Operation >500k hands in 2008.

Ok, i realize that no one really cares whether or not i suck at poker. I'm new here and most people don't even know that i exist, let alone care if i get better or just eventually get sick of losing/breaking even and quit poker for ever (which i don't plan on letting happen because i love it).

This is not to say that the people i have met here haven't been really nice and very helpfull to me, because they have, but i'm playing super low stakes ($5 NLHE and .10/.20 stud 8) and it isn't nearly as exciting as reading about Spoon going for Super Nova Elite or what ever you call it...lol

I'm doing this to force myself to be accountable for my actions and really take poker seriously. I think if i have to post my results (good or bad) and analyze my every move. It will, along with all of the info here, make me a better player.

I'm stealing this from wesrman. Once I read this in his blog I knew I needed to make one myself, for the exact same reasons. A poker diary is something I've been putting off for a while now. But a public poker diary seems like an even better idea, as I can get advice from the fine fellows at this site.

I have decided to give my best shot at playing poker professionally (eventually). I am ridiculously far away from that goal, but I feel that if I dedicate myself to the game this year by the end I can be a solid player. I go to university and have a part time job at the moment, so I don't have too much time to play. But if I play consistently, I should be able to improve regardless. My goal is to play at least 40k hands a month. Since I usually play 4-6 tables depending on the tables and my personal mood, this is about 3 hours a day, every day. Another goal is to never go on tilt and to be as consistent as possible. And my final goal is to study ways to improve my game consistently on these forums and in books.

I don't really have any bankroll or stake goals. More just ideas. Right now I am playing .25/.50 6max and mildly beating the game. I will move up when I feel ready to move up. This includes having at least 20xBB, and feeling I am a very solid player at .25/.50. I don't mind if I don't move up quickly. I want more than bankroll the mental stability, and confidence in my game. If I know for certain that I'm a solid winner, I don't mind moving up more quickly. If I don't know that I'm a solid winner, then I will stay at lower stakes longer than I "need" to, bankroll-wise.

My bankroll is at $1500. Who knows what it will be by the end of the year. I will only withdraw money if it is absolutely necessary (in other words, I don't plan on it.)

January so far.

Check out that nasty downswing. It freaked me out, I'll be honest. It was the worst I've had in my poker life thus far. I've probably got 500k hands behind me, as I've played off and on for the last few years. I've never lost 16 buyins in 6000 hands. Ouch.

Before that point I played 23/15. As that downswing hit I got tighter and tigher and by the end was playing like a passive rock who was scared of what might happen if he played a hand. I think that was the biggest thing I learned from it: Don't drastically change your play because you are on a downswing. Keep mentally tough and keep your game stable. Make small changes, not big one.

On the other hand, it forced me to reevaluate my game which wasn't a bad thing, as long as it was down rationally and not emotionally. I took a little break and got perspective. I now play a more traditional 19/14 game. I basically dropped low SCs from my game except for on the button and in rare circumstances, I called and raised far too often with those cards and was a nasty loser with the lower ones.

I've started 3 betting in general more often since then as well.

One strange thing in my Poker Office stats is that I am in the green for this month when I call a steal attempt, and deeply in the red when I reraise (worse than if I had just folded every hand). Could just be variance, definitely a low sample size. Maybe I am cbetting too often out of position when I reraise and get called.

From first session today. 700 hands, down $47. Thanks to this primarily.

Full Tilt Poker Game #4929972084: Table Bronze (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:57:59 ET - 2008/01/20
Seat 1: Joe Note ($239)
Seat 2: 61Petrus ($62.35)
Seat 4: Mr Kym ($49.75)
Seat 5: Jobduri ($101.45)
Seat 6: trias55 ($59.85)
61Petrus posts the small blind of $0.25
Mr Kym posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trias55 [Jc Js]
Jobduri folds
trias55 raises to $1.75
Joe Note folds
61Petrus calls $1.50
Mr Kym calls $1.25
*** FLOP *** [Jd 6h Qh]
61Petrus checks
Mr Kym checks
trias55 bets $4
61Petrus raises to $15.50
Mr Kym folds
trias55 has 15 seconds left to act
trias55 has requested TIME
dispatch3d sits down
dispatch3d adds $50
trias55 raises to $58.10, and is all in
61Petrus calls $42.60
trias55 shows [Jc Js]
61Petrus shows [Qc Kh]
*** TURN *** [Jd 6h Qh] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 6h Qh Kd] [Ks]
trias55 shows a full house, Jacks full of Kings
61Petrus shows a full house, Kings full of Queens
61Petrus wins the pot ($118.45) with a full house, Kings full of Queens
trias55 adds $25
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $121.45 | Rake $3
Board: [Jd 6h Qh Kd Ks]
Seat 1: Joe Note (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: 61Petrus (small blind) showed [Qc Kh] and won ($118.45) with a full house, Kings full of Queens
Seat 4: Mr Kym (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: Jobduri didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: trias55 showed [Jc Js] and lost with a full house, Jacks full of Kings

I love calling for time in situations like that. It works well. He instacalled the flop. But damn, I run good, don't I.

I've been considering a new strategy. Limp all hands UTG on tables with LAGtards.

I'm tired of Raising 66 UTG and getting reraised and having to dump it. Just seems like a waste.

Limp all PP, AK, AQ, KQs UTG. If raised, 22-99 AQ KQs call, TT-AA reraise, AK reraise. Anyone tried this? I'm really excited to try it next time I play.

