The Aspiring Stacker

I've decided to start up a blog to document my journey of (hopefully!) fish stacking balladom.

Although I'm an avid gamer, I had never been tempted by poker and honestly didn't think I ever would be. I'd played the odd cash game with friends (by odd I mean like 2). Won one, lost one, wasn't much fussed. Then I met a boy who managed to convince me it might just be my kinda thing so I thought wth, maybe I can win me a new handbag! Little did I realise I would lose milty hours of precious exam revision time during the final year of my undergraduate degree...two weeks later I have done nothing but grind!

My appreciation for poker has grown exponentially over the past couple of weeks. This game is actually genius. I was reading a post somewhere (would link it but can't seem to find it just now) about how each situation is essentially unique as there are billions of possible combinations of hands, opponents, betting patterns, what have you. I hadn't really appreciated how much problem solving etc went into this and the sheer amount of learning! I am incredibly humbled by how little I know. Good thing I enjoy a good challenge; it only serves to motivate me more!

Luckily I have a super awesome coach - Carroters has been an excellent teacher, I definitely recommend him! After each lesson I've found that my game has improved dramatically - I'm now up 7 BIs from my start up roll after a rubbish 8 BI downswing and I aim to be hitting the 5NL tables by the end of May. The Beginners Digest has also been very helpful and now that I'm starting to post hands (via Carroters until I figure out why it's not working on my own computer - don't even start hating Macs on me cause PC users just don't realise how behind the times they are!) I hope I'll be hitting the exponential bit of my learning curve shortly.

Things I've learned the past couple of weeks:

1. Iz feesh.
2. Iz stupid feesh.
3. Iz stupid spewy feesh.
4. Iz stupid spewy LAgg tard feesh.

A very good lesson learnt today: PFR is key! Watch out when those loose feeshes open pre-flop with low PFR. Can't assume their range is wide. Oops.

Moving forward:

1. Tighter play
2. Learn about pot odds and relative hand strength
3. Work on putting opponents on ranges
4. STUDY STUDY STUDY (and not only poker!!)

Stay tuned.

Great luck! Carroters will for sure get you to where you aspire to be. Definitely love when someone new understands and appreciates how astounding this game really is.

I haz poker geek g/f. I haz poker geek g/f. I haz poker geek g/f.

Ship it. That is all.

Originally Posted by Carroters

I haz poker geek g/f. I haz poker geek g/f. I haz poker geek g/f.

Ship it. That is all.

ship the pics or gtfo

that is all

Originally Posted by daven

ship the pics or gtfo

that is all

Jealousy itt....

I'm sure Petulie can ship her own pics if she wants to prove her gender/good looks.

Boys! I feel no need to prove anything except my ability to whoop feeshes. So far so good, up another 8 BIs since posting. Tight play is so the way forward at this stage. Shame I soon have to deactivate Stars for the sake of my degree...

My work ethic isn't on top form at the moment. Procrastination has reached desperate levels.

Tonight I limited the amount I was allowed to play poker, so instead I finally tidied my bedroom which had turned into a mega complicated obstacle course that entailed lots of tripping and stubbed toes in the middle of the night; put some washing on which contained like 117 of Carroter's socks - the boy already has me doing his laundry, sigh; cleaned the kitchen; I even swept the floor in the living room. (I should maybe add some context here - it's not cause I'm one of these clean freak girls. My house is only ever spotless when exams are round the corner.) I then hopped in the bath and read about poker rather than biology. Three hours later I was a frozen prune but also a slightly more knowledgeable one! A lot of new ideas which will take some time to sink in and even longer before I see myself effectively applying all of them.

There was one comment I read tonight by rpm on a thread regarding someone's stats which initiated my Poker Notes word doc. This was in relation to 3-betting and adjusting your 3-bet ranges according to your opponent's 3-bet calling ranges. I hadn't come across this whole 3-betting for value idea before, and I'll have difficulty applying it until I'm better able to place my opponents on ranges however I've noted it (now in two places!) for a later date.

I have begun with ranging. I have little idea of where I'm going with it just now - plenty of ranging articles on my 'to read' list and a lesson in store with Carroters. Right now the only opponents I feel I am able to get reasonable reads on (at an ultimate beginner's level obv!) are nits. No idea about the loose 2NL feeshes yet, but this is something I'm very aware I need to start doing.

So I aim to start posting more hands and including my thought processes in this for critique. I realise I'll have to swallow my pride which won't be an easy thing but it'll do me some good I'm sure. I just hope you lot aren't too rough! I'm also going to go down to 1-tabling and try my patience while I practice setting everyone on ranges, predicting what their next actions will be, and understanding what their actual actions meant. A tall order it seems just now but try, try again.

Enough rambling. A quick list of articles/posts I found particularly interesting/informative tonight:

• How to Review Your Sessions by spenda
• Continuation Betting in NL Hold'em by spenda
• Put Your Opponent On A Goddamn Range by spoonitnow

I'm sure there were more but it has reached that point in the morning where my brain begins shutting down. (I am ridiculously nocturnal.) I should maybe note them next time as I come across them rather than assuming I can find them when I want them. That was a brilliantly worded sentenced. Definitely time to catch some Zs.

One final note. rpm has also compiled a great list of articles/posts on NLHE I'll have to make my way through. I also plan to read and re-read basically everything spoonitnow has ever written. The guy's genius.

