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

I don't think this statistics are that alarming.. you are essentially only tracking those players that are multitabling... since given the number of tables running it's difficult to get huge sample sizes from any one opponent unless you are extracting that data from multiple tables. And it's more common to see a multitaber play a nitter style... So although I agree that 100NL is a rock garden... I think your statement actually is verifing that those that multitable 100NL tend to be very rocky... not that everyone is a rock.

Your sample size is obviously much larger than mine.. but mine shows a similar trend the you reported for those persons from whom I have over 1000 hands listed..


11.8/6.3
9.14/4.7
16.1/3.8
19.5/5.2
11.9/8.9
11.6/1.1

Apparently I need to play more hands....

Nooo... NOOO! My plans!

-----------------------------------------------------

Hello Chris,

The service may not be used to pay bills. If you would like to exchange
FPPs for cash the best method is using the 100,000 FPP reward bonus
offered in the VIP Store.

Regards,

Scotty
PokerStars VIP Team

-------------------------------------------------------


Dangit. Props to PokerStars support for giving me the straight facts, and answering in a timely manner. My question about Neteller was answered within an hour or two, and this one in a day or so. Now I have to revise my plans...

I'd had such a good week, until today!

It's frustrating when you work so hard, play so much, and gain a whole slew of small wins only to see it crash down in a matter of a day. Today was one of those days where nothing goes right, and you just *know* you're going to spiral down. Nothing good gets paid off, every big hand loses, no matter how crappy pot odds you offer to your opponent, they still draw and hit. You virtually can't win when your big hands aren't winning, and today I end up in the red with pretty much every premium hand. (I knew it was coming with AA, just because I hadn't lost any big pots with it yet in a whole mess of hands)

This has been my first pretty rough patch since I've started this new year. Hopefully I can turn things around soon. I'm on the verge of 100k FPP, and about 1/6 of the way to Supernova status. I guess I'm going to get the $1500 VIP bonuses since the concierge thing won't work now. I may end up just putting it in my BR and taking out the money near the end of the year.

BR - $2965

hey gl setzy, it will turn around. I really believe a lot of the times that this happens to me I need to sit back, relax, and turn my attitude around. and I don't mean that I get pissed or anything, but I just mean that I need to realize that I have no reason to think negatively about my game as long as I wasn't playing stupidly.
If I ever break completely free of my sng habit and sit down to a 100NL stars table, I'm virually guaranteed to run into your 20-tabling nitastic self, so see you at the tables. ;)

My recent dissatisfaction with ring has driven me away, for now.

When you play against groups of 10-17VPIP and 3-7PFR players, it becomes very hard to get paid off. Essentially, almost all of the getting stacked hands come from a "nuts-2nd nuts" or "overpair/set hand - combo-nut draw".

When I quit playing 6-max at the beginning of the year, it was to clear that Bonus Stars was offering and then with the new goals I had set for myself in 2007. But I've gotten away from one of my main goals - and that is to increase my winrate. There is no reason I should sit and play for 4 hours and earn 25% as much as someone else who is just as capable of a winning player. If I increase my winrate, I increase my return, and that should be the ultimate goal.

I think 6-max offers a chance to sustain a higher overall winrate than ring. One of the biggest reasons I think this is because it is much easier to exploit players at a 6-max table and win their money rather than having 7 other players and one fish around.

So for now, I'm going to go splash around at 50NL 6-max. Since I've played nearly a full month of 100NL, starting at 50NL 6-max shouldn't be too overwhelming, since the swings are expected to be greater and the learning hopefully won't have as much of a penalty. In addition, I am well overrolled for this level of 6-max, and I think that will be a good comfort.

January is drawing to a close, and I hope February finds me well.

Current BR: $3100

Ignore the last post, I played 50NL 6-max for one day and got pretty much a horrible taste in my mouth, so I went immediately back to ring. However, I'm not afraid to say that things are looking grim. By grim, I mean pretty craptastic.

I've been on a nice slide the past week, BR is sitting at $2475. I've been overplaying AA postflop, getting in the "it's the money hand, ARR in" mindset, which is so bad. Like everyone does on a downswing, I'm questioning the quality of my play, wondering how much is semi-tilt, how much is bad luck, and how much is bad play. After today I'm less than 1 buyin positive ALL TIME at 100NL, over 70k hands at Stars. I think that definitely proves that I'm lacking some necessary skills to succeed in the seemingly pretty damn tough 100NL Stars ring game.

From my own perspective, I find myself torn between betting turns and checking behind in position, trying not to build big pots without big hands, and facing check-raises from slowplayed sets (As Theory&Practice talks about), which usually in turn finds myself faced with some sort of river bet from the OOP caller. Then I have to decipher whether or not their hand is strong or whether they're betting because my hand is underrepped.

I've signed up for the Session Review, and hopefully I can learn (and maybe teach) a few things. What I do understand is that poker is a long-term game, and I'm still focusing on the long term. Something I *may* have to do is spend some FPP points on the cash bonus, clear it and keep on from there...I wanted to save up for the $1500, but if I lose very many more buyins I will not be adequately rolled for 100NL any longer.

Stay tuned, we'll see where the next week leads.

BR - $2475

Well, I've neglected posting my progress long enough. I've had a change of heart in the past few weeks, and I've changed and am now doing something that I find a lot less stressful and easier on the brain.

I dropped down. I dropped way down.

Now I'm swimming in the 25NL fish pond. I love it. For me, it's easier to put in more hands and it's also easier to get paid by bad players...so it's like a double bonus. The only thing that I really dislike about only playing 25NL is that I don't earn anywhere near as many FPP and VPP as I did playing the higher limits.

There's something to be said about being considerably overrolled for the limit you're playing. I think that personally I have not been following a very sound bankroll management strategy at these higher limits (that works for me). Most bankroll management guides tell you to have 20/30 buyins for the limit you are playing. That's all fine and dandy, but I still find that multitabling (and as I do, with usually 9) can be a bit overwhelming when a significant portion of your BR is in play at once.

With that said, I have not been putting in as many hands as I should/planned to. I've been partying a lot and going to a lot of shows. One problem I have is that the usual best times to play, weekend evenings, are the times that I have obligations and places to be, or are the times when I go out to party.

Anyhow, I've been steadily winning at 25NL over a good sample. I like playing with virtually no stress. Today I dipped into a few 180s (first tournies in a long, long time) with a friend, ended up placing 3rd in one, my best finish to date in one of those.

So, I think the purpose of this post is just to say that everybody has to follow their own path in the poker world, and there are many paths to success. I don't think that I have to beat every limit on PokerStars to be a good player, and I don't have to prove anything to anyone. In the end, no one will remember how many hands I played at a particular limit. It's all about doing as well as I can, and hopefully winning along the way.

BR - $3100

Sometimes things fall apart, and I can't explain why. But maybe we can figure some things out by dissecting a couple of hands.

Today I set out to put a large enough dent in my VPP on Stars that I could maintain Platinumstar by tomorrow. I played 4000 hands at 100NL (had been playing 25 and 50NL the past few weeks), and a lost a buyin. Not too bad, and I had swung up a buyin and then down, and finished down some. I leave, return and play a quick session and end up half a buyin, then decide to play a few MTTs.

I play 6, cash in 2 and bust before any FT's, pretty much making my money back, but nothing else. Afterward I decide to get back on and grind out my VPP some more.

Then in the span of 5 minutes, I run into a guy that 4-bets JJ oop on me and flops a set for a stack vs my AA when I smooth call, I lose KK vs QQ allin preflop to a spiked Q, my queens get busted by a set of 9s (this was probably the worst play of all the hands, because his line looked more suspicious than the others and may have been able to get away), and my QQ loses to JJ in a reraised pot when villain spikes a J on the river and check-raises me for like the 30% left in my stack. Coooooooooooler. End of that rant, let's talk about the hand histories.

If I'd gotten away from the ones that MAY have been possible to get away from, and played the AA to maximum expectation...here's what would have happened instead.

Hand #1.) I push AA preflop as a 5-bet, villain folds (I guess?) and I win $20 instead of losing $100. +$20

Hand #2.) I got 3-bet with villains QQ, I pushed the KK, nothing I could do. -$100

Hand #3.) I get QQ and raise it up preflop, and proceed to lead out on a 9 high flop into about 4 people for roughly $15. Villain calls, turn pairs the board with a 3 I believe...I lead for ~$26 and Villain reraised to like $70. This is where I tanked and decided to push instead of fold. So say I fold, and save the rest of my $105 stack. -$50

Hand #4.) I get QQ and reraise on the button, Villain calls. Flop comes low and villain check-calls $18 or so, then leads out weak on the turn ($10). Here I can go all in, or fold. Funny spot because I'm not sure of Villain's play if I do go all in, he may call and I lose $100, or he may fold and I win roughly $40. If I call, the river comes and he checks to me, I bet $36 and he check-raises me (where I should lay it down I guess) for the rest of my stack, like $40 more. So I could either lose $100 (all in on turn), win $40 (he folds on turn), lose $60 (fold to river CR), or lose $100 (calling the all in, as I did). -$220/4 = -$55 average between the four outcomes.

So if I played those hands the MOST optimally I guess, I would lose only $185, instead of $400. Quite a difference. Hold'em is about minimizing your losses in your mistakes, and in those hands I did not.

Anyhow, I will finish up my VPP tomorrow at 50NL. I've amassed over 130k FPP now and I'm just waiting to get to Supernova before cashing them in for the cash Bonus.

BR - $3100

If you didn't get sucked out on though the way you played the hands would have been more profitable. You need to look at it from both angles. Tongiht I lost full stacks all in PF with QQ both times losing to AJ. Think I should've just folded pf?

Big pots are meant for big hands, you just ran into some variance

Call me crazy, but I've been avoiding the "post a blog, run like crap" syndrome and haven't been updating for a while. March has been exceptionally good to me, and I'm sittin' pretty right now.