Today, 6max, 50NL: 1379 hands, $22.55 won, 1.64 PTBB/100.

My sklansky bucks would be much higher than that. Something like $200. Oh well, that's variance for you.

I feel I played pretty well. I need to concetrate more on specific players. Later in the day I really started to get reads on players, and moved from -30 to the green with no cards to speak of, just good reads, cbets, and preflop 3bets.

Originally Posted by cjs55

I've been considering a new strategy. Limp all hands UTG on tables with LAGtards.

I'm tired of Raising 66 UTG and getting reraised and having to dump it. Just seems like a waste.

Limp all PP, AK, AQ, KQs UTG. If raised, 22-99 AQ KQs call, TT-AA reraise, AK reraise. Anyone tried this? I'm really excited to try it next time I play.

I dont think this would be a good idea. A LAG doesnt offer good enough implied odds to limp/call small pp´s and if he´s somewhat sane and picks up your strat you become easily exploitable


I´d rather
a) move seats if u can´t deal with a LAG to your left. There´s no shame in changing seats, it´s very hard to get value out of good LAGs who have position on you and it just sucks to play 5 of 6 hands oop.

b) tighten up in EP and therefore expand my 4betting range to 99+, AQs,AKo. This will either slow him down or let u take his chips soon.

Notice I'm talking about LAGtards. Not solid LAGs. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get value out of them out of position.

And do you really not call with pocket pairs when a LAG raises you? If we are both 100BB stacks, I should be getting over 20:1 to his stack. That seems like enough for me to call against a LAG, especially since I don't necessarily find that they aren't as easy to stack as nits. They are used to people playing back at em.

I didn't even attempt that limping UTG idea. It's too weird. I think JJ,QQ, AQ are mandatory raising hands also. Maybe one day I will try a 50% raise 50% limp UTG strategy.

I've been messing around with tournaments lately, just for fun.

Yesterday I played in the daily doubles on full tilt. Double in the money! Unfortunately, no final tables. But hey, the extra 35 bucks doesnt hurt.

Today I played in a 5.50 rebuy 6max. I feel like I had a massive edge over my opponents thanks to my 6max cash game training. Couple of bad beats in a row led to me finishing halfway through, but I really liked my play overall. I'll be trying to play 6max tournaments much more often. I need deep stack or rebuy though. My game is in small ball for sure.

I like playing a tournament or two, and then playing 2-3 games of 6max NL cash on the side. The tournaments commit me to playing a longer period of time, which is nice.

Yesterday:
$-102
I didn't play great at first, got on a little tilt in the middle of the session. I ended up playing well by the end, but overall I wasn't happy with my play. I was running 25/19 which isn't my style at all.

Today: Not fantastic, but solid. I lost a couple flips playing draws aggressively. I don't feel bad about it, I feel like it really helps my game to add more hands to go all-in with. Owned some total noobs at the end, got into the green.

+$65, 1820 hands, played a 20/16 game.

My stats over the last 10k hands. I've been playing more aggressive than ever before. More 3bets, some pretty much air in spots where I've felt very solid about my play. Let me know if you see anything of concern in here.

One more thing: Rakeback is fucking godly at 50NL.

I'm running almost exactly 1BB/100 this month, +$244 over 27k hands. My rakeback so far for the month is a little more than that right now.

Rakeback is just huge from 25NL-100NL. Who doesn't want a 1BB/100 bonus? I'd imagine that once you hit 200NL, rakeback becomes less of a percentage of total winnings because every pot is getting over the $3 max rake.

So January is almost over. I'm at 33k hands, which is a little under where I want to be but not the end of the world. I should get to 37k hands by the end of the month. And I'm sure I can catch up when spring semester is over anyways.

I'm a little dissapointed in my results this month but not terribly so. Hopefully I continue to get better (and maybe I was running a little bad...maybe not.)



Something that really jumps out at me are my fucked up position stats. I think this is basically telling me I need to tighten up on the cutoff at the least. If anyone has other advice, let me know. I mean, I make more money UTG than any other position other than the button and I'm losing money on the cutoff. WTF! Also, why have I played so many less hands on the cutoff? I don't understand poker office at all, I think maybe it's doing something really stupid.

Originally Posted by cjs55

Something that really jumps out at me are my fucked up position stats. I think this is basically telling me I need to tighten up on the cutoff at the least. If anyone has other advice, let me know. I mean, I make more money UTG than any other position other than the button and I'm losing money on the cutoff. WTF! Also, why have I played so many less hands on the cutoff? I don't understand poker office at all, I think maybe it's doing something really stupid.

Is it possible that position 5 is actually UTG and position 3 is the cutoff in Poker Office? You should have more hands played from the cutoff than from UTG because you don't always play at a full table and you get to UTG on the very last hand of each orbit. That's really the only explanation that makes sense given your numbers.

Hmm. Considering that my preflop raise for position 3 is lower than any other non-blind position and that my preflop raise and first-in raise are almost identical for #3, I'd say it has to be UTG. Right?

Stupid poker office.

Went on real bad tilt today.

I caught a sick run of preflop cards and a whole lot of them got busted. I started calling when I shouldn't thinking 'I can't just let them run over me', or 'he can't have it again'.

