Road to 100k: stop spewing! (COMPLETE!!)

Hey guys,

So I'm writing this operation after my biggest losing day ever yesterday. Essentially a large part of the disaster occurred because a fish.. or an apparent fish.. was playing 25/50 and I decided to "take a shot".

Here are a couple hands against this fish. The reads were that he was running 60/16ish, and check min-raising pretty often... and a lot of the times he was showing up with the nuts etc. He was also calling down a lot, with bottom/mid/top pairs.

Hand 1:
-this hand is weird, and I'm not sure if this river is a call or not
-I found it odd that he'd push that scary straight card... I guess he could have the straight himself..

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $25/$50
6 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is Button with
UTG calls, 2 folds, Hero raises to $250, 2 folds, UTG calls.

Flop: ($575, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $400, UTG calls.

Turn: ($1375, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $700, UTG raises to $1400, Hero calls.

River: ($4175, 2 players)
UTG bets $6950, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: $6950 returned to UTG.

Results:
Final pot: $4175



Hand 2:
-I probably should have folded this turn if i wasn't gonna go with it

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $25/$50
6 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is UTG+1 with
UTG folds, Hero raises to $160, CO calls, Button folds, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: ($530, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks.

Turn: ($530, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $390, CO folds, SB raises to $780, Hero calls.

River: ($2090, 2 players)
SB bets $1150, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: $1150 returned to SB.

Results:
Final pot: $2090


These were a couple lay downs I made. A few bad bluffs at 25/50, and a few coolers at 10/20 later.. I was on my way to a -12k hit!

So the goal of this operation thread is for me to get my act together. Without a doubt my biggest leak is spewing/bluffing stupidly in dumb spots ... especially dumb spots with no fold equity. So I plan on maybe posting some hands here, and some spews as well, and maybe get some feedback on how bad they truly are.

Also, no more "taking shots" for me.. cause I just didn't play my A game with scared money.

Here goes my road to 100k! starting BR: 57k

glgl

how fucking awesome that you can say you played 5kNL, had a bad day, and still have a 60k roll!

you will reach 100k for sure.

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Another crappy session today, though I don't think I played that badly. Down 5k though, the downswing continues!

bankroll ~ 52k (hopefully I stop going AWAY from 100k, and start going towards it!)


These hands are all in pounds, so its actually twice as painful!

******* Hand 1 ********
-this one is probably the most unnecessary one, cause he's a nit and I should know better

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
5 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is BB with
3 folds, SB raises to $30, Hero calls.

Flop: ($60, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $38, SB calls.

Turn: ($136, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $120, SB raises to $375, Hero raises all-in $993.5, SB calls.

River: ($2123, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2123)


Results:
Final pot: $2123
Hero shows Qh Th
SB shows 3s 3h for three of a kind 3's


******* Hand 2 ********

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
6 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $40, CO folds, Button calls, Hero raises to $170, BB folds, UTG+1 calls, Button folds.

Flop: ($390, 2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $250, Hero raises all-in $1210, UTG+1 calls all-in $488.25.
Uncalled bets: $471.75 returned to Hero.

Turn: ($1866.5, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1866.5)


River: ($1866.5, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1866.5)


Results:
Final pot: $1866.5

Results:
Final pot: $2123

villain WINS and shows 7d 6d for straight flush

******* Hand 3 ********

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
4 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is BB with
2 folds, SB raises to $20, Hero calls.

Flop: ($40, 2 players)
SB bets $31, Hero calls.

Turn: ($102, 2 players)
SB bets $88, Hero raises to $214, SB calls.

River: ($530, 2 players)
SB bets $315, Hero raises all-in $743.55, SB calls all-in $307.75.
Uncalled bets: $120.8 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: $1775.5
Hero shows 3d 3h for full house
SB WINS and shows 4s 4h for full house


******* Hand 4 ********

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
5 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is SB with
UTG folds, CO raises to $15, Button folds, Hero raises to $60, BB folds, CO calls.

Flop: ($125, 2 players)
Hero bets $90, CO raises to $220, Hero raises all-in $598, CO calls all-in $218.
Uncalled bets: $160 returned to Hero.

Turn: ($1001, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1001)


River: ($1001, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1001)


Results:
Final pot: $1001

villain WINS and shows Jc 9c for straight flush

Well my downswing continued all the way down to a roll of 48.7k.

But finally a good day yesterday, +4.5k and my roll is at 53ishk now. Good to finally be back in the green for a session, and good to hit sets!

Alexos and I have a prob bet, first to 100k as some of you may have seen in his blog, and its back to being close again so it should be a good race. Good luck man!

Hopefully we both start going UP instead of DOWN

Dude u have almost 1K posts and I dont know you. Poker History Bio plz

Originally Posted by Da GOAT

Dude u have almost 1K posts and I dont know you. Poker History Bio plz

Haha.. yah I guess I more or less fly under the radar on here.. but I guess I could give a little history bio for ya (and for anyone else who cares :P)

Sooo I guess I joined Interpoker in August of 2006.. so about 1.5 yrs ago. I deposited $150 and got a $100 sign up bonus and started playing 25NL (yah.. reasonably bad BR management ) But luckily I made my way up pretty quick and withdrew the $150 I deposited so I would only be playing with winnings.

I started playing 50NL pretty quickly, like 3ish weeks later with more moderately bad BR management (~15 buyins). I kept up at 50NL for the next 2-3ish months working my BR up to $2-3k with bonuses and rakeback (rakeback is a loveeeeely thing!). I took shots at 100NL during this time and at the time found this to be the hardest jump I had to make. It took me several attempts to make the jump to 50NL and I only finally moved up to 100NL after my third or so try, in my fourth month of playing.

After every session since I had started playing, I would write my end of day bankroll in an excel spreadsheet and write notes from that day, or anything that I learned that I thought was important. here is a sample from some of my end of date lessons/notes to myself:

"50NL, Tight out of blinds, and tight OOP. Don't call raises with suited connectors OOP from raiser. DON’T crazy raise/push against someone that has shown strength, without a strong hand! They never fold and everytime I lose money its on bluffs! "

"Don't stack off with tpgk in an unraised pot. They can have anything, and not worth it. If you get raised, respect."

"-lead into PF raiser if OOP and you think you have him, instead of check raising and building huge pot. Respect re-raises out of blinds!.. Esp if you haven't been raising them lots. If you re-raise and bet HARD on missed flop and get called, shutdown."

"LEARN TO FOLD to aggression, without a read. Stop needing to see the cards, when you know you're beat! "

I won't say that these are necessarily all good words of wisdom or even good advice, but at the time and at the time at these limits, this is the kind of thing I was telling myself at the end of each session.

Some of these things I've been trying to grill into my head from 50NL I still tell myself on a regular basis. Especially that last one.

I played 100NL for about 3-4 months and worked my roll up to about 5.5k and started taking shots at 200NL. A couple notes I took during that time:

"OMG.. Stop being an idiot.. And learn to fold top pair to ANY resistance, without reads! Lost almost ALL my stacks with ONLY top pair"

"-if you re-raise in blinds and fire a big bullet on flop that gets called, shutdown"

I feel like after I finally got over the hump to 100NL, things started going pretty smoothly. 2-3 months into 200NL I moved up to 400NL/500NL with a roll of about 10k. A few more notes:

"200NL: if someone re-raising you lots, only need to steal one of their re-raises every four times to break even. So don't 4-bet to 75 with nonsense, wait till you have strong ace at least"

"SPEWING too much with overs in 3-bet pots in position. Call 3-bets tighter… don't assume its all air. Flop position raise/push needs to work VERY often to be worthwhile/profitable."

Moved up from 500NL to 1kNL after about 1.5months and a roll of about 22k and been playing a mix of 2/5, 5/10 and some 10/20 ever since, with a current roll of about 53k.

So yah... I guess thats more or less my poker history/bio, hope that wasn't too boring!

In terms of other details, well I'm living in Toronto at the moment (or a suburb at least), and I'm a grad student at the university of Toronto. So the extra poker cash doesn't hurt (though I haven't withdrawn anything yet, since I'm still unclear as to what the poker taxing situation is here in Canada).

So yah..thats my story

And as my operation states, the current goal is getting the BR up to 100k

cool, good luck man.

Finally got my act together the last few days. Up around 13k the last three days so thats pretty sweet. BR is now at 61k

Really, the key to me doing well always comes down to minimizing the amount I bluff. When I don't bluff a lot.. I do well. .and when I do.. I don't. Sometimes I think its really that simple.

A few big hands:


Hand 1)
-This hand was dumb, not sure why I felt the need to turn my hand into a bluff here. I thought he could fold a better J or an overpair,but I shoulda probably just checked through the river

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $1000
UTG+1: $920
Hero: $2284.50
Button: $521.18
SB: $970
BB: $1256

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with
UTG raises to $35, UTG+1 folds, Hero calls, 2 folds, BB calls.

Flop: ($110, 3 players)
BB bets $110, UTG folds, Hero calls.

Turn: ($330, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $234, BB calls.

River: ($798, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $877


Hand 2:
-this hand was 2/5 pounds and it severely sucked. The second I saw that K I knew there was a very good chance he filled up since I put him on an overpair. But still.. gotta bet obviously

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $438.90
UTG+1: $353.18
CO: $1470.25
Button: $702.72
SB: $94
Hero: $686.90

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is BB with
2 folds, CO raises to $10, 2 folds, Hero raises to $50, CO calls.

Flop: ($102, 2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $45, Hero calls.

Turn: ($192, 2 players)
Hero bets $138, CO calls.

