Ongblog 2014

Sup. So I'm racing savy, his target is $1500, mine is $1750, loser ships winner $25.

BR = $389.87

I have other goals too, such as study more, analyse sessions in more detail, etc. But most of all I want somewhere to keep notes as my poker journey continues. I hope it helps me get better, and I hope it's a story of progression, not stagnation like my last blog.

Last night I had my best session in some time. I was about to go to bed after watching a high stakes reg play (thank you). I enjoyed seeing poker from that perspective, and it gave me renewed confidence as everything seemed to make sense to me and, for the most part, wasn't a million miles from what I was thinking as hands progressed, aside from sizing which is my biggest weakness I think. So I played one more session before bed and after an hour or so was 5BI up thanks to confident poker and a huge dose of rungood.

So today I've woken up feeling motivated. I've been up since 9am (very rare for me), and been measured up for a suit. I'm best man at my friend's wedding in March. I also start a course tomorrow to get myself a fork lift license so I can get myself a fucking job.

2014 already feels so much better than 2013.

Gonna play a session of 10nl zoom, then settle in for a sunday mtt. I'll be noting my investments and prizes from mtts in this thread for my benefit and for savy's, so we can adjust my target to keep our race purely related to ring game profits.

I wish all FTR's the best of luck in their poker journey, and I'm particularly looking forward to seeing savy catch me up in stakes.

Gl with it, just not too much luck.

Ok some hands from this session...

All villains to be considered unknown unless I have notes.

http://weaktight.com/6431053
I think turn sizing could be bigger, and I think there's thin value on river vs his Jx

http://weaktight.com/6431135
Tight river fold, wasn't happy about it at all.

http://weaktight.com/6431151
Another tptk sighfold

http://weaktight.com/6431154
200bb KK vs AA, should I be more cautious this deep vs unknown?

BR=$381.11

1 - In general sizing is too small on turn, river would be too thin imo.

2 - Think river is a call. He doesn't have KK, QQ, TT because he'd fire the flop because it's so wet. He doesn't have AJ here very often seems a bit wide vs an UTG open so the only realistic hands he could have that beats you is AA. All just seems a little off imo.

3 - Folding seems fine I think.

4 - You're probably fine doing this against an unknown imo.

I'll keep a monthly track of profits/loss from mtts.

Two mtts currently registered for -

$5.50 - 81/1000 - $12

$8.80 - busted

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ImSavy

1 - In general sizing is too small on turn, river would be too thin imo.

2 - Think river is a call. He doesn't have KK, QQ, TT because he'd fire the flop because it's so wet. He doesn't have AJ here very often seems a bit wide vs an UTG open so the only realistic hands he could have that beats you is AA. All just seems a little off imo.

3 - Folding seems fine I think.

4 - You're probably fine doing this against an unknown imo.

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Yeah #2 I felt somewhat nitty there. It's just these river overbets are rarely bluffs at 10nl.

And had we been deeper than 200bb in #4, I'm likely to tread more carefully. I felt 2BI was reasonable, assuming villain is also stacking AKs and QQ. But that assumption may be optimistic.

hand 1 - consider 2.5x as default steal vs unknowns. Bigger on turn. Block river for about $1 cos he'll crying call the 10bb heaps and 10bb is the same as another 100 hands at 5BB/100.
hand 2 - meh nit fold pre. river looks fine, you're smoked when he bets like that
hand 3 - problem with preflop is that after you call the 4b you aren't happy at all raising after flopping one of the best hands you could hope for. Turn is a clear fold without reads. If he's 70-40 over 8 hands or something then get it in. But do that pre.
hand 4 - Call the 4b. How many 6b shoves you see that aren't aces at 10nl? especially deep.

in general the 'vs unknown' thing bugs me. You have reads after 5 hands. They are obviously flawed etc, but it's enough to help make a decision. Also, if you are reg at the stake then if you don't have them colour coded already then they're not a reg, this is also a useful read. Hands vs absolute unknowns (i.e. 3 hands or less of history) aren't that interesting. Trying to judge decisions in an information vacuum when that info is available is problematic.

It's zoom, so they're unknown because I don't know if I've faced them before unless I have notes or colour coded seats, and at 10nl I have just yellow seats for fish and red seats for decent players. Lots more yellow than red. Readless means no notes and no colour, which means I've not seen anything from that person to give me an idea of their skill level.

x2.5 as default is something that renton is telling me is too small. I was going x2.5, but he suggests more at micros, so I've upped it to x3.

The KK hand is puke. Once I've 5b I don't see me folding pre to 6b shove. But it's lolmicros, I want value from my KK and this guy likes his hand, so the 5b is value because I feel he has hands he calls (AK AQs QQ) that I crush, and if he's bad he can shove some of this too. idk, I don't feel comfortable stacking KK 200bb deep like this but calling the 4b seems like missing out on value. This was a tricky spot. Is folding to 6b shove outrageous?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OngBonga

It's zoom, so they're unknown because I don't know if I've faced them before unless I have notes or colour coded seats, and at 10nl I have just yellow seats for fish and red seats for decent players. Lots more yellow than red. Readless means no notes and no colour, which means I've not seen anything from that person to give me an idea of their skill level.

