From Rags to Riches ***COMPLETE!!!!***

Man, I swear Pokerstars doesn't want me to have a $40+ roll lol. I post that I have $45 and a decent winning night. I try to go to bed, can't sleep. So I fire up a couple tables. 2 hands in AA gets stacked by 64o. Got it all in PF LOL. Gotta love these guys. Lil while later, nut flush i hit on turn gets boated on the river, nother stack gone. O and that nut flush hand was a $6 stack. Yea, ouch. Was actually planning on leaving table after that hand, go figure right?

Anyways lil bit of a tilt/bitch post. Just sick of not being able to get past this seemingly meaningless milestone of $40-50. So gross how long I've been stuck at this BR level, not to mention just this LEVEL (2nl). This op has been going for 2 months tomorrow and yet here I am, only about $30 richer. *sigh*

Just gotta keep on keepin' on.

Dustin

BR: $38.50

I know what you mean. Sometimes you play solid and just don't get any opportunities and then when you finally get some opportunities, you'll get bad beat or a cooler. And the whole time you're thinking, "I could have had 5 buyins by now if just one of those hands held". But then before you know it, you'll have a monster pot your 1st or 2nd hand into a session or find a juicy table with donks calling you down with third pair and NOT drawing out.

Ok, this villain has been playing fairly loose. The way he played PF suggested to me he had a smaller PP. He limped, and then snap called when I reraised. So, I was thinking any PP, a 7 and a busted flush/straight draw. If he's got an 8, Merry fucking Christmas. In all reality I'm going to pay off any K here really. Just the way he played the hand screamed 99, or 1010 to me. I think he would have reraised PF if he had JJ+. Anyways here's the hand. Lemme know what you guys think. I'll let you know the outcome later on tonight or tomorrow.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (4 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($2.44)
UTG ($2.70)
Button ($2.44)
SB ($10.93)

Preflop: Hero is BB with ,
UTG calls $0.02, 1 fold, SB calls $0.01, Hero raises to $0.16, UTG calls $0.14, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.34) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.08, Hero calls $0.08

Turn: ($0.50) (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.18, Hero calls $0.18

River: ($0.86) (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.36

Total pot: $0.86

The way you played it, u hafta call imo. River bet isn't that big, and by your flop and turn calls you don't believe he has a king. You should have kept control and c-bet flop (folding to a raise). Need more than two outs to check / call 2 streets. But as played, I call.

So, whatdya do? What did he have? Quads, right? That would be a jokerstars finish.

TELL ME I RUN GOOD!!!! These are both pretty much standard hands for me to lose. LOL I swear pokerstars knows when I have $40+. Cuz now my roll is currently sitting at a WHOPPING $34 WOOOT!!!!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($5.16)
Hero (UTG) ($2)
MP ($2.61)
CO ($0.98)
Button ($3.50)
SB ($15.44)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with ,
Hero raises to $0.12, MP calls $0.12, CO raises to $0.98 (All-In), 1 fold, SB calls $0.97, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2 (All-In), 1 fold, SB calls $1.02

Flop: ($5.12) , , (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($5.12) (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($5.12) (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $5.12 | Rake: $0.25

Results:
SB had K, 7 (straight, Jack high).
Hero mucked A, A (three of a kind, Aces).
CO had Q, 10 (straight, Queen high).
Outcome: SB won $1.94, CO won $2.93


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($5.49)
Button ($5.44)
SB ($4.62)
Hero (BB) ($2.03)
UTG ($1.43)
MP ($8.19)

Preflop: Hero is BB with ,
UTG raises to $0.06, MP calls $0.06, CO calls $0.06, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.30, UTG calls $0.24, MP calls $0.24, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.97) , , (3 players)
Hero bets $1.73 (All-In), UTG calls $1.13 (All-In), 1 fold

Turn: ($3.23) (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($3.23) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $3.23 | Rake: $0.15


Welcome to my hell.

O btw villain in QQ hand had 10-7 of hearts. GO ME!!!

OK, just a thinking post right now. I've been grinding 2nl 6-max for the last 2 months. There is no way I should still be at a $30 BR right now. On DAY FIVE I had a bigger roll than I do now. That just kills me lol.

Ah well, good news at least. I lent a guy $30ish a few months back to play in a couple tourneys on Pokerstars, and he will be paying me back sometime in February so hopefully that will boost my roll up past $70. So help me god if I'm still at a $30-$40 roll by mid February I'm gonna lose it lol.

But yea whole point of this post is for me say that I am considering switching over to FR instead of 6-max for a while. Maybe switch back and forth as I see fit. (Obviously not during the same session.) The reason I am thinking about doing this is because I don't know if it's just been variance for the last 3-4 weeks or what, but I don't know if I want to deal with the insane swongs at 6-max.

It sounds stupid even to me that I am having "insane swings" at 2NL. I mean come on. A month ago I was crushing this level for 29bb/100 after 10k hands. Now that my copilot free trial is up I couldn't tell you what I am at, but it isn't good lol. But anyways, this is a level where I am supposed to just slaughter it, which I am more than capable of doing, and I have in the past (obviously). It's been a while since I've played FR and it sounds kind of interesting. Just a little change of pace. Maybe I'll try out an hour or so session later on today/tonight. I'll post how it goes.


Later,

Dustin

I am having the hardest time moving up to the next level. I'll win $5, then I'll lose $5. I just don't know how to get over the hump.

chap

My god, not only do I get sucked out on regularly, I get a walk with AA in back to back hands on the SAME TABLE!!! How the fuck does that happen when average VPIP for table is 44%?!?!?!? How am I supposed to make monies if no one wants to play with me? lol

BR $27.50 *sighs* Only played 400 hands again, yet I lost another $4. I was even short stacking and buying in for 50bbs.

Thats two days in a row I've had a -100bb/100 day. WHEN WILL THIS DOWNSWING END?!?!?!?!?

I'm really not sure what I'm doing wrong anymore, so I'm not gonna play for the rest of the weekend and I got a one month membership to Grinderschool.com so I'll just review so vids that might go over something that I've been doing wrong. (We can only hope lol.) Hopefully when I come back I'll be able to tear some shit up.

Wish me luck

Dustin

So Grinderschool has been an absolute bad ass investment thus far imo. I only watched a couple of vids today at work, both were lectures of Jyms on SPR and the 15:1 for sets, and I can honestly say that if I could only get those two videos for that $10 I would be inclined to say it was worth it. I had never heard of SPR before that video and can honestly say that it opened my eyes to how wrongly I've been playing TPTK and drawing type of hands.

The other video 15:1 rule for sets is probably pretty basic stuff, but I always figured since you hit a set 1 in every 8 times you can call with 8:1 odds. This video showed me otherwise. Taught me how to play a set once flopped too, which I've been having trouble getting value out of them.

On the grinding front. I switched over to FR today and must say, that it has been a nice change of pace. I can REALLY nit it up since blinds come around less often than 6-max. Then again, today I really didn't have to nit it up since I ran pretty good. Got stacked once (cooler my set of 10's on the flop got rivered by AA with a river A), and I continued on to stack 4 more players. Finished session of 187 hands up $3 so definitely no complaints.

I've decided to TRY and quit bitching so much in my blog when I lose a couple buy ins during a session. I really just need to suck it up and realize it's just variance taking its turn on me. No sense in getting frustrated when I know I'm going to crush these stakes (it's only a matter of when not if).

I think I realized why I haven't moved up to 5nl, too. When I first reached $40 the first time, I donked off pretty close to the whole roll at 25nl (spew cuz i was pissed about bad beats). So that was all my fault there. If I had been able to manage my tile I would be sitting happily at 5nl by now. However, I don't think I would have managed to control my tilt as well, so I think it was a good/bad thing that happened to me.

Lately, though, it hasn't been tilt that has been draining me of my roll. It's just been a little downswing and a rollercoaster ride with variance. Nothing to get upset about. I know the math, so there is no reason I should get upset when that 80/20 situation doesn't pan out the way "it's supposed to." I forgot that that 20% is going to win sometimes, too. That if there is a CHANCE (1% or less) that it will eventually happen to me just for the simple fact that THEY STILL HAVE OUTS.

Hopefully realizing these things will help me become a better player, and that they will help me climb out of the rock bottom micros, and get to playing in the small to mid stakes games.

Dustin

Just finished a pretty solid session. Between yesterday's session and the one I just finished BR is back up to $36.05. I'm running pretty good right now. I'v hit Quad's twice and got a stack off it cuz fish think I'm bluffing or something. But yea, still hitting the same variance, just lost a stack with AA<Q3o, but I think I'm learning to be okay with it. Like I said in last post no more (or at least less negativity). Seems to be helping me out. I don't think "Oh no! He's got AA" when i look down and see KK. I look down and see a hand that will win a decent amount of the time, but not EVERY TIME.