AA: 11 times, +$3.7
KK: 13 times, -$53
QQ: 19 times, -$69
JJ: 11 times, -$3


Total for today: 2724 hands, -$255, -9.37 BB/100

The sick thing though is I actually went on tilt about 4oo hands in the session. By 1000 hands, I was down -$375. almost 8 buyins. Insane. Some of it was variance but at least half was my tilt.

I know I can't let this happen again, because I could easily lose my bankroll. In the heat of the moment, I just kept playing because I *HAD* to make a comeback, redeem myself. Plus I had a maniac image, which had to be +EV if I could harness it. On the plus side, I did manage to turn things around. I mostly regained my composure and for the last half of the session I would say I was actually playing pretty well. I used my maniac image after that point to make a little money.

What an insane day. Damn. I basically am now breaking even in January. Thank god for rakeback.

I need some help with my game. I need to progress. I think it's time to totally change things. I'm sick of doing the same old thing. I don't really know how to proceed but I don't feel like I'm getting much better doing what I am doing. I'm thinking about playing 3 tables (instead of 6), and playing super LAG, like 30/22 or something. Maybe it would help me become a better player. Has anyone tried that, and did it help?

When you aren't playing that great to begin with, 1 hour of tilt can be pretty devastating.

Here's January now.

I think alot of this actually came about because I was trying to go to showdown a bit more. My WSF has always been high, like 55%, and I didn't really make that much money, so I figured I was folding too many good hands.

against a 60/10/3
"He's a donk, he can't have it every time."

God, this first one is so bad.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5046452685: Table Griffith (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Holdem - 20:08:41 ET - 2008/01/29
Seat 1: squiloogle ($80.65)
Seat 2: DMCFOSTER ($145.95)
Seat 3: vscampos ($50)
Seat 4: Whiteacre ($13.30)
Seat 5: trias55 ($68.70)
Seat 6: prodienst ($50)
squiloogle posts the small blind of $0.25
DMCFOSTER posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trias55 [Ah Ac]
Whiteacre: nh
vscampos folds
Whiteacre calls $0.50
trias55 raises to $2.25
squiloogle folds
DMCFOSTER calls $1.75
Whiteacre folds
*** FLOP *** [6h 9h Jd]
DMCFOSTER bets $0.50
trias55 raises to $4
DMCFOSTER calls $3.50
*** TURN *** [6h 9h Jd] [Qs]
DMCFOSTER checks
trias55 bets $9
DMCFOSTER raises to $40.25
trias55 has 15 seconds left to act
trias55 raises to $62.45, and is all in
DMCFOSTER calls $22.20
trias55 shows [Ah Ac]
DMCFOSTER shows [Tc Kd]
*** RIVER *** [6h 9h Jd Qs] [7h]
trias55 shows a pair of Aces
DMCFOSTER shows a straight, King high
DMCFOSTER wins the pot ($135.15) with a straight, King high
trias55 adds $25
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $138.15 | Rake $3
Board: [6h 9h Jd Qs 7h]
Seat 1: squiloogle (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: DMCFOSTER (big blind) showed [Tc Kd] and won ($135.15) with a straight, King high
Seat 3: vscampos didnt bet (folded)
Seat 4: Whiteacre folded before the Flop
Seat 5: trias55 (button) showed [Ah Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: prodienst is sitting out


I don't think this next one is as bad, but I still don't think it's good.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5046773822: Table Griffith (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Holdem - 20:34:58 ET - 2008/01/29
Seat 1: squiloogle ($73.65)
Seat 2: DMCFOSTER ($199.70)
Seat 3: vscampos ($50.40)
Seat 4: StnBuddha ($65.65)
Seat 5: trias55 ($55.90)
Seat 6: trinisbabyboy1 ($7)
trias55 posts the small blind of $0.25
trinisbabyboy1 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trias55 [Qc Qd]
squiloogle folds
DMCFOSTER has 15 seconds left to act
DMCFOSTER raises to $1.50
vscampos folds
StnBuddha folds
trias55 raises to $5
trinisbabyboy1 folds
DMCFOSTER calls $3.50
*** FLOP *** [2h 4c 8c]
trias55 bets $7
DMCFOSTER calls $7
*** TURN *** [2h 4c 8c] [Jd]
trias55 bets $14
DMCFOSTER raises to $187.70, and is all in
trias55 calls $29.90, and is all in
DMCFOSTER shows [Jh Js]
trias55 shows [Qc Qd]
Uncalled bet of $143.80 returned to DMCFOSTER
*** RIVER *** [2h 4c 8c Jd] [3d]
DMCFOSTER shows three of a kind, Jacks
trias55 shows a pair of Queens
DMCFOSTER wins the pot ($109.30) with three of a kind, Jacks
trias55 adds $25
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $112.30 | Rake $3
Board: [2h 4c 8c Jd 3d]
Seat 1: squiloogle didnt bet (folded)
Seat 2: DMCFOSTER showed [Jh Js] and won ($109.30) with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 3: vscampos didnt bet (folded)
Seat 4: StnBuddha (button) didnt bet (folded)
Seat 5: trias55 (small blind) showed [Qc Qd] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: trinisbabyboy1 (big blind) folded before the Flop

