The 2013 Diary of a Semi-LAG Tilt Monkey

Hello, and welcome to my 2013 blog!

The main aim of this blog is to track the things I’m learning through study and experience, so that I’m more inclined to do some study in the first place and more likely to learn if I’m forced to write something down. This will include study notes, hand analysis, book and video reviews and anything else I think of along the way. If the blog somehow helps any other improving players in the process, then all the better.

The second aim of this blog is to track my progress against the five poker goals detailed below. I’d like to think that with hard work and determination, the first four goals are more than achievable.

Finally, I’ll also be posting some irl stuff too, as 2013 is likely to be a busy year full of change.


2013 Poker Goals

1) Bankroll @$10k by the end of the year
Current bankroll is $3.6k and I’ll be disappointed if I don’t at least double my BR this year (as long as irl stuff doesn’t get in the way).

2) Obtain a win rate of a minimum of $15 per hour including rakeback

3) Beat 50nl by the end of the year over a decent sample
I’ve been playing 25nl for 2 months now and beginning to beat it, but I gather that 50nl is a big step up. I need to ensure I’ve obtained sufficient knowledge and experience to be ready for it and not be afraid to step down if I’m getting owned. Ideally, I’d like to be ready for 100nl by the end of the year.

4) Mix up the games I play
I think this will make me a better all-round player and ensure that I don’t get too jaded with 6-max. I won’t do this too often, but I think the main focus will be HUSNGs with some mtts and non-NLHE thrown in there for good measure.

5) Qualify for a decent live tournament e.g. the UKIPT
I thought I’d add this as I’d love to play a big, live mtt with a high buy in at least once in my life. I doubt I’ll achieve this goal this year given I find grinding mtts too time consuming and the variance a bitch, but I’ll certainly spend at least one or two months in 2013 giving this a right good go.


Current Issues

i) Tilt
I’d be amazed if there was a form of tilt that I haven’t exhibited at least once in the past couple of years of playing that has cost me a few buy-ins. Too tight, too loose, too passive, complete maniac, auto-piloting – you name it, I’ve done it. I’m getting a lot better at playing through the tilt as I become more experienced though and the impact is less severe, but I need to ensure that I continue to assess whether I’m on tilt in-play or sit out if I can’t shake off the tilt quickly - self-awareness of the issue is clearly the most important stage in the process.

ii) Not thinking creatively and exploiting player types often enough
I’ve been thinking a lot lately that ABC is only good enough up to a point i.e. mainly when trying to beat the fish. If I’m going to beat better regs as I move up, I’m going to need to think more creatively about how I can exploit that particular player more and should start experimenting sooner rather than later.

(iii) Not folding the river
I’ve got a bad habit of misapplying some new concepts I learn the first time of application, but one habit I’m struggling to get out of is when I add extra, unrealistic combos into a villain’s range on the river that turn a fold into a a call (probably out of some weird curiosity and need to prove myself right). This needs to stop asap and I need to just deal with laying down a big hand sometimes.


So that’s it for now – time to get to it!

tl;dr

1th. and enjoy working your way through the list.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

2013 Poker Goals

1) Bankroll @$10k by the end of the year
Current bankroll is $3.6k and I’ll be disappointed if I don’t at least double my BR this year (as long as irl stuff doesn’t get in the way).

2) Obtain a win rate of a minimum of $15 per hour including rakeback

3) Beat 50nl by the end of the year over a decent sample
I’ve been playing 25nl for 2 months now and beginning to beat it, but I gather that 50nl is a big step up. I need to ensure I’ve obtained sufficient knowledge and experience to be ready for it and not be afraid to step down if I’m getting owned. Ideally, I’d like to be ready for 100nl by the end of the year.

4) Mix up the games I play
I think this will make me a better all-round player and ensure that I don’t get too jaded with 6-max. I won’t do this too often, but I think the main focus will be HUSNGs with some mtts and non-NLHE thrown in there for good measure.

5) Qualify for a decent live tournament e.g. the UKIPT
I thought I’d add this as I’d love to play a big, live mtt with a high buy in at least once in my life. I doubt I’ll achieve this goal this year given I find grinding mtts too time consuming and the variance a bitch, but I’ll certainly spend at least one or two months in 2013 giving this a right good go.

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goals 1-3: crush them!
goal 4: be careful. I dumped quite a lot of money playing plo a couple of years ago for variety.
goal 5: this one is interesting. How about grinding some micro MTTs as part of goal 4. If you end up doing ok in this then maybe you'll be able to sell/swap some action in a live tourney? Do you have a local casino/poker room? go play some of their $40 36-mans or whatever similar it is that they offer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

Current Issues

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

i) Tilt
self-awareness is clearly most important

ii) Not thinking creatively and exploiting player types often enough
ABC evolves. Flop middle set, insta-raise TJ4cch becomes raise sometimes/call sometimes. Both become part of your new alphabet.

(iii) Not folding the river
people forget how aggressive folding is. I love making aggressive folds postflop...

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some comments inserted above

Thanks (as always) daven.

2013 has been fairly work intensive so far, but I've managed to squeeze in around 12 hours grinding out a reload bonus by 4-tabling 25nl Rush. 25nl Rush seems to play quite differently to the games on Stars and I've found adjusting to the more exaggerated player types on Rush challenging. The main issue I've found however, is that it's hard to work out exactly what style of player a particular villain is quickly and ABC is almost certainly a good idea early on (but I doubt I'll play a lot of this format in the future).

I've not undertaken any study so far this month but I've learnt a decent amount at the tables by taking some different lines. Quite a few of the lines I've taken haven't been successful, but I think it's important not to be scared of looking like an idiot at the tables sometimes and try out some of these things before it gets too expensive. Anyway, I'll post some of these hands here at some point over the next week and invite everybody to berate me over my play and thought process.

Finally, I started off 2013 by flopping a royal for the first time. I'm not happy with the way I play the hand for a number of reasons and clearly I miss a ton of value, but I''m surprised that all the money doesn't go in on the river (villain held kk).


BB ($30.69)
Hero (UTG) ($29.36)
MP ($47.15)
CO ($56.31)
Button ($41.71)
SB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
Hero bets $0.75, MP calls $0.75, 2 folds, SB calls $0.65, 1 fold

Flop: ($2.50) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP checks

Turn: ($2.50) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.75, MP calls $1.75, SB calls $1.75

River: ($7.75) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $7.75, MP calls $7.75, 1 fold

Total pot: $23.25

I've been thinking a lot about the following hand lately. It was clear villain's range was narrowed to JJ+ by the river and I grossly over-estimate my fold equity despite my line being strong. In reality, I know that trying to get villains to hero fold overpairs without reads is rarely worth the risk and this hand is therefore spew.

Fwiw, Villain is 13/10/7 over 30 hands and CO is 15/11/2 over 200 hands (pre-flop stats don't seem to be accurate on Rush).

Hero (Button) ($32.14)
SB ($26.10)
BB ($32.37)
UTG ($27.86)
MP ($35.65)
CO ($45.07)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif
2 folds, CO bets $0.75, Hero calls $0.75, 1 fold, BB raises to $2, CO calls $1.25, Hero calls $1.25

Flop: ($6.10) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (3 players)
BB bets $4, 1 fold, Hero calls $4

Turn: ($14.10) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($14.10) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
BB bets $8, Hero raises to $26.14 (All-In), BB calls $18.14

Total pot: $66.38 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (two pair, Queens and tens).
BB had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (two pair, Aces and Queens).
Outcome: BB won $63.38

In the absence of any better information, my standard assumption of villain's range pre-flop is pure value {JJ+, AK} and the plan is mainly to set mine once CO comes along (I don't think this is a squeeze play from the BB without reads given his sizing).

On the flop, I drop AK from villain's range as I don't think many villains use this sizing on this particular flop oop multiway. I call with the intention of villain narrowing my range to {99-TT, AQ, KQs}. I don't really have QQ there as most would assume I would 3-bet BTN with QQ.

On the turn, I don't believe the perception of my range is narrowed, but the river jam is almost never a bluff after flop and turn action. If villain has quad queens then nh, but I mistakenly felt at the time I could get a fold from JJ, KK+.

I don't hate the hand. I think villain is more likely to fold if the board was QQ77x than QQ99x, and he just convinces himself that you bricked your JT or something.

That being said, I'd prefer to run lines/plays vs villains when their range is capped and I'm confident in that. In this spot it's not unreasonable that he plays Qx this way, so you're going to be bluffing into the nuts somewhat often.

Thanks for the feedback and advice griffey. I've consequently been thinking a lot about subtle differences in board texture and possible lines vs a capped range and think I'll become a better player as a result (once I can apply the concepts appropriately) - cheers!

Back in the day when I was playing a lot of golf, I remember hearing that Jack Nicklaus never went into a round of golf or a practice session with more than one thought in his head about improving his swing. In my experience at the poker tables, I've found that the same concept can apply after a study session.

After a study session, I often go straight into a session at the tables with too much vigour and too many new ideas in my head, which ultimately ends up with me misapplying the new concepts whilst forgetting to do the basics right. Clearly I need to take a leaf out of Jack's book and tailor my study to focus on one particular area of much needed improvement in my game at a time.

With that in mind, my focus for the next week will be 3-betting. My current 3-betting strategy is a little bit haphazard, not to mention too low at ~4% with not enough re-stealing. I'm therefore going to take the following concepts from "Harrington on Online Cash Games: 6-Max" to the tables over the next few days and apply the logic in each and every session.

1) 3-betting for value
3-bet 25% of villain's opening range i.e. if villain opens 40% on the btn, 3-bet 10%. The rationale is that hero will be at least a 55% favourite against villain's whole range.

2) 3-betting light
Key considerations that I currently don't think about anywhere near enough when deciding whether to 3-bet light include:

- villain's PFR and our value 3-bet range (3-bet light rarely against tight players)
- his fold to 3bet stat (higher stat, more 3-betting light)
- position (3-bet light more oop, call more ip)
- the number of players left to act (more players left, less light 3-betting)
- the number of callers in the pot (more callers, more light 3-betting).

Now I just need to work out how to play post-flop in 3-bet pots..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

1) 3-betting for value
3-bet 25% of villain's opening range i.e. if villain opens 40% on the btn, 3-bet 10%. The rationale is that hero will be at least a 55% favourite against villain's whole range.

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this is ridiculous imo. the size of their opening range is almost irrelevant in what hands we should 3bet for value. do you understand why? there are heaps of resources on forming 3betting ranges in the Beginers Circle, i suggest you'd be better off reading over them (particularly forming "A,B,C, and D" ranges) than applying this information

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rpm

this is ridiculous imo. the size of their opening range is almost irrelevant in what hands we should 3bet for value. do you understand why? there are heaps of resources on forming 3betting ranges in the Beginers Circle, i suggest you'd be better off reading over them (particularly forming "A,B,C, and D" ranges) than applying this information

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Thanks for stopping by rpm. I assume your main concern is that whilst I can technically 3-bet this range for value and show a profit, I'm wasting the value of a large part of this range by 3-betting given most villain's fold too often to 3-bets?