River: ($468, 2 players)
Hero bets $320, CO raises to $640, Hero calls all-in $133.9.
Uncalled bets: $186.1 returned to CO.

Results:
Final pot: $1375.8
CO shows Kd Kc
Hero shows Js Jd


Hand 3:
-this hand was pretty deep (200bb's) ... whats the point of playing deep if you're not gonna take advantage of the extra fold equity?!

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $995
UTG+1: $1240
CO: $2879.21
Button: $729.53
Hero: $2002.75
BB: $1341

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with
2 folds, CO raises to $40, Button folds, Hero calls, BB folds.

Flop: ($90, 2 players)
Hero bets $58, CO raises to $120, Hero calls.

Turn: ($330, 2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $250, Hero raises to $600, CO calls.

River: ($1530, 2 players)
Hero is all-in $1242.75, CO folds.

I had been running good/playing well up till yesterday. I had gotten my bankroll up to 66k and thought I'd give 10/20 another shot.

After yesterday I am conluding that I can't beat games higher than $1kNL for the life of me!

This month:

Games higher than 1knl:

5000NL - down 7.5k
2000NL - down 9k
1000NL pounds (2000NL) - down 7k

1knl:

1000NL - up 10kish
500NL pounds (1000NL) - up 9kish

NET month: down 4kish

I haven't really figured out why I can beat 1knl but can't beat 2knl. I dont really see much difference yet, other than perhaps more regs. I think I could just be running bad and also handling the aggression poorly with more pushing/bluffing than necessary. (my sample size is reeally small though.. only like 5k hands total at all levels greater than 1knl)

Any thoughts on the difference between 1knl and 2knl would be appreciated!

I'll post some hands soon.

So I lost like almost 6k yesterday in only 500 hands... sweeeet.

current BR: 60k

Good luck dude...
It says your from Toronto'ish.
Where exactly are you??
I'm near Niagara Falls and Buffalo.

Originally Posted by wesrman

Good luck dude...
It says your from Toronto'ish.
Where exactly are you??
I'm near Niagara Falls and Buffalo.

Hey man, thanks for the good luck.

I'm from Thornhill, its a suburb just north of Toronto.

I go to fallsview from time to time though. You play there ever? I like it better than casino rama cause they let you call an hour in advance to get on waiting list.. while you're driving there... but the rake kinda sucks.

no, havent played there yet but i plan to in the future.

griffey wtf stop losing...it gives me false hope that i still have a shot and forces me to keep on playing

probably bad luck though, its like me and 1knl...or maybe u bluff too much?

Originally Posted by Alexos

griffey wtf stop losing...it gives me false hope that i still have a shot and forces me to keep on playing

probably bad luck though, its like me and 1knl...or maybe u bluff too much?

haha... false hope is good.. keeps the contest nice and tight

Turned things around though, and finally up for the month.

up 2k for the month, and current BR: 67k

Now that the month is coming to a close, I decided to post some stats over the last few months. These are all my stats of 500NL and 1knl since Oct 1st.

Samplesize is too small for levels above 1knl at the moment.. and also.. they just suck lol

Remember to add $26,000 to that figure because of the exchange rate!

already factored in imo

go pound though!

Originally Posted by Alexos

already factored in imo

go pound though!

How will the pound help us if our account is in USD? Did you switch your account to british pound, Alexos?

Originally Posted by biondino

Remember to add $26,000 to that figure because of the exchange rate!

subtract $26,000 if I find out I need to pay taxes on this scene..?...

by the way, if anyone knows the actual tax laws on poker income in Canada, I'd love to hear it. I've heard many mixed ideas.. some saying we're not taxed.. others saying you're not taxed on gambling if its unexpectd winnings (ie: winning one tourney for $60k) but IS taxed if its expected winnings (ie: winning 60k over several months of consistent cash games) kinda thing.

I'm still not sure what I'll do, but I guess I gotta figure that out soon.

Had a crappy session yesterday, down $8.5k. Also got in a few tough spots (posted them in short handed section) that I wasn't sure about on the river.

In general over the last few days I'm really noticing that I need to be able to make river laydowns. I'm losing a ton of money making river calls getting 2:1 and convincing myself I have pot odds yada yada... I gotta stop doing that.

Pot odds shmot odds.. sometimes ppl just aren't bluffing in certain spots.

spots like this.. I'm not sure if this should be a river fold or a "pot odds call".. but I really have no idea what he has here, and I have no reads on the guy. I'm also not sure if c/c is best on rivers cause draws dont get there, or bet cause a good J might call.

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $10/$20
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $2665
CO: $1960
Hero: $2027
SB: $4291
BB: $2565

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is Button with
2 folds, Hero raises to $80, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: ($180, 2 players)
Hero bets $132, SB calls.

Turn: ($444, 2 players)
Hero bets $330, SB calls.

River: ($1104, 2 players)
Hero bets $700, SB raises all-in $3749, Hero ??.

My question of the day is: When do you make a stand against an unknown?

I had a session last night where I got into spots where the same people were 3-betting me in the same exact situations several times in a row. For example on one table, I happened to get hands on CO two times in a row.. and each time I raised the guy in the BB 3-bet me (unknown player).

Similar thing happened on another table when I was UTG+1 vs BB.

I quickly realized that my threshold for putting up with this is VERY low. As in, the second time that BB player 3-bet me in a row, I 4-bet A9o in position and stacked off. Then a later hand when it happened again, I floated and ended up stacking off too light again.

I guess the question is: how many times do you let an unknown get away with this, before taking a stand?

And further, which each successive time they 3-bet you, they know you're getting frustrated. So does this mean that we should be assuming their range is getting narrower or wider?

As a result of stacking off light, ended up down 3k yesterday and current BR: 61.3k. Not getting closer to this 100k goal.. thats for sure!

id tend to let the first 2 times go at least since he can easily have a hand. just keep an eye on him, if he does bunch within a few orbits then try assign a range.

Today was a sick session... I was owning it up 5k and then I had a disaster 3 hands in the span of 5minutes... -6k in 5mins = severe ownage.

hand 1:
-this hand is 5/10 pounds, to $2k buyin
-I was playin this table cause Button was a big fish, but it was probably a dumb idea cause BB is a solid player and one of the better higher stakes players on my site
-he had been 3-betting a ton, so I had to call one of these hands, esp given it was 3handed


Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
3 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Button: $1718.98
Hero: $1414
BB: $2211.80

Pre-flop: (3 players) Hero is SB with
Button folds, Hero raises to $40, BB raises to $140, Hero calls.

Flop: ($280, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $180, Hero raises to $540, BB raises all-in $2071.8, Hero calls all-in $734.
Uncalled bets: $797.8 returned to BB.

Turn: ($2828, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $2828)


River: ($2828, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $2828)


Results:
Final pot: $2828

BB shows


Hand 2:
The VERY next hand I played at 5/10 pounds
-villain same as previous hand

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
3 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Button: $3648.80
SB: $1693.98
Hero: $1000

Pre-flop: (3 players) Hero is BB with
Button raises to $40, SB folds, Hero raises to $135, Button raises to $330, Hero raises all-in $1000, Button calls.

Flop: ($2005, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2005)


Turn: ($2005, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2005)


River: ($2005, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2005)


Results:
Final pot: $2005
Hero shows :Qc: :Qs:
Button shows :Ac: :Ah:


Hand 3
-I don't know if I played this one poorly or not. Something can be said for raising the flop lead of $90, but I felt like if I called it would induce a squeeze/bluff raise from someone behind me

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $367.02
Hero: $974.50
CO: $1825.75
Button: $1040
SB: $665
BB: $4234.75

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is UTG+1 with
UTG calls, Hero raises to $50, CO folds, Button calls, SB calls, BB folds, UTG calls.

Flop: ($210, 4 players)
SB checks, UTG bets $90, Hero calls, Button raises to $350, 2 folds, Hero raises all-in $924.5, Button calls.

Turn: ($2149, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2149)


River: ($2149, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2149)


Results:
Final pot: $2149
Hero shows :Ah: :As:
Button shows and wins with a straight ten high


Feel free to comment on the lines in any of these hands.. I really can't seem to catch a break at the moment.. hopefully things turn around.

BR: 61.7k

I am currently riding a quality 46k hand break-even streak... and it sucksss

I guess its better than a 46k hand downswing!

Looks like this operation was the death of my bankroll progress! My roll is back where I started this thread almost, 58kish.

I'm running pretty bad lately, not in terms of bad beats, but in terms of getting into coolers over and over. The most annoying part is that my coolers always seem to happen at either higher stakes ($2knl) or at 200bb's at 1knl. There's nothing more annoying than having a losing day... and grinding and grinding your way back to almost even and then losing a huge 200bb cooler to screw up all that progress

The only good thing about a looooong downswing/breakeven streak (going on a month and a half now) is that it forces you to re-evaluate things.

I definitely have some leaks I need to fix:

- I am raising suited hands and suited connectors too much in EP
-I am 3 betting MP/LP raisers with suited connectors too much in the blinds, against players who's ranges are too tight to warrant it or too aggressive and will give me headaches on too many flops.
-I raise a lot of flops and when I get called I assume they have a really strong hand and get into pot control mode and don't fire enough turns again. Instead giving free cards to their draws.
-I call raises with too many speculative hands (suited one gappers etc) when implied odds probably don't warrant it

probably my worst leak:

-my fold button is broken. I don't fold nearly enough. Instead I decide to play the hand in a way that will "get me to showdown the cheapest" and at the same time "make worse hands than mine pay me the most" ... translation: "check call mode and let them bluff" when check/fold is probably way +EV

New Goal:

-Just fold more. Fold more preflop OOP, fold more postflop to aggression and fold more postflop when I think I'm beat
-get my 'went to show down' a bit lower, cause its at like 27-28ish right now and I'm not a fan

Let's see if I can stick to these things are turn this ship around!

