Roberts journey to 3/6 NL (blog)

Dear reader, this is my blog on my adventure from NL 100 and hopefully to NL600 by the end of this year. I want a blog connected to FTR in some way (and not something like blogger.com), and since I dont have a real FTR blog, I will post here in this thread instead.

I'm a 21-year old law-student from Denmark who atm 4-tables NL 100 (6-max only). I just finished my last exam for this semester and I have 3 months of vacation to just play a shitload of poker.
My plan is to play as many hands as possible these 3 months while studying the game intensily (reading poker books, reviewing HHs etc., posting hands etc.). I will partly use this blog for keeping track of my own game, to post interesting hands and to post some thoughts on poker in between.
I will start out with a bankroll of $3000 on partypoker (I just cashed out a large chunk of my BR) and I will start out 4-tabling NL 100. Hopefully I will add more tables later on. The plan is to play a shitload of hands and improve my game. Winrate goals are stupid for several reasons, but I will be happy about anything above 5PTBB/100. My sommer goal is to be a regular in the NL200 6-max game before september and to play NL600 by the end of the year.

I will try to update this blog after each session played and post one or two interesting hands every time.

On a sidenote I'm reading Theory of Poker (David Sklansky) for the 2nd time, and I'm almost finished. I got a whole more out of it this time - its a book you have to read several times before understanding all of it. I preordered the new NL:Theory&Practice (Ed Miller & David Sklansky) from 2+2 and I'm anxiously awaiting it in my postbox so I can start reading it.

Wish me good luck!

Hands this session:
604
Profit this session:
-179

Ok I just played my first session. I ran pretty bad, getting cold cards, and when I finally hit something I didnt get any action. Oh well, variance is a part of poker. I played well though, only made a couple of smaller mistakes (misplayed a passivily played QQ hand with two Ks on the board, and some stupid calldowns).

I floated a couple of times against the right opponents (wannabe tag's). Here's a couple of hands where I float against weak tight opps:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

SB ($120.45)
BB ($289.50)
Hero ($90.70)
MP ($104.20)
CO ($91)
Button ($198.73)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 5, 7. SB posts a blind of $0.50.
Hero calls $1, 1 fold, CO raises to $4.5, 3 folds, Hero calls $3.50.

Flop: ($10.50) 5, Q, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $8, Hero calls $8.

Turn: ($26.50) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $15, CO folds.

Final Pot: $41.50

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $41.50.



Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Hero ($112.65)
MP ($5.66)
Button ($90.25)
SB ($90.26)
BB ($98)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 3, 3. SB posts a blind of $0.50.
Hero calls $1, 3 folds, BB raises to $3, Hero calls $3.

Flop: ($8.50) 5, 4, 8 (2 players)
BB bets $5, Hero calls $5.

Turn: ($18.50) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $13, BB folds.

Final Pot: $31.50

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $31.50.



Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Hero ($106)
Button ($18.82)
SB ($22.34)
BB ($98.05)
UTG ($97.64)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 4, 4. SB posts a blind of $0.50.
UTG raises to $3, Hero calls $3, 2 folds, BB calls $2.

Flop: ($9.50) 7, 8, 2 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $4, Hero calls $4, BB folds.

Turn: ($17.50) Q (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $12, UTG folds.

Final Pot: $29.50

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $29.50.


I think I'm going to play another session later tonite.


Total hands:
604
Total profit:
-179
Total BR:
2821

Hands this session:
457
Profit this session:
167

Another quick session for tonite. I actually played worse than in my first session, making a couple of donky calls and raises - nothing big, but bad enough. I'm striving towards a percect game, and I get annoyed with myself everygoddamn time I do something stupid.

There werent really any interesting hands this session - only a couple I f***ed up badly, I will post these in the SH NL forum instead to get some feedback.

One thing I learned the hard way today was, that river raises are rarely bluffs: I need to learn to fold TP-like hands when being raised on the river (unless I got a good read saying otherwise) - calling is simply a money loser. Ppl rarely bet big on the river without a good hand (twopair or better).

I will try to get a quick session in early tomorrow. I'll go to bed know and read some TOP before sleeping.

Total hands:
1061
Total profit:
-12
Total BR:
2988

Hands this session:
322
Profit this session:
296


Just played a quick session this morning. Mornings over here in Europe are incredibly soft on party (maybe because all the US fish plays drunk at night over there).
I ran really good and played perfect poker. I dont think I made any real mistakes. Playing good poker makes me happy, running good makes me even happier.

I love the overbet allin OOP on the river when holding monster. Thats what I did in this hand - I put opp on an passivily played ace, and most players cant fold trips on the river against such an overbet.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (4 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($155.48)
Button ($83.86)
Hero ($134.15)
BB ($16.85)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, Q. Hero posts a blind of $0.50.
1 fold, Button raises to $4, Hero (poster) calls $3.50, 1 fold.

Flop: ($9) A, 5, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $7, Button calls $7.

Turn: ($23) A (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.

River: ($23) Q (2 players)
Hero calls $123.15 (All-In), Button calls $72.86 (All-In).

Final Pot: $219.01

Results in white below:
Button has Ks As (three of a kind, aces).
Hero has Ad Qs (full house, aces full of queens).
Outcome: Hero wins $219.01.

I'm going out of town today with my GF. I'll be back to play some more poker sometimes next week. Until then good luck at the tables.

Total hands:
1383
Total profit:
284
Total BR:
3284

I'm curious, as a LHE player, what the general stance on openlimping (and OL-ing from UTG) is at NL ring?

GL Dane. After reading my awesome blog and my SUCCEEDED *krhm* trip to 5/10 you are ready to roll!

