Alexos' Adventures in Donkland

Poker going pretty well, I'm getting used to running over EV now, which is pretty fun. Hopefully I get to +100 buyins over EV by the end of the year.

Today I realized I can still win a ticket to the UFC fight April 30th, so this really motivated me to start grinding lots. I have no idea why, but I need a goal like this to be able to put in hands. It's sad but the money isn't motivating anymore. But the good part is I still enjoy playing poker whenever I do, the only tough part is firing up the tables.

8.5/100hrs



Need to get into mathematics of poker tomorrow, fun fun fun! GL

Is that 6k over EV?!!!

I would pull some Schadenfreude but it doesn't seem appropriate on today of all days...

haha damn EV jealousy here too!

and sigh to your UFC rejuvenation, leading to my lack of UFC tickets!

Every brag comes with a price. 4k under EV today so far. Wheeee!

You posted a graph where you ran above ev. What do you expect to happen? The poker gods don't appreciate you rubbing it in their face :P

Originally Posted by meeloche

You posted a graph where you ran above ev. What do you expect to happen? The poker gods don't appreciate you rubbing it in their face :P

I went to war with the poker gods a long time ago, fk them imo. It's on bitches, bring it!

Oh, what have I done. *facepalm*

So I challenged the poker gods today, and they showed me some respect. Actually pretty happy with how the day went. I made some terrible hero calls and some genius ones too, let me know if you guys are interested in seeing some spew.



Here is some epic hands courtesy of Betfair late-nite games. Idk why no one believes me when I'm saying these games are 10x softer at night.


1) Made a huuuge mistake apparently, but at this point I figured he was going with his hand 95% of the time even? He didn't have fish stats either, just super aggro figured the guy was drunk or something.

$3/$6 No Limit Holdem
OnGame
5 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($720)
CO ($1,171)
BTN ($998)
SB ($603)
Alexos (BB) ($1,114.65)

Pre-Flop: ($9, 5 players) Alexos is BB
1 fold, CO raises to $18, 2 folds, Alexos calls $12

Flop: ($39, 2 players)
Alexos bets $30, CO raises to $70, Alexos raises to $165, CO raises to $260, Alexos raises to $355, CO raises to $450, Alexos goes all-in $1,096.65, CO folds

Final Pot: $1,585.65

Alexos wins $1,582.65 (net +$468)

CO lost $468


2) It's okay, made up for my mistake by stacking him

$3/$6 No Limit Holdem
OnGame
5 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($998)
CO ($600)
Alexos (BTN) ($1,579.65)
SB ($723)
BB ($703)

Pre-Flop: ($9, 5 players) Alexos is BTN
2 folds, Alexos raises to $12, 1 fold, BB raises to $39, Alexos calls $27

Flop: ($81, 2 players)
BB checks, Alexos bets $50, BB raises to $100, Alexos raises to $150, BB goes all-in $664, Alexos calls $514

Turn: ($1,409, 2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($1,409, 2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $1,409
BB shows

Alexos shows


Alexos wins $1,406 (net +$703)

BB lost $703


14/100 hrs on the month, need to keep it up.

ummm... preflop in hand 2?? lol

sick that you made it all back, very impressive.

Originally Posted by griffey24

ummm... preflop in hand 2?? lol

not folding any hand preflop vs whales, duh! Also I can't stack him if I always fold hehe

Originally Posted by Alexos

Also I can't stack him if I always fold hehe

Today: 4hrs of getting fucked by the RNG, down 2.5k

Since this grind, I noticed a few differences between 2/4 and 5/10:

1) 2/4 is pretty nitty in general, regs tend to "have it". At, 5/10, not so much, do not fold pairs.
2) Most of the regs are pretty TAGGish at 2/4, with a pretty good understand of preflop. At 5/10, regs spew pretty hard pre, but make up for it postflop.


So besides stating the obvious, I guess my point is that I'm not that good at adjusting my game for 2/4. I'm pretty loose pre and they're taking advantage of it, I get it in with what is a fistpump at 5/10, but end up being crushed at 2/4.

Adjustment: Play more postflop at 2/4, try to put pressure and put them out of their comfort zone. Less bluffing preflop, and make sure to have very polarized ranges.

Adjustment #2: Stop playing 2/4 ffs you nit.

Adjustment #3: Run better.