Good night/morning/whatever.

you seem to have a great attitude, gl

Originally Posted by unclesteve

you seem to have a great attitude, gl

Thanks man, I really hope so! Seems that's pretty key to becoming a great poker player

welcome to ftr, glgl

I posted a hand with some analysis the other day and I've been so pleased by the positive response. Thanks to everyone helping out, I really appreciate it! I'm really glad to find I'm on the right track. An interesting concept came up which I hadn't considered - it takes stronger hand to call than to raise pre-flop. This makes sense considering how tight calling ranges are as opposed to opening ranges in the same position. I have certainly taken this on board in my preflop strategy and I'm sure it has been saving me some pretty pennies.

Things are beginning to click into place now. One great revelation was the fact that I should play against ranges and not the random hand my opponent may have. For example, rather than thinking "Oh shit, (s)he might have the 8", realising that there aren't many 8s in my opponent's range and basing my decisions upon that.

Another concept I struggle with as a spewy fish is needing reasons to bet post-flop. One better than "Let's scare the shit out of this dumbass and take his monies!" I am improving on this, particularly now that my line of thought is developing as I work on understanding the game.

Continuation betting is an example of this. Carroters and I have previously discussed c-bets, however I found this a more complicated topic than the straight forward charts we laid out for opening/calling pre-flop. My approach was to c-bet essentially every flop in the hopes that either my opponent(s) would fold to my shitty cards or call my equity. In our last lesson we revised this topic and laid down a few good guidelines which has really helped my post-flop play. I shall summarise these below.

Reasons to c-bet: 1) Dry(ish) board texture. 2) One opponent. 3) Looser opponent - take advantage of these with unpolarised c-betting. 4) No showdown value. 5) Showdown value is weak i.e. very vulnerable. 6) Flopping equity e.g. straight/flush draws. 7) Value betting.

Reasons not to c-bet: 1) Showdown value is strong, however not entirely invulnerable e.g. strong middle pair. 2) Clear turn plan. 3) Tighter opponent. 4) Multiway pots.

So the line of thought when deciding whether to c-bet goes:
1) Board texture. 2) Number of opponents. 3) Opponent range(s). 4) Equity? 5) Showdown value?

If anyone has any other considerations to add to these, I'd be grateful.

In other news, my favourite present to give birthday folk is now a Stars account with a $40 roll to get them started on 2NL. That accompanied by a PT3 trial and a brief spiel about tight pre-flop strategy. I'm recruiting more ladies to the poker world and I am strongly encouraging them to join FTR, so I expect a warm welcome guys!

Also, my bankroll is steadily growing and I've just received the first of my bonuses, so 5NL may not be so far away...

This space may go a bit quiet over the next couple of weeks; exams have just commenced. One down and so far so good!

Brief update: I've moved up in stakes! Didn't take long to conquer the 2NL fishes after all. Pretty chuffed. I would change my aim to hitting 10NL by end of May except that may not be so realistic, and I'll probably cash out a bit to pay for my HUD.

Some differences I've observed between 2 and 5NL:

1. Nittier - both my opponents and myself!
2. More regs/fewer whales. Still loads of stations.
3. Less limping
4. $10+ pots - eek! Blank! Blank!

Only played a few hundred hands so can't say too much. Going well so far, hope it continues this way!

Good luck with your exams... I was thinking that was why you didn't seem to be around here.

Originally Posted by Petulie

and I'll probably cash out a bit to pay for my HUD.

Get the boyfriend to pay for the damn hud!

Originally Posted by derekeverett

Get the boyfriend to pay for the damn hud!

nou

Originally Posted by Petulie

Brief update: I've moved up in stakes! Didn't take long to conquer the 2NL fishes after all. Pretty chuffed.

nice work! and good luck on your journey to balladom

All's quiet on the poker front. I played a bit of 5NL and was going really well. Then, just as I felt like I'd finally gotten used to the larger pots etc, I hit a pretty bad ass downswing. 5BIs when you've just moved up a stake actually hurts a little! Carroters says I was due some bad variance but I'm sure there were also heaps of bad decisions involved.

So I've taken a break. Just as well seeing as I'm in the middle of exams. That's another one down and I almost feel bad about how well they've been going. I suspect I may get better marks than folk that have put in a hell of a lot more effort than me... Looking forward to come Tuesday when I'll never have to sit another written exam, woohoo!

That's when I get crackin' on my new plan of action:

1) Move down to 2NL. Gutted. I've still got 15BIs for 5NL, but I figure I may as well rebuild my confidence and BR at 2NL, get some studying etc done before taking the next shot.

2) Lots and lots and lots of reading. There are several topics I'm wanting to cover - reading lists to follow once I've got access to my bookmarks. Expect plenty of posts trying to tie everything I'm learning together.

3) Hand reviews of my 5NL sessions. Figure out what went wrong, how much was variance vs bad decisions, and formulate rough plans for post-flop cause my strategy sucks.

4) Post the most interesting hands. Also need to go back and learn about calculating equity and pot odds on that thread from ages back.

5) Milk 5NL!