Originally Posted by Pingviini

GL Dane. After reading my awesome blog and my SUCCEEDED *krhm* trip to 5/10 you are ready to roll!

hehe thx, I gotta admit that I was kinda inspired by the title of your blog

Originally Posted by Hate

I'm curious, as a LHE player, what the general stance on openlimping (and OL-ing from UTG) is at NL ring?

Generally I dont openlimp much, but this is when I openlimp:
I openlimp SCs and AXs UTG and UTG+1 on loosepassive tables, I fold them on aggressive tables, and sometimes I raise them on any table to mix it up (especially if its a tight 6-max table). Small pocket pairs (22-66) I often play the same in these positions - I'm thinking about raising/folding these instead (dependant on the table). When I have the CO or BTN all these hands are a raise for me, unless I have loose shortstacks behind me (because then I wont have implied odds when they call, and they will often play very aggressivly on the flop which cuts down the chance of stealing the pot on the flop with a cbet).

Most players will tell you that openlimpingin is a cardinal sin, but I do it nevertheless - I will probably change this as I move up in higher stakes, where the game is much more aggressive and tricky. I think openlimping is fine under the right circumstances at NL100 and below (I play NL100).

I'm finally back from out of town. I'm going to play a session tonight, and one more early tomorrow.

I just finished Theory of Poker for the 2nd time. I'm awaiting my copy of NL:T&P tomorrow, and boy I'm excited. I think I'll read the NL chapter in SS while I await my copy of the new NL book.

Even though my home is here at FTR, I lurk at 2+2, where there's a lot of usefull posts (and a lot of crap). Here's a couple of post I read recently and liked:

- When to checkraise or bet/3bet:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...=0&page=0&vc=1

- Old veteran fimbulwinter gives some random but golden advice for SSNL:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...an=&page=&vc=1

- Another regular gives some advice on checking then turn with marginal holdings, about leading with good hands and about playing draws (there is nothing new in his advice, but its still good):
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...0&fpart=1&vc=1

Hands this session:
368
Profit this session:
152

Man, that was a swingy session. I played some very good poker, busted a lot of shortstacks, and had two really awful badbeats - without those I would have been up $500 more. Oh well, I'm pretty happy about my play, I only made one bad move (calling an allin, but I ended up winning the pot anyway - so nvm ).

On a sidenote I've begun to checkraise more (I never checkraised before). I'm still learning this fine art, but I'm starting to get the hang of it.

I will play some more tomorrow morning when I wake up.
Good night and good luck at the tables.

Total hands:
1751
Total profit:
436
Total BR:
3436

Hands this session:
814
Profit this session:
237

Ok I started out this morning playing like a donk. Before my session was over I started running and playing awesome though. I quit when I lost with KK against a flopped set (its hard to spot a set against a lagg who fastplays it on the flop).

here's a small funny hand, where I coldcalled with AA prf instead of reraising ( I almost always reraise). I did this because of the shortstack raiser and because I wanted the shortstack behind me to call - I was pretty sure at least one of the shortstacks would go allin on the flop in front of me, and thats also what happened:

***** Hand History for Game 4467591686 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, June 08, 06:12:48 ET 2006
Table Table 96405 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 4: coil62 ( $101.02 )
Seat 5: Dodgerbluemm ( $17.96 )
Seat 3: RobertLOL ( $116.41 )
Seat 2: RodC74 ( $38.66 )
Seat 6: byrdman1219 ( $101.07 )
Seat 1: vdp85 ( $24 )
coil62 posts small blind [$0.50].
Dodgerbluemm posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to RobertLOL [ Ac Ad ]
>You have options at Table 106814 Table!.
byrdman1219 calls [$1].
vdp85 raises [$4].
RodC74 folds.
RobertLOL calls [$4].
coil62 folds.
>You have options at Table 106814 Table!.
Dodgerbluemm calls [$3].
byrdman1219 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4c, 7c, Jd ]
Dodgerbluemm is all-In.
>You have options at Table 96634 Table!.
>You have options at Table 106814 Table!.
vdp85 folds.
RobertLOL calls [$13.96].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
** Dealing River ** [ Tc ]
Dodgerbluemm shows [ Kh, Jc ] a pair of jacks.
RobertLOL shows [ Ac, Ad ] a pair of aces.
RobertLOL wins $39.37 from the main pot with a pair of aces.

Still awaiting my copy of NL:T&P, grr...

Total hands:
2565
Total profit:
673
Total BR:
3673

A couple of good links:

- Valuable standard reads in SSNL:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...fpart=all&vc=1

- fimbulwinter on when to move up in stakes:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...fpart=all&vc=1.

- flop moves you can make against a prf raiser (a good, but not high quality post - read it FWIW):
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...0&page=11&vc=1

Hands this session:
711
Profit this session:
168

Played a session this morning and it went quite good - I only made one questionable/bad play against a fish who was loose and floating a lot on me (probably not with air, but with trash like MP and TPWK). This guy had called my flop cbets everytime when in position and when I slowed down on the turn he would bet every fucking time. So I decided to take a stand and checkraise the turn allin. Turned out he had turned a straight - bah. Bad play or good with my read?

***** Hand History for Game 4488976863 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, June 11, 03:24:37 ET 2006
Table Poison Ivy (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: Lcky7Grl ( $92.02 )
Seat 3: david327 ( $296.01 )
Seat 5: griffen_mac ( $178.75 )
Seat 6: RobertLOL ( $99.57 )
Seat 1: Gg_n00b_Gg ( $27.99 )
Seat 4: Visete ( $120.10 )
RobertLOL posts small blind [$0.50].
Gg_n00b_Gg posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to RobertLOL [ Qs Qc ]
Lcky7Grl calls [$1].
david327 calls [$1].
Visete folds.
griffen_mac folds.
last one
RobertLOL raises [$5.50].
Gg_n00b_Gg folds.
Lcky7Grl calls [$5].
david327 calls [$5].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Th, 4c, 7d ]
RobertLOL bets [$12].
Lcky7Grl calls [$12].
david327 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
RobertLOL checks.
Lcky7Grl bets [$15].
RobertLOL is all-In.
Lcky7Grl is all-In.
** Dealing River ** [ Kh ]
Lcky7Grl shows [ 5c, 6c ] a straight, four to eight.
RobertLOL shows [ Qs, Qc ] a pair of queens.
RobertLOL wins $7.55 from side pot #1 with a pair of queens.
Lcky7Grl wins $188.04 from the main pot with a straight, four to eight.