I played some 25/50 tonight and ran okay, so we're on the right path.

Originally Posted by Alexos

1) 2/4 is pretty nitty in general, regs tend to "have it". At, 5/10, not so much, do not fold pairs.
2) Most of the regs are pretty TAGGish at 2/4, with a pretty good understand of preflop. At 5/10, regs spew pretty hard pre, but make up for it postflop.

I think this is one of the reasons I used to do better at higher stakes.. compared to midstakes.

Mind you I have a pretty high fold to river, which would get exploited pretty hard at 5/10. Though if anyone is capable of calling rivers instead of folding its me haha

move up?? hah

Confirmed something is wrong with me:



The adjustments above should take care of that. Another reason could be that I care less about 2/4 and just spew, or that I play way more tables when I play 2/4. Whatever it is it's not working.

Maybe 5/10 is just softer than 2/4 on ongame? Is that possible?

Uhhh, I don't want anyone to tweet or facebook like this operation. What a terrible idea.

Yeah I'll see if I can get a stop to this. One of the nut last things I want is my blog to be liked on fb

The grind is going really well. Not having that much trouble putting in the hours, and having fun when I play, which is always good regardless of results. A lot of it might have to do with the weather and how much it affects my mood. Winter just sucks man. I've also put my sweet summer mags on my car and it makes it so much more enjoyable to drive (and look at). I might post some pics one day of car/condo although I'm prolly too lazy to take some and upload.

Blog saver (strategy not included) :

$5/$10 No Limit Holdem
OnGame
4 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
Alexos (CO) ($1,472)
BTN ($834.10)
SB ($1,151)
BB ($1,178)

Pre-Flop: ($15, 4 players) Alexos is CO
Alexos raises to $30, BTN calls $30, SB raises to $125, 1 fold, Alexos calls $95, BTN folds

Flop: ($290, 2 players)
SB bets $100, Alexos calls $100

Turn: ($490, 2 players)
SB bets $225, Alexos calls $225

River: ($940, 2 players)
SB bets $701, Alexos calls $701

Final Pot: $2,342
SB shows


SB wins $2,340 (net +$1,189)

Alexos lost $1,151
BTN lost $30


22.5/100hrs

Ur a midstakes fish (strategy not included). JK, I like ur blog.

hmm how crazy was villain?

Feel like I rarely call the turn here let alone the river. There's just not that much air left?

Hoping for a low pair turned into a bluff the whole way? 99 or something?

Originally Posted by griffey24

hmm how crazy was villain?

Feel like I rarely call the turn here let alone the river. There's just not that much air left?

Hoping for a low pair turned into a bluff the whole way? 99 or something?

I was 95% sure he had a FD with his flop sizing, that wanted to bet/3bet. I wish I had a timebank here, because BTN was a fish so he wouldn't be squeezing that many other hands with clubs, AQcc was the most likely hand.

Blog saver with strategy this time:

Villain is a very aggro reg with which I have a lot of history against, mostly him 4bet bluffing a lot which ends in us getting it in pretty light. Nothing too crazy postflop.

$3/$6 No Limit Holdem
OnGame
5 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($357)
CO ($755)
Alexos (BTN) ($651.15)
SB ($628.50)
BB ($628.20)

Pre-Flop: ($9, 5 players) Alexos is BTN
2 folds, Alexos raises to $12, 1 fold, BB raises to $40, Alexos calls $28

Flop: ($83, 2 players)
BB bets $54, Alexos calls $54

Turn: ($191, 2 players)
BB checks, Alexos checks

River: ($191, 2 players)
BB bets $125, Alexos goes all-in $557.15, BB folds

Final Pot: $873.15

Alexos wins $870.15 (net +$219)

BB lost $219


Preflop: He 3bets like 11% preflop, this is a pretty standard defend.

Flop: Again a decent flop for me to float on, with a gutshot, bd fd, and potentially overcards. I don't expect him to barrel too often either.

Turn: I have two options here, either to bet now or take a free card. Board doesn't look too scary so my standard line even with AJ would be to check here and vbet river. I'd also play 9x, KQ, KJ, this way. It basically keeps my range pretty wide which is good. If he ever plays Ax this way I don't think there's any way to make him fold by the river unless the board gets really ugly. And if he has air well I'm sure most of the time he just c/f river anyways.