Against a 16/14/3. Pure tilt. Of course he's never folding an overpair on that board.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5047043953: Table Griffith (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Holdem - 20:56:36 ET - 2008/01/29
Seat 1: squiloogle ($79.80)
Seat 2: DMCFOSTER ($244.60)
Seat 3: vscampos ($70.60)
Seat 4: StnBuddha ($63.60)
Seat 5: trias55 ($50)
Seat 6: Matchruler ($55)
Matchruler posts the small blind of $0.25
squiloogle posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trias55 [7s 8s]
DMCFOSTER folds
vscampos raises to $1.75
StnBuddha folds
trias55 calls $1.75
Matchruler raises to $7
squiloogle folds
vscampos folds
trias55 calls $5.25
*** FLOP *** [7d Tc 6d]
Matchruler bets $13
trias55 has 15 seconds left to act
trias55 raises to $43, and is all in
Matchruler calls $30
trias55 shows [7s 8s]
Matchruler shows [Kh Kc]
*** TURN *** [7d Tc 6d] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [7d Tc 6d 4c] [Js]
trias55 shows a pair of Sevens
Matchruler shows a pair of Kings
Matchruler wins the pot ($99.25) with a pair of Kings
trias55 adds $25
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $102.25 | Rake $3
Board: [7d Tc 6d 4c Js]
Seat 1: squiloogle (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: DMCFOSTER didnt bet (folded)
Seat 3: vscampos folded before the Flop
Seat 4: StnBuddha didnt bet (folded)
Seat 5: trias55 (button) showed [7s 8s] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 6: Matchruler (small blind) showed [Kh Kc] and won ($99.25) with a pair of Kings


Against a 49/7/2. Looks familar.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5045554349: Table Marrow (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Holdem - 18:54:29 ET - 2008/01/29
Seat 1: xxcatfishxxx ($48.25)
Seat 2: dapigman2002 ($49.85)
Seat 3: trias55 ($107.45)
Seat 4: DaJuice41 ($145.60)
Seat 5: codenumber8 ($87.85)
Seat 6: orleans45 ($41.45)
DaJuice41 posts the small blind of $0.25
codenumber8 has 5 seconds left to act
codenumber8 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trias55 [Kd Ks]
orleans45 folds
xxcatfishxxx raises to $1.75
dapigman2002 calls $1.75
trias55 raises to $7.75
DaJuice41 folds
codenumber8 folds
xxcatfishxxx calls $6
dapigman2002 calls $6
*** FLOP *** [2s 6h 8s]
xxcatfishxxx checks
dapigman2002 bets $42.10, and is all in
trias55 raises to $84.20
xxcatfishxxx folds
trias55 shows [Kd Ks]
dapigman2002 shows [6c 6d]
Uncalled bet of $42.10 returned to trias55
xxcatfishxxx adds $9.50
*** TURN *** [2s 6h 8s] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [2s 6h 8s 5c] [9s]
trias55 shows a pair of Kings
dapigman2002 shows three of a kind, Sixes
dapigman2002 wins the pot ($105.20) with three of a kind, Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $108.20 | Rake $3
Board: [2s 6h 8s 5c 9s]
Seat 1: xxcatfishxxx folded on the Flop
Seat 2: dapigman2002 showed [6c 6d] and won ($105.20) with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 3: trias55 (button) showed [Kd Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 4: DaJuice41 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: codenumber8 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: orleans45 didnt bet (folded)

I'm pretty sure this is standard, but might as well check. He's 68/16/3

Full Tilt Poker Game #5048314421: Table Ontario (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Holdem - 22:33:35 ET - 2008/01/29
Seat 1: trias55 ($50)
Seat 2: StoneTemplPilot ($100.90)
Seat 3: Christoph 70 ($53.65)
Seat 4: PhuckJ00s ($69.20)
Seat 5: rontheriver ($19.90)
Seat 6: Inth3mon3y ($44.15)
Inth3mon3y posts the small blind of $0.25
trias55 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trias55 [7s Ts]
StoneTemplPilot folds
Christoph 70 folds
PhuckJ00s folds
Inth3mon3y raises to $1
trias55 calls $0.50
*** FLOP *** [Th 6s Jh]
Inth3mon3y checks
trias55 checks
*** TURN *** [Th 6s Jh] [2s]
Inth3mon3y bets $0.50
trias55 raises to $2
Inth3mon3y calls $1.50
*** RIVER *** [Th 6s Jh 2s] [8s]
Inth3mon3y bets $5
trias55 has 15 seconds left to act
trias55 raises to $20
Inth3mon3y has 15 seconds left to act
Inth3mon3y raises to $41.15, and is all in
trias55 calls $21.15
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Inth3mon3y shows [Ks 9s] a flush, King high
trias55 mucks
Inth3mon3y wins the pot ($85.30) with a flush, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $88.30 | Rake $3
Board: [Th 6s Jh 2s 8s]
Seat 1: trias55 (big blind) mucked [7s Ts] - a flush, Ten high
Seat 2: StoneTemplPilot didnt bet (folded)
Seat 3: Christoph 70 didnt bet (folded)
Seat 4: PhuckJ00s didnt bet (folded)
Seat 5: rontheriver (button) is sitting out
Seat 6: Inth3mon3y (small blind) showed [Ks 9s] and won ($85.30) with a flush, King high