On a sidenote I'm still 4-tabling, I'm really comfortable playing that number of tables, and I will first start to expand my number of tables when I feel I'm close to playing perfect poker at NL100.

I finally received my copy of "No Limit, Theory and Practice" by Ed Miller and Sklansky, and I've already read like 80 pages of it - and I love it so far. Some of the concepts seems a bit hard to apply in practise, but I love the indepth thinking and I think this will be a very valuable book for me!

Total hands:
3276
Total profit:
841
Total BR:
3841

Here's a couple of links to more good post that I read on 2+2:

- raising limpers in position:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...fpart=all&vc=1

- post about playing OOP:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...Number=6118959

- post about hand ranges:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...fpart=all&vc=1

On a sidenote, I'm wondering if anyone is even reading my blog, because I'm not getting any comments - maybe it has just got to a point where these boards are crowded with blog and "operation posts" so people stop reading all but the most interesting of them. Anyway I'll still post here after each session and everytime I have something interesting to tell about poker, because I feel it improves my game and helps me focus!

Hands this session:
338
Profit this session:
-192

Yuck, I hate variance, but I've been waiting for it after running hot the last couple of session. I started out loosing two pots for a totalt of $400 to bad beats (getting allin prf in one hand and allin on the turn in another - both as huge favorites, but rivered in both, meh).
At least I played well - only leak I had was calling down to much against a specific loose opponent. I need to stop calling all they down with TPWK in raised pots even against total donks, its massive -EV, unless you know they are bluffing (wich they rarely do the whole way!).

On the good side I almost cleared the party reload, wich will make up for some of my loses tonight.

Good night and good luck at the tables!

Total hands:
3614
Total profit:
649
Total BR:
3649

Keep posting, your blog is good, especially the links to the 2+2 articles.

one day i was talking to Robert on AIM. he told me he was from 'denmark, europe.' he didn't think i knew what continent denmark was in.

Originally Posted by Jethro87

Keep posting, your blog is good, especially the links to the 2+2 articles.

Hands this session:
524
Profit this session:
197

Another session played last night. I was making some horrible calldowns (again!) with TPWK against fish betting all streets. TPWK is a bluffcatcher and nothing else, its not a hand that can hold up after three streets of betting unless your opponents are trully horrible. I also took some horrible shots at floating. But luckily I ran good and ended up for the night, plus I boosted my BR with $100 after clearing the latest party reload.
I've started raising limpers when I have the button with all kinds of hands (PPs, SCs etc.) and it really works. On really loose tables full of calling stations I tend to limp behind instead though, because cbets doesnt get the same respect as usual.

I'm still reading NL:T&P and I still love the book so far (I've come to the chapter about "Raising"). There's a lot of equations in the book though, and I often skip those, but mostly I understand the rationale behind them and thats what matters anyways.

Finally, YAY for somebody reading my blog! And to gabe: Sorry for taking you for an idiot who didnt know where denmark was

I'll be playing yet another session tonight.

Total hands:
4138
Total profit:
846
Total BR:
3946

Hands this session:
332
Profit this session:
-40

Played a small session tonite. The session was played only 2-tabling, cuz I was showing a friend of mine (who also plays poker, but only lowstakes sngs) how to play some NL 6-max cash. I'm thinking about staking him for $500 from the 1.july. Hopefully he'll improve and move up fast, and then we can start to discuss hands etc., that would be awesome.

I'm going to play another session tonight, and I plan to put in a marathon session tomorrow morning, buts lets see if I'll be able to get up early.

On a sidenote, I'm thinking about writting a guide for starting hand requirements for NL 6-max (small stakes!). I know there are no absolutes when deciding which hands to play preflop, but what I'm thinking about is just to give some basic guidelines for a basic TAG-game. If I'll write it, I'll do it tomorrow.

Total hands:
4470
Total profit:
806
Total BR:
3906

Hands this session:
241
Profit this session:
143

Another quick session for tonite. I didnt really feel like playing actually, I felt tired, but I played a little under an hour anyway. I'm glad I did, because I ran well and played good.

I'm beginning to find out how to datamine party (if you dont know, PartyPoker disabled observed HHs, so that you couldnt datamine without activily playing at the table yourself). If you are interested here's a couple of links:

- The program that makes you able to datamine: http://www.jukofyork.com/freephg.htm

- An AHK-script that opens up the kind of tables you want when datamining and open up new tables when the old ones get empty: http://www.overcards.com/wiki/moin.cgi/iWitness (if you dont know what an AHK-script is, read this: http://www.overcards.com/wiki/moin.cgi/AutoHotKey)


Total hands:
4711
Total profit:
949
Total BR:
4049

Hands this session:
991
Profit this session:
12

If somebody is ever going to kill themselves over poker, I'll understand them. Just played a 1000 hand session, and it went up and down like a rollercoaster, mostly up, but I got stacked 3 times with 150xBB where I had close to the nuts or I was rivered - meh! Fortunately I'm still up this session. The most frustrating thing is that the guys who stacked were some of the worst players loose players I've seen on PP, they just caught me with a better hand everytime I had a monster. Oh well, end of whine!

