Jack's Road to Maturity

lol

LOL



How's that for being jinxed?

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

LOL



How's that for being jinxed?

i'd be extra careful crossing the street...

LOL, I have to avoid black cats and I'll be fine


Black cats be damned, here is the HOTD:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

BB ($35.70)
UTG ($21.50)
UTG+1 ($41.10)
MP1 ($29.05)
MP2 ($67.40)
CO ($14.40)
Hero ($40.25)
SB ($30.20)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, J.
UTG raises to $0.75, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.75, 2 folds.

Flop: ($2.60) T, K, 6 (3 players)
UTG bets $1, MP2 calls $1, Hero calls $1.

Turn: ($5.60) A (3 players)
UTG bets $4, MP2 calls $4, Hero raises to $16, UTG raises to $19.75, MP2 raises to $65.65, Hero calls $22.50 (All-In).

River: ($64.85) 5 (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $129.50

Results in white below:
UTG has Kh Kd (three of a kind, kings).
MP2 has Ad 6s (two pair, aces and sixes).
Hero has Qs Jc (straight, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins $64.85. UTG wins $64.65.

One aspect of my game i have to fix, is not betting when i'm 98% certain I'm beat. I always vbet when an opponent checks to me on the river with good-but-not-great hands. These times, I'm getting checkraised I know I'm beat, but I call anyway. These are a few precious BB's that I should keep.


Examples, board has a 4-to-the-flush, and I hold 9h9s. Ah and Kh are both missing on the board. Villain checks to me, I bet 1/2pot, I get check-raised 2.5x my bet, I call.


This is a massive leak. I hope to get rid of it soon.

well i thought i would share my 10nl experience this time around the bankroll block. hurray for lotsa rb...

Yeah, I recognize the wtf??? part perfectly. Happened to me aswell. I would like to believe it can be avoided, but for some reason, everybody's luckbox seems to get activated against you at the same time.

Glad to see you run into the "these noobs are ez" part again.


How many tables & hands do you play? I doubt I can mirror that volume even if I play for 4 months.

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Yeah, I recognize the wtf??? part perfectly. Happened to me aswell. I would like to believe it can be avoided, but for some reason, everybody's luckbox seems to get activated against you at the same time.

Glad to see you run into the "these noobs are ez" part again.


How many tables & hands do you play? I doubt I can mirror that volume even if I play for 4 months.

That is prob about 5-6 weeks of play right there I'd say. I 8 table full ring, and I try to play at least 1k hands a day during the week and 1-2k hands on sat. and sunday. My goal is 30k-40k hands a month. The rb just gets insane when you play that many hands. With the rb I am up like 33 buy-ins, and I'm moving back up to $25nl tomorrow with the same goals.

As you can see it's very possible to go for long break-even stretches. I don't really give much thought to 10k hand stats these days. The "I'm the worst ever" part of my graph there was extremely annoying. It was like a week and a half of not having 2 winning sessions in a row.

8 tables? Damn!
I don't use a HUD, and anything more than 3 tables gets confusing for me really quickly. I've been playing NL cash since July now, and I total just about 14k hands.

Yeah, Rakeback sounds nice. I'm losing to the rake atm. I just wanna build a proper roll to move it to FT where hopefully I have rakeback (long story). Or maybe its Absolute, with teh hand readers . Couldn't get my Bodog account converted either.
For me, RB at Stars is pointless. All I can get is tourney entries, mugs and books. No plasma's, no ipods, etc. because I live in "the rest of the world". Unless I'm going for the V8 vantage, I have no use for FPPs or VPPs there (whatever the fuck the difference between those are)



HOTD: Payback is a bitch.

1) oooh, but its sooted
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($7.50)
MP3 ($25)
CO ($44.40)
Button ($31.60)
SB ($61.95)
Hero ($44.50)
UTG ($24.65)
UTG+1 ($24.50)
MP1 ($25.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
4 folds, MP3 calls $0.25, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1.5, MP3 calls $1.25.

Flop: ($3.10) , , (2 players)
Hero bets $3, MP3 calls $3.

Turn: ($9.10) (2 players)
Hero bets $3.5, MP3 raises to $7, Hero calls $3.50.

River: ($23.10) (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $5, Hero calls $5.

Final Pot: $33.10

Results in white below:
Hero has Qs Qh (two pair, queens and sevens).
MP3 has Qc 7c (three of a kind, sevens).
Outcome: MP3 wins $33.10.

