BooG690 Lerns Zi Pokerz

First and foremost, let me thank all of you guys for being great members of the forum. You guys are insightful and real patient with newbies (like myself). I'm really glad I joined the forum.

Well, let me start off by introducing myself. The name's AJ and I'm from Long Island, NY. I'm only 22, but have been playing poker for about 4 years. I solely played live poker at casinos and at cash games around here. I would deposit $300 on FTP to play at the 200NL. Talk about severe underrolling. I understood the 20BI rule, but I refused to use it. Hey, if I don't need that much for live poker, why would I need that much for online poker? Online poker is so much easier! Damn, I was wrong. I would have my money taken from me by a bad beat or by simply getting rolled over. And my whole bankroll would be gone.

This is the year I've chosen to do it right. I chose to work my way up the rankings using correct bankroll management. This was the first step in the right direction and I'm glad I did it. It's the same game I love...without playing with scared money. Therefore, I am playing better than I ever have (live or online).

I chose to play on Pokerstars (BooG690) due to it's low rake at the nano/microstakes. I love FTP and their rewards, but I can't be losing all my money to rake. I am currently on my free trial of Pokertracker and will be trying out HEM afterwards. I will be making my decision when those trials are over.

I am not practicing optimal bankroll management. At these small stakes, I am definitely on the aggressive side of it. I sit down at the 5NL tables with $10 (which leaves me with only 13 buy-ins). I am doing this since I believe I have a great feel for these stakes. On the other hand, I will not be moving up to 10NL until I have 22-25BI's for that level. I plan on increasing my bankroll requirements as I go up in levels (this is speculation and is subject to change):

10 BI's for $5NL
22-25BI's for $10NL
28-30BI's for $25NL

My bankroll is currently at $130 from a deposit of $50 on January 28th, 2009. It hasn't been easy though. I started my online poker career by losing $36 and being down to my last $14. I had a nasty session on February 13, 2009 where I had to get off and regroup. I was donking my chips away and not taking it seriously at all. I thought I could bluff all these 2NL guys away and I wasn't playing my game.



It was hard for me to adapt to playing for pennies, but I had to...so I did. I began to take it more seriously and played the game of poker I've learned to play. I clamped down and really got going. Since the day after my big down session (that would be on February 14th, 2009), I've been on a complete tear. I'm playing at 28.87BB/100 and have won $118.46 in 9,469 hands. I understand it may be a heater for now...but I'm also playing good poker.



That is not to say I still don't have a lot to learn...because I do. I'm actually still pretty clueless and I will admit that. And like anything else, I will remain clueless throughout my entire career. There will always be something about poker for me to learn and master...and I like it that way.

I am working on having a wider range in position and not overvaluing my hands (I do this a lot in the blind). I become very aggressive with just OK hands. These are some of the weaknesses that I must fix.



I would love to get up to 25NL and take everything from there. Of course, in the long run, I'd love to end up winning the WSOP...but one step at a time. So I will start my operations thread here...on my route to 25NL.

I just finished a session on 5NL. I was super distracted on this one...checking the Noob HU Tournament thread. I shouldn't have been playing...but I kept on. I went up about $19 but then donked away $9 by calling down with bad hands. Played 460 hands at a 25.72BB/100 winrate.

As I was saying though, I entered myself in the n00b HU Tourney. I think it'll be a good learning experience and a good way to really be part of this community. I'm pretty excited for it. I actually entered a $5+$.25 HU 4-man SnG to get some practice. I won but noticed heads-up is a totally different game than playing FR. I would like to get more practice runs going...too bad I can't invite other players to play or I would use you guys for practice runs. Well, anyway, I took the $15 I won from the HU tourney and used $5 of it to pay for my entry into the Noob HU Tournament. Should be a good one!

I wasn't only distracted by the tournament though. I also noticed that FTP has opened up an academy. I saw it on the homepage of FTR and went to it. It seems to be really creative and they have challenges for beginners to complete. I wanted to give it a shot but was wrapping up the session (actually, I was starting to get beat up due to the distractions so I had to get off!). Anyway, I signed up for the Academy and I will now be using their videos and challenges to hone my skills. They even give free stuff for those that complete challenges and gather points. I like their clothing so I'll definitely be doing this. I will be messing around with the academy before moving up to 25NL. I am going up rather quickly and think I have time to stop and learn a little bit more. FTP hit it big with the Academy...they are obviously targeting beginners and doing a great job at it. First they added nanostakes and now they have an academy. I may just have to switch over to FTP. Once my rakeback goes through...I'm there!

good luck sir.

So I tried out the FTP Academy and I enjoyed it. The fact that I am earning points for doing things that I should be doing makes it fun. The fact that you put the lessons you learn from the video straight into practice makes it interesting. To be honest, I always liked FTP better than PokerStars...but the rake makes it impossible for me to play there. A 90 cent pot is raked 5 cents on FTP while it's not raked at all on PokerStars. It's impossible for me to switch. Perhaps when I move up to 10NL or 25NL and the pots become bigger I'll switch. As of now, I cannot afford to.

However, more on the FTP Academy. I did one challenge where I had to win 3 consecutive times on the button. I was 4-tabling. The challenge actually made me play worse since I was forcing the issue on the button. I did not make as much as I should have...but making profit wasn't the point of this session. Trying out the FTP Academy was my main focus. Besides, FTP isn't my main bankroll anyway. I'm not looking to build that up...I just deposited on there before I found out PokerStars had a better rake system. Anyway, that's all for now. I wish I could switch over to FTP...but not until my rakeback kicks in. *sigh*

gl dude, ill be keeping an eye on this blog. way to turn things around in Feb!!

Judging from you positional stats, you open too much UTG with 16/12. Get it down to like 14/12 or 14/10 something along those lines would probably be good, but if you could get it even tighter, its better. I've heard some advice that says your UTG open should be half of what your button open is.

For example (this is 6-max) my UTG open is 12/11, but my BTN open is 25/19.

Originally Posted by dranger7070

Judging from you positional stats, you open too much UTG with 16/12. Get it down to like 14/12 or 14/10 something along those lines would probably be good, but if you could get it even tighter, its better. I've heard some advice that says your UTG open should be half of what your button open is.

For example (this is 6-max) my UTG open is 12/11, but my BTN open is 25/19.

Thanks dranger. I'm actually working on that now. I'm tightening up UTG while loosening up on the button. It seems to be working well. As I gain more experience, I come to the understanding of why most hands are just garbage UTG. I used to love hands like A10s...anywhere. Now it just grosses me out UTG. I'll definitely be working on this.

Another thing I must work on is my aggression. I am too aggressive post flop and leak money. I must control the pot and learn I don't need to win every pot. Not winning every pot would make me less of a target and keep my winning very subtle. I read somewhere that you should be winning money...and have others look at your stack and wonder "Where'd all that come from?"

Thanks for showing me support on my OP. Best of luck to you bro. You're a bit more advanced than I am, so I'll be looking to you for guidance!

I just finished having another great session. I played 797 hands in 3 hours and 17 minutes running at 40.23BB/100. I'm up $32.06 for tonight's session.

I'm only $14 away from having sufficient bankroll for 10NL. I've been playing with $10 (deep stack) at the table which would explain my moving through 5NL very quickly (only 3,336 hands in so far). I am beating 5NL at 17.67BB/100 which I feel is just a heater. I've heard many times that if I am going to play with $10 at the table, I might as well buy-in to the 10NL games. I don't feel right skipping an entire level. In fact, I may add a rule for myself that I cannot move up until I have about 8-10K hands for that specific level. I don't want to move up a level because I was on some crazy heater. I feel that I still have much to learn down at 5NL. We'll see how everything goes and I'll play it by ear. I'll probably end up playing only one table of 10NL at a time and have my other three as 5NL until I feel I'm ready.

I made two mistakes tonight; one that could have been disastrous. On the flop, instead of typing in ".25", I typed in "25." This put me all in for my $15+. I was c-betting here and a call would have killed my session. Thank God he didn't call...but I really do have to be careful. My second mistake is of the same, but opposite (yup, I said it), nature. I wanted to type in "3," but instead I typed in ".3." He ended up calling the $.30 with nothing...so he probably would have ended up folding to the $3 bet but I still have to be careful!

I ran into Ragnar4 at the tables today...I let him know about the Noob HU Tournament and told him to log-on to straighten things out. I never really spoke to him on FTR and I didn't get to play a hand with him...but I did see him make $3.60. Just a fun little side note, I guess.