I'm going to read some NL:T&P today and see if I can finish my first reading of it.
And I'll have to review my PT-database later too see if I can spot any leaks.

Good luck and have fun at the tables!

Total hands:
5702
Total profit:
961
Total BR:
4061

Hands this session:
90
Profit this session:
-68

Ok, that was about the worst poker I've played in my life. I only played 90 hands, but I stopped before the rest of my winning went down the drain. I was playing stupid, trying to bluff people out of hopeless pots and calling down in the wrong places. OMG it was horrendous I think I need to go out tonight. I'll play again early tomorrow.

Good Night, and Good luck at the tables!

Total hands:
5792
Total profit:
893
Total BR:
3993

Hands this session:
1009
Profit this session:
473

Played my longest session ever. I know 1000 hands aint a lot for most of you, but for me it is. I played it 5-tabling (I usually 4-table). I ran well and played good. I will continue playing 5 tables, and my goal is to be able to play 6 tables of NL 100 by the end of june. I'll play a few more session 5-tabling and then add one more table by the end of the month.

I love the river openpush with the nuts (or close to the nuts) - it gets called all the time by great hands you have beat. Say the pot is $40 on the river, you opponent has bet both turn and river in position and you just check/called both streets OOP. On the river you have a monster and you both have $80 behind. Often openpushing OOP is better than valuebetting if you think opp has a decent hand (which he probably has because he bet both the flop and turn). Sure, you'll get less calls than a valuebet, but in the long run you'll mostly be paid much better off by openpushing. Deciding between openpushing or valuebetting the river with a monster is not always easy though. Read the two chapters on "Playing the nuts on the river" for a good discussion on this topic.

Here's an example:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($94.15)
Button ($75.60)
Hero ($107.30)
BB ($146.41)
UTG ($100.96)
MP ($90.71)

Preflop: Hero is SB with T, K. Hero posts a blind of $0.50.
1 fold, MP calls $1, 2 folds, Hero (poster) completes, BB raises to $2, MP calls $2, Hero calls $2.

Flop: ($9) Q, J, 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $4, MP folds, Hero calls $4.

Turn: ($17) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $8, Hero calls $8.

River: ($33) A (2 players)
Hero calls $92.30 (All-In), BB calls $92.30.

Final Pot: $217.60

Results in white below:
Hero has Ts Kc (straight, ace high).
BB has Ah Ad (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $217.60.

And here's one where I'm in position - a valuebet will almost only be called by the same hands that will call a push:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($103.95)
SB ($76.65)
BB ($97.45)
UTG ($118.32)
MP ($102.41)
CO ($94.36)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5, 5. SB posts a blind of $0.50.
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, Hero calls $1, SB (poster) completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($4) Q, 5, K (5 players)
SB bets $3, BB folds, UTG calls $3, Hero calls $3.

Turn: ($13) 5 (4 players)
SB bets $3, UTG raises to $10, Hero calls $10, SB calls $7.

River: ($43) Q (4 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero calls $89.95 (All-In), SB calls $62.65 (All-In), UTG folds.

Final Pot: $195.60

Results in white below:
SB has Ac Qd (full house, queens full of fives).
CO has (full house, queens full of fives).
Hero has 5h 5d (four of a kind, fives).
Outcome: Hero wins $195.60.


I feel like writing a clever post about something pokerrelated - I might sit down later and write one just for the fun of it.

I'm going out tonite with some friends and my GF and I'll probably get pretty drunk, but I'll try and see if I can get in another session early tomorrow.

Good luck and good cards!

Total hands:
6801
Total profit:
1366
Total BR:
4466

Enojoyed the 2+2 links you posted. Good luck on your journey

I dont get the 2nd hand you posted. Why on earth would you just call that flop bet? Theres a possible 9 hearts, 3 aces, 3 9's, that are scare cards for you on the turn, maybe even add a few more if somebody has a gutshot. You were lucky to hit the case 5 on the turn to lock up your hand, and it turned out well, but i would think raising the flop is standard here. Thoughts?

I usually never slowplay sets in this spot either, especially with the flush draw out there. I dont really remember why I did, I think I had a read on my opponents who where really aggro postflop but probably would fold to a raise on the flop. A raise on the turn would announce my hand to the others and let them fold easily - and my position was perfect with an aggro player acting first and probably leading every street and an loose aggro player behind him to call/raise his bets on every street.

In hindsight I would play my hand faster on the flop though, to many scarecards can fall on the turn as you said and I wanted to build a pot. I never said the hand was played good, the river push was the interesting thing about the hand!

Hands this session:
381
Profit this session:
294

I played this quick session a week ago. Since then I've been out of town with my GF almost the whole week so havent really played.
I need to play more. More hands = more $$$. I will put in some hands 5-tabling today and tomorrow.

Total hands:
7182
Total profit:
1660
Total BR:
4760

Hands this session:
581
Profit this session:
-161

STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT! STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT! STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT! STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT! STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT! STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT! STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT! STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT! STOP CALLING DOWN WITH MARGINAL HANDS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEAT!

That is all.

Total hands:
7763
Total profit:
1499
Total BR:
4599

Things are going good so far, I'm beating NL100 for almost 10PTbb/100 (albeit small samplesize) and I'm almost bankrolled for NL200 (I want 25 buyins). I've decided to have the following as my goal for the next couple of months:

1) I need to improve my game and play as perfect as possible. I should stop doing stupid things like bluffing to much, calling down to much with marginal hands when beat and play fewer marginal hands OOP. I want to play perfect poker, to make correct decisions every time I play poker. I should only play poker when I'm focused and I feel that I'm playing my A-game.

2) The rest of June: I want to hit the 10k hand mark before this month is over. On thursday I'm going to the "Roskilde Festival" and I wont be able to play for 4 days afterwards, so I'll have to play a little over 2k hands over the next couple of days. Should be easy. This will be done 5-tabling.

