OP: Unfinished Business

[PlayToWin]

I've messed around with poker for about a year now. I started with $50, playing out of my bankroll at 10NL. I slowly lost that, found FTR, and decided to reload and try again.
Even though I'm overolled after a deposit, I'm starting this Op at 2NL 6-max. I want to win enough to be properly rolled for 10NL with a $300 bankroll. To do that, I need $110.

So, I'll play 2NL until I win $35, switch to 5NL until I win $75, then move up to 10NL.
*Update: I completed these goals and moved to 10NL, but a Fail = Drop back to 5NL with new goals.

[x] Win $35 @ 2NL
[x] Win $150 (30 buy-in's) @ 5NL - New goal, beginning 12/2009
[ ] Play 10NL until I'm rolled for 25NL = 30 BI's = $750

[flomo]

1st

[PlayToWin]

It's time for an update, but first I want everyone to recognize flomo for getting the first post yet again. How does he do it? Flomo, congrats on your no prize winning victory. LOL.

I'm trying to get in at least two 2-hour sessions a day (I'm behind on that) playing 2 and usually 3 tables. So far I've played 2500 hands with a win rate of 4.7 ptBB's/100 hands. That's pretty dismal. My results have been kinda swingy, but mostly positive. I only had one losing session out of the first seven. In that session I lost one big hand which I played like a psycho spewtard, I just couldn't let it go and lost $2.25. I recovered well until having a big downswing of almost 4 BI's. That downswing had me hating poker and thinking about quitting. I thought I played pretty good but kept getting beat like a little bitch (insert your favorite bad beat story here). It helped to get some perspective when I read a couple other operations. Downswinds suck, even little ones like mine.

I haven't played many hands at all, I know. Obv I'm not gonna quit now and hopefully I'll never want to again. I have two or three books lined up to read, but it's a little tough to make myself study instead of playing. I guess that would fall into the 'discipline' category. I'll post a couple hands below, but no bad beats for now....

Hand 1
This had me scratching my head and wondering if they could see my cards. I get AA from the big blind and NO action, lol.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($2.84)
CO ($1.99)
Button ($1.88)
SB ($1.52)
Hero (BB) ($2)
UTG ($4.96)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A
5 folds
Total pot: $0.02 | Rake: $0

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Next, a donkey joined the table sitting to my left (very passive table till now). The table folds except for 2 limpers and I check in the big blind. I bet 3x with A6o on a AQ8 flop, ready to dump the hand. He 3-bets .40 cents and takes a small pot. I guess he's proud and he shows 22. He's ready to bully the table. So that sets up the second hand which helped my bankroll.

Hand 2
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($2.09)
MP ($1.19)
Button ($3.10)
Hero (SB) ($2.92)
BB ($3.10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
UTG calls $0.02, MP calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero bets $0.10, BB calls $0.08, UTG calls $0.08, MP calls $0.08

Flop: ($0.40) 5, J, Q (4 players)
Hero bets $0.30, BB raises to $3 (All-In), 2 folds, Hero calls $2.52 (All-In)

Turn: ($6.04) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($6.04) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $6.04 | Rake: $0.30
Wish they could all be this easy.... He had A7o, so he had 3 outs to beat me.

[PlayToWin]

I just got done with my first session of the day (2 hrs. and 400 hands). It was pretty crazy. At one point I was down $4 (AI PF = KK<AA) & (middle set<str8).
I decided to open up a 4th table and I think it helped me play more straightforward. Raising PF more often with good hands, and not chasing draws too much. I ended up winning a shitload of smaller pots and ended the session up $1. I'll take a break and try 4 tables again in my next session.

[BooG690]

Good job...I actually started playing a lot better once I started 4-tabling. Anything less causes me to play less than optimally.

[swiggidy]

1st

Seriously, why do we keep you around?

OP, here's your theme song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHnNx01L9ts

[PlayToWin]

OP, here's your theme song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHnNx01L9ts

That's what I'm talkin bout........I like it! Thanks.

[PlayToWin]

The 2nd session went pretty well. I played 340 hands on 4 tables. I didn't lose any big pots and have to come from behind like sometimes happens. I ended the session up $2.50. So far, four tables is sweet. I'll stick with it and see how it works out.

BR is just shy of $200.

[PlayToWin]

After my first two attempts playing four tables, I thought I had stumbled accross the key to making poker easy. Yea, it was wishful thinking. Yesterday was a tough day at the tables. I was down almost 3 BI's due to thinking my very good hands were winning hands (spew) and I made it worse by value-towning myself repeatedly. I just couldn't believe that villian always had a better hand. I admit that I also called too much and made one very bad bluff. It's not a good idea to bluff at these stakes. It's not necessary. The only thing to be a little happy about was that I came back to finish up .50 cents (yea, a small victory). That 50 cents took me over 3 hours and 686 hands!

So, today I played a shorter session that went much better. I played 400 hands running almost 9 ptBB/100 hand. So, in 2 days of play, I'm up 1 BI. Not great, but I'll take it.

Operation progress:
5200 hands
6.6 ptBB/100 hands
22/6/1.7
BR = $205

[PlayToWin]

This weekend was a fuckin disaster. Poker sucks.

[Carroters]

Care to elaborate? We all go through shitty spells. Remember this: poker will always always shoot you the fuck down as soon as you think you're getting somewhere It's like playing snakes and ladders. Snakes are everywhere, but if you stick in there'll be more and more ladders and one day you can get to the top of the board if you persevere. None of the snakes put you back to square no. 1.

[PlayToWin]

We all go through shitty spells.

Very true, my friend. I had to take a few days off to get over the tilt of a 2-day 6 buyin downswing that pretty much nullified all of my efforts, modest as they may be, till now. I must say that I really enjoyed not playing for a while.

I realize NOW that this is par for the course, but it really pissed me off. I also realize that I'm more susceptible to tilt than I thought. At the end of my "tilted" session, I called a two villian all-in with AK just because it "might" win. It didn't. In fact the KK and QQ hands of the villians BOTH hit their sets, LOL.

So here I am with a new goal. My new goal is to donk off my entire bankroll. If I fail in the new goal, at least I won't be on tilt!

I finally decided on a Poker-Stars icon photo so it's kinda cool having that. I'm still not sure if it's a good idea to have a custom icon since it makes you easier to remember. Anyway, I decided to get back on the horse. My tiltability was tested a little bit. At one point I was all the way back at ground zero of the Op at $190. But, I didn't tilt and thought I played pretty well. In the end I finished at $198. I'm going to try to look at the long-term picture and expect a few losing sessions. Above all else, I don't want to tilt. I know it won't be easy, because as nibbles says, poker really is a bitch!

[Micro2Macro]

Post some hands, and don't listen to nibbles.

[nibbles]

Post some hands, and don't listen to nibbles.

Suck a stiff one.


Play, keep your head up. Don't go spewing your roll away, as you'll just regret it and end up returning to a solid style of play anyway just to recover your losses when you could actually be progressing in your operation. We all go through this. I was mistaken about poker. Poker isn't a bitch, she's a ho. She fucks everybody. Poker runs everyone through the ringer. Last week I was pissed off, playing above my roll, and not caring. Today I too am over rolled for 2NL, working on my game slowly and steadily, and I'm feeling fine. I wish I could be more helpful, but we're on the same level, so know I'm going through it too. Just keep reading, learning, and grinding. GL.