Do you think it's better to widen my value range at the micros though compared to the narrow {QQ+, AK} range that Renton mentions, with most 3-bets reasonably light?

Thought I'd post my graph for 25nl since I moved up from 10nl a couple of months ago, which illustrates just how important BRM can be. Whilst I'm too much of a bankroll nit, I'd hate to be having to grind back up at 10nl for roll having lost 10BI:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/5492/58269891.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

Thanks for stopping by rpm. I assume your main concern is that whilst I can technically 3-bet this range for value and show a profit, I'm wasting the value of a large part of this range by 3-betting given most villain's fold too often to 3-bets?

Do you think it's better to widen my value range at the micros though compared to the narrow {QQ+, AK} range that Renton mentions, with most 3-bets reasonably light?

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my main concern with that idea, unless of course i misunderstood it, is that it instructs you to 3bet a certain % of what you believe your opponent to be opening. but the main factor we should be considering is what range they continue with when we are 3betting for value. 3betting AQo against a person who opens 50% but only continues with QQ+,AK is still spew, make sense? because we value-own ourselves against his continuing range, and we turn a hand which we could very easily call and play profitably into an effective bluff.

as for the second question, yeah i definitely think that's a good idea. look for people who call too many 3bets and rarely 4bet to widen your value 3bet range against.

January:

Work has been nuts this year, meaning I didn't get to put in many hours of play or study in January. When I don't get much time to grind, I always end up smashing buttons mass multi-tabling, but I've been encouraged by my progress nonetheless. I'd estimate that I spew at least one BI per 1000 hands at 25nl though.

What Did I Learn and How Did I Improve?

I learnt that running well below EV doesn't bother me in the slightest, as long as I'm happy with the decisions I'm making the majority of the time.

I've been playing 2-pair too passively in the past - I never realised just how many bbs can be made with it.

Pot controlling hands like top pair with good kicker in position seems to make 25nl regs do some strange things.

Session reviews, however brief, are always a good idea.


What Did I Earn?

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/3518/jan13z.jpg


25nl: $151 over 33k hands
5nl: $25 over 0.5k hands
25nl Rush (untracked): $18 over 11k hands

Rakeback: $158

TOTAL PROFIT = $352 (approx $9/hr)

Bankroll = $3.9k


Targets for Next Month

Finish reading Harrington on Online 6-Max and write a review.

Work on 3-betting and 4-betting more actively.

Finish watching Carroters' lecture series on GS.

Look into buying Table Ninja.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

3-bet 25% of villain's opening range i.e. if villain opens 40% on the btn, 3-bet 10%. The rationale is that hero will be at least a 55% favourite against villain's whole range.

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I think you're taking Harrington's advice out of context here, Bean, old bean

he only suggests his rule of thumb as a guide for when you have no reliable fold-to-3Bet data on Villain, not as something you should be applying across the board.

i think you also need to be a little leery overall with some of Action Dan's advice as he still seems to think that 3- and 4Betting only happen rarely at the micros, which is patently untrue

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DoubleJ

I think you're taking Harrington's advice out of context here, Bean, old bean

he only suggests his rule of thumb as a guide for when you have no reliable fold-to-3Bet data on Villain, not as something you should be applying across the board.

i think you also need to be a little leery overall with some of Action Dan's advice as he still seems to think that 3- and 4Betting only happen rarely at the micros, which is patently untrue

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That's right. I don't think it's particularly good advice either and it's certainly no good for me given how badly I butcher hands post-flop in 3bps.

It's funny that you mention about his stance on the micros, as when I get round to writing a review of the book, this is going to be one of my main criticisms - his take on the micros unfortunately devalues the advice in a decent chunk of the book.

So I’ve spent almost the entire weekend setting up and testing out TableNinja via the 30-day free trial. I’ve been 12-15 tabling lately with reasonable success and heard that it could help make multi-tabling much quicker and easier and resolve some of the more tilting issues with Stars. Clearly if the product is good, this could mean squeezing in some more tables and (theoretically) some more profit.

TN and I didn’t get off to a good start though. Whilst my laptop is only a little bit short of the recommend spec (3gb instead of 4gb memory), the initial testing at 5nl resulted in serious lag issues and some tilting spew. Hitting the designated fold key 3 times for one hand, only then for the software to catch up and fold pocket aces will make even the most level-headed person want to hurt somebody. The bet sizing options were also well off, with the open raise sometimes being as high as 73bb and the flop cbet being as low as 1bb.

If you can get the software issues fixed however, there are some noticeable pros to TN that make multi-tabling much easier. The auto buy-in and auto acceptance of waitlist seats are useful during the times when you’re already playing 20 tables, plus the auto "sit out at next big blind" is also handy. The most beneficial key that TN offers though is the auto “I’m Back”, which means that you no longer have to rifle through stacked tables to sit back in whilst Stars keeps bringing other tables to the foreground.

Nevertheless, TN is still unable to remove a number of Stars annoyances and one thing also worth remembering is that TN won't miraculously make anybody a better player. If anything, it can result in some costly mistakes due to human error. I think TN also encourages people to play far more tables than is profitable and should therefore be avoided by the intermediate, improving player; 24-tabling is great in theory, but it’s hard to spot the fish at the table and also to think through decisions adequately. TN is therefore not a product that I will be purchasing now, but I wouldn't rule out doing so in the future.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

his take on the micros unfortunately devalues the advice in a decent chunk of the book.

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aye, tis right strange

publication date is June 2010; mebbe the game's changed in that respect over the last 3 or so years?

otherwise, i like all of Dan's books. He can write as well as play, which is rare, and i've liked the "Problems" section in the other books (haven't got to that section in this tome yet, so await your views)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

The most beneficial key that TN offers though is the auto “I’m Back”, which means that you no longer have to rifle through stacked tables to sit back in whilst Stars keeps bringing other tables to the foreground

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hmmmmm.....i'm on FTP these days, but i recall that PS had Session Controls which let you globally sit out and then back in again. Have you not seen these?

yeah dude pretty sure stars has a "sit out next bb" and "sit out next bb + close" function on each of your tables for all of your tables. it used to be a green triangle? like a "play" sign?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rpm

yeah dude pretty sure stars has a "sit out next bb" and "sit out next bb + close" function on each of your tables for all of your tables. it used to be a green triangle? like a "play" sign?

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Certainly used to, but it disappeared for me around early Jan this year. Probably me being stupid, but I can't seem to get it added back as an option.

DJ - global sit back in hasn't ever been available to me on Stars, which is a real shame. It seems to be one of the few benefits TN has retained versus the Stars in-built hotkey system.

Maybe the Stars doomswitch overrides both?

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8...tarsdealer.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I'm off work this week and really looking forward to getting in a ton of poker play and study. I'll certainly get at least one night of tournaments in and probably one live mtt, along with a few HUSNGs. I also bought Leak Buster last night and will post some thoughts on it once I've made some sense of the output.

i definitely used to have a "resume x amount of tables" option (x obviously being as many as i was sitting at). might be worth asking about in PS rep thread?

ps awesome depiction of the poker god. i've always thought if poker had a corporeal form it would look something like that.

Definitely uninstall/reinstall Stars if you can't see the button. It should appear on every theme and is really useful.

Thanks for making me aware of the function gents. The re-install hasn’t made the option reappear however, but it’s not such a problem now I’m sticking to only playing 12 tables.

Spent a couple of hours this afternoon auto-piloting $1.50 Turbo HUSNGs and finished about 22-14 for a few bucks profit. I’m not happy with the tight passive way I played these and will definitely play a lot more aggro when I give these another go. The standard wasn’t particularly high and fairly polarised in the sense of being far too passive or far too aggro, but even so, it’s difficult to see where anybody can get a significant edge.

Rounders was on BBC late last night and I decided to stay up and watch it. I don’t know if it’s a feature of my age now, but I thought that whilst the film is watchable enough, it was still typical Matt Damon bs – you know, the type of film that’s utterly predictable and tries far too hard to be “cool”. No doubt I would have thought the film was brilliant though if I'd watched it in my teens or early twenties (unless it also starred that other arrogant muppet, Ben Affleck).

Leak Buster review tomorrow daytime and tournament session tomorrow night I think (Friday). It’s been a while since I played a bunch of mtts, so I’m really looking forward to it.

*Warning: Long post

LeakBuster Review

So I purchased LeakBuster earlier this week and have to say I’ve been impressed with the output. For the price of a couple of 25nl buy-ins, the product is definitely worth a punt as it has picked out some problems with my game that I wasn’t aware of. The software works by comparing your database and stats against a number of winning players across a number of categories and picks out any issues where you are making poor decisions. Grades and monetary values are then assigned to each leak, with links to pre-recorded videos then provided to explain why your identified leak is a problem.

If I was being honest and realistic about my own play, I’d expect LB to say that I’m too passive pre-flop and post-flop (not 3-betting enough, not raising often enough post-flop), that I’m terrible in 3-bet pots and that I make bad river calls, so let’s see what the software is telling me:

“Step 2”: Leakbuster

I ran the software for 95k hands of 25nl. For the 34 categories in this section, I received B+ overall and total score 242 (whatever that represents), with the following inter-related problems:

Grade F (aaagh!):
- Flop Agg % of 30% (LB recommended range 43-50%).
- 3Bet % of 4% (recommended 6-9%)
- Agg % of 28% (34-42%).

Grade D:
- W$WSF 41% (44-52%).

Grade C:
- BB Reraise Steal 6% (8-14%)
- Sqz 3% (5-8%)

Grade B:
- Agg Factor 2.0 (2.3-4.1)
- Flop cbet 55% (59-79%)

Everything else is pretty much grade A+, although it’s highlighted that my SB 43% open may be too high, 25% in the CO is a little too low and my PFR/VPIP could be a bit higher.

Step 3: Position

Positionally aware, but problems detailed include not c-betting the BTN enough and not squeezing and c/r the BB enough.

Step 4: Pre-Flop

There’s a lot of detail in this section that I’ve not interpreted properly yet. The guidance is that I’m opening too many suited connectors from EP and CO but it looks like there are a number of hands in my opening range from each seat that are actually unprofitable (e.g. KQo in EP). I’m also unprofitably cold calling suited connectors and big aces.

Step 5: Trouble Hands

Following on from Step 4, this section is really useful and analyses win rates for broadways, small pps and suited connectors based on whether I open or cold call both in position and oop. It’s clear from the diagram which hands I’m playing unprofitably:

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/4254/image1tba.jpg

Step 6: 3-Bets

Wow, I’m losing money when 3-betting big slick. LB advises that I need to make sure I’m not over-committing myself when bluffing and not getting it in versus tight 4-bettors.

Step 8: Biggest Loss

Preflop: Main problem seems to be calling 3bets oop with marginal hands, with small problem of 4bet bluffing too often and opening dominated aces in ep.

Flop: chk/calling with middle or bottom pair seems to be a small loss maker.

Turn: chk/calling middle or bottom pair and chk/calling draws is making me a small loss.

River: chk/calling with weak made hands on all 3 streets.

Steps 7, 9 & 10

These are options I haven’t yet explored but they look like they will be useful. Options include a video search function for specific leaks, details of the opponent I lose the most to and HUD set-up.

