Operation "Operation"

One of the most recurrent phrases regarding myself is "Bigred plays poker?". Truth of the matter is, not really...anymore at least. I want to create an operation thread not to be popular or since it's the cool thing to do (as suggested by TJ) but as motivation to keep me playing. My blog has failed, playing with a friend has failed, and there just doesn't seem to be a way to keep me going after the initial surge of motivation is over. That's where you guys come in. I enjoy reading these operation threads especially the help and more importantly, the whip in the ass (don't get too excited Warpe) to keep things moving. I'll start off with my poker history and then state my current situation and some goals.

I started playing poker online 2 years ago from last September. I had no idea what I was doing and I still don't know how i didn't lose my initial $50 deposit. Luckily, two major things happened to me. I found FTR and then I found soupie. FTR taught me some basic pf strategy, pot odds, and continuation bets. I was able to start making money and was doing ABC poker correctly minus bankroll management which I still didn't really know about. A lucky final table on a $3 FO gave me a $600 BR and I was in buisness. The FTR IRC channel was formed right around then and a well respected player named soupie was randomly asking people if they wanted to make 100k in a year. I said why the hell not and as easy as that he took me under his wing when he started the 100k club with me and a few other players. I started out as a SNG players but quickly moved to cash games and bonus whoring. I was making good money, I was getting great advice from smart players, and things were good. I grinded my roll up to 8K as a summer job that following summer and used half of that to pay for my books, housing, and a lot on my gf at the time.

The problem with this summer was I switched from 6 tabling ring to 1-3 tabling and playing laggy. I made a ton of money playing lag at the end of the summer but as with the agreement with my parents, I now had to pay for all my stuff with poker money since I didn't get a real job. The pressure of having to make money when I returned to classes, combined with exams, etc was too much and playing a good lag turned into a semitilting spewoff. The harder I tried to force myself to make money the more I lost. I refused to take a break; I needed the money. I never officially went busto but I had to step away. I quit 100k and tried to focus on school, which was also demanding and trying at the time (I quit my major the next semester because it was miserable).

Since then I've dipped in and out of poker but never played with the same determination, focus, or skill. I don't ever want to have to rely on poker again but I doo want it to be some side income now that I'm graduating and going to be living in the real world. Ok, let's get started.

Current situation:

I'm steal dealing with some neteller issues with half my roll but my roll should come out to about $1100. I'm playing 50n full ringl on stars.

Playing goals:
-5K hands a week. (Not sure how easy this is. I'll reevaluate this in a week or two.)
-Eliminate distractions (solid block of play time, phone off, ims off, only allowed to be on vent)
-Review PT bad hands (I've never done this before)
-Post some hands on FTR (I hate doing this but it's needed)

Money goals:
$2000 for 100NL if I feel comfortable with only 20buyins, we'll see.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($59.05)
UTG+1 ($92.60)
Hero ($48.95)
MP2 ($20.40)
MP3 ($49)
CO ($27.15)
Button ($45.20)
SB ($62.20)
BB ($60.45)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q, Q.
UTG raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $7, 6 folds, UTG calls $5.

Flop: ($14.75) J, 5, 7 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $14, UTG raises to $52.05, Hero ???

Wow, I've been one of the ones ripping you for your non poker playing posts. I never knew 90% of that. GL. It's too bad about the $100K club, god damn if someone could do this now, there is a few of us that would jump all over it. You will not believe the support you, of all people, will get. You need poker, we need Bigred. Kick ass, get that roll back. And keep your sense of humour.

I thought you were in the $100NL, $200NL range. If you were, $50NL will be a walk. Start nitty and find your way. I'll be reading.

I don't bet so much on a dry flop. $11 will get a fold as easily as $14. Without a read, this is a fold... I put him on AA/JJ... I can't imagine AJ would play it this way.

GL to you bigred.

wow bigred seriously i didn't know you were that sucessful at poker. I hope you can get the roll back up.

Originally Posted by zook

I don't bet so much on a dry flop. $11 will get a fold as easily as $14. Without a read, this is a fold... I put him on AA/JJ... I can't imagine AJ would play it this way.

GL to you bigred.