Originally Posted by Petulie

In other news, my favourite present to give birthday folk is now a Stars account with a $40 roll to get them started on 2NL. That accompanied by a PT3 trial and a brief spiel about tight pre-flop strategy. I'm recruiting more ladies to the poker world and I am strongly encouraging them to join FTR, so I expect a warm welcome guys!
...

you can take that a stage further , sign up as a stars affiliate and make 75$ per signup so the present you are giving actually makes you 35$ .

Yo yo yo! Petuliefish is back!

Been pretty busy what with getting a life back after exams, I haven't even had much time to grind. Did manage to get a few k hands in and man I've been crushing 5NL! Nice to run good - check it!



Feels like things are really falling into place now. Earlier on it felt like I was miles away from putting any of my opponents on a range, but now I even have a feel for my own ranges when I take particular lines. It's also much easier to identify opponents that are easy to exploit, not only in neighbouring seats, and I've begun identifying good spots for 3 bet bluffs preflop, check/raising flops, etc.

Something that has really helped is discussing poker with my friends. Two of my mates have recently started playing and so I've been talking them through tight pre-flop strategy etc and writing up some of the more basic concepts for them with loads of links from ftr. Sweats have been particularly helpful as it forces me to explicity describe my line of thought and reasoning behind each decision. They're still total noobs and I'm sure a fair amount goes straight over their heads, but it helps me regardless and they're beginning to catch on. My little poker babies! They shall be crushing the micros soon too I hope!

HH reviews have also helped a bunch. Man do I facepalm when going through them. I've been quite surprised by the number of mistakes I don't spot while at the tables! Been discussing the more difficult spots with Carrotz but I should really get posting them on here and hear what youse think as well.

Obviously there's still loads I need to work on, but I'm feeling much more confident. If only I had more time to grind/study! Will have to wait til August I'm afraid - soon away to Amsterdam for a month, I'm so excited! It's the last long summer holiday I'll have in a good few years so better make the best of it!

Anywhos, thought an update was in order as this space has died and I didn't want everyone thinking I was a hit and run. Happy summer and gl at the tables guys!

liking the look of the last 20K hands there.

graph looks very much...

struggle, struggle, yes, no, struggle, struggle yes, no.. ah ha! SUCCESS.

Originally Posted by scott_owen

graph looks very much...

struggle, struggle, yes, no, struggle, struggle yes, no.. ah ha! SUCCESS.

Haha, totally spot on. The big downswings were my first two attempts at 5NL - was a tough one to crack!

Originally Posted by Petulie

Haha, totally spot on. The big downswings were my first two attempts at 5NL - was a tough one to crack!

when you move up don't over think it, play the same, adjust gradually. The thinking of your villains is the same.. you just have different combinations of villain styles at the table.

be patient, focus, win.

Hey dudes, back from hols and back on the grind!

Man, what an epic couple of vacations. Started off with a week in Amsterdam with Carrotz doing the touristy thing with coffeeshop crawling, canal biking, red light districting and generally lapping up the awesomeness of the city. Unfortunately we came down with a bad ass virus so we didn't manage to hit Sensation (the ultimate rave event) and had a couple of rough days but overall it was one sweet holiday. Carrotz then ditched me for Vegas etc and I stayed on for an extra 4 weeks to catch up with my best friend who's 7 months pregnant just now - bit insane when it feels not all that long ago we were silly teenagers tripping on whatever we could get our hands on to ditch the harsh realities of puberty.

I came back home for a day and was off the next with a couple of friends to hit the highlands. First up was Speyfest aka Spewfest, a wee folk festival, and sadly (or gladly?!) none of us remember much. We were all pretty broken the day after and trying to piece things together. One guy woke up with half his face all swollen - turns out he bashed some chick over the head with a trophy he stole from the pub so she turned round and socked him a good one and he's now sporting a very attractive black eye. You don't wanna mess with those highland farmer girls! I've only got snapshots of bantering to randomers and dancing (if you can even call it that!) around like a headless fairy. I'm sure there's something in the air up there that takes you to that whole other level of wastedness...

We then went camping for a few days and the absolute highlight of my summer was canyoning. Totally never been tempted by any of these outdoorsy things having always been raised to take care and avoid even getting bruised, but a couple of bruises are totally worth the thrills of sliding down waterfalls, abseiling off cliffs and jumping into pools 25ft below!

Sigh, now back to reality. And back to grinding! I missed pokering while I was away. Unfortunately my laptop died so I'm having to use my flatmate's computer in the meanwhile which is a total pain in the cooch as I can't customise everything the way I like. Investing in a new computer soon though and I'm thinking 27" monitor for the ultimate grinding experience, plus it can double as my home cinema as I refuse to waste any time or money on television.

So poker. I'm still total balls at it - ldo. Hit another downswing before going on holiday and being away hasn't helped too much. While I did a fair amount of reading before, I really lacked on reviewing so I'm going to put more effort into that including posting hands, particularly now the carrot man isn't around to criticise my noobieness. I'm also going to dedicate more time to watching videos and actually doing some of the ranging exercises rather than just adding them to my neverending to do list.

Well, this is a post and a half! I'll leave it here for now and move on to the BC, already got a hand I want to post. See youse there.

