Operation: $$ accumulation

GL

GL

You go, guy.

Goooood luck sir

cheers for all the well wishes, and right back at y'all
i just spent an hour doing some quick HEM filtering on stuff, particularly positional things

SB/BB
Seems my blinds winrate isn't as bad as i thought it would be = -10BB/100 from sb is fine -25BB/100 from bb is not good, but i can see where to fix this pretty easily. i can probably do the same or better from these positions while playing tighter. Especially when my sb vpip is 25% = wtf, i'm having to spend way too much energy on playing oop with weak ranges vs poorly defined ranges and i'm pretty sure that's affecting my overall ability to focus across all tables. There are a few spots there that point towards needing more balance though.

UTG
pretty hard to get this wrong if you play it tight enough
UTG+1
as above

MP1 i'm 12-11 and that seems to be acceptable, as is winrate

MP2 is ok too i think

LP my winrates are unacceptably low and i think i see why. Time to do a few more analyses to confirm what my initial filtering suggests...

50nl has been pretty rough on me this time around so far. If I run into another two card straight flush vs my top boat, another quads, another moan.
Feeling good about my game, doing some study is golden.

+$1600 for the month of January - net of everything - which annoys me no end.

any thoughts from anyone?

Do people defend more often or less often from the blinds in FR? I'd imagine less?

I'd be curious in knowing of all the times it folds around to you on CO or button, what percentage you're attempting to steal.

Because it seems to me that if they are folding more in the blinds, then this percentage should be similar if not more than what it would be in 6max?

I understand that the raw number of times this happens in FR will be way less than 6max, given how many other players there are, but the % of the time you actually do take advantage of it when it does happen should be similar.

i'm probably tighter UTG and looser OTB but w/e works for your style...do you need to worry about lolbalance utg at fiddies?

Originally Posted by griffey24

Do people defend more often or less often from the blinds in FR? I'd imagine less?

I'd be curious in knowing of all the times it folds around to you on CO or button, what percentage you're attempting to steal.

Because it seems to me that if they are folding more in the blinds, then this percentage should be similar if not more than what it would be in 6max?

I understand that the raw number of times this happens in FR will be way less than 6max, given how many other players there are, but the % of the time you actually do take advantage of it when it does happen should be similar.

in cutoff, unopened to me = 700/1754.

cheers for the feedback.

people defend less often, and tend to do it fairly poorly = calling and then fit or fold post, or 3-betting with huge sizing tells (esp cos i'm 2.5x-ing from the button). I agree that CO steal looks very low there, and i'm not sure why that is - i'm normally nearer 35% overall steal = i'll look at that more closely.

Yah that does seem low. Given how infrequently it must happen, you gotta take advantage of it when it does, especially if people are rarely defending and defending poorly at that!

This will boost your late positions VPIP/PFR and overall VPIP/PFR quite a bit, while still playing most of your hands IP.

It will also probably get you more action, since you won't look quite as tight.

an amusing piece of poker variance
villain is 65-0 over 30, doubled up earlier with JQo vs a nit on 89TTA

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (7 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($15.95)
MP1 ($25)
MP2 ($34.95)
CO ($102.05)
Hero (Button) ($60.70)
SB ($50)
BB ($17.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 7
3 folds, CO calls $0.50, Hero bets $2.25, 1 fold, BB calls $1.75, CO calls $1.75

Flop: ($7) K, 3, 7 (3 players)
BB checks, CO bets $7, Hero calls $7, 1 fold

Turn: ($21) K (2 players)
CO bets $21, Hero raises to $51.45 (All-In), CO calls $30.45

River: ($123.90) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $123.90 | Rake: $3

Results below:
Hero had 7, 7 (full house, sevens over Kings).
CO had K, K (four of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: CO won $120.90

month started out with a huge series of coolers. I ran enough boats into two card straight flushes to last a year. I didn't do so well flipping either. Here's hoping it gets better.
In stupid news, i'm up $700 in bonus and rakeback.
red should enjoy the start of this graph, seems to have a sandy vag of late. Not sure exactly what the deal is, but, meh, whatever. Maybe he needs to get laid.

niiiiice! Keep it up.

up a little more, just icm split the final 3 of the FTP 500 for $160ish.
net up a few buyins at the tables now in February.
cleared $650 in bonus, about $150 in rakeback.
lol, now i just need to get a winrate at the tables and try to crack out an ok month.

i've recently moved to FT thanks to a rakeback deal i didn't realise i was eligible for. i'm curious, what do you think is the best way to get value from FTP's? just keep saving them and buying cash bonuses? are there any particularly soft satellites you like to play with FTP's?