Last Sunday I chopped the $3.30R for just under $2,000. I really feel like I've been playing great (especially in the rebuy tournaments), understanding how tight players play, when stealing blinds is a good idea, and using stack preservation and image to keep myself in the game. I played the 3.30R again yesterday and was on track to make a good run and unfortunately lost a crucial coinflip (AA vs 88c, all club board) in a reraised pot that sent me packing. I cashed in the 5.50R 2 days ago (the only time I've played it recently), finishing just outside the top 100. I played well in that tourney and built my stack up, won a few races and then lost one or two, and was out.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not getting stars in my eyes and thinking I'm a pro tournament player or anything. Cash is still my bread and butter game and I'm not leaving it. With my newfound BR boost I really have a great cushion for playing 100NL, and I've been grinding out a small winrate while also gaining a lot of FPPs. 3 months into the year and I'm almost halfway to Supernova. I'd really like to get it done by the end of May, but we'll see how it pans out. If I could play somewhere in the vicinity of 60K hands at 100NL in April and May I think that would do it.

BR - $5,800

Bit of a shameless bump..in case anyone who reads my progress thread didn't know, it's in this new forum called "Poker Blogs and Operations". Good idea for a forum, Poker Etc. was getting to be a bit of a mess.

Well it's not a completely non-content post, I've changed my game! Believe it or not, Setzy is playing limit now. Yeah yeah I know. But honestly, I think I can multi-table it far easier and gain the FPP I need to get to supernova faster. Just the other day I realized that the supernova bonus is going to be "reviewed" on June 30, so I 100% absolutely HAVE to get to supernova before then and buy those bonuses!

I'm not disowning NL or anything, just taking a break to keep things fresh. I enjoy the mathematical aspects of limit, and believe I play better than my opponents, so I think that combination will pay off for me.

Well...

I never can stick to anything, it seems like. I played a lot of limit the past few weeks, and finally burned out on it. For the meantime, I've switched back to 100NL. Today was pretty rough...but the more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that it wasn't an "exceptional" downswing as much as a "normal" one. 5 buyins is not that many, and over a 3k hand span even more so!

It's not even really worth going over as far as hand histories go, but just to reassure myself that they were played well I'll run through them fairly quickly.

Full stack losses -
AA vs KK - All in preflop, K on flop.
KK vs AQ - All in preflop, A on flop.
AA vs JJ - Reraised pot pre and big bets on flop/turn, spiked set on river and got all in (< than a psb left).

Other half stackish losses -
Bottom set vs Top set - All in on flop
Bottom two pair turned boat vs top set turned boat - All in on turn
Bottom set vs Top set - Big bets every street - All in on river
QK made 2p on turn vs AK 2p made on flop (I was aggressor preflop) - All in on turn

Just ran through my HH's for the day, which is always a good thing to do. It's never fun losing, but it IS good to know that you play well, and eventually the luck will even out. For all of today's adventures, nothing still beats the 1 outer I took yesterday :(

Like I used to be in the lower levels, I am starting to get a really good feel for how the players are at 100NL. I am confident in my game, my hand reading skills, and more so in my post-flop skills than even a month ago. I'm very happy to see myself still progressing and not stagnating.

In other news, I am 2/3 of the way to Supernova status on Stars. I have a whole bunch of FPP saved up and ready to go when I get there. If I play as much in the following weeks as I have in this month, I am on track to be done in less than one month.

That's all for now...

tough hands. keep workin on your skillz though it will pay off.

I'm officially Supernova. :)

I have got to fucking quit paying off these 100NL nits when they bet on the river and I'm so obviously beat.

STOP

CALLING

RIVER

BETS

SETZY.

I'm such a breakeven player, it'd make you guys sick.

Right now I'm sort of in a poker funk. I feel like I play well compared to the regulars that I play against, but for some reason I don't have good results. Don't get me wrong, the 100NL FR regulars on Stars are pretty annoying to deal with. Some things I'm starting to seriously believe though...

1.) When you play versus a bunch of nitty regulars, your image so very rarely ever comes into play. Oooh, so you raise 89s UTG. They don't care. They're going to call preflop and look for a set. Most times, they fold to the cbet. But every so often, that 1 in 8 shot hits and you get raised, or they hit some other pretty good hand.

2.) If you're looking for the truth, it's on the river. In my experience, you almost always know where you stand when the bets come out on the river. If you're out of position and you get raised, expect something damn near the nuts.

3.) Small bets followed by reraises from the same player on the same street equals incredible strength hands.

Something I'm having incredible difficulty with is determining where I stand versus a flop raise.

Examples:
I raise AJ in MP and a fullstacked button calls, and the flop comes out A67 rainbow or AQ5 with two diamonds. I cbet and get minraised. What the hell?

I raise JJ in MP, two players call. The flop comes out undercards, and I get minraised. I've seen sets in this position and stuff as crazy as AKo with no draw.

I have a problem 3-betting on the flop because I feel it ties me to the pot that much more, especially when I'm beat. Sometimes folding seems too weak and raising seems too spewy, but then calling seems too passive...so I'm stuck.

The minraise on the flop in general perplexes me, and I find myself lost more in those situations than any other.

I've cleared one of the $1500 bonuses and started on the next one. This new promotion is awesome, but my playing is lackluster. I'm pretty unhappy about it, to say the least...but I have to take advantage of this promotion while I can. Being Supernova makes it just that much better, too.

congrats on supernova.

i liked your points, keep thinking things through, & posting about them. we all benefit.

Basically after I don't know what you'd call it...a meltdown and rejuvenation of sorts, I have come to a couple major decisions in lieu of some of my recent bad times.

I'm going to start making some DETAILED and specific goals, starting now.

Goal #1. - 1ptbb/100 LONG TERM

As of this moment, I want to be a minimum 1ptbb/100 LONG TERM winner at 100NL FR. I'm erasing the past, and starting over now. Starting at zero. The past is history. I'm going to embarrass myself by stating publicly that I am a marginally losing player at 100NL FR over 120k+ hands. That's going to change.

I am going to set some new rules and guidelines for myself. If I lose two buyins within a 15 minute span, I will immediately leave all tables and take an hour break. During the hour I will consciously review my current play and visit the forums to post and read.

I am going to study and read an hour for every four hours of play. This will include reading hand histories, posting hand histories, giving feedback and hopefully getting feedback.


Goal #2. - 20k by Jan 1, 2008.

I don't care how much I have to play to get it, but including bonuses and winnings I want to have a 20k BR by Jan 1, 2008. I will be taking out 10k to pay for my school loans, which will leave me with a 10k BR. Right now my BR is $6,300, with one $1,500 bonus 1/3 complete and 150k in FPP left to purchase more. By working off this bonus and the next I should have the additional 50k FPP to buy another $1,500 bonus, totaling $4,500 in bonuses. That leaves $10,200 to gain.


It's time to quit screwing around. I have played poker without a job for almost a year now, and I have no reason to not be a winning, successful player.

i really enjoyed reading your blog Setzy. Congratulations on reaching Supernova, that is really something.

Quote:

---

Goal #2. - 20k by Jan 1, 2008.

---

It seems doable, given your history, current BR, and upcoming bonuses.

Assuming a 1ptBB/100 winrate at 100NL, needing to earn approx. 10k:

... equals 1million hands. :shock: (i hope my math isn't wrong!)

So, i would say this is doable IF you can earn 5-6ptBB/100, and therefore play 200k+ hands in the next 7 months (close to a full time players number of hands in a similar time period).

Quote:

---

Goal #1. - 1ptbb/100 LONG TERM

---

I have good news for you. Once you start spending more time analyzing your game i can guarantee you will be a much bigger winner than 1ptBB/100. I am undecided as to whether setting such a modest goal is best for your poker playing, but that may be personality dependent. Either way, good luck!

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/286...siongi9.th.png

Well my first session didn't go that great.

2448 hands, -$153. I thought I played well, but I'll post a few big hands for analysis anyhow.
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Villain is an aggressive multitabling regular, lordyefc.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP3 ($102.55)
CO ($40.30)
Hero ($149.50)
SB ($119.40)
BB ($126.40)
UTG ($263.70)
UTG+1 ($130)
MP1 ($128.90)
MP2 ($19.90)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif.
UTG calls $1, 3 folds, MP3 raises to $5, 1 fold, Hero calls $5, 2 folds, UTG calls $4.

Flop: ($16.50) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (3 players)
UTG checks, MP3 bets $10, Hero raises to $30, UTG folds, MP3 raises to $97.55, Hero calls $67.55.

Turn: ($211.60) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (2 players)

River: ($211.60) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)

Final Pot: $211.60


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lots of action preflop, raise good or would I drive out potentially worse hands?


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($59)
UTG ($208.80)
MP1 ($29.50)
MP2 ($44.50)
CO ($84.85)
Hero ($185.05)
SB ($54.80)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif.
UTG calls $1, MP1 raises to $5, MP2 calls $5, 1 fold, Hero raises to $30, 2 folds, UTG folds, MP1 calls $24.50 (All-In), MP2 raises to $44.5, Hero calls $14.50.

Flop: ($121) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (3 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($121) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($121) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $121

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Flop aggression good, or too over the top?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($95.80)
Hero ($108.95)
BB ($194.15)
UTG ($130.50)
UTG+1 ($266.70)
MP1 ($97.40)
MP2 ($127.40)
CO ($19.10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif.
6 folds, Hero raises to $4, BB calls $3.

Flop: ($8) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, Thttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $6, BB raises to $15, Hero raises to $38, BB calls $23.

Turn: ($84) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $66.95 (All-In)...

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Looking back on this next hand, I probably should raise this flop. The minraise on the river just screams that I'm beat though.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG+1 ($21.20)
MP1 ($48.65)
Hero ($112.85)
CO ($157.20)
Button ($126.10)
SB ($101.65)
BB ($42.90)
UTG ($100)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif.
3 folds, Hero raises to $4, 3 folds, BB calls $3.

Flop: ($8.50) 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
BB bets $6, Hero calls $6.

Turn: ($20.50) Thttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($20.50) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $11, BB raises to $22, Hero ....?

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Usually I don't slowplay, but this hand was multiway and I wanted to try and get the other villains to hang around.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP3 ($34.20)
CO ($51.45)
Button ($101.35)
Hero ($101)
BB ($158.90)
UTG ($144.30)
UTG+1 ($96.65)
MP1 ($61.45)
MP2 ($93.45)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $3, 1 fold, MP3 calls $3, 1 fold, Button calls $3, Hero calls $2.50, 1 fold.

Flop: ($13) 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (4 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $6, MP3 calls $6, Button folds, Hero calls $6.

Turn: ($31) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $6, MP3 folds, Hero raises to $19, MP1 calls $13.

River: ($69) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $73 (All-In)...

