Setzy's 2008 (COMPLETE!): Setzy's 2009... Goals up!

I've been keeping a rough tally of how I've been doing playing cards, but I figure it's best to put it down where I can come back and check out the progress...maybe come back later down and road and laugh at things I was doing or something.

Anyway let's get the basics down:

Current Balance: $624.60

Right now I'm about to work on the Welcome bonus for Paradise...then I'm not really sure what other bonus I want to do next (not eligible for anything on party, I need a new place..) Current trend has been down as of late, down about $150 this week actually, but leveled off in the last day or so. Pretty sure it's just that evil variance staring me in the face, but man is it an ugly beast.

In this thread I plan to keep a running track of my bankroll while also posting some hand histories from hands where I'm involved in larger sized pots for people to check out, critique, praise, etc. Advice and other suggestions are always welcome.

My goals are to continue to build a nice bankroll, and move up from 4-tabling 25NL like I'm currently doing, to a larger limit. To achieve this I will be bouncing around taking advantage of bonuses at different sites (advice where to go first is welcome) while playing winning poker. I will also purchase Poker Tracker in the near future, probably after I clear the Paradise Bonus.

Hey, pretty sweet day for me.

Placed second in Party's 12:45AM $1 NL tournament for a sweet $137.47. Ran pretty hot for the majority of the tournament, except one spot at the final table where I got down to 50k in chips (blinds were like 8-16k at this point)...bounced back and survived against everybody except the fella who had a monster chip lead (2.9 million vs my 300,000) and was pushing pretty much every other hand. Took almost 6 hours though, jesus!

Also earlier in the day won my single biggest pot playing NL25, over $70.

Current Balance: $777.69

This gets me to thinking about playing more tournaments...feeling kind of burned out on rings lately. Something to sleep on, anyhow.

Current balance: $805.03

Today I'm going to post a couple of hand histories, the last one of which was my final hand of the day...something that got me thinking about a hand in particular, a hand I'd been reading on here about.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Button ($42.38)
SB ($20.72)
BB ($17.92)
UTG ($31.50)
UTG+1 ($10.98)
UTG+2 ($37.25)
MP1 ($12.95)
Hero ($24.65)
MP3 ($10.81)
CO ($38.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, A. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
UTG calls $0.25, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1, 2 folds, Button raises to $3.75, 2 folds, UTG folds, Hero raises to $7.5, Button calls $3.75.

Flop: ($15.60) 8, K, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $6, Button calls $6.

Turn: ($27.60) 5 (2 players)
Button calls $11.15.

River: ($38.75) 5 (2 players)

Final Pot: $38.75

Results in white below:
Hero has Ac Ah (two pair, aces and fives).
Button has Qd Qs (two pair, queens and fives).
Outcome: Hero wins $38.75.


Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Button ($13.25)
SB ($23.24)
BB ($30.68)
Hero ($32.70)
UTG+1 ($21.30)
UTG+2 ($18.20)
MP1 ($10.54)
MP2 ($10.95)
MP3 ($24.65)
CO ($55.18)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
Hero raises to $1, UTG+1 raises to $3, 6 folds, SB (poster) calls $2.90, 1 fold, Hero calls $2.

Flop: ($9.25) 2, 6, 6 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.5, UTG+1 raises to $6, SB folds, Hero calls $3.50.

Turn: ($21.25) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, Hero calls $12.30.

River: ($33.55) A (2 players)

Final Pot: $33.55

Results in white below:
Hero has Qh Qd (two pair, queens and sixes).
UTG+1 has Ad Ac (full house, aces full of sixes).
Outcome: UTG+1 wins $33.55.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

BB ($25.45)
UTG ($9.30)
UTG+1 ($21.61)
UTG+2 ($27.80)
MP1 ($21.90)
Hero ($26.50)
MP3 ($62.53)
CO ($23.30)
Button ($49.80)
SB ($31.44)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q, Q. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
3 folds, MP1 raises to $0.5, Hero raises to $1.25, 1 fold, CO calls $1.25, 1 fold, SB (poster) calls $1.15, 1 fold, MP1 folds.

Flop: ($4.50) 8, 7, T (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.25, CO raises to $6, SB folds, Hero calls $3.75.

Turn: ($16.50) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks.

River: ($16.50) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks.

Final Pot: $16.50

Results in white below:
Hero has Qc Qh (two pair, queens and eights).
CO has Qs Ks (one pair, eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $16.50.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Button ($30.52)
SB ($26.15)
BB ($16.70)
Hero ($31.20)
UTG+1 ($6.15)
MP1 ($39.99)
MP2 ($26.96)
MP3 ($9.57)
CO ($7.60)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, K. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
Hero raises to $1, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1, 3 folds, Button raises to $5.75, 2 folds, Hero calls $4.75, MP1 folds.

Flop: ($12.85) 5, 7, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $8, Button is all-in $24.77, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $44.22


For some reason I think the converter isn't picking up when somebody puts me all in or I go all in, but I think you can pretty much figure that part out. Now, what I wanted to talk about..the last hand.

As is apparent in so many of the larger losses that I have, I'm usually faced with a reraise preflop, versus a larger pocket pair. I think the next stage of my game is going to be recognizing a preflop RE-raise as a huge red flag, and laying AK-QQ-JJ type hands down. Comments?

Playing in another $1 MTT and just snagged a hand that helped quite a bit.....pretty funny.

***** Hand History for Game 3877549637 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:21644505 Level:6 Blinds(200/400) - Monday, April 03, 02:18:39 ET 2006
Table Regular(651662) Table #16 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Setzy ( $10530 )
Seat 10: Merchanimal ( $9161 )
Seat 8: kingdale111 ( $17119 )
Seat 7: bizopts ( $25038 )
Seat 6: SiouxTrail81 ( $18331 )
Seat 2: duvius ( $30501 )
Seat 3: ahdoo22 ( $9645 )
Seat 5: CAPD595 ( $18789 )
Seat 4: djenertia ( $6354 )
Seat 9: rikjaymesbch ( $9486 )
Trny:21644505 Level:6
Blinds(200/400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Setzy [ Ah As ]
duvius calls [400].
ahdoo22 calls [400].
djenertia folds.
CAPD595 folds.
SiouxTrail81 folds.
bizopts raises [9645].
kingdale111 folds.
rikjaymesbch folds.
Merchanimal folds.
Setzy is all-In [10130]
duvius is all-In [30101]
ahdoo22 is all-In [9245]
bizopts is all-In [15393]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kd, Jd, 6s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3c ]
** Dealing River ** [ 4s ]
bizopts shows [ 8c, 8h ] a pair of eights.
Setzy shows [ Ah, As ] a pair of aces.
duvius shows [ 9h, 9s ] a pair of nines.
ahdoo22 shows [ 2s, 2c ] a pair of twos.
duvius wins 5463 chips from side pot #3 with a pair of nines.
duvius wins 29016 chips from side pot #2 with a pair of nines.
Setzy wins 2655 chips from side pot #1 with a pair of aces.
Setzy wins 38780 chips from the main pot with a pair of aces.
Player ahdoo22 finished in 255 place
Player bizopts finished in 254 place


Here's hoping for another FT!

Current BR: $822.45

Bit of a down day today, finished about halfway in a $2 MTT, never could get anything going. No big deal...lost about a buyin's worth playing ring. Currently finishing the Paradise Welcome Bonus ($30 left). Going to set a short-term goal of $1k by the end of this month.

Actually I'm not including the $60 or so I have in Stars in my bankroll...but that's just sort of my micro tourney play money, so I'm not really counting it (unless I cash in something good, in which I'll add it to the rest!)

Cripes. Just got bit really bad on some ring games. Yeah I know, whine whine moan moan, but here's some hand histories....

Current BR: = $715.30

***** Hand History for Game 3898646225 *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, April 06, 02:05:36 ET 2006
Table Uncle Ante (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: TBone509 ( $56.19 )
Seat 3: ImSerious222 ( $30.68 )
Seat 7: Setzy ( $25 )
Seat 10: searcyc2 ( $47.44 )
Seat 5: janie112 ( $19.76 )
Seat 8: AHDOC ( $26.35 )
Seat 6: jerrod2515 ( $35.41 )
Seat 1: pastorsteve ( $29.05 )
Seat 4: cg_aces ( $21.71 )
Seat 9: repoman85 ( $16.93 )
cg_aces posts small blind [$0.10].
janie112 is sitting out.
jerrod2515 posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Setzy [ Ah Ad ]
Setzy raises [$2].
janie112 has left the table.
AHDOC calls [$2].
repoman85 folds.
searcyc2 calls [$2].
pastorsteve folds.
TBone509 calls [$2].
ImSerious222 folds.
cg_aces folds.
jerrod2515 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, 4h, Jc ]
>You have options at Table 98296 Table!.
Setzy bets [$2.50].
AHDOC raises [$5].
>You have options at Soul Mates Table!.
searcyc2 calls [$5].
TBone509 folds.
Setzy calls [$2.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6h ]
>You have options at Just Hafta Table!.
Setzy bets [$7].
>You have options at Table 98296 Table!.
lemme22you has joined the table.
AHDOC raises [$18.59].
searcyc2 is all-In [$40.44]
Setzy is all-In [$11]
>You have options at Soul Mates Table!.
Setzy: i so lost
AHDOC is all-In [$0.76]
** Dealing River ** [ 9h ]
AHDOC shows [ Js, Jh ] a full house, Jacks full of nines.
searcyc2 shows [ Ks, Kh ] two pairs, kings and nines.
Setzy doesn't show [ Ah, Ad ] two pairs, aces and nines.
searcyc2 wins $21.09 from side pot #2 with two pairs, kings and nines.
AHDOC wins $2.70 from side pot #1 with a full house, Jacks full of nines.
AHDOC wins $74.35 from the main pot with a full house, Jacks full of nines.