Conclusion

In short, I’m far too passive. There are a number of problems highlighted by LB however that need tidying up beyond adding in some extra aggression into my game. Clearly I need to make sure that I'm not over-adjusting to the advice and picking the right spots, but it's definitely time to get aggro and re-run LB after another hundred thousand hands.

tl;dr

I've played a bit too much poker over the past few days and really struggling to shake off some tilt and straighten myself out. My cash graph looks like a hospital heart rate monitor this month and a couple of sessions of MTTs and STTs at the weekend really didn't help - time for a few days off for study and to finally watch series 5 of Mad Men.

tl;dr (come on, what else would you expect from me?!)

Book Review: Harrington on Online Cash Games – 6-Max No-Limit Hold ‘Em (©2010)

Having dipped in and out of this book over the past couple of months, I figured it might be useful to provide a review of the book in case any FTR’ers or Google-ers are thinking about buying it.

Overall

This book is excellent for those 6-max players looking to move beyond the basics and out of the micro stakes. I doubt this book will teach anything new to intermediate players that have already read a fair few of the better books and FTR strategy articles however, but that’s not to say that this book still won’t help straighten out the study-jaded players like me from time-to-time when they need to get back to the basics.

First Section: The Basics

The first section of the book covers the subjects of position, probability, opening ranges, aggression and stack sizes amongst other things and is aimed at very inexperienced players. To his credit, Harrington explains these concepts well and the advice will be extremely beneficial to beginners. For anybody that’s moved well beyond these subjects however, I’d recommend skipping this section altogether.

Second Section: Online Games

As well as talking through site selection and multi-tabling, this section covers the tools of the online game. The sub-chapter on note taking provides a decent starting point for players that haven’t yet developed their own efficient and meaningful note-taking system and the section on HUD stats and how to draw inferences from the stats will offer a good starter to anybody thinking about purchasing tracking software.

This section also includes useful advice and on table and seat selection, which is often overlooked by most micro players at the expense of their win rate.

Third Section: Ranges and Distributions

This section of the book is excellent and delivers a fine introduction to range analysis and combinatorics for not only those that struggle with the numbers and algebra, but also those that pretty much have a broad understanding and can do the algebra, but have never really got stuck into the detail (hi!). The chapter breaks down a few starting hands for hero and % ranges for villain and plots the distribution of how both our range and villain’s range connects with a particular flop in an easy to understand table.

Working through some of the examples, it’s clear that without having a thorough understanding of the numbers and working through countless similar examples yourself, you’re only going to get so far in poker.

Fourth Section: Beating the Micro Stakes

Harrington defines the micro stakes as stakes up to and including 25nl. This section provides a reasonable introduction to constructing a 3-betting range and some problems (i.e. hand histories) that Harrington works through. The hand histories work quite well both in this section and the small stakes section by asking on each street “what would you do?”, with the answer being variable depending on the HUD stats, range analysis and player notes provided. Crucially, this section gets you to think through the problems logically.

One criticism with this book though is just how outdated Harrington’s view is on the micro stakes and the section should really be titled “Value Betting the Shit out of Donkeys and Folding to Aggression from Passive Fish”. Whilst the advice is therefore still useful for beginners, most winners at 5nl+ on Stars know how to beat the fish pretty well and should move on to the Small Stakes section after briefly working through the hand histories.

Fifth Section: Beating Small Stakes

Harrington defines the small stakes as 50nl-200nl and this section is really about beating shitty regs and decent TAGs and LAGs. Despite being for small stakes, I'd say that even 2nl players will find this section useful, with the“problems” section in this part of the book helpfully working through good spots to 4-bet, pot control, slow play and barrel based on range and HUD analysis.

If I was being critical of this section, I'd say Harrington lets the book down by not providing any decent examples of 3bet pots where hero is called and the flop and position is tricky. I’d expect most micro players are like me and struggle in 3bet pots post-flop, so adapting the problems would have been useful. Harrington also grossly overvalues suited connectors, with calling out of the bb seemingly standard for him as well as opening utg with them and calling 3bets oop (and I think anybody reading the book would struggle to do either of these things profitably).

February:

Work continued to be hard going, but I did take a week off and get some (too much) poker in, with some variety to 25nl thrown in there. I’ve been annoyed with myself this month though with my inconsistency and at points felt like I played really well and at points felt like I’ve played like either an auto-piloting passive donk or a complete maniac.

What Did I Learn and How Did I Improve?

During the good sessions, I’ve been 3-betting more and calling less in some good spots and with positive results.

I’ve got plenty of leaks (see above) and I’ve got a lot of work to do before I’m ready to step up. Cold calling AT and SCs just isn’t profitable for starters and there are tons of other things I need to either start doing or cut out.

Tournaments and STTs (basically anything that involves a finite amount of chips) tilt the hell out of me - I’ve no idea how MTT grinders do it.

Table Ninja isn’t worth the investment (see above and hands 5k-10k below).

What Did I Earn?

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/8795/feb13.jpg

25nl: $149 over 44k hands

MTTs/HUSNG: ($9)

Rakeback inc FTP STTs: $175

TOTAL PROFIT = $315 (approx $8/hr)

Bankroll = $4.2k

Targets for Next Month

Study is getting a bit dry and it just feels like everything I read, I’ve seen somewhere before. That said, I’m not particularly strong with using combinatorics to properly assess how particular flops hit particular villains’ range, so I’m going to work on some distributions this month.

Aim to be a bit more consistent by keeping sessions short and regular.

Assume nobody is bluffing me unless it’s smacking me in the face and keep off the maniac spew.

I'm really struggling to shake off some form of deep rooted tilt with poker at the moment. I've got no discipline in my game, my results are terrible and I've got to the point where I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.

One of the reasons why I think I've got to this point is because I've been doing too much study lately, which has resulted in a bastardised strategy and a disasterous feeling of entitlement. The example I mentioned with the golf swing above really does apply to poker study imo and I think a lot of novice and weak intermediate players like me need to be careful that they aren't trying to learn too much too quickly. More importantly though, it's absolutely imperative for micro stakes players not to assume that everybody knows everything that you do and consequently think in the same way that you do.

Time to take a couple of days off again and return with a clear mind and a more basic approach.

Bad news, Bean - You are Me.

:(

I think I'll try the "Rip it up and Start Again" approach too...

[See you on IRC]

Back on the saddle today for three sessions totalling approx. 6 hours. If you want to see what the session graphs of a tilt monkey look like for two of those sessions then take a look below.

What is clear is that playing too long a session is a huge part of my problem and that somewhere between 1-1.5 hours for each session is optimal, but at least I can learn from this.


http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/8...dayevening.jpg

http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/5...daymorning.jpg

Lifetime @25nl:


http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9...nlto100313.jpg

Being bed-ridden for 4 solid days isn't a lot of fun, but at least it gave me the opportunity to watch the EPT London ME live stream like a zombie for three of those days. I'm a big fan of Stapes' commentary and unbelievably impressed with the mental toughness and discipline so many of the pro players exhibited for such long periods of time. Steve O'Dwyer and Theo Jorgensen particularly impressed me, but they ultimately fell short on the final table - it seems strange that these live mtt guys can slog it out for 5+ days playing near perfect poker and then go broke flipping pocket pairs against overs for a few hundred thousand pounds.

One thing having a virus has done for me though is bring back some patience to my poker outlook. I realised watching top aggressive players that my game has become so indisciplined this past month or so and that I really don't need to try and make it happen all that often (even when I'm getting dealt trash and having to fold air to flop and turn aggression). Other players will always tilt and there will always be enough technical errors to mean that steady, disciplined play should enable anybody to crush 25nl and below.

March continues to be brutal. Just the 9 BI down today in 4k hands, although not helped by a couple of bad beats. My EV line is 20BI down this month and I'll have to drop back down to 10nl if it gets much worse.

Silly thing is, I don't think I've been playing that badly beyond a few obvious spew spots in big pots. I've definitely got to the point with 25nl though where I literally have no idea what villains are doing anymore (and yet I can't beat them!). A couple of maxims seem to ring true however:

- 25nl has got so nitty post-flop that villains almost exclusively only raise the nuts. Nobody is raising draws, tptk or even 2 pair on the flop.
- villains like to call a lot out of position

Yada, yada, yada. Dust myself off and get back in the saddle tomorrow. Value bet, value bet, value bet.

Time to hang up my mouse for a little bit. I lost another 8.5BI today and I'm now down approximately 30BI in the last 30k hands. I clearly can't snap out of playing like a tard now and I've got to the point where I have no idea what I'm doing wrong anymore.

I'll come back in April and 4-table 10nl for a bit to concentrate on the fundamentals. In the meantime, it's back to the basic videos on Grinderschool, books, articles and continue working on my spreadsheets.

Lifetime at 25nl:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9501/240313.jpg

March:

Results

Cash: Down ($603)
Rakeback: $200
One MTT played: $76 profit

Loss: ($327).

Bankroll: $3.9k

Good luck man, hopefully the luck and play turns in April!

Post some hands you think you made mistakes on!

Seems bizarre to me that ppl aren't raising two pair even? How nitty are these ppl? AF?

Thanks G, and congrats on your new role at FTR. Yeah, 25nl can be pretty nitty post-flop and certainly worth bearing in mind and adjusting to in good spots.

So April has been going reasonably well so far and I’ve been happy with my play in the main part. The week I sat out from the tables watching some GrinderSchool videos of live play and basic spreadsheet and Equilab work seems to have straightened me out and I’m absolutely determined to keep this fresh mindset and discipline going. Grinding back the bankroll to its previous state after a fair few sessions of spew is painful to say the least.

Beyond returning to a more balanced frame of mind, I think there have been three key changes that have resulted in a change in fortunes this month:

1) Dropping the number of tables I play to 9, which seems to be my sweetspot between not getting bored and still being able to take and consult with notes and think through decisions adequately. I’ve made some good calls and good folds in spots where I previously would have done the opposite without hesitation.

Dropping the number of tables has also enabled me to spot just how exploitable some of the regs are. Just like my recent approach to poker, these guys are trying to run before they can walk by playing far too many tables, static ranges and consequently never adjusting. For example, there is one bad reg with an 80% btn opening range and 90% fold to 3bet stat that I've 3bet at least 30 times in a row now from the blinds and he's only 4bet me once. Before, I would have folded and 3bet a fairly static range in the blinds against this guy.

2) Decreasing my session lengths to between 50 and 75 minutes and setting an alarm to go off after 50 minutes to make me pause and consciously check if my mindset is strong. It’s clear from some analysis that I play poorly during sessions longer than this (see post 30 above) and it’s clear post-session too - sometimes I cannot recall the past couple of hours at all after a longer session, which surely can’t be a good thing.

3) Reminding myself that each poker hand is ultimately a puzzle that we can attempt to solve to the best of our ability given all of the information available. I’m sure this is something that Soupie was big on in some of his classic articles that first brought me to FTR and it is key to being a consistently winning player (fantastic articles if you’ve not read them btw and almost solely responsible for me winning a couple of decent micro mtts).

tl;dr

DROPPING to 9? haha.. how many are you playing right now?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by griffey24

DROPPING to 9? haha.. how many are you playing right now?

