The Drive to $10K

I will bet you $100 that if you show me a 5k hand sample with your fold to 3bet % > 67%, that you will be in the green.

$100... let's go. If you're not in the green, I pay you $100.. if you're in the green.. you pay me $100. sounds like either way.. you're winning to me.

Alright.. the bet is on.. gooood luck!

Hope you have that $100 ready, cause I am almost there.

The $100 question.... does light green count!?

I'm thinking you gotta start running better and get those winnings up, but lookin good so far!

I think folding to 3bets in general just gets you in "folding mode" where it's contagious and you start making better folds post-flop too in diff spots.

what happened around the 1550 hand mark Jyms? looks like a 16$ bad beat or was it several hands close together?

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($57.23)
CO ($19.97)
Hero (Button) ($43)
SB ($33.56)
BB ($20)
UTG ($21.51)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
UTG bets $0.80, 2 folds, Hero raises $2.60, 2 folds, UTG raises $7.20, Hero raises $40.40 (All-In), UTG calls $13.51 (All-In)

Flop: ($43.32) 3, 9, 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($43.32) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($43.32) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $43.32

Results:
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
UTG had K, K (flush, King high).
Outcome: UTG won $42.32

At least ur red line breaks even, thats something i cant do

I've seen guys that kill the games playing either way at higher stakes, red line up or down. I don't even worry about it. I do know how to manipulate the line but I think in the passive micros it's better to be less aggro and just get paid more by made hands at showdown than trying to take away a ton of pots in non showdown style. Bet/fold will make that line stay up. any time your calling bets or Checking OOP with the intention of maybe folding later streets will destroy that line.

ouch .....could have been worse , you could have been up against the stack that covered you .

Well the only way for me to win this bet and not lose my roll was to run horribly under EV or just blow away the games and win more than enough to pay you. Knowing that if I fold to all the 3bets I will easily beat the games means I am taking the bet just to force myself to start folding vs these brutal players

I actually 4bet/folded to every 3bet and only called one or two. The other calls are actually calling all ins by short stacks which I never knew counted as calling in the stats even though I had JJ+ .






Brutal end to a good night and good week

keep it up Jyms

Lol, for a second there I thought you meant you 4-bet every time you got 3bet and then folded to shoves

Edit brainfart

hmmm stupid EV!... I guess I owe you a 100 big one's?

I'd make this bet again... with a clause that the $100 win or loss can't make you go from the red to green.. or vice versa! (like it will here )

Lol DG, I thought you were joking.

Can I get a WOOOOT WOOOOOT





Props to griffey. All $20NL.

Indeed you can!

Woot!!

woot woot!

FUCK YEAH JYMS!

Holla!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

well done Jyms, even more impressive is that the first 4k hand were more or less break even. Any particular reason you can think of for the tunaround? did you start doing anything differently or does anything show up in your stats as different between the gloom and doom and the recovery.?

Originally Posted by Keith_MM

well done Jyms, even more impressive is that the first 4k hand were more or less break even. Any particular reason you can think of for the tunaround? did you start doing anything differently or does anything show up in your stats as different between the gloom and doom and the recovery.?

It is mostly about the folding. When I was running well at $200NL I was being aggressive but careful. For some reason I lost the ability to control pots and get out of the way when I was in marginal situations and the pots were getting big. As I had to move down and the tilt monster was rearing it's ugly head I started calling way too much. 3bets preflop, were one of my biggest problems and thinking I could make up for lack of position against bad players with marginal holdings.

Griffey helped me realize I had to fold and fold a lot. The biggest thing is when your aggressive and bet in a lot of spots people won't play back with nothing at the low/micro stakes. It seems like they do because they start showing up with weak hands when your bluffing/two barrel semi bluffing but they aren't. They just play back lighter. I stopped calling 3bets and only folded/4bet. I stopped calling so much OOP with marginal hands that actually are great hands to play but require position. And lastly I just started to fold more. Think Bet/fold, and I try to figure out which hands need bets and which need to get to showdown. Robotic Cbetting is a tough spew to stop.

The other thing I needed to watch is at $100NL and $200NL even sometimes at $50NL you have to play your hands aggressively and FE is key to the actual equity you calculate. At most of $50NL and definitely $25NL and under there really is no FE. C/R strong 9-12 out draws and getting it in against guys calling with TPNK is not good profitable poker. I overvalue FE at the lower stakes.

TLR... Fold pre to 3bets, don't play OOP and Bet/fold on turn/rivers. There is no FE at the micro stakes. VBVBVB. Don't be tricky, just bet near pot with monsters. These guys have decided to call or fold before they see you bet so control the pot or balloon the pot as needed.

Folding is something I really need to get my head around as well. I've spewed off plenty to river bets thinking the fish can't have anything and there seems to be a lot of talk about bet folding being better than check calling in the Beginners circle lately. I tried that but seemed to spew just as much .Hopefully experience and time will get me better at choosing which the best option is between check folding , check calling and bet folding in different situations.

