4th operation

i am starting this one with two areas in mind to focus upon; posting my poorly played hands (and any interesting ones), and updates on my progress towards earning supernova.

my poker story; boom - bust - boom - bust - grind - grind .. with plenty of extended breaks in between. i started playing in 2006.. my record keeping has not been consistent, but in summers 08 and summers 09 i profited 2k, which was enough for rent, weed, food, etc. mostly i've spent my poker winnings when i've needed to, and lost the rest at limits higher than my bankroll could comfortably sustain.

yesterday was a disaster. i played 100NL for 2500 hands and dropped 8 buy ins. basically half of my bankroll, and nearly all my profits for the month of january. the losing was inspirational in that i decided to start this for myself as useful record keeping.

5 more buy ins dropped at 50nl. time for a break.

7.7k vpp so far

i need to take something useful away from this losing. im down 400 since december (which is statistically not a lot of money or bb's), but still i feel i have been running pretty well. so i need to post those hands that i messed up and not repeat those mistakes.

I've been avoiding you when table selecting Euro 50NL on PS How many tables are you playing at a time? Do you find the 100NL tables a lot more difficult or did you just run bad?

Good luck, I'll be reading with interest.

1. turn play is the biggest problem i have with this hand. if villain had a flush draw he decided to check/raise the flop with, he would fire again on the turn. if not he probably isn't going to check/call my shove with a draw. so what would he call with? two pairs/sets/AKh/flushes. should have just checked behind the turn and folded to any future bets. admittedly i was feeling some tilt at the time of this hand.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($18.50)
CO ($136.80)
Hero (Button) ($230.45)
SB ($15.70)
BB ($22)
UTG ($164.25)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A
2 folds, CO bets $3, Hero raises to $9, 2 folds, CO calls $6

Flop: ($19.50) 6, 3, A (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $14, CO raises to $40, Hero calls $26

Turn: ($99.50) 9 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $181.45 (All-In), CO calls $87.80 (All-In)


2. (4bet preflop because original raiser was super loose fish)

this is a failed semibluff. i made a bad estimation of villain's range, and what hands he would fold, when i shoved. i perceived villain's range to be JJ+/AQd/AKd. i thought he may fold QQ/KK no diamond to a shove, which in retrospect is a stupid assumption (no one but a nit moron folds KK to a shove there). flatting the turn lead would have been an acceptable play.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($193.90)
Hero (Button) ($119.75)
SB ($104.50)
BB ($10.10)
UTG ($100)
MP ($25.85)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, 10
1 fold, MP bets $3, CO raises to $9, Hero raises to $18, 3 folds, CO calls $9

Flop: ($40.50) 4, 6, J (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($40.50) 2 (2 players)
CO bets $25, Hero raises to $101.75 (All-In), CO calls $76.75


3. i got lucky i won this one. i was getting worked over on this table leading up to this hand (just lost a stack on 2nd nut flush to nut flush). after villain check/raised and viewing the board, i figured opp could only have 22/33 maybe AJ that he would continue with against a 3bet. he 4bet me and i monkey tilt jammed (my tilt issues yesterday are worse than i remember them being before).

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($107.45)
Hero (UTG) ($108.70)
MP ($100)
CO ($63.25)
Button ($181.20)
SB ($189.70)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 10, 9
Hero bets $2, 3 folds, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($5) 2, 3, J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3, SB raises to $13, Hero raises to $27, SB raises to $41, Hero raises to $106.70 (All-In), SB calls $65.70

VI-Popsmak said, "gl"
VI-Popsmak said, "i win"

Turn: ($218.40) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($218.40) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $218.40 | Rake: $3


although i ran a little worse than i have lately, not adjusting to the different play at 100nl hurt me the most. more preflop 3betting/4betting, and more floating flop and turn barrels. my lack of bankroll discipline is my biggest long term leak. and because i have a tuition payment to come up with (luckily a couple months away) i am going to have to be very successful over the next 3 months if i want to be playing 100nl in the near future.

courtie.. i run anywhere from 6-10 tables depending on table quality and my level of sharpness.

definitely the regulars are more aggressive preflop and there is actual bluffing going on! i don't think i ran that bad.

played another 700 hands tuesday, ended up down less than half a buy in. i ran well overall, but did get oversetted and AA < KK.

im playing like 40 hands right now before my biology lab starts. how's my betsizing with ATs? my first hand at the table, no reads.

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

SB ($27.95)
Hero (BB) ($50)
UTG ($24.25)
MP ($50)
Button ($66.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, A
2 folds, Button calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, Hero bets $2.50, Button calls $2, 1 fold

Flop: ($5.50) 8, K, 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.50, Button calls $3.50

Turn: ($12.50) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: ($12.50) K (2 players)
Hero bets $9, Button raises to $18, Hero folds

Total pot: $30.50 | Rake: $1.45

8.2k vpp

no hands to post today.. table selection and playing 50nl are working as a quick fix for my slump. im up 2 buy ins over 1k hands since wednesday, despite mistakenly felting 99 for 100bb in a 3bet pot versus a multitabling TAG. there is simply not much bluffing from multitabling regs at this limit, especially for stacks. and especially after the flop at 50nl.

i should get 5k hands in between now and sunday.

5k hands saturday! that might be the most i've ever played in a day; i must maintain this high level of committment to make supernova at 50nl. it's amazing to me that L_clan_superman is going for SNE and he's also playing 50nl. 1k hands sunday (so far), up about 2 buyins for the weekend.

i feel my play starting to improve. my thought process is returning to 'then what'.. for example, when i get 3bet OOP with hands like TT or min raised by a semi loose passive on the turn with AK on KT7Tdd (fwiw i would call the turn and usually c/f the river). im doing more 3betting preflop, table selecting well.. if i keep up the effort and maintain DISCIPLINE MANAGING MY BANKROLL it should be very possible to achieve my modest financial goals.


here's some hands

i should have check/folded the flop. i was value 4betting pre as this guy had been abusively 3betting me (4-5 times in the last half hour). i was comfortable felting pre, and would have jammed on a non Ace high flop.


Seat 1: Qyvs (€82.20 in chips)
Seat 2: settelsje (€10.50 in chips)
Seat 3: oosterlinck (€50 in chips)
Seat 4: xmilitair (€34.45 in chips)
Seat 5: VI-Popsmak (€95.60 in chips)
Seat 6: Steff53 (€53.80 in chips)
oosterlinck: posts small blind €0.25
xmilitair: posts big blind €0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [Jc Js]
VI-Popsmak: raises €1.50 to €2
Steff53: raises €4.50 to €6.50
Qyvs: folds
settelsje: folds
oosterlinck: folds
xmilitair: folds
VI-Popsmak: raises €10.50 to €17
Steff53: calls €10.50
*** FLOP *** [7d Ac Kd]
VI-Popsmak: bets €9.50



opp has been aggressive and pushing me out of small pots, which was my reasoning for calling down to the river in this hand. what followed was a failed overbet bluff. your usual 50nl multitabling reg would likely fold to my river shove.. he probably doesn't have a set based on his turn sizing, and he probably wouldn't check the river with a flush. the set up mistake to this hand was flatting the turn; it's a raise/fold spot.

