Operation: Ben learns poker and builds a roll

You should update more .

I think for a) a lot of it is getting back to basing my reactions on how I played the hand, not the results. If I figured I was well ahead of the majority of his range but ran into the top of it, then I played good and next hand, rather than feeling like shit because I ran into the top of his range. I definately need to stop thinking about winning it back from the player who took it. Thats detrimental to my game.

b) I think you touch on the right idea, and also the problem. Jyms was kind of the same. We've got plans already made for our money. For me, since my withdrawal I've literally kept a list of things I've bought that I would have bought with poker money if I had it, that I plan to pay back. I also have a mental list of things I plan to buy that I'm holding off until I get the money from poker. I think that weighs on my mind. I dont neccesarily want to scrap those plans and just play "in the now", but I've got to find a way of accepting that I'll get there when I get there and pushing too hard doesnt help, it hinders.

Shitty session. Started well, finished badly. Couple of crappy hands I'm not sure about so I'll post. Probably should have quit earlier rather than keep going when I wasnt feeling great.

Hand 1

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (4 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($45.35)
Hero (UTG) ($60.30)
Button ($123.20)
SB ($241.72)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with J, J
Hero bets $1.75, Button raises $6, 2 folds, Hero calls $4.25

Flop: ($12.75) 9, 6, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $8, Button calls $8

Turn: ($28.75) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $18, Button raises $55, Hero calls $28.30 (All-In)

I kind of felt like I priced myself in on turn, but c/c seems way too weak. Tbh I thought I had initiative on flop so didnt mean to donk deliberately. Probably an indication I should have quit before now. Villain is aggro (42, 31 with 8.5% 3-bet), has previously 3-bet me with AQo when I raised UTG and got all in with TP. Has pushed me off a couple pots earlier this session.



Hand 2

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($81.50)
Button ($71.70)
SB ($18.60)
BB ($81.70)
UTG ($55.60)
Hero (MP) ($59.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP with J, J
1 fold, Hero bets $1.75, 1 fold, Button calls $1.75, SB raises $4.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $3, Button calls $3

Flop: ($14.75) 2, 4, 9 (3 players)
SB bets $13.85 (All-In), Hero calls $13.85, Button calls $13.85

Turn: ($56.30) 5 (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, Button bets $8.75, Hero calls $8.75

River: ($73.80) 6 (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, Button bets $17.25, Hero calls $17.25

Total pot: $108.30

SB is 61/15 wtih 18% 3-bet over fairly small sample. Btn is 40/12 over small sample. Looks like he hates to fold but I cant remember knowing that at the time. I actually had a connection problem and timed out on turn which is why the turn check. Given I checked is c/c or c/shove better?

Also PF given shorties 3-bet I called planning to call a lot of flop cbets, but should I just 4-bet the JJ to get it HU?

More I look at those hands, the more I see I butchered them. Definately shows I should quit earlier if I'm losing concentration.

#1 Flop bet is too small for a wet board. Turn... yeah priced in, blah...

#2 Weird hand. I iso-raise on the flop. Min-ish should be enough to tell whether he wants to see the river or not. We have to put him on a set to NOT commit on the flop.

Bored tonight so loaded up two tournies, a $2.20 Omaha and a $22 NLHE. About 50 players in the omaha but only 6 in the HE (hence why I played a $22, cant really fit that in as a real MTT but STT fits into BRM plan). Anyway, I won both because tonight I rock at poker!

Won nearly $100 all up which was nice, probably about broke me even from my losses this morning. Nothing too exciting, although as I got the big (HOOGE!) stack in the omaha it made me wonder at what point do I just call a shove in the BB without looking at my cards (pot odds). I suspect its larger than HE, because I'm fairly sure I read that theres less gap PF between hands equity, but not sure. Didnt matter in the end, I ran super hot and had good-great hands every time from 3 handed down. Both tournies were weird in that both opponents just started shoving crap when they didnt need to. Last hand of the omaha he shove for only a few hundred chips over my raise with a 9 high unconnected hand. Just weird, but I'll take it. Guy in the HE tourney called my 12bb shove with 78s (hit a boat but I got it back soon enough).

Anyway, fun to run well in donkaments, and definately a good idea if I really want to play poker but know my heads not really right.

shiiiiiiiip

Another losing session, not sure whats up with this one. Thought I was actually winning then checked about 30 mins in and I was down. Just cold-decked a bit I think. Lots of c-bet/folds, lots of PF raises that got 3-bet and I folded, lots of calls with draws that missed, dont think I hit a single set, stuff like that. A few coolers along the way with AK called by K8 on KQ7 flop and turned an 8 by a bad player, AJ v's A5 on an A5Xtt flop v's a bad short player. Rivered straight v's flopped nut flush in 3-bet pot v's 70/40 who checked to river then bet, stuff like that. Just no good sized pots my way. Not too dissappointed about my play, just not happy with the results.

Shitty, 3rd -$80 session in a row. Again felt I played ok, just not hitting anything. I checked, over my last 1500 hands I've hit 2 sets. Only 2 flushes and one of them I lost to a better one. Lost every all in where I've had below 60% equity. I dunno, I'll keep looking for good spots and try to only play when the heads right and hopefully get through.

Hand posting time. Slightly losing session saved only by AA actually getting paid a few times. Biggest 4 losers I was ahead on every one on flop. Gonna paste for thoughts:

Hand 1

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($48)
Hero (SB) ($59.75)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, 5
Button calls $0.25, Hero checks

Flop: ($1) 10, Q, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $1, Hero calls $1

Turn: ($3) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $3, Hero raises $7, Button calls $4

River: ($17) 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $17, Hero calls $17

Total pot: $51


Pretty sure this was an easy c/f on river.


Hand 2

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($56.28)
UTG ($51.60)
MP ($123.15)
CO ($52.45)
Hero (Button) ($55.25)
SB ($24.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 6
1 fold, MP bets $1.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.75, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($5.75) 7, 8, 7 (3 players)
SB checks, MP checks, Hero bets $4, SB calls $4, 1 fold

Turn: ($13.75) 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $9, SB calls $9

River: ($31.75) 3 (2 players)
SB bets $9.75 (All-In), Hero calls $9.75

Total pot: $51.25


This ones closer. Very bad player.


Hand 3

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (4 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($4)
Hero (BB) ($80.65)
UTG ($51.55)
Button ($49.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, K
UTG bets $1.75, 1 fold, SB calls $1.50, Hero raises $7, UTG calls $5.75, SB calls $2.25 (All-In)

Flop: ($19) 7, J, 3 (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero bets $8, UTG calls $8

Turn: ($35) 3 (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero checks, UTG bets $18.25, Hero folds

River: ($35) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $35

Yes I was ahead in this one too. So shitty, but wtf who calls flop and bluffs turn with air there? How should I have played though?