3) July: As soon as I have 5k in my BR I will start playing NL200. I will start out 4-tabling, but the goal is to get back to 5-tabling and maybe 6-tabling later on when I feel comfortable at this higher limit. If I run terrible and my BR hits 4k, I will move back down to NL100 and rebuild it back to 5k.
I really didnt get to play enough hands in June and I wont do it in July either. My goal is only 10k hands for this month (due to hanging out a lot with my GF and friends). I hope to be comfortable 6-tabling NL200 by the end of July, but I know that this really depends on how I run.

4) August: If everything goes as planned I will be comfortably 6-tabling NL200 at this point. My GF is traveling with a friend most of August, so I plan to get in a shitload of hands this month. The goal is just to play as many hands as possible, and possibly start playing NL400 by the end of the month. The ultimate goal would be to comfortable 6-table NL400 by september. Achievable? I dont know, but we'll see.

Hands this session:
431
Profit this session:
-336

Hmm, I've run into a bad run consisting of cold cards and bad beats mixed up with some bad plays, including some stupid call downs and illtimed bluffs. I think I tilted a bit this morning and I started 6-tabling. I wasnt tilting bad, but it probably cost me a buyin or so.

I will 4-table from now on until I feel I have fixed the biggest leaks in my game and until I'm out of this downswing.

Wish me good luck.

Total hands:
8194
Total profit:
1163
Total BR:
4263

Hands this session:
371
Profit this session:
-144

Another losing session. I'm on the biggest downswing in my poker career, and its awfull. I've lost over 6 buyins the last couple of days, this might not be much to some of you, but its a lot to me. Most of it is pure bad beats, only some of it is due to bad play.
I'll take a break from poker till tomorrow. I think I'll take a shot at NL200 tomorrow night and see how it goes. I think taking a shot is a good idea, because I feel like I'm playing well (hopefully the higher stakes will help me focus even more) and I have >20buyins which should be more than enough for a taking a shot for one session.

I'll report back on how it went tomorrow night, untill then good luck and good cards.

Total hands:
8565
Total profit:
1019
Total BR:
4119

I agree, downswings suck. gl coming out of it.

Originally Posted by Irisheyes

I agree, downswings suck. gl coming out of it.

thx dude, just read that you lost 2k, must be awfull. GL to you too.

I just dropped over 4 buyins playing NL200, mostly dude to bad beats and some tilting at the end. I feel like I could kill myself. I seriously need to evaluate all this - but I gotta sleep now, I will find out what to do tomorrow

Since this weekend I've been on a major downswing losing almost 1/3rd of my BR (my BR is $3266 now). I still have a $266 profit for this month, but loosing so much in such a short span of time felt truly bad. The downswing was a mix of way to many bad beats, tilt and bad bluffs and calldowns. This downswing has been a wakeup call for me though, because since yesterday night when I lost over $800 while taking a shot at NL200 I've realised the following:

- I've been to greedy! I started out June focusing on to become a better player, and to strive to make the correct plays in every hand of poker I played. I quickly lost this focus though, and when I wasnt playing I was thinking more and more (and talking more and more to friends and family) about the possible big money involved in playing higher stakes, being rich etc etc. Having this kind of focus on poker is truly bad, and you will never become a good player if you focus on poker this way.

- The first one or two weeks I focused on evolving as a player and improving my game. But slowly while I began focusing more on the big money involved I stopped improving my own game, stopped posting so much on FTR and stopped looking over my own HHs in PT.

- I took a shot at NL200 with 20 buyins yesterday - nothing wrong with that in itself. But I should have stopped when I lost 2 buyins. I wasnt playing my A-game, in fact I tilted because of two bad beats, and because I was greedy and wanted to make even bigger money, I stayed at the tables and played. And I ended up loosing two buyins more when I tilted and tried to push someone off the nuts twice with ace high. Meh.

- More tables = more $$$. I normally play 4-tables, and I can handle that pretty well. At one point I played 6 tables. Yeah, this is doable, and it also went ok for me. But when trying to fix some major leaks in my game I shouldnt do more than 4 tables. I can 6-table properly, but with that many tables I'm not able to play optimal poker and I'm not able to focus on fixing my big leaks (at my current level of skill - it will come in time though).

- I dont play enough hands. Only getting 10k hands in pr month is not enough. The key to solving this problem is to play longer sessions. Most of my sessions has only been around an hour. Playing longer 2-4 hour sessions would allow me to get way more hands in pr month.

After realising all this, I'm going to take the rest of the week off from poker. I'm going to the "Roskile Festival" tomorrow (gonna be awesome btw), and when I get home on monday I will start playing again with the following goals:


Goals for July

1. My focus should be on making the correct decision in every hand of poker I play, and I shall strive to perfect my game and fix my leaks. I've been way to resultsoriented in the past, I will not fall into this trap again.

2. I will 4-table NL100 for the rest of the month. No more than 4 tables, because I will focus on fixing my leaks and improving my game. My goal is 20k hands for this month, which should be doable if I play 2-4 sessions.

3. Besides playing I will study this game more:
- I will reread "NL:T&P" and write notes while reading it.
- After this reread I will join Cardrunners.com and watch and learn from their videos.
- I will review HHs in PT after each session and post any hand I'm in doubt about.
- I will check the FTR-shorthanded NL forum every day and reply to as many posts as possible.

Definitely play longer sessions, 2-3 hour session work pretty well for me. When you play you shoulndt be in a hurry to make money.

Nothing wrong with taking a shot but then you need to be able to move down if you lose and not chase losses.

Good luck

Cardrunners will really help, go for it. It's well worth the investment.