River: When he bets his hand is pretty much AT-AQ. The 7 is a good card for me, as it improves 97s, 78s, A7s, TJ. Moreso, I think my perceived range is very strong here when I shove. People just expect you to bet your bluffs on the turn these days so this line reps the nuts pretty well.


Cliffs: spazz worked.

I forgot to talk about the sizing here. I think 335$ does the job so I made a big mistake. Although vs spewtards you never know, just wanted to make sure he folds I guess.

this seems absurd to me:

PokerStars Game #60636787479: Hold'em No Limit ($50/$100 USD) - 2011/04/10 17:40:49 ET
Table 'Showdown 8' 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: urnotindangr ($21200 in chips)
Seat 2: Isildur1 ($25300 in chips)
urnotindangr: posts small blind $50
Isildur1: posts big blind $100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
urnotindangr: raises $200 to $300
Isildur1: calls $200
*** FLOP *** [2c 5d 8c]
Isildur1: checks
urnotindangr: bets $400
Isildur1: raises $900 to $1300
urnotindangr: calls $900
*** TURN *** [2c 5d 8c] [7c]
Isildur1: checks
urnotindangr: bets $2600
Isildur1: calls $2600
*** RIVER *** [2c 5d 8c 7c] [9s]
Isildur1: checks
urnotindangr: bets $6400
Isildur1: calls $6400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
urnotindangr: shows [3c As] (high card Ace)
Isildur1: shows [2h 2s] (three of a kind, Deuces)
Isildur1 collected $21200 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $21200 | Rake $0
Board [2c 5d 8c 7c 9s]
Seat 1: urnotindangr (button) (small blind) showed [3c As] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 2: Isildur1 (big blind) showed [2h 2s] and won ($21200) with three of a kind, Deuces

Nice little night time grind, and as usual the games didn't disappoint with an average of 2 whales at each table.

26/100hrs.

Bonus hand for Iz, but don't talk about it here plz

$3/$6 No Limit Holdem
OnGame
3 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
Alexos (BTN) ($600)
SB ($594)
BB ($918)

Pre-Flop: ($9, 3 players) Alexos is BTN
Alexos raises to $12, SB folds, BB raises to $50, Alexos calls $38

Flop: ($103, 2 players)
BB bets $60, Alexos calls $60

Turn: ($223, 2 players)
BB bets $125, Alexos goes all-in $490, BB calls $365

River: ($1,203, 2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $1,203
BB shows

Alexos shows


Alexos wins $1,201 (net +$601)

BB lost $600

GN!

I'm a huge sucker for well-written, inspirational articles : Kids These Days - Taylor

Got my knee brace done this morning, and went to the gym afterwards. Also bought this foam roller the other day and tried out yesterday, man it hurts but feels so great afterwards, just like a massage.

Time to grinddd!

Brutal day yest, down 5.5k at 2/4 and 3/6, managed to lose hands in every way possible. Only a few hands I'd take back despite the feeling of tilt through the sesh, sigh!

As punishment, today I'll 8-9 table 2/4-5/10 for 5hr straight, or try to. The only way to quit out of this is be up 10 buyins and drop down to 6 buyins. This will hopefully improve my tilt control and endurance. Wish me luck.

More fun articles for you guys : Jose [Girah] Macedo - The guy is a true inspiration to anyone wanting to make it big in poker.

wow that guys stats/winnings screen capture is so sick!

the last two links you've posted and renewed my motivation to wanting to move up and play higher stakes and not just settle on what has become my status-quo of part-time poker.

Thanks!

90min in, down 2kish but mostly because of one pot with KK at 10/20. Focus is good, getting to 3hrs will be a breeze.

If anyone is interested in splitting some costly group coaching with this Portuguese kid lmk

3hr mark, took a 12min lunch break and ready to go for 2 more hrs.

Got some nice coolers at 10/20 to go down to -7k but made a nice comeback and up 1k now. Left with an 8k stack since I decided I wasn't ready to make hero calls 250bb deep vs the best regs. Hopefully the upswing continues.

Originally Posted by Alexos

3hr mark, took a 12min lunch break and ready to go for 2 more hrs.

