with winning in mind - poker 2010

new year, new stakes, new plans, etc.
history is just that, the past.
time for a new op thread. Focus on winning, and what/how this will entail. Focus on what i am doing to move to where i want to be, and progress being made. Plus any highlights, milestones, fun hands and various rants.

I read a "mental management system" book (google Lanny Bassman if you're interested) over the last week or two, and did a lot of thinking about poker.

as of now:
bankroll = $4k cash spread across 5 sites, plus various loyalty points that have a dollar conversion value.
stakes = 25nl FR, 6max, HU cash. SNG/MTT up to $8 buyin, rebuys up to $3 buyin.
focus = FR cash.

currently clearing iron man year end bonus on FT of $450.
I will move up to 50nl at br (inclusive of bonus/rakeback received) $5k.

goals etc to come shortly

First!

good luck daven, and thanks for the book recommendation.

why not play sngs/mtts of higher stakes with a $4k BR? I understand it's not your focus but surely you can beat higher than $8.

Originally Posted by courtiebee

why not play sngs/mtts of higher stakes with a $4k BR? I understand it's not your focus but surely you can beat higher than $8.

good question! Typically i play sng/mtt poker when i'm too jaded for "real" grinding, but feel like some poker = not only am i relatively crap in this style, but i'm also playing them when i'm not even going to play them to the best of my ability.

Playing 3hrs for a final table and $70 is kinda infuriating though, so at some stage i'll likely increase the tourney stakes. As for beating $8, perhaps? my sample is trivial, but, yeah, you're right - I should be able to.

Ill be following, good luck mate

for years i've avoided "goal-setting", "visualisation", etc like the plague. Nearest i came was writing down "straight As" at the start of my first year in post-grad = ez game, and various rock climbing grade goals that met with occasional success.

i've decided that it's about time to try it out, and why not use poker as my test. Funny, i was thinking about this and stumbled across a book describing these approaches (ref above) and so that's how i'm doing it. Guy talks about setting a goal, a time-frame, identifying the 'pay value', outlining steps on the way, and writing a "direct affirmation" = a diary entry dated when you want the goal achieved and present tense statement of goal and process as if already achieved. Pretty standard stuff...

ok:
goal: Be a consistent and solid winner (>2ptBB/100) at 100nl and 200nl
when: 31/3/2010
pay value: secure and comfortable income from poker.
Recognition and respect as a solid player and enjoyment of this recognition.
Embedded ability, skills, tools and discipline to enable me to continue winning as i move up to mid-stakes and beyond.
process assess and prepare myself emotionally and mentally prior to every session
retain complete focus during sessions, identify variation and correct as appropriate (end session/regain focus)
study 1hr for every day that i play
record progress and activity in a journal
self-congratulate/reinforce well played hands/sessions, forget/ignore poorly played hands until post-session analysis time

yeah, that's the concept. I'm a few sessions in now, and it's interesting. Harder to ignore the spew/bad focus sessions where i shouldn't be playing!

Journal extract -
noted myself playing erratically (tiredness) but chose to continue a while longer - playing rather than quitting cos i couldn't leave those deep deep fish. Solution analysis - when debating continuing vs ending a session simply sit out on all tables. Continuing is then an active decision to sit back in, rather than a passive decision to continue playing indefinitely.

oh, and i'm playing ok, not great, but ok, since i set the goal and wrote it down. I should be winning at a bigger clip, but i'll take it for now

didn't play for five days. No internet, phone signal, power... It was out in the mountains helping my girlfriend sample alpine plants, survey her study site, etc. Stunning place to be, shame that i'm not really that interested in being able to identify alpine plant species. I took along a couple of books as well, theory of poker and nlhe t&p courtesy of full tilt poker academy points.

anyway, now i'm back into it. I seem to be displaying the same non-showdown pots haemorrhages as always. Need to work on that, vis this graph and stats, i've asked for advice on these in the FR forum, but welcome any comment here as well!

fairly standard non-showdon rate among good winning full ring players is between -1 and -2 ptBB/100. I noted this a while, at the same time noting that i run around -5ptBB/100 in no-showdown.

Anyway, i've moved down in stakes. Nothing much seems to have changed - the graph below illustrates. win-rate of a little over 5ptBB/100 is nothing great, but it's not totally awful. Non-showdown rate is more like -8ptBB/100. Sure, 25nl is a lot about simple stack-a-donk, but this seems ridiculous.

I'm back!

so i was easily hammering away at 25nl but concerned about non-showdown winnings. So I allowed myself 20buyins to try and sort it out. What a waste of money, i got sick of the spew-stabs and too thin value and decided on Thursday pm to go back to doing what i'm good at, value-towning and folding.
Graph of initial ez game followed by 'i'll fix what ain't broke' followed by 'fuck it, back to basics, ez game'.
That last upswing is 17k hands at 6ptBB/100 during the last 2 1/2 days. Feels like I could easily enough earn $2k/month simply playing 25nl. Games are good, and i'm loving what FT have done to shortstacking scum!

moving to 50nl today. Planning to keep moving up reasonably quickly.

Are you trying to up your non-showdowns by double barreling and c/r bluffing flops? Because I'd be surprised if you're not doing that fairly optimally already.
I think it's most likely spots where you're calling or checking back rivers instead of raising or vbetting.
That plus donking and cc/donking can be quite alright in some spots imo, and that would create more non-showdowns + it makes playin oop quite a bit easier.

In spots where you think you won't get called with a lot worse, and villains range is fairly weak. Try gaybetting rivers 1/3, 1/4th pot-ish. I do that quite a bit. Nobody ever bluff-raises at lowstakes... and if they did they'll probably do it quite badly.

I'm writing this on a netbook, and my back hurts, so I'm not going to expand, but if you want to talk some poker, hit me up on skype.

welcome back to 50nl! games are good, and nice to run hot for a session. 2k hands, +6buyins.
edit, and then another hot micro session

so a productive reasonable volume weekend at the micros, well in excess of $1k including rakeback accrued. I'll take that. Games are good.

Originally Posted by oskar

Are you trying to up your non-showdowns by double barreling and c/r bluffing flops? Because I'd be surprised if you're not doing that fairly optimally already.
I think it's most likely spots where you're calling or checking back rivers instead of raising or vbetting.
That plus donking and cc/donking can be quite alright in some spots imo, and that would create more non-showdowns + it makes playin oop quite a bit easier.

In spots where you think you won't get called with a lot worse, and villains range is fairly weak. Try gaybetting rivers 1/3, 1/4th pot-ish. I do that quite a bit. Nobody ever bluff-raises at lowstakes... and if they did they'll probably do it quite badly.

m2m suggested upping my post-flop aggro if i'm going to run so loose pre. So i did that, and got optimistic about villain calling ranges and their bluffing frequencies = something doesn't click here, one or the other - but both? sorted now i hope.
I seem to be fairly good at getting value, so i'm now figuring out where identifying spots where i consider there is no value to be had and how those relate to bluffing.

hand 1: i like my line a lot, this isn't a whine post by the way!
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($17.75)
BB ($44.20)
UTG ($195)
UTG+1 ($49.70)
MP1 ($54.60)
Hero (MP2) ($50)
MP3 ($67)
CO ($45)
Button ($30)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $2, 5 folds

Flop: ($4.75) J, 5, 2 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $2.50, Hero raises to $8.50, UTG+1 calls $6

Turn: ($21.75) J (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $11.50, UTG+1 calls $11.50

River: ($44.75) K (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $27.70 (All-In), Hero calls $27.70

Total pot: $100.15 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG+1 had K, K (full house, Kings over Jacks).
Hero had 5, 5 (full house, fives over Jacks).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $97.15

hand 2: should i post this in bc to show how to get value from monsters?
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($67.15)
MP2 ($76.45)
CO ($52.70)
Button ($54.70)
SB ($59.95)
Hero (BB) ($68.80)
UTG ($62.20)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, Q
5 folds, Button bets $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5.50, Button calls $3.50

Flop: ($11.25) A, K, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $5.50, Button calls $5.50

