Okies – bit of a midweek update for ya. Basically, things aren’t looking all that peachy. Sunday, as I mentioned was a bad session – however, I think of the $160 I lost, only about $75 was bad luck. I wasn’t catching cards, and it seemed people didn’t like to fold much; but that’s not the best excuse for loosing. I made some moves, as I described that anyone who had played poker for a day would fold to – but they kept on calling me down. What I failed to do was adapt…
Monday went ok, and so did Tuesday, I made $40 and $50 without too much trouble. However, I played a session at 1am on Wednesday that went south to the tune of two buy-ins.
The Wednesday session, I started playing and I was getting tilted slightly by the constantly breaking tables – on FT it is important to work out the opponents because they differ so much in style and quality. I wasn’t able to do this and so made moves against the wrong people, made a stupid drawing call etc etc and was battered down a stack and a half before I really tried to get my game together. I managed to settle down on five tables, and after 10 mins had some nice reads. I called a guy down in a $20 pot with my pocket 6s because he was playing 51% of hands with a massive aggression factor. I also check called some kid on two streets with my AK on a A,9,3 board – he called a small value bet on the river with 79o.
My break-even for the nigh hand, however, wasn’t to be. Another aggressive player raised my blind for the 10000th time, this time only to $1.50, I knew he would do it with any hand and decided that 98o would be a perfect hand to stack him with – flop 9h,8h,5x – well, that’s the flop I wanted to see, and he insta-bet pot at me made me happier, his range: nothing, top or second pair with practically any kicker, or any over pair – because of his fishy play I really did not put him on a set of two-pair because he’d be straight out, so I raise him 3 times his bet – he immediately comes over the top, I think and push and he insta-calls with AA. Turn was a 2h (that increases him from 29% to about 35% and the river was a 2. grrrrrrrrrr.
Gotta do a bit of evaluation of my play. That hand I was 70% to win when the cash went in and he lucked out as they often do. What I think was +ev was me getting straight off the tables as soon as that hand was done, if I get the majority of my money in behind I can play on well, but when I get it in ahead and loose I can’t play another hand (in this case I folded AJs on the button to avoid playing it). The thing was, as with my loosing nights prior to re-evaluating my game, I lost $50 through bad luck, and $50 through playing poor poker. I was tilted by the changing tables etc, so I think in future I’m going to get some tables up and sit out for a round to get a good idea of how the table is playing, and also whether it’s going to break up or not. Also, I’m going to start playing a bit of Party Poker, I don’t have much of a roll on PTY but I can afford two tables I think.
Anyways, bit of stats: I’ve made $220 since I changed my game, this is just under $15 an hour. I want to get my profits up to $20 an hour (just over double min wage). $20 an hour is $4 a table which is 8bbs an hour – I know this seems like a fair bit, but I’m playing 6-max and the standard is very much beatable; I just have to overcome myself.
This was a long update with very little said about hands – but I have to say the only hands that have really required any thought have all been fairly small. If I make a bluff and get called on the flop – the hand is over for me – unless the pot is still small in comparison to our effective stacks – so really, not too much skill is required in the big pots. People are still stacking off to me when they have an over-pair against my set and I’m not gonna fill my blog with stories of those pots. I really have never got a stack in behind when it’s not either a cooler or I’m priced in. But I’m gonna try and find a few interesting things to say in next Monday’s update.
Wednesday 30 May 2007
Sunday 27 May 2007
The week was going well until today… I was up about three stacks – but I managed to loose a little over that to give me a $16 loss for the week. Bit pissed off really. I started today’s sessions by turning my QQ into top set – sadly my opponents 3-5 sooooted turned into a str8 – he check min-re-raises me on the turn – and then put me all-in on the river. I think some would say I should have got off it – but the way that the cards had come down meant only 3-5 was a danger to me and I was half hoping he too had a set. After that I held it together – and a few rotations later I flopped middle set with TT – sadly the check raise didn’t stop my opponent from trying to draw to his flush which hit on the turn and then again on the river – I gave that one up for minimal loss. After that I had a good hour on not connecting with flops, seeing flops which C-betting into was throwing money away or hitting but then watching as every conceivable draw hit on the turn or river.
