TerryToma's blog

Hello everyone,

Im a FR 25NL / bonuswhore who would like to improve. I have poker tracker, gametime+, 2 1600x1200 monitors. Recent PT stats 29/7.
Thinking about getting pokeracehud.

I would like to join this community, as I have been a long time luker. (edit: Lurker double )

Goals:
1) Move up with correct bankroll management. 100NL by Halloween
2) Be able to sustain 1200$/month in withdrawls to pay for a new car for the wife. [edit after I make it to 100nl]
3) Maintain a 6bb/100 at 100NL.
4) Cut down on tilting.
5) Dabble in MTTs, I have won a couple on WPEX already
6) Become a positive contributor on here, with a blog by 2/07.

I feel that my stay down at 25NL has been wayyy too long, and it has led me to some bad habits. I had my worst 24 hrs in poker yesterday, and I am on my second time around the newbie circle of death. I have been playing on hollywood and pokerstars recently.

Thanks.

(update, here is my current graph, ill update THIS image every post. y axis = USdollars)

Originally Posted by TerryToma

I would like to join this community, as I have been a long time luker.

Goals:
1) Move up with correct bankroll management. 100NL by Halloween
great goal
2) Be able to sustain 1200$/month in withdrawls to pay for a new car for the wife.
BMWs are expensive
3) Maintain a 6bb/100 at 100NL.
good goal
4) Cut down on tilting.
another great goal
5) Dabble in MTTs, I have won a couple on WPEX already
winning ain't ez but it sure is fun
6) Become a positive contributor on here, with a blog by 2/07.
check this off, goal obtained

i hope you can do it
good luck
flomo

Thanks for the hospitality Flomo

Tonight I played a small session. I have scrapped my entire game plan, as it has run me around the newbie circle of death for the second time. I think reading Super System 2 always gets me in some bad habits. I win a few hands with crappy starting hands, then start losing some big hands.

I have now dedicated myself to Renton's strategy. My stats are 27/10 tonight after 400 hands. I played well but ran a flopped set into set and a flopped str8 into nut str8. Basically broke even tonight.

I dont think my numbers will stay at 27/10, but at hollywood 25NL, there are a ton of hands where everyone limps, plus the small blind is .15c, which may lead me to completing more than I should.

FTR is a great community with an excellent interface, I'm glad to be a (newb) part of it.

Originally Posted by TerryToma

I dont think my numbers will stay at 27/10, but at hollywood 25NL, there are a ton of hands where everyone limps, plus the small blind is .15c, which may lead me to completing more than I should.

You and I must be playing at different Hollywood sites. I also play the 25NL there and typically find 4-5 tighties per table. I seldom see more than 3, maybe 4 to the flop. Are you running a HUD at HP? That's where I get my stats.

I do agree on completing the SB too often. It's an identified leak for me that I am working very hard to fix. It is just soooooo tempting to complete with 9 6 sooted ... thinking ... "boy if this hits, I am stacking someone" ... gotta stop that.

Originally Posted by TerryToma

2) Be able to sustain 1200$/month in withdrawls to pay for a new car for the wife.

is she getting a ferrari?

Originally Posted by KingLizard

Originally Posted by TerryToma

I dont think my numbers will stay at 27/10, but at hollywood 25NL, there are a ton of hands where everyone limps, plus the small blind is .15c, which may lead me to completing more than I should.

You and I must be playing at different Hollywood sites. I also play the 25NL there and typically find 4-5 tighties per table. I seldom see more than 3, maybe 4 to the flop. Are you running a HUD at HP? That's where I get my stats.

I do agree on completing the SB too often. It's an identified leak for me that I am working very hard to fix. It is just soooooo tempting to complete with 9 6 sooted ... thinking ... "boy if this hits, I am stacking someone" ... gotta stop that.

Woops, change "everyone limps" to.. "no one raises". Yes I use a HUD. Table stats are commonly 25/4 at 25NL. When I have tried to move up to 50NL i get absolutely killed. Those table stats are closer to 20/9, with much more PFRs and RR PF. There are hardly any RRs PF at 25NL. When you do see it, it usually means AA/KK, and typically a min RR (from 1$ to 1.75$).

I get tempted way too much to limp behind. The SB is killing me. Last night I had J7s, and 89T flops. Got stacked by QJ.

Are you playing full ring to see table averages like those?

Originally Posted by andy-akb

Are you playing full ring to see table averages like those?

Yeah its full ring, NL. There are a lot of tables there, second only to PS and Party. I had been killing the stakes for a month, but really struggled this last week.

don't withdraw while playting 25nl

Originally Posted by Bmxicle

don't withdraw while playting 25nl

Thanks for the advice. No more withdrawing until I make it to 100NL. I guess I just get greedy, and want to buy things with my "hard earned" money. Like 2 1600x1200s and a new gateway.

I have tried moving up to play full stacked 50NL and gotten killed for about 250$ each time. I am going to do it right this time, and hopefully succeed.

4 tabled for an hour today, took a stack with a flopped str8 v set via BB special. Otherwise I think I played pretty well, ran 19/7 (first time under 20 in months).

I have really cut down on my playing. I was playing close to 2500hands/day 8 tabling for hours upon hours.

Originally Posted by Bode-ist

Originally Posted by TerryToma

2) Be able to sustain 1200$/month in withdrawls to pay for a new car for the wife.

is she getting a ferrari?

Lol, no. She wants the Honda Pilot EX-L. I am trying to build up a down payment/save for future payments.