Turn: ($22.25) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $12.50, Button raises to $25, Hero raises to $57.80 (All-In), Button calls $18.70 (All-In)

River: ($109.65) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $109.65 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had A, 10 (two pair, Aces and tens).
Hero had 10, Q (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $106.65

hand 3: what's my calling range?
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($47.80)
SB ($163.25)
BB ($17)
Hero (UTG) ($54.45)
MP1 ($50.75)
MP2 ($54)
CO ($28.75)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7, 7
Hero bets $1.75, 3 folds, Button raises to $3, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.25

Flop: ($6.75) J, 7, J (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $44.80 (All-In), Hero calls $44.80

Turn: ($96.35) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($96.35) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $96.35 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 9, Q (flush, Queen high).
Hero had 7, 7 (full house, sevens over Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $93.35

hand 4: ahh, i don't get it
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (3 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($51.95)
Hero (SB) ($51.70)
BB ($112.60)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 7
Button bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.25, BB calls $1

Flop: ($4.80) Q, 7, 3 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, Button bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50, BB calls $2.50

Turn: ($12.30) A (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, Button bets $8, Hero raises to $27, 1 fold, Button calls $19

River: ($66.30) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $20.60 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $66.30 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero didn't show A, 7 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $65.30

The A7 hand is funny because i would play pretty much every street differently without reads.
Preflop I'd always 3b or even fold against an unnkown (would call from the bb), and if I'd ever call, i'm leading a lot of flops.
If you c/c there you're going to get double barrelled a lot if the sb doesn't call... and if the sb calls you can't continue anyway.
If I ever call the flop, I still donk the turn because c/raising looks ridiculously strong, and c/c, donking river looks pretty strong, too. and a donk will confuse lots of people and might get him to spazz.

And I would only 3b the QTs if I'm comfortable with getting it in with tp against the villain.
And what's with the 3-bet sizing? Less than 3x? He gets a hundred thousand million billions to one on a call!

Hey man not sure if I am reading your stats right as you tried to block them out but are you really cbetting 30-something%?

another day, a morning session, 3k hands + 4buyins. New-school Lag-nittery seems where it's at.

Originally Posted by kmind

are you really cbetting 30-something%?

sure am. New-school abc lag-nittery funny eh. c-betting is a funny thing, i remember way back when claiming that one of the best winning regs had an exploitably low c-bet and someone, maybe spenda? calling me out on how exactly it was bad if he was winning at 4ptBB/100 longterm. C-betting is a strange beast and i hope to one day understand it. Just cos a c-bet is +EV in a particular spot doesn't make it good. Cos +EV <> max EV etc

Originally Posted by oskar

The A7 hand is funny because i would play pretty much every street differently without reads.
Preflop I'd always 3b or even fold against an unnkown (would call from the bb), and if I'd ever call, i'm leading a lot of flops. If you c/c there you're going to get double barrelled a lot if the sb doesn't call... and if the sb calls you can't continue anyway. If I ever call the flop, I still donk the turn because c/raising looks ridiculously strong, and c/c, donking river looks pretty strong, too. and a donk will confuse lots of people and might get him to spazz.

A7s hand is villain specific. Villian is 50-30-13 over small sample, he's going to be 4-bet shoving too often for my liking but I was trying to max hands against him = call pre. Flop he's c-betting his entire range and raising most draws/pairs if I lead = i don't like leading. Turn I think you're right that donking could be better, small donk and let him do the shoving. Obviously i'm shoving the river as played.

Originally Posted by oskar

And I would only 3b the QTs if I'm comfortable with getting it in with tp against the villain.
And what's with the 3-bet sizing? Less than 3x? He gets a hundred thousand million billions to one on a call!

he's in the likely high fold to 3b club, but my sizing is normally bigger here, is true what you say about it being too small. Cheers for the comments, sorry about the QQ

Interesting keep me updated for sure . Good luck!

recent changes have been great. So is running hot. Long may it continue

rather than blotting out the stats , wouldn't it be easier to just create a custom report which includes the stats you do want to show.

meh, yesterday and the hot-run got an arse-kicking.

Two card flush under two card flush twice, set under set 3x, KK<AA a few times, AA<KK, etc. But, whatever, i got some session focus going on and just ground it out. Another big day with 10k hands for +3bi and another 2bi of rakeback accrued. Who cares about what-might-have-beens, it was about time i ran into some beats and coolers. And just when i was feeling relieved about it all from grinding it back, I closed the session with AK>AK in my favour.

Games are good.

Originally Posted by Keith_MM

rather than blotting out the stats , wouldn't it be easier to just create a custom report which includes the stats you do want to show.

smarter than I. sounds like a good plan, although i do quite enjoy the thought of people trying to figure them out cos i've got no idea why they would want to and it makes me laugh.\

+ve variance vs a maniac
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($71.55)
UTG ($23.55)
UTG+1 ($28.85)
MP1 ($50.75)
MP2 ($59.90)
MP3 ($50)
CO ($50)
Button ($82.85)
Hero (SB) ($50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
5 folds, CO bets $1.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5, 1 fold, CO raises to $15.50, Hero raises to $50 (All-In), CO calls $34.50 (All-In)

Flop: ($100.50) Q, K, 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($100.50) Q (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($100.50) 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $100.50 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, K (flush, Ace high).
CO had A, K (two pair, Kings and Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $97.50

>50k hands at 25nl and 50nl for +$2300 including rakeback for the week. Guess I'll move back to 100nl this weekend. I've given up caring about red lines

edit - $2650
edit - more. Mad day. +16 buyins.
games are good. Towards the end i was hoping for a $1k day at 50nl, but i'm just too ground out...

best week of poker earnings ever perhaps?

o_O

50k hands in a week?
I thought you were back to 12-tabling.

I'm feeling prolific, and I won't make 50k by the end of the month.

Sick grind man. Keep it up. Glad to see my advice helped in the beginning and your back on the grind. Keep it going!

Originally Posted by daven

>50k hands at 25nl and 50nl for +$2300 including rakeback for the week. Guess I'll move back to 100nl this weekend. I've given up caring about red lines

edit - $2650
edit - more. Mad day. +16 buyins.
games are good. Towards the end i was hoping for a $1k day at 50nl, but i'm just too ground out...

best week of poker earnings ever perhaps?

Holy cow, you sir are doing a nice job!

On a side note, the red line itself is probably nothing to worry about as long as results are coming. For myself however I´ve found quiet some leaks to be indirectly connected to my red line, ie caring about red lines has improved my postflops.

Well done.

interesting welcome back session at 100nl, i got tired and ended up playing 200bb++ effective on too many tables at once. Some killer big pot action yet somehow i ended the session down just under a buyin, i'll post some of the action hands later. I think i was playing poorly and got lost way more often than i normally would...
games play stronger than 50nl

some hands:
opener is weird, 3-b villain is a serial squeezer

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($62.45)
MP2 ($52.10)
Hero (CO) ($136.40)
Button ($91.35)
SB ($102.85)
BB ($41.60)
UTG ($116.05)
UTG+1 ($106.40)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, MP1 bets $4.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $4.50, 1 fold, SB raises to $20, 3 folds, Hero raises to $66.50, SB raises to $102.85 (All-In), Hero calls $36.35


villain is a likely retard, not quite deep and not quite sure what to do. His range is Jx, including the full houses, KQ, and strange flushes. Weighted towards the strong end? hard to tell

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($228.05)
UTG ($116.85)
UTG+1 ($31)
MP1 ($54)
Hero (MP2) ($125.25)
MP3 ($73.50)
CO ($164.30)
Button ($21)
SB ($66.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 10, 10
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, 1 fold, Hero bets $4.50, 4 folds, BB calls $3.50, UTG+1 calls $3.50

Flop: ($14) 8, J, A (3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($14) J (3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero checks

River: ($14) 10 (3 players)
BB bets $14, 1 fold, Hero raises to $35, BB raises to $56, ok.... cib???