Basically, the deck was spitting in my face, I began to tilt a bit (but I believe I didn’t loose too much due to tilt). Also some of the play was a little interesting, and no one was doing much in the way of folding their hands to me. In one hand I had 88 and was calling a bloke on a TcJc9d board knowing he had top pair – on the river a club fell and I bet ¾ of the pot and the speculative bastard called me with Q8o – lmao. Overall – I think the Sunday session is one for hitting cards on, many more fish than usual – but I failed to adapt to this and made some costly plays which would have been profitable during a weekday session.
All-in-all I have work to do 0 my roll is $1830 (a shame coz I hit $2k on Thursday) so another $1170 to make before I can move up.
Basically, the deck was spitting in my face, I began to tilt a bit (but I believe I didn’t loose too much due to tilt). Also some of the play was a little interesting, and no one was doing much in the way of folding their hands to me. In one hand I had 88 and was calling a bloke on a TcJc9d board knowing he had top pair – on the river a club fell and I bet ¾ of the pot and the speculative bastard called me with Q8o – lmao. Overall – I think the Sunday session is one for hitting cards on, many more fish than usual – but I failed to adapt to this and made some costly plays which would have been profitable during a weekday session.
All-in-all I have work to do 0 my roll is $1830 (a shame coz I hit $2k on Thursday) so another $1170 to make before I can move up.
Friday 25 May 2007
I’m planning on writing a weekly run-down every Monday, so I’m not going to assess my whole week now – it’s going OK though.
I just wanted to post this hand and try to get some feedback – I was impressed with the result – but I want to know what other think.
25/50c 6-max game: UTG raises pot (sitting on $47), I’m on the button with KK – I push it up to $6 – now, the SB inst-calls me which I found very interesting, I’ve had people on FT choosing to flat call a big(ish) number with AA before and I found this very fishy. UTG then pushes all-in – my thoughts were he has QQ probably, less likely is AK, but I cannot discount AA or KK either. I’m also still worrying about the insta-call in the SB – I’m putting him on something very strong as well (his stats are very TAG and he’s not been doing anything too wild at all) – I decide, calling the push may be good, but as the other player is showing strength as well I opt to fold deciding that one of them must have me locked up with AA. SB insta-calls – SB shows AA and UTG shows QQ.
I must stress that I would not have laid down my hand on all sites – but most of the people on FT will not get it all-in pre without (QQ), KK or AA, and the people I was in the pot with had been playing a tight game – therefore I was sure that one of them had me locked up.
What do you think?
I just wanted to post this hand and try to get some feedback – I was impressed with the result – but I want to know what other think.
25/50c 6-max game: UTG raises pot (sitting on $47), I’m on the button with KK – I push it up to $6 – now, the SB inst-calls me which I found very interesting, I’ve had people on FT choosing to flat call a big(ish) number with AA before and I found this very fishy. UTG then pushes all-in – my thoughts were he has QQ probably, less likely is AK, but I cannot discount AA or KK either. I’m also still worrying about the insta-call in the SB – I’m putting him on something very strong as well (his stats are very TAG and he’s not been doing anything too wild at all) – I decide, calling the push may be good, but as the other player is showing strength as well I opt to fold deciding that one of them must have me locked up with AA. SB insta-calls – SB shows AA and UTG shows QQ.
I must stress that I would not have laid down my hand on all sites – but most of the people on FT will not get it all-in pre without (QQ), KK or AA, and the people I was in the pot with had been playing a tight game – therefore I was sure that one of them had me locked up.
What do you think?
Monday 21 May 2007
week 1 round off...
