fold is super standard.
Hand 9: AKo All day, every day! This is the expected level of play from the majority of your villians.

In reference to your attitude: What "Stupid" plays did you make that lost you some green? And why did you make them? Are you even sure that they were stupid, or are you being results oriented?

Ok, thanks for the quick response.

Thanks also to Muzz for the comments.

The stupid hands... well, on Saturday I felt invicible I guess... had built a stack from $3 up to $6 (approx) and had top pair with AK on a K high flush board, 3 of some suit, which my A did not match, I bet he raised, I called, should have re-raised, but called, turn is another of the same suit, locking in the flush but I just didn't believe it with his range he had been calling and after I bet again he re-raised and I shoved... lost the whole caboodle because I was stupid.

Somehow it seems I've gotten back into 'show me' poker, believing that people are stupider than they are... and for some reason I have a hard time believing they aren't bluffing.

I'm ok, just frustrated. I then Saturday, feeling frustrated, tried playing some $1 SNGs on Stars since I hear they are so soft... and got clobbered in all of them. Played my standard SNG format but got hammered, two out in 7/8 place and two on the bubble.

It will get better, the session I posted yesterday, I took my time and notes and submitted the stuff here, will keep doing that so you get more of a feel for where I am at... guess watching the videos didn't necessarily help me, I think I'm expecting more big hands more often, sitting for twenty hands sometimes is driving me nuts at cash, so two tables helps but often I find myself sitting at both, just nut camping, then when a hand comes I either get sucked out on or everyone folds it to me...

Ah well, I'm learning the 'downs', i know the 'ups' will come.

So it's official, I suck.

Ok, here goes... first Monday session...
Starting BR 35.65, put $3.00 into 01/02 Full Ring
9s5s - fold
QsTd UTG - fold
Jd9d BB - check 9hKd2h, fold to pot sized bet
Jc7c in SB - 4 limpers ahead, complete, 8cQhKh, check then fold to 1/2 pot size bet
Kd2s on Button, fold to raise ahead
Fold the following:
4cTs
7h9d
4cJs
Qd6h
5dQd
3c9D in BB - fold to 5xBB raise ahead
3sQs in SB - fold to same 5xbb raiser ahead
8s5s on button - fold to raiser from MP
3dAd in CO - fold
4d6s - fold
3h Jc - fold
(So far played 1 hand for 15, no wins)
8s 4h fold
4h 9h fold
Stats so far this session 6/0/N/A
9c3h in BB fold to raises ahead
3cAh - SB complete, A88 flop, bet, checked it down and split
4h8c - fold
Ks4d - fold to raise ahead
3cTc - fold
Stats so far: 9/0/1.0
3c8s - fold from MP
As2h-fold
8sTc - fold
2d8c check BB, fold to bettor
4h 3c in SB, fold
6cJh fold
6h 7c fold
Kd Qc raise to 6xBB, everyone folds, current stack $2.91
Kd 9d fold
7c 3c fold
6d 4d fold stats now 9/3/1.0
9h Td in BB, 3 players limp, check, flop is Qh 2h 7c, everyone checks, 6h and I fold to .10 bet on 5s river.

9d Kh in SB, complete, bet .06 on Ks 5c 2h flop, get called, Td comes on turn, bet 1/2 pot and won showdown after checking river.

As 8d fold to raise ahead
Jh 9c fold
Tc 2d fold
Kh Td fold
9s 6c fold

Let's give you a real hand... here goes next hand:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (7 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($2.13)
Button ($1.79)
SB ($3.08)
Hero ($3.15)
UTG ($4.47)
MP1 ($2.73)
MP2 ($4.82)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K

, 4

.
1 fold, MP1 calls $0.02, MP2 calls $0.02, 2 folds, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($0.08) 2

, Q

, T

(4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks.

Turn: ($0.08) K

(4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.06, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, SB folds.

Final Pot: $0.08

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $0.08.

Ok, then fold the following: 7cJh, Qh8s, 9hQd, 4sKh, 3c8c, 8cTh, 5hTs, 4hJs, 4h2s, As2h folded in button with 2 limpers ahead, Ah9c, 8d6s, 3dJc, Ks9h, and last hand 5d 3h fold.