***** Hand History for Game 3898694560 *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, April 06, 02:16:39 ET 2006
Table Just Hafta (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 3: seekyes ( $16.93 )
Seat 6: Setzy ( $35.60 )
Seat 7: Kantot_Mo ( $10.42 )
Seat 2: tkky83 ( $3.45 )
Seat 5: marshin32 ( $9.25 )
Seat 10: kaiwen980 ( $29.99 )
Seat 8: Analyz_This2 ( $70.32 )
Seat 9: DSN1968 ( $12.61 )
Seat 1: snake7782 ( $7.55 )
Seat 4: ih8sillyhos ( $18.10 )
Setzy posts small blind [$0.10].
Kantot_Mo posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Setzy [ 9h 9s ]
>You have options at Uncle Ante (No DP) Table!.
>You have options at Table 98296 Table!.
Analyz_This2 calls [$0.25].
DSN1968 folds.
kaiwen980 folds.
snake7782 folds.
tkky83 folds.
seekyes calls [$0.25].
ih8sillyhos calls [$0.25].
Setzy calls [$0.15].
Kantot_Mo raises [$1.25].
>You have options at Uncle Ante (No DP) Table!.
Analyz_This2 calls [$1.25].
seekyes calls [$1.25].
ih8sillyhos folds.
Setzy calls [$1.25].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ts, 4c, 2h ]
Setzy checks.
Kantot_Mo checks.
Analyz_This2 checks.
seekyes checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3c ]
Setzy checks.
Kantot_Mo checks.
Analyz_This2 checks.
seekyes bets [$2].
Setzy calls [$2].
>You have options at Uncle Ante (No DP) Table!.
Kantot_Mo folds.
>You have options at Fine Print Table!.
Analyz_This2 calls [$2].
** Dealing River ** [ Td ]
Setzy bets [$5].
Analyz_This2 folds.
>You have options at Fine Print Table!.
>You have options at Table 98296 Table!.
seekyes is all-In [$13.43]
Setzy: nice raise
>You have options at Fine Print Table!.
Setzy calls [$8.43].
Setzy shows [ 9h, 9s ] two pairs, tens and nines.
seekyes shows [ 5c, 6c ] a straight, two to six.
seekyes wins $37.16 from the main pot with a straight, two to six.

***** Hand History for Game 3898701003 *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, April 06, 02:18:11 ET 2006
Table Fine Print (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 3: fzilco ( $76.98 )
Seat 5: nikalous2006 ( $21.30 )
Seat 9: toddjames ( $39.21 )
Seat 4: Setzy ( $28.19 )
Seat 10: airball87 ( $27.87 )
Seat 8: curtizking ( $6.06 )
Seat 6: ragaboo3 ( $26.75 )
Seat 1: BEAGLEMAN44 ( $59.16 )
Seat 2: papichulo009 ( $17.84 )
Seat 7: kirra77 ( $5.77 )
airball87 posts small blind [$0.10].
BEAGLEMAN44 posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Setzy [ Kh Ac ]
>You have options at Uncle Ante (No DP) Table!.
papichulo009 folds.
fzilco folds.
>You have options at Just Hafta Table!.
Setzy raises [$2].
nikalous2006 calls [$2].
ragaboo3 folds.
kirra77 folds.
toddjames calls [$2].
airball87 folds.
BEAGLEMAN44 calls [$1.75].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2h, Ks, 3h ]
BEAGLEMAN44 checks.
>You have options at Table 98296 Table!.
Setzy bets [$2].
>You have options at Just Hafta Table!.
nikalous2006 folds.
toddjames calls [$2].
BEAGLEMAN44 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
>You have options at Uncle Ante (No DP) Table!.
Setzy bets [$3].
toddjames calls [$3].
** Dealing River ** [ Qc ]
Setzy bets [$5].
toddjames raises [$10].
Setzy calls [$5].
toddjames shows [ Th, Ah ] a straight, ten to ace.
Setzy doesn't show [ Kh, Ac ] a pair of kings.
toddjames wins $36.20 from the main pot with a straight, ten to ace.

I feel like the hand with the 9s I shoulda just chucked and been done with it...pretty sloppy playing there.

Whew. Down days hurt. Considering changing my game and getting out of ring, moving into tourneys. I think I'm going to postpone the bankroll short-term goal and take a few days off (which I haven't done since I've gotten into playing heavily) and think about what I want to do.

So I did take a day off, got my mind right, adjusted a thing or two with my game...and for the past two days I've been playing some pretty good ring NL Holdem.

Here's some more hand histories. This time I'm including a few that I folded out of that were winners... gonna comment afterwards on these.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (8 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Hero ($24.90)
CO ($28.80)
Button ($25.15)
SB ($17.77)
BB ($41.90)
UTG ($14.60)
UTG+1 ($23.80)
MP1 ($30.10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, A. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, Hero raises to $1, 1 fold, Button raises to $2.25, 2 folds, UTG folds, Hero raises to $10, Button calls $7.75.

Flop: ($20.60) Q, K, 8 (2 players) (GUY GOES ALL IN HERE FOR ABOUT $15, COME ON CONVERTER!!) I call.

Turn: ($20.60) 4 (2 players)

River: ($20.60) Q (2 players)

Final Pot: $20.60 --- (Enemy wins $0.25 from side pot #1 with two pairs, kings and queens.
Setzy [the Hero] wins $47.90 from the main pot with two pairs, aces and queens.)

Results in white below:
Hero has Ac Ah (two pair, aces and queens).
Button has Jh Kd (two pair, kings and queens).
Outcome: Hero wins $20.60.

Okay, this hand I really think I was making a -EV move...this guy repped a set all the way to the bank, calling a HUGE reraise, I put him on Qs 0r Ks, but it was just junk. I was new to the table at this time, and this was only a couple of hands in. I think my call was bad, but I got lucky.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Hero ($47.55)
MP3 ($9)
CO ($26.15)
Button ($14.77)
SB ($37.90)
BB ($31.10)
UTG ($12.85)
UTG+1 ($10)
MP1 ($30.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 9, 9. SB posts a blind of $0.10. UTG+1 posts a blind of $0.25.
1 fold, UTG+1 (poster) checks, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold, CO calls $0.25, 1 fold, SB (poster) completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($1.25) A, 9, 4 (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.5, CO calls $0.50, SB calls $0.50, BB folds, UTG+1 calls $0.50.

Turn: ($3.25) 9 (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $0.25, Hero raises to $2, CO calls $2, SB calls $2, UTG+1 calls $1.75.

River: ($11.25) 2 (4 players)

Final Pot: $11.25

Results in white below:
SB has 6s Ks (flush, ace high).
UTG+1 has Ah 8h (two pair, aces and nines).
Hero has 9h 9c (four of a kind, nines).
CO doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins $36.60.

I think I played this hand well. Of course it IS the nuts, so it's pretty hard to not bet or raise or whatever, but I think the amount I raised was pretty good......I tried to keep both guys in the pot to build it as much as possible. I was reasonably sure somebody had a good flush (and was right), and was hoping for a sweet reraise, but he flat called. Later he said he did figure there was a boat out there.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Hero ($69.55)
UTG+1 ($11.55)
MP1 ($28.75)
MP2 ($3.55)
MP3 ($27.95)
CO ($8.46)
Button ($38.50)
SB ($17)
BB ($28.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 4, 4. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25, MP2 calls $0.25, 1 fold, CO calls $0.25, Button calls $0.25, SB (poster) completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($1.75) 2, 8, 7 (7 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, MP1 bets $1.5, MP2 folds, CO calls $1.50, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, Hero folds.

Turn: ($4.75) 4 (2 players)
MP1 checks, CO checks.

River: ($4.75) 4 (2 players)
MP1 bets $2, CO calls $2.

Final Pot: $8.75

Results in white below:
MP1 has 7s Ah (two pair, sevens and fours).
CO has Kd 7d (two pair, sevens and fours).
Outcome: MP1 wins $8.75.

So I missed out on some more quads (same table!)...but he did make a nice flop bet, which pushed me out of the hand. I don't think I should have stayed in anyhow, but it sucks to see runner runner......not gonna let it affect my playing though!

Next up is something else like that, on a different table..

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

MP2 ($7.24)
MP3 ($32.70)
CO ($14.07)
Button ($6)
SB ($1.75)
BB ($47.80)
UTG ($23.50)
Hero ($24.65)
MP1 ($28.64)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Q, Q. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
1 fold, Hero raises to $1, MP1 calls $1, MP2 calls $1, MP3 calls $1, CO calls $1, Button calls $1, 1 fold

Flop: ($10.85) 6, A, 3 (7 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks, MP3 bets $2, CO folds, Hero folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $2.25.

Turn: ($15.10) 9 (3 players)

River: ($15.10) 6 (3 players)

Final Pot: $15.10

Results in white below:
SB has 4s 4d (two pair, sixes and fours).
MP3 has 7h Th (one pair, sixes).
Button has 2h 3h (two pair, sixes and threes).
Outcome: SB wins $15.10.

Something isn't adding up right with the math there, but the jist of it is that there were something like 6 preflop callers of a $1 raise. Flop comes with a nasty ace and two hearts, a guy bets and somebody else either calls or raises, and I fold out of there. One of the guys in the pot is allin before the flop (he had $1.75 and reraised over my $1). The thing was, the two guys that stayed in after the flop (one bet and one called) were both on flush draws that missed, and the little allin guy with the pocket fours ended up taking the pot. I still don't think I should have called the $2 bet or whatever it was after the flop with such a dangerous board and only 1 card could really help me (q of hearts makes three to a flush, so that hurts)......it's like $10 I missed out on, and it does sort of make sense that I should stay in the hand being the INITIAL preflop raiser, but with so many freakin callers, the chances of having an ace...man, I just can't believe nobody had something better.

I dunno what the hell is up with that hand history converter, but re-reading it, on the hand I had the quad 9s, I raised on the river to $10 and got 2 callers..the pot was $30something at the end, not $11.

Had a day off work and played poker for a long time today. Entered Party's 20k Guaranteed tournament as a little variety to spice up my day, ended up finishing a bit outside of the money. Never picked up a super hand, didn't get called once when I pushed my hands preflop to try and double up except for the time I got busted (3 way pot, table chip leader and some other dude and me, chip leader had k x, other dude had some paint trash and I had tens. Flop comes out with two kings, gg. Starting to really find my niche in ring now..losing less larger pots, getting my money in with the best hand, always getting a better understanding of the FLOW of the game and paying attention to raises, especially preflop when I have quality/semi-premium hands. AOK's post in the newbie section about raises is really informative. Anyhow, I'm trying to decide where to start another bonus....

Current Bankroll: $980.47

Also, I've made a friend in Party, not gonna name names or anything, but his style is very very LAGG. And he's good, and just absolutely owns the TAGG and more passive-tight players out there. When I go to change styles (at a later date), this is what I want to learn.