I've been working on my pot control, and giving up when I think/know I'm beat. I gave up AA on a 1068 two tone flop when there was a lot of action. I don't overplay my PP's. I realize that they are only ONE PAIR.

I've been working on getting value out of my sets per Jyms video at Grinderschool, and I gotta say that it is really helping me out.

Hopefully this is the beginning of me turning the corner and I'll be able to grind up outta 2nl now. I'm really looking forward to playing 5nl, but I'll be patient and wait til I'm rolled for it.

Dustin

O i forgot to mention that I have been buying in for 50bbs until I'm up to $50. Then I'll start to buy in for 100bbs. I also forgot to say that my move to FR has gone smoothly. That's where my last 2 sessions have taken place and I think this is where I am going to stay at for the most part. I might throw in a 6-max session every now and then, just so I don't get rusty, and to switch things up every now and then.

Just finished up another longish session. Before I played it I played in 2 SnGs. Didn't cash in either of them so I was down $2.85 to start the session. Fired up 6 tables (first time I tried it at FR) and it went GREAT. I ran like God but faster. Pretty much every PP i seen a flop with (close to all of them unless I wasn't getting right odds) I was hitting a set. Only got set<set one time, so no worries.

Just because I was running good didn't really mean that much to me. Played my hands the same as I always would. I wouldn't chase draws, sets, etc. Wouldn't call PF with speculative hands. I REALLY hope this is a sign that I have turned a corner in my poker career. *crosses fingers*

Anyways for session, played 750 hands. (like i said it was a longish session) Starting BR for session: $33.20 (after SnGs) Finish BR: $38.62.

Obviously, for me, that's a damn good session. I buy in half stacked so that equals 5 BI's in 750 hands. I'll take that every day. Let's hope this isn't ALL positive variance and that it is me finally finding my game and style. Lets hope

Dustin

Just finished up another session. Played 237 hands and ran about 14% PF, 6 tabling FR as always now. Ran white hot at first. Stacked off with JJ vs. 2 laggy opponents. Spiked a 3rd J on the river FTW, but I would have won anyways. They both had 99 and 10J lol. I was ahead by a mile. That took my stack to $2.88 (I buy in for $1). 2 hands later on same table. One of the guys I stacked off with shoves the rest of his $3ish stack and I have QQ so I call. Safe board comes out and he shows up with 910o. Gold mine or what?

Anyways, after that I was around 250bb deep, and while I don't have any problems playing that size stack I didn't feel like having that much of my BR on the table at once right then. Figured it would be safer to just lock up profits and find another table.

Well, once I did that things kinda cooled off. Ended up getting stacked on a couple of tables with big PP<big PP. So no complaints. It's ok though. Still a pretty good day for me imo. Considering I was down in the mid $20's 2 days ago lol.

Starting BR for session: $38.62 Ending BR: $41.24

I've played over 1k hands today, which is pretty significant for me. I normally play somewhere around 3-500 hands on any given day. I think now that I'm 6-tabling FR for profitz (as of now) I think this number will continue to rise (# of hands per day I mean). I only have 3 classes around noon on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and only one class on at 6pm for Tuesday, Thursday. Judging by that, I can easily get in 2+ hour sessions per day. Especially on Tuesday and Thursday, not to mention the weekends .

I'm thinking about (not gonna do it yet, maybe start next month.) starting to make monthly # of hands goals. Like next month my goal will be to play 30k hands. That should be easily attainable imo. Anyways, I'm gonna go study for a quiz I got tonight. Yet again, hoping this is the beginning of turning the corner lol. (Not sure how many times I'm gonna say that)

Dustin

Congrats on your good results so far. Keep working at it and you will see the rewards for sure. A few pieces of advice:

1. If you're still considering what to do with that $500, I would recommend the laptop+HEM idea for sure. I just recently bought PT3 with the HUD and it's amazing what a difference it makes. Just today I had JJ on a Q-high board. Villain check/called the flop and then shoved (just over pot) on the turn. A quick look at his stats showed a high aggression factor and a pretty high percentage of donking the turn, so I called, and all he had was an Ax with a low pair.

Other examples of when it really helps are in late position. On a different table I was on the button with 72o and two tight players in the blinds. The CO opened to 4x, and a glance at the HUD showed his attempt to steal at 100% over 20+ hands. I 3-bet, he folded. (I honestly think 3betting any two there until he adjusts would be profitable.) Another time I was in the small blind with Qxs and he raised the button, and I was able to successfully 3bet again. I'm not saying that the HUD gives you a license to go crazy, but if you pick your spots carefully you can turn hands that were previously folds into profitable hands if you make the right move at the right time.

I am 4-tabling FR right now and with the help of the HUD I'm able to run 25-30/19-22 profitably depending on my table. It's so nice being able to see that the blinds are folding to steals 90%+ of the time, knowing that I can open like 60% in late position profitably. It's also nice being able to see that the guy to your right is a 65/5 and isolating his limp with QJo on a tight table in early position is a profitable thing to do.

2. I don't recommend short-stacking or playing tourneys/SNGs as a way of limiting losses. Short-stacking requires a specific strategy that leverages your short stack. If you're doing things like flopping sets, the bigger your stack the better. As for SNGs, you really need to get a completely different style down for that to be profitable. I started out in SNGs (because tournament-style is cooler, right?), but I'm liking cash games a LOT better. It's so frustrating in a SNG when you stack off 85% good and lose, because you're out. In a cash game, you just rebuy and win your money back, or if the player leaves you can search him and follow him to his new table. It can be scary, but I think you'd be a lot better sitting down with a full 100BB buy-in and sticking to cash.

3. I agree with your recent change to FR. 6-max is a lot of fun, but I'm currently a pretty big winner at FR and a pretty big loser at 6-max. With the ability to multi-table, I think FR can be just as profitable as 6-max, if not moreso. Along the lines of what Primus Sucks said earlier in the thread, FR and 6-max aren't hugely different. The main difference in my opinion is that you can really take advantage of position-adjusted ranges in FR. That is, my default UTG range is as tight as 88+, AQs+, AKo, but my default button range is pretty crazy: 22+,A2s+,K2s+,Q8s+,J7s+,T7s+,96s+,85s+,74s+,63s+,5 2s+,42s+,32s,A7o+,K8o+,Q9o+,J9o+,T9o,98o. For anyone who's paying attention, you showdown 32s once after raising preflop, and the next time you pick up AA (even UTG), you'll get a lot more action.

Anyways, good luck with your operation. You'll be grinding 10NL in no time!

Hey Diggy, thanks for commenting on my thread and giving some advice. Seems like no one has been paying attention to it lately. Ah well, not doing it for other people, doing it to see how my mindset changes about the game, and what I can learn along the way. I've already gotten WAAAY better imo. I've learned tilt control so much better since starting this, and that will be a HUGE plus to my game when I move up and lose a $25+ stack.

And about the $500, still waiting on the money, and honestly when I get it I'm probably going to just stick it in the bank, until I'm at 10nl and beating that at a decent clip. Once my BR is around $300-$400ish is when I will look into buying a laptop and HEM. I'm glad I decided not to deposit just for the simple fact that it would feel like I was cheating the stakes and operation. I REALLY want to be able to turn that $10 investment into something that can potentially be a decent side/main source of income for the years to come.

And as for short stacking vs. 100bb. I used to buy in for 100bb, but even at 2nl losing a stack got to me. Mostly because it felt like such a good chunk of my roll mostly, so I'm just waiting until I hit $50+ then I WILL be buying for 100bb. As for the strategy involved with short stacking, I might not be an expert when it comes to it, but I've gotten fairly good with SPR's, and what kind of hands I need to be shoving and when. I'll look through my HH's and show you spots where I was drawing for a set profitably, and where I stacked off TPTK correctly, using SPR.

Just because I started out with $10 and was a complete donkey doesn't mean I haven't picked up a few tricks along the way . Anyways I'll try to find those hands now before I start up a short evening session.

O and about the sngs and tourneys, the first time I played them it WAS to limit losses etc. Yesterday's games were more for fun than anything. It had been a while since I had played one, and I MUCH prefer cash to tourney style games nowadays. Which is crazy because I used to play sngs and tourneys exclusively lol. Things change right?