[PlayToWin]

Don't go spewing your roll away, as you'll just regret it and end up returning to a solid style of play anyway just to recover your losses when you could actually be progressing in your operation.

Nah, I was just being sarcastic about that new goal. I'm gonna work on a no-tilt, solid game. I know I just need to play a lot more hands. Thanks for the advice.

[TORdot]

#1

[Sasquach991]

Play,
I don't understand why you are tilting so much. Seems you are playing 2NL with ~$200 BR. If you lose 5 BI's in one day, that's only 5% of your BR.

To be able to lose 5 BIs before reaching your stop loss should definitely keep you from being money scared and you should be able to shrug it off with out tilting. If you got your money in good, then don't sweat it.

I know it's tough to lose 3 BIs but that's only 3% of your BR. You did come back though.

Something that helped me a while back...
Keep up with the bad beats per table. When you hit three, leave and find another especially if it's the same villian.

I played last night with a arrogant villian who was 97/29/2.5.
He bought in for $10 (10NL) and after 30 hands he had $80.
After 60 hands he had $75.
I patiently waited for decent cards and finally hit KK and bet accordingly. He rivered an A. These sort of hands happened a couple more times to me so I left.
The final straw was AA< 58o. Turn was 5 and river was 8.

In the time I was there, one player (25/20/2) lost 7 BIs before finally leaving. I almost stayed to try to "Get Even" with him but I left as he was really on a run of cards.

I also disagree about bluffing microstakes especially with a flush.

[nightmoves44]

Perhaps you might try playing where your comfy at,If you try too hard,you can miss alot of winning hands.Ive noticed I win more hands if I just play smart and not worried if I lose and be more worried about playing it right,if that makes sense.

[PlayToWin]

Play,
I don't understand why you are tilting so much. Seems you are playing 2NL with ~$200 BR. If you lose 5 BI's in one day, that's only 5% of your BR.

Logically, you are correct. The thing is that I decided to pretend that I didn't have that BR. I guess that's kinda silly. I wanted to start from "nothing", complete the op and have 30 BI's for 10NL. That little downswing was probably the worst I've been tilted and I didn't realize it was affecting my play until afterward. Overall, I'm glad it happened because now I have a better attitude and a better idea of how to deal with bad beats.

Something that helped me a while back...
Keep up with the bad beats per table. When you hit three, leave and find another especially if it's the same villian.

I think this might be a good idea. I know it seems like certain tables are bad (responsible for all the losses) while others are winning ones.

[PlayToWin]

This is a hand that I also posted in the BC, asking if it was a stupid call or not. I made the call with my reasoning being that both villians were AI and to call was only half a buy-in. I had 35% equity PF. Most of the responses were that it isn't a good call without much better reads that villians would go AI with worse hands. If you want to read that thread, follow the link below. Two other hands are also discussed.
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...29.html#871785

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($2.91)
UTG ($1.11)
MP ($1.08)
CO ($4.13)
Button ($1.80)
SB ($2.92)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A
UTG bets $1.11 (All-In), MP calls $1.08 (All-In), 3 folds, Hero calls $1.09

Flop: ($3.31) 7, Q, A (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($3.31) K (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($3.31) 3 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $3.31 | Rake: $0.15

Results:
Hero had K, A (flush, Ace high).
UTG had 3, 3 (three of a kind, threes).
MP mucked Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $3.16

This is a lol amazing hand to me. I hit about the best possible hand I could expect on the turn, with top 2-pair. But that still wasn't good enough because villian 1 made his set on the flop. Also, villian 2 made his set on the river. But, lucky me hit my backdoor flush on the river to take it down.

The moral of the story is to not overvalue AK.

[PlayToWin]

I just had my best sesion ever. I won just over 4 buy-ins in one hour. Wheeee! I felt like I chased a few draws that I shouldn't have so I didn't play real well, but I did hit some big hands.

Hand 1:
Here's one that is probably pretty standard, but it had me scared on the flop since he check-raised. It was an easy call with only .50 cents behind. I still don't know what he was thinking. I guess it was just a bluff all the way. How were my bet sizes?

Villian: 90/17 (31 hands)
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($2.97)
UTG ($2.24)
MP ($4.72)
CO ($4.81)
Button ($5.72)
SB ($6.54)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K
2 folds, CO calls $0.02, Button calls $0.02, SB bets $0.04, Hero raises to $0.12, 1 fold, Button calls $0.10, SB raises to $0.30, Hero raises to $1, 1 fold, SB calls $0.70

Flop: ($2.14) 8, 10, 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.48, SB raises to $2.96, Hero calls $0.49 (All-In)

Turn: ($6.08) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($6.08) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $6.08 | Rake: $0.25

Results:
SB had 6, 6 (two pair, tens and sixes).
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and tens).
Outcome: Hero won $5.83
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 2:
This may have been a bad play. Do I let this go after the Turn check-raise? Easy fold on the River if no Q?

Villian: 24/12 (25 hands)
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (4 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($5.97)
SB ($4.09)
BB ($5)
UTG ($6.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, Q
UTG calls $0.02, Hero calls $0.02, SB bets $0.12, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.28) J, 9, 9 (2 players)
SB bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.20

Turn: ($0.68) 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.40, SB raises to $1.40, Hero calls $1

River: ($3.48) Q (2 players)
SB bets $2.37 (All-In), Hero calls $2.37

Total pot: $8.22 | Rake: $0.40

Results:
Hero had Q, Q (full house, Queens over nines).
SB had 2, 2 (full house, twos over nines).
Outcome: Hero won $7.82

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 3
Here's one where I folded the best hand because there were too many people in the pot. I felt like I must be behind.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($1.98)
SB ($2.52)
BB ($2.95)
UTG ($2.98)
MP ($3.91)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, 2
UTG calls $0.02, MP calls $0.02, Hero calls $0.02, 1 fold, BB bets $0.06, UTG calls $0.04, MP calls $0.04, Hero calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.25) K, A, 2 (4 players)
BB bets $0.22, UTG calls $0.22, MP calls $0.22, Hero calls $0.22

Turn: ($1.13) 7 (4 players)
BB bets $0.04, UTG raises to $0.30, MP calls $0.30, Hero folds, BB calls $0.26

River: ($2.03) 8 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $0.30, 1 fold, BB calls $0.30

Total pot: $2.63 | Rake: $0.10

Results:
BB mucked Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
UTG had J, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: UTG won $2.53

[PlayToWin]

This is the second session of the day and I'm up another $3, so it's been a great day. I played 4 tables for 2 hours and was card dead up until the last 15 minutes. I may have gotten a little impatient and lost a few small pots early to get down a buy-in. Below are the biggest winner and biggest loser (which could have been a lot worse).