Well, the poker part of the OP ends at the last paragraph. I had a pretty bad weekend at work. I work in the casino entertainment business as a dealer in addition to working at the warehouse packing the trucks for the jobs on the weekend. On Friday, we would pack the trucks to go out to jobs on Saturday. For my job, we took a truck that I personally did not load to my job. I was actually getting gas while the truck was getting loaded with the chips. I arrived to the warehouse on Saturday to go to the job (with three other guys). I arrived a bit late and one of the guys told me that he checked the truck and everything that was supposed to be on the truck was on. So we get to the job, we open the back, and there are NO chips (except for one case filled with different color chips than we normally use). Now obviously a casino party cannot happen without chips. We had to call a dealer that was already on his way up to go back, pick up the chips, and come to the job. This would make him (and the chips and three other dealers) 45 minutes late. So now we had to set-up the party and try to stall the beginning of the fundraiser. We do so by offering a tutorial for the first half hour...but she wants to jump right into the games. We use the minimal amount of chips among 12 different tables. Luckily we get by for the next half hour and the chips arrive. The fundraiser actually ended up a huge success and the client was very happy. However, my boss was not. This situation should have never happened. Of course, me being the new guy, I was blamed for it and it is assumed that I loaded the truck. I do not want to place the blame or rat out anybody...and she didn't ask me what happened anyway. And today (I am also in charge of inventory), we took inventory and two chip cases are MIA. This coupled with Saturday's catastrophe probably spells out me getting the boot.

I just had to get that final paragraph about work out. It sucks...and I can't really tell anybody at work about it. Well, that's it for tonight. Maybe if I get the boot from work, I'll be able to play more poker and post more.

Hey nice session

Why don't you talk to your boss? Tell them what you just said here. You'll probabally feel better for clearing the air. People have inventories for a reason, so they can keep an eye on stock etc... You've done your job you've noticed things are missing, you just need to point it out now. Unless of course you're security as well in which case I guess it's a bit different!

My advice is that problems are never as bad as we think they are, and it's dwelling on them that can often make them seem worse. Just be truthful - ok you were a few minutes late, from the sounds of things that's your only transgression here! Don't take the blame for other people man!

Good luck :P

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

People have inventories for a reason, so they can keep an eye on stock etc... You've done your job you've noticed things are missing, you just need to point it out now.

Thanks for the post. My job is different and difficult. Because I am inventory, I have to keep track of everything going out and coming back in. So she'll pull the, "Why didn't you notice the chips were missing?" I don't know...I personally think she stashed the chips somewhere to test me or something. Oh well...I gotta give her the inventory tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

So...for those of you who read my post about work, it turns out one of the guy was fucking with me and hiding two chip cases. He knew I was stressed out and the prick just chooses to add to it. Unfortunately, I couldn't say anything because he happens to be the boss' boyfriend. On top of that, my car battery was pissing me off and I didn't get home until late. I was a bit tired...too tired to play a cash game so a true session will not be going on tonight.

I have to start practicing my HU game anyway. I have that Noob HU Tourney starting and the matches have been chosen. I play Outlaw in my first match. We'll see how that goes. I'm going to be using the 4-man $5+$.25 HU SnG's to practice my game (even though they are a bit different due to increasing blinds). Well, that's really it for now. I guess I'll post back and let everybody know how my practice sessions went.

Good luck dude! Thats pretty homo about the work thing though, hit him in the nuts with a case of chips next time he walks by imo. If you wanna practice some HU some time that would be fine dude. We could do the 1/2 play money tables on stars just like the tourn format. Its not likely we'll face each other unless we both get to finals lol. Shoot me a PM if u want.

So HU poker isn't my game. It doesn't bother me much because I just started playing it...but I am competitive and I DO want to win this tournament (fat chance...but I still would love to win!). I played 7 4-man HU SnGs tonight. I made the final two plenty of times...but only won one of them. I am down about $12 (plus rake) for the night. I will continue practice rounds tomorrow as I have my first match with Outlaw on Thursday at 10pm (for any of you guys that would like to watch).

I find my biggest leak is not believing my opponent has a thing. I don't do this in the matter of calling bets...I do this in the sense of overvaluing my hand and betting into a made hand. I noticed I did that a lot...and chose to be less aggressive in my last SnG. I won that SnG. This gives me something to work on for tomorrow...hopefully I can fix (or at least put a temporary patch on) this leak for Thursday's match. That's really it for tonight. I was really tired 4 hours ago...and now I'm exhausted. Off to bed for me.

I didn't post last night because I promised myself I'd wake up early this morning and go to the gym...and I did. I have to get my ass in shape for the summer.

Anyway, last night was not a good night for poker. I continued to practice HU play with the 4-man $6+$.25 HU SnGs. I lost one but won the next one. Not half bad...the final table of the game I won was really good and went back and forth a lot. Twas a really good game. I sat down at a cash game and started to play. My head really wasn't in the game...and I was geared toward HU (more aggressive) play. I couldn't make the switch back to cash too easily. I lost two big hands...one flush losing to a full house and had some guy hit a runner-runner flush on me. The poker gods weren't on my side and I was getting frustrated. I chose to take a break. I was down $9.35 in a mere 166 hands.

I took my break from poker and watched Black Hawk Down. Sick movie. Anyway, after the movie, I went back to playing poker. It was an up & down battle. However, disaster struck soon after. Another runner-runner flush (yes, I threw protector bets out there). I got hit with that and lost $10. I went on tilt and lost $14.80 for the session. I got off the tables soon after the runner-runner...though I should have gotten off sooner. I made a couple of decisions I was not happy with.

So yesterday's sessions saw me down $24.15. It happens...but I should have a stop loss in place. Perhaps 2 BIs? I don't know what a standard stop loss is. I am starting to NOT look at my PokerTracker as much...and it does seem to be working. It's kind of like at the gym...I can't look at that stupid display on the treadmill; I have to put my towel over it (eh, bad analogy).

I have chosen to begin to work on my bet sizing. I have to conceal my pre-flop hands better and throw out a standard bet. I will do so based on my position.

Lastly, I took a look at the 10NL tables (back when I was up around $184). They really do not seem too hard. The players play about the same (though I actually feel they are a bit worse). Hopefully I can reach that plateau soon and continue my quest to 25NL.

GL Boog, glad everything turned out ok at work too. What a prick. I will be following your progress too. And if you ever want to do some HU (play chips of course) let me know. I am usually avail. weekday nights after 6pm central time. I could definitley use the practice as well.

I chose not to play poker tonight since I'm pretty tired and I play really poorly when I'm tired. Instead, I chose to watch some videos on FTP Academy and purchase both Mike Caro's Book of Tells and HoCG. Hopefully both will be good reads and will strengthen my poker game. I will be reading HoCG first...and then read Caro's Book of Tells to strengthen my live game (don't forget, I'm a live player at heart). I may take off from cash games this weekend and focus on winning the HU Tourney. Again...this will be my first real runs at HU, but I am very competitive and would love to win it. And after yesterday's bad session, I figure some cooling off and getting reading done wouldn't be bad.

Well, here's another post from me. Today, I lost a couple of dollars in my attempts to practice heads-up. I won one and lost about 6 HU tourneys. I'm not very good...I will admit that. But hey...I'm trying to get better! I will say this about the heads-up tourneys though...they DO help with blind stealing in FR games. When folds come all the way around...I am more aggressive when I am either blind in stealing the other's blind. Even when I am the button, HU play has helped with being more aggressive.

Aside from losing a lot of HU tourneys, I played pretty decently at the FR tables. I had my aces cracked by AK for a big hand (for 116 BB)...but that's as bad as the beats got. I guess I evened it out when I caught ANOTHER AA against AK...and villain caught a K on the flop and ended up shoving his TPTK. I ended up $14.43 in 347 hands (41.59 BB/hr). I was up $23 at one point...but hey, we all suffer bad beats. However, I am down about $12 on the night from those damn HU tourneys.

I'm beginning to widen my range mid-late position. I am beginning to play suited connectors. I also blame HU play for this...but I like it. I will continue to practice HU play until I get better at it. I agree when people say it is the purest form of poker you can play. The cards simply do not matter. I thoroughly enjoy it and hope I can one day master this form of poker. I end this post with my suited connectors:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($5)
MP2 ($5.22)
CO ($10.14)
Hero (Button) ($12.69)
SB ($2.35)
BB ($1.93)
UTG ($5.46)
UTG+1 ($9.75)

Preflop: Hero is Button with ,
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, 3 folds, Hero bets $0.25, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.57) , , (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $2, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($4.57) (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $2, Hero calls $2

River: ($8.57) (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $5.50 (All-In), Hero calls $5.50

Total pot: $19.57 | Rake: $0.95

Results:
Hero had 3, 4 (straight, five high).
UTG+1 had A, 10 (three of a kind, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $18.62

Ya missed our heads up match last night ya slacker!

I sat here waiting from 9:30 to midnight

Message me if you still want to play, I can play tomorrow anytime or any night at 10:00.

Boo, I have now read your OP and no longer think you are a bastard.

