PAHUD layout

Here is my HUD layout (I can't get it to space out properly, sorry):

VPIP / PFR

Agg. Factor / Hands

Fold C-bet / Fold turn / Att. to Steal

Call C-bet / Fold BB to Steal

Raise C-bet / Agg. Freq. River

Make C-bet / Cold Call

BB/100 / Check Raise Flop

I’ve made it a little bit prettier with some spacing and some colouring, but that’s the basic layout. I’ll go through each stat and what I use it for. [This article by Fruitypro goes through some of them in more detail - http://www.cardrunners.com/cms/index.cfm?ParentItemIDList=84140&ItemID=153989.]

VPIP and PFR: I use these to help assign hand ranges to players. The looser they are, the wider their range of hands. I also use them as a guideline to who is a solid player.

Agg. Factor: This gives a guideline to what a player’s raises mean. If someone has a low AF (0-1), then you need to respect their raises. Players with high AFs will be betting and raising with a wide variety of hands.

Fold/call/raise C-bets: I use these to determine which players to C-bet more against. Also, if someone calls or raises C-bets a lot, they’re likely to be playing back at the pre-flop raiser and you can adjust your play against them.

Make C-bet: This can be used in deciding when to carry on post-flop after cold-calling. If someone makes C-bets 100% of the time, then they obviously don’t always have a hand. If someone only C-bets 30% of the time, you need to respect their C-bets.

Fold turn: This can be used in deciding when to double barrel, or when to float a pre-flop raiser. If someone C-bets a lot and folds the turn a lot, they might be a good player to float.

BB/100: You need a big sample size to really take any notice of this stat. I have it there to get an idea of how the regular players are doing.

Att. To Steal: This is useful for deciding what players to 3-bet more lightly.

Fold BB to Steal: If you’re in the CO or OTB this stat helps you decide how wide a range to be opening with.

Agg. Freq. River: I like to know how often my opponents bet the river. The higher the frequency, the more likely I’ll call them down with a lighter hand (if it’s feasible they’re bluffing).

Cold Call: I think a standard cold call figure is about 0-1. If someone is significantly over that, they’re calling pre-flop raises with a very wide range of hands. This helps you assign their range. Also, players with a 0.5 CC stat are likely just cold-calling with small pocket pairs and maybe some suited connectors. This will help you play the flop accordingly against their range.

Check Raise Flop: If someone doesn’t fold to C-bets much, and check raises the flop often, I’ll be less inclined to C-bet with drawing hands that aren’t that strong.

Hands: Obviously, a lot of these stats aren’t that reliable without a large sample size. Be careful in using some of them. Use them as guidelines.

The only stats I see a lot of people including that I don’t are the Went to Showdown and Won at Showdown percentages. I think these can be useful, and I’ve been considering adding them, but for now I’m OK without them. They’re most useful for deciding which opponents may be more susceptible to turn/river bluffs, and which opponents are calling down all the way with weak hands.

Things I do well

I was thinking last night about different things that have contributed to the success I've had so far with no limit. I hope this post doesn't come across as arrogant at all, because it certainly isn't intended that way. I just thought it would be nice to list things I think have helped me move up limits. If you want to ask me about any specific ones, feel free. They're in no particular order of importance.

• Good table selection.


• Playing with a very comfortable bankroll for each limit.


• Discipline to only play when I'm up to it.


• My temperament and emotions are excellent and I rarely tilt.


• Quitting immediately at the first signs of tilt.


• Reviewing every hand won or lost over 25BBs after every session (seriously).


• Reviewing sessions when I'm winning AND losing.


• Being active in the forums.


• Learning to fold in marginal spots/facing a lot of aggression.


• Working extremely hard on my play with overpairs.


• Not having an ego at the tables.


• Not getting involved in battles with specific players.


• Accepting that I'm not just getting unlucky during a bad patch.


• Making good use of PAHUD stats and thinking about what different stats offer me.


• Never being content with my game and always trying to improve something.


• Focussing on one/two area(s) of my game at a time to improve.


• Setting targets.


• Thinking about different ways to play hands, even if I win the hand.


• Watching every NL video that Cardrunners puts up, and really focussing on it and how anything compares/differs to my game.

Monthly results

I'm calling it a month for No Limit. I've had a frustrating month overall, but I think it's been really good for my education and discipline. I've shown I can sit my ass down and grind a shitload of hands, which I'm actually really pleased about. I've felt a little lazy in the last few months with how many hands I've fit in. I've also made sure I got involved with bonuses this month, and it's made a great difference to the money I've pulled in.

With regards to my targets, I hit around 50k hands of $100NL and $200NL. I now feel that I am a winner in the $200NL games, and I think I've improved a lot in the last week or so. I have kept track of money a little better, although I still need to improve on that. The most disappointing target has been the exercise one. I've felt a little rundown at times this month and it's down to lack of exercise and poor diet. I don't eat badly, I just don't eat much and hardly every eat vegetables. My diet basically consists of some sort of bread, cheese and ham. Yum. I'll look to improve this next month I guess, but I'm not sure if I will or not. I need to get rich enough to hire a chef.

In the next few days I have a few things planned. Today is a bank holiday (so people aren't at work) so I'm going out with a few mates and plan on getting drunk. Tomorrow I plan to recover as I haven't drunk much for a while now. I want to finish Harry Potter 3 before September too - hopefully we'll get some sun and I can read outside. Poker-wise I'll play some PLO in the next few days. I'll probably start on NL again next Friday night.


Monthly Results

I'm going to sum up my month first, and then post screenshots at the bottom.

At $100NL: +$1241.99 over 21,423 hands for 2.9BB/100.
At $200NL: + $1958.04 over 28,980 hands for 1.69BB/100.

Bonuses:

$300 rakeback on Full Tilt. (Approx)
$340 rakeback on Absolute. (Approx) $850 in Absolute reload bonuses. $500 sign-up bonus.
$167 in Party Points. $174 in Party reload bonuses.

Other:

Lost $182 at HU ($100NL)
Made $57.65 at $50NL.
Made $100.85 at $25NL (thanks to Jason for part of that!).
Made $28.70 at $10NL.
Made $260 in a freeroll.
Made $20 on a last longer bet with Jason in the freeroll.

Total for month: $5816.23.


Pokertracker stats

$200NL:


$100NL:

Frustrating night

I think I broke even tonight. I felt like I played pretty well, but things just weren't really happening. I flopped some great hands but didn't get paid, and a lot of my C-bets weren't winning the pot. I managed to lose an all-in with AA v JJ v AQ. Luckily the JJ guy was shortest and he won, so I won the AQ guy's stack and lost nothing on the hand! I also got 2 outered by JJ on a 9 high flop holding AA, and 5 outered on a 6493 board with AA by 32 - which called a flop and turn bet! I managed to break even due to catching AA v KK and stacking someone for 200BBs, and 3-betting 55 and hitting a 5 on the river v QQ (on a T high board) after I C-betted the flop.

One thing I've been thinking about in the last couple of days is my small pair play. I feel like I'm not going to be stacking people enough at the $200s to make cold-calling out of position with them profitable. I'm going to think about this more, and I might start looking at new strategies with them.

It's my dad's birthday today (Sunday) so we're going out for a meal around 6pm I think. I'll probably go round this afternoon to watch the football on TV. Unless mum has things planned for him (like keeping the garden, looking after his vegetables, shopping, and other boring things).