Alrighty – didn’t play much poker for the weekend except for a small session on Saturday where I ground out about $50. The overall result for the week was $249 of profit – I’m very happy with this and I’m hoping to continue my upward streak. In terms of my play in relation to variance - I think the variance was fairly neutral - I lost one pot to a 2 outer, and I won one hitting a 2 outer - other than that most of my big hands held and it didn't take too many miracles to get them.
Just finished a 2 hour break even session – Monday night is very slow, but nothing much to complain about – I did have about a $50 swing and suffered a little bit of bad luck. Overall I think I can play 2 hours of good poker before I get board and start to make mistakes.
Will keep you posted as to how this week goes – but hoping to achieve the same as last week - $250 profit which will start me on my way to a decent roll.
Just finished a 2 hour break even session – Monday night is very slow, but nothing much to complain about – I did have about a $50 swing and suffered a little bit of bad luck. Overall I think I can play 2 hours of good poker before I get board and start to make mistakes.
Will keep you posted as to how this week goes – but hoping to achieve the same as last week - $250 profit which will start me on my way to a decent roll.
Friday 18 May 2007
three good days in a row - this is a first
1) bigish hand early on I have QQ in early pos - I make it $2 - MP makes it $3.50 and gets a caller in the bb, I make it $11 and get two callers. Flop is 3,4,J with two clubs - SB pushes $21 - I fold - if it were only me and him in the pot I’d insta-call - if he's flopped a set of Js what the fuck is he doing playing it like that when I could easily have AK and if he checks to me I bet. I didn't call because i felt that the next person to act could very well have JJJ, KK or a very slow play with AA - he folded too so wish I called.
Later on the player who had bet me off it showed signs of being a maniac by pushing UTG to open pots etc. lol. 2) $45 pot, I have TT and am in the SB facing a limper in late pos - I raise it to $3 and the limper calls - flop is 2,9,7 two clubs - I bet $5 and he pushes for $15 more - I insta-call, he shows JJ and I spike a T on the turn. This I would play this hand the same every time; he's unlikely to be very far ahead and could easily have as little as a draw or A9.
Roll up to $1795, overall now only -$1080 down for the years play.
I’ll post again on Monday after the weekend sessions
Later on the player who had bet me off it showed signs of being a maniac by pushing UTG to open pots etc. lol. 2) $45 pot, I have TT and am in the SB facing a limper in late pos - I raise it to $3 and the limper calls - flop is 2,9,7 two clubs - I bet $5 and he pushes for $15 more - I insta-call, he shows JJ and I spike a T on the turn. This I would play this hand the same every time; he's unlikely to be very far ahead and could easily have as little as a draw or A9.
Roll up to $1795, overall now only -$1080 down for the years play.
I’ll post again on Monday after the weekend sessions
Thursday 17 May 2007
First update
Well I’m happy to say first update is a positive one.
Over the last two days I have made $165 through my new TAG style and chopping my tables to 4 maximum.
This is a copy of the notes I write to myself after every session – it gives me the opportunity to review the game whenever I want.
Yesterday 1) $30 pot- lost with top-pair vs a short stack all-in - he had 12 outs and hit - not too bad - think he's a 3:1 dog - he was getting those odds on the flop and he pushed - so not a bad play with the fold equity - however he did call 5x pre... 2) $97 pot - could not believe this one - SB completes I check - flop a gutshot to a Broadway nuts on a flushing board - we both check - and the Q hits the turn - he bets $2 into $1 - i push - expecting him to have the same hand - and I wasn’t it all-in now if he's stupid enough to have a set - no river bluffing this way if he gets lucky he gets lucky sort of thing - he calls pretty quickly with 89 for the idiot end - I win! lol-donkaments. 3) $45 pot - I have JJ in the SB - several limpers so bet pot - flop Qc, 7s,6c. I bet $4.65 into around $6.50 - he calls pretty fast, turn is an Ah - i check and he puts in a bet - I don't really think this card helped him unless he was drawing to and A-high flush - but I check to him and he bets $4 - i smooth call - other than anything there's $16 in the pot - I’m not folding esp. when I think he's still chasing- river is a J - I have him on the flush or str8 draw so check to him, he bets half pot - I call and win he shows 45o.