Thanks for posting man,


Dustin

Dustin

Here is a hand that turns out to be a cooler, but that isn't reason for posting obviously. This is a hand where I drew to a set with correct odds and played it perfect after flop imo. I'm never going to get away from this hand unless opponent literally showed me had the hand he had. Anyways, here it is:


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($0.74)
UTG ($4.97)
UTG+1 ($2.96)
MP1 ($4.07)
MP2 ($5)
MP3 ($0.56)
Hero (CO) ($1)
Button ($5.65)
SB ($1.80)

Preflop: Hero is CO with ,
4 folds, MP3 raises to $0.04, Hero calls $0.04, Button calls $0.04, 1 fold, BB calls $0.02

Flop: ($0.17) , , (4 players)
BB checks, MP3 checks, Hero bets $0.14, 2 folds, MP3 raises to $0.52 (All-In), Hero calls $0.38

Turn: ($1.21) (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($1.21) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $1.21 | Rake: $0.05

To counter that last example where I DID draw for set correctly, here is one where I let it go because I wasn't getting the right odds for my money. He raised to 6xbb PF which was giving me less than 10:1 to hit my set which isn't even close to what I am willing to call with to hit a set.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($0.98)
BB ($5)
UTG ($5.03)
UTG+1 ($4.98)
MP1 ($1.01)
MP2 ($2.73)
Hero (CO) ($1)
Button ($5.36)

Preflop: Hero is CO with ,
2 folds, MP1 raises to $0.12, 5 folds

Total pot: $0.05 | Rake: $0

Now here is a hand where I got it all in with a TPTK type of hand by using my SPR and making villain commit to calling me. Ok, I might catch a little flack for this one, but the only reason I played AJ for a raise was because it was B vs. B cuz I figure I'm ahead of his range. Luckily enough is the type that is dumb enough to stack off with TPNK. Although, I had a 100bb stack he only had 50bb so obviously SPR still works in my favor here. I just looked at hand again as I was posting it and I think calling here is BE at BEST just for the simple fact that AK, AQ, A8, and A3 is beating me, but idk, I'll wait and see what you guys think. At the time the money got in I think I was getting good enough odds to call his shove. Anyways, here's the hand:


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($2.01)
CO ($4.86)
Button ($6.55)
Hero (SB) ($1.98)
BB ($1.07)
UTG ($2.97)
MP1 ($3.14)

Preflop: Hero is SB with ,
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.08, BB calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.16) , , (2 players)
Hero bets $0.12, BB calls $0.12

Turn: ($0.40) (2 players)
Hero bets $0.34, BB raises to $0.87 (All-In), Hero calls $0.53

River: ($2.14) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $2.14 | Rake: $0.10

IMO, AJ hand is fine as it was blind vs blind. If he has you outkicked are caught 2 pr, that's just bad luck. On the 88 hand you must have has a good read to credit him with overpair. I call that and see if I can take down the pot on a dry flop. You know I'm far from an expert. Just my $0.02.

Congrats on your recovery. I think you will have alot more success at full ring, or should I say more consistent success. I am no good at 6 max, always losing. Keep up the good grinding

On the first one, it's not really clear to me that you have set odds. What does his minraise mean? Is it always a big hand, or could it be crap? If it's always a big hand, then fine. Personally, I see a lot of people that come in for a minraise every time they raise a hand, and they turn out to raise like 30%. In that case, you're going to have a hard time getting his whole stack when you hit your set. At higher stakes, you want something like 20:1 or better implied odds to go set mining to make up for the times you lose after flopping a set and the times that the villain won't stack off. I'm not saying your call was bad, especially since it invited the blinds to come along, but from the standpoint of having set odds, it's actually pretty close.

Originally Posted by dranger7070

the only reason I played AJ for a raise was because it was B vs. B cuz I figure I'm ahead of his range

Wat? AJ is a pretty good hand to raise up from a lot of positions. I certainly open it from the HJ and later, and sometimes from earlier positions than that on a tight table or if there is a calling station yet to act who will call me down when I hit TPTK or TPGK. It's certainly an auto-raise in the SB vs BB; of course it's ahead of his range, his range is random:

Code:

Hand 0: 	63.563%  	62.54% 	01.03% 	    1311720573 	 21564781.50   { AcJd }
Hand 1: 	36.437%  	35.41% 	01.03% 	     742722264 	 21564781.50   { random }

I like the flop bet. The turn bet is pretty good as well, though a smaller one wouldn't be bad. In this case, you have made it clear that you are playing for his stack, and there is absolutely no way you can fold to his shove after making such a pot-committing bet: if you are ahead here after the river even 1/3 of the time (including when you suckout), you have to make this call. Without a read that your opponent only raises with premium holdings, this is definitely a call (note that he could easily have a hand like ThXh). This is nitpicking, but this isn't an example of "TPTK" (top pair, top kicker), but "TPGK" (top pair good (J) kicker).

Definitely try to post more hand in Beginner's Circle. You won't get a lot of help in this forum, but I've gotten tons of help in the past in BC.

Originally Posted by nibbles

IMO, AJ hand is fine as it was blind vs blind. If he has you outkicked are caught 2 pr, that's just bad luck. On the 88 hand you must have has a good read to credit him with overpair. I call that and see if I can take down the pot on a dry flop. You know I'm far from an expert. Just my $0.02.

I was thinking something similar, but being in such early position, we won't like it when anyone behind us calls or reraises (we definitely won't have set odds there). Also, it's a 6x raise, and from what I've seen at these stakes, a raise like that is usually a big pair or AK. Without a read that villain always raises big or raises big with crappy holdings, I like the fold here.

Hey thanks nibbles. That's kinda what I figured with the AJ hand, but I wasn't sure if he would be shoving a smaller ace there.

Anyways, on the 88 hand, I'm playing it purely for set value (because I'm playing only 50bb's deep for now). I need around 15:1 on average to be calling for set odds. He was laying me less than 10:1 on my money. Had I bought in for 100bbs I would have called in hopes of spiking the set for sure.

But anyways, the reason why I only draw if I have 15:1 is because I got a grinderschool 1 month subscription and jyms says you should only call with 15:1 even though you will hit 1:8 times. He says the reason for this is because your set is going to get drawn out on sometimes by flushes, straights, set<set etc.


Dustin

Lol yea i know it wasn't necessarily a TPTK hand, but I don't have HEM or or PT, so I can't just go in and find one. I gotta go through each hand lol. Kickin' it old school SUX imo. But yea, went with the first thing I seen.

Also I just realized by posting these 3 hands and just you and nibbles commenting on them I did learn a few things. I always feel a little nervous with AJ when the Ace hits. I'm always worried someone has AQ or AK lol. I'll definitely start to open it more often, and post in BC more often as well.

Thanks guys

Dustin

That is one spot where the low stakes is actually a little trickier than high stakes. So many low stakes players flat call with AQ or AK that it is quite possible that you are outkicked, whereas these hands are often reraised at higher stakes. Still, the times you are called down by Ax and the times you hit 2 pair yourself easily outweigh the times that you are building a pot for a better A.

One suggestion that works well in position (especially with deeper stacks) if you are nervous with AJ on an A-high flop is to bet the flop, check behind on the turn, and then call or bet (if it's checked to you) on the river. This keeps the pot a little smaller and gets value from people who like to bluff. The same is true of AJ on a QJx board. We want to be aggressive, but that doesn't mean that we have to bet all the time .

Originally Posted by DoanDiggy

That is one spot where the low stakes is actually a little trickier than high stakes. So many low stakes players flat call with AQ or AK that it is quite possible that you are outkicked, whereas these hands are often reraised at higher stakes. Still, the times you are called down by Ax and the times you hit 2 pair yourself easily outweigh the times that you are building a pot for a better A.

One suggestion that works well in position (especially with deeper stacks) if you are nervous with AJ on an A-high flop is to bet the flop, check behind on the turn, and then call or bet (if it's checked to you) on the river. This keeps the pot a little smaller and gets value from people who like to bluff. The same is true of AJ on a QJx board. We want to be aggressive, but that doesn't mean that we have to bet all the time .

Hey man, thanks for the good advice. I've gotten into the mindset of OMG I gotta value bet ALL THE TIME cuz I'm in the pot lol. Not exactly a BAD mindset, but it does get into sticky situations with AJ<AK, AQ lol. I'll definitely have to try that out in the future.

Edit: This post was originally a pretty long one discussing level 2 thinking and giving an example of when checking behind the turn and betting the river actually stands to profit from our opponent's range of holdings. It has been moved to its own thread in the Beginner's Circle: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...rn-t81018.html

Nice post Diggy.

Originally Posted by mieczkowusc

Nice post Diggy.

Thanks a lot. As I was posting it, I really felt like it belonged in the beginner's forum or somewhere else other than dranger's op thread here. Hmm... maybe I'll go ahead and move it there.