Got some nice coolers at 10/20 to go down to -7k but made a nice comeback and up 1k now. Left with an 8k stack since I decided I wasn't ready to make hero calls 250bb deep vs the best regs. Hopefully the upswing continues.

lol oh man sick swings

4hrs, wouldn't mind to stop now lol

wow 8k swing ftw, i remember those days and I don't miss them

Won at SD like 40% so wtv. Super pleased with the comeback, played A+ game for 4hrs and B- game the last hour. Now I know I have the endurance to play longer sessions while staying on my A game, and, once again, I realized the benefits of not playing too many tables, and hopefully this time I stick to it. NINE tables on my screen max, this is optimal for me! For those of you playing on ongame, if you catch me sitting at more than 9 tables and have proof, I will give you a 300$ BR infusion.

WOW nice comeback! keep it up!

Today: grind city, print manies, etc.

Tonight: playoffs start, zomg!



Whoooaatttt!

I'm such a fish for being addicted to this song : YouTube - Pitbull - Give Me Everything (Tonight) [NEW!]

2/4 and 3/6





I run sooo bad No but for real, this 9 tabling is so good, I actually know what happened in previous streets, can use timing tells to my advantage, don't tilt because I can actually breathe between hands, and can put in longer sessions of proper poker.

I should grind more, but as you can see from the graph, the trend isn't my friend here.

Gonna reward myself with a nice Habs win tonight. Go HABS GOGOGOGGOOOO!!!

Standard doomswitching myself. Fu again poker gods.



But at least the habs won.

poast moar hands sir!

Originally Posted by baudib

poast moar hands sir!

Alright, less graphs more hands it is. Here's two from my last session, vs one of these late nite sharks. In order but on 2 diff tables.


$3/$6 No Limit Holdem
OnGame
5 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($330.25)
CO ($788.05)
BTN ($803.50)
SB ($1,470.55)
Alexos (BB) ($600)

Pre-Flop: ($9, 5 players) Alexos is BB
3 folds, SB raises to $18, Alexos raises to $54, SB calls $36

Flop: ($108, 2 players)
SB checks, Alexos bets $60, SB calls $60

Turn: ($228, 2 players)
SB checks, Alexos checks

River: ($228, 2 players)
SB bets $45, Alexos raises to $265, SB raises to $1,023, Alexos calls $221

Final Pot: $1,737
SB shows

Alexos shows


Alexos wins $1,197 (net +$597)

SB collects $537 (net -$600)



$3/$6 No Limit Holdem
OnGame
5 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($705.50)
CO ($814.55)
Alexos (BTN) ($1,176)
SB ($716)
BB ($841.05)

Pre-Flop: ($9, 5 players) Alexos is BTN
1 fold, CO raises to $18, Alexos raises to $63, 2 folds, CO calls $45

Flop: ($135, 2 players)
CO checks, Alexos bets $75, CO calls $75

Turn: ($285, 2 players)
CO checks, Alexos bets $180, CO calls $180

River: ($645, 2 players)
CO checks, Alexos bets $858, CO calls $496.55

Final Pot: $1,999.55
Alexos shows


Alexos wins $1,996.55 (net +$820.55)

CO lost $814.55

geezus christ that K9 hand is so awesome. It's gorgeous because he's only shoving flushes there for value and he's c/raising like 70% of them so your call is butter. AJ pretty nice too. VNHs

I like the idea of the K9 hand, but I told alex last night that I really don't like the sizing. It takes a complete complete tool to be re-bluff shoving for only $200 more given the pot size.

I'd prefer it if we went $45 -> $160 or something like that.

AJ hand is pretty sweet!

Originally Posted by griffey24

I like the idea of the K9 hand, but I told alex last night that I really don't like the sizing. It takes a complete complete tool to be re-bluff shoving for only $200 more given the pot size.

I'd prefer it if we went $45 -> $160 or something like that.

AJ hand is pretty sweet!

Yea but my plan wasn't for him to bluffshove over, for some reason I thought he had a Queen here and would call a raise. But I guess there's more combos of 75, 79, 9T, TJ than pairs so a small raise to induce would work better vs most, agreed.

Sick K9 hand IMO from both players. Obv. your play > his. What'd he have in the AJ hand? JT?

43hh

Playing some of my best poker ever these days. I'm going with my reads, thinking about every hand, taking the best lines (i think?) and it usually ends up being very non-standard. Just gonna post this one hand from today though.