SHIPPPPPPP JYMS!.. this is just the beginning!

jyms, most 200nl players play their hands pretty straightforwardly too. not many are bluff raising beyond the usual spots.

also i think you should be posting hands, i know you think blah small stakes but if you aint looking at hands then your gonna be playin catch up when you hit 100nl. players are getting slightly better each day

nice to see you're doing good again!! sweet graph

woot woot! Go Jyms!!!
nice to see that graph going skyhigh, keep it climbing baby.

woot woot. Folding is the nuts. Folding the nuts isn't.

Now post some hands.
Even if it's as basic as 5 biggest winning and losing hands per week...

nice graph jyms and great work on patching up leaks.

Folding rocks. I definately think its playing a part in my recent results as well.

Griffey rocks, he keeps telling us to fold!

Originally Posted by bjsaust

Folding rocks. I definately think its playing a part in my recent results as well.

Griffey rocks, he keeps telling us to fold!

Do as he says, not as he does

I spend my days telling Griffey to fold !!!

Btw goood stuff Jyms, keep it going

We've never really spoken or anything...but I'm glad you pulled through.

I've been keeping up with your blog and kind of saw you as a role model of sorts. And now that you pulled through an extraordinary amount of tilt and got your head straight again...you probably rank higher in my FTR "role models" now. It takes a great poker player to not quit...and I'm glad to see you didn't.

Good work bro!

Yeah, I was going to comment on his spewmonkey ways, but figured I'd let him bask in his moment since he helped Jyms so much .

Interesting on the folding thing, I just posted in my op how the most exploitable thing I've found with Everest regs is their propensity to stackoff with TP type hands on drawy boards, they're just way too quick to assume a raise is a semi-bluff. People not folding is the theme of the day!

Originally Posted by Alexos

Originally Posted by bjsaust

Folding rocks. I definately think its playing a part in my recent results as well.

Griffey rocks, he keeps telling us to fold!

Do as he says, not as he does

I spend my days telling Griffey to fold !!!

lol this is very true... I guess this puts you at the top of the "folding pyramid"? Who tells youuuuu to fold??

I'm sure everyone has read this at some point, but it really gets you into the groove of folding:
http://tommyangelo.com/articles/folding.htm

Originally Posted by jyms

The other thing I needed to watch is at $100NL and $200NL even sometimes at $50NL you have to play your hands aggressively and FE is key to the actual equity you calculate. At most of $50NL and definitely $25NL and under there really is no FE. C/R strong 9-12 out draws and getting it in against guys calling with TPNK is not good profitable poker. I overvalue FE at the lower stakes.

TLR... Fold pre to 3bets, don't play OOP and Bet/fold on turn/rivers. There is no FE at the micro stakes. VBVBVB. Don't be tricky, just bet near pot with monsters. These guys have decided to call or fold before they see you bet so control the pot or balloon the pot as needed.

0.05/10 people at the micros actually know what is fold equity.
Therefore we use fold equity 0.05/10 times at the micros.

So took small shot at $50NL and here is the results



EV reared it's head even though I still killed them for 20BB/100

here's how the month is shaping up. At the bottom is my Prop with Griffey, you can see how the EV's killed him



The EV line has come back to even, and I have finally started winning at Showdown whilst still winning non showdowns enough to turn profit. at the Bottom of this graph my BR hit a whopping $66. Now back to over $800 including the Prop with Griffey and I cleared some bonus. I am in a couple races for cash and have some Will HIll RB to come. Should be $1K plus by month end and $50NL will be the next target.

Couple from last night.

I posted results from this one because I think we're grown up enough to look at HH without allowing results to affect the thoughts.

First one, Villain is 37/7/2.6 over 300. Neither of these calls were quick. I don"t know if I bet too much or too little on the river I really don't think he had much of a draw. What hand limp calls pre and slowly calls 2 streets that I missed value from? AK? JJ? waiting for me to not fire?


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

Hero (MP) ($89.97)
Button ($8.25)
SB ($40.47)
BB ($53.19)
UTG ($72.80)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q, K
UTG calls $0.50, Hero bets $2.25, 3 folds, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) Q, 6, 7 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $4, UTG calls $4

Turn: ($13.25) 10 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $8.50, UTG calls $8.50

River: ($30.25) 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $18.50, 1 fold

Total pot: $30.25

Results:
Hero had Q, K (flush, King high).
Outcome: Hero won $47.24

This one worked out exactly as I read it. 68/31/5.5 on very few hands. What hands call a 4bet and insta shoves flop. I figure he has AQ+,TT- QQ. I have outs vs JJ and QQ but both of those would probably think a bit before shoving. I have 6 outs at the least. I am flipping or ahead here more than half the time I think. Any thoughts.