Feeling optimistic

I think I'm finally starting to get into a good rhythm at $200NL. Finally. I dropped my stats right down to 17/14 last night and it seemed to work great. I kept myself out of some more marginal spots - which is great when I'm struggling a little. Once I get myself comfortable here I'll start to open up again. I've managed to win a fair bit over the last few days, and my month is looking OK monetary wise. Unfortunately, my BB/100 is poor for $100NL and $200NL. I guess I look at this month as a learning curve and look to sustain a better win-rate next month.

I'm hoping to run at 3.5BB/100 or more over at least 30k hands at the $200NL for the next 2 months. Obviously I'd like both the win-rate and volume of hands to be higher. If I can manage those though I might look at moving up to $400NL in November. I think I'm getting ahead of myself a little, but I like to have targets and goals in mind and I like them to be tough to reach!

Now, I'm a Maths graduate so I know a lot of formulae and what not. Nothing, however, prepared me for this gem; Friday night + Absolute + $200NL = INSANE. Seriously. I managed to lose my first 200BB stack when I raise HUGE on a KT68 board holding TT with a flush draw out. A very aggro and maniacal player called the huge raise and shoved an A river. Although QJ was well within his range, I only need to be correct on my call 1 out of 5 times so I made the call. He did have QJ but I think AK, 66, a missed flush, and maybe even some other 2 pair hands are in his range there. That sucked but whatever.

Then there was a guy to my right who had $900 when I joined the table. Within one hand he'd gone down to $500 with an horrendous bluff. He went down to $130 then started open-shoving (blinds $1/$2 remember). I called with AK the third time he did this. He had J8 and hit two pair. Awesome. Then he pushed $140 later with ATo, I called with JJ and setted up. Proper awesome. Anyway, he blew about $1100 I guess while I was there. I net profitted $0 off him. Not so awesome.

Then another idiot was on another table. First hand in the BB I got QQ, the button raised, idiot called in SB, I 3-bet and they both called. The flop was J high, I bet pretty strong and just the idiot called. The turn was a K and I really didn't know what to do when he checked to me. I figured that I was involved enough for checking/folding the river to be wrong at this point so I just shoved. He could have had a J or a flush draw or whatever. He folded and it was a nice uncontested pot. Then he proceeded to call every pre-flop raise I made and lead into me for pot on the flop. Hmmm. The only time I would have raised him up was the first time he did it. I had TT on a A96 board. I folded and he showed 74! Anyway, about 20 hands later I raise UTG with TT, MP calls, idiot 3-bets and we both call. Flop is T94 and he shoves all-in for a huge overbet! Thank you very much. He had K8o of course.

I'm getting there

I think things are starting to look up on the $200NL front. I've tightened up considerably and I think that's helped for starters. I was playing around 20/16 and I've dropped to around 18/15 in the last few days. That's what I normally play at the $100s, and I think one of the mistakes I made in moving up was trying to loosen up at the same time.

I've also been thinking about and working on my river play. I think a lot of players at the $200s aren't afraid to fire out a bluff on the river - especially when you check to them - and I've been trying to figure out the best ways to play different river situations. One thing I talked about the other day with Hauptizzle was putting people on a range on each street. This definitely helps to figure out what the best play on the river is. I'll try and talk more about this as I learn more myself - I still feel like I'm not great at putting people on ranges and choosing the best play from there, but I'm working on it!

Tonight I went for a curry at a friend's house and then we watched Donnie Brasco. It's an awesome film that I haven't seen for ages - I definitely recommend watching it. It's definitely one of Johnny Depp's best films, and it's also cool to see Al Pacino playing a character who's kind of down on his luck.

I'm going out for my mate's birthday tomorrow night (Friday). His girlfriend's organised a surprise (lame) get together at a mate's house, and then we're heading into Nottingham afterwards. I'm really looking forward to it because, now that we're all getting older, we haven't had a night out in Nottingham for a long time. We used to go quite often and it'll be nice to be back up there. It does mean no poker tomorrow night for me, but I think it'll be good to take a night off. Plus - I'll make up for it on Saturday night!

Reality check

I was going to try and not check any results until this Friday. I think I get affected by whether I'm doing well for the month or not - particularly by my win-rate. It's not the winning/losing money that bothers me, it's that I want a BB/100 of at least 4, preferably higher, and taking hits obviously affects that and therefore affects me. After dropping around 2 buy-ins last night on Full Tilt though, I decided to take a look to see how good/bad I was actually doing - basically to get a reality check. Since my lesson I'm running at 2.6BB/100 over about 8.5K hands at the $200s. I think this is actually OK, and I've made some total bonehead plays during that time. The interesting thing was that I'm doing really well at the Absolute games and really poor at the Full Tilt ones. Obviously the FT ones will be a bit harder, but I do game select well. I guess I'll concentrate on the AP ones for now.

If you haven't already you should check out the post below for the DODGYKEN v LuckySOB battle. It's very funny.

Well, I think it's funny!

Haha! So, I'm browsing Full Tilt to see if there's anyone I know playing, and Jason's sat at a $25NL table - just one - so I go and see what's going on. He's playing damn aggressive so I put myself on the waiting list and end up getting the seat to his left. I plan on re-raising him every time he raises pre-flop (which is very often), and just having some fun. I found these very funny:

He beat me out of this pot quite early: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1391133.

Then this one happened a few hands later: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1391134.

Then we decided that, if it was folded to him in the SB, we'd go all-in each time.

1st time: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1391136

2 hands later: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1391137

My favourite hand ever: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1391141

The very next hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1391148

Jason = BUSTO: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1391154

DODGYKEN = slack ass

I've been really slack in updating this weekend so apologies for that. I've had a mixture of joy and pain at the $200s this weekend! I made a horrible [tilt] call on Sunday night, and it's the first time I've done that for a long time. I quit my tables immediately before waiting for the blinds and went to bed! I played a lot better last night, a lot of it down to doing a sweat with Jason (LuckySOB) as it always helps you think through each hand more thoroughly when sweating. I'll also be getting back updated on my big hands blog as soon as possible.

It's my mum's birthday today so we're going out for a meal tonight, and I've just been to see her this morning/afternoon too. My dad managed to find her a card that said her age on the front (54) which I found hilarious! I didn't even realise they made cards to celebrate that specific age! I'm not sure that she was too impressed by it though!

On a different note, I've been working my way through the Harry Potter books. I love reading, and have loads of time to do it at the moment, so I decided to get started on them. I was always dead against reading them as I thought they seemed stupid, and I've never seen any of the films. (I did take some kids on a Playscheme to watch the 3rd film, but I fell asleep about 15 mins in and got told off!). Anyway, one of my friends read them a couple of years ago when travelling and he recommended them to me. He's always spot on when he thinks I'll like something so I decided to give them a go. I've read the first two now, and about 1/6th of the 3rd one. I've really enjoyed them so far, and I'm looking forward to them getting darker and deeper. Please don't spoil anything for me!

The calm after the storm

We have an article up on the UF2B site now on continuation betting. Go over there and read it! At the bottom there's a short video by me discussing some of the concepts and putting them into action. Some decent examples came up in the video too, which was fortunate. It's only about 10 minutes long and I think it's worth a watch. We're also working on getting the blog into a more reader-friendly layout.

I had a lesson with Haupt_234 today (or Hauptizzle on Full Tilt). He plays the 2/4 and 3/6NL games on Full Tilt and is a regular poster in the Mid-Stakes Section on the Cardrunners Forum. The lesson was really good - he obviously thinks about the game a lot, as well as playing a lot, and he could explain his thoughts and reasoning about hands and situations very well. He also gave me confidence that a lot of the things I'm doing are correct. I'm going to be focussing on the $200NL games on Full Tilt from now to see how things go. I might play at Party too, but I really like the Full Tilt time bank. I'll also play on Absolute, but I'll probably stick to the $100s on there as I'm still getting used to the software and they have 200BB stacks.