Hand 1
The flop was perfect for me and when he reraised my flop bet, I was pretty sure he would call a shove. Great hand!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (3 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($3.56)
BB ($4.58)
Button ($3.33)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
Button bets $0.14, Hero raises to $0.40, 1 fold, Button calls $0.26

Flop: ($0.82) K, Q, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.44, Button raises to $1.06, Hero raises to $3.16 (All-In), Button calls $1.87 (All-In)

Turn: ($6.68) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($6.68) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $6.68 | Rake: $0.30

Results:
Button had K, 8 (two pair, Kings and eights).
Hero had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won $6.38

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 2
Losing with AA: I wanted the Aces to hold up, but I had to dump the hand. Luckily, I avoided the major donk suckout.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($2.04)
BB ($3.18)
UTG ($1.10)
MP ($1.12)
CO ($2.91)
Hero (Button) ($3.68)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
UTG calls $0.02, MP calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero bets $0.10, SB calls $0.09, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.08, MP calls $0.08

Flop: ($0.42) 4, 10, 6 (4 players)
SB bets $0.14, UTG calls $0.14, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.38, SB raises to $0.62, UTG calls $0.48, Hero calls $0.24

Turn: ($2.28) J (3 players)
SB bets $0.34, UTG calls $0.34, Hero folds

River: ($2.96) 7 (2 players)
SB bets $0.98 (All-In), UTG calls $0.04 (All-In)

Total pot: $3.04 | Rake: $0.10

Results:
SB had 5, 3 (straight, seven high).
UTG mucked 10, 8 (one pair, tens).
Outcome: SB won $2.94

[oskar]

AK - you got it in with more than 40% equity in a 3-way pot, and you think you made a mistake because you lost the hand?

QQ - turn is a fold unless you have reads... give him a range... should make sense.

K2 - preflop is questionable. On the flop just reraise and get it in. Enough people will level themselves thinking you would trap with a set or 2 pair, so obviously you have the draw and they can make a hero call with A3... Works for me.

KK - 3-bet could be bigger. I usually make it 3x IP and 4x+ OOP.

AA - if they're calling, open for more. Experiment with opening for 10x+ or so... if people call with worse, then it's not a mistake.

raise to 70c on the flop
Turn is so bad I can't even... jesus.... Just shovel the flop if you're going to do something like that.

[PlayToWin]

Oskar, thanks for looking at all those hands.

AK - you got it in with more than 40% equity in a 3-way pot, and you think you made a mistake because you lost the hand?

HEM said I had 35% equity and I didn't lose the hand. I wanted feedback to see how others would play it. Several thought it was a bad play to call. I'm crushed against AA or KK and it's a coin-flip against any pair.

QQ - turn is a fold unless you have reads... give him a range... should make sense.

I don't know about a range. Any pocket pair? As the 2 came on the turn, it didn't worry me. But given his stats (small sample), a read could be that he's probably fairly solid and not gonna check-raise with air.

AA - if they're calling, open for more. Experiment with opening for 10x+ or so... if people call with worse, then it's not a mistake.

Yea, I could try 10x. I've also never just shoved AA preflop. I haven't checked, but I think AA is a loser for me overall.

raise to 70c on the flop
Turn is so bad I can't even... jesus.... Just shovel the flop if you're going to do something like that.

I agree that I should have raised bigger. I would much rather shove preflop than on the flop. On the flop I could be dead money with only one pair. I would rather not stack off with AA again, if i can help it. They look pretty, but I kinda dread them these days. But yea, I played them badly.

[PlayToWin]

I reached a milestone yesterday by completing the 2NL phase of the Op. Whoohoo!

2NL stats:
11,000 hands
22/6/1.6
7 ptbb/100 hands
After a big downswing, all the profits were from the last 3.5K hands.
*Some hands were played on another computer and aren't in my database.

So, I'll move on to 5NL and see what's what.

Here's a story from last night, I got paid off when I flopped the nut FH and also when I took money from the biggest fish I've ever seen. Fish stats were 95/82 over 38 hands. Of those hands, he went all-in preflop at least 20 times. Another player took half his stack and I didn't think I would get a chance. The fish would limp behind, but if anyone raised PF, he went AI and forced everyone to fold. So I was about to quit and had shut down all my other tables and in, literally, the last hand I was going to play I got KK. I raised 4x from UTG and, as expected, he went AI with 4Ts. Easy call.......easy money.

[sil693]

congrats on completing the 1st part of your op! gl with the 2nd part. should be straightforward to move from 2NL - 5NL and I wouldnt expect much (if anything) to chnage, so just stick to your game.

[PlayToWin]

congrats on completing the 1st part of your op! gl with the 2nd part. should be straightforward to move from 2NL - 5NL and I wouldnt expect much (if anything) to chnage, so just stick to your game.

Thanks sil693. My first session of 5NL and I played for 3 hours. So far, it seems very similar to 2NL. I think I overbet a couple of monster hands. I probably lost value by forcing people out of the hand. I finished + $3 so that's ok. It was a very swingy session.

[PlayToWin]

The last two days went pretty well overall (Fri. = bad, Sat. = great). Friday was my 2nd session at 5NL and I lost 2 buyins. I was flopping middle pair a lot and was getting frustrated trying to pot-control with villians who obviously had a better hand. Also, the play at 5NL seems more aggro and bluffy so it's a little harder to get reads. I never really got in a groove.

Saturday was one of my best poker days and I won 5 BI's. I decided that if I hit middle pair on the flop, I would see a cheap turn card if possible and dump the hand if it didn't improve, which worked out a lot better. I also ran good and hit a lot of TPTK+ hands. I took advantage of a couple of calling-stations with my sets and straights FTW.

Here's a hand against the calling station. I don't know if I should have 3-bet the Turn or not.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3.84)
BB ($6.90)
Hero (UTG) ($6.37)
MP ($5.33)
Button ($4.26)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 4, 4
Hero calls $0.05, MP calls $0.05, 1 fold, SB calls $0.03, BB checks

Flop: ($0.20) 4, 10, 7 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.15, MP calls $0.15, 2 folds

Turn: ($0.50) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.40, MP raises to $0.80, Hero calls $0.40

River: ($2.10) K (2 players)
Hero bets $1.25, MP calls $1.25

Total pot: $4.60 | Rake: $0.20

Results:
Hero had 4, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
MP mucked 10, Q (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero won $4.40

I'm a little pissed at HEM because it's giving me an innacurate Won/Lost total for the session. I've caught it about 3 times, reporting around $5 more than it should have. I need to figure that out soon.

[dranger7070]

I definitely think you can 3bet the turn. If possible, try to get it in, but if he just calls thats fine too. I woulda made it ~$2ish maybe 1.90 or 2.10 but somewhere around there, depending on how much you think you can get him to call. That way, you can just stick it in on the river, and you haz stax instead of like $2.25. Other then that, well played, except I probs bet more on the river too lol. Somewhere around 1.70-1.80. If hes a station, hes not gonna fold what he was raising on the turn here, so get some value out of his shit two pair hands and whatnot.

[PlayToWin]

If hes a station, hes not gonna fold what he was raising on the turn here, so get some value out of his shit two pair hands and whatnot.

Thanks dranger. I think I was worried that, since I called his Turn raise, he might be reluctant to call a big river bet. You're probably right, though.