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

SB ($39.92)
Hero (BB) ($50.37)
UTG ($49.25)
MP ($55.90)
CO ($91.25)
Button ($67.22)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A
2 folds, CO bets $1.75, Button calls $1.75, SB raises $2.75, Hero raises $12, 2 folds, SB calls $9.50

Flop: ($28.50) 2, 9, 4 (2 players)
SB bets $27.42 (All-In), Hero calls $27.42

Turn: ($83.34) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($83.34) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $83.34

Results:
SB had Q, A (high card, Ace).
Hero had K, A (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $80.34

Nice work on the month comeback! and good to see hand posted.

Hand 1: I like pre-flop and flop. Turn bet size could be bigger - i don't think this is a situation where his calling range for $8.5 varies from his calling range for $11 - and you're deep enough to need to get some decent bets in to stack. River I just bet $24 as played, similar reasoning. Against a more aggressive villain i bet $10 to try and induce.

Hand 2: I wouldn't have included AQ in his range, but results show that i'm wrong! Assuming TT+, AQs+ then you still win 1/3 so the call is fine if you can ever put other hands in his range. It's tight - but nh

It was too few hands to have any real read on what he calls 3bets with but I usually assume guys that 3bet/call 4bets have to have more than just TT JJ and QQ in their range. I was shocked to see AQo though. I only had AQs in his range. The call is close but if I give him AQs+ AKo and TT-QQ I have 41% so I have to call right? If he's stupid enough to call w/KK to see if an A flops (they do) then I still have just under 40%.

Hand 1 your right. It comes down to what I have told others. He's already decided what to do and my bet sizing changes nothing unless I do something super stupid like overbet/shove. I definitely allowed him to stay in a controlled pot and didn't allow him to make a huge mistake this deep.

I came into this thread to wish you a happy birthday, but stayed for discussion about folding... I should start doing that

Hand 2 NH. Guys a drooling idiot, just pretend you got it all in PF.

Hand 1 - turn and riv sizing is too small

Hand 2 - flop call is obv terrible, you aint flipping with 6 outs!! Since sb is such a donk if you feel he will call a 4bet then you should just shove preflop.

Originally Posted by Da GOAT

Hand 2 - flop call is obv terrible, you aint flipping with 6 outs!! Since sb is such a donk if you feel he will call a 4bet then you should just shove preflop.

If he's the kind of player to flat a 4b with QQ+ then he's probably gonna check it on the flop (plus card removal effects), especially on such a dry board with only a psb left. Surely he has enough random bs hands in his range to call? We even have a backdoor straight draw and flush draw!!

I agree. I didn't think he'd call the 4bet. I thought he'd fold/shove. When he calls here what can we put him on. Probably calling it a flip was a mistake, but having him shove less than a PSB into me puts my 6 outs and backdoor draws far enough ahead. If he's got 5% drooler in him I am far enough into the EV to make this a snap, No?

having seen your graph for June Jyms you really ought to post it in here . Any future downswings and you can just look back and reflect and think " I got the shit kicked out of me and I fought back and conquered".

Originally Posted by Keith_MM

having seen your graph for June Jyms you really ought to post it in here . Any future downswings and you can just look back and reflect and think " I got the shit kicked out of me and I fought back and conquered".

yaaah +1

good job with the comeback dude, it's awesome!

Thinking about you man. Really cool graph

Page 5, Woot

Thanks for the well wishes guys. I was debating on starting a new thread or actually continuing with this one. This one is called the drive to $10K so let's finish the drive.

Here's the update. I bottomed out big time believe it or not with a $68 roll on iPoker back during my prop with griffey and I just started 3tabling and getting my shit together and luckily ran bad enough to win the bet. I started watching some vids, and reading again(less posting in the commune) and have spent a ton of time talking either at home or at work on my Blackberry's MSN/AIM about poker. Tons of conversations going on. Griffey, Ben, Goat and others were always around at different times to talk HH's and why I sucked. One thing I had to start doing is showing my stupid hands. Sometimes you know it was stupid but you don't necessarily realize the real reason why. Anyway, I have wallowed in the $10NL and $20NL stakes on iPoker/Stars grinding points, winning races with a ton of hands played and then moved over to Party to play $25NL to actually learn to play poker I took a $400 BR and decided no more even stretches and using bonus/RB/Points as my crutch to move up because the BR allows. Since the move I have had some AHA moments. i am not sure I can put them into words yet but let's say I am running them over and playing a totally different game than I used to play. I don't think I am good yet, but I can beat the guys I am playing right now easily. I took a shot at $100NL with only 15 BI's after coming to this realization and reading some things that have made all the difference. Here's my graph since moving sites.