After the lesson I managed to tear up the $200NL tables and made 3.5 buy-ins pretty quickly (despite losing my 3rd set over set in two days). I then played a little bit on Absolute and made half a buy-in. I really hope the rest of the month goes smoothly. I lost $1100 in the last two days, and although the actual money doesn't bother me the fact that my winrate and monthly profits went down considerably does bother me. Profit and BB/100 is basically how you measure your success in the game.

Lastly, I think one of the reasons for my downswing in the last few days has been because I've loosened up quite a bit. My attempt to steal had risen to around 34% (from around 27% normally). When I look back, I often find this is the case during a downswing. I try to widen my range and I realise I should stick to being a NAG (see Noel's blog!). As I move up limits I think I'll have to widen my range, but I need to do it gradually.

3 tricky spots

There's another post under this one with thoughts on how I'm feeling at the moment.

I'm running into some tricky spots at the moment. It's great for working on my game, but not so great for the profits right now!

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1376946
This is a common spot that I run into. This betting pattern really frustrates me - they check-call the flop, turn is checked through, and they lead the river. Here I have 2 pair, but the turn completed a flush and straight, and this opponent is pretty solid. He plays 23/15/2.3, folds to C-bets 69% of the time, and bets the river 33% of the time.

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1376959
I ran into this spot twice yesterday where I 3-bet pre-flop, got 2 callers, an A flopped an it got checked round. Here, YO is 57/11/1.4 and matt is 13/7/4. I can't see that it's worth C-betting here - does any bet the flop? What do you do on the turn/river here?

3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1376966
I have the guy who pushed as 27/16 over 100 hands. I'm never quite sure of my play in spots like this. Do you call or fold here?

Bad run

I'm down about $750 over the last day or two playing a mixture of $100NL and $200NL. There were some really juicy games on the $200NL at Full Tilt last night so I decided to jump in. I was doing pretty well too but I ran into a set of 6s with 44 on a 643 board. I still feel confident that I'm good enough to beat that level though. I'm actually having a bit of coaching later on today with the plan of focussing on a few of the areas I feel are leaks, and basically helping me make the transistion from $100NL to $200NL.

I talked with Noel for quite a bit about this short downswing I'm having and his thoughts were very useful. One thing he suggested was that I'm playing too much at the moment and not getting enough balance in my day to day life. This is possibly true. I've made a conscious effort to put more time and effort in this month (and to go out less) as I really want to push on in the next few months and start becoming a regular at the $200s, with view to moving up to the $400s sometime at the end of this year / early next year. He's right that you still need the balance though - last month I had a really good life / poker mix, and the month went really well.

I find this quite hard though because I'm really motivated to become better and better at the game.. I don't really want to do too much else at the moment except for play and work on my game. I'm lucky in a sense that I have the commitment and drive to put in so many hours of study and play. I'm also unlucky that I have so much pride / ego that I won't rest and slow down until I'm crushing some of the levels above me.

The other thing that bothers me is the money I win each month. I'm not a person who is particularly motivated by money, but in poker that's how you measure success (coupled with your BB/100). I always want to do better than my last month, and having sizeable losing days sets me back in my monthly profits and bothers me. It doesn't affect me so much that I start playing badly, and it certainly doesn't hurt my bankroll, but it still frustrates me nonetheless. This is mainly because I'm so greedy for success that I hate having to take a step backwards.

Hands for analysis

I got into a load of sick spots tonight. I can't really post them all so I've limited it to 4. Can you please post the range you put the opponent on, and what my action should be.

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1371804
No stats on the opponent.

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1371810
Again, no stats.

3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1371811
This guy was playing 50/5/2.2. He folded to C-bets 30% of the time, and he bet the river 63% of the time.

4. I can't get Pokerhand to cut this out where I want it to so I'll just describe it. My opponent and I both have $200 (200BB stacks). He's playing 29/17/3.8 and folds to C-bets 70% of the time.
He raises in the CO to $3, I make it $14 from the SB with Ac Kc and he calls.
Flop is Td 9s 2d. I bet $20 into a $28 pot and he calls.
Turn is the Kd, putting a possible flush out. What's your play from here?

Video of LAG play

Ok, so I made a video of me playing my LAG style at $25NL on Full Tilt this morning. I made two with the view to posting the one with the best action, but I posted both anyway. They're both around 25 minutes long. I forgot to make my PAHUD stats viewable so apologies for that - I mention most of the important ones though. The 2nd video is more interesting, but the first one kinda gears you up for the 2nd in the sense that you see any history I've had on the tables.

My stats for the session were something around 33/28.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LCFM1IZ3

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OWWD4M6L

LAG play

I've been messing around a little bit at the $25NL games on Full Tilt trying out a very LAG style. It's going OK so far. Here are my stats:



I might just be running well but my biggest losers have been 44 on an AA4J board v AQ, Q high flush against nut flush against I guy who was getting pissed off with me, and AQ flush draw on a K92 board after I 3-bet and C-bet the flop (the other guy shoved 97). So I'm getting my money in pretty good in general, and the action I get is insane. I still need to work on some spots though because I talk myself into them playing back at me sometimes when I should fold.

The thing it has done for my overall game is improve my post-flop skills. I'm playing so many flops that I have to win some that I don't deserve to. I'm getting better at picking up some pots that I wouldn't normally, as well as spotting when people are bluffing. I'm hoping that these skills will migrate across to my usual game.

Oh - it's fun too!

Ahh, the re-steal!

Ok, so I've stolen an idea from Noel, who stole it from me, who stole it from cts, who probably made it up himself. I now have a separate blog for analysis of my big winners and losers. This means that you don't have to read through them if you don't want to, and it'll leave this blog free for neater posts with troublesome hands for comments. It's on the right as My Big Hands if you want to check it out.

Here are 3 hands I'd like comments on please:

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1357913
The opponent here is 48/17/0.9. He folds to C-bets 60% of the time and calls the other 40%. I felt like I needed to value bet the river and then he min-raised me. I've done this so many times and talked myself into calling so I'd decided beforehand that I would bet-fold the river. What do you think of this hand?

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1357917
Opponent is 29/22/2.6. In the last orbit, he raised on the button, I 3-bet from the BB and he folded. So there's a small amount of history between us. I think I possibly should have bet the turn here, but I wasn't sure what he could have cold-called pre-flop with and the called the flop. The he shoves for $98 into a $68 pot when I check. Do you fold or call here and how do you play the turn?

3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1357928
This player is 38/14/2.4 and his fold/call/raise to C-bets is 36/48/18. Easy 3-bet to his UTG open and he flat calls in position. I bet the flop and he min-raises me. There's been no hands of note between us. How do you proceed from here?

Running better

Ok, lots of hands here - mainly winners - and I think I've put them into a much more readable format. I hope people like them this way - I think that it's really good to read hands and comments like this.

I've been playing just the $100NL tables and I'm doing pretty well at them. I'm looking into getting some coaching for the $200s, and I probably won't play them until I do.