Hand 4

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($70.90)
Button ($43.75)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, Q
Button bets $1.25, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($3) 5, Q, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($7) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $4, Hero calls $4

River: ($15) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $8, Hero calls $8

Total pot: $31

Opponent is a pretty bad TAG.

First two hands are so bad in review. Those $27 would have made it a profitable session if I'd folded rivers.

Overall in general I think I need to fold more. Its something I was good at recently. Started floating a heap and stuff lately.

1. How could you have been ahead on the flop? Btw I call this river, too. A really stupid or stubborn Q might bet here. Ever see anyone move all in to find out where they were at? Same idea...

2. Turn commits you. It's a shitty spot and yes you can fold the river, but if there's any chance shorty is bluffing (and I think there is) than you can call.

3. Not a great spot to bluff an almost dry side pot without a read, but as played we all fold the turn.

4. I play kind of agro HU, but if you think he'll bluff a lot this is a really good line.

All in all I think you're beating yourself up for no reason.

1. You're right, I was way ahead on turn though.

3. I was torn here, but I definately thought there was a very good chance he'd bet flop if I checked. I wasnt ahead here either, but he had AK also and a double barrel would have folded him, but I cant see how I could justify doing that.

4. I was torn, and definately raising here is fine (probably good). I expected 2 barrels out of him with his whole range though, and tried to give off timing that I was weak. His TPNK improved to a weak 2P on turn.


Yeah, my head isnt good atm. It just feels like I keep getting outdrawn all the time. My EV is only a couple down, its pots like this where they catch up on me.


Hand 2 shits me. He had 95o for a gutshot on flop and a 9 high FD on turn. I was about 90% on flop and 75% on turn.

I just wonder if I'm calling when I'm likely beat too much. I dunno, maybe marginal spots that when I'm running good I win more often and just havnt lately.

pm me and ill go through hands with u 2m if u want.

quick look and they are meh, dislike last HU hand. i 3bet flop

Oops, meant to try to find you for a sweat if you were up to it this morning (night for you), slept in a bit though.

Good morning session, +3 buyins. Some sorta interesting spots though, gonna post a thread in the SH forum, might post some here also. God it feels good to both start hitting hands and getting paid on them.

Ben? Since our talk what has changed. Look into yourself and make sure your not falling right into the same ole'. It's only been a bit of time since so those habits are not ingrained and I have not seen too much posted about changes. what have you learned, watched or are doing differently.


Again I ask, "What's the definition of Insanity?"

Thanks Jyms, I had a similar conversation with myself yesterday. The few days/week after we talked a lot was different, but I've slid. I think it has to do with tiredness. Last week I was getting to bed early, waking early and feeling great after a workout. This week I had a big weekend away and started staying up later, sleeping in, missing some workouts, etc. I still avoided playing bad tables late at night, but was playing decent tables when my head wasnt too good in the mornings (on the assumption that I couldnt miss the opportunity of playing the bad players). Same trap, different situation. Blinded by the fact that because I was doing one thing right (avoiding the bad time of day) I believed I was still on track.

Also (god, this sounds even more familiar when I type it out) because I've been tired I stopped watching those vids after the second one as I didnt feel like I could concentrate.

Man, thanks for the wakeup call Jyms.

Then last night I had a big sleep and played well and won. Cards helped, but a fresh mind wouldnt have hurt either...

Thought I was right this morning, not a great nights sleep but not too bad. Went for a bike ride, enjoyed a nice breakfast. Played shocking though. Too many distractions (wife and son in background, tv going, etc). Lost two buyins.

Thoughts on this hand?


No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($49)
MP ($51.65)
CO ($54.15)
Hero (Button) ($68.50)
SB ($41.50)
BB ($17.90)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 6
3 folds, Hero bets $1.75, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($4) 9, 6, 10 (2 players)
SB bets $0.50, Hero raises $4, SB calls $3.50

Turn: ($12) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $7, SB calls $7

River: ($26) K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero...


Villain has about $28 left.

To me its a perfect example of why I lose money when I'm not thinking clearly. K is worst card in the deck, but I shove in hoping to get called by worse. I guess the real question though is whether a smaller bet is better, or just check behind?

So you put him on JQ only?
You think you can b/f ???

I shove all day, he could have all kinds of 2 pair hands.

His action screams a draw, and QJ is the most likely one. Unless he has like KT then 2P is unlikely based on actions. I probably cant b/f because even if I bet something like $9 and he shoves, then its only $19 to win $63 and I have a set. The question is more does shoving get called by enough of his hands that its more +EV than just betting $9 and getting called by his 1P hands. Also is betting at all +EV compared to just checking behind.

I don't see how we have enough info NOT to bet this. He led minimum on the flop then called a raise and a smallish turn bet. His range is so wide that I'd bet like $10 hoping for some value. I'm certainly calling the shove that comes after, and I'm not feeling bad about it.

In the absence of reads I think this could be pretty much any Ax hand (they're not always going to fold the flop you know)... A9, AT obviously... possibly even 2 pair on the flop or AK depending on AF. JQ is way too narrow imo, and b/f would be too much of a superstar move for me... My reads aren't that solid

Ok, thanks guys. Maybe I'm a bit results oriented on that one. I had two sets beaten by rivered draws in that session, one all in on flop and the other this one. Irritating.

Played 2 more sessions. I lol'd at the results from them so thought I'd share:



Second session (so top session in SS) is easily the longest time and most hands I've ever played at once. Wasnt bad though, I felt good almost all the time. I did have a few minutes break to settle my son down when he woke about halfway through which may have helped also. Interesting, over 3 hrs and 1.8k hands of 8-tabling, I never dropped into the red and never got above 1 buyin up I dont think. Not much either side if I did (actually, may have got stacked very early then come back from it fairly quickly).

At a quick look I dont hate many of my hands other than that early one. I might take DaGoat up on his offer to review a bunch of hands since theres a few marginal type ones. Mainly times I flop draws I think, might paste a few tomorrow, but for now its sleep time. Ended the day down about $15, not too bad after the shitty start this morning.

Heres one interesting spot from last night for comment:

49/25 lagtard. 83% cbet. Fairly sure psb cbet is standard

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
5 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($74.65)
CO ($39.64)
BTN ($105.00)
Hero (SB) ($55.65)
BB ($50.00)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 5 players) Hero is SB
1 fold, CO raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($4, 2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $4, Hero raises to $12, CO calls $8

Turn: ($28, 2 players)
Hero ($41.90)?


Villain has about a PSB behind.

1.5hr session today. Basically break even (few $s up) but a buyin below EV. AK < AQ ai pre for a fullstack v's a guy I've been trying to get into just such a situation for weeks didnt help. I'm now down 4 buyins from ring for the month, but almost 3 buyins below EV so not so bad. Probably up over $100 in tourneys and cashed in $50 of bonus, so its not all bad.