Going to pay it off in a year?

Originally Posted by TerryToma

Honda Pilot EX-L

great choice
very jealous

Still following Renton's PF guide for the most part. Running 7bb/100 at 25NL FR on pokerroom skins.

Stats for last 2 days:
VPIP/PFR: 22/9
AF: 1.93/2.7/2.5

I have been working on my 2nd barrels, especially against weak/tights with high VPIPs. I read in Slansky that donks call a lot of pot-sized flop bets with a draw, even mid pair, but a quick to let go on the turn to any more resistance.

Advice/encouragement appreciated.

As I said earlier, most of the tables I play at are 25/5 overall. Can anyone give me a few examples of table norms at full ring at the 50NL/100NL/200NL?

.toma

best of luck to ya.

Ouch, this hurts. I have imploded since my last post. I stopped my session in 80 hands b/c my confidence is gone right now.

I'd post hand histories but the converter isnt working.

I lost 2.5 buyins in 80 hands today (in order)
1) got sucked out: bb special nut st8 ai on flop. On turn, 2 villains hit flush
2) got pushed off QQ on 678 rainbow flop by 99 (who 4bet preflop)
3) got aces cracked multiway pot AA << 777 (probably tilting from #1&2)

Yesterday lost net of 1 buyin:
Lost AA to 99 on a 889 flop. Half stacked c/r'd AI K62 flop 62o v my KQ.

Weekends are crazy. Usually my most profitable days but also most variance due to the maniacs.

Any advice/encouragement is appreciated.

Welp the rest of the night went much better. I spent a good part of the night thinking about the strategy that got me started in online poker.. The dreaded shortstacking appraoch. I wrote about it on this thread.

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...oker-40796.htm

I used this strategy for a few months in Dec 2005, early '06. I would alternate between 6max & ring and play pretty steady/low variance poker.

I wrote about why I couldnt be profitable using it b/c I was too aggresive now. Well I took that as a challenge to myself and actually played a little shortstack 50NL (bought in at 15$) on pokerroom, made 70bb at a rate of 17bb/100. No doubt I was running a little hot, but I took that confidence back into the ring game.

It seems that my problem was blind aggression. I was just trying to force hands rather than "pick spots" as they say. I was trying to run people over with my AA, even though I could have found out they were cracked.

Then I 8 tabled for a few hours tonight on stars/hollywood. 2000 hand later I won back my previous losses + another 3 buyins. Variance leveled back and even after my first horrible 80 hands I'm back to 7bb/100. I have been running 23/8 last 2k hands. I'll post my pt stats once I get to 10k hands.

The hand histories in the other forums have really helped me think a bit more about how to get more value out of TP and overpairs. Overall I was trying to muscle people out of the pot whenever I had them, and fold to resistence. Talk about minimizing my gains/increasing losses.

Thanks for reading! If anyone has any q's about my shortstack strategy, let me know. It seems to be pretty hot in the 6max/high stakes holdem lately. As I said, I always run a full 100bbs at 25NL, and top off. But the shorstack at higher levels really lets me take a break from the monotony.

.toma

Originally Posted by KingLizard

I do agree on completing the SB too often. It's an identified leak for me that I am working very hard to fix. It is just soooooo tempting to complete with 9 6 sooted ... thinking ... "boy if this hits, I am stacking someone" ... gotta stop that.

Nope, continue doing it, and stack people. Just don't go deep with top pair or a dog two pair. 37 won the WSOP last year, and it wasn't even cash game.

I complete alot as well, but i always remember what i'm trying to accomplish with the cards I have. I tend to not complete with trash, but anything that can make for a str8, flush or an invisible 2pair I will play but play it for what you originally intended. don't get all worked up with 2 pair against aggression and chase your flush and str8's when you have odds.

Well I decided to rename this post from "First post, with goals" to "TerryToma's blog."

I am excited about how many replies this thread has had, so I have decided to keep it going. I will post thoughts about what works and doesnt at my current level of poker. Current level is 25NL, dedicated bank rolls is ~600$. I will not be withdrawing, and I will be moving up using the 20buy-in rule. I cannot wait until I am at 100NL, as I feel there are a number of bonuses that will become quite profitable at this level.

Today was all about learning to adjust to the tables. There were definitely higher avg pots than I have seen in a while (10-15$ on pokerroom skins, and 8-11$ on pokerstars). I truly believe that the college students are getting back to their dorms with some extra time on their hands this week. This lead to much looser play by opponents. I was playing my standard raise any pocket pair from any position if I'm the first to act, and cbet most flops. This turned out to be a bit of a leak at this level. People were calling down with mid-pair all over the place!

I was also getting re-raised preflop like crazy! I'd put in a raise in MP with 66, then a re-raise would happen, then an all in by the blinds. I'd have to fold. Table averages were much closer to 32vpip/9pfr at the start of my session. I decided to be a bit more selective about my pfr's in early/mp.

This was really exciting to be able to win a big pot with TPTK again. When tables are this loose, my AA/KK are much more profitable as people like to rr before the flop, and raise if they flop a draw. I finally got to practice a c/r AI on the turn with KK as an overpair today against someone who was a bit too agro with his draw.

Later on after midnight, the tables started tightening up back to around 24/5. Then I could start to loosen up and win more pots with c-bets. I am really trying to incooporate the table stats into my game. I ended up about 11bb/100, but would be nearly double that if top 2 pair didnt fill up against my flopped set. Overall I feel as if I played very well tonight. I am optimistic in general.

