Operation: Caddie444's Mission to Exploit

Well I have to say that the move up to 50NL has been very frustrating. I have so far played ~37,000 hands and only have a 0.21 ptbb/100 winrate. Over these hands I have played 12/8.5 with 3% 3Bet. I think my biggest problem is my postflop aggression. I see stats posted by FTR'ers and stuff and their aggression factors are like 3.5+ whereas mine is only 2.20 over this sample which implies that I am calling too much which sucks.

Here's some of my biggest losers from last 1200 hand session, maybe you guys could comment on some of these:

HAND 1:

I'll post this hand first b/c man I hate how I played it. Villain was a a 9/9 nit and I suppose it's fair to assume he 5B's KK so I mean I'm sure I could have gotten away from this at some point. His flop donk was obv to induce but man wtf am I suppose to do here? I think the only street I could've gotten away from this was on the riv but idk maybe just a cooler.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($25.10)
BB ($20.50)
UTG ($22.50)
UTG+1 ($64.15)
MP1 ($50.50)
MP2 ($35.30)
CO ($42.55)
Hero (Button) ($50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with ,
UTG bets $1, 3 folds, CO raises to $4, Hero raises to $10, 3 folds, CO calls $6

Flop: ($21.75) , , (2 players)
CO bets $3, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($27.75) (2 players)
CO bets $11, Hero calls $11

River: ($49.75) (2 players)
CO bets $18.55 (All-In), Hero calls $18.55




HAND 2:

Here villain just sat and was 48/14 over 29 hands. I guess this is just a cooler since I could see him showing up with Jx or underpairs I guess IDK

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($37)
CO ($16.75)
Button ($40.95)
SB ($57.40)
BB ($70.35)
UTG ($18.75)
UTG+1 ($46.70)
Hero (MP1) ($100.45)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with ,
2 folds, Hero bets $1.75, MP2 calls $1.75, 1 fold, Button calls $1.75, 2 folds

Flop: ($6) , , (3 players)
Hero bets $4, MP2 calls $4, 1 fold

Turn: ($14) (2 players)
Hero bets $10, MP2 calls $10

River: ($34) (2 players)
Hero bets $22, MP2 calls $21.25 (All-In)


HAND 3:

Everytime I try and experiment with something new I get wtfowned. I mean I rarely triple barrel bluff but I thought this was a decent spot to do it in. The villain here got his $$$ by sucking out on someones AA's so I guess he isn't the best opponent to try and take off the hand. Before I try this again I'm going to make sure I have a read that he's capable of folding. he was playing like 53/14 over 100. I thought a shove on the river was overkill and needed to work more often, and I figured betting what I did would have the same effect but I'm not sure.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($50)
UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($29.40)
MP2 ($122.45)
MP3 ($50)
CO ($12.50)
Hero (Button) ($52.75)
SB ($46.25)
BB ($78.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with ,
3 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero bets $2, 2 folds, MP2 calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.75) , , (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $3, MP2 calls $3

Turn: ($10.75) (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $7.50, MP2 calls $7.50

River: ($25.75) (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $19, MP2 calls $19



HAND 4:

Really interested about what you guys have to say about this one. Villain in the blinds is a fish who donk/calls all sorts of crap. Villain OTB plays 19/15 over 100 and seems pretty straightforward to me. I'm thinking he's only flatting monsters when I raise the fish, and if he was on the flush draw he just got there so.....ya

I think we still have to bet a non-club turn though no?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($24.05)
MP1 ($11.75)
MP2 ($43.10)
MP3 ($60.70)
CO ($47.50)
Button ($50)
SB ($55.20)
BB ($40)
Hero (UTG) ($54.25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with ,
Hero bets $2, 5 folds, Button calls $2, SB calls $1.75, 1 fold

Flop: ($6.50) , , (3 players)
SB bets $1.50, Hero raises to $6.50, Button calls $6.50, 1 fold

Turn: ($21) (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $10, Hero folds



Anyways I've lowered the amount of tables I have been playing from 9 to 6 in order to focus more on my thought processes and to avoid auto-piloting. It's good b/c I don't think I can get enough volume in to achieve platinum star just yet but can easily attain gold star each month 6-tabling.

I saw that M2M had like a 65K hand break-even stretch in his garph he posted but i think he was mass tabling... its still encouraging to know it can happen. Goals for the next little while are to stop being a station and focusing on stepping up the aggression post-flop in proper spots vs proper opponents.

Life update: I have been to the Emergency room 3 times in the past 2 weeks due to a high pressure feeling on my chest. I basically passed out at my girlfriends place in Toronto due to lack of oxygen. She took me to the hospital and she took very good care of me

They tested for heart-attacks, collapsed lungs, whooping cough, blocked arteries (ct scan) and it all came black clean. They think I just have a viral chest infection which is making my chest very inflamed. Got drugs and am going back to supply teaching tomorrow.

Haven't updated this beast in 2 months and am too tired to give a huge update but here's my graph since my last post which is all 50NL:




Across this sample I am running at 14/10 with a 2.8% 3Bet, 2.35 aggression factor and winning approx 2.1 PTBB/100.

And I still suck... but I'm learning everyday from this site

Seriously I make so many mistakes it's ridiculous. When I review my HH's I wonder what the hell I could have been thinking in some spots, and have come to the realization that I do not do enough range predictions throughout a hand, or that my assumptions/reasoning are usually way off base.

Anyways, I haven't really put in too much volume, as I have moved down to 6 tables from 9, and been trying to do session & hand history reviews in order to actually think out hands.

It's good to have guys like M2M and Zilla around who have recently been pointing out the flaws in my play/analysis via my HH threads, and honestly some people get offended when better players give their opinion which might be condenscending or blunt or whatever but I don't care at all as long as the end result is me becoming a better card player.