VPIP seems a little low over the last few k hands, which is strange because it feels like I'm playing the same range. Maybe its not quite as wide OTB as it used to be. Maybe its just the cards.

[edit] No-one on msn, sad .

I think a turn shove is in order here. He could be easily be floating the flop with anything, so there still is a tonne of FE. I don't know how to work out precise FE calculations but i would think shoving is the best option here, with him only having a PSB left.

edit: 12 pages hooray....and feel free to add me to msn if u want.

Thats the thing, I have no idea how much FE I have. Does this guy fold any pair? How likely is it he has an OESD or worse FD than me? I'm just worried that I'm normally getting it in behind a crap hand on this one a lot if I shove.

Sigh, guess I'll call this another chance to practise quitting:

c/r JJ ai in 3-bet pot with FD on A high monotone flop, get called by QQ. 42% no catch (QQ no FD).

AA < KK in 3-bet pot on K high flop.

QQ < ATo ai pre.

Made some good plays and only ended $90 down, but pretty meh session. Other than the JJ one I think I played fine, and that one I think I had odds for (and given result in the hand I obviously SHOULD have had some FE on top).

Rough month, gotta work on the mental side more. Think its been ok recently, but cant relax on it. Down 6 buyins in ring and running 4 buyins below EV.

Ben you know I went through this last month and other FTRers are still going through this. Sure as you move up this crap is disgustingly annoying but seriously keep at it. After awhile you'll just begin to laugh at the beats if they get worse but as long as you keep playing you'll get out of this. I suggest googling some breathing exercises, which works for me, and/or other similar techniques. Obv. watching some of the psyc. vids at poker sites should help as well.

Yeah, I know. My posts seem fairly negative lately, probably because I tend to make them directly after sessions. I think this week I've done a much better job of approaching the games right, I just cant ignore them while they're happenning as well as I'd like. I have seemed to have done better quitting when it does get to me though. I cant think of any tilt related bad hands I've played this week, and that includes a 3hr session where I think I kept my head all the way through. Ideally of course I do need to get to the point where this can happen during a session and not affect me.

I went to bed for 2 hrs in the middle of day today. I dont feel sick as such, just worn out or something. Not so much tired in a lack of sleep kind of way.

So I do it again, post after an annoying session. I think I'll stop updating until I have something other than bad beat stories to tell. After this one. Just below break even session, a buyin down on EV. Every single time I got ai I was above 50% but lost a 60% and a 70% of them. Fun one was AA v 96s in 4-bet pot where he hit runner runner flush after flopping a gutshot. EV doesnt include two hands where I was 90% or better on turn and lost hands without getting ai.

Think I held my head pretty well. Only stopped due to a phonecall from work. Will review more detail later but felt I played pretty well. Last few sessions could all have been significantly positive if cards had just been a little nicer, so I'll keep plugging away.

Probably my last update for a while unless people ask questions or comment. I think I'll stop updating till I'm making positive $'s again, frequent updates with how I'm losing money is getting demoralizing. Also I've just had a position change at work, and whilst the new one is going to be fun, its going to take a lot of work, and I'm not sure how much poker I'll get in. Starts next week. Hopefully I can get into a system of waking early and working out then playing for a bit before work, but will see how it goes.

Onto general poker chat. One thing I find, and I think its why my results are often so swingy, is that I play a lot of bad players. I know this is ideal, but it allows a sense of complacency to slip in. I have SO many people bet pot on river as a bluff, that its really hard not to call river with anything when someone pots it. Sometimes this results in really good results when I catch a heap of bluffs in one session, however sometimes it results in really poor results when they're not actually bluffing. I had a guy in 30 minutes v's other players constantly PSB three streets in multiway limped pots only to have them fold river and him flash complete air (23o once). Then I have KTo and it flops QJT and I call two PSBs with BP+FD and he pots river again. I just cant find a fold here when he has air SO often, but ldo this time he has QT for 2P. My initial instinct is to kick myself, but in reality of the say 10 times he's done this, thats the only strong hand he had. Its easy to slap myself for having bottom pair, but in reality he beat TPTK also. Still thats the kind of hand that wins me half a buyin some sessions and loses me half a buyin in another. Add a few of those together in a session and you get swingy sessions. It also affects my reads and analysis of hands. Kmind just posted one where he hit a Q high flush on a 4-flush board and wants to fold to an almost PSB because he cant see someone value betting worse there. I've had players value bet a 2 or 3 of the suit in their hand there, and LOTs of pure bluffs. Thats a snap call for me, but probably a good fold for him.

I see the same with other people. Their recommendations in hands is influenced not only by how their normal opponents play, but also by their own image. Aggressive laggy players recommend stacking off fairly light, because based on their image people stack off light v's them, and play back a lot. Nitty players recommend folding a lot, because when people raise them they always have the nuts. Stuff like that. I guess I need to bare that in mind when I answer threads (happening less often now as my confidence takes a beating), but something everyone should be aware of is to take it into account when reading others responses to HHs.

Anyway, like I say I doubt I'll update results before the end of the month unless I make it into the positive.

Hey Ben don't stop posting man. I'm finally back into the swing of things again so I want to post any awful advice I can give again. But your last post definitely makes a lot of sense. When I sweated you, your players seemed a lot different than what I usually get and I could definitely see how swingy it can get. Hopefully we can get a sweat in soon. I'd like to watch a video of yours as well as you watching one of mine because you owe it to me and hopefully we can see a little more how we differ/agree on spots and kind of go more in depth in each of them.

About the hand postings, I agree that some people have an image and think they play like yours so they tell you biased opinions but I honestly think for the most part people are pretty honest and understand we each have our own image and sometimes our image barely affects our play as our opponents are terribad. As for my hand I posted, it's completely read dependent. He was a solid player and I just can like almost never see him having a worse flush and never a bluff there. What's been making me win lately again is I finally am back at putting people on ranges on the spot/in hand and figuring out how to manipulate my range against there's to make each play more EV. I'm really interested in at least 1 video of yours to watch...I'm not the greatest but I think I can try to give some advice as I really think I'm improving lately.

Yeah great idea. I'll definately do a vid soon. Its funny, I havnt done one because I've been going bad and feel...embarrased about putting out a video where I might be playing bad, however thats exactly the kind of video I'd get the most benefit from having reviewed (like ISFs thread about getting criticism).

I'm not suggesting people are posting bad advice, in fact I think its very useful to get opinions from a variety of good players who have different play styles, my point is that they're most useful if we bare in mind WHY their advice is different and how that could (or could not) apply to your game. Your thread is the perfect examples. Of the best players on FTR neither hand got the same answer by everyone.