Griffey,

I've been reading your operation the entire time, just haven't commented on anything, really enjoyed reading so far though. Also, have you talked to anyone regarding canadian taxes? It's not like I'm making tons of withdrawals, but I think it'd be good to know. Anyways don't get discouraged, and good luck.

Originally Posted by BigLRIP

Griffey,

I've been reading your operation the entire time, just haven't commented on anything, really enjoyed reading so far though. Also, have you talked to anyone regarding canadian taxes? It's not like I'm making tons of withdrawals, but I think it'd be good to know. Anyways don't get discouraged, and good luck.

Hey man,

Thanks for the support!

As for the tax scene.. well if my losing streak continues I won't have to worry about it!

No but seriously, I haven't looked into it yet. Alexos is bugging me to do so as well.. some silly logic like "there's no expert in Montreal, but there is in Toronto"

I'm mostly just tryin to figure out if any tax lawyer will do or if I need to actually get a specialized tax lawyer who is specialized in gambling taxation? Hmm what do you think?

As of right now, I haven't really withdrawn that much. Most of my withdrawals are just back and forth between click2pay right now . but I'd like to figure that out soon. You have any thoughts? Where do you live BigLRIP?

Yesterday I realized one really bad habit I have. Its this thing I do in my head.. where I predict what the villain is gonna do just based on what he had been doing lately. Like I'll make a bet and in my head I'll say "he's gonna raise me now". I mean, I don't think doing this kind of thing is that bad, but I feel like when I predict its gonna happen it makes it feel like its more of a bluff or something.

I don't know if that makes any sense or not.. but whatever the case may be, this guy had been raising me pretty often and in my head on the turn I told myself he was gonna raise me.. and he did. And I just insta was like "screw you and your stupid raises that I see coming.. and that makes no sense give the action and board.. so take this!".. with like AIR and NO fold equity and NO draw and its like OMG what am I doing?? AM I NUTS?

This is the stupid stupid spewfest of a hand:

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: $960
CO: $955
Button: $1838.20
SB: $1820
BB: $1268.25

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is UTG with
Hero raises to $30, CO calls, 3 folds.

Flop: ($75, 2 players)
Hero bets $55, CO calls.

Turn: ($185, 2 players)
Hero bets $170, CO raises to $400, Hero raises all-in $875, CO calls all-in $470.
Uncalled bets: $5 returned to Hero.

River: ($1925, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1925)


Results:
Final pot: $1925
Hero shows 9s Ts
CO shows 6d 6s


I think what I really need to start doing is STOPPING and THINKING before EVERY big decision at least. Too often I just do these quick insta decisions. Like above. If I woulda stopped and thought at least for a few more moments I would have realized his range was: mid pairs, heart draw, some spade draw, and overs and he's tryin to rep the Q or something. I think he'd probably raise 45, and hearts on the flop so maybe he somehow got there with spades (5s6s or something, As5s). In any event, if I stopped and thought about it I would have realized that his raised priced him in for any hand, even his draw hands for the most part and I wouldn't have stupidly stacked.

I would feel a lot better about this push if I had AK or something. At least then I'm ahead of his range if he has lots of draws or something.... I gotta at least beat a draw if I'm gonna pull this nonsense.

Stop and Think. Starting today every big decision I am forcing myself to stop and think for 5 seconds. I will definitely bluff a lot less if I force myself to do this.

lol i do that same shit in my head too, and im right like 90% of the time it seems like. and yeah it does make it feel more bluffy, what do i do?!?!?!

I live in Victoria right now to go to school, but I live permanently in Vancouver. I seriously doubt I'll have to pay taxes on any of my winnings this year (less than $10k), but in the coming year maybe (fingers crossed).

Originally Posted by BigLRIP

I live in Victoria right now to go to school, but I live permanently in Vancouver. I seriously doubt I'll have to pay taxes on any of my winnings this year (less than $10k), but in the coming year maybe (fingers crossed).

Haha nice.. I've never gone out west. You ever come out this way?

Well I'll cross my fingers.. but moreso for you to win BIG and NOT need to pay taxes

Warning: This post is gonna be a rant!

I just had a suuuuuuuuper bad session. Alexos can attest to that . I swing like a mad man. I'm pretty sure at like 5 different times during the session I was talking to Alexos and saying like "holy man..I'm down 5.5k"... "down only 2k now ship it".... "maaaaan back down 6.2k".. "oooooh got it down to 1.8k niiiiice"... "I quit poker.. down 7.3k"

That was my last statement.. down 7.3k.. ugh.. sick.

I don't think I played that bad. My high pairs (JJ-AA) were together all down over 6k today. I think its a pretty accurate statement saying that if your pairs aren't winning, you're not gonna have a winning session.

I think I have to re-adjust my thinking on how legitimate it is to be freely stacking with JJ/QQ in these aggressive higher games all the time. I feel a lot better about stacking off QQ/JJ if I'm the one 4-betting than if I'm the one facing a 4-bet. I think I was up against a 4-bet with JJ/QQ today SOOOO many times, and everytime I was up against KK.. it was unreal.

I just feel like I'm at the point now where I'm up against a 4-bet and I'm just sticking it in anyhow and hoping for AK. I think I really need to pay closer attention to these guys and how often/lightly they are really 4-betting. Its really not worth shoving with JJ/QQ against 4-bets if they aren't doing it light and I'm at best a flip. I could just be being super results oriented after today's ass session.

Another option is cold calling the 4-bet and stacking on all non A/K flops. I don't really like this option too much though, cause it lets AK get away without putting anymore money in if they miss.

I just think I wanna avoid situations from now on where "I'm at best a flip"... if I can. We'll see how well that goes.

BR: 50k.. ugh.. today was painnn

oh and I just checked PT and I realized I'm on a funnnn 65k hand break-even stretch.. definitely my longest ever.

Oh and I checked my PT and looked at the hands I had against Alexos today. And I've concluded that he owned me cause he's a luckbox

These are the hands between Alexos and I:

Hand 1:

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $1215.68
CO: $711
Button: $768.04
Hero: $500
BB: $498

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is SB with
UTG folds, Alexos raises to $20, Button folds, Hero calls, BB folds.

Flop: ($45, 2 players)
Hero checks, Alexos bets $25, Hero raises to $87, Alexos calls.

Turn: ($219, 2 players)
Hero checks, Alexos bets $136, Hero raises all-in $393, Alexos calls.

River: ($1005, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1005)


Results:
Final pot: $1005
Hero shows Ts Qh
Alexos shows Ac 8c


hand 2:
-I really thought I was value shoving here, with the way he was calling me today

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
4 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Alexos: $497.25
Button: $477.85
Hero: $435
BB: $183

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is SB with
Alexos raises to $20, Button folds, Hero calls, BB folds.

Flop: ($45, 2 players)
Hero checks, Alexos bets $25, Hero calls.

Turn: ($95, 2 players)
Hero bets $64, Alexos calls.

River: ($223, 2 players)
Hero is all-in $326, Alexos calls.

Results:
Final pot: $875
Hero shows Jc Qd
Alexos shows 5h Ah


Hand 3
-this was a really stupid hand, and for some reason I convince dmyself
he had KT instead of shoving this turn. Such a bad mistake not shoving
-also so bad not c/r river.... KT.. ugh. I shoulda convinced myself he had 8T and freerolled his ass on the turn

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $493
Hero: $826
Alexos: $1564.60
SB: $190.40
BB: $103.10

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is CO with
UTG folds, Hero raises to $20, Alexos calls, 2 folds.

Flop: ($47, 2 players)
Hero bets $30, Alexos calls.

Turn: ($107, 2 players)
Hero bets $70, Alexos raises to $205, Hero calls.

River: ($517, 2 players)
Hero checks, Alexos bets $300, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $1117
Alexos shows 7h Ah
Hero shows Th 8h



Hand 4
-this was potentially stupid, maybe I shoulda c/f'd river

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $500
Hero: $493
Alexos: $493
SB: $937
BB: $252.75

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is CO with
UTG folds, Hero raises to $20, Alexos calls, 2 folds.

Flop: ($47, 2 players)
Hero bets $32, Alexos calls.

Turn: ($111, 2 players)
Hero bets $80, Alexos calls.

River: ($271, 2 players)
Hero checks, Alexos bets $189, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $649
Alexos shows 7s 8s
Hero mucks Qd Qh


Hand 5
-this is the only hand I "sucked out" on Alexos, and it wasn't even a suckout

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Alexos: $722.80
Alexos+1: $565.40
Hero: $683.45
Button: $196
SB: $1478.05
BB: $72.28

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with
Alexos raises to $20, Alexos+1 calls, Hero calls, 3 folds.

Flop: ($67, 3 players)
Alexos bets $50, UTG+1 folds, Hero raises to $134, Alexos raises to $279, Hero raises all-in $663.45, Alexos calls.

Turn: ($1393.9, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1393.9)


River: ($1393.9, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1393.9)


Results:
Final pot: $1393.9
Hero shows 6h 8h
Alexos shows Ad As

OWNED

Originally Posted by Alexos

OWNED

lol you wish! I valuetowned myself with QJ.. ugh

I haven't written anything in a while cause I went away to San Diego for a week or so and served as a good break from poker, and I hoped my downswing would end once I got back. I had a bad 7k downswing right before the holiday so was good to take a break.