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Getting CR'ed on the turn makes this easy to lay down, right? Villain is vanflone, running 15/7 after 90 hands with an agg factor under 1 on the flop and turn.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP2 ($100.55)
CO ($124.70)
Button ($138.90)
SB ($25.30)
BB ($100)
UTG ($117.40)
Hero ($131.95)
MP1 ($100.35)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Thttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Thttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif.
1 fold, Hero raises to $4, 5 folds, BB calls $3.

Flop: ($8.50) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $7, BB calls $7.

Turn: ($22.50) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $13, BB raises to $30, Hero ...

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Call, not raise? I figured raising would actually BETTER disguise my hand.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($122.25)
Button ($85.85)
SB ($136.90)
BB ($99.15)
UTG ($119.45)
Hero ($103.25)
MP2 ($104.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif.
UTG raises to $4, Hero calls $4, 5 folds.

Flop: ($9.50) 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
UTG bets $6, Hero raises to $18...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is about the best one for discussion, IMO. Villain is Schwallie4, multitabling winning player. He's only running 12/6 in this 150 hand session though. Thoughts on each street?


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($24.05)
BB ($100)
UTG ($95.60)
UTG+1 ($25.35)
Hero ($100)
MP2 ($138.80)
MP3 ($58.50)
CO ($76.80)
Button ($120.95)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif.
UTG calls $1, UTG+1 calls $1, Hero calls $1, 2 folds, CO calls $1, 1 fold, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($6) Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $4, CO calls $4, SB folds, BB calls $4, UTG calls $4, UTG+1 folds.

Turn: ($22) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (4 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $12, Hero calls $12, CO folds, BB calls $12.

River: ($58) 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (3 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $25 ...

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This one ok?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($100)
UTG+1 ($15.85)
MP1 ($147.55)
MP2 ($92.85)
CO ($436.60)
Button ($38.75)
SB ($175.30)
BB ($107.10)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif.
Hero raises to $4, 1 fold, MP1 calls $4, 5 folds.

Flop: ($9.50) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $7, MP1 raises to $16, Hero raises to $40, MP1 calls $24.

Turn: ($89.50) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $56 (All-In) ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sorry for so many hands, but that is over almost a 2500 hand span. Hopefully better results soon.

EDIT: RESULTS REMOVED IN RELEVANT HANDS!

Plz don't post results... end right before (or after) your last decision...

I changed 'em....happy? :)

Yep :)

1. Standard.
2. I only raise to $20 pre-flop, but since they're both shorties this is fine.
3. Flop aggression is good but I might just push the flop. As played, def push the turn.
4. I'm ok calling the flop, but def bet the turn. As played, your line looks super weak so I'm always calling this river.
5. Looks good to me.
6. Yeah, I think you gotta lay this one down on the turn.
7. Hmmm... I don't mind it. Don't mind a flat call if he c-bets a lot though.
8. You gotta raise that turn. Not much money in the pot, draws will probably pay, and you're letting a bare Ad draw cheaply. I value bet a little bigger on the river, like $40ish.
9. I c/c turn to pick off a bluff. You're only getting called by hands you're behind here imo.

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/1...ess2qy0.th.png


My evening session brings me back to positive for the day, and a much needed day in the green.

I only had one hand where I missed some value (after reviewing the evening session), and it's SOMEWHAT debatable because it was a 3-way pot and I was looking to get a call from the third person to bloat the pot on the river. I'm still interested in hearing other opinions on the hands from earlier. Not all are losing hands :)

Tomorrow I may post hands involving minraises, since those are still somewhat baffling.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7...ess1jy0.th.png

Pretty decent little session...only one hand I had a pretty hard decision to make.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($197)
CO ($55.95)
Button ($116.65)
SB ($83.20)
BB ($100.30)
UTG ($102.40)
UTG+1 ($104.70)
MP1 ($82.25)
MP2 ($101.45)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif.
UTG calls $1, 3 folds, Hero raises to $5, 4 folds, UTG calls $4.

Flop: ($11.50) 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $8, UTG calls $8.

Turn: ($27.50) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $17, UTG calls $17.

River: ($61.50) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
UTG bets $43, Hero ...

Villain has about $30 left and is unknown...I wasn't sure if I should put him in or just call, because of the potential draws that got there. After reviewing however...he limped UTG, which seemingly should narrow his range a bit more. Hmmmmm....

One other thing, after talking with Zook I've decided to nix the "two buyins lost and quit" thing. I WILL quit when I feel like I'm not playing optimtally and with +EV. I think this posting and making myself accountable is really helping.

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/1...ess2mf9.th.png


Nothing like a garbage session to make you think you're the worst poker player to ever grace the fine earth. I got outplayed at pretty much every turn...people were 3-betting my raises preflop and I could almost be certain that they weren't playing their hands, they were outplaying me.

The only plus to the whole situation is I finished my next bonus.

Here's some hands, in case anyone is interested....

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($197.50)
SB ($98.60)
BB ($119.80)
UTG ($68.05)
UTG+1 ($30.55)
MP1 ($129.45)
Hero ($120.70)
CO ($35)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $4, Hero raises to $13, 4 folds, MP1 calls $9.

Flop: ($27.50) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $17, MP1 raises to $34, Hero calls $17. (oh boy, i got check-minraised....should I write a note about this?)

Turn: ($95.50) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
MP1 bets $82.45 (All-In), Hero calls $73.70 (All-In). (Does anyone fold AA in this 3-bet pot, is this AK once...in a blue moon?)

River: ($251.65) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $251.65


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PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP2 ($67.80)
CO ($108.15)
Button ($66.95)
SB ($491.60)
Hero ($101.55)
UTG ($27.70)
MP1 ($96)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif.
3 folds, CO raises to $4, Button calls $4, 1 fold, Hero raises to $20, CO folds, Button calls $16.

Flop: ($44.50) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $24, Button raises to $46.95, Hero calls $22.95. (I mean you have to, right?)

Turn: ($138.40) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)

River: ($138.40) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)

Final Pot: $138.40


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


On this hand I raised the villain because I had top pair and his bet was extremely weak. When he reraised to $20 is this an insta-muck, or can I think this is ever AK (or something weird like KK or a 2 heart draw....nah, not a draw) and I could possibly spike a Q and take the lead?


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP1 ($132.35)
MP2 ($120.95)
MP3 ($180.90)
Hero ($99.05)
Button ($31.75)
SB ($102.70)
BB ($140.75)
UTG ($100)
UTG+1 ($102.65)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif.
3 folds, MP2 raises to $4, 1 fold, Hero calls $4, 3 folds.

Flop: ($9.50) Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
MP2 bets $3, Hero raises to $10, MP2 raises to $20, Hero calls $10.

Turn: ($49.50) Thttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
MP2 bets $25, Hero calls $25.

River: ($99.50) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
MP2 bets $50, Hero ....


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This shortstack is 28/7, fairly aggressive....decent spot to gamble with a probable 99+?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP2 ($59.45)
CO ($104.75)
Button ($29.65)
SB ($179.10)
Hero ($215.50)
UTG ($55.10)
UTG+1 ($109.80)
MP1 ($115.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif.
5 folds, Button raises to $4, 1 fold, Hero raises and commits... ?


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Looking back, I screwed this hand up because I was trying to keep the fullstack in and wasn't really worrying about the half stack. After the full stack folded the flop, the shortie had an awkward amount left, and I made a betting error.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($90)
UTG+1 ($99)
Hero ($100)
MP2 ($97.15)
MP3 ($41.60)
CO ($96.50)
Button ($58.50)
SB ($76.90)
BB ($88.30)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, Hero raises to $5, 1 fold, MP3 calls $5, 4 folds, UTG+1 calls $4.

Flop: ($16.50) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Thttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $9, MP3 calls $9, UTG+1 folds. <--- Should bet $11-12 here into the $15 pot

Turn: ($34.50) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $13, MP3 calls $13. <--- After betting $11-12 on flop, can put the rest in here

River: ($60.50) Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $7, Hero calls $7.

Final Pot: $74.50


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Here I tried a flat-out bluff, do bluffs need to be 3-barrels?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($68.70)
BB ($38.55)
UTG ($135.65)
UTG+1 ($137.05)
MP1 ($94.40)
MP2 ($71.50)
Hero ($101.85)
Button ($42.65)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif.
3 folds, MP2 calls $1, Hero raises to $5, 3 folds, MP2 calls $4.

Flop: ($11.50) Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
MP2 bets $2, Hero raises to $10, MP2 calls $8.

Turn: ($31.50) 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero checks.

River: ($31.50) Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $16, MP2 calls $16.

Final Pot: $63.50


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What is up here? Villain is unknown.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP1 ($114)
MP2 ($27.90)
Hero ($102.60)
Button ($99.50)
SB ($54.65)
BB ($151.60)
UTG ($52.20)
UTG+1 ($95.50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero raises to $11, 2 folds, BB calls $10, MP1 folds.

Flop: ($25.50) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $16, BB calls $16.

Turn: ($57.50) 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
BB bets $48, Hero ... ?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another disgusting decision, another unknown..


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG+1 ($99)
MP1 ($182.10)
Hero ($103.95)
CO ($53.05)
Button ($73.25)
SB ($137.45)
BB ($97.50)
UTG ($98.50)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Thttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $2, 1 fold, Button calls $2, 2 folds.

Flop: ($7.50) 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (3 players)
UTG+1 bets $4, Hero raises to $13, Button folds, UTG+1 calls $9.

Turn: ($33.50) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $20, UTG+1 calls $20.

River: ($73.50) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $23, Hero ....

Final Pot: $96.50

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


BB Special, I play good?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG+1 ($18.50)
MP1 ($33.65)
MP2 ($145.65)
MP3 ($98.50)
CO ($64)
Button ($100.50)
SB ($39)
Hero ($100)
UTG ($97)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif.
5 folds, CO calls $1, 1 fold, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($3) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (3 players)
SB bets $4, Hero raises to $13, CO folds, SB raises to $38, Hero calls $25.

Turn: ($79) Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...es/diamond.gif (2 players)

River: ($79) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif (2 players)

Final Pot: $79



Tonight was like $30 here, $30 there, $25 there....and suddenly I'm down $600. I guess winning 38% showdowns, getting outplayed by aggressive players and not 100% playing by me (although I do think I played well, just not GREAT, though there were some crummy spots).