Me stationning :

$5/$10 No Limit Holdem
OnGame
5 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($667)
CO ($989)
BTN ($1,843)
SB ($2,734.50)
alexos (BB) ($1,153)

Pre-Flop: ($15, 5 players) alexos is BB
UTG raises to $21, CO raises to $80, 2 folds, alexos raises to $190, UTG folds, CO calls $110

Flop: ($406, 2 players)
alexos checks, CO checks

Turn: ($406, 2 players)
alexos checks, CO bets $130, alexos calls $130

River: ($666, 2 players)
alexos checks, CO bets $669, alexos calls $669

Final Pot: $2,004
alexos shows

CO shows


alexos wins $2,001 (net +$1,012)

UTG lost $21
CO lost $989

53hrs on the month, feeling good even though I'm not up a ton. Last few days I've never had so many bad turn/rivers in a while and it didn't affect me one bit. Gonna take a break from the grind and watch some playoff hockey right now, peace.

Go Habs!

Binked a Betfair VIP freeroll today for 5.7k. First two got the prize and unfortunately Griffey had to go out third, but thankfull for him we did swap 40%. Feeling pretty good poker wise, im prob on top of my game and never felt as confident in a looooong time. Gonna watch some TV tonight and hopefully have a big day tomorrow.

So looks like I'm going to the UFC fight in Toronto with Grif and Rav, which will be sweeeet! I might win a second ticket if I grind a bit today, lol Betfair promos. Not even sure what I'll do with it, but I'll prob have to waste it on my gf (waste is the right word here, as she doesn't like any fighting sports).

In other news I'm feeling sick past 2 days, haven't been to the gym since friday, and haven't been grinding as much, and when I have I've been losing mucho buyins. Hopefully I can get back on track tomorrow and finish the month on a sick upswing.

So I got some lessons from watching Poker After Dark's PLO cash game this week, and decided to fire up some tables since I feel too sick to play NLHE. I'm clearly a shark at this game. Still have no clue what's going on sometimes, but I feel like what I've learned in NL + the 5k hands per yr at PLO + training vids over the years are starting to add up, prob a winner at 2/2 PLO.

2/2 PLO.

Great article imo : Keeping Us Safe from Poker - The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com

Originally Posted by Alexos

unfortunately Griffey had to go out third, but thankfull for him we did swap 40%.

how does this work, then? he gets a percentage of you in these wsop events?

congrats on binking the package!

AKs hand is def. weird but sweet! nh

Originally Posted by courtiebee

how does this work, then? he gets a percentage of you in these wsop events?

congrats on binking the package!

yep, and 40% of the cash I got. Thx for reminding me!

enter Rav reminding you that I have 10% of you when you bink as well shipship

Neeeed. Tooo. Grindddd...It's freaking impossible with all these distractions (i.e hockey playoffs) around. Also leaving for Toronto Friday so need to put at leaaast 10k hands until then.

Also, I had a few PM's from ppl wanting to join Betfair. They're topping up new players RB to 40% (highest echelon of the VIP system) for May and June, so before April 30th would be a good time to join if you plan on doing so.

Here we go.

I wrote a short TR for the Toronto trip last night but it got erased, then I went on forum tilt and had to quit my forum session. I'm too lazy to write it all again, but gonna say I had a lot of fun and got to hang out with some cool people.

Poker wise I failed my hourly goal yet again. Only 75hrs out of 100, very very shameful, and I don't have any good excuse for it. Results were okay, another 20k ish month and looking good on the year. I'm looking at my results and the past few months my winrate is like 1bb at 2/4, 8bb at 3/6 and 5/10. I also have more fun playing the higher stakes, and playing fewer tables. So here we go again, gonna play the higher stakes, and hopefully not run like death at 10/20 like last time. 100hr goal still stands for May.

Originally Posted by Alexos

I wrote a short TR for the Toronto trip last night but it got erased, then I went on forum tilt and had to quit my forum session. I'm too lazy to write it all again, but gonna say I had a lot of fun and got to hang out with some cool people.

I'll nom you for blog of May if you re-write it haha

Originally Posted by griffey24

I'll nom you for blog of May if you re-write it haha

I'm already nominated, but I'll let you win just so I don't have to re-write

I might write a TR for my "search and destroy a massive spider in my condo" operation instead. Cliff notes : Alexos 1, Massive spider 0. Coronary report says he died of head trauma.