Seat 1: VI-Popsmak ($54.55 in chips)
Seat 2: ROLLINNCASH ($108.45 in chips)
Seat 3: jabwang86 ($54.90 in chips)
Seat 4: ladeesmon69 ($20 in chips)
ROLLINNCASH: posts small blind $0.25
jabwang86: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [Ah 5s]
ladeesmon69: calls $0.50
VI-Popsmak: raises $2 to $2.50
ROLLINNCASH: folds
jabwang86: calls $2
ladeesmon69: folds
*** FLOP *** [5c 3c 8c]
jabwang86: bets $3.50
VI-Popsmak: calls $3.50
*** TURN *** [5c 3c 8c] [Td]
jabwang86: bets $6
VI-Popsmak: calls $6
*** RIVER *** [5c 3c 8c Td] [9s]
jabwang86: checks
VI-Popsmak: bets $42.55 and is all-in
jabwang86: calls $42.55
VI-Popsmak said, "nc"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
VI-Popsmak: shows [Ah 5s] (a pair of Fives)
jabwang86: shows [Jh Js] (a pair of Jacks)
jabwang86 collected $107.85 from pot


value towning a fish (these moments make poker so enjoyable)

Seat 1: flpnlp ($61.05 in chips)
Seat 2: ideefixee ($104.85 in chips)
Seat 3: CornyHorny ($201.10 in chips)
Seat 5: SamSeed59 ($50 in chips)
Seat 6: VI-Popsmak ($90.20 in chips)
flpnlp: posts small blind $0.25
ideefixee: posts big blind $0.50
a23ssa: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [Kd Kh]
CornyHorny: folds
SamSeed59: folds
VI-Popsmak: raises $1.50 to $2
flpnlp: folds
ideefixee: raises $3 to $5
VI-Popsmak: raises $6.50 to $11.50
ideefixee: calls $6.50
*** FLOP *** [4h 8s 2h]
ideefixee: checks
VI-Popsmak: bets $11.50
ideefixee: calls $11.50
*** TURN *** [4h 8s 2h] [Jd]
ideefixee: checks
VI-Popsmak: bets $20.50
ideefixee: calls $20.50
*** RIVER *** [4h 8s 2h Jd] [2c]
ideefixee: checks
VI-Popsmak: bets $46.70 and is all-in
ideefixee: calls $46.70
*** SHOW DOWN ***
VI-Popsmak: shows [Kd Kh] (two pair, Kings and Deuces)
ideefixee: shows [Qh Qc] (two pair, Queens and Deuces)
VI-Popsmak collected $178.65 from pot


twice i got lucky with TT

Hand 1
Seat 1: mhucker ($36.25 in chips)
Seat 2: BLACKSMIT629 ($87.15 in chips)
Seat 3: otto0815otto ($63.55 in chips)
Seat 4: Need 2 Catch ($37.05 in chips)
Seat 5: first1 ($51.25 in chips)
Seat 6: VI-Popsmak ($50 in chips)
Need 2 Catch: posts small blind $0.25
first1: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [Th Td]
VI-Popsmak: raises $1.50 to $2
mhucker: raises $4 to $6
BLACKSMIT629: folds
otto0815otto: folds
Need 2 Catch: folds
first1: folds
VI-Popsmak: calls $4
*** FLOP *** [Tc 8c Kd]
VI-Popsmak: checks
mhucker: bets $8
VI-Popsmak: raises $23 to $31
mhucker: calls $22.25 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($0.75) returned to VI-Popsmak
*** TURN *** [Tc 8c Kd] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 8c Kd 3c] [Ts]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
VI-Popsmak: shows [Th Td] (four of a kind, Tens)
mhucker: shows [Kh Ks] (a full house, Kings full of Tens)
VI-Popsmak said, "wow"
VI-Popsmak collected $70.25 from pot
mhucker said, "ohhhhhhhhh"


Hand 2
Seat 1: vinzayou (€97.15 in chips)
Seat 2: Water5955 (€101.75 in chips)
Seat 4: abo13 (€34 in chips)
Seat 5: Gacela1 (€78.45 in chips)
Seat 6: VI-Popsmak (€50 in chips)
abo13: posts small blind €0.25
Gacela1: posts big blind €0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [Th Td]
VI-Popsmak: raises €1.50 to €2
vinzayou: folds
Water5955: folds
Malma91 joins the table at seat #3
abo13: raises €4.50 to €6.50
Gacela1: folds
VI-Popsmak: calls €4.50
*** FLOP *** [8d Qs 7s]
abo13: bets €10
VI-Popsmak: raises €20.50 to €30.50
abo13: calls €17.50 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (€3) returned to VI-Popsmak
*** TURN *** [8d Qs 7s] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [8d Qs 7s Tc] [Ks]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
abo13: shows [Ac Ah] (a pair of Aces)
VI-Popsmak: shows [Th Td] (three of a kind, Tens)
VI-Popsmak collected €66.50 from pot


a good weekend; i got and delivered my share of beats and suckouts. maybe one more session tonight.

10k vpp

got in 1k more hands. i lost a little, but it could have been a lot worse as quickly started out down 3 buyins!


horrible spew. i was playing this 50nl reg HU hoping to get the euro table to fill up. i am not competent HU, obviously. should have just called the turn or maybe even folded.


Seat 4: yosherman (€51.50 in chips)
Seat 5: VI-Popsmak (€51.50 in chips)
VI-Popsmak: posts small blind €0.25
yosherman: posts big blind €0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [5h 5s]
VI-Popsmak: raises €1 to €1.50
yosherman: raises €3.50 to €5
VI-Popsmak: calls €3.50
*** FLOP *** [8s Ks Kd]
yosherman: bets €5.50
VI-Popsmak: calls €5.50
*** TURN *** [8s Ks Kd] [Ts]
yosherman: bets €7
VI-Popsmak: raises €10.50 to €17.50
yosherman: raises €23.50 to €41 and is all-in
VI-Popsmak: calls €23.50 and is all-in


after this hand, losing a flip, and a couple medium sized pots i was feeling pretty frayed. but i kept my calm and met my goal of one more 1k hand session, so that's good.

the rest of the session went well.. almost got back to even

10.4k vpp

900 hands, down 4.5 buy ins at 50nl euro tables. great tables with big donks aplenty, and i played well. just not my night tonight. i am breakeven over my last 60k hands, which basically makes me a donk. my poker skills have improved lots over that span, but a major problem has been my playing 100/200nl under rolled. for me, volume and discipline = guaranteed profit at 50nl.

10.8k vpp

vi- im bein kinda lazy with this post by not going into specifics but you're just playing way too loose in general and overvaluing a lot.

for example: the aqo hand on the monotone flop 3bet pot, fold the flop.

dont 4bet that jj to that rr prob unless the guys a 3betting donkey.

thanks for looking the hands over. i'm still not forming ranges for my opponents very well in the heat of the moment. but i'll start tightening up my range assessments when the pots are large. i've been making it a point to be ABC when i'm OOP, and i'll keep it all in mind when i play a short session tonight.

i haven't played since monday; school has kept me busy and frankly i've been tired and feeling stress as a result of playing and not seeing positive financial results.

When I was going through my HHs, I noticed that you said "NH" to me today and I didn't answer you! Sorry about that - I try not to have my chat on when I play. Hope you had a good session tonight. I found the Euro tables really good today.

ahhh i figured u were just focused on playing. friday shared a bad pattern i've had in my recent sessions, which is lose 2-3 buy ins quickly, then crawl back most of the way.

but tonight's session went very well. i won 3-4 of my 5 biggest pots. i was running hot, got my money in well every time. i avoided playing big pots with marginal hands, made good reads etc. very good 700 hand session!

damn I've been doing that too... losing a bunch of money right at the start and then spending the next 4 hours winning it back. I dunno why this happens all the time...