Oh my.... *makes a sucking noise* Not converting this because I'm on a slow connection, so too bad

***** Hand History for Game 4002520419 *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, April 16, 23:32:28 ET 2006
Table Table 98216 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Setzy ( $22.57 )
Seat 4: algonquinman ( $10.41 )
Seat 6: toucansam52 ( $19.40 )
Seat 9: katie777 ( $23.10 )
Seat 7: shaydbrayd ( $48.56 )
Seat 2: Gwtlyntb ( $5.45 )
Seat 10: Johnnyvan ( $24.09 )
Seat 3: markergo ( $23.23 )
Seat 8: jlau8199 ( $19 )
Seat 5: GrabURNuts ( $24.75 )
Johnnyvan posts small blind [$0.10].
Setzy posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Setzy [ Kd Kh ]
>You have options at Table 98325 Table!.
Gwtlyntb could not respond in time.(disconnected)
Gwtlyntb folds.
markergo folds.
algonquinman folds.
GrabURNuts folds.
toucansam52 raises [$1].
shaydbrayd calls [$1].
jlau8199 folds.
katie777 raises [$3.82].
Johnnyvan folds.
Setzy raises [$6.39].
toucansam52 folds.
shaydbrayd folds.
katie777 is all-In [$19.28]
Setzy: well, let's see what ya got, tell me the bad news
Setzy is all-In [$15.93]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4s, 7s, Ks ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7d ]
Setzy shows [ Kd, Kh ] a full house, Kings full of sevens.
katie777 shows [ As, Ad ] a flush, ace high.
katie777 wins $0.53 from side pot #1 with a flush, ace high.
Setzy wins $44.89 from the main pot with a full house, Kings full of sevens.

Man, what a hand. Told the guy sorry after that...

For some reason it wouldn't let me log in yesterday, and I really wanted to write out about an excellent session, and some other thoughts I was having. Was browsing FTR a bit on topics discussing the jump from 25 to 50 nl. Friends and neighbors, I think the day is arriving a bit quicker than I thought.

I've tweaked my game up some over the past few days, and yesterday I had the day off work and put in an exceptionally long session. After some good ring playing and finishing 2nd in a $6 SNG (man I need some work heads up, he was up by about 8x chips, but still...)

I decided for the first time in my short career to sit down at a few 50nl tables and see what all the hubbub was about. Hmm... blinds are a bit more and people have a lot more money than I'm used to, but other than that, nothing on the surface appeared different. In the few hands I played I didn't really notice anything different, except the one reraise I made preflop was folded to by the initial raiser. A bit more cognizant, perhaps? I ended up ahead for the 50nl session, closed the tables and went back to 25nl, my stomping ground..confident this game is in the palm of my hand.

I'm pretty much brimming with confidence at this point. Considering writing up my take on how to "beat" 25nl.

I still haven't purchased Poker Tracker... need to do that.

Well, I've been dabbling a bit.

2 days ago played a $2 MTT, finished 29 of 671. Not bad, but just outside of where the money starts getting pretty good. Busted on TT when blinds were like 25% of my stack, pushed, guy with about 4x my chips calls with AJ, flops a J, gg.

Played 2 $6 2-table MTTs yesterday. Finished 5th and 3rd, respectively. Starting to feel like my shorthanded game really sucks, but I think I'm learning better when to push, what to push with, and who to push against. Just takes a little experience..

Dabbled with some more $50 tables. They really aren't much different than $25, at least that I can tell so far. Still feel more comfortable playing $25 though. Payed twosev back at the beginning of the month, thanks man, appreciate it.

Started that thread about a bankroll race/competition...think I might go with having just a competition to see who can win the most via 25nl, instead of a bankroll race.

But all in all things are pretty good, had a pretty good week thus far after another downswing at the beginning of the month.

Up and down and up and down...kinda like a yo-yo. Tonight I finished on the upswing, but had been down for the most part recently. Finished the Party reload Bonus to help bring myself close to even for the week.

I've been having problems with sets bigger than my sets, and getting stacked by them. I've read that you're not "supposed" to worry about this, but I think if your whole stack is at stake, I think it's definitely something that can be thought about.

So much as I play, especially at Party 25NL, that postflop ANY sort of raise represents strength. Bluffs are too rare for me to justify calling raises without 2 pair or better. I've been raising more to try and maximize a little more value out of my better hands, but I don't think at this level it really gets noticed. I think people notice raises, especially preflop...and I think I'm finally getting the hang of trying to get more information via preflop raises. If they re-raise your raise, it isn't 67s. It's KK or better.

I don't think I'm leaving 25nl for a while....I feel so comfortable there.

I have nothing to add from the past few days, because I haven't been PLAYING the past few days! I've been on vacation, and now I'm back and after four days ready to hop back into it. It's very odd, because since I've started playing poker online that is the longest stretch I have gone without playing cards. I don't think there's any rust that's built on my game, but I think the vacation was definitely good for giving me a break..there were some points recently where I felt like I should take a few days off because of some downswings, but that's all said and done now, and I'm ready to get back on the poker wagon and keep building. Before I left I was on a pretty good upswing, and I'm hoping to ride that into next week.

Even though I'm on a positive run, I want to post something negative about the past.

About a week ago I decided to try out multi-tabling 50nl. Most sources I've read (and hell I read everything) say that it's not really much different from 25nl, just double the money. Well...I got about 10k hands in or so, and they were not pretty. The thing was, I lost on a couple of those "bad beats", and I hate using those words because I honestly don't think set over set is a true bad beat, but that's not the point...I felt it start to affect me, seriously. That's stupid sounding, I know, but I could drop a buyin at 25nl and not blink an eye, but when the same thing happened at 50, I was like oh wow, .....oh wow. And I felt it, the evil presence lingering on my back, creeping over my shoulder, fighting its way into every pore of my body. Yeah, tilt came flying out and hit me square in the face. It's AWFUL! But I learned something very positive from the whole situation...I'm not ready for the next step. Man that sounds so lame. But it's the definite truth. So I stepped down to 25nl, my home, and have been grinding well ever since.

Current Bankroll: $745.00

A new month's getting ready to start, and I would like to double my roll by the end of this month. I don't think I'm going to move up (or try again, anyway) to 50nl until I get to $2000. That seems way overrolled, doesn't it?

I am still fine tuning my game, but I think at this point it is very well refined.

If it helps, my BR is now well over $3k and I am only just dabbling in $50NL and $100NL, as I feel my game hasn't been solid enough up to this point to make a real and successful attempt at the higher limits.

Don't allow yourself to feel the pressure to move up when you're not *truly* ready for it, as it will just be another negative emotion waiting to wreck your game, and your enjoyment of the game, if it gets half a chance.

Having a ball actually, even though I'm on a down day. I finally bought Poker Tracker! This little baby is pretty sweet, and even though everybody and their dog has already said it, spend the $55 and get it. I've already got 11k hands uploaded, and right now I'm running a rather modest 4.3bb/100...oh well, I'm happy to be in the black. Some of the hands are from when I had the trial version; I went looking and replaying some of the hands and wondering, WOW what was I thinking there?

I'm back to even from the 50nl debaucle. 25nl is so easy to read, though I will admit I got fooled on a hand last night that cost me about 25 bucks since I laid it down. Had pocket jacks and raise it on up, get one or two callers. Flop comes 9 9 x and I lead out (in early position) for my usual c-bet amount. Guy calls. Turn is a blank, fire another bullet again. He calls. Alarms scream in my head..this dude has a 9! That or he's slowplaying some other high pp. River is another NINE, god bless, and I sigh. I bet out, he reraises allin and I fold. He shows the AQ sooted (the worse hand). Nice hand buddy.

Gotta get my ass in gear, got money to earn!

I haven't been posting any hand histories, so here's some big pots from my session tonight, both good and bad!

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

MP1 ($38.99)
MP2 ($38.55)
MP3 ($32.70)
CO ($23.65)
Hero ($25.15)
SB ($33.52)
BB ($24.57)
UTG ($18.42)
UTG+1 ($43.39)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 9. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
3 folds, MP2 calls $0.25, MP3 calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1, SB (poster) calls $0.90, BB calls $0.75, MP2 folds, MP3 folds.

Flop: ($3.50) 9, 9, 7 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.5, SB folds, BB calls $0.50.

Turn: ($4.50) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.75, BB raises to $4.3, Hero calls $3.55.

River: ($13.10) A (2 players)
BB bets $12.45, Hero calls $19.35 (All-In), BB calls $6.32 (All-In).

Final Pot: $51.22

Results in white below:
BB has 5c Ac (two pair, aces and nines).
Hero has 9s 9d (four of a kind, nines).
Outcome: Hero wins $51.21.

Extremely low content alert, just to show it happens to the best of us:

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

BB ($36.55)
UTG ($10.68)
UTG+1 ($16.32)
Hero ($23.20)
MP2 ($19.20)
CO ($3.50)
Button ($26.45)
SB ($22.05)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A, A. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
UTG calls $0.25, UTG+1 raises to $1, Hero raises to $2.5, 5 folds, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $15.32 (All-In), Hero calls $13.82.

Flop: ($33.24) Q, 2, J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($33.24) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($33.24) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $33.24

Results in white below:
UTG+1 has Qd Qc (three of a kind, queens).
Hero has Ad As (one pair, aces).
Outcome: UTG+1 wins $32.89. Hero wins $0.35.

Do we like this push?

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($6.99)
Hero ($24.31)
UTG ($27.23)
UTG+1 ($29.12)
MP1 ($21.45)
MP2 ($26.07)
MP3 ($27.94)
CO ($23.70)
Button ($8.39)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, 7. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $0.8, MP2 raises to $1.35, 3 folds, SB (poster) calls $1.25, Hero calls $1.10, MP1 calls $0.55.

Flop: ($5.40) K, 7, A (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4, MP1 calls $4, MP2 raises to $10, SB folds, Hero calls $18.96 (All-In), MP1 folds, MP2 calls $12.96.

Turn: ($55.32) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($55.32) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $55.32

Results in white below:
Hero has 7d 7h (three of a kind, sevens).
MP2 has Ah Ks (two pair, aces and kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $55.32.

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

SB ($22.50)
BB ($15.95)
UTG ($11.20)
UTG+1 ($69.60)
MP1 ($62.89)
MP2 ($32.38)
MP3 ($14.80)
Hero ($27.70)
Button ($25.55)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, K. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
UTG raises to $0.5, 4 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 3 folds, UTG calls $1.25.

Flop: ($3.85) 9, K, A (2 players)
UTG bets $4, Hero calls $25.95 (All-In), UTG calls $5.45 (All-In).

Turn: ($39.25) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($39.25) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $39.25
Main Pot: $22.75, between UTG and Hero. > Pot won by Hero ($22.75).
Pot 2: $16.50, returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
UTG has As Qs (one pair, aces).
Hero has Kh Kc (three of a kind, kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $39.25.

Is it always as easy to read as a book?