Great post Diggy! I never would have realized that checking behind on the turn can be more profitable in the long run than the bet-bet-bet mentality I have. I will definitely take this into consideration the next time I'm playing

Originally Posted by DoanDiggy

Originally Posted by mieczkowusc

Nice post Diggy.

Thanks a lot. As I was posting it, I really felt like it belonged in the beginner's forum or somewhere else other than dranger's op thread here. Hmm... maybe I'll go ahead and move it there.

Yea man, definitely post in the BC cuz I think that will help out a lot of people. I think it's a problem a lot of people have. Bit of an eye opener imo.

Just finished a session. Played about 750ish hands FR 6 tables as usual. Win a stack/lose a stack kind of session. Nothing too special. Ended up at $39.27 so down 2 buy ins. Nothing to worry about.

At the very beginning I had TT a couple of times and wasn't really sure how to proceed with them, so I opted to fold it. I think TT is definitely a hand I have troubles with. I'm going to start posting some of my TT hands in the BC and see if I can get any feedback on them.

In this first hand I think he's only 3-betting with JJ+ AQ or AK. I had JUST sat down at table so was my first hand with him. My only options were 4-bet shove or fold out. 4-betting seemed like a spewy line to take so I folded it out.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($1.68)
MP2 ($4.14)
MP3 ($2.86)
CO ($0.95)
Button ($3.28)
Hero (SB) ($1)
BB ($1)
UTG ($3.75)
UTG+1 ($4.81)

Preflop: Hero is SB with ,
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.02, MP1 (poster) checks, MP2 calls $0.02, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.60, 3 folds

Total pot: $0.30 | Rake: $0


Lo and behold! Two hands later I get TT again on a new table. I would definitely have called the short stacks shove for .18 cents, but once the other guy shoves over I have to fold. What kind of hand should I expect for him to show up with here? Would I still be fine putting all my chips in against 2 all ins? Again it seemed like a really spewy line to take just shoving all of it PF with TT against two unknowns PF.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP2) ($1)
CO ($2.11)
Button ($1.08)
SB ($0.38)
BB ($1.12)
UTG ($4.04)
UTG+1 ($1.56)
MP1 ($1.68)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with ,
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.10, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.10, 2 folds, SB raises to $0.38 (All-In), 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $1.56 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $0.88


That's it for now. I might do another session around 930-10 if I'm in the mood.

These limp/shoves (or limp/reraise big) really piss me off when I'm holding a hand like TT. I've been seeing it a lot lately, and when I do see the showdown, it's usually stupid crap. I mean, it's hard to call because it feels like it's AK,KK+, but I've seen it be A-rag (or even rag-rag sooooted) so many times that it's pretty tempting to call.

I think folding in both of these spots is fine, though. In both cases, you've put a relatively small amount in the pot thus far and it's just going to be hard to continue profitably. On the first one you might be ahead of his range, but you're likely not ahead of his shove-calling range. That makes it tempting to flat here, but TT turns to such crap on the flop that I think a fold is best.

In the second one, I'd be a lot more tempted to call, expecting him to make this play with low pairs a lot. Does AA or KK usually shove over here, or do they want a call behind? It's a little tricky. I think his range is something like 77-QQ with some KK+ and other stuff mixed in. A call isn't horrible with SB's dead money in the pot (but a read on him would be nice), but a fold is perfectly reasonable.

I'm glad that I made the "right" choice by folding. It's just such a tough spot to be in I think. I mean, I really feel like I overvalue TT PF and I've thought about limping all pairs up to TT most of the time. Typically, TT is a raise for me in any position. I'm thinking about switching it to how I play AJ. Only play it in LP if there aren't any raises (obviously I'll call a small raise with TT), if there only only limpers/folded to me I'll raise it up like usual. Does that seem like it would be a better play?

dranger i just want to wish you luck on your journey. I hope you hit that 100 dollar mark fast!!! It seams like more of a struggle than it really is. Once you start playing 25nl your not even gonna remember much of this 2nl. Ive built up from nothing so many times but i always cash it out like an idiot and never leave myself anything. lol. Anyways you should be pleased with your progress and with yourself. see you around and may your cards be live and your pots be monsters!!!!!

Hey thanks Royal! Glad to have you on the site man. Yeah, it's been a pretty up and down grind so far, but I'm not gonna quit on myself. This is a goal that I have to complete. Not want to, HAVE to. I'm a pretty competitive person, and when I get my mind set on something I like to see it through to the end. That's a big reason why I enlisted for the Marines back in June. Can't wait until May 18 when I go to Boot Camp. It's going to be hell, but I'll be a stronger person for it, mentally and physically.

Anyways, back to the subject of poker. Last night I fired up 6 tables for FR, and after about an hour or so of playing I decided to try 8 tabling for the first time ever. It was going pretty well, I was keeping good notes on all of my opponents in case I forgot of something they did before. After a couple more hours, I decided what the hell? I'll try to 10 table. Now THAT was a challenge. I really had to focus on my game. I 10 tabled for 3 more hours, and at the end of it I was only up 120BB's. But honestly, I just ran bad. I was up almost $10 at one point in the session, and then all my big hands starting getting cracked. My QQ+ hands that went to showdown got cracked by a smaller set 6 times.

I still feel really good about last night though. I was able to keep solid reads on opponents, and make non robotic plays at times (obviously not all the time). I ended playing over 3,500 hands (all time high at one time) and played for over 6 hours (also another high). At the end of the session my BR only stood at $41.73, but if I had won even 2 of those 6 QQ+ hands at showdown it would have been MUCH higher (in the $45-$46 range).

So really no complaints. I played well, and tried something new. Obviously I don't think I'm going to 10 table ALL the time. I'll probly stick to something in the 6-8 range for the most part. When I get the opportunity to move up to 5nl I'll drop back down to 4 tables and really focus on the play and slowly add more tables on as I get more and more used to the blinds/play.

Wish me luck guys, and hopefully the boomswitch flicks on soon

6 hours, 3500 hands. That's what I call a session. Playing all those tables you might wanna put your insurance money into a big monitor. Then you can play 24 tables.

Screw a big monitor lol. I'm probly not gonna attempt a 3500 hand session for a while, or 10 tables for that matter. It was fun, and challenging, but I did turn into a robot the last 500-1k hands or so. I mean, even the fish were realizing I was tight as hell. So wut I did to switch that up was raise the next 4 hands in a row on ALL my tables. I took down 40 blinds LMAO. It was crazy. Once I realized that I had that much fold equity against these guys, I started betting a raising like mad, taking down blinds and small pots. Then once they started reacting to that (took em close an hour lol) I decided it was time to leave.

It was pretty wild though. Made me feel pretty good that I could keep up with 10 tables of action and not lose my mind lol. I remember when 4 tables was HECTIC lmao.

Anyways, I'm just gonna stick to 2-3 hour sessions (tops) on 6-8 tables from now on. BTW cascading tables=nuts imo.

Just finished a 2 hour session 6-8 tabling (it varied) FR. I started out a 6-max and played/ran like ass. Except for one AMAZING hand that I'll put at bottom of post. Anyways, after getting pissed off at 6-max I switched to FR so I wouldn't have to choke out my roommate due to frustration.

After that things did NOT look up. Things kept getting worse as I lost KK on a Q-high flop to a guy with Q2o that hit a 2 on the river for a stack. Then I'd win a stack then lose another, win, lose, rinse, wash, repeat. I kept getting more and more frustrated at the stupidness of it.

I hate when I win then lose a stack over and over. That gets under my skin more than anything I think. But I just kept on playing. Expecting it to end at some point (hopefully).

Anyways, about 50ish hands b4 the session was over, a guy open shoves UTG+1 and I have AKo in MP2. I decide to call (I had a 50bb stack). Two more guys come along. Long story short, I quadded up with a nut flush lol. Don't ask what the other three had cuz it was just awful, one had 102o, another 82o. The initial shove had QQ.

Anyways, after that, I won a couple more stacks, making up for previous losses and then some. So I decided at the 500 hands, 2 hour mark, it was time to quit. I ended up the session with $45.70 after starting with $43.54. Let's hope this upswong continues.

Might play another session later, but idk if im in the mood. Might just play an lol donkament.

In other news, just got my copy of Professional No Limit Hold'em, so I'll start reading that and taking part in the book club here on FTR.