Let me explain. The expression on your avatar's face is so irritating that it made me dislike you and subconsciously take less interest in your posts. Now I have taken the time to read your OP however, I have overcame the negatvie feelings caused by that fucking guy in the painting.

I have no idea who that guy is, but I fucking hate him. If this is a picture of you, I am very sorry and please disregard everything I've just said!

Good luck in the OP man, and I'm glad the work thing didn't turn out to be too serious.

Originally Posted by Carroters

Boo, I have now read your OP and no longer think you are a bastard.

I have no idea who that guy is, but I fucking hate him. If this is a picture of you, I am very sorry and please disregard everything I've just said!

You don't know "Kramer" (michael richards) I thought he was internationally known, especailly after his little comedy snafu.

Originally Posted by Carroters

Boo, I have now read your OP and no longer think you are a bastard.

Let me explain. The expression on your avatar's face is so irritating that it made me dislike you and subconsciously take less interest in your posts. Now I have taken the time to read your OP however, I have overcame the negatvie feelings caused by that fucking guy in the painting.

I have no idea who that guy is, but I fucking hate him. If this is a picture of you, I am very sorry and please disregard everything I've just said!

Good luck in the OP man, and I'm glad the work thing didn't turn out to be too serious.

This was seriously one of the funniest posts I've ever read. I hope you watched the video I linked on your wall. It's great.

Anywho...I finally have time to post on my OP. The last two days were pretty interesting for me. Yesterday, I lost $22.95. I was playing good poker, but I kept getting beat by hands such as 68o and 7To (both these hands cracked my aces). It's difficult for me to put them on these hands since people usually don't call a PFR with them. I guess I have to accept the fact that players at microstakes will be calling with these hands. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for me to assign a hand range to players. Hopefully this'll become easier at the higher stakes.

Today, I basically got to stay home and play poker most of the day. I started out by losing my two HU matches with Outlaw. I definitely have to work on my HU play. Anyway, I went on to win $13.24 in 755 hands (17.54 BB/100). I needed this win...yesterday kind of discouraged me.

Outlaw introduced me to a HUGE help with table selection. It is the table stats averages for VPIP and PFR. This will help me stay at loose tables and avoid nitty tables. Outlaw, if you're reading this, THANKS BUDDY! If anybody reading this is interested in doing this for their own HUD (for PT3):

- Configure | Configure HUD | Configure HUD - Cash/Tournament (whichever)
- Group tab | New
- Name the group "Table Stats"
- Where is says "Show:" use the "Table Averages: Show in Table" option
- Click the "Stats" Tab
- Now double-click VP$IP and PFR

This should help with your table selection! Outlaw likes to avoid tables under a 30 VPIP. I personally don't mind it below 30...as long as it isn't below 25.

Anyway, I am now $58 away from $200 to go up to 10NL. I hope to get out of 5NL this week. I don't want to rush things...but I really want to get out now (after all the sick beats with hands that shouldn't have been in the hand).

Here's the biggest hand from today's session...I slowplayed it, but it paid off. Thank God I didn't get hit with a full house (and if I did, I woulda been on uber-tilt):

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($7.20)
MP1 ($5.99)
MP2 ($5.14)
CO ($5.70)
Button ($2.38)
SB ($4.93)
Hero (BB) ($18.85)
UTG ($9.30)

Preflop: Hero is BB with ,
UTG calls $0.05, UTG+1 calls $0.05, 2 folds, CO checks, Button calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.22) , , (5 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.20, 2 folds, Button calls $0.20, Hero calls $0.20

Turn: ($0.82) (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.60, Button calls $0.60, Hero calls $0.60

River: ($2.62) (3 players)
Hero bets $1.53, UTG raises to $8.45 (All-In), Button calls $1.53 (All-In), Hero calls $6.92

Total pot: $21.05 | Rake: $1.05

Results:
Button mucked K, 6 (flush, King high).
Hero had 3, A (flush, Ace high).
UTG had 5, A (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: Hero won $20.07

Originally Posted by BooG690

This was seriously one of the funniest posts I've ever read. I hope you watched the video I linked on your wall. It's great.

Anywho...I finally have time to post on my OP. The last two days were pretty interesting for me. Yesterday, I lost $22.95. I was playing good poker, but I kept getting beat by hands such as 68o and 7To (both these hands cracked my aces). It's difficult for me to put them on these hands since people usually don't call a PFR with them. I guess I have to accept the fact that players at microstakes will be calling with these hands. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for me to assign a hand range to players. Hopefully this'll become easier at the higher stakes.

Today, I basically got to stay home and play poker most of the day. I started out by losing my two HU matches with Outlaw. I definitely have to work on my HU play. Anyway, I went on to win $13.24 in 755 hands (17.54 BB/100). I needed this win...yesterday kind of discouraged me.

Outlaw introduced me to a HUGE help with table selection. It is the table stats averages for VPIP and PFR. This will help me stay at loose tables and avoid nitty tables. Outlaw, if you're reading this, THANKS BUDDY! If anybody reading this is interested in doing this for their own HUD (for PT3):

- Configure | Configure HUD | Configure HUD - Cash/Tournament (whichever)
- Group tab | New
- Name the group "Table Stats"
- Where is says "Show:" use the "Table Averages: Show in Table" option
- Click the "Stats" Tab
- Now double-click VP$IP and PFR

This should help with your table selection! Outlaw likes to avoid tables under a 30 VPIP. I personally don't mind it below 30...as long as it isn't below 25.

Anyway, I am now $58 away from $200 to go up to 10NL. I hope to get out of 5NL this week. I don't want to rush things...but I really want to get out now (after all the sick beats with hands that shouldn't have been in the hand).

Here's the biggest hand from today's session...I slowplayed it, but it paid off. Thank God I didn't get hit with a full house (and if I did, I woulda been on uber-tilt):

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($7.20)
MP1 ($5.99)
MP2 ($5.14)
CO ($5.70)
Button ($2.38)
SB ($4.93)
Hero (BB) ($18.85)
UTG ($9.30)

Preflop: Hero is BB with ,
UTG calls $0.05, UTG+1 calls $0.05, 2 folds, CO checks, Button calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.22) , , (5 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.20, 2 folds, Button calls $0.20, Hero calls $0.20

Turn: ($0.82) (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.60, Button calls $0.60, Hero calls $0.60

River: ($2.62) (3 players)
Hero bets $1.53, UTG raises to $8.45 (All-In), Button calls $1.53 (All-In), Hero calls $6.92

Total pot: $21.05 | Rake: $1.05

Results:
Button mucked K, 6 (flush, King high).
Hero had 3, A (flush, Ace high).
UTG had 5, A (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: Hero won $20.07

No problem man, glad I could help.

As for the table selection thing, I play 6-max.. so you can definately lower your standards down to 25ish VPIP.

GL!

O

So last night I turned a session that was just going awful into a decent win. I also played a shitload of hands and proved to myself I have a decent amount of endurance to hang out and play online. I won $17.59 over 1,413 (12.45 BB/100). Pretty proud of myself...this session became a reminder of the basics that I must remember (and that I basically had forgotten).

The first thing I forgot, but was reminded of on this session, is the difference between a winning poker player and a losing one. I personally believe it is the most important thing for a poker player...patience. You canNOT get restless at the poker table and play reckless. Do NOT play bad hands just because "this ATo is the best looking thing I've seen in hours." I've had a few bad sessions in a row...and I guess that leaked over to my first 500 hands. Additionally, I was at a very fishy table and wanted to be in as many hands as possible. Basically, I was trying to force the issue and playing bad hands OOP. I then slapped myself in the face, straightened myself out, and went on to have a great session.

The second thing that this session reinforced (a running theme from my last post) is table selection. This is huge. I played with fish all day...and LOVED it. It was too easy. Nobody would stand up to me...and they'd pay me off nicely when I had the nuts. Using the table selection HUD, check off "sit out next blind" once my table reached 21 or below. Why play at this nitty table when there's a fishy table waiting for me? This was extremely important.

With these two ideas reinforced, I hope to get back on the horse and get my ass to 10NL. Hopefully I can have another good session tonight. See you all at the felt!

Here's my final hand from last night btw...the poker gods gave me a good night present:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($9.33)
Hero (SB) ($10)
BB ($4.95)
UTG ($5.31)
MP ($4.57)

Preflop: Hero is SB with ,
1 fold, MP bets $0.15, Button calls $0.15, Hero raises to $0.50, 1 fold, MP calls $0.35, Button calls $0.35

Flop: ($1.55) , , (3 players)
Hero bets $1, 1 fold, Button calls $1

Turn: ($3.55) (2 players)
Hero bets $2.20, Button calls $2.20

River: ($7.95) (2 players)
Hero bets $3, Button calls $3

Total pot: $13.95 | Rake: $0.65

Results:
Button had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
Hero had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $13.30

glad things went well.

somethign to think about: bet sizing.

when you hit the flop what you should be thinking is "how can I get MAX value from villains range" - easiest way to do this is to get it all in of course.