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

SB ($24.35)
BB ($8.10)
UTG ($12.55)
UTG+1 ($2.65)
Hero ($26.20)
MP2 ($12.65)
MP3 ($24.50)
CO ($33.95)
Button ($35.55)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, K. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1.25, 4 folds, SB (poster) calls $1.15, 1 fold, UTG+1 folds.

Flop: ($3) Q, 4, 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2, SB raises to $4, Hero calls $2.

Turn: ($11) 6 (2 players)
SB bets $5, Hero calls $5.

River: ($21) 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $21
Main Pot: $21, between SB and Hero. > Pot won by SB ($21).

Results in white below:
SB has 9h 9d (three of a kind, nines).
Hero has Ks Kd (one pair, kings).
Outcome: SB wins $21.

Saved the best for last: (Most difficult hand of the night for me)

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($17.23)
UTG ($16.71)
UTG+1 ($100.62)
UTG+2 ($26.45)
Hero ($25)
MP2 ($23.95)
MP3 ($24.40)
CO ($26.15)
Button ($6.35)
SB ($33.20)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, K. SB posts a blind of $0.10.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.5, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, 1 fold, MP3 calls $1.75, 4 folds, UTG+1 calls $1.25.

Flop: ($5.60) Q, 9, Q (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $3, MP3 calls $3, UTG+1 calls $3.

Turn: ($14.60) Q (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks, MP3 bets $7, UTG+1 calls $7, Hero folds.

River: ($28.60) 4 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, MP3 checks.

Final Pot: $28.60
Main Pot: $28.60, between UTG+1 and MP3. > Pot won by MP3 ($28.60).

Results in white below:
UTG+1 has 8c As (three of a kind, queens).
MP3 has Jh Jd (full house, queens full of jacks).
Outcome: MP3 wins $28.60.

I do want to comment on this last hand. UTG+1 I did not think had the best hand, but I thought the cold call and then the fair sized bet on the turn by MP3 was a sign that he had the Q. I didn't have any reads on it, and I was a hair away from just pushing allin; however I did think that if I had pushed that if ONE of them did have the Q, the other would not call the allin and I couldn't salvage anything out of it, so I tossed it.

So there's some reading for you. I'm grinding away as usual, still looking to double my roll by the end of the month. I'm well on my way!

PP Balance: $1,045

Interesting. Two days and almost 4000 hands played, and I'm even over that time period. The difference is less than +$5 or -$5. Bah! Haven't been getting a whole lot of good action lately...in all honesty I think the cards have been kinda chilly. Tonight I would have been up for the session overall but a little bit of gambooling with some shorties and pushing with a flush draw and missing cost me a stack brought me down to even.

I've been fine tuning my game via betting. I'm getting better and better figuring out the "correct" amounts to bet to keep someone in a pot I want to build, and when I want them to fold (via c-bet, bluff). Hopefully when I start getting some good action again the roll will start climbing more quickly.

Current BR: $1101

Break-even finally left the building, and was replaced by......winning!

Did something I've never done before today. When I play SnGs I usually go for Party's 2-table $6, pays 4 places..been doing decently well in those. Busted out of one though and decided to quit my cash games I was playing along with that tourney and play TWO one table $6 SnGs simultaneously. Well, I figured I might get shorthanded in at least one of them. They get started almost at the same time, and I stay pretty much in the middle / low end of the pack on both tables for the majority of time, until the blinds kick up to 100/200.

Then I hit hands on both tables, double up and am leading both tables in chips. More and more people drop out, and it ends up I'm playing heads up in one and 3 handed in the other, lol. Man talk about keeping you busy, and I play 8 tables in cash games..so I'm used to busy.

Finished 2nd in both of them. Not too shabby. Today the cards were falling my way it seemed practically every hand, and there were some people that wanted to pay up. Guess that's the positive run after that long stretch of breaking even. I'm thinking of taking another stab at 50nl in the next few days...maybe working with less tables.

Oh and I'm about to drop some money in Stars...gonna get in on the Gauntlet. Looking forward to playing ya'll

Current BR: $1600

My goal for June has been completed, which was double my roll. And it's been completely done through 25nl. I'm not the most read thread or the most revered poker player on here, but I do want to just take a second out and say that yes, with dedication and time you can become a WINNING player. Party 25nl is a game that can be won time and time again.

I'm running well. I think it's a mixture of cards and skills, because I definitely do lose some big hands in any given session. I have a stable mentality while playing and realize that when something bad happens, it's a.) just a hand and b.) I'll win it back later. Confidence is a big part of being able to play well, and having confidence every time you fire up a table is something that will propel you to win more.

I read threads and try to learn something every day here on FTR. People say it all the time but it's true; read read read. It will help you develop your skills and open your mind to better poker playing.

Thanks to whoever posted that link for this graph....here's what I'm looking like after 60k hands.



Yeah I'm doing the Paradise reload :P

Vert nice grapt man.

I started out the Paradise reload playing 25nl, my staple. After much grinding and winning about 4 buyins, I was halfway done. The next day I decided to use those winnings and play 50nl; told myself if I got back to even I would go to 25nl and finish the bonus.

I never went back.

Finished the bonus and ended up altogether up almost $350, including the $100 bonus. Won some pretty impressive pots and only dropped one stack the whole time at 50nl; quad queens vs. my 666qq boat. Not...too....shabby...

July is here, so I need to make a new goal. My goal for July is to reach $5000 in no more than 80k hands, via 25 or 50nl. Muxy and Renton both think I'm missing out big time not moving up...but I want to continue to play many tables and play well within my bankroll. Hopefully my good 50nl experience at Paradise will continue over to Party.

Well, here's to a new month!

Current Bankroll: $2,700

One week in and I'm cruising beautifully. Finished the Party reload tonight..gonna post some hand histories....a few weird ones, maybe a fold or two, and some big pots, because we all love big pots, right?

How good is your hand buddy? A river bluff.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG+2 ($50.75)
MP1 ($48.25)
Hero ($53.40)
MP3 ($29.45)
CO ($77.64)
Button ($53)
SB ($49.85)
BB ($74.90)
UTG ($69.95)
UTG+1 ($58.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 3, 3. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG calls $0.50, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.50, MP3 raises to $2, 4 folds, UTG calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.50.

Flop: ($6.75) 8, 8, K (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, MP3 checks.

Turn: ($6.75) J (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, MP3 bets $0.5, UTG calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50.

River: ($8.25) 2 (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, MP3 bets $1, UTG folds, Hero raises to $8, MP3 calls $7.

Final Pot: $24.25

Results in white below:
Hero has 3s 3h (two pair, eights and threes).
MP3 has Qh Qs (two pair, queens and eights).
Outcome: MP3 wins $24.25.

Pretty standard hand. What I think is a good example of value betting.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($43.25)
SB ($50.75)
Hero ($50)
UTG ($63.02)
UTG+1 ($83.94)
MP1 ($55.35)
MP2 ($46.45)
MP3 ($59.45)
CO ($69.25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, A. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 6 folds, Hero raises to $1.5, UTG+1 calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.25) A, 9, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $3, UTG+1 calls $3.

Turn: ($10.25) J (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks.

River: ($10.25) T (2 players)
Hero bets $5, UTG+1 calls $5.

Final Pot: $20.25

Results in white below:
Hero has Qc Ac (one pair, aces).
UTG+1 has As 8s (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $20.25.


Pretty sure this is my biggest hand to date.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($71.35)
UTG ($70.70)
UTG+1 ($20.05)
MP1 ($70.55)
MP2 ($49.75)
CO ($51.15)
Button ($52.15)
SB ($54.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with T, T. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 2 folds, CO calls $0.50, Button calls $0.50, SB (poster) completes, Hero raises to $1.5, UTG+1 calls $1.50, CO calls $1.50, Button calls $1.50, SB folds.

Flop: ($8.50) T, 6, J (4 players)
Hero bets $6, UTG+1 folds, CO calls $6, Button calls $6.

Turn: ($26.50) 3 (3 players)
Hero bets $15, CO calls $15, Button raises to $30, Hero calls $48.35 (All-In), CO calls $28.15 (All-In), Button calls $14.15 (All-In).

River: ($177.15) 3 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Final Pot: $177.15

Results in white below:
Hero has Th Td (full house, tens full of threes).
CO has 9h 8h (one pair, threes).
Button has 6c 6d (full house, sixes full of threes).
Outcome: Hero wins $177.15.


Threw a position power play out there, and then I get a limp-RERAISE caller. Interesting decision to make on the flop. In the actual hand my timer almost ran out on the flop, thought about it awhile, and tried to seriously put him on something.

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

MP2 ($33.30)
MP3 ($61.70)
Hero ($64.49)
Button ($47.05)
SB ($57.85)
BB ($37.05)
UTG ($19.65)
UTG+1 ($29.26)
MP1 ($35.30)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, J. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 raises to $1.5, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4.5, 3 folds, MP1 calls $4, MP2 calls $3.

Flop: ($14.25) A, K, A (3 players)
MP1 checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $10, MP1 calls $30.80 (All-In), MP2 folds, Hero calls $20.80.

Turn: ($75.85) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($75.85) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $75.85

Results in white below:
MP1 has Qs Kd (two pair, aces and kings).
Hero has Ac Jd (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $75.85.

I liked the laydown, knew when to step away..

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

MP1 ($31.96)
MP2 ($48.69)
Hero ($50.85)
Button ($20.77)
SB ($38.35)
BB ($47.50)
UTG ($33.50)
UTG+1 ($40.92)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, A. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
3 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2, 1 fold, SB (poster) calls $1.75, 1 fold, MP2 calls $1.50.

Flop: ($6.50) Q, T, A (3 players)
SB checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $4, SB raises to $8, MP2 calls $8, Hero calls $4.

Turn: ($30.50) 4 (3 players)
SB bets $6, MP2 calls $38.69 (All-In), Hero folds, SB calls $22.35 (All-In).

River: ($97.54) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $97.54

Results in white below:
MP2 has Ts Td (three of a kind, tens).
SB has Ad Qh (two pair, aces and queens).
Outcome: MP2 wins $97.54.

Real gem right here.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (10 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($188.95)
UTG ($129.10)
UTG+1 ($78.05)
UTG+2 ($45.55)
MP1 ($55.10)
MP2 ($52.75)
MP3 ($9.06)
CO ($61.95)
Button ($46.94)
SB ($45)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, T. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
5 folds, MP3 calls $0.50, 2 folds, SB (poster) completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($1.50) 3, 3, 2 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.5, MP3 calls $1.50, SB folds.