4k hands since my last update; up around 7 buy ins. i don't have much else to say right now, just knew it had been a week and felt like it was time to update my progress. i think i've gotta play about 10k hands between now and the end of the month to maintain Platinum, and most of that volume is gonna come after wed since i've got school work going on early this week.

anyhow gl to me and to you, anonymous person reading this

i was focused on school this week, and didn't want to add to my stress by trying to play a bunch. only 1500 hands since my last update. up two buy ins

i believe i had a major blunder with bottom set pretty deep. i think i should have flatted the turn, but in the heat of the moment (in my super boring Global Ecology class) i didn't want the fish (who didn't lead the turn) to get a good price to see the river. and i thought the TAG reg could have JT or a big draw and wouldn't fold. i think raising TT would still be a good play, but with 66 i should have just called down? maybe a crazy raise/fold line?

PokerStars Game #40232097129: Hold'em No Limit (€0.25/€0.50 EUR) - 2010/02/23 19:40:43 CT [2010/02/23 20:40:43 ET]
Table 'Muscida V' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: VI-Popsmak (€131.50 in chips)
Seat 3: HOTCHEEESE (€53.55 in chips)
Seat 4: Audas02 (€163 in chips)
Seat 5: magyan94 (€85.15 in chips)
Seat 6: gqsmoove66 (€57.35 in chips)
HOTCHEEESE: posts small blind €0.25
Audas02: posts big blind €0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [6c 6h]
VI-Popsmak said, "come on man!"
magyan94: raises €1 to €1.50
gqsmoove66: folds
VI-Popsmak: calls €1.50
HOTCHEEESE: folds
Audas02: calls €1
*** FLOP *** [6d Th 9c]
Audas02: checks
magyan94: checks
VI-Popsmak: bets €3
Audas02: calls €3
magyan94: calls €3
*** TURN *** [6d Th 9c] [Jc]
Audas02: checks
magyan94: bets €10
VI-Popsmak: raises €21.50 to €31.50
Audas02: folds
magyan94: raises €49.15 to €80.65 and is all-in
VI-Popsmak: calls €49.15
*** RIVER *** [6d Th 9c Jc] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
magyan94: shows [Kh Qs] (a straight, Nine to King)
VI-Popsmak: shows [6c 6h] (three of a kind, Sixes)
magyan94 collected €173.05 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot €175.05 | Rake €2
Board [6d Th 9c Jc 5c]
Seat 1: VI-Popsmak (button) showed [6c 6h] and lost with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 3: HOTCHEEESE (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Audas02 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: magyan94 showed [Kh Qs] and won (€173.05) with a straight, Nine to King
Seat 6: gqsmoove66 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

alright! the end of february and the beginning of march has been very productive. up over 12 buy ins since saturday, got platinumstar, running so hot.


the sickest thing is that when school goes on break next week i will spend the entire time traveling minnesota visiting my friends and playing poker. so awesome i cannot wait

life variance so good right now

congrats man!

Originally Posted by kmind

congrats man!

thanks!

i love all fish. i can get coolered and make big mistakes, yet because of this vital component of the online poker ecosystem i can still have profitable sessions.

poker is fun again; i humbly thank the poker gods

nice, good to hear!

nice job, wish I were enjoying poker too. This week has been massive tilt for me. You moving back up to 100NL?

100nl continues to destroy me. i also continue to fail to resist the temptation to play when a soft seat is available. it's not a great bankroll crime since i'm not seriously underrolled, but i haven't had a good 100nl session in recent memory. whatever, that's like the only cloud on my poker horizon. positives... i know i need to study more, i'm thinking more about my opponents cards when i'm playing. and i have a clear goal for the next few days as well, which is to get platinumstar and clear my bonus. so i'm focused and motivated!

wow it's been two weeks since i updated! over that time i've played a measly 8k hands... i spent almost no time playing poker over my vacation, which was not what i had planned. despite being sick for most of the week the vacation still ended up being just what i needed to clear my head of stress and other stupid thoughts. and now its time to refocus on school and grinding for the next 6-8 weeks until the semester ends.

over the last couple thousand hands i feel like my heater has been winding down, so we'll see how the next few sessions go. optimism and confidence all the way to the bank lol

100nl has been much better to me the last couple days! i cannot believe the stuff regs have felted against me for 100bb... AQs, 99, 77! i've been playing my straightforward TAG game and still get plenty of action before the flop. clearly there's a lot of mistrust of the Button!

Here's an interesting hand:

UTG is unknown, which was why i didn't 3bet AK preflop. my plan was to calldown on an Axxxx board and catch AQ valuetowning itself or pick off a bluff. when the board came out so coordinated i couldn't help but raise. i would have puked if UTG 3bet shoved and i knew that when i raised, but still felt a raise was necessary. i guess i would have folded to a flop 3bet.

luckily he only called my raise and the turn was a brick. At that point i felt i was comfortably ahead in the hand and committed myself.

PokerStars Game #41608953467: Hold'em No Limit (€0.50/€1.00 EUR) - 2010/03/23 17:36:31 CT [2010/03/23 18:36:31 ET]
Table 'Castor V' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: VI-Popsmak (€100 in chips)
Seat 2: OrdnaS 1978 (€37.20 in chips)
Seat 3: giz0n (€101 in chips)
Seat 4: BLAABAR (€107.75 in chips)
Seat 5: Neyyra (€149.15 in chips)
Seat 6: CheOmsk2 (€100 in chips)
giz0n: posts small blind €0.50
BLAABAR: posts big blind €1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [Ad Kd]
Neyyra: raises €2 to €3
CheOmsk2: folds
VI-Popsmak: calls €3
OrdnaS 1978: folds
giz0n: folds
BLAABAR: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ts Kh 7h]
Neyyra: bets €5.50
VI-Popsmak: raises €11.50 to €17
Neyyra: calls €11.50
*** TURN *** [Ts Kh 7h] [5d]
Neyyra: checks
VI-Popsmak: bets €28
Neyyra: raises €66.75 to €94.75
VI-Popsmak: calls €52 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (€14.75) returned to Neyyra
*** RIVER *** [Ts Kh 7h 5d] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Neyyra: shows [Jd Ks] (a pair of Kings)
VI-Popsmak: shows [Ad Kd] (a pair of Kings - Ace kicker)
VI-Popsmak collected €199.50 from pot

i had a bad session at 100nl yesterday... the worst moment was when i shipped 100bb with 66 preflop on TILT. only dropped two buy ins over 1k hands, so it could have been a lot worse. to protect my roll and help me regulate myself, i made a pact with my poker buddy to play to next 10k hands at 50nl. hopefully this will motivate me to get that volume out of the way quickly so i can start mixing in 100nl tables again.

this weekend i hope to get platinum and clear this bonus; after that i withdraw 2.5k and see where the roll is at. i shouldn't have to go below 50nl

Try to remember physically how your body and mind felt when you shipped 66 pf on tilt. It will come back again in the future and if you REMEMBER the feeling, you can hopefully STOP yourself next time and at the very least get yourself back in the moment and if not just quit that session.

If you're at a point where you really need to drop, then drop. But, if not, make sure you give yourself a full chance to learn and succeed.

thanks for commenting jason.. after i read your post a couple days ago i got myself back into my tilted mindset and i'd describe it like this; fast, blood pumping in my head, much more aggressive than usual. it was very helpful for reminding me how that's obviously a horrible way to be playing poker. btw because of real life money needs i have returned to 50nl. i'm confident i can table select my way to a positive winrate at 100nl, i still have to develop a good approach to countering heavy 3betting in order to be a big winner tho.

it was an epic poker weekend.. i played 12k hands between 6pm friday and 3am sunday! I obviously locked up platinumstar, cleared my bonus, and withdrew the money i needed for tuition. however i broke even over this marathon session, and the main reason that's disappointing is because there were a couple significant avoidable errors.