This is my full lot of hands at Party. Now mind you, This was all about taking shots, I only played a bit at $25NL, then at $800 I took a shot at $50NL and then When I hit $1400 I took a 4BI shot at $100NL and that's where the Boom switch hit. I dropped 8 BI's and to make a long story short, I actually tilted off the last 2 of those BI's before saying to myself, "your not doing this again". I told myself that this is the last shot I take to make a serious run at higher stakes. So I sat out and was going to quit for the night. The problem was that the 3 fish that had stacked me for multiple BI's where still sitting on my right, and were still fish. So I just tightened up, iso'd a ton and went for broke. I got back $450 in that session and ended up only down $350 after all was said and done. I told Ben it was time to move down again tomorrow.

So tomorrow came and I went to work. I spent all day going over what happened and realized I had did it again. I let the money become part of the game. I tightened up, I stopped playing my better poker game and went back to calling. I couldn't work all day, I had poker on the brain. It was eating at me about how things went. You can see the red line started to drop, the blue line (showdowns )dropped huge. I ran bad but I also started showing down to many 2nd best hands when I should be betting and folding a ton more. I talked to Ben a couple times, I read more of my book, and I figured I could still beat these guys and I have $1150 and another $100 in MB so let's get this on and start pwning these guys.

Well, that's where I stand. I am either fucked in the head and running hot or I am actually owning the tables right now. I am running at 19BB/100 over the 5500 hands of $100NL, I ran 10BB/100 at $50NL for 14K hands, but if you look at the graph, you can see how things just stated coming together. The redline stopped dropping, I was making a ton of right decisions.

My BR is $1500 on party, $1K in moneybookers and I just spent $250 on BFP for 6months and I bought some table and card mods from our friends at Tiltbuster.com. These guys rock. $29 for a table and cards that are sweet.

Anyway, lets continue the drive to $10K. Buckle up and hit me up on MSN/AIM sometime if you want to fire me a HH or talk poker. I am sometimes busy with stuff but I come back a ton. Again, thanks.

Their seems to be a different tone to the way that you are writing in the last post. I don't know whether its because you are now recovering and the bankroll is improving which has taken the pressure off but you just seem so much more confident in the way you are playing , whereas during the downswing it seemed to come across as a "this shouldn't be happening to me as i know what i'm doing and its beaten these stakes before" tone.
Congrats again on the recovery and looking forward to reading about the new improved Jyms.

Yea, I feel much more confident in my direction. I think I am on the right track again after the way things went. It's really odd how you can actually unlearn some of the more basic principles because of how you perceive things are going. Time to update the Sig.

Beware of the Donks like me I'd love to tlak hands some time, I am more of a tourney player, but cash games are fun. 50NL is right in my wheelhouse, so maybe Ill see you at the table sometime on PS. My system of building a bankroll isn't quite like yours but hopefully I can get enough $$ to move up like you have. Nice run by the way. See you on the felts

I read most of this entire operation from beginning to end. I wrote to you in the beginning when you were having your tilt issues....are those gone now? less frequent or hiding under the surface? Im glad to see you didnt give up and your on your way to completing your goal. I think i need to read up more on ranges and 4 betting and 3 betting, maybe tweak a few things, and fix a few leaks. I've been reading a lot of strategy trying to really work on my game. What do you think helped you the most to get to where you are right now......other than not tilting....can you point me to a video or strategy that you think will improve my game. i really appreciate it.
I'm interested to see where you go from here...i really do think this is only the beginning for you man. 19bb/100 at 100nl is awesome man, be proud of yourself for that shit!!!!! I know you got bills and shit but your doing great just keep up the good work. Lets just hope you keep running 19bb/100 so you can get to 200nl without any problems or setbacks. I'm pulling for you man!!!

Just in case it all goes to hell in a hand basket tonight I wanted to post this

sick comeback!!!!

jyms

how is the value of the new party points scheme?


Edit: nice garph

Originally Posted by RoyalProdigy

I read most of this entire operation from beginning to end. I wrote to you in the beginning when you were having your tilt issues....are those gone now? less frequent or hiding under the surface? Im glad to see you didn't give up and your on your way to completing your goal. I think i need to read up more on ranges and 4 betting and 3 betting, maybe tweak a few things, and fix a few leaks. I've been reading a lot of strategy trying to really work on my game. What do you think helped you the most to get to where you are right now......other than not tilting....can you point me to a video or strategy that you think will improve my game. i really appreciate it.
I'm interested to see where you go from here...i really do think this is only the beginning for you man. 19bb/100 at 100nl is awesome man, be proud of yourself for that shit!!!!! I know you got bills and shit but your doing great just keep up the good work. Lets just hope you keep running 19bb/100 so you can get to 200nl without any problems or setbacks. I'm pulling for you man!!!