Turn: ($4.50) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $3, MP3 calls $7.06 (All-In), Hero calls $4.06.

River: ($18.62) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $18.62

Results in white below:
Hero has 7h Th (two pair, fours and threes).
MP3 has 5s 2s (two pair, fours and threes).
Outcome: Hero wins $18.62.

Pretty good week.
13,000 hands logged at 50nl, running 8ptbb/100.

Current BR: $3,837

My goal for this month is so close I can practically taste it. Sort of like when I posted back when I was becoming proficient in 25nl, now at 50nl I'm fine tuning my game and learning a lot better how to control the game to my liking. Today I made what most people would probably call a rather dumb move, but I still think I made the right decision. I'm up about half a stack on a table ($~80) and get KK. Guy in EP raises 5x the bb with a stack of ~$73 ...got no history with him, but I haven't seen him play many hands. Folds to me in MP, I reraise just under 3x. Not the best of raises, but I still think when you reraise it gets the message across. Folds back to him and he instantly pushes. Cash game and putting 1.5 buyins on the table when reraised preflop SCREAMS AA to me. I folded the cowboys....and I know I can count on one hand how many times I've done that preflop.

He "said" he had QQ in the chat when the table started up about it...who knows if he did or not. He didn't show it. I feel though that I can outplay my opponents well enough to not have to put my money in the pot preflop, especially when it's over a buyin...so I didn't feel like gambling (or worse), since the only three hands I could possibly see him having were QQ, KK and AA.

My goal was to get to $5000 in no more than 80k hands. Right now I sit at 24k hands and I'm almost there.

BRAG MOMENT: One of the things I feel best about is that of the 14 days so far this month, at the end of each day I've ended up positive in all but one. The one day I wasn't up wasn't more than a couple buyins either. I really should thank Paradise, since they got me started on 50nl

Current BR: $4,692

Well, the sugarplum days and candy-coated nights finally came to an end, as the past few days have been poker hell, pretty much. Skidded down somewhere in the vicinity of ten buyins since my last post...some beats, some overplays, a few bluffs gone wrong, some getting slowrolled by passive players, and a whole bunch of hands in between.

I still have the goal in mind, but I'm gonna have to pick up some slack if I want to get moving in the right direction. I've changed up my game some and started playing more drawing hands, probably where I'm going wrong for the most part. I still don't quite have the 50nl crowd mastered yet, which is definitely why I don't feel comfortable even considering moving up.

Current BR: $4,164

However in this negative time I can still be very positive by looking at where I was a month ago, and seeing the great progress I've made in terms of my bankroll and (I feel anyway), solid game. I need to start honoring those river raises, because dammit at 50nl they just aren't good enough to raise without a better hand.

Figures, I went from chilly to scalding in a matter of days. Sucks because I missed loading a few days of Poker Tracker data into my database so I don't have a 100% complete record of my playing (the ones I missed were not terribly bad or good, but mainly slow recovery days from that bad weekend).

But as I can best estimate (43k hands loaded) I'm probably right at 50k hands. That's a lot! But more important than that, I've hit my goal. I HIT MY GOAL!!! Woohoo. Thanks again to FTR, I seriously read this forum every day, try to look over hand histories of others and apply them to my specific game. Going to try and figure out a good goal for next month..something ambitious.

Current BR: $5000

good stuff setzy good stuff man

Been a while, feel like it's time to update...and talk to (myself, at least) about all this stuff.

Okay, right after I hit the $5k mark I hit the damn gutter and dropped to $4400, which in turn aggravated me to no end. I got so mad (and yall will probably think I was wasting time, maybe I was, maybe I needed the confidence boost), that I moved back DOWN to 25nl, and I started 11-tabling instead of my normal 9. I think this helped me clear my head and concentrate better when I moved BACK to 9-tabling. Yes, to 25nl with over 4k, talk about being overrolled. So I missed my goal for July, technically, after I hit it.

I logged about a week of 25nl, won pretty much my "normal" amount, and moved back up to 50nl the past week or so. I'm back over 5k and started sparking my SnG roll on Stars, which is making me really happy. I never made a goal for August, so I think I'm going to now.

August GOALS!:

Play 3-6 SnG's a day ($5.50s), I 3 table them when I'm playing. I really don't know much about what to expect in terms of ROI and whatnot since I'm not REALLY big into them...but I know a lot of strategy and I've been quite successful thus far anyway. My SnG roll topped $100 today. If I'm above $50 (where I started) at the end of the month, I'll be content with that. That's shooting pretty low, but hey I'm not totally serious about that money, I still consider it kind of "play" money.

I want to have a damn solid month of 50nl. I believe I figured out a problem I was having, and that was getting used to basically betting double amounts. I would lead for 75-100% of the pot on c-bets in 25nl and take down a lot of pots. In 50 I was NOT betting that much, often closer to 60-75%, so I upped my c-bet amount, and it seems my aggression and % of pots won is a lot more acceptable. I want to get to $6000 by the end of the month, including any bonuses.

Lastly I want to complete the Summer Sizzler promotion and get the $300. So far I'm perfect, that should be a fairly easy goal to attain. That's it for now, any encouragement or advice is very welcome.

Edit: Oh, forgot. I have been getting a very bad itch to try 25nl 6-max, so I think I'm going to make a stab at it and see how it goes.

Hey Setz,

Reading this thread one thing stands out - when you're up you think you're a poker genius, and when you're down you're in despair. You need to work on keeping your emotions minimized. I mean, you KNOW how variance works, right, so you must know that boith upswings and downswings WILL happen. Reading this, it seems that you judge yourself far too much on each individual swing and that screams danger to me, danger of tilt and/or of unrealistic expectation.

That said, you can't argue with results - very impressive stuff! I'm sure you'll pwn 6max, and quickly realise that basically you'll make 50% more cash as you'll be playing 50% more hands.

Appreciate the response bio. The string when I dropped to 4400 was like a 15k huge SPAN of just running purely awful. (Bitch MOMENT ALERT) : There was a short span of 500 hands, just 500, that I lost with FOUR full houses or better. If that doesn't rattle you, then I don't think much will.

Admittedly like most when I'm running well I'm on top of the world (who isn't), and since I DO play so much I think the variance comes and goes a lot quicker. That one week was prepostorous however.

The rollercoaster is back! Hah. Bad few days have put me back down at $4600. Today's lovely losses include AKs cracking my AA allin preflop, AK getting minraised on a k high two diamond flop by a set (think I could have avoided getting stacked here, but with the draw out there I paid), flopping bottom straight only to have the turn pair the board and the river make 3 of a kind on the board, so I laid it down to major river aggression. Yesterday I flopped the nut straight with 4 to a flush (bb special), lost on the river when the board paired to give a guy a boat.

Not flopping many sets, and definitely not getting paid. Hard times. Changed my monthly goal to $6k, after realizing 7k is a bit overzealous.

Here's a particularly odd problem, maybe somebody can help me out with this one:

Over almost the same sample size (60-70k hands each), my BB/100 is over 2x at 25nl what it is at 50nl. Does this mean I should play 25nl because the profit is better? My downswings are far less at 25nl.

First time I've read this thread, skimmed through most of it... great job man!! How many total hands have you played so far? Keep it up!

Originally Posted by Setzy

Over almost the same sample size (60-70k hands each), my BB/100 is over 2x at 25nl what it is at 50nl. Does this mean I should play 25nl because the profit is better? My downswings are far less at 25nl.

I think this is an interesting problem, and one that I really need to give a lot of thought to. One thing I see is FTR players doing well, rising up stakes and hitting either a ceiling or reaching a point where half their BR is eaten up, leaving them broken and, in some cases, quitting poker. One thing I know for sure - I NEVER want to get to that place.

It's all about balance. The ideal is to play poker at a level that is challenging yet enjoyable, profitable, educational and doesn't have a significant opportunity cost (i.e. what you are missing out on by not doing an alternative). My personal problem is that I am very much within my comfort zone playing £25NL but am actually rolled for $200NL. Cleartly I am erring too much on the side of fear/prudence/cowardice - but equally if I leapt into the 200 game now I would almost certainly lose money, play scared, and NOT HAVE FUN. My aim, therefore, has to be to find the place where as many of the above attributes are to be found as possible, and it should be the same for you too.

If you feel you will never be good enough to improve your 50NL stats, then maybe you can keep playing at 25, IF it still satisfies you in every way you want it to. If you feel the key thing is to become a better player, you probably want to try hard at 50 to conquer the areas where you're still weak. But only you know what balance you want to achieve and are able to achieve, and what, ultimately, you want to get out of poker.

Wow. Just wow.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP2 (t1540)
CO (t1530)
Button (t1390)
SB (t1310)
BB (t1360)
UTG (t1430)
Hero (t1890)
MP1 (t3050)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 4, 5.
4 folds, CO calls t30, Button raises to t120, 1 fold, BB calls t90, CO calls t90.

Flop: (t375) 8, 7, 9 (3 players)
BB checks, CO bets t30, Button calls t30, BB raises to t60, CO raises to t90, Button calls t60, BB raises to t120, CO raises to t210, Button folds, BB raises to t240, CO raises to t390, BB raises to t420, CO raises to t630, BB raises to t660, CO raises to t930, BB raises to t960, CO raises to t1290, BB raises to t1320, CO raises to t2670, BB calls t820 (All-In).

Turn: (t5275) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t5275) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t5275

Results in white below:
BB has Ts Js (straight, queen high).
CO has Td Jc (straight, queen high).
Outcome: CO wins t2902.50. BB wins t2372.50.

Originally Posted by biondino

Originally Posted by Setzy

Over almost the same sample size (60-70k hands each), my BB/100 is over 2x at 25nl what it is at 50nl. Does this mean I should play 25nl because the profit is better? My downswings are far less at 25nl.

I think this is an interesting problem, and one that I really need to give a lot of thought to. One thing I see is FTR players doing well, rising up stakes and hitting either a ceiling or reaching a point where half their BR is eaten up, leaving them broken and, in some cases, quitting poker. One thing I know for sure - I NEVER want to get to that place.

It's all about balance. The ideal is to play poker at a level that is challenging yet enjoyable, profitable, educational and doesn't have a significant opportunity cost (i.e. what you are missing out on by not doing an alternative). My personal problem is that I am very much within my comfort zone playing £25NL but am actually rolled for $200NL. Cleartly I am erring too much on the side of fear/prudence/cowardice - but equally if I leapt into the 200 game now I would almost certainly lose money, play scared, and NOT HAVE FUN. My aim, therefore, has to be to find the place where as many of the above attributes are to be found as possible, and it should be the same for you too.