Stats were roughly 8/2/4.0 for increase in BR of 0.17

Now the evening shift... and this one isn't a happy ending.

folded 14 hands then this came up:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($1.02)
Button ($3.99)
SB ($1.85)
BB ($1.60)
Hero ($2.95)
UTG+1 ($3.75)
MP1 ($2.14)
MP2 ($2.51)
MP3 ($2.81)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with T

, J

.
Hero calls $0.02, 5 folds, Button calls $0.02, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($0.08) K

, T

, Q

(4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $0.02, Hero raises to $0.1, Button calls $0.10, SB calls $0.10, BB folds.

Turn: ($0.40) 9

(3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.3, Button calls $0.30, SB calls $0.30.

River: ($1.30) A

(3 players)
SB bets $1.43 (All-In), Hero raises to $2.53, Button calls $2.53.

Final Pot: $7.79

Results in white below:
SB has Ac Ad (three of a kind, aces).
Hero has Ts Js (straight, ace high).
Button has 5d 4d (flush, king high).
Outcome: Button wins $7.79.

SB was 40/0/1 over 27 hands...
Other villian was 70/8.7/0.73

I screwed the pooch on this one, figured they had Aces each, not aces both, and thought the flush might be there, should have folded at the turn.

Don't put so much emphasis on your own stats. In fact if you're using HUD just turn it off at this level. Absolutely no one is paying attention to you if you fold 50 hands in a row or whatever. Just focus on making the right plays, and if the right play is to fold, then so be it.

But really, don't focus on stats. Because you'll see that they're not "optimum" or whatever and start playing hands that you shouldn't be to try and fix it, and this'll get you into a lot of trouble.

I was break-even for 30k hands earlier this month, although I was not playing at my best for all of it.

How's that for perspective.

LOOOONNNNNGGGG TERRRRRMMMMM

Sorry for the shit posts.

We spoke of stats and people said I was not raising enough, so have been working on that. I'm trying to take notes, trying to do the right things but I think my head hasn't been on right.

I guess it is frustrating as I play .01/.02 and since the pots are often like .08 I don't care... instead of focusing on what I am trying to do and learn technique. I'm not independently wealthy but I don't really care about .08.

I also have had a lot going on in my life... trying to sort through all of that, especially at work. I've been using poker as an escape and need to start using it as a mental game again. I've really lost my edge and am trying to get it back.

I'm limiting my playing for now... will possibly start playing more again soon but for now I'm trying to develop my plan... then be aggressive with it. I KNOW I can win and I believe I KNOW HOW... just get frustrated when after playing for 45 minutes have not turned any hands that have made a profit.

*Last edited by bjsaust on Wed, 25 Jun 2008, 8:14am; edited 1 time in total*

Yeah, you got to be real careful chasing a straight draw on a board that also has a FD on it. Your outs could be dirty. Then if you hit your A you could just be splitting anyway with another J. If you hit a J for two pair you're likely beaten by a straight. If you hit a T for trips you need to worry about a FH. The only real three cards you're happy to see are the 3 9s that dont bring in the flush, and even then its not the nuts.

So you fold.

Dont get me wrong, this is all just learning. A couple months ago I got stacked on an almost identical hand. Even since then I've had to fold some straights when I think a flush has hit as well. You look at the hand and think about where you went wrong, and what you should do next time.

Not much value beating yourself up about it, we all play stinker hands (to use a phrase of Fnords in regards to one of mine) sometimes, the key is to work out where we went wrong, and how we should approach it in the future. Thats why getting too negative in your blog probably doesnt help. Analyse your game, identify your leaks and weaknesses, and discuss options to work on them.

Last Night played for about an hour, started off good, picked up AQo for first set of cards, pulled blind steal with it... then a long lull, two tables running. Hit AKo on one, KK on other close together, worked one table up to nearly 2xBI, or $6. other table was about $3.50 from starting at $3... played a bit longer, took the higher table down to $2.80 calling an all in KK in the hole and 88 on the board... he check called me all the way through till I put him AI and he called, he showed a set of 7s on the flop (77 in the hole, one on the board) to pull a full house... not my best hand but I don't think I played it wrong...