Almost forgot lol.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($1)
UTG ($4.48)
MP ($5.33)
CO ($1.59)
Button ($5.03)
SB ($1.67)

Preflop: Hero is BB with ,
UTG calls $0.02, MP calls $0.02, CO calls $0.02, 1 fold, SB calls $0.01, Hero raises to $0.12, UTG calls $0.10, 2 folds, SB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.40) , , (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.30, UTG raises to $0.60, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.88 (All-In), UTG calls $0.28

Turn: ($2.16) (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($2.16) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $2.16 | Rake: $0.10

dranger haven't checked in on you in awhile but was glad to see you're doing well. Sounds like things are clicking somewhat 4U. I have a question if you don't mind. You talked earlier about SPR and it sounds like it was an AHAAA moment. What is SPR? Would you eplain a little for us?
Also buddy I'd really like to convince you to spend just a couple bucks and get yourself a HUD program. I tried the free PT3 and enjoyed it but then the guys on here talked me into trying HEM and man I tell ya it is worth the money. They have a version for micro stakes that only cost like $30ish buck, I don't actuallly remember exactly but it wasn't much. The info is so valuable. If you would take that small investment out of the $500 you got/are getting it would pay back to fast!

Any how buddy keep up the grind your doing well!

Shit Harley, I aint doing that good lol. I've been stuck in neutral for last month lol, but better than being down I suppose. $50 is just a barrier I can't seem to cross, but I'll fuck it up soon enough imo.

Yea dude, HEM is definitely on my list to do, but I have to get a non-Mac computer first. Once I do that, HEM is gonna be an insta-buy for me. I can't wait. A friend of mine, MIGHT be selling his old laptop for $250. He just installed Vista on it and put in 2 gigs of RAM, so it runs faster. He's still thinking about it though. Hopefully he caves .

And about SPR. Basically what it is is your stack (or your opponent's whoever is smaller) compared to the size of the pot. Say you have a 100bb stack. And there is 20bb in the pot already. You have an SPR of 5 to 1. Which is good for TPTK type of hands, or AA, KK, QQ, etc. For your draw type of hands, (78s, 10Js, etc) you want an SPR of 13+. Because it takes 3 streets of Pot Sized Bets in order to get it all in.

That's really all SPR is. Basically, how much it takes to get your entire stack in. I could be explaining this really bad, but that's really what I've gotten out of it so far. I just got Professional No Limit Hold'em, so maybe that will make things a little more clear. Once I get to that section of the book, I'll update a little more. I feel like I'm missing something here and I don't want to give the wrong info. I learned SPR through one of the GrinderSchool vids.

But thanks for checking in Harley, good to know some people are still looking in on me . Later

Just got knocked out of a 25 cent MTT. Finished 110 out of 3307. Damn things are so top heavy I swear. I got 1.30 for like 3 hours work lmao. Ah well, I should have been out way before that. Had some major swongs in the tourney. Went from 26k to 2k to 33k all in about 20 hands. Pretty sick stuff. After that kinda just blinded down, chipping up when I could steal blinds, or bring in a little pot, but nothing major. Went on with K9s vs. AA. I hit 2 of my suit on flop, but no luck in hitting the flush. Woulda been so sweet to suck out on AA for once though .

Anyways, can't complain, its the deepest I've gotten in an MTT lately, so I'll take what I can get. Time for sleepy.

Nite all

Just finished up and 1 1/2 hour session. 586 hands 8 tabling FR. Ran at about 8bb/100, which is pretty shitty imo. I should be killing these stakes, but I have to look on the bright side, I've looked over some of my more recent posts, and I've had a couple -100bb/100 sessions, so yea. 8bb/100 aint too bad anymore .

But yea, roll is at $47.73 now. So I'm gradually inching closer to $50. Hopefully my session later on tonight will put me over!

Wish me luck

Originally Posted by dranger7070

Ran at about 8bb/100, which is pretty shitty imo. I should be killing these stakes

It's good to be results oriented in the long term, but be careful not to be TOO results oriented in the short term with poker. I don't think you should ever be disappointed with 8BB/100 or 4ptBB/100 @ any stakes. If you made bad decisions that limited your wins or caused losses, then that's a legitimate gripe, but poker is not like basketball. LeBron James can step into any street game and dominate and be disappointed if he's not crushing. No poker player can sit down @ any table and automatically crush - you need reads, situations, cards, luck, and many other things.

Maybe you didn't really mean it since you followed up with:

Originally Posted by dranger7070

8bb/100 aint too bad anymore

But, in any case, focus on good decisions and if you're going to evaluate your win rate, look at ALL your hands, not just an isolated session.

Hey thanks Jason. Yea, I wasn't too serious when I said I was disappointed with 8bb/100 session. The way things have been going lately, I'm stoked to have ANY kind of winning session. And yea, I can't look at all my hands cuz I don't got a HUD . Damn macs suck ass when it comes to poker imo. Ah well, couple more months and I'll have something else hopefully.

Originally Posted by dranger7070

And about SPR. Basically what it is is your stack (or your opponent's whoever is smaller) compared to the size of the pot. Say you have a 100bb stack. And there is 20bb in the pot already. You have an SPR of 5 to 1. Which is good for TPTK type of hands, or AA, KK, QQ, etc. For your draw type of hands, (78s, 10Js, etc) you want an SPR of 13+. Because it takes 3 streets of Pot Sized Bets in order to get it all in.

That's really all SPR is. Basically, how much it takes to get your entire stack in. I could be explaining this really bad, but that's really what I've gotten out of it so far. I just got Professional No Limit Hold'em, so maybe that will make things a little more clear. Once I get to that section of the book, I'll update a little more. I feel like I'm missing something here and I don't want to give the wrong info. I learned SPR through one of the GrinderSchool vids.

But thanks for checking in Harley, good to know some people are still looking in on me . Later

Hey buddy thanks for the explaination. Are you taking part of the book club gig on PNL? Sounds pretty interesting and a good way to make sure you get the most out of the book. I'm going to order a copy and try and follow along with the book club myself if I can afford to buy the book. Sounds crazy but business is down and I just popped for a huge vacation for the wife and I in Mexico earlier this month so I may have to wait on PNL but I will get it.
Good luck buddy and grind your azzz off!

Hey, yea man I got PNL yesterday and I've been reading through it and I'm going to TRY and be apart in the discussion. Don't know that I'll be able to add any useful info, but meh, shit happens imo lol. But yea dude, definitely look into getting it. Worth the buy imo. I got it off of amazon for $17 (including shipping) and cover price is $30 so thats a plus imo.

Just finished a 350ish hand session. Down $2. Whatever no sweat. At the very start of the session went on a decent run of cards. Got AA 3x and JJ 4x. Got up to $50.01 (lol) so at least I know I can touch that number, that it's attainable. Makes me proud that I FINALLY got to that bitch, but then as fate would have it, had a lil negative variance come rear its ugly head. KK lost to AJ all in on turn on a Q high board. A on river. Villain had AJ. Whatever, roll with the punches. Lost another stack to a FH (he got on the river, so I got money in good) when I had an opened straight draw and flush draw. No biggie. Lost a few decent sized pots where I had to give up. Made back some monies. Lost some monies. Standard poker. Can't complain.

One thing I realized this session that will probly save me some bb's in the future is I call down to chop the pot WAAAAY too much.

Example: Hero has AK. Board is Q55Qx no flush draw. Villain bets increasing amounts on all streets. I will c-bet flop, then check/call the other two streets to "keep him honest."

Fucking basic as all hell. Calling to chop is the dumbest thing ever. At least I realized I was doing it and now I know to stop myself before I do it.

Sick of spending hours reading books, posting on FTR, and watching vids and not having it translate to wins on the table. I spend a ton of time looking at HH's and all that and it doesn't seem to be doing any good. I know I have to keep at it and I will, I just want to see the fruits of my labor at some point. Would be nice

I love 6 max... Did I mention I run AMAZINGLY well?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($7.99)
MP ($5.86)
Button ($3.44)
Hero (SB) ($3.03)
BB ($1.24)

Preflop: Hero is SB with ,
UTG calls $0.02, 1 fold, Button calls $0.02, Hero raises to $0.20, BB raises to $1.24 (All-In), 2 folds, Hero calls $1.04

Flop: ($2.52) , , (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($2.52) (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($2.52) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $2.52 | Rake: $0.10

And not too much later:


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($2.81)
Hero (MP) ($2.15)
CO ($3.03)
Button ($4.97)
SB ($3.02)
BB ($2.12)

Preflop: Hero is MP with ,
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.20, CO raises to $0.52, 3 folds, Hero raises to $2.15 (All-In), CO calls $1.63

Flop: ($4.33) , , (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($4.33) (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($4.33) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $4.33 | Rake: $0.20

Lol forgot results aint posted . Ah well, better that way imo. Obviously you know what happened no need to discuss imo. I thought about deleting the last two posts because they do absolutely nothing for the blog/op but I'm going to leave them, to show myself that as much as I'd like to think I'm over tilting, I'm not.