If you feel you will never be good enough to improve your 50NL stats, then maybe you can keep playing at 25, IF it still satisfies you in every way you want it to. If you feel the key thing is to become a better player, you probably want to try hard at 50 to conquer the areas where you're still weak. But only you know what balance you want to achieve and are able to achieve, and what, ultimately, you want to get out of poker.

Wow, I feel like a jerk for not responding to this sooner. Very well thought out advice..and I have noticed that we are somewhat in the same boat with our BR's and whatnot. But..

I don't want to become stagnant as a player, I DO enjoy the challenge of the game. I enjoy the money more , but I do want to progress as a player and find more and more ways to improve my game. Lately I've loosened up. I don't really talk about it, and I'm not going to get into it, but I'm a very tight player. But recognizing position and other players has allowed me to take advantage of them in ways I didn't really think about before. I just got PAHud earlier in the week. (I know, what was I waiting on??? I feel like a fool sometimes.) It is helping me to deal with a lot of the uber-nittiness that goes on at 50NL.

I think I have talent. I think it has been somewhat limited in the past, but I think more and more of it is coming to light. I've decided to take a stab at 100NL when I get to $6500. September is coming, and I need to set a goal early for that month.

I have decided to take the Summer Sizzler money and spend it for my birthday, which is Saturday, as a treat Still not certain what I'm going to get, games or something...might wait on the Nintendo Wii. Who knows!

Current BR: $5646

My birthday was Saturday, and it was very good. I decided to play some 100NL as a little birthday gift to myself, gave myself a 3 cushion buyin to fool around with, and played 4 tables for a few hours and ended up a buyin. Ahoy!

I fell JUST barely short of my ring BR goals for August, so I'm not too disappointed. I did play a lot of SnG's on Stars and right now I'm up to about $130, up from a low of $30 at the beginning of August. Well I've set my goals for September, here's to seeing them through to completion.

Goal #1. - Get my BR to $8000 including any bonuses. Lately my 50NL game has been fine tuned into a money making beast, I'm very happy with my play as of late, I've become more aggressive, especially in stealing blinds.

Goal #2. - Play 100NL on the weekends (when hopefully it will be the easiest to win) and have a successful month doing that. Play 50NL during the week.

Goal #3. - Try giving 100NL a fulltime shot when my BR gets to 6500. Add more tables and try to play as confidently as I do at the lower limits. Try to get up to playing 8 tables successfully at the 100NL level.

Current BR: $5867 (would be $6167 but I'm using the Sizzler money as a birthday present!)

Well I'm following through on my plans thus far, this weekend I have played 100NL when I could. This might be a problem in the future (and maybe someone can comment or give me some advice on it), but I am consciously staying away from the Monster $100 tables to not pay the additional rake. I have no real interest in participating, and I think the added rake would just be a loss to me. So...Party doesn't have a LOT of 100NL tables that aren't monster. As of this point when I play 100NL I'm 6-tabling, but probably going to move up to 8 soon.

It's great because I've taken a few things I've gotten out of 100NL and am applying them to the 50NL game, which in turn is letting me squeeze out a higher winrate. Every higher limit seems to show you something new to adjust to. For me, 25NL was creating a starting set of hands and knowing how to apply bets correctly to not let draws in cheaply and so forth. 50NL was learning to deal with extra pressure postflop (more raising than 25NL, and knowing when you're beat to save yourself money). Thus far, 100NL has been more of a learning experience using position. There is a WHOLE lot more position play going on at 100NL than I have seen at 50NL.

I'm trying to get down and play more hands than I have been. I find myself wanting to take a break after an hour or two as opposed to playing those excruciating long sessions like I used to at 25NL. However, I think I'm missing out on some important deepstack confrontations by quitting earlier than normal. We'll see how things go in the next week

Current BR: $6551

Originally Posted by Setzy

Thus far, 100NL has been more of a learning experience using position. There is a WHOLE lot more position play going on at 100NL than I have seen at 50NL.

I'm trying to get down and play more hands than I have been. I find myself wanting to take a break after an hour or two as opposed to playing those excruciating long sessions like I used to at 25NL. However, I think I'm missing out on some important deepstack confrontations by quitting earlier than normal. We'll see how things go in the next week

Current BR: $6551

Just like you are saying you arent ready for 8 tables, maybe you arent ready for deepstack confrontation. I am going to move up to 100NL in the next week. I havent cashed out in over a month. I have been killing 50NL, and am always at my peak about 45 minutes into a session. When i get tired i turn into a bit of a calling stations, so I dont think that short sessions are -ev. I think they are great.

I like the discussion about the difference between 50 and 100NL. I have gotten so used to 50NL, that I dont really want to leave . my broll is around 4k. i hope to get to 5k at 100NL and do weekly cashouts.

Have you ever thought about playing on the pokerroom skins? They have pretty good bonuses that clear at 100NL.

To Terry, Normally I 9 and 10 table 50NL, I was just saying move UP to 8 tables at 100NL (which I've done) after I got a feel for the difference in the level and the players. Multitabling has never been a problem for me, I would get so bored if I didn't.

I have not looked into the PokerRoom skins..I like the playerbase on Party enough to stick around. Rakeback interests me but I don't think there's rooms where you can multitable (with choices!) to the extent I do, is there?

Weekly update, BR hasn't changed much...I took the stabs at 100NL I said I would, and I think I've played pretty well but the cards haven't come. The funny part is every time I step back down to 50NL I "make sets, get paid", AA 12 times in 800 hands, everything you want at 100NL, but somehow wasn't lucky enough to get :P

I am confident I can beat 100NL and multitable it well, but the problem lies in getting over the initial hump. I've logged about 12k hands and after the recent slide, my winrate is barely positive. I go back to 50NL and grind up. I suppose this weekend I will give 100 another shot, maybe earlier.

BR: $6775

Well there's about a week left in the month, and I've finally decided to make 100NL a mainstay. Tonight by all rights I probably *should* have been up a ton, as I was hitting everything under the sun..but after things were all said and done I was up just over a buyin (which is still good to me!)

I've been talking about poker to my roommate, which I think is really clarifying my mindset about a lot of things. I feel now that I'm at the experience level where I have a really good "feel" for what people have, and I think the more straightforward play at 100NL and below gives me a very keen sense of what may be going on in any particular hand. To toot my own horn a moment, I think I have a lot of talent, even though my winrate is not astronomical, it is very much positive over a respectable sample size (almost 150k hands), which I think is a good accomplishment in itself.

I hope to reach my BR goal by the end of the month, but with only a week left it looks like I may end up a little shy again. Who knows though!

Current BR: $7100

Ive logged some hands on u on 50NL and u seemed to be really tight.Running 12/5 or something.

Originally Posted by Dislexsik

Ive logged some hands on u on 50NL and u seemed to be really tight.Running 12/5 or something.

Depends on when you logged them, and how many hands you have ...back in August that is pretty much what I was running across the board. It was only in the past month I opened up my game.

Well, I hit an interesting bump in the road yesterday.

I made a thread about it: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...oker-44006.htm

But for those of you who don't like clicking links, I was sitting at a 100NL Monster table and somebody won the BBJ, so I was awarded about $2300. Man was I excited! I don't think I'm going to leave this money in my BR..well, at least I'm fairly certain I'm not. One of the main reasons is because I don't really feel like this is "earned". This money feels more like somebody just threw a wallet at me and it had a bunch of $100s in it.

Today I got a Party Reload email and cleared the Bonus, while running extremely hot...that positive variance that's like crack where you just want more, but the high can't last. (No I don't DO crack, but I'm aware of the addiction factors involved in it). Today was my best earning day to date at $100NL.

For the time being, I'm not going to count the $2300 as part of my roll. I am just now getting settled well into 100NL, and hopefully can continue a nice run into the next month. I will be making a goal for October soon, but I am not sure at this juncture whether I want to include the Red Carpet Promotion money that I will get in October into my BR (I did keep the September Red Carpet money in there). Lots of decisions to be made shortly!

Current BR (without BBJ money): $7592

You're a pretty darn good role model, Setz! If you weren't multitabling so pwningly I'd ask you to rail me in my tentative attempts at $100

Tonight was a fun night.

I railed my friend on Party, who was taking a shot at 400NL. While doing this I fire up Stars (my SnG "play" money) and decide to try out some low-stakes limit holdem. Wow, after getting on four tables and about 2 orbits, I decide this is NOT the game for me. Where's the big pots!? Where's the DANGER? I don't see any. Maybe since I'm "spoiled" by NL, and playing with less money than a normal NL table, I was a bit more jaded towards it, but I digress...

So I ask my friend "HORSE is Holdem, Omaha, Razz and WHAT?" He doesn't know, so I look online. Stud and Stud Hi-Lo! (And Omaha Hi-Lo, not Hi) Razz is just low cards, and I've played a little Omaha, and I really enjoy stud (but I don't think I'm really good at it or anything). Well, I get on a .5/1 table on Stars and realize they have HOSE and HORSE...I actually got on a HOSE, so I go find one that's also HORSE and try it out.

Beginners luck? Probably. But I bought in for $40, 2 tables of $20, and left up about $15-20, not bad! Better than the money (I really wasn't up much till my last few hands when I had Auto Post Blinds off and caught some goodies), I had FUN playing! Just playing Holdem can get mundane after a while, and that was a great breath of fresh air. I might put off my SnG playing for a while and just play HOSE and HORSE...I had the most fun playing Razz of all of them

This post isn't really meant to be that informative, it's more like a reminder to stay in a positive mindset. If you're having trouble concentrating in your game (I'm on a good run, but I still can get bored), maybe you should mix it up! Even if you don't win at the particular game..play something lower stakes than you're used to, find a cheap thrill, and have fun. You should go back to your game as sharp as ever

I've read the "October Goals Thread" and I think it's great, but I want to post my goals in my own thread, because I know where I can find it at all times, and of course I want to go back and have quick access to it! But before that, let's review September:


Goal #1. - Get my BR to $8000 including any bonuses. COMPLETE! (If you count the BBJ money I hit)

Goal #2. - Play 100NL on the weekends (when hopefully it will be the easiest to win) and have a successful month doing that. Play 50NL during the week. COMPLETE!

Goal #3. - Try giving 100NL a fulltime shot when my BR gets to 6500. Add more tables and try to play as confidently as I do at the lower limits. Try to get up to playing 8 tables successfully at the 100NL level. COMPLETE!