PF is fine, FLop is fine. I'd be looking to bet the turn more like $2.50 - $3 not only to charge him for draws but also to get the most out of made hands.

Then, the pot on the river will be about ~$8.50 and villain will have about $5.50 left in his stack and we can comfortably put him all in and take all his monies. ez game.

Yeah I agree with Sil. You should be shipping the rest of villains stack in on this river. He wont fold anything for the rest of his chips that he'll call for $3 with. His range is likely pretty strong here after making it to this river in a 3 bet pot so just take all his monies!

Table selections so important man I agree it makes every sesh so much easier. I've just started 6 tabling and the hassle of chopping and changing tables has made me neglect it of late. It's defo something I need to get back into the habit of.

i love the difference in your graphs. keep it up !

What kind of stats are you looking at when considering joining a table??
I dont have program like PT3 so I look at tables and try to pick one's with a higher $/pot and fairly high ave play/pot.

The most important thing for me is average players/pot. The higher, the better obviously. These players obviously limp into pots, have a wide range, and love to see the flop (general characteristics of fish). A wide range isn't bad...but they simply do not play their cards correctly. Post-flop play is usually God awful...make them pay to see that flop!

Use waiting lists...be patient. You don't HAVE to sit down right now. Your patience will pay off when you get on a table with eight fish.

And get PT3! I'm still on my 60-day free trial. It makes the game 100x easier and is worth the free trial. Once my free trial for PT3 ends, I will be giving HEM a shot. After that, I will certainly be buying one. I suggest you take a look into it Vinland.

This is how today's session has been going so far. I'm posting this on a break:

Hand 1: Villain was a maniac which explains my all-in PF.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) ($13.01)
UTG+1 ($13.77)
MP1 ($7.80)
MP2 ($7.31)
CO ($8.61)
Button ($5.45)
SB ($5.54)
BB ($2.43)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with ,
Hero calls $0.05, UTG+1 calls $0.05, 1 fold, MP2 bets $0.30, 4 folds, Hero raises to $13.01 (All-In), 1 fold, MP2 calls $7.01 (All-In)

Flop: ($14.74) , , (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($14.74) (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($14.74) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $14.74 | Rake: $0.70

Results:
Hero had 3, 3 (three of a kind, threes).
MP2 had A, 10 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: MP2 won $14.04

Hand 2: Damnit

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($10.05)
UTG+1 ($3.41)
MP1 ($4.36)
MP2 ($1.96)
MP3 ($1.88)
CO ($4.03)
Hero (Button) ($10.16)
SB ($9.67)
BB ($6.54)

Preflop: Hero is Button with ,
3 folds, MP2 bets $0.10, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, 1 fold, BB calls $0.35, MP2 calls $0.30

Flop: ($1.22) , , (3 players)
BB bets $0.30, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.10, BB calls $0.80

Turn: ($3.42) (2 players)
BB bets $1.50, Hero raises to $8.66 (All-In), BB calls $3.54 (All-In)

River: ($13.50) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $13.50 | Rake: $0.65

Results:
Hero mucked A, A (two pair, Aces and nines).
BB had 9, J (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: BB won $12.85

Hand 3: Damn aces again!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($3.78)
CO ($3.18)
Button ($5.79)
SB ($3.73)
BB ($13.13)
UTG ($5.49)
Hero (MP1) ($10.57)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with ,
UTG calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.20, MP2 raises to $0.50, 5 folds, Hero raises to $1.70, MP2 calls $1.20

Flop: ($3.52) , , (2 players)
Hero bets $8.87 (All-In), MP2 calls $2.08 (All-In)

Turn: ($7.68) (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($7.68) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $7.68 | Rake: $0.35

Results:
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and tens).
MP2 had 8, 8 (straight, Queen high).
Outcome: MP2 won $7.33

Add this to the list:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 ($5.25)
CO ($6.90)
Button ($7.58)
SB ($1.37)
BB ($9.12)
UTG ($1.28)
UTG+1 ($5.61)
Hero (MP1) ($13.47)
MP2 ($6.36)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with ,
2 folds, Hero calls $0.05, 3 folds, Button calls $0.05, SB calls $0.03, BB checks

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

Turn: ($0.20) (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.15, Button raises to $0.60, 2 folds, Hero raises to $1.70, Button raises to $5.10, Hero raises to $13.42 (All-In), Button calls $2.43 (All-In)

River: ($15.26) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $15.26 | Rake: $0.75

Results:
Button had 9, A (full house, nines over Jacks).
Hero had 2, 2 (full house, twos over Jacks).
Outcome: Button won $14.51

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

BB ($1.93)
UTG ($0.96)
Hero (MP) ($10)
CO ($1.97)
Button ($1.67)
SB ($10.13)

Preflop: Hero is MP with ,
UTG calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.20, 1 fold, Button calls $0.20, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.67) , , (3 players)
UTG bets $0.05, Hero raises to $0.40, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.35

Turn: ($1.47) (2 players)
UTG bets $0.36 (All-In), Hero calls $0.36

River: ($2.19) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $2.19 | Rake: $0.10

Results:
UTG had 3, 5 (one pair, threes).
Hero mucked J, A (high card, Ace).
Outcome: UTG won $2.09

Alright, so I know this one isn't that much of a bad beat. But it just shows that I can't put my opponents on ANYTHING. This was actually my last hand...and it's the hand that put me over the edge.

I would raise, raise, raise preflop. Donks would call with just about anything (which is what usually happens). HOWEVER, tonight they hit the fucking flop like it was their job. My aces got cracked three times, AK became useless, and I got hit with random ass straights. Tonight was the worst fucking night of poker I've had so far...and it sucks.

With no stop loss in place, I lost $26.80. The bad beats were my three biggest losses in a hand and totaled $21.43. That leaves $5.37 that I legitimately lost (though I blame some of that on tilt...which is really my fault anyway). Tonight was shit...it sucked. And I can't do anything else right now but complain on my OP. A stop loss needs to put in place...though I don't think I can really follow it too well. I need to get the fuck out of 5NL...it's making me sick.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Rant over.

That is brutal my friend.....
I will say this, even though you already know this, you got your money in with the best hand in most if not all cases.

That first hand when your AA's were cracked is awful.....It's great whan they call you with TP crap kick but sucks whenthey hit runner2X.

I had a similar session a while back. I was in 5nl but wasnt rolled for it. I lost 2 pots holding a set. Had AA's cracked by a river flush and lost w/ a str8 to bigger str8. I had to move down to 2nl and use better BR management.
The thing that sucks is that it will take you probably 10X as many hands if not more to win that $$ back compared to the # of hands you lost it with.
It's obvious you have been playing well so You know as well as the rest that you'll be back in no time. Good call on quitting when you did.

Opinions on how I played this...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($1.94)
BB ($10)
UTG ($4.26)
UTG+1 ($7.56)
MP1 ($11.62)
MP2 ($5.07)
Hero (MP3) ($22.44)
CO ($9.90)
Button ($4.63)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 5, 5
3 folds, MP2 bets $0.26, Hero calls $0.26, 4 folds

Flop: ($0.59) 5, Q, A (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $0.44, MP2 calls $0.44

Turn: ($1.47) J (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $1.15, MP2 raises to $2.90, Hero raises to $10.25, MP2 calls $1.47 (All-In)

River: ($10.21) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $10.21 | Rake: $0.50

[x] standard

Originally Posted by dranger7070

[x] standard

[x]

If he had a set....too bad that sucks....
If he made that PF raise with KT.....thats ballsy and we all know that its a long term money looser....
Pretty tough to put him on that hand if he did so don't feel bad...
Lets face it there are plenty of players who would stack off with AK here or go for broke with AQ (AQ may be justified at these stakes)
I assume you lost this one?...

Sorry to here about the session from hell man.

One thing I'd defo point out though is that hand 1 with the 33 is pretty bad. Even if villains a total maniac, we don't want to be over shoving like this with a hand with such bad equity vs his range.. We're probably folding out any hand we're ahead of (hands with duces in them) and he'll be shipping 2 overs all the time and all overpairs.

Our equity vs his rage for getting it in with us here is 48.5% and that's assuming he calls with any 2 suited cards, any broadways and all pairs. He probably folds more of the trash suited hands like 62s etc. So our equity goes down further and is in all likelyhood much worse than 48.5%.

If he's so bad that he'll stack off and go mental with any piece of the flop, we need to call his pre flop raise will excellent implied odds and stack the guy every time we make a set.