Originally Posted by Alexos

I'm already nominated, but I'll let you win just so I don't have to re-write

haha I said nomination for May!.. that's the april nom's.. stay on top of this

Originally Posted by Alexos

I might write a TR for my "search and destroy a massive spider in my condo" operation instead. Cliff notes : Alexos 1, Massive spider 0. Coronary report says he died of head trauma.

lol

Man I'm so confused lately about my poker goals, and what I want to accomplish with this game. Last year I've been grinding a lot of midstakes, not that much 5/10, and very little over that. I ran like trash, over 100 BI under EV. I felt kinda numb towards poker. The runbad really didn't affect me too much since I'm way overroled for midstakes, but my passion for the game just kinda died down. I'd just fire 10 tables, play decent for the most part, and grind out a 2ptbb winrate or wtv. I remember back in the Crypto days, I was actually hungry to play the highest stakes on the site. Whenever a fish was sitting, even up to 70/140 NL, I'd give it a shot. As a result, 2008 was an amazing year for me. Then Crypto abandonned us, and I had to find a new home. 2009 was pretty uneventful, I was distracted with a lot of real life stuff and I had a decent year. Whatever. And then 2010 runbad and autopiloting.

So I need to figure out what to do now. One thing I know for sure is that 12 tabling 2/4 isn't for me. Results prove this, if we take the past 100k hands from each limit, 2/4 will be the shittiest winrate. I'm not playing to make a living here, I'm playing to secure my retirement or business endeavours or a yacht in the Caribbean ffs (eventually :P).

So why do I always go back to 2/4? I think I'm just scared of losing a bunch. My "strategy" has always been to play more when winning, and play higher when winning, and it's worked well for me. But what if I just always played high and dealt with the swings, I'm sure it woulda been even better. So I truly need to desensitize myself from losses, and just grind through the downswings instead of always ending up at 2/4 and drooling over freaking rakerace results. So what if I have a -20k month, every successfull HSNL player has had -100k+ months, and they are laughing in our faces with their millions in the bank.

Let's do this. Hopefully my newly found motivation lasts for more than 1 week this time

good post, just fkn do it

What if you set a loss limit. Like you actually continue with this goal UNTIL you have one of those losing months that you say every high stakes player eventually has.

Operation high stakes until $-50k in a month? Only when you hit $50k can you think about some short term midstakes grind?

Originally Posted by griffey24

What if you set a loss limit. Like you actually continue with this goal UNTIL you have one of those losing months that you say every high stakes player eventually has.

Operation high stakes until $-50k in a month? Only when you hit $50k can you think about some short term midstakes grind?

I mean let's be serious here, I prob won't be able to tolerate a -50k month off the bat, but the idea is to get better at it. Having a mental limit where I know I'll have to move back down is counter intuitive with what I'm trying to accomplish here. Right now I just have 30k on Betfair and 25k on Stars and I'll keep my BR online relatively low given recent event. Those BR will be a natural stop loss in case things go bad. I mean let's say I lose 20k even, I can grind 5/10 with like 15 buyins no prob. I just want to stay away from 12 tabling 2/4, it's bad for me!

start staking me in big donkaments as a contribution to your poker RRSP

edit: variance reduction clearly

Originally Posted by Genitruc

start staking me in big donkaments as a contribution to your poker RRSP

edit: variance reduction clearly

Get on msn.

Not winning:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

ewww, what was the sick dip from 14.5k hands to 16k?

Originally Posted by Alexos

Man I'm so confused lately about my poker goals, and what I want to accomplish with this game. Last year I've been grinding a lot of midstakes, not that much 5/10, and very little over that. I ran like trash, over 100 BI under EV. I felt kinda numb towards poker. The runbad really didn't affect me too much since I'm way overroled for midstakes, but my passion for the game just kinda died down. I'd just fire 10 tables, play decent for the most part, and grind out a 2ptbb winrate or wtv. I remember back in the Crypto days, I was actually hungry to play the highest stakes on the site. Whenever a fish was sitting, even up to 70/140 NL, I'd give it a shot. As a result, 2008 was an amazing year for me. Then Crypto abandonned us, and I had to find a new home. 2009 was pretty uneventful, I was distracted with a lot of real life stuff and I had a decent year. Whatever. And then 2010 runbad and autopiloting.