So hell yes, I completed all my goals. October is here and I want to continue my progression as a good poker player. So without too much unwarranted chatter, here's what I want to do in this month:

Goal #1. - Increase my BR (not including the BBJ money), with any bonuses - to $9500.

Goal #2. - Continue to play Razz (my new take-it-easy pasttime) and perhaps build up my Stars roll a little with Razz and HORSE money. I've never heard of anybody doing this, so I think it would be fun to try.

So yeah. I am probably going to take it a bit easier this month (play less hands) than I have since I started playing all the time. Right now PT has over 220k hands logged, which is a ton!

In other news, today I qualified for the Monster Monthly Million by finishing 72nd in the Monster 100k Weekly (+$100!) Lasted 5 hours or so, freakin donkaments

and now that its illegal, what now?

feel good about playing those monster tourneys?

"And now that its illegal, what now?"
"Feel good about playing those monster tourneys?"

I feel fine playing Monster tournies. Just because some people in my country make decisions that affect the accessibility of online poker, should *I* be feeling bad because of their decisions? Why would I, and when have I ever expressed concern or care? When have I ever brought up politics in my thread, and why are YOU bringing up politics in my thread? That is not the purpose of this thread..never has been, never will be. This thread is about MY development as a poker player.

I will play in every Monster tournament until I'm not physically able. So the answer to your question is yeah, I do feel good about it. And I won't speak of politics again.

Today I played an Omaha Hi/Lo MTT and finished 25th of 320. I think I did a good job on a game I believe I'm mediocre at. I won two home game NL Holdem SnG's last week in the same night.

My cash game sessions are going okay..today I made what was probably a bad set laydown on the river in retrospect, but I had to go with my feeling I was beat on the river and laid it down with 3 to the flush on the board, even with decent odds to call.

I'm playing quite a bit of Razz, but not really making a lot of money..pretty much breakeven.

My house got broken into yesterday, my PS2 and GameCube got stolen, and my roommate's big screen..luckily they didn't get my computer, or I wouldn't be playing online or writing this! Well, hopefully next week will go with a little less drama.

Goodbye Party!

Well, I suppose a lot of people got royally fucked on the whole Monster deal, but this guy was not one of them. According to my PT I paid $540 in BBJ drop money, but I was on a table with a BBJ ($2200), and I got to cash out my Monster Freerolls today for $1150! Man, Party drops players and the Bad Beat Jackpot is sitting at 600k, haha. Good luck to whoever hits that! This new money puts me over my monthly goal...but now I have a decision to make where to take my cash game.

Stars seems the likely choice, as they will probably absorb a lot of the new traffic. I also think I'm going to soak up a few refer-a-friend bonuses and make a little money that way.

I'm withdrawing my Party money today, so this blog is especially important to remind me how much actual POKER money I have, because I'm mixing it in my bank account. I may be keeping some out forever and taking a hit in the BR, but I doubt I'd change my game and move down. I'm using like 10% of my BR in any given day, which I suppose is sound BR management, but I don't think it's neccessary as I'm a pretty stable player

For now I'll be playing on Stars with my little micro-roll, until the money comes through!

BR - $9787

Call me silly, but the micro games hooked me. I went on a tear and a half at 6-max 10NL one night, and started multi-tabling FR 25NL wayyyy out of my bankroll (not total, but this portion of it). Party gave me $60 more from the Red Carpet promotion, and I cashed out $25 I had in Paradise from forever ago, and have put that into Stars as a nice cushion.

Tentatively I've decided to prove to myself (and to anyone else), that it's still quite possible to build up a brand new roll from basically scratch after Party let go of U.S. players. I reached my BR "Goal" for October, so this is my other new side project. I still consider this Stars money my "fun" money, and I'm playing Razz, a little HORSE, cheap MTTs and HU tourneys out of it also.

What I want to do with this whole situation is what I've dubbed an "express grind", make as much money as possible out of the micro-limits in a short amount of time. I'm not going to set dollar amounts, but I'm having a lot of fun doing it anyway. I've started a new database in PT called "The New Adventure!", which is precisely what this is.

Stars BR: $417 <-- none of my "Real" BR

I just got back from my first live casino cash game. Let's see how we did!

The game's 1/2NL..lowest the casino has to offer. There's a $6 fee every half hour, to be expected I guess. I buyin for $200 (my dumbass wasn't aware $300 is the max), make my way to my seat after an 18 person wait list, and proceed to donk it up.

"Standard" is quite different here. Online, UTG you'd be like, ok "standard" 4-5bb looks good..oh, 3 limpers this hand, let's jack it up to like 7bb so I can narrow the field down. Lol at "narrowing the field" at this table.

I played for some 2-3 hours, tight as a drum. I once raised a pair UTG to $12, got something like 6 callers. Are you fucking kidding me, lol. Couple of my really nice hands were in the SB..crappy position, but the flops came that made me some nice money.

I really only have 2 hands to speak of...AJh in the SB with a few limpers, I make it $17 to go and get about 3 callers. Flop the freakin nuts, bet $40, 2 folds and a dude with a mountain of money (prob like $800, but he wasn't bullying or anything, table was pretty weak-tight) asks me if I have the flush, I shrug, and he calls. Turn comes some other face card, but I still have the nuts and check (still iffy on if this was right, but I guess it wasn't bad), he bets $40 more, I call. River is an Ace but my nut flush is still the absolute nuts, I put the rest of my money in, like $90 into about a $180 pot, but he folds. He said he misread his hand and thought he had a straight (possible because he looked like he'd been there a long time and was tired, but whatever..still won the hand)

My other hand was AKo in the SB, several people limp and I bump it to $20 and get 4 callers. LOL. Flop is Kxx, I bet $80, and everyone folds.

I tried to figure out how loose players were in the first orbit..I tried to stay out of pots that could be bleeding off unneccesary chips (like a dude straddling, is that spelled right?), and think the session went fairly decent overall...+$150! Never even showed down a hand, though I did show on my nut flush.

My little micro-roll is slowly growing..I'm glad I didn't finish down at the casino and have to take out of it!

Hah, I had a bad day today with my micro-roll.

Yesterday I made it a goal to get to SilverStar on Stars, so I played a lot. And by a lot, I mean 3982 hands, according to PT. At the beginning of the day I forgot to say my prayers to the poker gods, and promptly lost 3 buyins to set over set, KK vs AA, and boat vs boat. Basically the rest of the day was breakeven. Then I uploaded my hands and went over them, looking at hands over 20bb. Everything appeared fairly normal, and then.....

I clicked on the Misc. Stats tab at the top, went and looked at each type of hand and how many I made, and how much was won or lost. Including flopped full houses (1), I flopped seven sets. *Screeching brakes* Seven sets. 3982 hands. 1 set per 568 hands!??? That's not right!

No shit that's not right. I've been raising my PPs, and I think I've been driving people out of hands, winning hands with a lot of postflop value preflop , and losing out on some winnings. Of course it's easier to say these things when you're on the losing end of things..but comparable to my large statistical sample from months ago, I'm winning less NOW than I was THEN, with a higher VPIP, PFR, and aggression rating?? Blah.

Today I got on and again promptly lost two buyins to TPTK vs set, overpair to OESFD that hit a flush. Yesterday I did make Silverstar, so I've considered basically the rest of this month to be playtime. The micro-roll is still play money, so I shot up to 50NL! Dropped another buyin to KK vs a set. Whoops! Ah, ya can't win 'em all, but I did decide to quit once I hit the $300 mark.

Mentally I think I'm ready for a short hiatus. I have already met my overall BR goal for the month, and I want to be sharp for when I start the "serious" playing again. Grinding the micro-roll is fun, but I think it's very easy to forget how much of a grind it really is. I went into it with the mindset of "oh I've played higher limits, so I must be miles ahead of these players". This is true I think in the experience portion definitely, but you can't change what people hold..and when they have a better hand than you, you can't change who wins if there is a showdown. You can try to bet people out, but it over-extending yourself to players who aren't thinking about what YOU have is a very -EV mistake.

Micro-roll: $294

The past two days I've decided to mess around with some 25NL 6-max. The first day I was up about 3 buyins, today I was down about 3 buyins. I'm still not sure how I stand on 6-max, of course because the last time I played I lost at it I have a worse frame of mind, but I do like the increased action that goes on, and the more actual "poker" that is played instead of camp camp camp, wait wait wait.

I wanted to bust through with the micro-roll and start kicking some major ass, but I've ended up running in a big circle. The worst part about it all is at this point, I know I'm a competent and winning player (especially at higher levels than this), but I'm still having trouble. I tend to have very little respect for the players at this level, which I guess is a problem.

I like to write about emotions and mindsets because I think at this point they are more important than the mathematical portion of the game. I know how to raise, I know how to bet, I know how to be aggressive...but it's not always easy to know how to deal with losing. Another problem I'm faced with is that as of this point, I'm winning less than when I was playing full-time at 25NL full ring. I think overaggression may be partly to blame here..much play at 25NL is weak-tight, and betting scares off players that might take a stab with a worse hand given the chance.

I'm going to keep at it, and try to end the month well before I go back to my regular game.

I'm glad I wrote that last entry. I went back and evaluated as to WHY things have not been going my way, and I did conclude that I was overplaying too many hands vs. weak-tighties. At 25NL people don't pay attention to their surroundings enough for it to matter. So, I've been on fire since then..I had a nice weekend, visiting with my parents and going to a friends wedding. Got my car back too, so I can go do a bunch of the things I've been needing to do.

I think ..for now anyway, I'm going to keep going into November with the micro-roll. We'll see how it goes!

Micro BR: $617

Good work, keep it up. $25NL is tough at 6max. Especially if it's the lowest limit on the site. Some bad players make it swingy as hell. Easily beatable but once in a while they get your stack with the most unlikely of calls, wiping out an hours work.

Love the thread.

Sometime late last night I decided to try and finish up the required VPP on Stars to become a Goldstar. Today I 9-tabled 50NL WAYYYY out of my micro-roll, lol, for about 7 hours. I made my Goldstar and I made a little money along the way! I guess I will be able to stick around 50NL fulltime now..might be pushing it a little with the BR, but I'm not too worried about it. So hungry, gotta fix some food and then I'm gonna watch the FTR table play some more November goal to come in the next few days...

Micro-roll - $1000

November goals -

Boost the micro-roll up to $2000.

Go play live 1/2 a couple of times.

Consider splitting some of the micro-roll off into a full-time "live" roll.

Try to get to PlatinumStar on Stars..that should be pretty hard.