Originally Posted by rpm

what do you think is the best way to get value from FTP's? just keep saving them and buying cash bonuses? are there any particularly soft satellites you like to play with FTP's?

i just saved mine until FTP finally introduced cash bonuses for FTPs. Need to get black card status to take advantage of this though. I'll occasionally play a tourney with them. No idea about soft satellites etc.
I know that oskar used all of his on some sngs that seemed profitable.

good luck! that KK hand looks tilting as hell.

I should post stats and think about them more often. Up 18buyins at the tables since then.
Games are ferociously good, maybe i'll try to grind some more. 35k hands so far this month.

Originally Posted by fjuanl

good luck! that KK hand looks tilting as hell.

cheers, re the tilt hand. Nah, was kinda funny. I mean, i didn't even get sucked out on

clearing black-card bonuses sure pads a winrate.
starting to win at the tables is good too.
last 20k hands i'm running near 5ptBB
decent volume so far this month
up close to $2k bonus+tableprofit+rakeback+tourney in feb so far

here are some interesting position stats. From a good/standard TAG-nit in my games. Some things stand out - I came across this during some good ol' fashioned reg-review

well today sucked for me in poker.
AA lost a whole lot in 3b/4b pots. AA<97 etc. AQ<88 on AQQ88. Blah blah
whatever. Still up a bunch this month i guess.

and i feasted on freshly caught trout for breakfast this morning. And i'm about to go climbing. Life ain't all bad.

Originally Posted by daven

and i feasted on freshly caught trout for breakfast this morning. And i'm about to go climbing. Life ain't all bad.

At least you're looking toward the positive things in life

zzzzzzzzzzz
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($17.50)
Button ($60.75)
SB ($57.90)
BB ($94.30)
UTG ($130.25)
UTG+1 ($51.40)
MP1 ($28.15)
Hero (MP2) ($50.45)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, A
3 folds, Hero bets $1.75, 1 fold, Button raises to $6, 2 folds, Hero raises to $12.50, Button calls $6.50

Flop: ($25.75) 4, 10, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $9, Button calls $9

Turn: ($43.75) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $28.95 (All-In), Button calls $28.95

River: ($101.65) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $101.65 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 10, 10 (full house, tens over fours).
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and fours).
Outcome: Button won $98.65

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($50)
UTG ($59.15)
UTG+1 ($57.20)
Hero (MP1) ($53.15)
MP2 ($16.75)
CO ($17.50)
Button ($68.85)
SB ($64.90)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, A
2 folds, Hero bets $1.75, 3 folds, SB raises to $5.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $13, SB calls $7.25

Flop: ($26.50) 6, 6, A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $9, SB calls $9

Turn: ($44.50) 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $31.15 (All-In), SB calls $31.15

River: ($106.80) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $106.80 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had 10, 10 (full house, tens over sixes).
Hero had K, A (two pair, Aces and sixes).
Outcome: SB won $103.80

etc

Ah so that's the shit people are calling 4bets with.

i think there was a post here about posting beats and whether this is a dumb thing to do? but it's gone now. And yep, whoever said that is right. These beats are all amusing beats/coolers rather than things i'm really upset about. I will balance the crazy beats vs villains whose lines I am stoked about with crazy wins of the same flavour in future

Cashed the ironman freeroll yesterday but then crashed out in about 90th after 4hrs. It was heaps of fun. I'm getting way better at tourneys - mostly about being way less nit. Won some flips. Then lost a couple to end it: AK<99 for the chip lead and then got it in with KQs < A4o with about 8bb left. Pretty stoked with it all after being down to about 7bb after a big pot hand that went badly about 1 1/2 hrs into the tourney.

haven't been accumulating many dollars lately
lost a few though
and withdrew my monthly
= my roll sits static.