I haven't got any hands for comments today. Just feel free to look through. If there are any you want to comment on, try to make it obvious which one you're talking about! I have 2 hands I wanted to show as they make a good point. These are both good discliplined folds and, when my results aren't there, these are the types of hands I go too far on and lose money on. Folding these made me money. Fact.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1354313
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1354321


FullTiltPoker Game #3203355469: Table Benmore (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:48:29 ET - 2007/08/09
Seat 1: chippotte ($216.25)
Seat 2: mikywillis ($238.60)
Seat 3: giulio67 ($162.15)
Seat 4: Dumbo3000 ($100.40)
Seat 5: BassStretcher ($100)
Seat 6: LesterFiend ($104.50)
LesterFiend posts the small blind of $0.50
chippotte posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BassStretcher [As Ah]
mikywillis folds
giulio67 calls $1
Dumbo3000 calls $1
BassStretcher raises to $5.50
LesterFiend folds
chippotte folds
giulio67 folds
Dumbo3000 calls $4.50

Dumbo is super tight so I have him on squarely a low pair. He won't be busting my AA.

*** FLOP *** [8s Ac 3d]
Dumbo3000 checks
BassStretcher checks

Awesome flop but I'm not going to get any action unless he flopped 88 or 33. If he did flop those hands then we'll be able to get it in on the turn, so I don't see any point in betting here whatsoever.

*** TURN *** [8s Ac 3d] [4s]
chippotte is sitting out
Dumbo3000 bets $8
BassStretcher raises to $30
Dumbo3000 raises to $94.90, and is all in
BassStretcher calls $64.50, and is all in
Dumbo3000 shows [4d 4c]
BassStretcher shows [As Ah]

Pretty much the most beautiful feeling in poker - knowing exactly where you're at, making a good decision to let him catch up, and having it work perfectly. I raised pretty big here so that I can get it in on the river if he calls. Normally I raise less but here he either has a set or is folding so it doesn't matter how big my raise is.

Uncalled bet of $0.40 returned to Dumbo3000
*** RIVER *** [8s Ac 3d 4s] [Ks]
Dumbo3000 shows three of a kind, Fours
BassStretcher shows three of a kind, Aces
BassStretcher wins the pot ($199.50) with three of a kind, Aces
Dumbo3000 adds $99.60
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $202.50 Rake $3
Board: [8s Ac 3d 4s Ks]
Seat 1: chippotte (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: mikywillis didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: giulio67 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Dumbo3000 showed [4d 4c] and lost with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 5: BassStretcher (button) showed [As Ah] and won ($199.50) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 6: LesterFiend (small blind) folded before the Flop

------------------------------------

FullTiltPoker Game #3202926282: Table Durango (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:02:19 ET - 2007/08/09
Seat 1: Chemali ($118.55)
Seat 2: BassStretcher ($166.25)
Seat 3: nempiskota ($113.65)
Seat 4: Lex 79 ($110.60)
Seat 5: Little Dog42 ($28.85)
Seat 6: mgfi26 ($61.45)
BassStretcher posts the small blind of $0.50
nempiskota posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BassStretcher [Ad Qd]
Lex 79 folds
Little Dog42 has 15 seconds left to act
Little Dog42 folds
mgfi26 folds
Chemali raises to $4
BassStretcher raises to $14
nempiskota folds
Chemali calls $10

This guy is playing 17/11/3.2. A very standard 3-bet from me holding AQ in the blinds to his button raise.

*** FLOP *** [4h Ac 9d]
BassStretcher has 15 seconds left to act
BassStretcher checks
Chemali checks

I thought for a while here and decided to check. This definitely isn't my standard line, but I felt I'd only get action from AK,AA and 99 from his range. I thought checking might get me a call from KK or QQ later in the hand.

*** TURN *** [4h Ac 9d] [Kd]
BassStretcher has 15 seconds left to act
BassStretcher bets $19
Chemali calls $19

He checks and I bet the turn. I'm not really sure what he has to be calling here. I think AK would bet the flop. AA might check the flop behind, but now would raise hoping I had KK or AK. I thought he could have KK or be peeling with some kind of straight draw/flush draw combo.

*** RIVER *** [4h Ac 9d Kd] [Jh]
BassStretcher checks
Chemali has 15 seconds left to act
Chemali has requested TIME
Chemali bets $38
BassStretcher has 15 seconds left to act
BassStretcher calls $38

The J is a pretty poor card for me I thought. If he peeled with JJ he's hit a set. If he slowplayed KK I'm in trouble. Something like KJ hit two pair. I just wasn't really sure where I was at so I checked. He bets $38 into a $66 ish pot. I actually don't like this spot but I call - I can't really see what I'm beating that he bets with though. Any hand like QQ would check behind on the river. He showed AJ and I was pretty disappointed with myself for how I played the hand. I think I should have just bet the flop here, and I think I can find a fold on this river because there are just no hands that he bets with that I beat. I can't see him having anything he'd bluff with here because his turn calling range basically has something to showdown on the river.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Chemali shows [Jc Ah] two pair, Aces and Jacks
BassStretcher mucks
Chemali wins the pot ($140) with two pair, Aces and Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $143 Rake $3
Board: [4h Ac 9d Kd Jh]
Seat 1: Chemali (button) showed [Jc Ah] and won ($140) with two pair, Aces and Jacks
Seat 2: BassStretcher (small blind) mucked [Ad Qd] - a pair of Aces
Seat 3: nempiskota (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Lex 79 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Little Dog42 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: mgfi26 didn't bet (folded)

------------------------------------

FullTiltPoker Game #3207462799: Table Padova (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:36:30 ET - 2007/08/10
Seat 1: Laminat ($158.20)
Seat 2: thankyuu ($100)
Seat 3: BassStretcher ($113.10)
Seat 4: VogelB5 ($189.50)
Seat 5: jonnyslami ($77.65)
Seat 6: motek9 ($247.90)
thankyuu posts the small blind of $0.50
BassStretcher posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BassStretcher [Kh Kd]
VogelB5 folds
jonnyslami calls $1
motek9 raises to $15
Laminat folds
thankyuu folds
BassStretcher has 15 seconds left to act
BassStretcher has requested TIME
BassStretcher raises to $41
jonnyslami calls $40
motek9 calls $26

WTF?! Nice 15x raise pre-flop. This guy is why I'm sat down and I make it $41. I made it that much because it'll leave me with $72 to shove into a $83 on the flop if he calls. The original limper calls, as does the raiser.

*** FLOP *** [6h 4c 7h]
BassStretcher bets $72.10, and is all in
jonnyslami calls $36.65, and is all in
motek9 calls $72.10

I'm shoving any flop without an ace here.

BassStretcher shows [Kh Kd]
jonnyslami shows [Jh Jc]
motek9 shows [8h 8c]

HAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!!!

*** TURN *** [6h 4c 7h] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [6h 4c 7h Ks] [6s]
BassStretcher shows a full house, Kings full of Sixes
motek9 shows two pair, Eights and Sixes
BassStretcher wins the side pot ($70.90) with a full house, Kings full of Sixes
jonnyslami shows two pair, Jacks and Sixes
BassStretcher wins the main pot ($230.45) with a full house, Kings full of Sixes
jonnyslami is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $304.35 Main pot $233.45. Side pot $70.90. Rake $3
Board: [6h 4c 7h Ks 6s]
Seat 1: Laminat (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: thankyuu (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: BassStretcher (big blind) showed [Kh Kd] and won ($301.35) with a full house, Kings full of Sixes
Seat 4: VogelB5 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: jonnyslami showed [Jh Jc] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Sixes
Seat 6: motek9 showed [8h 8c] and lost with two pair, Eights and Sixes

------------------------------------

FullTiltPoker Game #3202766049: Table Nevada (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:45:00 ET - 2007/08/09
Seat 1: alrightfine ($131.40)
Seat 2: krookymunster ($98.50)
Seat 3: LifeTilt4Life ($97.50)
Seat 4: Tjey ($215.55)
Seat 5: BassStretcher ($114.50)
Seat 6: Aimhigh252 ($87.60)
LifeTilt4Life posts the small blind of $0.50
Tjey posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BassStretcher [6c 6s]
BassStretcher raises to $3.50
Aimhigh252 calls $3.50
alrightfine folds
krookymunster calls $3.50
LifeTilt4Life calls $3
Tjey folds

Standard raise pre-flop with my pocket pair.