This hand was pretty bad. Opp. seems to be a fairly standard player, a little passive, like 24/15/2. Flop play is probably stupid. I figured I would float and rep a flush if it came, or use J and A as outs. I repped the flush and he called. Then I hit my ace and I thought c/c might somehow be a good line here. I think this has to be a b/f or c/f the river.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5048832609: Table Lindell (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Holdem - 23:13:50 ET - 2008/01/29
Seat 1: smokeAshotgun ($56.15)
Seat 2: GorrilaBiscuits ($53.30)
Seat 3: BabyCakes123 ($51.45)
Seat 4: serenade rose ($70.80)
Seat 5: riverboat321 ($32.50)
Seat 6: trias55 ($68.65)
serenade rose posts the small blind of $0.25
riverboat321 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trias55 [Ad Qd]
trias55 raises to $1.75
smokeAshotgun calls $1.75
GorrilaBiscuits folds
BabyCakes123 folds
serenade rose folds
riverboat321 calls $1.25
*** FLOP *** [3c Kc Ts]
riverboat321 checks
trias55 has 15 seconds left to act
trias55 checks
smokeAshotgun has 15 seconds left to act
smokeAshotgun bets $3.50
riverboat321 folds
trias55 calls $3.50
*** TURN *** [3c Kc Ts] [9c]
trias55 bets $8
smokeAshotgun calls $8
*** RIVER *** [3c Kc Ts 9c] [Ah]
trias55 checks
smokeAshotgun bets $11.50
trias55 has 15 seconds left to act
trias55 has requested TIME
trias55 calls $11.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
smokeAshotgun shows [Kd 9d] two pair, Kings and Nines
trias55 mucks
smokeAshotgun wins the pot ($48.95) with two pair, Kings and Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $51.50 | Rake $2.55
Board: [3c Kc Ts 9c Ah]
Seat 1: smokeAshotgun showed [Kd 9d] and won ($48.95) with two pair, Kings and Nines
Seat 2: GorrilaBiscuits didnt bet (folded)
Seat 3: BabyCakes123 (button) didnt bet (folded)
Seat 4: serenade rose (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: riverboat321 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: trias55 mucked [Ad Qd] - a pair of Aces

January sucked.




The last 3 days have been horrific. I played 40 heads up SNGs and lost 100 dollars, I played a little omaha and lost 50 dollars, so combined with the hold 'em crappiness I went from 1600 to 700. In 3 days. Bye bye bankroll.

In the last 3 days I am losing with AA, KK, QQ and JJ. I have been sucked out on relentlessly and also have played bad. Maybe this isn't out of the ordinary but 14 buyins in 4700 hands feels like a really horrible downswing to me.

I feel like I can't ever play without getting put into horrible spots. I'm trying to tighten up more but even tonight, playing 16/13 I got owned. At least the thread I posted in the short handed hold 'em forum seems to indicate I'm not that bad.

25NL is real easy compared to 50NL. That said, I still can't make any money at it. I'm pretty sure I'm just continuing to run bad because it feels like I'm crushing the game. Just some nasty set over set business, along with losing every flip. That sort of crap continues. I think I can definitely say I've run really bad, really consistently for the last 15k hands.

swallow your pride and ego, and drop down to 5NL until you start beating the game soundly

that's the only real advice I can give, all else is white noise


good luck,
-Jack teh BR nit

Yeah, I'm not gonna go to 5NL becuase full tilt doesn't have it. 10NL though...I'm not ready to go down there yet. I tried to play it and I wanted to shoot myself. Miserable. I should probably 12 table it.

I'd rather play 25NL underrolled and be absolutely forced to move down. I've got 650 in rakeback coming on the 15th so I'm not too worried.

How many hands did you play and at what stakes to get that amount of RB?

38k 50NL 6 max, 7k 100NL 6 max in January.

$634 rakeback via 27% at FTP on raketracker.com

Rakeback is a big deal at low stakes.

25NL is a joke. On a nice heater, 20 BB/100 over 4k hands. That'll help.

A couple of rules to make tons of money at 25NL and possibly higher:

1) Never play between 12-4 MST.

2) Play 20/16.

3) No loose calls, ever.


Profit.

I think you should focus a little less on playing xx/xx stats and a little more on playing your table. your stats will tend to jump around more when doing this so you might play 30/20 on one table and 14/12 on another, but it should be more profitable overall.

Thanks for that advice. You're definitely right and I need to learn to do that better.

To be honest, at 25NL, the necessity is lower due to the type of passive calling station that seems to be at every table. The players are so passive that it feels like standard 20/16 play (maybe a little looser) is essential. I think though that even at 50NL it becomes very important to adapt to your table. I'm guessing that was one of my bigger leaks at 50NL.

Playing evenings at 25NL on FTP is like shooting fish in a barrel. On top of that I'm on a bit of a heater. Yay! No more getting sucked out on relentlessly. I've even won 2 AK vs KK battles. Shh, don't tell anyone.

With my lovely rakeback just getting in, my bankroll is back to a healthy 1800. Cheers.

Last 13k hands:

yeah at 200nl the rakeback is a smaller % than 50nl, but you make way more.

Sometimes I feel like I will never be able to beat 50NL at FTP. Maybe I just lack the intelligence for the game. I have a terrible memory, maybe that is crippling me.

25NL is so easy and 50NL is so hard. There's just something that my brain can't figure out about it. I'd guess I'm a -1/100 player at 50NL and a 6/100 player at 25NL right now. I've played enough hands that I don't feel like it can be explained in simple variance terms. I just suck at 50NL.