started implementing some stuff into my game that should already be there. Decided to do it at 25nl, just in case it backfired. Worked out great, cos it's cheaper laughs that way. Funniest hand in a long time, blah blah don't post beats etc. But c'mon. Losing with KK on KK9JT is worth a picture! funniest thing is happened for less than 100bb and at lol-stakes. Makes me smile.

daven I've been away for awhile and just read through your op. Good luck bro you know I'll be supporting you for sure. That last graph is so fucking sexy it's crazy but not as crazy as the hand you posted today! WTH are you stupid that's an easy fold on the river.....

yea it was me who was hating on posting beats but i was drunk when i posted it and didnt realize that both the morons had flatted 4bets with TT...worthy of a lolpost imo.....and this last one is hilarious as well, thats what you get for slowplaying quads.

Also i just went over that "reg review" is the thing that jumps out the LOL jump in VPiP/PFR from HJ to CO? Or that he like never 3bets except for Btn/SB/BB ?

Originally Posted by philly and the phanatics

Also i just went over that "reg review" is the thing that jumps out the LOL jump in VPiP/PFR from HJ to CO? Or that he like never 3bets except for Btn/SB/BB ?

it's actually really interesting. He's a solid winner. Gets you thinking about positional play? and image? like, he's 2.8% 3b, so you gonna respect his 3bets some? and he's doing it from lp and blinds vs weak ranges that want to fold. yet he flats AK/KK/AA from mp. But nobody notices. Etc.

been out of internet range for a week and it feels good. Volunteered to help a friend with fieldwork on the west coast. She's halfway through a PhD in environmental geochemistry, all about mitigating mining impacts on the environment etc. Ended up at some interesting field-sites, playing with portable XRFs, exploring where da gold at. Anyway, turns out i'm going to be paid for the week i spent out there. Maybe it's a form of compensation for all the arsenic i probably ate. First non-poker income in close on two years. Funny.
Guess i'll play poker again tomorrow or something. I have a couple of earthquake refugees from Christchurch staying at the moment, friends whose place is likely to be without electricity or drains for another few weeks. That city got fucked up. And a bunch of people got killed. Kinda puts the occasional cooler in perspective

old school cheese! YouTube - Just Another Day Vs Platoon (Oakenfold).wmv
Skip Raiders - Another Day (Best MV) HQ - YouTube

reminds me of 2am with a car stuck in sand next to a lake and saying fuck it, eating candy (that kind of candy ) and dancing with the rest of the carload until the car lights dimmed and night began to fade. Then we dug out the car, hit the road and climbed rocks until our fingers bled. Off to Queenstown on Friday for a weekend of bouldering with good crew. Camping next to a lake. Expectations of fun. Life's sunny. Running heaps, training pretty seriously for a race a few months away. Next week should be my first 100km training week since years ago. Life = endorphines. And a spot of gambling. 6-max PLO the last few k hands of changing it up for lols. outa here.

yo daven, out of interest, how many tables do you play on average?

Originally Posted by rpm

yo daven, out of interest, how many tables do you play on average?

depends. Sometimes as few as 7, sometimes as many as 16. Often about 12.

what sort of race are you training for? marathon?

I'm guessing from the tone of your intro post (and the fact you're still grinding) that you think the life of a full time grinder > working a standard job. what's life after poker look like for you? how appealing would a job have to be to go back to the workforce?

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

what sort of race are you training for? marathon?

a half, then another half a few weeks later.

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

I'm guessing from the tone of your intro post (and the fact you're still grinding) that you think the life of a full time grinder > working a standard job. what's life after poker look like for you?

interesting, cool. Recently I was talking about where i want to be in 5yrs from now. It includes being financially liquid enough that i only have to work when i choose to. I want to be involved in working on projects that i think matter. It is looking more and more like there may need to be a year or two of working a regular job to get there.

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

how appealing would a job have to be to go back to the workforce?

* lifestyle is one of the aspects that matters. An example. Today is Tuesday. I went out for a 2hr run this morning, i'm meeting my girlfriend for lunch soon, i'll play a couple of hours this afternoon, then i'm going climbing with a bunch of friends.
* the fact that i chose to live in the same cities as my girlfriend the last couple of years = i can't really work doing what i do cos of initially language, and now cos of small town -> limited work that would be fun.
* re how appealing a job would have to be. That's a little complicated. I really enjoy the work i do when i'm doing it. And it pays pretty damn well. But i typically end up pulling solid hours while i'm doing it. And life outside of work suffers. Not sure.