Yeah, the JJ is pretty obvious. I like the idea of betting less on a dry flop though. I normally pot it with big overpairs. Do you have any fear of a less then pot bet situation signaling AK missed and op will play back with lower PP in which case you may interpret as JJ or AA?

Originally Posted by bigred

I like the idea of betting less on a dry flop though. I normally pot it with big overpairs. Do you have any fear of a less then pot bet situation signaling AK missed and op will play back with lower PP in which case you may interpret as JJ or AA?

I think 95% of opponents don't pay attention to bet sizing within a few dollars. But even if they do, I'm just consistent with 2/3 to 3/4 on a dry flop and 3/4 to pot on a drawy flop, regardless of my cards. It's not a strategy but I like it.

What do you guys think of how I played this? (Mainly concerned about flop)

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP1 ($55.55)
MP2 ($47)
CO ($77.05)
Button ($41.90)
Hero ($55.55)
BB ($50)
UTG ($56.15)
UTG+1 ($9.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, A.
3 folds, MP2 raises to $2, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.75, 1 fold.

Flop: ($4.50) Q, 6, J (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $3.5, Hero raises to $10.5, MP2 calls $7.

Turn: ($25.50) A (2 players)
Hero bets $15, MP2 raises to $34.5, Hero calls $19.50.

River: ($94.50) 6 (2 players)

Final Pot: $94.50

Generally WA/WB here as something odd like KhTh won't be raised in MP2. With no reads I'd flat call the flop to control the pot and to keep a worse hand (KQ) around instead of blowing them out on the flop. Turn card changed nothing but bc of your flop raise the pot was bloated and it played itself out. If he had QJ it was a nice spike for you.

GL BigRed - Stay away from FTP 50nl 6max and you'll be fine. (Basically, avoid me)

Just keep posting hands and you'll do fine.

takesix was pretty spot-on for the AQ hand IMO.

Wow my night is going bad so far. Incredibly over aggressive with a few bad beats is what's on the menu for tonight. I've slowed my game down a little and found a great podcast for putting me in the zone.

Check it out at http://www.techtronicsound.com/

Should I have played this hand differently? I didn't think utg would call. Mp1 is an idiot 80/20. UTG is 16/5.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($44.50)
BB ($53.55)
UTG ($49.25)
UTG+1 ($47.90)
MP1 ($14.30)
MP2 ($49.75)
Hero ($48.50)
Button ($108.20)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7, 6.
UTG raises to $1.5, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.50, 3 folds.

Flop: ($5.25) 6, J, 7 (3 players)
UTG bets $5, MP1 raises to $12.8, Hero raises to $47, UTG calls $42.

Turn: ($112.05) 5 (3 players)

River: ($112.05) J (3 players)

Final Pot: $112.05

Results in white below:
UTG has Kh Ks (flush, king high).
MP1 has Js Qc (three of a kind, jacks).
Hero has 7s 6s (two pair, jacks and sevens).
Outcome: UTG wins $112.05.

That's fine, you played it to get 2pair or a combo draw, you got it and got action before, only thing you can do is shove. Unlucky result.

Small, depressing update: After last night's downswing and the fact that most of my BR is tied up in neteller, I'm going to move down to 25NL. As much as I don't want to do this it's the right thing to do. I can't sustain a downswing and can't consider my netller money as part of my roll due to recent developments. It's time for a true grind.

On the upside, I can hopefully figure out how to be a nit again, I'm still too laggy.

Originally Posted by bigred

Small, depressing update: After last night's downswing and the fact that most of my BR is tied up in neteller, I'm going to move down to 25NL. As much as I don't want to do this it's the right thing to do. I can't sustain a downswing and can't consider my netller money as part of my roll due to recent developments. It's time for a true grind.

This would be the right thing to do. If your game comes around, you wont be for long

On the upside, I can hopefully figure out how to be a nit again, I'm still too laggy.

Play more tables, you'll build a roll faster, and there's no time for lagginess, tight is right.

Man your post count is gonna go thruogh the roof now. Be careful!

Originally Posted by Irisheyes

Man your post count is gonna go thruogh the roof now. Be careful!

Not if I keep losing money

Wow, enlightning thread! I knew there was more to you than meets the eye...