---

Compared to the 12-20 I was playing, 9 seems slow! I think I'm slowly realising where those 30BI went recently now...

9 tables seems good at the moment though, but I do sometimes drop down to 6 if things aren't going well, or up to 12 if I'm feeling fresh and there are a lot of drunk fish around.

Before today, the past week had been a bit slow in terms of ~10k hands of breakeven, but I’m actually really pleased and relaxed with that for probably the first time ever. Breakeven and losing stretches previously didn’t sit well with me, which is undoubtedly my ego talking and the classic poker sense of entitlement. After all, when you constantly see other players doing stupid things, it can be very difficult to remain level-headed and disciplined after a number of sessions totalling breakeven (well, for me at least!).

Not spewing in these periods by trying to force the issue or calling too many raises is absolutely vital though, so that when those couple of sessions like today come along where I pick up 10 buy-ins, those winnings simply aren’t covering my previous spew. It really is obvious but worth thinking about at all times – clearly every ten sessions we should always prefer:

3 winning sessions totalling 12 buy ins
7 losing sessions of one buy in each, totalling -7BI
i.e 5BI profit

rather than:

10 winning sessions of 0.4BI each, totalling 4BI profit

Considering I’ve got a stats and Economics academic background and count beans for a living, it’s surprising that I’ve taken this long to truly come round to this way of thinking. Talk is always cheap around “you can’t always run good”, but I genuinely think hardly any recreational players truly understand this. One session or even ten sessions really do not define your ability as a poker player or your ability to beat the game you play easily (but you do need the resilience and confidence that those big winning sessions will come).

Anyway, now for a few of hh’s where some of today’s win rate came from (suffice to say the villain's in 1 and 2 are tards, 3 is a reg who must have levelled himself):

Hand 1:

MP ($25)
Hero (Button) ($46.19)
SB ($49.88)
BB ($70.52)
UTG ($10.35)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
1 fold, MP bets $0.75, Hero calls $0.75, SB calls $0.65, 1 fold

Flop: ($2.50) 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (3 players)
SB bets $0.25, MP calls $0.25, Hero raises to $2, SB raises to $3.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.75

Turn: ($10.25) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
SB bets $4.75, Hero calls $4.75

River: ($19.75) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
SB bets $40.63 (All-In), Hero calls $36.94 (All-In)

Total pot: $93.63 | Rake: $2

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Hero had Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (straight, Queen high).
SB had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (one pair, nines).
Outcome: Hero won $91.63

Hand 2

Button ($23.83)
SB ($37.26)
BB ($25)
UTG ($49.44)
MP ($95.77)
Hero (CO) ($44.68)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
1 fold, MP bets $1, Hero raises to $3.50, 3 folds, MP calls $2.50

Flop: ($7.35) 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
MP bets $14.50, Hero raises to $41.18 (All-In), MP calls $26.68

Turn: ($89.71) 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($89.71) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $89.71 | Rake: $2

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

MP had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (two pair, sevens and sixes).
Hero had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (two pair, Kings and sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $87.71

Hand 3

CO ($25.26)
Button ($27.37)
SB ($29.69)
BB ($26.64)
UTG ($12.63)
Hero (MP) ($25)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
1 fold, Hero bets $0.75, 2 folds, SB raises to $2.10, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.35

Flop: ($4.45) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
SB bets $2.50, Hero raises to $8, SB raises to $27.59 (All-In), Hero calls $14.90 (All-In)

Turn: ($50.25) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($50.25) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $50.25 | Rake: $2

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

SB had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (one pair, twos).
Hero had 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (full house, nines over twos).
Outcome: Hero won $48.25

JJ hand - 3b pre for sure.

99 hand - I would raise the flop smaller with both my bluffs and value hands.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by griffey24

JJ hand - 3b pre for sure.

99 hand - I would raise the flop smaller with both my bluffs and value hands.

---

JJ hand - interesting. Would you always 3-bet jj in position, or would you only do so against villains that call a lot of 3-bets? I just feel like we hate life if we get 4-bet with jj and waste the value of the hand the times villain folds.

In this hand, the plan was for the habitual squeezer on the sb to raise and the passive open raiser to flat the squeeze before back-raising both of them - bad plan?

99 hand - you're right of course. This hand was part of some experimenting I've been doing lately playing flopped nuts without the initiative fast and it does seem to be causing some spew and overplaying of overpairs. It's certainly exploitable though if anybody is paying attention and realises my bluff raises are smaller.

I've been over-playing some hands pre-flop in bad spots this past week and did the same again tonight in the first 20 minutes of the session, so I've quit for the evening before the rot sets in. One spot in particular is 3betting/5betting AK all-in pre vs a cold 4-bet from a non-maniac, along with getting in {10-QQ, AK} pre- against heavy 3-betters where I have no stats on their response to 4-bets. Definitely a spot to tighten up on in the future.

There have also been a couple of spots where I've narrowed villain's range sufficiently to make a big fold (or not go broke on the river), but seem to hear somebody in my head shouting "don't be results orientated you muppet and get the money in" each time and just can't resist. I'm sure I really am just being result-orientated, but it leads me to question what is the point in me narrowing a villain's range down if I'm not going to stick with it. Here's an extreme example from the weekend, where I'd narrowed villain's range to QQ+ pre and KK pretty much on the flop, but then the monologue kicked in and I added back AA into his range and even AK:

Hand 4

*Villain is classic loose-passive, 59/10/0 (3bet) after 100+ hands. Notes included betting weakly with weak made hands and air and slow playing monsters to excess.

Button ($29.88)
Hero (SB) ($42.55)
BB ($10)
UTG ($16.64)
MP ($25)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
1 fold, MP bets $0.75, Button raises to $1.25, Hero calls $1.15, 2 folds


Flop: ($3.50) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($3.50) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $2.25, Button calls $2.25

River: ($8) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $5.73, Button raises to $14.25, Hero raises to $39.05 (All-In), Button calls $12.13 (All-In)

Total pot: $60.76 | Rake: $2

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Button had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (full house, Kings over fives).
Hero had Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (full house, Queens over fives).
Outcome: Button won $58.76

JJ hand - It's MP (which in this case is CO) vs Btn. If you don't think you can profitably 3b here, then you probably have a lot of room to 3b other hands if ppl are folding so much?

re the QQ hand you really do not think AA is in his range? I think shove river is fine.

This is KK a ton. This is also 5x sometimes if villain 3b wide.

That being said I always shove river, but am never surprised when I see KK.

April continues to go pretty well, with only my second session of maniac spew taking place this evening for 4.5BI down. It's a shame because I was cruising towards my first four-figure month playing cash games this month, but I'm happy that I gave up for the evening pretty quickly.

I think the problem tonight was rushing to squeeze in a session at 6:15 before I had to pop out at 7pm and ended up playing rushed and going crazy, including 6-bet jamming A5s 135bb deep against a player that had 3bet 8/10 button opportunities but 5bet to 45bb and was never folding. I also barrelled off far too much against players I didn't have any hands or reads on, plus some river b/folds didn't help with limiting the loss.

Finally, I've been really enjoying this guy's blog this week. I really like Carl Sampson's reflective style and find his writing has a real calming effect on me and helps me to think about poker in a more coherent fashion. I wouldn't recommend the blog to an advanced player, but micro players may find it useful and interesting:

http://pokerworld.pacificpoker.com/p...s/carl-sampson

April (where is this year going?!):

April started well and ended up being my biggest winning month playing cash. I was really pleased with my discipline for most of the first three weeks of the month (mainly folding a lot more and being more aggressive) and realised that 25nl is actually incredibly easy to crush if you can maintain good discipline. Clearly I have huge problems in this area though, and I’m bitterly disappointed with my inability to fold countless times in obvious spots during the final week of the month.

What Did I Learn and How Did I Improve?

A week away from the tables watching videos and working on some spreadsheets is invaluable. The GS videos helped me a lot in terms of my mind-set and thought process and the spreadsheets helped with decision making in-play (particularly when in the blinds facing barrels from aggressive Russians on the btn).

The majority of 25nl regs don’t understand showdown value, cbet too much, are thrown by bet/chk/bet lines, vary the size and timing of their bets in direct correlation to their hand strength, have difficulty folding in position and make a whole host of other mistakes. It’s all too easy to forget sometimes that 25nl is still micro stakes and every single player has huge leaks, despite having TAG stats

21/19 PFR/VPIP is about where I’m settled these days. Beyond the calling station issues I have, there seems to be a strong correlation between winning and losing sessions and my AF and 3bet percentage (winning sessions typically 2.8-3.2 and 7%-8% respectively, losing sessions 1.8 and 3%-5%).

Short sessions are good - I lose a lot of BIs when I go beyond 60 minutes.

Nobody raises the river at the micros without the nuts or near nuts. Ever.

What Did I Earn?


http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/1175/apr13.jpg


25nl: $821 over 55k hands

Gold star freeroll: $45

MTTs: ($6) - 2 FTR mtts played and butchered

Rakeback: $50

TOTAL PROFIT = $909 (approx $15/hr)

Bankroll = $4.8k

Targets for Next Month

Step up to 50nl, but spend a day or so straightening myself out first with videos and spreadsheets. Drop back to 25nl if 12BI down.

Tighten up a little bit pre- as far a 4-betting and 5-bet jamming are concerned.

Get back to folding more, but not being so hard on myself if I do make a mistake.

tl;dr

Have you tried playing for 60 minutes, then sitting out on the tables you are on and going to make a cup of tea or coffee. Just giving yourself a 5-10 minute break. Then getting back into it?

A good way to ease the move up is to start with a few 50nl tables and the rest 25nl, if you think multi-staking at once won't mess you up.

Good job though!

I've always disliked playing different stakes at the same time. I would just really reduce the tables for a day or two. Get a feel for the bet sizing. You'll already be making more VPP's as it is just playing half the tables.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ImSavy

Have you tried playing for 60 minutes, then sitting out on the tables you are on and going to make a cup of tea or coffee. Just giving yourself a 5-10 minute break. Then getting back into it?

---

I'm tending to punctuate sessions with doing a few chores, which can take anywhere between 15-60 minutes. It would certainly be useful if a 5-10 minute break would do it though in terms of not having to fart about sitting down at new tables and it's something I'll test out. I'm also going to take up some of Jared Tendler's recent recommendations in the AMA, along with buying the new book.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by griffey24

A good way to ease the move up is to start with a few 50nl tables and the rest 25nl, if you think multi-staking at once won't mess you up.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jyms

I've always disliked playing different stakes at the same time. I would just really reduce the tables for a day or two. Get a feel for the bet sizing. You'll already be making more VPP's as it is just playing half the tables.

---

I'm a bit of a control freak that likes structure and order, meaning multi-staking would mess me with me a little bit. I did drop the number of tables to four last night though and played a few hundred hands of scared, nitty money. I think this is the first stake where the money has felt meaningful and it's strange 3-betting light for an amount that would have represented a jam at 5nl a year or so ago. I'm sure I'll adjust quickly enough though.