*** FLOP *** [6h 7h 7c]
LifeTilt4Life checks
BassStretcher bets $10
Aimhigh252 calls $10
krookymunster folds

There's no reason to slowplay this flop. I'm going to be betting at it a lot of the times I miss so I should bet at it with a strong hand too. Plus, anyone with a 7 is getting jiggy wit it.

LifeTilt4Life raises to $45
BassStretcher calls $35

Check-raise sir? This guy had pretty solid stats so I thought he probably had something like 87s after calling my pre-flop raise in a multiway pot. Flat call is the order of the day - let's hope that Aimhigh comes along for the ride.

Aimhigh252 raises to $84.10, and is all in
LifeTilt4Life calls $39.10
BassStretcher raises to $111, and is all in
LifeTilt4Life calls $9.90, and is all in

Really? Ok, MMMAAAALLLLIIIINNNN!!!!!!

BassStretcher shows [6c 6s]
Aimhigh252 shows [Ad 7d]
LifeTilt4Life shows [Kh Qh]
Uncalled bet of $17 returned to BassStretcher
*** TURN *** [6h 7h 7c] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [6h 7h 7c Ks] [5h]
BassStretcher shows a full house, Sixes full of Sevens
LifeTilt4Life shows a flush, King high
BassStretcher wins the side pot ($19.80) with a full house, Sixes full of Sevens
Aimhigh252 shows three of a kind, Sevens
BassStretcher wins the main pot ($264.30) with a full house, Sixes full of Sevens
LifeTilt4Life is sitting out
Aimhigh252 is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $287.10 Main pot $267.30. Side pot $19.80. Rake $3
Board: [6h 7h 7c Ks 5h]
Seat 1: alrightfine didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: krookymunster (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: LifeTilt4Life (small blind) showed [Kh Qh] and lost with a flush, King high
Seat 4: Tjey (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: BassStretcher showed [6c 6s] and won ($284.10)

------------------------------------

FullTiltPoker Game #3207514713: Table Ravine (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:43:00 ET - 2007/08/10
Seat 1: Chemlab187 ($97.50), is sitting out
Seat 2: ChipAccumulator ($68.25)
Seat 3: Chef Burke ($106.85)
Seat 4: BassStretcher ($109.50)
Seat 6: Jeff6843 ($105.50)
Chef Burke posts the small blind of $0.50
BassStretcher posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BassStretcher [Qh Ac]
Jeff6843 folds
ChipAccumulator raises to $3.50
Chef Burke calls $3
BassStretcher raises to $16
ChipAccumulator folds
Chef Burke calls $12.50

I'd been really active on this table playing something like 46/37 over 30 hands. I almost didn't want to 3-bet this because I felt they'd want to play back at me, but I can't flat call so 3-betting is a must.

*** FLOP *** [Qd Td 5c]
Chef Burke checks
BassStretcher bets $23
Chef Burke raises to $90.85, and is all in

This guy has been playing 53/11/1.1 and he goes ahead and check-raises me all-in. I hate this spot and was really unsure of what to do. I'm glad I was playing on Full Tilt as I time-banked this for a long time. I felt that AA or KK comes over the top pre-flop. I think his range is TT, 55, KQ, QJ, and some strong draws. I don't normally like stacking off with one pair but I think the fact that I'd been so active makes it much more likely he's doing this with a worse hand than mine. Plus, with my 3-bet the pot is very big so I almost have to felt TPTK.

BassStretcher has 15 seconds left to act
BassStretcher has requested TIME
BassStretcher calls $67.85
Chef Burke shows [Qc Kc]
BassStretcher shows [Qh Ac]
*** TURN *** [Qd Td 5c] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [Qd Td 5c 8c] [8s]
Chef Burke shows two pair, Queens and Eights
BassStretcher shows two pair, Queens and Eights
BassStretcher wins the pot ($215.20) with two pair, Queens and Eights
Chef Burke is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $217.20 Rake $2
Board: [Qd Td 5c 8c 8s]
Seat 1: Chemlab187 is sitting out
Seat 2: ChipAccumulator (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Chef Burke (small blind) showed [Qc Kc] and lost with two pair, Queens and Eights
Seat 4: BassStretcher (big blind) showed [Qh Ac] and won ($215.20) with two pair, Queens and Eights
Seat 6: Jeff6843 didn't bet (folded)

------------------------------------

***** Hand History for Game 6222270214 *****
$100 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, August 09, 11:36:57 ET 2007
Table Jackpot #1305653 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: amaury76 ( $66.97 USD )
Seat 5: Player5423 ( $152.10 USD )
Seat 6: DeivelsBud ( $102.55 USD )
Seat 1: allin4you555 ( $191.49 USD )
Seat 4: Naaaatz ( $82.45 USD )
Seat 3: DODGYKEN ( $109.43 USD )
amaury76 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
DODGYKEN posts big blind [$1 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to DODGYKEN [ Kc Ks ]
Naaaatz folds.
Player5423 folds.
DeivelsBud folds.
allin4you555 calls [$1 USD]
amaury76 folds.
DODGYKEN raises [$4 USD]
allin4you555 raises [$8 USD]
DODGYKEN raises [$25 USD]
allin4you555 calls [$21 USD]

This guy is a total idiot playing 73/19/2.5. I don't really know what his open-limp then re-raise on the button means, but it certainly won't be restricted to a huge hand. I 4-bet the moron.

** Dealing Flop ** [ Jc, 5h, Qs ]
DODGYKEN bets [$42 USD]
allin4you555 is all-In.
DODGYKEN is all-In.

Not much to do post-flop except for bet-call.

** Dealing Turn ** [ Td ]
** Dealing River ** [ 3s ]
DODGYKEN shows [ Kc, Ks ]a pair of Kings.
allin4you555 shows [ Jd, Ad ]a pair of Jacks.
The time at which hand ended:Aug 09 2007 11:38 ET
allin4you555 wins $82.06 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Jacks.
DODGYKEN wins $215.86 USD from the main pot with a pair of Kings.
>You have options at Jackpot #1304522 (No DP) Table!.
#Game No : 6222273288

------------------------------------

FullTiltPoker Game #3203258250: Table Padova (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:37:58 ET - 2007/08/09
Seat 1: gomore ($108.30)
Seat 2: deinilolol ($139.80)
Seat 3: BassStretcher ($104.60)
Seat 4: razzie2006 ($70.30)
Seat 5: AANorberg ($440.60)
Seat 6: LifeTilt4Life ($131.05)
deinilolol posts the small blind of $0.50
BassStretcher posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BassStretcher [As Ac]
razzie2006 folds
AANorberg folds
LifeTilt4Life folds
gomore folds
deinilolol calls $0.50
BassStretcher raises to $4
deinilolol calls $3
*** FLOP *** [4s 4h Kd]
deinilolol checks
BassStretcher bets $5
deinilolol calls $5

This guy was a total fish. He called my 3-bet 2 hands earlier with Q2s, called a bet on a 532 flop and then checked down. I almost bluffed a K river but decided against it in the end. At this point his range is HUGE.