I am a bit worried about the senate trying to push through the bill. It seems frist+republicans are going to try and distance themselves from the scandal plagued jack abramoff. I really hope the bill gets killed.

Ok enough rambling, Im going to post some HH's. I will also post my first 10k stats since joining FTR at the appropriate time. I am currently at around 7k.

.toma

Good luck man. I will keep an eye on this one

Welp, switched it up a bit today. I played 8 tables of 25 POT Limit Poker on pokerroom. I made a killing. Havent played against players this bad in quite some time. I ran 77BB/100! I adjust my game to the pot limit structure as well, was 30/12 pre flop. I would like to get into a discussion about the differences in potlimit .25/.25 vs .15/.25NL if someone is interested.

However, here's an example of the horrible players:


Poker Room skin
Pot Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.25
8 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is Button with :8s :6s
2 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, CO folds, Hero calls, SB (poster) checks, BB raises to $1.25, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, Hero calls, SB folds.

Flop: :5s :10s :7s ($5.5, 4 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets $5, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $10, BB folds, MP1 calls.

Turn: :9s ($25.5, 2 players)
MP1 bets $5, Hero calls.

River: :jh ($35.5, 2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero is all-in $12, MP1 calls.

Results:
Final pot: $59.5
MP1 shows 2d3s
Hero show straight flush

I think I found my new home for a while.

Originally Posted by Trainer_jyms

I complete alot as well, but i always remember what i'm trying to accomplish with the cards I have. I tend to not complete with trash, but anything that can make for a str8, flush or an invisible 2pair I will play but play it for what you originally intended. don't get all worked up with 2 pair against aggression and chase your flush and str8's when you have odds.

Thats the beauty of pot limit .25/.25! You start the hand in SB with a full blind and dont have to feel guilty about it. Plus this brings the % seeing flop on most tables is usually 40+%. I have really enjoyed being able to control the size of the pot with hands like TPTK, and not have to worry about losing my entire stack with a hand like this.

Heres a funny hand, I played it like a complete donk on purpose, and seeing what he had on the river made me feel like I played it perfectly. He took a lot of time before calling both the turn and river bets.

Poker Room skin
Pot Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.25
10 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $16.55
UTG+1: $22.25
Hero: $24.00
MP1: $32.40
MP2: $4.05
MP3: $19.25
CO: $15.00
Button: $56.30
SB: $16.70
BB: $9.00

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is UTG+2 with J J
2 folds, [color:#cc0000]Hero raises to $1[/color], 5 folds, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: J K K ($2.25, 2 players)
[color:#cc0000]SB bets $1[/color], [color:#cc0000]Hero raises to $2[/color], [color:#cc0000]SB raises to $3[/color], [color:#cc0000]Hero raises to $4[/color], SB calls.

Turn: 3 ($10.25, 2 players)
SB checks, [color:#cc0000]Hero bets $3[/color], SB calls.

River: 4 ($16.25, 2 players)
SB checks, [color:#cc0000]Hero bets $5.25[/color], SB calls.

Results:
Final pot: $26.75
[color:#ffffff]Hero shows JD JH [/color]
Villain Shows Js2c

Well my win rate is starting to plateau at 43bb/100 right after 1k hands >brag<. I dont think I have ever won this many buy-ins on a weekday before (8). Thanks to LimpinAintEz for sharing his secret goldmine!... With the infi amounts of bonuses on this network I think I can last here all the way up to 100NL.

The pot limit style is great for limpng Axs. It also punishes people that slowplay. I have lost my share of hands to sets, but they dont bet them! Thus the river bet doesnt hurt so much when its only 2.50$.. There dont seem to be nearly as many set hunters/AA crackers at these tables either.

I still dont know how to play KQo cuz its a consistant loser of mine. I have lost 8/9 hands with it, even though I have raise 8/9 times I have had it.

I have been good about checking/calling bottom 2pr on the flop, because when I dont, this is what happens:

both villains were about 62/5 and are basically calling stations, and had full stacks. I went a little nuts with my raise, but I thought I could get them to stack off with Ax.

Poker Room skin
Pot Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.25
9 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is CO with :4s :3s
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, MP3 folds, Hero calls, SB (poster) checks, BB (poster) checks.

Flop: :ah :3c :4h ($1.75, 6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 bets $1, MP1 folds, MP2 calls, Hero raises to $5.5, 3 folds, MP2 calls.

Turn: :as ($13.75, 2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero checks.

River: :8s ($13.75, 2 players)
MP2 bets $13.5, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: $13.5 returned to MP2.

Results:
Final pot: $13.75

Can anyone think of any hands that I beat?? Any possible way to justify a call?

My current dedicated bankroll is 791$.

Welp, my new home (25PL) isnt so nice after all the euros go to bed... My BB/100 went crashing on down back to reality. No real interesting hands. Got my str8 AI on turn vs set, too bad turned into quads on riv. Also got all in with middle 2 pr vs top 2 pr. Aces got cracked by 77 as well. AKs all in with TPTK on riv vs another AK.. too bad he hit a flush on the riv.

My internet connection was really bad today for some reason, I timed out a number of times on my tables. I also had to chase my dog around a bit, as he was being a monster. All that put me in a less than perfect mood. I was not very zen-like tonight.

Im not frustrated though. I still am very confident and will continue on my quest.