Poker for me will always just be a hobby, but I am so competitive and passionate for this game I want to put in as much work as I can to at least be halfway decent at it. It's hard when you're a teacher since the lifestyle is so busy, but I just fell in love with this game since I first began playing the $5 sit'n'go's on pokerroom, and I intend to become a better player, and as long as I keep learning I'll be on the right track.

Roll right now is $5251, and I have ~48,000 Vpp's and some $50 Stellar rewards I have yet to cash

Well been a while since I've updated so here we go...

Summer has been going great, I taught summer school, a grade 9 credit recovery math class. It was great experience and though I was busy as hell for 2 weeks I really learned a lot.

Besides that I haven't been playing too much cards, I bought SC2 and have been slowly getting through the campaign. I totally suck at it though and prob won't invest too much time getting better though I would like to be able to not get my ass handed to me

Just got back from a mini-trip with the g/f at a place called Deerhurst Resort which is in Huntsville Ontario, it's where they recently held the G8, we stayed in the same condo as some of the world leaders!:



Damn beautiful place


On to the pokers:

Here are my graphs since my last update:

50NL @ Stars:



And some donking @ 10NL Russsshhh:



About $1100 including rakeback etc

Gonna keep pluggin away @ 50NL, though I have a semi-decent winrate approaching 100K hands (1.5 PTBB/100) with my last 50K hands @ 2.5 PTBB/100

Prob gonna move up to 100NL sometime next month we'll see how it goes

Latest thing bought with poker $$$:



Got a 48 degree to replace my pitching wedge and a 64 degree b/c I love to see backspin. These bad boys eat the cover off the ball the grooves are so sharp!

Been over a month since an update so here we go:

The following graphs are since my last post in this blog until Oct 1st:

@ P-stars 50NL:



@ FT Ruuusssssh 10NL & 25NL:



+ $355 Ruuushhh
+ $356 P-Stars
+ $150 reloads/bonuses
+ $110 RB
- $77 donkaments
$894 profit


Life Update: My twin sister got married a week ago and I was one of the groomsmen It was the first time I've ever been a groomsmen and it was a blast. I'm from a small town and she got married in a small church but our whole family came from all over as well as her husband's (He's a Brit) And we partied hard till late in a Super Eight and had the cops called due to disturbing the peace

I also just finished what's called an LTO (Long Term Occasional) which for supply teachers means an extended period of time covering the same class. For me I was supply teaching Gr. 1's! Let me say when it comes to student's behaviour there are a lot of similarities b/w Gr.1 and Gr. 12

Now I'm done and can focus back on trying to land a teaching job in High School (76 minutes prep/day FTW)

Random: I decided to try and watch an episode of Jersey Shore to see what all the hype was about and I couldn't get past 5 minutes of it. The show is simply Garbage. But I guess that's what ppl like to watch nowadays. For those avid watchers I only have this to show you:




New poker goals: Play some Steps satellites and get some tix for some bigger buyin tourneys and try to luckbox my way to the final table

That Jersey Shore image is the tits. I LOL'd IRL.

I'm glad to say I've met all my October poker goals, which were:

[x] play 50 hours for prop bet
[x] clear 'Take 2' FTP bonus
[x] Goldstar
[x] win mobnies

The October Prop bet for hours played turned out to be a little tougher than I thought since I was way busier than I usually am. I had to grind it out in order to meet 50 hrs for this month but it'll be worth it when I'm rolling around in the likely $5-$10 I'll make from it

Garphs for Oct:

FTP Ruuuusshh:



Pstars 50NL:



+ $830 Pstars
+ $197 FTP
+ $145 fpp/bonuses

= ~$1172



I know it may not seem like a big deal to some, but I've opened up my game slightly from playing a 13/9 game to a 15/11. It was basically thanks to watching Renton's Poobah vid (Renton pooh-bah post: 1/2 video - Small Stakes Full Ring Games - Small Stakes Poker Strategy Forum) and Reading M2M's post about making ppl your bitch

I found myself getting into more awkward/difficult spots, but it's definitely necessary to constantly get yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things in order to learn at this game. If you just stay static, never experiment, only play ABC poker, and remain uncreative you will never improve as a player and will just become another predictable reg who is easily exploitable by opponents who are paying attention.

An example of a 'creative' hand I played:

Villain was running 16/15 and 3B'ing the button about 11% vs LP opens, which is ridic high for FR, and the only reason I stayed is b/c I had a huge fish right on my right. I had seen him showdown some pretty marginal hands in this spot.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($44.20)
MP2 ($24.10)
Hero (CO) ($98.95)
Button ($53)
SB ($50)
BB ($66.15)
UTG ($49.50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with ,
3 folds, Hero bets $1.50, Button raises to $4.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $3

Flop: ($9.75) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $6, Hero raises to $14, 1 fold

Total pot: $21.75 | Rake: $1.05

My thinking was that I could 4bet this hand pre, but then I'd have to fold to a 5b since ppl's 5betting ranges at FR are very strong. So in essence I would basically be turning my hand into 72os by 4B/folding. I think by just calling I keep his range the widest. On this flop I choose to c/r pretty small, still leaving room for a fold if he shoves over since I think there's no way he can be bluffing then. I think a c/r here is ok since I block a lot of his overpairs that would be willing to continue with the hand, + I think from his perspective my range is just so strong when I take this line I may even get folds from 77-1010 maybe even JJ.

Trying out new plays and getting yourself into unfamiliar spots is the only way you are going to learn. You will not always make the right play, the play I made in the above hand may not even be optimal, but the point is you need to try new things in order to determine on your own what works against who and what doesn't.

Also, check out this vid which I must've showed like 10 times to high school students this week---> YouTube - Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)

totally jealous

BR = $8050