villain here is solid, views me as dangerous, erratic and spewy, i'm doing my best to rep AK with the turn shove.
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($100)
BB ($101.50)
UTG ($327.05)
UTG+1 ($80)
MP1 ($99.50)
MP2 ($237.90)
MP3 ($140.15)
CO ($100)
Button ($148.95)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A
2 folds, MP1 calls $1, MP2 calls $1, 1 fold, CO bets $5.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $14, 3 folds, CO calls $8.50

Flop: ($31) 3, 10, Q (2 players)
Hero bets $14, CO calls $14

Turn: ($59) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $72 (All-In),

meh, flush draw villain is generally solid, other villain is not that smart. Oh well...
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($77.05)
Button ($103.05)
SB ($239)
BB ($80.75)
Hero (UTG) ($100)
MP1 ($80.85)
MP2 ($100)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 9, 9
Hero bets $4, 1 fold, MP2 calls $4, CO calls $4, Button calls $4, 2 folds

Flop: ($18.90) 2, 4, 9 (4 players)
Hero bets $15, MP2 raises to $35, CO raises to $72.85 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero raises to $95.80 (All-In), MP2 calls $60.80 (All-In)

Turn: ($283.35) K (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($283.35) 5 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $283.35 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
MP2 had Q, 10 (flush, Queen high).
CO had 5, 6 (one pair, fives).
Outcome: MP2 won $280.35

somehow lost all my player notes. Managed to restore the xml file where they are stored after some digging (thanks restoration!) but it seems not to be as it should be. Fingers crossed on FTP support getting it sorted for me.
Feel naked going to battle without reads gained over way too many hours playing poker. HUD-bot for a while i guess..

edit - my comeback to 100nl was pretty nasty. Losing notes had a huge impact, starting to get it sorted now but i figure it's cost me some $$. Anyway, I had a quick -5bi swing so it was time to grind it out. 10k hands at 100nl so far this weekend, about one buyin up at the tables (so 6 up from the downpoint) and another couple of rakeback. Fuck. Time to turn this baby around.

With winning in mind. Outa here.

in non-poker news - scored 3hrs in the water at aramoana yesterday = a local all good wave spot. Pretty much conditions as per the photo in this link http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/...d_7372/travel/ Buddy I was out with got the shark fear, but we convinced ourselves and him that it was seaweed that had bumped his leg pretty hard and stayed on out...

Today a long period 3ft southerly swell is supposed to be arriving at my local about now. Riding up to the point now to check it out, could be another long session in the water!

I like the QQ, but the sizing seems all messed up or do full ring people 4ball 20BBs as standard? Id make it 44 pre and give him room to spazz.

TT I usually cbet to pick up dead money, as my hand realistically doesnt have any SD value vs anything stonger than a triple check. As played river is either a shove or a call.

AA I don´t know, prob highly depending on history and meta and stuff. To me this looks exactly like someone uncomfy oop trying to make up a lack of balance with a sledgehammer.

cheers for the comments on the hands dude.
QQ hand is pot limit = reason for weird sizing. I would have shoved over his squeeze if i had the option.

TT I don't like cbetting 3rd pair multiway, leak? My c-betting/c-raising/c-folding ranges are getting better balanced these days though. River is call or shove indeed, the more i look at it and the more i'm looking towards a shove.

AA - there's way too much meta on this one. He snap-called 7h8h cos he soul-read the overbet AK shove. He levels the hell out of himself against me

and...
this weekend marked my return to 100nl. I decided to get some grind on, my girlfriend is in australia for two weeks - so i got even more time than normal! The goal stated at the start of this op is to be a solid winner at 100nl and 200nl.
Moving back to 100nl necessitated some adjustments - you can play an unusual style at 25nl and 50nl and basically print money. But this style is hugely exploitable and at 100nl i'm beginning to be surrounded by regs who know how to 3-bet and squeeze, recognise iso-plays, etc. I'm also still surrounded by fish, and all the regs are leaky - why else are they 100nl regs.

Anyway, I had a nightmare with losing all the player notes and made the mistake of trying to restore them while playing long sessions. But, finally sorted things out. I played 19k hands of 100nl during the weekend for a net winrate of 1.44ptBB/100. Below what i'm aiming for, but i'll be there soon enough. Today was more focused with the stress of notes out of the equation and was 3ptBB/100 = better, but lolsamplesize. I'm noticing a bunch of spots where i'm leaking value - read ATC's and gomukyaself's wells over the weekend and gained something from the read.

Interesting to note that rakeback is running at around 1.25ptBB/100 at the moment - the increased aggression in the games recently is resulting in bigger pots, more rake, etc.

So, the weekend was just short of $1k in profit after rakeback etc. I'll take it, and do better in future



edit: played a few more hands and now I'm >>2ptBB/100 over my first 25k hands back. I'm back in the mother-fucking ring

Nice work man. Keep up the sicko grind and pwn these 100nl feeshus. Link to the wells if you don't mind?

abc is where it's at baby
atc well - the main gold is his comment #4 re rivers of molten gold
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/96...ll-atc-264620/

gomukyaself - he recommends reading nutsinho on FTR
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/11...yaself-693792/

fish on a heater. + 5bi in my latest session. Some very interesting variance hands, good and bad. examples below. Good start to the month I guess. I'm thinking of joining the 2+2 200k hands in february prop-bet. Couple more days then i'll decide.

vs an uber-aggro type. Read on his preparedness to try and push people off hands from our earlier time heads up
Full Tilt Pot-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($150.90)
CO ($65.50)
Button ($27.15)
SB ($54.15)
Hero (BB) ($100)
UTG ($40.10)
MP1 ($34)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, 4
2 folds, MP2 bets $2, 3 folds, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($4.50) 9, 3, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $2.25, Hero calls $2.25

Turn: ($9) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $9, Hero raises to $27, MP2 calls $18

River: ($63) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $31, MP2 raises to $119.65 (All-In), Hero calls $37.75 (All-In)

Total pot: $200.50 | Rake: $3

Results below:
Hero had 6, 4 (straight, six high).
MP2 had 8, 9 (one pair, nines).
Outcome: Hero won $197.50


hand 2: read is that villain is dead money. Smells like a set to me. LOL!!! wow, i play bad
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($101.50)
CO ($102.70)
Button ($100)
SB ($144.50)
Hero (BB) ($201.50)
UTG ($46.20)
UTG+1 ($181.20)
MP1 ($38.10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, Q
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $3, 2 folds, CO calls $3, 1 fold, SB calls $2.50, Hero raises to $13, 2 folds, SB calls $10

Flop: ($32) 5, 6, 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $18, SB calls $18

Turn: ($68) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($68) Q (2 players)
SB bets $68, Hero raises to $136, SB calls $45.50 (All-In)

Total pot: $295 | Rake: $3

Results below:
SB had 3, 7 (straight, seven high).
Hero had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: SB won $292

hand 3 - I figure fold equity + hand equity makes this pretty standard. And i flip good this time
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($49.05)
UTG+1 ($100.50)
MP1 ($34.50)
MP2 ($216.65)
MP3 ($144.50)
CO ($102.15)
Button ($87)
SB ($105.35)
Hero (BB) ($110.85)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4, 6
3 folds, MP2 bets $3.50, MP3 calls $3.50, 3 folds, Hero calls $2.50

Flop: ($11) 8, 3, 2 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $11, 1 fold, Hero raises to $107.35 (All-In), MP2 calls $96.35

Turn: ($225.70) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($225.70) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $225.70 | Rake: $3

Results below:
Hero had 4, 6 (flush, King high).
MP2 had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $222.70

hand 4 - why reads are really, really, really important
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($99)
BB ($100)
Hero (UTG) ($101.50)
UTG+1 ($55.85)
MP1 ($40.20)
MP2 ($90.15)
CO ($305.95)
Button ($100)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
Hero bets $3.50, 2 folds, MP2 calls $3.50, 4 folds

Flop: ($8.50) 5, 10, 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $8, MP2 raises to $32.50, Hero raises to $98 (All-In), MP2 calls $54.15 (All-In)

Turn: ($181.80) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($181.80) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $181.80 | Rake: $3

Results below:
Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and nines).
MP2 had K, 10 (two pair, tens and nines).
Outcome: Hero won $178.80