.toma

good luck man, i can tell your motivated enough to learn a ton about the game

Originally Posted by fjuanl

good luck man, i can tell your motivated enough to learn a ton about the game

Thanks, you're right. I am quite obssessive. I am glad I have found a hobby that actually makes $$ instead of just spending it.

Have you seen my stapler?

Welp,

I fixed a few things that were really bothering my game. I moved my router so I can plug in directly to the ethernet. The faster response time really helps my concentration. I made sure my dog was all set to go, and did a few chores so the wife would was in a good mood before my session. All those little things can take away from my concentration. I also played some black eyed peas during the session. Im not really a fan, but its good poker playing music. Other good poker playing music includes system of a down, rage against the machine... music that isnt so good is chill music like dave matthews or pink floyd. I need something that keeps me on edge/aggressive. Also sitting forward in my chair is big as well.

I played 1/2 NL tables, 1/2 PL tables on holdempoker. I actually made 4 buyins in 350 hands on NL, and lost 3$ on PL. So I played 24/10 overall. Holdempoker crashed on me twice. Not sure if thats their way of getting back at me for playing 8 tables (they only specifically allow 4). Or if the software is just bad. My computer is brand new, and has 1gb ram. I dont think its a hardware issue.

Anyone else have little rituals/tricks they do before their sessions??

Go to the bathroom and whiz. I hate playing under pressure

I usually get up out of bed first. Smoke a cigarette while I'm making coffee, that sort of thing.

I often don't get out of bed. A lot of the time it's the only place in the house I can play these days.

Welp, ran a standard 8bb/100 netting 1 buy-in today. Played well, except AA << flopped FH, and 333 << str8. I have made it to 10k hands since joining FTR. I would like to post the pokertracker #'s, if someone could point me to a thread about how to post it, or just tell me how to do it I will.

dedicated bankroll is around 880$, so I am more or less a bonus away from 50NL.

thanks
.toma

Can u see the graph?? My first 10k since joining FTR a week ago. Mostly full ring at 25NL pokerroom. Some 50NL 5max mixed in there, and alos a bit of pokerstars 25NL. The big down swing near the end was what I posted about earlier. Overall I'm pretty happy, but ready to improve.

Other than the one session near the end, I played very well in the second 5k of the sample. Can you pick out what portions I was running 40bb/100?? I had 2 1k samples near the end with those stats. Sort of funny how things come together with good cards/loose players to make hot streaks in poker.

Anyways I would really like to post the poker tracker stats, but not sure how to switch tem into JPG form. I would like feed back. Thanks!

OK,

So my internet is being really shaky tonight. It only let me play 241 hands, but I am up 2 stacks. So thats nice of my ISP. At least it didnt cut me off after a bad beat. Also, I was away last night and this afternoon jetskiing. Boy was it cold. I finished Slansky/Millers NLHE book as well. Things are going to get a bunch more busy this month. No more daytime playing. Sorry euros.

Heres the hand of the day, I had the fellow labeled as a fish after only a few hands.

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.15/$0.25
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $25.00
UTG+1: $51.75
MP1: $25.20
MP2: $10.00
MP3: $14.80
TerryToma: $28.25
Button: $28.80
SB: $20.90
BB: $29.80

Pre-flop: (9 players) TerryToma is CO with A Q
UTG (poster) checks, 2 folds, MP2 (poster) checks, MP3 (poster) checks, TerryToma raises to $1.5, 2 folds, BB calls, 3 folds.

Flop: Q 2 3 ($3.9, 2 players)
BB checks, TerryToma bets $2.5, BB calls.

Turn: 6 ($8.9, 2 players)
BB checks, TerryToma bets $5, BB calls.

River: J ($18.9, 2 players)
BB bets $2, TerryToma raises all-in $19.25, BB calls.

Results:
Final pot: $57.4
TerryToma shows AS QS
BB shows QH10D

If anyone has any tips on how to put pokertracker in JPG form, let me know. I'd love to post my stats for critique. (Edit) Oops, someone started a thread about it http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...oker-41382.htm

Heres all my PT stats for your viewing pleasure. Please tell me where I need adjustments.

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ckup-41407.htm

Played 1.5k hands of VPIP/PFR 20%/10% today. I feel I played well, just got trapped a couple of times with set v str8, flush v higher flush, and flush v rivered boat (only paid off a value bet or 2 in these cases, never lost my stack that way). I feel I minimized my losses for the most part today, except 1 time where my dog was barking at me and I paid off soemone's rivered flush.

I'm still very confident, and my roll is still hovering around 800$, with 100$ in bonus coming soon. A few more stacks and i'll be moving up to 50NL! Jeez the bonuses are drying up lately, I have resorted to 10x pokerrooms. A juicy empire/party bonus could do wonders for me..

Topic of the day: have you successfully introduced any of your friends to winning poker? I havent been able to yet. I feel they are missing out, but its not for everyone I suppose.

Heres the Changing Gears hand of the day. After playing rather predictable, I decided to raise J8s from LP. I do raise this hand sometimes, but usually only from the button.

My opponents were both very solid/tight. I was hoping to trick them into taking their stacks. Perhaps I played it too hard?? Suggestions?

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.15/$0.25
7 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $23.40
UTG+1: $9.65
MP1: $31.75
TerryToma: $38.45
Button: $18.50
SB: $24.50
BB: $24.90

Pre-flop: (7 players) TerryToma is CO with J 8
3 folds, TerryToma raises to $1, Button calls, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: 6 3 8 ($3.15, 3 players)
BB checks, TerryToma bets $1.5, Button calls, BB calls.