Shortly after those hands, I opened up a couple more tables (that was on two separate tables, so I opened to more and closed those two). Started out kinda bad again, KK lost to 65s that boated up on river, the hits keep coming.

At this point I decide to check my BR, $40.95 is what is staring me in the face. I couldn't believe it. I had just so recently touched $50 and now I'm back down to $40? How did that happen so fast? So I just kinda zoned out for a couple minutes freaking out. Then I regained my composure, sat back on in my tables, and commenced pwning the fuck out of two $10+ stacks (at 2nl i know lol). I bought in for full 100bb stacks. I'm not gonna lie, I ran good. I flopped a two pair with QJs. Boated up on turn. Guy rivered a straight and paid me off. Good things imo.

On another table, I took my $2, and built up to $5+ through one of the said big stacks, she had $14ish. I brought that down to close to $10 before I left. On another table I got a set of J's to crack KK on a J high flop. So after all that I decided its time to quit while I'm "ahead."

Ending session BR: $47.59

It's still "down" for the whole day, but honestly I'm not gonna bitch lol. That last half hour heater is what saved my whole day, possibly my BR cuz I was dangerously close to tilting off my roll. Maybe I should keep playing now that I'm on a heater, but I need a break. I just played for 3-4 hours. I'll take an hour or so break, watch some TV, whatever. Then maybe hop on the tables again.

Please let this be a sign of things to come. *crosses fingers*

Damn it feels good to do this to someone else especially as "deep" as we were lol. (It's deep for me ok?) BTW: The reason I'm at 5nl is becuz me and a friend who has the same BR size (in the $40's) decided we would take a shot at 5nl tonight. We had a ONE buy in stop loss. So if we either leaked off $5 through blinds, just losing small pots, or getting stacked obviously, we close the tables immediately. Things didn't go QUITE as good for my friend, his FH ran into straightflush=brutal, but variance was on my side (for tonight at least it seems.)

Reads on opponent so far were, every hand he had shown down was pretty much either the nuts on the board, and overpair, sets, etc. He rarely got it in with less than QQ+ PF. He didn't raise pairs smaller than JJ+, but will call raises with all pairs. Makes large c-bets on ANY texture flop (see below.) This is the type of opponent I would expect to slowplay a flopped flush at least one street, trying to induce bets from me, and honestly lowest flush he would have based on my reads is AhKh. This guy was just tight as a nun's vagina. A "5nl reg" if you will. I pretty much knew instantly when he raised as much as he did PF that he JJ+ (more than likely QQ+) or AKs. (I never seen him raise AKo, but that might just be because he hadn't had it/hadn't had the opportunity to show down.)

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($11.11)
SB ($8.59)
BB ($5)
Hero (UTG) ($7.69)
MP ($5.03)
CO ($3.84)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with ,
Hero calls $0.05, 1 fold, CO calls $0.05, Button raises to $0.25, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.20, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.62) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $0.50, Hero raises to $1.60, Button raises to $10.86 (All-In), Hero calls $5.84 (All-In)

Turn: ($15.50) (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($15.50) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $15.50 | Rake: $0.75

Wow, okay so I just realized this morning that I have never "really" introduced myself on FTR before. I pretty much just showed up one day and started posting lol. So I figured at page 3 in the blog it was "now or never." Hopefully this isn't too long winded or anything, but here goes:

My name is Dustin Ranger. I'm an 18 year old American going to college at Ferris State University in Michigan. I'm going for my Bachelor's in Political Science, then to law school (not sure where yet) after that. I enlisted for the Marine Reserves back in June (I always wanted to be in the military, but college interferes with going active, obviously), and I ship for Boot Camp on May 18th. Pretty excited, no one in my family has really supported the decision, which is crazy because my dad was in the Navy for 4 years, but whatever. They don't like it, they can piss off imo.

Started playing poker with my brother when I was 14. He taught me Texas Holdem after playing with some buddies one night. We used to just play HU with our piggybanks as they steaks (like $5 in play tops lmao). He was older, and thus, exploited my weaker, younger brother status. (i.e. cheated, wouldn't pay me when I actually won for a change, etc.) Never really played with anyone else until I was 15 or 16 when he took me to a couple of tournaments with some of his friends. I did piss poor as you can imagine. First or second out every time basically.

This continued off and on up until last June (before I enlisted) when I played in a Monday night tournament at the local casino (its an Indian casino, so babies like myself can play on it ). I ended up taking 2nd (which is why they call them donkaments imo), and winning $1,000. Obviously, that's my biggest poker score to date, and will remain thus for quite a while.

After that I got ADDICTED to poker. I would watch WPT and WSOP on TV like it was my job, I read as much stuff as could online (starting hand charts, pot odds, sng strategies, etc), and this is how I found FTR. Once I got to college I made my 1st deposit on pokerstars for $25 (waste *sigh*) and proceeded to lose it quite quickly. Same went for my next 2 $25 buy ins. I was playing the 3.40 9 man sngs. All I wanted to play was "tournament poker." And I wasnt TERRIBLE for the stakes, just not good lol. My 4th buy in though, I musta hit a MAJOR heater, cuz I went from $25 to $160ish in a couple days. At the end of it I tried out larger and larger sngs, starting at the 3.40, then trying the 5.50, then the LAST one i did was a $16 9 man. I won it (by donking my way through) and decided at $160+ was a good time to cash back down to $25.

So I did, and blew the resulting money that came from that idea. The remaining $25 was quickly lost. Deposited $25, lost it. Decided to stop for a week or so. Got back on and there was $25 sitting in my account! Deposit bonus cleared. So I lost that (lol). Now after all that I decided to switch to cash and grind it on up from $10. And this is the resulting operation. As it stands I'm in the red when it comes to poker winnings (unless I cashed out roll right no) but it's not by much. I hope to be able to build my roll so I can play at 25nl and beyond.


Well, thats it. That's pretty much a fair recollection of my poker history, and a boring ass read if anyone actually DOES read it. Just thought I should introduce myself, open myself up a little more to the people on FTR, who are all pretty much bad ass imo.


Now for some poker updates, last night played at 5nl again. Donked off a stack and immediately quit lmao. Roll is $42+ some change. I decided I'm going to buy in for $2.50 at 5nl. It's 50bb and its almost what I would be buying in for at 2nl for 100bb anyways. Plus the pots get bigger that much faster, and it will help me grow (or lose) my roll faster. Wish me luck!

So instead of waiting to buy a PC I decided to pay the $50 and get Poker Copilot. It's basically a Mac version of HEM or PT3, but just a lil less complex. I must say, for being recently developed (less than a year old) its surprisingly stable, and shows a good amount of stats. All the basics: VPIP/PFR/C-bet%/3bet%/Fold to 3bet%/# of hands played

I figured it would be a better deal than just buying another comp just for poker. Eventually, it SHOULD be close to the equal to HEM or PT3. Only downside I have with it is no hand replayer (as of right now) However, he is always looking for advice to improve and maybe this will be on his to do list.

Anyways, now to pokers. Wound up down 2.5 BI's ish so far. (I'm still grinding as I write this). I just wanted to say that so far this sesh (bout 700 handsish) I've been all in quite a few times. ALMOST always getting it in good. Couple of exceptions were when I got all in on river with a straight and the guy already had a flush, and when I got it all in with TT vs. QQ PF (he was a shorty.) That hand I got set over set on a Q104 flop. Meh whatever, I was already behind when it got in so I dont really mind that. Not too much later I get AA all in vs. KK PF. The guy was running 75/46 over 80ish hands and was 3-betting like a monkey, so I 4-bet shoved his ass. Snap call. Hits 4 cards to a straight.

So I go on crazy monkey tilt and donk off 3 more stacks right? WRONG! No tilt whatsoever. I was just like "whatever dude, i scoop a $4 pot 80% of the time," and moved on. Sure I was disappointed, but I got over it pretty quick and I'm feeling pretty good. Still in the mood to grind, and continue to get my money in good like that.

Also, I'm going to follow Robb's newbie first 5k hands at 10nl plan. Hopefully it helps out my game. Just trying to get back to the basics. I think that will really help out my game. Seems to be working already even though I'm down. Just had some bad luck. (nothing new there ). All in all good day for grinding.