*** TURN *** [4s 4h Kd] [3c]
deinilolol checks
BassStretcher bets $13
deinilolol calls $13

When he calls my turn bet I think he has to have a K or a 4. I don't know which but I'll be value-betting any river bar a K.

*** RIVER *** [4s 4h Kd 3c] [Ad]
deinilolol checks
BassStretcher bets $29

This is almost a bad river as it'll cut down on action from a K.

deinilolol raises to $85

Ahhh, so you have a 4?

BassStretcher calls $53.60, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $2.40 returned to deinilolol
*** SHOW DOWN ***
deinilolol shows [Kc 9c] two pair, Kings and Fours
BassStretcher shows [As Ac] a full house, Aces full of Fours

Apparently not!

BassStretcher wins the pot ($206.20) with a full house, Aces full of Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $209.20 Rake $3
Board: [4s 4h Kd 3c Ad]
Seat 1: gomore (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: deinilolol (small blind) showed [Kc 9c] and lost with two pair, Kings and Fours
Seat 3: BassStretcher (big blind) showed [As Ac] and won ($206.20) with a full house, Aces full of Fours
Seat 4: razzie2006 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: AANorberg didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: LifeTilt4Life didn't bet (folded)

New style of post

[EDIT: I don't like the way this post looks. I'll be trying to condense my next one down and make it easier to read through]

Ok, I'm going to try to use a hand history convertor and put my comments after each street for a while. If you really don't like it let me know, but hopefully it should be insightful as well as useful for me to get thinking about my actions more. I'm going to post all pots where I won or lost more than $70BBs. You don't need to comment on these - it's more for my own benefit - but you're welcome to if you want to. This post is kinda long but I'd just like comment on the first hand please. If you don't want to read any of the other hands then don't!

This guy plays 21/16/5. The only time I've tangled with him I raised up AJ in the CO and he cold-called on the button. I bet a 662 flop, which he called. I checked a J turn and he checked behind, and I checked a K river, he bet and I called (questionably) and he had 22. Do you bet this turn and do you call or fold the river?

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 6 Players - (LegoPoker Hand History Converter)

SB: $99.00
BB: $131.15
UTG: $130.55
MP: $176.40
Hero (CO): $103.00
BTN: $157.00

Preflop: Hero is dealt A 9 (6 Players)

2 folds, Hero raises to $3.50, BTN calls $3.50, 2 folds


Flop: ($8.50) 9 4 7 (2 Players)

Hero bets $6.00, BTN calls $6.00

Obviously a very standard C-bet. A lot of people will call once in blind battles so I'm not really sure what I put him on yet.

Turn: ($20.50) 8 (2 Players)

Hero bets $14.00, BTN calls $14.00

Sometimes I'll check the turn here, even with top pair, but I picked up the nut flush draw and decided to bet again as I'm probably ahead.

River: ($48.50) 3 (2 Players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $32.00, Hero folds

I decided to check the river and he bet just under 3/4 of the pot. It felt like a value bet to me, and I knew he'd slowplayed a full house a few hands earlier against me, so I folded. He could have a made flush, and there are a lot of 2 pair combinations he could have.

Uncalled bet of $32.00 returned to BTN

Pot Size: $48.50 ($2.40 Rake)




Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 6 Players - (LegoPoker Hand History Converter)

SB: $106.00
BB: $110.90
UTG: $104.85
Hero (MP): $100.00
CO: $158.60
BTN: $101.80

Preflop: Hero is dealt K K (6 Players)

UTG raises to $3.50, Hero raises to $13.00, 4 folds, UTG calls $9.50

This guy is playing 39/13/1.7 over a small sample size. A very standard 3-bet to his UTG raise.

Flop: ($27.50) T T 8 (2 Players)

UTG checks, Hero bets $20.00, UTG calls $20.00

The flop isn't bad for me, and I'm going to be betting out most of the time in 3-bet pots, so I make a standard bet which he calls instantly.

Turn: ($67.50) 8 (2 Players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

At this point, I was trying to work out what he would insta-call with on the flop. I though that he would have considered check-raising with AA (or 4-betting pre-flop). I felt that his range was something like JT or QQ,JJ,99. I decided to check behind and play cautiously.

River: ($67.50) 6 (2 Players)

UTG bets $45.00, Hero calls $45.00

I fully expected him to bet after I checked the turn, and I'm pretty committed to calling it. I think I played this one pretty well, and I think the river call is a must.

Pot Size: $157.50 ($3 Rake)

UTG had T Q (a full house, Tens full of Eights) and WON (+$76.50)
Hero had K K (two pair, Kings and Tens) and LOST (-$78.00)


Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 6 Players - (LegoPoker Hand History Converter)

SB: $96.10
BB: $33.85
UTG: $93.85
MP: $237.80
Hero (CO): $123.05
BTN: $110.55

Preflop: Hero is dealt T T (6 Players)

UTG calls $1.00, MP raises to $2.00, Hero calls $2.00, BTN folds, SB calls $1.50, BB folds, UTG calls $1.00

I should have re-raised pre-flop here. The honest reason I didn't was because I had a lot of decisions to make on my other tables at the time and I almost timed out on this one so I just quickly called. Definitely a mistake, but one of the risks of multi-tabling.

Flop: ($9) T 6 7 (4 Players)

SB checks, UTG bets $8.00, MP folds, Hero raises to $24.00, SB folds, UTG raises to $60.00, Hero raises all-in to $121.05, UTG calls all-in for $31.85

This guy plays 31/4/1.3. I'm always going to be raising up his lead. When he 3-bets me I think he's on 98, 77, 66, or 76. He could possibly have a badly played JJ maybe. I just shove and hope for the best.

Uncalled bet of $29.20 returned to Hero

Turn: ($192.70) 7 (2 Players - 2 All-In)

River: ($192.70) K (2 Players - 2 All-In)

Pot Size: $192.70 ($3 Rake)

UTG had 9 8 (a straight, Ten high) and LOST (-$93.85)
Hero had T T (a full house, Tens full of Sevens) and WON (+$95.85)


Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 5 Players - (LegoPoker Hand History Converter)

SB: $66.35
BB: $74.40
Hero (UTG): $134.85
CO: $38.55
BTN: $116.10

Preflop: Hero is dealt Q Q (5 Players)

Hero raises to $3.50, 3 folds, BB calls $2.50

Flop: ($7.50) 8 3 J (2 Players)

BB bets $7.15, Hero raises to $21.00, BB calls $13.85

I've been very active on this table since I sat down - probably playing 28/25 ish. I put him on a J when he bet/calls the flop.

Turn: ($49.50) 9 (2 Players)

BB bets all-in for $49.90, Hero calls $49.90

The 9 comes and he insta-shoves. I'm slightly worried about J9 but I think I'm still ahead of a lot of his range (AJ-JT) and call.

River: ($149.30) Q (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $149.30 ($3 Rake)

BB had T J (a straight, Queen high) and WON (+$71.90)
Hero had Q Q (three of a kind, Queens) and LOST (-$74.40)


Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 6 Players - (LegoPoker Hand History Converter)

SB: $51.25
BB: $87.70
UTG: $157.65
Hero (MP): $160.85
CO: $132.20
BTN: $98.50

Preflop: Hero is dealt 8 7 (6 Players)

UTG folds, Hero raises to $3.50, CO folds, BTN calls $3.50, SB calls $3.00, BB folds

Flop: ($11.50) 9 9 K (3 Players)

SB checks, Hero bets $8.00, BTN calls $8.00, SB folds

Easy C-bet on this board with my flush draw. They have to have a 9 or a K to continue really.