Didnt play for four or five days there. In the office the last couple days of last week, then really sick over the weekend. Played a session now, started good with KK holding up ai pre v's AK and a shorty 66, but quickly went down hill with a flopped straight against a gutshot that hit runner runner flush and then set under set v's a maniac. I just quit then, I need to work out my headspace, I should be able to take two beats/coolers without losing my control but it feels like its not just those two, its all the ones leading up recently also.

Something thats hard when you're running bad: honestly appraising your game. Are you playing bad, or just running bad? How much is the cards and how much is you?

I really feel like I'm not playing well atm. In essense it feels like I'm playing a nut-hunting game. I'm waiting to get AA/KK ai preflop, or hit a set and stack someone with AA/KK. Thats not my entire game, but it feels kinda close. My non-showdown winnings has been diving all month (generally I maintain about break even). My vpip/pfr are both down. I feel like the fish are getting lucky and the regs are beating me up. I'm sure some of this is just me being down, but I really think my game needs an overhaul.

I need to do a video and get people to review.
I need to get some people to sweat me.
I need to break down my own game and work it back up.


Jyms is right, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. At this point, logging in and playing the same as I have been is just silly.

Part of the problem is I dont know where to start. Hopefully I saved my convo with kmind where he gave me Sauce's fallback range for playing bad. I've never once used a pre-flop starting range chart, but nows probably the time. Post some more hands, and get working on some stuff. Talk to folks about poker in general, not only specific hands. Get back to the vids.

Times limited, I really am busy at work atm, but I just feel like only squeezing in playing without any other work on my game right now would be counter-productive.

Some quick notes on HEM analysis over lunch:

I'm well up with PPs in general.
I'm well up on PPs when I dont hit a set on the flop.
I'm well down on hands where I call a 3-bet.
In the last month I've never once won a hand where I wasnt PFR and called bets on every street.
In PPs when I dont hit a set on the flop I hit a set on turn twice out of 58 hands and got stacks in both times, so this may be inflated over small sample when I say I'm up.
I'm well down on calling PF with SCs of all values.
I'm down on calling PF with high SCs, although there are a few big hands I lost where I was close to 90% or higher on turn.


Atm the main leak that stands out is stuff like raising MP with JJ calling a 3-bet from BB and calling bets on flop turn and river. This has been a bigger pair every single time. On the other hand I've won a few times where I've only called 2 streets.

What size sample is this? I'm hoping I can combine a similar analysis and we can compare? I suck at HEM though.

Sample size of around 8k hands I guess. This month so far. I know there were around 550 PPs total in the sample size. Its small, but I take that into account.

Filters were pretty basic, if you get on msn more we can work some of these things together .

Originally Posted by bjsaust

In the last month I've never once won a hand where I wasnt PFR and called bets on every street.

Wow is this possible even? Either people are huge nits or you're not flatting enough strong hands IP on the flop. Hopefully this is just a sample size thing!

Originally Posted by griffey24

Originally Posted by bjsaust

In the last month I've never once won a hand where I wasnt PFR and called bets on every street.

Wow is this possible even? Either people are huge nits or you're not flatting enough strong hands IP on the flop. Hopefully this is just a sample size thing!

I think it's a logic thing.

When he was NOT the PFR and he CALLED bets on EVERY street, he did not win. How many hands happen like that? I'd be surprised to see more than 1 in every 2500 hands go like that.

What is the sample size for this anyway?

Hmm, actually thats filtered by holecards, so PPs and high SCs. So things like TT call OTB and call 3 streets, or QKs call and hit TPGK and call 3 streets postflop. As dev says it doesnt include hands where I raise at any point postflop. Sample size of this situation is fairly small because it doesnt happen that often. Sample size before filtering is about 10k hands.

Actually just refined the filter, theres only 3 hands like this for the month, one TT on a 9Q3JQ board where I was PFR v's TAG and he donked twotone flop, JJ in 3-bet pot on with overpair to the board, and JJ v's a bet/bluff maniac who again donked when I was PFR on KT7 flop (he put in 3 psb's with TPNK and I paid him off). So in reality I actually was PFR in two of those hands so I was mixed up last night. Still those 3 hands add over 2 buyins to my losses.

Hmm, dont want to turn this into a tilt thread, so lets just leave it at another 1.5 buyins below EV after being ahead every ai hand in todays session. Also a few when I wasnt all in but was well ahead on turn and priced in on river. Down 2 buyins over 500 hands.

Going to do some more analysis work. Try to find out where the money is flowing out other than stackoff situations.

Roll is down to $1400, almost the lowest point for the year. I'm probably going to drop down my number of tables, and even thinking about dropping back to 25nl for a week or two. Not a permanent movedown, just till I get my head right.

I'm in the office the next two days and away most of the weekend, so not sure if I'll get much more playing in till next week anyway.

OK, lets try to get some lessons out of all this. I'm going to post 2-3 hands per day, interested in feedback:

Hand 1

I know I played this bad, but interested in best ways. Villain is 65/15 and likes pressing buttons (i.e., all his raises are min-raises and all his bets are pot). He does it with all kinds of weak crap and then folds to raises.


No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (4 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($50.25)
UTG ($75.67)
Hero (Button) ($108.95)
SB ($50.89)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
1 fold, Hero bets $1.50, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($3.50) 10, 6, 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3, SB raises $6, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($15.50) 2 (2 players)
SB bets $15.50, Hero calls $15.50

River: ($46.50) J (2 players)
SB bets $27.89 (All-In), Hero calls $27.89

Total pot: $102.28



Hand 2

Villain is 63/0 and very passive. His donk on turn means he now either has 2P or he floated flop with AJ. I've seen the mb on river before, it means he thinks his good hand might not be good anymore.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($38.95)
CO ($38.39)
Hero (Button) ($55.10)
SB ($46.55)
BB ($67.76)
UTG ($82.85)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 7
2 folds, CO calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold, BB checks

Flop: ($1.75) 5, 4, 7 (3 players)
BB checks, CO checks, Hero bets $1, 1 fold, CO calls $1

Turn: ($3.75) J (2 players)
CO bets $3.75, Hero calls $3.75

River: ($11.25) 3 (2 players)
CO bets $0.50, Hero raises $10, CO calls $9.50

Total pot: $31.25



Hand 3

Limper is 56/17. I've seen him get aggressive and stack off with some really strange hands before (MP 3-bet flop and psb turn and river). Didnt have a good feel/memory at this time though.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($58.60)
BB ($95.85)
UTG ($49.25)
MP ($47.95)
Button ($69.61)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, Q
1 fold, MP calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero bets $1.75, 1 fold, MP calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.50) K, 10, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $3, MP calls $3

Turn: ($10.50) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $5, Hero calls $5

River: ($20.50) K (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $20.50, Hero folds

Total pot: $20.50

#1 Just raise/get it in on this flop ldo. Board is too wet to get fancy. As played get in on this lovely bricked turn when he has just commited himself with just about anything. As played I fold river I guess.