To answer your questions, the tilt is less. I have some of the same issues that have caused the tilt are still there, but also what drives me to keep going. I ain't gonna lose. I may quit on more than one occasion, but I am back the next day. There is too much money being made by people on this site that I don't think I can turn my back on it. I just had to find what they do that I don't. It's one thing, they figure it out. Guys like Nutsinho, ISF, Sauce and gabe don't grind 75K hands a month, sit in front of the computer for days on end logged into Pokerstars. They learn the game, they read, they work in pokerstove, they watch vids, they talk to other people about poker in detail. (probably a lot less now that they have learned the game) They don't spend hours on end posting bad beats, jokes in the commune, or talking to girls on MSN/AIM. Some do more than others, but they all have one thing in common, they learned to beat the game. Go back and search. They started asking questions, some were stupid questions. They started to post responses to other questions. They never took offense to words said when they were wrong, they learned why they were wrong. You see, we suck, we know this because we play at $5NL-$200NL and can't beat it. They beat it, but they all had problems and found the answers. The answers aren't there, you have to solve them, you need to figure it out. Yea we can be told you have to fold you PP because you don't have odds to call for a set. That's the groundwork. You need to learn the concept of why. Why can't I call. Well when someone posts that you need to bet that flop, or fold to the turn bet, or check a flop w/TP you don't say Ok and start folding, you ask why. What makes it a bet, what makes it a fold. Every time you think your gonna do some "play" like 3bet the BTN because I was told to 3bet more, or raise the flop bet because the board is "dry" like they told so and so, you have to know why. Start finding why. Why is shoving an A high flush draw ok today but yesterday Spenda told me I am an idiot but today he told Iwannplaypoker to shove that flop bet. Find out why. Once you know why, it all comes together and is the reason why guys playing $5K NL will be able to beat micro stakes. Because believe it or not, there is always a why. Watch vids, Spend more time in the strat sections of FTR, get into IRC and post hands. There are tons of guys here that will talk to you on MSN or AIM. Sure they are busy, so just ask if they have a minute to look at a hand. Don't worry if they don't have time, get people to talk to that are at your level and talk a ton. Bounce ideas. Swap HH's and don't pat each other on the back about hands. Tell the truth. Ask why. They may have a reason. discuss the reason. Post hands.Real hands that are confusing, not The AA that gets beat by a set. But the 3bet pot you folded the flop on. The 9/9 that called behind and check shoved the river. review your HH's in HEM or PT. Don't just watch and validate them. Get out pokerstove and stove the ranges street by street. I cannot tell you how valuable a resource there is here. But also, the answer is not here. It's in your head. You need to find out why, and then se the answers.

I am probably just talking out my ass and going to tilt what may be a heater away, but for now I am thinking clearer, and I feel like my whole game has changed in the way I think about how hands play out. I look at different things now than before. I just hope it's for real.

I think you hit it on the head with the rant on how we need to understand 'why' we make certain moves.

Seems like the people who have been so successful at this game understand why they do what they do at the tables. Others who are ignorant about the way poker works and just want a quick fix to beat 'x' stake seem to struggle the most, from what I have seen.

Nice comeback.

Thanks alexos, do you ever log into MSN anymore?

Originally Posted by Miffed22001

jyms

how is the value of the new party points scheme?


Edit: nice garph

To early to tell. Ben and I have been trying to figure it out. They just added the multipliers to the whole scheme so I can't tell yet how it will work. The bonus's figure to be decent and will work out well as far as RB goes( between 25-30% while clearing). But whether we can earn the points fast enough to get those bonus's is yet to be determined. They have other things on the go too, like they just had a 25% to $250 ($1K deposit) reload and they are running a ton of promotions every month. I will get back to something becomes clear.

Thanks for that elaborate answer. I feel i can beat the microstakes, i just have never given myself enough time or have had enough patience to fucking grind. i mean really grind you know what i mean. This is how it always has went for me i put a little money on, grind and usually double it even triple it but then i go apeshit and sit with it all because its only like 100 to 150 bucks catch some bad shit most of the time or play bad because im under funded and out the window it goes. A few times ive gotten it up to a grand and have cashed out but i never really wanted to take it to the level i want to go now. I have tilt issues as well but now i know never to sit with all my money although i do take shots but i always leave myself something to make a comeback with. But now i dont want to take anymore shots i just wanna grind with what i have and stick to a good brm regime and make a cashout or two a month. hopefully. I see a lot of successful players on here and i have watched spendas videos and read some articles and im going to keep on reading them and watching more videos. Anyways just thaught id give you some background about my spewy history lmao and just thank you for your advice.

Originally Posted by jyms

Thanks alexos, do you ever log into MSN anymore?
.

uhh everyday, maybe u blocked me

Nope. I see you now. I just never notice on the computer, I never see my buddy list . When I am on my phone during the day I rarely see you log on.