Starting Bankroll: $3000

I'm back at last. I withdrew $266 to my bankaccount (Roskilde Festival was more expensive than expected), so I started out tonight with a BR of $3000, so I've kinda restarted this operation.

I played a very long session this evening 4-tabling (over 1100 hands) and it went awesome: I ran hot plus I played some very good poker. I started making a dumb bluff at the end of the session, so I decided I was getting to tired and I quit. I'm really happy I played with the right mindset tonight : playing good poker. I fixed a lot of leaks (tightened up in EP, calling down less with marginal holdings, bluffing less, timing a lot of great 2nd barrels etc). All in all tonight was great, and I feel like a reborn pokerplayer.

As for studying, I'm rereading NL:T&P while writing notes. I feel like I get lots more out of it when reading it for a 2nd time and while writing notes.

Good night and good cards.

Bankroll: $ 3672

Bankroll: $4120

Hello again fellow pokerplayers. Its been a while. I havent played any poker until today, I've been out of town most of the time. Played one session this morning and this afternoon (around 1100 hands total) and ended up around $450, so I'm still running hot and playing good. I feel I've taken my game to a new level - I've tightened up preflop UTG and UTG+1 and from the blinds, and that has helped me a great deal. Playing marginal hands OOP is a pain in the ass. Also I've stopped making so many stupid bluffs and I'm calling down less when I know I'm beat (I still do it though).

I'm almost finished with my reread of NL:T&P - I think this reread has helped me think a bit deeper when playing at the tables. As soon as I'm finished with this reread I'll be joining cardrunners. I will give you guys a full review when I've checked it out myself!

I will look through my PT database tomorrow and look for leaks and post some difficult hands in the shorthanded forum. Also I'll have to play roughly 300 hands to clear the rest of my party reload bonus (it expires tomorrow night).

Good night and good luck at the tables.

Hi Robert, I just found your blog today and have read through the whole journey thus far. I have found it great reading because not only do you write well, but I feel you are 6 to 8 weeks ahead of me in my journey. Personally I am about to step up to NL100 with my $2500 bankroll so its a case of fore-warned is fore-armed for what I am about to go through. The big difference being that I am currently full ring player... (due to the number of posts associated with high variance on 6-max my plan is to establish myself as a profitable NL100 player FR then drop back to NL25 6-max if I feel I then want to learn that game).

As for your tough downswing, we know everyone goes through them, but I believe increasing your bankroll is primarily a simple factor of the number of hands you play. Everyone's style of play grants them a long term bb/100 - so these days I accept that running hot or cold - if I am playing consistently well then the bankroll will eventually increase at this rate and the only way to move it up quickly (not that I personally am in any particular hurry) is by playing more hands. Actually I am looking forward to NL100 as the game and money has become a little easy at NL50 and I need to stretch my game and poker education at the next level.

Keep up the blog - you have another supporter now!!

Paul

I didnt get to play at all since my last post and I missed out on clearing the last reload bonus - I had some personal problems, so its ok though.

I just reviewed all the hands I've played since I restarted this operation (2000 hands, not much I know). I didnt really find any leaks or bad plays, only a couple of misplaced bluffs and a bad calldown against an obvious flush.

I've been really busy this month and I havent played enough hands at all. I have to adjust this months goal to 10k hands. I'll compensate for this in August, my GF will be out travelling for 3 weeks, so in the meanwhile I'll have a lot spare time on my hands and I will try to play a shitload of hands.

Although I havent really played much, I'm almost finished with my reread of NL:T&P. Also I just joined Cardrunners but I've only watched one video this far. I'll watch some more and browse the site more when I get some more time on my hands later this week. It all looks pretty awesome though and the one video I've watched was pretty good. I'll give you guys a full review sometime next week.

I think I'll play some tonight. I'll update you guys later tonight.

Good luck and good cards.

Originally Posted by paulwright

Hi Robert, I just found your blog today and have read through the whole journey thus far. I have found it great reading because not only do you write well, but I feel you are 6 to 8 weeks ahead of me in my journey. Personally I am about to step up to NL100 with my $2500 bankroll so its a case of fore-warned is fore-armed for what I am about to go through. The big difference being that I am currently full ring player... (due to the number of posts associated with high variance on 6-max my plan is to establish myself as a profitable NL100 player FR then drop back to NL25 6-max if I feel I then want to learn that game).

As for your tough downswing, we know everyone goes through them, but I believe increasing your bankroll is primarily a simple factor of the number of hands you play. Everyone's style of play grants them a long term bb/100 - so these days I accept that running hot or cold - if I am playing consistently well then the bankroll will eventually increase at this rate and the only way to move it up quickly (not that I personally am in any particular hurry) is by playing more hands. Actually I am looking forward to NL100 as the game and money has become a little easy at NL50 and I need to stretch my game and poker education at the next level.

Keep up the blog - you have another supporter now!!

Paul

Hi Paul,
Its great to hear that I have yet another reader of my blog. I'll definitely advice you to switch to 6-max, there are loads more fish around, you get to play more hands pr. hour against the fish and the learning curve is greater because you'll be forced into a lot of tough and marginal situations postflop much more often than in FR. I understand that you want to drop down to NL25 when switching to 6-max, I was pretty scared myself when I made the switch (I mostly setmined NL 25 full ring before I started out 6-max).
Good luck wether you make the switch to 6-max or not.

Bankroll: $4229

Played a 600 hand session tonight and made little more than a buy-in. I actually wanted to put in more hands, but I've realised that I'm to tired to play my A-game, so I'm going to bed now and I'll play another session early tomorrow.

Good night and good cards.

gl. i'm pretty much in the same spot as you (almost exactly as big BR) but i'm playing 5-max instead. 200NL soon mmkay?

Bankroll: $4374

Couldnt sleep tonight, so I woke up and played around 600 hands and made 1.5 buyin. I played some good poker, bade a couple of bad plays, but nothing horrible (and most important nothing bad for stacks).