Played a while longer and then got that back up to around $5.00 so it was a positive night overall, long lulls between hands though, cards were cold. I didn't do anything extreme or shove over for no reason, so all in all a good mental game night.

There was one bad thing last night... my daughter. I was tucking her in... she says "Daddy, can you not play poker tomorrow night? You never watch TV with us anymore".

So no poker tonight... maybe some Friday, she has a friend over and my wife will be hiding also... Saturday is golf focused all day. We'll see how it all goes. Play well... Monty

Was running good so far tonight... following ROBB's Noobie's first 5k hands at 10nl to the letter... and suffered a bad beat in the first session...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($4.31)
UTG+1 ($1.17)
MP1 ($0.75)
MP2 ($5.11)
CO ($1.65)
Button ($4.61)
SB ($1.98)
Hero ($2.07)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A

, A

.
UTG calls $0.02, 3 folds, CO raises to $0.04, 1 fold, SB calls $0.03, Hero raises to $0.2, UTG folds, CO raises to $1.65, SB folds, Hero calls $1.45.

Flop: ($3.36) J

, 4

, K

(2 players)

Turn: ($3.36) T

(2 players)

River: ($3.36) 8

(2 players)

Final Pot: $3.36

Results in white below:
Hero has Ad Ac (one pair, aces).
CO has Kc Ks (three of a kind, kings).
Outcome: CO wins $3.36.

I totally can't be mad about it, got my money in good, but darn... screwed up the gains I had made in about an hour... next session starting shortly...

BR: $29.85

I've taken a bit of a break this weekend, and may take one longer term. I'm struggling with balancing life, poker and especially golf. Let me explain. I have been playing for years on a national Amateur golf tour. I had begun dedicating myself this year to breaking my record and winning another trip to nationals, along with winning at nationals (I consider winning making the final day, which is top 5).

So, I've been spending a lot of time on poker, a lot of time on golf, a lot of time at work and my balance has been horrible. I have a lot to get done at home, my wife and kid are at odds with me, things are just way out of balance.

After a fight with my wife on Saturday, some personal reflection very early (around 1am) on Sunday morning and some other issues having come to light... I've come to a realization, that I know sounds trite and juvenile, but unless I write it down it won't happen.

"No one can change me, only I can change myself, and it is me who is forcing myself to lose"

Sounds like a 12 step program I know... but my mental game has been hurting me at golf. My mental lack of focus has been hurting me at poker. My mental image of not being happy or satisfied in life is killing my home life. My inability to believe I have the right to whip my employees into shape at work has cause my supervisory skills to suffer.

What the hell is Monty leading up to?

Well... this long diatribe post is about one thing. The future. It is time to start the future. Starting now, no more wimpy bullshit in life or in games... time to 'man up' and start dominating: IN ALL ASPECTS OF LIFE.

The golfers I compete against aren't better than me, just better at controlling their emotions.

The poker players (albeit mostly fish) I play against aren't better than I am, they just control their play and emotions better.

The only one who can get it done in life is me... and to borrow a phrase from a popular sporting goods company... it is time for me to "Just Do It'

Today begins a new journey. I am going to start a new blog, one about life, love, golf and poker. I'm working on a catchy name along those lines... let me know if you have any ideas...

Well surprise surprise.

Last night I participated in the FTR300 at PokerStars... and... wait for it... took 1st place.

Amazing but flopping quads twice helped out tremendously, once against a straight and the other against a much higher pair... both times I was struggling for my life in the tourney and both secured me into good shape...

Congrats to all who played, including kelly who fought it out with me heads up for quite a while...

It was fun, I'm way up on BR now and ready to grind the cash game out. Now that I have a cushion, I think I can play much better poker.

See you all at the tables!

Played about 180 hands last night... .01/.02 and ended up about .17 up. Had some swings of about 60-80 cents at a time, but no big hands, no real troublesome hands, just quiet cards.

Current BR: roughly $194.00

Ok man, I give up... Who is in your avatar??

Nice takedown on the FTR300! Things going ok on the homefront? That's a much tougher game than poker...