Turn: 8 ($7.65, 3 players)
BB checks, TerryToma bets $4.5, Button folds, BB calls.

River: 9 ($16.65, 2 players)
BB checks, TerryToma bets $5, BB folds.
Uncalled bets: $5 returned to TerryToma.

Results:
Final pot: $16.65

Ran great tonight. 1.3k hands @ 20bb/100. My big hands were def. getting paid off. Only stacks I lost were both with KK, ran into AA ai pf on party, then also got 2/3rd in pf vs A9o, guy flopped AA5, I felt pot commited so had to call his all in on the flop. I played a bit tighter today as well, ran 18/12 overall. I made some good laydowns with AK pf vs AA. Also paid attention to NOT calling a shorties PFR when I hold a small pocket pair.

Bankroll is at 953$.. I only need 4.5$ more of bonus to clear another 100$. Once that is done I am officially rolled for 50NL!

glad your starting to tighten up a little. j8s hand looks alright, i might bet $2 on the flop and $5ish on the turn. definetly dont slow down on the turn; since your opps are tight/solid your probably looking a flush draw. gl at 50nl

Welp, finished off my bonus on Holdempoker. Made 4.5 buyins in 450 hands! What a way to finish my time at 25NL.

Then I moved my roll to pokerroom to play for a 200$ 7x reload. Played 50NL/50PL.. I quickly went up 1 buyin, then hovered around 1-1.5 buyins for the next 750 hands. Overall the play at 50NL seems to be a step above 25NL. There were a number of good laggs that ended up around 150$ in their stack. I lost a couple of big hands to them on their river. Its hard to avoid them too because they play 60% of the hands. Overall ended up 190$ in play (25bb/100 at mixed levels). Definitely an upswing day for me. Still keeping a level head about it though.

If anyone has any tips about ongames/pokerroom's 50NL i'd love to hear them!

Im going to go post some HHs. http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...oker-41617.htm

nice little BR building exercise Terry. I think we should start a thread tracking both of our progress ala Renton Vs X challenge. Bring it i say.

Currently my BR is at $700 at stars.

PM me if you want re. above bro.

Originally Posted by jacbmw

nice little BR building exercise Terry. I think we should start a thread tracking both of our progress ala Renton Vs X challenge. Bring it i say.

Currently my BR is at $700 at stars.

PM me if you want re. above bro.

Sounds fun. My BR is all over the place, but I think its close to 1150$ right now. PM me details/start a new thread for us to both post updates on . I wil probably avg playing 1k hands/day, with a goal win rate of +1 stack per 1k hands. My goal is to get up to 100NL and play there at a winning rate. Id like the finishing goal to be closer to $5k than $10k.

Today I played ~500 hands at 50NL. Made 25$. I paid off wayy too many flushes on river. I found myself saying "ill call up to 3$ with that scare card on the riv".. They bet 5$, and I call anyways . Some guy kept calling my PSBs when I flopped a set. Caught his flush on the river. 1/2 pots it and I call. Ran in to 2 players with a multiway pot of call flop/check turn/value bet riv with a baby flush. Seems like a dangerous way to play it, but seems common at 50NL..

Overall the play at 50NL isnt too bad. Players arent as crazy at 25NL, which suits me better. There werent nearly as many LAGGs on tonight either. Those guys always give me fits. Raising PP's from all positions has been quite the winning formula. It always seems to take down a c-bet when I miss, and get me a stack when I hit. Seems contradictory/either-or, but it works! Thanks Renton.

.toma

Welp... up 3 buyins at 50NL in only 221 hands!! was running hottttt.. plus some idiot tried to rep a king on KK44 board with a flush draw, and I had a K got his stack early in the game...

did all this at empire clearing a 15$ bonus.. i'd play more but im really tired, and am working all weekend. have fun clearing the multiple small bonuses on party network folks!

it seems friday nights on partynetwork are all about catching bluffers.. first hand is the KK44 board i was talking about:

Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.50
8 players
Converter


Stack sizes:
UTG: $88.83
UTG+1: $27.80
MP1: $29
MP2: $55.23
CO: $78.85
Button: $49.25
SB: $50.25
TerryToma: $89.70

Pre-flop: (8 players) TerryToma is BB with K 3
3 folds, MP2 calls, CO calls, Button folds, SB calls, TerryToma checks.

Flop: K 4 K ($2, 4 players)
SB checks, TerryToma bets $2, MP2 raises to $8, 2 folds, TerryToma calls.

Turn: 4 ($18, 2 players)
TerryToma checks, MP2 bets $40, TerryToma raises all-in $80.7, MP2 calls all-in $6.73.
Uncalled bets: $33.97 returned to TerryToma.

River: 8 ($111.46, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $111.46)


Results:
Final pot: $111.46
MP2 shows Tc 2c
TerryToma shows Kh 3d

Hand 2) I put this guy on OESD, and exactly 55 by river. This was first hand at table, and actually raised to 2$ hh a bit messed up in that regard.
Notice the small donk bets/call on flop and turn are almost always draws.

Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.50
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $29.20
UTG+1: $29.85
MP1: $24.52
TerryToma: $50
CO: $47.50
Button: $14.20
SB: $42.45
BB: $77.79

Pre-flop: (8 players) TerryToma is MP2 with K K
3 folds, TerryToma raises to $1.5, 2 folds, SB calls, BB calls.