Turn: ($27.50) 6 (2 Players)

Hero bets $20.00, BTN calls $20.00

I hit my flush and make a value bet.

River: ($67.50) 3 (2 Players)

Hero bets $48.00, BTN calls $48.00

Even though the board is plaired, I'm not really worried about a full house. he has to have KK, 99 or K9 to have me beat. I don't think he has KK or 99 as he would raise pre-flop with KK and I think he would have taken longer to think about how to play 99. I make another decent sized value bet and he calls.

Pot Size: $163.50 ($3 Rake)

BTN had J K (two pair, Kings and Nines) and LOST (-$79.50)
Hero had 8 7 (a flush, King high) and WON (+$81.00)

A couple of cool links

Cts has started regularly posting in his blog on Cardrunners again, and it's extremely interesting in my opinion. It's all PLO but if you're interested in that game you should definitely check it out (http://www.cardrunners.com/fusetalk/blog/index.cfm?forumid=25). There's also a link to http://www.pandora.com/ in there. This is amazing.

I remember when I was reading through his old blog that I really liked the way he went through hands street by street and analysed them. I think I might start doing this myself. The downside is it will make my blog a little cramped as I'll have to use a convertor. The upside is it will get me thinking a lot more about my game. We'll see how it goes.

I'm planning to play some PLO on Full Tilt this afternoon for a change of pace. If you happen to be on in the next few hours then go easy on me!

Struggling

Man, I really am struggling this month. I'm about $350 down over 7k hands at the $200NL, and abut $400 over 7k hands at $100NL. My BB/100 at the $100NL is poor even though I'm winning there. I don't know if I'm falling foul of Fancy Play Syndrome or what. I know I've had some tough situations this month (QQ v KK twice, QQ v AA, KK v AA twice, top full house v quads, you get the picture), but I'm starting to question my play as well now.

I'm tempted to go back to the $100NL permanently for the next week, and then maybe try again at the $200NL. It's so frustrating to me because I'm sure I can be a winner in those games, I just don't seem to be able to get anything going in them. I'm going to really be concentrating on my skills post-flop in 3-bet pots for the next week. I've been jotting down some thoughts and noting down some hands recently, as well as discussing it with Dice earlier, and I'm going to try out a few things between now and next week.

Break-even poker sucks

This evening I played a lot of $200NL and lost $123, and played a little bit at the $100s and won $75. At the $200s, I managed to get the top full house against quads so that set me back a buy-in. I'm still feeling out of my depth in 3-bet pots, and I think this accounts for the "break-even" ish results I've had so far this month.

Three hands today:

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1342043
Opponent is 40/17/3.9. What's your plan from this point on?

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1342048
Same guy as the last hand. I've hit my straight on a board that could give him full house. There are also two flush draws out. What do you do facing his turn bet?

3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1342059
Opponent is 23/15/2.2. Does anyone bet this turn? What's your play on the river - check behind or try a value bet?

End of week summary

It's been an interesting week. I dropped $1k on the 1st day, which was my biggest ever daily loss, but I've managed to do well since then.



My flop aggression is much higher than it normally is. I'm going to be making sure that I'm not getting out of line on flops from now on. I desperately need to work on my play in 3-bet pots, and I'll be looking into this and writing my thoughts on it over the rest of the month.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how things are going. I'm confident that I'll prove myself to be a winner at the $200s over the next few months and I'm excited at what the next few months has in store for me. Please check out our new blog too - it's in my links as UF2B. We're focussing on C-betting and floating this week. Myself and LuckySOB have already written our thoughts on it, and the other guys will be adding theirs today or tomorrow. It should be a good blog to keep track of so please feel free to read through it and see what's going on.

In terms of non-poker activity, I'm finding it hard to keep track of what I spend because I just don't think about it ever! I really do need to improve on this. And I haven't done much sport in the last week, although I have got plans for some tennis and squash this week hopefully.

August is turning round

I had a nice short session on Saturday winning a buy-in at the $200s and breaking even at the $100s. Then I played Sunday morning for a while at the $100s and won just over 3 buy-ins. I was up 4 buy-ins about 10 minutes before I quit, but a couple of unsuccessful 3-bets lost me quite a bit. I'm really pleased with the last few days because I'm now in profit for the month - remember I dropped $1k on the first day! I'm now about $260 up over around 8k hands. I'm still marginally down at the $200s, but I'm pretty confident that I'll be a winner at them at the end of the month.

One hand for comments and one to illustrate a point:

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1335338
Ok, I found this hand awkward. My opponent was playing around 20/11/7. He was really aggressive on flops so I decided to give him some rope to hand himself. The flop is a pretty scary one but doesn't necessarily hit his cold-calling range that hard. His stack size made it awkward so I decided to check-call the flop and check-raise the turn. I thought this would probably maximize my profit when I'm ahead. What are your thoughts on the line I took? And how would you play it from the flop?

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1335343
I don't really want any comments on this hand as I think I played it well. I'm posting it as I think it demonstrates a good river thought process/situation. The opponent was an unknown. By the river, his range is an 8, a 7, 65, a busted straight draw, a busted flush draw. If I bet, I'll get value from an 8 and (possibly) a 7. If I check, he's going to bet any 8 and I can check-raise, he'll check a 7 (so I lose some value there), but he'll possibly bluff with a missed draw, which is a large part of his range. This is a perfect spot for a river check-raise. It's very unlikely you'll lose any value if he checks behind (as he probably wouldn't have called a bet), and you can get extra value from missed draws. I thought this was a good example of thinking through a hand and making the play that might not seem the obvious choice straight away.

Weddings & call downs

Firstly, just to remind people that I'm now putting results to hands posted, along with my own thoughts, in the comments of the last post. So check them out!

I just got back from the wedding I went to yesterday. I had a really fun time and it was good to see the people I'd met on the stag do again. I actually find the wedding ceremonies really boring and I don't get touched by them - I guess it's because I don't feel strongly for anyone but I kinda feel that, if I ever get married, I'd want something different. Anyway, however much I dislike the ceremonies, the receptions are great! Great food, great booze, great people, great crappy songs to do great crappy dancing to! I managed to sneak a dance with the groom's mum - not convinced he was too impressed (the hand over her bum may have pushed it too far!). The only downside was that there weren't really any other single people there - particularly in the shape of attractive women. Nevermind, I'm at another one next Sunday so we'll see what that one's like.

After looking through the comments to my last post (which were excellently written so thank you), I got to thinking about situations in which a call is better than a raise. I used to go along the lines of "can I raise, no, so can I fold, no, so I have to call", making a call, basically, the last resort. I actually think it has a lot more place in the game though - particularly against aggressive opponents. There are so many times that I've taken a passive line against someone and he's shown a complete bluff, and I wouldn't have won anything had I raised the flop (or turn). I'm not convinced that when I call down it's always correct. If you look at the hands in my last 2 blogs though, you'll notice that quite a few of them are hands where I've taken a passive line. Now, it does have the bad effect of leaving you confused to where you stand in the hand, but I think it can often be a good way to maximise your profit in a hand. Sometimes you'll let them outdraw you, but this will happen if you take this line. However, a lot of the time they'll donk off more chips to you than if you had raised them off their hand. I'm not really sure exactly what situations calling down is a good line to take in, but it's something I'm going to look into and experiment a bit with.