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zoom hud is worth having.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OngBonga

x2.5 as default is something that renton is telling me is too small. I was going x2.5, but he suggests more at micros, so I've upped it to x3.

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vs unknowns at 10nl you can probably go uber-exploitable and 2.2x the crap you're stealing with and 4x the nuts, then keep the raise size constant vs regs/non-fish-knowns. Be a long time before you get figured out on that one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OngBonga

The KK hand is puke. Once I've 5b I don't see me folding pre to 6b shove. But it's lolmicros, I want value from my KK and this guy likes his hand, so the 5b is value because I feel he has hands he calls (AK AQs QQ) that I crush, and if he's bad he can shove some of this too. idk, I don't feel comfortable stacking KK 200bb deep like this but calling the 4b seems like missing out on value. This was a tricky spot. Is folding to 6b shove outrageous?

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5b smaller and you can fold to a shove i reckon. You have zero bluffs in your range when you 5bet here, i mean, KK is probably the bottom of your 5b range in this spot right?

GL with the competition and blog!

Cheers daven and griff.

Well this week has been interesting.

Lesson for the week - don't play poker when tired. I've been busy as hell, coming back from my course thinking "sweeeet time for tea spliff and poker", and this week I'm 10BI down.

Tilt control is extremely good though, doing constructive shit with my life is doing me a lot of good. I still feel happy and motivated, unusual after a losing $100 in 4 days.

I'm not playing any more this next ten days, until my course is complete, aside from maybe a cheap mtt or two. I need to focus on my learning and not be distracted by downswing.

I need to analyse my recent excellent winning session and compare it to my recent losing sessions. That won't happen until after my course too. I'm noting it because I don't want to forget.

ftr250 tonight though? tempted

The FTR 250 is tonight? Be rude to not play that.

Also watch ya back Ong I'm coming for ya.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ImSavy

The FTR 250 is tonight? Be rude to not play that.

Also watch ya back Ong I'm coming for ya.

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I think I'm going out, but I might be able to play it. Thanks for the reminder.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keith

ftr250 tonight though? tempted

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Thanks keith too, somehow I missed this and only saw savy's post!

It's at 9, it's awkward timing. I'm undecided whether to just stay in and play, or socialise. It's tempting to shove 100% until double or bust, and allow that to decide if I go out or not. It's near impossible to play -ev bearing in mind the added money.

Are we counting FTR250 cashes in our BR race? I'm happy either way. I'm hopefully going to play in them all from now till the challenge ends so if you don't intend on playing many we'll leave it out.

glad i posted the reminder savvy? oh and i took down first ongie....are you glad you went out?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keith

glad i posted the reminder savvy? oh and i took down first ongie....are you glad you went out?

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I'd have realised anyway. Would have been more glad if it wasn't rigged.

im glad jyms wasn't playing

Was it a good game? I'll make more of an effort next month. Yeah I had a nice evening, I kinda wished I stayed in but I wanted a drink and poker has been a bitch the last few days so I want a short break while I focus on other shit.

Savy, I'm happy to include FTR250 games. Did you cash today?

Yeah, came 3rd but swapped 50% with someone so only $28.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OngBonga

Nice! I think you're in the lead! That shifted quickly.

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How so? What happened to your roll? I'm at around $95 atm but going to start playing 5nl from tomorrow.

(yes that quote is from my thread but cba having the same conversation over two threads)

10 BI downswing is what happened. Partly because coolers, mostly just playing bad though because tired.

On the plus side, I'm now trained in administering CPR, so I'm slightly more useful than I was a few hours ago. Yesterday I did fire safety awareness and manual lifting, next week is fork lift training and counter balance training.

Tomorrow I get my first lie in since last Saturday, and the first lie in that I've actually earned in years.

You're getting a job? Hahahaah. Welcome to hell!

Played a session last night, coolered twice, KK < JJ and AA < KK, thought "fuck this shit" and went to bed.

Today I passed my reach fork lift truck test, which is the harder of the two. Just counterbalance to go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rong

You're getting a job? Hahahaah. Welcome to hell!

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Looks like it. It's been over five years since I had what could be called a proper job. I wanted to retire at 30 and I was doing so well. I intend to work for a year and then fuck off somewhere quiet and play poker and be an artist, or some shit like that.

hand 1 - seems fine

hand 2 - I guess I can see AA playing like this. think i'm calling here though.

hand 3 - flat the open pre, if you're not comfortable shipping over a 4b. Fold to the 4b pre, if you're not comfortable stacking off on this board of all boards. As played, top of my range so I'm stacking.

hand 4 - I would rather switch the lines you took between hand 3 and 4. Given stacks of hand 4, without dynamic you're prob running into AA a lot here. I would flat the 4b and keep in any nonsense he might have. Also strengthens your 3b/flat 4b range and allows you to 3b/flat 4b with some sc's deep too.

Cheers griff.

IRL update - passed my other test last week, and now have two FLT licenses. I just need to collect my certificates and update my CV, and I'll start seriously looking for work.