GL

Bigred, if you're being forced to move down, perhaps a switch to 6max is in order - it's naturally a laggier game, less strong hands win pots, but at $25 and $50 it's predominantly made up of nits with the occasional maniac, all of whom you should be able to eat for breakfast. I suspect you'd want to move to 6max at some point - if only for the fact that you make money 50% quicker - so now might be the perfect time.

6-max will really suit your game Red!!

This is going to be interesting, good luck Bigred I'll be rooting for you!

It's funny you guys mention 6max. That's exactly what I ended up moving to last night. Get out of my head, mind readers!

I want to post a status update but poker grapher doesn't work (never loads, jsut creates an error) and poker patterns site is down. Can someone send me poker patterns?

search for poker patterns through google. their website has been down forever, but i think i found a good link from either the PT forums or 2+2.

Time for a much needed update.

I've managed to move my money around so I have a stable holding for 25NL back at Absolute. I also get rakeback here so I'm happy about that.

I started out horribly with this operation dropping 5 buyins but since then I have calmed down and started playing good, tight poker. My one big leak still is spewing at the beginning of sessions. This has always been a problem of mine and I'm still working on fixing it.





I had to use the poker tracker grapher because I still can't find a working poker patterns link. If anyone wants to find me it, I will love them...for 5 minutes...wink. You can literally see the start of each session on the graph. It's all the huge dips. Hopefully now that I've gotten the dust out of the old poker game it will all be uphill from here.

I use this and it works great for me:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pokergrapher/

But my PT databases are postgreSQL, not Access. Worth a shot though.

Originally Posted by zook

I use this and it works great for me:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pokergrapher/

But my PT databases are postgreSQL, not Access. Worth a shot though.

When I try to load the program after installing it I receive a "send error report" thingy. I'm guessing it's because I don't have some version of postgreSQL installed?

Originally Posted by bigred

When I try to load the program after installing it I receive a "send error report" thingy. I'm guessing it's because I don't have some version of postgreSQL installed?

Probably. There are a couple of recent threads about the program in the 2+2 software forum. You could try posting there to see if there's anything working with Access right now...

Ack, I shouldn't have played today. I dropped a little over 3 buyins. I've had one hell of a dramatic weekend and should have stayed the hell away from poker.

For any of you who have talked to me on aim or vent, I was in a relationship for 3 years that ended in December. I'm finally relearning my game and lo and behold on Friday night, after some eye contact, I get hit on by a really hot girl. She has to leave but invites me to a party for saturday night. So what do I do? I go and get the plague the next morning. It's actually shingles but I'm miserable, sick, and pissed off. I didn't make it to the party. I really shouldn't have played tonight.

Played about 300 hands today and finished up a buyin. I'm starting to get the swing of things at 6max again. It's going to take some more time and probably a lot more breakevenish sessions. My main weakness is still on my river play. I'm paying off far too many ops in marginal situations where my calling logic is, hey it's 6max!

I need to come up with a better schedule for playing. This sporadic thing doesn't work for me. I know I play much better on a regular, automated schedule. Sporadic sessions lead to sporadic play. The good news is I have a buddy coming over to play a session with in the hopes of motivating each other to play better and stick with it. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

This is bigred on 6max



This is bigred deciding to go back to full ring (and only two tabling while reading textbooks for most of the day)

I was playing extremely nitty and decided to loosen up in LP with a bunch of raises for image purposes. After about the 3rd orbit I had this nit camper calling all my raises hoping to destack me. This is why you don't slowplay sets.