Flop: 6 4 7 ($4.5, 3 players)
SB bets $2, BB folds, TerryToma raises to $7, SB calls.

Turn: 4 ($18.5, 2 players)
SB bets $3, TerryToma raises to $12, SB calls.

River: 7 ($42.5, 2 players)
SB raises all-in $21.45, TerryToma calls.

Results:
Final pot: $85.4
SB shows 5c 5h
TerryToma shows Ks Kd

Well. I cant believe it. I may have reached goal #1. I had a good first run of 3k hands at 50NL. Ran 20bb/100 (20 big blinds, or 10 big bets). With some big bonuses clearing, I am properly rolled for 100NL. I was just killing time by adding my bankroll (its in 4 different spots waiting for transfer into neteller) and I was astonished to see I am above $2k. I have mixed feelings about moving up to 100NL.






50NL has been so good to me I hate to leave it. I'd love to hear your 2 cents at:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...=381261#381261

I have lost $520 in my first two sessions at $100. Hope you do better than me!

Originally Posted by biondino

I have lost $520 in my first two sessions at $100. Hope you do better than me!

I lost about $600 in my first real NL100 session. That put me off playing 100NL for a good while which undoubtedly cost me more than $600. Don't make the same mistake.

I've decided to keep on at 50NL until i log 10-15k hands.

Played 2k hands on pokerroom 50NL/PL and up a buyin. I'm holding my own, which is nice. However there are handful of really good laggs that are giving me fits. I was up as much as 2 buyins a few hundred hands ago, but I got a bit tired and turned in to a calling station. Time to hang up the mouse for the night . Still playing a solid 20/10 game. It feels natural now and almost on instinct. I need to remind myself to mix it up a bit more often during these long sessions.

Added a new feature to the "blog". Check the first message on this post, I added an image. Im going to update the image every post so u can see my graph of the entire adventure. (graph of winnings since 8/9/06).

Well today I played for an hour, had a really big run in the middle where 5 out of 7 pp's hit sets in a row (within 5 mins it seems). So i ran goot. Im going to post them all in the hand histories. They were coming so fast I didnt have time to play them as well as I could have. So i just played them very aggressively and ended up quite a bit from them all. One of the two pocket pairs I missed was JJ as an over on the flop, and ended up AI against shorty with KK. The 7th I won on a C-bet.

Heres the thread with my sets, please comment.
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...=382498#382498

The rest of it was mainly break even poker. 415 hands, +$157 37bb/100, where bb=big bet of 1$, not .50.

Up another 1.5 buyins after ~1k hands. played pretty well overall, had a stretch where my internet was going out, right after the hand I posted in the HH's (message 5 in the post):
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...oker-41941.htm

So that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I still have much to improve, but my game is winning overall...

jeez, check out my updated graph up top. i played for another 20 mins last night, and 1.5 hrs today and am up 5-6 more buyins.. ran really hott. i am officially up 1.6k from play alone, not counting bonuses. i am up 8 buyins the last 2 days.

i am a couple hours away of 7 table play from clearing another 200$ bonus from pokerroom.. after that bonus is cleared, Im going to reevaluate and possibly move up to 100NL.. 50NL has been grreat so far im up 20 buyins in 7k hands.. I have a feeling 100NL is going to have a lot more grinders... i think 50NL has a lot LESS grinders than 25NL, counter-intuitive, but a lot of bonuswhores like to risk the least amount of their stack to break even and make the bonus.

im going to post my 10k checkup, as its been another 10k since my original 12k hands.

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...=384108#384108

Welp,

Back to reality. Lost 3 buyins today. Got TP busted a couple of times by sets, and also got my AA busted by quads. I played 1 hand really poorly. I knew for sure I was beat, until some idiot in chat started talking about how bad of a player he was.... I had nut flush on a paired board, and the guy AIs river. I lost 200bbs there. I was going to fold, because it was a huge overbet. I just told my friend about how to never call overbets unless you have a read. The guy was a solid lagg, with about stats of 80/14. Anyways he held a 94o.

Other than that I dont think I played too horribly. I still played my 20/10 game, jsut didnt flop as many sets . Plus i cleared the 200$ pokerroom bonus so I am looking for another bonus to play for. I might take a few days off, because I have a lot of personal things to attend to. Major life decisions / applications are a bit overdue, and I owe it to my wife to get back on track.

On an even better note, my wife wants to go to las vegas over my birthday! What a great idea. My bday is Jan 28th. Let me know if you guys are gonna be around, and what places to stay!

.toma

Up 4.5 buyins since last post. Im at the in-laws for the long weekend, havent played much. im using the macbook/laptop so i can only 4 table with overlap.

If my math is correct, i make about 10$/hr in bonus when I 7 table a typical ongame bonus at $50NL. Does this jive with what you are getting??

A few observations...
1. VP$IP is around 24%.... I have a feeling your leaking there. I mean On the borderline of supertight is 15%, but if you had 15% I'd be complimenting you. It would be nice to see your VPIP get under 20%...
But then again! You are doing great! So don't feel so much of a pinch from what I'm saying.

2. Don't feel like there is a problem with your game with a 4.5 buyin downswing. I mean it's great that you're not ignorant about it. Let yourself accept horrid days and look at it... but then let it go.

Originally Posted by IowaSkinsFan

A few observations...
1. VP$IP is around 24%.... I have a feeling your leaking there. I mean On the borderline of supertight is 15%, but if you had 15% I'd be complimenting you. It would be nice to see your VPIP get under 20%...
But then again! You are doing great! So don't feel so much of a pinch from what I'm saying.