Basically my confidence is shattered...I've lost around 20 buyins in the past week. Am I not good enough to beat 100NL? Maybe not, maybe that's the harsh realization.

Here's the thing, I think I play well...I'm not a nit running 10/5 or 12/3 or whatever, I play 17/12 and I'm aggressive. So what the fuck?

Tonight was one of those nights, every time I went to steal a blind with K3 on the button because it was folded to me, I got 3-bet, yet every time I woke up with a real hand, I took down the blinds.

I'm studying, I'm reading, I'm posting...I'm losing. I'm at a loss. Surely this can't be my plateau of poker, THE MICRO LIMITS?

Nothing's really changed since I last updated...I'm still slowly losing and bonuses are keeping me afloat. I'm on my last $1,500 bonus now that I have FPP for. I've decided I'm going to change my game for the millionth time...mainly because I'm sick of FR. Maybe 100NL FR is easy for some people, but it's not for me, for whatever reason. I've decided what I'm going to do is grind out a particular amount of hands at 50NL 6-max, and see how things go from there.

Stars 10 Billion double points promtion ends today, so I will be concentrating much more on creating a winning game rather than being a bonus whore.

Since the promotion ended I've played very sparsely and basically tried to just rathole a few wins every day. The past 4 to 5 days had been successful, but today's 1k hands pretty much erased all that as I lost 5 buyins. Still pretty much a breakeven and unimpressive player, honestly.

I really hate the woe is me shit that it seems like I'm posting, but it's not like that. I'm not down on myself or whatever, I feel good about my play overall. Today I got a little coolered, a little outplayed, the stuff that happens to everyone at some point or another.

Today the big mistakes I made were all on the river, calling large bets with one pair and overpair type hands, and one large blunder calling a checkraise with tptk and then calling off the rest of my stack. I'm feeling that the river is STILL where the majority of the truth comes out about players hands, even at 6-max 100NL. I just have to be patient, not pay off other people, play smart and I can do this.

BR - $9190

Still slightly losing, but clearing bonuses puts me in the green. I've topped $10k now, but don't have any more 100k FPP bonuses to cash in at this point. I think I'm playing fairly well, not perfect obviously...a couple times I've gotten into reraised pots with KK and the ace flops and I just decide that it's all going in anyway, and each time the villain has some Ax combo.

I need something to get me back to playing more, I have slacked off a lot.

BR - $10k

Well a bit has happened since my last post. I started getting low on funds in my bank account, so I had to request a check to make sure I don't go negative in the next month. Basically I just decided to cash out a $1,500 Bonus and use that. However, just the other day I cleared a new $1,500 bonus, so it's pretty much back to where it was. I've played a whole lot in the past week, driven to unlock that bonus.

Yesterday I decided to take a break and play the $3.30R, which is fast becoming my tourney of choice. Ended up finishing 12th of 2334, which is great and terrible at the same time, because I was so close to making another 4 figure cash. I was basically on a freeroll though, because at one point I shoved over what I thought was a late position blind steal and rivered a guy on a 2-outer, A8 vs AK on a X8K X 8 board.

I also won a AK vs AK allin preflop hand by rivering a flush, but the poker gods would not let me taste another final table as I got my AA crushed vs 87o and my QQ vs JJ vs AT 3 way allin [(Jxxh)xx board for the bad beat stories for the kids], missed my 11 outs on the turn and river as I had the only heart between all of us. Still walked away with a bit under $200, but anybody who plays tourneys will tell you that man, it's just not satisfying to go all that way and get soooooooo close. You gotta get lucky to win those things, and I did...but it was not meant to be there at the end. As my friend said, the guy who had me covered on the QQ hand (incidentally the same one who I won the AK vs AK hand) had reraised his JJ and it was all going in no matter how many chips I had.

I am still toying with the idea of playing a whole bunch of tournies, but man I think those things might be more heartbreak than cash games. I've actually had some decent success recently, trying to manage pots better and keep my head out of fewer bad situations. I'm really improving my postflop play, and making better calls and reads than ever. I feel "in the zone" as far as being able to decipher who has what, and oftentimes I am right!

Here are two hands, and I'm not going to convert them because you have to see the chat in the first one to really get the full story.

PokerStars Game #10864923929: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/07/10 - 10:03:34 (ET)
Table 'Corvus IV' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Michael ST ($53.85 in chips)
Seat 2: SetzerMason ($119.65 in chips)
Seat 3: Dloreb ($58.20 in chips)
Seat 4: Skiing7654 ($105.05 in chips)
Seat 5: IKA258 ($104.55 in chips)
Seat 6: PokerChef511 ($194.50 in chips)
Seat 7: 1p0kerboy ($116 in chips)
Seat 8: brysof ($50.65 in chips)
Seat 9: StarMike2006 ($130.10 in chips)
SetzerMason: posts small blind $0.50
Dloreb: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SetzerMason [Qd Ad]
Skiing7654: calls $1
IKA258: folds
PokerChef511: folds
1p0kerboy: calls $1
brysof: folds
StarMike2006: folds
Michael ST: folds
SetzerMason: raises $5 to $6
Dloreb: calls $5
Skiing7654: calls $5
1p0kerboy: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [Ac 3c Qh]
SetzerMason: bets $15
Dloreb: raises $37.20 to $52.20 and is all-in
Skiing7654: folds
1p0kerboy: raises $57.80 to $110 and is all-in
SetzerMason said, "well pokerboy has a set of 3s"
SetzerMason said, "i guess top two isn't any good :/"
SetzerMason: folds
*** TURN *** [Ac 3c Qh] [As]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 3c Qh As] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dloreb: shows [4c Qc] (a full house, Aces full of Queens)
SetzerMason said, "**** rofl"
1p0kerboy: shows [3s 3h] (a full house, Aces full of Threes)
Dloreb collected $140.40 from pot

This next one looks awful in a vacuum, but trust me I seriously knew I was no good.


PokerStars Game #10865733623: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/07/10 - 11:24:02 (ET)
Table 'Hathor' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: wingsrock ($64.50 in chips)
Seat 2: SetzerMason ($158.95 in chips)
Seat 3: Scarer ($97 in chips)
Seat 4: Michel84 ($107.15 in chips)
Seat 5: venkanto ($136.90 in chips)
Seat 6: wildpike ($85.50 in chips)
Seat 7: dinchii ($40.80 in chips)
Seat 8: JohnRegular7 ($15.50 in chips)
Seat 9: Andi100001 ($90.95 in chips)
wildpike: posts small blind $0.50
dinchii: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SetzerMason [5s 5h]
JohnRegular7: folds
Andi100001: raises $1 to $2
wingsrock: folds
SetzerMason: calls $2
Scarer: folds
Michel84: calls $2
venkanto: calls $2
wildpike: folds
dinchii: folds
*** FLOP *** [9c Qs 5d]
Andi100001: bets $1
SetzerMason: raises $6 to $7
Michel84: calls $7
venkanto: folds
Andi100001: calls $6
*** TURN *** [9c Qs 5d] [Ac]
Andi100001: checks
SetzerMason: checks
Michel84: bets $20
Andi100001: calls $20
SetzerMason: calls $20
*** RIVER *** [9c Qs 5d Ac] [8s]
Andi100001: checks
SetzerMason: checks
Michel84: bets $78.15 and is all-in
Andi100001: calls $61.95 and is all-in
SetzerMason: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Michel84: shows [9d 9h] (three of a kind, Nines)
Andi100001: mucks hand
Michel84 collected $211.40 from pot


So anyhow, here's to keeping it up.

BR - $11,700

Story of my poker life :)

PokerStars Game #11271385321: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/08/02 - 14:17:37 (ET)
Table 'Industria V' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Chrill0r ($156.95 in chips)
Seat 2: vagner77 ($130.40 in chips)
Seat 4: SetzerMason ($90.50 in chips)
Seat 5: AR_GTAm ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 6: quendam ($23.65 in chips)
Seat 7: silentiger ($78.20 in chips)
Seat 8: Sodom ($21.70 in chips)
Seat 9: dodoli ($42.55 in chips)
quendam: posts small blind $0.50
silentiger: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SetzerMason [9s Ts]
Sodom: folds
dodoli: folds
Chrill0r: folds
vagner77: calls $1
SetzerMason: calls $1
AR_GTAm: folds
quendam: calls $0.50
silentiger is disconnected
silentiger is connected
silentiger: checks
*** FLOP *** [8s Jc Js]
quendam: checks
silentiger: checks
vagner77: checks
SetzerMason: bets $3
quendam: folds
silentiger: folds
vagner77: calls $3
*** TURN *** [8s Jc Js] [4s]
vagner77: checks
SetzerMason: bets $6
vagner77: calls $6
*** RIVER *** [8s Jc Js 4s] [Qs]
vagner77: folds
SetzerMason collected $20.95 from pot
SetzerMason: doesn't show hand

Actually feel like I'm playing pretty well right now...outplaying the majority of my opponents and whatnot. Today my cards were on fire, (the hand above, sets, flopped quads twice, blah blah), so many great hands and pretty much nothing got paid. Just one of those times when there's really not much you can do. Currently working on another bonus ...about 1/5 done with that.

I messed around with some 6-max limit for a while....really great for amassing FPP and VPP, that's for sure. But I really don't care for the game that much..that's just me. Might play more as just something else to do, when I get sort of "bored" with NL. What is fun about 6-max limit, because you really get to play more hands and try to decipher what your opponents have. You see a lot of showdowns....or at least I do :)

BR - $13,500

That's really weird.

Today I lost about as much as I ever have in a single day, 10 buyins over about 4k hands. I'm not going to go into incredible detail about it, because it's not terribly interesting...the standard, a few coolers and a few possibly questionable plays. What's funny is even though I lost all that today, I'm still at the same BR amount that I was at as of my last post. That's almost reassuring, which means I've WON 10 buyins in the past week, I just lost them all back today which puts me at even for the week :)

I am almost complete with the bonus that I have been working on, and though today I was reconsidering taking my shot at 200NL with it, now that I think about it more I think I am going to...why do I need to sit forever at 100NL? I don't. If the shot goes bad, it's not like I'm busto or anything, I have a great BR cushion. Also fast approaching is the first of the milestone bonuses, and this first one will be worth $2000. Woot!

BR - $13.5k

13.5K and still at 100NL, wow

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Da GOAT

13.5K and still at 100NL, wow

---

Right, but I will definitely be taking 10k out to pay for school loans, which means I "technically" only have 3.5k disposable.