Played a couple sessions, up 3.5k in one and down 3k in another.

BR is completely stalled at around 50kish.

I REALLY REALLY need to stop bluffing... I'm bordering on out of control. I just never give up pots. If I have air, but someone else raise me on the flop and I think they have air, I just risk my whole stack to take them off their air. Its not worth it. It's not worth risking $1k more to protect the $80 I put in that the guy is trying to steal from me.

Some bluffs from yesterday:

Hand 1:
-this one is just brutal and I should realize that I have no fold equity.

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $890
UTG+1: $2187.57
CO: $501.25
Button: $1221
SB: $443
Hero: $1337

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is BB with
3 folds, Button raises to $40, SB folds, Hero raises to $150, Button calls.

Flop: ($305, 2 players)
Hero bets $233, Button raises to $466, Hero raises all-in $1187

Hand 2:
-I don't mind this one, cause I planned it well and my bet size on the turn allowed for a good sized bet on the river

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $509.30
CO: $458.85
Button: $1474.81
Hero: $541.55
BB: $191.98

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is SB with
UTG raises to $10, CO calls, Button folds, Hero calls, BB folds.

Flop: ($35, 3 players)
Hero bets $22, UTG raises to $85, CO folds, Hero calls.

Turn: ($205, 2 players)
Hero bets $101, UTG calls.

River: ($407, 2 players)
Hero bets $314


Hand 3:
-this one is okk, I think I'm repping AA/KK or QQ here reasonably well. I'd imagine he folds JJ/TT here

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $500
UTG+1: $170
CO: $1182.64
Hero: $668.60
SB: $524.45
BB: $168.50

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is Button with
UTG raises to $15, UTG+1 folds, CO raises to $45, Hero calls, 2 folds, UTG calls.

Flop: ($142, 3 players)
UTG checks, CO checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($142, 3 players)
UTG bets $85, CO folds, Hero raises to $170, UTG calls.

River: ($482, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $285

Hand 4:
-his 3-bet on the flop signalled to me that he had noooothing. It was just a matter of me pushing over flop or waiting for the turn to make a move

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: $531.50
CO: $492.50
Button: $588
SB: $767.70
BB: $794.65

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is UTG with
Hero raises to $15, 3 folds, BB calls.

Flop: ($32, 2 players)
BB bets $20, Hero raises to $70, BB raises to $140, Hero calls.

Turn: ($312, 2 players)
BB bets $59, Hero raises all-in $396.5

Hand 5:
-villain is aggressive in this hand, so much so that he'd re-raise preflop with all strong aces for sure. Its just a question if i think he can fold a weak ace here if thats what he has

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $2160.57
CO: $366.25
Button: $486
Hero: $1005
BB: $941.50

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is SB with
3 folds, Hero raises to $30, BB calls.

Flop: ($60, 2 players)
Hero bets $34, BB raises to $109, Hero calls.

Turn: ($278, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $181, Hero raises all-in $866


Results:
Bluffs 1 and 2 did NOT work -> net loss of about $2.2k
Bluffs 3,4 and 5 DID work -> net gain of about $700

I'd have to bluff 5 more times successfully each time profiting around $300 just to BREAK EVEN on my bluffs. So I'd have to bluff successfully about 8/10 times just to makeup for the times I stack off and lose from bluffs. If this isn't a wakeup call for me to stop bluffing I don't know what is.

Also, I don't think the two times I AM getting caught bluffing is making my image bad enough to make up for this difference.

Thats my thought of the day: Don't bluff frequently and when you do, bluff with fold equity AND pot equity (outs) AND make sure you're representing a hand, or its just not close to worth it.

You know that feeling you get.. when you're having a bad session.. you're down quite a bit and PokerTracker keeps showing you all these red numbers. Then.. finally... a couple hours in you get back to even and up into the green again! Feels like a huge accomplishment!

Thats what this post is. FINALLY had a sweet session today, and was up like 7.4k in the end! shiiiiiiip it. Which brings my bankroll up to 58ishk .. a whopping 1k over where I started this thread to begin with.

But.. its like being back in the green.. so here we go.

Looks like my smacking some sense into myself yesterday about bluffing did me some good today. Still spewed a solid 1-1.5k in bluffing today, but nothing too crazy, and nothing like I normally do.

I'm still down in my bet with alexos, since I think he's a good 20k ahead of me right now in our race to 100k. But I told him I'd have the deficit down to 12k by some point next week.... lets see if i can do it.

Here comes an upswing... March is a neeeeew month! Beware of my crazy steep upswings Alexos!...I'm coming for ya

Oh and people should feel free to comment on some of the hands I post and stuff, or on some of the random statements I make.

I'd be interested in hearing how good/bad some ppl think those hands really are!

I have come to pretty well the same realization recently regarding bluffing, just on a much much smaller scale.

Looks like you are giving more info on the bluffs that worked/are more likely to work. I am assuming this is because you actually thought more about your bluff, and didn't just bet because you can. That is the part that I need to work on, thinking through my bluffs, what I am repping, what i am trying to fold out, why am I putting chips in.

Congrats on hitting green.

Originally Posted by pgil

I have come to pretty well the same realization recently regarding bluffing, just on a much much smaller scale.

Looks like you are giving more info on the bluffs that worked/are more likely to work. I am assuming this is because you actually thought more about your bluff, and didn't just bet because you can. That is the part that I need to work on, thinking through my bluffs, what I am repping, what i am trying to fold out, why am I putting chips in.

Congrats on hitting green.

Thanks for the comments man!

As for the bluffing and thinking it through, yah that definitely helps. I don't mind bluffs where I am repping something pretty clear and I have a good range for what they have.

Hand 1 - Was mostly bad because I was REALLY repping an overpair by pushing, but he already repped an overpair by raising my flop, and by the time I pushed there was no more fold equity. The most fold equity probably woulda been to check bomb but I think it looks too drawy/AKish that I woulda gotten looked up anyhow. He had JJ

Hand 2 - I think my line can DEFINITELY have a flush here. I lead the flop and called his raise and now fired turn and river when the flush came in. It's a somewhat risky line cause his line could also be a flush, but I felt like he more likely had AJ,AK/AQ,QQ,AA in this spot and was just a matter of if he can fold. He had KK with no diamonds and clearly couldn't fold.

Hand 3 - I got lucky here. I hoped my cold call pre would rep a really strong overpair AA/KK or maybe QQ. My turn raise was supposed to look like a slowplay of my overpair. On the river I really don't think he's folding any Q's, but I think he folds TT/JJ pretty often since it really doesn't look like I'm bluffing with this line.

Hand 4 - This is just complete spewfest. I'm not really repping anything well, maybe AJ or an overpair with my turn push. His line just made no sense and seemed too weak, combined with his weak ass turn bet that I just had to try and push him off. The problem with trying to push donks off their 'weak hands/weak nonsense lines' are that donks call more.

Hand 5 - He's pretty aggressive and in a bline vs blind I'd expect him to 3-bet me pretty light, so that definitely involves a TON of medium-strong aces. When he raises my flop he can have a FD, strong ace, 44/22. On the turn I discount the set of 4's. Preflop discounts strong aces. So on the turn he can only have 22 and a FD or air and maaaaybe 35. I think all moderate aces check through, so by betting I'm pretty sure he has air most of the time. I think my line definitely reps a strong ace.

Hopefully those thought processes made sense, thats generally what I was thinking in each case. The first was by far the worst for getting a fold, though I think I have decent pot equity when called anyhow. The other hands I think I had a lot more fold equity, but obviously owned in some of them if called.

Ill give my thoughts.

1 - at first glance I didn't think this was that bad, but after thinking about it the only hands he could potentially fold are TT and JJ (he obviously didn't fold the latter). 66/77/88/99 (aswell as AA/KK/QQ) are all looking you up, so you really only fold out other bluffs.

2 - I like this one, depends on villain i suppose. I like it because you have some draw outs, aswell as a potential K. I think check raising turn has more fold equity, but he might check the turn back.

3 - don't really like this one, although I think it's probably alright considering that the strongest hands either of them looks to have is a pair of queens at best.

4 - If that's your read I'd go with it. It'd be nice to have some outs when called though. Against this player I don't think it matters if you play a consistent line. Only bad thing is he could look you up with a PP or something.

5 - This is my favourite one. I just started using this more often. nh.

Originally Posted by BigLRIP

Ill give my thoughts.

1 - at first glance I didn't think this was that bad, but after thinking about it the only hands he could potentially fold are TT and JJ (he obviously didn't fold the latter). 66/77/88/99 (aswell as AA/KK/QQ) are all looking you up, so you really only fold out other bluffs.

2 - I like this one, depends on villain i suppose. I like it because you have some draw outs, aswell as a potential K. I think check raising turn has more fold equity, but he might check the turn back.

3 - don't really like this one, although I think it's probably alright considering that the strongest hands either of them looks to have is a pair of queens at best.

4 - If that's your read I'd go with it. It'd be nice to have some outs when called though. Against this player I don't think it matters if you play a consistent line. Only bad thing is he could look you up with a PP or something.

5 - This is my favourite one. I just started using this more often. nh.

Hey BigLRIP, thanks for the thoughts.

Yah I agree with a lot of your comments. I really think the first one is only bad cause I have no fold equity. If we were a bit deeper, I'd like the push a lot more.