2. Don't feel like there is a problem with your game with a 4.5 buyin downswing. I mean it's great that you're not ignorant about it. Let yourself accept horrid days and look at it... but then let it go.

Thanks for the comments iowa! Pleasure to hear from you. I have seen you around here for quite some time .

My VPIP/PFR is now 20/10. I switched to that prior to 50NL. it has worked out much better for me. My graph really took off when i made the switch. I do not have much of a desire to switch to a 15/8 game. It seems very boring, and I think it would actually lower my winrate.

Thankfully, I havent had too many down days in quite some time. When I do it usually comes with some extra factor, such as being distracted or dehydrated/tired. At 50NL playing a solid game should net a solid winrate over enough hands. I do accept the fact that downswing happen. Im just trying to post to be more accountable and also to find out where my leaks are. I have grown so much since starting this blog, and my confidence has really been boosted.

quick update,

current broll 2538$, bonuswhoring a hollywood 9x.. have played ~9k hands at 50NL and made more than 20 buyins.. still planning on getting around 15k total hands at 50NL before moving up to 100NL.

ETA 100NL ~ the end of this week. Also hope to have the 200$ bonus cleared by then and i should have a nice cushion for 100NL.

played really well.. up 3.5 buyins in 2 hrs.. i couldve been up 5 more but i got sucked out on riv by flushes ai on flop/turn.. i did a good job of not tilting after those 2 hands.. i just kept thinking how well i had played to get it all in ahead... i lost a few other hands when my cbets got called.. but overall i cant recall too many huge mistakes.. i never was all in and dominated.. i play quite cautious but it seems to be working.

ps, graph on the first post is updated.

congrats man. you are flying up in stakes.

Played slagg today.. didnt realize it.. next thing i know my pt stats are 25/12.... that extra 5% is where i win/lose stacks (flopped K high flush v shorties A high flush)..

i lost another big hand with 66.. i tried to rep AA, turns out a lagg was trying to rep a set.. he had QTo!.. nice read buddy. 66 is my biggest loser by far. sets get sucked out, and for some reason i try and stand up to maniacs with it. i'm -249$ for -2bb/hand i get it.. the next closest is A6s, -125$.. nothing comes close to those 2.. maybe i should just fold every six from now on.. heh

anyways heres a graph of slag play, its something ive been trying to get away from .. 20/10 to 18/12 is my goal.. thats when i run the best.. i ended up making 2 stacks in under 1k hands, which is great, but i know i couldve been much higher.. i also played a loong session (>2.5 hrs).. i usually limit myself ot 1 hr, i play very sharp that way.. and i ran into a lot of 35-40% vpip.. they love to chase flushes, and value bet them on the river.. and of course i paid them off every time. oh yeah, and bluffing calling stations is my new fav thing..

so anyways i am not too proud of my play tonight, i will stick to shorter sessions from now on..

swing swing swing...



those 3 big hands are 88 (flopped set v AA, and another fellow with set of 5's).. then i cracked AA and KK at the same time with 56s.. flopped a str8.. 3rd hand was 45s getting a str8 on the turn after KK slowplayed his overpair..

just to be sure...the "BB/100" in that graph program means big blinds/100 correct?

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

just to be sure...the "BB/100" in that graph program means big blinds/100 correct?

the graph immidiately prior to your post is in big-bets/100, and the toma-adventure big graph on the very top is in big blinds/100

if the Y axis says "big bets", then that is bb/100.. if it says "amount" then its bigblinds/100. thats funny i was just trying to figure that out right now offline..

Gotta love fridays.

I made 7+ buyins in 2 hrs 8 tabling. Paradise has a new reload. I dont know how to import those hands into pokertracker, so i just play there bareback. I played well overall, and made a couple of good calldowns with overpairs. Overpairs are worth much more at pokertracker - non-friendly sites. Im up 203$ 4 tabling paradise for 4 hours at 50NL.. ill update the top graph again tonight. The bonus is easy to clear, and i have 100$ to clear there.

current broll = 3161$

have Hollywood bonus to clear 200$, Pokerroom 200$, Paradise 100$

Up 865$ this weekend. 383 from clearing 100$ at paradise alone.. That place is crazy.

Up 4 buyins at hollywood over 440 hands, i played quite a bit looser, i was 27/10!.. I was making good reads and hitting some draws, overbetting when i hit and got callers.. my big hands came from 77,T9s, AA, j5s.. i was calling too much with Axs, a bad habit im going to work stopping. but overall i think i played well, i didnt make too many huge mistakes.

terry man you are freaking flying. keep it up!!

Your progress is very nice, good to see you've had an excellent run thus far. Just remember if you run into a downswing, that you are capable of playing well and the cards will eventually fall in your favor.

This blog SHOULD be an inspiration to any aspiring new low limit grinder. Even though you're in the beginners circle, I think you oughtta consider having it moved to Poker Etc with the rest of us Take care man.

OK,

I played quite a bit tonight, the wife was out of town. I got KK cracked twice, AA cracked once, and set of 2's sucked out by runner runner flush. Hit a bit of a downswing, but only ended down 2 buyins. If any of those hands go the other way then i'd be up. I probably shouldnt have played such a long session today, and I played a bit too loose (22/11).. I would like to be closer to 20/10. Anyways, I cleared the Hollywood bonus, and my bankroll is at 3730$. I have also completed 15k hands at 50NL. I have met the requirements/goals I set for myself a while ago, so I am thinking about moving up to 100NL.