2) same villain, 5 hands later
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

saw flop|saw showdown

Button ($7.15)
SB ($39.85)
BB ($43.90)
UTG ($61.85)
Hero ($28.70)
MP1 ($24.30)
MP2 ($24.50)
CO ($26.35)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with , .
1 fold, Hero raises to $1, 4 folds, SB calls $0.90, 1 fold.

Flop: ($2.25) , , (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2, SB calls $2.

Turn: ($6.25) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4, SB calls $4.

River: ($14.25) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $21.7 (All-In), SB calls $21.70.

Final Pot: $57.65

Results in white below:
SB has 6d Ah (three of a kind, aces).
Hero has Ac 9h (full house, aces full of nines).
Outcome: Hero wins $57.65.


Lesson: DON'T FUCK WITH JACK!


Also, I continue to run well here.

lol nh sir

tnx, he deserved it


Anyway, I've been going through my stats, and I found a few glaring leaks:


1) small pairs
2) medium pairs
3) defending the sb against a steal attempt
4) defending the bb against a steal attempt
5) HU on flop not raised by me


All these have negative BB/100. I proceed to plug these now.

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

tnx, he deserved it


Anyway, I've been going through my stats, and I found a few glaring leaks:


1) small pairs
2) medium pairs
3) defending the sb against a steal attempt
4) defending the bb against a steal attempt
5) HU on flop not raised by me


All these have negative BB/100. I proceed to plug these now.

so what does this mean that your pairs from 22-99 or something are losers? if so that is messed UP! if that's the case plz tell me what you are doing with them. also, you really shouldn't bother with blind defense right now at 25nl full ring. it just gets you into trouble.

well 25nl was kind enough to greet me with this on my first day back

25nl
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $34.30
UTG+1: $29.55
MP1: $10
Me: $26.80
CO: $36.40
Button: $24.65
SB: $24.85
BB: $24.65

Pre-flop: (8 players) Me is MP2 with A 7
UTG calls, 2 folds, Me calls, CO folds, Button calls, SB folds, BB checks.

Flop: 7 7 7 ($1.1, 4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Me checks, Button checks.

Turn: 6 ($1.1, 4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Me checks, Button checks.

River: Q ($1.1, 4 players)
BB bets $0.35, UTG raises to $0.7, Me raises all-in $26.55, 2 folds, UTG calls.

Results:
Final pot: $54.55
Me showed Ah 7h
UTG mucks Qh 9h

Nh. Quadcity!

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

tnx, he deserved it


Anyway, I've been going through my stats, and I found a few glaring leaks:


1) small pairs
2) medium pairs
3) defending the sb against a steal attempt
4) defending the bb against a steal attempt
5) HU on flop not raised by me


All these have negative BB/100. I proceed to plug these now.

so what does this mean that your pairs from 22-99 or something are losers? if so that is messed UP! if that's the case plz tell me what you are doing with them. also, you really shouldn't bother with blind defense right now at 25nl full ring. it just gets you into trouble.

Yeah.
22-66 = (21)BB/100
77-JJ = (71)BB/100
QQ-AA = 248BB/100

I don't really know when to hold'em or fold'em. I have to review the hands I lost the most on in detail to find out what exactly are the leaks.
These stats are for PokerStars only

I think the problem is me not really grasping the concept of implied odds, how diferent opponents offer different implied odds, when its profitable to call pf with a small-med pp, when to raise, etc.

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Betting too small is for pussies

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($27.45)
Button ($4.65)
SB ($31.15)
BB ($14.50)
UTG ($37.15)
Hero ($29.30)
MP2 ($40.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with , .
UTG calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1, 5 folds, UTG calls $0.75.

Flop: ($2.35) , , (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $2.25, UTG calls $2.25.

Turn: ($6.85) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6, UTG calls $6.

River: ($18.85) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $12, UTG calls $12.

Final Pot: $42.85

Results in white below:
UTG has Kc Kh (two pair, kings and sevens).
Hero has Td Th (full house, tens full of sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins $21.85.

fyp, I just doulbed your winrate in 10 seconds

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Betting too small is for pussies

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($27.45)
Button ($4.65)
SB ($31.15)
BB ($14.50)
UTG ($37.15)
Hero ($29.30)
MP2 ($40.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with , .
UTG calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1, 5 folds, UTG calls $0.75.

Flop: ($2.35) , , (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $2.25, UTG calls $2.25.

Turn: ($6.85) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6, UTG calls $6.

River: ($18.85) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $12, UTG calls $12.

Final Pot: $42.85

Results in white below:
UTG has Kc Kh (two pair, kings and sevens).
Hero has Td Th (full house, tens full of sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins $21.85.

fyp, I just doulbed your winrate in 10 seconds

all in on river.