1. felted AQs for 80bb versus a played i had identified as a fish. only had 10 hands on him though so i think this was spew.
2. felted A7s for 110bb SB vs BB versus a guy who had been 3betting me a lot. i 3bet him and he 4bet me, the first time he'd done this. playing back by 5bet shoving is a weapon i don't really need in my arsenal at 50nl.

that's what i remember off the top of my head, but then also a half dozen 20bb pots where i missed a bet or shouldn't have bet. but because of the cashout, realizing my errors, and finishing my marathon session playing my A game, i'm still happy with how the weekend turned out.

since i began playing online poker, i've played on multiple sites on multiple comps, and on numerous databases i've long since lost. it's generally made accurate record keeping impossible for me, so when people ask me how much i've made i just give them my best estimate. then yesterday i suddenly had the realization that if i went through my online bank statements since i started playing, i would get an accurate estimate of my career poker profits. I was curious and excited to see how close my expectation of my career profits would be to my actual profits... in my head i've figured i was up at least 10k. The results of my fact finding mission were... since late 2006 i have a net profit of 7.5k. the difference in my head versus the actual number isn't surprising; i just thought i wouldn't pull this sort of ego hyping on myself! it's also worth noting that at least 4k of that profit has almost certainly come from bonuses. my interpretation of that information is that, as a result of inconsistent play and bad bankroll management, i have been a mediocre poker player. for the thousands of hours i've invested in studying and playing, it's inspiring in that i must start playing great to make all that invested time worth my while. on the less serious side, i've had a lot of fun with poker overall, even if the great results never come.

all in all a very good poker weekend. i'm still comfortably rolled for 50nl, so tonight if i'm still fresh after my business is taken care of i'll put in another session.

Run good everyone

Poker April is off to a good start: up nearly 10 buy ins over my last 7k hands. Definitely still running well, but good table selection also contributes greatly to my winrate. I'm going to get to play another 100k hands at 50nl, which means i'll have a 200k 50nl sample to look at sometime this summer. I'm eager to see my long term winrate; so far over 90k hands i'm at 9bb/100 but i seem to be running well all the time.

Realizing i can do a lot more to study, experiment, and improve my game, last session i started opening more hands on the button.. min raising. min raising preflop on the button is a really cool move and i'm going to continue to use it as long as my opponents play so badly against it! most of the regs at 50nl seem to call the min raise preflop, then c/f to my PSB cbet.. which is smaller than a normal cbet if you raise 3x, and greater fold equity imo.

I withdrew some more of my roll, but only to have some funds available to reload the next time a bonus is being offered. I missed Full Tilt's last $500 deposit bonus, and i don't want that to happen again! once my roll is close to where it needs to be for 100nl, i can always reload the money i'm pulling off today.

thinking about my last post, i have set 20k as my profit goal for 2010. it would not only be awesome but it is also doable, provided i continue to play 30k+ hands every month. Summer months i should be able to get 50k+ hands in if i play inspired. btw i'm saving my FPP's for the rest of the year so i can get the 4k bonus on Stars. That bonus on its own would be enough to allow me to move up to 200nl, provided things don't derail before the end of the year and i keep putting in solid hand volume.

gonna get a subscription to BlueFirePoker with the funds i am withdrawing; a necessary poker investment for sure

i'm still runnin hot, just sometimes not playing so great.

this hand was the biggest blunder (of several) since my last update: because i probably folded out the worse Ax hands on the turn, my river shove can only get him to fold flushes, 22/55 -- not a good bluff considering i'd been splashing around in a couple pots recently. i didn't consider my river decision for more than 2 seconds, which was bad. and lastly i had no tight read that my opponent could make a big laydown, so this river bet is SPEW SPEW

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

CO ($158.40)
Button ($270.80)
SB ($330.65)
Hero (BB) ($288)
UTG ($150.40)
MP ($208.05)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, A
3 folds, Button bets $3, SB calls $2.50, Hero raises to $14, 1 fold, SB calls $11

Flop: ($32.20) 2, 5, A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $18, SB calls $18

Turn: ($68.20) K (2 players)
SB bets $15, Hero raises to $56, SB calls $41

River: ($180.20) K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $199.80 (All-In), SB calls $199.80

Total pot: $579.80 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had J, 10 (flush, Ace high).
Hero had 6, A (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Outcome: SB won $576.80


thankfully i run better than i play.

I bounced back big time today.. 2k hands, +11 buy ins 50nl. ran super well, played excellent. my stats from today; 25/21 VPIP/PFR, 48% WSF, 61% W@SD, 6% 3bet. in February and early March my stats were more like 19/16, 40% WSF, 4% 3bet. I feel like i'm able to further open up my game preflop because i have gotten better at hand reading and bluffing after the flop.

I was the master of my business today and it feels good, particularly after having a disastrous moment yesterday that could have negatively impacted my game. I think the big reason for my success today was not playing anymore yesterday after that hand, thinking about it and talking about it with other people to get the mistake off my chest, and focusing on handling non poker stuff. If i'm rested, comfortable, and not stressed about other priorities outside of poker it seems i can get into the zone and play my A game!

2.1k vpp away from platinum; i have the roll for 100nl (~35 BI) so there's no way i won't be able to clear this before the end of the month.

MERRY EARTH DAY!

there's a reason I didn't stay at that table to play you HU :P

nice to see you're doing well! +11 buy-ins is a sweet day.

imo you should want to play me, anytime we've gone to showdown you've had me beat

here's a fun hand from yesterday, me vs. courtie.. i called flop + turn because i didn't expect her to min raise Ax/AA/KK on the BTN, and those hands made up the bulk of a value barreling range on the turn. then i get owned on this river.

PokerStars Game #43050327702: Hold'em No Limit (€0.25/€0.50 EUR) - 2010/04/22 17:48:59 CT [2010/04/22 18:48:59 ET]
Table 'Adele' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: VI-Popsmak (€52.75 in chips)
Seat 3: jones1414 (€22.40 in chips)
Seat 4: courtiebee (€75.60 in chips)
Seat 5: dejfffino (€50 in chips)
dejfffino: posts small blind €0.25
VI-Popsmak: posts big blind €0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [4d 4h]
jones1414: folds
courtiebee: raises €0.50 to €1
dejfffino: folds
VI-Popsmak: calls €0.50
*** FLOP *** [5d 9h Ad]
VI-Popsmak: checks
courtiebee: bets €1.50
VI-Popsmak: calls €1.50
*** TURN *** [5d 9h Ad] [Kc]
VI-Popsmak: checks
courtiebee: bets €4
VI-Popsmak: calls €4
*** RIVER *** [5d 9h Ad Kc] [8c]
VI-Popsmak: checks
courtiebee: bets €8
VI-Popsmak: calls €8
*** SHOW DOWN ***
courtiebee: shows [Ts 8s] (a pair of Eights)
VI-Popsmak: mucks hand
courtiebee collected €28.25 from pot
VI-Popsmak said, "lol"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot €29.25 | Rake €1
Board [5d 9h Ad Kc 8c]
Seat 2: VI-Popsmak (big blind) mucked [4d 4h]
Seat 3: jones1414 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: courtiebee (button) showed [Ts 8s] and won (€28.25) with a pair of Eights
Seat 5: dejfffino (small blind) folded before Flop

friday:
50nl: 800 hands, +4BI
100nl: 1k hands, -4BI
$121 SNG: 3rd (pays top two)

saturday:
100nl: 600 hands, +3BI

played great at school friday, which was 50nl. came home and played online with another player, 100nl, and ran not so good.

today i worked all day and started an evening session of 100nl, playing 4-6 tables. the best thing today was taking advantage of bluffing opportunities and generally getting more creative.. fortunately today my bluffs didn't get called! despite QQ<AA, KK<AA i was able to win several 50-100bb pots and ran quite well otherwise.