[PlayToWin]

Oh well. I'm supposed to be focussed when I play, but I lost site of that I think. In two days I lost 5 BI's. It's due to some coolers, of course. One stack went when my top set lost to a str8t, but I also spewed 2 or 3 times for big pots. I made one really bad bluff. I actually had outs to the nut flush, but it was more of a bluff than anything. The villian had flopped a str8t and wasn't going anywhere. The good news is that I didn't tilt, as far as I can tell. Maybe that bluff was some tilt, I don't know. I didn't feel mad or anything, but maybe it made me want to gamble.......yea.......damn tilt got me again.

Anyway, I'm taking the next three days off because I'll be out of town. When I return, I'll be wantin' my stacks back!

BR = $234

[PlayToWin]

When I return, I'll be wantin' my stacks back!

BR = $234

Wanting stacks and getting stacks ain't the same thing at all! It's been a major up/down struggle lately. I spewed a couple more BI's and had 3 or 4 stacks lost to bad beats/coolers like this one.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($35.26)
BB ($6.72)
Hero (UTG) ($7.21)
MP ($4.72)
CO ($5)
Button ($10.08)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, J
Hero bets $0.20, 2 folds, Button raises to $0.60, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.27) 6, J, A (2 players)
Hero bets $0.85, Button calls $0.85

Turn: ($2.97) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $5.76 (All-In), Button calls $5.76

River: ($14.49) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $14.49 | Rake: $0.70

Results:
Button had K, A (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Hero had A, J (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
Outcome: Button won $13.79
------------------------------------------------------

Results have been very swingy, but overall it's been mostly break-even poker over the last 3K hands. The BR got down to $227 at one point which is about where the 5NL phase of this Op began. It kinda sucks to have to "start over", but the same thing happened during the 2NL phase so I know I can come back.

Today was typical of the last few sessions. At one point I was down 2 BI's, but came back to finish +$1.50.

Here's a hand we can all smile about (I didn't tilt, it was kinda of a cool hand). A lot of you will say that I played it terribly and I can't argue. The only time I slowplay is with the nuts. I know how easy these guys get scared of a monotone flop and I tried to reel 'em in. You don't have to bitch at me, that's just the way I chose to play it. I knew he may have the str8t flush, but what are the odds? Could you have folded?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($4.64)
SB ($6.94)
BB ($9.52)
UTG ($6.30)
MP ($3.90)
Hero (CO) ($6.02)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 5, A
2 folds, Hero calls $0.05, Button calls $0.05, SB calls $0.03, BB checks

Flop: ($0.20) K, 3, 9 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($0.20) 7 (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, Button calls $0.10, 1 fold

River: ($0.50) 8 (3 players)
BB bets $9.37 (All-In), Hero calls $5.87 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $12.24 | Rake: $0.60

Results:
BB had J, 10 (straight flush, Jack high).
Hero mucked 5, A (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won $11.64
-----------------------------------------------------------

Fortunately, I won some big hands too. This was the biggest. If the table is passive PF, sometimes I'll limp in. Otherwise, I wouldn't play this hand. I could have reraised AI on the Turn, but I thought that if I slowed down he would stay aggressive and throw in another bet.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($9.28)
Button ($5.90)
SB ($3.77)
BB ($2.34)
UTG ($2.89)
Hero (MP) ($8)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 10, Q
1 fold, Hero calls $0.05, CO calls $0.05, 1 fold, SB calls $0.03, BB checks

Flop: ($0.20) A, 10, 10 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $0.20, SB calls $0.20, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.70, CO calls $0.50, 1 fold

Turn: ($1.80) K (2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, CO raises to $3.50, Hero calls $2

River: ($8.80) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $5, Hero calls $3.75 (All-In)

Total pot: $16.30 | Rake: $0.75

Results:
Hero had 10, Q (three of a kind, tens).
CO had A, 9 (two pair, Aces and tens).
Outcome: Hero won $15.55
----------------------------------------------
So, I'm recovering from the downswing and grinding away. Too fun.
BR = $238

[BooG690]

I don't disagree with limping in...though I probably would have limped in with a hand a bit better than QTo. Nice hand though...interesting check on the river. Good luck bro...you seem to be doing well!

[bjsaust]

People call with draws. Give them something to call...

[PlayToWin]

Thanks for checkin' in, guys.

People call with draws. Give them something to call...

If I've identified a CS, I will bet every street. In the flush hand, I probably should have reraised the Turn. I doubt villian would have folded with the J. I guess they either have it or they don't. But, it has helped a few times in the past to slow down and let villians catch some part of a hand and sometimes I wait till the river and stack them. I don't know if it's such a bad play that I should never do it.

[PlayToWin]

It's been a while since my last update. Poker life is good. BR at a new high ($282) thanks to two sessions on Memorial day. Ship +5 BI's. I saw more terribad players that day than ever, but this is 5NL.

I'll post some of the big winners. The first one was nothing special, but interesting to see four Aces pop up. I just had the right hand at the right time. I should have been playing with a bigger stack, though. I limped in to disguise my hand. I don't always limp KK (see hand 3). On the flop, I bet small to look weak. Obv, I should have been AI instead of flatting the raise, but was distracted by a big hand on another table.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($5.42)
BB ($5.05)
UTG ($4.87)
MP ($6.53)
CO ($14.91)
Button ($5)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
2 folds, CO calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.03, BB checks

Flop: ($0.15) A, A, A (3 players)
Hero bets $0.15, BB raises to $5 (All-In), CO calls $5, Hero calls $4.85

Turn: ($15.15) A (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero bets $0.37 (All-In), CO calls $0.37

River: ($15.89) 10 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $15.89 | Rake: $0.75

Results:
Hero had K, K (four of a kind, Aces).
BB mucked 3, 3 (four of a kind, Aces).
CO mucked 6, 6 (four of a kind, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $15.14
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hand 2: I played my flush face-up by check-raising the Turn, hoping he also had a flush. Pretty bad shove by him when any T or flush had him crushed.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (4 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($6.85)
Button ($4.88)
Hero (SB) ($7.14)
BB ($15.88)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 3
2 folds, Hero calls $0.03, BB checks

Flop: ($0.10) 7, 6, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.10, BB calls $0.10

Turn: ($0.30) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.25, Hero raises to $0.80, BB raises to $15.73 (All-In), Hero calls $6.19 (All-In)

River: ($14.28) A (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $14.28 | Rake: $0.70

Results:
Hero had A, 3 (flush, Ace high).
BB had 2, 5 (straight, nine high).
Outcome: Hero won $13.58
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hand 3: Donks abound. The A on the flop had me worried. i had to lol at the hand he shoved with.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($4.95)
Hero (BB) ($7.98)
UTG ($16.33)
MP ($17.70)
CO ($10)
Button ($5.61)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K
UTG calls $0.05, MP bets $0.25, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.80, 1 fold, MP raises to $17.70 (All-In), Hero calls $7.18 (All-In)

Flop: ($16.03) A, 5, 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($16.03) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($16.03) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $16.03 | Rake: $0.80

Results:
Hero had K, K (one pair, Kings).
MP mucked 8, K (one pair, eights).
Outcome: Hero won $15.23
--------------------------------------------------------------

This seems to be how I win most of my big pots. Some donk will shove when I've got the nuts or close to it. I still call down with TPTK sometimes when I'm beat, but I'm trying to fold a lot. I'm also getting better at using HUD stats to identify fish and widening my range accordingly. It's still tough to loosen up against these guys since they can always get a hand at the wrong time.