#2 With some reads on him postflop Id just iso pre. You can add a lot of JXss to this guys range, why Id probably fold the turn.

#3 I just complete pre. Usually Im talking myself into a call on this river, given that only J9 got there and his sizing on turn and river makes little sense. Guy is probably peeling flop with any 7, T, QJ, 98 and some gutters. River is basically a brick and weird players love to bluff paired boards for whatever reason. You have to be right only 33%, so dont muck.

1. Yeah agree totally. I REALLY messed this one up. For some reason lately in the heat of the moment I become convinced I need to let people keep bluffing their bluff range, when in reality I should be stacking off v's his weak range here.

2. Turn was probably a fold, I felt I had decent implied odds at the time if I hit, but in review I disagree. Also agree on the iso, realised that was a mistake the moment I called pf.

3. Interested on thoughts v's completing and isolating OOP here. Beyond that, you're probably right. If I was solid on my read at the time I'd have been more likely to call, I wasnt sure at the time I had things right.


Come with some ideas out of HEM filters on what one of my bigger problems might be. I'll make another reply soon sorting things out and asking for feedback.

Ok, so most of this came out of a conversation with Jyms while I was running filters in HEM and also Griffey once I'd found some stuff. Just want to summarise some of the stuff, and hoping other 6-max players might run the same filters and let me know their results to compare.

My filters are only over this month, which stands at 10k hands. Small sample, but I want to find what I'm doing wrong now, since I'm a winning player overall. I'm set to bb/100, not BB/100 or ptbb/100.


VPIP = true - More filters tab, vpip=true.

1800 hands, $413 profit at 45bb/100

Basically tells me when I'm choosing to play hands I'm winning.

Pots where I put in more than 20bbs - More filters tab, vpip = true, and Player won or lost BBs is bigger than [20]

178 hands, $63 profit at 73bb/100

Small sample obviously, but contrary to my complaints about suckouts, beats and coolers this tells me I'm actually making profit on my big bet hands. I would suspect this is higher for most people though.

Trainer Jyms says:
so blinds are whats draining the funds?

Blinds with vpip = false Main filters tab - untick all bar Small Blind and Big Blind in positions section, More filters tab - VPIP = false.

3.4k hands -$900 at -53 bb/100

So I'm down $500 for the month and theres $900 from hands where I'm in the blinds and vpip = false.

Blinds with vpip = true As above but remove VPIP = false and add VPIP = true on More Filters tab.

670 hands, $300 profit at 94 bb/100.

So the hands where I do choose to play from the blinds I make a healthy profit. Not that surprising as I've tried to have a very tight range there. Combine the two and I'm down about $600 in the blinds, so maybe while I'm winning well when I do play, my range is so tight its causing me to lose too much overall?

Heres the thing, my 3-bet percent is only 2.2% from the blinds.

Blinds where I could 3-bet As above but remove VPIP filter and select Could 3-bet = true on More Filters tab.

1900 hands, -$650 at -67bb/100.


Now I dont want to get too carried away, its fairly usual to lose money in the blinds. I'm also only a very marginal winner from the CO and BTN. This month they're at 1.7bb/100 and 3.7bb/100 respectively. Over Feb those were at 70bb/100 and 37bb/100 respectively, and in Feb I only finished up 2 buyins for the whole month. Probably got sample size issues with both lots of stats there.

I do think a good start though would be to start opening up my 3-bet range again. I think when I started running bad I became really passive and took out almost all my 3-bet bluffs. I had a good long convo with both Jyms and Griffey on how to do this.

Next up will be looking into those LP rates and figuring out why they're so low. In the meantime, if any other 6-max players want to run the same filters over decent samples and let me know their bb/100 rates for them, I'd really appreciate it. Any advice or thoughts on where to look would also be appreciated.

EOM roundup. Played a bit yesterday and today after 4 days without playing, up about 2 buyins over around 1.4k hands. Opened my game up, both IP raises and 3-bet ranges. Did a bit of work on pokerstove with ranges after chatting to Griffey. Probably too early to tell if its been worthwhile, but its felt good. Cant really say if I'm playing better or just running better.

Did some work in HEM over my CO/BTN hands, and really nothing stood out. Statistically speaking I played very similar to Feb, I just lost more of my big pots. Havnt really been able to conclude much more than I need to play better and run better.

Down $380 for the month in cash. Up $100 in tourneys, and $50 bonus, so down about $230 for the month on my BR. At least I finished with slightly over $1500 in it, after being down to $1400 and maybe below at one time.

Not really sure where to from here. I'd really prefer it if I'd found a glaring hole in my game, at least then I could fix it. One thing I did notice is I've had a steadily decreasing W$WOshowdown line all month, and since I openned things up and got more aggressive, the last 1.5k hands have been flat again. Its always hell trying to find where the leaks are that cause that line to go down, but maybe I lucked onto it. For most of the month my won at showdown line has been steadily going up, so getting close to breakeven on non-showdown hands is a big deal.

Work still busy, gotta do more of that. Been hitting the gym semi-regularly which is nice, done fairly well last 5 days or so.

Had Gastro last weekend. First time I've ever really had it bad, TMI but until then I'd never vomitted other than from alcohol, thought I had a cast-iron stomach. Unfortunately since then I still havnt really recovered. Had a queezy stomach quite often, and gets fairly painful at times too. Not really sure whats going on. Coffee and spicy food seem to make it worse, which is a pity because I drink a lot of coffee and like spicy food . I guess if it keeps going too long I'll find someone to talk to about it. Annoying since it does keep me out of the gym or distract me from work sometimes.

If theres one thing I struggle with, its separating running good/bad from playing good/bad. I'm running a little hot atm, but is it variance coming back, or the changes I've made to my game? I'd like to think a little of both.

I played a session now, I couldnt sleep so got up at about 4:30 and played for an hour. I ran 3 buyins below EV by the end of March, I ran 3 buyins above EV in this one session. That said, other than one bad hand based off HUD stats over too small a sample, I felt I played really well. I just hit my drawing hands a lot which I didnt do last month. Biggest one was this one:

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($50.05)
BB ($40.60)
UTG ($18.38)
Hero (MP) ($67.90)
CO ($61.05)
Button ($57.78)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A, A
UTG calls $0.50, Hero bets $2.25, 1 fold, Button calls $2.25, 1 fold, BB calls $1.75, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($9.25) 10, 7, 3 (4 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $9.25, Hero raises $37, Button raises $55.53 (All-In), 1 fold, UTG calls $6.88 (All-In), Hero calls $18.53

Turn: ($136.44) 4 (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($136.44) 9 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $136.44

Results:
Button had K, K (flush, King high).
UTG had 9, 8 (flush, ten high).
Hero had A, A (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $133.44


Now I'm fairly sure thats pretty standard, however with 3 spades in my opponents hands, and two of the remaining spades not outs for me, I'm only 20% to win.