I've been getting beat down lately. Beat down badly.

I've come back to this thread several times in the past few days, and wanted to update my progress..but I didn't know what to say. I've dabbled in 200NL FR and had a good session or two, and a couple of bad sessions....I'm down a few buyins overall there. I'm still losing overall at 100NL FR, which is telling me that I should not be playing higher than 100 if I can't even beat that long term! I've pretty much failed my goal of winning 1PTBB/100, or even having a positive winrate. I read, I study, I try to decipher other people's hands. I try to play a level ahead of other people, but something just doesn't work. I am not going to blame things on bad luck, because that is too easy to do. I will just suffice to say that SOMETHING is not working, and that is that.



So.....



I'm changing it up again. I've looked over Sauce's Super-Simple guide to beating 6-Max Post-UIGEA and I am going to try and fully implement this style playing 100NL 6max, by strictly following this guide, and mold myself into a winning player. Here's my new mini-operation for September (which does not supercede any of my annual goals, this is just a set of new goals):

SEPTEMBER 2007 GOAL SET:

1.) Play 100,000 hands of WINNING 6-max 100NL by 9-tabling in the month of September. Anything above 0ptbb/100 is considered a success.

2.) Upload my hands from Poker Tracker nightly before bed. This will ensure a complete database.

3.) Learn Sauce's guide inside and out, and implement the ideas accordingly...especially paying attention to 3-betting players based on their potential ranges.

4.) Review, post, and discuss hands much more than I have been doing. This will be the loosest of the goals, but nevertheless important.


I am a competitor, and I will beat my competition.

GL on your new operation. 6 max is a much tougher game than FR so don't get too discouraged if you don't win right away. Stick to it, however, and you should be fine.

Setzy: I think 9-tabling right when you start 6max might be a little ambitious. Maybe start with 4-6 and work you way up. Just a thought. GL.

I agree with zook, 9-tabling 6-max when you first make the switch sounds like highway to burnout. Personally I play 6-8 tables and I think I shouldn't play more than 6, as my play deteriorates above that. Sooo hard not to sit at 8 when the fish are out in force though.

Just because it may not already be clear...I'm not brand spankin new to 6-max, I've already logged probably 50k hands lifetime at various limits...

And you're talkin to the guy who has 12-tabled FR forever, and 9 6-max tables are a similar amount of hands per hour. I've already made an agreement with a friend that if this side operation doesn't go as I want it to, then I'm going to severely cut down my tables to 4 and focus HARD CORE on my game. Seems like with the new guidelines I'm using however, that I'm not playing a ton of hands and can concentrate on seeing more what my opponents are up to.

Anyhow, today's my 25th birthday and I'm going to eat with the family and enjoy a nice slow day, which is going to put me behind on my 100k track. Tomorrow I will be going to the casino to stay for an undetermined amount of time, further putting my operation behind. I knew this going in though, so I will just have to put in a few extra hours to get where I need to be. Once I get back from the trip, I'll probably have to log a minimum of 5 hours per day to reach my goal.

Happy birfday! Halfway to 50, eh? :D

9 tabling six max isn't even comparable to 12 tabling full ring.

don't forget that your vpip will be about 1/3 higher in six max.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HalvSame

Happy birfday! Halfway to 50, eh? :D

---

Yeah, quarter of a freakin' century..

Casino went well, won a couple hundo at 1/2 300 Max. Would have won several buyins worth, but when you see 40 hands per hour and you're getting lovely hands like T4o and stuff that adds up to numbers between 9 and 12 that don't connect it's not easy to pile up a win. Suited cards were unheard of :) Had one of the best tables ever - position on two insanely drunk dudes basically in a huge pissing contest from the time I sat down till when I left....dude on my left blind straddling to 35 three or more hands per orbit, and I couldn't capitalize in FOUR hours of play. Misplayed one hand pretty badly that I won, missed some serious value... but you never know. The villain was actually pretty good, he may not have called a river bet....but who knows. I was expecting worse play at the casino....several tight players, but still some pretty serious fish. Anyhow my winnings paid for my trip and food and I still have some left over that I'll go spend on something or other, haven't decided what yet.

In response to Renton, I'm following Sauce's strategy and my VPIP is actually less than it was using my own style playing FR. I was running about 17% VPIP 12-tabling FR and so far I'm 15% VPIP at 6-max. Gonna start a late night session and see where things end up.

Best of luck Setzy... I'm always a fan of your blog because I feel like your changing decisions about what stakes you are playing are very similar to my own.

I constantly feel like I need to change things up but I never seem to get anywhere and I end up back at FR. I guess it's due to the fact that I've played so much multi-table FR, that the swings and such are expected and therefore don't really bother me. Playing FR I KNOW that I won't have winning sessions all the time... 3-4 losing sessions in a row might be a touch frustrating, but nothing to send me packing.

I think it's great that you've added a hand count to your goal this time. Stick with it! No matter what happens. Maybe change the stakes or number of tables, but stick with it. I have to imagine that is the only way to get unstuck from the depths of FR monotony.

Another hangup for me is that somewhere in the back of my head I think that by switching games I'll find this pocket of free money because all of the other players are donks... which is not really the case. For example, I constantly read that 6-max is the bomb and that FR is the suck. So, I decide... "Ya know FR is getting a little stale.. maybe i'll give 6max a shot"... however i think somewhere in the back of my head I'm thinking... "I'm gonna pwn 'des fools for like eleventy billion ptBB... mwwahahaha..." and when I have a losing session or breakeven session I tend to feel like I played like shit and I don't know what I'm doing and run back to the safe recesses of the FR. Do you detect anything like this in your attempts to change up your game??

Best of luck.

Kingnat, yeah. You and I are born of the same mold or something.

I used to look for that "donk money" in every corner, as soon as I went on a downswing or got bored. In my experience so far, FR is the easiest game to just sit and rack up tons and tons and tons of hands. 6-max plays quickly, but seems to be a bit more draining as far as having to put people on hands and pay attention to the goings-on that happens in each hand.

You read "Better players make more money at 6-max" a lot...but I go and play 6-max and the majority of the time I don't see myself winning tons more when I'm on a rush than I do playing FR. When you lose you just want to make it go away, to do something to win...anything!

I remember one time when I went to play 6-max after getting tired of FR. I played for a couple days, heavily multi-tabling...can't even remember how many it was, like 9 or 10 or something. Anyhow things go well for a while, then I notice a guy that's playing back at me on a this one table in particular, I see how aggressive he is and I'm like "Okay, he's raising with all kinds of junk, can't wait till I get something great and get paid off!"

A while later I pick up JJ and get reraised for the millionth time, get it all in preflop and the guy has me dominated with QQ. Ran straight back to the warm, fuzzy bosom of FR DIRECTLY after that hand. I made a mistake, but instead of trying to learn from it I just went back to what felt safe and easy.

This project I'm seriously trying to learn. I do believe I have good hand selection, decent table selection (improved in the past few months), good understanding of hand ranges based on betting patterns, and I'm learning more about NL postflop play shorthanded, which is something I did not have much experience with. It's just putting all the pieces together that seems to be my problem.

I went on a heater and my PokerTracker broke because it was so amazed to see me winning, so now I can't upload and post stats! I have to look into this, but right now I've been too busy playing and working on my next Bonus!

Looking forward majorly to the HU tourney, I think it's going to be a good structure and I hope I win the damn thing :)

I think I've learned something important about 100NL 6-max, and that is that the majority of players are good at preflop and flop playing, but the majority of them don't understand what to do if you don't continuation bet (if you mix up your play on them). I've now tried to take the best part of Sauce's guide and supplant it with my own ideas about how to play optimally at 6-max, and I've run much better since trying to completely run everybody over with over-aggression.

The latest Bonus has prompted me to play a lot of hands, but I'm still very far behind the monthly goal. Now with PT messing up on me, I can't even be sure how many hands I've even played! The number is just a number though, and if I make myself into a winning player it's more important than just playing X amount of hands.

PT's still acting up, and I haven't made an active effort to try and diagnose the problem. Every time I load any HH I get an error screen and it lists the HH with some other junk on it and says to check my error log and send it along with the HH to someplace...whatever.

Finished a bonus today. I haven't played as much as I wanted because I was helping my family with some things, but the times I've played I feel productive and efficient. Reading hands well, making some good calls, a few not so good calls, and playing pretty solid overall.

It's nice to see that I'm well on track to doing what I planned for my annual goals. I have a couple long-term money goals that I'm about to set, but that may not be until the end of the year...have to stay focused.

:dance:

So yeah, I got nowhere near my 100k. But that's really all bad I have to say.

I started a new database after I read the PT files, send out an email and found out my DB was full or whatever....loaded my September hands and it showed I have a positive winrate after 60k hands played this month!

Let me review my goals from September:

1.) Play 100,000 hands of WINNING 6-max 100NL by 9-tabling in the month of September. Anything above 0ptbb/100 is considered a success. Failed, but I did play 60k hands of winning poker.

2.) Upload my hands from PT nightly before bed. This will ensure a complete database. Complete! I am current on my database (though I was a bit behind when it screwed up halfway through the month)

3.) Learn Sauce's guide inside and out, and implement the ideas accordingly...especially paying attention to 3-betting players based on their potential ranges. Complete! I learned this guide very well, and though I guess I was running somewhat bad during the first part of the month when I was trying to implement it word for word, I ended up putting my own spin on it which turned my game around a whole lot.

4.) Review, post, and discuss hands much more than I have been doing. This will be the loosest of the goals, but nevertheless important. Semi-Complete! I reviewed more hands than I have in the past, and I discussed a lot of hands, albeit not on FTR...I didn't post a whole lot of hands, which is where the "Semi" comes into play.

I'm going to take another 200NL shot starting at the beginning of October. I haven't set any goals yet, but I will.[/b]

My goals for October will be roughly the same as September, except playing 200NL, and the # of hands is not paramount. I would like to get in the 60k range again.

I started playing 200NL Saturday, won a few buyins the first night, and lost them all back tonight. I reviewed my hands in PT for tonight (good), and could account for pretty much the entirety of my losses (actually after a second review, more than my total losses) in coolers and beats. One hand I made a bad calldown against what I thought to be a bad, loose player but was actually a wolf in sheep's clothing. Live and learn.