Hand 2- yah check raise is decent too, but for sure depends on how aggressive the opponent is and their likelihood of betting.

The thing I like about lead/lead is that we have a bluff so there are no scare cards for us really. On the other hand, suppose villain has KK here, then a Q river or A river or diamond can all be scare cards and leading twice lets us get to the river and still have enough fold equity behind on another potential scare card. You have to plan this on the turn, though, to make sure you have enough fold equity on the river!

Hand 5 - yah this kind of line is really good against aggressive opponents who 3-bet a LOT so you KNOW they will be 3-betting their strong ages. That's something nice about guys that aggressive, you can eliminate strong hands out of their range if they call PF a lot of the time.


Had another good session today. This whole "not bluffing, and folding more" thing is working out well it seems. Helps that my overpairs are holding up!

up another 7k today, so thats like 14k in two days.. sickkkk

BR: $65.6k

im reading and rooting for you!

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

im reading and rooting for you!

Thanks man, I appreciate it!

OMG you're such a sicko. Two seshs of +7k in a row?

im scared

Originally Posted by Alexos

OMG you're such a sicko. Two seshs of +7k in a row?

im scared

Yah hopefully I don't jinx it!

You're the one that's inspiring all this folding

For those of you that don't know, Alexos and I talk a lot about hands and go over a lot of HH's. Pretty much half the time he looks at a hand and says c/f, I show him the result and I end up "c/bombing".. or "shoving" or pretty much all options that are the complete opposite of c/f.

So I'm trying to fold more. Yesterday I had KQs in blinds and called a solid players UTG+1 raise and flopped top two. I c/r'd flop and he called in position and an A came on the turn making the board KQxA. I c/f'd ... and it felt gooood!

c/f has now been added to my arsenal, thanks Alexos!

I had been playing proper solid poker, folding, playing smart, until today.

I have days (like today) where I go crazy 3-betting everyone, and everything in sight. This would be ok, but this aggression usually transfers over to postflop where I start spewing and bluffing waaaaay too much.

I tried my hand at 10/20 today.. and somehow that always ends up a bad idea. I seem to always start off with some crappy spot (KK vs AA) and that always gets me started on the downswing at that level. I'm sure like most ppl, starting ahead always leads to better play.

Anyways, today was a madness day of bluffing... potentially induced by my early stacking of KK vs AA. Bluffed a total of 8k today.. whattttt?? god I'm so bad.

BR baaaaaack down to 57k. I'm really stalling here.. hard. I need to program some kind of device to stop me from bluffing.... so any ideas of preventative bluffing measures.. are welcome!

Originally Posted by griffey24

BR baaaaaack down to 57k. I'm really stalling here.. hard. I need to program some kind of device to stop me from bluffing.... so any ideas of preventative bluffing measures.. are welcome!

I'll watch you play over netmeeting or skype and shout out "DON'T BLUFF!!!" roughly every five minutes. I charge $100/hr. You'll barely notice that however due to your massive winrate.

Originally Posted by Smacktard

I'll watch you play over netmeeting or skype and shout out "DON'T BLUFF!!!" roughly every five minutes. I charge $100/hr. You'll barely notice that however due to your massive winrate.

HAHA... holy crap.. that would be awesome!

You know.. funnily enough .. if it worked it could sooooooo be worth $100/hr!

Especially if I keep spewing like I did today.

only give yourself 6 buyins to play with every day?

Originally Posted by Genitruc

only give yourself 6 buyins to play with every day?

Yah I could do this. The thing is, I usually spew so bad at the beginning of sessions and its only after I play like an idiot that I snap out of it and start playing solid the rest of my session.

Sometimes losing several buyins induces good play for me the rest of the day. But a cutoff on losses is always a good idea.


In other news, the bet with Alexos and I ended today. I conceded defeat cause I've been on the worst downswing/BE stretch over the last 2.5 months (essentially since the bet started) and wanted to just end it. I'm at 61k and he's at 90ish so I just decided to cut my losses and pay out $620.

Good job Alexos! I got owned!

Now I need to make sure my roll is above $62k by the time he reaches 100k to make that a +EV decision.

Here we go... a new start!

So the day the bet ended was a turning point. I'm not sure what/how or why.

I think its cause that evening I played a home game with some friends (a deep 0.25/.50 game where the rebuys near the end get up to like $100ish)

I seem to always play really solid at this game, and make tight proper folds and just mostly play solid poker. It kinda smacked some sense into me, that there's no reason why I shuold play so solid in a live game and so spewy/stationy online.

Every since then I've been playing pretty solid. I've stopped barrelling like a mad man, and c/f turns or c/c turns and just playing more of a solid pot control game. The last couple months I've been trying to play too much of a wild "image" game... making crazy plays.

So back to solid poker.

Last 3 days I'm up quite a bit, current BR: $73.5

If I somehow end up passing/beating Alexos to 100k thats gonna teach me a nice lesson of not giving up.. so hopefully he goes on a heater soon and gets there before me!

Hey, I read your operation and I wish someday I have a bankroll as big as yours. GL as it seems you were stuck for a while at ~ $60k.

Also, I noticed that you said you are from thornhill. I live REALLY close to you then cuz im in Richmond Hill.

Nice to see someone soo close one here.

Ever since Alexos and I ended our bet, things have been going pretty well. I've started playing a more solid (lower variance) style of play. I've stopped barrelling like a mad man, and started picking my spots better.

Oh and most importantly.... I reminded myself how to fold!

Hopefully I can keep running well and finally turn in a winning month after a while. I'll have to keep it up to overcome my 10k spewing at 10/20 to start the month!




I'm still trying to work my way to that elusive 100k mark, current BR: 76k

I had a pretty good session so far today, up almost 6 buyins.

I've established that Alexos and I get involved in waaaaaaay too many hands together, especially when we both get deep. Its kind of a pain in the ass!

These are all hands against Alexos.

Hand 1
-checked the flop to mix it up abit, he probably expects me to bet the K always here. He prob puts me on nonsense here.. I prob shoulda bet more on the river to polarize my range better and get a call from a weaker hand

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $821
CO: $1270.75
Hero: $873.08
SB: $472.50
BB: $663

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is Button with
UTG raises to $15, CO folds, Hero calls, 2 folds.

Flop: ($37, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($37, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $24, UTG calls.

River: ($85, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $74, UTG ..


Hand 2
-really wasn't sure what he'd call PF OOP and now lead into me on THIS of all boards, but I gotta figure this board hits my range harder than his. After he pushes I'm getting like 2:1 so I have to call
-he had a set of 2's and is getting pretty unlucky against me in big pots

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $193
CO: $1036.80
Hero: $789.50
SB: $537.95
BB: $486

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is Button with
UTG folds, CO raises to $15, Hero raises to $50, 2 folds, CO calls.

Flop: ($107, 2 players)
CO bets $75, Hero raises to $240, CO raises all-in $986.8, Hero calls all-in $499.5.
Uncalled bets: $247.3 returned to CO.

Turn: ($1586, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1586)


River: ($1586, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1586)


Results:
Final pot: $1586


Hand 3
-what's your calling range if you're Alexos here

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $1902
Hero: $2314
Button: $1042
SB: $1477.50
BB: $1000

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is CO with X X
UTG raises to $30, Hero calls, 3 folds.

Flop: ($75, 2 players)
UTG bets $60, Hero raises to $178, UTG calls.

Turn: ($431, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $287, UTG calls.

River: ($1005, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero is all-in $1819, UTG ??



Hand 4
-whats your turn shoving range against Alexos? Goddd I hate playing deep. I think after my flop call he must put me on AQ+ or something

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
5 players
Converter

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $982
UTG+1: $1868
Hero: $2353
Button: $1217
SB: $1032
BB: $1262.50

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with X X
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $30, Hero raises to $92, 3 folds, UTG+1 calls.

Flop: ($199, 2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $134, UTG+1 raises to $355, Hero calls.

Turn: ($909, 2 players)
UTG+1 bets $575, Hero?

Hand 5
-I think I played this hand decently. Didn't wanna lead this flop and get raised by a ton of hands probably so I don't mind c/c and lead turn when any draw's equity is cut in half
-river bet is debateable, c/c could be better if his range is mostly draws but I was lucky he had JT

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
4 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $823.15
Button: $1097.70
Hero: $690.15
BB: $684.50

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is SB with
2 folds, Hero raises to $20, BB calls.

Flop: ($40, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $30, Hero calls.

Turn: ($100, 2 players)
Hero bets $63, BB calls.

River: ($226, 2 players)
Hero bets $154, BB calls.

Results:
Final pot: $534
Hero shows Jh As
BB mucks Th Js


ALEXOS - I think we should stop ramming each other and concentrate on the fish dammit!

BR: 81.5k ..I can see the 100 now... rakeback will be nice this month too

Haven't posted in a bit, though not that much to update.

I got my roll up to 83ishk and decided to once again take a shot at 10/20.

Aaaaaaand once again I took a moderate hit. I think instead of playing a bit at 10/20, losing a buyin or so and stopping, I should probably give myself one proper session to see if i can play properly.

I think in the 3-4k hands I've had at 10/20 and above, I've run into some unlucky variance (as well as some untimely bluffing).

Sooo how do I cure my inability to beat 10/20??

Well I decided to learn PL Omaha. I've only played PLO the last couple days (started at 50nl yesterday and graduated to 100nl and a bit of 200nl today, lol, for suuuuuuure moving up too fast). The results so far have been good though! Up about $700 in PLO over the last couple days.