The plan for the rest of the month is to reach my goal of 10k hands, and then I'm going to cash out some to get a new monitor (samsung 204b) and have some fun. I dontthink I'm ready (mentally) for NL200, so I think I'm just going to play NL100 most of august. My goal for august will just be to play a shitload of hands and getting used to 6- (or 8) table on my new monitor.

Good luck and good cards.

Bankroll: $4414

PLayed roughly 400 hands this morning. I made 40 bucks. I played like shit. I had a couple of tough hands though (hands I maybe should have folded instead of called and called instead of folded), some of them I posted in the SH forum, but I made a bad river call (in a smallish pot, still bad though against a weak passive opponent). I also had a float go wrong where I got c/r on the turn and I had to call the big c/r because I picked up a flush draw (that I missed on the river), that one lost me quite a lot. I was playing OK, but I didnt focus and didnt play my A-game, and it kinda pisses me off now afterwards.

I have a couple of good 2+2 links lying around, I'll post them later when I get them sorted.

Good luck and good cards.

what is your av?

Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla

what is your av?

av?

-atar

Actually I dont know, I just found it somewhere on the net (dont remember where) and thought it looked cool

Here's a couple of good 2+2 posts:

- A regular talks about a couple of moves that a very basic ABC player can add to his arsenal (reraising more preflop, 2nd barreling):
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...rt=&PHPSESSID=

- A good post about wether to raise smallish PPs UTG (in 6-max):
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...an=&page=&vc=1

- A regular (DJ sensei) gives a very good explanation on how handle a specific situation where you are raising preflop in position and opp leads into your TPTK on the flop:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...an=&page=&vc=1

- A lot of posts about why position is so important in NLHE (the main post includes links to other cross posts about position):
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...=0&page=1&vc=1

Bankroll: $ 4288

Played a small session tonight. I started out good, but at the end I started getting tired and making bad moves. 10 hands before I quit I was still up one buyin and then hell went loose and in my last hands I lost over two buyins to bad beats (my turned flush getting beat by a rivered FH, lost with middleset against topset), meh.

Next time I'm going to play I'll do a review of my last 2000 hands in PT.

What site do you play on?

Originally Posted by Triptan3s

What site do you play on?

Don't tell him he only wants to CHEAT YOU!!!

Keep on rowing, son.

Ok this sucks. I took a shot at NL200 because I datamined some of the new Monster tables and saw that they were sooooo soft. I played hundred hands and got bad beaten for 3 buyins. Bankroll is $3850 now. I hate NL 200. I gonna steam off and play some NL100 afterwards.

Trip I play at party and I would actually like to hook up with you and some RB. But then I would have to close my current PP down and open a new one and then I wouldnt be able to use my NETeller account and that sucks

After my failed shot at NL200 where I lost 3 buyins, I played 3 hours 4-tabling NL100 and winning 3 buyins. I will stop taking shots at NL200 until the end of august and just focus on crushing NL100 and playing more tables.
I'm going to cash out $900 of my BR leaving me with a BR of $3270. I will use the $900 for a new monitor (I'm getting a samsung 204b) to multitable on and on extra living expenses I had last month.
The plan for august is just to play NL100 and increase my number of tables beyond 4 (hopefully 8 tables at the end of august, but I'll be happy with just 6-tabling). This will be the last time I cash out for some time (though I might cash out $500 someday in august to stake a good friend of mine) - I really need to built a healthy roll for NL200, so I can start taking shots again comfortably at the end of august.

I'll be going out of town for a little over a week tomorrow with my GF, and I probably wont be able to play in that space of time. I plan to get in a shitload of hands in august when I get back next sunday.

Btw, I'll try and see if I can write and post a review of cardrunners later today as I promised earlier.

Good luck and good cards!

Bankroll: $3270

Played 600 hands today and made $160. My last session of this month. I've only played 6500 hands this month, but (aside from my failed shot at NL200) I've been running really hot: 15PTBB/100. The number of hands played this month is pretty disappointing, but I'll compensate for that in august and try to get at least 30K hands in (with my new monitor comming up to play more tables on, this should be a realistic goal).

Here's a couple of 2+2 links:

- What line to take OOP with a marginal hand against prf raiser:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...fpart=all&vc=1

- Good discussion on whether to overlimp behind limpers on the button or to raise them:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...fpart=all&vc=1



Bankroll: $3449

BTW, my biggest leak is still calling down to much with marginal hands. One of my goals next month is to plug this leak. Cuz it sucks

Quick update: Been back from out of town just this evening, played 500 hands and made 30 bucks - meh. I ran bad, so its ok though.

BR: $3469

I promised a review of Cardrunners.com and so here it is (I know its a bit late, but I havent really been at home much lately, I've been really bussy). Note that I'm reviewing CR solely on its NL cashgame content (my focuspoint is NL100 6-max, because thats what I am playing myself).

Cardrunners review

When signing up to CR (Cardrunners) you get access to several features: a poker forum much like 2+2 and FTR, articles written by CR pros, blogs from the pros and of course the instructional videos.

The CR forum is build up much like FTR and 2+2 and its moderated by the CR pros. To be honest I didnt really find the boards that interesting, the activity and content isnt as good as FTR and 2+2, so I think you'll be better off using your limited sparetime reading FTR and 2+2 instead (or watching the CR videos).
CR also have instructional articles. For the time I was signed up I actually never got to read more than one article. I dont think that the articles has a whole lot to offer to a average player like myself compared to all the good posts on FTR and 2+2.
I'm not saying that you cant be pick something from the CR boards and articles, but they shouldnt be why you join CR.