12 crazy days of poker. Got my arse handed to me on a negative variance plate my latest session at 100nl, but whatever. I'm playing well and was probably due to lose a bunch of 90-10s.
I'm generating a whole bunch of rakeback. Still debating the 200k hands in february thing. I've played 14k so far



some of those cooler hands from today if you feel like a giggle one day!!! Madness
http://weaktight.com/1967879
http://weaktight.com/1967880
http://weaktight.com/1967881
http://weaktight.com/1967882
http://weaktight.com/1967884
http://weaktight.com/1967886
http://weaktight.com/1967887
http://weaktight.com/1968403

alan townsend is my favourite red-pro on FTP
Alan Boston: I think any cheat is a scumbag
Alan Boston: I am sure Townsend would be in that list
davenigma: nice
Alan Boston: THey should banish him from the site
Alan Boston: You dont buy in super deep because you may have too many big post going at once that require thought?
davenigma: etc
Alan Boston: I think any cheat is a scumbag
Alan Boston: I am sure Townsend would be in that list

davenigma: he lost red pro status for one month
davenigma: big deal
Alan Boston: that sucks
Alan Boston: they should ban him
Alan Boston: FOR LIFE
davenigma: first time was when he was busted multi-accounting
Alan Boston: totally illegal and made clear to us
... cardrunners discussion
Alan Boston: maybe they have a separate coaching cheating course
Seago: i thought ft sponsored the cardrunners
Alan Boston: i know nothing of what FTP does, except they pay me

Alan Boston: I hate cheats
Alan Boston: and shortcutters
Alan Boston: and would not allow them on the site
Alan Boston: not in any way shape form or manner

Alan Boston: they should have it as a headline
Alan Boston: CHEAT TOWNSEND BANNED

Alan Boston: I do know that most red players on this site are bad poker players and stupid on top of that
Alan Boston: but cheating is unnecessary
Alan Boston: whether you suck at poker or not
Alan Boston: apparently he does not
Alan Boston: which makes it even worse

----------------------------

and another, simpler really
nameless 2+2 ss FR reg: wtf!
nameless 2+2 ssnl reg: how do you ever have 67 there
davenigma: just keep on sucking balls dude
davenigma: and i'll keep on taking your money
nameless 2+2 ssnl reg: F U
nameless 2+2 ssnl reg: F U and yr mother
nameless 2+2 ssnl reg: FU
davenigma: mmmmmmmm, salty

as for february.. well, i decided not to play 200k hands this month. Like, i'm well ahead of pace but i hit some rough -ve variance that was probably compounded by being tired from too much grind. Right now I'm up about $1k for the month, but most of that is rakeback...

also, doublefly's blog is looking promising re good poker content
http://doubleflypoker.blogspot.com/

ITC Alan Boston is a whining fag.

I've only heard about the Townsed thing on deuce plays. He shared information on isildurs game amirite?
Obviously if a new guy comes to the nosebleeds there's going to be information exchange. What's the big deal?

Alan Boston takes the price for most buddy-listed redpro imo

GOGOGO daven!

so i've played my first 64k hands back at 100nl. It has been a busy week! I'm up around $1800 at the tables over that time for around 1.4ptBB/100. Can do better. Will do better.

Weekly rakeback payment got awfully close to $1k this week - fpp pro in this thread...

edit: this feels crazy. In the 16 days since Jan 21st and the turnaround at 25nl I've played 125k hands for $5k profit at the tables and another $1900 in rakeback/promos. Wow, just wow, at the craziness of this turnaround - from pulling my roll and dropping to 10nl in december 2009, to this....

Originally Posted by daven

so i've played my first 64k hands back at 100nl. It has been a busy week!

I rofled irl.
We've moved back to 100 at about the same time, and I've played 2k hands so far.

february 6th. First session, up 3buyins. End session. Withdraw a pile of cash to rub wherever i damn well please. Second session. Withdrawal curse down 8buyins, and only managed to make 5 back later on. Net at the tables - $0. Another $150 in rakeback = wtf is with this shit....

Originally Posted by daven

so i've played my first 64k hands back at 100nl. It has been a busy week! I'm up around $1800 at the tables over that time for around 1.4ptBB/100. Can do better. Will do better.

Weekly rakeback payment got awfully close to $1k this week - fpp pro in this thread...

edit: this feels crazy. In the 16 days since Jan 21st and the turnaround at 25nl I've played 125k hands for $5k profit at the tables and another $1900 in rakeback/promos. Wow, just wow, at the craziness of this turnaround - from pulling my roll and dropping to 10nl in december 2009, to this....

Swap poker lives with me?

Originally Posted by daven

>50k hands at 25nl and 50nl for +$2300 including rakeback for the week. Guess I'll move back to 100nl this weekend. I've given up caring about red lines

edit - $2650
edit - more. Mad day. +16 buyins.
games are good. Towards the end i was hoping for a $1k day at 50nl, but i'm just too ground out...

best week of poker earnings ever perhaps?

Good luck with pokerz. I've been followin' but not posting much. See ya round.

I love Mondays NZ-time = late sunday est.
Tuesday mornings NZ time suck arse.
Today was funny, kinda. A3hh < 57hh on 689hh, KK<AQo deep, AK<KK, etc. Meh, whatever. The results for the month are still ok, and i'm closing in on 100k hands back at 100nl and then it will be time for a serious review...

Originally Posted by kmind

Swap poker lives with me?

dude, abc is where it's at. Stop over-thinking ranges and ignoring the lines players are taking. Stop reg-warring to oblivion. Mad-value-town the fish, and gay-bet value where it's appropriate.

Originally Posted by Robb

Good luck with pokerz. I've been followin' but not posting much. See ya round.

cheers, how you looking on the fitness front? i have a bike again, so my car is being ignored and i'm probably riding 15-30km most days without even noticing it... fitness prop-bet time again?

Originally Posted by daven

Originally Posted by Robb

Good luck with pokerz. I've been followin' but not posting much. See ya round.

cheers, how you looking on the fitness front? i have a bike again, so my car is being ignored and i'm probably riding 15-30km most days without even noticing it... fitness prop-bet time again?

Maybe March? Dunno. I've been lifting free weights trying to build some strength so that distance running doesn't cause so much pain. I'm gonna ease back into running the next couple of weeks, so I'll let you know.

Just had my 40th birthday so I probably need to do something to get seriously fit. Cuz I'm seriously not.

yesterday was my losing-est day ever. Somewhere around the 12 buyins mark. Was kinda sick. I haven't lost with that many boats, open ended straight flush draws, top trips top kicker etc kinda hands in ages. Add to that a few KK<AQ, AK<KK etc type of hands, and yeah, we've all been there. So... i'm finally gonna start using a stop-loss thing, like, i'm pretty sure that some of those hands were poorly played and that this was at least partly influenced by the results already that day. From now on and stop-loss of 5buyins for a session/7buyins for a day. Cool. Thinking of moving up to 200nl next week, funny to be saying that the day after my worst results day ever

So, February so far, up about $2k net, so even after that crushing day it's still ok. Up about $7k net since that 21st January game-changing thing

Originally Posted by Robb

Just had my 40th birthday so I probably need to do something to get seriously fit. Cuz I'm seriously not.

happy birthday dude! i love the relativity on fitness, compared to the median 40yo, compared to robb age 25, etc...

today i planned to claw it all back. Wrong. Net half a buy in up or something

slow play karma, villain 40-19

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($170.65)
Hero (BB) ($104.45)
UTG ($100)
UTG+1 ($112.55)
MP1 ($55.50)
MP2 ($122.05)
CO ($131.65)
Button ($100)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4, 4
2 folds, MP1 bets $3.50, 1 fold, CO calls $3.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $2.50

Flop: ($11) K, 4, 2 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, CO checks

Turn: ($11) 5 (3 players)
Hero bets $10, 1 fold, CO calls $10

River: ($31) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $30, CO raises to $60, Hero raises to $90.95 (All-In), CO calls $30.95