I got into trouble with AK more than once over the last couple days of playing. The first AK hand i should have folded to the 5bet shove. I made the decision to call for a two reasons; i'd seen him call a 6bet at another deep stack table with AK (BTN vs BB), and he'd been 3betting me often on a couple tables over the past half hour. I needed 41% equity to call the shove on the first hand, and against a range of AK/KK+ i only have 37%. even worse, if i take AKo out of his shoving range i only have 25% equity. i know in midstakes games there is a little 5bet bluffing going on [griffey], but in this game with 200bb+ stacks i should have 4bet/folded instead.

On the second hand i'm not sure what i would do differently. The idea of flatting the 4bet OOP with AK seemed worse than 5bet/call because i only continue if the flop has an A/K, and i'm not winning a big pot everytime those cards do hit. still, it didn't feel good calling CO's 100bb 6bet shove. CO is an aggressive reg who 3bets a lot but i've never seen him put his stack in as a bluff. what do you think?.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

Hero (CO) ($220.80)
Button ($270.25)
SB ($100)
BB ($274.40)
UTG ($289.40)
MP ($130.15)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, K
2 folds, Hero bets $4, 2 folds, BB raises to $14, Hero raises to $36, BB raises to $274.20 (All-In), Hero calls $184.60 (All-In)

Flop: ($442.90) 2, 7, Q (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($442.90) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($442.90) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $442.90 | Rake: $3

Results:
BB had K, K (two pair, Kings and nines).
Hero had A, K (one pair, nines).
Outcome: BB won $439.90



PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

Hero (SB) ($79.20)
BB ($48.75)
UTG ($34.40)
MP ($135.40)
CO ($143.05)
Button ($31.55)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, A
2 folds, CO bets $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $6, 1 fold, CO raises to $14.50, Hero raises to $27.50, CO raises to $143.05 (All-In), Hero calls $51.70 (All-In)

Flop: ($158.90) 6, J, 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($158.90) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($158.90) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $158.90 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, A (high card, Ace).
CO had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: CO won $155.90



as for how things are going in general i'm still running decent and feel good about the quality of my decisions and thought process. over the last 6k hands i'm 23/19 with 48% WSF, 7.5% 3bet, and 50% W@SD. hooray for becoming more aggressive and a stronger player! I have cleared 34k VPP so far this year, and if i'm playing mostly 100nl over the summer i could get supernova well before the year ends.


yea son.

while i was thinking about these AK hands, i remembered seeing redargoe flat AK out of the BB facing an UTG open at a deep stack table. For those who don't remember, redargoe used to be (or maybe still is) a respected MSNL reg in 2007/2008. At the time of the hand i figured he had flatted AK for deception or something like that, but now i wonder if he did it because he would be in a tough spot if he got 4bet.

.

Retooled my HUD today; got a bunch of great new stats loaded and it'll be interesting to see if they help or hinder my game over time. I added PF 3bet, cbet flop, WTSD, and some handy color coding to make it easy to read!

I was playing some 50nl 2tabling while i was doing this configuring, and this hand happened:

I made the decision to call turn + river for a couple reasons; he c/r'ed super fast which isn't that significant of a detail in isolation, but considering how he left his stack size for a river bet it made me think he didn't have a nut hand. and if he actually had 33/55/66 he probably would have lead the turn, which was an important factor in my deciding to call down also.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

Hero (CO) ($52.75)
Button ($48.45)
SB ($52.50)
BB ($77.40)
UTG ($123.25)
MP ($50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with J, K
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero bets $2.50, 1 fold, SB calls $2.25, 1 fold, UTG calls $2

Flop: ($8) 6, 3, 5 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($8) J (3 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $5, SB raises to $13.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $8.50

River: ($35) 2 (2 players)
SB bets $36.50 (All-In), Hero INSTA FISTPUMPIN calls $36.50

Total pot: $108 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had 8, 8 (one pair, eights).
Hero had J, K (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $105

Hero: "owned"
SB: "HU?"

This reg is breakeven over a >100k sample which, in addition to my recent pwnage, compelled me to tell him he was a stupid nit moron and that i was 'THE BOSS' etc. I was having a great time talking with him after the hand, because he wanted to start that HU match ASAP. I said 'maybe another day'.. he didn't believe I'd take him up on it -- hopefully that match happens and I'll have an exciting update lol

... I am sleep deprived today; i'm not excusing my behavior but that is the context for why i immediately started up the trash talk. calling SB a 'nit moron' was inaccurate to say the least since he did run a bluff for stacks, which isn't very nit-like. and if someone from FTR is that reg i was trash talking, plz don't take my trash talk personal (seriously). i was just jacked up by my 'hero call'

May is off to a great start; played 2k hands of 100nl yesterday and the running good continues! two hands from yesterday:


My big laydown of the day. mayhem is a straightforward reg, the other guy is a fish. The action in this hand was really weird; i check/bet/check with the nuts, lol. I would've called this off without thinking a couple months ago. Looking at the hand after the fact maybe it was a clear fold, but it wasn't easy in the moment. JJ makes the most sense for mayhem, occasionally a slowplayed KJ?

plan was to c/r the flop


Seat 1: ITGFAB (€109.55 in chips)
Seat 2: VI-Popsmak (€100 in chips)
Seat 3: mayhem920 (€127 in chips)
Seat 4: Vittorio37 (€55.65 in chips)
Seat 5: shermanash (€187.90 in chips)
Seat 6: hellokittery (€159.40 in chips)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [7h 7d]
mayhem920: raises €2 to €3
Vittorio37: calls €3
3 folds
VI-Popsmak: calls €2
*** FLOP *** [Jh Jc 7c]
VI-Popsmak: checks
mayhem920: checks
Vittorio37: checks
*** TURN *** [Jh Jc 7c] [Ks]
VI-Popsmak: bets €6
mayhem920: calls €6
Vittorio37: calls €6
*** RIVER *** [Jh Jc 7c Ks] [5c]
VI-Popsmak: checks
mayhem920: bets €14
Vittorio37: raises €14 to €28
VI-Popsmak: raises €18 to €46
mayhem920: raises €72 to €118 and is all-in
Vittorio37: calls €18.65 and is all-in
VI-Popsmak: folds
Uncalled bet (€71.35) returned to mayhem920
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mayhem920: shows [Jd Js] (four of a kind, Jacks)
Vittorio37: mucks hand
mayhem920 collected €164.80 from pot


Here i'm almost 200bb deep so i decide to take my two backdoor draws and do some deceptive OOP floating. I follow it up with a bad semibluff check/raise on the turn versus this fish. Considering the board texture i had almost no fold equity against this guy so clearly the turn was spew. But then i gin the river and win the biggest pot of my session... poor fish.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (4 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

SB ($102.75)
BB ($164.65)
Hero (UTG) ($195.85)
Button ($177.65)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 10, Q
Hero bets $4, Button calls $4, 2 folds

Flop: ($9.50) 7, 8, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $5, Hero calls $5

Turn: ($19.50) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $10, Hero raises to $34, Button calls $24

River: ($87.50) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $152.85 (All-In), Button calls $134.65 (All-In)

Total pot: $356.80 | Rake: $2

Results:
Button had 6, 6 (straight, nine high).
Hero had 10, Q (straight, ten high).
Outcome: Hero won $354.80


It seems like I'm on a perma heater, which makes poker so much more lovable!

mayhem doesn't play the same way in hand 1 with 55? with the fish in the pot he might think you're trying to get value with some Jx hand?