[nibbles]

Hand 1 - How pissed would you have been if you had to split that pot with a limped K-rag? I remember one guy stacked off on my Ace high when he had QQ on a board with four 2's. But that was at 2NL so everything crazy happens down there.

Nice progress. +5 BI's always makes for a great day. $300 is right around the corner. Keep up the good work.

[PlayToWin]

Ya know, it's funny that just a short time ago I was worried that I may not be getting enough experience @5NL before I moved to 10NL. That was before my ~10 BI downswing that put me only $8 above the beginning of this OP!

The downswing started when I left town for a few days and had to play without a HUD on another computer. I don't know if that had much of an affect, but I did feel a little out of sorts initially. I had a 3-day run of losing 3BI's per day. There were definitely some coolers and a bad beat or two for stacks. However, I also gamboooled a couple of times with nut flush draws and once with the nut str8 on a paired board. I could have lost a lot less if I'd done the conservative, smart thing and just called on the river. Instead, I shoved, got called, and lost a 150bb's.

I didn't want to post here until I had recovered the 10BI's, which I did tonight. Now, I hope I can continue to play well.

Here's the garf: Downswing and recovery.
*The sharp spike at the bottom is two consecutive hands (different tables). First was KK<AA, then AA>KK, lol. Still lost a bit overall though.



I never got upset while on the downswing, which I think is good, but I did get reckless by calling two flush draws without proper odds. I think the downswing helped my poker IQ/maturity. Since then, I think I've been playing better. I let go of hands before I'm too committed and I think I'm paying closer attention to villians and reading them better.

I know I'm also on a heater, so it's going to take a lot more hands to see how well I'm really playing. I'm still $23 below my previous BR highpoint.
BR= $265

GoGoGo!!!

[Micro2Macro]

Wow nice comback! Keep it up man.

[PlayToWin]

OK, since I dug myself out of the hole, things have continued to go well. My last session in June was enough to complete the 5NL phase of the Op! I was a little shocked since I had not checked my BR for several sessions and thought I had a little ways to go yet. I ran 10.4 ptBB for the last 8300 hands.

I'm on my way to 10NL. Woohoo!
BR= $300

Here's the garf of the last 8300 hands, from the bottom of the big downswing to 5NL phase completion at the end of June.




I need to win $450 before moving to 25NL with 30 BI's and a BR of $750. To give myself a decent shot at 10NL, I'll move back down to 5NL if I lose 6 BI's. So, at $240, I'll move back to 5NL.

It would mean a lot to me to beat 10NL, since that's where I started a few months back, without the proper BR, and got my butt kicked. Now, I'm a much better player and I should do OK. The first session will be tomorrow.

[Keith]

good luck at 10nl . Just expect a lot more 3 betting and learn to fold to the 3bets more than you would at 5nl.

[PlayToWin]

I noticed that iopq changed his avatar so I thought I would too. This is a friend that let me take a few photos of her....

Interesting tidbit: Last night during a 80 min. session, playing 3-tables, I saw 3 villians showdown with quads.

OK, my first 1500 hands at 10NL and I'm down 1/2 a BI. It seems like I've been kinda card dead.

Also, as Keith predicted, there's a lot more 3-betting at 10NL. I feel like I'm getting pwned a lot of the time. I need a better plan to deal with 3-bets, so I'll be reading up on that. The overall aggression preflop and postflop seem higher. Villians are stealing more but I haven't had cards to defend. Do you need good cards?

There are more preflop raises from all positions. No matter how many limpers, it seems I can't limp behind because one of the blinds will always raise, if not the button. So, I'll need to up my PFR%. There are also plenty of donks, but they seem more aggro as well. They're willing to bluff a lot more than I'm used to.

All this makes me want to play tighter, which might be the best plan. But, I'm working on upping my PFR% and ATS% as well. Better cards would help.

So far, I'm running 20/10 with 23% ATS. Very nitty for 6-max, huh.

[Illfavor]

You tap that? More pics pls kthx.

[kmind]

I noticed that iopq changed his avatar so I thought I would too. This is a friend that let me take a few photos of her....

Interesting tidbit: Last night during a 80 min. session, playing 3-tables, I saw 3 villians showdown with quads.

OK, my first 1500 hands at 10NL and I'm down 1/2 a BI. It seems like I've been kinda card dead.

Also, as Keith predicted, there's a lot more 3-betting at 10NL. I feel like I'm getting pwned a lot of the time. I need a better plan to deal with 3-bets, so I'll be reading up on that. The overall aggression preflop and postflop seem higher. Villians are stealing more but I haven't had cards to defend. Do you need good cards?

There are more preflop raises from all positions. No matter how many limpers, it seems I can't limp behind because one of the blinds will always raise, if not the button. So, I'll need to up my PFR%. There are also plenty of donks, but they seem more aggro as well. They're willing to bluff a lot more than I'm used to.

All this makes me want to play tighter, which might be the best plan. But, I'm working on upping my PFR% and ATS% as well. Better cards would help.

So far, I'm running 20/10 with 23% ATS. Very nitty for 6-max, huh.

That's pretty nitty but small sample. Still nitty. You shouldn't be calling/limping that much. As for 3betting, they probably aren't doing it nearly as often as you think. At higher stakes, ISF suggests folding 3bets 75% of the time as a general rule, so at your stakes it can even be higher. I'd suggest you never flat a 3bet OOP btw. You should adjust your 3bet calling ranges depending on how villain plays postflop, specifically on the flop. If he 3bets as bluffs a good amount and cbets nearly always, making your 3bet calling range as only monsters and c/x on the flop is going to be pretty damn profitable.

To up your preflop aggression, obv. steal more. More importantly, as it looks like you aren't doing, you should be abusing limpers more by isolating them with a raise over their limp, mainly IP. Adjust how often you do this given their postflop tendencies (IE open your isolating range if they fold on the flop more because you can bluff a ton with cbets)

[PlayToWin]

@Illfavor - Yep, and I'll post a pic of her backside whenev I get tired of this view....might be a while.

It’s been a long time since my last update. My move to 10NL in July went badly. I think I played decently, but hit a bad streak. I followed my plan and dropped to 5NL as required. Then the downswing continued. I got down to around $190. I’ve read enough FTR Operations to know that shit (downswings) happens. I wasn’t on tilt, but my focus was too much on playing and not enough on studying. I decided to take a break midway through October and for all of November. I thought a break would make it is easier to shift my focus. But I still lurked on FTR, trying to absorb a little knowledge. Spoon is a hardass regarding lazy players, but that’s a good thing because he’s also posting a lot in the BC trying to jumpstart noobs.

And so…I am studying more. Daven posted some good links in his OP and in others lately that have helped a ton. Thanks Daven. Also dranger7070 has reinforced this in his Op. Playing is fun, but study is also required. There is a big pot of money for the taking, but it has to be earned. As I’ve learned, the focus @ 5NL should be to become a winner first, as opposed to losing or breaking-even. Only then should you open-up your game to becoming a more well-rounded player. If you can’t win at 5NL, you have a lot of issues.

Here is a pic of a few months of my evolution as a player:

My PFR%, 3-bet%, Fold to 3-bet%, and Steal% seem to be getting better. I guess I’m a slow learner.