All he ever did was call. I wouldn't know how big a bet he'd pay off, or how strong he was. What I did notice is, that at these levels, people love flatcalling with AK pf, and then keep calling hopin an A or K hits, and then folding the river. I imagined he was one of those players.
Note: He flatcalled with KK pf too. Hmmmm.

Fuck Poker Stars and their river 2-outers that always hit when you are ahead and your stack is in the middle

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Fuck Poker Stars and their river 2-outers that always hit when you are ahead and your stack is in the middle

pull yourself together man!

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Fuck Poker Stars and their river 2-outers that always hit when you are ahead and your stack is in the middle

pull yourself together man!

I'm trying man, i'm trying
I need to get tougher for surviving this "WTF?!?!?!?" section.

Dealing with emotions while playing poker (to not get clouded judgement while going through beat after beat) is probably the toughest thing I've ever ran across. I admire the pro's (and anybody else who can) for being able to do that.

Actually, I just got me some books on the subject. Ordered 3 weeks ago, they arrived last friday, still gotta go pick em up at the post office. Hopefully, I'll learn how to address this humongous issue.



Thing is, I better get confidence back before playing, or I'll indeed be scared money at ring games. I also think I'm putting too much pressure on myself to reach my goals quickly.

ya don't be too caught up in your goals. also, if you feel for a moment that you are playing scared you should move back down for a bit imo.

might be time for $10NL for a while? you won't be playing your best if you stay at $25 with $440 in roll. Badbeats suck, so does tilt... badbeats compounded by tilt suck even more. Sort it out, you're tonnes good enough to crush this op...

TNX for the concern all.
And yes, I dropped down to 10NL. And thankfully, I ran good over there. Up just about .7 BI, not much, but hey, up is up.

I'll stay here till I get my confidence back. In the meantime, I'm also actively looking for ways to combat tilt.

If you find a cure for tilt, please let me know...

cure for tilt is play so many friggin hands that nothing is a surprise anymore.

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

cure for tilt is play so many friggin hands that nothing is a surprise anymore.

That is very true.
I came to the realization that there just isn't anything I can do about beats. Just keep building big pots when I am the heavy favorite, make it pricey for people to chase draws, smile when the unlikely card hits, and keep playing my A-game.
Just don't start playing more hands hoping to hit. Leave hope at the door when you enter the room. Play odds, play math. Not hope.
1 hand is exactly that: 1 hand. forget about it, no matter if it was good or bad, and concentrate on the current hand. Only the current hand, nothing more.


Guys, I think I'm back in business. Tnx for all your concern and support. I really really appreciate it.



Time to go kick some ass.

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Play odds, play math. Not hope.

Time to go kick some ass.

Play reads. Play aggression. Play spotting orphan pots and making them yours. Play never trying to bluff a station. Play making that station pay dearly to cross the street. Play making opps think you're crazy. Play smart. Play for stacks only when you're ahead or have odds.
Go kick some ass.

well jack my 1st 2400 hands of 25nl haven't been that great. every pocket pair except AA and QQ are losers and QQ has won about 40% of the time. also, every meaningful pot i've been in with a set i've lost. i've had kk vs. aa and i've had 2 huge draws fail to hit which cost me a pretty penny and of course tons of runner-runners hitting on the river. just lettin ya know you are not alone man

Update: well i'm nearing your neck of the woods now jack (i should be up like over $200 lol)...

Damn. At least you got rakeback
All we gotta do, and all we can do really, is to keep getting our money in when we have the best of it.

I was doing some research on the tilting/ downswing thing, and it is really enlightening all that I found out. Basically, I realized that there is no such thing as a downswing/ upswing. It is just our minds trying to interpret a random sequence of outcomes, which just happen to be negative/ positive, and finding some sort of common pattern between them.
I'm trying to formulate it all in some kind of post, and put it over in the strategy section.

Basically, I'm really happy this happened to me now, while I'm still in relatively lower stakes, just so I understand what it is and how I should deal with it. I've never really been tilted before. I didn't know how to recognize it.


Martin, TNX for letting me know I'm not alone. We have to stay strong. The donks can't be lucking out forever on us. Keep getting your money in good and you'll be fine.

(in other news, I've been opening accounts left and right solely to get rakeback, now its only a question of getting teh monies in order to maximize the depo bonuses)

Originally Posted by daven

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Play odds, play math. Not hope.

Time to go kick some ass.