The fold equity in PLO is pretty amazing. If you don't have the nuts, you're outta there, and that means ppl are folding like madness. I've definitely run several bluffs and haven't been called once yet (though I'm sure I've been victimized by some bluffs too)

Its kinda nice playing lower stakes for a bit, and getting away from the 10/20 headache of losing >$6k in 10mins. We'll see if i can get good at this PLO scene.

I seem to really only ever write in this thing when things are going baaaaaaad. Well needless to say.. since my last post.. bad indeed.

Took a HUGE HUGE hit today.. down 12k. Played some 10/20 and some 5/10. I don't think I really played that poorly. I make a few bad bluffs in 3-bet pots, shoving AK and ATs in position postflop.. for 1k and 3.3k losses respectively.

Mostly just ran really bad. Either in terms of coolers or just getting sucked out (the worst part of getting sucked out, is the money that goes in on the river once you're already behind). This inevitably lead to some tilt... and these were the last three hands of my session:

I call this "how to lose $4k in 60 seconds (literally)"

Hand 1
-2/5 pounds table
-villain in this hand has been 3-betting me NON STOP.. and 4-betting over all my 3-bets. I have hardly called him and folded to all his shoves
-I decided to take a stand here, because: I was on the button, it was three handed, he was squeezing AND he was getting out of line

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
3 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: $796.70
SB: $626.90
BB: $604

Pre-flop: (3 players) Hero is Button with
Hero raises to $15, SB calls, BB raises to $55, Hero raises to $237, SB folds, BB raises all-in $604, Hero calls.

Flop: ($1223, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1223)


Turn: ($1223, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1223)


River: ($1223, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1223)


Results:
Final pot: $1223
BB shows Ad Qd
Hero shows 5d 5c

10 seconds in: down 1k

Hand 2:
-same 2/5 pounds table and same villain about 5 seconds later
-this hand was purely cause of tilt. If someone pops you two times consecutively, the second time is almost always a legitimate hand.. and I know this.. yet I STILL 4-bet him
-even worse is my 4-bet size (also cause of tilt).. its waaay too huge and only ever getting played back at by solid hands (mind you I can't imagine any worse hand shoving anyhow)

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$5
3 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: $493
SB: $620.30
BB: $1219

Pre-flop: (3 players) Hero is Button with
Hero raises to $15, SB folds, BB raises to $55, Hero raises to $240, BB raises all-in $1219, Hero calls all-in $268.
Uncalled bets: $711 returned to BB.

Flop: ($986, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1018)


Turn: ($986, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1018)


River: ($986, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $1018)


Results:
Final pot: $986
BB shows Ad Kd

35 seconds in: down 2k

Hand 3
-5/10 pounds table
-this hand happened RIGHT after the previous two on a 10/20 table
-the table was also 3-handed and just went 4-handed. I haven't gotten involved too much with this player but he has shoved over one of my 3-bets and I called him in a bluff a while earlier in a moderate pot
-I'm not sure how standard this is 3-handed. I think if I wasn't tilting and sick of getting beaten down everywhere I could probably/potentially lay down to this river

Cryptologic
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
4 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $3272.57
Button: $1706
Hero: $1101
BB: $881.38

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is SB with
UTG raises to $40, Button folds, Hero calls, BB calls.

Flop: ($120, 3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets $80, Hero calls, BB folds.

Turn: ($280, 2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $260, Hero calls.

River: ($800, 2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $710, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $2220
UTG shows Ah Qc
Hero mucks 9s Ac

60 seconds in: down $4k


Comments on these hands are welcome! Keep in mind though that they are definitely influenced by tilt and the fact that I was already down like 8k before these hands... ugh

Sorry to hear about the bad session. I'm routing for you man! Where in the GTA are you?

Originally Posted by BankItDrew

Sorry to hear about the bad session. I'm routing for you man! Where in the GTA are you?

Thanks man!

I'm in Thornhill, just north of T.O. Know where that is?

Yeah of course. I live about 30 km from there

Its time to book a winning month.

I've been playing breakeven for 3 months now! (Well not really breakeven, more like: beating 2/5 and 5/10 and losing all my winnings at 10/20. Sweet)

In any case, this is my new mini-op for april. Book a 15-20k winning month.

Things I want to start doing:

- STOP calling hands from the blinds (unless its a pocket pair against an EP raiser)
- 3-bet ALL hands I want to play from blinds against LP raisers
- 4-bet lighter from Button against aggro blind 3-bettors
- 4-bet lighter from CO against aggro Button 3-bettors
- STOP 3-betting marginal hands from blinds that will get me dominated if called: A5s, KT and nonsense like that
- START folding low pockets sometimes against players with a wide range that won't stack to my sets
- START folding more. I don't need to win every damn pot!
- START playing closer attention and getting better reads on players.

Lets see if I can keep up most of this list for the month (or for as long as I play from now on!) I really think a lot of these things are important, especially at these stakes, and sometimes I get into modes where i just stop doing some/most of these things. Its badddd.

April is going pretty slow so far. Not getting that many hands in, and having some pretty small wins/losses.

So far its mostly been a "trying out some new things" month, and tryin to improve my 3-bet pot game, and 3-bet more in position. Hopefully things come together this month and I can start booking some wins again.

In other news, I've been tryin to figure out the tax scene here in Canada. Most people I talk to say we don't have to pay taxes, but I thought I'd talk to my accountant anyhow. It seems he says the same thing (though there still does seem to be uncertainty!) But whatever, I'm fine with that answer for now

So I'm giving myself an odd goal of sorts. To LOWER my 'won when saw flop %'. I generally run at around 49-52% won when saw flop. I'm not saying this is bad, but its definitely a testament to my state of mind at times. That state being: "must win all hands" or "not letting go".

I think my game in general could stand this number lowering a bit. I could stand to just fold sometimes and not think twice about it. c/f and who cares? bet and get minraised and fold, and who cares? Who cares if I fold the best hand, in some marginal spot?

Well, I care.

But it's time to stop caring! Operation 'won when saw flop %' to approx 45ish%

haven't posted an update in a while!

Been playing pretty well lately and getting my act together.
It's amazing what a world of difference folding makes!

My position stats are still kind of a bit messed up (ie: not a big enough discrepancy between UTG VPIP and button vpip.) I'm trying to fix this by opening tighter EP and 3-betting lighter LP.

My goal is to reach my operation goal (100k) by June at some point.

current BR: 86.9k

I haven't written this in ages, and I feel like ever since i started this OP it's been the catalyst for the biggest poker roller coaster ever.

I've been up near 90k about 3 or 4 times in the last several months and EACH time I've followed that with a downswing of about 20k. That's like 4 20-25 buyin upswings and downswings in 3-4 months I guess.

I'm not really sure if something mental happens whenever I get close to 90k, but it's something I have to figure out.

Today I'm writing on the tail end of a downswing of 9k, leaving me back down to 68k from 90k. The downswings are getting old! I gotta take a close look at how I'm playing, because I feel like I have no consistent style of play from day to day. Everyday I'm playing completely differently, which I don't really like.

One day I'm testing out 3-betting a ton to 3x in position to induce calls OOP. The next day I test 3-betting a ton to 3.5x in position to get less calls and induce more 4-bets. The next I test flatting and raising a ton of flops. etc etc... I just gotta find a style that works. I guess constant upswings/downswings leads to constant questioning of your play and 'fixing things'.

Hands from today:


Game #7490298194: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/20 - 01:12:31 (UK)
Table "Angelakim" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: zoomby sits out
Seat 2: GREEKFISH (£368.40 in chips)
Seat 3: farmer-g (£492 in chips)
Seat 4: gubbe004 (£481.25 in chips)
Seat 5: hepburn1 (£447.55 in chips)
Seat 6: Hero (£688.80 in chips)
GREEKFISH: posts small blind £2
farmer-g: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Ad Td]
gubbe004: raises to £15
hepburn1: folds
Hero: calls £15
GREEKFISH: folds
farmer-g: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Kd Jc 4d]
gubbe004: bets £25
Hero: calls £25
----- TURN ----- [Kd Jc 4d][Jh]
gubbe004: bets £65
Hero: calls £65
----- RIVER ----- [Kd Jc 4d Jh][6d]
gubbe004: bets £135
Hero: raises to £583.80 and is all-in
gubbe004: is all-in £241.25
Returned uncalled bets £207.55 to Hero
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hero: shows [Ad Td] (A Flush, Ace high)
gubbe004: shows [Kh Jd] (A Full House, Jacks full of Kings)
gubbe004 collected £966.50 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £969.50 Main pot £966.50 Rake £3
Board [Kd Jc 4d Jh 6d]
Seat 2: GREEKFISH (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: farmer-g (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: gubbe004 showed [Kh Jd] and won (£966.50) with A Full House, Jacks full of Kings
Seat 5: hepburn1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Hero (button) showed [Ad Td] and lost with A Flush, Ace high
****HAND ENDS****


*Turned my hand into a bluff here on the river. This is questionable... but after the
turn I definitely felt I was behind.