Things are a bit better at home, some of the stresses have been relieved.

That avatar is 'Sophie' from the Golf Channel Big Break series... I didn't expect anyone to get it Wink

Golf game still working on, spending more time focused on it than poker right now... especially since my br is out of trouble for a while now. Now maybe I can learn how to own these micro stakes and make some money rather than play scared.

Things will get better overall in the long run, I'm a bit reactionary as you see... I'm still fighting the depression and some other issues though, but it will get better long term. Thanks for the concern, it is appreciated.

So here is an update, since I have been quiet for a while...

I played Friday night... was up $7, went on a pretty good run of cards... saturday got into a bit of trouble with some hands, one stupid hand where I couldn't believe he caught the flush... lost $6.

So for the weekend I'm about even.

Here are my stats for Cash since June 1, 2008...

Total Hands: 1477
Hands Won: 147, (9.95%)
Sessions: 42
Sessions Won: 18 (42.86%)
Hours: 15.48
Amount Won: -10.91
BB/100 : -18.47

Now for playing style:
VP$IP: 14.22
PFR: 8.53
W$WSF: 34.55
W$SD:48.75
AF:2.68
AFq: 45.55
3Bet: 5.85
Fold to 3Bet: 77.70
Att to Steal: 18.67
Fold BB to Steal: 66.67
Fold SB to Steal: 85.71

So from this, I think I see that I might neet to up the aggression slightly, and not give away the blinds so often... what thoughts does this produce folks?

Total BR: $165 FTP + $194 PS

Had a hand today that gave me some trouble. I'm not sure I played this correctly... any thoughts?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

SB ($0.96)
BB ($1.34)
UTG ($1.51)
Hero ($3.34)
CO ($1)
Button ($0.84)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A

, Q

.
UTG calls $0.02, Hero raises to $0.14, 2 folds, SB calls $0.13, 1 fold, UTG folds.

Flop: ($0.33) 9

, J

, K

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($0.33) T

(2 players)
SB bets $0.2, Hero raises to $0.4, SB raises to $0.82, Hero calls $0.42.

River: ($1.97) K

(2 players)

Final Pot: $1.97

Results in white below:
SB has Th Ts (full house, tens full of kings).
Hero has As Qh (straight, ace high).
Outcome: SB wins $1.97.

After re-reading it, I think I got the money in good but just got burned on teh river...

With a gutshot + FD (and a gutshot to a straight flush) I'd bet the flop to build the pot. Turn your plan is to get your stack in and you did. Terrible play by villain, with a 3 flush and any Q destroying him, although your min-raise really sucks there. If he had .62 behind, just put him AI with your turn raise.

He hit one of his 10 outs and you lost, but you were a strong favorite when the money went in, so nice hand.

From Hero to Zero in two hands...

Wish I had the histories handy, but the first hand I'm up to about 3.50 in a .01/.02 game, get dealt pocket kings, raise to 6xBB, get a call and a re-raise to .50, call, another caller as well, flop comes with J-high, rainbow of crap, I bet from BB $1.00 into this $1.50 pot, MP calls (I'm putting him on high pair, possible set), Button shoves over, I call, MP shoves, I call... now there is 9.01 in the pot and I'm all in, so is button and MP is almost AI... end up winning the hand with pocket kings (both had A-rag)...

Hero.

Next hand, find myself in SB with AA...

$1 raise from guy in CO, hadn't seen action from him before, but figured AA was good enough, he has a $8 stack... I shove, he insta calls... with 6s 7s... and wins with the flush.

Zero.

Man, this game can play tricks on your mind.

Spent about 45 minutes online last night playing... sorry wife enticed me away Wink

Anyhow... found a table that was a bit of a surprise... I sat down at this .01/.02 table and started with $3, no one had more than $2 at the table... each hand though most of the 7 players there were in, most folding at the flop to even a minimum bet... after folding about 5 hands I noticed the pattern... everyone seemed to get in nearly every hand but fold to any flop bet... so I started taking advantage of that... stealing a lot of blinds with 5xBB bets from late position, betting aggressively with any pair or better... ended up ahead aby about .50 by the end of the session... driving at least two players away... then someone showed up who also caught on after watching for a few minutes and it became him or I on every hand... I had to be careful though as he would play back into me if he had anything decent.