Since I started playing again in December, I’m happy with my game, meaning I think that I’m playing well and not just getting lucky.

However, I did have one EPIC day! Check out these stats:

That was a fun session. Ship it!!!!

Since then, things have gone well. I’ve embraced the advice to “make good decisions and forget checking the bankroll” espoused by so many FTR regs. As a result, I’ve removed the Operation Manager from my Sig. I check my daily winnings but I’m not gonna check my BR until I’ve completed 10K hands. Hopefully, I’ll be overolled for 10NL at that point.

As for 10NL, I am expecting a much more aggressive game. I'm trying to prepare for it. I expect to tighten up even more and I don’t think I’ll limp much, even from the CO or Button. Whatev, I’m going to try. I want to get better and winning consistently @ 5NL is good for my motivation. I’ve decided that weekends are more +ev to play than to study, so I’ll study during the week.

I am dealing with some RL issues as well. Playing or studying poker is thought of as “wasting time” so I get some shit for it. Also, some recent physical limitations make it somewhat difficult to type. Yea, it’s fucked up. Hence, I’m not in IRC like I should be and I may not update this OP too often. The good news is that I could get healthier and that using the mouse to play poker isn’t too difficult.

Here is my garf for December ’09 with a little over 4K hands.


I’ll post again when I hit 10K hands in Jan. 2010

[PlayToWin]

I just hit 10,000 hands since I began playing again in December '09. This Op's original goal to be focused and patient all the time, is a big fail. I continually call down big river bets. I've done it with total donks and with very tight players. I've also been running like crap so the month, so far, is not pretty.

I started the month with several winning sessions and was up six BI's. Since then, I've lost 8 BI's. Whether I'm running bad or not, I've got to quit making bad calls. I just don't know sometimes. I lost two BI's in a flip with my nut flush draw vs AA on the flop. I was a 48% dog. Tilt caused me to 4-bet, call AI vs a solid villian (15/13) with QQ<AA, obv. It's hard to fold when I have a good hand.

Here's a crying fold. Villian was 51/22/27/15 (VPIP/PFR/ATS/3-bet over 100 hands). I know the check on the River could induce a bluff, but he called two good bets. I could have been beat several ways, so I'm guessing it was the right play, for once.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($6)
CO ($10.56)
Button ($6.20)
SB ($5)
BB ($2.03)
Hero (UTG) ($8.99)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
Hero bets $0.20, 1 fold, CO calls $0.20, 2 folds, BB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.62) 6, 8, 8 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.45, CO calls $0.45, 1 fold

Turn: ($1.52) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.10, CO calls $1.10

River: ($3.72) J (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $1.70, Hero folds

Total pot: $3.72 | Rake: $0.15

Results:
CO didn't show
Outcome: CO won $3.57

[PlayToWin]

I think that I get into a funk if I play too long. I get mesmerized by clicking buttons. Maybe that's because I haven't played video games in a few years, lol. So, I plan to limit my play to 1.5- 2 hours and only 3 tables.

During the recent 8 BI downswing, I played much longer sessions because I was losing. In fact, losing a big hand would make me decide to keep playing even when I had already decided to close down the tables. Playing tired and slightly tilted just leads to spew.

After 2 sessions, I've made back 3.5 BI's. Tonight I ran good and only played 30 minutes. I had a calling station donate several good pots and then I doubled up with AA>JJ. After that, I just decided to be a pussy and bank the win.

From now on, if I can, I'm going to concentrate on not losing big pots. I looked at some hands where other people lost big pots to my calling station and guess what, he quit calling and reraised with his big hands. If they had folded to aggression, they would have saved money. Even donks know how to play when they hit a big hand.

That's not to say I'm gonna fold to all aggresion, of course. Here's a hand I had to call from a short-stacker. It looked like a bluff because he was too aggressive. I guess it also looks like a set hunting line with the limp/call PF, but I don't know if he would shove the turn with a set. I would have folded to a diamond on the Turn.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($11.54)
BB ($4.93)
UTG ($1.86)
MP ($5)
CO ($5)
Hero (Button) ($6.83)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, K
UTG calls $0.05, 2 folds, Hero bets $0.20, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.47) 6, K, 9 (2 players)
UTG bets $0.25, Hero calls $0.25

Turn: ($0.97) 5 (2 players)
UTG bets $1.41 (All-In), Hero calls $1.41

River: ($3.79) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $3.79 | Rake: $0.15

Results:
Hero had Q, K (three of a kind, Kings).
UTG had 3, K (three of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won $3.64

[PlayToWin]

I had a 2 hour, break-even session today, playing 4 tables. I don't think 4 tables is too much as long as I'm not tired and I stick to my 2-hr max sessions. I was glad to get back even after being down 2 BI's early from a couple of bad beats and not great play.

This hand got me back to even. I had just 3-bet a 3x raise and call in the previous hand and got them to fold. I figured that the fish at the table wouldn't give me much credit when I 3-bet this hand. Villian was running 71/24 over 45 hands. I thought he could do this with a flush draw, TPBK, middle pair, or maybe even bottom pair or just one paint card. Even though he was UTG, I never put him on a strong hand. I was sure that he would see my play as a pure bluff and expected him to call the AI. As it turned out he had the OESD but I was still a 60/40 favorite.

Was I too ambitious with the jacks?


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($10.40)
MP ($5)
CO ($13.50)
Button ($5.83)
Hero (SB) ($9.49)
BB ($11.24)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, J
UTG bets $0.15, MP calls $0.15, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.55, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.40, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.30) 9, 8, 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $1, UTG raises to $2.65, Hero raises to $8.94 (All-In), UTG calls $6.29

Turn: ($19.18) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($19.18) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $19.18 | Rake: $0.95

Results below:
Hero had J, J (two pair, Jacks and eights).
UTG had 7, A (one pair, eights).
Outcome: Hero won $18.23

[dranger7070]

Hey dude, just seen this. Good luck and pwn these nub fags. I'm busted back down due to withdrawals so you'll probly see me at 10nl.

Jacks hand is fine, he could do it with A9, 9T, 56, 67, 78, paid + FD, TT, all kinds of shit.

[PlayToWin]

Good luck and pwn these nub fags. I'm busted back down due to withdrawals so you'll probly see me at 10nl.

Thanks. I'd like to move up in a week or two. You would own my soul, imo. Are u newguy on PS?

[dranger7070]

Lol, god I wish. I'm dranger7070. I rarely play 6m, so you won't probably won't see me lol. And if you do, I spazz like a mofo vs fellow FTRers, just ask Ant lol.

[PlayToWin]

LOL, I guess I'm thinking of M2M, idk. GL with the grind back up. Sometimes I wonder if I should try FR. I ended todays 2-hr. session with a modest win, but I wanted to post this hand.

HH is screwed up. UTG and UTG+1 folded. I was in the CO with a tight Button. Flop the nuts FTW, ez game!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (4 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($10)
BB ($2.32)
Hero (UTG) ($14.54)
Button ($9.89)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with J, 10
Hero bets $0.15, 2 folds, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.32) 9, Q, 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.32) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($0.32) 7 (2 players)
BB bets $0.25, Hero raises to $2.50, BB calls $1.92 (All-In)

Total pot: $4.66 | Rake: $0.20

Results:
BB had 7, K (flush, King high).
Hero had J, 10 (straight flush, Queen high).
Outcome: Hero won $4.46

LOL. I kinda spazzed on the hand. I mean, what do you do when you flop a str8 flush? I was also trying to take a screenshot, lol. Luckily, he was "trapping" me.