I'm off to a running start! Two hands posted generating really positive responses, thanks to everyone who helped What a difference it has made actually. I had lost a fair amount of confidence due to my extended downswings - you can't just run bad for 10k hands at 5NL; there's a whole load of bad decisions involved! Finding out that I've played difficult spots really well has been a major confidence booster and I totally felt it when I hit the tables - I was rocking it! The discussions generated have also shown me that I actually do know something about poker (albeit not much!) and stuff is sinking in. I just need to take more time out to consider all the different factors rather than just spewing out the first thing that pops into my head e.g. when assigning villains ranges.

In other news, I'm going to be making a lot of changes in my life and I'm sure these will have a positive impact on my poker. I've been a lazy recluse for quite a while now and I'm pretty sick of it tbh. I absolutely loved skipping lectures and having so much free time, sleeping in the mornings and waking in the evenings, partying hard and stoning even harder... I figured my final year of uni was my last chance to properly live it up before entering the real world of 9-5 workdays, 28 days of holiday per year etc. Final chance to rebel against adulthood and I'm proud of how well I've done!

Time to embrace responsibility.

First up is setting myself a routine. I'm already waking up in the mornings which is a major accomplishment, even if it is 10am. I aim to get that to 7:30 by the time I start the PhD in October. Start my day off with some breakfast and stretching (and if I really get my ass in gear some exercise as well), work 9-5 with the obvious lunch and snack breaks, have an early dinner, spend a few hours either socialising or working on a project or four, have my supper, and then read/listen to the radio/watch a film until a nice early bedtime near midnight.

Second is exercise. Omg I'm so unfit it's shameful. Ima start off by signing up for a few classes per week and eventually I'll incorporate going to the gym and maybe running, depending on how my lungs fare in this cold weather. For some reason I can only run in 25C+ heat.

Third is smoking. Filthy habit, yes yes. It needs to stop. It's not like I don't need motivation - extra monies for more fun stuff, stop worrying about developing cancer, increased lung capacity for singing etc etc. Change of environment will really help when I move to a new flat and work in a new building with new folk who are all smart enough not to be dirty smokers. Most importantly, I'll prove to myself that I am strong enough to quit.

Fourth is money. I'm such a wannabe balla without the actual roll to afford it. I need to learn to actually stick to a budget, but first I need to set myself a realistic one. As much as I would like to save, student wages suck. It is possible to live off of grants and put a little aside, however, I just need the discipline to do so. Point three will certainly help in this respect.

Finally, change of attitude. I'm quite a positive person, but I could be more positive. I've become more prone to tilt (my favourite poker term - easily applied off the tables) in recent years, so I need to chill out. All the above will defo help. Also, I need to stop being so damn lazy and leaving everything to the last minute. Carpe diem! This should be my new motto.

Hopefully these efforts will also help level me out on the tables and get me on the right track for improving my game.

Just played a hand that is total lulz. So this dude joins the table and immediately sets up this mega spaz image, shoving his stack at every opportunity. I didn't realise I'd flopped a set until the river - clearly time to end the session when that happens! Anywhos I thought fuck it, jam it. I later pwned his soul with KK as well. Mwahahaha.


$0.02/$0.05 No Limit Holdem
6 Players

Button ($9.27)
SB ($5.11)
BB ($4.99)
UTG ($3.96)
Hero (MP) ($5)
CO ($4.09)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 6, 6
1 fold, Hero bets $0.20, 3 folds, BB raises to $0.35, Hero calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.72) 6, J, 10 (2 players)
BB bets $0.05, Hero calls $0.05

Turn: ($0.82) 2 (2 players)
BB bets $0.05, Hero calls $0.05

River: ($0.92) 6 (2 players)
BB bets $0.05, Hero raises to $4.55 (All-In), BB calls $4.49 (All-In)

Total pot: $10 | Rake: $0.49

Results:
BB had K, 10 (two pair, tens and sixes).
Hero had 6, 6 (four of a kind, sixes).

Outcome: Hero won $9.51

9 BI upswings at 10NL - racing through the limits! GOGOGOGO!

Originally Posted by Carroters

9 BI upswings at 10NL - racing through the limits! GOGOGOGO!

Hahaha, thanks for the brag, so nice to run good!

I don't know what happened, but I suddenly feel as if I am finally understanding this game! Carrots and I spend a fair amount of time discussing poker, or rather he usually rants while I go uh huh, yea, ok, ic. Now though I'm actively participating in these discussions and I actually have an opinion with (not always) solid arguments to back them up. I have also started critically thinking about shit rather than just lapping up everything I read or hear. Dunno when or how any of this happened, but I'm loving it! Must beware of falling into the ego trap however: Iz still stoopid feesh.

Basically, I have jumped from knowing jack all about poker to knowing something, albeit a minuscule amount. This paired with mega upswing translates to $ and totally motivates me to work harder, get better and make even more $$$. Must add however that money is merely a bonus and not my reason for wanting to improve - my roll actually has no monetary value in my head; it's just play money. Dreams of cashing out to buy Les Pauls in future do lurk however...

So I'm solidly grinding 10NL now and I absolutely love it! I'm really enjoying the challenges of playing against folk that actually have any brains. The first difference I noticed when moving up was how people adjusted to me. I steal pretty damn wide and usually I can get away with it, but the 10NL nits and regs catch on quickly and don't shy from what must be 3betting lightly. So I've had to adjust to their adjustments (4bet bluffing?! Bit creepy to start - that's a whole lotta monies hoping on a fold!) and it's been awesome to see them automatically readjust and tighten back up. 5nl fish would just be like 'oh, this chick wants to mess with me huh? I'll show her' *spaz jam 72o* So yea, keeps me on my toes, actually forces me to concentrate and improve my game and it leaves me completely shattered by the end of a long session. Have moved towards more frequent shorter sessions now ftw.