Total pot: $212.90 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 4, 4 (full house, fours over fives).
CO had 2, 5 (full house, fives over twos).
Outcome: CO won $209.90

vs decent reg i guess
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($99.05)
MP1 ($102.85)
MP2 ($122.75)
MP3 ($119.15)
CO ($63.70)
Hero (Button) ($200.55)
SB ($52.50)
BB ($101.75)
UTG ($107.65)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, K
6 folds, Hero bets $3.50, 1 fold, BB raises to $11, Hero calls $7.50

Flop: ($22.50) 4, A, K (2 players)
BB bets $14, Hero calls $14

Turn: ($50.50) 10 (2 players)
BB bets $27, Hero raises to $175.55 (All-In), BB calls $49.75 (All-In)

River: ($204) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $204 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, K (two pair, Aces and Kings).
BB had Q, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: BB won $201

vs maniac
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($100)
Button ($168.65)
Hero (SB) ($102.50)
BB ($100)
UTG ($152)
UTG+1 ($84)
MP1 ($114.05)
MP2 ($296.95)
MP3 ($100)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, 10
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $3.50, 1 fold, MP2 calls $3.50, 2 folds, Button calls $3.50, Hero calls $3, 1 fold

Flop: ($15) 10, 9, 6 (4 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $15, 1 fold, Button calls $15, Hero raises to $99 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $65.50 (All-In), 1 fold

Turn: ($191) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($191) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $191 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 10, 10 (full house, tens over sixes).
UTG+1 had J, J (full house, Jacks over sixes).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $188

vs fish, 21 outs?
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($169.95)
Hero (BB) ($129.50)
UTG ($34)
UTG+1 ($100)
MP1 ($63.50)
MP2 ($65.50)
MP3 ($132.75)
CO ($72.50)
Button ($111.50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, A
5 folds, CO bets $3, 2 folds, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($6.50) 8, 10, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $5, Hero raises to $70, CO calls $64.50 (All-In)

Turn: ($145.50) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($145.50) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $145.50 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had J, A (one pair, nines).
CO had 10, K (two pair, tens and nines).
Outcome: CO won $142.50

games are good
i'm playing pretty well
i;m getting smashed by variance
9bi behind on AIEV over four days, but that doesn't consider things like this - actually, fuck it, no hand histories. But getting most of the money in on the flop vs a two outer, top set no good in 3b unconnected pots all in on flops, top two no good b vs b, etc...

Just got to keep playing well, keep getting money in good, and it will turn around soon enough. If not, then i guess it's back to the money tree at 50nl

edit: fuck this - withdrew another $2.5k and it's back to 50nl for a while. Think it's about time i cashed in some ironman bonuses too, i've got nearly $1800 worth of medals just sitting there. Why not have the cash sitting in a savings account instead. Thinking of looking at the job market too, i've been out of the work grind for about ten months now, and it's almost two years since i've worked fulltime. Just a shame that this small university town doesn't have quite the work opportunities of cities i would typically be looking for work in.
Oh well, at least it has decent surfing, diving, climbing, and loads of clean air to breathe...
a few days off poker now - my girlfriend and i are heading north for the wedding of one of my best friends (ex-girlfriend even, but that was almost ten years ago..) and then probably stopping for surf/diving at some beaches on the way back down.

Life's good, poker life is challenging. Up about $7k in 2010, but it was $9k a few days ago. Back to the grind next week, I figure i'll stick at 50nl for 20buyins, however long that takes.

i was going to move down to 50nl, but...

went away for a few days and then when i came back there had been another $1k rakeback payment flicked my way. And it is a sunday. And the games look good. So I played a brief session of 100nl, it worked out ok. I'm planning on playing 4x2hr sessions tomorrow (monday am nz time = sunday EST) and i'll see how those go. I expect to be mixing 50nl and 100nl based on how good the games look for a week or two.

non-poker news. The wedding was cool, funny to end up giving a speech at my ex-girlfriend's wedding = life in my world. They'd rented a house in the mountains and we kicked off at 11am with some mountain biking mission - they in white 2nd hand wedding dress and suit/top hat respectively. I'm not much of a mountain biker, but survived without any major crashes, not bad in the context of one person hurtling over handle bars into a tree and another breaking a chain on a small grinding drop thing. I did manage a mid-speed pedal-meet-rock near disaster but recovered in an out of control fashion. Then food aplenty, the groom is brazilian and we ate south american asado style washed with loads of good wine.

lifestyle news. I've been talking about detoxing. And about a forthcoming climbing trip. And yoga. So... i think i committed to a month of consuming zero:
energy drinks
coffee
booze
pies
processed sugary food (chocolate/etc)

so it basically means that i'm going to starve for a while.

so i dropped (again) to 50nl on tuesday and promised to grind out 20buyins before moving back up. I ran like dog-shit on the cooler front, if i see another turned set vs my overpair or turned quads vs my full house i'm gonna break something. But, ok for a few days i guess.

ino what u mean!
Check out this sick cooler:
http://weaktight.com/2019740

srzly tho. U back to 100NL now, right? We're having a party and you're invited!
http://weaktight.com/2019964

I'm just bumping this cuz of the switchover I got unsubscribed to all my threads.

another moan, just gotta keep getting the money in good...
all with solid reads:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($123.15)
Button ($263.45)
SB ($105.30)
Hero (BB) ($112.35)
UTG ($124.50)
MP ($65.45)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, 9
UTG bets $2, 4 folds, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($4.50) A, 6, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $2, Hero raises to $9, UTG raises to $35, Hero raises to $110.35 (All-In), UTG calls $75.35

Turn: ($225.20) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($225.20) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $225.20 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, 9 (two pair, Aces and nines).
UTG had Q, A (two pair, Aces and Queens).
Outcome: UTG won $222.20


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (3 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($77.40)
BB ($80.20)
Hero (Button) ($100)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, A
Hero bets $3.50, SB raises to $11.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $100 (All-In), SB calls $65.90 (All-In)

Flop: ($155.80) 9, 4, 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($155.80) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($155.80) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $155.80 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero had K, A (high card, Ace).
SB had K, J (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: SB won $154.80

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($48.65)
CO ($103.90)
Button ($111)
SB ($117.40)
BB ($199)
UTG ($101)
UTG+1 ($105.60)
Hero (MP1) ($111.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 9, 9
2 folds, Hero bets $3.50, MP2 calls $3.50, 4 folds

Flop: ($8.50) 10, 5, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $6, MP2 raises to $12, Hero raises to $107.90 (All-In), MP2 calls $33.15 (All-In)

Turn: ($98.80) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($98.80) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $98.80 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (one pair, nines).
MP2 had A, 6 (straight, seven high).
Outcome: MP2 won $95.80

vs 60-40-30
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($83.20)
MP2 ($111)
Hero (MP3) ($175.40)
CO ($145.30)
Button ($100)
SB ($139.25)
BB ($157.80)
UTG ($90.85)
UTG+1 ($76.50)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Q, Q
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1, MP2 calls $1, Hero bets $6.50, 4 folds, UTG raises to $12, 2 folds, Hero raises to $33, UTG raises to $54, Hero raises to $175.40 (All-In), UTG calls $36.85 (All-In)

Flop: ($185.20) 8, 3, J (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($185.20) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($185.20) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $185.20 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG had K, K (two pair, Kings and threes).
Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and threes).
Outcome: UTG won $182.20

Ur lucky I can't read that cuz if I could I'd have to slap ur bitch ass for posting bad beats. amirite!

went out climbing at a local last night - doctors point. Then to an organic farm for dinner and wine, nice sleep and a day of sanding in preparation for a big painting mission. Some poker this arvo, then beer etc wih some friends just back from Canada.