I am especially proud of my mental state after losing a few buyins at my new level. I'm not scared or ready to move down. Tomorrow, I continue!

I'm pleased to report that after 13k hands I'm in the green (barely, but I am!) at 200NL/PL. After completely reviewing my 200NL/PL database I've found some interesting set over set data:

Had set over set 5 times, only 1 my way (due to a poorly played flop by a villain, where I turned the overset), and one of the other 4 (all flop oversets) I runnered cards for a flush versus his overset. So I'm quite negative in the set department, which should slightly be diminishing my winrate!

There aren't too many hands I have found myself completely lost on, there are a couple that I maybe should get some feedback on..but I have been discussing some hands at length with other people which I think really helps my game. Tomorrow I continue!

Quick 30k hand update. I'm still positive at 200NL but my winrate has dropped below 1ptbb. I've been reviewing HH's, looked at lots of hands, trying to make sure I'm not incorrectly folding some hands. There are definitely a few I would play different with new information (villain tendencies, stats, etc).

Never in my history of playing have I had KK be a loser, but in this database my KK is getting straight OWNED. I haven't won a full stack with it yet, and I've run KK into AA 5 times and won none of them. On the flip side my AA has run into KK 3 times and I've lost none of those.

One big thing about 200NL FR is that the play is very tight preflop, but at the same time very aggressive. The chances to "set mine" are slimmer when you get 3-bet after raising a pp unless you're fairly deep. It's harder, but I do enjoy the challenge...and I feel myself improving as a player.

Still floating along. Had a good day yesterday, today was pretty breakeven. Starting to really feel comfortable with everything, which is the typical sign of me getting used to the stakes. Some things I've noticed about 200NL FR:

Players are much more aggressive preflop than 100NL FR. You see a lot more reraising and raising over a raiser and a coldcaller than at 100.

It seems players at 200NL float on low paired boards quite often if they have a low pocket pair. For example, if somebody limps and I raise whatever, they call and the flop comes 44J, quite often they check-call whatever low pair they have. I'm somewhat struggling with whether to try and push these people off their moderately weak hands, IF I even can (thinking most are putting me on AK or unpaired high cards after calling with the paired board). I'm becoming quite proficient at bluffing scare cards on the turn, but I think my river play still lacks somewhat.

I do notice that players seem to read me better than at 100NL. Not sure how true this is, but on the whole the regulars are just a little more competent, and the fish just a little less plentiful.

To me it's still frustrating to see so many pots get shipped away from me when I lose with the best hand and the money going in, but I don't think it happens to the extent that my winrate is terribly untrue. I'm not a huge winner, I never have been! But I am growing as a player...because if I still played at the level I did a while back, I would be getting slaughtered.

I'm on a nice upswing at the moment, so I can't complain about much. Just trying to keep an even keel and make sure I'm playing excellent poker all-around.

Yesterday I played my first ever $11R and cashed, but didn't go deep. The later half of this month I've been playing a lot of different games...cheapo turbo SNGs, 6-max LHE, 100 and 200NL FR, a few 3k starting chip and a few rebuy tournaments....just keeping myself fresh. I've grinded quite a bit and I want to make sure I can keep doing it, plus play well in other games too.

I keep thinking I should be posting HHs where I have questions, but really I don't have questions about much. There are a few times when I've put in more money than PNL says I should in a hand and then fold, but I think they are completely obvious spots (like easy double barrels or bluffs and I get called or raised)....so I'm not really sure what to post about. I'll think more on this.

I'm no omaha expert, but I think this is a pretty bad loss, right?

PokerStars Game #12670719976: Tournament #63858977, $20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level VII (150/300) - 2007/10/16 - 21:34:01 (ET)
Table '63858977 9' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: SHUASHUA (27221 in chips)
Seat 2: xxxDACxxx (13510 in chips)
Seat 3: SetzerMason (3130 in chips)
Seat 4: elvis76 (8242 in chips)
Seat 5: nsinger (9440 in chips)
Seat 6: NedaikDue (42368 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: ropeymove5 (16396 in chips)
Seat 8: antone45 (85492 in chips)
Seat 9: DirtyEars (6593 in chips)
xxxDACxxx: posts small blind 150
SetzerMason: posts big blind 300
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SetzerMason [Th Jh 7d 7c]
elvis76: folds
nsinger: folds
NedaikDue: folds
ropeymove5: folds
antone45: folds
DirtyEars: folds
SHUASHUA: folds
xxxDACxxx: calls 150
SetzerMason: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ts 3h 7h]
xxxDACxxx: bets 600
SetzerMason: raises 1800 to 2400
xxxDACxxx: raises 1800 to 4200
SetzerMason: calls 430 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Ts 3h 7h] [3s]
SetzerMason said, "i got a million cards that hit"
*** RIVER *** [Ts 3h 7h 3s] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
xxxDACxxx: shows [Td Jd 3c 3d] (four of a kind, Threes)
SetzerMason: shows [Th Jh 7d 7c] (a full house, Sevens full of Threes)


pokenum -o td jd 3c 3d - th jh 7d 7c -- ts 3h 7h
Omaha Hi: 820 enumerated boards containing Ts 7h 3h
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
3c Jd Td 3d 39 4.76 769 93.78 12 1.46 0.055
7c 7d Jh Th 769 93.78 39 4.76 12 1.46 0.945

hey havent you played on titan??

can i datamine there?? doesnt look like it.

Never played on Titan, I got no idea!

So last night I won a 600BB pot, easily the biggest of my poker career. I'm still doing fairly well at 200NL overall, put in a very long session yesterday and finished up several buyins. There is something to be said about implied odds...at 200NL there are actually opportunities to play somewhat deepstacked, and actually call a reraise or two. Starting off with only 100BB there isn't much you can do when somebody pops you to 14bb preflop and you're holding a low pp.

I'm very happy at the moment, but not content by any means. I definitely don't want to fall into the trap of "hey I'm doing well, I must be the best player ever!" I'm still not a great player. I may be playing well and running decently, but there are always things to learn.

Still doing well, and I am very pleased with my results since September. I have 100k hands spread around various limits, and in all of them combined I'm winning just over 2ptbb/100. Man, if I'm really good enough to sustain this (or even IMPROVE), I'm very excited!

I've been mixing in some PLO games when I feel like getting away from Hold'Em for a while. PLO is a very fun game, and I see how it could get very swingy. When I play I've been playing 6-max and yesterday I tried out HU for the first time. I tend to play extremely loose and aggressive since I play far less tables than I do at Hold'Em.

Well.

I took my first shot at 400NL today and decided to give myself a 2 buyin stop loss. Won some and lost some 4-tabling until I got about an hour in and lost a 60/40 flip in my favor and decided to quit down a buyin. I guess I have a "typical" bankroll to play 400NL but I have never been one for playing without a stockpile of buyins...so I think I will stick with 200NL until New Year's or so and then perhaps take another shot.

Right now I'm very close to getting to the 300k VPP Milestone and I would like to really grind it out and get that 400k by the end of the year. That's my end of the year goal, but I will post a November goal or two in the next few days.

Well, after donking around at Limit Hold'Em tonight I've realized my game sucks there, especially shorthanded, and I'm great at blowing through tons of BB in a short amount of time...so I'm barring myself from Limit. I want to play loose, and everybody shows up with top pair every hand :)

Enough whining, this post isn't about that, it's about November goals! But let's go back and examine how we did in September.

I played about 60k hands, so that is good...I played winning poker, and that is also good.

For November I want to get to 350k VPP so I can make a run for 400k by the end of the year. Right now I'm sitting about 5k shy of 300k. I really need to stay away from everything else except Omaha and play FR Holdem.

Have another winning month, and continue to beat up 200NL.

Keep reading and reviewing...I've slacked off some on reviewing but I should get back into it this week. I read the forums constantly and absorb ideas, which is good.

Monetarily I'm set as far as where I wanted to be for this year, and the Bonuses I accrue by the end of the year should leave me with enough money to be able to play 200NL and not have to drop down. YES!

Halfway through November and I'm almost exactly halfway to my monthly goal of 350k VPP. This month has been very breakeven and uneventful, for the most part. I took a relative hiatus for a few days because I went to visit my parents. They have dialup internet, which takes a lot of patience if you want to play any poker...I'm glad to be back home to play, to say the least.

My FPP are racking up because I haven't cashed any in for a while. I played the Sunday Million via FPP satellite a few weeks ago, busted in hour 2, and that's all I've done with them lately. I sort of have a bad MTT taste in my mouth because of a lot of my recent failures. It's no problem, because I still have cash that I've yet to tire of.

I will be moving at the end of the year, and I need to make a list of things that I will be needing for my new place. I plan on having that done in the next day or two.

As Doc Holiday says to Wyatt in Tombstone, "Wyatt, I am rolling."

I'm playing well and running well for the past bit. I dare say that I'm playing the best I've ever played. I don't have much to update, other than I'm still on track for 350k VPP this month, and 400k for the year. Really need to update PT, as I've slacked off on that.

In somewhat related news, I'm looking for a place to live, and I'm not sure how to go about telling these potential renters of my "occupation". Any ideas?

Tell them you are a pornstar

Do a Freddie Deeb...tell them you are a freelance investment manager and risk analyser :)

November was good. The start of December has been pretty garbage.

I got to 350k VPP, and now I want to finish the 400k by the end of the year. Yesterday I played a huge session of 400NL and ended up -$80, after losing 4 buyins at 200NL earlier in the day. Not the best of starts to this month. Today I donked off a buyin at 400NL calling an aggressive player's allin on the flop with an OESD and two overs, figuring maybe I had 14 outs....turns out he had top set and I didn't improve. Just another hand really, not very exciting.

I want to have a third straight winning month, so I need to climb out of this mini-hole I've started in. I have lost some 90-10 favorites over the past few days, so I think I'm getting my money in good most of the time. I'm second guessing myself about taking out for the school loans thing...maybe I could use my money better in my roll. Hard to say.

Gotta think more about that. The grind continues!

I don't know how tournament players don't go absolutely batshit insane. I decide to play the $11R for some "fun", first non VIP tourney I've played in over a month. Hour 2 I'm doing ok and playing totally snug, get this gem:

SOUND THE BAD BEAT ALARM, but he's got an OESD!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button (t26825)
SB (t14190)
Hero (t10540)
UTG (t14215)
UTG+1 (t17905)
MP1 (t5035)
MP2 (t47180)
MP3 (t13200)
CO (t9490)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif.
UTG calls t400, UTG+1 calls t400, 6 folds, Hero raises to t2000, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls t1600.