So I need to figure out what to do now. One thing I know for sure is that 12 tabling 2/4 isn't for me. Results prove this, if we take the past 100k hands from each limit, 2/4 will be the shittiest winrate. I'm not playing to make a living here, I'm playing to secure my retirement or business endeavours or a yacht in the Caribbean ffs (eventually :P).

So why do I always go back to 2/4? I think I'm just scared of losing a bunch. My "strategy" has always been to play more when winning, and play higher when winning, and it's worked well for me. But what if I just always played high and dealt with the swings, I'm sure it woulda been even better. So I truly need to desensitize myself from losses, and just grind through the downswings instead of always ending up at 2/4 and drooling over freaking rakerace results. So what if I have a -20k month, every successfull HSNL player has had -100k+ months, and they are laughing in our faces with their millions in the bank.

Let's do this. Hopefully my newly found motivation lasts for more than 1 week this time

I love this post. GL sir.

So I had a little -18k ish downswing last week, in the span of about 3 days. It's not that big in terms of buyins I guess but I kind of freaked out a bit since I haven't had those swings in a while. Taking a couple days break from cash games def. felt pretty good and I'm ready to get back at it tomorrow. I also re-read Samo's well on 2p2 and it was pretty inspiring. Someone brought up one of Sauce's old blogs where he talks about Samo's game and how unconventional/weird/seemingly bad plays can actually be correct and better than conventional 2p2 wizdom. And I quote:

Samo totally melted my skull because he played every single pot with me. If I opened the button to 3x with around 50% of my hands, he would defend the BB (or SB even) with 60% of his range and then 3bet maybe 8%. He would open preflop from everywhere constantly and call an open with anything suited and even remotely connected regardless of the opener. I noted all of these things and in my head I had been drilled via 2p2 that he had to be doing something horribly wrong. Yet as much as I tried to make him fold too much or call too much he just seemed to make straights and flushes and induce me to payoff in spots I had not even envisioned. I vividly remember two hands where after the river I replayed the action in my head over and over shuddering like a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder, blinking irregularly.
I open UTG to 3x with AK and 160 BB stacks, aggro regular on the button makes it 11x, samo flat calls in the BB. I think and make it say 28x, btn reg folds, samo calls after a slight pause. Flop comes down something innocuous and paired say 884r. Samo leads out for maybe 42bb into a 70bb pot I have 130BB behind or so. I'm dumbstruck and replay the hand in my head, decide he would be far more circumspect with a hand like TT or JJ or QQ, would jam AA or KK in preflop and so must have the other AK or maybe an AQs type of hand. I jam, he snaps, shows down AA. Blink.
Folds around to Samo in the SB, who opens for 3x with 110 BB stacks. I have ATs and make it 10x as he doesn't fold to 3bets even oop and tends to 4bet strong so I can 3bet/fold my hand (good job me). he calls flop comes down QT4r. He checks I check with what I suppose is the intention of inducing something and getting to showdown, which is fine. Turn is a 2h bringing a runner FD. he checks I bet 2/3 pot he calls. I remember at this point being so sure I had the best hand, and the betting lead that all I was considering was how big I could get paid off on the river. River 8h or something similar. I bet pretty large trying to represent (what am I bluffing with?) AK or air I suppose Samo ships it in I snap thinking he must be bluffing since why would he check/call a draw once I had checked the flop? He has 65hh. Blink.

This began one of those strange moments in my poker career where I actually improved as a poker player but began to play worse and worse. People thinking on three levels effectively had prodded me into the consciousness that these levels existed and could be used against me. But in this new realm of possibility I would constantly see phantoms, monsters under the bed and completely lost sight of what was readily apparent to my opponents. I was a giant calling station, so they would find ways to make me call. Some of my countermeasures against Samo and JMC began to bear fruit but all this did was slow my decline which was also fueled by my first serious downswing, I think I lost 50k or so going into October without realizing why.

Obviously Sauce is a genius and he figured it out, so maybe I should get some of that coaching...It relates pretty well with what's going on at higher stakes games on Ongame, some regs just play fkin weird but somehow it works out for them and I still have no clue what they're doing. The only thing that can solve this is playing few tables until I figure it out, and paying attention. Also, when in doubt, play tight.

Oh and I played a few donkaments today, and I'm going into Day 2 of Scoop 19-M 18th/27. Going to officially use my one time for this one.