I should post some more hands, but really gotta get ready for work. Tonight maybe. Up 3 buyins in 350 hands, and up 6 buyins since the weekend.

Sounds like your running well and playing well, good to hear. Keep it up!

This hand is standard IMO. Also if that spade didn't hit, you are still winning money because of UTG being so short.

Originally Posted by bjsaust

If theres one thing I struggle with, its separating running good/bad from playing good/bad. I'm running a little hot atm, but is it variance coming back, or the changes I've made to my game? I'd like to think a little of both.

I played a session now, I couldnt sleep so got up at about 4:30 and played for an hour. I ran 3 buyins below EV by the end of March, I ran 3 buyins above EV in this one session. That said, other than one bad hand based off HUD stats over too small a sample, I felt I played really well. I just hit my drawing hands a lot which I didnt do last month. Biggest one was this one:

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($50.05)
BB ($40.60)
UTG ($18.38)
Hero (MP) ($67.90)
CO ($61.05)
Button ($57.78)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A, A
UTG calls $0.50, Hero bets $2.25, 1 fold, Button calls $2.25, 1 fold, BB calls $1.75, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($9.25) 10, 7, 3 (4 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $9.25, Hero raises $37, Button raises $55.53 (All-In), 1 fold, UTG calls $6.88 (All-In), Hero calls $18.53

Turn: ($136.44) 4 (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($136.44) 9 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $136.44

Results:
Button had K, K (flush, King high).
UTG had 9, 8 (flush, ten high).
Hero had A, A (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $133.44


Now I'm fairly sure thats pretty standard, however with 3 spades in my opponents hands, and two of the remaining spades not outs for me, I'm only 20% to win.

I should post some more hands, but really gotta get ready for work. Tonight maybe. Up 3 buyins in 350 hands, and up 6 buyins since the weekend.

Yeah, you're right.

I think I hit a low of $1400 maybe a little less in March, I'm up to $1850 again now, which includes $40 in converted VIP points, and strangely enough a $75 bonus which I didnt clear. I only earnt 2.5k points and needed 3k to clear, but noticed something strange with my balance so checked my transaction history and I've been credited with the bonus. Nice .

Running crazy good and WAY above EV, but I think still playing fine. A few draws hit where semibluffs were fine imo, and a KK v AA suckout ai pre, winning most of my flips, stuff like that. Gonna post a few hands here and some in the SHNL forum also though:


Hand 1

Small sample but guy seems to be tilting after my top and bottom pair beat his TPGK + NFD. Hand after that he open shoved (no call) and this is only 2-3 hands later I think.

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($23.12)
UTG 1 ($68.20)
Hero (CO) ($129.45)
BTN ($47.93)
SB ($41.28)
BB ($43.80)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 6 players) Hero is CO
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 1 fold, SB raises to $41.28, 1 fold, $39.53 to Hero ($127.70)?



Hand 2

Stats on this guy were slightly aggressive TAG, but this session he seemed to be 3-betting like a fool. He went from 6% to 19% in about 60 hands.

Stats on this guy were slightly aggressive TAG, but this session he seemed to be 3-betting like a fool. He went from 6% to 19% in about 60 hands.

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($50.75)
Hero (UTG 1) ($52.05)
CO ($42.50)
BTN ($88.25)
SB ($68.80)
BB ($322.40)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 6 players) Hero is UTG 1
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, 1 fold, BTN raises to $6, 2 folds, Hero calls $4.25

Flop: ($12.75, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $7.50, Hero raises to $18 ...


I think I prefer a 4-bet pre to this, thoughts?


Hand 3

BB is 55/5 can fold but doesnt like to.

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
4 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
Hero (CO) ($74.35)
BTN ($18.05)
SB ($52.55)
BB ($70.15)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 4 players) Hero is CO
Hero raises to $1.75, 2 folds, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.75, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3, BB calls $3

Turn: ($9.75, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($9.75, 2 players)
BB bets $3.75, Hero raises to $9, BB raises to $23, Hero folds

Final Pot: $41.75

BB wins $40.40 ( won $12.65 )
Hero lost -$13.75


I felt maybe there was value from 2P hands with raising, but dunno...

1. snap call. How often are people willing to do this with QQ+? QQ maybe, but it's so unlikely that he has AA or KK. I'd say there's more than enough garbage in his range that you can call for lots of EeeVees.

2. I fold to the 3bet pre. This hand is so dominated it's not even funny. There's no way you can play this profitably OOP against an even marginally competent tagg. I doubt he's actually 3betting 19%, but even if he is, we're going to have a lot of sticky situations after the flop. As played I don't hate the c/r on this board, but I'm not in love with it either. When you find yourself in big pots OOP with marginals you have to find a way to steal a few, but I still think it's better to avoid the situation.

3. Cbet for value on the flop with unimproved pocket 4s is cool. Pretty much everyone floats a board like that once in a while. We could just flat the river. If a CS sees the straight, he's not betting 2p.

I dont give fish credit for always seeing the straight. Not saying just calling is wrong mind you. Its probably correct, I just have trouble figuring how wide his range is and probably affected by results (or action).

Well, managed to lose most of my recent profits in the last two sessions. I still need to review exactly why/how.

I'm getting tired of this. Wondering if I actually have what it takes. Really tempting to just cash out what I've got and give up.

Originally Posted by bjsaust

Well, managed to lose most of my recent profits in the last two sessions. I still need to review exactly why/how.

I'm getting tired of this. Wondering if I actually have what it takes. Really tempting to just cash out what I've got and give up.

That stinks, I'm sorry to hear that. I definitely know the feeling and have considered it many times myself. Just gotta take breaks sometimes and keep your chin up. Much easier said than done. Good luck at keepin chuggin along and getting better my friend

Originally Posted by bjsaust

Well, managed to lose most of my recent profits in the last two sessions. I still need to review exactly why/how.

I'm getting tired of this. Wondering if I actually have what it takes. Really tempting to just cash out what I've got and give up.

We think like this all the time. The feeling is such bullshit. Give it more time, man. I know you have been but try figuring out if there's ANY more you can do yourself to help become better and play better.

I recently got this book "The Poker mindset : Essential attitudes for poker sucess" Most of it's pretty basic but there is some really good material that is helping my mindset atm. Even reading over the basic stuff helps. It's worth a read me thinks.

Ive been through what your going through right now and i know...it sucks. This Poker thing......is the most difficult psychological challenge i've ever embarked on but its so effing worth it when u start getting rewarded for your hard work and study.

Cooled down a little, but I do think its worth considering.