Flop: (t4600) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/heart.gif, Thttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (2 players)
Hero bets t2550, UTG+1 calls t2550.

Turn: (t9700) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...iles/spade.gif (2 players)
Hero bets t5965 (All-In), UTG+1 calls t5965.

River: (t21630) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...miles/club.gif (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t21630

KJo ftw, I forget to post results like a dumbass.

I should put a bounty out for anyone seeing me playing tournaments.

Cashed some money out a while back and I've swapped some. Hit a bad run yesterday and broke even today. Pretty boring really. Still playing fine. Lost what "seems" like a lot of flips, but I haven't reviewed enough to see the good from the bad. I have serious doubts about going for Supernova Elite next year.

Are you gonna make 400k VPP?

Yeah man, we made it!

I reached 400k VPP early Christmas morning, and none too soon. I'm in the midst of moving and have played very little since then. I think having an extra-large bonus to clear will be a great propulsion to start fast out of the gate in 2008. I'm buying a desk and a new computer system (dual monitors!) to have a better poker-playing atmosphere than the one I currently reside in.

In non-poker news I had an excellent Christmas, spent a lot of quality time with my mom and dad, and enjoyed a great dinner. I received a lot of thoughtful presents (and none very big, which I planned so I didn't have to move a bunch of stuff).

A week or so before Christmas I also had "the talk" with my dad about playing poker as a source of income, and my goals and plans for life. It was a huge load off because I wasn't exactly sure how he was going to respond. Turns out he was way more understanding and supportive than I expected, which now makes me feel bad that I didn't go on earlier and explain my ideas to him. I had made the communication roadblock, not him.

Here's the beginning post I made for my 2007 goals:

Overall goals for 2007:

#1. ) Pay off my school loans entirely. I have the required monies, which I was right is almost exactly 10k. I haven't withdrawn the money from my BR yet, but it is available and not really being used in my current games, so that's complete!

#2. ) Continue to fund bills with poker. I already have a decent amount set aside, enough to last me for a good while. Complete, and it looks like that isn't going to change anytime soon!

#3. ) Work on my tournament game. Even though it seems to be the concensus that the "real" money is in cash games, I have always felt like my tournament game was nothing special and I want to feel the magic of making final tables and hopefully winning a MTT. How exactly I will go about this I haven't decided yet..I may spend a full month on exclusively tourneys. I'm still winless in MTTs, and I've turned my gaze pretty strictly toward cash. I think this the best way for me to win consistently, sticking to one discipline.

#4. ) Begin saving (post school loan payment), for a vehicle. What kind or price range is undetermined at this point. When I complete #1, I will decide more on this. My BR is large enough to support buying a car and paying off those school loans, so complete!

#5. ) Continue to track my progress as I have done, and increase my winrate by learning how to play against my opponents better. I think I've done this better than anything else. I believe I know how to play against most all of the regulars at my limits in a +EV fashion. My winrate has increased throughout the year.

No 2008 goals in this post. But it's coming.

How much is the 400k VPP bonus?

400k VPP bonus is $4,000.

It's that time, time for 2008 goals!

Okay. I'm purposely not playing tonight or tomorrow. Actually, internet isn't being installed in my house until Jan. 2 so I'm going to start a day behind..but I'm going to GO FOR SUPERNOVA ELITE!

For those readers who may be unfamiliar with how the PokerStars VIP system works, players who accumulate 1 million VPPs over the course of 1 year get the title of "Supernova Elite". I think there were about 40 Elites this year total. Next year there will undoubtedly be more.

Milestone Bonuses will be some of the carrots dangling in front of me to keep me going for the duration of the year. With the changes to Stars' VIP system for 2008, here will be the milestones for me to accumulate:

200k VPP - $2,000
300k VPP - $3,000
400k VPP - $4,000
500k VPP - $5,000
600k VPP - $6,000
800k VPP - $8,000

Total Milestones - $28,000

I'm building a new computer system, which actually I need to start doing very soon. It's going to have dual monitors so I can effectively multitable BETTER than I have in the past, and also hopefully include more tables without any loss in productivity. Honestly I think I could handle 24 tables on 2 larger screens much easier than 16 on 1 smaller one.

This is a pretty huge commitment, and it really should be the cornerstone for my future endeavours. With my potential profits from playing and the bonuses I hope to earn enough money to not only continue playing poker professionally, but have enough to support living (which I have been doing, that's nothing new), and save for buying and outfitting an entire home.

The only goal that I have that trumps going for Elite is to remain a winning player. I cannot turn into a losing player. There really is no room for regression. I study, play and know enough to be a winning player at the limits I currently play.

Going for Elite will require an average of 2732.24 VPP per day (it's a leap year!). I've set myself in a good work environment where I can rest well, work well, study well, and party a bit less.

Getting Elite will give me entries to a couple major tournaments, which means I will get to travel and enjoy a few vacations in 2009. Most likely if I get Elite it will probably only be for one year. The only major vacation I have planned for 2008 is to go to the WSOP and play in at least one event, probably over a 5 day period.

Okay, so a short summary:

Goal 1: Remain a winning player.

Goal 2: Acquire 1 MILLION vpp in 2008 (Supernova Elite!)

Goal 3: Travel to Vegas and play a WSOP event and have fun.

So that's it for me. Expect frequent updates.

Awesome work Setzy! Good luck in 2008.

Definetely go to Monte Carlo if you get Elite, it sounds super sick.

4 days have passed in 2008 and I have 8k VPP. I didn't get internet installed until the 2nd, so in 3 days of playing I have earned pretty much the required VPP. That's good because I haven't put in any marathon sessions or really long sessions yet.

Been playing 400NL more. I've been beating it, so when the games are available I tend to go toward that. I also have a tendency to want to quit sooner when I play 400NL, though. Tomorrow will probably entail a very long 200NL session.

Lately I've been trying to wrap my head around a better course of action to take in 3-bet pots. I think there is a ton of money to be won in these midstakes games by winning pots not going to showdown. "Typical" players have a pretty easy to read 3-bet range, and I really need to take advantage of board textures better in a few spots. Not a major flaw in my game, but definitely something I can improve upon.

In other news, I've also ordered my new computer system!!! I will have 2 22" Samsung widescreen monitors to go one of the new generation of motherboard/processors. Kick in a couple gigs of RAM and I may actually try to play some newer computer games.

And tomorrow, I'm going to win the Supernova VIP tourney(well, try anyway :)).

My new computer is nice. Too bad I haven't been winning much on it! Two days ago I got beat down for just over 2k, which was a new record setting day for a loss for me. I've finally caught myself with part of my "problems" I've been having. Needless to say it's something I'm going to stay away from in the future.

Three-part good news: First part is that today I rebounded well from the prior day's loss. Didn't quite recoup the full amount of losses, but it's a start. The second good news is that I hit the 50K VPP mark, which is ahead of where I need to be to get to Elite! I'm playing more with the dual monitors and logging decently long sessions with a bunch of hands. The third good news is, I'm not getting burned out. I'm putting in more hands than I need to, which means I can get on track for Elite and have plenty of time to spare!

All in all things are good. Playing poker professionally has its merits, even with some disadvantages. But what DOESN'T have disadvantages in some way?

Setzy, I'm thoroughly impressed man.

I sure wish I could figure out what I'm missing in my game... can you give some brief description of the kind of things you were doing when you got over the 100NL hump? Did you start thinking about certain things in your game in a different way? If you can't think of anything it's no big deal I'd just thought I'd tap your brain a touch.

In my opinion, 100NL is the first place you need to put on the "one level more" cap. Some players, and I can't stress SOME as the operative word here, start to think about 'Hey, he's probably got this, so maybe he's thinking I have this'.

At Stars in particular, there are regulars abound. It's paramount you realize who these people are. That doesn't mean avoid them, it means know what certain people are capable of, and know what certain people aren't. There are regulars at 100NL that will 3-bet you with more than just AA/KK, and there are regulars that just flat out WILL NOT do it.

Getting over the hump takes quite a bit of work. At FR, understanding the "monster lines", such as villain limp-calls preflop, check-calls a rainbow flop, and check-minraises the turn....usually a set. Using PAHud (or whatever the graphical interface thing is you use) is a big help in determining aggressive players from passive ones, and helps you adjust accordingly.

Honestly, I think knowing the players and really, Sauce's 6-MAX guide (which I used at 6-max then turned out and implemented parts of it into my FR game) were two of the big things that got me just slightly ahead of the curve.

Excellent, I recall you implementing the 6max into your FR game. I'll have to read up on that again.

Thanks.. and best of luck at SNE.

I'm ridiculously far ahead of the SNE pace right now. Over at 2+2 one guy that works for Stars posts the VPP leaders every day. I'm not in the top ten, but it's not too far behind. The other day he posted that there are currently 93 players on pace for SNE.

At my current pace I'll be done before the end of September, lol :)

But that's what I wanted. I want to get ahead, so I can slack off a little bit in the middle. Honestly if I nail it down and get really far ahead, and get done a few months early, I may contemplate actually getting the next bonus AFTER 1 million VPP, which is 1.25m. THAT bonus is $10,000. That's a lot of money, well it is to me :) At my current rates, I'm on pace. To be brutally honest, I'm not 100% I can keep up this pace. What would probably be best for me is if I set aside blocks of real time to play, instead of just getting on here and there and whenever. For now it's okay, but we'll see. I may plan something out here in the foreseeable future.

I''ve been winning in the games I'm playing, which means I'm not just a rakeback baby either! My winrates are lower than the last few months of the year, and I'm not 100% I can attribute that to any one thing in particular. I got a new computer, (dual monitors!) , I tried playing more tables and had to see how many I can really play without screwing everything up, I'm still fine tuning my game (as one always should be), and I'm learning. I'm learning a lot, which is good.

But anyhow, I'm super tired, so that's all for now. The quest continues...

Best month ever. Most hands played, most money made. The trick is to not get stagnant and happy just because I'm winning. I'm concentrating on different aspects of my game and making adjustments that I think are useful for the games I am playing in.

I am over 100K VPP, and tomorrow I have a day off. Going to spend some quality time with my mom. It'll be good for me. Hopefully February is just as successful for me in the poker world....updates to come.