I also played my first online tourney yesterday. 240th out of 1600 odd is no bad methinks. Whew, what a rush! It was pretty fast paced and I felt so pressured for time while I was trying to figure out the optimal approach - I totally entered the table as the mega aggro cash chick. I quickly adjusted however and started limping loads of implied odds hands and with the blinds and antes going up so quickly I came to appreciate my stealing skills. When I returned to the cash tables afterwards I was all in blind stealing mode! Good fun though, even with the constant feeling of pressure from blinds and not being able to rebuy, I'm defo having another shot sometime soon. A brief discussion with Carrots on tourney strategy also has me feeling more confident for the next one (and confident in my adaptation skills! A lot of what he said I had picked up while playing!) and eventually I aim to crush some live tourneys. Bring on HU Carrots vs Pet!

Last but certainly not least is WinoBalla. One of my best mates shall be joining this great community soon. This girl has spades of potential to be one bad ass grinder. I'll leave her to do her own intro, but I will say that now she's finally got tracking software set up I suspect she'll be skyrocketing through the limits soon as well. Anywho, keep your eyes peeled for her, she's one cool chick.

Behold...I have brought you girls.....PLURAL.

The preflop 4bet is the new preflop 3bet. I'm not kidding!

glad to hear you are progressing/like les pauls.

More of an sg guy myself. Keep up the hard work and bringz moar womenz,

race ya to 100nl? you've got a headstart

Oh wow, cheers for the response guys! Chuffed youse are following, even if it is for the gurlz, haha. Speaking of which, sounds like another lady is very intrigued...

Originally Posted by daven

race ya to 100nl? you've got a headstart

You're on, daven I may be ahead but I'm feeling severely disadvantaged...still, I'm always up for a challenge!

Time for my bed. I blame the WinoDegen for it being so late. We're developing a worrying habit of 4 hour sweats in the middle of the night. Even more worrying since we plan on trading poker lessons for wine lessons and they'll likely take place simultaneously. Night all.

Oh, and I'm actually more of an acoustic girl tbh. Gibsons ftw!

Originally Posted by daven

race ya to 100nl? you've got a headstart

daven are you seriously rebuilding from 10 - 100NL + again? wouldn't it be like the 8th time you make it? heh heh

Originally Posted by Penneywize

The preflop 4bet is the new preflop 3bet. I'm not kidding!

SIGH

Originally Posted by supa

More of an sg guy myself

+1

Originally Posted by Petulie

wine lessons

wtf?

here ya go:-
1. Get Wine
2. Open Bottle
3. Drink Wine

[/lesson]

now...teach me how to play poh-kitz...

Oh man, I am on a 10NL rollercoaster! It has gone something along the lines of 10BIs up, 6 down, 9 up, 7 down, 6 up, 8 down....Blegh.

Valuable lesson learnt: I am a tilty spew tard. Works out well when I run awesomely and bulldoze fish and regs alike. When I run like ass, however, my spewiness just amplifies the losses and I have actually been watching myself tilt. It hasn't happened to such an extent before and it has made me more aware of what causes me to tilt, both on and off the tables. Unfortunately, one of the causes won't be back for another 2 weeks so I'll need to figure out some coping mechanisms. Either that or he needs to get on Skype more, hint hint, wink wink

I haven't actually had much time to grind in recent days. Well, relatively less time anyway. And with this race on I've been feeling the pressure to get hands in and as a result I've totally neglected my development. I haven't been reviewing sessions and posting difficult spots (although I have marked a few that will be going up very soon) and I certainly haven't been studying. Terrible. I have at least been discussing poker with the Wino, but I'm not convinced that cuts it as revision.

One of my problems is that I have been making adjustments to my game with little knowledge or understanding. My biggest downfall is check/raising as a (semi)bluff. As mentioned, when the poker gods are kind, this works an absolute treat. Cash it in with my set/when my draw pulls through; take down the pot when I've got utter shite. Folk have been catching on, however, and I've become aware of my image as a spaztard and have tried tightening up to just cash in on stronger hands, however the cards haven't been falling in my favour of late and when they do everyone bails. My approach needs some serious tweaking, I feel like people see my hole cards through the ethernet cables, so I've been watching some videos and jotting down some pointers and had a wee think around my strategy. Hopefully this will help.

In other news, my dinky laptop is total busto so a 27"er is on its way! so So SO excited! I haven't had a desktop computer in like 10 years, seriously looking forward to it, it's a beast! 3.4GHz, 8GB RAM, 2TB harddisk - it's sick! I remember upgrading to a 486'er with 128MB RAM and how 'ahead of the times' we were then. Christ. My dad would cream his pants if he knew what was on the market these days. Anyway, only splashing out so much on this cause it'll have to last me the next 10 years/until the pokers can finance the next upgrade. Money well invested imo. Bring on the ultimate grinding experience!