Game #7489890094: Hold'em NL ($5/$10) - 2008/06/20 - 00:32:18 (UK)
Table "Tours" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: jroclahey ($1000 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero ($1939 in chips)
Seat 5: Jibby147 sits out
Seat 6: gubbe004 ($1066 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind $5
gubbe004: posts big blind $10
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Ks Jd]
jroclahey: raises to $30
Hero: calls $25
gubbe004: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Qh Jc 8h]
Hero: bets $40
jroclahey: calls $40
----- TURN ----- [Qh Jc 8h][6s]
Hero: bets $114
jroclahey: calls $114
----- RIVER ----- [Qh Jc 8h 6s][2h]
Hero: bets $278
jroclahey: calls $278
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hero: shows [Ks Jd] (A Pair of Jacks, King high)
jroclahey: shows [Qd Th] (A Pair of Queens, Jack high)
jroclahey collected $932 from Main pot


*This sucks, but was getting pot odds
Game #7490298774: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/20 - 01:18:24 (UK)
Table "Angelakim" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: zoomby sits out
Seat 2: GREEKFISH (£381.40 in chips)
Seat 3: farmer-g (£478 in chips)
Seat 4: gubbe004 (£959.50 in chips)
Seat 5: hepburn1 (£481.55 in chips)
Seat 6: Hero (£465 in chips)
GREEKFISH: posts small blind £2
farmer-g: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [6c 9c]
gubbe004: folds
hepburn1: raises to £15
Hero: calls £15
GREEKFISH: folds
farmer-g: calls £10
----- FLOP ----- [7s 5h 4d]
farmer-g: checks
hepburn1: bets £35
Hero: raises to £118
farmer-g: raises to £463 and is all-in
hepburn1: folds
Hero: is all-in £332
Returned uncalled bets £13 to farmer-g
----- TURN ----- [7s 5h 4d][Kc]
----- RIVER ----- [7s 5h 4d Kc][Ad]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
farmer-g: shows [7c 5c] (Two Pairs, Sevens and Fives, Ace high)
Hero: shows [6c 9c] (High Card Ace)
farmer-g collected £979 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £982 Main pot £979 Rake £3
Board [7s 5h 4d Kc Ad]
Seat 2: GREEKFISH (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: farmer-g (big blind) showed [7c 5c] and won (£979) with Two Pairs, Sevens and Fives, Ace high
Seat 4: gubbe004 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: hepburn1 folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Hero (button) showed [6c 9c] and lost with High Card Ace
****HAND ENDS****


*This one is questionable. I'm not sure if I should be folding the turn or something here.
I had no overwhelming reads. Should prob just flat pre to begin with.

Game #7489576574: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/19 - 23:50:35 (UK)
Table "Alltablesopen" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: gubbe004 (£1049.05 in chips)
Seat 3: Jammy_boy (£211 in chips)
Seat 4: riddimAce (£527.65 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero (£525 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind £2
gubbe004: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Qc Jd]
Jammy_boy: folds
riddimAce: raises to £20
Hero: raises to £70
gubbe004: folds
riddimAce: calls £50
----- FLOP ----- [4h Js 3d]
Hero: bets £90
riddimAce: raises to £180
Hero: calls £90
----- TURN ----- [4h Js 3d][7h]
Hero: checks
riddimAce: bets £277.65 and is all-in
Hero: is all-in £275
Returned uncalled bets £2.65 to riddimAce
----- RIVER ----- [4h Js 3d 7h][6h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
riddimAce: shows [As Ah] (A Pair of Aces, Jack high)
Hero: shows [Qc Jd] (A Pair of Jacks, Queen high)
riddimAce collected £1053 from Main pot


*This one tipped it all off and I just closed everything down

Game #7490730584: Hold'em NL ($10/$20) - 2008/06/20 - 02:13:41 (UK)
Table "Elizkolod" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: Ianm16073 sits out
Seat 2: gulkines ($4079 in chips)
Seat 3: zoomby ($2182 in chips)
Seat 4: Drexlspiv ($3599.91 in chips)
Seat 5: BIZZBUZZ ($2415 in chips)
Seat 6: Hero ($1910 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind $10
gulkines: posts big blind $20
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Ac Ad]
zoomby: raises to $80
Drexlspiv: folds
BIZZBUZZ: folds
Hero: calls $70
gulkines: folds
----- FLOP ----- [9s 5c Qs]
Hero: checks
zoomby: bets $140
Hero: raises to $420
zoomby: raises to $2102 and is all-in
Hero: is all-in $1410
Returned uncalled bets $272 to zoomby
----- TURN ----- [9s 5c Qs][Qh]
----- RIVER ----- [9s 5c Qs Qh][3h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
zoomby: shows [As Qc] (Three of a kind, Queens, Ace high)
Hero: shows [Ac Ad] (Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Nine high)
zoomby collected $3837 from Main pot

griffey the process of experimentation you are describing sounds like it will make you a highly adaptable beast in the long run

don't get discouraged man

Originally Posted by Genitruc

griffey the process of experimentation you are describing sounds like it will make you a highly adaptable beast in the long run

don't get discouraged man

Thanks man, I appreciate it. Let's hope some good comes out of it!

Hope you're running well! I expect you up at these games asap.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GRIFFEYYYYYYYYY


keep the updates comin

Downward spiral continues Down like 7k today, pretty sick. Today was a 'heavy 3betting' day. It's pretty unreal this downswing right now, though I will be the first admit that I'm making a lot of mistakes too. Some of it is just super bad spots though. If anyone has any thoughts on any hands or anything, feel free to give them! I feel like this is a never ending spiral right now, down $20k this week..... ugh.



Villain in these first few hands is normally pretty tight, but I decided today I was gonna 3-bet a lot lot more. After a while he was calling EVERY SINGLE 3-bet in position and then peeling any piece on any flop.

I probably should have adjusted by 3-betting tighter OOP (and to larger amounts) and still looser in pos, instead
of 3-betting a wide range OOP from the blinds. I should have 3-bet larger amounts to leave room for potsize shoves on the turn, and punish his wide flop peeling range.


This river should probably be a fold after I attempt to value bet my top pair.

Game #7535254364: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/24 - 03:54:51 (UK)
Table "Adamsidman" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: mymaximus (£735.45 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero (£551.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Alsase (£544 in chips)
Seat 4: Noseyboy (£464 in chips)
Seat 5: 2easy4you (£532.65 in chips)
Seat 6: Blackdude (£438.15 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind £2
Alsase: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [As 8s]
Noseyboy: folds
2easy4you: folds
Blackdude: folds
mymaximus: raises to £15
Hero: raises to £50
Alsase: folds
mymaximus: calls £35
----- FLOP ----- [4h 3c Ks]
Hero: bets £70
mymaximus: calls £70
----- TURN ----- [4h 3c Ks][7h]
Hero: checks
mymaximus: checks
----- RIVER ----- [4h 3c Ks 7h][Ah]
Hero: bets £185
mymaximus: raises to £615.45 and is all-in
Hero: is all-in £246.25
Returned uncalled bets £184.20 to mymaximus
----- SHOW DOWN -----
mymaximus: shows [Ac 3h] (Two Pairs, Aces and Threes, King high)
Hero: shows [As 8s] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
mymaximus collected £1104.50 from Main pot


This turn shove is pretty awful given that I probably have no FE. I should just flat if I want and shove rivers if I hit. This just shows how light he's peeling, even OOP on this board with two over cards even.

Game #7535068824: Hold'em NL ($2/$5) - 2008/06/24 - 04:17:26 (UK)
Table "Bitlis" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: Bebebe001 ($402.50 in chips)
Seat 2: eagleeyes ($451 in chips)
Seat 3: mRlImPeT ($875.24 in chips)
Seat 4: Lang_56 ($784.90 in chips)
Seat 5: mymaximus ($533.10 in chips)
Seat 6: Hero ($606.10 in chips)
eagleeyes: posts small blind $2
mRlImPeT: posts big blind $5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [5d 4d]
Lang_56: folds
mymaximus: raises to $20
Hero: raises to $60
Bebebe001: folds
eagleeyes: folds
mRlImPeT: folds
mymaximus: calls $40
----- FLOP ----- [Kd 6c Jc]
Lang_56 sits out
mymaximus: checks
Hero: bets $80
mymaximus: calls $80
----- TURN ----- [Kd 6c Jc][7h]
mymaximus: bets $150
Hero: raises to $466.10 and is all-in
mymaximus: is all-in $243.10
Returned uncalled bets $73 to Hero
----- RIVER ----- [Kd 6c Jc 7h][Kc]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hero: shows [5d 4d] (A Pair of Kings, Jack high)
mymaximus: shows [6s 7s] (Two Pairs, Kings and Sevens, Jack high)
mymaximus collected $1070.20 from Main pot


Game #7535002334: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/24 - 02:52:27 (UK)
Table "Alltablesopen" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 2: gubbe004 sits out
Seat 3: Hero (£964 in chips)
Seat 4: mymaximus (£529 in chips)
mymaximus: posts small blind £2
Hero: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Th 8d]
mymaximus: raises to £15
Hero: raises to £50
mymaximus: calls £35
----- FLOP ----- [9s 8s Js]
Hero: bets £70
mymaximus: raises to £140
Hero: raises to £914 and is all-in
mymaximus: is all-in £339
Returned uncalled bets £435 to Hero
----- TURN ----- [9s 8s Js][4d]
----- RIVER ----- [9s 8s Js 4d][6h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hero: shows [Th 8d] (A Pair of Eights, Jack high)
mymaximus: shows [9h Jc] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Nines, Eight high)
mymaximus collected £1057 from Main pot