Play reads. Play aggression. Play spotting orphan pots and making them yours. Play never trying to bluff a station. Play making that station pay dearly to cross the street. Play making opps think you're crazy. Play smart. Play for stacks only when you're ahead or have odds.
Go kick some ass.

Yup, those too.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Anyone else reminded of the whole 'Choose Life' monologue from Trainspotting right about now? Inspiring stuff fella's, keep it up

lol this is such a joke. almost 8 buyins now

EDIT: make that 9 buyins



and my sets are losers lol



wow this is funny. here's my graph of all 10nl and 25nl combined. ty for rb at least ftp. just wow...

sorry if i am hijacking jack...i'll delete the pics if you want. im just kind of freaking out atm.

hello $10nl...how ya been?

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

sorry if i am hijacking jack...i'll delete the pics if you want. im just kind of freaking out atm.

Don't worry my friend, don't worry. Never mind the pics.
We are gonna get through this. Keep playing your A-game.

I am still in research mode, only occasionally logging in hands (gotta finish some things for work first).
And yes, I know that if I play at 25NL right now, there's a big chance that I'd decimate my roll. So yes, I'm dropping down too.


We will get through this.

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

sorry if i am hijacking jack...i'll delete the pics if you want. im just kind of freaking out atm.

Don't worry my friend, don't worry. Never mind the pics.
We are gonna get through this. Keep playing your A-game.

I am still in research mode, only occasionally logging in hands (gotta finish some things for work first).
And yes, I know that if I play at 25NL right now, I'd probably decimate my roll. So yes, I'm dropping down too.


We will get through this.

thx man. it really is mind boggling how unlucky you can be. it's been a really really long time since i've had a downswing like this. the thing i don't get is that i've never had a ridiculous upswing (i'm talking like 8-10 buyins or so) like i read about of others around the forum from time to time. i'd estimate that i've logged about 200k-300k hands in my online career and i've never had a great upswing. i wanna know wtf is wrong with me.

That's because there's no thing like upswing or downswing. Its the mind finding patterns where there are none.
We have to think of each hand as a new hand, and only refer to past hands to predict our oppponents behaviour.

We have to diregard upswings and downswings, and simply not let our play be affected by past events.




Just so you know, I know perfectly well about unlucky


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button ($4.65)
SB ($14.50)
BB ($20.35)
UTG ($15.70)
UTG+1 ($13.45)
MP1 ($45.30)
Hero ($31)
MP3 ($7.50)
CO ($37.25)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with , .
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, MP1 calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1.7, 4 folds, BB raises to $4, UTG+1 calls $3.75, MP1 folds, Hero calls $2.30.

Flop: ($12.35) , , (3 players)
BB bets $5.25, UTG+1 calls $5.25, Hero raises to $27, BB calls $11.10 (All-In), UTG+1 folds.

Turn: ($50.30) (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($50.30) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $50.30

Results in white below:
BB has 4h Kh (two pair, kings and fours).
Hero has Kd Ac (one pair, kings).
Outcome: BB wins $50.30. Hero wins $10.65.


The read was spot on, but even so...
This was the hand that really tilted me. Such badplay got rewarded, I thought, and then this type of shit kept happenning again and again and boom

I would never have had any problem if he actually had AA or KK there. Or even JJ or TT. But K4? WTF?

And then the 4 hits...

Did you know no bad beats happen at 6max? Only one way to find out...

Originally Posted by kmind

Did you know no bad beats happen at 6max? Only one way to find out...

LOL, we just witnessed one

poor sauce


*Edit: Just saw Sjaars from Aruba finish in 36th place on that same tourney (WCOOP $320 6-max). Ba hunga bon, konjo, buniiita. Too bad I didn't have a buyin for the tourney in my account, else I'd rail-speak some papiamento to him and possibly freak him out (WTF? ANOTHER PAPIAMENTO GUY HERE ON POKERSTARS? MA KERE MI TA MI SO, ALAGI HODE HOMBU! (loose translation: I thought I was alone, stop fuckin' my patience man)

Weeeee, I'm so evil

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

lol this is such a joke. almost 8 buyins now

EDIT: make that 9 buyins.

This sucks dude. Not really much more to say. Flick some hand histories over if you're doubting your play anywhere - but I figure you already know what is a badbeat and what isn't.

Originally Posted by daven

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

lol this is such a joke. almost 8 buyins now

EDIT: make that 9 buyins.