Also, flathunting commences tomorrow. 3 weeks I've got to battle it out with all the other students to find a decent place near the university before this lease is up. Wish me luck!

enjoy the rollercoaster
think about where money is made at 10nl
decide whether you want to embrace uber-variance
forget about races
post some hands
comment on hands in the bc that other people have posted - read the op and write a reply BEFORE reading what other people have written.
check-raise less often - actually, how on earth are you check-raising anyway? how do you end up playing many hands oop?
be careful vs overbets
be careful overbetting
be a little bit careful targeting the 19-15-4 at your tables (it's me)
find a nice flat
drink wine
sort out time differences and skype >> tilting away money

don't do too much of this shit:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($10.15)
MP1 ($16.34)
Hero (MP2) ($24.42)
CO ($9.05)
Button ($8.85)
SB ($5.25)
BB ($4)
UTG ($20.18)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with J, J
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.10, Hero bets $0.55, 4 folds, MP1 calls $0.45

Flop: ($1.25) 6, 3, 9 (2 players)
MP1 bets $0.40, Hero raises to $1.80, MP1 calls $1.40

Turn: ($4.85) 5 (2 players)
MP1 bets $1.20, Hero raises to $4, MP1 raises to $13.99 (All-In), Hero calls $9.99

River: ($32.83) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $32.83 | Rake: $1.63

Results below:
MP1 had 8, 7 (straight, nine high).
Hero had J, J (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: MP1 won $31.20

Ah the good ol' deathline! Thanks for all the advice daven, you're spot on.

Originally Posted by daven

check-raise less often - actually, how on earth are you check-raising anyway? how do you end up playing many hands oop?

This happens when I flat loose BU opens out of the blinds or 3bets oop, neither of which happen as often as I may have suggested! Speaking of which, I have tightened up a little in the blinds and toned down the aggression a bit. Still some fine tuning to do, but I'm selecting better spots for it and so far so good!

Not much else to report. The flat hunt has been an epic fail so far. Mainly cause I'm back to rising in the afternoon and can't seem to sort my sleeping patterns out. I blame caffeine. Cola is not a good replacement for coffee.

On to HH reviews. Catch youse in the BC.

Not had much time for the pokers of late. When I have had some time, I've just been wanting to grind and not review - awful, I know! To a certain extent I still see poker as a bit of fun and whenever I'm taking a break from whatever I'm working on I'll have a wee grind. I've run badly and played badly. Sustained tilt sucks. Serves me right tbh! It's just so much more fun to play...

Good news: I laid a deposit on a flat last week! It's a bit scruffy round the edges but man, it's an absolute stunner in comparison to some of the dumps I've rented in the past! The wino will know what I'm talking about. The location is ideal - I can literally roll outta my bed and into the labs in 3 minutes. I've never lived on this side of town before and I'm super excited about having butchers, bakeries, fish and cheese mongers etc just down the road from me. Screw the supermarket giants! The Carrot Man will also be like a 25 second walk away...not quite sure yet whether that's a good or bad thing!

Last night I attended to the classiest engagement party ever! It warms my heart to see folk put extra effort in to get out of their tracky bottoms and into a pair of jeans. The buffet of Indian takeaway underneath the bloodstained blinds was a hit. The banter outside in the smoker's corner was also delightful with a healthy sprinkling of expressions such as "you fucking fanny" and "oi, you cunt!" The best bit was when I was ready to go home and found out I'd missed the last bus by 20 minutes. This lovely gentleman was kind enough to cheer me up by showing me his beautiful £8 tattoos and his BND - baby nipple syndrome. You know what they say about men with small nipples....

Haha, in all seriousness, it was a good laugh. I just won't be heading back out to that part of town anytime soon...

I've had a think about my game and where I've been going wrong. My biggest problem is over-adjustment. I have quite a scientific approach to working on my strategy - I'll change one thing at a time and see whether it helps. Two problems with this. First, poker is far too dynamic to perform any controlled experiments on. Second, lol @ the sample sizes I've been basing my conclusions on. This is probably the worst form of results orientation!

So I need to alter my approach somewhat. I really need to make use of the masses of information on my database and learn how to get the most out of this wonderful resource. And as always, I need to get posting and discussing as FTR is an even better resource! Problem is, this sounds a little too much like work when there are so many other things I should be doing just now. I just need to man up however cause I've a long way to go before I can afford to study so little!

Originally Posted by Petulie

"oi, you cunt!"

this was exactly what poker stars quoted back to me when they banned my chat again. Well, that was part of it. Spell it with a 'k' and it gets past any chat filters...

Originally Posted by Petulie

] I really need to make use of the masses of information on my database and learn how to get the most out of this wonderful resource.

there is a quote from sauce somewhere that you may find interesting. He basically says that when he found out that he could record and analyse his playing history (PT/HEM) it was a lightbulb moment and he knew he was going to kill it.

I just need to man up

ja. Grow a pair ffs.

100nl yet?

Originally Posted by daven

100nl yet?

Haha hardly. Struggling to stay afloat at 10nl!

Ran pretty bad the past long while so took a break during the whole flat moving process, plus no interwebs anyway. Played a short sesh earlier which went a little better. Time to review!

Ok this is really weird. Carrot's flatmate has this super moody fat ginger cat and we hate each other. I pull her tail and she slices my arms. Vying over Carrot love imo. She has now been sat on my lap for like 40 mins purring away and giving me kisses. I know she's unwell atm but this must be serious if she's actually coming to me for some attention!