Wow... I was at $45-46ish a couple days ago. Just finished session. $38.30. Yep thats right BACK IN THE THIRTY'S BABY!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Last hand before I quit. KK vs. 89s PF. 89A on flop. No suckouts for me. I can't believe this. I didn't spew all session. I end up over 3.5 BI's. WTF. I don't get it. I play a solid 15/13 game for almost 1k hands. I only got my money in bad twice. Once was just dumb (the straight on flush board) the other was just standard TT<QQ. Wutever. AA<KK hurt but I shook it off. Yay me. I figure I'm getting a hold on my tilt control. Than I lose another stack. To a crazy aggro donk who's been getting it all in with KJ high and J9o PF. Lost every time, til I come along with my measely pocket K's. Wutever. Shake it off amirite? Tell you what. It's getting AWFULLY HARD to just "shake it off." But I will. I'll be back to grinding tomorrow. i WILL beat this game. With as much time and effort ive put into this game, theres no way I CANT beat 2nl. Yet somehow, it continues to happen... idk.

See you guys tomorrow. IM GONNA BEAT THIS GAME DAMMIT!!!!

When I said "I ended up 3.5 BI's" I meant i ended up DOWN 3.5 bi's. Sorry for any confusion.

Ok, putting in some life goals into this little blug now. I'm going to USMC boot camp in May, and I've been a lazy fuck for the last month or so, so its time to step it up and get into shape before I go.

So I ran an IST (Initial Strength Test) with my recruiter this morning and these are my results:

1 1/2 mile run: 11:08
Max crunches in 2 minutes: 66 (I was at 100+ before xmas lmao)
Pull-ups: 9 (arms fully extended, underhand grip, I was doing 12-15 before xmas)

As you can see, xmas basically fucked me lol. Ah well, it won't take very long and I'll be beasting this shit out again. Feels good to feel like I have to puke after working out. It's been a while since that's happened . Sounds strange, I know. But hey, I wanna be a Marine during war time, so I'm not normal amirite?

Originally Posted by dranger7070

i WILL beat this game. With as much time and effort ive put into this game, theres no way I CANT beat 2nl. Yet somehow, it continues to happen... idk.

See you guys tomorrow. IM GONNA BEAT THIS GAME DAMMIT!!!!

I think your perseverance will serve you well so long as you stick with it and don't get frustrated or impatient. I'm no expert, but if you're stuck, a few things to consider:

• Stick with one game and try to master it. I don't know what you play, but there are many variations of NL - full ring, 6 max, normal speed, fast speed, MTT, SNG, heads-up, and the like. If you're stuck and doing many different games or even more than one, you may want to focus on JUST one to build up a high level of familiarity and subsequent skill set and hopefully good results. If you're bouncing around too much, that can stymie your progress.
  
• Even if you have a lot of hand histories to support your bad beats, make sure you are not content that that's the main or only reason you're not moving up faster. Remember, no matter who you are, there are always leaks to be plugged, more money to be made, and less money to be lost. Also remember that EVERYONE who succeeds in poker and moves up does so suffering bad beats along the way.
  
• Just because you think you're not tilting doesn't mean you aren't. Tilt is a funny thing. If you start pushing all-in every hand out of anger, that's obviously tilt and can be identified. There are many other ways to tilt that might not be as obvious. You may start playing less hands, more hands, avoiding villains, going out of your way to play with villains, and so on. Always evaluate to see that you're making the same good decisions you would have if you just sat down fresh. If you are not, consider taking a break or quitting for the day.
  
• Don't take shots. I read some recent posts where you said you played @ $5NL. If you're rolled for $2NL and trying to beat that game, nothing good can come from playing $5NL. In fact, succeeding @ $5NL could be the WORST thing that happens because it'll reinforce the idea that taking shots is good, which it's not. And, to tie it back to point #1, it's another variation on the game that could be slowing you up.

Just some food for thought. Good luck.

Hey Jason, thanks for replying, and no the only game Im playing is 2nl. (except for that shot I took at 5nl. One thing is, I wasn't tilting. I know what my tilt feels like lol. My tilt=major spewtard. Last night, I stayed calm, didn't chase losses, just kept playing the game. A lot of it just was really bad variance. I can live with that.

And yea, everyone suffers bad beats lol. Just seems like I get more than my fair share . Ask my friend who plays 30k+ hands a month. He says he hasn't seen anyone run as bad as me ever lol. But that is so far from the point it doesn't even matter. I think all the beats are actually HELPING my game in all honesty. Like, not being able to get past 2nl (or $50 for that matter) is like lighting this fire under my ass. It's making me play more than I usually do. Making me want to grind and get better. Watching more vids, read more books, review HH's.

It's making a better poker player imo. This might be just what I need. I used to tilt so bad (see page 1, 2, AND 3 lol). But now, the beats are just starting to roll off and I can handle more. I've already improved so much in the last 3 months from trying to do this that it is ridiculous.

Although I must say, I used to win more when I donked around .

Just wrapping up night session. Didn't play for too long. Kinda spewed with AQ on a 5J8A board. It was vs a REALLY loose opponent. Literally 4 hands before that he had gotten it all in with K2s PF vs AA and caught his flush lol. But I digress. Here's HH. PF he could literally have anything. He's been calling ANY kind of raise PF since I sat down.

On the flop he checks his TPTK which is surprising cuz in the past he had been aggro donk whenever he hit the board. Anyways, turn A comes. He bets out. I HATE my reraise size. I was thinking that he would just call, and that I was setting myself up for an easy river shove that he could call, but god thats just retarded imo. It's not an AWFUL idea, but I should have made it 90 at least. I was afraid of blowing him outta the water which is obviously just assinine. And when he shoves I happily called, even though that should have sent up a red flag. He just 3-bet shoved on me on THAT board. I have TP2ndK. NOT TPTK. Any two pair beats me, including a lot of Aces that are in his range. I don't know that I can fold there though. Idk.

Here's the HH:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($2)
SB ($5.45)
BB ($4.89)
UTG ($4.58)
MP ($1)

Preflop: Hero is Button with ,
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.08, SB calls $0.07, BB calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.24) , , (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.24) (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $0.30, Hero raises to $0.75, 1 fold, BB raises to $2, Hero calls $1.17 (All-In)

River: ($4.08) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $4.08 | Rake: $0.20

I prefer to play a small pot with TPTK. Villain was loose as you said, so that does give you some freedom to confidently play a bigger pot, but I'd much rather be pushing all my chips in than calling them to someone who has me covered. Also keep in mind that it's usually harder to push allin with garbage on the turn than it is preflop.

Ok, this is why I'm seriously considering switching over to FR permanently and just saying screw 6-max. But I played/ran good when I first started playing 6-max and its kinda like my first love pokerwise, so I'm not ready to give up on her just yet. Since I started playing tighter PF I've noticed an improvement (even though its only been like one day lol).

So this is what I think I'm going to do. I'm going to grind 1-2 table 6-max until middle of February and if I'm still in the red for this year, I will switch to FR permanently. I need to figure out what is best for my poker development, and it seems like my nittier style would be better served at FR.

Here are my '09 6-max and FR graphs so far. They are both over the same(ish) sample size of about 7-8k. Small sample, I know, but it's what I have to work with.


6-max:




FR:

OMG I <3 micros. A buddy of mine that just slays 2nl all day told me to try this out: BET FUCKING HUGE with made hands. Example below but I got to tell you the strategy first lol. With KK and KK only. Bet 20 cents and shove any non ace flop. With AA you just open shove. No fucking around. Trust me on this one. I didn't believe it til I tried it, but people mind fuck themselves and call with slop. For example, my friend shoved and two people called, with QTo and 910s lol. I got an example below of that too. Anyways, those are the only two hands apart of this "strategy."