The month of healthy life-styling lasted two weeks of self-denial, now i'm back into the 'moderation and excess' approach to life. Started going to yoga again too, way back i used to do quite a bit and i'm crash-starting my body by having a month of daily/twice daily bikram yoga (the 38degree celsius room style) sessions. Nice. Also went out for my first run longer than 90minutes in quite a while. I've been recently trying to hit the salmon hanging out in our harbour, but instead i've been feasting on fresh shark, maybe tomorrow. Good to be catching something at least, although i've released 2/3 of the sharks caught so far.

anyway, what's this blog about?
poker in February 2010
second highest month for withdrawals - $6500
solid month for volume - 140k hands
huge month for variance - 3x20buyin swings, 2 in the wrong direction, and another 2x 10buyin swings, right direction
crap month for study
huge month for rakeback/random bonuses - >$2500
great month for reconciling poker and it's role in my life the next month or two
pretty poor month for playing consistently and well

funny session, glad it was at 50nl..
AA<AK
AA<AJo
AK<AA blind war
KK<AA
AA<KK
middle set< top set
top set<flush draw
oesfd<bottom set
top two < middle set

yoga every day
riding every day
poker every day...

march is underway at 50nl. Funny, i'd been enjoying withdrawing so much while assuming that i would always crush 50nl regardless of variance... then some coolers and beats meant that i was pretty tightly rolled for that stake on FTP for a few days (12-15 tabling with 18 buyins behind - so obviously getting deep made life interesting, as did auto-rebuy when it didn't work...) and didn't feel like moving money across from another site. All resolved now though, just needed a couple of normal sessions.

50nl until i get sick of it is the plan for this month. So far i'm net up around 6buyins, meh, whatever.

heading away for a weekend rock climbing on Friday pm, saturday is a competition outside at a beautiful spot (Welcome to NBS 2010 | New Zealand National Bouldering Series 2010) and then sunday and it's semi-alpine sport climbing. psyched

think i'm off to a bar to watch football - the NZ soccer team somehow made the world cup finals in south africa and are playing a warmup friendly against mexico in los angeles about now-ish

Having auto-rebuy not working would be scary :O

rock climbing sounds like a hell of a time

Your operation has inspired me and I've learned a lot from the hands you've posted.

Keep up the great work!!!

The climbing comp in queenstown was hella-fun!!! destroyed (in a good way) most of my major muscle groups, caught up with a bunch of friends, didn't even come close to threatening the podium in the expert division, and saturday evening/night was spent recovering by lake swimming, beer drinking, hanging out next to the water general sifting. Sunday was all about dragging my body 45minutes up a hill to an amazing crag and then trying to somehow get myself to the top of a bunch of rock-routes - see the link if you're interested in the area in question: Wye Creek - Queenstown

fingertips were raw to the point of bleeding by the end of all that.

6 this morning and i was on my bike, 6:30 this morning and i was sweating myself through another bikram yoga session, this arvo i'll probably play some poker, 6pm and more yoga, 8pm and maybe, just maybe, i'll be off to our local training gym... shoulders are kinda tired but i've somehow committed to climbing another comp next weekend - at the best bouldering area in the world...

poker so far in 2010 has been kinda weird. I've made about $8k, a ridiculously large chunk of which is bonus/rakeback/rakeraces. I've withdrawn that same amount and am now sitting back at 50nl. My psyche is somewhat less than it has been, manifesting in not much study and not playing anywhere near the best of my ability...

crazy. I'm even thinking of getting a real job. You know, one where you get paid on a regular basis and can't work from bed any time of the day or night. Dunno how i'd cope with that sort of buzz again. Anyway, i updated my cv. Step 1, complete

for the next week of poker i'm going to concentrate on calling less. Stay tuned

watching the football was fun, NZ lost 2-0 to Mexico, but hey, we don't even play that sport over here, we have a population of 4million, and i hear that mexico kinda like soccer?

just clicked that minuit are playing dunedin in a couple of weeks, chur! YouTube - FUJI
YouTube - Minuit 'Except You' Music Video (2004)
YouTube - I HATE GUNS (animated)

now if only they'd double header with shapeshifter! YouTube - Shapeshifter - Long White Cloud

25nl for a while
flicked my cv off and now i've got an interview on monday, dunno how i feel at the prospect of maybe having a day-job once again....

just arrived back from another yoga session, now it's some quick food and then off for some light climbing at our local wall. Meeting my girlfriend and then we're off to a nice Thursday evening gig from some local indie-pop heroes - should be kicking off around 10pm.

Tomorrow arvo and we drive north to castle hill, maybe some climbing that night and then saturday is all about a climbing comp again!

life is pretty cool, poker ain't going so well but, meh, whatever. I'm down around $500 for the month after rakeback and around $3k down at the tables since my highpoint. Still above the $8k net profit mark in 2010, but.... was supposed to be a lot more than that by now

ahhhhhhhh
2010
life
pretty damn cool
Minuit gig was the best gig of 2010 so far! Fringe festival is on right now so i've been getting all mould-ridden. Climbing again a whole bunch and it feels good. I got a speedo for my old, fully rigid, heavy, fat tyred mountain bike. Seems that i was reasonably accurate in my speed guesses. I cruise around 20km/hr, i barely crack 40km/hr working hard on the flat, downhill and i wasn't full-of-shit after all and I don't mind that i get scared sometimes - on a bike like that one i figure doing much over 70km/hr and it's fair enough... Getting back into yoga is a fun journey of watching my body go through it's yogic changes - bikram 4-5x/week for the next indefinite while. I still haven't managed to catch any of the salmon that are lurking in our harbour - mostly cos i talk about doing so far more often than actually going fishing (3 times to date!), and then end up catching other fish species when i do go fishing.

poker
wtf-ever...

crazy ride, i started out at 10nl again, heatered up through to 100nl in a few weeks and then... luckily i made a whole pile of withdrawals to force my downswing into lower and lower stakes! Bottoming out losing about 8 buyins at 25nl and deciding to take a break...
2010 thus far at the tables, peaked at +$5k, then downswing of epic tilt proportions, now sitting around +$2.2k. Rakeback, oh dear, +$4.5k. and a few other random bonuses, rakerace payments, etc, summing up to another $1.2k. So, around $8k net profit for the year. meh. At least most of it is sitting in my bank account tho, could be worse!

i've been thinking about poker and how it fits for me the last while. I had been getting kinda bored with it, very much just going through the motions... And then, last week, sitting in a suit, answering questions from 3 equally suited types about career and shit and the prospect of - hell, i think ima gonna play poker a few months more. I really enjoy having loads of spare time plus the freedom and flexibility to do whatever i want.

so a few days ago i started being serious at 25nl again. Why not heater back up the stakes? but stay there this time! Improving, earning, etc.

I'm playing less tables. I'm calling less. I'm playing better. I'm 6.6ptBB/100 over the last 14.5k hands/5 days at 25nl. I'm also quitting sessions and/or not starting them more appropriately. I was going to play 20k hands at each stake, but... still undecided. 50nl again shortly I guess.

as for the "with winning in mind" approach i outlined a few months ago:

Originally Posted by daven

goal: Be a consistent and solid winner (>2ptBB/100) at 100nl and 200nl
when: 31/3/2010
process assess and prepare myself emotionally and mentally prior to every session
retain complete focus during sessions, identify variation and correct as appropriate (end session/regain focus)
study 1hr for every day that i play
record progress and activity in a journal
self-congratulate/reinforce well played hands/sessions, forget/ignore poorly played hands until post-session analysis time

it looks like i won't even be playing 200nl at 31/3/2010.
I have not been assessing and preparing myself prior to sessions, nor retaining complete focus.
I've done about sfa study after the initial eager burst
what journal? i lost it sometime after the first week

sounds pretty easy to fix....

GL Daven.

Move up to 50NL so I can have those juicy 25PL FR tables to myself again pls, kkthx.

Go Daven, GO DAVEN.

Can we set up a sweat session sometime?

You know I got your back, mr. most interesting kiwi alive. You'll be creaming the opposition before you know it, just keep you chin up!

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

You know I got your back, mr. most interesting kiwi alive. You'll be creaming the opposition before you know it, just keep you chin up!

cheers dude. my back is feeling good and safe now!!! chin is up, i'm feeling pretty good about poker again (even if i am going to indulge in a little moan below!)

Originally Posted by Gobbatino

Move up to 50NL so I can have those juicy 25PL FR tables to myself again pls, kkthx.

sure thing. Who are you on those tables?