STAGE #582786680: HOLDEM NO LIMIT $0.25 - 2007-02-22 02:50:45 (ET)
Table: THAYER WAY (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 4 - KARMAFLOW ($61.81 in chips)
Seat 5 - MALBPER ($13.15 in chips)
Seat 6 - JOHNBRADSON ($50.30 in chips)
Seat 7 - MALIK ($6.45 in chips)
Seat 8 - MERTZ ($26.20 in chips)
Seat 9 - WUBMYNUTZ ($22.85 in chips)
Seat 1 - MAVRIKSC ($13.55 in chips)
Seat 2 - ZIHIN ($47.15 in chips)
Seat 3 - BLOODGUARD ($9.45 in chips)
MALBPER - Posts small blind $0.10
JOHNBRADSON - Posts big blind $0.25
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to KARMAFLOW [7c 5s]
MALIK - Folds
MERTZ - Folds
WUBMYNUTZ - Folds
MAVRIKSC - Folds
ZIHIN - Calls $0.25
BLOODGUARD - Folds
KARMAFLOW - Raises $1.25 to $1.25
MALBPER - Folds
JOHNBRADSON - Calls $1
ZIHIN - Folds
*** FLOP *** [Jh 6s 2s]
JOHNBRADSON - Checks
KARMAFLOW - Bets $2
JOHNBRADSON - Calls $2
*** TURN *** [Jh 6s 2s] [8d]
JOHNBRADSON - Checks
KARMAFLOW - Checks
*** RIVER *** [Jh 6s 2s 8d] [4c]
JOHNBRADSON - Bets $7.75
KARMAFLOW - Raises $23.75 to $23.75
JOHNBRADSON - All-In(Raise) $39.30 to $47.05
KARMAFLOW - Calls $23.30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
JOHNBRADSON - Shows [6h 6d] (Three of a kind, sixes)
KARMAFLOW - Shows [7c 5s] (Straight, four to eight)
KARMAFLOW Collects $97.95 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($100.95) | Rake ($3)
Board [Jh 6s 2s 8d 4c]
Seat 1: MAVRIKSC Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: ZIHIN Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: BLOODGUARD Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 4: KARMAFLOW (dealer) won Total ($97.95) HI$97.95) with Straight, four to eight [7c 5s - B:8d,P:7c,B:6s,P:5s,B:4c]
Seat 5: MALBPER (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 6: JOHNBRADSON (big blind) HI:lost with Three of a kind, sixes [6h 6d - B:6s,P:6h,P:6d,B:Jh,B:8d]
Seat 7: MALIK Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: MERTZ Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: WUBMYNUTZ Folded on the POCKET CARDS

yo, bigred, what happened? Are you still playing? or did we fail you...

We need to keep this operation going!

hey red. I remember you playing 200nl on party? i think.

Gl with this, you just need to discipline yourself to get some sessions in on a saturday evending for a couple of hours every week or something and youl get the numbers in.
Just be a nit, its fun :P

DON'T DIE ON ME DAMNIT!

BR is around 900. I play every now and then. I was actually planning on playing a few hours later today. Good stuff.

Thanks for the CPR guys.

I've decided to rename my operation to something a little more tangible to my life. I graduate from Cornell in a month and will be soon living on my own. I'm interviewing with a few consulting firms but I'd like to avoid being a completely poor entry level worker. I'll probably be working out of NYC too so cost of living will be high. I would like to use poker as a source of income again so I'm starting a few operations in successive stages. The first one, Independent Living part 1, is simply about building a base bankroll to 2500. Once this is done I need to re-evaluate my situation and start phase two.

Good luck with that. I'll try to hover around your operation so it doesn't die like last time.

Your cat scares me.

As you can see from the progress bar on my operation gif (those things are damn cool by the way) I have actually been playing. I thought I might as well write a little update. I don't think this operation thread is going to have a lot of hand analysis. I've really never been into that and probably won't consider it until I actually get to a point where a hand confuses me. Considering that I am at 25NL still that won't be for a long time. Rather, I'd like this thread to focus on why I'm playing poker to remind me why I need to keep grinding and perhaps some tips from other players on how to survive the grind.

Anyway, progress is slow but good.

If you want to see random update posts about sessions, my tumblelog is the best option

http://karmaflow.tumblr.com/

Man. I know I haven't posted in awhile, like usual, but I've actually started to play again. I took a rash shot at 50nl and got burned big time. I dropped back down to 25NL and am down 2 buyins for the day. I can't seem to makeup my mind on anything. One minute I'm playing two tables of short handed. The next minute I'm playing 6 and then I switch to full ring. I'm completely distracted and playing terribly. I can't seem to shake this anxious, closed in feeling of frustration.

I need a hug.

I hate you guys.

Sorry, I was busy watching this video:

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-...man-to-man-hug

*HUG*