Originally Posted by courtiebee

mayhem doesn't play the same way in hand 1 with 55? with the fish in the pot he might think you're trying to get value with some Jx hand?

i wouldn't expect mayhem to float 55 to my turn lead since that hand is a little ahead of my AQss/QT or crushed by Kx/Jx, plus he's gotta be ready to call a second barrel on the river AND he's got the fish behind him left to act.

As i said before, the month of May started out great. I was playing a lot, playing well, and winning. Until recently that is, since I dropped 7 buy ins over my last 1k hands at 100nl.. I could continue playing in these games, but it could turn out badly as I only have 35BI for this limit. For the time being I'll go back to 50nl. The challenge i set for myself is to win 7 buy ins at 50nl before i go back to playing 100nl (now 8 since i dropped a buy in at 50nl tonite, lol).

I quit playing successfully tonight after I noticed myself playing bad. Several factors, some preventable, worked against me tonight; my internet briefly crashed, it was noisy, I was playing 8 tables, and the stressing all started after I failed to correctly size my value bet on the river with the nuts. 15 minutes in it was obvious to me I was tilting so i saved my money for later!

A brief recap of the year so far; up 4k from the tables, +1k in bonus money. 117k hands played, 38k VPP earned. Definitely on pace for Supernova and as far as my 20k profit goal is considered, it's still doable. The plan is to get the 4k bonus with all my FPPs, and beat 100nl at around 2BB/100 over the next 250k hands (which averages to about 35k hands/month). I know I've got the skills to do this, it's all about the discipline, dedication, and consistency.

Nice job quitting when you should have, it's hard to do sometimes. On the other hand, I've had a really bad last couple months which has made me not want to play cash at all. I was on pace for Supernova for a while, but I haven't really been playing much in April and the start of May so now I don't think I'm gonna make it (assuming I stay at 50NL all year)

I played donkaments for 7 hours today and it was pure torture, though, so the fact that donkaments suck so much will probably be incentive to start playing cash again :P

GL winning your 8 buyins, stay off my tables

Hey Vi, just read through your entire blog. It looks like you've seriously improved since you've started, both mentally and emotionally towards poker. Keep up the good work and attitude and you'll hit your goals without a hitch.

I'm just dipping my toes back into 6m after taking a 3+ month hiatus (I'll be at 10nl after 5k hands of 5nl for a warm-up.) Race you to 200nl.

I have to admit, your posts in here and in the SHNL forum make it seem like you are a competent player, but your avatar on here tilts me so hard, so I find it difficult to take you seriously lol. I think it has something to do with the shade of orange + the haircut + expression on his face. I recommend it for your Stars avatar. :P

Also, I was kind of curious where you came up with your SN? I notice you use the Vi on your SN for here and on stars.

Originally Posted by courtiebee

Nice job quitting when you should have, it's hard to do sometimes. On the other hand, I've had a really bad last couple months which has made me not want to play cash at all. I was on pace for Supernova for a while, but I haven't really been playing much in April and the start of May so now I don't think I'm gonna make it (assuming I stay at 50NL all year)

I played donkaments for 7 hours today and it was pure torture, though, so the fact that donkaments suck so much will probably be incentive to start playing cash again :P

GL winning your 8 buyins, stay off my tables

Let me try to inspire us both.. it's really hard to play 300k+ hands in a year when you have to deal with so much variance, but being supernova is so baller that it must be obtained! By far the two worst parts about long term BE/losing is that it makes sitting down to play so unappealing and your confidence can be destroyed. Good thing we don't have to live on our results

Originally Posted by dranger7070

Hey Vi, just read through your entire blog. It looks like you've seriously improved since you've started, both mentally and emotionally towards poker. Keep up the good work and attitude and you'll hit your goals without a hitch.

I'm just dipping my toes back into 6m after taking a 3+ month hiatus (I'll be at 10nl after 5k hands of 5nl for a warm-up.) Race you to 200nl.

I have to admit, your posts in here and in the SHNL forum make it seem like you are a competent player, but your avatar on here tilts me so hard, so I find it difficult to take you seriously lol. I think it has something to do with the shade of orange + the haircut + expression on his face. I recommend it for your Stars avatar. :P

Also, I was kind of curious where you came up with your SN? I notice you use the Vi on your SN for here and on stars.

thanks for your thoughtful comments DR, and thanks for the vote of confidence. It's particularly helpful now when May has overall gotten the best of me. I am tightening up postflop in an attempt to 'get back to my roots'

1. lol yea my avatar is the comically mentally challenged Dr. Steve Brule from the Tim and Eric Awesome Show.
2. VI stands for Valley Inc, which was the name my high school friends and I decided to call ourselves. I made my stars/ftr profiles shortly after i graduated, but i still like the VI handle.

gl with your poker goals as well!

I played for 90mins 4 tabling today and 15 minutes on Wednesday, but that was all I've played in the last 8 days (low confidence/desire). I had to send my laptop away so the wireless internet card can be replaced; in the meantime i get to practice my concentration and play fewer tables. This works out in a way, because when ur losing you might as well be playing fewer tables!

I went to the casino twice since i started downswinging online, and my results were considerably better. I played the 2-10/2-20 spread games since they generally don't offer NL cash games in Minnesota. I only go to the casino when I'm going with my friends.. it's fun to go with them because we smoke and hang out on the drive to/from. I don't think I've ever gone to a casino alone, because i only play poker when i go and it makes better sense to do that online.

here's the results: (after gas, food, beer expenses)
Saturday: +250
Monday: +210, +270 (won a NL tourney!)

casino donks + run good = domination

gotta play 7-8k hands of 50nl before the month ends, the bulk of which i'll probably be 4tabling without a HUD. If it gets to the 30th and I'm not real close, I will play 100nl to get Platinum. note this is setting up to be a similar situation as it was in January.. on the last day of that month i played 2k+ hands of 100nl and dropped 8 buy ins. what has changed is that I am a much stronger player now than i was then, and my roll is better padded.

that situation will be clearer in a few more days after I've done some more grinding online. I'm probably gonna go play some more live poker at the casino tonight. time to take a little nap!

Hey dude, just checkin' in on some blogs today.

Checked out some of your hands above.

I would really never fold 7's full there. PFR is going crazy with something, but the most likely hand here is K's full that beats us. We lose to maybe 4 credible combos of his (JJ/KK) and he probably will play 5's full the same way.

I don't like the QT OOP float. You have enough backdoor equity to cbet here with an utg strong range, and credibly double barrel a ton of turn cards. The probablem with your OOP float line is that it really doesn't make sense for you to c/c a hand on the flop (looks like a weakish hand) and then if the turn goes ck/ck, most of your weak range would just check again on river. c/c flop, ck ck turn and leading river doesn't make sense, whcih is what you'll need to do with your air.

+600 at the casino since my last update. Everyone who plays there is terrible, and I have a ton of fun.

However I'm down 750 online since my last update!! I've made a couple questionable plays, but a lot of it has come from running into the top of my opponents range for stacks. Two fails: I didn't get Platinumstar in May.. it's a long story but it has to do with not having access to Pokerstars while I was in the casino hotel. Also I've decided to keep playing 100nl rather than play 50nl, and I have been losing. As far as the BRM is concerned, I've still got over 30 buy ins despite dropping 2.2k over the last month online. For now I'm going to take it one day at a time and play 100nl when I'm feeling up for it. Despite my -3BB/100 winrate over 30k hands at 100nl I am still confident that with table selection i can beat these games. We'll see how it goes.