Today
1) $50 pot - stacked guy first hand with a set against top pair and a weak kicker – bit of a battle of the blinds, played ABC and got paid, 2) $100 pot - flopped a set of As, had played ABC pre flop, and played it ABC on the flop, opponent checks - I bet 4/5 of pot - he re-raises - I push expecting to be able to get him all-in if he’s got enough to check raise me…eventually he calls with KQ for a gutshot - guess he really didn't believe I had the ace. lol. 3) Sadly I got a bit unlucky in an $80 pot - managed to get the guy all-in on a 8AA flop when I had 88 – I had raised it pre and he called from the BB – he decided to check raise me and I pushed in response…eventually he calls with AT and hit an A on the river. Bit nasty really - about 80/20 at best for him – but fuk it, he called with AT, after I had raised pre and 3-bet the flop. I managed not to tilt and played another a $100 pot well before I quit. - 4) $100 pot - I call $1.25 from the sb with 2 limpers (this is the table I had been sucked out on a few hands earlier – so I didn’t want to have to play this hand in a big pot out of pos, they might play weirdly since I could be tilting) then it's raised to $2.5 to go by the bb. 4 to the flop - Tc,2c,Ks - I check - initial raiser makes it $5 and gets one caller - I need to know where I am so I make it $20 - initial bettor folds and the next to act pushes… I call and he showed KcJc - millions of outs - none catch an I win. TBH I put him on a drawing hand like this (having top pair surprised me) - if he had two pair or a set, why not raise the initial bettor on a board like that and the pot is already fruity- also - set of Ts was less likely coz no re-raise pre (but not out of the question)–, so it had to be a set of 2s, or KT - or QcJc etc. Glad I didn't get drawn out on here otherwise i would have been down $20+ for the session.
All-in-all I’m very happy. Two days of the new system, $165 profit (inc. two nasty (ish) pots worth over $100 together. So even though the Slansky $s aren’t matching the real profits yet, but I’m still making money. Hopefully I can keep up $50-$70 average for my 1-2 hour sessions. We’ll see thought – two sessions is hardly a sample. Lol.
Over the last two days I have made $165 through my new TAG style and chopping my tables to 4 maximum.
This is a copy of the notes I write to myself after every session – it gives me the opportunity to review the game whenever I want.
Yesterday 1) $30 pot- lost with top-pair vs a short stack all-in - he had 12 outs and hit - not too bad - think he's a 3:1 dog - he was getting those odds on the flop and he pushed - so not a bad play with the fold equity - however he did call 5x pre... 2) $97 pot - could not believe this one - SB completes I check - flop a gutshot to a Broadway nuts on a flushing board - we both check - and the Q hits the turn - he bets $2 into $1 - i push - expecting him to have the same hand - and I wasn’t it all-in now if he's stupid enough to have a set - no river bluffing this way if he gets lucky he gets lucky sort of thing - he calls pretty quickly with 89 for the idiot end - I win! lol-donkaments. 3) $45 pot - I have JJ in the SB - several limpers so bet pot - flop Qc, 7s,6c. I bet $4.65 into around $6.50 - he calls pretty fast, turn is an Ah - i check and he puts in a bet - I don't really think this card helped him unless he was drawing to and A-high flush - but I check to him and he bets $4 - i smooth call - other than anything there's $16 in the pot - I’m not folding esp. when I think he's still chasing- river is a J - I have him on the flush or str8 draw so check to him, he bets half pot - I call and win he shows 45o.