I"M NO QUITTER DAMMIT



Unbelievable start to the morning but I ground out several sessions including this last bit till 2:47am

thanks heaps for the 'why' post earlier. I'm thinking more, and it's helping heaps

nice comeback, but...
was it smart to keep playing tired and susceptible to tilt?

also did you play badly at the start of the session?
post your 5 biggest losing hands that weren't set vs set or AAvKK pre.
maybe that could have been a +$300 session

Yea daven, I agree that it wasn't smart because of my history to tilt in these situations. This was actually one of the thoughts I had and decided that I would see if this was something I needed to still work on or if I was just avoiding the same situations that were the cause of my demise in the past. I want to revisit some of this later, I have some issues I need to work out around taking breaks (I don't).

I did run bad at the beginning but in no way was that all run bad. I tell you this, if even half my sets that ran into flushes over the last few days paid off I would be taking $200NL shots right about now.



Hand one vs obv fish as evidenced by my 6BB open when he came back and posted OOP. The guy was 92/7 over 65 hands and had actually won a few hands vs bluffs when guys lost with air vs 3rd pair type hands

No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (5 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($149.04)
MP ($127.57)
Button ($100)
BB ($100)
Hero (UTG) ($102.13)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
Hero bets $6, MP (poster) calls $5, 3 folds

Flop: ($14) 4, 7, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $9.97, MP calls $9.97

Turn: ($33.94) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $24.18, MP calls $24.18

River: ($82.30) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $86.92 (All-In), Hero calls $61.98 (All-In)

Total pot: $206.26

Results:
Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and fours).
MP had 3, A (straight, five high).
Outcome: MP won $229.20



This one was vs a guy I have history with. We have exchanged several stacks with a ton of 3betting and 4betting. I know he's very wide here and I just make a stand with plans on shoving any piece. He has air here more than JJ+ which he has played tricky in the past. I know it looks bad and probably is, but this was the best hand I had seen in a while and felt I need to make a stand often enough or my monsters aren't getting paid. The shove is because I am WA/WB but I would do this with FD's str8 draws and air on bad boards. He calls with worse.

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

SB ($80.18)
Button ($101)
BB ($90.58)
Hero (UTG) ($113)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 10, K
Hero bets $3, Button raises $11, 2 folds, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($23.50) Q, 8, K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $22.33, Hero raises $102 (All-In), Button calls $67.67 (All-In)

Turn: ($203.50) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($203.50) A (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $203.50

Results:
Button had 8, Q (two pair, Queens and eights).
Hero had 10, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: Button won $201



This one is against a drooler but I played the turn horribad. He snapped the flop raise and I put him squarely on a flush draw. When the river hit I knew he had it pretty much 95% and called because of ego, I wanted more to let him know what I had instead of saving a half buy-in. This was when I actually took a break and thought about some things. It was the hand that put me at the bottom of the graph

No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (5 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($104.65)
BB ($100)
SB ($53.17)
UTG ($237.29)
Hero (MP) ($100)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 10, 10
UTG calls $1, Hero bets $4, 2 folds, BB calls $3, UTG calls $3

Flop: ($12.50) 9, 2, 10 (3 players)
BB bets $11, 1 fold, Hero raises $22.44, BB calls $11.44

Turn: ($57.38) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $28.69, BB calls $28.69

River: ($114.76) Q (2 players)
BB bets $44.87 (All-In), Hero calls $44.87 (All-In)

Total pot: $204.50

Results:
BB had A, 3 (flush, Ace high).
Hero had 10, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: BB won $202.50


This one I post as an embarrassment. This is one of the hands daven is talking about. Brainfart for sure. They aren't always playing back. Most of the time they just wait for a hand. They may be lighter at times but when your being aggro and betting and they are folding tons they may decide to go with something lighter but they always have something. I think I failed to adjust before they did. When you start getting 2 callers to 3bets it's time to adjust and lose the lighter part of the range until you show down something better. I don't hate 3betting this pre but the bet could be bigger, I am not sure why I bet so small (std is $14), I loathe the call on the flop although if I give him 77+, AQ, AJs+, it's a call. Maybe a C/C on the flop to avoid the raise when he may overplay some slow played overpairs? I gotta stay focused and slow down again on the betting part of my game.

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

MP ($44.80)
Button ($150.39)
UTG ($195.28)
BB ($125.88)
Hero (SB) ($100)
CO ($40.44)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, K
1 fold, MP bets $3, 1 fold, Button calls $3, Hero raises $9.50, 1 fold, MP calls $7, Button calls $7

Flop: ($31) 10, 8, 9 (3 players)
Hero bets $22.08, 1 fold, Button raises $139, Hero calls $67.92 (All-In)

Turn: ($211) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($211) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $211

Results:
Button had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
Hero had J, K (high card, King).
Outcome: Button won $256.50



This last hand is the joke that is Party Poker. My flop bet is atrocious and I deserve to be beat for it. These guys are stations that call anything that has a draw involved. I need to put more gas on these flop and turn bets, but I may just be gun shy lately with sets because this has happened in my mind a ton lately. Shoving the river is one of those, "i hope they can fold better". Against 2, I doubt it tons.