Relevant is that my girlfriend is finished study for a while now. So we're both free to go wherever, do whatever. I think we'll end up at a wedding in germany then heading on a climbing roadtrip through southern europe for a few months to avoid the NZ winter. Then? maybe i'll do some contract work for a while, or maybe i'll somehow have got good at poker. I'm fascinated at what may end up happening

cool weekend just passed. No poker again. Camped next to a lake on Friday night, entered a climbing comp on flawless schist boulders on saturday and had a great time, even climbed ok. Now it's Monday morning, i've already clocked a 1hr run with a couple of people i'm training with, sun is out, life feels good. May almost be time to play some poker. I've managed 7hrs of 6ptBB/100 in the first 7 days of March. Need to clock more hours. It's looking more and more likely that i'll be in Europe from mid-May until early-September. Attending weddings, climbing rocks, exploring euro-beer, that sort of thing. Probably end up taking my laptop and playing some poker on the road.

played a few k hands today
now i need to put in a bunch more hours
here is march so far.

it is impossible to overstate just how important focus is
that is all

another weekend away. two days of bouldering on limestone. body is well worked. Life feels good. Only 20k hands of poker so far in March. Time for some volume.

haven't played much yet this month, but i have gone away climbing two weekends and life is feeling good. I'm up about $1.2k after rakeback/bonus, and i've played 27k hands, about half at 25nl and the rest now i'm feeling good at 50nl. I've made a few changes to my game and it's interesting seeing that my redline slopes downward a lot less sharply, hell, i've even had sessions of 2k hands and a +ve redline on occasion lately.

anyway, volume to come later. Now it's time to enjoy the sunshine.

i've been thinking a lot about poker of late. It's still a fascinating journey. At the moment i'm trying to figure out what things i want to fill the rest of my day-to-day life with. I don't want to simply fall into a habit of 'meh, not sure what to do right now - I'll play some poker'

<daven> it's weird
<daven> i think poker is dangerous/insidious when it's a filling in time thing
<daven> even if the filling in time is profitable
<Zill4> pretty bad idea for me
<Zill4> edges too thin to be playing badly
<daven> bad idea for me
<daven> same reason, different stakes
<Zill4> pretty much anyone really

As zill4 implied above, not only is playing poker to fill in time unhealthy, but it is also likely to have a significant effect on overall poker profitability. Like, even if the session where you play b-game is profitable, it doesn't mean t's a good decision to play from even a $$ perspective due to opportunity cost. If there is a limit to how many hours you can play in a day before you start to burnout or lose focus, then surely it's better to put in those hours where everything is in favour of a-game being played. Even more so if these 'filling in time' sessions occur when games quality is poor.

also

Originally Posted by Fnord

You under-estimate how much of your profit comes from players that suck worse than you and fail to seek them out.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (7 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($169.80)
Hero (Button) ($50)
SB ($50.70)
BB ($34.10)
UTG ($21)
MP1 ($13)
MP2 ($52.95)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, K
2 folds, MP2 bets $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $6.25, 2 folds, MP2 calls $4.25

Flop: ($13.25) A, A, J (2 players)
MP2 bets $46.70 (All-In), Hero calls $43.75 (All-In)

Turn: ($100.75) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($100.75) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $100.75 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, K (three of a kind, Aces).
MP2 had 5, 8 (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $97.75