I've slipped back into a bad habit. Playing because I've found a time I can, instead of when I feel good. Was tired last night but figured I'd play a bit while wife settled our son. -3 buyins. Had to get up to him a couple times during the night, but this morning he actually went back down to sleep in his cot (normally mornings my wife works we end up napping on the couch together) so fired it up again. -4 buyins.

Its like, on one hand I know some/most of my problems, so logically I should be able to fix them.

On the other hand, I just keep falling into the same traps again and again. So am I just beating my head against the wall.


It could be worse. Hate to point out Jyms, but I'm break even for the month, and break even for the year atm. At least these shitty runs of mine have been losing profits rather than just plain losing.

I only deposited about $200 total, and about $300 in software/vid site subs/etc. I've withdrawn $1k already so I'm up $500 on money in/out of my RL monies, and I still have about $1.6k in my roll. Ask an uninterested party and he'd tell you I'm obviously a winning player. I just dont feel like it now.


I think I need to compromise. Set myself some targets and work to them, and if I cant get there, then accept it and move on with my life. Heres what I'm thinking:

If I have another losing month in April, I'm done.
If I'm not a winning 100nl player by end of July I'm done.
If I'm not a winning 200nl player by the end of the year I'm done.

This is taking too much time away from other parts of my life if I'm not going to be a winner at it and get something out of it. By the same token, if I do want to get stuff out of it, I need to stop bumming along and really focus on improving and playing right.

Well, for one the first thought is "forget it I'm quitting". That's never lasted more than a couple days for me. Every time I try to break it down logically I come back to the point that there is no reason I can't be a winning player.

Originally Posted by bjsaust

If I have another losing month in April, I'm done.
If I'm not a winning 100nl player by end of July I'm done.
If I'm not a winning 200nl player by the end of the year I'm done.

I don't care for this plan. You're setting yourself up to fail. Either you'll fail to meet the guidelines, or you'll fail to actually quit. These might have seemed well defined, but they're not at all. I'm not sure a harder guideline is the right answer.

That being said, there is an outside chance I take an extended absence, because I'm basically in the same place you are. I can't kid myself and say I'm not coming back this fall though...

... unless I meet some super hot super rich chick, then I'd happily give up poker

Well, at the moment they're more proposed rules, looking for input. Generally speaking though, if I'm still bouncing around at 50nl in 4 months time, its probably proof this isnt for me. Likewise if by the end of the year (another 5 months) I havnt moved to 200nl I've probably reached a ceiling.

Now I dunno. Maybe if I can be beating 100nl but just cant make the jump, but can pull in decent $ at 100nl I'd keep going, but if I'm struggling to win at 100nl, thats different.

Ben, those "if not, then quit"-rules are pretty dumb imo. Correct me if Im wrong, but it seems you don´t rely on poker money anyway, so why set yourself up to quit something you actually enjoy? My Dad spend´s hours and hours playing non-poker card games in his free evenings for no money and zero competition, he just enjoys himself and kills time. I have probably spent years of my life with playstations. As long as you´re not losing long term (which I doubt anyway) just keep going, perform as well as possible and see where it takes you.

My last OP was aimed at beating midsteaks by Jan this year and I failed horribly. I am still just a mere winer at 100nl. Fuck it, I enjoy playing and I´m not losing, that´s what it´s all about.

If there´s something stunting your progress once you got past the micros, it´s putting too much pressure on yourself and setting the wrong goals. Yea, we browse around FTR and see everyone pulling thousands of dollars and wonder why we do suck so bad. After all, there´s a million players out there who are actually losing long term, so you´re already beating a load of players. Following a decent BRM is already a great accomplishment and so is beating 50nl. If you stop fucking with yourself, you´ll make the switch to 100nl soon, but stop thinking about it until you finally get there, right now it´s about making $$$ at the 50ies.

I also hate those rules ben. How about these
If i loose in April I will take 2 weeks off and read 5 poker books.
If im not a winning 100nl by end of july I will find somebody who is and watch them play until i see the difference.

In other words if you dont make a goal what are you going to do about it to make sure you make them next time.

Remember we all do stupid stuff, we all blow buy inns, we all play tired and we all have bad runs of cards. But not all of us have drawn out more than we put in.

Originally Posted by bjsaust

I've slipped back into a bad habit. Playing because I've found a time I can, instead of when I feel good. Was tired last night but figured I'd play a bit while wife settled our son. -3 buyins. Had to get up to him a couple times during the night, but this morning he actually went back down to sleep in his cot (normally mornings my wife works we end up napping on the couch together) so fired it up again. -4 buyins.

I can't begin to explain how much my game and results have improved since I stopped playing at times when I should be doing anything other than. Especially when tired. I used to play because I wanted to, with no regard for my body and mind.

Now If I'm feeling fatigued or distracted, I just don't fire up the tables. I do other things, study my HHs or watch a video, etc.

However, I can appreciate that some have much busier lives than I do and the times they have to play are not always up to them.

You know, I think you guys are right.

At some point, probably when I flew like god up through 100nl when I first moved up there and made my withdrawal, I stopped thinking of poker as a fun passtime with the money being a way to keep score, and started planning the money I could make from it. No I dont need the poker money, but I started thinking of the "toys" etc I could buy with it that I couldnt really justify buying with my RL money when I have a mortgage.

Thats been driving this results oriented thinking, and making me frustrated. Both wanting to win money so I can spend it, and also just thinking of myself as a 100nl player stuck at 50nl. Twice now I've got to 1950 when my moveup point is 2000. I was there 2 days ago and now I'm at 1650.

Anyway, I think I'm going to try to change my approach. I'm playing poker to have fun, as a passtime instead of games which I used to pay to play, and the roll is a way to keep score. If/when I reach the point I can start withdrawing again, then I'll worry about that.

Mixed up session just now, but new mental approach helped when things went bad. I think in my first 4 hands I had:

99 ai v's Q3s on T22 rainbow flop, runner runner flush
9T v's the guy from the prev hand on 678 mono flop runner runner to flush board (me none in hand) and he psb's river
79 v's 66 on 749 mono board (66 had FD) he calls psbs on flop and turn and hits runner runner 3, 5 for a straight and bets river and I call to pick off the "bluff".

However even with that start I was able to shrug them off and say "thats poker" rather than get all pissed off. I also hit a set under set later, as well as a guy hitting a 6 outter on river with KQ v's JJ on 4T84 board. A guy who floated a K high flop w/ AQ then psb a Q river (I had JJ). AA < 24s on 673r flop.

Wow, now I go back through it, they really start to add up. Even with all that I booked a small win. The guy with the Q3s hand I stacked with QA v' 99 on AK3T board. The guy with AQ I got with KK v's AKs on 72828 board (he had a FD on flop). Theres probably some I could have got a little more value from, but scary boards got me to slow down.