Maniacs are really fucking annoying when you're not making hands against them, but let them have a few small pots and just make sure you stack them before some nit does!

Originally Posted by Carroters

Sorry to here about the session from hell man.

One thing I'd defo point out though is that hand 1 with the 33 is pretty bad. Even if villains a total maniac, we don't want to be over shoving like this with a hand with such bad equity vs his range.. We're probably folding out any hand we're ahead of (hands with duces in them) and he'll be shipping 2 overs all the time and all overpairs.

Our equity vs his rage for getting it in with us here is 48.5% and that's assuming he calls with any 2 suited cards, any broadways and all pairs. He probably folds more of the trash suited hands like 62s etc. So our equity goes down further and is in all likelyhood much worse than 48.5%.

If he's so bad that he'll stack off and go mental with any piece of the flop, we need to call his pre flop raise will excellent implied odds and stack the guy every time we make a set.

Maniacs are really fucking annoying when you're not making hands against them, but let them have a few small pots and just make sure you stack them before some nit does!

I do agree that this was a really bad play. However, maniac was going all-in about one out of every three hands. I guess I was in a hurry to get his chips before anyone else did. 33 seemed golden against him...but I guess not. Thanks for the comment!

Update coming tomorrow...just wanted to show that it goes on!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 ($12.40)
CO ($13.04)
Button ($6.67)
SB ($3.29)
BB ($4.84)
UTG ($6.31)
UTG+1 ($5.59)
Hero (MP1) ($10)
MP2 ($7.51)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with ,
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.20, 2 folds, CO calls $0.20, Button calls $0.20, SB calls $0.18, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.15

Flop: ($1.05) , , (5 players)
SB bets $0.05, UTG+1 calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.85, 2 folds, SB calls $0.80, 1 fold

Turn: ($2.80) (2 players)
SB bets $2.24 (All-In), Hero calls $2.24

River: ($7.28) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $7.28 | Rake: $0.35

Results:
SB had 5, 6 (two pair, sixes and fives).
Hero mucked A, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: SB won $6.93

Alright... so I promised an update yesterday, so here it is.

I've turned this OP to a friggin' bitching and moaning OP. I didn't mean to...it just came out that way because I was frustrated and I needed somewhere to get it out. After the one session of losing $26.80, I've had three other losing sessions (though not as big) after that one. I was frustrated, I was pissed...and I couldn't take the money that I lost. But then, something from my old economics classes turned a switch, sunk costs. Sunk costs...money that has already been spent and won't be coming back. "Don't cry over spilled milk." I was so obsessed with the money I've already lost. I'd be hit once with a bad beat and I'd sink all over again.

But last night was different. I chose to forget about the money I lost. A shitty beat came...and didn't bother me much. I brushed it off and kept going. Now I finally hit another winning session and it feels like a huge weight is off my shoulders. I won $9.18 in 267 hands. I'm glad with this win and ready to go again today. I am thinking of entering the $2+$.20 MTT soon...but first I want to practice on some SnGs. Well, that's it for now. I promise this OP is going to stop being a bitchy thread (for now...I'll probably hit another bad run and need to vent at some time).

Well, not much has changed with my situation. I'm still fighting to get my bankroll up. I played in the $2+$.20 tourney yesterday. There were 3,555 entrants. I placed 189th. Not really much of a big deal, wasn't the hardest thing to place in 189th.

Harrington on Cash Games came in yesterday as well...and it's a pretty good book so far. I haven't even dived deep into it...but the ideas are rather good so far. I'm looking forward to using these ideas as I play. That's really it so far...nothing much going on...hopefully an update will come tonight.

Just stopping by to say nice job so far building. Keep it up.

Don't worry about the hands you posted man, you got the $ in good. Give yourself a pat on the back for getting some EV

now gogogogogo!

Im playing with you at a 5NL table as i type this. Read your blog a couple times keep it up

Originally Posted by Schya

Im playing with you at a 5NL table as i type this. Read your blog a couple times keep it up

I almost positive I saw you (thought you looked familiar) but just figured you were somebody I played with before. Sorry I didn't say hi!

Well, first and foremost, thanks for the support guys. I definitely appreciate it. I'm slowly but surely getting out of my first official funk. It's probably the same kind of variance everybody else experiences...but your first encounter with it is pretty tough. Since I am new, I'm not exactly sure if it's variance or I'm doing something wrong. However, I now feel that it was simply variance and I am getting out of it.

Today's session went pretty well. I won $9.45 over 522 hands (18.10 BB/100). There was one hand that got me thinking...how tight is too tight? I actually wanted to fold this hand PF (being that the villain 9.05/6.19), but felt it would have been a little bit too tight. Then I figured I'd just call in case he had JJ+, AJ, or even AQ too (though this was improbable). I know I should have folded the river...I'm not even exactly sure why I called (I guess I REALLY wanted to know what he had):

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($2.72)
SB ($3.03)
BB ($5)
UTG ($5.07)
UTG+1 ($7.07)
MP1 ($3.84)
MP2 ($3.71)
Hero (CO) ($11.03)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, A
UTG calls $0.05, UTG+1 bets $0.25, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold, SB calls $0.23, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.85) 7, A, 3 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold

Turn: ($1.85) 7 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks

River: ($1.85) K (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $1.15, Hero calls $1.15

Total pot: $4.15 | Rake: $0.20

Besides that, there weren't any other memorable hands. I will be posting more hands in the future since I notice I am lacking in that department. I am still reading Harrington on Cash Games and am also working on my MTT skills (using Soupie's MTT strategy). I will be playing in PokerStar's $2.+$.20 MTT tonight at 11:00pm ET. It's extremely easy to make the money in this tourney which makes it a safe investment and makes it great practice for MTTs. Well, that's all for now...

gl in the donkament!

I was gonna play that tournament but I didn't get home from work in time, so I gotta wait on the midnight one. GL to you sir!

So the donkament didn't go as planned. Just couldn't get anything going and got sucked out one hand to put me in real bad shape. Oh well, things happen. Better luck tomorrow I guess.

Anyway, I a few hands in and did rather nicely. I got 93 hands in to be exact and won $8.27. I hit one big hand to be honest...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($2)
UTG ($8.06)
UTG+1 ($6.95)
Hero (MP1) ($10)
MP2 ($9.20)
CO ($4.93)
Button ($6.37)
SB ($8.02)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 8, 7
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, Hero calls $0.05, MP2 calls $0.05, 1 fold, Button calls $0.05, SB calls $0.03, BB bets $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.45, Hero calls $0.45, 2 folds, SB calls $0.45

Flop: ($2.10) 4, 5, 6 (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $1.50 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls $1.50, SB calls $1.50

Turn: ($6.60) 10 (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.50, SB calls $3.50

River: ($13.60) 7 (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB checks, Hero bets $3, 1 fold

Total pot: $13.60 | Rake: $0.65
Main pot: $6.60 between BB and Hero, won by Hero
Side pot 1: $7 won by Hero

Results:
BB mucked K, A (high card, Ace).
Hero had 8, 7 (straight, eight high).
Outcome: Hero won $12.95

That's really all for tonight. Hope to play and update tomorrow. See you guys!

nh, bet the turn bigger though. seems like the SB has about $6 left on the turn?? if this is right i probably make it like $4.50 so if he calls he's so commited on the river. although granted i dont see how he can call this turn bet then fold to a river bet. lolmissedflushdraws.

ul in the mtt, variance in those is a bitch.

Three quite interesting hands from tonight's current session. The first hand...try to put these players on cards (I hid the results). Amazing what some people go all-in with:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($1.93)
Button ($7.37)
SB ($5.82)
BB ($5.82)
UTG ($5.80)
MP1 ($5.70)
Hero (MP2) ($11.05)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, A
1 fold, MP1 calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.20, CO raises to $0.50, Button calls $0.50, SB calls $0.48, 2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, CO raises to $1.93 (All-In), Button calls $1.43, SB calls $1.43, Hero calls $0.43

Flop: ($7.82) K, J, 6 (4 players, 1 all-in)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.89, Button calls $3.89, 1 fold

Turn: ($15.60) 4 (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero bets $1.55, Button calls $1.55 (All-In)

River: ($18.70) A (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $18.70 | Rake: $0.85
Main pot: $7.82 between CO, Button and Hero, won by Hero
Side pot 1: $10.88 between Button and Hero, won by Hero

Results in white below:
Button mucked 6, J (two pair, Jacks and sixes).
Hero had A, A (three of a kind, Aces).
CO had 10, 10 (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero won $17.85