Originally Posted by griffey24

Hey dude, just checkin' in on some blogs today.

Checked out some of your hands above.

I would really never fold 7's full there. PFR is going crazy with something, but the most likely hand here is K's full that beats us. We lose to maybe 4 credible combos of his (JJ/KK) and he probably will play 5's full the same way.

I don't like the QT OOP float. You have enough backdoor equity to cbet here with an utg strong range, and credibly double barrel a ton of turn cards. The probablem with your OOP float line is that it really doesn't make sense for you to c/c a hand on the flop (looks like a weakish hand) and then if the turn goes ck/ck, most of your weak range would just check again on river. c/c flop, ck ck turn and leading river doesn't make sense, whcih is what you'll need to do with your air.

thx for your comments griffey; I got very lucky on the QT hand!

On the first hand I don't think mayhem could show up with 55 given his flop and turn line, as he's a pretty nitty tag. I still like my fold on this one, given I think he can't show up with 55.

I have played a grand total of three online sessions this month, all at 100nl: dropped 10 buy ins. ran not so great, made some poor decisions in big pots. Last Sunday morning i was leaving the casino after dropping $400, and i made a bet with my friend that i could go the whole week without playing poker or smoking. I am running a marathon tomorrow, and this bet was to force me to take a break from cards and help my lungs out. I am one day away from winning the bet!

I spend the week watching a ton of poker videos. When i start playing again i plan to start at 50nl HU. The profit potential is greater, the learning opportunities are abundant, and I'm rarely excited about the prospect of HU like I have been lately. I also need to be two tabling so I can drastically improve my game.

The bankroll is on the fringe, but I'm still up 4k on the year counting live winnings. I just need to turn this ship around

Okay, lots to update tonight:

Brags: I completed the marathon in under 5 hours, and I'm gonna run another one in the fall and am aiming to finish under 4:30. I would highly recommend everyone try to run a marathon once in their life; it was a huge feeling of accomplishment as I crossed the finish line. I am smoking a lot less weed and I've gotten up before 8am almost every day in the past two weeks. I set up a separate bank account to keep my poker money. I've watched a ton of Leggo videos and learned a lot... I feel much more confident defending IP in 3bet pots, more aware of when/how to adjust bet sizing based on my perceived range and my opponents range, and just playing more fearlessly in general. This is all optimistic news that leaves me feeling hopeful for poker in the near future. However...

Beats: down 2300 in June.. my first losing month of 2010. Playing poorly at the casino cost me almost half of my losses for the month. I do so much worse sizing my bets and determining my opponents ranges in the casino; i tell myself to literally visualize i am watching the action unfold on my computer screen to help myself think about spots correctly but in the moment i forget to do this. I bet $100 on two hands of blackjack, and lost both bets. I didn't even get goldstar this month due to excessive trips to casinos. Results wise it was a pretty fail month of poker.

With a 2k roll i must return to 50nl to grind. I still have 4 months to come up with my next tuition payment so I have no immediate need to withdraw my poker money, which is a big plus. This is the best time of year to go on a downswing, if I'm looking for positives (which i am).

Congrats, I ran a marathon back in 2001 I think. I also finished just shy of 5 hours and was very proud to do so. I also think I'd aim for 4:30 or so if I ever ran one again. I've been sticking to 1/2 marathons ever since as the full one was pretty difficult. But, I may get the itch to try again on a flat course like Chicago. I'm going to Vegas this December for a 1/2 marathon and my goal is 2:05 ... we'll see

Stay out of the pits! Never play blackjack, roulette, craps, slots, or anything that isn't poker and don't even play poker unless it's a game that you you are good at with stakes you can afford

Good luck getting the train back on the tracks this month.

so far july has been everything i could have hoped for: 10k hands, +10 buy ins. earlier this year my 3bet% was between 5-6%. now it's 10-11%. my fold to 3bet was ~80%, now it's under 70%. I've been playing a ton of 2-3 handed and it has been majorly beneficial to improving my game.

0 trips to casino, and i don't feel a need to go because i stumbled upon a great home game that's much closer to home. 2 trips to the 1/2nl homegame, +300.

thanks to micromania on Pokerstars I should easily make platinumstar this month!

Even though I'm not particularly happy at the moment, overall the big picture for July is positive:

1. +450 online over 40k hands of 50nl
2. I didn't stray beyond 50nl
3. +150 live. I got to smoke, drink, and eat plenty of free food in the process.
4. played 10k hands the final two days of the month
5. locked up platinumstar before the last two days of the month
6. I've got 81.5k FPP's!
7. BR: 2500
8. I'm a better player than I was a month ago, more optimistic, and more motivated.


One blemish was logging my final 500 hands and dropping 200. Two major blunders that altogether cost me a stack was the main reason for disappointment. I realized I was playing frustrated and tired and promptly ended that session before anything worse happened!

The plan for August is to start working in 100nl tables.. while it's not essential to my goals that this shot works successfully I sure hope it does because that would make getting supernova and unlocking major bonus cash much quicker. I'm not sure when I'm going to start - probably after I earn a couple more BI at 50nl. At the end of June I was considering taking an indefinite break from poker, so clearly I'm in a better place mentally now than i was then.

46.3k VPP until supernova with 5 months to go. I'm behind pace, but it's within reach.

The moral of the story is that persistence and discipline are what winning SSNL players need to grow their bankroll and improve their game.

When you were playing 50NL, how often did you see regs 3 barreling with air?

For example:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed)

UTG ($15.70)
MP ($74.50)
Button ($27.50)
SB ($50.25)
Hero (BB) ($51.05)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, J
1 fold, MP bets $1.75, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.75) 8, 8, 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

Turn: ($8.75) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $6.25, Hero calls $6.25

River: ($21.25) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $14.25

Without a specific read that he will barrel the river, do I just have to fold this? Is there a better way to play this hand?

I saw a different reg fire 3 barrels today, but I don't really remember seeing it all that often. I thought I'd ask you what your experiences are.

i can't say generally fold or generally call because 3barreling as a bluff is highly dependent on board texture. i wanna call this particular river bet versus the non nitty regs. the Queen is a bad card for your range on the flop and a lot of regs are aware of that (your range after calling the turn looks like 44-JJ). the best way i can think to explain it is leveling wise, when they expect you to call (i.e. the turn is a 3 or 8 instead of a Q) their range is more weighted to value hands. When a good bluff card comes and they expect you to fold, the non robot/nit regs are going to have a high bluffing frequency.

the first week of august was excellent for online poker. 10k hands, +15BI, all 100nl (and the majority of the profits were on euro tables)! I ran incredibly well, including drawing a one outer in a 3way all in pot (bottom set to quads), AKs>AKo, and winning the majority of my 60/40's and 70/30's. In addition I have adjusted my preflop game very well to the 100nl regs and seem to be owning them pretty hard. My preparation before sessions was excellent which I'm sure helped a lot. Starting tables also is crucial to getting good reg/fish ratios at the tables, so I've continued to do that like I was doing at 50nl.

I'm in madison this weekend visiting a friend. we went to the casino twice, and i ended up down 580 (after gas and food). I played decent but I didn't run as great as i did online. There was an epic fish at the table my second night.. he literally dropped 3k on the table in 4 hours! I didn't have success against him though (top two < trips, OESD < TPTK). I felt like i played my C game the first night, and my B game the second night. My biggest pot and possibly biggest mistake was a $600 pot KK < AA. The guy with AA cold 4bet to $100 preflop and i feel I could have possibly folded since he had been playing mostly loose/passive. But i ended up calling, the flop came 442 and I bet/called it off. I'm probably a casino donk after all

Even after the casino, the BR is sitting at 3.5k. I'll allow myself 10BI at 100nl, and if i lose that much it's back to 50nl.

time to run the tables!

damn thats sweet man, nice run.