Anyway, it felt good. I just enjoyed playing poker for an hour or so. Those variance hands wont always happen, so I'm confident I can turn things around, but it'll happen when it happens.

if you can't play for fun, and you can't play to win, then I agree you should quit.

there are some things you can try to break the poker rat race. Firstly, are you able to play in an environment where you're totally insulated? For example, my favorite place to play poker is in the living room of my girlfriend's unit when she goes to work there's nobody in the house and I'm totally concentrated at the task at hand

Maybe you can clear out a room in your house where you can just play poker without worrying about anything else this will help your state of mind. Trust me, playing distracted really hurts your game a lot, even if it's just twice an hour and for a couple of minutes

I pretty much never play when my girlfriend is with me. Too distracted. Only exception is if she's real tired and wants to sleep early and I'm not tired at all, but most times I'll just have sex and then feel like sleeping anyway...

Next you can possibly try a different game or play at a different site. But I think you may have done that already.

You can even try to take a week of holiday off work and use it to put your best foot forward and try your best

if you can't do these things, then perhaps you're not in a position to play poker to make cash. no biggie, doesn't mean your unintelligent, just means it's not for you right now. you can play for fun instead like you mentioned. but if you find that you can't actually play just for fun, then just let it go

anyway, i'm hoping your results improve soon cos i like the blog

First off I'd like to say thanks to everyone for support. At times you feel like hardly anyone reads your blog then suddenly a whole bunch of people jump in when you're feeling down, so I really appreciate that.

As mentioned, I'm changing some of my approach. I'm going back to my earlier approach of setting out. I'm not focused on the money, beyond a means to keep score for now. I probably got a bit ahead of myself for a while there, and in reality I think it hurt my game because it messed with my emotions.

I'm also going to change how I play for a bit. Drop back to 4-5 tables and focus on my spots more. Think about ranges properly. Maybe even record most sessions so I can review them, and discussing them while recording kind of forces me to think about spots and then I can see how I did with that.

I could go somewhere more private to play (in my study). At the moment I play in my lounge. Probably about half the time alone and half the time my wife and sometimes son in the room at the same time (never only my son after one bad attempt at that). I guess thats a compromise I chose to make. Theres only so much time each day we're all together with noone working, so I prefer to stay in the same room, even if I'm focused on something else.

I'll probably throw in a few more tourneys and SNGs as well when I feel like it. I enjoy them and tend to run fairly well. I'm also thinking about getting a bluefire poker sub. A six month sub works out at about $40 per month which seems kind of steep, but then again if its not worth 1 buyin per month of improvement then somethings probably wrong.

Nothing really to report pokerwise since last update. Booked two small wins in the last couple times I played. Kind of happy about this morning really. Son was up around 5am but back down at 6 and slept in till 8. Perfect time to play some poker (I get up a little before 7). I was pretty tired though after the early wakeup and also got up to him around midnight, so rather than play just because I could, I took the morning off. After dropping him off at childcare I thought I might play a quick session before starting work, but tables were limited and bad, and Griffey was on msn and asked if I wanted to sweat him (or him me, but like I say tables were bad) so I did that instead. Felt kinda good to just do what I wanted instead of forcing myself to play.

Had a really good talk with Griffey about the hands in this thread: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ds-t84002.html and from there onto ranges and stuff in general. Really useful stuff. I'm starting to keep a notebook with all this stuff so I dont just forget about it later. I can go back and review hands/explanations afterwards to reinforce them. If I get back into training videos I'll do the same thing.

Bluefire subs is superb. I just got mine earlier today and I cannot stop watching

Originally Posted by bjsaust

This is taking too much time away from other parts of my life if I'm not going to be a winner at it and get something out of it.

This is key. Life is more than a screen with cards and $$ moving around. Make poker work for you. Don't look back in a couple of years and wish you hadn't spent all that time playing. That may mean stopping, playing less, or playing smarter. Try the last of those for starters?

Heres a hand from today:


UTG 1 is mega fish and does this flop shove with any piece. Btn is 29/0 smallish sample no good reads other than he obviously calls off 10% of his stack pf with something.

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($74.55)
UTG 1 ($17.15)
CO ($61.35)
BTN ($31.70)
SB ($61.20)
Hero (BB) ($50.85)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 6 players) Hero is BB
1 fold, UTG 1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, BTN calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3.50, UTG 1 calls $3, BTN calls $3

Flop: ($10.75, 3 players)
Hero bets $6, UTG 1 raises to $13.65, BTN calls $13.65, $7.65 to Hero ($41.35)?


Thoughts?

I tend to think we're not happy, but theres enough stuff in btns range that we beat to make a shove +EV here. UTG+1 is a non-issue in my mind.

pooosh!
Overpairs, random 9s, even the possibility of 67. If we were in position we could even flat call and try to trap.

shovalicious with stack sizes and reads and stuff

Yeah, I thought so too so did. Ran into the top of btns range (99), but then again if he limp/calls 99 he might with TT/JJ and theres lots of 9x, 56, 78, even maybe 77/88 given neither are very good. UTG+1 was about as expected with A4o, although ironically if btn had folded fish would have hit trip 4s on the river anyway.

Played a heap of poker yesterday. Lost just over 4 buyins which kind of sucks, but not too down on it. I really felt like most of the time I was playing great poker. First short session I just hit a bunch of coolers/beats. Then I played about a 4hr session of 3 tabling. Felt good though, break even for most of it, then ran rough right at the end. Probably should have stopped earlier, but meh. AA v K3o on K high flop hits trips on river. QJ gets flatted by AA pf and 60bb stack just calls down on AQQ flop. Set on turn runs into ugliest river ever and need to fold to psb shove. All in about minutes.

Been doing the stuff I said I'd do. Playing only a few tables, and really thinking about ranges and stuff. Man, its the first time in ages I've really felt like my games been revolutionised. Even though I'm down, I'm really pumped about whats happenning with my game atm. I bought a BFP sub and its been just awesome. Some vids arent super, but already a few so far have just been amazing. Combined with advice in chats with Griffey and DaGoat its really openned my eyes up. Tbh some of it is stuff those guys have been trying to get through to me before, but for some reason its really clicking now and I'm getting it. Cant thank those guys enough for being patient and really working stuff through with me. There are times people say "this is good" or "this is bad" but I dont really get why. They've taken the time to give me indepth rundowns on why and even go beyond that point to even further help my game.

I've been taking a lot of notes and writing down example hands, even jotting down some of the hands I post where people have good advice on what I should have done instead. Same with the vids, I watch them with my notepad and pen ready. I dunno, if you look back through my Op you'll see me talk about doing this stuff off and on a fair bit, but for some reason I'm finally doing it. Maybe I had to hit a real bottom in my confidence to force a change?

So month is going fairly poorly, but again I'm not too upset. It kind of feels like paying a price to improve my game.

Inspiring, keep at it!