Re-read my entire thread just now. Wow at how much I've changed in just under 2 years.

I resolve not to complain so much in the future. Holy shit, that is barely worth reading, and if even *I* don't want to read it, I'm sure nobody else gives a damn!

Instead, a good update for you. I'm still well ahead of SNE pace, and even though I started off February really in the hole in allin equity (thanks PokerEV), one session tonight I absolutely rocked out and put myself back into a great position for the month. Rock on, peeps.

Had a decent upswing and downswing in the past week. My all-in equity has evened out and I've been sitting on a more "usual" winrate, closer to what I've had in the past. For the past few days though it's just been down and then trying to break out of the funk and move up instead of sideways.

After promptly losing some buyins in my evening session at 400NL, I closed down my games and went and played less tables at 600NL. I think if I weren't going for SNE I might stick with the higher limit games. The thing is, in order to balance my VPP requirements while still maintaining a winning pace is actually quite a challenge. I have found I really can't go above 18-tabling. I guess it's because of the dual-monitors, there's too much mouse movement in any given time. So, like I was doing tonight playing 9 tables of 600NL, I think I could better maximize my $/hr than playing 18 400NL. It's definitely possible if I 9-tabled 400NL I could have a better hourly than I do 18-tabling, but anything less and I'm not going to be able to make SNE.

HUDs are nice and playing against other players on a regular basis I think is helping me make better and better decisions on a case-by-case basis rather than generalizations. I think I play excellently against shortstacks, to my own credit.

I'm just thinking aloud, really. Sometimes I feel like I would play better without fullstacking in the games I play in. Oftentimes with certain players 100BB just never goes in without a nuts/2nd nuts or set over set cooler situation. That's not too often, though. I'm getting better at recognizing tendencies, and especially getting late position raisers off my blinds. There's just so much room for improvement, little things...

Almost elementary sometimes, I wonder about my c-bet frequencies. Do I bet in the right spots? Should I check more, should I raise here, etc. I go through this thought in my head, am I zigging when I should be zagging? Sometimes that's what it feels like. Sometimes you feel like you're working against the grain of everything that's going on, and sometimes it's like a perfect puzzle piece, and everything fits. I think that's the essence of variance.

Very nice thread Setz. I hope you make it and move up so I can stop folding my small blind to you when you are BB. Seriously though, you've been playing well lately from what I've seen so keep it up.

Bump

Just read the thread, Setzy. Inspiring stuff. And not too much complaining, really, it just lets the rest of us know downswings are part of the game.

Good luck on SNE!!

Let's update.

Still on pace. I actually have taken a very active interest in decreasing my losses from the blinds. I feel this is keeping me from having a higher winrate and with some adaptation and adjustments I can change that to increase my winrate pretty significantly.

I watched Sauce's 6-MAX 2-table video located here: http://www.flopturnriver.com/poker-v...deo-NHC023.php
and it is a GREAT listen. The actual action on the tables is somewhat limiting, but the depth and the discussion outside of the hands, the talk about ranges and isolation, is pure gold. Watch it and learn...I think I will be able to slightly improve from it as well!

I was explaining to my roommate (non-poker player) today about poker's stresses and how going for SNE makes things somewhat harder than for the typical player. SNE grinders can't just go off and quit for a while just because they had a few bad hands, a bad run, a downswing or anything else. You have to grind it out, with minimal breaks. This I think is part of why SNE can be a huge pitfall for some players. You get obsessed with the status, with the points, and may lose focus on the most important thing: WINNING.

Quote:

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I wrote:
Sometimes I feel like I would play better without fullstacking in the games I play in.

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Well, after some debate I made a decision: To start shortstacking.

I don't think you'll get too many people that readily admit to it...because of the stigma attached, but whatever, I don't care. I'm a ratholer, 20bb'er, get in and get out'er, take your money and run guy now. I've really decided to break down the mathematical part of the game and try to create a great situation for myself. And you know what, I like it. I actually like it a lot. And I think I'm terrible at it right now, with a lot of room for improvement.

Still on pace. I'm a grinder for sure!

WOW!... This is surprising. I'd love to hear more about this.. the stakes you are currently playing.. the success you've had the stats, etc. If you don't feel comfortable putting it all up here maybe we could chat on AIM or something...

GLGLGL

PM me 'Nat, I'll tell you some more details.

I don't understand how you go from one of the bigger winners at your limit to deciding to short stack?

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Originally Posted by meeloche

I don't understand how you go from one of the bigger winners at your limit to deciding to short stack?

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You make it sound like I caught some sort of disease. Shortstackers are people too!

I tell you one of the things that's great about being a short stack player. You're rarely ever left wondering "what if?" To me, I hate making the wrong decision in a hand.

I played some fullstack tonight. In one hand, I 3-bet QQ on the button a little over 100bb deep versus an early position raiser and a coldcaller. I believe the play is fairly +EV with oftentimes me taking down the whole pot uncontested. I know the coldcaller, but the initial raiser I'm not familiar with. He 4-bets when the action gets back to him and I go from happy to sad, and fold.

With a short stack, I don't have to worry about it. At that point, I'm already committed (or all in, depending on stack size). It's very easing on the mind. Like I say, I don't like making bad decisions, and a lot of times I hate having that "well, what if" lingering in the back of my mind. What if sucks.

Is there bigger money to be made on the turn and river versus less competent players? Sure. Is there money to be made playing deep versus idiots? Yes. Just because you play shortstack doesn't mean you can't play deep, buy in for more money, and adjust accordingly.

It's a different skill set, in my opinion. In FR, let's face it, the majority of players are just waiting on a set to crack somebody's overpair, or some other cooler situation. Shortstacking can't do that. You have to find hands that you perceive to be ahead of other's ranges, situations where you think players are calling lightly or lighter preflop and you can squeeze money out of them. It's somewhat like playing MTT's, I guess...rebuy MTTs :)

Glad to hear you are still on pace. What are the actual numbers at this point?

I played at a couple of your tables tonght and noticed your short stacking methods.... You really think you can attain SE by shorting the 200nl FR tables? how many tables/hands/day are you playing?

im guessing you are around 250k vpp?

When I first started shortstacking I was running above equity, and my winrate was a bit bloated. The good thing is I never got in some sort of delusion (like I used to do at other limits) and think, "Wow, this is SO beatable! I can do this forever!" It just doesn't work like that. Poker is swingy, and your (my?) edge at shortstacking is easily negated by running bad in all-in pots. The past four days have been just like that, after almost two solid weeks of straight winning.

But sometimes when I used to lose I wasn't sure, or I would change things up, look for the out, for the answer. Sometimes there is no answer, except hang on tight...it's going to be a bumpy ride! I'm extremely proud of myself for a few reasons during my first downswing at shortstacking, which I want to express.

Numero Uno, I've handled myself well. It's harder to make completely terrible decisions shortstacking because the money isn't so deep, but there are still mistakes that you can easily make. I'm very proud of keeping my head up, grinding, and believing in what I've done.

Numero Dos, I did an EXTENSIVE review of the game I had been playing the past four days compared to the game I had been playing for two weeks prior to that. I did find a spot or two where I had been just ever so slightly deviating from my normal "winning" style from before. It's since been corrected.

But it's great, because I can seriously show that the basis of my downswing in its current form is due to running bad in equity and not in playing poorly. I think fullstacking is much much harder to show that, because you play with deeper money, and digging out specific hands where you lose your shirt can very well be a pain...such as: are my implied odds good enough with this much money behind, does my shove have enough fold equity, do I use position well enough in these spots versus certain players? They are things you have to consider shortstacking as well, but implied odds are pretty much out the window.

At all da questions:

Saucy/will: This month I haven't logged as many hands (studying poker more and playing a little less), but I've really cranked up the volume here lately. Just unfortunate I haven't been running better...but it will change. I'll hit 300k VPP in the first week of April.

BankIt: In a word, yeah. In all honesty I'm still experimenting. Coincidentally my downswing "started" when I added more tables, but I've checked everything to make sure my game isn't suffering because of them.

So yeah, that's what's up.

Well I haven't updated in a while. I'm still shorting the games, and I'm doing okay. My winrate is pretty similar, a little less than what I expected overall, but I'm still winning, and I'm still learning. I'm trying to find the balance of when to resteal rather than fold versus people raising or limping in early position, I think that's one of my bigger problems at the moment. I've actually been losing over the course of the month out of UTG+1, which is kind of weird. It's not a great amount, but my w@sd is atrocious from that position, so I figure it's probably due to mainly that. I was comparing my winnings shortstacking vs. fullstacking the larger games earlier in the year, and it's pretty comparable.

I do sometimes feel that urge to fullstack. I think it's me wanting to break the mold, to play a bunch of hands and go all LAG. Maybe it's an offsuit, strange version of tilt. My bread and butter is TAG and always has been...maybe it's just me wanting to learn more of different angles of the game. I've studied shortstacking inside and out and the how's and why's behind it.

Outside poker everything else is fine. I booked my WSOP trip to Vegas for June 11-18. I think I'm going to look at buying a car sometime in the fairly near future. I'd also like to buy a camera for my trip. In addition, I'm still on pace for SNE! Things are pretty good in the Setzy camp.

Starting May 1 I went back to fullstacking to see if I could kill the games. I figure with enough effort and study that I will be one of the better regulars in the game. I think I'm doing pretty well, but I'm losing! Yesterday I got murdered for 11 buyins, wiping out pretty much everything I'd done this month and then some. Earlier in the month I had found some leaks in my game and have been working on plugging those, but today I gave away some money I shouldn't have, and that won't happen again.

I've come to find that the 400NL FR games are not easy. Getting paid is quite difficult, actually. The games are pretty infested with regular multitablers and the majority of them are that TAGtastic 12-18vpip/10-15 pfr type that is so popular at FR...perfect for playing boatloads of tables. I have found a few things I think to put me ahead of the curve, and been working on identifying a lot of player-specific tendencies. Speaking of which, I'm off to review.

Thanks for the update Setzy! That sounds a bit rough, but I know you can pull it through.

How's the pace going for SNE? Any comments or reflections would be great to hear about!

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Getting paid is quite difficult, actually

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The profitability of shortstacking is directly related to how often villains fold. Places where people complain about not getting paid are where I do the best. Try buying in for about 40-50bb. You will begin to profit from people folding too much.