Well, I haven't been able to grind much of late due to still not having interwebs. I am so unhappy with my new provider - 3 weeks it has been so far and potentially another 3 before we're live again. The first two weeks were held up because they couldn't figure out what number my building was even though I had already informed them or how to pick up a telephone to ask. If they weren't so damn cheap I would insta cancel and find someone else. Been using a pay as you go public provider and it's shit. Signal comes and goes and it's the most tilting thing ever so I haven't been able to take advantage of my platinum status this month to rake in FPPs.

I have however managed to grind a little and it has been going much better due to both running better and being forced to spend more time working on my game off the tables. I've been inspired by Carrot's hand review thread and I'm planning to start one of my own. Decided that'll be a new op to keep general poker revelations and rants about life separate.

Two recent revelations.

One I always knew: I am an aggro spew tard. I bet in places where I shouldn't. I like to "take down pots" even though I have showdown value and instead inflate pots and lose myself monies over the long term. I've toned this down a bit, but it's still a major leak I need to work on.

Two. I should be 3betting more IP. I obv 3bet for value vs tighter opens, but all my 3bet bluffing was reserved for when I was defending blinds oop. I've started finding good spots to 3bet bluff on the BU. It used to be the case that my ideal seating arrangement was fish on my right for easy stacking and nits on my left for blind stealing. Now it's looser regs on my right and fishies on my left.

That's all for now. Gotta move this fatty off my lap and get on with the day! Hope everyone's doing well at the tables!

Originally Posted by Petulie

Gotta move this fatty off my lap and get on with the day!

Yeah, If I had a penny for every time I've said that over the last year! Damn fat kitten. Incase anyone's wondering here is said fatty:



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Hi guys.

This is a post of shame. For a long time I knew I was bad, but I honestly didn't think I was that bad. I thought I was better than your average 10NL player. Certainly spewy and overly aggressive, but I thought I had a definite edge. Tilt and bad luck were just holding me back from crushing it.

Nah. I'm just bad. In fact, I'm SO bad. I'm terrible. Absolutely awful. This revelation came last night and I was thoroughly disappointed. Newbie circle of death fo sho.

I had reached a point where I was comfortably rolled for 10NL and decided to stop checking the bankroll - I'm such a bad one for winning/losing a big pot and checking where I'm at mid-session. Given how prone I am to tilt anyway, I figured it would definitely be beneficial to just grind away and not worry about my roll. If I had any extended major downswings I'd check to make sure I was still rolled, and I know just recently I've had a really bad run. The past two days have been terrible. I just didn't realise how bad.

I'm gutted because the past week or so I feel like I've plugged quite a few leaks. I've stopped turning mid strength hands into bluffs so much, I've stopped flatting 3bets so widely, I've been choosing better spots to 3bet bluff and very occasionally 4bet bluff. I've also learned to be patient and very selective of hands when up against spazzy fish. I actually felt like I was playing pretty well. Clearly not.

So yea, I suck. My graph says it all. Btw, overall I'm actually up like $5 ish - this graph doesn't include the nice big upswing I had at Carrot's place last week.

Anyway, not been reviewing/posting cause my internet only went live last week and it's been utter balls. Most of my grinding has been on Carrot's computer and HEM is far too slow for my limited patience with technology to handle. Now my connection has finally started behaving I aim to get into a good routine of grinding one evening, reviewing/posting the next.

Back to 5NL. Boo. I meant to fix my win rate at that stake anyway, and I have to rebuild a fair amount. I'm not going to move back up to 10NL until I've reached at least 2.5 BB/100. Updates in Petulie Reviews tomorrow.

Outside of poker, life has been pretty damn awesome. Love the new flat, love the neighbourhood, love finally accepting adulthood. I feel like such an oldie now enjoying quiet Saturday nights in with good company, nice food and a nice bottle of wine. Officially started my PhD last week (although I've been researching for the past few weeks) and while I'm freaked about the sheer amount of work over the next 4 years, I'm raring to go. Love the project I'm doing at the moment and love the folk I'm working with. Hopefully I'll end up making a name for myself in the scientific community and make a significant contribution to helping mankind and the environment!

Hopefully also improve my game and get out of the micros...



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Originally Posted by Petulie

Back to 5NL. Boo.

eek

make sure you leave me alone...pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez!

no matter how bad you say you are [lies!], i'm the worster.

Originally Posted by Petulie

So yea, I suck. My graph says it all.

happens. Sucks.

Originally Posted by Petulie

Outside of poker, life has been pretty damn awesome. Love the new flat, love the neighbourhood, love finally accepting adulthood. I feel like such an oldie now enjoying quiet Saturday nights in with good company, nice food and a nice bottle of wine. Officially started my PhD last week (although I've been researching for the past few weeks) and while I'm freaked about the sheer amount of work over the next 4 years, I'm raring to go. Love the project I'm doing at the moment and love the folk I'm working with.

happens. Is awesome

ignore results. results are your enemy. focus on playing as best you can. and making "as best you can" better than it was the day before. that's all there is to poker.

You are too hard on yourself. Don't forget that poker is supposed to be fun! (I think)

Sometimes I think that fewer females play poker (than men) because we are just way too emotional about everything. Like we just get so upset when things go badly. Although maybe this is just an excuse so that I can blame my tilt on something else...