[dranger7070]

Good lord. You should be shot for playing it like that lol. Bet flop, bet turn, shove river, ldfo. He's calling the flop with any big heard, Qx, 67, 9T, TJ, QJ, QT, 88, 99, etc. Turn hes calling a bet with a flush, still not folding a set. River shoveaments ftw since FH is snippity snappin, a decent flush is never folding, etc.

[dranger7070]

Good lord. You should be shot for playing it like that lol. Bet flop, bet turn, shove river, ldfo. He's calling the flop with any big heard, Qx, 67, 9T, TJ, QJ, QT, 88, 99, etc. Turn hes calling a bet with a flush, still not folding a set. River shoveaments ftw since FH is snippity snappin, a decent flush is never folding, etc.

[PlayToWin]

I opened up some tables last night after a big party....

Looking over the hands today and I don't think I spewed too much on the big pots, although I lost 3.5 BI's. These are the biggest losers: I had a questionable AIPF QQ < AA; Top 2 pair (AK) < AAA; 888 < JJJ; 2 pr < 2 pr (I should have folded to his R raise).

I spewed off several smaller hands that should have been easy folds. Of course my # of tables/session time limits went out the window too. Obviously I cant play my Aor B game after drinking, but I guess I couldn't resist. I hope I can resist next time FTW. The grind continues.

[PlayToWin]

My poker game is crap. I'm such a spewtard. I've been playing long enough that I should be able to spank 5NL, but I still find ways to give away BI's. Last night I bet the river thinking I had the nut flush and all I had was four clubs, not five. I didn't even know my f'in hole cards. That's when I should have stopped playing, but no....

I'm taking a few days off to clear my mind. Then I'll give myself another month (Feb) to show that I can play a disciplined game. That means that I won't play drunk, tired, or tilted and I'll fold every once in a while.

[PlayToWin]

I just played my last session of January for +2 BI's. I played a monthly total of 10,860 hands. After all the spew earlier, I was glad to break-even for the month.

I will play better in February.

[PlayToWin]

February Recap:
I definitely played better, made some good folds, and eliminated the drunken spew. I did play twice after drinking, but told myself that I'd quit if I lost $1. I ended up running good both times for +3 BI's. So, I still don't know if I would have really quit. I think I would have. I'm happy enough with my game that it makes me want to keep trying and learning. I was ready to quit after playing badly last month. I know the profits are small this month, but I lost several BI's to coolers.

I'm going to take Jason's advice to win $150 (30 buy-in's) at 5NL before moving to 10NL, starting from December '09. That's when I started playing again after taking a short break from poker. I've won $55 since then, so I have $95 to go. If I do that, then I'll have definitely beaten 5NL and earned the move to 10NL.

I'm currently reading Elements of Poker and have two other books waiting.

Total hands = 7850
Total profits = 2 BI ($10)

[PlayToWin]

March started well with short session and AA>KK. I had AA UTG and got 3-bet from UTG+1. We got it AI PF for 180bb's and the A's held up. I hope the run-good continues.

March Goals:
1) Try to play 10K+ hands
2) Reduce tilt and spew
3) Finish reading Elements of Poker
4) Start reading Professional N0-Limit Hold Em'
-----------------------------------------------------------

March Recap
[ ] Try to play 10K+ hands
[x] Reduce tilt and spew
[x] Finish reading Elements of Poker
[x] Start reading Professional N0-Limit Hold Em'

I met most of my March goals. Maybe I should have had a goal about winning monies as well . That's right, I had another (almost) break-even month.

I ran into a few big bad beats, but at least I benefitted from one KK>AA towards the end. I knew I had made a mistake in re-raising AI before the flop, but I only glanced at his ultra-nitty stats as I clicked the button. As I did that, I said out loud, he's got Aces. Oh well, too late. Thanks for the suck-out.

Total hands = 8750
Total profits = -2 BI (-$10)

[PlayToWin]

Avatar News: As promised earlier in the Op, here is a rear-view of my previous avatar-girl. Too bad the new forum rules require such a small picture. Damn.

Poker News: I'll be switching to 5NL full ring from 6-max. I'm switching to satisfy my curiosity about full ring. Some players claim it's easier to get reads, so we'll see how it goes.

I played a break-even 300 hand, 2-hr. session today and it took a while to adjust to more players at the table. Just making sure of my position took a while to adjust to. It's much easier with a small table.

It's also more tempting to limp behind when everyone else is doing it. Limping seems much more prevalent at FR than 6-max. Hands that temp me to limp are AXs or small pocket-pairs in early position or KXs, 89s+ in MP. With a HUD, it's fairly predictable if there will be raisers behind. I'll raise these same hands on the Button and Cutoff (and sometimes Hijack).

I started off with 2 tables and added a third after about an hour, then a fourth at 1.5 hours. I'll probably stick to four for a while eventhough the action still seems very slow. In this first session, the tables broke-up a lot more often than at 6-max as well.

April Goals:
1) Reduce spew in smaller pots. It all adds up.
2) Play 10K+ hands.
3) Read PNLH
4) Post Hands for review in this Op or the BC.

[dranger7070]

Oh lawdy, we gotz another FR bot nit in the making. I think its fine to limp behind with small/mid SCs like 56s-89s or whatever and small PPs in position, but definitely don't open limp with them. Axs, is also fine to limp behind but you can definitely raise it pre if its only like one limper and you're in LP. Isolation isn't just for 6m!

Good luck with the switch and make some mannies this month ffs.

[Keith]

Good luck with the switch and make some mannies this month ffs.

irony?

[dranger7070]

Inorite

[PlayToWin]

My HEM HUD was completely hosed when I switched to FR. All the player stats were showing for the wrong players and the mucked cards were also showing for the wrong players. I got on the HEM forum and found out how to fix everything. It's all sorted now.

I'm settling in to FR now. I've only played 2k hands (very small sample) so far but I like the way it's going. In my last session, I got quads twice on the same table in a 5 minute span. Unreal. So I built up a +2 BI session and then spewed it all away in one hand, post-flop w/AA. It was donkalicious. I didn't tilt though, because I knew I played it bad. I just tried to learn from it. I was still able to finish the session +1 BI.

[PlayToWin]

Even though I'm down a little in the first 4K hands, I think FR suits me better than 6-max. Time will tell. I've been getting sucked out on quite a bit. I'm trying to get more hands in this month to see if that will minimize the variance, due to a larger sample. IDK. I'm also playing 5-6 tables and don't feel like it's a problem. Play still seems kinda slow.