Originally Posted by CBAT

Can we set up a sweat session sometime?

sure thing. Hit me up on irc

Quick moan, skim it... I'm actually feeling pretty good about my game at the moment, and results will come shortly.

so, i'm losing with pocket pairs/AK over my first 10k hands back at 50nl. I would be way ahead if i'd open folded JJ+/AK every time i got them. I'm barely ahead of breakeven in showdown pots. I'm running into sets in 3/4b pots vs my nut overpairs. Etc. Obviously i'm a whole bunch of buyins behind on AI EV, but that in itself doesn't come close to doing the variance justice. Cool thing is that i'm mostly continuing to play well, i'm analysing my sessions more, and net of rakeback i'm only down a couple of buyins over these hands. In earlier times i probably woulda tilted pretty horrendously and would be staring down the barrel of a 10-15bi downswing

perhaps the funniest thing in this small sample of hands is pot sizes. There have been only 3 hands in the last 10 000 where i have won 75bb or more. Wow.

Originally Posted by daven

sure thing. Who are you on those tables?

New screen name (with rakeback woot) on FT is the donkiest name I could think up with a random number attached for effect: TeeltMe1083.

Originally Posted by daven

There have been only 3 hands in the last 10 000 where i have won 75bb or more. Wow.

Woooooooooooooow that's so fucking sick! Is this anywhere near normal at 50NL or just some horrible horrible luck at not being paid off?

poker is getting sexier and sexier. Range is wow. Levelling key. Psyched by this beautiful and intricate game.

Originally Posted by reDZill4

in response to biggest leaks -prob not thinking about ranges
-not thinking for sure
- in response to question on position i dont really understand what you want. position is good dont really know what else to say

vs decent nitty reg.

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

UTG ($57.55)
UTG+1 ($51.50)
Hero (MP1) ($50)
MP2 ($56.85)
CO ($50.75)
Button ($55.90)
SB ($44.55)
BB ($60.60)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 7, 7
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, Hero bets $2.25, 3 folds, SB calls $2, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1.75

Flop: ($7.25) 7, 8, 10 (3 players)
SB bets $4.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $14, SB raises to $42.30 (All-In), Hero folds

vs dumbarse

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

UTG ($8.30)
UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($27.40)
MP2 ($46.35)
Hero (CO) ($50.75)
Button ($23.40)
SB ($113.40)
BB ($50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9, 9
4 folds, Hero bets $1.75, 1 fold, SB calls $1.50, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($5.25) 2, 5, 9 (3 players)
SB bets $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $6, SB raises to $23.25, Hero raises to $49 (All-In),

Originally Posted by Gobbatino

New screen name (with rakeback woot) on FT is the donkiest name I could think up with a random number attached for effect: TeeltMe1083.

my note on you is that you seem nit-unimaginative-solid (this means you're likely to spew a lot less than me and have a straight line winning graph rather than a breakeven rollercoaster )= you're a reg that isn't going to dead money his stack anytime soon and i'd prefer you left and have an uber-fish take your seat....

Originally Posted by Gobbatino

Woooooooooooooow that's so fucking sick! Is this anywhere near normal at 50NL or just some horrible horrible luck at not being paid off?

this is not anywhere near normal.... just another point on the runbad, I don't mind this and the sets as net losers and losing with QQ+/AK as it indicates this is true -ve variance rather than me falsely identifying it as such... anyway, i'm back on the way up now. Here's to trying to be at 100nl by the end of next week, but right now it's time for a surf and then a bbq/party!

and a quote from the high stakes forum, for those who have solved poker

Originally Posted by nutsinho

It doesnt make sense to ever EVER snapcall a river checkraise without the nuts or very close to it- when you quickly call you are giving your opponent way way way way way too much insight into your thought process. you always want to leave your opponent guessing about the way you think of 'tough' river spots and about how you think he plays. If i make a "bad" bluff against someone on the river and they quickly call with something toward the bottom of their range I just come away from the hand thinking, lol what a retard. This isn't because I think they should have folded to my raise because of the way my range interacts with theirs in the spot, or because I think they have a pedestrian grasp of handreading or game dynamics, but because they have just given me a ton of information just hoping to make me feel owned or because they were excited to follow through on a read that they shouldnt be giving me any clues about. professional poker is not about showing off how much you own someones soul; take your time with river actions and dont give anything away

I enjoy this blog Daven. I don't think I've ever read of someone boucing around through the limits so quickly and effectively. If you focussed, I think you'd be at 200NL and be able to stay quite well.
Go get you that day job. After 3 weeks (if that), you'll be back to poker full time and in a month and a half you'll be well rolled for 200NL and looking to move up.

my note on you is that you seem nit-unimaginative-solid (this means you're likely to spew a lot less than me and have a straight line winning graph rather than a breakeven rollercoaster )= you're a reg that isn't going to dead money his stack anytime soon and i'd prefer you left and have an uber-fish take your seat....

My note on you is, "OMFG it's Daven on my table LOLOL".

Originally Posted by Kijjo

If you focussed,

i think this is one of my major leaks. I let variance affect me, when i'm in +ve variance mode i think i'm king and loosen up and play dumb ranges, when i'm in -ve variance territory i get tilted and negative and play far from my a-game. In both cases there is a dwindling focus. Like just now, 2x KK<AA, 2x flopped flush no good - but so what, i should simply review the hands at session end and see what i can learn from them. Until the session end the hands' only relevance should be the player notes i get out of them.

Focus is also heavily related to session duration and number of sessions. I know that i can't play 12 hrs in a day without losing focus, nor sessions longer than 2 1/2 hrs. So why do i do it?

april 5th, 2010.
9 buyins behind on AIEV, and that understates how bad i'm running this crazy day
showdown winnings, negative. Decent volume too
running too cold YouTube - Roots Manuva, Too Cold

i just discovered 6max plo, i like it. I've been meaning to test the waters for a while. And, sure, they're uncharted and hud-less for the moment, but that's fine. I'll get a feel for it, try and figure it out for myself, then study!!!

poker is a bunch of study at the moment. I'm setting myself up for a huge May by splashing chips around at the micros.
Straight flushes aren't doing too well this month
Imageshack - cooler.jpg

so, until living in bonn i hadn't really ridden a bike much. Bonn is bike-friendly and i cruised the streets in style. Fast forward a few months. I'm living in a southern city in New Zealand that isn't quite so bike friendly, but i got a bike and i'm living about 5km from the city centre. My legs have funny new muscles.

anyway, i've given up on the pursuit of pedal-powered downhill speed for the moment. I cracked 75km/hr and am a little uncomfortable with going much faster - especially after a dark and rainy night near miss doing about 65clicks. Instead i am working on going faster on the flat and using higher gears on hills. So far i'm topping out at 47km/hr on the flat - which probably sounds faster than it is.

poker is whatever. 50nl again this weekend i guess.

47 on the flat is pretty damn impressive. What kind of bike?
I don't think I can crack 40 on the flat with back wind and dogs chasing me.

75 downhill was the fastest I've ever gone, and I was 12 or 13 at the time. And it was on a $100, 50 pound mountain bike I had build with my dad a couple of days earlier. I'm not looking to ever break that without a steel shell around me ever.

And about the poker: have you tried cutting down the number of tables, and taking breaks and actively table selecting and stuff?
You understand the game, and you're not dumb. There's no reason why you shouldn't have a 5ptbb-ish winrate. I just think you're missing tons of v-bet spots, routine bluffing opportunities and obvious iso spots. I've seen you check back back spots with TP hands against mega feeeush that made me want to scream. Sometimes I did scream.
I don't think putting in lots of study time will do so much for you. Put in 4-tabling time and really think about how to get the most value. Your nit muscle memory will keep biting you in the ass when you mass multi-table no matter how much you study.

Originally Posted by oskar

47 on the flat is pretty damn impressive. What kind of bike?

it's a crappy old fully rigid mountain bike. I finally managed to crack 50 on the flat - tail wind and i heard a dog somewhere...