Today
1) $50 pot - stacked guy first hand with a set against top pair and a weak kicker – bit of a battle of the blinds, played ABC and got paid, 2) $100 pot - flopped a set of As, had played ABC pre flop, and played it ABC on the flop, opponent checks - I bet 4/5 of pot - he re-raises - I push expecting to be able to get him all-in if he’s got enough to check raise me…eventually he calls with KQ for a gutshot - guess he really didn't believe I had the ace. lol. 3) Sadly I got a bit unlucky in an $80 pot - managed to get the guy all-in on a 8AA flop when I had 88 – I had raised it pre and he called from the BB – he decided to check raise me and I pushed in response…eventually he calls with AT and hit an A on the river. Bit nasty really - about 80/20 at best for him – but fuk it, he called with AT, after I had raised pre and 3-bet the flop. I managed not to tilt and played another a $100 pot well before I quit. - 4) $100 pot - I call $1.25 from the sb with 2 limpers (this is the table I had been sucked out on a few hands earlier – so I didn’t want to have to play this hand in a big pot out of pos, they might play weirdly since I could be tilting) then it's raised to $2.5 to go by the bb. 4 to the flop - Tc,2c,Ks - I check - initial raiser makes it $5 and gets one caller - I need to know where I am so I make it $20 - initial bettor folds and the next to act pushes… I call and he showed KcJc - millions of outs - none catch an I win. TBH I put him on a drawing hand like this (having top pair surprised me) - if he had two pair or a set, why not raise the initial bettor on a board like that and the pot is already fruity- also - set of Ts was less likely coz no re-raise pre (but not out of the question)–, so it had to be a set of 2s, or KT - or QcJc etc. Glad I didn't get drawn out on here otherwise i would have been down $20+ for the session.
All-in-all I’m very happy. Two days of the new system, $165 profit (inc. two nasty (ish) pots worth over $100 together. So even though the Slansky $s aren’t matching the real profits yet, but I’m still making money. Hopefully I can keep up $50-$70 average for my 1-2 hour sessions. We’ll see thought – two sessions is hardly a sample. Lol.
The Plan
Following my downswing on Party I decided to withdraw funds and have a think. I decided to put $2k aside for poker. $500 went on party, $600 on FullTilt and $100 on Stars (for tourneys only).
Currently the FullTilt account stands at $630, the Party account at $240 and Stars is basically $0. So – second round didn’t start so well….
The Plan
I need about $3000 to move up to 50/1, I have £1322 left to make – and I intend to do this on 25/50nlh and nothing else. To combat the problem of loosing money I’m currently cutting down from 10 tabling 6-max to 4 tabling. I’m cutting my lengthy sessions out – and trying to never play more than two hours straight. I’m not gonna keep playing when I’m down a big number, nor am I gonna move up a level to chase my losses.
What I’m looking to do now is try to grind $250 a week – for just over 5 weeks and hopefully have the necessary funds to move up to 50/1. I think I’m also gonna only play FullTilt for now – I have $480 left of bonuses left to clear, and it’s the only account where I have any real funds left. Furthermore, I think the play is less erratic and all-in-all of a better standard than Party, this way I will develop more aspects to my game than flopping sets and stacking donkeys (which I found to be fairly profitable on Party). When I double the FT account I and have cleared the bonus I’ll put about $400 in Party and then look to invest the remaining $800 of my roll in which ever site is offering the best sign-up deal and rake-back.
So, the point of this blog is to let everyone whose interested watch my progress – I’ll try to keep it up-to-date. I’m also going to be posting any interesting hands that I play.
Finally, I’m looking keep real records of my other gambling on this blog, and use the same roll for it. I have stopped all other forms of gambling at the moment whilst I focus on building my roll – I’m not going to be tilted by blackjack and then destroy my roll because of it. I think I’ll re-introduce horse-racing into my repertoire when the roll is a bit healthier - I have had some big successes on horses and loved gambling on major race meetings since I won £150 on the National at the age of 13– but I don’t see the point of casino games etc – I just never seem to win and it doesn’t take a mathematician to understand which way the long-term profit graph will point.
Hopefully this blog will be interesting, and not just a micro-stakes version of bluescouce’s 88%concentration. But we’ll see…
Currently the FullTilt account stands at $630, the Party account at $240 and Stars is basically $0. So – second round didn’t start so well….