This sucks dude. Not really much more to say. Flick some hand histories over if you're doubting your play anywhere - but I figure you already know what is a badbeat and what isn't.

ya it's almost exclusively bad beats. the only hands that aren't beats are the ones where every single freaking 1/2 stack flops a set vs. my AA-QQ overpair. how come i can never go like 5 all-ins in a row and avoid bad beats and end the day up like 5 buyins but can easily get raped for 5 buyins by complete morons so regularly? i don't just mean this recent downswing either.

I think I'm back.


Played about 350 hands today, shortstacking 25NL, and made a BI.
Weeeeee.

The problems never was the actual losing. The problem was that I couldn't cope with always losing, while being so far ahead, over and over again, and every single time in a big pot. The hands apparently never held up when I was a big favorite and had my stack in the middle.

And then, I started playing badly. I wanted to chase now, and see if I'm always hiting. Obviously, my flushdraws, OESFDs etc. never hit. But my sets kept getting rivered by the flush.


I went on a crusade to find out how to deal with this. And I play now a little bit differently:

I never expect to win. In fact, I expect to lose. Every single time the money goes in, I'll make sure that I'm the heavy favorite (at least 3:1), and I'll make sure that I expect to lose the hand. Psycological reasons. I no longer feel "entitled" to win the hand because I was the favorite before all the cards were dealt.
I manage my risk better now. I start to think in the pot being the reward, and the chips in front of me being the risk.
I start actually applying reads. One thing that is especially important, I now know who I'll play big pots against, and who I'll fold even if slightly ahead.
I now am always looking to put opponents on ranges, rather than a specific hand (which, because I used to play dominoes, I've grown accustomed to)
I exercise much better patience now. I'm not looking to play hands, rather, I'm looking to play opportunities, then hands.
My focus is to win big pots rather than every pot I enter.
I manage potsizes much better now. This has been the single most important revamp in my play.
My positional stats continue to be optimal.
I won't ever chase suits.

All in all, I'll slowly climb my way back up again. Its a marathon, not a race.

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

That's because there's no thing like upswing or downswing. Its the mind finding patterns where there are none.
We have to think of each hand as a new hand, and only refer to past hands to predict our oppponents behaviour.

We have to diregard upswings and downswings, and simply not let our play be affected by past events.

Nice post.

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

I think I'm back.


Played about 350 hands today, shortstacking 25NL, and made a BI.
Weeeeee.

The problems never was the actual losing. The problem was that I couldn't cope with always losing, while being so far ahead, over and over again, and every single time in a big pot. The hands apparently never held up when I was a big favorite and had my stack in the middle.

And then, I started playing badly. I wanted to chase now, and see if I'm always hiting. Obviously, my flushdraws, OESFDs etc. never hit. But my sets kept getting rivered by the flush.


I went on a crusade to find out how to deal with this. And I play now a little bit differently:

I never expect to win. In fact, I expect to lose. Every single time the money goes in, I'll make sure that I'm the heavy favorite (at least 3:1), and I'll make sure that I expect to lose the hand. Psycological reasons. I no longer feel "entitled" to win the hand because I was the favorite before all the cards were dealt.
I manage my risk better now. I start to think in the pot being the reward, and the chips in front of me being the risk.
I start actually applying reads. One thing that is especially important, I now know who I'll play big pots against, and who I'll fold even if slightly ahead.
I now am always looking to put opponents on ranges, rather than a specific hand (which, because I used to play dominoes, I've grown accustomed to)
I exercise much better patience now. I'm not looking to play hands, rather, I'm looking to play opportunities, then hands.
My focus is to win big pots rather than every pot I enter.
I manage potsizes much better now. This has been the single most important revamp in my play.
My positional stats continue to be optimal.
I won't ever chase suits.

All in all, I'll slowly climb my way back up again. Its a marathon, not a race.

good to hear man. i'm all settled in to 10nl again now. hopefully it will be a while before another streak of bad luck sets in on us. gl bro!

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

Originally Posted by daven

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

lol this is such a joke. almost 8 buyins now

EDIT: make that 9 buyins.

This sucks dude. Not really much more to say. Flick some hand histories over if you're doubting your play anywhere - but I figure you already know what is a badbeat and what isn't.

ya it's almost exclusively bad beats. the only hands that aren't beats are the ones where every single freaking 1/2 stack flops a set vs. my AA-QQ overpair. how come i can never go like 5 all-ins in a row and avoid bad beats and end the day up like 5 buyins but can easily get raped for 5 buyins by complete morons so regularly? i don't just mean this recent downswing either.

I know exactly how this feels.
The key, it seems, is to never secondguess your play, and keep getting your money in good.

Poker is much more of a mental game than I imagined. You need to brush this shit off. That is all I'm practicing now.