Early indications at 50nl 6-max on Stars are that the regs are the next level of aggro (especially pre), but adjusting should be fairly straightforward (and I'll quickly get to know the regs that are to be avoided). I really wanted to jam in this spot in particular, as this was the second time in a row that villain had cold 4-bet the bb after I had 3-bet the nitty btn's open:

Hand 5

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

BB ($87.38)
UTG ($56.41)
MP ($17.11)
CO ($50)
Button ($21.75)
Hero (SB) ($58.42)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
3 folds, Button bets $1.25, Hero raises to $4, BB raises to $11, 2 folds

Total pot: $9.25 | Rake: $0

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

BB didn't show

Hand 6

I was pleased with the way I played this hand and this was my first real adjustment to the aggression. I'd narrowed villain's range down to 77-88 and high cards by the river and felt he may well turn his hand into a bluff versus my weak-looking line (and versus my passive, nit image), without realising he reps nothing:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Button ($50)
SB ($31.99)
BB ($15.91)
Hero (UTG) ($68.11)
MP ($50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
Hero bets $1.50, 2 folds, SB raises to $2.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($5.50) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
SB bets $3.50, Hero calls $3.50

Turn: ($12.50) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($12.50) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3, SB raises to $25.99 (All-In), Hero calls $22.99

Total pot: $64.48 | Rake: $2.50

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

SB had 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (one pair, eights).
Hero had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $61.98

Hand 7

And finally, my first three-figure pot for posterity:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Hero (SB) ($51)
BB ($52.08)
UTG ($50)
MP ($64)
CO ($24.10)
Button ($85.61)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
UTG bets $1.50, MP calls $1.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $6, 2 folds, MP calls $4.50

Flop: ($14) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $7.50, MP raises to $21.68, Hero raises to $45 (All-In), MP calls $23.32

Turn: ($104) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($104) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $104 | Rake: $2.50

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Hero had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (two pair, Kings and fours).
MP had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: MP won $101.50

50NL is interesting and fun and I'd like to think I can beat it over a decent sample size. There are enough donators around at the weekend and the regs are a different kind of shitty compared to 25nl and lower. More specificially, many of the regs like to out-aggro themselves and their 3-barrel range in particular seems to be highly weighted towards air.

One area I am struggling with however in this more aggressive environment is folding versus a reg’s raise on a parched flop. Whilst this was almost always exactly as it looked at 25nl and lower (i.e. FOS), at 50nl it seems to be a set more often than not. Resisting the urge to click back the air in my range in these spots is going to prove difficult enough, let alone making a fold with an overpair or tptk. I guess that is what makes fast-playing a set on a dry flop against regs such a powerful weapon though - nobody expects anybody to raise a set in that spot and it can easily cause hero to overplay or spew.

I think the "raise cbet" stat is pretty helpful. Guys with <9% raise cbet generally have legit hands, guys with >13% have a fair bit of air in their range.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by griffey24

I think the "raise cbet" stat is pretty helpful. Guys with <9% raise cbet generally have legit hands, guys with >13% have a fair bit of air in their range.

---

That's useful to know - thanks. This stat and the aggro play at 50nl have made it pretty clear to me that I need to revamp my HUD, which is something I'll work on this week (including the pop-ups). Notes and reads are also proving a lot more important too.

I spent an evening this week adding some more relevant stats to my HUD and mucking about with it whilst single-tabling 2nl. My creation was an absolute mess however and I quickly reverted to a simplified HUD, which is actually less detailed than the previous HUD. I think the simplified HUD is definitely a good way to go, but I will need to manually tinker with the default pop-ups as they don't quite give me what I want at times. I've also only just realised that my HEM2 doesn't work properly as the tabs on the main pop-up are rarely available, so hopefully some manual intervention can fix that. Otherwise, I probably won't bother messing around too much as my intention is to buy a new laptop this year.

My volume has been pretty low this month as a result of discovering the brilliant Breaking Bad (doesn't air on tv in the UK unfortunately). The acting in the show is exceptional, the plot gear changes superb and the underlying dark themes evocative. In some respects, I think having this balance between poker and BB is working out well, but I'm still making donkey calls on the river too often in bad spots. I'd estimate these terrible curiosity/snap calls are costing me at least 0.4BI per hour, which at 50nl can add up pretty quickly at $20/hour.

Ultimately, I think the problem is that I'm a tagfish:

http://www.pokerlistings.com/strateg...ure-a-tag-fish

I'm sure most of us recognise at least some of these traits, but the website is certainly worth a look otherwise, with some decent strat articles for the micro/improving player.

Finally, I stumbled on this video the other day and enjoyed the fight. Lex obviously has the physical and technical advantage, but fair play to Elky for his street brawling toughness (I thought the French were only good at surrendering?):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itwZcQlCQaY

5) and 7) apply to every poker player in the world I imagine.

But yeah, I definitely do 1, 2, 5, 6 & 7.

May:

The step up to 50nl at the start of the month began on a complete heater, before some over-confidence and variance quickly kicked in. I was pleased that I recovered soon enough though to book my biggest winning month in cash games for the second consecutive month.

What Did I Learn and How Did I Improve?

50nl is more than beatable. I was a little bit apprehensive about stepping up to this level, but there was nothing to worry about. There are certainly a lot more regs and a few more players that can put you in tough spots, but most of the regs are multi-tabling and have some hugely exploitable tendencies. Ultimately, the majority of the regs are too aggressive in bad spots and consequently seem a little bit too obsessed about the size of their e-penis.

I’ve seen some improvements in my discipline this month for a more continuous period, but disappointed with the last few sessions of the month that involved being over-confident and lacking in discipline. The same thing happened last month, so I think there may also be a jaded aspect in there at the end of each month. One to keep an eye on and I may use the final few days of each month studying and straightening my game out in future.


What Did I Earn?

http://imageshack.us/a/img341/6784/may13l.jpg

50nl: $1,173 over 30k hands (8bb/100 actual win rate, 6bb/100 aiev adj)

MTT: $88 - 2 FTR mtts played

Rakeback: $50

TOTAL PROFIT = $1,310 (approx $30/hr)

Bankroll = $6.1k

Targets for Next Month

Spend the first weekend with my family and taking a break from poker.

Spend the next couple of days after that watching the past month’s GS videos and updating some spreadsheets.

Continue at 50nl and actively work hard to maintain the discipline and not be over-confident, taking care to make a good decision at each and every point in each and every hand.

Be a little more aggressive with the initiative in position and focus on bb play.

Hit Platinum for a free deck of cards..

tl;dr

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

Back in the day when I was playing a lot of golf, I remember hearing that Jack Nicklaus never went into a round of golf or a practice session with more than one thought in his head about improving his swing. In my experience at the poker tables, I've found that the same concept can apply after a study session.

---

This is good. Often in poker you have pros and cons for every decision, the trick is to add the appropriate amount of weight to them. If it's a more complex idea it's probably best to keep it very limited how many of them you want to try out in your game. Having too many such ideas can leave you very confused!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

1) 3-betting for value
3-bet 25% of villain's opening range i.e. if villain opens 40% on the btn, 3-bet 10%. The rationale is that hero will be at least a 55% favourite against villain's whole range.

---

I don't think you can realistically implement this though. Better to look at the table action when deciding whether to 3bet or not, less just looking at your hand.

edit: lol sorry for replying to 2 random posts, I hadn't read you blog yet. Your game seems to be very sound, keep on trucking.

After a week away from the virtual felt at the start of the month, the tilt monkey has returned with a vengeance this week. The week so far has involved:

- ditching 6BI in the first couple of thousand hands
- playing solid, mentally stable poker to get back to even over the next few thousand hands, followed by;
- donking off 6BI in 45 minutes last night through maniac spew.

So what’s going on here and why am I at this point again?

One recurring theme seems to be that I spew off almost exactly at the point when I realise that a level is easily beatable. As soon as I start thinking along the lines of “I’ll just rattle off another month or two at xxnl @xbb/100 and move up” is the point where the death knell is sounded to my win-rate. This has happened at 5nl, 10nl, 25nl and now 50nl.

The main problem with this line of thinking is that I’m trying to push the action too hard to hit a certain win rate or target for the month as quickly as possible. No poker win rate is linear and you just cannot force the action to make that next move up in levels or a higher bb/100 come any sooner. The money will come when it comes, with only disciplined play where I respect my opponents rewarded in the short- and long-run.

I was feeling pretty demoralised and pissed off with myself last night, but it’s time to get back in the saddle to slowly grind back last night’s spew frenzy - one hour of spew and 7-8 hours of grinding back to even should be punishment enough to stop these mad spew sessions in future..

Sigh.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jackvance

edit: lol sorry for replying to 2 random posts, I hadn't read you blog yet. Your game seems to be very sound, keep on trucking.

---

Hey, thanks for stopping by JV. Please do comment as often as you like - whilst writing something every week or so helps me reflect on my progress (or otherwise), it's always much more useful if there is some feedback and advice from more experienced players on any of the issues I'm whining about.

You're definitely right re the 3-betting of course - I soon realised this static approach was shit!

You seem to realise the problem about spewing, so I'd work on trying to find ways to practice solving the problem because realising the problem is just the first step. If you were too scared of walking across a bridge and I told you that walking across a bridge is fine and nothing bad will happen to you. That won't automatically fix your problem. So now you understand the problem find a solution.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

One recurring theme seems to be that I spew off almost exactly at the point when I realise that a level is easily beatable. As soon as I start thinking along the lines of “I’ll just rattle off another month or two at xxnl @xbb/100 and move up” is the point where the death knell is sounded to my win-rate.

---

I have been there exactly, many times. Learning to manage yourself is just as important as learning to improve your game. An attitude you should adopt is that you do not allow yourself to make bad plays. Whenever you notice one, curse at yourself, and print in mind how you should have played. If you keep this up, and you start tilting, you will quickly see you are doing bad plays. Hopefully then you can get into your regular game again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

one hour of spew and 7-8 hours of grinding back to even should be punishment enough to stop these mad spew sessions in future..

---

You would think heh...been there. Keep it up tho, you are progressing. Some of us need to be kicked in the beanbag multiple times before we learn.

Thanks for the support & advice as ever gents.

June:

Last month was a volume fail due to sorting out some irl stuff. The Missus and I are re-locating in August to be closer to our parents as they reach retirement, with the idea being that we don’t want them to miss out on potential grandchildren, etc. Where we are moving to will be good for my career too (place called Tunbridge Wells), as I’ll be able to get into central London in less than hour. Tunbridge certainly won’t be good for my bank balance in the short-term however, as property prices in the area are hideous.

The volume I did manage to put in at the tables was erratic to say the least and hopefully the past couple of weeks off will help me stay disciplined in July. Three mega spew sessions/days in June in particular more than outweighed some disciplined play during the other sessions unfortunately, but all experience is good experience I guess.

Anyway, onwards and upwards for July.

http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/4246/kjk3.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Cash: ($273) Loss
MTT: $47 Profit (one FTR mtt played)
Rakeback: $50

Total Loss: ($176) (approx. $9 loss per hour)

Total Bankroll: $5.9k

Two Plus Two is a strange place and seemingly full of every immature and arrogant dickhead out there. I’m not a poster on there (and probably never will be), but I’ve recently realised it’s a perfect resource for learning how to exploit every tag-fish reg like me out there.

Convential 2p2 and other “beat the micro stakes” wisdom is only fine up to a point in my opinion; the ABC play that is beaten into novices will always be valid for creating a foundation, beating the fish and building a bankroll, but it lacks creativity and edge once the majority of players are playing a similar strategy and congregate at levels like 50nl.

With this is mind, I’ve been trying to concentrate on thinking on Level 3 and being more aggressive in spots where 2p2 wisdom would advocate a fold, rather than the Level 2 nittiness that ABC seems to operate at. Two areas in particular I’ve been focussing on are:


1) Bluff jamming the river in good spots against 2p2-style regs, partly as a result of thinking through the advice in this thread:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...an-195187.html


2) Cold 4-bet bluffing the big blind versus a loose button opener and a 3bet from an habitually re-stealing sb, partly as a result of reading this thread:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...4b-195185.html


Both tactics have worked well so far the few times I’ve tried them (see below), but I think they could be high variance in the short run and I need to properly think through the range I'm doing this with (particularly in (2)). I also need to be careful in making sure the spots are good too, and that I don’t do either (1) or (2) too often against the same regs, particularly if I think they may be on tilt. If moves like the above can be successful more often than not however, they could make a huge difference to my win-rate.

Otherwise, my volume continues to be low and I’m still throwing in some horrendous 4-5BI spew in 1k hands after I make my first mistake in a session. I’m a chronic sufferer of what Jared Tendler refers to as “Mistake Tilt” and I think Jared’s book and I need to spend a lot more time together. I’m pretty much set on making this month a heavy learning month though, so I’m not worried about the bottom line too much.

tl;dr


(1) Example

I think villain's range is limited to overpairs and tptk given river sizing and I think can get a fold from a player I've tagged as a competent reg. This is more than 60bb that I would have previously left at the table!!

Button ($50)
SB ($82.84)
BB ($62.87)
UTG ($53.46)
MP ($47.75)
Hero (CO) ($50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
UTG bets $1.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.50, 3 folds

Flop: ($3.75) 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
UTG bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

Turn: ($8.75) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
UTG bets $6, Hero calls $6

River: ($20.75) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
UTG bets $10.50, Hero raises to $40 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $41.75 | Rake: $1.88


(2) Example

99 maybe not the best hand to do this with without blockers, but one to think through:

Hero (BB) ($50.75)
UTG ($42.53)
MP ($50.75)
CO ($50)
Button ($54.81)
SB ($50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
3 folds, Button bets $1.50, SB raises to $5, Hero raises to $11, 2 folds

Total pot: $11.50 | Rake: $0

one word of advice: if you're looking to make some really exploitative "3rd level thinking" types of plays then you need to be very conscious of what your real range/perceived range is. and this is fucking hard. i wouldnt be surprised to find a lot of distrusting 50-100nl 6m regs snapping off as weak as KQ in a heartbeat in hand 1. but then i used to play way too many hands way too aggressively.

edit: not that i hate turning this into a bluff. i'd say in this case with no history it's definitely +EV. but once it's worked for you a few times (if you're anything like me) you want to start printing money and jamming over every weak-tight reg's strong-but-not-nutted ranges. they quickly turn into stations against you. and that's just fine if you're very good at adjusting and/or maintaining enough balance to protect your weaker ranges. but be wary.

edit 2: another important thing to note in play is when your opponents' ranges are capped. these would be the first kind of spots i'd look to incorporate these kind of plays. ideally when villains range is capped and you are taking your "nut line" on whatever the board may be

hand 2 i'd way rather just call unless you think it's +EV to 4b/call. assuming you planned on folding to a shove i don't like the 4b. you'll normallly be getting either folded to or jammed on when you 4b pre with 100bb effectivce stacks. so 99 is one of the worst hands to do it with imo. it has no showdown equity (because you fold almost 100% of the time villain continues), it has no added fold equity value (it probably actually increases his calling range, rather than decreasing it which a hand like Ax/Kx would do) AND it is almost definitely a profitable flat when we'll be playing HU IP vs a standardish 50nl reg 3b range from the blinds

best of luck

Hey Bean, thought I'd drop in to say I've enjoyed reading the blog thus far. Isn't it amazing how a simple thing like discipline can be a huge leak? Not surprising though as most guys have problem with self control. :p

I think your opinion on 2p2 a few posts above is spot on though. It's a very resourceful site but engaging in any worthwhile conversation over there generally turns to shit, not to mention all the 2p2 regs with 100k hand break-even graphs, who like you said, advocate that level 2 nittiness.

GL and get some #rungood at 50NL.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

(2) Example

99 maybe not the best hand to do this with without blockers, but one to think through:

Hero (BB) ($50.75)
UTG ($42.53)
MP ($50.75)
CO ($50)
Button ($54.81)
SB ($50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
3 folds, Button bets $1.50, SB raises to $5, Hero raises to $11, 2 folds

Total pot: $11.50 | Rake: $0

---

I do like doing this, especially if BTN is stealing a lot and SB is starting to open up. However 99 has got to be a bad hand to do it with, only things like QJ and JT could be worse really as not only are we not blocking his range he will continue with, but we are blocking his folding range.

I'd be much more inclined to do this with stuff like weak Axs.

And for hand 1 I don't like looking at it as 60bb you'll have previously left on the table, it's either a +EV bluff or -EV. Don't forget some % of the time we get called and lose in this spot, especially the more we do it. Not that I'm saying it's not +EV, no idea if it would be or not tbh.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rpm

one word of advice: if you're looking to make some really exploitative "3rd level thinking" types of plays then you need to be very conscious of what your real range/perceived range is. and this is fucking hard. i wouldnt be surprised to find a lot of distrusting 50-100nl 6m regs snapping off as weak as KQ in a heartbeat in hand 1. but then i used to play way too many hands way too aggressively.

---

Thanks for the advice as always dude. 50nl seems to be the first level on Stars where this shit becomes important and my image is pretty passive at the moment, so I can probably get away with it a few times. Knowing if/when villains are adjusting is proving tricky though, particularly in pre-flop dick-waving wars. One spot I've lost a few BI lately is 5b jamming low/middle pocket pairs when I get 4bet for the first time by the villain on the btn that I've been relentlessly 3betting from the bb. I'm assuming that they are adjusting and getting annoyed and consequently 4bet bluffing, but they seem to have premiums often - difficult to know if the 3b/5b line with middle pps the first time facing a 4bet is profitable over such a small sample (but I'm probably just picking terrible spots!).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rpm

edit: not that i hate turning this into a bluff. i'd say in this case with no history it's definitely +EV. but once it's worked for you a few times (if you're anything like me) you want to start printing money and jamming over every weak-tight reg's strong-but-not-nutted ranges. they quickly turn into stations against you. and that's just fine if you're very good at adjusting and/or maintaining enough balance to protect your weaker ranges. but be wary.

---

I definitely hear you on this re printing money. Self-control and balance in these spots isn't one of my strong points and I play even worse than normal when I'm over-confident.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rpm

edit 2: another important thing to note in play is when your opponents' ranges are capped. these would be the first kind of spots i'd look to incorporate these kind of plays. ideally when villains range is capped and you are taking your "nut line" on whatever the board may be

---

Agreed and noted. I've taken my nut line a few times since in bad spots when facing what I perceive to be a weak bet/fold or blocker bet line on a 3rd suited card on the river. Turns out the majority of the time that it's villain's own nut line!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rpm

hand 2 i'd way rather just call unless you think it's +EV to 4b/call. assuming you planned on folding to a shove i don't like the 4b. you'll normallly be getting either folded to or jammed on when you 4b pre with 100bb effectivce stacks. so 99 is one of the worst hands to do it with imo. it has no showdown equity (because you fold almost 100% of the time villain continues), it has no added fold equity value (it probably actually increases his calling range, rather than decreasing it which a hand like Ax/Kx would do) AND it is almost definitely a profitable flat when we'll be playing HU IP vs a standardish 50nl reg 3b range from the blinds

best of luck

---

Certainly take the point, but I'm not sure that having blockers really makes much difference at all here (although certainly helps ofc). This spot in particular, btn was opening 65% and folding to 3bets 70% ish. Sb was 3betting the btn 30% over a decent sample and I figured neither would continue with more than 3% of starting hands. I'd therefore crudely expect to get folds from both players more than 80% of the time minimum, as long as I'm not doing it too often.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TNreg

Hey Bean, thought I'd drop in to say I've enjoyed reading the blog thus far. Isn't it amazing how a simple thing like discipline can be a huge leak? Not surprising though as most guys have problem with self control. :p

I think your opinion on 2p2 a few posts above is spot on though. It's a very resourceful site but engaging in any worthwhile conversation over there generally turns to shit, not to mention all the 2p2 regs with 100k hand break-even graphs, who like you said, advocate that level 2 nittiness.

GL and get some #rungood at 50NL.

---

Thanks dude. I've come to realise that mental discipline and drive counts for so much in nearly everything competitive including exams and your career, but especially poker. I always liked to think I had strong discipline, but poker has highlighted that I have a long way to go.

There's a few good guys on 2p2 that post some really sound advice in amongst all the pricks and it's definitely a useful resource for working out how the regs are playing at the micros and small stakes. As long as you then use that to your advantage (i.e. you don't make money doing the same as the majority of your competitors), it's worthwhile sifting through the trash.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ImSavy

And for hand 1 I don't like looking at it as 60bb you'll have previously left on the table, it's either a +EV bluff or -EV.

---

Agreed. I suppose I just wanted to make the point that we can miss spots sometimes that can make a huge difference to our win rate (even if we get called sometimes). Just one spot like this per 1000 hands can easily turn a break-even players into a perceived big winner. The key is working out where those spots are, which is where hh review and taking advice from good players is key. That's not to say small, consistent mistakes aren't even more important though: sizing one value bet 5bb too small per 100 hands can also make a huge difference.

So I've a confession to make: I do not work hard enough at poker away from the tables. More importantly though, I rarely work with any structure to my poker study. In fact, the odd times I have, the upswing has been immediate, and yet I lose this clarity of thought after a few weeks of play.

I've found that the main problem with having no structure in my poker study on a continuous basis is that my brain can end up in a muddle and my overall strategy becomes a bastardised, mish-mash of things I've seen in a video recently or read in an online article. There is no way this can lead to consistently winning poker and it is therefore time to approach study as a more regular and structured process.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

So I've a confession to make: I do not work hard enough at poker away from the tables. More importantly though, I rarely work with any structure to my poker study. In fact, the odd times I have, the upswing has been immediate, and yet I lose this clarity of thought after a few weeks of play.

I've found that the main problem with having no structure in my poker study on a continuous basis is that my brain can end up in a muddle and my overall strategy becomes a bastardised, mish-mash of things I've seen in a video recently or read in an online article. There is no way this can lead to consistently winning poker and it is therefore time to approach study as a more regular and structured process.

---

I have had this problem in the past, where for a few sessions I apply things I studied and it fizzles off until the next study session where that gets applied and fizzles off etc.

When I noticed this i started making notes of MAJOR trends/flaws/things to focus on and I would add the major take home message after every session and read those notes immediately before playing. Or even having it open on the side of a session while playing.

No monthly update for July this time, as I've barely played any hands and may well struggle this month too due to moving towns.

On a separate issue though, can somebody let me know how I can access the finale of Breaking Bad showing in the US this month from the UK please? I've not kept up with technology at all in the past ten years and I've never done any illegal downloading, but I'm happy to do so for this show (although would prefer to pay if it's legal and I can watch it the next day guaranteed).

when the first half of s05 was being released i just got them from piratebay (a torrent site, i don't really know what that means). there probably was a wait between it airing in the US and it being made available for download, but meh.

The wait between it being shown on TV in the US and being available to dl is like an hour.

If you'd prefer to pay then I think looking at some big name providers of downloads and streaming services is the best route to go down. If you can't find anything let me know and I'll pm you a couple of links.

Thanks for the tips gents.

I dropped down to 25nl earlier this evening as 50nl was reg infested and felt like a kid in a sweet shop! When you drop down a stake, you really do realise how poor the standard is at the lower stake and wonder why it took so long to beat it comfortably at the time. I guess it's like anything in life though in the sense that development takes time and is incremental and it's important not to forget that.

With anything in life too, I definitely think you can progress much quicker sometimes by throwing yourself into a new, harder challenge (as long as you can at least compete early on and have the BR if it's poker). Having a first-hand awareness of how better players play a sport or how more experienced staff operate at work by competing with them is a steep learning curve for sure, but sometimes well worth it.

Lol live poker. Some classics I witnessed during last night's mtt and cash session include:

- cold calling a nits 3bet with 74o for a third of your stack because "I just had a feeling that would happen" when you flop 356.

- limp calling 23s oop, donk/calling a jam for 30bb on a 742 rainbow flop because "deuces have been lucky for me lately" and "I put him on ace-king" before spiking a deuce and proclaiming "I knew deuces would come good for me again"

- checking your option in the bb with kk in a 7-player limped pot and c/jamming heavy on a q65r flop and getting called by Q3s.

- checking a flopped boat with initiative 5 way and betting 1bb on ace turn and 1bb on river.

- cold calling a heavy 3bet in the sb and donk jamming 250% pot on 873 rainbow board and flashing 83s

- donk/calling A2 on KQ2, check/calling turn and chk/chk deuce river.

- donk/folding half of your remaining stack on a kjx rainbow flop.

I could go on forever! The standard is so bad at live poker, yet all these guys must play regularly as they all seemed to know each other. What I don't understand though is why they have obviously never made any effort to improve despite all of the resources out there!

Despite being insanely profitable however, I can't see myself ever playing much beyond a social event. Firstly, there's not much cash game action available in the UK, but mainly because I also find it really tiring and a little bit boring too compared to the constant action online (plus you don't have to listen to inane "strategy" talk when sat in your underwear clicking a mouse).

9Thh hand - I think once you get to the river I like the jam instead of call for sure. Especially since flop was dry, it's more believable. All that being said, I don't think calling 9Ts vs UTG open from CO will be profitable.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

The standard is so bad at live poker,

---

man, my live poker experiences have always made me wonder about this statement
i've been in surprisingly strong line-ups in both europe (sweden) and nz

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

Lol live poker. Some classics I witnessed during last night's mtt and cash session include:

- cold calling a nits 3bet with 74o for a third of your stack because "I just had a feeling that would happen" when you flop 356.

- limp calling 23s oop, donk/calling a jam for 30bb on a 742 rainbow flop because "deuces have been lucky for me lately" and "I put him on ace-king" before spiking a deuce and proclaiming "I knew deuces would come good for me again"

- checking your option in the bb with kk in a 7-player limped pot and c/jamming heavy on a q65r flop and getting called by Q3s.

- checking a flopped boat with initiative 5 way and betting 1bb on ace turn and 1bb on river.

- cold calling a heavy 3bet in the sb and donk jamming 250% pot on 873 rainbow board and flashing 83s

- donk/calling A2 on KQ2, check/calling turn and chk/chk deuce river.

- donk/folding half of your remaining stack on a kjx rainbow flop.

I could go on forever! The standard is so bad at live poker, yet all these guys must play regularly as they all seemed to know each other. What I don't understand though is why they have obviously never made any effort to improve despite all of the resources out there!

Despite being insanely profitable however, I can't see myself ever playing much beyond a social event. Firstly, there's not much cash game action available in the UK, but mainly because I also find it really tiring and a little bit boring too compared to the constant action online (plus you don't have to listen to inane "strategy" talk when sat in your underwear clicking a mouse).

---

Haha amazing. Yah I agree, live play so definitely pretty brutal. I've been playing a bit more live lately and posting about my sessions on my blog. I usually play $1k buyin ($5/5) so I don't see things quite as crazy as some of those hands, but still some pretty dumb stuff happening nonetheless.

I will probably try playing live 1-2 times a month going forward.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by daven

man, my live poker experiences have always made me wonder about this statement
i've been in surprisingly strong line-ups in both europe (sweden) and nz

---

I've always imagined playing at a table of Swedes to nuts, with pretty much every hand getting all in. I'm basing this solely on Viktor Blom of course, plus all the maniac Scandis that appeared on the scene a few years ago before going broke.

I'd guess you have just been unlucky when you've played live before.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by griffey24

Haha amazing. Yah I agree, live play so definitely pretty brutal. I've been playing a bit more live lately and posting about my sessions on my blog. I usually play $1k buyin ($5/5) so I don't see things quite as crazy as some of those hands, but still some pretty dumb stuff happening nonetheless.

I will probably try playing live 1-2 times a month going forward.

---

Been enjoying your blog. How do you stay focussed for long periods of live play though? I find I get bored and my back starts to hurt, plus it can be frustrating when you go a couple of hours flopping air multi-way.

So I think I need to be honest with myself and realise I'm playing badly at 50nl over a sustained period (and certainly not profitable). After a fantastic start playing scared money, I've degenerated into this maniac, dick-waving monkey that assumes everybody is playing back at me. After being up 20BI after 28k hands, I'm now only 4BI up at 50nl after 73k hands.

Maybe I still shouldn't be that hard on myself however. I'm still technically beating the rake in that period of no self-control and there is easily a 1BI loss per 1000 hands that is just pure wank play. If I can cut that shit out, I can beat 50nl fairly comfortably I think. My problem is that I've never gone any length of time when I can cut that shit out!

My plan therefore is to drop back to 25nl as punishment and work on my game away from the table, working mainly on pre-flop play.

How long are your live sessions?

I'd say my average live session has been around 5-6 hours over my last 4 visits or so. I don't know what it is, but online I'm such a spazz but something about live play I'm able to play pretty solid/tight overall.

After about 6 hours though I'm hitting my limit and kinda running out of steam. I'd prob only go longer than that if there was a super bad player at my table.

July/August:

Poker has been on the back-burner the past two months due to relocating slap-bang in the middle of the busiest period in my old job. I’m settled into the new place now though and really happy with the move. I just need to find a new job in the coming weeks, but I’ll be okay as long as I get something by the start of October.

The upshot of being busy the past couple of months as far as poker is concerned has meant that when I have played, I’ve slipped back in to some old ways (calling down too much, over-adjusting versus aggressive players, 18-tabling WAY to much just to get my fix). That said, it seems to be only 50nl where I find that a problem to my bankroll these days, with live play, <=25nl and mtts profitable irrespective of my mood.

What did I earn?

Cash 50nl: $(607) (29k hands played in 26 hours)
Cash 25nl: $201 (14k hands played in 11 hours)
Cash Live: $260 (approx. 8 hours played over two sessions)
Mtts: $18 (6 played in front of the telly one night, ave. BI $6)
FTR football comp: $(20)
Rakeback: $50

TOTAL LOSS: $(98)

BANKROLL: $5.9k

In September, I’m going to be playing a bunch of 25nl with some 50nl. It’s going to be difficult to play live since there is no casino in my new town (what?!), but central London is now 40 minutes away if I get desperate. I'm beginning to wonder if I should just settle at beating 25nl given the time I've got available to progress, but I'll save those thoughts for another post.

Tilt Breaker

One thing I've always had problems with is having the discipline to close all open tables around the hour mark, which is the point when I start to become too passive and too fancy. I'm also prone to doing the same when I'm plus or minus 3BI+ in a session, so I figured I'd download the 14-day free trial of Tilt Breaker.

Tilt Breaker seems like a good product on face value for a tilt monkey like me. The software is easy to set up, works straight away (unlike almost every other poker software out there it seems) and is easy to use. I won't bore anybody with a detailed product description, but I set the product up to do the following (which all worked perfectly):

1) Run a report on win rate wrt session length. It was pretty clear that my win rate begins to rapidly deteriorate somewhere between the 60-75 minute mark.

2) Following on from (1), the software was set to irreversibly close all tables down after 60 minutes, with no tables allowed to be opened within one hour of the prior session ending.

3) I also set the software to close all tables if I became 2.5BI down at any point, as I've a habit of accentuating bad sessions with bad play

To be fair to Tilt Breaker, (1)-(3) all worked perfectly and the product does exactly what it says on the tin.

That said, Tilt Breaker is actually pretty tilting in the sense that the product cannot be tinkered with for certain nuances of tilt. My biggest tilt issue is mistake tilt, which causes spew to kick in. I'm fine with losing flips or set over set, yet I can easily lose two of those in the first five minutes of a session and find all of my tables closed for an hour. The product would therefore be fine if it could be adjusted to work on all-in adjusted EV.

I'd therefore say that this product is worth a look only if you have serious control and anger issues (in which case you probably need to rethink playing poker), but don't bother if you have some self-control or are at least determined to conquer your demons!

So I've been testing out 18-20 tabling 25nl this month whilst I'm unemployed. I'd like to think I can beat 25nl just fine in the long run and I'm interested in what my hourly might look like over a decent sample mass tabling. I do enjoy frantically making decisions too and it helps to keep my tilt at bay, although clearly I'm missing out on a lot of profitable spots and, more importantly, letting my game stagnate to the extent that I'm not regularly thinking through the depth of each and every decision.

The experiment so far has meant it's really difficult to know how I'm getting on. September started on one of my biggest ever heaters after some time away from Stars and was definitely one for those that believe in the boom switch. The key was flopping big hands against droolers in the main part, although after some time away, I tend to play a strict ABC style by default and a break from the game seems to help in that sense. In fact, I nearly always go on a big upswing after a week or two away from the tables.

After that initial upswing however, I tend to go on a downward incline and this month is no exception. The past 20k hands or so have been horrendous, but in actual fact, I don't think I've played anywhere near as badly as when I've been losing money before. Whilst FPS has slipped in occassionally against regs and accentuated my losses, the main issue has been that I've just not been flopping that well (particularly against fish) and I've also been involved in a lot of horrible run-outs and facing a raise, which is nearly always the nuts at these stakes. Still, it doesn't feel like much compensation having bet/folded half a stack a few times in a session and not stacked anybody, but I guess I should be happy that I'm at least getting away from these hands nowadays.