Originally Posted by oskar

And about the poker: have you tried cutting down the number of tables, and taking breaks and actively table selecting and stuff?You understand the game, and you're not dumb. There's no reason why you shouldn't have a 5ptbb-ish winrate. I just think you're missing tons of v-bet spots, routine bluffing opportunities and obvious iso spots. I've seen you check back back spots with TP hands against mega feeeush that made me want to scream. Sometimes I did scream.
I don't think putting in lots of study time will do so much for you. Put in 4-tabling time and really think about how to get the most value. Your nit muscle memory will keep biting you in the ass when you mass multi-table no matter how much you study.

yeah, i'm playing way fewer tables now, varying it between 6 and 13 depending on game (plo/holdem) and style (fr/6max). Your comment about river play is interesting - i've faced a few more check-raises on the river as a consequence, but also got a bunch more value - CHEERS!!!!

also, games have been looking good at 50nl recently. wow. Ima posting some hands to show just how good - all from the last few days. The bad beats are whatever, indication of high game quality imo... I'm up over the few days, and will be way more up if i ever start to run even average in allin spots.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($50)
MP2 ($49.25)
MP3 ($50)
CO ($50.75)
Button ($98.30)
SB ($51.25)
Hero (BB) ($55.90)
UTG ($36.20)
UTG+1 ($35.85)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, 10
3 folds, MP2 bets $1.25, 3 folds, SB calls $1, Hero calls $0.75

Flop: ($3.75) J, 2, K (3 players)
SB bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50, MP2 raises to $5, SB calls $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

Turn: ($18.75) 8 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP2 bets $5, 1 fold, Hero calls $5

River: ($28.75) A (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $13, Hero raises to $44.65 (All-In), MP2 calls $25 (All-In)

Total pot: $104.75 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had Q, 10 (straight, Ace high).
MP2 had 2, 2 (three of a kind, twos).
Outcome: Hero won $101.75


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

Button ($14.50)
SB ($35.40)
BB ($50)
UTG ($14.75)
UTG+1 ($62.40)
MP1 ($50)
MP2 ($49.65)
Hero (CO) ($62.60)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 5, 5
3 folds, MP2 bets $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, Button calls $1.75, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($7.50) 8, 5, Q (4 players)
SB checks, MP2 bets $5, Hero raises to $14, 2 folds, MP2 raises to $47.90 (All-In), Hero calls $33.90

Turn: ($103.30) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($103.30) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $103.30 | Rake: $3

Results:
MP2 had A, Q (two pair, Queens and eights).
Hero had 5, 5 (full house, fives over eights).
Outcome: Hero won $100.30

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

UTG ($79.20)
Hero (MP1) ($50)
MP2 ($50)
CO ($53.40)
Button ($144.50)
SB ($50.25)
BB ($84.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q, Q
UTG bets $1.50, Hero raises to $5.25, 5 folds, UTG calls $3.75

Flop: ($11.25) 3, 8, J (2 players)
UTG bets $11.25, Hero raises to $44.75 (All-In), UTG calls $33.50

Turn: ($100.75) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($100.75) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $100.75 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG had K, A (one pair, threes).
Hero had Q, Q (full house, Queens over threes).
Outcome: Hero won $97.75

more hands, needed to be split into two posts cos of image posting restrictions or something

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($60.50)
SB ($51.50)
BB ($50)
UTG ($50)
UTG+1 ($64.05)
MP1 ($48.35)
Hero (MP2) ($50)
MP3 ($85.05)
CO ($21.10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q, A
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, Hero bets $2.25, 5 folds, MP1 calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) 8, A, A (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $3.50, MP1 calls $3.50

Turn: ($12.25) 7 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $7, MP1 raises to $14, Hero calls $7

River: ($40.25) 7 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $30.25 (All-In), MP1 calls $28.60 (All-In)

Total pot: $97.45 | Rake: $3

Results:
MP1 had J, 8 (two pair, Aces and eights).
Hero had Q, A (full house, Aces over sevens).
Outcome: Hero won $94.45

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($126)
Button ($46.20)
Hero (SB) ($50)
BB ($69.70)
UTG ($50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
2 folds, Button bets $1.75, Hero raises to $5.50, 1 fold, Button calls $3.75

Flop: ($11.50) 7, 2, A (2 players)
Hero bets $6, Button calls $6

Turn: ($23.50) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $16, Button calls $16

River: ($55.50) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $22.50 (All-In), Button calls $18.70 (All-In)

Total pot: $92.90 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had A, 4 (one pair, Aces).
Hero had A, K (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $89.90

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

UTG ($68.85)
UTG+1 ($14.20)
Hero (MP1) ($56.35)
MP2 ($59.30)
CO ($50)
Button ($68.40)
SB ($46.10)
BB ($50)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 4, 4
2 folds, Hero bets $1.75, MP2 calls $1.75, 4 folds

Flop: ($4.25) A, Q, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $3, MP2 raises to $7, Hero calls $4

Turn: ($18.25) J (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $18.25, Hero raises to $47.60 (All-In), MP2 calls $29.35

River: ($113.45) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $113.45 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 4, 4 (full house, fours over Queens).
MP2 had A, Q (full house, Queens over Aces).
Outcome: MP2 won $110.45

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

MP2 ($50)
CO ($58.15)
Button ($79.30)
SB ($74.75)
Hero (BB) ($50)
UTG ($35.15)
MP1 ($53.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, A
3 folds, CO bets $2, 1 fold, SB calls $1.75, Hero raises to $6.50, 1 fold, SB calls $4.50

Flop: ($15) 2, 3, A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $8, SB calls $8

Turn: ($31) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $35.50 (All-In), SB calls $35.50

River: ($102) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $102 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had 6, 7 (flush, seven high).
Hero had Q, A (straight, five high).
Outcome: SB won $99

and a third post, same reason
Full Tilt Pot-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (4 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($57.10)
Button ($26.20)
Hero (SB) ($91.90)
BB ($53.60)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4, 5
2 folds, Hero bets $1.50, BB calls $1

Flop: ($3) A, 7, 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, BB calls $1.50

Turn: ($6) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $5, BB raises to $12, Hero raises to $42, BB raises to $50.60 (All-In), Hero calls $8.60

River: ($107.20) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $107.20 | Rake: $2

Results:
Hero had 4, 5 (straight, eight high).
BB had A, 4 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won $105.20

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($80.55)
UTG+1 ($50)
Hero (MP1) ($97.30)
MP2 ($20)
MP3 ($40)
CO ($202)
Button ($50)
SB ($53.45)
BB ($159.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 5, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $2, Hero calls $2, 5 folds, BB calls $1.50

Flop: ($6.75) 5, J, 7 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $6, 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $16, Hero calls $10

Turn: ($38.75) K (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $38.75, UTG+1 calls $32 (All-In)

River: ($102.75) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $102.75 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG+1 had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Hero had 5, 5 (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $99.75

What stakes of PLO have you tried? I found no difference between 10PLO and 25PLO, but I'm not sure if I should try 50PLO without playing a bunch at 25 first...

Originally Posted by courtiebee

What stakes of PLO have you tried? I found no difference between 10PLO and 25PLO, but I'm not sure if I should try 50PLO without playing a bunch at 25 first...

i haven't played above 25plo, i'd suggest simply following the standard advice of giving 50plo a shot if you're rolled for it and comfortably confident that you beat 25plo. I play plo for variety and fun, without having done much work on it beyond learning the rules. I guess i'll move to 50plo at some stage - i'll post my thoughts then!

still in preparation for huge pwnage in May.
funny april, but somehow i'm closing in on a $2k profit month, largely cos i'm good at bonuses...

i feel like i'm back to playing large pots well again, which is good. Large pots shouldn't really matter that much - cos if a-game is under control and reads are good then it's rare to make huge mistakes.

here's one where i'm not really sure about my river bluff, nor my play on any street really:
Full Tilt Pot-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($51.80)
Hero (BB) ($50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, A
SB bets $1.50, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($3) 6, 10, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $2, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($7) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $4, Hero raises to $11.50, SB calls $7.50

River: ($30) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $30,