Fuck those "superlucky" donks. We'll get even with them all, Martin.

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

good to hear man. i'm all settled in to 10nl again now. hopefully it will be a while before another streak of bad luck sets in on us. gl bro!

Yeah, thank god.

In my travels, I found out that "luck" pretty much doesn't exist. It is simply an interpretation of our mind of random events which just happen to happen in close sequence of the other.

They are meant to happen. They have to happen, else there would be no balance.

So, the first step to beat "luck" is to accept that it doesn't exist. It cannot affect your game if it doesn't exist, can it? I, from now on, deny luck. Hence I wrote "superlucky" in the above post. They seem lucky, but they have to be longtime losers given their play.

So don't say GL, say PWNEM

PWNEM Martin!



(Shit, I'm starting to sound like a Jedi)

i don't care what you call it i'm just hoping "it" doesn't happen to us again for a very long time lol.

yay some good things happened today for a change

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.05/$0.10
7 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $14.40
UTG+1: $16.30
MP1: $5
CO: $9.75
Me: $13
SB: $9.70
BB: $6

Pre-flop: (7 players) Me is Button with K A
2 folds, MP1 raises to $0.5, CO calls, Me calls, 2 folds.

Flop: Q J T ($1.65, 3 players)
MP1 checks, CO checks, Me bets $1, MP1 raises to $2, CO folds, Me raises to $6, MP1 calls all-in $2.5.
Uncalled bets: $1.5 returned to Me.

Turn: 8 ($10.65, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $10.65)


River: 2 ($10.65, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $10.65)


Results:
Final pot: $10.65
MP1 showed Kc Ks
Me showed Kh Ah

On this one they really tried to let him win it but they forgot that I had the Ad.

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.05/$0.10
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $8.50
Me: $16.85
MP1: $4.75
MP2: $12.20
CO: $14.50
Button: $17.10
SB: $4.05
BB: $4.90

Pre-flop: (8 players) Me is UTG+1 with A A
UTG folds, Me raises to $0.4, 2 folds, CO calls, 3 folds.

Flop: J 5 A ($0.95, 2 players)
Me bets $0.5, CO raises to $2.45, Me raises all-in $16.45, CO calls all-in $11.65.
Uncalled bets: $2.35 returned to Me.

Turn: T ($29.15, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $29.15)


River: 9 ($29.15, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $29.15)


Results:
Final pot: $29.15
Me showed Ad Ah
CO showed Kd Ac

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.05/$0.10
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $3.85
UTG+1: $4.05
Me: $10.25
MP2: $4.65
MP3: $2.90
CO: $9.20
Button: $5.80
SB: $4.80
BB: $8.10

Pre-flop: (9 players) Me is MP1 with 8 A
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, Me calls, 2 folds, CO calls, Button folds, SB calls, BB checks.

Flop: K 8 A ($0.5, 5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Me bets $0.3, CO calls, 3 folds.

Turn: 6 ($1.1, 2 players)
Me bets $0.5, CO calls.

River: A ($2.1, 2 players)
Me is all-in $9.35, CO calls all-in $8.3.
Uncalled bets: $1.05 returned to Me.

Results:
Final pot: $18.7
Me showed 8d Ad
CO mucks 3h Ah

1 thing that has helped my attitude lately in dealing with that nasty downswing was trying to view my situation in a more positive way. thanks to my rb i am currently only down like $30 from the time that i originally tried to move up to $25nl. it doesn't seem so bad when i think about it like that

Very nice. Blessed you are with RB

Well, I'm up like 5 BI on 10NL too (since my infamous breakdown). No RB, but I'll use the FPP's to sat into the million. All I need is one shot


LOL @ the A! Guess they really thought they had ya again

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Well, I'm up like 5 BI on 10NL too (since my infamous breakdown).

Very nice! that's pretty quick too - cool. And cane that million - it'll be a nice op-jumpstart...

jeez im gonna die i just went like 2k hands without doubling up AHHHH!! at the end of tonight's session i clicked "sit out" on all 8 of my tables and what do ya know my very last frikkin hand (#867) i hit a set vs an overpair finally and don't get sucked out on finally and actually win a pot after flopping a set FINALLY! whew i feel a bit better now.

well i just won 2 buyins in about 200 hands so i quit for the night to feel good after a session for a change lol. also, i just checked my PT for the first time in a while and i've now logged about 28k hands at 10nl full ring and my winrate is finally up to 2BB/100 after my horrific 15k break-even beginning. one thing funny looking currently is my top 5 hands by net winnings:
1) KK
2) AA
3) 77
4) JJ
5) QQ

Nice. It really feels good when hands start holding up again.