The Plan
I need about $3000 to move up to 50/1, I have £1322 left to make – and I intend to do this on 25/50nlh and nothing else. To combat the problem of loosing money I’m currently cutting down from 10 tabling 6-max to 4 tabling. I’m cutting my lengthy sessions out – and trying to never play more than two hours straight. I’m not gonna keep playing when I’m down a big number, nor am I gonna move up a level to chase my losses.
What I’m looking to do now is try to grind $250 a week – for just over 5 weeks and hopefully have the necessary funds to move up to 50/1. I think I’m also gonna only play FullTilt for now – I have $480 left of bonuses left to clear, and it’s the only account where I have any real funds left. Furthermore, I think the play is less erratic and all-in-all of a better standard than Party, this way I will develop more aspects to my game than flopping sets and stacking donkeys (which I found to be fairly profitable on Party). When I double the FT account I and have cleared the bonus I’ll put about $400 in Party and then look to invest the remaining $800 of my roll in which ever site is offering the best sign-up deal and rake-back.
So, the point of this blog is to let everyone whose interested watch my progress – I’ll try to keep it up-to-date. I’m also going to be posting any interesting hands that I play.
Finally, I’m looking keep real records of my other gambling on this blog, and use the same roll for it. I have stopped all other forms of gambling at the moment whilst I focus on building my roll – I’m not going to be tilted by blackjack and then destroy my roll because of it. I think I’ll re-introduce horse-racing into my repertoire when the roll is a bit healthier - I have had some big successes on horses and loved gambling on major race meetings since I won £150 on the National at the age of 13– but I don’t see the point of casino games etc – I just never seem to win and it doesn’t take a mathematician to understand which way the long-term profit graph will point.
Hopefully this blog will be interesting, and not just a micro-stakes version of bluescouce’s 88%concentration. But we’ll see…
The beginning and the middle...
Started playing poker 3 years ago, for a couple of years I wasn’t terrible, but I had very little experience. Last summer I worked as a poker dealer in some London card clubs, and by September I decided I wanted to dedicate some time to really learning a good game. Tried depositing $50 a time on stars for 2-3 months, playing short stacked in cash games and some low buy-in stts, fairly pointless, kept building a bit of a roll and then blowing it in a day – remember playing $2/$4nlh, two tables, with a roll of $450. By January I decided to deposit an amount that would mean enough to me that I would want to safeguard my investment, grind a roll and stop taking a shot. So I put $550 on my Stars account – as Hard2bet.
This went well for a bit; I played $50nlh full ring, made some lost some and got board. Went up to $100nl and lost most of it in a night. Deposited another $200 and lost 3 buy-ins the next night at $50nl. Despite this – I did manage to grind my roll up to about 12-13 buy-ins before a weekend of playing 11 hours a day and getting some horrible luck crashed my roll down to about $90 – at this point I sad good-bye to stars and moved to Party Poker, and changed my game to 6-max.
Party poker – profPOWER – deposited $500.
At one point my account stood at $1500 – the break even point. It stayed there for about 10 mins before starting on a $1000 downswing, that later became a $1200 downswing.
Since then I’ve been playing FT as well under the name fishPOWER – with mixed results.
Currently I’m about a total of $1200 in the red, with 278 hours of playing time to my name.
This went well for a bit; I played $50nlh full ring, made some lost some and got board. Went up to $100nl and lost most of it in a night. Deposited another $200 and lost 3 buy-ins the next night at $50nl. Despite this – I did manage to grind my roll up to about 12-13 buy-ins before a weekend of playing 11 hours a day and getting some horrible luck crashed my roll down to about $90 – at this point I sad good-bye to stars and moved to Party Poker, and changed my game to 6-max.
Party poker – profPOWER – deposited $500.
At one point my account stood at $1500 – the break even point. It stayed there for about 10 mins before starting on a $1000 downswing, that later became a $1200 downswing.
Since then I’ve been playing FT as well under the name fishPOWER – with mixed results.
Currently I’m about a total of $1200 in the red, with 278 hours of playing time to my name.
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