Second hand is much more elementary. However, it just exemplifies my growth as a poker player. In the past, I would rarely make this laydown:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($5.12)
SB ($5.05)
BB ($6.07)
UTG ($10)
Hero (UTG+1) ($10)
MP1 ($10.92)
MP2 ($3.92)
MP3 ($3.70)
CO ($15.96)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Q, A
1 fold, Hero bets $0.15, MP1 calls $0.15, MP2 calls $0.15, 1 fold, CO calls $0.15, 2 folds, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.77) Q, 2, 9 (5 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.30, MP1 raises to $0.90, MP2 calls $0.90, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.60

Turn: ($3.47) 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $2.10, MP2 calls $2.10, Hero folds

River: ($7.67) Q (2 players)
MP1 bets $0.77, MP2 calls $0.77 (All-In)

Total pot: $9.21 | Rake: $0.40

Results:
MP1 had 2, 2 (full house, twos over Queens).
MP2 mucked A, 9 (two pair, Queens and nines).
Outcome: MP1 won $8.81

This last hand is just plain FUNNN (even if I lost):
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($1.60)
BB ($4.85)
UTG ($3.86)
UTG+1 ($6.04)
MP1 ($5.95)
MP2 ($6.37)
MP3 ($6.43)
Hero (CO) ($21.46)
Button ($1.46)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 5, 5
UTG bets $0.10, UTG+1 calls $0.10, MP1 calls $0.10, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.10, 1 fold, SB calls $0.08, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.55) K, 5, A (5 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 bets $0.25, MP1 calls $0.25, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.25

Turn: ($1.55) 2 (4 players)
UTG bets $0.25, UTG+1 raises to $0.50, MP1 raises to $0.75, Hero raises to $3, UTG raises to $3.51 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $3.01, MP1 calls $2.76, Hero calls $0.51

River: ($15.59) K (4 players, 1 all-in)
UTG+1 bets $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4, UTG+1 calls $0.18 (All-In)

Total pot: $19.95 | Rake: $0.95

Results:
UTG had K, K (four of a kind, Kings).
UTG+1 had A, A (full house, Aces over Kings).
Hero had 5, 5 (full house, fives over Kings).
Outcome: UTG won $14.84, UTG+1 won $4.16

congrats on having a 2 page op, booG. not only do you have length but you have (insert dumb d*** joke here) AND you make a well traveled quest interesting with a very personable writing style.

my operation has neither your length nor readability, but i'm working on it.

kudos & gl.

Wow, sick hand #3, but can't be results oriented on that (not saying you are lol) but you should raise that flop. Theres a flush/gutshot draws on the board. There are enough cards in the deck that you don't want to see on the turn that you should try to get it in.

Other then that, nh.

cbet larger in hand 2. and dranger is right about hand 3 - this is a drawy flop and we should be raising to charge those draws to see a turn. sick hand.

I'm not even exactly sure what to think of this hand. When he reraised me on the river, my instincts told me he had A5-7, but I just didn't listen to them. The chances of him hitting a nut flush was so high that I felt justified to get him all-in. I'm not exactly positive if that thought process was correct...maybe somebody more experienced can tell me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not results-oriented...I am simply new to the game and am unsure what is the right thing to do in a situation like this:

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

SB ($8.11)
BB ($4.69)
UTG ($4.05)
MP ($3.99)
CO ($5.73)
Hero (Button) ($10.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 7
UTG calls $0.05, MP calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero bets $0.25, SB calls $0.23, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.65) A, 5, 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.65) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.25, SB calls $0.25

River: ($1.15) 6 (2 players)
SB bets $0.75, Hero raises to $2.50, SB raises to $4.25, Hero raises to $9.55 (All-In), SB calls $3.36 (All-In)

Total pot: $16.37 | Rake: $0.80

Um... BooG you need to work on ur bet sizing. On the turn in this hand that is. Bet .50, get the money in there. He WILL call with a flush draw/any Ax plus a bunch of other random crap lol. Other then that, as played fine.

bet turn more.
nice hand.
unlucky.

So I played relatively well today...though there still seems to be a lot of "variance" (though I like to call it plain shitty luck). A lot of sets vs. sets and full houses vs. full houses. I feel like I should fold some of these...though it's been said over and over again that that would certainly end up to be -EV. This session basically ended in breakeven.

Anyway, I am still reading Harrington on Cash Games. He makes a few good points about connectors and one-gappers. One point is that they play rather well against premium hands (this makes sense due to many reasons). So today's session was actually about getting new hands into my repertoire. I mean...it's better I work them in now than later when it becomes more expensive, right? Here's a prime example...I actually played this hand against a fellow FTRer (though I didn't know at the time). I won't mention his name. Villain is 13/5...basically only raises with premium hands:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($15.12)
MP1 ($8.76)
MP2 ($2.24)
MP3 ($7.46)
Hero (CO) ($11.88)
Button ($10)
SB ($13.34)
BB ($5)
UTG ($9.48)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 3, 4
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $0.20, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.20, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.47) 3, 6, 3 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $0.25, Hero raises to $1, UTG+1 raises to $3, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($6.47) 8 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $6, Hero raises to $8.68 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $2.68

River: ($23.83) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $23.83 | Rake: $1.15

Results:
UTG+1 had A, A (two pair, Aces and threes).
Hero had 3, 4 (three of a kind, threes).
Outcome: Hero won $22.68

Hopefully this hand will stir up some discussion. Basically, I now see my bets, calls, and limps (yes, limps...I'll get to that later) as investments (I am investing in junk bonds). Investing in these small hands provide more bang since they are so well-disguised and people are not expecting them. They are very easy to fold if you don't hit the flop unlike many other hands that players fall in love with. You won't win many pots with them...but the pots you do win will most likely be bigger than the pots won with premium hands.

And yes folks, limps. I am now limping into pots. Hands that play well multi-handed, I sometimes limp. I try not to limp in early position due to the threat of a raise. However, with connectors, suited connectors, and at times, one-gappers...I limp. Well, I only limped this session. This is all still a work in progress. I'm sure many of you may disagree with the road I am taking...but I want to experiment with it now while it is still cheap. I don't want to start doing so in the future when it will cost me more money. That is all for now...I'd love to hear your comments.

I dont think anyone is against limping behind other limpers when we have position with suited connectors / gappers / small pp's, the problem is when people start open limping from EP/MP. What are you going to do if someone raises behind you?? Limp/call so we're now OOP in a raised pot with a weak hand and a relatively easy to read range?? Or limp/fold which is one of the most exploited plays around imo??

As to the actual hand, I dont really like it. I mean it could at least be 34s and we could at least be on the BTN. What else are you calling with here? 23/34/45/56/67/78/89/910 etcetcetcetcetcetcetcetc? My point is that if you start constantly calling EP raises with junk because of "implied odds" (this is essentially why we are calling) then the very infrequent times you do flop a monster wont make up for the countless times you dont hit anything.

gl sir.

This particular hand was called due to villain's large stack and his nittiness. To be honest, you're right...I may have called with all those hands (besides 23). I basically knew what he had and knew that if I hit the flop hard...I'd be playing for his stack. Again, I'm just trying everything out. I rarely call these hands from MP and never limp these hands from EP.

Everything worked rather well yesterday...but that is such a small sample size that it is irrelevant. I definitely appreciate your feedback sil...thank you.

fwiw i hadn't noticed effective stacks were 200bb+. You also need to consider the people left to act when making a call like this. If the BTN or blinds are aggro / squeeze happy then we're often just going to have to fold preflop to a 3bet.

im not saying "this is awful" or "dont ever do this" - just trying to make you see the reasons why people might not do it (because I assume those reasons are harder to see after winning a 400bb+ pot).

i guess what I'm saying is you needn't think that this is somethign you should do this every single time.

glad things are going well, keep it up!!

So nothing much went on this weekend. Had work Saturday morning then went out at night. Also, my PokerTracker trial finished yesterday. I played a bit of poker today...but with no HUD...and it is not easy. I don't know who's the aggressor at the table and who plays passive. I'm actually not even sure when I should leave the table because I don't have any table stats up (I mean, I have an idea...but not always). All in all, I need an HUD. I'm not really happy about being dependent on something to play poker online...but it is definitely too hard for me to keep track of four tables at once. Does anybody else have this problem without HUD? How do you feel about it?

Anyway, most of you are probably wondering why I don't just buy PokerTracker. Well, my plan is to get the free trial of HEM as well and then decide. I didn't download it yet because I have a big midterm next Monday and I don't plan on planning any poker this week. Self-exclusion will be my friend. I'm actually thinking of asking the mods to ban me from this site for a week (I wonder if that's possible?). I actually posted about this a while back...but nobody answered me: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...on-t82582.html. So mods, if you are by any chance reading this, ban me for a week! Thank you!

Well, that's really it for now. This will probably be my last post (or second to last if anything good happens tonight) for a week. Good luck everyone!

The wait is finally over...I'm FINALLY back to playing poker after my week off for studying. As for that studying thing...I barely studied and probably flunked my test. Eh, shit happens. ANYWAY, onward with poker!

