The Aspiring Stacker

[Petulie]

I posted a hand with some analysis the other day and I've been so pleased by the positive response. Thanks to everyone helping out, I really appreciate it! I'm really glad to find I'm on the right track. An interesting concept came up which I hadn't considered - it takes stronger hand to call than to raise pre-flop. This makes sense considering how tight calling ranges are as opposed to opening ranges in the same position. I have certainly taken this on board in my preflop strategy and I'm sure it has been saving me some pretty pennies.

Things are beginning to click into place now. One great revelation was the fact that I should play against ranges and not the random hand my opponent may have. For example, rather than thinking "Oh shit, (s)he might have the 8", realising that there aren't many 8s in my opponent's range and basing my decisions upon that.

Another concept I struggle with as a spewy fish is needing reasons to bet post-flop. One better than "Let's scare the shit out of this dumbass and take his monies!" I am improving on this, particularly now that my line of thought is developing as I work on understanding the game.

Continuation betting is an example of this. Carroters and I have previously discussed c-bets, however I found this a more complicated topic than the straight forward charts we laid out for opening/calling pre-flop. My approach was to c-bet essentially every flop in the hopes that either my opponent(s) would fold to my shitty cards or call my equity. In our last lesson we revised this topic and laid down a few good guidelines which has really helped my post-flop play. I shall summarise these below.

Reasons to c-bet: 1) Dry(ish) board texture. 2) One opponent. 3) Looser opponent - take advantage of these with unpolarised c-betting. 4) No showdown value. 5) Showdown value is weak i.e. very vulnerable. 6) Flopping equity e.g. straight/flush draws. 7) Value betting.

Reasons not to c-bet: 1) Showdown value is strong, however not entirely invulnerable e.g. strong middle pair. 2) Clear turn plan. 3) Tighter opponent. 4) Multiway pots.

So the line of thought when deciding whether to c-bet goes:
1) Board texture. 2) Number of opponents. 3) Opponent range(s). 4) Equity? 5) Showdown value?

If anyone has any other considerations to add to these, I'd be grateful.

In other news, my favourite present to give birthday folk is now a Stars account with a $40 roll to get them started on 2NL. That accompanied by a PT3 trial and a brief spiel about tight pre-flop strategy. I'm recruiting more ladies to the poker world and I am strongly encouraging them to join FTR, so I expect a warm welcome guys!

Also, my bankroll is steadily growing and I've just received the first of my bonuses, so 5NL may not be so far away...

[Petulie]

This space may go a bit quiet over the next couple of weeks; exams have just commenced. One down and so far so good!

Brief update: I've moved up in stakes! Didn't take long to conquer the 2NL fishes after all. Pretty chuffed. I would change my aim to hitting 10NL by end of May except that may not be so realistic, and I'll probably cash out a bit to pay for my HUD.

Some differences I've observed between 2 and 5NL:

1. Nittier - both my opponents and myself!
2. More regs/fewer whales. Still loads of stations.
3. Less limping
4. $10+ pots - eek! Blank! Blank!

Only played a few hundred hands so can't say too much. Going well so far, hope it continues this way!

[derekeverett]

Good luck with your exams... I was thinking that was why you didn't seem to be around here.

and I'll probably cash out a bit to pay for my HUD.

Get the boyfriend to pay for the damn hud!

[Carroters]

Get the boyfriend to pay for the damn hud!

nou

[rpm]

Brief update: I've moved up in stakes! Didn't take long to conquer the 2NL fishes after all. Pretty chuffed.

nice work! and good luck on your journey to balladom

[Petulie]

All's quiet on the poker front. I played a bit of 5NL and was going really well. Then, just as I felt like I'd finally gotten used to the larger pots etc, I hit a pretty bad ass downswing. 5BIs when you've just moved up a stake actually hurts a little! Carroters says I was due some bad variance but I'm sure there were also heaps of bad decisions involved.

So I've taken a break. Just as well seeing as I'm in the middle of exams. That's another one down and I almost feel bad about how well they've been going. I suspect I may get better marks than folk that have put in a hell of a lot more effort than me... Looking forward to come Tuesday when I'll never have to sit another written exam, woohoo!

That's when I get crackin' on my new plan of action:

1) Move down to 2NL. Gutted. I've still got 15BIs for 5NL, but I figure I may as well rebuild my confidence and BR at 2NL, get some studying etc done before taking the next shot.

2) Lots and lots and lots of reading. There are several topics I'm wanting to cover - reading lists to follow once I've got access to my bookmarks. Expect plenty of posts trying to tie everything I'm learning together.

3) Hand reviews of my 5NL sessions. Figure out what went wrong, how much was variance vs bad decisions, and formulate rough plans for post-flop cause my strategy sucks.

4) Post the most interesting hands. Also need to go back and learn about calculating equity and pot odds on that thread from ages back.

5) Milk 5NL!

[Keith]

In other news, my favourite present to give birthday folk is now a Stars account with a $40 roll to get them started on 2NL. That accompanied by a PT3 trial and a brief spiel about tight pre-flop strategy. I'm recruiting more ladies to the poker world and I am strongly encouraging them to join FTR, so I expect a warm welcome guys!
...

you can take that a stage further , sign up as a stars affiliate and make 75$ per signup so the present you are giving actually makes you 35$ .

[Petulie]

Yo yo yo! Petuliefish is back!

Been pretty busy what with getting a life back after exams, I haven't even had much time to grind. Did manage to get a few k hands in and man I've been crushing 5NL! Nice to run good - check it!



Feels like things are really falling into place now. Earlier on it felt like I was miles away from putting any of my opponents on a range, but now I even have a feel for my own ranges when I take particular lines. It's also much easier to identify opponents that are easy to exploit, not only in neighbouring seats, and I've begun identifying good spots for 3 bet bluffs preflop, check/raising flops, etc.

Something that has really helped is discussing poker with my friends. Two of my mates have recently started playing and so I've been talking them through tight pre-flop strategy etc and writing up some of the more basic concepts for them with loads of links from ftr. Sweats have been particularly helpful as it forces me to explicity describe my line of thought and reasoning behind each decision. They're still total noobs and I'm sure a fair amount goes straight over their heads, but it helps me regardless and they're beginning to catch on. My little poker babies! They shall be crushing the micros soon too I hope!

HH reviews have also helped a bunch. Man do I facepalm when going through them. I've been quite surprised by the number of mistakes I don't spot while at the tables! Been discussing the more difficult spots with Carrotz but I should really get posting them on here and hear what youse think as well.

Obviously there's still loads I need to work on, but I'm feeling much more confident. If only I had more time to grind/study! Will have to wait til August I'm afraid - soon away to Amsterdam for a month, I'm so excited! It's the last long summer holiday I'll have in a good few years so better make the best of it!

Anywhos, thought an update was in order as this space has died and I didn't want everyone thinking I was a hit and run. Happy summer and gl at the tables guys!