I'm switching to tournaments and heads up play mostly for now. Operation >500k hands was stupid. It assumed I was a much better player than I was, and specifically a much better cash game multitabler than I was, and I put in way too many hands for no reason.

I feel like I have a huge edge in tournaments, especially 6 max, double stack, or rebuy. Right now my favorite thing to do is to play one heads up NL or Razz game, and one tournament at a time. I drop to just the tournament if I get deep.

Both the tournaments and the heads up games have been going well. I've run really well in both tournaments and heads up but I feel like I've been much better than the field skillwise as well.
Tournaments I've played in the last week: (buyin, field, my place, my winnings)

Code:

41409095  	Mar 04 13:01ET  	$14,000 Guarantee  	$69 + $6  	227  	4  	$1,378.35   	
41408584 	Mar 02 12:01ET 	$11,500 Guarantee 	$24 + $2 	642 	216 	-- 	
41415091 	Mar 02 11:31ET 	$5,500 Guarantee (1r+1a) 	$10 + $1 	365 	70 	-- 	
41409065 	Mar 01 13:01ET 	$14,000 Guarantee 	$69 + $6 	298 	51 	-- 	
41237758 	Mar 01 12:41ET 	Satellite to $90K Guarantee 	$10 + $1 	46 	10 	-- 	
40763243 	Feb 29 18:31ET 	$4,500 Guarantee (Rebuy) 	$5 + $0.50 	545 	4 	$700.70

Heads up hold'em: .50/1, 1200 hands, +$377, 17 BB/100

(up 150 from Razz as well)

Um, heater much?

Over the last week I've played in 11 tournaments. Paid 865 in entry fees. Won 5489 in profit.

Over the last week I've played 1600 hands of heads up .50/1. Made $1050. 33PTBB/100.

I all of the sudden after playing breakeven poker for the last 3 months have gone from a 1.5k bankroll to a 6.5k bankroll in a week. It's weird.

I still can't win at 6 max cash games though. At least something stays the same.

Right now I'm playing 100NL and 200NL.

You might be thinking....huh? This guy can't even beat 50NL.

I'm almost certainly beating the games I'm playing at right now.

First the skill difference of the average player between 50NL and 200NL seems to be way smaller than I thought.

Combine that fact with the fact that I'm practicing very stingy game selection over both 100NL and 200NL. I pick the 4 juiciest tables over 2 levels, not just 1. It gives me a huge advantage in game selection.

So huge, I would say my winrate might be higher than just playing 100NL exclusively.

Combine that with the fact that I've gotten better in general at thinking in poker from playing heads up.

I'm still not great. But I think practicing very solid game selection, playing only 4 tables max, and really focusing on the game results in teh moneys. I don't have any sort of sample size to prove this, but I think you should know when you are beating the game if you've played enough poker.

And once again I fall down hard.

Every time I feel like I've turned a corner it's just been some positive variance on my break even poker game. Every goddamned time. I made $2200 in march in 15000 hands. I've lost $2300 in april so far in 13000 hands. I know the sample size is smallish. But how often do winning players go -8 BB/100 over 13000 hands?

I watch videos on this site and I learn nothing I didn't already know. I read the threads and feel like I'm up to par with all of the thinking that is going on. But I'm not getting better and I'm not winning and I don't know what to do about it. I read the books, study my hands, and I just can't win. I am really just utterly baffled. I've tried cutting down tables, trying different limits. The only one I've almost certainly won at is 25NL, and playing there definitely doesn't make me a better poker player. I'm not interested in playing 25NL for the rest of my life.

I don't understand what more I need to do to be a winning poker player. Maybe I'm simply too stupid to do it. Maybe I simply can't contain my tilt. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. I've surely played more hands in my life time than many of the high stakes regulars. Maybe in the end it just comes down to talent, and I don't have it.

Oh well, I'll just wait til the next bit of positive variance makes me feel like I've finally gotten over the hump. Till next time.

Wow, what a whiny little bitch post. Guess I just needed to vent somewhere. lol.

Originally Posted by cjs55

I read the threads

try posting replies in the threads - especially being first to answer.
try posting some hands.
And maybe post your stats - general, position, and more detail.

Sounds like a couple of tourney scores pushed you up limits - you could use the same money to further fund learning to crush 50nl....
best of luck!

Here's my stats since march in 6 max.



The position stats in Poker Office are totally screwed up. But wow, I do need to tighten up UTG. I'm glad I looked at them, because that is a really easy fix.

And thanks : )

Some recent hands, let me know how you think I played them.

1: I have a hard time folding 4c6c in the BB to a min raise. Maybe that's the problem right there. Opp was new but over 20 hands was 31/6/2

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($101.40)
Hero ($103)
UTG ($161.40)
MP ($106.95)
CO ($250.60)
Button ($176.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4, 6.
UTG raises to $2, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.

Flop: ($4.50) A, K, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $4.5, Hero calls $4.50.

Turn: ($13.50) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $13.5, Hero raises to $54, UTG calls $40.50.

River: ($121.50) J (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks.

Final Pot: $121.50


2: Button is a TAG reg, CO is a 18/7/3 loose preflop but aggressive after. I felt that bet/folding river was the best play but check calling is perhaps better?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

SB ($89.90)
BB ($174.60)
UTG ($37.90)
Hero ($116.70)
CO ($197.15)
Button ($166.20)

Preflop: Hero is MP with , .
1 fold, Hero raises to $3.5, CO calls $3.50, Button calls $3.50, 2 folds.