Heres the first LOL hand (gotta love the donks that talkthemselves into calling):

PokerStars Game #24581140953: Hold'em No Limit ($0.01/$0.02) - 2009/02/04 4:09:50 ET
Table 'Parthenope II' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: krnekdo ($4.64 in chips)
Seat 2: pitschpat ($5.14 in chips)
Seat 4: specialED322 ($2.80 in chips)
Seat 5: dranger7070 ($1 in chips)
Seat 6: Dr.Awals ($3.40 in chips)
Dr.Awals: posts small blind $0.01
krnekdo: posts big blind $0.02
ProfKev85: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dranger7070 [Ad Ac]
pitschpat: calls $0.02
specialED322: calls $0.02
dranger7070: raises $0.98 to $1 and is all-in
Dr.Awals: calls $0.99
krnekdo: folds
pitschpat: raises $4.14 to $5.14 and is all-in
specialED322: folds
Dr.Awals: calls $2.40 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($1.74) returned to pitschpat
*** FLOP *** [Kc Ts 7h]
*** TURN *** [Kc Ts 7h] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Kc Ts 7h 2c] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dr.Awals: shows [Jh Js] (two pair, Jacks and Deuces)
pitschpat: shows [Ah Kd] (two pair, Kings and Deuces)
pitschpat collected $4.60 from side pot
dranger7070: shows [Ad Ac] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)
dranger7070 collected $2.89 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.84 Main pot $2.89. Side pot $4.60. | Rake $0.35
Board [Kc Ts 7h 2c 2d]
Seat 1: krnekdo (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: pitschpat showed [Ah Kd] and won ($4.60) with two pair, Kings and Deuces
Seat 4: specialED322 folded before Flop
Seat 5: dranger7070 (button) showed [Ad Ac] and won ($2.89) with two pair, Aces and Deuces
Seat 6: Dr.Awals (small blind) showed [Jh Js] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Deuces


This hand I was jumping up and down cuz I got 2 callers lol. I was relieved when the board paired to take out any 2 pair junk hands that woulda caught on me:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($4.64)
UTG ($5.14)
MP ($2.80)
Hero (Button) ($1)
SB ($3.40)

Preflop: Hero is Button with ,
UTG calls $0.02, MP calls $0.02, Hero raises to $1 (All-In), SB calls $0.99, 1 fold, UTG raises to $5.14 (All-In), 1 fold, SB calls $2.40 (All-In)

Flop: ($7.84) , , (3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($7.84) (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($7.84) (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $7.84 | Rake: $0.35


Seriously, dont get discouraged if one or two hands go and you don't get any callers. And remember, this is at 2nl. Not 25nl or something. Obviously, at 5nl+ im not gonna do stupid stuff like this. This is seriously probly optimum for this stake lol.

Whoops, ok hang on guys lol, those two are the exact same hand lol. I forgot to post the other one. Not important. I had 94o in the BB. 94x flop, I bet 10x the pot. Guy insta calls. I shove a Q turn. Insta call. River J, guy had an OESD. Just two good examples of guys at 2nl trying to get lucky.

Obviously, don't play like this if you don't have the BR to support it.

Sigh... bout to get lynched in FTR's WW. First one gone imo lol. Ah well, it was my first time playing and they obv lynch the noobs. Can't wait for the next one to start already.

In other news, poker last night pwned. I was RAPING the fishies (also running well, actually probly ONLY running well). BR is $49.29 now. I was at $50.33 for quite a while, but then lost a small pot and it went away. Thing is, I'm feeling really good about poker now and just read a GREAT post by ISF wrote a couple years back that Robb bumped and I think it's really gonna help to motivate me to play better and find my leaks and beat them.

Link if you're interested:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...od-t53415.html

Originally Posted by dranger7070

Ok, this is why I'm seriously considering switching over to FR permanently and just saying screw 6-max. ]

Dranger you sound so much like me. When I compare my 6m to Fr I wonder wtf do I waste my time doing that. Also I noticed you posted a hand from 5nl, don't do that you're not rolled for it my friend! As I said you have some very similiar leaks to mine. What about your tables? How many are you playing? I cut back to 4 only and my winrate has really improved. I am going to stick with 4 and really build upon my skills.
Hey I got my copy of PNL the other day and started reading. Wow I really think this is going to help with some leaks. I'm taking my time and really trying to do the math etc. so I can grasp the concepts as I go.
Well buddy keep up the work and STOP DOING WHAT DOESN"T HELP UR GAME!

Hey thx Harley. Yea I know I wasn't rolled for 5nl, but me and a buddy of mine decided we'd buy in for the minimum ($2) at 5nl and leave if we doubled or lost or BI. Wasn't too much risk, just for the simple fact that we didn't buy in for 100bb. It was fun though. The games don't play any different from 2nl, except for the fact that the pots are a LOT bigger.

I've cut back from 4 tabling back down to 1 table, and it really has improved my winrate. I've been running like god (well, for me ) and I've been playing half way decent. Been making really good laydowns, and a few hero calls that have gone my way. Not getting sucked out on is pretty bad ass too .

I'm just going to stick to 1 tabling for now. Add one more in a couple weeks maybe.


BR update: BROKE $50 WOOOOOT!!!!! Current roll is $55 and some change. Hopefully now I'll start raking and be able to move up to 5nl soon.

Also, the local casino is having sunday night freerolls, with $10 rebuys. 1st place has gotten $1,000 pretty consistently the last couple of weeks, so im going to start playing in that. Went to the casino tonight and played some 1/2 and made $100 in 3ish hours. The players are so frigging terrible, I <3 it! Can't wait til next weekend

Here's another BR update: $71.81 imo. I KNOW RIGHT? Ship the $16 upswing imo. I'll post the garph hang on. Me and my friend both hit pretty sick heaters tonight. It was pretty much badass lol. Haven't hit an upswing like this in oh idk, since I first started lol. Good times




The last 400 hands or so is from tonights sesh. Looks better when you put in context of the rest of my month .

I'm telling you guys, open shoving AA at 2nl = nuts.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($1.06)
CO ($2.39)
Hero (Button) ($1)
SB ($2.85)
BB ($1.25)
UTG ($2)

Preflop: Hero is Button with ,
1 fold, MP calls $0.02, CO calls $0.02, Hero raises to $1 (All-In), 2 folds, MP calls $0.98, CO calls $0.98

Flop: ($3.03) , , (3 players, 1 all-in)
MP checks, CO checks

Turn: ($3.03) (3 players, 1 all-in)
MP checks, CO checks

River: ($3.03) (3 players, 1 all-in)
MP checks, CO checks

Total pot: $3.03 | Rake: $0.15

Woulda put me over $80 *cries* lol so super standard though I don't even feel bad, this guy was such a fish.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($3)
Hero (UTG) ($3.86)
MP ($3.73)
Button ($3.89)
SB ($0.55)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with ,
Hero raises to $0.08, MP raises to $0.14, 1 fold, SB calls $0.13, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.44) , , (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.34, MP raises to $0.68, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3.72 (All-In), MP calls $2.91 (All-In)

Turn: ($7.62) (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($7.62) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $7.62 | Rake: $0.35

So the upswong continues: BR is now $85. I took a shot at 5nl tonight when I hit $80 and it went pretty well. Stacked a couple of shorties, and just played the same solid ABC game I've been playing at 2nl. Garf of this year so far

And oh yea, 36 hours ago, my BR was at $50 something. $hip the $30 upswing lol

Nice. It's much more fun to report on the winnings

In the middle of a session. Just thought I should let everyone know that I'm getting fucking pwned by 2nl fish. I started today at $85. Opened up a table of 5nl. JJ ran into AA on a low board, obviously lost a stack. AK shipped PF vs. TT and he hit a third T, so $10 down the drain. Meh, whatever. Standard variance imo.

Move down to 2nl and haven't been able to pull out of the nosedive yet. I've lost 6 BI's here so far. I've gotten AK all in PF 3 times and 2 out of the 3 times the guy had AA. The last time he had QQ. On all 3 I have failed to hit an A or a K. I have shipped it in with QQ and gotten beat by a flush.

It's pretty disheartening to have a massive heater for 2 days then the VERY NEXT DAY have an 8 BI downswing. I had no problem moving back down after I reached $75. I mean I was just taking a shot and will continue to do so every time my roll is at $80+.

I don't feel too bad I guess since I ran like god the last 2 days, but it still sucks to lose that much that fast. But ah well, if I can keep my head out of my ass I'll be back up in no time.

Well, I kept my head outta my ass. BR is currently sitting at $78.29. Oh dem 2nl swongs. After I bottomed out at $61 and some change, I took a 30-45 minute break. Played madden with my roommate. Won, so that made me feel better. After that I hopped on the tables with my buddy and we commenced oober pwnage on all fish in the vicinity.

I got up to $10 on one table. Me and my friend had skype open and were sitting on the same two tables and basically did a two way sweat. We only had 2-4 tables open at once (2 tables for the majority of the time) and basically tried to find spots where we could either get thin value outta of 2nd pair type hands, and what kind of boards were good for c-betting, etc.

All in all it was a really good session. We're both just kind of waiting around for the pokerstars server to restart so we can do it again.

Originally Posted by dranger7070

I got up to $10 on one table. Me and my friend had skype open and were sitting on the same two tables and basically did a two way sweat. We only had 2-4 tables open at once (2 tables for the majority of the time) and basically tried to find spots where we could either get thin value outta of 2nd pair type hands, and what kind of boards were good for c-betting, etc.

GL on the op man, but if you're going to do crap like this, it's best not to talk about it. Your intentions are good, I know, but this is collusion.