So last night was a true winning session, though not very profitable. The other table I was playing on was standard, I ended up about .17 total.

The vacation really cut into my playing time, but I'm back and playing pretty well. Monday night I played for about an hour and only lost a few cents, broke pretty even in the long run.

Last night played for 1.5 hours and made some headway, won a few dollars. I played pretty well, making some good reads and some epic folds... of course there were some bad hands in there too, but I played pretty much to the letter, only getting burned once with flopping a straight and the villian hitting the bigger straight on the river... nothing I can do there..

I'm finding middle/high pairs easier to play right now than high pairs, that keep getting busted out... but it will all even up in the long run.

Thought I owed everyone a post, it had been 12 days.

Current BR: PS: $194

Playing solid poker last night, if you can call .01/.02 solid poker. Made a number of good moves, betting at the right times and taking down pots (minor ones, but still)... was up about $3 until I got seriously rivered by a donk and lost the $3 +.

I wish I had copied the history to bring to work to convert the hand, but here goes from memory...

I'm in CO with AcKc, one limper ahead (UTG I think) and I raise to 6xBB (.12). Everyone folds but the limper who calls. Flop comes Ks, 7d, Td. So the flop doesn't scare me, actually helps me. Limper checks. I put in around 3/4 pot or so, (.20 into .27 pot) and he insta-calls. I'm not trying to put him out of the pot but I'm wondering what he has, a set would have bet, low pair shouldn't be fighting, but I put him on small pocket pair, with possible set. Turn comes out, Qh. Ok... no flush on the board, I still have top pair with top kicker. Pot is .67 and he bets .02. I hit the time button and start thinking... why would he bet so small into that pot? he is trying to induce me to bet obviously but what could he have that scares me... AA? He would of bet bigger at the start or the flop...

I bet the pot, .67 and he shoves over his whole stack... now I'm confused by what he is thinking, but I still put him on small pair, I don't think he set or he would have bet it. If he's slow playing, I'm paying in this case, so I call... Total pot around $7 now and the river comes out 6s.... giving him two pair... he was holding Q6.

What burns my ass is his betting pattern with nothing... I don't feel bad about losing it but how can he bet so poorly? Darn I wish I could run into him at every table, but it just amazes me sometimes how people chase with nothing, thinking if they pair a Q they will win... in this case I got burned but there is a lesson in there somewhere...

Welcome back Monty!

So I've got nearly 3300 hands under my belt... here is the graph so far... my loss rate has slowed, so maybe I'm improving...

August... wow.

This month I turn 38. I also have a few minor goals to set and make this month... some poker related and some not. I'm not expecting a huge amount of playing time this month as I have a lot going on... so here is how the month looks for me:

Starting PS Bankroll: $174

Plan: Play 2,000 - 3,000 hands .01/.02 Cash in FR.

Goals: End month with BR of at least $215
Play tighter and stop spewing with less than winning hands
Play position stronger
Up the aggression on good hands

Non-poker goals:
Begin shed construction
Qualify for nationals in golf (Golf Channel Amateur Tour Player)
Week vacation being actually RELAXING this time
Be more affectionate towards my wife.

So ok, I know you all could care less about the non poker goals, and want to see me post more problem hands. I want to work on that. Tonight I drive out of town for a two day golf tournament that might qualify me for nationals right away. If that is so, I'll have more poker time. Either way, I'm taking a laptop to play on, hopefully can get in an hour or two each night at the hotel.

Will post Monday or Tuesday with an update on the weekend's play... both golf and poker Wink

I'll keep the old comments to myself. Obviously, this sentence is false. Very Happy

You are WAY overrolled for $2NL right now, but I understand wanting to have a winning rate going before moving up. Waiting until you hit $215 might be a little much though, I say $190. Playing as few hands as you have the opportunity to do, this could take a LONG time to do depending on variance. Really you're just killing your opportunities to move up and start making slightly more.