The biggest change in my poker world right now is the change to Hold 'Em Manager. My review? It OWNS PT3. It is 100x easier to use and the layout is nicer. Also, it does not crash three times a session. I will be staying with HEM. I am using the colors to tag fish. Players with a VPIP greater than 28 get the green light and the punishment. Any VPIP under 15 gets red lighted and I proceed with caution. I will be color coordinating other stats as well as I go on keep playing with it. Cbets will definitely be the next stat to be changed. This is a ton of help when multi-tabling and glancing at the table. It helps with table selection...I get out of the table quickly if there are not many green lights around.

Another thing that changed my game is this thread: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...rs-t56814.html. So simple and easy. I KNEW this...but until I read this thread, I didn't practice this. This thread owns and I suggest you all read it.

As for today's session, I was whipping ass and taking names. I am dedicated to getting myself the hell out of 5NL. I played for 819 hands and won $31.88 (38.93 BB/100). Not a bad session if I don't say so myself. I am playing more aggressive post-flop. I am still quite loose with my preflop hands...which I don't think I'll be changing just yet. I hope this momentum carries into tomorrow. I was DYING to stay on and keep playing...but I will be going to the gym early tomorrow morning and I know it is not the smartest thing.

Also, tomorrow I will be heading over to the Borgata to get back to playing a little bit of live poker. I've been DYING to do this and I finally have the time too with Spring Break starting and all. Hopefully by the end of this Spring Break, I will be out of 5NL and into 10NL. Anyway, I leave you with a few hands since people won't write on my OP otherwise!

In this first hand, I got quite lucky. Villain was aggressive in every hand I've seen him in...and I just assumed this was some of the same. An awful call on the flop by me...I really, really, REALLY have to get away from slowplaying my sets. A flush would have killed me:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($10.75)
UTG+1 ($5.61)
MP1 ($7.98)
MP2 ($8.45)
Hero (CO) ($10.74)
Button ($4.50)
SB ($10.43)
BB ($9.90)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 6, 6
UTG calls $0.05, UTG+1 bets $0.20, MP1 calls $0.20, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.20, 4 folds

Flop: ($0.72) 6, 4, 9 (3 players)
UTG+1 bets $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50

Turn: ($2.22) 3 (3 players)
UTG+1 bets $0.65, MP1 raises to $1.30, Hero raises to $6, UTG+1 calls $4.26 (All-In), MP1 raises to $7.28 (All-In), Hero calls $1.28

River: ($21.69) 4 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $21.69 | Rake: $1.05
Main pot: $16.95 between UTG+1, MP1 and Hero, won by Hero
Side pot 1: $4.74 between MP1 and Hero, won by Hero

Hand 2 is a bit messier. Villain is 68/16. He knows enough to be cbetting pots. I didn't see him 3-betting small or mid pocket pairs.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($6.30)
Hero (SB) ($11.16)
BB ($3.70)
UTG ($6.97)
MP ($6.88)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, J
UTG calls $0.05, MP calls $0.05, Button calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.20, 2 folds, MP raises to $0.35, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.85) 7, 3, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $0.50, Hero calls $0.50

Turn: ($1.85) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.45, MP calls $1.45

River: ($4.75) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.50, MP raises to $4.58 (All-In), Hero calls $2.08

Total pot: $13.91 | Rake: $0.65


As for my biggest losing hand? A bit of a cooler...I kind of expected AQ but I had to throw AK in there which is why I went all-in on river.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($5.48)
Button ($6.70)
SB ($2.95)
Hero (BB) ($10.23)
UTG ($1.93)
UTG+1 ($1.80)
MP1 ($12.37)
MP2 ($3.06)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, J
5 folds, Button calls $0.05, SB calls $0.03, Hero bets $0.20, Button calls $0.15, SB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.60) 3, 2, J (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.50, Button calls $0.50, 1 fold

Turn: ($1.60) A (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, Button calls $1.40

River: ($4.40) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $3, Button calls $3

Total pot: $10.40 | Rake: $0.50
Main pot: $10.40 between Button and Hero, won by Button

That's it for now. I'm glad to be BACK!

Well, I'm back from my run at the Borgata. I actually played at Bally's today since my bus left from there. As you may have read in earlier posts, I started out as a live player. One thing that I noticed in coming back to live poker...I have a much bigger level of confidence. I've seen so many hands and situations that I feel really good about my decision-making. I felt really good on the tables these past two days.

Day one (well, I got there at night) started off quite well. I was getting cards. The players were raising regularly and playing well. A set beat me early on but I came back to win over $295. No hands really stick out in my mind...except my last hand where I limped with aces, somebody else raised, and I went all-in. He got stacked.

I went to play over at Bally's...what a shithole. The poker room is tiny and the directors suck. There was a waiting list and short tables all around. Quite annoying. Anyway, I didn't fare as well here. I had quite the headache and the cards just weren't coming my way. There was a whole lot of limping by the players (though I was raising a good amount of the time). When I raised, players would usually fold so there was a large stack of white chips in front of me from stealing all these blinds and limps. I couldn't switch off the nitfest since there were barely any tables and the table was short (you are not allowed to change tables if your table is short). In the end, online poker > live poker. Table selection and such puts it over the top. However, there is nothing like the feeling of getting away with a well-coordinated bluff in live poker.

I won't be playing poker tonight due to my head pounding and my having to get up early tomorrow morning. Hopefully I will get some hands in tomorrow night that I can post up here. Later guys.

Well, just finished a mini-session of 358 hands in 100 minutes. I won $13.78 in that session for a winrate of 38.49 BB/100. This puts my bankroll over $170. However, I lost focus a bit, started to get tired, and decided to stop. This is a pretty good thing for me because I usually stay on and begin to donk my money away. Tonight it was different. Poker is always available; there's no reason for me to force things.

A question about HEM: does anybody know how to get hands/hr up? I understand how to calculate so don't be a smartass and tell me to calculate it...I'm just lazy and would rather have HEM do it. Also, is there any way to show the stats shown? Thanks!

Well, I just finished another session. It started very up and down...twas quite tough for me to get traction. However, once I got rolling, I didn't really stop. However, I had to get off for a second (which is why am now writing on my blog) due to a really bad play on my part...needed a breather. I'll describe it below.

However, before I do so, here are my two biggest moneymakers of the night:

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($2.95)
MP1 ($2.25)
MP2 ($3.83)
CO ($3.43)
Button ($7.56)
Hero (SB) ($10.03)
BB ($4.79)
UTG ($8.78)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, 9
UTG calls $0.05, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.05, CO calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.03, BB checks

Flop: ($0.25) 4, 7, 10 (5 players)
Hero bets $0.10, 1 fold, UTG raises $0.20, MP2 calls $0.20, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.10

Turn: ($0.85) 8 (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.10, MP2 raises $0.35, Hero calls $0.35, UTG raises $0.70, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.45

River: ($2.80) J (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $5.15, Hero raises $8.98 (All-In), UTG calls $2.58 (All-In)

Total pot: $18.26

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($7.02)
UTG ($2.27)
UTG+1 ($6.70)
MP1 ($1.93)
MP2 ($5.78)
MP3 ($5.08)
CO ($6)
Button ($5.70)
Hero (SB) ($10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6, J
6 folds, Button bets $0.15, Hero raises $0.58, BB calls $0.55, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.35) 3, 9, K (2 players)
Hero bets $0.80, BB raises $2, Hero calls $1.20

Turn: ($5.35) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $2.10, Hero raises $5, BB calls $2.32 (All-In)

River: ($14.19) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $14.19

Comment away, please!

Anyway, as for the hand that really tilted me, here it is:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (7 handed) - Party-Poker Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($2.95)
BB ($2.25)
UTG ($3.23)
MP1 ($1.38)
MP2 ($7.34)
Hero (CO) ($18.61)
Button ($4.69)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, K
UTG bets $0.15, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.15, Hero calls $0.15, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.52) K, J, K (3 players)
UTG bets $0.20, MP2 calls $0.20, Hero raises $0.70, 2 folds

Total pot: $1.12

Why did I raise here? There was absolutely NO reason for me to do so. A worse hand would NOT be calling me here...only better hands. I think it was a pretty bad move...small pot, but really tilted me. Kind of disappointed in myself. Plays like this really remind me that I'm just a noob. I should get over it in a few minutes...but still quite disappointed.