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

Button ($99.73)
MP ($100)
CO ($220.65)
BB ($109.34)
UTG ($119.49)
Hero (SB) ($100)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 9
UTG bets $3, 2 folds, Button calls $3, Hero calls $2.50, BB calls $2

Flop: ($12) J, 9, A (4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $5.70, UTG calls $5.70, 1 fold, Hero raises $17.10, BB calls $11.40, UTG calls $11.40

Turn: ($63.30) 8 (3 players)
Hero bets $42, BB calls $42, UTG calls $42

River: ($189.30) 4 (3 players)
Hero bets $37.90 (All-In), BB raises $47.24 (All-In), UTG calls $47.24

Total pot: $321.68

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
BB had 3, 7 (flush, Jack high).
UTG had Q, 5 (flush, Queen high).
Outcome: UTG won $318.18

Lastly here's a graph of how my big pots over 50BB had gone. 29 pots I put 50+BB into the middle and I am bouncing around even until the end of the session. There is no winning poker when you are not winning the big pots.

jyms,

glad to see a comeback here. I think I only have ur aim, care to share ur msn?

QQ hand - you need to shove this river and not check call. His range for calling a river shove is waaay wider than his range for shoving this river with worse.

TT hand - as far as I'm concerned, if anyone ever ends up to the river with half or less than half pot shove, some sizing situation went very wrong. You need to plan your sizing better from the flop!

re the taking breaks thing - have you tried sitting out at the tables for a few minutes, grabbing some water, a bite, whatever. Breathing some, and then coming back with clarity and focus? it works, and even better, you can see during the short break when it won't work (still steaming about the bad-beat, tired, distracted, whatever) and you're better able to quit when you should without having to second guess the decision.

anyway, onto the hands.

hand 1 qq - preflop i would go to 5bb rather than 6. If 6 is getting called, is 8? etc. But fine preflop play with reads. Flop i'd probably just pot it, he's calling any draw/piece so why not? Turn, I bet the turn too and block the river $20. Does he ever really have worse than A4 here? i guess 75 sometimes?

hand 2 kts - Do you open KTs from UTG as standard (i see it's 4-handed, but even then...) I simply fold to the 3-bet oop. Make a stand in position or with a smarter hand, like you're not getting money from his air or his good hands with KTs... As played, wow. You put yourself in a situation where you're either flipping or way behind when called. I guess I don't understand the dynamic you guys had, but I agree with you that this looks terrible and probably is. I'd far prefer the c-r shove with a hand that has decent equity. You say he calls with worse, um, does he call with worse made hands? or only draws where he is getting ok odds anyway?

hand 3 tt - you state you played the turn bad. What about the flop? min-raises give draws such good odds. I prefer either checking (don't be too scared of FDs heads-up, rep the draw and hope that the spade doesn't come, etc) or raising properly. Turn, yep, yuck. You have effective $70ish so any real bet commits you, so just shove and hope he calls draws/worse hands.

hand 4 JK - Squeeze size standard? seems a little light, like it's barely 3x, it's multi-way and oop. Prefer $15. Once a 3-bet gets called it's time to think a second. Are they likely to fold to a c-bet? how is their perception of your range? do they put you on AK? do they think you spew? Here the widest raising range i like putting villain on is 77+/67s/87s/AJs/KQs and even then it's 69-31 close to a fold (at worst a small mistake to fold? vs likely big mistake). Checking flop is kinda cool too.

hand 5 99 - pre-flop good. Flop, well, yuck. If you're going to check-raise then give it some ooomph. Once you've got UTG calling you can figure on at least one FD, and you're giving them odds with your rase size. Hell, check-shove flop and balance even. As played pot turn/shove turn.

also

Originally Posted by jyms

There is no winning poker when you are not winning the big pots.

i find this interesting. Big pots are cool, and should be fairly straightforward. Long term they should leave you way ahead. Losing a big pot destroys all the hard work that let you steal away ten small-medium pot, so it shouldn't be done in error too often.

now, if only i could apply all the advice that i give so liberally.... here's hoping, since reading your "why" post you gave as an answer to royalprodigy i've been doing ok. I think that post is one of the gems of FTR. Nice.

less poker talk, more pictures of the little guy

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

less poker talk, more pictures of the little guy

Here he is at his first Blue Jays game (Visor day). It's his 5th birthday tomorrow, 7/7/09

Originally Posted by griffey24

QQ hand - you need to shove this river and not check call. His range for calling a river shove is waaay wider than his range for shoving this river with worse.