I had to lol at this hand. I had just sat down and boom. It's all good. I recovered and booked a small win for the night. Looking forward to Sunday.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($4.66)
UTG+1 ($3.61)
MP1 ($8.45)
MP2 ($7.08)
CO ($10)
Hero (Button) ($5.93)
SB ($2.62)
BB ($2.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, K
4 folds, CO bets $0.17, Hero raises to $0.50, 2 folds, CO calls $0.33
Flop: ($1.07) 2, 4, 9 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $0.70, CO calls $0.70
Turn: ($2.47) K (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $4.73 (All-In), CO calls $4.73
River: ($11.93) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: $11.93 | Rake: $0.55

Results:
Hero had K, K (full house, Kings over nines).
CO had 9, 9 (four of a kind, nines).
Outcome: CO won $11.38

[dranger7070]

So you hit your set on the turn, and you decide to pretty much 2x pot jam after just sitting down? Did you have reads villain calls with worse here a lot? Or were you just banking on a random diamond draw?

[PlayToWin]

So you hit your set on the turn, and you decide to pretty much 2x pot jam after just sitting down? Did you have reads villain calls with worse here a lot? Or were you just banking on a random diamond draw?

Well, I have a theory. It's all very scientific. I figure that if you get a great hand as soon as you join a table, villians are a lot more likely to call a shove because they assume you're a donk. And no, I didn't have any hand history with villian.

I knew he could have flopped a flush, but probably didn't. If he was on a draw, I thought I'd make him pay the max to chase it. I also thought he could call with worse, like AK, AQ, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 44, 22. Who knows, there are a lot of donks out there.

This situation doesn't come up very often. The only other time that I can remember, I got AA with my first hand at a table and shoved AI preflop. I got called by villian with 33. Villian hit a 3 on the flop and took my stack. You can't argue with science, imo.

[dranger7070]

lol

[PlayToWin]

April Recap:
(x) Reduce spew in smaller pots. It all adds up.
(x) Play 10K+ hands.
( ) Read PNLH
( ) Post Hands for review in this Op or the BC.

1. Reduce spew in small pots: It's tough to say how effective I've been at this. I have sessions where I get tons of phenomenal preflop hands that miss flops completely. If I bet these hands preflop, it adds up to spew. When you add a cbet, it can often be more spew. In May, I'll be experimenting with limping more with specualtive hands, since villians at 5NL will usually still call when I choose to bet preflop. I won't be as concerned with having a close ratio of VPIP/PFR.

2. Play 10K+ hands: Much success! I played 15,200 hands. That's a 50% increase of my typical 10K hands/month.

3. I didn't start the book during the first 2 weeks and so I decided to join in the BC book discussion of NLHTP. That too has been a fail since I haven't read the second assignment and it's time to start the 3rd segment. My poker time was spent trying to put in more hands this month. I'll try to catch up on reading and maybe play less hands.

4. I actually forgot this was a goal. I'm usually pretty worn out after a session and don't feel like messing with posting. I'll have several interesting hands during a session, but by the time the session's over, they seem less interesting and kinda blend in with all the other hundreds of hands. I'll try to just take a break and then go back and post a hand or two for review.
-------------------------------------------------

Overview:
I made some monies in April, but nothing to brag about. The month began with some major coolers, so most of the month was just trying to recover.

After 8K hands, I was down 6.5 BI's.
After 15k hands, I was + 6 BI's.

Monies: $29 (3.8 bb/100 hands)
Bonus: $10 (VIP Stellar Reward = First bonus ever!!)
Total: $39

[PlayToWin]

This is not a brag post (disclaimer to prevent doom switch), but May has been my best month ever. It's nice to run hot. I have not lost a session this month (about 14 sessions). Bankroll = $334. I've completed the "win 30 BI at 5NL" goal. I don't know exactly where I stand since I've been away from home for a few days and using my laptop with a different HEM database. I'll post specifics when I get back home and figure it all out, but that will be another 10 days or so. At least I haven't had any trouble adjusting to playing on the laptop. In the 6 sessions so far on the laptop, I running at 24bb/100 hands over 2700 hands.

So, I know I've been running like baby Jesus. Especially the first week of the month while still at home. I haven't been playing great poker, imo. So, I have to decide whether or not to make the jump to 10NL now or wait a while longer. I had planned to finish the month at 5NL, but now I'm wondering if I should wait or not. Maybe this weekend would be a good time to try out 10NL. There should be more fish swimming around. Hmmmm.

So, if I move up to 10NL, what bb range should I play? Now that Pokerstars has changed the format, there are options.

[dranger7070]

40-100

[PlayToWin]

Well, what do you know about. Even my "non-brag" post flipped the damn doom switch. I just lost 3.5 BI's in three big hands. All of them to FH's. In two of the hands, I had the nut flush and in the other, I had top set. Watch out for those paired boards, imo.

I think I'll drive home tomorrow (only about 1 hr.) to consolidate my two HEM databases. That way I'll know where I stand and if/when I should make the move to 10NL. At this point, I don't mind waiting a while.

BR = $316

[daven]

In May, I'll be experimenting with folding/raising in position/playing smarter more with specualtive hands, since villians at 5NL will usually still call when I choose to bet preflop. I won't be as concerned with having a close ratio of VPIP/PFR.

fyp, oh - and move up to 10nl with a 6 buyin stoploss whenever you feel comfortable doing so. If it works out, then cool! you've moved up. If not, you can grind it up again. I suggest br = $320 cos it's close

[PlayToWin]

Daven, I "think" I know what you're saying, but I still think that this strategy is good for 5NL. I do not think it will work as I move up, if I ever do move up. That is, the strategy of limping more with good, but not made hands PF. I'm constantly amazed at how many sooted A's and small PP's I get PF that flop horribly. That's why I'm trying this new strategy. I know that limping will not be tolerated at higher levels.

I fully expect to struggle at 10NL, but I don't plan to play with the same strategy either. I do have some experience with playing a more standard, TAGG style.

I do agree with the play smarter part of your post. Two of those big lost pots were at the end of my session when I had already "mentally" shut down as I was preparing to close the tables. I wasn't as aware as I should have been.

I appreciate you checkin' my Op and I won't be too surprised if, with more experience, I come to the realization that this is a misguided strategy.

[daven]

Daven, I "think" I know what you're saying, but I still think that this strategy is good for 5NL. I do not think it will work as I move up, if I ever do move up. That is, the strategy of limping more with good, but not made hands PF. I'm constantly amazed at how many sooted A's and small PP's I get PF that flop horribly.

some thoughts on some speculative hands
1 - dump A6s-A9s from all positions, except when stealing from lp. Dump A2-A5 s and AJs from ep.
2 - don't play other sooted hands that aren't connected or one gappers
2a - be careful with scs and one-gappers
3 - pocket pairs, open limping = open folding from ep - do either is fine. Obviously steal with them, limping behind is also fine from lp
4 - dump offsuited hands other than AK from the blinds when pot is raised

probably worth describing your play with speculative hands - just briefly. Break them into type and how you tend to play them. as an example that i've only recently come to recognise - I over-value suited connectors, i call them multi-way too often and i open them too often. Post your thoughts here or in the bc, you'll gain a bunch from simply spending ten minutes scribbling your ideas down.

it almost sickens me to mention it, but look at this
crap nit
and
talented nit

these guys are 12-9 and 13-10 respectively. Their style will crush microstakes, but you have to be patient. An oft suggested, but rarely followed, approach to micro full-ring is to start out uber-nit, and very slowly add hands to your pre-flop ranges.