However, a few hands after that, I witnessed the second straight flush I've ever seen. A little bit of a suckout, but still a nice to get a straight flush:

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP2) ($10)
MP3 ($1.73)
CO ($3.75)
Button ($1.20)
SB ($2.88)
BB ($6)
UTG ($11.05)
UTG+1 ($9.95)
MP1 ($6.80)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 3, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, MP1 bets $0.10, 2 folds, CO raises $0.25, 3 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.20, MP1 raises $0.30, CO calls $0.15, UTG+1 calls $0.15

Flop: ($1.27) 9, 9, Q (3 players)
UTG+1 bets $4, MP1 calls $4, 1 fold

Turn: ($9.27) K (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $3, MP1 calls $2.40 (All-In)

River: ($14.07) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $14.07

I invited hero of that hand to come join FTR. Hopefully he does and takes credit for this straight flush here. Anyway, downstairs to eat, a little TV, and back on the grind. I'd like to win $9 more to get myself the $200 needed to go up to 10NL. Good luck!

H1 I'm probably playing this passively since there are so many ppl, but I also fold pflop.

H2- Alright, bluff 3betting since you obv. had a read that he opens light and folds to 3bet. Otherwise this is spew.

H3- Meh. The raise isn't terrible.

I played a mini-session this morning. I won $16.01 in 197 hands putting me over the $200 I wanted to go into 10NL. I imposed a table limit on myself to 5NL so in 24 hours I will be able to play 10NL. Why'd I impose a table limit on myself? I knew I'd take a shot without having the required bankroll if I were to be drunk, tilting, etc. Also, PokerStars requires about 24 hours before changing the table limits...these 24 hours gives me the time to grind out some more cushion for these new stakes.

The biggest hands were against a maniac that was going all-in many times over. I got pocket 10s and punished him for going all-in. Later, I got AJs and punished him once more. The majority of my money came from those two hands. Easy enough.

Another interesting hand where I was on a straight draw. I'm not exactly positive I played this hand correctly. Being that I had two less outs for the straight (the two hearts), should I have not called the flop bet? Was I to consider villain having a flush draw? I sucked out on a monster hand and won...but not sure I'm too happy about it. Also, as for the river bet, how is my bet sizing there?

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($1.39)
UTG+1 ($12.06)
MP1 ($11.02)
Hero (MP2) ($10.46)
CO ($6.63)
Button ($4.77)
SB ($9.08)
BB ($8.95)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 10, Q
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, MP1 calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.30, 4 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.25, MP1 calls $0.25

Flop: ($0.97) A, J, 9 (3 players)
UTG+1 bets $0.30, MP1 raises $0.60, Hero calls $0.60, UTG+1 calls $0.30

Turn: ($2.77) 7 (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, MP1 bets $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50

River: ($4.27) 8 (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $2.75, 1 fold, MP1 calls $2.75

Total pot: $9.77

That's all for now. I would really appreciate some commentary on this hand. Thanks!

Meh. I fold preflop as this is kinda Laggy (QTs I might even fold). I probably fold the flop b/c UTG lead out and still gets to act behind us, and him putting in a hefty raise here and us folding would suck hard. Obv have to call turn. It's obvious on turn that MP1 is a donkey and will pay you off, so I bet the river harder. He might have two pair/doesn't realize AQ beats nothing.

So far all I've noticed ITT is that you need to fold more preflop IMO.

Thank you Ill. I appreciate the feedback. I am a bit on the laggy side...but that's how I'm playing as of right now. It's been working...and I'm really afraid to tighten up (until it stops working obviously).

I ran rather well in my first 10NL session. I was getting cards and playing on the aggressive side. In 825 hands, I won $15.30 (9.27 BB/100). The first thing I notice on the 10NL tables are the shortstacks. 70-80% of the players at my tables were shortstacks (20-50bb). They were rather aggressive also. This made for easy all-in calls with pretty good hands (shortstacks were pushing with nothing hands). In my opinion, this made 10NL a lot easier than 5NL. However, I am attributing tonight's easy session to it being a Sunday night (I am in no way making an assumption on this small of a sample size). I am expecting tougher play in 10NL...tonight was seriously too easy (not being cocky...it really was ridiculous play). An example of this play is seen in this hand (not shortstacked):

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($10)
MP2 ($10.10)
MP3 ($5)
CO ($4.65)
Button ($7.55)
SB ($11.15)
Hero (BB) ($11.25)
UTG ($5.65)
UTG+1 ($4.95)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.10, 1 fold, MP2 bets $0.50, 1 fold, CO calls $0.50, 1 fold, SB calls $0.45, Hero raises $2.40, 1 fold, MP2 calls $2, 1 fold, SB raises $10.65 (All-In), 1 fold, MP2 calls $7.60 (All-In)

Flop: ($23.30) 2, 5, 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($23.30) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($23.30) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $23.30

I was in shock when I saw this hand. I've never seen a hand this bad happen in 5NL. The odd thing is I saw these kind of plays happen about 8-9 times tonight. It must be a full moon tonight. I wish I could have stayed on to pick these kind of plays off...but I must wake up early tomorrow. I'm pretty excited to get back on the tables to see how tomorrow goes.

One thing, why 3-bet so large? You are betting nearly 5x him. Thats a lil TOO big lol. I typically make it 3.5x as a rule, unless of course they will call the bigger raises with worse.

Hey Boo...
Couple of Q's.
At which point in your BR did you jump to 5nl and how many hands did it take you to get from 5nl to 10nl?
Did you always buyin for max at 5nl?

So I finally got the nerve to write on FTR again. The nerve? Why would I need nerve to write on FTR? Well, keep reading.

As you may know, I FINALLY got to 10NL. After 36,000+ hands, I reached 10NL. Good for me. FINALLY! Well, here's my confession:

IT ONLY TOOK ME 3000 HANDS TO RUIN THAT BANKROLL.

Yes, I lost $175 in 3200 hands. I am back down to 2NL...and I am disgusted with myself. How did this all happen?

I was playing 10NL and I was getting beat. Something in my brain switched. My old gambler mentality turned on. I started playing bad...just BAD poker. Huge pots, small hands...and I was getting beat left and right. Finally, I hit $50 and FINALLY (a little bit TOO late) chose to stop the bleeding.

Why didn't I go back to 5NL when I was supposed to? I stayed in 5NL for such a long time...I really didn't let myself go back. I was stubborn and my ego/pride took over.

Why didn't I just get off the computer? Well, at the time, it just wasn't that easy.

I went through denial. Basically, this whole thing wasn't my fault. All a bunch of bad beats...and that story is all a bunch of bullshit. I went against proper BRM and got burned.

Also, I thought I could simply deposit $150 and get my bankroll back. Luckily, I didn't allow myself to do that.

I went through anger. I was pissed at myself for doing such a stupid thing. This whole thing basically reminded me of my losing in sports wagering and blackjack (which I stopped). However, poker is different. There is NO need for me to gamble like this...but I did.

Finally, I accepted everything but I didn't come clean to anybody. I stayed away from the forum due to the shame I feel...but I have to come clean and that's what I'm doing. I don't want this thread to turn into Slevin's thread ...because I don't want to keep going back and forth with this (no offense Slevin!).

I fucked up...and hopefully I've learned from this. I can't be 100% positive that I've learned my lesson until this situation arises again...but I this mistake will always be in the back of my mind. It's a huge setback and a shame since I finally got into 10NL. Dranger said in his new 25NL OP that his BR took off at 10NL. I didn't give that a chance to happen...and now I'm back to the beginning.

Well, hopefully somebody can look at this and learn from it. This can happen to anybody (well, not ANYBODY, but you know what I mean). Simply KNOWING bankroll management isn't enough. You have to be disciplined enough to practice it. One moment of weakness and you can get burned.

As for the regulars, don't give me a "sorry to hear that." This is totally my mistake and I should get stones thrown at me for it. Tell me how bad I fucked up...tell me how stupid I am. But please, NO PITY!

And here's my DISGUSTING graph (prepare to vomit):



This can happen to YOU if you don't follow proper bankroll management. Hopefully everybody learns a little bit from this!

I'm sorry to hear about this, but you've ultimately done a good job of being responsible for your actions. You didn't blame anything/anyone but yourself and you should be proud of that. It takes a lot for a man to admit he's wrong, and you've done that. Now get back on the horse and do what you know you should. People who make mistakes and come back and learn from them are the ones who succeed. Good luck man!

Dude... sick. I am really sorry to hear about what happened, but at least you manned up and got back on the forums. I was wondering where u had been. I guess now I know. I did something similar at the very beginning of my OP back in November/December. I tilted, went to 25nl and burned off all but $3 of my roll. I managed to claw my way back without depositing and here I stand. I have thoroughly learned my lesson, and will never (as far as I can help it) break my BRM rules.

I'm glad you decided to come back and let us know what you did. Seriously, that alone will make you a better player. It did me. Please take this as a lesson to not break the rules again. I don't want to see another post like this. It sickens me to see someone else make a similar mistake like I did, its not fun. Just make sure you are able to move on, and don't beat yourself up about it anymore than u have to.

Get back on the horse and PWN!!!