Flop: ($12) , , (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, Button bets $8.5, Hero calls $8.50, CO calls $8.50.

Turn: ($37.50) (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, Button checks.

River: ($37.50) (3 players)
Hero bets $24, CO calls $24, Button folds.

Final Pot: $85.50

3: Kind of a weird spot. Over a few hands opp was running 27/23, I had 3 bet him last hand and he folded, so I figured he would be calling me with a loose range. That said, on the turn I feel like not that many worse hands are calling me, but with the two flush on the board I think this is my only play.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button ($100)
Hero ($105.50)
BB ($140.95)
UTG ($100)
MP ($100)
CO ($80)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
MP raises to $3.5, 2 folds, Hero raises to $12, 1 fold, MP calls $8.

Flop: ($24.50) , , (3 players)
Hero bets $15, MP calls $15.

Turn: ($54.50) (3 players)
Hero bets $79 (All-In), MP calls $73.50 (All-In).

River: ($201.50) (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $201.50

4: Against the CO from hand 2 above, 18/7/3.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP ($98.50)
CO ($174.60)
Button ($41)
Hero ($102.30)
BB ($123.65)
UTG ($170.20)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
3 folds, Button calls $1, Hero raises to $4.5, BB calls $3, Button folds.

Flop: ($9.50) , , (2 players)
Hero bets $6, BB calls $6.

Turn: ($21.50) (2 players)
Hero bets $15, BB calls $15.

River: ($51.50) (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $51, Hero calls $51.

Final Pot: $153.50

Yesterday I had my first solid day this month. +8 buyins over 2500 hands, not too bad and started to make up for the losses that started the month.

Today, I'm excited to get up and play. So, I play for an hour and get absolutely crushed for 5 buyins. Sometimes I hate this game. Let me know if I did anything wrong in any of these hands please. AK hand is the one I figure is probably spew but I thought it was an ok spot to semi-bluff, could get AK/JJ/TT to fold perhaps and if not I've got outs.

1:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($100)
BB ($97.20)
Hero ($257.25)
MP ($101.60)
CO ($116.85)
Button ($185.45)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A.
Hero raises to $2.5, 1 fold, CO raises to $11, 3 folds, Hero raises to $32.5, CO calls $19.

Flop: ($64) J, 3, K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $45, Hero raises to $102, CO calls $41.85 (All-In).

Turn: ($237.70) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($237.70) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $237.70

2:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

CO ($157.10)
Button ($173.65)
Hero ($101.40)
BB ($132.90)
UTG ($114.25)
MP ($100)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
1 fold, CO raises to $3.5, 1 fold, Hero raises to $12, 1 fold, CO calls $8.

Flop: ($24.50) , , (3 players)
Hero bets $15, CO calls $15.

Turn: ($54.50) (3 players)
Hero bets $37, CO raises to $130.6 (All-In), Hero calls $37.90 (All-In).

River: ($204.30) (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $204.30

3:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

SB ($103.50)
BB ($82.90)
UTG ($126.15)
Hero ($100)
CO ($156.10)
Button ($152.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP with , .
1 fold, Hero raises to $2.5, CO calls $2.50, 2 folds, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($8) , , (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $6, CO raises to $21, BB folds, Hero raises to $61, CO raises to $174.6 (All-In), Hero calls $42.50 (All-In).

Turn: ($215) (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($215) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $215

4:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($71.30)
BB ($130.05)
UTG ($105.15)
MP ($100)
Hero ($100)
Button ($249.15)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q.
1 fold, MP raises to $3.5, Hero raises to $11, 3 folds, MP calls $7.50.

Flop: ($23.50) 7, 3, 8 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $17, MP raises to $34, Hero raises to $106 (All-In), MP calls $55 (All-In).

Turn: ($201.50) T (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($201.50) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $201.50

5:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP ($158.20)
CO ($70.10)
Button ($100)
Hero ($102.65)
BB ($200.20)
UTG ($105.55)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
UTG raises to $4, 1 fold, CO raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero raises to $32.5, 1 fold, UTG folds, CO calls $24.

Flop: ($69.50) , , (2 players)
Hero bets $40, CO calls $38.10 (All-In).

Turn: ($145.70) (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($145.70) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $145.70


This one I think played badly, it was after my aces got wtfpwned twice in a row and I played it way too scared I think. It was against a fish, 50/0/3 over like 25 hands, against that kind of opponent I think I need to just get it in on turn.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP ($100)
CO ($88.55)
Hero ($100)
SB ($85.80)
BB ($106.75)
UTG ($88.80)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
3 folds, Hero raises to $2.5, SB calls $2, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($7.50) , , (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $7.5, Hero raises to $24, SB folds, BB calls $16.50.

Turn: ($55.50) (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($55.50) (2 players)
Villain all in, Hero folds.
Final Pot: $55.50

I'm pretty sure I run worse than anyone.

Nothing like starting your first 300 hands of the day down 5 buyins and being up 3 in sklanksy bucks. Anyone who says 20 buyins is enough for a level is fucking insane. I can drop that in bad beats in 2000 hands.