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

i can't say generally fold or generally call because 3barreling as a bluff is highly dependent on board texture. i wanna call this particular river bet versus the non nitty regs. the Queen is a bad card for your range on the flop and a lot of regs are aware of that (your range after calling the turn looks like 44-JJ). the best way i can think to explain it is leveling wise, when they expect you to call (i.e. the turn is a 3 or 8 instead of a Q) their range is more weighted to value hands. When a good bluff card comes and they expect you to fold, the non robot/nit regs are going to have a high bluffing frequency.

thanks!

congrats on doing well recently.

opp was a platinumstar, breakeven over a 250k sample (down -1k). he had raised one of my flop leads earlier (i don't remember exactly what happened but he won the hand). I had been playing straightforward.

this was an epic bluff. Because i had KJ and a second 9 came on the turn, i figured there were very few full house hands in his range (and he may flat J9 on the flop rather than raise). there are 11 possible full house combos (discount 2 for K9/J9 flatting the flop 25%), 16 combos of QT, and several combos of diamond draws that complete flushes on the river. I think a river c/r reps exactly K9/J9 if he's hand reading well, but he may also put me on 99/JJ/KK if he's not. I like lead/calling the flop since 3betting this guy 180bb deep he's only continuing with better hands. On the turn I was genuinely unsure what to do but lol top two so I called. On the river when the flush completed I decided i couldn't c/c anymore so uhh c/shove?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

MP ($98.20)
CO ($194.40)
Button ($92.50)
SB ($100)
Hero (BB) ($181.25)
UTG ($100)

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

Flop: ($6.50) K, 9, J (2 players)
Hero bets $5, CO raises to $15, Hero calls $10

Turn: ($36.50) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $26, Hero calls $26

River: ($88.50) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $74, Hero raises to $137.25 (All-In), CO calls $63.25

Total pot: $363 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, J (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
CO had Q, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: CO won $360


dropped 4BI tonight

Not liking that hand, turn is standard u would feel since all bluffs and draws will continue to bet on that card.

once he bets river and for that size its either c/c or c/f. he aint gonna fold anything to a raise for less than min. id c/f tho since majority of his range got there.

yeah i don't like it either, it was very FPS of me. for the most part i have cured myself of this but every once in a while I'll be on semi tilt and it will reappear..

Anyways, last night/this morning I put in 4.2k hands at 50nl, basically playing a lot of HU/3-4handed. I feel like there were 2 large pots I played suboptimally but otherwise a solid grind, B+. At one point I was -7BI but recovered to finish +3.

I'm +7BI at 100nl in August, although at one point it was +19. The 12BI's lost factored into my decision to return to 50nl. I simply cannot afford to drop another 10-15BI at 100nl since my bankroll is also the source of my tuition payment for the fall. My ego is quietly allowing the drop down in limits, which is good. My ego has historically been a problem for me, with the consequence of ruining my bankroll! Reading the Poker Mindset over again is reminding me of my specific mental pitfalls.

I've also began playing PLO, and it's a helluva game! So far I'm down about 4BI (@$50) but that's to be expected. I plan to play whenever the NL grind is losing its flavor, which was why I started playing PLO in the first place. I watched a couple Leggo vids, browsed FTR's PLO forum (special thanks to spenda and salsa for their work on the PLO Digest), and have managed to log about 1k hands so far. I'm looking forward to improving my PLO game

BR: 3.3k, 30k hands played
VPP: 35k to go. At most this will require 170k hands of 50nl

August has had its ups and downs, but that's poker!

So... I'm currently on another upswing

Friday i played 8.4k hands and managed to drop 12BI throughout the epic grind. I played terrible towards the end and there was easily over 2BI of bad calls/missed value. The experience taught me I need to prepare better for these marathon sessions, and more frequently think about whether I need to be taking a break to avoid autopiloting. And that I do not have the mental stamina to play well for that long!

Since that session I've played about 5k hands and have managed to recover Friday's losses. Hoorah hoorah

Random Things That Are Good (without giving too much away to the stars FTR regs):

Preflop: I think of what sizing is optimal most of the time when I open raise.
150bb+ Stack Play: My pot control has been good.
Overall Trickiness: It's crucial to take non standard value lines versus regs.
3bet Pots: Always a work in progress... but it is progressing.
Supernova: 70k VPP earned, over 15k this month already!
Bankroll: I don't know for sure since I haven't looked since Saturday, but I had a friend tell me ballpark where I'm at and he said I'm within $600 of 4k.

-BoC-

have u always been on stars, was thinking of moving from FTP myself.

I played on FTP and UB, but I haven't since 2008. My choice of Stars for 2010 was because of the stellar rewards promo (if you didn't know, the stellar rewards are cash bonuses that get released in $10/$50/$100 increments) and the desire to get Supernova, knowing that if I reach it the 'rakeback' I'd get from bonuses would exceed what UB and FTP offer.


As for the grind, I continue to get owned at 100nl. I am up less than 3BI at 100nl this month now LOL. I don't have confidence I can beat 100nl right now, so I will be strictly grinding 50nl until

1. I withdraw for tuition (2k at most)
2. Bankroll is 4k after the withdraw

But i continue to run ridiculous at 50nl so the month remains decently profitable

Update time!

In August i put in the most hands i have so far this year; 60k hands, which netted me 20k in vpps. Despite being up almost 2k in the beginning of the month, i finished up around 500. A losing weekend at the casino, -4BI at 50PLO, and losing all my 100nl winnings contributed to the decline. Even still August was a good month of poker -- my quality of play was good overall.

So far in September I'm up about 500. This morning i withdrew 2k from my roll to help pay my tuition, leaving a little over 1k in my account. That should be plenty to keep playing 50nl, which is all I could ask for. I'm currently 24k VPP away from supernova, and I'm hoping that I'll be done by early November so I can participate in the $1M freeroll tournament. I figure that means about 1500 hands/day; that'll be a stretch will school going on, but I'm feeling motivated.

Barring a total meltdown or unforeseeable tragedy strikes, I'll actually accomplish the goal I set out with, which is to get Supernova. All my earlier operation threads have ultimately been fails, so getting Supernova will be a milestone in many ways.

nice job with the supernova goal, that's pretty awesome considering you've played mostly 50nl.

thanks! (knock on wood)

so i dropped 750 last week, and now my online BR is 450. i will have to reload a little to maintain a 5-6table load, and i think i have finally forced myself into a position where even i won't sit down in 100nl games. I worked really hard friday evening grinding 50nl after dropping a couple 100nl buy ins playing mediocre-ish and tilt joining a $50 tourney during the afternoon, but despite my best efforts i still managed to lose a couple buy ins. i was demoralized/unmotivated this weekend so i just hung out and watched football. however, supernova must be achieved and the only way that's gonna happen is by grinding. and today i feel more like working on that.

so the plan is to put in a good week at 50nl, hopefully in the range of 10k hands. the school workload is still light and I'm basically off work after tuesday which leaves me plenty of hours at the tables.

gogogo grind!

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

tilt joining a $50 tourney during the afternoon

lol... you were even more tilted after the tourney, amirite?

gl with the grind

tourneys are a thrill, but 99% of the time they end in disappointment

fucking still losing and well behind pace to finish supernova before the November 6 Million DOLLAR FREEROLL ASFHUJGISK

i dunno how stars works but u worked ur ass off all year but can still miss supernova?

Yea if he doesnt hit 100k VPPs by December 31st he won't get it.