What's your PhD focus? Sounds like it's environmental science, which I wish I studied more back when I was in school. Good luck!

oh and rpm, I don't really agree with ignoring results. I think checking results can be important as long as you're honest about how you got them.

that's a good point. ideally i wish i could (hypothetically) look at my results after every hand and be 100% indifferent regardless of what i saw. realistically, due to completely normal psychological issues such as results-orientation and attachment, i think most of us would be better off ignoring our results for the most part.

Maybe there's another cause for your tilt. Is everything okay in your love life?

Originally Posted by rpm

that's a good point. ideally i wish i could (hypothetically) look at my results after every hand and be 100% indifferent regardless of what i saw. realistically, due to completely normal psychological issues such as results-orientation and attachment, i think most of us would be better off ignoring our results for the most part.

Yeah it's easy to say we can look at results objectively, but it's very difficult given the innate link between money and emotion. I think the not checking your bankroll is a great idea and I think you need to rediscover that passion for analyzing and learning, soaking up all that info. i think if you can get back to that kind of mind set where everything is just a quest to make sure you're playing as best you can and making good decisions, the results will take care of themselves.

Originally Posted by rpm

that's a good point. ideally i wish i could (hypothetically) look at my results after every hand and be 100% indifferent regardless of what i saw. realistically, due to completely normal psychological issues such as results-orientation and attachment, i think most of us would be better off ignoring our results for the most part.

I'm not saying to look at your bankroll during your session because obviously there's not much benefit to doing that (assuming good BR management). You said to "ignore results", though, which sounded like you don't think we should be caring about end results at all.

Originally Posted by Carroters

Yeah it's easy to say we can look at results objectively, but it's very difficult given the innate link between money and emotion. I think the not checking your bankroll is a great idea

Sure it's difficult to see your bankroll go down, but playing poker means learning to disconnect yourself from the money in the first place.

Originally Posted by courtiebee

Sure it's difficult to see your bankroll go down, but playing poker means learning to disconnect yourself from the money in the first place.

I think not checking results EVER would be optimal. I mean you obviously have to check to see when you can move up or w/e. But basically every mega grinder suggests never checking results. Also I've heard of people having their best weeks/months in periods where they don't check results at all during these periods of time. Nobody can tell me that it's better to consistently check results throughout a session/week/month as opposed to never checking.

I can't think of any reason to check results other than to know when to move up and take shots. But since you need to check results for this reason, sounds like it would be a good idea to just get used to losing money and not caring.

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Results orientation is defo not beneficial, Ima have to find out how to customise my sessions tab in PT3 so I can review without knowing how it went overall. Regardless, moving back down to 5NL was a humbling experience and I'm changing my focus from bankroll size as a sign of improvement to how I feel I've been playing during the session and while reviewing.

Originally Posted by courtiebee

What's your PhD focus? Sounds like it's environmental science

Environmental science is right, coming from a molecular biology background. Currently doing lab rotations to determine who I want to work with and on which project so no idea yet of the exact focus but something to with plants and/or bacteria to clean up environmental pollutants.

Originally Posted by Petulie

Currently doing lab rotations to determine who I want to work with and on which project so no idea yet of the exact focus but something to with plants and/or bacteria to clean up environmental pollutants.

that sounds really interesting. be sure to post when once you've picked your project cuz i'd really like to know for some reason (living vicariously through you or something)

an interesting way to deal with results orientated stuff is something i'm trying out again
1 - set a start date
2 - remove $$ won/lost and EV$ etc from all reports that you look at
3 - don't open cashier until you have played 10k hands
4 - repeat

for me this also acts as a grind incentive. I play the first few thousand hands in lazy mode, then i want to know my results so i end up actually getting in the hours for a while so i can see whether i should move up/withdraw.

Hey dudes. Been quietly grinding the 5NLs, ez game. I took at shot at 10NL when I was re-rolled just to boost my VPPs and secure silverstar status for this month and unfortunately I encountered a badass run bad and so had to move back down and rebuild. Nearly rolled for 10NL again but Ima stick to my plan of achieving 2.5BB/100 on ptr before moving up.

Life has been pretty crazy. I've been mad busy juggling lab work, background reading, bf and social life. Doesn't leave much time for the pokers which saddens me a bit. Did manage to get some good volume in over the weekend thanks to this nasty cold giving me a good excuse to stay in. Haven't reviewed at all, but I've got loads of hands marked so will eventually go through them and post some up.

For those of you interested in my scientific endeavours and other general interests, I've started a new blog at Madsen MA Just got it up and running today so it's pretty bare apart from my long ass introductory post. Much more to come in the next few weeks providing more background on interests etc. Still need to come up with a decent title, ideas welcome!

Hi guys!

Sad times I'm afraid, work has taken over my life. These 12 week projects are pretty hardcore, I'm really feeling the pressure of having to produce results in this limited timeframe as I've got to write up a report and face a 45 minute viva at the end. What little free time I afford myself has to go towards friends and spacing out to Skyrim so the poker's going to be on hold for the moment. I'll still be grinding for fun occasionally, but I doubt I'll even be achieving silverstar each month!

Anyway, thanks for all the advice and support, I've really appreciated it and I'll certainly be back at some point. Until then, all the best at the tables everyone, take them fishies monies!