KK > AA? Nice.

I'm close to $450 now. Still haven't had a chance to play a satellite, nor cashed out the stars bonus ($87,50). Also, I've had to withdraw about $200 putting it aside for standby (but I still count it towards my overall BR, unless I actually have to use it).

I'm thinking about grinding good old fashioned sng's until reaching 40 BI to 25NL. Somebody talk me out of this please.


To be fully honest, I think grinding turbo's and practicing aggro roll management I could be there in less than two weeks, though.
But Sng's can drive you absolutely nuts.


*edit: I don't think I can play playing sngs and keep my sanity, no. I admire those who can.
I'll keep that down to only the daily triple shootout, a very seldom turbo, and 6-max 10NL. That'll be the new mix.

Oh, and FPP million satelites, whenever those are playing.

Oh, and also most definitely NO 180's. Those are just like pushing allin every hand, and hope to get lucky in order to place. I was railing a big part of theWCOOP ME, and there even the shortstacks at the table were averaging about M=15. You can actually play some postflop poker, not simply be dependent of your pf handrankings and hope they hold up.

So, its only deepstacked tourneys from now on. I'm never ever playing a MTT SNG again.

4 things I picked up along the way (sorta like rediscovering the wheel).
Lemme write this before I forget.

-When in doubt, calling is the worst option
-Keep calculating odds at all moments. Never let big bets (in amount of chips or money) faze you
-Push-fold poker: why are you waiting to push on the button, since once you push, position doesn't matter anyway? Push on the fucking SB!
-Push-fold poker: waiting for cards, and then hoping they hold up, will mean your death. You need 5 cards to make a hand, not two

BOOM! FEEL MY PAIN, SUCKAH!
1 time for the good guys

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

saw flop|saw showdown

Button ($14.95)
SB ($11.65)
BB ($10.80)
UTG ($8.10)
MP ($12.40)
Hero ($16.70)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
1 fold, MP calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.45, 2 folds, BB calls $0.35, MP folds.

Flop: ($1.05) , , (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.75, BB calls $0.75.

Turn: ($2.55) (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($2.55) (2 players)
BB bets $1.6, Hero raises to $5, BB calls $3.40.

Final Pot: $12.55

Results in white below:
BB has Ad 9d (two pair, aces and nines).
Hero has Kc Ks (full house, kings full of twos).
Outcome: Hero wins $12.55.


River push was better? I didn't think he'd have the balls to call a river push

i don't push the river. i think a normal raise is fine. nh.

post #867

I UB

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t60 (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG (t1360)
MP (t6270)
Button (t4445)
SB (t1240)
Hero (t1685)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
1 fold, MP calls t60, 1 fold, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t180) , , (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t60, MP calls t60, SB folds.

Turn: (t300) (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks.

River: (t300) (2 players)
Hero bets t1565 (All-In), MP calls t1565.

Final Pot: t3430

Results in white below:
Hero has 8s Th (full house, tens full of eights).
MP has Jc 9d (straight, queen high).
Outcome: Hero wins t3430.

Today: another good day, +$40

*Edit: I'm trying the $11,70 double shootouts or the 500FPP sats

Anyway, another fine day, profits wise. If I keep this up, I'll be back to 25NL playing with 40BI by the end of next week.

Thank you God Almighty

Action on the first table double shootout:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (2 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button (t5032)
Hero (t3968)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
Button raises to t750, Hero raises to t3968, Button calls t3218.

Flop: (t7936) , , (2 players)

Turn: (t7936) (2 players)

River: (t7936) (2 players)

Final Pot: t7936

Results in white below:
Button has 9d Ah (one pair, nines).
Hero has Js Jh (one pair, jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins t7936.


A few hands later:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (2 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button (t1678)
Hero (t7322)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
Button raises to t1678, Hero calls t1528.

Flop: (t3356) , , (2 players)

Turn: (t3356) (2 players)

River: (t3356) (2 players)

Final Pot: t3356

Results in white below:
Button has Td Ts (full house, aces full of tens).
Hero has Jc Js (full house, aces full of jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins t3356.

On to the next table. Lets see if I can take this down.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


PokerStars Tournament #62627335, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: $10.70/$1.00
58 players
Total Prize Pool: $620.60
Target Tournament #62496920 Buy-In: $215.00
2 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started - 2007/10/07 - 03:40:00 (ET)

Dear Avi_Tristan,

You finished the tournament in 1st place.
You qualified to play in Tournament #62496920 and are automatically registered for it.
See Tournament #62496920 Lobby for further details.