The instructional videos are the bread and butter of cardrunners. There are videos both for cash games, SnGs and MTTs. The cash game videos are mainly by Green Plastic (plays up to NL 50/100 online) and muddywater (I think he plays mainly NL 10/20 online).
Green plastic plays a LAG style while muddywater plays a more TAG style. I'm playing mainly TAG myself, so when I used to hear that Green plastic was playing LAG in his videos, I thought that they wouldnt be anything worth to me - I was wrong. What you learn from the instructional videos is how to think at the tables. For example Green Plastic mostly explains why he is folding/calling/raising in a certain hand and he explains the logic behind his reasoning. The things you learn from GP's videos is not that raising JTs UTG is a thing you should do because he does it (because he plays LAGG) - but what you learn is how to think correctly at the poker table, how to think a hand through and decide on the best play on a given street. I especially like when he faces a big turn or river bet in his videos and he has to decide between calling or folding - in these situations he explains what kind of hands he can put his opponent on and wether that should lead to him calling or folding. This is a good way to learn better hand reading, which is IMO the single most important skill in NLHE (by far). Already there you can pick up a whole lot from GPs videos (unless you are already an experienced hand reader).
While I was signed up at CR I only got to watch two videos by muddywater, but he seemed like he played a very standard TAG style. I liked his videos as well (much of the comments above on GPs videos apply to muddywaters videos as well) although his commentary wasnt as good as GPs. I'll imagine that watching his videos will help improve your standard ABC tag game.
There are videos for all kinds of limits (mainly NL100 and upwards, but there are a couple of NL25 and NL50 videos aswell), and although NL2000 plays very differently from NL100 I still believe you can learn alot and improve your own game by watching videos from high stakes although you still play small stakes.

Finally you also get access to blogs written by the CR pros. I dont think these have much poker content, but I actually found them a good read, so I like them as an added bonus to the instructional videos.

Conclusion
The CR videos wont automaticly make you a better poker player. But if you are able to absorb the logic behind GPs and muddywaters plays in the videos and apply it to your own play at the tables, then you'll be able to pick up a great deal. If you are a serious student of this game, and you want to improve your thinking at the tables and maybe learn a move or two, then I think you should seriously consider giving CR a try (especially if you are playing NL100 with a proper BR, because the the signup fee for one month is less than a buyin, and if you play a lot you will get your fee back plus more if you just pick up a thing or two from the videos).

A quick update. Havent been playing for a while, and I probably wont play again before sunday. My GF is going away on holiday for 3 weeks on sunday, so I plan to play a shitload of hands the following 3 weeks. When I start playing I'll hopefully have received my new Samsung 204B monitor, so I can play more tables. I'll start by adding 1 tables at a time (starting with 5 tables).

Yay I'm back! Did a massive session 5-tabling for around 1500 hands, my longest session thus far. I only won around 2 buyins, but I made a couple of very -EV tripple barrel bluffs that failed and got sucked out for 200bbs with the nuts once. I've opened a new party account and I'm not finished funding it yet, so I dont really know how big my BR is, but I'll try to restart with $3000 (so my coming online BR should be around $3200 now).

I havent gotten my new monitor yet, but I hope I'll get it sometime early next week. Until then I will continue 5-tabling on my laptop.

Good luck and good cards!

Keep it up man. I've been enjoying the links.

Did a 500 hands session and broke even. I should have won at least one buyin, but I was faced with a lot of tough decisions in this session, and I've posted some of the hands in the SH forum. One thing I've trouble with is playing marginal hands (mostly toppair) OOP, especially against a prf raiser. Seems like I should read this article on the subject http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...fpart=all&vc=1 later tonight when I get home.

I'll be going out now, but I think I'll play another session when I get back tonight.

Good luck and good cards!

Originally Posted by Jimmy Mac

Keep it up man. I've been enjoying the links.

thx man, comments like these motivate me play more. Btw, someday I'll try to make a complete diggest of all my favorite pokerposts from FTR and 2+2.

Originally Posted by Robert

Originally Posted by Jimmy Mac

Keep it up man. I've been enjoying the links.

thx man, comments like these motivate me play more. Btw, someday I'll try to make a complete diggest of all my favorite pokerposts from FTR and 2+2.

Yup I know from my thread that the comments really help. I know I hardly ever leave comments but I do keep an eye on this thread from time to time. Kepp plugging away man, it'l be worth it when we're rich!

Originally Posted by Irisheyes

Originally Posted by Robert

Originally Posted by Jimmy Mac

Keep it up man. I've been enjoying the links.

thx man, comments like these motivate me play more. Btw, someday I'll try to make a complete diggest of all my favorite pokerposts from FTR and 2+2.

Yup I know from my thread that the comments really help. I know I hardly ever leave comments but I do keep an eye on this thread from time to time. Kepp plugging away man, it'l be worth it when we're rich!

Thx man, I look forward to playing you at 3/6 at the end of this year

Played a 500 hand session last night and made around 2.5buyin. I really feel I'm killing NL100 lately, my game has improved a lot and I've fixed a lot of leaks lately.

Irisheyes hate moeny in his online BR

Originally Posted by Triptan3s

Irisheyes hate moeny in his online BR

Your just pissed because I make less rake now. I'm sick of slaving away at this computer to put bread on your table!

Meh, 800 hand session, down two buyins. I played like crap and ran like crap, I'm happy I'm not down more. Got KK in my last hand and made a hilarious river laydown, which I never should have done, should have called. Cost me a pot wort 130BBs

Another 500 hand session and another 2.5buyin lost. Meh, suddenly I'm running insanely bad, and when I try to make the biggest bluff of the session I happen to run into the exact hand I'm trying to represent. Its ok though, I think I've run really good for my last 10k hands (I was at 12PTbb/100 right before this little downswing), and now I'm at 8PTbb/100. Here's a graph for all you resultsoriented monkeys out there: