Working my way up

[scfc_andy15]

If anyone has ever read doyle's blog he posts a quote every time he updates called a doyleism of the day, so I have decided to try and copy that idea and I am going to post some of my favourite quotes when I post.

"It's hard work. Gambling. Playing poker. Don't let anyone tell you different. Think about what it's like sitting at a poker table with people whose only goal is to cut your throat, take your money, and leave you out back talking to yourself about what went wrong inside. That probably sounds harsh. But that's the way it is at the poker table. If you don't believe me, then you're the lamb that's going off to the slaughter." Stu Ungar

Now onto the blog, I have messed around with poker for a few years and started a couple of blogs but never really had the motivation to keep going, hopefully this is going to change with the writing of this blog. I am starting on full tilt poker with a $100 bankroll and Small Stakes Holdem Manager, I am going to be playing $2NL 9Max as my bread and butter although I my play the odd tournament or SnG to break up the grind. I brought HEM last night and sorted out the hud so I am good to go.

I am not in any rush to gain a huge bankroll or instantly become a poker genius or anything like that, I understand that it is going to take a hell of a lot of work for even a small reward in this game but I am determined to work hard.

My eventual aim is to be playing $10NL 9Max by September as I will hopefully be starting university and I wish to be able to grind while at uni and be able to take some money off if I need to. Thats it really I am going to be keeping track on things here so hopefully should get quite a few updates.

Shuffle Up and Deal

[donkbee]

good luck!

[scfc_andy15]

Aims
Play and be bankrolled($400) for $10NL 9Max by September 1st
Play at least 30,000 hands at $2NL 9Max by May 1st

Read the entire beginners digest
BankrollManagement 101. Important to new players by a500lbgorilla
The Newbie Circle of Death by storm75m
You Cannot Make Someone Fold by Pyroxene
Moving Up and YOU by Bigspenda73

169 hand SS-NLHE ring strategy: Preflop by Renton


Dealing with Bad Beats by taipan168


Blind Stealing 101 by spoonitnow
Raising Behind Limpers by spoonitnow

I will add any more aims as I progress

[Keith]

wouldn't it have been easier/more logical to just continue your old operation which you only made a couple of posts in?

[ledfut]

good luck. how many tables do you play?

[scfc_andy15]

wouldn't it have been easier/more logical to just continue your old operation which you only made a couple of posts in?

it would be logical, but I wanted a clean slate :/

and going to hopefully be playing between 1 and 6 depending on if I want put some volume in, or trying new things, working on something etc.

[scfc_andy15]

Put some volume in today just over 2600 hands mostly 6 tabling was playing about 11/8 which I am not sure if is too tight?? Was trying to open up more in late position and stay tight in early position, but I think I need to open up even more on the button/cutoff especially if the blinds are tight. I am up about 5 buyins which is good , I want to try and get about 30,000 hands on this level before I think about moving up to 5NL but what should be the minimum bankroll for moving up like $150 30 buyins should be enough and then move back down at $100?

For the time being anyway I am trying to work on my pre-flop play and trying to get a sound base before trying anything else.

[Penneywize]

it would be logical, but I wanted a clean slate :/

and going to hopefully be playing between 1 and 6 depending on if I want put some volume in, or trying new things, working on something etc.

Dude I wish you luck and all but come on, Keith's right, this is your 4th OP in like 5 months

last one k? k

[scfc_andy15]

ok last one, I promise

So I thought I would tell you a bit why this annoying twat keeps posting blogs and blocking up the forum, firstly I am bit of a perfectionist this spans back from since I was little when if I went outside the lines of a colouring book then I would rip the page out because in my mind it was ruined, then as you could see a page had been ripped out in the margin I would throw the whole book away because of the same reason in my head it was ruined..... yeah you can see where I am going with this I am a tiny bit mental. Carried on but got better, went to school messed up ripped out a page, I think my record was I had 4 pages left in a maths book at primary school like at the end of the first week . That was fucking up my education though so I managed to stop and just fucking cross out like a normal person.
Then I starting playing video games, this bit is where I am weird, like on gta if I died I would restart the whole game as I didnt want a kill on the record list and if I just restarted from where I was I thought it would be cheating...... yeah I never completed it. Another thing was if I went back a few months later I would always have to start a new game as I couldn't of been 100% sure I hadnt cheated on that game or died or missed a kill etc.
So then poker started.... I probably have posted like 4 blogs on here that haven't lasted more than a week and a couple of posts, probably because I have been on a downswing and I didn't want it recorded or I went on tilt and didnt want that recorded either So I decided to start a new blog but I couldnt start from the bankroll I had unless it was a full number, for example if I had $19.76 then I would take $1.76 to PLO and try and work it up to $20 or lose it and play with $18 just so I could start my blog with a "normal" number.... the amount of money I have lost just to get a whole number is crazy. Its one of the reasons I got HEM so I could track my results, without deleting them, as I dont know how even if its possible to reset the results. IF YOU KNOW DONT TELL ME!!!!! So this blog is also like a personal challenge to try and keep going, so wish me luck.

p.s sorry for starting loads of blogs
p.s.s you can delete the old ones if you want....
p.s.s.s if I start another blog in 2010 you can ban me from the forums

[scfc_andy15]

"Man's greatest strength is not never falling but in rising everytime we do fall."

Ok update time played about 6000 hands $19.27 up, so am running at 16.47 bb/100. But just played a pretty bad session where I only finished $4.16 down but it could of been a lot worse, here is some hands.....

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($2)
Hero (BB) ($2.50)
UTG ($0.21)
UTG+1 ($2.70)
MP1 ($2.14)
MP2 ($2.17)
MP3 ($2.93)
CO ($1.37)
Button ($3.46)
Preflop: Hero is BB with A, K
UTG calls $0.02, 3 folds, MP3 bets $0.06, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.22, UTG calls $0.19 (All-In), MP3 calls $0.16
Flop: ($0.66) 10, K, A (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero bets $0.50, MP3 raises to $2.71 (All-In), Hero calls $1.78 (All-In)
Turn: ($5.22) 6 (3 players, 3 all-in)
River: ($5.22) 4 (3 players, 3 all-in)
Total pot: $5.22 | Rake: $0.34

He had pocket tens

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($2.28)
Hero (UTG) ($2.03)
UTG+1 ($2.67)
MP1 ($2.83)
MP2 ($2)
MP3 ($4.47)
CO ($1.94)
Button ($2.08)
SB ($0.68)
Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, A
Hero bets $0.08, UTG+1 calls $0.08, 4 folds, Button raises to $0.26, 2 folds, Hero raises to $1.05, 1 fold, Button raises to $2.08 (All-In), Hero calls $0.98 (All-In)
Flop: ($4.17) J, 9, 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)
Turn: ($4.17) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)
River: ($4.17) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)
Total pot: $4.17 | Rake: $0.27

He had aces, he had sat down about 12 hands before and 3 bet 3 times already so I thought AK was above his range, but it is such a small sample....

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP3 ($2.01)
Hero (CO) ($2)
Button ($2.52)
SB ($2.73)
BB ($2)
UTG ($2.36)
UTG+1 ($1.36)
MP1 ($1.60)
MP2 ($1)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 5, 5
UTG calls $0.02, UTG+1 calls $0.02, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.02, Button calls $0.02, 1 fold, BB checks
Flop: ($0.11) A, 7, 5 (5 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.10, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.10, 1 fold
Turn: ($0.31) J (2 players)
UTG bets $0.16, Hero raises to $0.62, UTG raises to $2.24 (All-In), Hero calls $1.26 (All-In)
River: ($4.07) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)
Total pot: $4.07 | Rake: $0.27

He had aces but they is no way I am every folding that is there.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($2.31)
MP1 ($2.10)
MP2 ($4.65)
Hero (CO) ($3.54)
Button ($2)
SB ($2.16)
BB ($2.12)
Preflop: Hero is CO with K, K
UTG bets $0.06, MP1 calls $0.06, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.28, 3 folds, UTG raises to $2.31 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls $2.03
Flop: ($4.71) 9, J, 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Turn: ($4.71) K (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: ($4.71) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: $4.71 | Rake: $0.31

Again came up against aces, but managed to suck out :P

Anyway am on target for the hands played, but am starting new job tomorrow so might not have as much time to play but will still try and put in some volume. To finish on a positive note I am enjoying poker more now than I ever have, so hopefully it will carry on being immense

[donkbee]

p.s sorry for starting loads of blogs
p.s.s you can delete the old ones if you want....
p.s.s.s if I start another blog in 2010 you can ban me from the forums

lol ... ok.

[scfc_andy15]

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

I am going to be honest in this blog, as I feel that is the only way that I am going to improve as a poker player.

I have played just over 7000 hands and I'm up about 10 buyins, but I don't think I have played well really as I have just being playing 6 tables on auto-pilot with most of my decisions been made pre-flop. I have tried to open up more in late position than I am used to, to try and take advantage of my position against my opponents, although it is a small sample of hands I am $13.73 up from the button and cutoff compared to the SB where I am $8 down so I am going to try and stop playing as many hands in that position as I have been doing.

I am going to two table maximum for the next 1000 hands and I am going to work on my pre-flop play, especially starting hands. I have been raising 4x plus x for every limper and it has been working and I am going to continue doing that.

Question though is it ever acceptable to fold KK pre-flop while playing $2NL 9Max??

[scfc_andy15]

Btw this blog is mostly just going to be random poker related posts by me with no real logical sense or anything

I am continuing with my learning of pre-flop play and set myself a little task by asking myself why we raise pre-flop and these were the answer I came up with....

• For value, as we want as much money in the pot as we can while we are ahead of our opponents range.
• To disguise the strength of our hand, if we raise every hand we wish to continue with pre-flop then our range is a lot wider than if we only raise AA/KK/QQ/AKs
• To steal the blinds, we are taking the blinds with marginal hands that we wouldn’t normally raise with if called we have position on the blinds.
• For the lead in the hand, as the pre-flop raiser you have control over the hand as you have shown the most aggression, normally get checked to on the flop but not always.
• To isolate weaker player(s), if you feel that you have an edge post-flop and wish to play a pot with them and wish to get others out of the pot or more money in pre-flop.

These are the only ones I can think of at the moment but I will add some more if I can think of some.
The reason behind doing this and things like these is because I want to learn the reasons behind why people do certain things like raise pre-flop, not just because everyone else does it. It might make me look stupid by writing it down seen as everyone else already knew as soon as they started playing but I am willingly to look stupid as long as I am going get better in the long run.

　

[scfc_andy15]

I am going to try and complete all of spoon range exercises over the next week or so as I am shit with ranges and need to learn it asap

Spoony exercise 1 - Complete
Spoony exercise 2 - Complete
Spoony exercise 3 - In Progress

[EasyPoker]

"Put some people on a range"

[Im_new]

GL 2u

[scfc_andy15]

thanks for the coments guys

Ok was talking to spoon last night in IRC - if you are a beginner please please go there it will help your game no end, and I said i was struggling with putting people on ranges so he said to go through my HEM hands won/lost more than 10bbs on and put them on ranges, I have 137 hands to go through and I am going to spend one hour a day (hopefully) putting people on ranges. Here is my first hand yes i know I play WANK dont judge me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($7.28)
SB ($2)
BB ($0.94)
UTG ($0.74)
UTG+1 ($6.16)
MP1 ($0.32)
MP2 ($1.10)
Hero (CO) ($2)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 9, 6
5 folds, Hero bets $0.08, Button calls $0.07, 1 fold
Flop: ($0.18) 8, K, 6 (2 players)
Button checks, Hero checks
Turn: ($0.18) 7 (2 players)
Button checks, Hero bets $0.12, Button raises $0.24, Hero calls $0.12
River: ($0.66) 10 (2 players)
Button bets $1.73, Hero calls $1.68 (All-In)
Total pot: $4.02

Ok so he is 53/21/2.2 VPIP/PFR/Ag Factor over 44 hands. Have seen him do some stupid things, call a shove pre-flop 100bbs deep with 84o.

Pre-flop range
Called a 4x raise from SB against TAG Button.
22-99, 32s+, 42s+, 63s+, J7s+, Q7s+, K6s+, A2s-A10s, 32o+, 53o+, 85o+, K9o+, A2o-A10o.
This is my range for him pre-flop as he is capable of three betting (22.2) I have removed 1010+ and high aces, he will probably three bet more hands but if I am not sure then I am leaving them in the range. Against this range of hands I have 46.4% equity and I have position post flop so I think its a +ev open.

I checked the flop through and I think he is checking the flop with 100% of his range as I haven't seen him donk out yet. I knew he was capable of raising the flop so I checked behind as I had an ok hand.

Turn - He checked I bet around 3/4 pot and he min raised. I am putting these hands is his range, 66-99, K6-K8, 2 spades, 98-96, 109, 85-65, 54, KQ. btw I dont know how to include spades or any suit into the handrange on HEM if anyone could tell me would be appreciated.
I have 23.1% equity against that range not including spades so it is a clear fold...........

River - he open shoves and the card that makes my straight and the flush has come, now his range is 66-99, 2 spades, 98-96, 109, 54. Really the best I am hoping for is a spilt pot and with the over shove I have to be right a large amount of the time to make it profitable.

I know I play bad I going to post this is BC aswell as gets more traffic and I want to know if I am on the right lines with these hand range thing.

[Kijjo]

Hey andy,
about your earlier comments about your past blogs, etc. Just remember that developping as a poker player is a process. By starting a new "clean slate" blog, you haven't erased any of the bumps or bruises or warts. Everybody's got those. You'll get some scars here and there, the point is progression and improvement. So don't look at them as a stain. Look at where you are now as a point on the road that one day you'll be able to look back at and go "glad I'm not there anymore."
Folding KK preflop at 2NL? Nope, just count on paying off AA now and then and getting paid a whole lot. These players are so bad you can't trust a read that he's got AA, 'cause so much of the time it's something retarded even from a player you thought was decent.
About your range comments posted above, don't just think of the good combination possibilities. For example you've got K6, K8 and KQ. Don't think he could have any other K's? From your description, I'd put every K hand in his range. Players that, "call a shove pre-flop 100bbs deep with 84o" would be the hardest to put on a range. Good luck!

[scfc_andy15]

Hey Kijjo, yeah i understand now that you have to develop and get better. But some reason probably pride, I wanted to be perfect right from the start, and when I wasn't I started again so I could be perfect from then.... Everyone has imperfections, everyone fails but it those who keep going who suceed in the end and hopefully that could be me.

The reason I asked about the KK is that a high percentage of the time that I have gotten my stacks in pre-flop with AA and KK I have usually been up against the other small sample size though so your probably right I just have to stick it in and not be so concerned with the results

[LuckySlevin]

I can empathise with this mindset I think I have 12 deleted blogs in my blogger account! It was only ever myself and best friend that mainly read it lol - but none the less when it had gone south it did feel good wiping the blog and starting again!

What Kijo said though for sure, to realise you're on a journey, in fact you might like to look back on where you were say 6 years ago in 6 years ago and with one blog you'll be able to do that.

Lol same applies to HEM (or pt etc...) I think I had 10 databases at one point... At the end of the day all that matters is you play your (a) game every time you play. Good for you about being honest sounds like you've figured most of this out yourself already

[scfc_andy15]

I have fighting ever urge to delete the database I have at minute as my graph looks wank!!!!!! But I have decided to keep on going for the minute anyway

Anywayz update time.....
Played 9673 hands +$7.74 running at 12.5/9.5/3.3
If anyone could tell me how to posts graph off HEM I would show how rubbish I am at poker :P
Honestly haven't played too much, started new job on wednesday which is boring but not bad money and working twilight shift so aint too bad working this afternoon this getting trashed for mates birthday, and then getting drunk tomorrow bit of a session all day so I am going try and not play tomorrow night otherwise I will probably lose a big chunk of my bankroll.

Ok so I am still concentrating on ranges for the minute am going to try and post on average around one hand a day on this blog with reads, ranges and equity calculations. That should take about an hour a day up and then I want to try and spend another hour studying something else as I think I am going to be learning and improving ranges for a while and I should be learning other stuff alongside it aswell (implied odds, pot odds,) all kinds of cool shit. So at the minute actually playing isnt my highest priority.

After years of messing around with poker in the week or so this blog has been running I honestly feel I have a decent chance of learning and getting better as a player

[scfc_andy15]

Another range exercise oh how fun these are
Villian is 20/14/0 over 142 hands isn't crazy or anything just seems to play his cards

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($1.91)
MP1 ($1.98)
Hero (MP2) ($2.03)
CO ($2.01)
Button ($1.37)
SB ($0.68)
BB ($1.94)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, A
UTG bets $0.06, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.24, 4 folds, UTG calls $0.18
Flop: ($0.51) 7, 4, A (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.35, UTG calls $0.35
Turn: ($1.21) 4 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.55, UTG calls $0.55
River: ($2.31) J (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.89 (All-In), UTG calls $0.77 (All-In)
Total pot: $3.85 | Rake: $0.25

Ok he raisies pre-flop UTG to 3x so pre-flop I am putting his raising range as 77-AA, JTs+, QTs+, KTs+, K9s+, A8s+, QJo+, KJo+, ATo+ (I got this range by essentially putting 14% into pokerstove as that is his PFR and I assuming that he is positionally unware so I haven't varied it :/ Against this range I have 60.410% equity along with position post-flop and wanting to get HU I decided to 3 bet.
Then he calls my re-raise and I had taggy stats if he was paying attention, and he flat called which in my eyes rules out AA and KK, some people flat with QQ/AK here so I am leaving that in the range, which now consists of 77-QQ, KQs+, ATs+, KQo+, AJo+, which my hand has 58.077% equity against now.

The flop comes 7 4 A no suits, he checks to me with I think he is doing with his whole range. I fire a 2/3 pot bet which he calls, this call narrows his range to 77, JJ-QQ, ATs+, AJo+, as I think he will slowplay a set on this board often like most $2NL players. My equity has improved again to 75.882% which means I am crushing his calling range so I should bet.

The turn comes another 4, and I fire again quite small trying to induce a shove or a bad call so the river shove which I am going to make 100% of the time gives him great odds (probably a mistake.) He calls again I think the turn bet will have folded out JJ and QQ, he is probably just calling again with 77 as he turned a full house so I am leaving that in his range along with all the Aces previously. My equity is 75.882% meaning that this is an easy value bet.

The river comes a J and he checks I shove and he calls which I think he is doing with the entire of his range he had on the turn but my equity has decreased to 52% which means if he calling the shove with the entire of his range then it is still an +ev move.

Hope I've done that one ok

[scfc_andy15]

MINI OP

Just got told by full tilt, that I have got a take 2 bonus
I think that it works that if I have to play more than 1 table and then whatever points I earn on there gets doubled and they are called bonus points. I have to earn at least 5 bonus points each day for the next nine days and I will get $25 bonus. So I am all over that 1 hour 6 tabling per day will hopefully easily cover it.

[LuckySlevin]

oh nh, can't beat free money

gluck

[scfc_andy15]

The bonus is going to run from april 3rd to april 11th btw so for them 9 days going to grind
I have staked my friend $44 in 20 45 man $1.10 SnG's and 20 90 man deep stacked $1.10 SnG's, and will keep record of results here. I did this a couple of reasons firstly I owe him from when he keep my afloat in poker after I blew my bankroll time after time, secondly I had around a $125 bankroll and I dont want to move up to $5NL until another 20000 hands so I should be able to grind back up..........

[scfc_andy15]

Ok time to come up with a decent colour code system

Purple - Default, has a note on them.
Green - Fish will give their money away.
Red - Nit, super tight.

[scfc_andy15]

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (Button) ($4.72)
SB ($1.77)
BB ($5.20)
UTG ($3.29)
UTG+1 ($0.86)
MP1 ($0.54)
MP2 ($2.38)
CO ($1.94)
Preflop: Hero is Button with J, K
4 folds, CO calls $0.02, Hero bets $0.10, 1 fold, BB calls $0.08, 1 fold
Flop: ($0.23) 7, J, 4 (2 players)
BB bets $0.19, Hero raises $0.65, BB calls $0.46
Turn: ($1.53) 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
River: ($1.53) 5 (2 players)
BB bets $0.26, Hero calls $0.26
Total pot: $2.05

CO limps and I raise my standard raise (4x plus x for every limper) I am doing this as CO has limp folded a hell of a lot and I have position. Wasnt suprised the BB called as he basically has a been one of my targets at this table. He was running at 57/25/12 at just over 100 hands and being a general fish.

Pre-flop - Range is very wide (22-99, 32s+, 42s+, 52s+, J7s+, Q7s+, K5s+, A2s+, 32o+, 42o+, 85o+, Q8o+, K7o+, A2o+)
My equity against his range is 57.113%, judging by the fact he has a high 3 bet percentage I am taking 1010+, AQs+ and AKo out of his range.
Flop - I hit a great flop for my hand J 7 4 all clubs TPGK with the second nut flush draw and he donks into me for just under pot, I have put his donking range at (44, 77-99, 7J-AJ(all jacks in previous range), 56, Clubs, AcXo, QcXo, 47-A7(all sevens in previous range), KQ, AQ) My hands equity has gone up to 71.349% against this range, and I decided to raise which he calls.
His calling range in my eyes is (77,44, clubs, all jacks, 56, AcXo, QcXo) and my equity has decreased to 61.349%
Turn - I hit my flush and the second nuts against a fish and this is where I realise I am shit and need to vastly improve. He checks which I think he doing with his whole range, and I decided to get behind because at the time I was thinking he is only going to improve with a high club and I have the king so if the money goes in he probably has the Ace as we both are around 250 BB deep.
River - He bets out the river a tiny amount like 1/6th pot and for some reason I think he has the ace. In reality his betting range is probably something like (Acx, Qcx, all clubs,44, 77) I think that all clubs would be in his range as on second looks it does like a bit like a blocking bet. Against that range I had 43.284% equity if I did this correctly.

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 43.284% 43.28% 00.00% 29 0.00 { KcJs }
Hand 1: 56.716% 56.72% 00.00% 38 0.00 { 77, 44, AcJc, AcTc, Ac9c, Ac8c, Ac7c, Ac6c, Ac5c, Ac4c, Ac3c, Ac2c, QcJc, QcTc, Qc9c, Qc8c, Qc7c, JcTc, Jc9c, Jc8c, Jc7c, Tc9c, Tc8c, Tc7c, 9c8c, 9c7c, 9c6c, 8c7c, 8c6c, 8c5c, 7c6c, 7c5c, 7c4c, 6c5c, 6c4c, 6c3c, 5c4c, 5c3c, 5c2c, 4c3c, 4c2c, 3c2c, AcQd, AcQh, AcQs, AcJd, AcJh, AcJs, AcTd, AcTh, AcTs, Ac9d, Ac9h, Ac9s, Ac8d, Ac8h, Ac8s, Ac7d, Ac7h, Ac7s, Ac6d, Ac6h, Ac6s, Ac5d, Ac5h, Ac5s, Ac4d, Ac4h, Ac4s, Ac3d, Ac3h, Ac3s, Ac2d, Ac2h, Ac2s, QcJd, QcJh, QcJs, QcTd, QcTh, QcTs, Qc9d, Qc9h, Qc9s, Qc8d, Qc8h, Qc8s, Qc7d, Qc7h, Qc7s }

Any comments on the hand or range welcome.
hand i played in last nights session that I was unsure about my play :/ think it was too nitty.

UPDATE TIME Have played 1/3 of the hands I have set myself to complete by start of may, so on track with that. Its a relief to know that I can 6 table with relative ease if I need/want to get some volume in, however saying that for the minute I have dropped down to one table and am concentrating hugely on notes on players and coupling that with their hud stats, I should hopefully make some more accurate reads. I want to carry one posting one hand with ranges at least once a day as I feel it is going to help hugely in the long run.
Still on the learning curve for pre-flop play and am going to try and read some articles on it to hopefully get some better understanding.

[scfc_andy15]

Read rentons pre-flop guide just and something clicked when I read this...

"Preflop strategy should not be unvarying. What you do with two given cards should change dramatically based on stack size, how tight/loose the game is, importantly the position of players who have already acted, and even more importantly, our position at the table."

I wanted a guide that said on button one limper raise with K10s, three limpers limp behind with 67s. I didnt want to think I wanted a guide to how to play perfect poker and make money, but that perfect guide does not exist, they are only guidelines to help you to develop your play.

If in example one the limper was tight but ultra passive maybe 6/1 over 300 hands, and hasnt limp folded once, I shouldn't raise pre-flop as his range is likely extremely strong and has mine dominated (might be better if he has a high fold to cbet stat and low agression factor but on about pre-flop at the minute.) In the other example 67s on button against three well known limp folders and 2 nits in the blind, may well be +ev to raise it up and get at least or even all 3 to fold to pick up the money, if one calls you have position.

Basically what I am trying to say is that they is no correct situation all the time, as renton said it changes every single hand and you have to be constantly thinking and anaylazing the situaution and adapting to it in order to maximize your expectation. Reading that post (which I have done like 4 or 5 before) is the first time that it really clicked with me and hopefully thats a good sign.

[scfc_andy15]

Ok haven't updated for a bit, my blog fell to the second page :O but there hasn't been much to blog I haven't really been in the mood or had to much time to play/study and I've been lazy basically and haven't felt like playing poker, but I have forced myself to play today as its the first day of the take 2 promotion and I want the $25 bonus

Bankroll Update
$75 on full tilt poker
$40 on pokerstars
$44 staking a friend

I am not counting the staking money so I have around $110 as my bankroll which I am happy with and would be happy moving up to $5NL with this bankroll but I dont feel I am ready, I want to play more hands and study more before I make the move. I am thinking though to try and grind the pokerstars bankroll up and play cash there and save the FT bankroll for sngs and tournaments and general messing around as the rake is less damaging on stars.

[scfc_andy15]

What are you really scared of? Failing? Or are you scared of giving something 100%, giving it every ounce of energy you have and then failing, realising you aren’t good enough even after you tried your hardest you’re a failure, you just cant do it? So you try half hearted, you don’t give it 100% don’t study as much as you should, instead of playing that session you watch a film, instead of reviewing that hand you play a pc game because you know that when (and you will) fail you have an excuse all ready fucking made, “yeah I didn’t try hard enough.” That excuse is more to themselves than anybody else, they are too scared to be a complete failure without anyone or anything to blame. The news is that the world is a fucking scary place most people are scared every second but to get anywhere you have to get over that you have to accept that you might fail but if you are going to fail, fail spectacularly while daring to try your best, knowing that at worst you are failing safe in the knowledge you couldn’t of done any more and not having the feeling that you might of succeeded if you had just tried a bit more, gave that one extra ounce of energy that could of made all the difference. If you think that you aren’t good enough, that’s there no point trying then read these stories:

• When Thomas Edison was a youngster, his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. He was counselled to go into a field where he might succeed by virtue of his pleasant personality.
• Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
• A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he "lacked imagination and had no original ideas."
• Walt Disney’s first cartoon production company went bankrupt.
• Babe Ruth struck out 1,300 times, a major league record.
• The Beatles were rejected in 1962 by the Decca, Pey, Philips, Columbia and HMV labels.
• Van Halen’s first demo tape was rejected by every major record label.
• John F. Kennedy lost the election to be President of his freshman class at Harvard. He failed to win a post on the student council as a sophomore and dropped out of Stanford Business School.
• During the first year, Coca-Cola only sold 400 Cokes.
• Ludwig von Beethoven was deaf when he wrote some of his best music. Most people wouldn’t think a deaf person could succeed in music.

Nothing is impossible if you are willing to believe and work hard.

P.S this is for myself I am probably talking shit :P

[EasyPoker]

Just thought I'd tell you Andy...putting the range into stove direct from HEM/PT3 won't give an accurate range.


Best way to see this is to use stove's own percentage slider and see how many more hands really come under (say) 15%.

[scfc_andy15]

I was thinking about starting a new blog as I once again try and make a run out $2NL, but I re-read this fucking blog and heard myself have a little bitch about clean slates - so fuck it, I am going to continue on this blog so people know how much of a fuck up I have made and still am making of poker! Basically didnt really play properly for the last 6 months just had $20 online ran up to $50 then blew it, rinse and repeat, BRM for the win!!!!!!

Got about $30 on my ft account now, and I really dont want to go busto again so going play $2NL 9Max until I reach $100 and then I am going up to $5NL hopefully. So lets see how long it takes before I lose a couple of pots and never post on this blog again

[philly and the phanatics]

move up to 5nl at 80 if you grinded it from 30 bucks imo

[callmenuts26]

haha, good luck. I think the majority of people go through a phase like that. Just gotta learn from your mistakes instead of falling back into the same pattern. I think it took me 3 or 4 times of grinding from around 20 bucks up to 200 or 300 and then tilting, moving up to 100nl or 200nl, losing, and starting over from the 20 bucks I didn't quite bust to finally decide that wasn't a very productive cycle and I needed to stop it.

[scfc_andy15]

I have decided to play $2NL 6Max instead as I wanted to concentrate on taking notes and making reads and I can one table 6Max whereas 1 tabling 9Max is mega tilting! Some hands from the session I just played. I am going to through the ranges and the math after.

So basically UTG is bit fishy, running at 50/17 over 30 hands, the notes I made though occurred after this hand took place as it happened early in the session. The timing on the turn suggested to me that he didnt have a flush draw as he took a while to hit call, whereas if he had picked up a flush draw from AcJc or whatever I thought he would see a flush draw and just hit call. Also he was one tabling and didnt have a full stack.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
CO ($6.71)
Button ($2)
Hero (SB) ($2.01)
BB ($1.85)
UTG ($1.90)
MP ($2)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, A
UTG bets $0.07, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.06, 1 fold
Flop: ($0.16) 10, 7, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks
Turn: ($0.16) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.10, UTG calls $0.10
River: ($0.36) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.36, Hero calls $0.36
Total pot: $1.08 | Rake: $0.07

Same table a bit later, a fish sat directly on my right he was running 81/13 over about 70 hands. He had sat down orignally with 70bbs and was 1 tabling and was also in a freeroll, he wasnt brilliant and had open limped button etc.. Relevant notes are that he Overbet pot on river after min betting turn with K8s on 4Q225, after limping pre. So I was trying to isolate him a lot and playing post-flop with him as the rest of the table seems to be playing straight forward ignoring him.

The question here, is that is Q9o too weak too isolate and should I be betting turn here, as I dont think I should be flop for pot control. River call or fold??

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($2.49)
MP ($1.74)
Hero (Button) ($5.35)
SB ($1.95)
BB ($4.04)
Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, 9
1 fold, MP calls $0.02, Hero bets $0.10, 2 folds, MP calls $0.08
Flop: ($0.23) 8, A, Q (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks
Turn: ($0.23) A (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks
River: ($0.23) 9 (2 players)
MP bets $0.12, Hero calls $0.12
Total pot: $0.47 | Rake: $0.03

This is the next hand with the same villian, just really want a line check as I aint used to isolating villian and "exploiting" post-flop.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($2.49)
MP ($1.96)
Hero (CO) ($5.13)
Button ($1.94)
SB ($4.02)
BB ($2.06)
Preflop: Hero is CO with A, 7
1 fold, MP calls $0.02, Hero bets $0.10, 3 folds, MP calls $0.08
Flop: ($0.23) 4, A, 10 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks
Turn: ($0.23) 4 (2 players)
MP bets $0.04, Hero calls $0.04
River: ($0.31) 6 (2 players)
MP bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10
Total pot: $0.51 | Rake: $0.03

Going to run ranges a bit later and might post Q9 hand in beginners circle because it confused me