Link to the following thread to tell me what you think.

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...=391175#391175

well i have been "too busy" to play today.

i have a big presentation tomorrow that i have been procrastinating all night on, and posting on here instead.

tomorrow i plan on playing will-hill full stacked x 3 tables to clear the 5 hr 50 pound bonus. i figure that is a good place to start. any suggestions?

then i will move on to pokerroom and work on their 7x.

when do you start 100nl?

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

when do you start 100nl?

oops i meant "tomorrow I start Will-Hill $100NL", as the bonus only clears at that level and i have been saving their juicy bonus for this moment. i updated a really long post on the "Should I move up to 100NL" just now as well.

Well i have a bit more of a coushin now that i won 7 buy ins in the first 1k hands at 100NL! I also cleared about 130$ in bonus, all in all my best single day in poker ever in terms of winnings.

I ran my standard 20/10 VPIP/PFR.. i tightened up a lot better than the last few days.. seems to work well at 100NL..

my impression so far at 100NL on ongame is that players are a bit more cautious, and they like calling c-bets/dont believe my cbets.. other than that though its about the same as 50nl. i encountered one really good player that was 45/43.. but only got it all in with a very good hand.. so i marked him and stayed away.. thank goodness he wasnt at too many of my tables.. i flopped a set and donked into him 1/2 pot.. he folded and correctly knew i had a set.. impressive.. a lot of times that line works really well..

Thanks for the support/help... i hope to successfully stay at 100nl for quite some time.

ps updated graph

Originally Posted by TerryToma

Well i have a bit more of a coushin now that i won 7 buy ins in the first 1k hands at 100NL! I also cleared about 130$ in bonus, all in all my best single day in poker ever in terms of winnings.

I ran my standard 20/10 VPIP/PFR.. i tightened up a lot better than the last few days.. seems to work well at 100NL..

my impression so far at 100NL on ongame is that players are a bit more cautious, and they like calling c-bets/dont believe my cbets.. other than that though its about the same as 50nl. i encountered one really good player that was 45/43.. but only got it all in with a very good hand.. so i marked him and stayed away.. thank goodness he wasnt at too many of my tables.. i flopped a set and donked into him 1/2 pot.. he folded and correctly knew i had a set.. impressive.. a lot of times that line works really well..

Thanks for the support/help... i hope to successfully stay at 100nl for quite some time.

ps updated graph

omg have you ever encountered a downswing? lol that's one of the purtiest graphs i've ever seen.

this kinda looks like cocco bills graph, all upswings.

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

omg have you ever encountered a downswing? lol that's one of the purtiest graphs i've ever seen.

not since i started raising all pps and changed my stats to 20/10 vs 24/7. and cbet 90% of flops whether hit or not.

Played 1.5k hands, up 2.5 buyins. Running pretty well still.. My sets dont seeemed to get paid of as much, but TP is getting more showdown value with people calling cbets with worse hands..

The bonus is clearing really fast.. 20$/hr 8 tabling on the pokerroom network.. so just by breaking even im making quite a bit of money.. there seems to be neverending amounts of 10x bonuses on the network, but if i clear them out too fast i could do the 15x and get an ipod.. its still like 50% rakeback, and a site im familiar with..

looks like pokerstars has a reload, i have 120$ left there, and another 120$ just popped up.. i had been clearing it at 25NL, which was quite tedious.. i think it will clear at a decent pace at 100NL.. either way its 6 months to expire so..

im still wondering if i should try and move up to 200NL after my bankroll is ready (not sure how much that should be, 7k??).. provided i have played 15k hands at 100NL.. let me know what you guys think.

Anyone else have little rituals/tricks they do before their sessions??

sex works for me.

no seriously, before a long session I put on the radio and make a pot of tea and just chill.

definitly consider clearing the new Stars bonus. i think im going to have to pass it up at $25nl, but at $100nl, it should clear fine.

Originally Posted by Bode-ist

definitly consider clearing the new Stars bonus. i think im going to have to pass it up at $25nl, but at $100nl, it should clear fine.

ok, will do. ill deposit now and clear later. not sure what clears faster pstars at 100NL or a 10x reload at ongame.

Originally Posted by Drewbie

no seriously, before a long session I put on the radio and make a pot of tea and just chill.

caffeine is huge for me. i used to drink tea.. maybe i should start doing it again.. soda is def not good for me but that is usually what i drink.. i think i play better with some caff in my blood.. too much while moving up or playing a big hand makes my heart pound a bit sometimes..


The last few days im up 2 buyins each, so im plus like 1.2k in 3 days of 100NL.. today im at the inlaws and stuck with a laptop. so im just 4 tabling some paradise at 50NL. im up about 250 so far. i have 30$ more to clear. i dont have pt set up to work on paradise, plus the bonus doesnt really clear much faster at 100NL.. so im back down for 50NL, also im participating in the buddy system/hand reading exercise which i signed up for back when i was at 50nl, and my bud is at 50nl.. my big hands get paid off a lot easier at 50nl i think.. oh yeah and cbets work a lot better too .. i cbet virtually every hand i raise pf, unless i get donked into.. even if its multiway. i think im going to have to change that strat a bit at 100NL.

a side note, im honest worried about outlawing poker.. these idiots took us to war for no reason, they can do this to poker for no reason as well..