These were a couple hands against a more fishy player

Game #7534926764: Hold'em NL ($2/$5) - 2008/06/24 - 02:52:30 (UK)
Table "Fiveofhearts" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: robpoon ($951.90 in chips)
Seat 2: Cmonaces ($553 in chips)
Seat 3: Jas250522 ($726 in chips)
Seat 4: Hero ($559 in chips)
Seat 5: Lang_56 ($522.40 in chips)
Seat 6: twms1111 ($597 in chips)
Jas250522: posts small blind $2
Hero: posts big blind $5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Ac Kh]
Lang_56: folds
twms1111: folds
robpoon: folds
Cmonaces: raises to $10
Jas250522: calls $8
Hero: raises to $50
Cmonaces: calls $40
Jas250522: folds
----- FLOP ----- [3d Kd 5h]
Hero: bets $90
Cmonaces: calls $90
----- TURN ----- [3d Kd 5h][Tc]
Hero: checks
Cmonaces: bets $75
Hero: raises to $419 and is all-in
Cmonaces: is all-in $338
Returned uncalled bets $6 to Hero
----- RIVER ----- [3d Kd 5h Tc][2s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hero: shows [Ac Kh] (A Pair of Kings, Ace high)
Cmonaces: shows [4s 6s] (A Straight, Six high)
Cmonaces collected $1113 from Main pot


Game #7535245144: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/24 - 03:52:53 (UK)
Table "Alltablesopen" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: Noseyboy (£664.84 in chips)
Seat 2: Alsase (£495 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero (£599.96 in chips)
Seat 4: mymaximus (£826.24 in chips)
Seat 5: Cmonaces (£243 in chips)
Seat 6: graylog (£459.68 in chips)
Alsase: posts small blind £2
Hero: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Kh Ac]
mymaximus: folds
Cmonaces: raises to £10
graylog: calls £10
Noseyboy: calls £10
Alsase: calls £8
Hero: raises to £70
Cmonaces: calls £60
graylog: calls £60
Noseyboy: folds
Alsase: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Qs 5c Kd]
Hero: bets £173
Cmonaces: calls £173 and is all-in
graylog: folds
----- TURN ----- [Qs 5c Kd][Js]
----- RIVER ----- [Qs 5c Kd Js][9d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hero: shows [Kh Ac] (A Pair of Kings, Ace high)
Cmonaces: shows [Ks Ts] (A Straight, King high)
Cmonaces collected £573 from Main pot




A final hand against a pretty solid regular, who's pretty aggressive. This
turn shove may be a fold, but I was moderately tilted. We hadn't been
playing at each other too much.


Game #7535255044: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/24 - 04:18:30 (UK)
Table "Adamsidman" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: mymaximus (£1592.17 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero (£553.90 in chips)
Seat 3: Alsase (£1001.71 in chips)
Seat 4: Noseyboy (£942.74 in chips)
Seat 5: ***** (£243 in chips)
Seat 6: Blackdude (£296.92 in chips)
Blackdude: posts small blind £2
mymaximus: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Kd As]
Hero: raises to £20
Alsase: calls £20
Noseyboy: calls £20
*****: folds
Blackdude: folds
mymaximus: folds
----- FLOP ----- [9c 9d Kh]
Hero: bets £40
Alsase: calls £40
Noseyboy: folds
----- TURN ----- [9c 9d Kh][Ad]
Hero: bets £120
Alsase: raises to £941.71 and is all-in
Hero: is all-in £373.90
Returned uncalled bets £447.81 to Alsase
----- RIVER ----- [9c 9d Kh Ad][3h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Alsase: shows [Ts 9s] (Three of a kind, Nines, Ace high)
Hero: shows [Kd As] (Two Pairs, Aces and Kings, Nine high)
Alsase collected £1131.80 from Main pot

fucking hell man, keep your head up.

btw how do you find the play at £5 compared to $10?

Originally Posted by Da GOAT

fucking hell man, keep your head up.

btw how do you find the play at £5 compared to $10?

I used to find the pounds games noticeably easier than the dollar games of the same USD equivalence. But I think now there just aren't that many tables on crypto, that certainly all of those tables are merging together with the same players.

It almost feels as though 500nl and 1knl have very similar player pools now, while 10/20 has pretty different regs.

Da Goat - any of those hands in my post above, stand out as noticeably very bad, or clear folds etc in your mind? The A8 is prob a clear fold, how about the AK?

Originally Posted by griffey24

Villain in these first few hands is normally pretty tight, but I decided today I was gonna 3-bet a lot lot more.

Is 3betting really a great play vs him??? Granted its now fine since you've changed table dynamics alot (him calling light now).

After a while he was calling EVERY SINGLE 3-bet in position and then peeling any piece on any flop.

I probably should have adjusted by 3-betting tighter OOP (and to larger amounts) and still looser in pos, instead
of 3-betting a wide range OOP from the blinds. I should have 3-bet larger amounts to leave room for potsize shoves on the turn, and punish his wide flop peeling range.


This river should probably be a fold after I attempt to value bet my top pair.

Game #7535254364: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/24 - 03:54:51 (UK)
Table "Adamsidman" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: mymaximus (£735.45 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero (£551.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Alsase (£544 in chips)
Seat 4: Noseyboy (£464 in chips)
Seat 5: 2easy4you (£532.65 in chips)
Seat 6: Blackdude (£438.15 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind £2
Alsase: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [As 8s]
Noseyboy: folds
2easy4you: folds
Blackdude: folds
mymaximus: raises to £15
Hero: raises to £50
Alsase: folds
mymaximus: calls £35

As you mentioned I think a solid adjustment is to raise more pre OOP. £60 is perfect. Since he is already making huge mistakes just by calling pre tons we can make it cost him more. One problem though is we can sometimes out think ourselves by assuming ''he must of called now with a slightly better holding now''.

----- FLOP ----- [4h 3c Ks]
Hero: bets £70
mymaximus: calls £70

Totally Std

----- TURN ----- [4h 3c Ks][7h]
Hero: checks
mymaximus: checks
----- RIVER ----- [4h 3c Ks 7h][Ah]
Hero: bets £185
mymaximus: raises to £615.45 and is all-in
Hero: is all-in £246.25

Im thinking I cud like a c/c here instead. What hands are we getting value from by betting?? Even tho we have v little credit for a hand in his eyes i feel we still arent gonna get a call from worse hands. b/f as played

This turn shove is pretty awful given that I probably have no FE. I should just flat if I want and shove rivers if I hit. This just shows how light he's peeling, even OOP on this board with two over cards even.

Game #7535068824: Hold'em NL ($2/$5) - 2008/06/24 - 04:17:26 (UK)
Table "Bitlis" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: Bebebe001 ($402.50 in chips)
Seat 2: eagleeyes ($451 in chips)
Seat 3: mRlImPeT ($875.24 in chips)
Seat 4: Lang_56 ($784.90 in chips)
Seat 5: mymaximus ($533.10 in chips)
Seat 6: Hero ($606.10 in chips)
eagleeyes: posts small blind $2
mRlImPeT: posts big blind $5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [5d 4d]
Lang_56: folds
mymaximus: raises to $20
Hero: raises to $60
Bebebe001: folds
eagleeyes: folds
mRlImPeT: folds
mymaximus: calls $40

Very loose preflop, plus given how light he is calling shouldnt we adjust to 3bet more broadways and dominate his hands a ton more?

----- FLOP ----- [Kd 6c Jc]
Lang_56 sits out
mymaximus: checks
Hero: bets $80
mymaximus: calls $80
----- TURN ----- [Kd 6c Jc][7h]
mymaximus: bets $150
Hero: raises to $466.10 and is all-in
mymaximus: is all-in $243.10

I dunno if opp is thinking but your unlikely to hold much after checking flop imo, we know he will call you a ton (id guess he wudnt fold a Jx here) so theres no reason to check back a flop with any made hand imo. i just let him have the pot on turn.

Game #7535002334: Hold'em NL (£2/£5) - 2008/06/24 - 02:52:27 (UK)
Table "Alltablesopen" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 2: gubbe004 sits out
Seat 3: Hero (£964 in chips)
Seat 4: mymaximus (£529 in chips)
mymaximus: posts small blind £2
Hero: posts big blind £5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Hero [Th 8d]
mymaximus: raises to £15
Hero: raises to £50
mymaximus: calls £35

more pre

----- FLOP ----- [9s 8s Js]
Hero: bets £70
mymaximus: raises to £140
Hero: raises to £914 and is all-in
mymaximus: is all-in £339

this is tricky since board is monotone, alsmot all his bluffs are truely semi bluffs which will call a shove!

Hey DaGoat, thanks for the help!

That A8 hand I definitely think we have to value bet the ace there, since its a perfect bluff card for us and he'll check through his entire range possibly. (especially since he certainly has some showdown value after flop call). I think you're right that I should bet FOLD though.

That hand I shoved turn, maybe you missed the flop. I actually bet the flop and he c/c and then he donk lead out and I shoved over it. Not sure if this changes much in your mind. I still think call or fold on turn is better than my shove though.

Thanks for the insight!

That AK hand is standard though? I feel like I'm starting to lose my perception of what is a cooler and what is an easy fold.

On another note to everyone - with the swings I've had of late, I'm starting to wonder how people play with only 20 buyins at a level!?? 100 buyins for the win lol

i agree with your reasoning on the A8s hand. He really isnt gonna bluff much since he shud have some SD type hands. I guess since he thinks we are fos then its a good bluff card.

Oops on misread hand, yeah id fold here n turn.

AK is std imo.

On 20xbuyin I think it works fine until you hit 100nl after that you need more to play 200nl imo, thats my plan to move back up but i have done it before so its not really any big learning curve risk.

Go back to basics man. Table select, seat select, tighten up. It's easy to make this game a lot harder than it needs to be. By say... 3betting like a monkey. I'm not saying there's no place for that, but why not save it for loose/bad players when you're in position? Keep your head up and get back to basics.