Poker update - having played relatively little poker over the last two weeks, my BR stands at $259.81, over 10BI down from my peak. Time to knuckle down. I need to recognise when I'm too tired to play, and also when I'm distracted by other shit.

Change of strategy - I'm going to ship $100 over to Full Tilt, and bonus whore there for a month or so, with the intention of shipping $100 back to stars when FT roll hits $200. I'll have one more Stars-FT tranfer left eligible for bonus, so that I'll be saving until I can ship the maximum.

As for the race I have with savvy, I'll keep FT and Stars rolls noted seperately so my bonus whoring doesn't put me at an advantage. Ultimately though, the bonus is worth a lot more than the $25 we have on this race, so I don't care if I lose $25 to savvy while chasing FT bonus. I'll still be playing Stars, simply because I'm a lot more comfortable playing there. Not sure why, dunno if it's software or playerpool.

FTR have a game at FT tonight, which I'll be playing. I'm not OngBonga at FT, I think I'll keep that SN to myself.

Stars roll - $159.81
FT roll - $100

I'm confused. I don't mind you grinding on FT and adding money won there into your bankroll. Maybe don't include the bonuses you get but apart from that it's fine. Not quite sure what you meant though so sorry if that's what you intended on doing.

Also you may think of it as $25, but really it's much much more than that!

I think that's me in the lead now too 8-)

I've also decided I'm going to be spending my FPP on cash bonuses so I can move up quicker, won't include that in my total though.

Just so we're clear, does this sound good as the rules so far? We can add and take away as we see fit.

http://i61.tinypic.com/152iydk.jpg

It seems I was wrong, I thought the FT offer was 100% bonus on first three deposits, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Not sure why I thought that.

If I can't bonus whore at FT, then I'll play my mtts at FT and my cash games at Stars, that'll make this race much easier to track. Just remember that FT owes Stars $100. If I lose my FT roll on strictly mtts, then it's probably fair to drop my target by $100.

Also, seeing as I now have only $159 on stars for cash games, I'm facing having to step down to 5nl. But that's fine by me, I'll step back up when Stars BR = $250, which might happen soon if FT can ship Stars $100.

Yeah you're in the lead. But I don't expect to be at 5nl for much more than a month.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ImSavy

Just so we're clear, does this sound good as the rules so far? We can add and take away as we see fit.

http://i61.tinypic.com/152iydk.jpg

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Spot on. I'm happy to keep mtts totally seperate on FT, are you playing mtts?

I'm cool for you to play anything on any site you like. Doesn't have to be on stars so if you want to play MTTs on full tilt go for it. You could play all your volume on 888 if you like, doesn't matter.

I just like to overcomplicate things by making things easier. Makes perfect sense to me.

Here's me donking off my stack in the FT 250 - Villain is unknown Bulgarian, not sure who posts here from Bulgaria but his call certainly annoyed me and I would quite like to send him abuse via pm...

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (8 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com/

MP1 (t1,440)
MP2 (t2,091)
Hero (CO) (t2,040)
Button (t1,006)
SB (t1,470)
BB (t863)
UTG (t1,590)
UTG+1 (t1,725)

Hero's M: 45.33

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
4 folds, Hero raises to t60, 1 fold, SB calls t45, 1 fold

Flop: (t150) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
SB bets t90, Hero calls t90

Turn: (t330) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
SB bets t330, Hero calls t330

River: (t990) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t1,560 (All-In), SB calls t990 (All-In)

Total pot: t2,970

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

SB had 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (one pair, sevens).
Hero had 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (high card, King).
Outcome: SB won t2,970

I wonder if anyone can talk me through villain's thinking here. How wide must I be bluffing to make his call good here? My bluffing range at river is pretty much 56cc and 89cc after calling pot size at turn.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OngBonga

I wonder if anyone can talk me through villain's thinking here. How wide must I be bluffing to make his call good here? My bluffing range at river is pretty much 56cc and 89cc after calling pot size at turn.

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'i iz pot commit 2:1 middle pair call'

Tell me he didn't make the cash, that would be a nice post to wake up to.

Sup, so the last few weeks have been somewhat chaotic. My two best friends got married on Thursday, I was Best Man (apparently).

Check me in my suit -

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/...86248329_n.jpg

Also lost my Nan a week ago, bless her she was 94.

So I haven't had all that much poker time, but I've still tried to get a few sessions in when winding down at night. But that's all about to change! Micromillions is up, so I'll play a few of those no doubt, and I'll be continuing my zoom push to 10nl.

Played the Big $11 yesterday, binked a $50 prize. Busted AK vs JJ around 700 left.

Stars BR - $217.71
FT BR - $96

Oh yeah I forgot to cash out $25 from my BR to donate to Forsyth Humane Society in memory of Justin, Chelle's boyfriend, I'll do that now. I know it's not much, and nothing can ease Chelle's pain, but even a small donation is better than nothing.

Anyone else who wants to do something similar, here's a link - https://www.forsythhumane.org/donate/

Stars BR = $192.17
FT BR = $96