Starting to look brighter

A much better day than yesterday, despite still having some shockers (check out the KK hand in my last post). I ended up slightly down at the $100s and up almost 3.5 buy-ins at the $200s. I'm definitely finding the $200s harder than the $100s, although I don't have enough hands logged to determine whether I'm just hitting bad situations at the moment. I really think that I'm going to have to work on my play in 3-bet pots. The guide I wrote works really well for $100NL and below, but I think something extra is needed at the $200s. So far it seems that people are more competent at playing in 3-bet pots - a C-bet just isn't taking it down often enough. Again, this might be due to my sample size, but I get the feeling it's not going to be as easy as 3-bet, C-bet, win pot.

One thing I'm really happy with so far this month is the volume of hands I'm playing. I've already played just over 7000 hands - which is 1/3 of my whole July! It's good for me to have the discipline to sit and play as I go out probably too much!

I have loads of hands I'd like advice on, but I'm going to cut it down to four. I don't really like posting more than 3 so forgive me.

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1328167
Opponent is 38/16/2.1 over 70 ish hands. The pot's about $140 when he shoves for $131. Call or fold?

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1328183
This one confused me. Opponent is 25/17/3.5. I decided not to raise the flop as I didn't want him shoving over me with a draw and I also could be behind. His turn bet was pretty big and I called again as I'd sort of indicated I was weak by just calling the flop. He bets just under 1/2 pot on the river. Call or fold to this? And how would you have played this hand?

3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1328203
Opponent is 41/29/infinite aggression over a very small sample size. His min-raise UTG means nothing in my opinion. I don't like the way I played this hand - I think the river is a tough spot and I could have probably avoided it by raising the flop or the turn. How would you have played this, and would you call or fold the river?

4. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1328225
I really don't like being out of position. Opponent is new to the table so I don't know anything about him. How is the line I took with this hand? I think I like the turn bet here. Maybe I should make a blocker on the river of around $50? Do you call or fold his bet?

Sorry for so many hands, but I'm finding myself in plenty of tricky spots after moving up! I've added the results of the hands in my last post to the comments on it now. I'll do that each time I make a new post from now on. Also, check out the UF2B link on the right hand side and take part in the poll please.

I'm at a wedding all day tomorrow so I won't get any poker played. I'll be staying overnight and coming back around midday Saturday I guess. I'm at a BBQ on Saturday too for my mate's sister who's leaving to work in Greece and then France for a few months. I might drive there and not drink though as I want to get some poker in on Saturday night. It seems silly to be taking poker so seriously and not playing on the most profitable nights.

Fuck poker

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1326134

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1326127

and for the grand finale.....

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1326125


Somehow I'm still up today!

Bad day

Well, I'd been running so well that I knew it had to end eventually! Unfortunately, it ended on the same day I moved up to the 200s and it hurt! I dropped 5 buy-ins at the $200s yesterday (do the math), although I felt my play was pretty decent. I tried to make sure I was playing exactly the same as I have been doing at the $100s as I've been winning well using that style. Maybe I'll have to adjust in time but I honestly think it was just one of those days. I managed to win half a buy-in at the $100s too, as well as a buy-in at the $50s when Graham was sweating me.

One of the biggest things I noticed at the $200s was that my 3-betting wasn't working at all. I must have dropped about 2 buy-ins from 3-betting, leading a flop, and having to fold to a raise or give up on the turn. Now, I wasn't hitting any flops, but I'd expect to take a lot of those pots down regardless. Maybe people were just hitting hands against me today. It has got me thinking though - if it carries on that way, I'm going to have to adjust my play in 3-bet pots. One thing I was thinking about was check-raising on the turn if I actually have hit my hand. It seemed like people were calling the flop every time, and betting the turn if I checked, so maybe trapping them when I do have a hand would work. However, this may be overly fancy and unnecessary. I'll only start trying this out if my 3-bet, followed by C-bets, continue to not work.

The other thing I was thinking about was how I can use this to adjust my play when I've been 3-bet. If we know someone is 3-betting lightly, it almost seems worth calling the 3-bet and shoving the flop, or floating the flop and betting the turn. I think these plays are high variance, but it seems like they would be profitable to me. When I'm trying to think about a different way to play against an aggressive opponent, I try to think about what I wouldn't want to have happen to me in that situation. When I 3-bet someone and they call pre-flop and on the flop, I start getting worried. Maybe it's time I tried putting others in that situation.

I was lucky enough to have Jason (LuckySOB) take the time out to go through some of my hands, and he also did a lengthy sweat later on in the day with me, and it really helped to have him back the majority of my play up. When you run like this it's easy to lose confidence and play more passively. I was trying to keep playing the same way as always and it really helped to have him confirm that I was playing OK. Again, thanks for the help yesterday Jason.

Anyway, a couple of hands all involving river decisions:

1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1325582
There's an argument to raise this pre-flop, but with 2 limpers I decided to limp along. Against 1 limper, I raise this 90% of the time. Alot_2007 is playing 51/4/0.7 over a small sample size. The pot was around $60 on the river and he bet $50 pretty quickly when I checked. I'd like thoughts on the river play here.

2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1325585
This guy was playing 57/8/3.7. Even though he limp-raised pre-flop, I don't think this means a big hand for him. I decided to call and play cautiously. He bet very weakly on the flop - I thought he could be on overcards or trying to get value from a huge hand. On the turn he bet $22 into a pot of about $50. I strongly felt I was ahead at this point and called. Then on the river he bet $70 into a $94 ish pot. I think that I could have maybe raised this turn. Thoughts on the way I played the hand please.

3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1325592
This guy's a solid regular who plays around 20/16/3.6. I decided to bet this turn as I felt he could have been floating the flop, and he could also be on the flush draw. He called again and then I had to decide how to play the river. What's your river play here?


I'm going to have another go at the $200s tonight and hopefully it'll go better than yesterday!

August goals

I was very happy with how things went last month so I haven't got as many poker goals as last time. I'm going to start off playing at $200NL and see how it goes. I'm planning on having a 5 buy-in stop-loss limit and then moving back to $100NL. If I end up losing 5 buy-ins, and it's obviously bad beats and not my play, I may well continue to play at the $200s. I'd like to hit $5000 this month, but I'm not going to set it as a goal because it's more important that I discipline myself to get the hands in rather than concentrate on the money.

I have got some non-poker goals this month as well which I'll include. Since I left my job in April, I haven't kept records of my money at all really, so that's something I need to improve on. My dad uses some sort of computer program to keep track of his money and I'm going to go round tomorrow night and check it out. I also want to get more exercise done. I'd like to go to a gym regularly - I used to when I was younger and I enjoyed it - but I don't have enough motivation to go on my own all the time. None of my friends really do the gym, except for one who goes at his work. I think I'm going to try and arrange a regular weekly game of squash, and I'll also be doing 5-a-side football/soccer every Monday lunchtime. If I can get those 2 done every week, and fit a few other things in as well, I'll be pleased.

Goals

1. Play 40k hands.

2. Start playing $200NL and have a 5 buy-in shot.

3. Keep good records of any expenditure and income.

4. Take part in at least 2 sporting activities per week.

In the long term, I'm hoping to be able to move up to $400NL by the start of next year. I think this is a tough target as I have to withdraw money for bills each month, but it's definitely possible if I keep working hard.

This month we're also starting the unrecklessforce2b (http://unrecklessforce2b.blogspot.com/). It's a small group of us who take the game a little more seriously than most, and it sounds like we're going to be doing some cool stuff in August. I'll be posting on my blog, and other blogs, just as often as before. Feel free to check out the UF2B blog though to see what's on there.

Well, good luck for August all, and get blogging!

Martin