I'm very lucky I decided to put in that obscene amount of hands on Oct. 31 and achieve GoldStar, because the bonus was $100 more than it would have been had I only been SilverStar. Tonight I finished the GoldStar bonus for $200, which is now part of my micro-roll!

Tonight was pretty swingy, in session 1 I was running absurdly hot, then I went back down in the second session and back up right as the bonus finished clearing, I believe I finished up some overall on session 2. Lots of sets, lots of gettin paid. It's doubly fun when you are playing well (I feel as confident when I sit down as I ever have playing) and you're running well. It's easy to posi-tilt though (I think that's the word), and think you can beat anything at any time, so I keep that in check and just thank the poker gods each time anything good happens, and continue on.

With the new VIP Points system in place on Stars, I'm getting FPP like nobody's business. I enjoy their store a lot more than Party, which I still need to spend my Partypoints in. From what I understand gift certificates are the best way to spend points...the new cash back thing is not as much per point, so I believe I'm going to try and save up for the $1,000 travel gift certificate. Perhaps that will be a challenge for an upcoming month!

I'm 30% of the way to PlatinumStar.
Haven't been to the casino to play live, but I played a home game tourney tonight.

Current MicroRoll: $1782

Past 2 days have been on the negative side, which in all honesty I was starting to expect. Couldn't run hot like that forever. However tonight I did run into a couple of "non-standard" hands by my account. So let's check out some HH's.

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

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($57.30)
Button ($29.25)
Hero ($49.45)
BB ($179.85)
UTG ($34.85)
UTG+1 ($54.70)
MP1 ($55.35)
MP2 ($41.75)
MP3 ($63.55)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K.
UTG raises to $4, 6 folds, Hero raises to $10, 1 fold, UTG calls $6.

Flop: ($20.50) 7, 5, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $13, UTG calls $13.

Turn: ($46.50) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $26.45 (All-In), UTG calls $11.85 (All-In).

River: ($84.80) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $84.80

Results in white below:
Hero has Kc Kh (two pair, kings and nines).
UTG has Kd 6s (straight, nine high).
Outcome: UTG wins $70.20. Hero wins $14.60.

In that hand I was pretty much counting my chips before they even started coming my way. The weird part about it was the initial raise to $4. That's so much higher than a "normal" raise, which is why I raised just under 3x. I more expected him to push over it with a lower PP or AA, but I was ready to call anything.

Now in this hand, I have history with Villain. On another table earlier tonight I stacked him set over set and he left. He's pretty liberal postflop for a 50NL player, so I considered myself ahead with him having a weak A or being crushed with one of those sets. However, I didn't think he'd 3-bet with a set like that, so I immediately committed my stack to try and maximize fold equity.

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

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($53.70)
Hero ($80.65)
CO ($78)
Button ($48.50)
SB ($10.25)
BB ($50.80)
UTG ($30.20)
UTG+1 ($25.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, K.
UTG calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $2.5, 1 fold, Button calls $2.50, 2 folds, UTG calls $2.

Flop: ($8.25) A, 7, 9 (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6, Button raises to $18, UTG folds, Hero raises to $78.15, Button calls $28 (All-In).

Turn: ($132.40) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($132.40) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $132.40

Results in white below:
Hero has Ac Ks (one pair, aces).
Button has 4d 7d (two pair, sevens and fours).
Outcome: Button wins $100.25. Hero wins 32.15

So much of 50NL is totally ABC. These were just some nonstandard hands that made me raise my eyebrows. I still feel very capable and confident, just have to play out of this run of cards and back into something a little more stable.

MicroBR: $1470

Bad beats Setzy. I hope you reloaded and got a chance to play more hands with these fish.

Played a few more MTT's than normal lately, pretty much got all I wanted out of those for a while.

Yesterday I played a 4.40 180-man and finished 7th.

Today I played a 4.40 180-man, a 3.30R, a 3.30 triple shootout, a 1.10 HORSE and a 1.10 Razz, and cashed in none of them, lol. Needless to say after playing MTT's for some 7 hours straight, I've had enough! I can see how the variance would be killer on strictly tourney players. For me it's a great break from the normal grind, but jeez.

Anyway, the past few days of cash have been back on the upswing, which is nice. I read a few threads on 2+2 about this and that, and I think I'm going to take my first stab at 100NL with the microroll when I hit 2k. I'll give myself a 3 buyin cushion, go do my thing, and if it doesn't work out I'll go back, simple as that. I'm not going to make it official, but tentatively I'm going to say I want to be playing 200NL by New Year's, which will be higher than I've played before. Should be fun.

MicroBR: $1825

go ahead and move up. you've played at that level before. i moved up about that time as well and im glad i did. the play is actually softer at 100NL, 50NL was a nitfest for me @ fulltilt.

Setzy, you and I are running in parallel.. (with Martin alongside, but slightly ahead...) I started mini-bankroll at Stars.. and built up to about 1800 in the last month and a half. I don't think I'm playing quite as much as you are, but it cracks me up to read you blog being so similar to mine. I actually sat last night for a little 100NL.. and there was tremendous amounts of really questionable play at most of my tables.

It would seem Terry speaks the truth about 100 being softer than 50! (yeah!)... if you ever want to compare hands and such I'd be all for it.. we look to play somewhat similar...

Great Job and I'll see you at the tables.. (though, are you still using Setzy as your handle?)

I have an $8k roll and I'm still too scared to jump to $100 (even though I am playing at, and owning, £50NL which is like $97NL) - watching you youngsters with your little bankrolls and big enthusiasm is very tiring for an old fucker like me

I got 7.5k BR and only dare to play 1 table FR of 200NL

I'm closing in..

I'm 95% of the way to PlatinumStar, and I've been playing 100NL like mad. Today I ran on one of those extremely hot positive variance runs, hitting tons of sets in raised pots and getting paid every which way from Sunday. My evening session was good, but it went from really good to ok after I lost boat vs boat.

I still have not been back to the casino. Meh.

I'm considering camping out for a Nintendo Wii Saturday (day?/night), because it's released on Sunday. Was just talking to my roommate about how it would be cool to have some wireless internet and be able to play online poker while waiting, hehe.

Anyhow I've been running well at 100NL, and the players don't seem much better than the lower levels, so unless I crash and burn for an extended period I'm there full time now. Well, here's to a good month thus far!

MicroBR: $2675

Originally Posted by Setzy

I'm closing in..

I'm 95% of the way to PlatinumStar, and I've been playing 100NL like mad. Today I ran on one of those extremely hot positive variance runs, hitting tons of sets in raised pots and getting paid every which way from Sunday. My evening session was good, but it went from really good to ok after I lost boat vs boat.

I still have not been back to the casino. Meh.

I'm considering camping out for a Nintendo Wii Saturday (day?/night), because it's released on Sunday. Was just talking to my roommate about how it would be cool to have some wireless internet and be able to play online poker while waiting, hehe.

Anyhow I've been running well at 100NL, and the players don't seem much better than the lower levels, so unless I crash and burn for an extended period I'm there full time now. Well, here's to a good month thus far!

MicroBR: $2675

how long would i have to 8 table 100NL to get platinum star?? is it a decent deal?? im playing on small sites with poor table selection and i want to

Originally Posted by TerryToma

how long would i have to 8 table 100NL to get platinum star??

About 20k hands.

Originally Posted by Huey

Originally Posted by TerryToma

how long would i have to 8 table 100NL to get platinum star??

About 20k hands.

Yeah, seems like I'm getting roughly one VPP per 2 hands at 100NL (the pot has to reach $8, or .40 rake)

Platinumstar is 10k VPP.

I suppose Rakeback and whatnot is nice, but I think the FPP are pretty valuable as an alternative. To top it off, I wouldn't be surprised if Stars starting doing some sort of monthly Bonus reload a la Party to keep their playerbase.

Speaking of these points, I have roughly 60k PartyPoints left to spend..anybody got any ideas?

Finally had a downswing today at 100NL. As to be expected, you can't run blazing hot forever. Today I knocked out 2k hands and some change and ended up down about 4-5 buyins, I forget exactly what I started at. Didn't have any true bad beats, a guy hit an 11-outer on the river for a stack (he went allin with bottom pair and nut flush draw on the turn), one time got minraised on the flop with TPTK oop, guy bets big into me on the turn, pushes river and hit a hidden runner runner flush (TPGK on the flop) to beat my two pair for a stack. Got reraised off several preflop hands when I lost pot odds to call, lost a QQ to KK allin for half a stack, lost about half a stack to a shortie with AK vs KK on a K high flop, lost a whole stack with AK in a reraised pot vs. AA (guy's first hand at the table) on a K high flop. Middle two pair was beat by top two pair for half a stack or so. I think that's all of 'em, or at least all the ones I can remember. My sets weren't getting paid, and my other hands weren't showing down well. It's funny how you can remember the bad ones, huh

In a way I'm glad to go on and have a downswing, especially after running so well. I'm still in the black overall at 100NL at Stars, and I'm still over my monthly goal, which is all I really care about. The monetary goal wasn't so important this month, but I do want to try and get plenty of hands down by New Year's to try and play 200NL. Plus, now I know that even after losing more than I have before, I'm still looking to the future and more playing, not to the past with spite and disgust. I think this means I'm pretty hardened as a player, and even though there is still SOME emotional connect to losing, I can take it in stride.

MicroBR: $2250

Heh - I didn't play last night in the end but lost about $30 in the afternoon just 1-tabling $50 - downswing now roughly 7 buyins. Funnily enough, this chunk of negative variance is making me relax about things in the same way that an upswing makes me get increasingly worried about the inevitable collapse.

How looooooooooow can you go? Pretty low, I guess.

In a nutshell, I'm grouchy. The last few days of 100NL have been the finest in poker hell I've seen. I can't win for losing, basically. Sadly, I've come full circle, hit the bottom as far as buyins I was prepared to lose at 100NL, and now I have to go back to 50NL and try again. I'm right at where I was BR wise when I first loaded up 100NL. I've played an absolute ton of hands lately; ran poorly, played below my A-game (I think), tried anything to get this mess to fix itself, and yet nothing seems to help.

It's just going to be time. I know from past downswings it's just going to take a couple hot streaks and I'll be back in the thick of things. But backtracking when I'm trying to move FORWARD to 200NL is not helping things at all. 100NL is not supposed to be that hard, and with the amount I have studied, read and played, I should be solidly beating this game. Yet at this juncture, I am not.

I'm disappointed in things. I suppose I will post some hands later after I go over them.

MicroBR: $1761

Sorry to here you are running cold... I appear to be the yin to your yang.

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...oker-46834.htm

Get the confidence back at 50 and you'll swing up again. You can beat this game.