Non-poker:
I've got shed-building experience (and a sore back to prove it)! Good luck!
I wanna play golf again, it's been years... At my best I had a respectable 10 handicap.
Relaxing? That's difficult!
Affectionate? Such a dangerous word, but I think it involves flowers somehow...

GL with the golf!

It's Monday... and I'm one goal down.

I have found such a mental connect between golf and poker, both are games that are easy to learn the fundamentals but tough to be good at without a great mental state.

Golf didn't go well on Saturday, I made a lot of stupid mistakes and came in 5th on Saturday... 8 strokes back... on Sunday I made up 7 of the 8 strokes, finishing overall in 3rd, qualifying for Nationals in October. Woo Hoo!

The only real poker news is nothing. Over the weekend the hotel's wi-fi connection didn't work so I didn't get to play.

Will update more as the days go by....

I enjoy reading your blog monty - You'll be back ontop of your goals in no time, I look forward to reading your next post!

And congratulations on trippling your BR in a little over a month!

Played in the FTR500 last night to bad result... overbets kicked me out of a number of hands and then I go AI with TT in response to a small raise by someone in MP, got beat with A-x as they hit the A on the river.

I have been playing a little .02/.05 on PS also, found the pots to be growing much bigger quicker, and have met mixed success. Lost about $3.50 total as I look around and bet around, but find the games very similar, if even a little more donkish.

Thank you all for checking in on my blog... I'll probably be taking some time off over the next two weeks. Problems at home and a vacation that may or may not happen are all seriously interfering with my poker time. I'm probably going to have a reduced participation in the forums as well. In then end it will all work out, but for now, life is a mess. Good luck at the tables all and I'll be back when I can.

Hey there monty. GL with the life problems. Take care of those first, poker will always be there! Have fun on your vacation whether it happens or not!

Got a little break last night and played for about an hour, clear minded and everything. I was running good, playing .02/.05 and was up about $1.50. Playing three tables at once, pretty much nut sitting... then get a pair of jacks on one table on the button... one limper ahead... he has been known to show down with Ax so I go for 6xBB and get two callers... flop comes down J6A rainbow, and he bets out to 1/3 pot... this I find interesting, but I'm sitting with a set... so I rasie to 4x his bet... he flat calls. Odd, but I figure he has Aces with a high kicker... Q comes out on the turn and he bets 50% of pot... so now I put him totally on AQ... but I have him beat still, I shove. He calls... $10.10 pot now and I'm thinking I'm golden... and the river comes out... A.

I have Jacks full of Aces, he holds Aces and Queens... big loss.

But I can't feel bad about it, got my cards in when good.

nut sitting = nut camping? Very Happy

Sorry bout the bad-beat, that's ugly. Any good winners to share?

How are your stats looking in PT3? Last time we saw them was over a month ago! Any improvements?

Not really any changes so far. I have 3 days left on my PT3 trial, won't be ordering till I get back from vacation. Yes, nut camping... nut sitting, whatever... hell nut sitting is every minute I sit down. Anyway...

No signifigant change in stats because I haven't played many more hands. Last night was maybe 150 hands total. not much going on... haven't changed my play much. I notice I'm dropping in the .02/.05 arena, but maybe that is to be expected, or variance, or just bad play lately. I don't seem to believe a lot of people, but I'm getting better at that, when they bet I'm crediting them with hands more often.

There were a couple of good hands... one I read the player perfectly and knew he was bluffing, took down a hand with a pair of 4s but not for a big pot... all in all I'm losing money but not at a ridiculous speed...

PS BR: 158.00
FTP BR: 160.00

Remember, when you sit down at a table and someone has a huge stack, he's usually a bad player who has taken stupid risks and gotten lucky. Bad play has huge variance resulting in occasional huge wins. When you start playing intelligently, folding when you might be beat etc you are minimizing your losses and your variance. It makes it somewhat less likely to make a quick big score but it should be better money in the long run.

There will be a time when you think you are playing better than ever and winning less than ever and you can't figure out why - this is a possible cause. When thinking about the past when you were playing badly you'll attribute the big losses to playing badly and the big wins to playing well - this is often wrong. The big sudden win spikes are as likely to be a result of bad play as the big sudden loss spikes.

Keep making good decisions and putting your money in while ahead.

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