I really feel like most people will never experience how bad I've run. I'd guess it's in the 99th percentile of shitty running. I've had 3 days this month alone where I've dropped 4-5 buyins to bad beats in quick succession, the odds of each happening is something crazy like .15^4. Today it was 2 outs after the flop, 2 outs before the flop, 2 outs before the flop, 5 outs after the flop. Doing some quick math, the chance of me losing all of those in a row is like .002%. Like, 1 in 5000. WTF. The fact that this exact scenario has happened to me multiple times this month (dropping 4-5 buyins to bad beats in sucession under 500 hands each time) is just fucked up.

Maybe I should buy poker tracker just so I can use hold'em EV and see if I'm just retarded and actually don't run that bad. I really fucking doubt it.

Whats the hand count on the year?

125k hands so far this year. Should be enough to overcome any short term variance and I'm not a winning player this year, so yeah.

Meh, I've run like shit this month, but last month was a heater. Of course this month I've played 30k hands and last month I played 15k so : /.

Overall I still feel like I run bad but it's probably not as bad as I make it out to be. Especially considering all-in luck isn't all of variance in poker, there's so much more and I probably run at expectation everywhere else. I think I have really bad problems with concentration and tilt when I'm losing. Today I took a 4 hour break after the first few hands, and then came back and played some really bad poker. I thought I was mentally ready to play but I was wrong. So that combines with badluck to make the insane downswings I run into.

Today I learned a valuable lesson about full house counterfeiting.

SB is a tard 50/0/3 kinda player who would call with every single pair and plenty of 5's. I just called the flop because I figured his range had a solid amount of draws I'd like him to hit but god I wish I had raised.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($163.40)
BB ($100)
UTG ($107.25)
MP ($98.50)
CO ($171.15)
Hero ($111.30)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 4, 4. UTG posts a blind of $1.
MP raises to $3.5, 1 fold, Hero calls $3.50, SB calls $3, 1 fold.

Flop: ($11.50) 5, 5, 4 (4 players)
SB bets $11.5, MP folds, Hero calls $11.50.

Turn: ($34.50) 5 (3 players)
SB bets $34.5, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $34.50

I am SO STUPID for not raising this flop.

The doomswitch continues. I continue to run like a asthmatic kid with 1 leg: Really badly.

I also continue to suck at playing poker which doesnt help things. I proceeded to stack off to the player above with AT on a AQ7 two tone board on the flop.

Another day of waking up and losing 4 buyins in an hour. This is just fucking predictable now.

I'll post something about running bad and tilt in my blog sometime ahead.

I personally have been going through much the same shit as you. Long story short: you start seeing ghosts.
You will start looking for (and finding!) patterns where there are none. The world is against you. Yada yada.

What you have to do, and keep realizing, is to sit back and enjoy the view. Try and zoom out, and think about the big picture.


All you have to keep worrying about is to keep getting your money in good. That's it.

YOU FAIL SIR.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6413746849: $14,000 Guarantee (48106156), Table 23 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:33:50 ET - 2008/05/14
Seat 1: trias55 (3,832)
Seat 2: gamemaster86 (15,602)
Seat 3: Enterlude (13,039)
Seat 4: CapTinBisKuiT (6,465)
Seat 5: sweethowie (12,301)
Seat 6: NasJones (3,431)
sweethowie posts the small blind of 60
NasJones posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trias55 [Ks Ad]
trias55 raises to 360
gamemaster86 folds
Enterlude folds
CapTinBisKuiT folds
sweethowie folds
NasJones calls 240
*** FLOP *** [Th Jh 4s]
NasJones checks
trias55 checks
*** TURN *** [Th Jh 4s] [Td]
NasJones bets 171
trias55 calls 171
*** RIVER *** [Th Jh 4s Td] [Js]
NasJones bets 2,900, and is all in
trias55 has 15 seconds left to act
trias55 has requested TIME
trias55 calls 2,900
*** SHOW DOWN ***
NasJones shows [6c 6s] two pair, Jacks and Tens
trias55 shows [Ks Ad] two pair, Jacks and Tens
trias55 wins the pot (6,922) with two pair, Jacks and Tens
NasJones stands up
trias55 stands up
gamemaster86 stands up
Enterlude stands up
CapTinBisKuiT stands up
sweethowie stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,922 | Rake 0
Board: [Th Jh 4s Td Js]
Seat 1: trias55 showed [Ks Ad] and won (6,922) with two pair, Jacks and Tens
Seat 2: gamemaster86 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Enterlude didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: CapTinBisKuiT (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: sweethowie (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: NasJones (big blind) showed [6c 6s] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Tens

What you have to do, and keep realizing, is to sit back and enjoy the view. Try and zoom out, and think about the big picture.

So true. Maybe I should try meditation.

Oh, and if anyone can do a $200 Full tilt -> Stars transfer for me so I can play in the Guantlet, PM me please!

I'm done with 6 max.

If I want a challenge and to be intensely into the game, I'll play HU. If I want to be on auto-pilot a little bit I'll play FR. But no more 6 max unless game selection dictates it. I just don't think I have the focus necessary to play it.

How in the flying fuck does anyone learn how to control their tilt?? Do some people just not tilt naturally? Is there some process you go through. I'm so fucking terrible it's a joke, I'm never going to be able to make any money at this game unless I can somehow stop tilting.

Whoa. I'm back. This thread is way fun to read.

I now play 200-600NL profitably. I think I'm pretty good. Cheers!

Props to FTR for helping me out to get to this point. Seriously, many, many props.

Unless I suck and I'm just running good, in case, fuck you ftr.