If you choose to unregister from this tournament your account will be credited
with $215.00 Tournament dollars. Tournament dollars can be used to buy into
any tournament.
Visit our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/tournaments.html for more details.



Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.



THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!! THANKYOUGOD!!!!!

so are you unregistering and selling or what?

Yeah I unregistered. But how selling? Can I sell it? To whom, or actually, how?

you may need to ask around to see if anyone has good/bad experiences with these places since i have zero but there are places that will buy your T$ at a discounted rate (like 94-96% or something similar). the top 3 in google are psmoney.com, pokernews.com/exchange, and psdollars.com. again i have no experience with these places and i don't know exactly how you get paid but there ya go

TY

I don't think I'll sell the first one though, it has special meaning to me.

I'll probably sell ones in the future (which I don't need), But I'm a tourney nut, so you know what to expect!

And today: +$45 again



I'm setting my sights big: next up, Bahamas

dude. The KK hand you posted, very nice. The flopped full house - i think you missed a lot of turn value - such a draw heavy board someone is likely calling a turn bet but no river action if the board doesn't hit. But it hit, so doesn't matter!

Tourny dollars - rad!!! Try posting a for sale ad in the MTT and SnG threads here, I'm pretty sure I remember seeing someone buying them a while ago.

40 buy-ins for $25nl?!?!? you had like $400 not that long ago - nice one! Congrats!

My op is more or less complete, gonna keep it open until I finish clearing the purple bonus, then pull all the money from sites to neteller and decide what next (= new op). First one will be easy = need a new monitor, sick of multi-tabling on a 14" laptop... the next will be more interesting, I wanna have my roll to $x by April (x is ambitious, so I'll have incremental ops on the way!)

oh, loving the latest avatar - don't go changing...

Yeah, I have about

$500 cash
$300 in UB bonuses I have to release
$75 in stars bonus pending
$215 in tourney $
and I'm not selling those T$, they were the first I got, they have some sentimental value

Just a bit more grinding... I'm confident I can double the cash bit in a week

After the tilt episode, I came back a changed man. My game changed, dramatically improving.
All I can say is I'm happy it happened to me on such a lower level, and I hope I've taken enough measures to ensure it will never happen again.


I even got PT Omaha

and don't worry, the avatar will last for at least a week maybe more

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

I'm confident I can double the cash bit in a week

$500 in a week? easy there big fella lol. remember things are going well for you right now. you have done pretty decently the past few days. i'm not trying to be mean here. i just want to make sure you are being realistic. are you moving up to 25nl? do you still only play 1-2 tables? if so then you are saying you believe you will make 20 buy-ins in 1 week playing 120-140 hands/hour. to do that you either have to have an absurd upswing or play an absurd amount of hours. and if you are still playing 10nl then we are talking about 50 buy-ins which is just impossible. just making sure you don't get your hopes up too much here k? gl man.

also regarding your T$...sentimental value? so what, are you just never going to use the money or something? think about it...if you sell the money and clear your bonuses you would be rolled for 50nl already man. it pains me to see you not take advantage of it.

No, I'm gonna use the T$ to enter tournaments. I won't sell it though.

About the $500: I still think I could make it playing SNG's and applying aggressive roll management. I won't concentrate on 25NL until I get 40BI.


Yeah, I never "get my hopes up". I just judge distances based on past results. Don't worry man, I'll be fine

No more limping HU and change to 6-max and you'll do fine!!

No but seriously, you are doing a really good job. Keep it (as well as your avatar) up!

Today's biggest hand. Hurray for a day of massive fish encounters without suckouts!

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.05/$0.10
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $10.40
UTG+1: $19.40
MP1: $9.90
Hero: $13.35
MP3: $13.90
CO: $7.25
Button: $3.40
SB: $6.25
BB: $11.60

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP2 with 4 4
3 folds, Hero calls, MP3 raises to $0.3, 2 folds, SB calls, BB calls, Hero calls.

Flop: 4 9 3 ($1.2, 4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.6, 2 folds, BB calls.

Turn: 4 ($2.4, 2 players)
BB bets $2.4, Hero calls.

River: 9 ($7.2, 2 players)
BB is all-in $8.3, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $23.8
BB showed Qh Jh
Hero showed 4d 4s

Well I just checked my graph/stats and my 1st 15k hands of 10nl full ring were break-even and my last 15k hands I'm up 15 buy-ins running 5BB/100. My last 2300 hands are 13.2BB/100. It's pretty amazing what kind of a picture the shortrun can paint for you ay?