Overall then, I think it's difficult to know how I'm getting on! I'm beginning to realise that the short-run is definitely a lot longer than most people can ever imagine in poker and I guess the only thing we can do is be happy with the decisions we are taking.

Anyway, here's the graph (approx 24 hours played):

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/4845/dbtj.jpg

Yeah, that tilt breaker thing seems like the type of thing that'd just make me tilt more. I'm pretty good at stopping myself compared to some stories I've heard though.

Out of interest what made you decide to go to 18-20 tables? Isn't that quite a jump from what you are usually play. Or was I just wrong in assuming you usually play like 8ish.

you're getting some good volume in, keep up the grind!

I admire your ability to grind like this but I am not convinced that playing 18 to 20 tables is the way to go. I cannot image playing that many tables at one time and staying on top of my game. Anyway good luck with your experiment. I hope it works out for you in the long run.

Horrendous run continues EV-wise and practically even now for EV. I'm running well in all-in confrontations however to keep my head above water, but the way the boards are running out is killing my win-rate and I'm just not getting any similar run-outs going my way. However, I am most likely overdoing the slow playing in certain spots on the basis that 80%+ of the time I won't be outdrawn. Yada yada, moan moan moan...

Anyway, some examples where I probably don't help myself, but the run-out still sucks:

Hand (a)

Villain is nitty. Check is a time-out, although I don't hate it against this guy. Turn should be a jam or fold as villain clearly likes his holding. I should probably get away on the river as he is pretty much 55 and JTs always.

Button ($33.33)
SB ($11.07)
BB ($46.87)
UTG ($27.60)
Hero (MP) ($25)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.75, Button raises to $2, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.25

Flop: ($4.35) Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $3, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($10.35) 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $7.50, Hero calls $7.50

River: ($25.35) 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $20.83 (All-In), Hero calls $12.50 (All-In)

Total pot: $50.35 | Rake: $2

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Button had Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (full house, tens over Jacks).
Hero didn't show 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (full house, twos over tens).
Outcome: Button won $48.35

Hand (b)

Villain is spazzy. He's always AK or AA on the turn given reads when he takes this line, but I don't think the flop slow play is optimal. Realistically though, there are pretty much zero cards I'm scared of given villain's likely range when I flat the flop and I figure this is just a cooler.

CO ($25.89)
Button ($29.53)
SB ($40.07)
BB ($25)
Hero (UTG) ($25)
MP ($10)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif
Hero raises to $0.75, 3 folds, SB raises to $2.25, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.75) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
SB bets $3.75, Hero calls $3.75

Turn: ($12.25) Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $5.85, SB raises to $11.70, Hero raises to $19 (All-In), SB calls $7.30

River: ($50.25) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $50.25 | Rake: $2

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

SB had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (full house, Aces over Kings).
Hero didn't show 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (full house, tens over Kings).
Outcome: SB won $48.25

Hand (c)

Villain is standard TAG. I expect him to call flop with all small overpairs, AQ/AK and some suited club broadways and bet all of these holdings when checked to on the turn (and plan was to chk/jam). I'm therefore only scared of 3 outs in all likelihood on the river, but I should still bet the turn on reflection though and fold out most of these holdings for protection

BB ($48.35)
UTG ($16.77)
MP ($24.39)
CO ($25)
Button ($10.18)
Hero (SB) ($27.30)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif
2 folds, CO raises to $0.75, Button calls $0.75, Hero raises to $3, 1 fold, CO calls $2.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($7) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $3.34, CO calls $3.34

Turn: ($13.68) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($13.68) Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Total pot: $13.68 | Rake: $0.62

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Hero had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (one pair, Kings).
CO had Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: CO won $13.06

Hand (d)

Far and away the most interesting hand. Villain is pretty damn lag-spaz. On the turn I flat on the basis that the majority of the deck is fine for my hand and I want this guy to continue with his bluffs, 2-pair and sets on the river. On reflection, this is terrible as I doubt he has many bluffs here. River is meh and I think a fold given bet-sizing and villain's image.

CO ($26.34)
Hero (Button) ($54.96)
SB ($14.75)
BB ($20.75)
UTG ($25.70)
MP ($15.98)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.62, 1 fold, BB calls $0.37

Flop: ($1.34) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.75, BB calls $0.75

Turn: ($2.84) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2.03, BB raises to $5.40, Hero calls $3.37

River: ($13.64) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
BB bets $6.75, Hero folds

Total pot: $13.64 | Rake: $0.61

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

BB didn't show

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ImSavy

Out of interest what made you decide to go to 18-20 tables? Isn't that quite a jump from what you are usually play. Or was I just wrong in assuming you usually play like 8ish.

---

Not a question I can answer in short format unfortunately, but I'll try and get some thoughts down soon. I normally play 9-12.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by griffey24

you're getting some good volume in, keep up the grind!

---

Cheers!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tom1559

I admire your ability to grind like this but I am not convinced that playing 18 to 20 tables is the way to go. I cannot image playing that many tables at one time and staying on top of my game. Anyway good luck with your experiment. I hope it works out for you in the long run.

---

Playing that many tables isn't so bad and you would be surprised how quickly you can adapt. Most decisions are automated (especially in mtts) and you can pull aside tables to think through when in a tricky spot. I do really enjoy it too, although it clearly isn't optimal. I'm going to see how I get on though and my BR is enormous relative to the stakes, so there's no issue there.

Just wanted to say, 18-20 tabling 6 max and having your software kick out after 2.5 BIs is recipe for disaster. I've lost 3 BI's sometimes before finding 8 decent tables and sipped my coffee.

Think I'm calling river in J4ss hand spot.

If he's a lagg spaz he's probably raising the flop with most of this nut FD's. I'd also expect a lagg spaz to bet bigger with the nuts on river.

The only hands that make sense are like some AsT offsuit OOP float on flop.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jyms

Just wanted to say, 18-20 tabling 6 max and having your software kick out after 2.5 BIs is recipe for disaster. I've lost 3 BI's sometimes before finding 8 decent tables and sipped my coffee.

---

You're absolutely right and it's a huge problem with the software.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by griffey24

Think I'm calling river in J4ss hand spot.

If he's a lagg spaz he's probably raising the flop with most of this nut FD's. I'd also expect a lagg spaz to bet bigger with the nuts on river.

The only hands that make sense are like some AsT offsuit OOP float on flop.

---

Agree that this should have been a call. An example of passive tilt I think, where you get to the point where you have seen a number of bad river cards for a sustained period that you automatically assume you are behind yet again, without unpicking the logic of the hand.

September:

I think it’s safe to say that the one-month mass-tabling experiment hasn’t been a success, despite getting off to a huge upswing. In my own mind, I didn’t play particularly badly in the huge downswing either, so clearly missing out on a few 7bb-20bb pots here and there and slipping into a few bad habits due to playing too many tables has a huge effect on my win rate (given my current ability).

My aim with the experiment was more about thinking ahead to next year, where I had the notion that I’d make a run at Supernova and practically guarantee myself a decent win rate. I now know that this is a stupid idea, as overdoing the volume just to make more rakeback is self-defeating in terms of both total win rate and the opportunity to improve (unless the stake is so far beneath your ability it can be more profitable overall).

Earnings

Rakeback: $200
Earnings at table ~Even, despite between well over EV. The graph is pretty ugly, as my graphs have a habit of being (i.e. huge upswings, huge downswings):

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9682/i2jm.jpg




Next Month

No more than 9 tables for the majority of the month, but occasionally stepping up to 12 at peak drooler times (mainly Sunday after 3pm GMT)

Avoid looking at my monthly graph until the end of the month. The 17BI I was up early on in September felt like my money, so to donk it off is pretty tilting. I’m sure part of the reason I donked them off however will be because I won them in the first place!

More poker time devoted to study, rather than volume.

Stop being lazy and get a job (read: start looking for a job).

I really think ppl way over-estimate rakeback etc. You can make SO MUCH MORE than rakeback if you improve your play over that same volume. Not to mention you'd still be getting rakeback, even if the volume is cut by 30% or so.

A lot of people playing mass volume, their winrate might drop significantly from like 2 or 3 bb/100 down to 1 bb/100 or sometimes even almost break even. If you're starting at a winrate so low at high volume, it's not unreasonable to assume that cutting volume by like 30% could improve your winrate by like 50% or more.

ie: cut volume by 30% = (.7), but improve winrate by 50% (1.5) -> 0.7*1.5 = 1.05 (so NET GAIN) despite lower volume and lower rakeback proportionally.

Note this 50% improved winrate is just me assuming that you'll just play better when you can focus more on less tables. This doesn't even account for actually being able to improve over time due to this focus.

October:

Poker has been on the back-burner for yet another month since June, but the job hunt has started in earnest now and I should hopefully get something fixed up soon. I’ve only recently come to realise that looking for a job is a full-time pursuit that cannot be approached in a half-arsed manner, particularly in a competitive market where edges are thin. Having access to central London is definitely going to be good for my career though and there are some really interesting companies that I’d love to work for that are operating within sectors as diverse as professional sports, media, gambling and not-for-profit.

When I’ve managed to get some hands in, I’ve not been playing that well at 25nl this month and continue to make one big mistake every 1000 hands or so for 0.5-0.9BI (along with a bunch of mistakes in smaller pots). One positive however is that I’ve been seeing the benefits of ramping up the 3betting towards the end of the month and it’s fun to see the regs crumbling in 3bet pots, either by folding to every flop cbet or calling down barrels with top pair when I’ve flopped something funky.

Despite playing poorly, there are fortunately enough fish and bad regs around at 25nl to keep my win rate positive, albeit my win rate really would be quite reasonable if I didn’t regularly make both big and small mistakes due to tilt/not concentrating/not thinking through/planning the hand appropriately:

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/4424/8fiu.jpg

Earnings

Cash: $375 (6bb/100)
MTTs: $247 (41 played across two evenings, ROI ~40%)

Cashback: $0 (although I’ve got 60k FPPs knocking around)

Total profit: $622 (approximate hourly of $13)

Bankroll @$6.6k (majority sat in savings, but is that enough for 25nl?!!)

First few thousand hands back at 50nl in a while this evening. I'm a couple of buy-ins down due to massively overplaying in a few bad spots and kk<aa, but confident this level is beatable for at least a few bb/100.

50nl is definitely the first level where the aggro kicks in pre-flop and you need to be reasonably comfortable with 3betting light, 4betting light and 5bet jamming a wider range without question. 50nl regs still play pretty nitty and face up post flop however as I found to my cost this evening. That said, a couple of buy-ins reminding myself what this level is all about isn't too bad and I won't drop back unless I'm a dozen buy-ins or so down.

Playing shit and running shit and I've now slipped into my old, crazy monkey tilting self that I thought I'd largely moved on from. I'd probably be doing okay in terms of Galfond bucks, but Slansky dollars are being quickly donated to the 50nl community and this dozen BI shot will be over pretty soon in all likelihood.

Time for a couple of days off.