TT hand - as far as I'm concerned, if anyone ever ends up to the river with half or less than half pot shove, some sizing situation went very wrong. You need to plan your sizing better from the flop!

Yea I am looking them over and your right. The QQ is a judgment call that I need to make on the fly that I missed completely. 88+maybe even 66 and AK are all calling most times but may not bet. Mostly air and better hands would bet.
For TT, the math escaped me. We discussed this before but with some of the new things I am watching I missed this. I am going over it and I ain't sure how to go about it, the overlay money makes the pot sizes very odd. I either end up over shoving the turn or under betting two streets. given the drawyness of the board I say overbet shove the turn.

Originally Posted by daven

re the taking breaks thing - have you tried sitting out at the tables for a few minutes, grabbing some water, a bite, whatever. Breathing some, and then coming back with clarity and focus? it works, and even better, you can see during the short break when it won't work (still steaming about the bad-beat, tired, distracted, whatever) and you're better able to quit when you should without having to second guess the decision.

Breaks are something I am going to broach later this week in this thread, I am still weighing my possibilities for long term and short term breaks.

anyway, onto the hands.

hand 1 qq - preflop i would go to 5bb rather than 6. If 6 is getting called, is 8? etc. But fine preflop play with reads. Flop i'd probably just pot it, he's calling any draw/piece so why not? Turn, I bet the turn too and block the river $20. Does he ever really have worse than A4 here? i guess 75 sometimes?

Agree, I didn't do anything to exploit a very readable opponent. Blocking bets are something I need to use more, and then actually fold when they do something stupid. I tend to change my mind sometimes when I shouldn't.

hand 2 kts - Do you open KTs from UTG as standard (i see it's 4-handed, but even then...) I simply fold to the 3-bet oop. Make a stand in position or with a smarter hand, like you're not getting money from his air or his good hands with KTs... As played, wow. You put yourself in a situation where you're either flipping or way behind when called. I guess I don't understand the dynamic you guys had, but I agree with you that this looks terrible and probably is. I'd far prefer the c-r shove with a hand that has decent equity. You say he calls with worse, um, does he call with worse made hands? or only draws where he is getting ok odds anyway?

. This had sucked for every reason you mention. One thing I have been trying to avoid is getting into those WB/flip type hands for stacks.

hand 3 tt - you state you played the turn bad. What about the flop? min-raises give draws such good odds. I prefer either checking (don't be too scared of FDs heads-up, rep the draw and hope that the spade doesn't come, etc) or raising properly. Turn, yep, yuck. You have effective $70ish so any real bet commits you, so just shove and hope he calls draws/worse hands.

griffey had mentioned this before and now again, I missed this one completely

hand 4 JK - Squeeze size standard? seems a little light, like it's barely 3x, it's multi-way and oop. Prefer $15. Once a 3-bet gets called it's time to think a second. Are they likely to fold to a c-bet? how is their perception of your range? do they put you on AK? do they think you spew? Here the widest raising range i like putting villain on is 77+/67s/87s/AJs/KQs and even then it's 69-31 close to a fold (at worst a small mistake to fold? vs likely big mistake). Checking flop is kinda cool too.

Std squeeze should be $14 minimum I agreed in the post. This hand was a butcher for sure. I will definitely change this mindset.

hand 5 99 - pre-flop good. Flop, well, yuck. If you're going to check-raise then give it some ooomph. Once you've got UTG calling you can figure on at least one FD, and you're giving them odds with your raise size. Hell, check-shove flop and balance even. As played pot turn/shove turn.

agree, I thought a ton about this hand because it was very standard to what I have been facing a lot lately.

also

Originally Posted by jyms

There is no winning poker when you are not winning the big pots.

i find this interesting. Big pots are cool, and should be fairly straightforward. Long term they should leave you way ahead. Losing a big pot destroys all the hard work that let you steal away ten small-medium pot, so it shouldn't be done in error too often.

now, if only i could apply all the advice that i give so liberally.... here's hoping, since reading your "why" post you gave as an answer to royalprodigy i've been doing ok. I think that post is one of the gems of FTR. Nice.

i have a hard time following my own advice because I tend to know things when time is slowed, in posting or conversation. I am not doing well playing tired, rushed and feeling behind all the time and will be working on this this week. I need some changes to my playing philosophy. Not so much in game situations, although definitely there to, but in my mindset, schedule and preparations. I have some goals to post in the near future and I need to figure out the full plan.[/quote]

5 years old huh? My little girl is turning 3 this november. I always wanted a boy to take to games and stuff. Who knows maybe later i will have another. i really dont want another one right now lmfao...im sure you know what i'm sayin, Its a lot to handle at times and two for me would drive me up the walls some days. I'm 25 so i still got time... Anyways man i saw the little down swing and i just hope you get back at that tables and pwn them. That party poker hand made me throw up in my mouth. YUCK!!!!