Time to post a hand that has some pretty interesting range considerations. Villain is 10-8, about 6-6 from ep, has 60%cbet, 40% turn cbet, 54% W$WSD and generally an all-round winning nit.
So, preflop and his range is something like 77+, AQs+, KQs, AKo. His c-bet range is AA, AK, AQ, maybe JJ-KK sometimes (discounted), TT, KsQs. What this means is that I have very little concern about being sucked out on cos he basically doesn't have hands that can improve to endanger me in his range. Calling this flop also masks my set quite well as he knows that i'm a reg and regs raise drawy flops - he won't consider that his range is nearly draw-free. Raising this flop will fold out most of the hands that I beat. 5c is about as blank as the turn can be and when he barrels the turn he defines his range quite clearly, it's only value = AK, AQ, AA, TT - obviously I beat most of this range. However, his calling range to a raise here is narrow - he's going to be struggling to call many of the hands i beat. So, this turn may also be a call. With a plan? gets interesting. Any thoughts on this? am I out-levelling myself?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (7 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP2) ($54.05)
CO ($52)
Button ($56.10)
SB ($25)
BB ($52.60)
UTG ($50)
MP1 ($75.65)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 4, 4
UTG bets $1.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.50, 4 folds

Flop: ($3.75) A, 4, 10 (2 players)
UTG bets $3.75, Hero calls $3.75

Turn: ($11.25) 5 (2 players)
UTG bets $7, level-a-ments...

Given the info on this guy I think calling turn is a good play.

On the river if he bets I'd shove non spades expecting his calling range to be wider. Probably just call spades unless the only hands he bets are AA/TT/KsQs in which case maybe make a nitty fold.

If he checks a blank river I'd bet $17. Spade river b/f $12.

this morning when i started my session i had HUD issues.

Mistake #1 = I tried to sort them out while continuing the session.
Mistake #2 = I started playing badly beyond the obvious missing focus due to Mistake #1, and kept playing.
Mistake #3 = I made a terrible call pre and stacked a fish - for only 60bb.
Mistake #4 = I managed to lose 100+bb stacks in several spots in cooler or badbeat situations

correct action #1 = I identified that a reg was getting all 4b/5b crazy on me. Shame that all that meant was losing flip-type spots QQ<AT and AQ<99...
correct action #2 = I finally quit the session.

current action = i'm a glutton for punishment/curious results orientated fool, so i'm going to check how much the stupidity of this morning cost me.

good news = checked, stuck only 4bi ain't bad for a moron morning. Especially when that includes being 3bi behind on luck-odds
more good news = the New Zealand dollar has fallen to a 6-month low against the US.

went and saw The Eastern last night, they were as amazing as ever

as for this op - i've been slowly accumulating dollars.
min-cashed one of the mini-ftops yesterday busting after 5hrs in like 150/3000 or something
played 3 of the challenge durrr freerolls this morning. lol-min-cashed all 3, still live in one for about 20c or something, update = busted when i 3b shoved AQs vs the table chip leader and his TJs kicked my sorry arse
50nl cash seems to be going ok although some of my bluffs might be questionable?
http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...nl-186319.html
http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...er-186253.html

heading away for another climbing mission once i bust out of this tourney, and camping next to a big salmon/trout river tonight = two days in daven-life looks like poker -> mincash freerolls, stack donks, bluff regs -> go climbing -> eat -> go fishing -> sleep -> coffee -> climbing -> back to town -> more poker
life is good. Climbing trip to europe in June/July looking more and more likely. Enjoying poker.

re: zilla conversation -- I have been dealing with poker burnout pretty much the entire month, and following a playing schedule might be the best thing for me. Usually I just play when I have some free time but I find I am often not playing my A game (lol I remember reading something Doyle Brunson wrote about how he like online poker because he can play for 10-15mins whenever he wants -- encourage degenerateaments).

sick life man, Australia is the nuts

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

re: zilla conversation -- I have been dealing with poker burnout pretty much the entire month, and following a playing schedule might be the best thing for me. Usually I just play when I have some free time but I find I am often not playing my A game (lol I remember reading something Doyle Brunson wrote about how he like online poker because he can play for 10-15mins whenever he wants -- encourage degenerateaments).

sick life man, Australia is the nuts

As someone who suffered burnout last year and quit playing for 6 months, I can say first hand that it's a very difficult situation. In hindsight, I wish I hadn't taken so much time off. It definitely takes a while to get back in the swing of things. Everytime I think I'm back to my old self, new leaks or unpredictable things start to happen. But, if you're suffering burnout, you're not really as in control for how much time you can take off. I think trying to play through it could make it worse. So, if I get burnt out again, I will definitely take time off but try not to take TOO much time off

The bottom line is if you really like poker, you're going to want to play it again at some point in the future so always keep that in mind.